Beautiful day out today! 11-8

It is so beautiful out today.  It was nice and warm with a light breeze.  I totally loved it.  I had to go out to the bank and it was simply gorgeous!  It makes it hard to believe we are in November already!  I did hear that out east a lot of people got snow!  I am not ready for the white stuff yet!  Give me a few weeks and then we will talk about it, but not until then.  Tomorrow is supposed to rain, I think.  I am excited about tomorrow though because I will get to see my friend, Jennie!  We are meeting for lunch, so that should be awesome!

I donated 2 more violins to fundraisers today.  A face book friend of mine is hosting a fundraiser tomorrow so I asked if she needed more things for the auction.  She came by with her daughter this afternoon to pick out the violins.  Isabelle, her lovely 7 year old, picked them out.  Her daughter is such a loving, sweet girl.  It was like we were kindred spirits.  She is such a sweetheart.  Her mom really liked the gold one with Eeyore all over it.  I love Winnie the Pooh characters so much and so does she.  The wild thing about this? Debbie (the mom) and I actually knew each other in high school!  We did go to different schools but she was good friends with my good friend, Jodi!  Jodi is now on face book!  I have been looking for her for about 2 years now!  I found her!  I am so excited about that.  So I face booked Jodi a friend request and I do hope she accepts it.  From her picture, it looks like all her children are either almost grown up or already grown up.  The 2 boys are taller than her with one of her sons taller than his dad!  They look happy.  I haven't seen her in many, many years.  So not only did I find a way to connect with Jodi, I re-met Debbie!  It was a great meeting!  I also did find out that one of our mutual high school friends has since divorced and re-married.  I knew her first husband too.  We worked together at the parks.

Aaiyanna had her lesson.  She did pretty well.  We also worked on flash cards.  That was really cool.  She did pretty well.  I think she is also taking piano or did take piano.  Either way, learning to read notes will help her a lot in the long run.  I need to copy some of the sight singing for her so she can learn her notes better!  She is such a cutie and a really nice little girl.  She really is.  She does play with the stuffed animals that are on the other piano, which I need to remove so she can't be distracted with them, but overall for a 7 year old, she is doing really well.  We are working on her Christmas Concert music.  She is doing Sleigh Song, which she loves, and Gesu Bambino, which I love.  She seems to like it but I know she really likes Sleigh Song a lot.

Tonight is my lovely NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles!  I love those two shows.  After that, I will be heading straight to bed since I will be getting up rather early tomorrow to meet Jennie.  I don't mind because it will be so fun to be with her.  I haven't seen her since the reunion and before that it was spring since I had last seen her so tomorrow will be lots of fun.

I do hope you are having a good day.  I would say today was a good day for me too.

Monday 11-7

I had a good day today.  I woke up earlier because Maia needed to pick up the food that she stored in my chest freezer.  She woke me up.  I had a rough night last night so I didn't get up too early.  I hope next time she lets me know in advanced so I will be ready for her to be over to pick up the stuff.  After she left, I thought about going back to bed but I was slightly hungry so I went to Tim Horton's for brunch.  I haven't been there in a while so I thought I would go.  I ran into a nice couple that I have seen before.  It turns out that I went to high school with their daughter, Debbie.  She was so nice and she played the flute in marching band with me.  No wonder they always looked familiar to me.  They were very involved with band boosters like Mom was.  Then I saw a former student's Grandmother there.  I had a nice chat with her.  It was lots of fun.  From there I came home to teach Bob his lesson.  I had Katie, Isaac, and Laith's lessons after.  I have 2 new students with the online company this month.  One of them is a temp student until January.  She is in a show and needs to learn the music.  I will call the parents tomorrow.

I am tired as usual tonight.  I do hope to sleep better tonight.  I have to be up by 11:30 because Debbie is coming over to pick out 2 violins for a fundraiser she is heading up.  I also have to burn 2 CDs for Aaiyanna.  Her CDs are not working too well now.  She is only 7 and I don't think she takes super good care like an older child would.  Since it is a copied CD, I don't mind having to burn new CDs.  I expect them to need to be replaced every so often.

My tummy is a bit sore tonight.  I am not sure why but it is.  With me, who knows why anything happens.  Pain come and goes all the time.

I am watching House Hunters.  It is a rather amusing show to me.  This couple is looking for the first house and they are so picky but their budget is really small.  They want 3 bedrooms, large yard, large kitchen, and completely move in ready with a really small budget.  The wife wants perfect move in ready without having to do anything, no painting, and things like that.  The husband wants a good "value".  He is already looking to when they sell the house down the road.  Oh my!  It is making me giggle.  The word compromise is not really in their vocabulary.  The husband just now (after seeing over 30 homes) said maybe they would have to compromise.  Hm, even people who spend over a million dollars must compromise.  I think the new show tomorrow would be funny to watch but it is on at the same time as my NCIS so I won't be able to watch it unless they rerun it.  With HGTV they very well may.  It is called, My House, Your Money.  The parents are helping to buy the house with the kids so that will be funny.

I get to see my friend, Jennie Ross this week.  We are meeting on Wednesday for lunch.  Yes, I will have to get up early, but hey!  I get to see and hang out with Jennie so it is totally worth it to me.  To make the week even better?  I may get to see my friend, Wendy Davis on Friday for tea!  I mean add lessons in and that spells an awesome week.  I won't have any lessons on Sunday because Rick is gone for 2 months and my lovely Katie is getting her wisdom teeth out on Friday.  She is such a wonderful girl.  She really is.  I just simply adore her.  She has grown so much in the last 5 years.  Katie really has a good head on her shoulders.  She is very thoughtful and thinks about things before she does them.  I am so proud of her.  She is also seriously considering joining the church choir.  She attends the same church I do and I have told her all about the choir.  I do hope she is able to join but right now she is working on Sundays.

I do hope you are having a good day.

Time Change

Did I mention I had the time changing?  Hmm, I must not of, anyways, I hate the time changing.  It wrecks havoc all over my already bad sleep habits.  Last night I diligently set all the clocks back.  Only, I forgot to check the am and the pm on my alarm clock so it was set wrong and well, I missed church.  I don't have any lessons after all today because Rick cancelled and Katie is coming tomorrow instead of today, which works out just fine.  Whatever works for them, generally works for me.  I won't see Rick now until the 2nd Sunday in January.  He is heading to Hawaii for a month and then on to India for several weeks.  After that is the holidays (if he is even back at that time) and then, I will see him on the second Sunday in January.  It is really weird to think that January isn't that far ahead, even weirder is the holidays.  I mean, didn't we just end September?  It seems this way that is for sure.

I am super exhausted today for some unknown reason.  I got up rather late and then went to take about an hour nap.  I am still super tired.  I foresee going to bed rather early tonight.

It will be the usual busy type week with lessons and students getting ready for the Christmas concert (it is a month from today away!)  I will also get to see my friend, Jennie for lunch on Wednesday.  I am super excited about that.  I was supposed to see Wendy last Friday, but had to change at the last minute so I am hoping possibly this Friday if it works for her.  Nothing like hanging out with two friends in one week.  Tomorrow I need to copy some more music for Isaac for voice.  He is having his second lesson.  He is such a nice young man.  He plays piano too.  I will have 5 (2 for Isaac) lessons tomorrow.  Bob will have his usual lesson and Katie and Laith will have make up lessons.  This will be great.  I like being busy for lessons.  Rachel will have her lesson on Wednesday instead of Monday because Grandma is in California right now so Rachel's mom will need to bring the lovely young lady.  This will make 3 lessons on Wednesday instead of 2.  I like that.  Tuesday only has the regular 2 right now.  In a few weeks, I will have a new one on Wednesday.  That will be nice.  He is 5 and starting piano.  I did call his mom but I left a message.  I will have to try again tomorrow because maybe they are going this weekend.  Anyways, I will somehow get a hold of her.  I need to let her know about the books he needs.  I will pick them up but she will need to pay me back for them.  Only once this summer did I not get paid back for the books so I want to make sure she knows she needs to pay for the books too.  Usually, the parents don't have a problem with paying me back, but once in a while they don't and that is bad.

Not too much going on today.  I called Kathy and talked to her for a bit.  She didn't have a long time to talk because she needed to pick up Matthew from church.  He is being confirmed this year.  I vaguely remember being confirmed.  We were in 6th grade, although now they confirm children at our old church in 8th grade.  At Kathy's church it is the 8th grade too.  I vaguely remember we went on a few retreats for confirmation and we visited several other churches.  I remember we went to a Bar Mitzvah, a Catholic church, another non-Christian church but I can't remember which one.  I just remember we all took our shoes off inside of it.  It was also very pretty inside.  I have a picture on my computer of Mom, Andrew, Richard, and I at my confirmation.  Andrew was confirmed the year after me.  (Since he is a year younger than me, this makes perfect sense).  I think he liked it too.  We had the coolest associate pastor at that time.  His name now escapes me.  He came back a couple of years ago to be the senior pastor at our church but he has since moved on.  I don't really know who is the ministers at my old church these days.  Back then, Andrew and I rarely missed church.  We had the coolest Sunday school teacher, Mr. Weaver.  We really liked him.  I was in the youth group for about one year.  The second year it was more of a bible study and I wasn't too interested in that so I didn't go very often plus I was rather busy.  It was hard to fit it in.

I have to go and pay a few bills now.  It is that time of the month!  Bills like to be paid, that is for sure!

I hope you are having a good day and are staying nice and toasty warm!

Brrr, it is getting chilly outside 11-5

I can't believe how chilly I am right now.  The thermostat says 72.5 degrees yet I am freezing.  I also have on a sweatshirt and knit pants so I shouldn't be so cold, but I am.  It is strange, I know, but I suppose since it is November I should be expecting a bit colder weather.  I have a lovely, light blue, really warm winter jacket so I am pleased about that.  I got it for Christmas last year and it was definitely Heaven sent!  I love this jacket a lot.  I am as ready as I can be for winter.  I have my little heater ready to run when needed.  I have all my blankets on my bed ready to help me have a nice, warm night.  I have my 2 main blankets with several fleece blankets at the foot of my bed for when I get cold.  I also have nice warm flannel pajamas.  I do want another pair, Christmas ones!  the ones I have now are winter ones with penguins and polar bears on the bottoms, but I want a Christmas pair.  I think I am finally getting a bit warmer.  I have the little heater on because I have been so cold this evening.  I just turned it off since I am now warm again.  Finally!  It isn't super cold out yet!  I am not ready for winter yet, but I will be soon.

It has been a rather quiet day.  I had Sandra's and Camille's lessons.  Both are doing very well with their Christmas Concert songs.  I am quite pleased with their progress.  Camille's little sister wants to sing.  She is a doll let me tell you.  Camille and her 2 sisters are such cute and sweet girls.  Both younger sisters came to the lesson today and they brought coloring books and crayons to keep them busy today.  They both color very well and made lots of pretty pictures.

I have to remember to put my clocks back an hour tonight.  Yeah!  I get an extra hour of sleep before I drag my sorry butt out of bed for church.  I have the songs we are singing with the congregation so I will bring those with me.  I love singing with the choir.  Before, when I sang in the choir, the rehearsals seemed to last forever, this time, they go super fast.  It is very strange about that.  I don't know really what the difference is, but there is one.  It is also nice to not be the strongest and one of the best singers in the choir.  In this choir, I am one of several strong singers and I am not the best, I am good, but it is nice to not be the top for a change.  It really lets me enjoy the choir and not have to lead a section, we all work together.  I am really enjoying singing with this choir despite the super duper early hour I have to get up to attend.

I don't have any plans for the evening.  I may watch a movie since I picked up some this week: the new Pirates movie, the new Winnie the Pooh movie, and Monte Carlo.  I am anxious to watch them all.  I am watching the news right now so I know what the weather will be for the week.  I like to plan ahead with the wardrobe.  Tomorrow I will wear my pretty sweater for church and my nice dress pants with it.  i love the dress pants (I have 2 pairs exactly the same) even though they are really more fall/spring weather type.  I wear them year round because they fit beautifully and I love them so much.

My student, Sandra said she would help put away music after the Christmas Concert.  Wow, that will be so helpful.  I can take care of the CDs while she takes care of the sheet music/books.  I have so many that need to be put away.  I sure miss my assistant (Mom) for jobs like this.  I was so spoiled because she was so helpful.  Believe me, I appreciated that she helped me stay organized.  I really did.  I didn't take for granted her help.  I have had some help with Katie since Mom passed away too.  I just really appreciate my students helping me.  I have such a hard time standing there to put the stuff away.  If it was a small pile of music, it would be different, but it isn't, it is several piles of music.  2 on the pianos, 2 on the other piano bench, 2 on the dinning room table and 2 boxes in the office with a small pile on top of the file cabinets.  That is a lot of music that needs to be put away!  I can help by gathering it and putting it in order.  I will work on that between now and after the Christmas Concert.

I am going to clear off the dining room table this weekend so I can change tablecloths.  I have a really pretty one that is for fall and Thanksgiving.  I need a new one for Christmas but I will get that when they come out.  Right now, they only have the Thanksgiving ones out at the store.  I am not sure when I will decorate for Christmas outside of doing it after Thanksgiving.  I am going to ask if Lily would like to come and help.  She is a very creative young lady.  She had surgery about a week ago on her ankle.  She will have the other ankle taken care of during her Christmas vacation.  Lily is such a strong girl that I imagine she will bounce back quickly.  I simply adore that young lady as well as her sisters.  They are all such neat women.  Elyse is married (when did she get that old???).  Her wedding was the last big event Momma attended.  She had a good time while we were there.  Emily just graduated from high school.  I still have her Graduation present to give her.  I hope to catch up with her sometime.  Last, but certainly not least, is Lily.   Lily is in middle school and seems to be doing very well.  She is smart girl, extremely bright.  I expect that by the time she is a junior in high school that she will most likely be taking a few college courses for things like science and math.  So anyway, I hope to see Lily before her surgery to hang out for a while.

I am going to work on the subdivision newsletter now.  I am in charge of the newsletter.  For a change, we actually have lots of things to let the subdivision know about.  This is unusual because quite often there just isn't too much going one but with the holidays coming up, we have much to write about.

I do hope you have a great day too!

November 4

It has been a good day so far.  I am tired now, but since it is near 9 pm that would be normal.  Tomorrow I will have 2 lessons for the day, just Camille and Sandra.  Sunday has 2 lessons too plus church in the morning.  I will have time before the lessons to take a nap.  That will be very necessary since I have to get up so early for church.  This is the last week for Rick until January.  It should be a good lesson!

I went to Walmart this evening after Emily's lesson.  I checked out prices of Blue Ray players because right now pretty much a lot of the movies are coming out in blue ray combo packs.  That was how I had to buy the new Pirates movie.  I don't have a player and after checking out how much they are, it will be a rather long time until I get one.  They are about $100 or so and I don't have that kind of money to get one right now.  Perhaps next summer or fall I can get one.  I can save for one after I pay off the taxes.  I believe that this month I will again be able to pay $400 payment.  That will be awesome because if I keep this up, I will have the bill paid in full at the deadline and I will not lose the house.  So far, I am doing really good with it all.  I went in Walmart to pick up milk and bread, just milk and bread.  However, you know how it goes, you walk out with so much more (like 2 movies - Pirates and Winnie the Pooh, 6 soup cans - they were on sale, socks - I needed some, new Christmas lights for the tree - I only have 1/2 the tree with lights, and a few other items I can't think of at this time).  Next time, I will write a list and stay with it or I hope I will.  The only movie I plan to purchase now is the Harry Potter movie and that will be next Friday.  I am excited about this movie.  I love the Harry Potter stories so much.  Now when I see them, I remember how much Momma loved the Harry Potter movies  and books too.  When I had my blood clot, she came to visit me everyday and the first few days I was really in so much pain and I was so out of it.  Mom read to me and she read the first Harry Potter book.  She knew I had read it and how much I loved it, so she thought it would be good to read to me.  When the lady who was in the bed next to me went home, she came over to ask Mom what book she was reading and who it was by because she had to go buy so she would know what happened.  Mom and I chuckled together after that.  It took about 2 weeks to recover from the blood clot although after the blood clot I have had trouble with walking and standing.  It was as if the blood clot made the fibro and arthritis worse.  I don't know why, but I could no longer walk 1 to 2 miles a day.  I haven't been able to walk that much since then.  I try not to think about that because it upsets me.

Things are going pretty well for me.  I was so scared after Momma passed away.  I really was because I had never lived on my own.  I always had Mom because I never moved out.  I had opportunities to move out, I just never really wanted to.  Mom and I got along really well and so I never really wanted to go anywhere.  The furthest I moved was down the hall.  I always had the small room because I didn't have to share.  After my younger brother moved out, I joked with Mom that I could have the big room now.  We scrubbed the walls and steam cleaned the carpet.  When I came home that Saturday, I went to my room only to discover it was almost empty.  I called out to mom and asked what happened to my stuff.  She said go look in the other room.  I went and well, I had moved to the bigger room.  I was very excited.  When Andrew moved back in a few months later, he moved into my old room.  A few weeks later Andrew asked if he could have his room back.  Mom said no, it's Heather's room now.  He said okay.  I don't really think it fazed him what room he was in, but my old room is so apparent that it was a girls room at one time.  i had a purple rug with yellow walls.  The drapes are white with flowers on it and so was the bedspread.  I didn't have a lot of students, about 7 with 4 being once a month, 1 every other week and the others weekly.  However, within weeks of Momma passing away I began to get more students.  It has increased ever since.  The students I received from the online company in January have all quit since then.  Many were adults, some were temporary, and a couple were middle school students who supposedly quit for the summer but I haven't heard from them since.  I do still have almost everyone who started in the summer and a few not from the online company that are still with me.  It is working out very well.  We are all getting ready for our Christmas concert and some, competition.  I still miss Mom immensely and all the time but the fear isn't as bad.  It isn't as scary as it was a year ago at this time.  With time, I think it will improve.

I do hope you are having a good day too.

"you thought of me, above all" 11-3

This song, "Above All" is what we are singing this Sunday.  It is a wonderful song that for the last week would in my head at random times.  I am really enjoying being a member of this choir.  I am an official member now.  We use planningcentralonline.com to keep track of the music we are doing and the hymns too.  It is a traditional service with a mix of traditional hymns and praise songs.  I love the blend, which surprises me because I am more of a traditionalist and want hymns but I am finding the mix is great.  I do really like the new church too.  I did like the one I was raised in, but I was invited to join this choir and I was looking to try a new church.

It was a very busy day for teaching too.  I had 6 lessons.  I had planned on 7 but Brianne was absent.  She had to stay after school to do a project so she couldn't attend her lesson.  Brooke, her sister, had her lesson and is doing really well with the difficulty of her Christmas Music.  She also is going to start a David Lantz Christmas piece too.  I think she will do very well.  Joiene and Benjy had their lessons too.  Despite not practicing, Benjy is doing pretty well.  I really wish they would practice, but I can't seem to impress upon their mom how important it is for them to practice.  Benjy wants to play well and you can tell when he is here, he really wants to be here (and not just for the legos either!)  Breanna had switched her song from "Jingle Bell Rock" to "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".  She and I went over the chords for the song because she wants to play it on the guitar while she sings.  Allison finally received her new piece for the concert, "Do You Hear What I Hear".  She did very well when we went over the song.  So, over all, the students are coming along with their Christmas Concert music.  The concert is one month from tomorrow, ahhh!  I am a bit nervous about having it so early, but it is the date we received so we will all make it work.  In a way, it is better to have it so early.  One because then the students can just enjoy their other activities during the season and two, the students will have more lessons in December.  What started to happen is that after the concert, students would take off until they went back to school in January.  This way, I hope no one will stop until January because it is so early in the month.  Laith also had his lesson.  He has the hand positions that are new down pat.  he is playing his songs really well.

I am tired now because of how busy today was.  I am thankful for the busyness of the day.  I look forward to being busy during the week.  It makes the day better and go faster.  I really hope that by end of January, I will be at my limit for students.  That would be beautiful.

I hope your day was as good as mine.

memories, light the corners of my mind

I am missing Mom so much these past few days.  I have memories coming to me a lot (happy ones though, not sad).  I just miss the little lady so much.  I am thankful though, that I have the good memories to think about and not bad memories to think about.  It is kind of funny, but I don't remember the bad times as much now that she is in Heaven.  I only really remember the good times with her like when we saw Amy Grant and she pretended that she forgot to go and get the tickets.  I had given her the money for the tickets the night before and she was supposed to go the next day while I was teaching.  When I came home, she said she forgot to go and we would go the next day.  I was really disappointed but I tried not to show it.  I figured she probably got caught up in a project and time slipped away.  That night she came in my room and asked me to help her get this paper out of her pockets.  I thought it was a really strange request (this was years and years before Alzheimer's) but I did it anyway.  I reached into her pocket and pulled out the paper.  It was Amy Grant tickets for her Christmas show.  Mom had gotten us 5th row main floor.  I asked her how because I had given her enough money for balcony.  She smiled and said she knew how much I love Amy Grant and pitched in the rest of the money for a Christmas Treat.  (Oh, and she was 2nd in line at the store.  She waited about 45 minutes before it opened so we would get good tickets)  We had a great time at the concert.  Michael W. Smith was there too.  This was very typical of my mother.

the First day of November!!

I am so glad today is the first of November!  I really am.  I only had 1 lesson today instead of 2 but I will see Charlie for an hour next week for his lesson.  He is such a nice young man.  I am really not going to like it when he stops lessons after graduation this spring.  He is a senior so our time is limited.  Aaiyanna had her lesson and she is doing pretty well with her Christmas Songs.  She is 8 years old and very cute.  She has a nice voice too.  The change between her chest and head voice is pretty smooth for her age.

I went to the subdivision meeting tonight.  It was lots of fun to go.  We talk about a lot of things during the meeting.  I am writing the newsletter for our subdivision.  I will have it ready to go by the end of the week. I will then email it to John and then he sends it to the guy who copies it.  I will pick it up and the kids will deliver it.  First, I must finish the letter.  I thought I had all the stories I needed but I have a few other things to put in it.  I really only wanted a 2 pager.  I don't want anymore than that.  I will work on this tomorrow.

I also have to make the flyer for the Christmas Concert.  I will probably do that tonight or tomorrow.  I have a blood test tomorrow so I will be up a bit earlier than usual.  I can always take a nap if necessary.  I took one this evening before I went to the meeting.  I was rather tired today.  I have a bit of a bad headache now.  I hope it improves soon because I don't want to go to bed with it.

I am really tired tonight so I am going to take some medicine and hope that they bad headache goes down to the regular headache.  I do hope you have had a good day.

IRS and other random thoughts 10-31

I received a letter from the IRS today.  It is over the payroll taxes from the store I had.  I had a payroll company do my payroll and stuff but when the store closed they did the end of the year paperwork but never sent it in.  Needless to say, this was a surprise when I got notices about this.  Since then I have sent in all the paperwork.  Well, they lost the W-2s and W-3 from that year.  I was on the phone with them but I only had to wait about 30 minutes (which for them, that isn't a bad wait) until I talked to a real live person.  He was very helpful.  He was polite and nice too.  I always heard that they are not, well, my experience (as limited as it is) has been that they have wanted to help and they were polite.  He told me to make a copy of the W-2s (all 7 of them) and the W-3 and send them in.  He gave me the address and told me what part of the notice to send in with them.  Talk about a good thing.  I was very pleased.  He put a hold on any action and said most likely when they balance, everything will be dropped and that will be the end of the paperwork mess up from the store.  The only thing left for me, paperwork wise, is paying on the sales and use tax that we owe from the last year.  I am on a payment plan and that paperwork is all taken care of.  Thank goodness for that.  I am very happy about how this is turning out.  I will copy those papers this evening and mail them tomorrow.  It shall be done quickly on my part so that they get them sooner and can put them in the beginning of the process to take care of them.

I think I am missing Mom a bit more than normal because it is Halloween.  She really liked the younger children and their costumes.  It was just something that she loved.  Then again, Mom just really liked children.  She had worked with children since she was 14 when she was a girl guide (Canada's girl scouts) leader.  From there Mom went to work with Army Cadets in Windsor (boy do I remember that!  I have lots of memories of being at camps and away with them) to working with my students for sewing and other things.  Mom just enjoyed children a lot.  I would say that Mom really loved lots of things.  I am hiding in the house tonight because I just don't really want to do much.  Trick or Treating here lasts from 6 pm when the sirens go off to 8 pm when the sirens go off again.  I do like how the fire department lets people know when it starts and when it ends.  It really is for the best this way.  When we were small we would go to our elementary school for trick or treating.  Sometimes I would do a lot and other times I would be with mom in the classroom where she would be passing out the candy.  I really liked how the school had a party because all the candy was checked by the fire department (back then people would put glass or razor blades or something equally dangerous in children's candy) and you had a safe environment to go trick or treating.  My friends would all be there too and as we got older we could go without my Dad taking us around.  We would all meet in the gym/lunch room where they would be serving cider too.  I just remember it being a good time the times that we did it.  I know in early elementary we did this, but I don't remember later elementary after my dad left.  I don't remember too much about Halloween then.  I know at one point it was just Mom, Andrew, and I but I don't really remember too much about it.  I have a picture of Andrew and I in our costumes in 4th and 5th grades in the china cabinet.  I was a princess and I wore one of my Mom's fancy dresses.  It was pink (naturally!) and I loved it.  She even had a little jacket to go with it so I wouldn't get cold.  The little jacket was white.  I remember the other holidays so much better than Halloween.

I was thinking about Mom earlier today and that brought some memories out of all of us together.  I have very little memories of my dad.  The only reason I know what he even looks like is because I have a picture of him in one of the picture albums.  I don't know what brought this memory on except I was scratching the top of my arm where my booster shot scar is.  I do remember that day really well.  Mom was never really allowed to tell Dad when she took us to the doctor because he felt his first wife was constantly taking my sister (I have never met her, she lives in England as far as I know and is 16 years older than me) so he didn't want Mom taking us "all the time".  So she just never really mentioned it to him whenever we went.  Well, that day was my booster shot.  Remember how much those hurt?  I do remember because I didn't cry too much I got to pick out a book to buy.   (That was Mom's bribe, a book if you don't cry)  I remember we went during the day so I missed a bit of school.  I was not unhappy about that.  I didn't like school then either.  We came home, Mom made dinner and I remember we were sitting at the counter in the kitchen not at the dining room table.  I was sitting to the right of my dad and Mom was at the left end of the counter.  I must have been wiggling (that was usual for me.  I wiggled all the time) and Dad got mad.  i remember trying to not wiggle, but it was hard so of course, being the young child I was, I wiggled again.  He smacked my arm exactly where the booster shot site was!  I immediately burst into tears because that sucker hurt.  My dad was like, what I didn't hit her hard.  I jumped down from my seat and went to Mom to be soothed.  Mom just quietly said, she had a booster shot today and you hit her where she got the shot.  He didn't apologize, he just said, well, she shouldn't have been wiggling.  I have very few other memories of him, but this is the strongest one I have.  I do remember Mom putting ice on the spot to help it stop hurting.  She even let me sleep in her bed with her that night.  I have so few memories of my dad (he left when I was about 8 and the last time I saw him I was 9) but boy do I have many of Mom.  Mom used to tell me how she knew when I was faking sick to stay home from school.  I would go to my dad and say I didn't feel good.  If I went to her, i was really sick.  She told me this when I was in my 20s.  Of course, this all changed after he left.  Then I just went to mom.  By that time though, I was having so much trouble with my tummy, that I missed generally at least once a week or once every other week.  It wasn't until I was 40 when the doctor said what was wrong.  My stomach doesn't digest properly.  That is why I take reglan.  It is kind of funny to realize how quickly we adjusted to no dad, but the adjusting to no Mom is so hard.  I guess we were so used to dad traveling all the time that it didn't make a difference.  We always had Mom with us and she was the one who took really good care of us.  Even he admitted at the time of the divorce (in court no less! and he was mean to Mom during the divorce) that she was a really good mother.  She certainly was.  Yes, she made mistakes, but we talked about those when I was an adult and she apologized for some of the things she did.  I apologized, she apologized and we put it behind us.  I think that was when we became more than Mother and daughter, we were friends.

I do hope everyone has a good Halloween and a good day.  I am enjoying the peace and quiet here in the dining room.  I think I am going to make some chili for dinner now.

The day before Halloween

I don't particularly like Halloween.  I am not really sure why, outside of it is such a focus on horror and I am not a horror girl.  I can't watch scary movies or horror movies.  I can't read scary books or horror books either so I am just not into Halloween.  Mom loved seeing the smaller kids dress up for Halloween and come to our house trick or treating.  I am not going to be passing out any candy this year.  I am just not up to it.  It is going to be cold and rainyish and well, I just can't stand that long.  If it was nicer out then I could sit outside and pass out candy but it isn't going to be nice so no trick or treaters for me.  I will do what I did last year, sit inside and watch TV.  There was a time a few years ago we had a lot of high schoolers who wouldn't even dress up.  They wouldn't even wear a mask!  It was insane.  Fortunately, the few years have been more littler ones.  Those are the ones Mom loved to see.  When we were small, Mom decorated the house for Halloween but not with anything scary.  We had a witch, but she was a pretty one, and I think we had some cute ghosts too.  I don't completely remember.  I just remember how Mom loved to decorate for every holiday.  She never missed one when we were growing up.  I have some nice window clings for Thanksgiving this year.  I will put those on the windows but I don't know where our other decorations went.  They were for on the table.  I will have help decorating for Christmas, Lily will be here for that.  I am going to see if she wants another gingerbread house.  If she does, then I will get one for her, if not, that is okay too.  It is all up to the lovely young lady.  Whatever she would like, works for me.

I took a nap after church today.  Yes, I actually made it to church again!  I was there for 7:30 am.  I sang with the choir and enjoyed myself.  After the choir was over, Carolyn (another really nice young lady) and I went to sit with her family.  I think next week I will leave my coat with her family since I will be sitting with them.  I love her family.  They are simply wonderful people.  I am thankful they invited me to sing in the choir.  I am hoping Katie will join too as she is a wonderful singer and a great young lady too.  My Katie goes to the same church and it was a nice surprise to realize that.

I don't have any students today.  I had my normal Sunday student on Saturday this week.  It worked best for his schedule so I didn't mind.  Next week will be the last time he will have a lesson until January.  He is going to Hawaii and India.  He will be gone for about 2 months total.  I do hope he has a good time.  I will be burning CDs this afternoon for this week.  I went and bought some ink for the scanner so I can make some copies.  I need to copy Isaac's music for him.  Katie is making copies for her and Calli.  I have to make copies for Allison and for Natalie too.  Many of the students already have their music.  These are the last of the students who need them except for Isaac, the newest of the crew.

I don't really have any plans for the evening today except for watching some TV and maybe movie.  I don't know.  I am reading a good book so I may just finish it for the evening.  I know what I should do, but I am not in the mood.  I should be emptying the table and putting music away.  I also should be vacuuming the floor too, but I am just not in the mood for anything like that.  I will do it this week.  I also need to fold some clothes that are on the hangers in the back room.  They are the few clothes left of Mom's.  I am definitely not in the mood for that.  I need to though this week, because the pile of clean clothes of mine on the dryer is getting bigger and I need to hang up some of those clothes so I can take them upstairs.

Well, I am going to read for a bit.  I do hope you are having a good day too.  It has been.  Church was good and so was the nap.

Saturday 10-29

I can't believe that October is almost over.  I think I say that every month.  Time is going so fast some days.  Today is one of them.  I have 3 lessons, Camille, Rick, and Katie and all but Katie is finished.  I was copying her music but the black ink is out on the printer.  I will have to pick some up this week because I will need to make copies for Allison and Natalie.  Actually, I think I will have to pick it up tomorrow since I need the music by Wednesday.  It won't be a problem, I will go after church tomorrow.  They should be open by the time I finish church.  After that, I can come home and take a nap.  I have all day tomorrow to get the rest of the music organized for the concert.  I also need to make a flyer for the concert so everyone knows the date and time.

I am glad this horrible month is almost over.  With the except of a couple of birthdays, I simply hate the month of October now, just hate it.  I am glad it is almost November despite it being a dreary month, it will be better than October.  I only have 2 more days I have to get through and them a new month will be here. I will be hiding on Halloween just like I did last year.  I just am not ready to take over Mom's passing out the candy post.  Halloween has never been my favorite holiday, even when I was a child.  I like the costumes part of it but I never really got to eat any of the candy I collected.  My brothers got to eat theirs and my candy.  I think I got maybe 2 or 3 pieces total for Halloween.  I was glad when I was not going trick or treating.  Halloween parties were more fun.

It seems that the last flare is over now.  Thank goodness!  My hips have been okay all week so I am glad about that.  It was so hard to walk last week when the left hip was flaring so bad.  I still have trouble lying on my back at night, but I always have trouble with that.  I lay on my sides and it is much more comfortable to me.  It doesn't hurt my hips or my back when I do that.  Otherwise, my hips and back are really unhappy campers and that is not good.

After Katie this evening, I won't have any more lessons for the week.  Rick came today instead of Sunday because it was best for his schedule.  It works for me.  I like to be super flexible when I can because then if I need to change a lesson for a day, my students and their families are more willing to change.  It works out well for both of us.  A perfect example was the reunion weekend a few weeks ago.  I needed Friday cleared so my students came on Sunday and Saturday.  If I was not so flexible, I would have lost out on lessons, but this way everyone is happy.  My new students are more into rescheduling than canceling and I love that.  My old ones also are more into rescheduling rather than just flat out canceling.  It really works for the both of us, the student and me.

I am going to start cutting out the ornaments this week, I think.  First though, I must clear off the dining room table.  It is covered with CDs and music!  It is simply covered!  I have a small spot for my computer and for me to eat, but that is it!  I have the lovely new tablecloth that I am also anxious to put on.  I have a wonderful quilting mat that I can use to measure and cut the materials out on.  I bought the mat about 2 years ago when Mom and I were going to learn how to quilt.  Now, i am not so interested in it, but maybe someday I will be.  I like the mat for other things too so that is good.  I am anxious to have an area strictly for sewing downstairs.  It will be nice to use.  I will also be able to watch TV (when I get one for downstairs) in the family room too.  I may buy a smaller one for up here and move the bigger one downstairs again where it originally was.  I don't know.  It depends on the money situation, of course,  I can't do anything until the property taxes are completely paid for the year.  Once that is in hand, I will be able to save smaller payments for the next year taxes and perhaps be able to buy a new TV for the kitchen/dining room area.  I also have to have the carpet put on the stairs this winter.  I have both the carpet and the padding, it just needs to be installed.  I have the name of a person to do this but I am also going to check on Angie's list as that seems to be a good way to go.

I am going to read for a few minutes, Katie should be here shortly.  It has been a nice and busy day with lessons and getting music ready for lessons.  I am getting up super early tomorrow for church.  I do hope you are having a good day too.