Tuesday

I had my third guitar lesson yesterday. I swear it is the most fun I can have on a Monday at 8:30 in the morning! There are between 23 and 28 at any given time, most of us beginners. Yesterday, the gentleman behind me was admiring my L'Boutique Target guitar. When I told him that I had gotten it on clearance for $32 he almost fell off his chair. It certainly isn't the best guitar around, but for a beginner it suits me just fine...and it has a built in tuner and it came with a case! It sounds as good as the rest of the beginners....if I decide to continue, I will look for a better one, but so far, this is it! I can now do FIVE songs...four with the same tune (Honky Tonk Angels has four songs with the same melody) and yesterday we learned.....Blue Eyes Cryn' in the Rain....can ya believe it? I am anxious to do something besides the downward strum, but Tom the instructor has his reasons for us to stick with the simple down stroke until we all understand the concept of timing. We are still working the key of C which has some tricky fingering but I shall persevere. My fingertips hurt like the dickens but I shall survive.

Grandpa is feeling poorly, I think he has that rotten bug that is going around the park. It starts with a fatigue and achy bones thing than slams you to the ground pronto. We have plied him with Zicam and nyquil/dayquil so hopefully he will be running at full speed by the end of the week. Zack gets here on Friday...I am anxious to see him since I haven't seen him since July. I can't wait to see how good he looks 100 lbs thinner either. I bought him some goofy undies like I usually do for Christmas and it was neat to by xl instead of 4x. Mom and Cecil will be here on Monday...at least their flight will be in at one instead of 4...I do have a lesson that morning (hey the guitar class voted and I am not gonna miss a class) so I guess I will just have Paulie and Zack drop me off, they can go have breakfest and then we can go to the airport to pick them up. They have rented a car, but there is NO WAY I am gonna get in the back seat with Mother driving. I wanna live a few more Christmases...maybe she will let Paul drive...then Zack and I can follow in our car. We have a Christmas Eve Party at Bev's...if we get them to Victoria Palms where they are staying which is just down the road from us about a mile, then maybe they can rest and have a bite to eat. There is an IHOP and a Luby's just down the road from them at the Palms. Christmas day will be a simple breakfast here, early because the park dinner is at noon....waaaaaaay to early for my taste. Then, we will be hosting an open house at grandpa's place with lite appetizers and rum and fruitcake. I am making "Mexican hot cocoa" which is really cocoa with cinnamon and some booze, and then some fake egg nog, made with milk and vanilla pudding with real rum and cool whip. I am not doing cookies this year, except Paul's favorite oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip (how very Christmasy his choices are....but who the hell knows where my cookie press is...spritz are MY favorite and I can't have any....saves on the pants size I guess.) I have all these plans in my head to do this and that and wind up just letting it go...I had to have Paul stir the fruitcake batter...I couldn't do it because of the fibro. Days like that really suck.

I am off to the doc's again this afternoon...bladder infection for the like 15th time this year. There is obviously some low level infection going on here that keep rearing it's fugly head. Enough is enough....

I have gotten some pictures from back home of the snow...ooooooh. I feel your pain....it is in the 70's but a bit overcast today...supposed to pop up to 85 and sunny on Friday...but then highs in the upper 60's on Saturday and Sunday. Anything is better than 2 below with a wind chill in the teens...of course, Christmas lights do look lovely covered in the white stuff, but I'll take my palm tree wrapped in twinkle lights and going out to pick an orange off the tree in the back yard.

Hope this finds everyone well, and not to far behind in your Christmas preparations....its only a week away yanno....be done already!!!!!

hugs

Dee