Too purty to live in town.....

4/19/08

I know I haven't been on here as much as I used to be. I have an explanation. I've been working hard on my music skills lately. I have several song lyrics but no sheet music for them. If I had the sheet music, I could maybe play them on the piano. So, I decided I'd sharpen my trusty pencil and score out the notes myself on music staff paper. I did a few songs that way, but it took so cotton pickin' long, that I thought I'd look to see if I could find a computer program that would do it for me. There was quite a few to pick from, and I found that most programs fell into one of two categories, chord based programs and note based programs. Since I play by note, I looked further at the notation software.

I finally settled on a program called Finale Notepad. The best part is that it was a free download. Free is good! Then, there's been the learning curve thing, trying to learn the program. I've gotten a couple songs done now, and am working on a few more. This is one of those hobbies that sucks up time very fast. Many times I'ce decided that I can put just an hour into it, and when I look at the clock, THREE hours have gone by! It really sucks me into it, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm learning a lot of stuff....such as the lyric that is the downbead at the beginning of a measure answers the question "when", "where", "what" or "why." I still slip up now and then and put my measures in the wrong place, but that's part of the learning process.

One of the cool things about this, is that I can do the songs I want to do, and not follow some stupid lesson plan of songs that I have no interest in. I've had a few people sing songs into my walking cassette tape recorder, and then I take it home and make sheet music from that. It's good practice for me, and did I mention that I enjoy it alot?? LOL

This program also has the functionality of hooking up an electric keyboard and creating midi files, but I don't have a keyboard. I have an antique upright piano (how piano's are supposed to be) and I like the practice of manually putting the notes in where they belong.

Joe has been having the week long class at school called "Human Growth and Development." It's just a fancy term for Sex Ed. They talk about the reproductive cycles, and the changes they can be expecting in their bodies. We've had some interesting conversations about that, as you can imagine!

Amy called me last night from jail. Her court date was yesterday. Her case has been continued for one week. The judge told her that they will not release her on her own recognizance, but that she will be going directly from jail to a residential rehab program. (and the angels sang....!!!)

She has been told that there are beds available at the Good Shephard Grace Center, a rehab center for women only that is run by nuns. The one week delay is due to the fact that she needs to have an intake interview done, and the person who does the interviews is on vacation this week.

The plan is for her to be there 6 months. The first 3 months are intensive rehab and the last 3 months are continued rehab while working at a job. (and the angels sang again....!!!)

She said that her public defender told her that she isn't "hard and cold" like a lot of other addicts in the jail there, and that she has a "light and bubbly personality." I told Amy that her PD sees the potential in her, and that's a very good thing. (Hallelujah!!!)

She doesn't sound as defeated as she did before, but I know that she's still not sure if she can live drug free. But we all know that the more she does it, the more confidence she will have in herself that she can continue to do it. She was rather miffed that she has to wait another week, but I got her to laugh a little before the call ended by telling her a few goofy Joseph stories.

Please continue sending good thoughts and prayers up for Amy. She loves the letters she's received so far and promises to write back to anyone who writes a letter to her. Once again, I soooo appreciate you ALL for the love and support you have given to me through this. When I'm discouraged, or start to feel like there's no help or hope for her, one (or more of you) loan some of your faith and courage to me, until I can find my own again.
Thank you,

Curls