Another Monday 10-24

I have 1 more new student that will be taking both voice and piano!  It is an old family friend's son.  This young man's dad is my older brother's best friend so his dad has known me since I was a baby.  In fact, he knew me from the minute I came home from the hospital.  I am excited about teaching his son.  He will be here this week a different day so that we can get started.  His first lesson would have been on Halloween and no one wants to have a lesson on Halloween?  I will have Bob and Rachel's but their lessons are before the start of trick or treating plus Bob is an adult so he doesn't really care about trick or treating.  Rachel has her lessons right after school so it doesn't interfere with trick or treating.  I plan to be hiding in my house during trick or treating.

I get Lily on Wednesday!  Okay, I don't get her for a long time, but hey, I will have her for part of the day! I am picking her up from school, taking her to the orthodontist and then back to school.  I haven't seen the young lady live and in person in a while, so I am excited about this.

I have to get up a bit early tomorrow so I make sure I get to the bank.  I have the property tax payment to mail (I am so excited because it is the biggest payment I have made yet).  This is going right on schedule so I am happy about that.  I was talking on the phone so I missed the bank today.  I also have to go to the post office and get stamps.

Oh my, there are Christmas commercials on right now.  Wow, it is a bit early.  There are about 62 days until Christmas, can we get through Halloween and Thanksgiving first?  I have to clear off my dining room table so I can put my new harvest tablecloth on.  There is so much music and teaching CDs on my table that it is a good think no one else needs to sit at this table right now.  I do need a new Christmas tablecloth as all of mine were donated a year ago along with a lot of other things.  I do have a really pretty cloth one, but for everyday use, I want to use a vinyl one.  On Christmas Eve I will pull out the pretty one for those two days.  It is a table cloth that my momma would pull out right before Christmas.  I don't think there really is anything in this house that doesn't remind me about Mom.  I don't really mind.  I don't think it adds to my missing her.  If anything, it is comforting to among her things and in the house I grew up in.  I think Lily will help again this year with the Christmas decorations.  I have found a few more Disney decorations in the family room and my room.  I also found an ornament meant for Andrew that Mom and I must have forgotten about.  I know it is his since his name is on it.  I will give it to him the next time I see him, whenever that will be.  I will be starting on my Christmas ornaments soon.  Some material is in my room and some is in the family room.  I bought the quilting batting last week at Walmart.  I have jingle bells and ribbon in one of my sewing boxes.  I do need to consolidate my sewing boxes as I have about 4 of them with small amounts of stuff in them.  I have a really nice one in Mom's room right now.  Mom and I each bought one but we never used them.  Once the sewing room is put in order, I will take care of the extra boxes.  I think one of my cousins would like one of my sewing boxes. She has commented about it before.  If she would like it, I will give it to her.  I also need to clear the dining room table so I have room for sewing too.  I have to see how many I need too.  Everyone is getting homemade gifts this year.  I love making gifts by hand.  It is so fun and always unique.  Mom always loved homemade stuff best too.  That was just Mom.  I have a lot of Mom in me, I think.  She used to tease me and call me her carbon copy.  I do have many of her features too.

I have had a good day.  I am tired now.  I will be heading to bed soon.  I hope your day was good too.

Sunday 10-23

I ended up not going to church this morning.  My hip was so bad I could barely walk to the bathroom and back.  It is somewhat better now, but really, couldn't it have been okay this morning?  I was awake on time and everything.  Oh well, better luck next week.

I had Rick's lesson this evening but I didn't have Katie's.  I don't know what happened, but she didn't come.  I called her but she wasn't available to answer the phone.  I figure I shall speak with her tomorrow or sometime this week.  I just hope my girl is okay.  Everyone forgets once in a while (including me!) so that part isn't so bad.  Katie has never forgotten before, I just worry that she is ill or something happened to her. She is a wonderful girl and student.  Everyone just loves Katie especially my younger students.  She is very good with children.  Anyways, I did call and leave a couple of messages for her so I look forward to her calling me back.  Rick did very well with his lessons.  He is going to be gone for most of November and all of December so these next two weeks we are going to be wrapping up the songs he is working on right now so that in January we will start something brand new.  He is going to Hawaii and India.  I am hoping he is going to have a good time.  I have been to Hawaii and it is simply beautiful.  I spent about a week in Maui one summer for a writing conference.  I was glad I went a few days early because once the conference started, we were busy everyday all day and evening long.  Mom was originally going to go with me, but she got laid off a few months before so she couldn't go with me.  I called her (naturally) at least once a day to let her know what was going on.  I had a really good time and learned an awful lot from the conference.  Mom would have liked to have gone too.  She liked to go with me to these type things.  I went on cruise to Mexico that had a travel writing course.  Mom came with me.  Because we got the cabins at a major discount and I didn't want to share with a stranger, I had to pay for the entire cabin so I asked Mom if she wanted to go.  If I have to pay for 2 people, then I should bring someone with me, that was my thinking.  Mom said sure, she would love to go.  I hadn't bought the airline tickets yet because I was just booking the trip.  After I booked us on the cruise, I went to book our flights.  It was the craziest thing because I had checked the price before I booked the trip and then I checked after with the two of us.  Well, at the time they had a special for seniors so it cost me $16 more to have mom come with me!  I booked our flights and told mom how much her flight was.  She was so cute, I told her she didn't have to give me the money for the flight, it was no big deal.  Mom went upstairs and came down with $16 and handed it to me.  She wanted to pay for her own flight.  I giggled.  Mom was smiling at how much the flight was.  She said she needed to pay her own way.  I just laughed.  So that November, Mom and I packed and headed to the ship docked in Los Angeles, CA.  I had never been to California before.  Mom and I had a blast on the cruise.  We went on a few excursions that were awesome.  We just like so much of the same stuff that we rarely had disagreements of what to do.  Mom and i had such a good time.  I took soooo many pictures.  I just wish I had taken more pictures of her and I in addition to what we saw there.  I have since learned you can never have too many pictures of the people you love.  This was also the trip where the wind literally picked Mom up and moved her 3ft.  She had gotten in the habit to go and walk on the walkway at the top of the ship.  This day was super windy and a bit chilly.  We were heading back to LA.  Apparently, the wind was so strong (remember she weighed about 95 pounds at this time) that it picked her up and moved her.  Mom was so frightened.  She hung on to the rail and headed back inside.  There was another older lady like mom ready to go out.  Mom told her what had happened to her and suggested she not go out as she was super small like mom.  the lady thanked Mom for letting her know and then suggested that the two of them go and walk on the treadmills that were in the fitness room.  It was nice that mom made a friend even if it was on the last day at sea.  When Mom met me for lunch, I was so upset over the fact that mom could have been thrown overboard that I couldn't really eat lunch.  Mom was fine, she was over the upset, I was not.  That was also the day I fell on the floor and bent my tailbone back to where it belonged.  I got up for lunch and slipped on the wet floor.  There was no sign at that point (it had just happened and the crew person was getting the sign and something to clean it up).  My feet just flew out from underneath me.  Mom helped me up.  I was rather embarrassed but I wasn't hurt or anything.  After we got off the ship we headed to a bus tour of LA.  We stopped in a few places and had lunch and a good time before we headed back to the airport for our flight home.  I would say this was one of the best trips we took before the Alzheimer's really started to her downhill.  The next trips we took were to Disney and to Richard's when he lived in North Caroline.  He is on the west coast now so I don't see him very much at all, even if he were speaking to me.  Mom and I went to Disney about 6 times between 2004 and 2008.  It was a lot of fun.  I could have taken her somewhere new but I thought she would remember Disney and remember how much fun we had there so that is why we went.  Every time we went, it was so much fun.  The cast members are so nice and helpful.  I had my scooter with us too.  We also did go to Disney's Vero Beach for New Year's in 2006.  It was great.  We went with Richard and his family.  It was a great time.

Here are some pictures of Mom and I in Mexico:

I do hope you are having a good day too!

what did I do???? 10-22

I have no idea what I did but the hip that has been bothering me so much these last few weeks is worse today than ever.  It was getting better until this morning.  I really don't know what I did but walking is a problem.  It hurts to stand.  It isn't so bad when I sit but when I stand or walk it is really bad.  It is not fun, let me tell you.  I am sure this flare will be better by tomorrow.  I sure hope so because I have to sing at church tomorrow and I don't want to be in extra pain.

Anyways, outside of the extra pain from the flare, things are fine for the day.  I had 2 lessons earlier and will have to lessons in the evening tomorrow.  Both Rick and Katie needed later day lessons.  I don't have a problem with that.  I will get up super early for church (don't laugh too hard - the alarm goes off at 6:50 am) and then head to church.  After church, I will come home, have lunch, and then head to bed for a nap. At this point, I will really need it.  Since the lessons are in the evening, I don't have to worry about setting the alarm again so I wake up at the proper time.  I will be cleaning off the dining room table (it is totally covered with music and CDs and receipts) so I can put my harvest/thanksgiving table cloth on.  It is really pretty.  It is vinyl like the others but I like it because you can't get stains on it.  Otherwise I have to put a plastic sheet over the cloth tablecloth.  This way, I don't have to do anything about it!  Talk about a good plan!  I was going to put the Halloween one, but since I don't particularly like Halloween, I am just going to skip that holiday.  I just don't really like Halloween.  Mom really liked it.  She was the one who wanted to pass out the candy and decorate the house.  I just left it up to her.  Now that she is in Heaven, I am just skipping this holiday.  I will either go out to eat or hide in my house.  One or the other, on Halloween.  I like Thanksgiving and Christmas much better.  I love Valentine's Day, not so much for the Valentines but for the legend behind Valentine's Day.  Easter is awesome.  What could be better?  I mean to really sit there and think that someone loves you so much that he was tortured and crucified for your sins.  It totally boggles the mind.  I do like Independence Day.  I also decorate for Canada day as I feel I should honor both countries, the one of my birth and the one I grew up in.  I was born in Canada but raised here in USA.  I never become a US citizen because I wanted my children to be the first Americans.  I thought that was cool and the American Dream.  Now that I can't have children and won't be having any, I am saving up to become a citizen.  I know I can pass the test because I went to school here and I know my history.  I won't have to take any classes like many do because I did go to school in the US and that makes me exempt from them.  I have to write down and keep track how often I leave the country.  You have to have this info for the last 5 years so since I have no idea, and I travel to see family every so often, I am starting to keep track now.

So, I am looking forward to decorating my house for Christmas.  The wonderful Lily and her mom, Julie will be coming to help again.  Lily is having surgery on her foot this coming Thursday, so if you could send a prayer or to our way, it would be much appreciated!  Lily will have the other foot done at Christmas time.  I just love Lily and her sisters.  I am going to get another gingerbread house for Lily this year only I am going to buy some other candy to put on it because I am not sure she likes what is on it.

I am going to read for a while.  I was planning on doing some vacuuming, but with the hip in a flare, it will just have to wait.  There is no way around that one.  I do hope your day is going well too!

Friday 10-21

I slept in this afternoon.  I was so tired.  I don't really know why I was extra tired but I was.  Tomorrow I have to get up a bit earlier than usual because I have early lessons.  I don't mind.  Sandra is only every other week at this point.  I will also have Camille tomorrow.  Today I have Acer, Calli, and Emily.  Acer is working on "When the Saints Go Marching In."  He now has both hands down pat and the entire song.  Calli is working on her Christmas pieces.  She is playing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "The Little Drummer Boy".  We have only started the Hark the Herald now.  She knows all of her right hand and the first page of her left hand.  I am very pleased with her progress.  Acer will start his Christmas song next week.  He started his vocal Christmas Song today.  He is singing "Mary Had a Little Baby".  It is a beautiful spiritual that he sings very well.  Calli is singing "Ave Maria" and "In the Bleak Midwinter".  She sings them both really well.  She knows In the Bleak really well and we are working on the first verse of Ave.  We should be starting the second verse next week.  She has such a lovely voice, and her range, oh my, she has about a 3 octave range and she is 11!  Yes, I said 11!  It is very unusual but wonderful that she is so gifted with music.  Emily is borrowing my Theory Games CD.  She is going to load it on her computer and play the game.  It is part of her assignment now.  I think she will like it a lot.  She is such a good student.  She still has trouble with notes but only some of them.  I do think the computer game will work well for her and help her with her notes.

My left shoulder had been giving me a lot of problem for the last 2 years.  I have bursitis in that shoulder but for some reason, it has been doing much better!  I can lift my arm up.  I still can't put it behind my back very well, but I can lift it up!  I was excited when I discovered this this week.  I went to lift my arm up to reach and normally when I forget and use the wrong arm, it hurts.  Well, it took me a few minutes to realize that it was the wrong arm but it didn't hurt!  Now, if only my left hip would be this better.  I am so excited about my left shoulder though.  I knew eventually some of the shoulder would come back to normal but I didn't know when.  I am glad that I have more mobility with it for now.  I will take what I can get that is for sure!

So far this week has been decent.  Tuesday, the anniversary, wasn't as bad as I feared and the rest of the week was good with lessons.  I only had 1 absence, Breanna, yesterday.  I had Brooke and Brianne who were new.  Brooke had 1 lesson about 3 weeks ago but it was Brianne's first lesson with me.  I think we did well together.  Both Brooke and Brianne picked their Christmas music and started the songs.  So far almost everyone has started their music except for a few that will be starting this coming week.  I should have an idea in the next week or two when the Christmas Concert will be.  After I have all the music copied and passed out, it will be time to find out who is going to competition.  I know that Katie, Rebecca, and Aggie are planning to go but I am not sure who else will be going.  I don't have major plans for Saturday or Sunday except for lessons like last week, but that is okay.  Last weekend was wonderful from the parade on Friday to the reunion on Saturday and then Karlyn and crew's visit on Sunday evening.  It was wonderful to see these friends of mine.

I have to say that without my friends, students and their families, and my family, I think this last year would have been even harder.  It was the worst year of my life, hands down.  It was worse than when my dad left, when my brother was kidnapped by my dad, or any other horrible incident.  Losing my mother was the worst.  I never imagined living a life without her and yet, I am.  I am busy with my students and planning for a concert and the competition.  I have found ways to do housework that I haven't been able to do in a few years.  I learned new tricks to get dressed all by myself, something that hadn't happened for about 2 years before Mom passed away.  I have learned a lot of things that I haven't done in a long time.  I am pleased that I can be mostly independent where before I had to take care of mom all the time, she helped me with a lot of things I couldn't do on my own.  Once Mom became to ill to help me, she and I had already devised ways for me to do these things on my own.  That allowed me to be able to help Mom when she needed me.  I do miss helping her all the time.  She smiled so much and was so easy (most of the time) to work with.  I came up with our routines and they worked for us.  I just can't believe at times that it has been a year.

I do hope you are having a good day.

Thursday 10-20

I went to choir practice tonight.  It was fun.  I was back in time for Project Runway.  Today is the finale!  Anyways, it has been an interesting day.  Breanna had to cancel her lesson today because of a live lesson at the same time for school.  I met Brianne and she is a very sweet girl.  We picked her Christmas Songs.  She started both of them today as well as a Hanon Exercise.  Then Benjy and Joine had their lessons.  They are so cute.  Benjy finally picked his songs for the Christmas Concert!  Laith was the last student to have his lesson.  We started his "Joy to the World" today.  I was very excited for the students to start their Christmas music.

After lessons I went to choir practice.  I wasn't there last week because I wasn't feeling too well.  We aren't singing a song in church this Sunday but we are a part of the worshiping team so we are expected to attend.  I will be there.  I do hope I sleep better this Saturday night than I did last Saturday night where I didn't fall asleep until 6 am.  Carolyn, my neighbor and friend, was also at choir practice tonight.  She has a lovely voice and she is also a very sweet girl.  She is 15 or 16 and a junior in high school.  Our choir is medium sized with pretty balanced voices, which is a good thing for a choir.

I don't have much planned this weekend.  It is completely different from the busyness of last weekend.  I have lessons on Saturday, right now 2 of them, but I am hoping both Katie and Rebecca have their lessons either Saturday or Sunday.  Sunday I have church in the morning, nap when I get home, and then Rick's lesson.  I don't need to have to go grocery shopping as I went shopping last weekend with Calli.  I will need to pick up some milk though but that is a quick in and out of the store.  I don't think I will need anything else.

I was so excited this afternoon.  I was working on bills.  I was able to make the biggest payment on the property taxes so far!  It is only the 20th and on Saturday I will be able to mail the payment!!!!  I am so excited about that!  I am so thrilled that I have been blessed with the new students because I am almost at the point where I can't have anymore.  I was so scared when Mom passed away because it took both my disability and Mom's social security to pay the house bills.  I only had about 5 or so students.  I do honestly think that God wanted me to focus on Mom that was why I didn't have too many students because after Mom passed away, I got more students.  Now the students that started in January of 2011 are no longer with me.  Many were adults and either quit right away or at the end of the initial sessions.  There were 2 students who were temporary students, meaning they were students for a specific competition and were finished with lessons at the end of the competition.  This was solo and ensemble, which is through the schools.  Stephanie and Amanda P had about 6 weeks of lessons each just to work on solo and ensemble music.  The two teenagers who started in January quit for the summer and have not come back since.  I was hoping that Amanda S would come back this fall but so far it has not happened.  The students who have started in the late spring or summer I still have.  Breanna and Emily started in the spring and they are still here.  It is a good thing.  Things are working out for me.  I feel stronger in my faith now than I did when I first last Mom.   I am also not so scared like I was.  Once I realized I was living in fear and recognized that fact, the fear start to go away.  I still have some fears, but I no longer feel they are controlling me like they were.

I am going to read for a bit and then head to bed!  I do hope you had a good day too.

the day after 10-19

Today was a great day.  I must say it was!  I woke up early (okay - that is not the great part!) and headed to my girls, Hannah, Natalie, Lydia, and Sarah's house to pick them up for ... Harry Potter part 2!  Yes, I have now seen that movie 5 times in the movie theatre.  The movie is finally at the cheap theatre so the movie cost $1.  It was definitely a bargain!  I had such a good time with the girls.  After the movie, we went to Del Taco for lunch.  It was a small restaurant right near the movie theatre.  We all chatted and had lunch.  Then I had to take them home.  However, I had quizzes for them!  There were about 4 or 5 quizzes about the Order of the Phoenix and the Deathly Hallows.  Natalie got them all right, Lydia had 3 wrong, and Hannah had 1 wrong.  Sarah did pretty well but as she is only 8 and hasn't read the books, she doesn't know all lot of the answers.  I had a good time.  I also had 3 lessons tonight, Allison, Natalie Z, and Beth.  Allison chose her last song for the Christmas song.  Natalie Z picked her Christmas songs tonight too.  Beth and I worked on her songs for the audition on November 5.  The theatre is doing Jekyll and Hyde.  Beth should be more than ready for the audition when she goes.

Most everyone has picked out their Christmas music.  Only Benjy and Brianne haven't picked out theirs yet.  I have to copy some music for Calli tomorrow.  I have to put her song in finale and make a CD for her.  I will put it in Finale on Friday before her lesson.  I also have to copy Acer's piano and vocal Christmas songs.

My left hip is in a big flare right now.  I think it is one of the biggest flares I have ever had and it is only on the left side.  It is really annoying.  It started about 3 weeks ago and I really expected it to be gone by now.  I don't know how it started.  It started after spending the evening in the ER though so I am not sure if that is what caused it.  Those stretchers are not very comfortable.  Who knows?  Fibro is strange and that is the way it is.  I do hope it goes away soon.  The tramadol and meloxicam aren't helping it too much, but they do help a bit.  I would be in more pain if I didn't have them.

Tomorrow is a day filled with music.  First up with be Breanna, then Brianne, Benjy, Joiene, and finally, Laith.  After lessons I have choir practice.  I am looking forward to that.  It is still hard to that I have to get up so early but I will eventually get used to it.  I usually take a nap as soon as I get home though before Rick's lesson.  As far as I know, he is having it at regular time, which is 1:30.  That gives me a good couple of hours nap!  If he has it early, that is fine too.  I think I will be begin cutting out the Christmas ornaments on Sunday.  I have to trace them out first.  I bought the quilting batting on Sunday when I went shopping with Calli.  We had a lot of fun shopping.  It is definitely the way to grocery shop, take Calli with you!  She puts everything in the cart and then she puts them all on the table at the check out.  She also likes to try to drive the scooter that I ride in.  It is quite cute.  I have the best students in the world.  From my little ones to my adults, they are all awesome.  I have about 21 students now.  I need only a few more and then I won't be able to take anymore.  I am hoping by January I will be filled up.

I am heading for bed soon.  My hip is really bad but only the left one.  It is very strange how that is hurting and the other one only hurts as much as usual, nothing out of the ordinary.  I hope your day was good too!

The anniversary

I was afraid of this date, very afraid of today but it isn't as bad as I thought.  It has been a year since Mom passed away.  I miss her as much as I did the day she passed away but I think I am better at coping with the grief.  There are times I feel paralyzed from it, but there are more days that are okay than not okay.  I am going to look into a support group.  I think I need a bit of help with coping with the paralyzing days.  I am thankful that I teach at least 5 to 6 days a week and some weeks everyday.  It helps me get my day going and organized.  I need the busyness of teaching not only because I love teaching so much, but it also gives me something to focus on.  Right now I am trying to get all the Christmas music together for everyone.  Almost everyone has their songs.  There are only a few students who don't and they will be choosing this week.  I am not completely not looking forward to the holidays this year.  As I don't particularly care for Halloween, I will either go out for the evening by myself or hide in the house like I did last year.  For Thanksgiving, if my cousin comes, I will cook dinner for us otherwise I hope to be at Kathy's parents house with Kathy and her family.  I am so thankful that her parents include me in the holidays.  I have known them most of my life since Kathy and I have been friends for 40 (yup, I said 40 and we are only 43) years it is like a second family to me.  I do plan to be with Kathy and family at her parents for Christmas too.  I had a good time last year and I enjoy being with her and her family so it is a good place to be.  It is nice because I think that Mom would be happy that I go there for the holidays.  Competition is still kind of weird as mom went with me every year but one since I started teaching.  She even came to several of my competitions when I was competing.  I remember the first one so well.  I was singing for the competition.  I was only 17 and it was my 2nd dance competition ever.  Mom drove me there (not that that was unusual) and I was sitting with her and the rest of my dance studio.  I had rather long hair and it was in a ponytail for the number that I was going to perform.  My dance teacher had a bad habit (as many do) of finding fault with every number but her own students.  It wasn't very nice but I didn't really think about it.  Usually I didn't say anything but this one number I made a comment.  All of a sudden my head snapped back and I was being pulled by my mother.  She heard my comment.  It wasn't super rude, but it shouldn't have been said.  It was not nice or appropriate.  Mom took me by the hair until we went outside so she could speak with me privately.  She didn't pull that hard, but she did get my attention, which was her goal.  Anyways, needless to say, I NEVER said anything rude, inappropriate or mean again at any performance whether it was a concert or a competition.  It got to the point that I started sitting away from my studio and dance teacher as once I realized what was being said, I just didn't want people to think I said those things too.  When I took students myself from the studio, we generally sat a few rows away from the rest of the studio.  Also I would talk to my students about what is nice and not nice to say.  Basically, I enforce the old "if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing" approach.  I to this day enforce that.  I only have one student's grandmother who needs to learn this because there are times I cringe when she speaks during competition.  It is quite embarrassing to the student too because she does know that it is mean to say what her grandmother says.  I won't every forget that moment with Mom though.  Ponytails come in handy to get a daughter's attention don't they?  Mom was there when I won 4th place overall in the competition the last year I competed myself.  She also took me to the nationals that summer and once again I won my category and I won 4th place overall.  We had a good time at competitions.  When I started going to AGM and then MMA, Mom went with me.  She always called herself my assistant.  It was great.  She would be in charge of music and getting it back from students so that I can do whatever duties I needed to do.  I do miss having my assistant at competitions.  Going by myself is not quite the same.


I do hope that this coming year is not so hard.  I am busier than I was when Momma first passed away.  I only had a few students and now I have a few more.  I did have my disability, but I can't pay all my bills just on my disability.  I am capable of working part time, full time no way.  That won't happen and I don't expect it to happen anytime in the future.  I have about 25 students with some every week, some every other week, and 4 once a month.  It is enough to keep me a bit busy and it is enough to pay the bills.  I have room for a few more students, but not too many.  I am happy with what I have right now.

I did have a few lessons today as usual.  Brooke started her lessons with me.  She has had one lesson, but that was more of a trial lesson.  She is a very nice girl.  Her sister will start with me on Thursday after Breanna's lesson.  It will be funny because Breanna will have her lesson and then Brianne will have hers.  After Brooke was Aaiyanna's lesson, and finally, Charlie with his lesson.  Charlie did an hour lesson this week and will do an hour next week too because we have one more lesson to make up.  It will work out really well because we have plenty of music to work on.  Brooke picked her Christmas songs this afternoon.  I have her in the piano/vocal Christmas book because it is harder.  It is the way the music was originally written and not made easier.  She was happy that I did that.  I asked her if easy piano would be good for her sister and she said yes.  I thought so and I am pleased that I have picked the right book for her.  Aaiyanna finished a few songs and is doing very well with her Christmas music.  I picked a bit of a hard one for her and she is doing really good.  She loves "Sleigh Song" and I know she practices a lot on that one.  I made the right decision in copying her music and putting it in a binder.  It is definitely better for her because she would have like 5 different books right now.  With her being so young, only 7, that is a lot of books for her to carry.  Only about 3 students have not picked Christmas Songs.

I am watching NCIS right now and then I will watch NCIS Los Angeles.

Overall, it hasn't been too sad a day.  It is better than I expected.  I have had some tears, but I expected that.  I can't believe it has been a year.  I wish she were here but I am thankful she is in Heaven without Alzheimer's Disease.  I wouldn't want her to be here and suffer that I wouldn't want but I do wish she were here.  I miss both the Mom she was before Alzheimer's and the Mom she became with Alzheimer's.  I do think that if she were still here at this point she would be a vegetable and bedridden.  I am thankful that I didn't have to see her lose her smile or for her to be bedridden despite how much I miss her.  I am also thankful for the amount of time I was able to spend with her.  My brothers did not get to spend the time with her that I did.  I feel bad that they missed so much time with her.  My friends and their children knew my mother better than her own children (except me) and grandchildren.  I wish they had the chance to spend the amount of time with her as I did.  I think they would have had a good time and a chance to see mom as a person not just as a mother.  Mom and I were more than just mother and daughter, we were also good friends.  I would have to say that she was one of my best friends.

I hope you are having a good day.

Monday 10-17

It has been a pretty decent type day so far.  I cried a bit because tomorrow is the anniversary of Momma's passing.  It started with my Muglia girls.  Lydia didn't have her lesson as she broke her wrist.  I felt so bad for the young lady!  No piano for a few weeks for my young girl.  Sarah, Hannah, and Natalie had their lessons.  All three did very well.  They are all working on their Christmas music at this point.  It was so neat this afternoon when the older two, Natalie and Hannah, and I talked about where they are in piano and where I am having them head.  They thought it was pretty cool that by the time they finish high school, they will be able to play pretty much whatever they want.  I don't think either really gave it any thought.  Right now they are playing piano/vocal/guitar music instead of the easy piano that they used to play.  I have some awesome music that I haven't had many play because many students quit before they get to this point.  Some are too busy or don't want to practice or whatever the reason, they just quit.  Sarah is doing pretty well too.  I am pleased with her.  She is just beginning the level B book and is learning her Christmas Songs too.  Left hand was a bit hard for her but she really had them down pat.

Rachel had a good lesson too.  Poor little one, she has a bit of a cold.  She seems to love the new computer game for music.  I do hope it will help her with her notes.  She is doing pretty well, but the game will also help her too.  Rachel is just an adorable young lady.  She is actually going to have her lesson on Halloween because the lesson will be early before trick or treating.  I have not taught on Halloween in so many years that it will be strange.  However, I am glad she is going to have her lesson and not miss anything.

Tomorrow Brooke and her sister Breanne will have their lessons, as far as I know.  Brooke is at 2:15 and Breanne is at 3.  They are new.  I am anxious to begin with them!  It should be good.  Tomorrow I have 4 lessons.

I do hope you are having a great day.

Pictures!

I almost forgot!  Here are a few pictures:

Top picture: Kathy, Me, Wendy, Peggy

Middle Picture: Lori, Andrea, Me

Bottome Picture, Andrea, Me

Where to begin! Oh My!!! 10-16-11

Last night was a fun night.  It really was.  I had sworn after high school that I would NEVER attend a class reunion.  Hm, I guess I lied?  I wasn't really sure I wanted to go but then Kathy and I talked about it and we decided we would attend.  I am so glad we did!  It was so much fun.  I had such a good time and I really needed it to.  I saw several people I was friends with in elementary school but then you know how things change in junior high and high school.  It was so nice to run into them there.  I think my facebook friends list may be growing!  They had a photo booth there and it was really cool.  Peggy, Andrea, Kathy, Karlyn, and I all got our pictures taken with it.  Normally, we all know I run the other way when it comes to pictures, but I feeling pretty good about my looks yesterday.  For a chub, I don't think I am that bad looking.  Yes, I soooo need to lose weight, but, overall, I wore make-up (yes, I know such a shock since I don't wear it everyday anymore) and I had a nice outfit on.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to wear but Kathy gave me the idea of my beautiful gold sweater.  It is an Elisabeth by Liz Claiborne sweater so I don't wear it everyday.  It had a skirt it belonged to, but like so much of my stuff, it got donated because they thought it was my mothers.  I just wish they had asked because I loved that skirt and I did wear it when I was on a cruise and for Christmas a few times.  It was nice and swishy.  Alas, it is gone now.  However, at least I have the sweater that went with it.  It is gold and black with sparkly things on it.  Very dressy and fun to wear.  I had my hair up in the usual ponytail as it wouldn't behave.  I had my bangs looking okay though.  I did, like I said, wear make up and I discovered my eyelid brush needs replacing.  It ripped.  the other end is a different kind of brush so that did work out well.  I got there a bit before 7 but Kathy and Peggy were already there.  It was so funny because when I got there they said here is your seat.  You are sitting between Kathy and me, that is what Peggy said.  I just laughed.  I took about 25 pictures.  I have some really fun pictures now of us.  Kathy got her hair cut and it looks so nice.  It is really pretty.  It is actually kind of funny because Kathy and I have similar taste in a lot of things, music, books, food, activities, and we have both worn the same hair style for the last 10 years!  Now she has a different look.  It suits her very well.  I am not ready to chop all my hair off but I know she has been wanting to do it for a long while.  One of my friends, Hunter, is a breast cancer survivor.  She has been battling it for the last year.  She has now beat it.  At first she had her wig on and then she took it off.  Her hair is starting to grow back.  She is a wonderful strong woman.  She came over to speak with us and get a few pictures!  There was only one slight mishap.  When Peggy, Kathy and I were looking at the yearbooks (yes, another thing I swore I would never do) I almost fell and took not only Kathy who I clung to but Peggy as well.  I don't know how I almost tripped, but I almost did.  thank goodness Kathy was standing strong and we didn't fall.  We all pretty much stayed until the end at midnight.  There was a few last pictures with us as a group and then we all said goodbye.  I would say one of the good things about facebook is that it allowed us to find high school friends so that they would know about the reunion.  That made a big difference although a lot of my facebook friends from high school did not attend.  I would say that about 1/3 of our graduating class was there.  I know that at one point one of the girls and another were arguing about how many were in our class.  One was adamant that we had over 600 and the other was like, only about 300.  I would say it was only about 300.  We did not have a huge class like the class of 1987 was.  They were a bit class.

Today, I had Calli's lesson and I burned a few more CDs for the concert.  Calli and I also went shopping.  We had a good time.  She was a bit thirsty when we were finished so I stopped and got her a drink at McDonald's.  Hey, for a dollar you can pick any size.  She wanted a medium.  She also was so very excited about the rice crispy treats I bought myself.  She ate one in the car.  Calli's dad and uncle were over helping with the shower head and with the railings.  I now have railings for the downstairs hallway!!!  This is simply wonderful!  It has been so hard for me to get up and down the stairs without them.  I don't have good balance so I am always afraid of falling.  Thank goodness I hadn't at that point.  Now, I don't have to worry because they are up and looking fine!  I think I will paint them white this winter.  This way, both will be same the color and maybe the two different styles won't matter much.

Well, Karlyn should be here for a little while in a few minutes.  I was teasing her last night.  I told Peggy and Kathy that she wouldn't be here until 8 and you know what?  I was right!  They arrived at 7:50 pm!  You see, Karlyn has mentioned to me that they are late for everything!  On Friday they were going to leave early, but it just didn't happen.  Things get in the way.  We all have that happen once in a while.

I do hope your weekend was good.  Mine was very good.

The Reunion!!!

The reunion was a FUN!!!  I had a great time.  I am glad I went.  Kathy is going to let me know if there is a lot of walking for the cider mill tomorrow.  If there is, then, I will not go, but if there isn't, I will.  that is how it stands now.  I just got home and I really had a wonderful time.  The committee did such a great job. I got lots of pictures and I will post them in the afternoon since technically, it is Sunday morning right now!  I am waiting for the dryer and then I am heading to bed!  Have an awesome night!!!