In Memory

"Some people, sweet and attractive, and strong and healthy, happen to die young. They are masters in disguise teaching us about impermanence." --The Dalai Lama


IN MEMORY
OF OUR
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
FRIENDS

Fox terriers are AWESOME!

Check out this story about a very cool fox terrier in Washington State. Don't you think Lenny would react the same way?

Some action!

Well, I stressed myself out and yesterday got a migraine. I'd been doing really well and it's actually only my second or third one this year, but it was still not pleasant. Anyway, good news here is that the CEO and general manager of Canine Companions asked us to meet with them tomorrow evening to discuss Lenny's incident! We'll see if anything comes of that.

Lenny's doing better

Lenny went back to the vet on Friday evening. The vet was visibly relieved that Lenny was using his fourth leg again consistently. I think he was afraid two weeks ago that he had screwed up the surgery and Lenny couldn't use his leg - it was really just that Lenny wouldn't use his leg! However, Lenny's allergies have managed to flare up again since we have started a new vial of allergy shots. The vet told us how to regulate them a little bit better and that we didn't have to follow the dosing schedule exactly. Lenny has been chewing his paws and making them bleed, which has made quite a mess around the apartment. Once he heals up (he's on even more prescriptions) he is finally getting his hair cut! We're just going to get him shaved down for the summer and not bother with the cute fluffy-faced fox terrier traditional cut.

My mom's dog Walter has had some health problems, though - he may have had a seizure last week! Mom even swore up and down that he was not going eat people food ever again. "Ever again" meant for about three days. Anyway, it seems like he is doing better now, which is good.

Chuck is conducting the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic today - they are doing a few "adventure" concerts for school kids. Also, he has exciting news, though this is not public knowledge yet (I guess it is now!) - Chuck was asked to guest conduct the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra for a concert this July!

Maestro Effron, Chuck's teacher, is having a party this weekend at his house for the conducting students. I also got invited (apparently only because I'm the only wife in the bunch). This should be interesting!

Chuck and I had a nice Easter weekend. We dyed 36 Easter eggs! Chuck took some pictures but has not yet emailed them to me. Lenny even got to eat one because it was a special occasion. We rented four movies and watched them ALL - Capote, Waiting For Guffman, Wallace and Gromit, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Kelley Ebert and Chuck Roeper gave "Wallace and Gromit" two big thumbs up! Then on Sunday night we had a nice Thai dinner with our friends Gaye and Rob (I work with Gaye in the office - she's the "undergrad" version of me) and then went to see the movie "Lucky Number Slevin." It was very violent but very good! A lot of neat plot twists. We never go to the movie theater so it was fun. I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend.

HAPPY EASTER!

We saw IU's production of the opera "Carmen" last weekend with Chuck's parents and their friends. It was REALLY GOOD!!

Tonight we are bringing Lenny in for his checkup - we'll see if he's caught up to where he's supposed to be. He's been doing really well all week and now is using his leg even when we don't tell him to.

Work is very busy right now!! Chuck is much less busy suddenly as the semester is ending, but he's been running around sending out videos for jobs and festivals.

Busy Blogger...

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint my thousands of loyal readers with my lack of blogging lately. Chuck and I both have been really busy and also rather cranky this past week, so you probably wouldn't have wanted to hear from me anyway!

We have had some exciting things happen. Two weeks ago, Chuck had his Ewazen/Bernstein concert that went pretty well. Chuck's mom, dad, and grandmother came out, as well as my best friend Jen all the way from Columbus!! While Jen was visiting, we had fondue with Amanda Niskode and her new special friend Aaron. It was a lot of fun. Amanda and Aaron went to NYC on spring break and had fun pictures to show us. We also finally got to see Jen's wedding pictures!

Chuck's mom and grandmother took me to Jo-Ann fabrics and got me some cool new supplies and a lot of great sewing info! My new project is going to be my first using knit fabric!! I even will use special sewing machine needles, which I learned all about that weekend. I was hoping to work on the shirt and finish it before Chuck's parents next visit, which begins this afternoon, but that REALLY didn't happen. I haven't even cut out the pattern yet. They also brought me one of my niece and nephews' dolls so I would have a "model" for more clothes!

I'll have to fill you in on all of Chuck's activities the past two weeks later because I can't even think of them all right now. But he has been stressed out!! Work has been MUCH more busy for me because summer and fall registration are in full swing, and some people in the office make things a little more stressful. Usually it's the students that add to the stress, but yesterday one of the ladies I work with got so mad at everyone else that she just left at lunchtime!

I've had a lot of rehearsals and a few concert these past two weeks. I played in another ad hoc last weekend. I got to play piccolo for the Overture to Semiramide by Rossini (AWESOME piccolo part that shows up on EVERY piccolo audition) and principal flute for the Tchaikovsky violin concerto. The only problem was that the Tchaikovsky part was nowhere to be found, so I had to photocopy the second flute part and write in my own notes above it off of the score. Not very effective, and pretty stressful for me. This is the second time that the flute part for an ad hoc has gone missing for me (before I even see it!) so I was a little paranoid that someone was messing with me last weekend. Maybe I'm just ad hoc-cursed.

Monday night I played on a voice recital. We premiered a piece by an IU composer for flute, cello, voice, and piano. It did not go very well that night. Luckily, we were performing it again on Tuesday night for a composition department recital. It went much better the second time around. Unfortunately, I had to miss my last Beatles class in order to play in the concert. I was really disappointed.

Lenny went back to the vet a week ago. Bad news - he is behind schedule with his recovery. The vet was very concerned that he was not limping around on his leg all the time - he is still considered in the "toe-touching" phase. So he suggested we wrap his other feet in tape (or use the dreaded red booties) to encourage him to use the weak leg more. He said these two weeks (last week and next week) are really critical in terms of getting him to walk and building his muscle mass up again. So we have taught him the command "Use your leg!" and now he will do it, especially if a treat is involved, and every now and then when he doesn't think we're watching him. But we constantly have to remind him to use his leg. Hopefully he's getting more and more comfortable with it.

One of the ladies on the Fox Terrier Network that I read online has a smooth fox terrier, David, that has his own leg problems. His front leg was in a cast for 8 weeks and didn't heal properly, so next week his leg is being amputated. It's really sad. Hopefully Lenny won't get to that point!