🙂 Tomorrow, Elvera has a birthday.
I’m going to be married to an 83 year old woman.
She’s still the Sweetest Woman In The World.
Present company not excepted 😆
(She’s fixing me some breakfast now. I can’t let her get spoiled. But I’ll take her somewhere tomorrow. If she wants to go. She’ll probably choose Denny’s.)
🙂 My father-in-law got a pacemaker and seems much stronger, and as far as we can tell his recurring episodes have finally been resolved.
🙂 He was smart enough to have an episode in a cardiologist’s office while hooked up to a monitor, with the doctor in there–you just can’t get better timing than that!
🙂 The girls were excited to find that I had made those cookies just for family and not for church (often I make them for church and keep the “imperfect” ones for home). It was fun for me to be able to delight them so simply.
🙂 Have I mentioned I love being a stepmom?
🙂 I got a really good deal on extra copies of a book I made for us that I think the girls would like too (photos taken in our yard and our neighborhood–every species of bird, butterfly, and other animal we have seen; the wildflowers; sunsets; snowy days; basically just the prettiest things we can see on our own street, with a few thrown in that were taken in town but just a few miles away, like the hummingbird moth and the red fox), so I got them a Christmas present that I think may become keepsakes for them and something they can show their children someday. The girl who is our gardener and nature lover will probably love it right away, but the other may not, but will appreciate it. They both mostly grew up in this home and did all their schooling (K-12) a few miles down the street.
😦 Our internet service has been very unreliable, especially in the evening.
🙂 A husband who knows me. Just now he brought me a plate of cinnamon rolls to my desk, knowing I wouldn’t want to go in the kitchen to eat them. Our younger daughter made eggs, and I can’t stand the smell. Time to eat . . .
🙂 My husband loves a big breakfast, so he is usually the one to cook one. Today it was bacon, eggs, sourdough pancakes, which I covered with berries, chokecherry syrup and whip cream. Chas’s Elvera would be horrified. 😉
🙂 Happy early birthday to her. Make sure you let HER know how precious she is to you, Chas. That is the best gift anytime.
🙂 Home safe and sound. House also safe and sound with no holes in the windows from grouse. Lots of feathers on the window and one hit the day after we got home.
🙂 The beauty of our country from the golden tamaracks showing off here, the various colors of the fields of wheat and corn we passed through, and the green we left behind. Also, the beautiful design of the birds, flowers and bugs we have seen posted here. The variety is simply amazing.
🙂 SIL’s graduation difficulties seemingly solved.
🙂 So much fun visiting with the grandchildren and our daughter. Nice to be home, too.
Cheryl, I forgot to mention, that if your daughters do not appreciate the photo book right now, they certainly will at some point. Things change and it will be nice for them to remember where they grew up, let alone possibly sharing that with their own children someday.
Kathaleena, that’s what I figured. One will appreciate it now, I think, but the other may or may not; but someday she will, or her kids will, probably both.
🙂 Some nice, sunny fall days the later half of this week after lots of gloomy, cloudy, rainy days (heavily rainy on one day) in the early part.
😦 Didn’t hear back from the family considering piano lessons. I had initially contacted them last week, and the mom had said she wanted to talk to her son to see what he thought about starting lessons again. When I didn’t hear back from them after four days, I called again, and the mom said she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her son yet about it. She told me she’d call the next day (which would have been Wednesday) to let me know, but she never did. I’m not going to press it any further. They know how to get a hold of me if they’re interested. This boy was recommended to me as a potential student by a couple different people, but, in hindsight, I don’t think it was a good idea that I contacted them directly after I got his name as a possibility. It would probably be better for me to build my business by others’ word-of-mouth advertising, as I did in the past.
😦 Learning patience in setbacks. Sometimes kind of hard, but God is good to teach and guide, prune and polish us as we travel along the way.
Fifteen year old got the first muley of the year. He still has a white tail tag and an elk tag. Sixteen year old daughter is out looking for her white tail as we speak. No moose for us but lots of special draw elk tags. We will see if any get filled. Husband took the others to watch the volleyball tournament.
Deer can taste so different. It all depends on where they graze. Their diet can be brush, apples, mostly grass etc. We have also found the younger they are, the better they taste. We don’t eat venison anymore, though. My husband grew up with that being one of their main sources of meat. He doesn’t like to eat it anymore.
6 Arrows–my sympathy for the lack of consideration about the piano lessons. My husband gave fiddle lessons to a few people. We don’t have teachers around here, for the most part, so he felt he should do what he could. He finally got too disgusted with the people who just didn’t show or were late etc.
We also had a situation of actually meeting with a family and then never hearing from them again, although, they were sure they were going to give their son lessons. Later, I happened to run into the grandparents and heard the little boy was not ready. We would have appreciated a phone call to tell us that.
When someone has to keep a schedule, make sure the lesson area is available and clean etc. it is only common politeness to phone if you cannot make it. “Do unto others…” This applies in a lot of other situations.
My prayers that you will find the right students for you and for their own sakes.
Thanks so much for your prayers, Kathaleena. I can really relate to what you describe about your husband’s experience with giving lessons. I’ve heard plenty of excuses about why students could not come to lessons, or didn’t practice the whole week, and other such things. One student who was a relative beginner came to a lesson one time, and she was so far off on her music, I asked her if she had practiced at all that week. She told me that her week was really busy, that she hadn’t had time to practice until the day before (which was a Sunday), so to make up for the time she’d missed, she spent 3 hours playing her music! But, of course, it had been six days since her previous lesson, and she’d forgotten virtually everything I’d shown her, so she was essentially practicing mistakes for HOURS! She was very good at those errors, though!
Oh, the stories I could tell. 😉 My kids get a kick out of looking back at my old piano lesson record books, where I would write down payment and attendance information. If a student would miss, I’d write down whether it was an excused or unexcused absence, and would record the reason for the absence. I should write a book someday. 😉
But there are a lot of good stories, too. The last bunch of students I had before I resigned eleven years ago, and their families, were overall a pretty wonderful group. Twelve students from about nine families. They weren’t perfect, but were overall quite a friendly, dedicated bunch, with excellent attendance rates. It was hard to resign, but family circumstances at the time necessitated that.
One of those students, the daughter of a good friend of mine, has gone on to amazing heights musically. She did very well with piano during the years I taught her, and in her high school and undergrad years in college, too. Her piano studies also became a gateway for lessons in other instruments, and she is a phenomenal clarinet player. That was her major instrument since starting college. She is working on her masters in clarinet performance now in Albuquerque, and is doing some studies into ethnomusicology, I believe. She plans on pursuing her doctorate in New York City, and she set up an internship for herself in NYC this summer with a prominent clarinetist.
Truly one of the most motivated, dedicated young people I’ve ever seen, working to the best of her abilities, and all with a humble, down-to-earth (like her parents), God-glorifying attitude. She’s the kind of student everyone wants, but few are privileged to have.
And that, to me, is what makes teaching worthwhile, despite the many challenges; to be inspired by the efforts of those who do aspire to excellence for God’s glory, wherever it may lead. There are some real gems out there, and it is a tremendous joy to find them.
Wandering Views 
🙂 Tomorrow, Elvera has a birthday.
I’m going to be married to an 83 year old woman.
She’s still the Sweetest Woman In The World.
Present company not excepted 😆
(She’s fixing me some breakfast now. I can’t let her get spoiled. But I’ll take her somewhere tomorrow. If she wants to go. She’ll probably choose Denny’s.)
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🙂 I see that Janice’s husband is home.
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It has been a good week here.
🙂 My father-in-law got a pacemaker and seems much stronger, and as far as we can tell his recurring episodes have finally been resolved.
🙂 He was smart enough to have an episode in a cardiologist’s office while hooked up to a monitor, with the doctor in there–you just can’t get better timing than that!
🙂 The girls were excited to find that I had made those cookies just for family and not for church (often I make them for church and keep the “imperfect” ones for home). It was fun for me to be able to delight them so simply.
🙂 Have I mentioned I love being a stepmom?
🙂 I got a really good deal on extra copies of a book I made for us that I think the girls would like too (photos taken in our yard and our neighborhood–every species of bird, butterfly, and other animal we have seen; the wildflowers; sunsets; snowy days; basically just the prettiest things we can see on our own street, with a few thrown in that were taken in town but just a few miles away, like the hummingbird moth and the red fox), so I got them a Christmas present that I think may become keepsakes for them and something they can show their children someday. The girl who is our gardener and nature lover will probably love it right away, but the other may not, but will appreciate it. They both mostly grew up in this home and did all their schooling (K-12) a few miles down the street.
😦 Our internet service has been very unreliable, especially in the evening.
🙂 A husband who knows me. Just now he brought me a plate of cinnamon rolls to my desk, knowing I wouldn’t want to go in the kitchen to eat them. Our younger daughter made eggs, and I can’t stand the smell. Time to eat . . .
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🙂 My husband loves a big breakfast, so he is usually the one to cook one. Today it was bacon, eggs, sourdough pancakes, which I covered with berries, chokecherry syrup and whip cream. Chas’s Elvera would be horrified. 😉
🙂 Happy early birthday to her. Make sure you let HER know how precious she is to you, Chas. That is the best gift anytime.
🙂 Home safe and sound. House also safe and sound with no holes in the windows from grouse. Lots of feathers on the window and one hit the day after we got home.
🙂 The beauty of our country from the golden tamaracks showing off here, the various colors of the fields of wheat and corn we passed through, and the green we left behind. Also, the beautiful design of the birds, flowers and bugs we have seen posted here. The variety is simply amazing.
🙂 SIL’s graduation difficulties seemingly solved.
🙂 So much fun visiting with the grandchildren and our daughter. Nice to be home, too.
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Cheryl, I forgot to mention, that if your daughters do not appreciate the photo book right now, they certainly will at some point. Things change and it will be nice for them to remember where they grew up, let alone possibly sharing that with their own children someday.
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Kathaleena, that’s what I figured. One will appreciate it now, I think, but the other may or may not; but someday she will, or her kids will, probably both.
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Wishing Elvera a happy birthday a day early.
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Looks like at this moment I’m the last commenter on each thread today. Presumably seeing how many threads I can kill at once. 😉
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🙂 Some nice, sunny fall days the later half of this week after lots of gloomy, cloudy, rainy days (heavily rainy on one day) in the early part.
😦 Didn’t hear back from the family considering piano lessons. I had initially contacted them last week, and the mom had said she wanted to talk to her son to see what he thought about starting lessons again. When I didn’t hear back from them after four days, I called again, and the mom said she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her son yet about it. She told me she’d call the next day (which would have been Wednesday) to let me know, but she never did. I’m not going to press it any further. They know how to get a hold of me if they’re interested. This boy was recommended to me as a potential student by a couple different people, but, in hindsight, I don’t think it was a good idea that I contacted them directly after I got his name as a possibility. It would probably be better for me to build my business by others’ word-of-mouth advertising, as I did in the past.
😦 Learning patience in setbacks. Sometimes kind of hard, but God is good to teach and guide, prune and polish us as we travel along the way.
🙂 Faithful is our Lord.
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🙂 Faithful is our Lord
🙂 Great week at work – love the people I work with
🙂 Beautiful weather up here too!
😦 No moose yet for husband, but he’s feeling well enough to go out and hunt 🙂
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Fifteen year old got the first muley of the year. He still has a white tail tag and an elk tag. Sixteen year old daughter is out looking for her white tail as we speak. No moose for us but lots of special draw elk tags. We will see if any get filled. Husband took the others to watch the volleyball tournament.
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Mumsee, I would love an elk to go in the freezer – just not any deer – I don’t like the taste or the smell of it.
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We just mix the deer with the goat and sheep and nobody notices.
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Yeah, I don’t like goat or mutton either (and yes, I’ve tried both)
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Deer can taste so different. It all depends on where they graze. Their diet can be brush, apples, mostly grass etc. We have also found the younger they are, the better they taste. We don’t eat venison anymore, though. My husband grew up with that being one of their main sources of meat. He doesn’t like to eat it anymore.
6 Arrows–my sympathy for the lack of consideration about the piano lessons. My husband gave fiddle lessons to a few people. We don’t have teachers around here, for the most part, so he felt he should do what he could. He finally got too disgusted with the people who just didn’t show or were late etc.
We also had a situation of actually meeting with a family and then never hearing from them again, although, they were sure they were going to give their son lessons. Later, I happened to run into the grandparents and heard the little boy was not ready. We would have appreciated a phone call to tell us that.
When someone has to keep a schedule, make sure the lesson area is available and clean etc. it is only common politeness to phone if you cannot make it. “Do unto others…” This applies in a lot of other situations.
My prayers that you will find the right students for you and for their own sakes.
LikeLike
Thanks so much for your prayers, Kathaleena. I can really relate to what you describe about your husband’s experience with giving lessons. I’ve heard plenty of excuses about why students could not come to lessons, or didn’t practice the whole week, and other such things. One student who was a relative beginner came to a lesson one time, and she was so far off on her music, I asked her if she had practiced at all that week. She told me that her week was really busy, that she hadn’t had time to practice until the day before (which was a Sunday), so to make up for the time she’d missed, she spent 3 hours playing her music! But, of course, it had been six days since her previous lesson, and she’d forgotten virtually everything I’d shown her, so she was essentially practicing mistakes for HOURS! She was very good at those errors, though!
Oh, the stories I could tell. 😉 My kids get a kick out of looking back at my old piano lesson record books, where I would write down payment and attendance information. If a student would miss, I’d write down whether it was an excused or unexcused absence, and would record the reason for the absence. I should write a book someday. 😉
But there are a lot of good stories, too. The last bunch of students I had before I resigned eleven years ago, and their families, were overall a pretty wonderful group. Twelve students from about nine families. They weren’t perfect, but were overall quite a friendly, dedicated bunch, with excellent attendance rates. It was hard to resign, but family circumstances at the time necessitated that.
One of those students, the daughter of a good friend of mine, has gone on to amazing heights musically. She did very well with piano during the years I taught her, and in her high school and undergrad years in college, too. Her piano studies also became a gateway for lessons in other instruments, and she is a phenomenal clarinet player. That was her major instrument since starting college. She is working on her masters in clarinet performance now in Albuquerque, and is doing some studies into ethnomusicology, I believe. She plans on pursuing her doctorate in New York City, and she set up an internship for herself in NYC this summer with a prominent clarinetist.
Truly one of the most motivated, dedicated young people I’ve ever seen, working to the best of her abilities, and all with a humble, down-to-earth (like her parents), God-glorifying attitude. She’s the kind of student everyone wants, but few are privileged to have.
And that, to me, is what makes teaching worthwhile, despite the many challenges; to be inspired by the efforts of those who do aspire to excellence for God’s glory, wherever it may lead. There are some real gems out there, and it is a tremendous joy to find them.
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