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Year Three, Day 182: Speed Bumps



I am sitting in my library office. It is 4:51 p.m. It is quite dark out. A light rain. But not too chilly or windy.
On the walk down from the bus stop, I realized that I was taking in deep breaths of sweet, moist air. It felt so good to draw the air deep into my lungs. I had a good night's rest last night. Still coughing a bit, but no more wheezing! My head feels clear.  Feeling quite balanced today!

Today is Veterans Day. And thanks to those who have served, I have a day off from teaching at the music center. I had planned on going downtown this morning to a music club meeting to perform a few of the pieces I'm working on. But I emailed my friend last night that I would probably be staying home to heal my lungs. Good thing, because she is also sick and will be missing the meeting. She has a sinus infection. Lots of that going around!

Speaking of illness, Baby Gracie has her first cold!  I am glad I have been staying home and working on my own health this week.  I may have had a bit of a virus and I do not want to pass it on to my sweet granddaughter.  Her mom and dad to her to the doctor, He said it is probably just the common cold. She only had a slight temperature.  My daughter said she had been quite cranky yesterday. Her dad was sick too. So my daughter had two babies to take care of! Thankfully my mom has Baby Gracie shifts this week. She went over every day this week to help.

Oh, I miss my Baby Gracie and can't wait to snuggle with her again. Two more days! I do believe I am having withdrawals!

Luckily my daughter sends me many pictures!



I am proud to say that I have made good use of my day off. I had a nice hoop workout on the back sidewalk.  Then I practiced the piano for 2.5 hours!  I have my script all typed up for my little concert. I will make some revisions after I blog.

Then I shall stop at Starbucks for some tea and head back home for more practice!

I have a system of marking all the "speed bumps" in my music score. The spots in each piece that I hold my breath when I come to, hoping I make it through. Well today, I used some acquired wisdom and practiced only the speed bumps, very slowly, working out some suitable fingering. 

When I go home for my next round of practice, I will play through the whole program. This time breathing through the speed bumps because I have smoothed them out!

Tomorrow I teach at the church all day, but I have some breaks where I can practice. On the grand piano. Yay!

Sunday I will finally hop on the Max to Cascades Station and then over the river to see my daughter and grandbaby! DOUBLE YAY!  I am not yet sure if I will be going to church with them. If not, I'll practice at home before I leave. But I think church would do me good. I am in the need of some inspiration.  And other people. I have been quite a hermit this past week preparing for my concert and healing my lungs.

I do think the ginger, tea, soup and extra layers of clothing, hat, gloves and scarf is doing wonders.  The wisdom of my Czech grandmother from the old country runs deep in my blood.  The Chinese pastor at the church I teach at heard me coughing last Saturday. He gave me some stewed apples with ginger. Then he looked at my feet and shook his finger at me. "If you had a Chinese grandmother, she would tell you to put your shoes on!", he scolded playfully. 

I like to take off my shoes when I teach.  But perhaps he is right.  Grandmothers are known for their wisdom. It is about time this grandma starting behaving more wisely!

I am hoping I can conquer this lung issue. I am so looking forward to more exercise. I may try to go for a run this weekend. But I am really wanting to get back to lifting weights.  And I would also like to move forward with my weight loss. I am stalled at 180. I have been backsliding a bit with eating.  I have been allowing myself to eat for comfort since I have not been feeling so great with my chronic bronchitis/COPD or whatever it is I have.

Need more fresh fruits and veggies.  I have been letting chocolate, potato chips, fries and diet sodas creep back into my diet! Aack! I guess I have speed bumps in my diet as well as on the pages of the music I am working on!

But now that I'm feeling better, I'm going back to not eating after 7 p.m., and staying away from the above mentioned foods, all of which are acidic and not healthy for anyone!
 

I am going to spend some time reading from my Joyce Meyer book, The Mind Connection over my cup of tea.  This is a constant process, retraining my mind to think positively. Negative self talk also seems to run deep in my veins.  But I am determined to conquer.  There is no time like the present!

And on that note, I would like to wish you a happy Friday. Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all who have served!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Love,

Zita


P.S. Here is today's hooping video. Day 145!


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