lots of lessons monday

I still don't have all the paperwork I need for the bankruptcy.  I now need 1 more thing or at least I think it is 1 more thing.  What the lawyer wants though is going to be difficult to get because they send coupon books, not statements so I don't know how much I owe.  I don't know if I can get one either.  I am so over this.

Today is Kathy's birthday.  She is now ?? years old.  I won't post it because in 4 months I will be there too and it is a scary number right now.  I can't believe we are this old already.  I feel, spirit wise, not physically, around 30 and physically around 90, but I am neither of those numbers.

It is cold in here today.  I don't know why, but it is.  I have the little heater on right now because I am so cold.  I shouldn't be, but I am.  I hope I don't freeze during lessons.  If necessary, I will go and get a hoodie.  They are so warm but a bit bulky over top a sweatshirt but they do warm me up nicely.

I have had 3 lessons already.  I have 4 more for the day.  Yeah!  I have Bob, Calli, and Acer.  Calli takes 2 lessons, voice and piano.  They are all doing very well.  The Muglia's are currently working on a Sonatina by Clementi and a Mozart piece.  Right now, the 3 are playing the same music.  I try to rotate their music so they don't all play the same, but since it is a new book, it is a bit difficult to do.  Once we get further in the book we will be able to do that.  Bob is playing a Mozart piece too, he is playing the Sonata that is pretty popular.  Many people recognize it.  He is also playing a 2 part invention by Bach.  I love the inventions.  They are so neat.  Acer is doing pretty good with his fingering.  He is trying to do proper fingering, but it is so hard for the young man.  Calli is finishing up her level 2 book and will be starting level 3 in the next month or so.  She is singing a song called "In an English Country Garden".  It is a really cool song.  She and her brother are going to sing "Rainbow Connection" together in the Spring Concert.  They sound very nicely together on this particular piece.

I am tired today but I am not sure why.  I had plenty of sleep.  I did get up a bit early, but not to much.  I have to get up a bit early tomorrow too since I have a blood test at 11:30.  I am not looking forward to that because they just hurt so much.  I know they are supposed too, but they do.  When you have fibro, any tightness around any body part really hurts.  The tourniquet on the blood test really hurts.  The needle hurts too and it they miss the vein, which happens frequently, that hurts too.  All in all, a painful few minutes.  I hope to not have to have another one for another month.  I know I have to have at least one a month.  Usually, I get the every other week.  I am hoping for longer in between tests.

I had hoped I would have the Christmas stuff down and ready to put away yesterday, but I took a nap instead and just didn't do it.  It isn't that I had other more important stuff to do, no, that isn't it.  I just didn't do it.  I did bring the boxes up that the stuff goes in though, so I have step 1 finished.  I plan to do step 2 and 3 (taking the stuff down and putting the boxes away) either tomorrow or Wednesday.  This is the longest I have ever left my Christmas stuff up.  I was sad to put it up because Momma wasn't here to see it and I am sad to put it away, because the season is over.  Either way, I am just sad over Christmas this year.  I am trying to get used to being alone most of the time.  I think I am doing pretty well, although, I really miss company all the time.  I knew when she was here what a good thing it was, and boy was I right.  I am glad it isn't a case of I didn't know what I had until it was gone, because I did know.  But it is hard, nevertheless without her.  I wonder how my brothers are doing, but she wasn't a big part of their day to day lives like she was with me.  There are many times when I am running errands I wish she were with me because we had such fun doing things together and it is lonely to run errands by yourself.  I miss her all the time but I think I am getting better at it.  I think it would be better if I had something to occupy a lot of my time with.  This week, I will be working on plans to get some projects done around here.  For example, the family room has become the catch all room.  It is stacked with boxes and bags of stuff that need to find a place for it.  I am not sure if I am going to start downstairs or upstairs, but I want the house looking less like a clutter bug and more like a house.  That is my goal for the winter.  To get some stuff decluttered.  My room needs to be done too, but that isn't a major priority right now, there are other rooms that need my attention first.

Well, Bob should be here at any moment now.  I do hope you are having a great day!

a quiet day

Not much going on this afternoon here in the Paxton residence.  I am going to go and get the two boxes that the decorations need to go into.  I finally am feeling well enough to do that.  I am sad to see the stuff go away for another year, but also glad because it has been a rather sad season for me.  I am thankful for my family and friends who helped me get through it especially Kathy, as I was lucky enough to be included in her Christmas Eve and Day with her family.  It was so fun.  I really loved watching the kids be all excited about what they got.  The older ones, the younger ones, it doesn't matter, it is very exciting.  I loved what I got too.  Kathy will be coming soon and she and I will be spending some of those beautiful gift cards!

I have a busier week coming up now that I have 2 new students, 1 from this past Saturday and another new 1 this Saturday.  I also have my Muglia girls tomorrow so that is just awesome.  Ooh, I just remembered I need to put their stuff at the front door so I don't forget it.  Be right back.  There, now in order to get out the front door, I need to move that stuff.  With brain fog, I have to be creative at times because I am not the most awake first thing in the morning.  I am excited to see them as they haven't had a lesson since November.  I did see them at the Christmas Concert and they played very well, but it isn't the same as the one on one time I get with them at a lesson.  I can't wait to see what they got for Christmas.  They got me a wonderful Harry Potter Ornament, Hermione.  I just love harry potter.  I am hoping to see the movie again sometime soon as I was very sad when I first saw it and can't really remember too much of what happened.  I am anxious for the next one to come out though.  We have so long to wait for it.  I also have the newest twilight movie to watch.  I had been waiting to watch it with Kathy, but she has already seen it.  I may still wait and watch it with her, it depends on my mood on when I want to watch it.  I find I don't watch a lot of TV or movies anymore now that Momma isn't here.  I don't know if it is because I am just not interested in a lot of things, or I am liking the peace and quiet I have.  Hard to say and depends on the day.  I used to prefer peace and quiet when I taught all afternoon and evening because I had so much noise while I was teaching.  I also like the soothing sound of the fish tank.  That soothes my mind and my soul so maybe that is it.

I am looking forward to the week too because I will be meeting with a friend on Thursday at Tim Horton's at lunch time.  I haven't seen Maria in a while.  It will be nice to speak with her.  I am going to be emailing my lawyer the rest of the pages today too so that will keep me busy.  I like busy days.  I am still rather tired from the cold, but I am feeling much better now than I was a few days ago.  it is almost gone.  Thank goodness.  These things sure wipe a person out.  Thankfully, I didn't get a flare up with it.  I was afraid I would, but i didn't this time.  I must have rested enough to miss it.  The new pain medicine doesn't seem to work as well as the darvocet did, but since I can't take vicodin, I am rather stuck with it.  It works okay, not great, but okay.  I am stiffer at night and I find if I take the medicine about 1/2 hour to 1 hour before I go to bed it helps me sleep a lot better than taking it and heading right into bed.

I have a package of music to put together this week for the newest student.  I am going to copy some stuff for her and make a CD because she is really just trying out the lessons to see if she will like them and practice.  I am hoping she will stay.  Kayla was worried about what would happen at the end of the month, and was relieved to find that her time will stay her time, there is no time limit.  A happy girl that one is.  So nice to work with a happy girl.

Anyways, this week shall be good, i think.  I am getting over the cold.  I am off to undecorate the living room now.  I hope you have a good rest of the day!

Saturday

I had 2 students today!  One was the new student, Kayla, a very nice young lady, and the other was Aggie, who is also a very nice young lady only I have had her for several years now.  Kayla did very well with her first introduction to voice lessons and classical music.  She learned the first phrase to Caro Mio Ben and did quite well with it.  I was very pleased with that.  She has one classical piece and one Broadway piece.  I have another new student next Saturday!  I am very excited about these new students and hope to get a few more.  God is definitely moving around here!  So far, all my needs are being met and the bills are being paid.  That is the important thing.

I finished filling out the entries for competition and I mailed the checks away for the competition.  I just have to make my reservations for the hotel.  I am looking forward to competition as it is always a good weekend away. although it will be hard this year without Momma with me.  I am getting used to doing things on my own now and it isn't so bad anymore.  I still miss her all the time, but I am getting around by myself just fine now.  I think my students are used to her not being around now too as she would listen to each lesson.  Mom loved listening to the progress of the students during lessons.  She would talk to the young students when we had the store too.  They all just loved her.  Some of them would run to her when they arrived to talk about their week and then talk to her after their lessons and tell Momma all about it.  It was so cute to see.  I really miss the store for that otherwise, I don't seem to miss it as much.  I miss being busy all the time like I was when I had the store, but I don't miss the problems I had.  That I don't miss at all.  If I knew then what I know now, I would never have bought it.  I would have just kept teaching and doing the bookkeeping instead.  Oh, well, what can I say?  I gave it a good go and we failed but I did try my hardest.

I think tomorrow I will finally take down the Christmas ornaments off the tree and take down the decorations off of the piano.  I should be healthy enough for that.  My cold is almost gone, although tonight I seem to be coughing for some reason.  That had better go away because I do not need this to linger.  Not one bit.  I think a week of a cold is enough, and now it can go away.  If only we could wave away these things!  That would be nice.

I spoke to my Uncle John's girlfriend, Michelle, and both she and my uncle have the flu.  Apparently, Jayson, their son, had it yesterday.  Ugh, I feel so bad for them.  That is just not good.  I do hope they feel better soon.  Maia is sick with a head cold too and it seems Tillie is getting one too.  That time of year I suppose.  I hope mine is gone by the end of this coming week and I hope not to get another one this year.  Two this year has been bad enough.

I don't know who has been doing this, but some nice neighbor has shoveled my driveway and front walkway now twice.  Isn't that nice?  Both times it has snowed a lot I have come home to a cleared driveway and front walkway.  I am very thankful for this.  I don't know who is doing it, but I am grateful for it.  I just can't do it myself as I can't stand long enough to do it nor can I walk well enough either so this has been wonderful.  I figure at the end of the season I will put a notice in our little subdivision newsletter publicly thanking them.  We have some very nice neighbors around here.  We really do.  It is one reason I want to stay in the house as long as possible because I really do like where I live.  This house has everything I need in it, a place to relax, a place to teach, guest rooms for company, and what more could I want?  I don't think anything.  I really love this house.  I know when I was younger I didn't, but the last few years this house was filled with such good times and moments that I just am happy to be here.  It is a happy house and I am a happy girl living here.  Plus, this is where my memories of Mom are too.  I want to put up some pictures and some shadow boxes filled with all the thimbles Momma and I have collected over the years.  We have a few duplicates.  I think Lily might like the duplicates we have. I will check with her.  We have several that we bought that are the same before we realized how silly it was to buy the same ones so we each could have our own.  Now that I have all of Momma's plus all of mine, I need to sort and remove the duplicates away.  This way, Lily can have something that was Mom's.  I think Mom would really like that.

busy friday!

I had lunch with Robin and Zachary today!  it was lots of fun.  Unfortunately, it made me late for the lawyer's appointment.  I called to tell them I was running late.  It was no problem.  Boy, am I glad I just didn't drop off the stuff because as it turns out, I have a couple more papers to turn it.  I have them now.  I also went and had them shrunk to regular size paper so that I can scan them and send them by email to the lawyer and her assistant.  I am thankful I wanted to see the lawyer.  Basically, everything is ready to go now.

My cold is almost gone.  I am pretty tired today because I got up early.  I have to get up a bit early again tomorrow for my new student.  I am excited about this new student.  Of course, I get excited about every student, whether they are new or not.  I just love teaching.  I have 2 students tomorrow.  Kayla, the new student, and Aggie, an old student.  So basically, it will be a good day.

I plan to take down the Christmas ornaments off the tree tomorrow and put the Christmas stuff away off of the pianos too.  I am leaving the snowmen because it is winter and they make me smile.  I will put up the angels that I got from Aggie.  I got another ornament from Anne that was an angel too.  She said it was to remind me that Mom is always watching.  I almost cried when she gave it to me.  I now have 3 angels that will go on the pianos.  I will leave the tree up right now because on Monday Heather B-T is going to put the lights on for next year.  After that I will take the tree down stairs.

I need to remember to take pictures of the shuffleboard as I am selling it.  My cousin has a friend who would like it.  Hey, works for me because I don't plan to use it and I don't want it.  I want that half of the family room to become my sewing room.  The other half is going to be for TV and exercise.  I won't be working on it for a while because my friend who will be helping is a tax expert and well, it is tax season.  But once tax season is over, we will get it done.  I figure by end of summer the house will be in order.  It will probably take that long to go through everything that I have.  I have boxes and boxes of stuff that I just don't know what to do with them yet.  I plan to go through the boxes very carefully to figure out what to do with the stuff.  I am keeping most of the sewing supplies because I plan to get back into sewing.  I want to do some craft projects and participate in some of the blogs craft projects.  It should be fun.  I love sewing and it makes me think of Mom since she taught me how to sew when I was younger.

I am doing better I think with the missing of Momma.  I still miss her all the time, but I don't seem to be as upset over it as I was or at least this week.  It is hard to imagine that it will be a long time before I see her again, but it is something I am getting used to it.  I am used to being by myself most of the time now. I have applied for some jobs so I am hopeful that I will get something soon.

All in all a decent day with getting stuff done.  I hope it is a good weekend.  Next week I am supposed to have company, so that will hopefully be fun.  Maia and I are supposed to go and see Narnia next week sometime.  I want to see that movie really bad.  It looks very good.  I loved the first two, so I am hopeful that this one is just as good.  I love gift certificates!

sleeping day

I think I have slept the day away again.  I am just so exhausted with this cold.  I did pick up my new contacts to try and more Kleenex as well as some pop at Walmart.  I didn't really need the pop but I wanted some.  I don't keep very much in the house anymore since I have cut back.  I am feeling better with the cold, I am just so tired with it.  I don't get it.  I don't feel that bad, just so tired.  I got up late and took a later nap too.  I will be heading back to bed shortly for the night.  I will be getting up early tomorrow to meet with the bankruptcy lawyer.  Thank goodness this is almost over.  I just have to copy my bank statement on my way there tomorrow.  I think I have everything else the list says.  I am not sure though.  I will check tonight before I go to bed.  I just can't wait for this to be over.  It will be soon.

I just have the appointment tomorrow and then I am going to apply for a job when i get back.  I do hope to get the job.  It would be something simple, I have done this type of work before.  I just need to do something with my time and make a bit of money to pay the bills.  That is much needed.

I think I am meeting Zachary early tomorrow before the lawyer meeting for lunch to get the music back.  I need it by Saturday so that I can plan the first lesson of my new adult male vocal student.  I am meeting him and his Mom at Olga's at 11 before I meet with the lawyer.  I am excited.  I haven't seen either of them since Mom died and actually I haven't seen Zachary since he went to college in the fall.  It should be a fun time to see them.

I am glad I have fun plans tomorrow.  I just fixed the insurance problem, that is taken care of right now.  I don't know why I didn't call to say I didn't have the paperwork earlier last week.  I did call once, but I still haven't received the proper paperwork.  They are sending the paperwork in the mail now.  Ugh, paperwork will be the death of me!

I have to clean off the table by next week when Tillie arrives.  There is just no place for anyone to sit right now except me and I have to move my computer to eat.  Kind of silly, but hey, that is me.

Pain levels have been okay despite the cold.  Even my head hasn't been too bad.  I do hope the rest of the cold will be gone by the weekend, it is on the mend now.  I am getting tired again.  I think I will head for bed soon.  Have a good evening!

A calm Wednesday

I have no students tonight after all.  Alyssa's mom isn't feeling too well.  I hope she feels much better soon. She had oral surgery on Monday and it has thrown her for a loop.  I do hope by next week she is doing fine.

My cold is going okay.  I am not as tired as I was yesterday, boy, was I exhausted!  I think I slept about 22 hours yesterday.  I had Charlie's lesson and then went to bed rather shortly after that.  I woke up at 1 pm this afternoon.  I tried to take a nap today but couldn't sleep so I must be doing better.

I took the course for the bankruptcy and will be turning in paper work on Friday at 1 pm.  I will also be talking to my attorney when I do this.  I am very excited in some ways that this long journey is almost over.  I am hopeful for new things that is for sure.

I can't believe I am going to say this, but here goes, it is a good thing Momma is in Heaven right now because I wouldn't want her to get this cold and be this cold.  This winter has been colder than the last couple and she was always freezing.  Keeping her warm was a full time job, believe me.  I would just layer her and layer her and she was still cold.  Even I have had trouble staying warm some days.  It isn't so bad at night as I have new winter pajamas and lots of blankets, but during the day when the sun goes down it is a bit cold.  I turn the space heater on a lot to try to stay warm.  It is just ridicules if you ask me.  Warm weather, when will you come back?  I have dug all my cute sweatshirts out to wear and just have to wash the Christmas ones and put them away.  I am so glad I have new hoodies to wear.  they are very warm and cute.  They are all Disney designs.  One has Tinkerbell, another has Grumpy, and the last has Mickey.  Mom would have loved them too, but they weren't in her size, only mine!  The pink one I wanted didn't have any left in my size so I got white instead.  I was bummed but hey, I got three!  I simply have been wearing them a lot to keep warm.  My new coat is definitely helping me stay warm too.  It is so nice to have a coat that keeps a person warm.  I absolutely love it.  Was definitely the best gift of the year.

I am hoping to meet Donna up at our usual this weekend.  I am aiming for Sunday depending on how I am feeling.  Tomorrow I am going to get the music together for Kayla, my new student.  I am excited about her lesson!  Then I have Aggie right after, so all in all, Saturday is shaping up to be a great day.  Tillie is planning to come for a visit next week.  I am not sure which day and it all depends on how I feel.  If I still have a cold she won't be coming, however, I anticipate by then to be back at 100% (well, as close to 100% as I get) and then we will visit.  I do plan next week to go see Narnia in the movie theatres.  I want to see that movie and I have heard that it is really good.  I loved the first two, so I am hopeful that this will be as good as the others.  If I don't see it then, I will most likely buy it on DVD when it comes out.

A pretty productive day for a change.  I finished what I needed to finish for the bankruptcy, and now I am going to rest after I have more chicken soup.  The cold is slowly going away.  i can breathe out of my nose so that is an improvement and I hope to be over this by the weekend.  I do hope your day is good too.

Yup, it is a cold

Yup, I got a cold.  It is just a little bit of one though, nothing too serious right now.  I am hoping by the weekend, it is history.  I had two lessons today, Bob and Katie.  Calli and Acer's Mom is ill so they won't be here and Aggie rescheduled to Saturday afternoon.  No problem there, I will have the lessons later in the week.

Not too much going on since I have a cold and am resting a lot.  I took a rest in between lunch and my first lesson already.  I foresee going to bed rather early again tonight.  That and a lot of chicken soup.

It is so cold again out.  I was really liking the warmer weather of Friday and Saturday.  I don't know when it is supposed to snow again, but I am sure it will be soon.  I mean, that is typical for this time of year in Michigan.  We do get a lot of snow, not as much as some states, but enough.

I am rereading the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book again.  I started rereading the series a few weeks ago.  I love those books.  They are so wonderfully well written and very interesting.  I saw an interview on Friday with J. K. Rowlings and Oprah.  It was interesting.  I love interviews with JK because she is an interesting person as well as being a great writer.  I find it amusing that when the first book came out her agent said you will never make any money writing children's books.  I bet JK really enjoys laughing at that one.  With the Harry Potter empire, she is very well taken care of now.  It is nice to see someone succeed after trying so hard.

I hope that I will be able to do some writing this year.  I haven't been able to write in several years, due to a mountains of reasons, first brain fog really gets in the way, so does concentration problems.  Also, losing the store really took a toll on my creativity at the time.  We shall see what this year brings.  I am hoping for a better year than what last year was.

All in all not much happening today.  I am going to heat up some soup in a few minutes.  It sounds so good right now.  I love chicken noodle soup.  I hope I have enough for this week.  My muscles are way sorer than usual with this cold I have today.  It is rather annoying.

I do hope you are having a good day.  Stay warm!!!  It is cold most places outside!

A Cold Is Coming

I can feel the starting of a cold.  I, of course, am hoping not, however, the sore throat is usually a dead giveaway.  I have cold medicine this time so I don't have to go to the store for some.  I took some and went back for a nap and slept for another 3 hours.  Seriously, I got up at 2 pm and went back to bed at 4.  Yeah, I would say I am not feeling to well.  I do hope this is a short cold because I am not up to a long one, then again, I don't know anyone who would be.

I had planned on taking down the christmas ornaments on the tree today, however, that didn't happen as I am not feeling so hot.  I will do it tomorrow.  No need to rush.  It looks awfully pretty up.  I can always put things away tomorrow or the next day.  I am not in a hurry for this to be done.  I can bring up the boxes tomorrow and then take care of it.

It has been a slow start to the New Year so far, but I wasn't expecting a fast one.  I had lunch with Laura yesterday and I hadn't seen her in 6 months.  The last time Mom and I went to her house for lunch and had a good time.  Mom was having a good day that day so I was thrilled that Laura saw her on a good day.  I am pretty much used to doing things on my own now, including sleeping in the house.  Sometimes, it is so quiet in here.  I can hear my fish tank and that is such a soothing sound for some reason.  It sounds like running water.  I like my fish.  I had thought perhaps I should get a couple more, but I don't know, I like my Cat and Dog fish.

The week will be a usual one for me.  I have paid some bills and will pay a few more.  I have a new student on Saturday starting so that will be the work of the week.  I want to get some music copied for her and a CD for her.  I find that when they are starting out with voice, this is a good way to go.  By law, for educational purposes, I am allowed 1 copy per student and that is what I do.  Because I am not sure of her range, level, or anything at this point, this is the way to go.  Once we get going, then she will need to buy her 3 books that we will use.  I also will be copying music for my other new student on the 18th.  He is an adult male.  I am excited about that too.  Calli is working on some new music that I think she likes.  She is doing very well.  I am pleased with her progress.  She definitely works very hard at her music because the progress she has made is very good.  She has an unusual range for a 10 year old.  She can sing lower than most of them can and has a few high notes most do not.  It makes it really fun to choose music for her because of her range.  Overall, teaching is the highlight of my life and makes me get up in the morning.

I hope 2011 is working miracles for you.  I do hope you had a good day.  Despite the much sleep I had, it has been alright.

New Years Day

I can't believe it is New Year's Day already.  This week has gone by rather fast.  I managed to stay up until Midnight last night at Heather B-T's.  It was lots of fun.   I enjoyed myself and met 2 new friends, Becky and Carl, they are good friends of the B-T's and are very nice.  Brandon, Heather's nephew was there too.  He is such a nice young man.  He is in college and his cousins just simply love him to pieces.  I played with Acer and Calli.  I have found someone who loves UNO as much as I do!!!  Calli and I played it for a couple of hours.  It was so neat.  She has a braille set of the game.  We giggled and laughed so much during the games.  She won some, I won some, Brandon won some, all in all, a wonderful night.  I started to learn a new game called Munchkin.  I hope to try it again someday.

I was so tired from staying up late that I took a nap this afternoon.  Tillie called this afternoon and so did Donna so I called them back after my nap.  I was just too tired to talk.  Sounds weird, I know, but I was.

I will be meeting with Delphine, the grief counselor again now that the holidays are over.  I survived them and even enjoyed myself at times.  I was going to take down the Christmas decorations, I am just too tired to do it today, I will do it tomorrow instead.  Not a big deal.  There isn't much to take down, some garland, ornaments off a small tree, and stuff off of the pianos.  I am planning to leave the snowmen for the winter as they are beautiful and snowmen can be for winter, not just Christmas I think.  I have lessons starting up on Monday with a brand new one next Saturday!  I am very excited about a new one.  This will be fun.  She is 12 and is taking voice.  I also have to turn in all the competition stuff Saturday and mail the checks that day too.  Hard to believe it is competition season again but it is.

I am not sure how the year will be with me.  There will be a lot of new stuff this year.  A lot of firsts for me.  First time I am alone at competition, first Easter, etc.  From what my friends have said, the first year is the hardest and it gets a bit easier after that.  I am glad I have friends to help me with this.  I am sorry that they had to go through this too, but at least I know who to call or email when I need some help.  I have many good friends both off line and on line that have been very supportive of me.

I do hope this year is the best for everyone.  It is like a fresh start in a way for all of us.  As Deb reminded me earlier, 2011 is a clean slate right now and how will we fill it?  I am not sure, but I hope to fill it with good things, good times, and good decisions.  It is a very difficult and strange time for me, so I don't know how the year will be.  I hope you had an enjoyable New Year's Eve and are looking forward to a great New Year.

New Year's Eve

I can't believe it is New Year's Eve already!  I am heading out to my friend, Heather B-T's for the evening. I haven't been out anywhere for this night in so long that I can't remember the last time I wasn't home.  Oh wait, yes I do, it was 2006 and Richard's family and Mom and I were at Disney's Vero Beach.  We went for a week after Christmas.  The hotel had a New Year's Eve party that we went too.  Mom and I didn't last until Midnight, but we had a very good night anyhow.  We lasted until about 10:30 ish and then we went back to our room and went to bed.  It was a wonderful vacation.  I had joined the Disney Vacation Club that year and we loved being a part of it.  It was so awesome, but unfortunately, we couldn't stay members as we just didn't have the money anymore.  I hope to join again someday.  I really liked it.  We went to Disney something like 4 times in 3 years plus the Vero Beach Resort.

Looking back at that holiday, Mom and I had a blast, but then again, we usually did when we were together.  That was the year she bought me my scooter.  At first Richard was like, take it back, I'll push her like always, but then Momma explained that it wasn't just for that vacation, that it was for home too.  Once he saw that it was easier on everyone, especially him, he liked it a lot.  It really is nice to have because often on vacations I am left behind because of my lack of mobility and with the scooter, I could go too.  We went on many walks as a family on that trip.  I have used it on other trips too and it is the best thing I could have gotten.  We took it to Seattle with us too when we went to visit Richard and family.  I scooted around Seattle so easily with them.  I could keep up and that was important to me.  If I had to walk I would have missed out on so many things.  Mom liked the scooter too.  She would put her hand on the handle and walk beside me all the time.  I use a scooter to go shopping too.  It is part of the reason I go to Walmart's because they have scooters there for customers' to use.  Mom would hold my hand for that and walk beside me.  We would go very slow because Momma couldn't walk very fast that last spring and summer but she liked to go.  It made her feel important to go and get stuff with me.



I hope that this evening is a lot of fun for you.  I am looking forward to going and playing games with friends.  Happy New Year!

Almost the end of the year, oh my!

It is hard to believe that the year is almost over.  Hard to believe that a year ago, Momma was here with me doing pretty well.  We had a good time for New Year's Eve and Day.  We played games like monopoly, life, sorry, games like that.  We loved playing them together.  Now I am alone, and struggling to get through this.

I had two lessons today, Rachel and Rebecca.  It went well.  Rebecca has decided she wants to change her inspirational song for competition, not a problem, I have other choices for her.  She has a good book with the CD to see what she likes or she can see what else I have.  So far, Katie, Rachel, and Rebecca are coming along getting ready for competition.  I am pleased with the way it is going so far.  All students are doing well.  I will spend the next week getting music ready for Kayla, my new one.  She is 12 and goes to school near by here.  They are about 5 miles from me.  I am excited to meet her.  I seem to come alive during teaching and not very much any other time.

I didn't sleep very well last night.  I slept in until about 1 pm.  I was shocked, that is two times this week I have slept that late.  I am just having trouble figuring out when to take my nighttime medicine that will help me go to sleep at a good time.  The new pain medicine helps me sleep better so that is good.  That combined with my sleep medicine, helps me sleep better although I still wake up with pain during the night and have to get up to stretch out the pain before getting back into bed.  I am getting used to sleeping by myself in the house.  I miss having Mom in the house though.  It was more comfort having another person in the house at night than sleeping by myself, but I can't really do anything about that.  I am used to being alone most of the time.  I still don't really like it, i am more of a need people around me person, but I am used to it.  There is just so much that miss Momma for.  She was my constant companion and I liked it.  I know I am supposed to be liking this being by myself, according to family, but the bottom line is, I liked being with Mom.  I miss doing things with her, simple things like going to the music store today.  I needed a new bookkeeping book for next year.  She would always look to see what was new in sheet music when we would go.  She would look through the music for voice, piano, or for the woodwinds, to see if there was something that needed to be added to my library.  It was fun for her and for me.  Now, I can't buy any new music, but that doesn't really bother me because I have what I need.  Yes, there is always stuff I would like, but I don't need anything.  Right now, i am doing well with what music I have.  If my students cannot find something they want to sing or play with what I have, then they have a problem.  I have 3 file cabinets full of music so I have plenty.  Yes, someday, I would like to be able to replace all the music that is missing, but I have replaced the stuff I really needed and the rest can wait.



I do hope that things are better in 2011.  I am going to be actively looking for more students.  I am also going to focus on making the house less cluttered.  I know that I have a lot of stuff and need to go through and see what I want and what I want to sell or donate.  I know some of Mom's stuff will go to Phoebe as she is about the only one I know who is tiny enough to fit into them.  Phoebe loves hoodies and Mom had quite a few, some she didn't get to wear since I couldn't get to the closet and that is where they were.  Lily is too small for them as she is only 12.  I also have a couple of turtle necks that Phoebe will get.  When I see Phoebe on Saturday I will give them to her.  I also am going to continue to work on choosing better foods to eat and losing weight.  I have started exercising a bit.  It is going very slowly as I have trouble doing exercise because of the pain in my legs but I figure I have to start somewhere.  I like to use both the eclipse and the stair climber.  Both are very good for me as I can move my legs separately from my arms.  If I do both at the same time, I ache more and can't breathe as well and then I have to stop sooner.  I plan to have the other 1/2 of the family room to be for exercise.  All I need is a TV and the DVD player as I like to watch DVDs while I exercise for a long time so I figure I will be at exercising at a longer time by the time the room will be ready.  I have good plans for the house.  I know that it will look really nice by the time I am finished.  I don't plan to paint anything as I like all the colors we have, nor will I replace any of the furniture because it is good furniture.  I am donating the old living room furniture that is currently in the family room because the room is being changed into an exercise/sewing room and there won't be any room for the furniture.  I may be wrong, but that is the plan right now but I won't be doing anything about that until after tax season and Julie and I really start dig in.  I am glad Mom redid the walls several years ago.  We took down the panelling and had drywall and plaster up instead.  I think the room looks much better this way.  I didn't like the panelling anymore.  It was very old school and the new walls really look good.  The room has much potential.  I just wish Momma was here to sew with me.  Every time I sew though, I am with her because she is the one who taught me how.

It has been an alright day.  I enjoyed the lessons and I am relaxing for the rest of the evening.  I am very tired still, I didn't sleep very well last night.  I am going to take my nighttime earlier than I did last night and I hope that help me sleep better tonight.

I hope your day was good too.