C'mon baby make it hurt so good

For those of you who are not aware, I love the sound of a violin, specifically in those really complicated celtic fiddle pieces. Hearing the devil went down to Georgia in elementary school started my lifelong adoration of this amazing instrument. My parents got me a violin for Christmas when I was in...high school? I think? Possibly a bit younger, and I took lessons with a friend of my mom's who had played for like 15 years. I never was very proficient. I was young enough to get easily frustrated with simple roadblocks, like keeping time and reading music. I had this method when I had to learn a new piece of music. I would memorize all the notes and parts to play so that when it came time to play for my teacher, I could just do it all from memory without really having to look at the music. My sight reading is terrible. And then she brought out the dreaded metronome. So I stopped trying for a while, always remembering how awesome the violin can sound in other people's hands. I never parted ways with my violin. It stayed in it's case, just waiting for the day when I would decide, ok, let's try this again. Ladies and gentlemen, that day is here. It occurs to me that as BJ and I want to settle ourselves here in Georgia, I have a much more stable living environment than I have had previously. Meaning I could get an actual teacher who is brave enough to offer lessons to adults, and keep that teacher until he or she retired! For someone who moves around frequently, this is a very exciting concept. I have been looking at the different music centers in the area and comparing rates. I'm looking for someone who has a lot of teaching experience, not just a lot of performance, who won't charge what they are probably worth to teach me to play the violin. In the meantime, as lessons cannot and will not take place until after I have secured employment and developed some sort of schedule, I have been researching what is available, for free, on the greatness that is, the internet. I found this awesome series by this teacher on youtube. He emphasizes frequently and often that his videos are just for clarification of technique, and should not replace a real teacher. http://www.youtube.com/user/professorV I feel like, at this point, I don't "really" need to start over from scratch, so for now, clarification works very well for me! I was playing along to the video when I realized my violin had slipped out of tune, again. I got this handy little pitch pipe just for the violin, but I think it is a wee bit flat, at least on the D note. But that's ok, because I found a free violin tuner online where it will play the note that you click until you tell it to stop. See, I don't have to have a piano to tune my violin too! This morning I moved my chin rest to try and see how this different position feels. I like it much better because there is a lot less strain, but I am also remembering how much the violin hurts. My fingertips of my left hand are red, and a wee bit tender. You may think I've been playing too many video games, but it's all from pressing down strings on the fingerboard. Also my arm and shoulder are really tired from holding the violin up. *sigh, this will take some getting used to again. So, I sally forth, venturing into some aches and pains as I build up muscles, and learn new songs. I'm going to go play the twinkle off that little star! Charge!!!