Ann picked me up for breakfast.  We went to a new place where the lady who owns the store does all the cooking.  Homemade cinnamon rolls.  Homemade blackberry cobbler, etc. etc.  Delicious.

I usually take the paper with me and do the puzzles while Ann goes into the sales.  She has something she looks for.  I don’t--so I usually just wait on her in the car and read the paper and do crosswords.  I like it because she drives--and once a week, I have somewhere to go!

Ann gives piano lessons (OU music major who is super talented) and keeps a basket by the piano--if the student does what they were supposed to do that week and does it well, they get to pick something out of the basket to keep.  So she is always looking for trinkets at the garage sales.  

It is amazing how many things she finds that are brand new with the tags still on them.  And usually for fifty cents, or even a quarter.  The students get all excited about everything in the basket.  It’s a big basket and she keeps it full. 

The important part is that it is a motivator.  Students learn how to play if they practice, and the gift basket always has some new thing in it that wasn’t there the week before.  She is not only a brilliant musician, she knows how to keep students interested.  Win-win.