I’’M HITTING THE “PEAK” OF MY “GOOD TALKING CYCLE” RIGHT NOW, SO I AM HAVING MORE DAYS WHERE I CAN TALK. & SOMETIMES THERE ARE MIXED FEELINGS WHEN I TALK WELL.

4 EX., WHEN I GET UPSET W/MY KIDS, OBVIOUSLY, I SOMEHOW TAKE IN MORE AIR, & AM LOUDER, BUT FOR SOME REASON, I CONTROL THE RELASE OF MY AIR BETTER, SO I AM ABLE 2 BE CLEARER. FEW PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THIS OCCUR (EXCEPT MAYBE MK’S DAD, & 1 OF MY KID’S FRIENDS), BECUZ IN ORDER 4 IT 2 HAPPEN, I’M USUALLY HOME ALONE W/THE KIDS, & I AM REALLY UPSET, WISHING I COULD PHYSICALLY MOVE, SO I GUESS ALL MY ENERGY & ADRENALINE GOES INTO MY SPEECH!.

MONDAY, I HAD A CHILD DRIVING ME CRAZY…I HAD ALREADY TOLD THIS KID 3 TIMES TO DO A CHORE, THEN MK CAME HOME & ALL THE KIDS GOT TALKED TO ABOUT THE JOB, & WHEN THE KIDS WERE TOLD TO FINISH THE JOB, THIS KID CONTINUED 2 TRY TO GET OUT OF THE SAME PART OF THE JOB THAT HE/SHE HAD BEEN AVOIDING ALL DAY! I WAS FURIOUS & YELLED AT THIS KID TO “DO IT NOW!” (POINTING AT IT)

THE CHILD BRIEFLY SMILED AT ME, & ANOTHER CHILD WAS SO BLOWN AWAY BY ME, HE/SHE EXCLAIMED, “MOM,!” & HUGGED ME…IT CAN BE SUPER TOUGH SOMETIMES 2 STAY IN THE MODE OF DISCIPLINARIAN WHEN THIS OCCURS, & I THINK THE KIDS AREN’T SURE IF THEY SHOULD BE MAD AT ME, OR PROUD OF MY SPEECH! LOL I KNOW SOPH HAS POINTED THAT OUT—ABOUT HOW SHE CAN HAVE CONFLICTING FEELINGS ABOUT MY ABILITY 2 SPEAK WHEN SHE IS DISCIPLINED!

I FEEL GOD’S HAND IN MY LIFE AGAIN…WHEN CARA LEFT, I FOUND A NEW CAREGIVER/”HELPER.” & MY “HELPER” BRINGS HER BABY 2 WORK. I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED BABIES, BUT NOW I HAVE A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THINGS, & UNDERSTAND THEM MORE, CUZ I HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON WITH BABIES!

MY “HELPER’S” BABY, & I “TALK”—SOPH GETS A KICK OUT OF SEEING US HAVE A CONVERSATION, CUZ WE BOTH SAY THINGS NO1 ELSE UNDERSTANDS, BUT WE ACT LIKE WE TOTALLY UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER! LOL I ALSO DO A LOT OF COPYING HIM (LIKE WATCHING & TRYING 2 COPY HOW HE MAKES MOTORCYCLE NOISES OR PRETENDS 2 COUGH) OR I’LL TRY 2 SCREAM LOUDER THAN HIM! ANGIE PUTS UP W/IT SO WELL! LOL IT’S A MIRACLE HOW WELL SHE PUTS UP W/IT! LOL

BETWEEN ANGIE’S BABY, & THIS E-STIM AB BELT THAT MK FOUND 4 ME, I HAVE REALLY BEEN STRENGTHENING MY ABS, WHICH SHOULD HELP NOT ONLY W/MY SPEECH, BUT HOPEFULLY 2 BUILD MY CORE, SO I CAN EVENTUALLY WALK!

YESTERDAY, I WAS SO EXCITED! U’LL NEED 2 BE MUSICAL 2 TRULY GET THIS, BUT I’LL DO MY BEST 2 EXPLAIN IT. MAYBE THIS’LL HELP: THE NOTES ON A KEYBOARD ARE NAMED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, FROM A 2 G. SO IF U START ON C, THEN TO THE RIGHT IS THE F KEY, THEN THE G KEY, & THEN IT STARTS OVER AS THE A KEY. TO THE LEFT IS THE D KEY, THEN THE C KEY, THEN ANOTHER A KEY. ARE U FOLLOWING, OR DID I ALREADY LOSE U? LOL.

MONDAY WAS A GREAT VOCAL DAY, SO I WAS PRACTICING MY MUSIC THERAPY (MATCHING PITCHES I HEARD ON THE KEYBOARD W/MY VOICE, DOING AN OCTAVE SLIDE FROM ONE B KEY, UP TO THE NEXT B KEY, & PRACTICING THE PLAYING & SINGING A SONG)

AFTER RESTING, I WENT BACK 2 MATCHING PITCHES, & NOTICED THAT I WAS DOING VERY LITTLE SLIDING (LIKE NORMAL) 2 REACH A PITCH, SO I DECIDED 2 SEE HOW HIGH I COULD GO…I WENT TO THE HIGH A (LIKE OVER AN OCTAVE ABOVE MIDDLE C)–! IN OTHER WORDS, SUPER HIGH! I HAVEN’T REACHED THAT PITCH SINCE MY STROKE! AFTER E, THERE COULDBE NO SLIDING–I HAD 2 PUNCH IT HARD, & HIT THE NOTE. I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT, SO I DID IT AGAIN! LIKE THE 3RD OR 4TH TIME, I WAS TIRED (I PRACTICED LIKE 30 MIN.), STARTED SLIDING 2 MATCH PITCHES, & COULDN’T GET ABOVE E–BUT, STILL! I WAS SO EXCITED!

L8R THAT DAY, I DID “CANDLE THERAPY” W/ANGIE, & BLEW THE CANDLE OUT 25 TIMES IN 2 MIN., INSTEAD OF 20-30 MIN.! MY AB MUSCLES JUST WERE PULLING IN QUICK & SHARP… THEN L8R, I SHOWED MY MOM THE SONG I’M PLAYING AS I SING (IT WASN’T GREAT, BUT THX 2 MY NEW PBA DRUGS I COULD GET THROUGH IT OK!), & THE INCREDIBLE RANGE I HAD YESTERDAY… MY MOM CRIED…I DON’T KNOW IF IT WAS CUZ I CAN DO IT, OR CUZ I SHOWED HER (LOL–AS A KID, I WAS SHY, & WOULDN’T SING IN FRONT OF HER!) I DIDN’T THINK I COULD DO IT AGAIN, BUT I COULD, & EVEN THOUGH I SLID WHEN I SHOWED MY MOM, IT WAS A SHORT SLIDE, & IT WAS EASIER! GO FIGURE!

I CAN’T DO IT 2DAY (MY AB MUSCLES ARE SORE THOUGH, SO MAYBE THAT HAS SOMETHING 2 DO WITH IT!), BUT I’M SINGING VERY WELL-MORE ON PITCH & I’M HAVING AN EASIER TIME HITTING THE HIGH NOTES IN SONGS EASIER!