The 75th Radio City Xmas Classic on PBS 12/23/2010

The 75th Radio City Xmas Classic on PBS 12/23/2010
Well here we are watching The 75th Radio City Xmas Classic on WTTW tonight.
We went to see the live version of this show a couple years ago when it was in the Chicago Area.
It was the most amazing show. The Rockettes synchronicity was impeccable.
The show was amazing to watch, so much going on on the stage that was all perfectly timed!

We noticed it was on tonight and tuned in to watch the presentation of the same show on TV tonight.
We were excited to see it again. We remember all the scenes as they came on the TV.

I must say this though.
We are thoroughly disappointed in the program on TV.
Whoever was the editor for this was an IDIOT!
The whole reason to watch the Rockettes is to see all the Dancers in sync with each other.

The show as presented on TV was filled with camera angle changes during the dances every 1 to 5 seconds.
We timed them.
This changing from a shot of half the stage, to close-ups of faces, to wide angle view of the entire stage, to a shot of 4 dancers from behind,
Back to a close-up, to a camera that moves down the line.
The screen was jumping around so much that it was difficult to watch, and kind of disturbing.
It was nearly impossible to see, let alone enjoy the dancing.

I hope Radio City Music Hall will realize in the future that filming a presentation, like this, that fewer camera changes will make the show much more enjoyable for TV viewers in the future. The idea is to SEE the show not jump around and catch fleeting glimpses of what was going on here and there.
The editing of this program actually ruined the show.

And one more thing... Unless it is your family in the crowd watching the show... nobody wants to see the audience reaction in the middle of the number. The audience is not performing. That is not what the TV audience is tuning in for.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

Jordan is 18 today.
I can still remember seeing him the first time.
So exciting to be there when he was born.
I remember holding him.
I remember his first time meeting his Mom.
I remember his first time seeing his brother.
They have been best friends ever since.
Hard to believe that was 18 years ago.
He is now quite the young man.
He has his whole adult life now laid out before him.

Random Dillinger Shots.

Been a while since I posted...
Can't think of what to write about right now... so here are a few random picks of Dillinger.

Here is Dillinger Just chillin watching Mary cook supper.

Looks like he is saying... "Hey! My bowls are EMPTY!"

Here is Dillinger trying to stay warm

Brrrrrrrrr, we threw the blanket at him and he just curled up under it and stuck his nose out.

Here he is trying to ignore the camera

No Pictures Please... I Hate the paparatzi.

Here is my old dog just taking a nap with his Pooh Bear!

Pooh usually sits in the rocking chair next to Dillinger's blanket.
He fell off the chair sometime and Dill just used him as a pillow.
We thought it was funny how both of them had their heads tucked down.

This is actually the Pooh Bear that Ethan used to walk around with as a toddler.
He would hold Pooh by the ear and bounce him up and down like he was walking with him.
The ear has a worn spot where Ethan would hold onto him.
Wow I just thought about it and that means this Pooh Bear is about 18 or 19 years old!

Hope you enjoy these.
I will try to update you as to what has been going on with the rest of my family soon.

Have a nice day!

I have never seen a football pool week this close.
The entire week will be decided by one game.
And then if Grsote is not in first place then the tie will be by who predicted Monday night points closest.

A Christmas Carol -Disney

Wow Went to see this movie twice this weekend.
It is very well done, and also one with a little more of the Ghost Story feeling than some other versions. I went with Jordan on Saturday. It is not the best version of the story I have ever seen but as an animated version, it is very good movie. The best animated version I have seen.
I did find out that if you go to IMAX theater for a 3D movie, don't wear bifocals. The screen is too big and when things go down on the bottom of the screen the bifocals do not go well with the 3D glasses.
I was surprised how many of the actors had multiple parts.
I went again Sunday afternoon with Mary.
Yep I really did go twice to see this movie. And I will go again if I get the chance. I really enjoyed it.
I would not recommend taking younger children to this version. There are some parts that are a bit too scary.
Yes someone who took a Christmas Carol and treated it like a Ghost Story.
I would give this move 4 stars
I will defiantly add this one to my collection of Christmas Carol movies.


By the way... I was able to sit through two movies this weekend! My back didn't bother me at all! I am so happy now.

Three weeks after

Hey I have survived my first week back at work!
Not too hard since I am working from home.
Am able to move around much more now.
I can even ride in Ethan's car!
I haven't been able to sit in his car since August.
All the Steri-Strips have fallen off and the scar is looking like it is healing very well.
I think that this scar is longer than the older one. I think it will be a cleaner looking scar.
The old one had stitching marks. This one is just a line.
(I will add photos after Mary takes a couple)
I am still thrilled that I can stand straight up and put on my own socks.
That sounds funny, but when you can't put on your own socks for a few months it means a lot.
Starting Physical Therapy soon.
That will help me get myself to a condition where I can start doing more normal activities.
Have to go now.
Jordan says I have to take 10,000,000 seconds to help him finish his Jack-o-lantern.
Ethan said, "That's about an hour I think"

1 week after I came home

Well here we are. I have made it to 1 week after my first walk in the Hospital.
Then I made it to the nurses station and back.
Monday I took a walk with Jordan. I got from the house to the corner and back.
The rest of the week, I was on my own. That meant I was not able to go outside for a walk.
Not supposed to go out by myself.
I got to take a walk with Jordan today.
I made it all the way around the small block in my neighborhood.
It felt so good to be outside, and to get to walk that far. There was one place where the sidewalk was tilted. That was hard to navigate, but I made it.
Now I have till Wednesday to find out if I am able to drive.
Dr. said he didn't want me to work till then. So I have been here sitting or walking around the house.
There are two questions I have for the Dr.
1. how long till I can bend forward. (it makes it hard to put on socks and shoes and a couple other things)
2. How long till my toes start to feel normal. Right now they feel sort of like I have a thread from my socks stuck between all my toes, and a little swollen. They are not really swollen, they just feel that way.
I will post again when I have the answers.

Here is what I remember the Dr said about the surgery

Dr. D said that when he opened me up and was checking out the disc, one nerve was so compressed that it was twitching. He started on the other side and when that was cleared out the other nerve settled down. Then he was able to go in on that side to clear that out. There was some old scar tissue above one of the joints but was not impacting any nerves so he was able to leave that small bit. He cleaned out some other scar tissue that could have caused problems. He had said that the scar tissue could be the most difficult part of the surgery because that could most easily cause tears in the lining of the nerve.
If I recall correctly what he said, this bulging disc was worse than the original surgery I had in 2001. He seemed surprised at how much the disc was bulging considering how much had been removed in the previous surgery.
The nurses and PCA's were wonderful. They were very positive and made every effort to make sure I was comfortable. Thank you ladies.
I am now able to stand up straight. It feels so good to be able to do so.
No more leg pain! so happy about that.

Home from the hospital

Had a rough night had to get up about 4 times to go to move around. Was having some tummy trouble from just laying there...
But then this morning I got to sleep in.
Mary came and picked me up about noon.
When I got home Mom and Dad were here, Mom had made some homemade tomato soup. It was very good. Mary made me a grilled cheese....
Grilled cheese and tomato soup just go together so well.
Marvin was working with Jordan to put in the new water heater. They needed a tool so were waiting for me to get home to tell them where it was.
I told them it was in the tool box they were using.
Dad said he hadn't looked there yet.
Now Marvin and Jordan are off getting fittings at Home Depot to finish up.
Mary is at the pharmicist picking up my perscriptions.
Phyllis has stepped out to go to the store for something or other she needs.
So here I sit. Just so happy to be home.
Now the dog is leaning on me. But now it doesn't hurt to have him lean.
So happy the leg pain is gone. I am still a little weak but that will pass over the next few weeks.
Thank you to everyone who has said a prayer for me.
I don't think I will be able to go on the Autism Speaks ride this year.
It is tomorrow. I am not supposed to drive for two weeks, so I guess Mary is going to drive over and pick up our kits. The donations have been made so we should still be able to get our kits for participating... hopefully.
Oh well.
Just happy to be home.

Day after surgery.

Well I am in my room now the day after back surgery.I have very little pain in my legs now. I have some strange sensations as the nerves that have been shut down for a while are waking back up. I don't have very good balance yet but that will come as I get back used to walking straight up and down rather than leaning over at 2:30 angle.Dr says I may be able to go home Saturday or Sunday. All depends on how well I do over the rest of today.
Ok now the funny stuff.I told them that every time I have come out of anesthesia it has been sooner than they expect and I am a jerk and irritable.Well I woke up and started to pull out tubes and tried to get up. It took two nurses to hold me down. (they said I am very strong) After they got me settled down and resting they said I started singing. OK not so strange to have me singing.But it is what I was singing.
I sang "The Scotsman's Tale"
A song about a drunk Scotsman lying by the side of the road.and the two girls that find him and leave him a surprise.
of course i don't remember that.
I got up and walked a little this morning, then before lunch, I was able to walk around a great deal further. Now Mary and I have just finished lunch.And I thought I would put up an update.

OK Now it is official

I have to go back under the knife again for my back.
Scheduled for OCT 8th.
Next Thursday... Seems so close.
I am not happy about it but the MRI does not lie.
It shows a definite bulge of a disc pushing on the nerve.
here are a couple of the images from the MRI with the different contrasts





According to the Dr, it is fairly severe. Looking at the images I think I can agree...
But on the good side, it is not as severe as the last time I had to have this done.
The bulge is in the middle of the disk so they cannot go in from one side this time.
They have to go from both sides to get at everything.
It will be open back and full on removal of the bulging material.
Dr. says there is plenty of disc left so that fusion will not be needed.
But I may loose another 1/4 inch.
Lost 1/2 an inch on the last surgery.
I am looking forward to being able to stand up straight again.
Also to not having pain in my legs anymore.
Also the Surgeon said it is rare for the disc to bulge out again like mine did.
But he did say it will be extremely unlikely for this to happen a third time.
During the procedure they are going to check the disc between the last vertebra and sacrum, as there was indication of swelling there also, but if it looks OK they will do nothing there.

Well here it is... The results

First I have to say we have some great news.
Mary had a biopsy on her Thyroid and everything came back clean.
So Mary was so happy she wanted to dance with me.
Bad news... I couldn't dance...

Now my turn
Had the MRI on Friday.
They gave me a copy of the MRI on CD.
I looked at it... I don't know for sure what I am looking at but it did not look good.
Then I get the call Saturday.
Dr. H. called and said I need to make an appointment with a Neurological specialist to see if I need surgery.
Not happy about this because I don't want surgery again.
But with the discomfort I am going through now I need to keep an open mind.
I will wait and see what the Neurosurgeon has to say and try to decide what is going to be the best choice for me.
Luckily I have changed positions at work.
I now am working from my home office so I may be able to continue working during recovery if I go with the surgery.
Oh well, I guess that will have to wait till I can call and set up an appointment.
I will try to do better at keeping this blog updated.

I have said "Never ignore pain." But do I listen to myself?

OK Last post says I was feeling better.
That was a premature assessment.
I am paying for ignoring the warning signs I guess.
Last year I had a stiff back while moving servers for a client from Chicago to Salt Lake City.
The flying back and forth was the worst part I think.
But after I moved around a bit it would be alright.
Then this year we were cleaning up the last few servers packing and shipping.
so I was stiff. Moved around and all was ok.
Then after vacation I was sore and it didn't go away.
I should have started seeking treatment sooner.
Now I have this... Days of very bad pain followed by a few days of not so bad pain.
I am waiting for the call early next week to say when to go in for an MRI.
The treatment is not going as well as expected. They are afraid that there is something there that they cannot see in the X-Rays.
This is all very bad timing.
Mary will be having her appointment Tuesday. (for more information see http://alwaysandforever-mary.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-bobopsy-is-scheduled.html)

I am being moved to a new position in my work. In training online. Hard to sit in the chair long enough to do the work. But I am managing. I should take a picture of how I have to sit to keep working longer. I am sure it would be funny for some of you. I have one good thing though, my work has moved me from being an on-site engineer to being a work from home office employee. I don't have to ride the train anymore. The sad part is I won't be riding the train with Ethan when he comes home from school.
Oh well.
Just have to take my own advice next time.
Don't ignore pain. It is saying something is wrong.

Feeling Better

Well for the last roughly Month and 1/2 I have been fighting with a strained back.
(See earlier post about doors)
I think I twisted my back wrong putting up the trim for the doors. Note to self, Don't bend sideways to swing a hammer. Posture Posture Posture!
Oh well this last weekend was very good.
Nice weather,
Good friend dropped by on his new Harley. (Glad your doing so well Mark!)
Ethan proved he can live on his own (sort of, he house sat for Gary and Raelynn)
We made Zucchini pancakes last night for supper! MMmmmMmmmm! So Good!
And on top of everything else my back seems to be finally on the mend. I have been able to get out of chairs and walk without being stooped over to the side. (Mary says I am either at 2:30 or 10 to 6 depending on if I am coming towards you or going away.
Still have a few issues in the morning, but I am hoping this is the turning point where it all starts getting better.

23 Years! Now I have been Married longer than I lived single!

Mary and I celebrate 23 years of marriage today!

I have to say through all the ups and downs I could not have had a better partner.
(She is my Kemosabie, and I am glad to be her Tonto)

We celebrated last night with dinner at Tapalpa's Restaurant in Elk Grove Village.
Oh My what a good restaurant! Unbelievable food, Wonderful Atmosphere, and very authentic Mexican food.
We then went to the theater to see Julie and Julia.
Meryl Streep and Amy Addams were very good.
Meryl made you feel like you actually knew how Julia Child felt at the time. Amazing performance!
Well worth going to see!

This morning I was still struggling with back problems so Mary went to the Grocery store alone.
After she left I had Jordan take me over to the Jewel and I got a beautiful rose for Mary.
I had been working on a long poem for this day and I wanted to leave it out for Mary to find when she got home. (The rose was to help her find it)
When I re-read the poem, I realized it was somewhat familiar... Very familiar... it was very close to an old George Strait song... I had to rewrite quickly. She was going to be home in less then 10 minutes!
This is what I came up with. Not nearly as long as the original, but this one is much more original.

23 years ago, I was standing in a small room waiting,

Not really nervous, just listening to the music play.

Then it was time and we walked out.

I watched everyone coming in, and was now a little nervous.

Then I saw you coming in on your fathers arm and you took my breath away.

23 years of friendship,

23 years of love.

23 years together,

And still, you take my breath away

I Love you Mary!

Movie Review

Well we watched the movie "Miss Potter" last night.
We enjoyed it very much.
This movie is about the start of Beatrix Potter's career as a writer.
It was a very interesting story. I never knew that she had painted her own illustrations for the books she wrote.
As a period movie, it was not on par with "Sense and Sensibility" or "Pride and Prejudice" but it was good.
And one of the few movies that I would ask Mary to hit pause when I leave the room.

OUCH

I have had a very bad July.... Well not the whole month... the the first week was great.
After that, my back went out.
I have been hurting bad but am working hard at trying to get over this and get back to life.
I have had so much pain in the mornings that it takes me about 5 minutes to get up out of bed.
Then the first few steps are horrible.
The more I move around the better it gets but still not able to do everything I want too.
Oh Well

As the Grinch said in the Ron Howard Movie

OWEEE!

Oh in all my updates below I forgot! Ethan got another car...

Maybe this car will be the one that lasts through till he graduates. He has gone through two so far.
The Probe has gone to the... ? where do dead cars go? I don't know.

I guess you could say it has become an organ donor for other cars.
I am sure it is being parted out to make other Probes work again...

The Mercury had failed and it would cost more than we paid to buy it to fix it.

But it has found a new life.
The mechanic bought it from us so he can rebuild it for his own car.


So now he has his first car that is not black.
A Ford Escort.


Fair Oaks Ford in Naperville had this car on the lot.
And they were willing to deal so we were able to get a very good price for this and it is running very well.
Rides nice and seems very solid.
And it it the first car he has had that is not missing a hub cap!

I haven't told him yet that red cars are more likely to be pulled over.


OK now that is three cars... the next one Ethan buys for himself.

New Doors! Yeah!

Well I said I would post pictures when I had the doors completed...
So here you go.... Not quite done yet, but this is the new doors!


This is the Bathroom and Mary and my bedroom doors.


This is the boys bedroom doors!

Ethan and Jordan both helped me put up the trim today to finish up the outside of the doors.
Now I still have to put trim on the inside of the doors and fill the nail holes, so not quite finished yet, but Don't they look nice?

Catching Up 1

Wow More than a month and I have not posted... Well Gotta fix that.... so here is a bunch of updates in one. Hope this is not too much to read all at once!

Let me see now.... have a lot to remember...

On Fathers day I received several gifts that I was extremely happy with and surprised!
I was given the third Prophecy movie (Christopher Walkin as the Angel Gabriel in this creepy series! now I have all three movies!)

The three books in the Bourne trilogy.

I am so looking forward to finishing reading them!
Also two music CDs from Trace Adkins!

I always liked his music but had never purchased a CD from him yet. I have them on my IPOD now and am very happy with them!
Yes. I am extremely happy with these gifts from my boys.
The Surprise I received from Mary, I received a Derby Cover for my Sportster!

This is something I pointed out to her and said that it would be the only type of change to the bike I would make... I had mentioned that a long time ago and I had completely forgotten about it. So this was a big Surprise!

This is how it looks on the bike!

I went for a long ride on Monday 29th. I was part of the Million Mile Ride! It is an annual event that many dealerships participate in. They host a ride and total up the mileage and add to the other dealerships totals to try to reach a minimum of 1 million miles.

This is just just a few of the bikes that went along.


This was the first stop in Wisconsin. This is where we all met up to make sure everyone was still together before we finished up the final leg of the trip.


Here are a few more of the bikes at the broken spoke while we were waiting for the rest of the riders.

They said last year that the total was over 5 million miles and this year rumor had it that there were more participating. I never did hear the total but the dealership I rode with had 40 bikes and we went over 100 miles up into Wisconsin. We were very near Madison.
We stopped at this restaurant Anchors Away on the Rock River

Very good food!
The bikes ranged from an old Honda shadow to a tricked out chopper!
Very interesting.

This is the chopper next to my sporty!

By the time I got home I had ridden over 225 miles. Some sites were taking longer rides, and had many more riders going. So total that up for all sites and it should add up great.