She's a little bit country.... and he's...

.... so damn hot!  WHEW!

Those of you who are over 40 probably get my reference and know I'm speaking of

Donny & Marie Osmond

On Thursday night 12/19/13, I had the privilege of attending the Donny & Marie Christmas Concert here in Columbus.  It was held at the Schottenstein Center.  A colleague at school had an extra ticket, so I attended with her and her mother.  We all had a fabulous time and enjoyed the concert immensely.  

This is the first time I've seen them perform live, and they do a very energetic and entertaining show.  They are both true entertainers and clearly love being on stage.  I knew they were both great singers, but I didn't realize how versatile they are, especially Marie.  She can sing everything from Opera to Broadway to Pop and she does it all with high energy and humor.  

While this show was billed as a Christmas show, there was a lot of non-Christmas music mixed in.  They both did some of their classic hits from back when they looked like this:

Donny even sang Puppy Love.  As he sang on the stage in a very classy suit and tie, the video screen above him was showing him singing "back in the day".

The mature women of the audience obliged him by screaming just as we did as girls when we were all teenagers.  Donny has now turned his famed Puppy Love into a connection with the American Humane

Association to encourage the adoption of puppies, and that was promoted during the show.

They also sang a lot of Broadway music.  I didn't remember that Marie had been Anna in The King & I on Broadway in '98.  She came out in a dress from the show and sang a couple of songs.  She was every bit as good as anyone else I've ever heard in that role.  

I also didn't remember knowing that Donny had portrayed Gaston in Beauty & The Beast.  He sang some songs from that show as well.  

Of course, he was also the consummate lead in Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in '99.

Donny sang at least 2 songs that he wrote in tribute.  He sang a song that he wrote to his parents.  He sat at the piano and played while he sang that song.  Meanwhile, images of his parents/family scrolled on the big screens above the stage.  Of course, that one made me cry.  Here is a family photo of Mom & Dad with all 9 children:

 Then he talked about celebrating his 35th anniversary with his wife Debbie (married in '78), and he sang a song he wrote about all the words you should say in a good relationship.  It was very touching.  

Together they have 5 sons: Donny Jr., Jeremy, Brandon, Christopher and Joshua, and quite a few grandchildren.  

Both Donny and Marie interacted a lot with the audience.  They both went down on the floor and shook hands and hugged people.  Here is a link to a video from our concert with Donny greeting his adoring fans:

Video from Columbus Concert

Marie called a man up on stage.  His name was Chris, and he was clearly very nervous.  She got him to "sort of" sing with her, Blue Christmas.  It was very cute.  She also invited him and his wife to come backstage after the show.  She asked the wife if she could have Chris, to which the wife replied, "If I can have Donny."

Marie said, "Merry Christmas!"

These 2 performers are amazing.  They have managed to handle show business careers for their entire lives (Donny was introduced on the Andy Williams show when he was 5) while raising large families.  Never have we heard the story that is so typical of child-stars - of substance abuse and cycles of rehab.

Donny sang Moon River in tribute to his mentor Andy Williams.  That one made me cry too!  

This photo includes the youngest Osmond, Jimmy:

I could go on for another hour, and add a million more photos (Just search on Google Images and you'll find more than you can handle!), but I think you get the point by now.  This was a FABULOUS concert, and I'm so thrilled that I got to go!  Thanks to Ree and Janie for welcoming me into their family for the evening - we had a great time!!

Thanks to my loyal fans for reading, and don't forget to give the fish their Christmas Treats!

:) Amy

New Knee News

Hello again!  I passed my 6 month anniversary on December 11 with much appreciation for my new knee.  I just re-read my Sept 11 update, and I can see some improvements from that.  The night-time aching is now gone.  I can't remember the last time Bessie woke me up begging for a position change.  I do still get little reminders once in awhile - little pains - but they are minor and very short-lived.

I've been to Water Aerobics once a week for the last few weeks.  It does feel good to be in the pool, and even better in the hot tub.  There I do exercises - both squeezing and stretching, and I also kneel on the bottom of the hot tub.  THAT is a good stretch as well.  I can really feel that in my quads.  I can tell if I've done enough exercises the next day when I am a little achy.

Tillie, the old knee, got sort of whiney at the grocery store recently, and I sat down for a bit to rest her, but she doesn't usually inhibit me from doing what I want to do.  I want to put off her redo for as long as I can. Right now I'm thinking June of 2015 at the earliest. We'll see.

So, that's the 6 month update.  Bessie is well and happy, and I'm very happy I had her done!

Thanks for reading!

:)Amy

The Results Are In!

Results to what, you ask?  Well, the MetroParks held a nature photography competition.  Hubs and I entered a total of 8 photos.  This weekend they were displayed at our park, and the exhibit will travel to other parks in the area for the next 3 weeks.

We were there almost when the display opened at 11 am Saturday morning!  Alas, none of our photos won, but they were there among many others, and they fit in well.  There really weren't any "bad" photos, and we felt ours held their own.

One thing we did notice was that all of the winners had submitted larger prints - usually 8x10, matted with a larger mat.  I submitted all 5x7, matted with 8x10 mats.  Lesson learned for the next time we try this.  Indeed in 2004 when I won 2nd place with one of mine, it was a larger print also.  HHmmmm.... interesting.

Here are the photos we submitted.  You may have seen some of them here before, but for the sake of keeping the contest entries together, I'm putting them all here:

It is still possible that one of ours could win the People's Choice Award, but given the large number of great entries, I think the odds of that are slim.  It was great fun to see all the entries, and we've already starting discussing what we might work on for the next contest.  

Hope you enjoyed our photos!

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back again soon, and don't forget to feed the fish!

:)Amy

Another Milestone

I have been somewhat lax in my posting recently - I apologize to my faithful readers.  There have been some milestones passed in the last week regarding my knee surgery recovery.  On September 11, I reached the 3 month mark in my recovery process.  Tuesday, September 10 was actually the 13th week since the June 11 surgery date.  

My physical therapist told me that by 3 months I should be able to do whatever I want to do.  So, let's analyze that.   What did I want to be able to do:

• Do an entire grocery shopping trip without having to sit down - CHECK
• Hike a trail at my favorite park - CHECK
• Do necessary shopping at a mall or clothing store - CHECK
• Play 9 holes of golf (with a cart) - haven't tried that yet (too busy)
• Be able to go up and down steps as necessary - CHECK (sort of - as long as there is a handrail)
• Be able to sleep through the night without aching legs waking me up - Not exactly
• Be able to forget I had knee surgery - Not quite there yet

In general, I would say that it is true that I can do pretty much what I want to do now.  

I am confident that I could play golf if I tried.  Ironically, I think the process of getting in and out of the cart would be more of an issue than actually playing or walking.  Although it would be best for me to drive the cart so I am entering on the left side, thus pulling Bessie in after I'm seated as I do in a car.  

Bessie still has swelling which leads to stiffness.  When I get up from sitting, if I've been sitting for more than about 10 minutes, she is very stiff, and I have to get her going by walking.  If I sit for an hour (at a meeting at school, for example) then it takes several minutes of walking to get the stiffness out.  I have gotten in the habit of working her under the table when I'm sitting for long periods.  That helps.

If I walk a lot (like at the park) then there is a different sensation.  It isn't stiffness, but it is a tiredness.  So, there is a sweet-spot in between being stiff from lack of use and being sore from over-use.  That sweet-spot is fairly small at this point.  My understanding and my expectation is that as time goes on the sweet-spot will grow, and the opposite ends of the spectrum will shrink.  

Yesterday, Hubs and I tried a new hike at the park.  We walked a gravel trail rather than a paved trail.  We went through the the woods.  I haven't walked that trail for YEARS - we never attempted it with the wheelchair.  He was concerned about my slipping on the gravel or tripping over tree roots - I did neither.  I actually walked very well and felt confident on the trail.  Even with slight inclines, I was fine.  Granted, we didn't go fast - we weren't power-walking, but we didn't creep along either.  I felt we walked at a very comfortable pace.  This was the shorter of the 2 woods trails.  Next time we will try the longer one which is partially boardwalk and may be partially wood chips rather than gravel.

At night, I still deal with aching at times.  It seems that any position I choose gets achy after an hour or two at the most.  Bessie also gets achy when I try to nap in the recliner with my legs up.  It helps to put a pillow under her, but even with that, 30 minutes is about the limit of having my legs up/out in the recliner.  I don't really understand why that is different than lying in bed, but it is.

So that's my 3 month update.  Yes, I can mostly do what I want to do now - many things that I couldn't or wouldn't do before surgery.  The 6th month mark is supposed to be when I can forget I had surgery.  Stay tuned for the December 11 update!!

Thanks for hanging with me through all of this!  I'll talk to you again soon.

:)Amy

More Nature Sharing

Thanks to Hubs' great camera-work, I have some fabulous photos to share.  First we have Monty the Praying Mantis who was on a bush in the front of New House:

Then there is Hummy who was on a Zinnia in the Way Back at New House - this sequence was shot from the porch, quite a distance:

How cute is that?!

I hope everyone enjoys a great Holiday Weekend!  It is a humid one here in central O-H-I-O !!

We'll talk again soon!

:)Amy

A Bun-i-ful year

It has been a Buniful year at  Old House.  There have been times we've seen as many as 6 bunnies in the yard at once.  Most often we see 3 or 4.  Last night we got to enjoy a tiny baby.  We had seen a baby this small once in the spring, but he didn't hang around long.  Last night he was bopping around for a couple of hours at least.  It is hard to see his size from the pictures, but he is just a little handful of fur.

I hope you get to enjoy a bunny sometime soon, too!

:)Amy

More walking!

I just realized it's been more than a week since I've given a leg/walking progress report.  I am excited to report that today we went to our favorite park and walked for about a hour and a half!  Bessie got along very well.  She was tired, but there were no "issues" with the long walk.  The biggest accomplishment was that we went down a hill to a part of the park we haven't been able to visit for several years!

Most of the park is fairly level, and while Hubs was pushing me in the wheelchair for the last 2 summers, we stayed up on that level area.  There is a section that goes down a fairly steep hill, and we didn't venture down there when he would have had to try to push me back up.  Today we walked down the hill, around the lower area, and back up again!!!  We got to see the 2nd frog pond, and the ruins (a manufactured "ruins" area that is quite picturesque).

It was a gorgeous day for a walk in the park.  Temp was in the 70's with low humidity.  We seldom go there in the morning, so it was fun to get to see things in a different light.  (Today we were there from 10-11:30 am.)  Here are some of our finds:

First, a frog and water lily from pond #1 that we usually go to:

Next some frogs and a water lily from the lower pond that we haven't been to for years:

Here is a particularly tiny frog - I would estimate him to be about the size of a quarter:

These roses were right by where we parked:

Ya gotta love the woodland creatures that pose:

So that was today's adventure!  Thanks for letting me share... come back again soon!

:)Amy

A New Item

A few entries back, I mentioned that Hubs and I had gone to some stores in search of a chair for the living room.  For the last year, we've only had a 3-seat couch and 1 chair which makes for awkward seating for 4 people who want to converse.  However, the room is small and the furniture is big - there is that Baby Grand Piano, after all - so our choice of a new chair has some serious size limitations.

Today, I went on a reconnaissance mission to a Home Goods store that a friend had recommended.  My plan was to scope the place for chairs and then take Hubs back there tomorrow if I found any good prospects.  Instead, today, I came home with a chair in the back of the PT Cruiser!  I saw it - I liked it - I made an executive decision!  We had to do some rearranging to get it in, but I'm very happy with the way this completes the living room!

This is a Lane recliner and is black and white.  Because of its location, it will not be a TV-viewing chair.  I am going to get a lamp or move one over by it, so it will be a reading chair and possibly a nap chair, but also a chair to make a proper conversation group in the living room.  It is very comfy and is the perfect size for me - it is an "Amy Chair".  It is also Made In America, which I LOVE!  

Talk to you again soon!

:)Amy

DA Summary

As of yesterday, I had managed to finish watching all 25 episodes of the 3 seasons of Downton Abbey.  I was hooked from the first episode I watched, and I was very anxious to see each new installment.  I purposely spread them out over the summer so I could savor them; I never let myself watch more than 1 episode per day.

Those of you who know the story will understand how upset I was at the end of the last episode.  Matthew is dead!  NO!  How can this be?!  We've all invested 3 years in watching his character development and learning to love him!  How can he be taken away from us like this?  I understand that Dan Stevens who plays Matthew asked to leave the show to pursue other interests.  I hope he ends up appreciating that choice, but it is hard to understand any actor wanting to leave such a high-profile and successful series.

While Matthew's death is tragic and traumatic, the death of Lady Sybil was, of course, the most heart-wrenching part of the series so far.  I don't know how many women typically died in childbirth in the early 1920s in England, but in some ways this seems to be an historical reference and "sign of the times".  We had already seen the family affected by death on the Titanic, death during WWI, death from Spanish Flu, and now death in childbirth.

I found an interesting article online that deals with this issue.  The only statistic it provides is this: "In 1920, for example, statistics suggested 1,200 of the 6,000 maternal deaths each year were caused by Eclampsia. The only “cure” for pre-Eclampsia and Eclampsia was the removal of the products of conception—delivery. "   The rest of the article can be seen here.

One of the things I've enjoyed is that the DVDs I've been getting from Netflix sometimes include Special Features which discuss the making of the episodes.  I am fascinated by the production side of the show.  The house, of course, is just itself, although a set had to be built on a sound stage at another location for the downstairs part of the show because the kitchen in Highclere Castle has been modernized.  The costuming is amazing and strives very much to be historically accurate.  It seems that none of the upstairs women ever wear the same thing twice - even outerwear like coats.  I've heard the same of British Royalty.  Of course, to those of us Middle Class here in America, that seems to be such a huge waste, but it is just one example of the lifestyle being depicted.

Some of the cast members commented on the fact that one of the remarkable things about this production is the fact that it is original.  It isn't derived from a book or any other source.  I agree that is an important factor.   To start from scratch on this huge undertaking is quite impressive.   I am also very impressed by the complexity of the story as well as the complexity of the historical aspects that are interwoven into the plot.  As the family navigates the events of WWI, we see how people dealt with the war's effects - on society, not just on individuals.  The realization that Lady Edith has that most of the eligible young men of her generation have either been killed or seriously wounded is one of the factors that leads her to choose to marry a man her father's age.  Although it hadn't been named as such yet in 1920, indeed, we now refer to "the lost generation" of WWI.  And then there are the other changes society felt as a result of the war.  The lifestyle of the aristocracy was being challenged in new ways.  Few young people were going into a life of service to the wealthy class because they were choosing instead to work in factories or to go into other, more lucrative, jobs that didn't carry the social stigma of the aristocracy.  Lord Robert, the master of the castle so to speak, is forced to change his way of managing the estate or risk losing it.

As I've mentioned here before, the absolute shining star of the entire project is Dame Maggie Smith who plays the Grand Dame of the family, Lady Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham.  In almost every episode there is something she says or does that makes me laugh out loud.  More than once, I've had to rewind to hear her amusing line again or see the face she makes at something.  I could go on for the next hour quoting her.  You can Google "Lady Violet Crawley Quotes" and get an entire Wiki devoted to the character and her witticisms.

In one of the early episodes, she goes to Matthew's office, and sits in a swivel chair.  She's never sat in one before, so when it moves, it catches her off-guard and she asks what new kind of chair this is (thinking it is broken, I think).  Matthew explains that in fact it is an old design that originated with Thomas Jefferson, to which she replies in her very droll and understated way, "Why does every day involve a fight with an American?" Her expression as she says it is absolutely priceless!

If you've watched the show, you know what I mean about Maggie.  If you haven't, then nothing I say will help you truly appreciate the brilliance of this amazing actress.  For me, she is the icing on the cake and makes the show worth all the time I've invested in it!

And so, I will send back my last disc.  The wait begins for Season 4 in January.  There's a lot of news about Season 4 on the internet.  I may read some of it to help me get my fix in the meantime.  If you haven't watched it, I urge you to check it out.  I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Thanks for reading!
:)Amy

PT Evaluation and Progress at 8 weeks

When I arrived at my PT session yesterday, Kristen informed me that it was time for her to do an evaluation.  We sat and talked first.  She asked me a lot of questions about my progress:  How was I sleeping? (I told her I sleep well.)  What did I still feel uncomfortable doing? (stairs, mainly because I haven't tried)  How close do I feel I am to being able to do the things I want to do? (75%?)

Then we went for a walk.  We went out of the PT area to the stairway off the main lobby of the building.  The stairwell was nice - carpeted and with nice hand-rails on both sides.  I told her I had not done a staircase yet.  We started with going down.  I was allowed to hold on to the rails on both sides, but she wanted me to go down with 1 foot per step - like normal, healthy people do.  Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to do it!  I went down about 24 stairs.  Then we turned around and came back up - again, with 1 foot per step.  That actually seemed easy to me, but I don't think I would have tried it without holding on.  It greatly eased my mind to know I could do a stairway like that.  Both my home and my school are virtually stairs-free, but the rest of the world isn't.

Kristen also measured me again.  I was able to get to 104 degrees on the bend, and I was still at 5 degrees on the flattening.  I'm happy with that.

Then we had a talk about my future visits.  According to my insurance company, I have 4 left for the calendar year.  She asked if I wanted to use them all or save some.  She suggested that a lot of people like to save a few just in case something else comes up.  I told her I wanted to do what was best for my progress.  She said that since I'm going back to school and will be getting all the exercise from that - and also starting back to water aerobics in Sept, that maybe I should save the remaining sessions.  She also then revealed to me that Aug 22 will be her last day in this office as she has taken a job at a different therapy office where she will be the manager.

I had already scheduled the last 4 for the next 4 weeks, but after our conversation, I decided to cancel 3 of the 4.  I will get my last session in with her before she leaves and then I will save the last 3.  She said I can transfer to the other office if I want to do more sessions later.

And so, I am being phased out of physical therapy.  I am not doing many exercises at home now.  This past week, I went to school 4 of the 5 days, and I felt that was therapy since I was walking a lot and moving things, etc...  I have still done my Zebra squeezes each night before bed.  I will probably exercise some this weekend, but I imagine I will be very tired next week with going back to school.

I am still stiff when I've been sitting for awhile, but I feel that when I am up and moving around, much of my swelling and stiffness is greatly reduced.  I feel that once I get moving, I don't limp much, if at all, and sometimes that limp comes from the other leg.  I still get occasional pains in Bessie, but they are very brief.

 My scar changes color.  Sometimes it is dark reddish-purple. Sometimes it is pink.  Sometimes it is very hard to see and sometimes it really stands out.  I was able to show it off to some colleagues this week.  I referred to it as my "red badge of courage".  I still put scar gel on after I shower.

Hubs asked if I ever forget I had surgery.  I do.  It usually isn't long before something reminds me though.  Occasionally when I'm lying in bed, I think, "Wow - nothing hurts!"  And I try to savor that feeling as long as I can!

I start back to water aerobics on Sept 3; however, Sept 11 is the next milestone for me - that will be 3 months.  I hope to be able to report significant changes by then.

I'll keep you posted on how Bessie gets along at school.  I have my story to tell in response to "what did you do this summer?"   "Oh, I read a lot of books and watched a lot of TV and movies, and I got out of doing yard work!"  How could a summer be more perfect than that?!

We'll talk again soon...

:)Amy