"The Elephant Diet" Day # 150 Tools

Tools of the trade.  Rehearsing the music for Christmas.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 149 Story behind "Portraits of White"

Listen in as Frances tells you the stories behind the completion of this new Christmas/Winter project "Portraits of White".  You'll hear samples of some of the music and hear the journey of how it all came to be.

Check out this episode!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 148 Why do you do what you do?

Now that everything is approved and on its way to being released, I am practicing the music.  I was able to book 4 gigs for this December where I can flesh out my ideas on smaller stages for the big stage next year.  This helps to motivate me to put together a whole new concert.

It's taken me years to find a groove with the music I have on the past CDs as it relates to sharing it with audiences, capturing special moments within each song and capitalizing on them so that audiences experience the music with me.

A new project means a new concert template.  I start all over again, but with much more experience behind me.

I'm looking for special rhythmic, musical, message moments (among others) and pulling them out of the songs and making a bigger deal over them.  That involves a lot of planning, experimenting and practicing.  If the idea ends up not working, I have to start all over again or adjust some things.  I think through what I really want to communicate to people in each song and through the concert itself.

Last week I came upon a verse that really summed up my desire for these Christmas concerts.  Heb. 10:24 "Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out."  (The Message).

That's what I do.  I come up with creative ways to encourage love and help others in their journey through life, by way of music, rhythm and lyrics.

I met someone last week who does the same thing but in a whole different arena.

Last Thursday night I went to the home where my mother lives and got to see (and hear) first-hand why I've always liked one of the nurse's aides who cares for my mother.  She's always so kind and I can tell she really cares about the residents.

Once a week my mother gets a luxurious bath in a whirl pool tub with bubbles and all.  When I asked if I could see how it's done, the aide was more than welcoming.  She warned me that she keeps the room very warm!  I confidently declared that we have a wood stove at home so I am used to a very warm home.

When she said she keeps it at 83-85 degrees I had to brace myself because we don't keep it quite THAT warm.  Too bad I don't carry my swimsuit with me in November.  I was thinking I might need it.

We had some time to talk while my mother soaked in the warmth and so I began to ask the aide how she came to be in this position.

Turns out she had been a hair dresser for over 20 years until her mother got ill and needed dialysis treatment and then got cancer.  For years, she spent all day with her mother taking care of her and getting her to and from the treatments, hospitals and Doctors.  When her mother passed away a few years ago, she found herself wishing she had someone else to take care of and felt rather empty doing the 'hair thing'.  One day a patron of her's recommended she get a job at a local retirement home where she could continue taking care of others like her mother who needed that extra loving touch.

She applied at the home where my mother lives and got a job right away.

I eagerly listened and when she finished, I told her that I could see now why she seemed to always work with compassion.  She keeps the room toasty warm for residents (in spite of her own discomfort) when other aides think it's way too hot. She puts lotion on their legs and backs.  "I train others to do this but the residents complain when I'm not here because the other aides don't do it."  She goes the extra mile it seems.  She is finding inventive ways to encourage love and to help others.

I thanked her for her kindness toward my mother and wished that there were more like her in the medical field.  She's there because she loves people and wants to make a difference and it shows.

Everyone's work is different, but we can all find inventive ways to use our work to touch others.

For this reason, I continue working away at my elephant diet.  I practice the guitar, piano, drums, accordion and singing and I listen for interesting things in the music that I can draw attention to that will help drive the message home.

After my mother's bath, she got her hair dried, combed and made pretty just in time for bed.  I tucked my mother in bed and noticed she still had her socks on.  When I asked if she wanted me to take them off, she said, "no, I like to leave them on until I'm warm enough and then I take them off".  I smiled.

I do the EXACT same thing.  I never knew that my mother did that.

She saves the last bite of toast for jelly. I do the same thing!

I cried as I left her room that night.  Not sure if they were tears of sadness because she continues to become more disoriented these days, or tears of joy because I have the privilege of finding out the little things about my mother that we share in common.

Either way, I left thankful to have that little window into someone else's story and how they work to touch other people, especially when that 'other people' is my mother.

It must be the why that makes all the difference!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 147 All the eggs are in one basket about ready to hatch.

The artwork has been modified and approved.

The Master CD has arrived safely at the printers.

About 12 business days until the project is completed and hatched.

If you want to get in on a special discounted pre-order price, you can Sign up here.

Those on my e-mail list can get a special price AND an autographed copy when the CD arrives. Otherwise, it will be available on the web soon.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 146 Proofs!

Here's a sweet e-mail I received today from a fan.

"Greetings Frances, just read your blog 145 and wow Satan sure has his attack force out. May you know we are praying for you during this time of another new experience. May you heal quickly, allow the Lord to minister to you in these days of why and frustration. Love the cover for the CD. I'll be sending you a check to order one. May you sense His love today in a special way. Remember His hand formed you and made you the person you are today - comparing you to no one else. You lack nothing that His grace can't give you in spite of the attacks you face. I believe He has so many good things He has prepared for you in this coming year. You are a blessing and loved! Warmly, Sue"

Thank you readers for your amazing support through e-mails, comments and for the prayers.

Today was the first morning I woke up without a sore throat and I could talk easily and even did a little bit of singing this morning to test the waters.  Still hurts to eat, but I can tell that I am on the mend.

Also received the artwork from the manufacturers to approve.  My producer gets a hard copy and goes over it with a fine tooth comb.  Once he gives the approval, we can move ahead when the music arrives.

You've seen the front cover - I'll give you a sneak peek of other parts of the CD.  These are only screen shots of the real thing, so they aren't as clear, but you get the idea.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 145 The Blossoms After The Limbs

"If you're going to climb, you've got to grab the branches, not the blossoms". 

Blossoms outside the WORD Music building in Nashville, TN

I've been climbing for over a year.  Eating elephants one bite at a time.  

I've really enjoyed some blossoms along the way - they've kept me going when the climb got hard.  But this past week proved to be one of the most challenging by far.  It's as if someone walked up to me and threatened to chop the whole tree down - blossoms and all.

I'm listening to the 4th reference CD for the project.  After some odd noises appeared on one of the tracks, we had to re-do it.  Then my producer wanted one of the songs re-mixed so I jumped in and requested that something be adjusted in another track while we were at it.

The new CD came and new noises appeared on TWO tracks.

The mastering guru said he had not encountered anything like this in a very long time.  To spare the details, I'll just summarize by saying that I began wondering if I would ever see a finished project in time for Christmas.  I had pictured an easy finish to this journey.  The blossoms after the limbs so to speak.  I called a friend and asked her to pray with me that this would get resolved.

I haven't been able to blog about it because I couldn't get into the blog for some reason that I still don't understand and it took me all week to get it remedied.

Today, I went to the hospital for a procedure to try and discover why I have trouble swallowing food. This has gone on for years and I finally decided to have it looked into.  They looked into it alright. Apparently my esophagus is so small that they couldn't put a regular scope down.  They had to go with the size they use on babies.  That's comforting....NOT.  In the process they tore my esophagus.  

I had pictured the blossoms after the limbs.......Tom and I going out for breakfast (since I had to go without food since early the night before).  But, the last thing I wanted to do when I came out from the procedure was eat.  In fact, I can only have liquids for 2 days and light food for a week - like yogurt, pudding, jello - that kind of stuff.  Even the liquids are painful at this point.  No singing for a while.

Down the road I'll have to go on to a specialist to have my esophagus stretched.  Apparently my esophagus has an unwanted lid on it that stretches halfway across the opening that shouldn't be there, along with having shrunk for some reason.

So I sit here with my cup of chicken bouillon listening to the final ref CD (for the second time tonight) which now seems to be ok. They identified the problem.  The artwork is already at the manufacturers and they are waiting on the music.

I'm really ready to sit at the top of the tree, with no elephants at the bottom trying to get me and enjoy the blossoms.....with a steak dinner.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 144 "Portraits of White" has a cover!

Here it is:  The new project has a cover.