Yet another Nellie update...

Ok..just to keep the blogging police(you know who you are) at bay, here is another brief update. Remember the "chug" I mentioned in my last post? The one that Nellie had developed? Well, that chug was actually a coil that had gone bad. It has now been repaired to the tune of about $250! Yikes! In the past 2 months, I have put between $900 and $1000 into repairing Nellie!!!! That is not a happy thing, especially as she only has 61,000 miles on her. But I am very thankful that I had enough money in my savings account to pay for the repairs, and I didn't have to go into debt for it. Now hopefully the little bugger will run like she's supposed to for miles/years to come :)

As some of you are aware, I have been on vacation in Pennsylvania. However, this is not a blog about vacation, and I am up to my eyelids in laundry and unpacking. I hope to have a blog up about vacation soon...complete with pictures. There! You happy now? Sure hope so!

Later....

Nellie Update(provoked by Steve H....)

Once again, Steve Hight has put me under pressure to update my blog. So here goes. Thanks, Steve :p

This is to ease your mind about Nellie. Yes, she is home, and being well-cared for. I was able to get her back on Wednesday afternoon, 2 days later than originally planned. But she is home, and running fair. She seems to have developed a new little chug in her engine, but hopefully things are going to be okay.

Well, I know this is brief, but didn't want to leave you hanging any longer:) So far today, I have played the organ for a funeral, worked out at Curves, and now am headed out to mow the yard. I also plan to study for my ACLS exam that I have to take on Thursday. So there you have it: my day in a nutshell. BTW, it was Bro. Wayne Pierce's funeral that I played for. He attended my church, and he is already sorely missed. He was a true saint of God, and is no doubt singing praises around the throne right now. Around our church, Wayne was known as "The Candy Man." He always had candy in his pockets for the children, and was always sharing a joke, or giving someone something from his garden. He was always quick on his feet(at age 91) to shout "Glory, glory, glory," and to take a little trip around the church when he was blessed. There is an empty spot in our church, but Heaven is certainly a richer place today!

Autopsy report

Yep, faithful reader, I did receive the autopsy report on poor Nellie. If you did not read my previous post, Nellie is my SUV. I don't understand everything they told me, but will give it a whirl. First, Ford called and told me that my spark plugs were "foul." They were going to change them to the tune of $265 + tax, and I could possibly get my car back last night. NOT! So they change the plugs, and then realize that Nellie still won't start, has no intention of starting. So with further investigation, they found that the power module is out. They said there is like no communication going on in my vehicle, and it's completely not driveable. They said it's dumping too much gas, etc. The good news is that it is covered under the factory 80,000 mile warranty. I told the girl that I didn't buy the extra warranty(never do!) But apparently, Ford covers this problem anyway! Thank the Lord for large blessings! The bad news is that I probably won't get Nellie back until Monday, due to having to order from the vendor, and with the holiday thrown in. Fortunately, I am able to borrow my mom's Impala while mine is being overhauled. Her car needs work too, but it's gonna have to wait on Nellie to return home. Her brakes are funny...well, maybe NOT so funny, as the car acts like it's having a seizure when you try to brake :) Also, her windshield wipers are stuck in the up position...annoying but liveable. They do work if you turn them on and keep them running nonstop, but the minute you turn them off, up they go. It's been a great conversation starter :) So that's all I know right now. I think I'm glad I decided to fly to PA later this month. I figured it would be cheaper, but I am also a little leery of driving huge distances alone and maybe having car trouble.

Well, gotta get ready for church...see ya!

Awaiting autopsy

Okay...I'm not awaiting autopsy, Nellie is. Who is Nellie, you ask? That would be my car. My green '05 paid-off Ford Escape. I'm a little bitter, because I just had my 60,000 mile check-up to the tune of over $400. Just wondering if they missed something at our routine check-up, or if something just quit suddenly.

I worked days yesterday in oncology clinic, got off right on time at 4:30. Headed to the bank to cash a couple of checks. Car started like a dream, no problems. Got my money and heading for Bloomington to help Steve clean out his apartment. Little Nellie decided to give up the ghost while I was pulling out of the bank lot and back onto the road. No matter how hard I tried to start her, all I got was chug-chug-chug. Some kind man pushed me into an empty lot across the street. So I was no longer blocking the road, the bank drive, and in danger of being killed. Thank God for triple A! I called, and the wrecker was there within 10 minutes. Mom had come to get me, and I thought it was gonna be longer before the wrecker got there. So I sent her to the grocery store to get her few items, then she was coming back after me. Meanwhile, the wrecker gets there, gets Nellie loaded, and his job there is finished. He wanted to know if he should take me somewhere, was I safe there? I assured him I would be fine. So I unloaded my stuff onto the grass and waited for Mom. I felt a bit like a vagrant standing there on the curb across from the bank :)I was relieved to see her coming quickly. It was unfortunate that I didn't have some cardboard. I could've made a sign asking for money, since I was directly across from the bank! Turn my little misfortune into a money making venture.
So I took Mom back home, changed clothes, picked up Kim, and we headed for Bloomington. Picked up Steve and ate at the Texas Roadhouse. Yeah buddy! Good eats. And then we proceeded to clean like a house afire for the next 2.5 hours. The place looks great and should pass his landlady's expectations. He moved out last weekend, and she was going to charge so much for every little thing left uncleaned. So he shouldn't incur extra charges, other than the ones he already knows about. So all in all, it was a full day.

Now I sit and wait on the phone call that will reveal Nellie's fate. I surely hope it's something simple and relatively inexpensive. Whatever it is, I'm sure to have to move money out of my savings account and into checking. I doubt the approx. $40 bucks in my checking is going to cover it, and I don't get paid again until Thursday :) And so life goes on. Just wanted to give my faithful few readers a tiny tidbit to chew on :)

Later....

Yep, I'm still here....

Hello, hello. Now don't get your hopes up for a big newsy blog....I hate to say "I'm busy," but I AM!!!! This is merely to appease those of you who have gently reminded me that my blog is sadly lacking(you know who you are...lurkers included.) Therefore, it is with great joy that I make the following announcement: I am still in the land of the living! Yes, indeed, my friends, still alive and kickin'.

Now you may ask what could possibly keep a single person so busy? I'm glad you asked :) Right now, I am heavily saturated with wedding music, wedding music, and more wedding music. One of my bestest friends, Heidi, is getting married Saturday, and yours truly is playing for the wedding. So I went through the wildness of end of school activities...recital, graduation, awards night, grades, etc, to immediately immerse myself in wedding music. Hopefully, after Saturday, things will not be quite as crazy. Although I will have preparations to make for the coming school year. Sigh...it seems the busyness never ends. If you think of me, I would SO appreciate prayer for the wedding Saturday. I really want to do a good job, and help make Heidi's day extra-special. Thanks a bunch!

Oh...I might just do one catch- up thing. Some of you are aware that I attended a Booth Brothers concert in April. Wow!!!! That sums it up best, just Wow! If you get a chance to see them in person, do not delay in purchasing your ticket. It WILL be worth it, I promise! I could listen to them everyday...sometimes I do :) The music was lively, uplifting, but spiritual. God's presence settled down on the place in a beautiful way, and I felt conviction, encouragement, hope for the future, etc. I was moved to tears at one point, when Michael Booth was talking about trusting the very heart of God. I left inspired to live closer to God. Oh, and btw, I also got autographs from all 3 fellas :) That was very happy. The only downer was that I forgot my camera :( Anyway, if you haven't experienced the Booth Brothers, you should go to www.boothbrothers.com. And you should go there now....

G'night :)

Not exactly a princess...

Okay, people. This will NOT be the long update/newsletter that you have become accustomed to. No my friend, this is just a brief note to let you know about my evening. The newsy update must come at another time, as it is nearly 1am, and I need to arise around 6am! Yikes!!!!! Anyway...my Dad and my brother are sharing a roto-tiller, and hauling it back and forth between places. Cheaper that way. I decided that I wanted a garden this year, but am just not strong enough to till myself. I'm glad to help, I rake, break up clumps of dirt, hoe, etc., but I just can't push that tiller! So on Wednesday, I went to Dave's house, we loaded the tiller in his truck, and he came over and tilled for me! Bless the boy! I have the bestest brother in the entire world, and just don't even argue with me about that. You will not win. I finished planting around 9pm..what a day! So Dave is putting in his garden tomorrow, and needed the tiller back. He didn't have time to get it Wednesday, as he had to present an award in Mitchell at 7pm. So after our school awards night, he came over, and together we loaded it in the rain. Since it's nasty and sloppy tonight, we changed clothes prior to the loading process. So here is my outfit:a skirt out of the hamper that I mowed grass in earlier in the week(it is now covered in mud,) a shirt that has a spot on it and is now wet with rain water, my dad's old ball hat( to try to keep the rain out of my face....) Do you get the picture? No, I will NOT be posting a picture, but lets just say that I am a sight for sore eyes :) Driving my brother's big truck brings out the tomboy in me, I guess. Those of you who know that I have a bit of a prissy side to me should be laughing right now! The only thing that would've made it better is country music blaring. Instead, I had a little Karen Carpenter sing-along, since that's what was in his CD player! We keep having to switch vehicles,'cause we're finishing cleaning out my grandma's house in Indy tomorrow, and we need his truck for hauling.

Okay, if any of you need any fashion tips, just be sure and ask. And if you want to see my current get-up, make sure you come late on a rainy night, and ask me to help you load/haul heavy equipment :) Yeehawwwwww!!!!!! G'night :)

The wearer of many hats...

Okay. Here I am, at least briefly :) I have been gently reminded by several fellow bloggers/lurkers(you know who you are) that I am WAY behind on blogging. It's true. I'm guilty. So tonight I stayed home from prayer meeting to blog. There. You happy now? haha....just kidding about WHY I stayed home from church. My grandma had a procedure today, and was still pretty tipsy. Someone needed to stay home with her, and I was glad to do it.

This will be a blog sans pictures...sorry to all you folks who like the pictures! I just don't have the energy right now to download pictures off my camera, and then search for just the right one to satisfy you, my readers. But I did decide to post a brief update on life as I know it.

My sister, Diane, had her 4th surgery on 2/27, and seems to be doing well. The surgeon said he wouldn't know until early summer if it was going to heal okay. She now has 2 plates in her arm, as well as part synthetic/part donor bone grafting material. She has been going to Occupational Therapy for a couple of weeks, and is even driving again! Yay! She still has to be very careful, and is not allowed to lift anything heavier than a telephone receiver. That's pretty challenging when you have small children to deal with, hot meals to take out of the oven, etc. But she is managing well, and is in pretty good spirits. She has so many sets of exercises she has to perform daily, and wears a bone stimulator so many hours. You can sometimes see her walking around church with a small machine attached to her arm. I tell her she's very cool :) She also has a special made gadget(for lack of a better word) that is helping her learn to lift her hand up again, like to wave at people. She currently can't do that. So overall, things are good in that department. She stayed with us for 2 weeks, and it was nice to have her and the boys here.

As for me...well, I'm busy. I keep telling you people that! Honestly... :) Here is what my current schedule looks like. Sunday: Play for 2 services, accompany whoever may need to sing, including extra practice with them, etc. Monday: Work 8-12noon in Cardiac Rehab, then drive 25 miles to Shoals to teach 11 piano lessons. I am hoping to get off the am shift as soon as I'm completely done with my orientation in that department. Tuesday: teach band, junior high chimes, 5th and 6th grade, 3rd and 4th grade music, go to Curves, etc. Wednesday: teach high school chimes( I was grumpy with them today)and then teach 12 piano lessons( I have 2 students that flip-flop every other Wednesday, making my grand total each Wed 12). Then I have either prayer meeting or youth meeting that evening. On Thursday, I teach band, honor chimes, 1st grade, and 2nd grade music, and then one piano lesson, go to Curves, etc. On Friday, I work Cardiac Rehab 8-5:30pm, and then the family comes over for the evening. On Satuday, I get up earlier than I want in order to make it to Curves, go to the grocery store, shower my grandmother, set up her meds for the next week, and then try to get caught up on laundry, cleaning, etc. I also like this day to do something with friends. Yes, I am the wearer of many different hats. But I am enjoying life. I never dreamed that I would love teaching like I do, even though I was grouchy with HS chimes today. Well, seriously people, we are less than 1 month from the Recital. We meet once a week, and they were just playing around today. We had 2-3 people absent, so I filled on one part, and had to move a couple people to semi-cover the bases. What aggravated me was that not only could they not read music, they couldn't seem to count today. I had to stop them over and over, and make substitutions until I found someone who could get it right. Even a couple of the students commented today "Wow, people, where is the melody?" Well, I'll tell you where it wasn't...it wasn't being played. So I'm afraid they got more than they bargained for from this spinster school marm :) They took it well, and were playing better by the end of class. Tough love and all that stuff you know. But overall, the teaching is wonderful. And I enjoy the variety in my life. I am learning a new job, Cardiac Rehab, and it is going to work out really well for me. I will be working every Friday, which is a plus when you need a consistent paycheck :) So that was a real answer to prayer. It is fairly fast-paced, but not real stressful. Most of my patients are really nice, though there is an old geezer or two who enjoy hitting on me. If I can just learn to not let them get on my nerves, and handle them gracefully, I'll be okay. One guy was telling me that I was probably looking for a "sugar daddy" like him...uhhh...I think not. He's in his 80's and married. So pray for me that God will give me wisdom in that regard. I guess that's one difficult thing about being single. Sometimes you get some very unwelcome attention, and you can't exactly say " Bug off, I'm married." And of course the attention you would welcome, you seldom get. Go figure :) Anyway....overall, life is very good.

I have been having a great time with some friends/relatives. Steve, Mark B., Kristin, Randy, and I have been playing some Rook, and some of our games have lasted late into the night. Man it's fun, though! Even if some of the aforementioned are dreadful losers :) You know who you are. On Friday this week, several friends/family are going to a Booth Brothers concert! Yeah!!!! I can't wait. I am actually going to get off work early so we can head for the Indianapolis area. I'll have to let you know how it goes.

As for Snickers, he is cuter than ever. He is continuing to adjust to our home very well, and has learned to sit, lay down, stay, watch me, touch my hand, and we're currently working on "drop it." Also, when I put him to bed, he takes a treat from my hand, I say goodnight, and he goes into his crate. It's the cutest thing in the world, I promise! He goes for a little trim tomorrow, so I'll have to post more pictures soon. He's my little baby cuddle-bug! I'm going to miss him like crazy when we're gone for IHC next week, but my great aunt Marjorie is going to keep him for us. She's crazy about him too.

Well, in closing, the Lord is really working in my life, and in the lives of several of my family members. It's so good to have peace in my heart, knowing that I'm doing what He wants for this season of my life. Who knows what tomorrow will hold, but for right now, I'm right where He wants me. That is an awesome feeling, believe me! I'm slowly working my way through Beth Moore's Bible Study, "90 Days with Jesus, the One and Only." There is some great stuff in that book, and it's taking me alot longer than 90 days to get it done. But I am mining some wonderful truths from His word.

Well, my brother and family are here, so I gotta go. Want to tell them hello, and hug my babies. So until a later time....I bid you goodnight!