A very loooong weekend...

I am on the last day of a 6 day weekend. Why so long? The nasty germ that has been ravaging everyone I know finally found me. Tuesday I left work feeling kinda yucky. Your usual fever, headache, cough thing. Wednesday morning I woke up and knew that I was going to be staying in bed for a while. I'm not one to get really sick often, but these last few months I just can't seem to shake these beastly little germs. I got a cold just before my surgery, then got the flu right after surgery and now this? When will it ever end?!?! I thought that all the cold weather was supposed to kill all these little viruses - I think instead of dying, they simply found shelter in my house! My lovely husband has patiently nursed me back to health and I'm feeling much better now. Hooray for antibiotics and TLC (not the TV show, I really do mean "tender loving care")!

I thought I would take this opportunity to let you know the outcome of the prayer requests I posted a while back. Here it goes...

Ollie is doing fantastic! Her surgery went great and doctors say she is now in the clear. No more cancer and no chemo needed! God provided for her in amazing ways while she was away. Her roommate in the hospital was a Christian lady who prayed for Ollie when things got really bad. Ollie said that she could actually feel God's peace surrounding her in that moment. What a great testimony that God not only cares for us but puts perfect strangers in our path to love us in His name!

Declan's school counselor has stepped in and taken an active role in helping Declan through some of his behaviour issues. It is obvious that Declan feels this support and embraces it. He received some recognition at school recently for making good choices and that was wonderful to see. He also has started challenging himself more in reading. He has picked a few chapter books now from the library (something he never did before) and is actually enjoying reading. I'm so proud of his progress!

I had a meeting with Brad and discovered I'm still three songs away from an album. After that meeting I looked in my song writing journal to discover I had more than 3 songs that I still hadn't recorded! Thus, the writing is pretty much over. There is MAJOR editing to be done as I'm still not happy with the songs as they stand. I don't know what I'm going to change yet, but I'm working on it. This album seems to have a decidedly mellow feel which is in tune with how I like to play. If I wasn't playing, just standing and performing, I'd prefer faster songs. However, that's not where my writing talents lie. Once I have the songs where I want them, we can start bringing in other instruments. I'm excited to start that part of the process, but am willing to wait and make sure that the songs are perfect prior to more instruments being added.

The house has been painted, doors and trim are done and cabinets are being installed. It's hard to believe that moving time is almost upon us! We haven't packed a thing! Aaack!!! Declan is starting to get excited about moving. He's looking forward to his new room and our new neighborhood. I'm praying for good friends for him that live close by.

Our current home is in a constant state of disaster as I try to figure out what goes and what stays. Honestly, I'd love to throw everything out and start over, but I don't have anywhere close to the funds needed to make that happen, so I'll salvage what I can and pitch the rest. It's amazing how many things I keep that are broken or unusable. It sometimes feels like I don't throw anything away unless I'm moving. I don't like packing. I love unpacking. I love starting over in a new place. I'm doing my best to keep the end result in mind while I mindlessly go through all my stuff and decide what to pack.

Now where did I put that packing tape...?

Concerts and stuff...

This weekend was a big deal for me. I had the honor of playing with Ira Provost at a fundraiser for the Friendship Society here in Lethbridge on Saturday night. What a rush!! To play with 7 incredibly talented musicians in front of hundreds of people...to sing songs that teach lessons about Canada's history, more specifically about the history of the Blackfoot Nation, it was a mind blowing and totally humbling experience.

When I'm singing songs about Native culture, I start to really feel my "whiteness". I start to feel apologetic on behalf of the white people who treated them so badly and who handled the situation so poorly. I have learned a ton about how their children were taken away to residential schools and told that the purpose of this was to take the Indian out of the Child. It saddens me to think that a nation of people were ripped from their homes and everything they held dear and made to learn a completely different way of life because theirs was considered unacceptable. I start to think of my children and how, as a parent, I would feel in that situation. These are a proud people, and often misunderstood. I have met so many who have touched my soul, people who have been willing to teach me and share their culture, their history and their lives with me. Who knew that music could teach not only the listener, but the musician as well?!
We are doing another concert in March in Calgary and one at the University of Lethbridge in May. Stay tuned for more info as we get closer to those dates!

In the meantime, I have been horribly out of touch on my own music and need to get back into the studio and start moving things along. I'm hoping to get back there this week as another song has been written and needs to be recorded. I think I'm getting pretty close to having all the songs written. Soon it will be time to edit - that's where things get fun...and hard! I already have some ideas for editing some of the songs and I'm hoping that collaborating with my musical friends will add to that fun and give me ideas that I wouldn't have necessarily thought of on my own. Stay tuned!