Good weekend

On Saturday we had the last songwriting workshop. Jeff and Bill presented their songs, which were well received. We all enjoyed the workshop and want to continue. Peter said he'll do another one in June.

Yesterday we moved Jeff and Bills' mom back to the assisted living place she lived in last year. The new place didn't work out so they decided she'd be better off back at the old place. It was much easier moving her this time because we got rid of so much stuff after the first move. Also, her friend picked her up and took her to church while we were working so we didn't have her around to "direct" us. We had lots of help from Bill's daughter and her friends. They did a great job of setting up the room and putting things away. The whole thing went very smoothly.

Last night we went to open mike at the folk center. We all played our new songs and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Jerry introduced me as the "legendary" Donita Smith. Heee!!! I'm a legend! Jeff and Bill did really well and everyone laughed at their songs. It wasn't one of the better open mikes but it had some great moments. The last guy to play got up and said he was from Nashville. So, like, oooooh, a Nashville guy. This is gonna be good. First, he had to borrow a guitar. He spent several minutes messing around with the strap. Then he picked off a riff while the sound guy was setting levels. One of the finger picks came off his finger and got caught on a string. Another few minutes were spent tugging on the string trying to get the pick off. I think the owner of that guitar must have been cringing like crazy. It was pretty funny. I said, "Hey, now set it on fire!" The guy kept asking for more volume in the monitor. Man, he must have been half deaf because the monitor sound was just fine. Then he started playing and he SUCKED.

There was this one kid who got up and said he had just turned 15. Man, he sang like he was channeling a 75-year-old blues singer. The kid was good! I told him he should keep coming back because we'd like to hear more. And then there was Theo who was, as usual, pretty damn funny. He hugged me and said he loved my song and that he wanted my cd. Theo was drunk.

I just went through a bunch of old paperwork issues and got them handled. I found out my money situation is a bit better than I thought. I can get my hands on enough cash to carry me for a good while longer if I need it. It means I won't have to dip into the retirement account. I can relax a little.

Boy, I sure do get tired of dealing with stupid people on the phone. I had to keep explaining to this one woman that the guy who set up this one account has died and I need to get things switched over to my name. She kept telling me that it couldn't be done. Good grief, this is NOT an unusual situation. What is so hard to understand? She finally got it and said she'd send me their change of ownership package. Thanks, brainiac.

Ah, Monday. Back to work.