Birthday Wishes

A shout-out to my Papa who is 82 today!

Here are a few pictures of me with him.

The other two girls in this picture are my cousins, Kelly (left) and Kristina. This was at Ms. Williams' piano recital last May, which I attended and in which Kristina played.

What does this have to do with Papa's birthday?

Well...

Papa loves rag time music.

Three years ago (maybe four?) I played the popular and over-played Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin. By the time I performed it, I was sooooo sick of it that I never wanted to hear it again. Nothing wrong with the piece; it's just a little too familiar. I can guarantee you that Papa has asked me to play it nearly every week since I last performed it. In the beginning I gave in. Now I just don't have time, and it's been so long that my fingers can't even fake it. :)

Well, today I decided that I should make my fingers remember that piece just in honor of Papa's birthday.

I wish I had decided to do this a couple days ago. 30 minutes work...and I can fake it again! Ha ha. :)

Kristina is playing a different rag for a competition soon, so it looks like we'll be giving Papa a short concert for his 82nd! Hope you enjoy it, Papa!

Benefits of Being Sick

We'll make this a nice little countdown.

10. 5 out of 6 of my professors responded positively about missing school (still waiting to hear from the last one).

9. Chick-fil-A french fries! Don't ask me; my doctor told me to eat french fries and drink Pedialyte, but I skipped out on the Pedialyte.

8. Watching movies! With my schedule, that's something that has become quite a novelty!

7. More time to do homework. I plan on finishing my weekly online homework today, as well as wrapping up some other class work. I'm also glad to have time to work on my Bible study.

6. Sleeping in! I rolled out of bed at 8 this morning. :) Better not get too used to it.

5. All my well-wishes from my friends.

4. Having to slow down... even though I did so kicking and screaming!

3. My mommy cooked me whatever I wanted, picked up all my medicines, drove me to the movie store, etc, etc. She's so great!

The last two cannot be ranked. Tyler had a snow day yesterday, so we got to talk a lot, on and off. That was so much better than a few minutes at the end of our busy days! Also, Tali Rose came over, brought me tea and homemade butter rolls (Mmmm!), sat on my bed and talked with me, and watched a movie with me. These things are invaluable.

Even though I'm not too thankful (grrrr...still working through this!) that I had to miss class and practice for two days, I am increasingly thankful for all of the things mentioned above, which probably would not have taken place without this forced respite.

P.S. I'm feeling much improved today. :)

Again?

I am sick.

Again.
Doesn't it seem like I was just sick? I thought that respiratory bug I had for two weeks in December would have been enough to hold me through the new year. At least through January.

I started having a scratchy throat last night (ironically, right after I finished drinking a homemade smoothie that was packed with healthy goodness), and now I'm up at 2 AM not feeling so hot.

Thankfully, one of my classes was postponed to Tuesday (that I have to play a duet for), and my two other class professors both have good sick policies. Seriously, though, I do not want to start the week off this way! I was in bed at 8 PM last night so that I could get a lot of practicing done this morning. I have a lot of work to catch up on before my lesson on Wednesday, since I missed practice this weekend for the women's retreat (which was great, by the way!). Maybe God is saying I need more time to process what I learned. After all, it was rush, rush, rush the moment I walked through the door Saturday evening. Piano concert at school that night, playing in a master class the following morning.

I don't like going to the doctor. But this feels familiarly like strep, so off I go in the morning. I'll need a doctor's note for school anyway.

Prayers appreciated. :)