Vitamin D - The Happy Sunshine Vitamin

Well. I always thought people who paid good money to go to tanning salons fell into the category of "fools and their money are soon parted". This trip to San Diego with Hot Stuff really made me nervous though; I have skin that hasn't seen the sun in many, many years. I want to enjoy the trip, not spend it sick from sunburn. Sure sunscreen helps, but even that has it's limits when you are by the ocean all day. It seemed from past experience that one of my best defenses would be to have at least somewhat of a tan. Well, laying in the sun in March is a cold prospect where I live, so I decided to look up a local tanning salon.

Nervously, I went and talked to a person working at the salon. She explained how everything worked and I settled in to the tanning bed with the UV goggles and the radio playing "Some Beach, Somewhere". Ten minutes later the timer on the bed turned the lights off and I was "done". Turns out ten minutes were just a little too long, I was a little pink, but not terribly so. If I had it to do over, I'd have just done maybe 7 minutes the first time. Still, I felt soooo good afterward. Mentally lighter, more cheerful, and alive. One of the really wonderful side benefits I've noticed is that the eczema rash I've battled for the last 17 years is going away! I have learned that these things are benefits of having your skin make vitamin D (which I must have been chronically short on). I've been twice now and can easily see myself doing this for many happy times to come. Wow. Vitamin D. Who'd 'a thought?

Jon Schmidt is an Amazing Motivator for Teenage Pianists

Last night I took two of my kids, T-Rex and Bluejay, to a fund-raising concert at a local junior high school. It featured Jon Schmidt (pianist) and Steven Sharp Nelson (cellist). They were amazing. The facilities were not so great - not enough microphones or best sound system, and the piano was extraordinarily out of tune (cringe). Still, they moved along and made the best of it. Jon took requests from the kids (the audience was largely families), and he and Steve, with a great sense of humor, played and hammed it up together. We bought one of Jon's piano books and T-Rex and Bluejay were first in line afterward to have him sign it. Steve was really enjoyable on the cello too, I wish he'd had some CD's there for sale. This event wasn't very well advertised, and I think a little more planning would have made this a sold-out event. Jon is doing two concerts this weekend and they are both sold out. I know, I tried to get tickets. Jon has tons of free downloads on his website both teaching information as well as sheet music and MP3 files. Check it out.

Learning to See and Draw

I'm almost starting to feel like an artist. I ordered a "Learn to Draw" homestudy set from Mission: Renaisance. This is an amazing program. The lessons are broken into small baby-steps that make the learning fast and easy. I can hardly believe the progress I am making already and I've only had the program since March 6th! I finally have hope that someday I will have the skill to set free some of the drawings and paintings I have inside me. This world is a grand place and there is a marvelous hope and potential for all of us. These are things I long to express visually. I may never be famous to anyone outside my family, but if I can use my talent to help their world be a better place, that suits me just fine.

With Hot Stuff in Asia for the next 10 days, I should have plenty of opportunities to work on my drawing and avoid culinary temptation (meaning restaurants on dates with DH). I'm going to be positively svelte by the time we go to San Diego (where I will get to navigate a whole mine-field of restraunts - yikes!). Good thing the hotel room has a kitchen. At least I will be able to cook some vegetables there.

The Hunt for a Piano Teacher Begins - Again

I am in the beginning stages of the hunt for an "advanced" piano teacher for my daughter, Bluejay. Her teacher has said she won't be useful to Bluejay for much longer and we need to find someone new. This is easier said than done. This girl hates to be pushed but will work her tail off as long as there is someone alongside her to just give her tips, help, and pointers. Push her and she'll walk away so fast you'll wonder if she was ever really there. So I need to find someone who can help guide her and entice her rather than push, pull, drag her along, or hold her back. Sounds like I have my work cut out... I wonder who taught William Joseph? (JK - don't think I could drive that far)

I teach the four-year-olds at church. They have such a fresh view of the world and get so excited about things that seem so ordinary to me. It's fun to teach them just a little more about the wonderful world we live in. Today we learned about, "Heavenly Father and Jesus Made the Water". I brought ice and my laptop and we learned about ice and snow and clouds all being water and all the ways we use water. We watched a slide-show on the laptop with pictures of water in many forms. We also learned that without water, we wouldn't have rainbows. They loved the whole lesson and they had a great time drawing pictures with water in them at the end of class. These kids are awesome. "Princess", who used to teach the class with me (whom they adored), just got married and moved away with the handsome prince. I was worried that they would be upset that she wasn't there anymore, but they seemed to handle it just fine. The most difficult thing for me today was that I only have one lap for holding children during the children's singing time and one lap is simply not adequate. I hope by next week they will have another teacher to share her lap.