Thursday 10-20

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

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

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

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

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

the day after 10-19

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

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

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

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

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

The anniversary

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


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

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

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

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

I hope you are having a good day.

Monday 10-17

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

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

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

I do hope you are having a great day.

Pictures!

I almost forgot!  Here are a few pictures:

Top picture: Kathy, Me, Wendy, Peggy

Middle Picture: Lori, Andrea, Me

Bottome Picture, Andrea, Me

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

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

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

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

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

The Reunion!!!

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

the start of the 25th reunion activities

Today was the homecoming parade.  It was short and nice, much shorter than I ever remember but then again, I was in the marching band and we were always first in the homecoming parade.  The Shelby and Utica police and fire trucks were in it too along with an ambulance.  They had cool sirens going.  They actually led the parade and then the Utica Marching Band was after them.  The friends that I went to the parade with are from marching band.  Corinna, Penny, Laura, Peggy, Jennie, and I were there.  Jennie and Peggy's children were there too.  I hadn't met Jennie's four until today.  They are really sweet kids.  She has 4.  The oldest 2 are twins, DJ and Nancy, then Julie, and lastly, Mary.  Mary is 2 and I think the twins are 10.  Peggy's son is 6, Nicholas.  I have met Nicholas before.  He is are really nice young man.  It was a wonderful time.  After that Jennie and her crowd, Peggy and hers, and I went to Chili's for dinner.  It was a good time.  Now I am waiting for Stacey to come to see the saxophone her daughter is borrowing from me.  Jennie borrowed a cello for a few weeks.  Her friend has a son who wants to try it out.

I had to reschedule my students tonight because of the parade and also because I wanted to go to eat with my friends.  Emily's mom graciously rescheduled until tomorrow and I believe Acer and Calli will be coming on Sunday.  That is what I hope anyway.  Kathy will be in town tomorrow for the reunion tomorrow night.  All in all, I am very pleased with how everything is going.  I only hit one snag.  My little scooter is not working very well.  Yup, that is right.  It says it is charged almost full, but when you go, it goes down to nothing.  I can't find the charger.  I am very upset over that so I had to order a new one.  I am really hoping it is just the need to be charged and not the batteries but the batteries are 6 years old.  Of course, it hasn't been used in a while so that could be it too.  I will get this taken care of as soon as the new charger comes in.  It can't be because it sits in the garage because I have always kept it in the garage.  I should have the new charger by the week after next.  I won't be able to use it on Sunday but I am not sure I am going to the Yates Cider Mill either.  It is from 11 to 1 and I am not so sure I will be awake.  We shall see when the day arrives.  I already told my friends, the Hubels, I will NOT be attending church that morning as it will be a rather late night.  I am, surprisingly, excited about going to the reunion even though I don't remember 1/2 the people who are attending.  If they weren't in band or choir, I didn't know them or really ever hung out with them.  And, like Jennie said tonight at dinner, if they were in the "in" crowd, I definitely didn't know them.  We were in the "band" crowd and "choir" crowd.

Stacey just left with a happy Kaela.  She got sounds out of the saxophone!  We are very excited about that!  I showed her how to put her reed on the mouthpiece.  The only issue was that her mouthpiece didn't really fit the instrument.  I know that the cork needs to be replaced, so maybe after that would be better but the mouthpiece I have for it fits just fine.  Her teacher will look at it and see what is going on and what to do.  I am not sure if anything needs to be fixed or pads replaced as it hasn't really been played in about 30 or so years.  I have used it now and again, but not recently.  I thought the thumb piece was broken too, but it turns out that it was fixed so I am wondering if Mom took it in when I had the store to be checked out.  It is hard to say as I can't really ask her since, well, I have no phone to Heaven. Boy, do I wish there was a phone to Heaven.  Can you just imagine how cool that would be?  Anyways,  Kaela is one happy girl and that is what is important.

Tomorrow will be a great day.  I have 3 lessons and the reunion.  I get Kathy!!!!  How much better could that be?  Well, let's see, Andrea, Penny, Corey, Jennie, Peggy, Laura, Wendy, and so many more that I can't even write all there names!  I am just really excited about it.  I hope your weekend is good too!

Thursday 10-13

I am not feeling so good today.  I did have 2 lessons and they went well, I am just having tummy issues this  evening.  It is so annoying and it did make my evening plans change.  I did not go to to choir practice because I was light headed again.  This is getting rather annoying.  It had better improve for the weekend as I have big plans for tomorrow and for Saturday.  I have lessons in the afternoon and then I have the reunion in the evening.  I think it begins at 6 but I am not sure yet.  I have a lesson at 1:15, 4, and 5 before leaving for the reunion.  It should be a fun weekend.  Also on Friday, my friend, Stacey, is coming to have her daughter try the saxophone.  Her daughter, Kaela, has her heart set on playing the saxophone.  I am just glad I have one she can borrow to see if she really likes it.  I hope she does because Stacey bought her a new mouthpiece, ligatures, and reeds.  I also bought a reed for her because I wasn't sure if she would have any.  I am glad Stacey got some for her though because Kaela is going to need a few because I have yet to meet a beginner who doesn't break a lot of them.  I am going to show Kaela how to put everything together so she will know what to do for band the first week.

Project Runway is on right now.  It is the last challenge before the final 3.  This should be interesting.  One episode left after tonight.  It is too funny how the designers don't always take the criticism well.  Josh always has this, how dare you not like my outfits.  Kimberly was the same way.

I have to clean off the table tomorrow as well as the kitchen counter.  Naturally, I haven't done anything. I wasn't feeling to good to do anything except take a brief nap.  I didn't sleep very well last night.  I took my nighttime and I couldn't sleep.  You would think that medicine made to make you sleepy would actually work, right?  Not most of the time with me.  Sometimes it takes hours before I can go to sleep.  I know pain is part of it, but sometimes it isn't about pain at all, it is my brain that won't shut off!  It just won't shut up and let me sleep!  Very annoying, let me tell you!  Anyways, I think I feel asleep about 4:30 or so, then the phone rang at about 8 am.  I let that one go to voice mail.  The phone rang again at 8:20 am.  I answered it this time.  It was Aaiyanna's mom.  Aaiyanna had left her backpack here at my house on Tuesday and they live quite away from me.  Her father was going to be in the area and he wanted to pick it up.  I said sure.  I mean, she needs this backpack that has her homework and stuff in it. I told him to call when he gets here.  He called and now Aaiyanna has her backpack.  I was awake at that point and a bit hungry so I had a bowl of cereal.  I stayed up for a bit before heading back to bed.  I slept on and off for a while before I had to get up for Breanna's lessons.  She brought her guitar and played her "Silent Night" for me.  It is a slightly different, at times, melody from the proper melody but it really suits her and with her guitar, it is really nice.  She has to work on her Jingle Bell Rock now.  I copied the music for her so she would have the chords to work with.  Breanna said she will have the music ready for me next week.  She is also coming along very well with her piano too although she doesn't like to perform with piano.  She only sings at concerts.  Laith is also doing very well.  He started piano this summer and he knows his notes already for the new positions that he hasn't learned yet.  Laith is doing so well that I will be changing him from the prep books to the basic books.  The biggest difference is what you learn in 1 page in the basic books, you learn 2 pages in the prep books.  With the next books, it is important that he be still challenged, but not to hard for him.  My other young ones, it will depend on how soon they nail the names of the notes.  Rachel has the computer game right now and Emily will get it next week after Rachel returns it this coming week.  I am excited to see how it helps Rachel.  She knows her C Position notes, but I have since added the Middle C Position and the coming up G Position notes.  Those still give her some trouble.  Overall, I am pleased with Rachel.  She knows her songs every week and she is a joy to teach.  She always has a smile on her face and is ready to do something new.  I have the best students in the world.  this particular group of students are fun, excited to learn, and not one of them is being FORCED to play or sing!  That is a first for me as I usually have one or two or sometimes three who are being forced to play or sing.  I am so thankful that I don't have one at this time.  I would like to keep it that way.

I am heading to bed shortly as I just am so tired and I don't feel well tonight.  I hope tomorrow is better.

Wednesday 10-12

I have 2 students I don't know what to do with because they are from the online company but they haven't paid for this months lessons.  Last week was their last weeks of paid lessons.  The online company dropped them from my schedule but they were here so I am not sure what to do about this.  Benjy was so exhausted today that they are coming tomorrow so I will have to have her call the company tomorrow when she arrives at my house.  It is an awkward situation that I hope is solved easily.  I just love the two kids though, they are so cute and are doing pretty well since I don't know how much they practice.  I don't think they actually practice at home very much.  It is hard to say.  Benjy (age 6) knows the notes on the piano and his had position, the same with Joiene (age 5).  I am nervous of how they will do when they start reading notes on lines and spaces.  We shall see.  Tomorrow will be interesting.  I will also have Breanna and Laith's lessons tomorrow too.  I like Thursdays as not only do I have fun lessons, I have choir practice.  I will not be in church this Sunday because of the Class Reunion on Saturday night.  I am looking forward to the reunion.  A group of us will be meeting at my house for the parade on Friday afternoon.  I will be clearing off the dining room table and making sure the living room is in good order.  I will also clear off the kitchen counter.  It desperately needs it because I have some packages that I haven't opened yet.  I have the new pasta pot and a DVD that goes to Kathy.  I have to put in bags the DVDs and books for Kathy.

I was trying to call Emily's mom last night and somehow I dialed Julie instead.  I felt kind of silly because I meant to call Emily's Mom.  However, it was awfully nice to talk with Julie.  She is feeling better so that is good.  It was confirmed that the last hospital visit she had was indeed an asthma attack and her heart is fine.  Thank God for that!  I was so happy to hear that.  My lovely Lily will be having surgery on her one foot at the end of this month and the other foot should be done during Christmas vacation.  I haven't seen the lovely lady for a while.  She was so busy this summer with Summer Music Theatre and her summer vacation that I didn't get to see her at all.  It was a bummer but what can I say?  the older she gets the more busy she gets.  She is now a teenager and we all know how busy teenagers are.  I do hope she is doing well with school this year.  Lily is a good student so I imagine that she is.  I miss her though.  I hope to see her soon.  Julie mentioned that I would be seeing her soon so that is a good thing.

I accidentally picked up an easy piano Christmas book when I needed the regular Christmas book so I had to go and exchange it today.  I also ordered another vocal Christmas book and CD that I need.  That will be the end of what I need for the Christmas Concert this year.  So far, a little more than 1/2 have picked their music.  I have just a few that need to pick their pieces.  6 students need to pick their songs so that is good.  I also will be working on who is going to competition and what they are going to play.  October is a very busy month for me.

After this week, I should be able to take the rest of the money from lessons this month and put them directly on the property taxes.  I am so excited about that because I only have until end of February to take care of this.  Ugh!  I may be able to put more than expected down this month on the bill.  With holidays coming, that means absences.  Absences means less money.  In the last few years, I have been lucky enough to have students who have wanted lessons during Christmas vacation so I am hoping that this will happen again this year.  I am pretty sure Charlie and Bob will as they usually do.

I figure in the next few weeks I will start to work on the Christmas Ornaments for the students and my friends.  I am looking forward to start working on them.  I have pretty much everything I need for them so I just need to start cutting them out and start the sewing.

I am looking forward to Friday and Saturday.  I dread Sunday, Monday, and most of all, Tuesday, however, with friends and family, I will get through this.  Thank goodness for lessons!  I have so much to do to get ready for next weeks lessons with copying music, CDs, and arranging music.  Thank goodness I have a lot to do this coming week.  I did, however, FINISH the newsletter!  Finally!!!!!  Yes, I should have had it out 2 weeks ago, but hey, it is not to late now.  I don't know when the Christmas Concert is anyways, so I couldn't put the date in the newsletter whether I did it two weeks ago or this week.  The competition music is starting to be picked out so it is still timely to have the competition info. The only info I didn't put in was how much the hotel was.  I couldn't find it on the website.  Yeah, somehow I missed that important info.  It is on the website.  I know what it is now and I can tell the parents when they sign up for competition.  Right now I only know of 3 that are going.  It is fine if only 3 go, yes it is nice to have more, but if the other students don't want to go, that is okay too.  It is more important that they keep learning more and more about their instruments than to concentrate only on competitions.  I do know of teachers that will not teach students if they won't go to competition.  That isn't me, it works for them, but it doesn't work for me.

I am watching Dance Moms.  It is the season finale and the fifteen top outrageous moments.  They are pretty funny.  I am just thankful I that I don't have to deal with parents like that.  It is very entertaining though!

I do hope you are having a good day.  I had a busy one and plan another busy one tomorrow.

Tuesday 10-11

It was exactly one year ago today that I last heard my mother speak to me.  It is kinda weird to think that though.  She was responding to questions and holding (short ones of course) conversations with me, her brother, her niece and nephew, as well as some friends that day.  While it wasn't our first day with hospice, we had been a hospice family for about 3 weeks at this point, it was the first day of her in the hospice unit in the hospital.  I am not as sad, right now, as I expected this day to be, mind you, it is only about 5 pm and there are many hours before I go to bed.  I was thinking last night about Mom.  My first memory involves her.  I was coming down the stairs to the kitchen.  I must have been about 3 or 4 years old.  I remember walking down the stairs and she looked up and smiled at me.  I then remember running to get a hug and a kiss from her.  I am grateful that my last memory of her speaking to me is a good one too.  So many people don't have that like I do.  She was lying in the hospital bed all bundled up because she was always so cold. She had several pillows around her and her little feet were propped up with a blanket so she wouldn't get a sore on her heels.  I leaned over and hugged her as best as I could, which is really hard when the person is lying in bed, but I tried.  I gave her a kiss and told her I loved her.  She said she loved me too.  Those were the last words I ever heard my mother speak.  I don't know if she was able to speak that night to the nurses, but by the next day she could no longer speak.  I can still see her in the bed.  She looked so small.  Mom only weighted about 84 pounds when she passed away.  It seems like yesterday sometimes and other times it seems like she was only a dream, yet I have pictures and some of her things, so I know she was real.  I just miss her a lot and wish she were still here.  I don't wish she were here with the Alzheimer's, I know that the last 6 months of her life were hard on the little lady, I wish she were here and healthy like she was before Alzheimer's.  Those were the good days although, even when she had Alzheimer's she was fun.  I just had to adjust what we did, that was all.

Aaiyanna had her lesson today.  We started her Christmas songs. She seems to like them so that is good. She is singing Gesu Bambino and Sleigh Song for the Christmas Concert.  We will do lots of fun Christmas Songs too but those are the ones for the concert.  She is such a cute little girl.  She loves my Mom's little bear dressed as a dog.  She really loves that.  I think she holds him or my heartsong carebear during every lesson.  McKenzie is supposed to have her lesson tonight.  I am really hoping she does.  She hasn't had a lesson in a month and that is just not good.  I know the place where she practices is under construction, so I am not sure if she is coming tonight or not.  I have not heard otherwise, so I am hopeful McKenzie will have a lesson tonight.  I am hopeful.

I emailed the local University in Kalamazoo and we have our 2nd judge for the Michigan Music Association Competition!  I am very excited.  Her name is Elizabeth and she is a vocal judge.  I am so thrilled that we have two judges.  We have the guitar and now 1 of the vocal judges.

It has been an up and down day for me.  I hope yours is better.  Here is a couple of pictures