Friday??

Today has felt like Friday all day. 

The Dr., rather the PA said my mole looks to her more like it has been scratched or irritated in some way. I'm not sure I agree, but I do see where she is coming from. I'm unsure, because I don't remember bumping or scratching it and there are no scratches or anything around the mole, it's only on the mole itself. Anyway, she hesitated to remove it right away because of my lack of insurance and we'd have to send it off to the lab, etc. She said waiting for a couple of weeks even if it was a cancer starting wouldn't make any difference. She said to put an anti-biotic cream on it and watch it for a couple of weeks and if it's not improved to call and she'd remove it. It does look slightly better than yesterday, so maybe she's right and I was too jumpy. Time will tell.

 

I left early to go to the Dr. and stopped by the post office, the bank and the church to turn on the heat in the sanctuary so I could practice. It takes about an hour or so to warm up. After my appointment I went back to the church and found it was still only 50 degrees in the room - either I didn't do it right or someone came in behind me and turned it back down. I practiced with my coat on, in the cold. Normally I don't have to do that, but because the Sunday School will be using the room to practice on Sunday morning, I won't be able to. I will still be playing the hymns un-practiced on Sunday because I don't know what they will be in time. We will also be performing the Christmas program on Sunday morning in lieu of our usual worship service and I have no idea in what order things will happen. Yea, I'm a little stressed.

After my freezing practice hour, I did some grocery shopping and came home, got some lunch and played on the computer. I figured a little down time was ok since I have no students tomorrow or Friday and will be home alone to get finished with my light cleaning and preparations for the kids to arrive. I may do a little yet tonight, depends on Hubby. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow, putting on some Christmas music and working uninterrupted...I hope. 

'Night all!

Third Time is a Charm?

Daughter #2 came by last night and spent the night here, it was good to see her. We had a nice chat over coffee this morning and she made chocolate chip cookies that I'm trying very hard to stay out of. She just left; she has a Skype interview for an internship this afternoon with Specialized Bikes. I have mixed feelings as to whether or not I want her to get it. Yes, she needs the experience, but it's in California and she doesn't know anyone out there. 

I feel in a sense that I'm just getting my day started even though I already have supper in the crock-pot, I cooked lunch and cleaned up the kitchen as well as my floors. 

I don't have much planned for the afternoon, maybe make some cards and I have a lesson to teach at 5:30.

Soooooooo, I have a mole on my arm that I noticed this morning has changed drastically. It is much darker than it used to be, raised up and slightly red around the outside. I'm trying not to freak out here, but I have an appointment to have it looked at on Wednesday. Please pray it's nothing. This is the third cancer scare for me and I just pray it turns out benign like the others and that "third time is a charm" in that, this is the last time I have to deal with this.

T-I-R-E-D

I hope you've all had a good weekend. I've had a lot going on, and as a result, I am tired...physically, mentally and emotionally.

Friday I helped Hubby at the shop which always means a lot of standing and mind numbing, repetitive work. I was there for about 4 hours and then taught two hours of piano lessons, prepared supper and finally crashed in the recliner with a massive headache.

Saturday afternoon was the winter recital for my piano students. It started at 2:00, but that means getting there at about 11 to get the heat on in time to warm the space and get a table set up, decorations in place, check on the condition of the piano, rearrange some furniture and get the coffee going. This year I invited family members and friends to participate by sharing with us their talents whether they take piano from me or not. I asked people to bring other instruments, sing, do a reading or play the piano. There weren't many takers, but one family stepped up and brought their violins. They have two little girls, one played the violin and the other the cello and dad played along with them. It was so sweet! Then later in the program, the dad came back up and played a beautiful Bach prelude. What a treat that was!

This was a first recital experience for several students, most did very well. I have one adult also taking part in her first recital and she started out fine but something happened in the middle and she couldn't get back on track. I felt bad for her, but she seemed to handle it alright. I need to have a chat with her soon to make sure she's ok. All in all it was an enjoyable afternoon. There is some tension between me and one of the mothers, so that is always draining on me, something happened between us years ago and we've never been the same since; she always makes me feel inadequate. Also I hate talking in front of a group, and not being able to get programs printed, I had to do a lot of talking.

This morning I arrived at church ready to go in and start my regular practice time and lo and behold, there was the Sunday School classes practicing for their Christmas program. I didn't even think that the space might not be available to me this morning and as usual, no one thinks to alert the organist. I had three pieces of music I had to combine into a single prelude, none of which had registrations prepared. I also saw in the bulletin that there was a hymn I had never ever played before and of course two other Christmas hymns which only get played once a year, so they weren't practiced. It was a fly by the seat of my pants kind of day and let me tell you, anything that has to do with the seat of my pants is never pretty!

Hubby had to leave church early to take care of an issue at the rink - someone...maybe more than one someone didn't show up to their assignment which means Hubby has to find a way to cover it. I had to ask a fellow church member for a ride home and it's now after 3:30 and he is still not home.

It's a gray day...it's raining. Someone at church said "well we don't have to shovel it", true...but once it freezes it's going to be an awful, slippery mess! After everything that has transpired this weekend, I feel like just curling up in a big quilt and not only calling it a day, but calling it a weekend. My emotions are not handling things well and so I'm done folks. 

Going To Work

I'm posting again tonight because tomorrow morning I will be going to help Hubby in the shop. He is swamped trying to get deadlines met before the holiday's, so he's asked me to help him. My usual morning routine of cleaning, Bible reading, blogging and working out will turn into a quick shower and out the door. I just hope that my body will be able to handle the physical stress of the job.

Tomorrow afternoon I have three students coming, so it will be a very busy day. I have no idea what we'll eat, I won't have any time to prepare anything. 

I didn't get as much done today as I'd hoped so I'm headed upstairs to find a lamp bright enough so I can see to sew on that button. 

I'll catch up with you all later!

Quiet Thursday

There is not much in the schedule here at the little turquoise house today and that's fine.

I do have the ever-present laundry situation to take care of, a button to sew on my winter dress coat as well as tighten the others, and the instructions to an iris-folding Christmas card to figure out and make. If I have too much trouble, I'll have to head over to the store to seek help. I do want to get it done, it's such a pretty card. 

I have one student this afternoon at 3:45. Supper will be a small ham that I'll put in the crock-pot in a while - it's pre-cooked, so it just needs to warm and tenderize. Along with the ham I'll serve a baked potato and green beans, all very easy to prepare.

The temps are up in the mid 30's today, but it's still very gray out. Hubby chose to save the wood and not put a fire in the stove this morning. The forecast also calls for snow showers, but I don't think we'll get any. 

The verses I want to share from God's Word today come from the Daily Bread. I know some of you read that everyday, but in light of what Carol blogged about recently, I thought it was a timely message. 

I John 2:15-17 
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."

12-12-12

My Wednesday students had to reschedule for tomorrow, so no one is coming for lessons today. I plan to make a loaf of bread and a loaf of banana bread, cook black beans for my quinoa mixture and hopefully prepare that as well. I also plan to spend a good deal of time at the piano today and do some cleaning.

From God's Word:

Exodus 22:28

"You shall not curse God, nor curse a ruler of your people."

Hmmmm, something to think about there.

Daughter #2 has a Skype interview on Monday for a summer internship/job. I pray it goes well for her.

Yesterday I gave my "dark room speech" to three students. Last night after giving it to the third student, he changed his playing and sounded like a completely different pianist. It was exciting! I love teaching piano! Now, if I can just get him to do it that way all the time.

Walking in an Unfamiliar Dark Room

 

I continue to preach - rather unsuccessfully - the need for students to slow their music down, especially in the early stages of learning a new piece.

Today I related it to trying to walk around in a dark and unfamiliar room. If we are concerned about injuring ourselves, we don't walk into a dark room the same way we would in a room filled with light. We slow down, open our eyes wider and feel our way, being careful not to stub our toes.

We must treat unfamiliar music like a dark room. We must slow down, open our eyes - looking carefully for signs along the way, feeling our way from one note to the next, one phrase to the next. If we are making many mistakes and re-striking keys, we are going too fast for our skill at that time. By slowing down and learning everything slowly and correctly, we actually speed up the learning process and our retention. Speed comes only when we know our way around.

Until we finally learn to slow down and feel our way, our music will remain unfamiliar and dark. 

No Cooking Today

I'm taking a break from the kitchen today, I've been cooking some meals ahead for Christmas week. Yesterday I got my vegetarian chili made and it's in the freezer now - I think we'll have that on Christmas Eve. I'm going to soak some black beans today so tomorrow I can cook my quinoa mixture to be used in tacos or taco salad - planning that for the 23rd. Turkey dinner will be for Christmas day. Fortunately, I don't have to cook today - there are enough left-overs for lunch and enough left-over chicken chili for supper.

I have two students coming this afternoon and another one tonight. Yesterday I had a lady call about piano lessons, she's 71 and can't read any music. She was ready to come right away but I sent her to look for a book, and told her when she gets it we'll set up her lesson time. I'm not sure what to expect.

Daughter #2 was here for the day yesterday - she had a hair appointment and she hung out with me and also took care of some homework. She went back last night, she has classes the rest of the week.

From God's Word, Leviticus 19:1-2

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

This morning Hubby came back inside after having left for work to show me the moon. The sun had just started to come up so there was an orange glow on the horizon and the clouds above it were a dusty purple color. The moon was just a sliver and the dog star was visible with it - so pretty.

I hope to come back and visit blogs later - I'll have to see. I'm not feeling well today. 
 

Chirstmas Preparations

 

We have snow this morning, but only an inch or two - certainly nothing of the big storm they were predicting for us.

 

I worked on my cards last night until about 11:00 last night. I'm all finished except for one that I'm making for our church bulletin board - we post our cards instead of mailing out to everyone. I just have to run to the scrapbook store today and ask Jeannie to cut some letters for me and it will be done. I even got a start on my daughter's birthday card!

Speaking of Daughter#2, she's coming up sometime today - she has a hair appointment scheduled and she doesn't have classes. I have a small gift and a card I made ready for her boyfriend - just a keychain, but I wanted to get him something. Since my daughter is coming up and I'm not sure when and also because I have some cooking to do to prepare for the kids coming, I won't be going to practice the pipe organ. I will do some practicing on the piano....this Saturday is our Christmas recital and I will be playing 2 pieces that still need some work.

I'm going to make and freeze a vegetarian chili and also another soup or something to have on hand while the kids are here - I really don't want to spend all Christmas week in the kitchen. I think I might see if I can freeze a crisp for Christmas day dessert. Not sure I'll get it all done today...probably not, but if I do something everyday, I should be done this week.

All that, plus teaching and keeping the house somewhat clean will keep me busy this week. Oh...I need to run the steam mop today. Ok, I'm tired already!!

Question for all you bloggers....I love my new background, but it doesn't seem to fit properly. Can someone help me? Do I need to change my template and if so, what works best? Also, what is the difference between a 2 column and a 3 column layout and which one should I be using? I can't remember which one I have on here now, but I tried the other one and it used up too much of my pretty background. Any help is appreciated, thanks. 

Love Is A Christmas Rose

 



























Friendship is
a holly tree, That brightens as it grows, 

Friendship is a holly tree, But love is a Christmas rose!  

Romance is the mistletoe, That from the ceiling glows,  

Romance is the mistletoe, But love is a Christmas rose!  

With this rose I give you, On this Christmas day,  

Can't you see my darling,  

What my heart has tried so hard to say?  

Friendship is a holly tree  

That brightens as it grows 

Friendship is a holly tree  

But love is a Christmas rose!

 Romance is the mistletoe 

That from the ceiling glows 

Romance is the mistletoe

But love is a Christmas rose!

Love is a Christmas rose!

Love is a Christmas rose!

 Love is a Christmas rose . . . 

Words and Music by Earl Shuman and Leon Carr

Coffee by the Fire

Good Saturday morning! 

The snow has begun, we're under a winter storm warning for tonight through Monday. I'll be staying in today, finishing my cards and taking care of some other things around the little turquoise house. Hubby has a busy day - he'll be back and forth between the ice rink and work.

I watched another favorite Christmas movie last night...One Special Night starring Julie Andrews and James Garner...two of my favorites. Julie is my all time favorite female actress and singer, I admire her so much. She is talented, elegant and gracious. James Garner always reminded my mom of my dad...they look alike. 

From God's Word:

Psalm 19:7-11

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.

 This is short today. My coffee is gone and it's time to throw another log on the fire and head upstairs to get started.

Thiry One-derful

It's been a dark week. I looked out the window one afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and I couldn't believe how dark it was. It's also been windy and we've had that awful mix of rain and snow. I know it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm trying not to, really...it is what it is...it's messy and dark and there is no other way to say it. 

On a brighter note, this week Hubby and I celebrated thirty one-derful years of married joy. Hubby brought in a bouquet of a dozen red roses which are GORGEOUS and we went out to dinner at a favorite spot here in town. I love this little restaurant at Christmas. They always have a huge tree that you have to walk around and it's all decorated with homespun, old fashioned ornaments like dried orange slices, popcorn and cranberries although, the snowballs with faces are a little creepy looking. Over the bar, pine boughs are strung, accented with monster pine-cones. I wish I could post pictures...maybe next year. I have been thinking even more so than usual about our marriage and how blessed we have been. Two imperfect people do not a perfect marriage make, but when I look at the marriages and family situations around me...WE ARE SO BLESSED. I know it's nothing we've done, we try to be obedient and faithful to that which God has called us, but it is God who preserves us...this I know and I'm grateful.

I've only accomplished a portion of our decorating. I've set out my mother's manger scene and decorated my surfaces with woodworking crafts my kids made in school and my mother's Santa collection, but Hubby and Daughter have not had time to pick out a tree. It has become tradition that the two of them take care of that job each Christmas. I'll never forget how awful I felt the year we moved to the house and I decided it was time for a fake tree for convenience sake. I found out the hard way how much my daughter looked forward to choosing the tree with her dad each year. It was her special thing to do and by setting up the fake tree I took that away from her...I didn't know. Soooooo, I keep the fake tree in the closet.

I went for a massage this morning, my therapist had a cancellation and I jumped at the chance to get in. Ever since I stood in the kitchen for 8 hours on Thanksgiving I have been an awful mess. I know, most of you are thinking, "oh, lucky her, she gets a massage", well, let me tell you, when I get a massage it is anything but relaxing. After an hour and a half of being on the table, I was so ready to get off. I am feeling the benefits now though, my body feels looser, but oh...there is still so much more to dig through.  

I can't believe it's 3:00 already. I'm happy I don't have to cook supper tonight...leftovers again. I spent $7.00 on a DVD today...Holiday Inn. I bought White Christmas last year. I have to start watching my Christmas movies now, once the kids arrive, I won't be able to. 

Time to leave blog land and go address envelopes for Christmas cards. I sure hope we get more than we did last year, otherwise this might be the last year I do this. Maybe I'll put in my new DVD while I work on them.