It Was Free Coffee Day...

....at Bruegger's Bagels today!  So I enjoyed my free iced coffee on the way home from piano lessons.  They have free Wi-Fi there too, so I brought along my laptop and my SAT book, got a little studying in, (though I always find it a little hard to concentrate out in public), and just generally enjoyed my day.

Ended the day with a hilarious comedy show by Bob Smiley.....looking forward to a semi-relaxing day tomorrow (still have a ton to do but at least I'm not going anywhere!).  

Read more...

Family Pics and Spam Emails

The progression of trying to get a group picture.....

It's raining right now as I type this.  Cloudy and cold out.  True long-sleeve weather!  Unfortunately it's just a tiny cold front that is lasting for a few days.  But I'll take anything. :-) This is definitely the day for   coffee and a cozy book.....(though in my case that has to be the SAT book).  Speaking of, my test is less than a month away.  At this point my score seems to be hovering around the mid 1200's.....not amazing but not too bad either.  I guess it will depend on the questions they ask me and how focused I'm able to be on test day!

I have been getting so many spam emails in my inbox this last month or so....they're actually pretty funny to read:-)  And, yes, occasionally I do get bored enough to explore my spam folder.  In fact I just opened a very interesting one informing me that the Federal Bank wanted to give me 11.4 million dollars, and to do that, they only needed my full name, address, bank account information, social security number, phone number, pretty much anything that would be called, um, confidential information.  

And then I get the ones ALL the time telling me, in run-on sentences and no punctuation,  "rachel check out this amazing new weight loss trick i used it and lost 300 pounds so do all the stars you can look like them and find your destiny just click here."

(Apparently, from the horrific grammar, spelling, and lack of punctuation, the spam-email-writers weren't homeschooled.)

And no I never "click here".  Just sayin.

Ok, I'm done rambling about my spam folder.  I can get desperate for blog material sometimes.  

Read more...

Deliver Me, Oh Jesus

Deliver me, oh Jesus.....

from the desire of being loved.

from the desire of being extolled

from the desire of being honored.

from the desire of being praised.

from the desire of being preferred.

from the desire of being consulted.

from the desire of being approved.

from the desire of being popular.

from the desire of being better than others.

from the fear of being humiliated.

from the fear of being despised. 

from the fear of suffering rebuke.

from the fear of being forgotten.

from the fear of being wronged.

from the fear of being ridiculed.

from the fear of being suspected.

Oh Jesus! Grant that you would be the objects of my thoughts and affections, the subject of my conversations, the end of my actions, the model of my life,

my support in death and my reward.  

To know you, Christ.

Read more...

What Was Awesome About My Day

-Earning $50 just to watch a little kid who napped 4 out of the 6 hours I watched her

-Dad fixing the speaker I thought was broken on my brand new piano...just a matter of wiring things properly....

-My new piano

-Recommending a hair product to a 70-something woman in the shampoo isle of Wal-Mart

-Eating a bowl of Kix cereal at 10:30 in the evening (that would be right now...)

-My new piano

-Discovering $40 tucked away in an envelope in the depths of my desk drawer.  THAT got me excited.  It felt like....free money.  Even though I did earn it at some point (and apparently forgot about it), I felt so much richer having discovered that little surprise.  :-)

-My new piano

-Getting free coffee samples in the mail

-MY NEW PIANO (I'm kind of in love with it....)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I could go on to tell what was not awesome about my week....such as the results from the big election.  *cough* Let's just say "my guy" didn't win.  But I won't go there. :-)

Read more...

Introducing.....

....something very exciting!  For me, anyway. :-)  Over the weekend, I purchased an S90 Yamaha Synthesizer......(that translates to a very very fancy elelctric piano!)

The beauty of this thing is that it's portable.  So nice.  There have been many times in the past where it would have been very convenient to bring a piano with me....and now I have the perfect solution. :-)

I found this little beauty on Craigslist.  These pianos, brand new, sell for about $2400.  And that's just for the keyboard.  My amazing deal included the keyboard, speakers, stand, mixer, and all the software....for just $700.

Yes, that's still a lot of money.  A LOT.  Especially when I'm the one paying.  But what a steal from the regular price!  And better still?  This piano has been sitting in storage almost from the day it was bought new.  Hardly touched. Sweet.

 384 instrumental presets, 48 drum kits, 88 fully weighted keys (simulating a regular piano).  There are so many options on this thing....it will take me a while to figure them all out!  Right now I'm just having fun flipping through all the performance settings.  I have it set up in my bedroom (no touchie, little brothers!!) and it also has the option of plugging in headphones or earbuds....so technically I could play in the middle of the night without waking anyone up.....

I have recently discovered the demand for piano entertainers at hotels and assisted living facilities.  I started calling different places up, listing my charge as $45 per hour, and I already have two gigs set up!    

What a cool way to make money!  Can't take credit for "discovering" this though....my piano teacher told me I should try and I am so excited that people are actually willing to pay me just to do what I love doing. 

I have to admit my fingers are a little sore today....I've played more piano in the last few days that I normally do just because it's there.  I love this thing!  Even though the cost was a slight financial set-back (didn't blow out all my savings obviously but did take a nice little portion of it), I'm choosing to view this as an investment.  I bought equipment I will need to make money "on the road" in the coming months. 

Ah yes, I love it. :-)

Read more...