Today is a good day, even tho we're working on our taxes. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! I would be a mess, but my husband seems to have it all under control. We had to stop at staples and get the new "Quicken" forms for filling out our taxes and that is a life saver. We tried once having them done by an accounting firm, but that was a bigger headache than it was worth, turning in every statement and slip of paper and stuff.
We took Dad on a shopping excursion today - he likes to go out in public once in a while and believe me, I understand. So we did some errands and then took him to walmart - well, I know, I know, they are very 'evil.' But with an older person in tow, Walmart has great advantages: shopping carts! These are great for old people and ms people too, because you can wander around on your own power and still have something to hold onto. I and my Dad can really move when we're pushing a shopping cart! Watch out! We make a small train, each with our own shopping cart. Where can on shop for hearing aid batteries, milk, lettuce, towels, and men's pajamas other than at Walmart or some equally evil store (that takes advantage of poor workers in third world countries or buys most of their stuff from China?) I don't feel guilty in the least. Even upscale stores like Macy's import most of their stuff from China anyway. Check the tags. Walmart also makes a point of hiring handicapped and retired people, so I say, good for them!
I even managed not to shop for myself since I'm on a definite boycott cutting out all shopping for useless stuff like clothes. I guess one gets to a certain age, and you really stop caring anymore. I even wore the same outfit the other last week for three days in a row. I'm thinking of paring way down and giving stuff away. Just keeping the basics. I was realizing the other day that in the olden days people just wore one or two work clothes and then a nice dress for special occasions. Now we get new clothes all the time. It's ridiculous and a waste of money for a woman of my age.
Anyway, then we were very rash and went to a fast food place and got whopper style burgers! Dad said it was like heaven after eating low fat all the time. So we agreed that we could do this once a month and it would be okay. Dad was also very happy because I found a book he is enjoying reading very much, and that makes us happy because there is peace in the house when he's reading. It's a book called "Roosevelt and Churchill" and all about the two past world leaders in very hard times in world history. I actually think that the two were related!
I just got a nice call from one of my students who competed in her 4-H talent contest playing her harp. She won a blue ribbon and highest honors for her instrument division (considered a percussive instrument, so she was up against about 25 pianists.) That is quite an accomplishment - since the harp never wins out when compared to the piano - mostly because piano is so much louder.
One good thing about my teaching style is that I will never give up on a student! At first, she just didn't get it, but it's funny, as soon as a student gets to be around ten years old, everything starts making sense. Before that, lessons are really a waste of time. My new teaching style is to look for the things that a student is doing right and give lots of praise for that - sort of like training a new puppy. It has worked wonders for so many. So now I can add her accomplishment to my "brag sheet" which is getting impressive if I do say so myself. I've had students who played at Carnegie Hall, in Mainland China, in Australia at the Sydney Opera House and in New Zealand. I've had two students receive college scholarships too. I guess that's not so bad for a teacher who doesn't even play anymore. I guess part of me is glad I didn't give in to discouragement and quit. My students do well, and the proof is in the pudding...
We took Dad on a shopping excursion today - he likes to go out in public once in a while and believe me, I understand. So we did some errands and then took him to walmart - well, I know, I know, they are very 'evil.' But with an older person in tow, Walmart has great advantages: shopping carts! These are great for old people and ms people too, because you can wander around on your own power and still have something to hold onto. I and my Dad can really move when we're pushing a shopping cart! Watch out! We make a small train, each with our own shopping cart. Where can on shop for hearing aid batteries, milk, lettuce, towels, and men's pajamas other than at Walmart or some equally evil store (that takes advantage of poor workers in third world countries or buys most of their stuff from China?) I don't feel guilty in the least. Even upscale stores like Macy's import most of their stuff from China anyway. Check the tags. Walmart also makes a point of hiring handicapped and retired people, so I say, good for them!
I even managed not to shop for myself since I'm on a definite boycott cutting out all shopping for useless stuff like clothes. I guess one gets to a certain age, and you really stop caring anymore. I even wore the same outfit the other last week for three days in a row. I'm thinking of paring way down and giving stuff away. Just keeping the basics. I was realizing the other day that in the olden days people just wore one or two work clothes and then a nice dress for special occasions. Now we get new clothes all the time. It's ridiculous and a waste of money for a woman of my age.
Anyway, then we were very rash and went to a fast food place and got whopper style burgers! Dad said it was like heaven after eating low fat all the time. So we agreed that we could do this once a month and it would be okay. Dad was also very happy because I found a book he is enjoying reading very much, and that makes us happy because there is peace in the house when he's reading. It's a book called "Roosevelt and Churchill" and all about the two past world leaders in very hard times in world history. I actually think that the two were related!
I just got a nice call from one of my students who competed in her 4-H talent contest playing her harp. She won a blue ribbon and highest honors for her instrument division (considered a percussive instrument, so she was up against about 25 pianists.) That is quite an accomplishment - since the harp never wins out when compared to the piano - mostly because piano is so much louder.
One good thing about my teaching style is that I will never give up on a student! At first, she just didn't get it, but it's funny, as soon as a student gets to be around ten years old, everything starts making sense. Before that, lessons are really a waste of time. My new teaching style is to look for the things that a student is doing right and give lots of praise for that - sort of like training a new puppy. It has worked wonders for so many. So now I can add her accomplishment to my "brag sheet" which is getting impressive if I do say so myself. I've had students who played at Carnegie Hall, in Mainland China, in Australia at the Sydney Opera House and in New Zealand. I've had two students receive college scholarships too. I guess that's not so bad for a teacher who doesn't even play anymore. I guess part of me is glad I didn't give in to discouragement and quit. My students do well, and the proof is in the pudding...
Another good thing about today was we could actually walk on the yard around our house! It used to be under a few feet of snow, but now its suddenly melted and we can get places we couldn't just last week. Spring is really here! My husband and I searched for pasquel flowers, which usually spring up around Easter. They are low pretty little lavender flowers that have cheerful yellow centers and grow like weeds. Unfortunately it's possibly too early for them, for we didn't see a one! Mostly our yard is covered in pine needles - which BTW are very acidic for the soil. Conseqently we can grow lavender and peonies and rhubarb. I also try for a couple of lilac bushes which remind me of my childhood in Wisconsin, yet they seem to stay a bush - we used to have lilac trees in Wisconsin. Or maybe they just seemed so big because I was little at the time?
2 comments:
Actually the Walmart thing is about a lot more than just goods from China. It's also fact that they have spread across America annihilating small businesses.
But anyway, glad you had a successful trip. And congrats to your student!
Thanks. I do try to visit the small businesses in our area, but not with Dad, or if I need a cart to lean on...But you are right, it's just like the huge grocery stores putting the ma and pop grocers out of business in the past - they have disappeared.
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