Sad...

We received a call this morning that my uncle (my dad's brother-in-law) died last night. He has suffered with Huntington's disease, which is similar to Parkinson's, for so many years now, and his health has really declined in the last few years. For a long time, he couldn't even get out of bed, then he got a little better, but then he grew worse again. We are leaving tomorrow to go back to our home state. I'm not sure how long we'll be gone. Please pray for my aunt and the rest of our family during this difficult time.

Piano Lesson

I went to my piano lesson yesterday. It was interesting. The teacher has come through a lot of hand injuries herself, so it was encouraging to hear that someone really can learn to play again. One of the key things she was showing me was to play with my fingers near the black keys, not the edge of the keys, and to keep your wrists relaxed. That's not as easy as it sounds. Until you force yourself to notice it, you never realize how much tension you hold in your wrists and fingers while you play, especially when doing chords and octaves. This teacher learned to play this way from another teacher, Vickie King, whose website is www.naturalpianoplaying.com. I really hope I can use these techniques to play the piano again!

What I've been up to......

I just noticed how long it's been since I've posted. Yikes! I didn't realize it had been over a week. Last week was pretty busy. I had a bad cold the first half of the week and had to work long hours the last half of the week. So, I didn't get around to blogging. After I work 3:30-midnight once, it kind of wipes me out for the rest of the week. Thankfully, I have this weekend off! Yay!

I do have some news that's somewhat exciting -- well, it's exciting for me. At church last Sunday someone gave me the name of a piano teacher who retrains pianists to play after performance injuries. It had been so long since I told her about my hands that I was amazed she remembered. I contacted the teacher this week and we have a lesson scheduled on Tuesday. It has been four years since I overworked my hands playing difficult pieces and developed carpal tunnel syndrome that I haven't been able to get rid of since. A few weeks ago I sat down to play a few pieces and was discouraged because my hands just wouldn't cooperate with me. I'm really hoping this teacher will be able to teach me a new way to play so that I can actually play again!

My new clothes and antiques.......

I found this when we went shopping at an antique shop almost as soon as I walked through the door. This store has lots of neat things, but tends to be rather pricey, for me anyway. I just knew the price was going to be $50, but she was only $10!! I was so excited. She is just so pretty. She is actually a nightlight, but she doesn't work, of course. I just like using having her to sit on my bookshelf.
Aunt Sherry brought these figurines for me when she came. She bought them at a florist shop that happened to have a few antique figurines near the door. They remind me so much of the figurines my Grandma used to collect.
When it was associate shop day this time, I went a little crazy. After all, I got 30% off all the sale prices and I needed some new fall clothes. I love these shoes. These heels are just the right height -- about 1 1/2 inches -- and the way they are made, I can actually walk in them without pain. :) That's an accomplishment for me in a pair of heels.
When my sister saw this picture, she said "Where did you get DIAMONDS!?!" Unfortunately, they're not diamonds. They aren't even sterling silver. The way the metal is cut makes the medallions sparkle and there are almost microscopic rhinestones as well.

You can't see them well in the picture, but I really love this shirt and skirt. And they match my shoes. :)
I love the colors in this top.
And this burgundy is really nice. I like the way the shirt fits. It's not too clingy, but not shapeless either.
I'm on the fence about keeping this shirt. It is my favorite bright pink color, but I don't have any dark brown bottoms to go with it and it is one of those shirts I have to layer with a camisole. So I'll have to think about this one.
Aunt Sherry bought this purse for me. Usually, this name brand hardly ever goes on sale, so it's hard to find a good price, but this one was on clearance for 70% off. I love the colors and pattern.

I also found a great black pencil skirt. It is the perfect length, just below the knees, and the slit in the back is only about one or two inches. That's a rare find in a pencil skirt. Usually, they are up above the knees with a six inch slit.

I like my new clothes, but my favorite finds are the figurines. It is so exciting for me to find special keepsakes to keep forever. :)

Back to normal

Well, vacation is over and it's back to work. I'm pretty tired. It always seems like I need a vacation to recover from vacation, but it is nice to be back in a normal routine. Last Tuesday, when we were out shopping, I got caught in the rain. That almost always means an instant cold for me and, sure enough, I have been fighting a stuffy head and cough ever since. Yesterday was really bad at work. I started out fine, but the last two hours I coughed and COUGHED and COUGHED. I had to run away from the register three times because I was coughing so hard, but thankfully some girls were nice enough to cover for me quickly. Today was much better, but I just felt tired and blah. I bought a lot of neat things on vacation. Some were presents for Aunt Sherry and some I bought myself because it was associate day at work and I got a double discount. I love associate days. :) I'll have to post pictures tomorrow, since I have the day off. Vacation was great. It was nice to see our family and have them here at our house. Life back to normal is good to, though.

More vacationing.........

Well, Aunt Sherry is here and Aunt Bett and Uncle John. I had to work over the weekend, so I was really tired at first, but now I am free to relax as much as I like. :) I'm not sure what we are going to be doing. Today, I think we're going to the mall. It will be nice to see the inside of another department store for a change.

Aunt Sherry has already done quite a bit of movie watching with us, with both Gods and Generals and North and South over the weekend. I've already made a post about how much I love North and South, but I could go on and on about it. As for Gods and Generals, it is a very long movie, and there are a lot of battle scenes that might bore someone who isn't a history enthusiast like me, but the faith of Stonewall Jackson and the sight of the bloodshed and tears will move anyone. It gives the viewer such a good look into the Civil War. They were real people, facing the real, agonizing choices to take sides in a war against their brothers. They were real women and children, alone at home while the men were at war. The soldiers were real men that got shot down by the hundreds in every battle. It's definitely a thought-provoking look at the past.