La Bene Vita

TGIF

...I say that like I don't work on Saturday. And Sunday. But, hey! My Saturday and Sunday jobs are all fun jobs! My students are all playing in a recital on Sunday afternoon, including Keith's daughter, Abby. I arranged a cool version of Carol of the Bells for her level, and she loves it! I notice when kids enjoy a song, they practice it more. No brainer? Yes, but sometimes these things need to be pointed out, just so you keep them in mind when you're doing things like - oh, I don't know - drafting music instruction books.

Launch one new Potbelly song per week.
Goal met and still going. I compiled three pages of new Christmas songs, which I may or may not sing today.

Post at WordPress at least once per month.
Pending.

Launch one new Praise Band song per month.
Pending. Actually, what the heck: Goal met. We launched two songs in November, the second of which we launched on 11/29, and it's Advent. I can't squeeze in something new when everyone wants to sing the old Christmas favorites, and I launched two in November by design anyway, knowing December would be tight. I'm trying to overachieve here, but I just decided to move my overachievedness to another category. Like maybe writing more articles for money or moving forward on my music instruction books. This is a great time of year to do the latter, because I have cool ideas about how to incorporate holiday and recital music into instruction books.

one new original song per month.
Pending.

Earn at least $75 per pay period at Textbroker.
In progress for the next pay period.
Current Balance: $8.40, with a $47.60 article to write, if I can get to it. Due date: 12/20/09.

Earn at least $25 per month at Helium.
In progress.
Current Balance: $17.00. Due date: 12/24/09.

Resign from Abbott by 6/1/10.
In progress and on schedule.

Achieve a weight of 145.0 by 1/31/09.
Weight: ?
Meals:
8:30am Coffee (1), fiber English muffin (1) with butter (1)
1:45pm Skinny roast beef sandwich (7)
6:00pm ZonePerfect bar (4)
6:30pm Chai (1)
7:30pm Chips (6) and salsa (2), chicken (2) with "Devil's Spit" barbecue sauce (1)
TOTAL POINTS: 26

Current real estate goal: Organize garage.
No activity. This hasn't been a priority, obviously. It'll become a priority fast if I ever sell my house.

Read a book in print for fifteen minutes every day.
Goal met.

Business: Music Instruction Books.
In progress and still going strong. I agree with Seisa-sleepingcatbooks.com on the book binding thing: books that won't stay open on your music stand make you want to throw things. I was going through that with a glue-bound book on a piano last night. On the other hand, I have a couple comb-bound piano books, and they are nice, but it's easy to accidentally partially tear them out when you have to flip a page quickly with one hand. My students use a book that's staple bound, and it actually stays open nicely, but it's not thick. It has maybe forty pages total, so twenty on either side of the staple. Keeping the instruction books small may be the way to go.

I started researching public domain music and digging through my personal stockpile for potential public domain pieces. I want to keep at least some of the songs familiar to students. Hey, can anyone direct me to public domain traditional songs with religious or holiday themes that are non-Christian? I know all the Christian ones, but want to include other religions in my collections. I'm just not that familiar with music from other faiths, so your help is appreciated.