It has been a rather slow day here. Mom woke really early, about 8 am. I know this because Mother Nature was calling and I peeked in on her and she was awake. I scooted by and went back to bed. I got up a few hours later and checked in on her and she was still awake and ready to start her day. So we got up, got ready, and went to our usual. We ran into Rosemary and her husband, Irv, there. We had a nice time visiting them. After that we had to go to Walmart to get a few things, like prescriptions, ensure, and a new back pack for Mom. I want her to have one so when we go out I can carry her disposable undies and wipes in it as well as ensures. She now has a princess back pack. It's pink and has all the princesses on it. I think it is really cool. I was going to get her a cloth one, but this one you can put bottles in the bottle carrier on each side of it, so that was why it won.

I have had a kind of bad weekend except for when I was at my uncle's. I had to unfriend someone because one of my good friends unfriended me because I was friends with this person on face book. Now, last week was the first time I have seen this person in 2 years, and I had no idea that I shouldn't be friends with this person as it puts my good friends child in danger due to a stalker. Not only was this young person friends with my other friend's stalker, she enabled him to find my friend's child. I had absolutely no idea. It took me several days to figure out how to unfriend someone, but I have now done it. I appreciate that they let me know after one of my posts but it took several days to fix this issue. It is now fixed. That person is now deleted and the child is now safe on my face book. I hope they refriend me. It makes it rather easy to get in touch when needed. I don't understand why someone would help someone stalk another person, but that is just wrong. Simply wrong. Another person should NEVER help another person stalk someone, even if they are all teenagers. I talked to one of the good friend's and let them know I took care of the problem and apologized and said again I had no idea. I will talk to his wife, hopefully, later tonight or this week or he will let her know. What a close call that was. It could have been a disaster but it wasn't.

I had only Charlie's lesson today. He is doing well and is almost done with his solo he is working on. Zach will have his lesson tomorrow as he had no car to drive to his lesson so he will come tomorrow.

It is really nice out today, not too hot or humid unlike what it is going to be like tomorrow. Tomorrow will be hot and humid, yuck, that is all I can say. Although I am thankful that I don't live where one my friend's live. She lives near the desert in California. They are getting over 100's for temperatures! I hope she is staying cool.

I hope this finds you doing well.

It was a great day, 5 lessons!!! Yup! 5 of them. It would have been 7 but 2 students are absent due to camps. One is a mini band camp and the other is at the Bear Lake camp. First up was the Muglia house. Natalie, Hannah, and Lydia all had their piano lessons first thing in the afternoon. We got up early to be there on time and we were still about 5 or so minutes late! Ugh! Someday, I will get there on time again. I hate being late for anything. Mom did pretty well, she asked to see me a couple of times during the first lesson, Natalie's. I was not happy but what could I do? Between Natalie and Lydia's lessons I moved Mom into their living room where she fell asleep and no more problem! It was a great solution to that issue. After the 3 lessons we headed back home to be there in time for Aggie's lesson. I had to call Aggie on the way to let her know we may be late and we were, about 5 minutes. Then Aggie and I looked for some of the music she needed and it turns out I don't have it. That is a drag. I will look to see what book it is in, because I swear I thought I had the book. I will be checking into it. Bob arrived for his lesson at the end of Aggie's. She is almost finished with her Broadway pieces, she has a bad habit of singing through rests so she has a few she must fix to be done with the songs. Bob has picked 2 new classical pieces to work on, Mozart's Sonata and a Bach Two Part Invention. They are really nice songs and I think he will enjoy learning them. I love the songs he chose. He also took my advice to go on YouTube to watch some pianists play those particular pieces. Frank is the one who told me about it. He chose his competition pieces by what he liked to hear.

Mom is playing with the table cloth again. She does this often. I bought her the fiddling toys, but she doesn't really use them, she fiddles with Kleenex, empty boxes, and table cloths instead. Oh yeah, she also plays with my computer mouse and mouse pad. It is very strange and sometimes annoying. I don't know how to change her focus to fiddling with something else. I have tried a few other things that just haven't worked.

It is pretty nice out today not too humid but the humidity is coming back tomorrow, I think. Yuck, I really hate the humidity. We will also have some storms again. I can't wait for summer to be over and fall to be here. For some crazy reason, my left arm, where it has never hurt, is now hurting. Where it usually hurts, it doesn't, but the back part of the arm does. Strange, I know. My head isn't too bad today, just the normal ache. I wonder what it is like not to have a headache. I really don't remember, I have had a headache for about 6 years now. I can't remember what it is like not to have pain somewhere in my head. Of course, I have had pain somewhere in my body for so long I don't remember a pain free body either. Such is the course of a life with fibromyalgia.

Not too much happening for the rest of the week. I have 2 lessons tomorrow and then 1 more on Saturday, Mom has the visiting nurse visit and 2 visits from the physical therapist, but other than that, we have nothing planned. I do need to go and get my blood medicine tomorrow as well as some more ensure plus for Mom. We don't need any new groceries because we have enough in the freezer and Michelle loaded us up with food for the week. I separated the mashed potatoes into 6 different smaller containers. We finished the turkey tonight so tomorrow we will have the pulled pork. I will be freezing some of that too because it is a big container. I froze the oriental chicken and rice also. Next time I go shopping I am planning to get some cabbage and bacon. Michelle makes a really cool dish with that so I am going to try it. She said it doesn't take too long so standing may not be a problem. I will attempt it next month. Mom eats better when I make fresh food (I know, big shock!) Although, she does eat the frozen cooked chicken well and likes it a lot. That is what she gets a lot because she needs the protein for her sore.

Mom's pressure sore is getting smaller. She is doing really well with eating and drinking a lot of protein. She has really benefited with change of diet. She is much stronger than she was a couple months ago. She does still have some trouble at night with the stairs, but that depends on how tired she is. If she is very tired, then she has a bit of trouble. I asked her if it hurts to go up and she has said no every time I ask, so I am not worried about that anymore. This morning she woke up before me (nothing unusual in that) and got a bit upset because she couldn't see anyone. When our money comes in this week we are going to get some monitors so I can put one in her room and one in mine. We can also use them when she is in the living room and I am working or busy in another room. This way, I can be in another room from Mom and still hear her if she needs me.

Well, storms and humidity are on the way. I hope you are staying cool and dry in this weather. I hope you are having a good day and enjoying yourself!

We spent the day at my uncle's. It was a lot of fun. Even my little brother, Andrew was there. Tillie wasn't. We finally got a hold of her at about 6 pm and she was sick which is why she wasn't there and didn't call to tell us. She slept the entire day away. We didn't stop by her house to drop off her magazines and mail. She said she was really sick so we stayed away. Andrew and my cousin, Jayson, went swimming in the afternoon before dinner in the pool. Mom and I stayed inside. I don't do swimming very often and I didn't feel like it today. Besides, I am not even sure my bathing suit fits me. I highly doubt it. I do have 2 of them, but I haven't worn them in a couple of years and I think I have gained a bit of weight since I last wore them. Since I don't swim much, it isn't an issue.

Mom looked really cook in her turquoise hoodie. It is one of the ones my uncle got her for her birthday. She has about 8 hoodies now, all but 1 are for spring/summer wear. I will have to get her a few for winter as she only has the 1. Although she does have 2 fleece jackets she wears in the winter.

We are going back to my uncle's in a few weeks. I like seeing him and his family on a regular basis. It is a lot of fun and I know Mom really enjoys herself too even if she can't remember after a few days. When we left, Mom has a bit of a hard time coming down the two steps into Uncle John's garage so Andrew just picked up Mom and carried her down. It didn't frighten her at all, no tears like I was afraid would happen, absolutely none. She took it all in stride and then he helped her walk to the car and she got in by herself. She has been able to do that again for a few weeks now. I don't have to help her in or out of my car, she has difficulty with other people's cars, but not mine. She is used to mine.

I have 5 lessons tomorrow. I am so excited about that. We do have to get up earlier than usual as the first lesson is at 11:30, but that is alright. I haven't seen the Muglia girls in almost over a month so I am really happy to be seeing them. We both have been on vacation, then there was VBS, then a wedding in their family and then with Mom's physical Therapy interrupting sewing lessons, it has just been one thing after another, so yeah! I get my girls tomorrow! I also have Bob and Aggie's lessons tomorrow too which I am excited about. I just love teaching. It is really the best job in the world. Calli is at camp and Frank is at band camp so they are a no go for lessons. I am really hoping Calli is having a ball at camp. It will be another 2 weeks before I see her though because next week right after she comes home from camp her family will be going on vacation! Camping! Really rustic camping, the type where you build your own laterines! Yup, you build your own bathrooms. A little too rustic for me, but I do love camping and miss it. There is no way I could take Mom camping right now that is for sure but in the future I may have an opportunity to go camping.

Well, the little Mom and I are getting very tired so I think it is off to bed for us! I hope your day was good and that you have a good week!

Today was book club day! I haven't finished the book yet. I didn't want to read it so far away from book club because of my bad memory, yet I wanted to read it in enough time. Well, time got away from me and I got the book last weekend from Kathy. Alicia, Kathy's daughter, delivered it and another book to my car for me. How sweet was that? I thought it was awesome she wanted to give me the books to read. Maggie and I had a great time anyways. She said she had a feeling we wouldn't be talking to much about the book, but since I haven't seen her in 2 months, that was just fine. We had such a good time catching up on what has been going on in the last 2 months with us. She has been on vacation and I have been nursing Mom to health. She was really happy with how Mom looked today. Which is good because when Maggie last saw Mom it was about 2 days before she went into the hospital with the infection and dehydration. So it nice to know Mom looks healthy again. Mom took a nap while Maggie and I chatted. It was a great couple of hours. I just love book club days, even if we don't talk much about the book all the time. We have such stimulating conversations together. Not that Mom and I don't talk all the time, it is just nice to have someone else to talk to too. That could be why I enjoy Thursday knitting so much. I enjoy visiting with the kids but I also really enjoy talking to Heather B-T. There is something to be said about adult stimulating conversations at time and how needed they are. Mom just isn't really capable anymore and that saddens me. We used to be able to talk about everything and anything and sometimes nothing. Not anymore, she is too far gone. I know that underneath this illness is the same woman I have always known, but right now she is covered up by Alzheimer's. When we get to Heaven someday, I will be able to talk to her again and I look forward to that, but not for a long time, I hope.

Mom took a tumble this afternoon. I was on face book and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom fall off her chair. I was able to catch her from hitting her head on the floor, but she still tumbled. I was able to get her off the floor. I moved her from underneath the table to out of the table so I could pick her up and move her. It all happened so quickly that I couldn't even catch my breath. She is okay, she landed lightly because I sort of caught her and she didn't bump anything, I think. Her head was nowhere near the floor or the shelving units. If she loses her balance again I will take her in to be checked for an infection as losing your balance could be a symptom of an urinary tract infection and we certainly don't need another infection. Not at all. I just got her in a good place health wise, and I aim to keep her there.

We are watching Walker, Texas Ranger season 7 disc 2. Mom and I enjoy watching these old shows. We also have JAG, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, and TJ Hooker. I have enough to be entertained for a couple of months. We only watch DVDs on Saturday and Sunday (when we are home).

I have a bad headache now, all on the left side of my face and head. It is very hot and humid out today. It has rained a bit, but we haven't gotten the storms that have been predicted, although with the heat and humidity this high, I wouldn't be surprised that we get them. My hands aren't too bad right now, although my left arm is sorer than usual.

I hope you are having a good day and are enjoying yourself. We are, despite the heat and humidity. I had fun with book club and I like watching TV with Mom.

Much better pain day today than yesterday despite the heat and humidity. My head a bit more sore than usual, but I expected that because of the humidity. Mom is a bit more upset today than yesterday and I am not sure why. I am sure the weather affects her in some ways too.

We had brunch with some of our friends today, the Beauchamp family. It was so much fun. It is hard to believe it has been two years since I have actually seen them (outside of the time I ran into Roberta in the hospital emergency room). It was great to visit with them. Mom did pretty well, she cried a bit, but, like I said, she is a bit more teary eyed today than usual. Not super bad, just a little. We are waiting for her physical therapist to arrive. I don't know what time she will come as she calls when she is on her way. It really is a bit difficult to plan things, but since we don't have too many plans it is okay most of the time. I just don't like how it does interfere with sewing on Friday. We are temporarily going to change the day because of this reason. Wednesdays physical therapy isn't a problem because we don't usually have anything right now on Wednesdays, but Fridays is a problem. This will only last a few more weeks though, so I am not worried or upset over it.

It is starting to storm out right now. I can hear the thunder. It makes me think of Kathy, as she loves storms. I don't mind them except when I am outside or driving or trying to sleep, then I mind them. It is supposed to be humid and stormy for the next two days. Fortunately, we don't have to go out too much in the next two days. Sunday we are heading over to my uncle's, but nowhere until then.

I think I am going to have Mom and I head into the living room right now for a rest time. She sometimes sleeps, sometimes not, but she should be sitting somewhere comfy for her. I, of course, as usual, am tired and ready for a nap.

I hope this finds you doing well and having a great day no matter what the weather is for you.

Today is not such a great pain day for me. My hands are rather numb at times and my head aches. I, however, am not canceling knitting, but I won't be knitting much. I am hoping by then the pain pill kicks in and it is better. We shall see. Mom is doing alright today. She was sitting up when I got up this morning. (Yes, it was this morning as it was only 11:45 am when I got up and that counts as morning) Lately, she has been still lying down when I go into her room to get her, but not today. So I count that as a good day for her. She is looking a bit better (color wise) and is perky again today. That seems to be her norm for now. I am thankful for that. Right now she is trying to get the crumbs off the table without putting them on the floor. It is interesting to watch.

Aggie was supposed to have her lesson today but she had to cancel and reschedule to Monday. I was disappointed because I wanted to see her, but Monday will work too. I have to get a new book for her, I want to get the volume 4 of the Broadway book for us. I think she would like some of the songs in it. I can't get it until next week when our money comes in. I have been doing much better with spreading our money out over a month now. Since both of our money comes in around the same time it was hard to learn. I think I have it down pat now or at this point I seem to. I am caught up on most of the bills and in August I will be heading down to the lawyer's office to pay the bankruptcy filling fee and the other fee, then all I have to do is copy the mounds of bills for the lawyer and they will fill and by fall, it will all be over! I can't wait. 2 years of dealing with this and it will be over for me. Then, on to Mom's bankruptcy. Oh yes, when I lost the store I didn't just manage to bankrupt me, I bankrupt Mom too. We were both doing everything we could to save the music store and it didn't help. If the economy hadn't of tanked, we would still have the store, but it did and we don't. I am not so depressed about it now as I was, because Mom did seem to get worse this last year and I don't know how I would have handled running a store, teaching lessons, and taking care of Mom. At least now I can devote most of my energy to taking care of Mom. The thing I miss the most, besides the students and their families, is our vacations!!!! Yes, we went to Disney World 5 times in the last 5 years. It was great. I belonged to the Vacation Club and it was wonderful. Of course, I had to give that up too and now it is okay because Mom couldn't do a Disney trip, I think it would confuse her so much she'd be miserable. But looking back, they were fun trips!

I am not sure what Richard plans to do when he comes to visit. I have a few plans for us. I would like to do more than just sit around so I have planned some small activities for us. I don't know when he will be able to come as plane tickets are really expensive right now and he is still not working full time. I think we should go to the Henry Ford Museum. Mom and I love that place. Richard can push Mom in the wheelchair and I will ride in my scooter. If it is good weather we can also go to the zoo. I think that it would be fun and I am not sure if the family is coming with him. Probably not as he is still not working. I checked flights a few days ago to see if Mom and I could afford to go and see him when my back disability comes in, and wow, were they ever expensive. Tickets from Detroit to Seattle are about $800 - $900 round trip, not to mention baggage fees and taxes and stuff like that. So, well, I don't know when we will be able to go and see Richard on our budget. Plus there is the worry that Mom may not be able to handle a 6 hour flight. She hasn't been on a plane in 2 years. She did well then, but she was not in Stage 6 Alzheimer's then either so that will probably make a difference. I do want to see the kids before they are totally grown up though. I mean they are 9 & 11 now. Who knows what the future will bring, we shall see what is going on with Richard and family. For all we know, he may have to move again (a strong possibility to get a job) and it could be in driving distance like they used to be. That would be good in my book. I do hope he gets a job rather soon as I know it must be very difficult for him to take care of a family without a job. I remember when Mom was out of a job when we were small and how stressed out she was.

I think next year I will have the lawn people come and spray for weeds. I didn't do it this year because I didn't think we could really afford it. Well, we should have because the weeds need to be cut more often than the grass itself and with the extra grass cuttings, we could have had the lawn sprayed. Plus, our lawn looks horrible right now with the weeds everywhere. They had to be at least a foot tall in some places. It was awful. Fortunately, I called Addison and he came and took care of the lawn. But still, I think next year we are getting the lawn sprayed for weeds. The lawn people also have senior rates and Mom is a senior!!

Well, it is supposed to rain today which is alright by me as long as Mom and I are inside. I don't like to drive in the rain with Mom in the car because it makes her nervous. Not that she isn't nervous a lot, but let's not make her worse on the nervousness. She is nervous a lot of the time now because she can't remember stuff. She no longer can remember what we do at night to get ready or in the morning to get ready. It is really sad. She flips at night a bit when I move her legs and her body to the middle of the bed. This is so her legs won't hang down by morning and cause her back to hurt. I have a routine that we do but she doesn't remember it anymore. Sometimes she even asks me who I am or where her daughter is. This happens first thing in the morning or last thing at night, so it only happens when she is tired. At least most of the time she knows who I am.

I hope you are having a good day and that the weather is good for you.

Mom is in a not eating much mode again today. Yesterday and today she just isn't hungry. I don't get it since I don't have that problem, but she doesn't want to finish her chicken breast and her ensure. By the time we are ready for bed the ensure will be finished, but it isn't the 3 of them she has had the other day. I doubt I will get 2 of them down her tonight, but I will try. We have switched ensures again to the Ensure plus because there is more protein in it and more calories so I am hoping it is more filling for her. She only ate her donut for brunch and only 1/2 of the milk she usually drinks. Not to good for the little lady, but what can you do? Not much about it. She does drink a sip of ensure when I ask usually. I am not that hungry today either so it could just be because it is so hot out today. I don't know how hot, it is just very humid.

Lori the physical therapist was here today. Mom did pretty well with her exercises. After that we both took a nap. I am still so tired from the vacation, I don't know why it takes so long to recover, but it does, just the way it is. Sherri, the nurse, arrived right after our nap, so how is that for great timing? Mom's pressure sore is doing alright. It isn't getting worse and it is a bit better. I put a lot of cream on it every day all day long. It is the only way to heal it, that and a lot of protein, lots and lots of protein. I forgot to get her vitamin C stuff too. I hope the pills aren't that big because she has problems taking big pills. I would get her orange juice, but she doesn't drink it all before it goes bad and I end up throwing it away. I tried the little cartons and for a while that worked, but I haven't tried them again since I had to throw all 6 of them out.

Mom is very talkative tonight. On one hand I am rather glad because it means she is a bit better, on the other hand, I am trying to write and she keeps interrupting me! I just can't win on that. She sometimes talks during lessons now, she never did that before. I am hoping it was a one time deal. She always thinks that other people are here now too. I remind her that there is only me and her here and she will ask where they are again in a few minutes. It isn't too bad, she could be hallucinating worse things like spiders and stuff like that.

I have one lesson tonight, it is a make up one for Monday. Frank was coming home from competition so he couldn't make his scheduled time. I knew this last week so it was not a surprise. We rescheduled for tonight. I haven't heard anything from him so I don't know how he did at competition. AGM is a harder competition than MMA in some ways. These kids practice these same songs all year long for this competition and I don't work that way. I don't think you learn as much when you do that. We do work on competition music, I just don't think competition is the end all like some teachers do. I have never operated that way. If you want to do competition, fine, if you don't, that's fine too. I know of teachers that have dropped kids because they didn't want to compete. I loved competing when I was younger, but I loved learning as many songs as possible too. My teacher didn't spend all year on 3 or 4 songs for me to learn. Yes, I have students, like Bob and Frank, who's music is so difficult they do spend months on 1 song, but it isn't for competition all the time. We focus on learning to be a good musician and everything that entails. If you like the stuff you are doing and choose to compete, you have a better chance of doing better and winning than just focusing on winning, at least that is my experience. Yes, I do like my students to win, who doesn't? But I try to teach them to focus on the music and worry about winning after they have performed. Calli will be competing this year, and probably Acer too since there is a category for 5 year olds, or 6 as that is how old he will be in December (January 1 is the cut off date for competition). We are only going to do one competition next year. I don't want to do 2, it is too much to worry about and the kids go from 1 set of competition music to the next. We also have 2 to 3 recitals a year. I don't think we are going to do a summer concert this year. It is already mid July and I don't have one planned. The next recital will be Christmas. I have to call and make arrangements for the rental of the hall. I hope to have a few more students in the fall. We shall see. Lessons are just not at the top of parents lists right now with the bad economy. I am hoping to put some ads in the newspaper in the fall and hopefully I will get some new students from them.

Pain is a bit high today in the hands, rather annoying if you ask me. My head isn't too bad which is a surprise considering the humidity level. I think we may be getting a storm or two tonight, it smells like it. As long as we are in the house, I don't mind.

I hope this finds you doing well today and enjoying your summer. I can't wait until fall!!!!!!!

I had my 2 lessons today, Charlie and Zachary. Both are doing pretty well. Zachary got a new piece today and is almost finished with 2 pieces. He sight reads so well that he sometimes slides on practicing, not often, but sometimes. Charlie plays the tenor sax so his lessons are different than the voice lessons. He plays out of a exercise book and is almost finished with the one he is in. I will be ordering the next book for him this week. I am rather excited about that because he is doing so well right now. Mom was very cute during the lesson. We had paused after one of Charlie's exercises and Mom said, "get to work". Isn't that cute? Just shows a bit of how well she is doing. She can follow the lessons much better now and seems to be enjoying the music better now.

I am reading the book club book today. I just started it. Usually, I am finished by now, but because we didn't have book club in June, I wanted to wait to read the book so I wouldn't forget the book, which can easily happen to me. I have been known to have to read the book twice to remember it. Sometimes the fog overpowers me and my memory.

It has been a quiet day. I am still recovering from the busy weekend. After our usual, we came home and I worked on the computer for a bit before heading into the living room to relax. Well, as soon as I sat down and got my blanket (love my Mickey Mouse throw blanket!), I fell asleep. I remember looking at the time and it was 1:30 pm. I woke up 1 time at 2:30 and quickly went back to sleep. The next thing I knew it was 4:00 pm and Zachary had arrived for his lesson. I heard the door open and Zachary walking in. I was awake by the time he had his music set up and the piano bench in position for me and the CD player on with the first CD ready. I expect it will be a couple more days before I am fully recovered from the vacation. That is the downside of going on vacation, even small 3 day ones, the recovery time. Mom usually sleeps between 2 and 4 anyways so it isn't a problem for me to go to sleep too.

Mom has been sort of playing with her new toys. She likes playing with the tissues and the tissue box more. I have to reload the tissues back into the box in the mornings in case someone needs one. At least she is entertained by all this tissue box stuff so I don't really mind. I have accepted that the fiddling toys are not as fascinating to her as the tissue box. I will get more tissues if necessary. They aren't that expensive and I can buy the cheap ones for her too.

It has been a bit cooler today and not as much humidity, so I was a happy camper for that today. I saw the news tonight and more hot and humid days are ahead of us. This isn't too surprising since we are in the month of July, but I don't really have to like it. We fall and spring girls are just aching for our months to arrive where we can breath and do better. But it still can be worse so I try to focus on that, it could be much worse. I have friends who are having over 100 degrees where they are living and that would be worse.

I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying your night.

Relaxing day today. We went to our usual around noon then we headed to Walmart to get our medicines that needed to be picked up. I forgot to get the blue berries and strawberries that I wanted to get. Oh well, I will do that tomorrow. I also need to get cool whip and golden cake mix so I can make my treat for Mom and I. I am also going to make some for our family this weekend when we go to my uncle's. I can't wait to show my family my favorite type of dessert. I am rather excited to make it for everyone. Mom really likes it a lot. I hope everyone does.

After our short trip to Walmart, we headed home for nap time. I try to be home between 2 and 4 everyday (except Thursday when I am home between 1 and almost 3) for Mom (and sometimes me!!!) to have a rest. She doesn't always sleep but often she does. I need her to rest so she is ready for the rest of the day. She wakes up way earlier than I do so she gets tired in the afternoon. Today, we both slept from about 1:30 to 3:00 pm when my student arrived. Bob finished one of his pieces today so it was time for a new one. He has several choices to choose from. A couple of books I just handed him to take home and look at them. A few pieces we tried and so far he is considering a Sonata by Mozart. It is a famous one that many people recognize right away. I am not really picky which one he picks because I like everything I gave him to choose from.

Mom's friend, Jose, came by right as Bob was starting his lesson. I expected him and Mom to go into the dining room to chat, but he sat down and listen to Bob's lesson. He is also a musician and loves to hear my students play. Bob did really well on his song that he finished today and his sight reading is quite good now. After Bob left, Jose, Mom, and I talked about lots of different things. Then I showed Jose some stuff on the computer. He has a new one and wanted to try some things out. We had a good afternoon.

Mom ate most of her dinner and has already finished 1 3/4 of her ensures. She is doing really well drinking her ensures right now. Her sore is getting better and I think we may have prevented another one on the other side of the one she has now. It hasn't broken the skin yet and is now a bit softer than it was so I am hopeful about the near miss.

It has been rather nice out today, not too hot or humid. It does now look like it is going to rain. Fortunately, we are inside so we won't get wet. I am a bit more sore than usual today. I had to take an extra pain pill this afternoon because of it. My head is at least the normal pain and not too much. I hope this finds you doing well.

What a weekend! We left around 12 noon Friday to go to Kalamazoo. We arrived around 3:00 pm and headed straight to Kathy's house to see the little people. Matthew is still slightly (and I mean every so slightly) shorter than me. At 12, he is growing up so fast it is unbelievable. And Jacob? When did he grow so big? I can't believe the girls are going to be 4 years old next month. They are all growing so fast that it is not fair. We visited together for about an hour or so on Friday until Kathy had to make dinner and go to work. We went to the hotel right after that to check in and get some dinner. We had made reservations on hotels.com for our hotel. On the website it said the hotel had an indoor pool and a restaurant. Unfortunately, the website was wrong, the restaurant was in the hotel across the parking lot. Now, for most people, a walk across the parking lot is a piece of cake, well for me, it was a long walk. Not so bad on the way there, but very bad on the way back. We had a quiet dinner, we were the only two in the restaurant. They were very nice because I asked for them to grill Mom a piece of chicken and mash a potato for her. They did! It wasn't on the menu and it was really nice of them to make that for her. She didn't eat much of it, but I appreciated it anyways. I had fish and chips. They were pretty good, not as good as the little cafe up the street from us, but good nonetheless. After that, Mom and I went back to the hotel room and watched a bit of TV before bed. We watched a new show for us, "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC, it was really interesting to watch brides pick their wedding dresses. Both Mom and I really enjoyed it.

On Saturday we got up early and had breakfast. Kathy and family and Laurie and family weren't expected until about 11:00 am so after breakfast I took a wee nap so that I would be fresh for the day. Kathy and family arrived first and then we went to the pool for the swimming. Laurie was running late so she came straight to the pool. I was very excited to see her as it has been 24 years (yes, years) since I have seen her. She brought her son to go swimming. All the kids and Kathy's husband, Tony, were in the pool. Mom took a little sleep while Kathy, Laurie, and I were all chatting happily away. We really enjoyed talking to each other as we had 24 years to catch up. After a bit, the kids and Tony got out of the pool and we all left. Mom and I headed to BK for lunch (not my first choice, but the restaurant was closed). Mom ate pretty well, I mean she finished all her milk and 1/2 of her cheeseburger. I didn't expect her to finish it all as she never really does, but she finished as much as she could. I finished my lunch, as usual, as I don't have the lack of appetite problem. Then we went to pick up Kathy to go to Barnes and Noble, on of both of ours favorite place. Nothing like a short visit to a book store. I only got 1 book and a new planner. It is a weekly planner which also has a place in the back for phone numbers and addresses. The one I currently have doesn't have that spot and I need it for my students' numbers and addresses. Rather important for me. I will start to use it this week. It is really pretty too. It has purple flowers on it. I bought a book that looks like it will be interesting for book club next month, unless someone else has suggestions. (I have 1 week to read the book club book for Saturday!)

After the book store we went back to Kathy's and hung out and talked and played with the kids before dinner. Kathy made Mom and I dinner and Mom ate the whole thing! It was really good, ravioli's. I gave Mom 4 to eat and she ate them all. I was really impressed with her. Then we went back to the hotel for more swimming. This time we didn't have the pool to ourselves, but that was okay. Tony and the kids still had a good time. Kathy and I chatted away as we watched the kids swim. Alicia and Samantha seemed to really like swimming. They are taking swimming lessons every week. They seem to enjoy it. Alicia was really swimming around like there was no tomorrow. Samantha seemed to enjoy swimming with Tony more than anything. Both were really cute and adorable. Matthew and Jacob swam and played together. I really enjoyed watching all the kids swimming. After about 1 1/2 hours, it was time to get out of the pool and for the Heyart family to go home. Mom and I were planning on spending time with Kathy and family on Sunday morning and early afternoon, but several big thunderstorms were predicted that afternoon so we cancelled those plans and planned to leave in the morning to come home. I didn't want to drive in storms with Mom in the car. She gets really nervous with bad weather and I didn't want to have to deal with that. I haven't driven with Mom in bad weather for about 2 years and she is so nervous now as it is, that I just haven't had the need to. I don't take her anywhere in a car in bad weather if I can help it.

We got home about 1 pm. I took a bit of a nap until my cousin, Maia, came over to drop off some stuff for storage. She and Mark stopped by in the afternoon for a few minutes. She just moved into a new house and Mark has some stuff he is giving her for her new house so she is storing it in our garage for a few weeks. Not a problem for us, we don't use the garage for much except for storage these days. Yes, someday it would be nice for my little car to be in the garage for the winter, but hey, if it doesn't happen, oh well, the little car will be just fine.

Mom is doing much better these days, she is perked more and even teasing now. She hasn't shown her sense of humor in about 8 months. It is truly wonderful. Her color is better and she has more energy now. This new high protein diet is really improving her a lot. I am quite happy with what is happening to her. Physical therapy seems to be helping her too. Her sore is getting better. We are putting cream on it all the time to keep it dry, but the protein is helping it heal. Overall, it is very good. I even had to ask her to be quiet so I could sleep when I wanted to take my nap! She was so chatty! It was the so good, but I was so tired and needed to get some sleep.

Overall, it was a great mini vacation. We really needed to get away. I am so glad we were able to go.

I can't wait to see Kathy and family and Laurie and family!!! i will see Kathy and family today and tomorrow and probably Sunday!!! I will see Laurie and family tomorrow!!! I am so excited!!!!! Can you tell by the exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!

So far it is a good day, not much pain. I woke early which is unusual for me, but it isn't bad!!!