Quick Note

Happy Monday! It's good to be feeling better, but I'm still not 100% and I have a lot of catch-up to do. 

1. Morning chores

2. Focus on bathroom this week - today is the ceiling and it's going to take energy and strength I'm not sure I have yet. 

3. Re-start fitness program with flexibility and strength training

4. Make sausage stew for supper

5. Teach one lesson

6. Maybe practice...not sure I want to go out today. 

 ALL schools are cancelled here due to our extreme low temperatures EXCEPT for my daughters campus. She has to walk all over that campus in this awful weather. She has asked for prayer today as it's just plain dangerous to be out. It's currently -9 with wind chill of -33. I think they should have cancelled but they never do. 

Also please pray Hubby does not come down sick with what I had. He has a very busy weekend coming up that will bring in some needed money but only if he's healthy enough to do the job. 

I will try to catch up with everyone this evening. 

Afternoon By The Fire

It's not often and by that I mean it's rare that I get a chance to spend an afternoon leisurely enjoying the warmth of the fire and a cup of hot chocolate. Too bad I had to come down with walking pneumonia to get it. 

Yes, I've been sick all week. It came on suddenly during the pastors message at church on Sunday. As soon as I got off the organ bench and sat down in the pew my nose started running and I began sneezing etc. I could hardly keep up! It's a good thing my mother taught me to always carry tissues!! Then came the headache and by the time we got home, the body aches came. By nightfall I was on my back and the next day I did nothing but sleep and cough. Every time I cough I sound and feel as though I'm going to hack up a lung. Hubby did some research and diagnosed it as walking pneumonia and it seems he's correct. Tuesday I felt better so I got up and did up the dishes etc., by afternoon I was down again. Wednesday was spent watching favorite shows via DVD and sleeping and today I'm at least able to stay awake for longer periods of time. 

I have canceled all piano lessons for this week; I probably could manage to work on some cards this afternoon, but it's cold upstairs even though the sun is shining brightly today so I'm downstairs by the fire...spoiling myself just a little. 

The weather, like everywhere it seems has been cold and snowy...'nuf said.

Saturday a very special gift arrived in the mail!! My college piano professor...Gordon...the one who's fighting cancer, sent me a set of his music that he composed for organ!! I'm so thrilled and honored!! I can't wait to be healthy enough to practice again so I can try them out. Please continue in prayer for him if you would. Here is another pic of him that I just love. It's hard to see in the smaller image, but his smile here is priceless!

Before I got sick I spent several days working on cards. Some I'm attempting to sell, others I have made for the church ministry. One in particular I made for someone special. Here are a few of my favorites. Click for the larger image to see the details. 

 As I was typing this my son called. It was so good to hear his voice. He's been laid off from work again and is getting quite serious with his girl. They've moved in together...financially it was necessary, but I'm still not a fan. I don't yet know how I feel about them together, first impressions weren't the best. I pray...a lot. 

Well, that's about all for today...

Organ Video

Gilmore let us sleep in this morning...7:30...wow! General cleaning and chores have been done, I'm finishing breakfast as I type. I think I'll be heading out to the grocery store, I don't know when we're getting paid so I have to keep it simple. Problem is if I shop today I won't have the house payment for the first of the month. Please pray we get paid soon. 

Finishing laundry is also on the to-do list and I have to straighten the studio before 4:00 as my only student that hasn't cancelled will hopefully be coming. I started a project in there last night and got interrupted and it's a mess. 

Three hours of practice time on the organ yesterday - I should be so well toned! My abs and arms are sore this morning. 

Daughter #2  stopped in for a few minutes last night and brought us dessert. It was nice to see her. I shouldn't have had the dessert, but it sure was YUMMY!

Ok, here's the video I spoke of yesterday. I don't wish to share it with everyone,  just my closest friends. Like I said, it's short and I wish it was a better sample of my playing and I was dressed better but it was cold in there that day. Here it is, such as it is I hope you enjoy it. I hope it works, it's a big file and it's taken forever to load....Ok, I'm back in here...this isn't working but I don't know how to fix it.

Okay...Since the video is not working properly here I took it off and put it on my Google profile page. It seems to be fine there. 

Another Winter Day

Another winter day....another day to take care of my disciplines...do the work...manage...survive...get through. No students today due to cancellations, I plan to go to the church to practice. I put a roast in the crock-pot for supper tonight...comfort food. I cleaned out the refrigerator today - it's easier when it's empty. We're waiting for payday, so I've been using our freezer food...I had hoped to keep it for a storm. Floors are done, dishes are next as well as getting the laundry going. I'm taking care of the necessities so this afternoon I can focus on my organ practice.

Hubby is out for coffee with the Pastor. Poor Hubby - it seems everything is falling apart around him. He is the head of the Sunday School department and Sunday School now has a total of 4 kids in it...on a good day. They're meeting today to discuss what to do.

I saw this shared on FB and I found it interesting. It made me think. I think I used to be guilty of #1...not so much anymore. #2? No. I have very little of which to boast. #3...probably, but not in the way they talk about here. I think I'm more discontent with what I have to do and am looking for some way to escape. I don't compare myself with others anymore.  #4...maybe not protect, but could be spent doing something more worthwhile. #5...I'm not perfect, but I don't say inappropriate things online. I actually say very little outside of this blog. Still...an interesting and thought provoking read.
5 Questions to Ask Before Posting To Social Media

That's about it for today. Oh...at Thanksgiving my son made a video of me playing the organ. It's not very long and it's not very good and it's got mistakes in it and I look awful. I'm not posting it to youtube or Facebook...I might...I said might post it here.

Spring....

64 days until spring...I didn't count them up, I'm taking their word for it. It can't come soon enough for me, though I have a lot to accomplish yet before it arrives. This year I'm trying very hard to live a more disciplined life. I'm doing better. I can actually say this evening that today I have not eaten anything not in my eating plan and I accomplished all my disciplines...exercise, general housekeeping, time in the Word, a little bit of practice. I was still online more than I should have been and could have spent that time making cards or reading. I can do better.

64 days until spring...our pastor has a new saying..."winter ruins everything." Yes, it's a bit negative, but probably true.

64 days until spring. Winters here are dark and long and lonely. It seems people disappear...like me, they hold up in their homes and don't go out unless necessary. Winter here is a time to just manage. Don't try to do much other than sit by the fire and read.

Energies are sapped just trying to get through each day with shoveling, maintenance, grocery shopping and food preparation. Just do the basics...the necessities, and then do it all again the next day...just manage...just survive...just get through until the sun shines again.

My car doesn't like the cold, it's no longer dependable, so I'm home even more than usual. I didn't get to practice today because of that and because of a slight schedule change. Tomorrow....tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and my schedule is lighter so I'm trying for tomorrow. The church will be very cold, but I'll dress warm.

64 days until spring. I'm planning the organ recital/dedication. Mentor and I discussed it on Monday...a little. I kinda have to give him big plans in small doses, we need time to process. Asking either of us to do anything big during the winter is just asking too much. It's winter...just the basics...the necessities. In a couple of weeks I'll ask him to help me decide on some music as winter or not, I need to get practicing on it. I'm hoping to schedule it for May.

64 days until spring... Easter! I have to find and learn music for Easter!

64 days until spring. I have a student recital to plan...for June. I have a senior graduate this year, so it has to be extra special and that's going to take some extra planning. I'm going to have her begin and end the program as well as play several other pieces in between the other recitalists. At the end, following awards and announcements I'm going to announce her encore, then I will join her at the piano and we'll play a duet on Pomp and Circumstance...then I'll probably cry...she's been with me since she was little.

64 days until spring. Hubby is trying to refinance the business loan. We hope to know something soon - if we can't get the loan, we'll have to sell....then what? Only God knows. It's hard to trust sometimes, but I'm trying. Everything is harder to do in the winter.

64 days until spring. I've been making cards - it keeps me busy (as if I needed to be busier) and I promised to make them for the church. I'm supposed to be making thank you cards tonight, but I felt like blogging and I haven't felt like blogging in a while now. I caught up with all my friends here...some I commented on and others I didn't...I'm sorry...I did read though and I've been thinking about you all.

64 days until spring...Sun on my face, grass between my toes, hanging clothes on the line, garden soil on my hands, birds. Maybe this heaviness in my heart will lighten some, then. Of course you all realize that "spring" is only a date on the calendar. Spring arrives here when it's ready and long after it does everywhere else. But it will come.

64 days until spring....OOPS!! According to this site: countdown - it's only 63 days!!! SEE!! It will be here before we know it!!

Happy New Year!!

Two of my students cancelled this afternoon due to colds so I have a few minutes on my hands to finally put up a new year's post!!

First of all, I'd like to share some verses for the new year that a friend of mine shared on her blog:

Lucy Maude Montgomery in her classic, Anne of Green Gables book said, “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it?”

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:18-19

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

“…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  Isaiah 40:31

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.  Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,…”  1 Chronicles 16:11-12

It is nice to think that each new year, each new day is a chance to start fresh. I have been working on re-working my schedule to allow for tasks that have been slipping through the cracks. I'm doing better and hopefully this next week will be better yet. 

Our new year came in quietly but cold. We did stop in at a church members open house on New Year's Eve and when it came time to leave our car wouldn't start. We'd been having trouble but thought we had it solved...wrong. It seems the car doesn't like the cold and so ever since then Hubby has been chauffeuring me to the grocery store and to the church for my practice times...that's all I get to do - the rest of my time is spent here in The Little Turquoise House. This has been all well and good, I don't like going out in the cold and snow anyway. I've got my house all clean and put back in order after Christmas and have some Valentines created for sale...more on the way, hopefully tonight while I catch up on Downton Abbey episodes. Castle was certainly good this week!! 

Students have returned this week...well...sort of. I thought of taking another week off to get some more things done and now I wish I had as I've only had four students of the 13 show up due to either weather conditions or illness. Hopefully next week will be better. 

The sun is shining today - it's so nice to see!! I don't know how much I'll be around for the next while with my new schedule and all, but I'll be in and out. 

Memory Lane

A friend of mine shared this and I think it is worthy to pass on...

Memory Lane is so much fun to visit but if I parked there permanently then a discontent feeling could overwhelm a person. You know, the what ifs. I serve a mighty God that has brought me through so many different situations and it has caused me to be stronger in many areas of my life. The strength and endurance I have are only made through the trials my family and I have been through. So, though I may miss some of the past, I can never live there because my future is brighter than my past. How do I know this? Well, because Heaven is my future! Our family has crossed paths with so many people over the years and though some may not claim us in the friends category any longer...I still claim them, for I have grown closer to the Lord with each friend experience. Grudges, are really not my thing because ultimately God will handle any thing not taken care of scripturally and I leave those things with Him. Peace...love the sound of that word! A new year is about to happen in a few days. A do over for some, a fresh beginning for many. Let's do all we can to put our past in our past and move forward, onward, and upward as our goal this year. Let's put God at the helm of our ship and be the crewman taking all our orders from the Captain. He can guide us through the roughest of storms! Love y'all ... FOCUS may just be my word for the year. Don't enter 2014 blurry. Focus on the outcome you want to see and if the picture comes out blurry sometimes, just refocus and press on. Love ya!