Sleep Does a Body Good! (plus Joe Finally Speaks!)

It's been more than a little over a week since the last post, mainly due to lack of anything to really talk about.  Joe's car has been fixed at the 75% smaller fee than the VW dealership quoted. YAY!  Joe also took a couple of days to attend a music conference in Winston-Salem from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning.  He got back by lunch time on Tuesday.  This is a conference he has attended since he was a Junior in college but had to miss last year since it was around the same time as we had gotten his cancer diagnosis and we were contemplating his treatment.  He came home quite happy from getting to see a lot of people he has seen on a regular basis over the last 30+ years.  Although I was worried the whole time he was gone, I'm very glad he had the chance to get away.

I spent most of the time he was gone in bed dealing with a cold.  There is however, something to be said about plenty of bed rest and I sure did get a lot of it.  Feeling better the last couple of days.

The rest of the week and weekend should be rather routine except for preparing for a trip away from home next week during Thanksgiving.  It has always been our practice to get away for the holiday usually for a week.  This holiday however we will only be away 4 days since PGUMC is hosting an area community of faith Thanksgiving service on Tuesday night.  We'll leave early on Wednesday for Myrtle Beach and come back on Saturday night.  I'm taking the whole week off next week so there will be plenty of "together" time.

His next Chemo treatment at Duke will be the Monday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 21st.

Thank you for all your continued prayers, thoughts and much needed support.

4:46pm Thursday Update: P.S.  Joe promised that he would write this post and when he hadn't done anything in 2 days, I went ahead and posted something.  He then promised to edit it some and add some info from his trip or something.  Another 24 hours has passed and he STILL hasn't done anything.  Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get him to not be such a procrastinator?

Joe's Late Posting (Posted by Joe):
Though I hated leaving Jeff for 48 hours, I did have a wonderful time at the NC Music Educators Fall Conference in Winston-Salem.  I drove there in my finally fixed 2001 VW Beetle.  It drove as good as new though the ceiling is still trying to come down (Jeff stapled it up a year ago) and duct tape is keeping the holes in the seat at bay and the door panel from coming loose.

At 3:00 I heard the NC High School Honors Chorus give an absolutely wonderful, exciting & musical performance.  Then I met up with my roommates (Jill Boliek & Mary Summerlin) & went to the exhibits to sample some cookie & cheesecake fundraiser items!  I kept seeing teachers that I have known throughout the years and it was good catching up with them.  (That's the best part of conferences like these!).

Monday morning I went to the retired teacher's breakfast & it was good to see some of my colleagues, many of whom I have known for over 30 years (Richard, Diane, Ken, Pam, Treda, Carol, etc.).  Then I decided to go meet Jill and Mary for breakfast #2 at the Embassy Suites (it was free with the room); however, I ended up sitting with Jacqueline & Jocelyn (I still call them the Pharr twins.  We were at UNCG together.) and Marshal Butler (we go back to the early days of the Junior High Section beginnings).  It was good to catch up with the three of them, but especially with Jacqueline once the other two left.  I then headed back to the exhibits to see people I hadn't seen the previous time.  For lunch that day, Jill and I attended the NC American Choral Directors Association luncheon and a wonderful performance by the Chorale from Methodist University in Fayetteville.  Congratulations to Betty-Neill Parsons who received the Lara Hoggard Award!  Betty Neil and I go way back to when I first started teaching at Stedman Jr. High School in Cumberland County.  Later that day, I was very excited to see Susan Williams who taught at Armstrong Junior High. All three of us taught in the Cape Fear HS district in Cumberland County where I taught for 17 years prior to moving to Durham, Susan & I at the two junior high schools and Betty-Neill at Cape Fear HS.  Monday afternoon I attended 3 wonderful high school choral concerts.  Two (Cedar Ridge HS and Panther Creek HS) are from the Triangle.

Monday evening, Jill, Mary, Jeremy and I went to eat at my favorite restaurant:  the Salem Tavern in Old Salem.  It has been a yearly tradition of mine for many years.  My favorites are the pumpkin muffins & the ginger bread with lemon ice cream.  Mmmmmmm.  I'm ready to go back!  After supper, back to the Steven's Center to hear the NC Symphony in concert & what a concert it was!  Rachmaninoff & a Liszt orchestra/piano piece that was absolutely spellbinding.

Tuesday morning breakfast was with the 3 of us & Marshall.  It was so good just to talk about all things music and a little of life thrown in also!  After breakfast, Jill, Mary & I spent way too much time trying to get the hotel to figure out how to split the bill 3 ways.  You would not believe how long that took!!!!!  Then, time to get my suitcase & head to the parking deck to the car.  I always check to make sure my car is clean inside.  I never will forget one teacher telling us how she mistakenly left her car unlocked many years ago and a homeless drunk spent the night in it and threw up all over it.  Some stories you just never forget.

My final Winston-Salem tradition was to go to the Old Salem Bakery where I got Oatmeal/Raisin Cookies for me, Chocolate Chip for Jeff, & Cinnamon Buns for both of us.  (Oh, I also forgot another tradition:  Pumpkin Spice Donuts from Krispy Kreme!!!!!!  We did that Sunday night.)  Guess, I'd better stop.  After all of the hassle Jeff has given me for not writing the post, now I'm getting it for having typed for so long tonight.  It was good to see all of the musicians that I have known throughout the years.  We all have a bond that others will never understand.  I am grateful that I have worked in a state with so many caring and talented music teachers.

Old Salem Winker Bakery

P.S.S. This is Jeff: Remind me never to ask Joe to write on here again. War & Peace was shorter!