Superheros

I finally finished the doll clothes I've been trying to make for my niece and nephews and they finally made it out there to them. And it looks like they just about fit! I was relieved. As you can see, there are several superheros - Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Jedi (in front), and a Maestro in a tuxedo (like Uncle Chuck).

The kids are fans of the book "Arturo's Baton" which features Arturo, the conductor, and his dog, who finds his lost baton just in time to save the concert. But when they read the book, apparently Arturo is "Uncle Chuck" and the dog is "Lenny." "Aunt Kelley" gets to be the maid!

I am taking a Continuing Studies class on Tuesday nights - there are three classes, and I went to my first one this past Tuesday. The subject? THE BEATLES! The class is taught by one of the faculty members here who teaches a semester-long Beatles class. He is AMAZING! I thought I already knew a lot about the Beatles, but the class was fascinating. I am really excited about it.

Lenny continues to improve. He is trying to walk on his leg more than he is hopping with it held in the air. He will even sit (lopsided) on command. He is not being very cooperative about going outside - we got a few inches of snow a couple of days ago, and he doesn't like walking on it.

Rehearsals for Chuck's ad hoc concert started last night. It went well, but they are in serious need of some more string players. Chuck has left the recruiting up to the soloists, and they are not quite up to the task. I think Chuck will have to bite the bullet and start begging people to play on Sunday.

Spring Break!

Well, last week was Spring Break and I am embarrassed at how long it has been since I have last blogged. So much news!

CHLOE won Project Runway! So much for my prediction, but she was my favorite designer throughout the whole competition, so I was pleased that she won. Now I have to suffer through a whole year until Season 3 comes out.





My sister came out to visit for three days last week. We had so much fun! We did watch a lot of Project Runway, in addition to other fun activities, and Annie made her first sewing project - a pillowcase. We also went to Japanese Steakhouse - Chuck's favorite - and Annie got to meet all of the other conductors. Thanks for coming out to visit Annie! We miss you already!

I had to go in to work a few days last week, even though the office was officially closed, but not for too long. I got to sleep in most days. I also FINALLY finished the superhero doll clothes I have been making for my niece and nephews for two months. I also made a cute little doll tuxedo like Uncle Chuck would wear conducting (with a toothpick for a baton), and few other little outfits. It was fun! Annie and I also went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and picked out some fun fabrics for me to make her some more scrubs, so I have another project to work on now.

Chuck had most of the week off. His youth orchestra had an invitational event on Tuesday with other local youth orchestras in the Columbus area that seemed to be a success. He also has been preparing for his next concert, this coming Sunday! It will feature Ewazen's "Shadowcatcher" for Brass Quintet and orchestra, and Leonard Bernstein's "On the Town" Dances. We are lucky that Chuck's parents will be visiting for the concert, as well as my best friend Jen!!

Speaking of Jen, she has started her own beautiful blog about her new married life, which you can check out at stoycheffs.blogspot.com.

And now...the big LENNY UPDATE!
Lenny was dopey even after we stopped the heavy drugs - it took a few days for them to get out of his system. I was a little concerned because he was a little bit behind schedule in terms of testing out his leg and beginning "toe-touching." But once Annie arrived, he wanted to show off and started using his leg a lot. He even took a few steps on it when Annie would take him for walks. He is definitely improving. Here were the other signs that he is getting back to his usual self:
1) He gets up immediately when he hears his breakfast being poured in his bowl.
2) He rifled through the bathroom trash can and scattered kleenex everywhere.
3) We came home and found him curled up on one of our chairs. We don't know how he jumped up on to it.
4) He got into Annie's bookbag (she didn't know he could do zippers) and ate her gum and breath mints. But it didn't help anything - he still has doggie breath.

Well, that's all for now. Work is actually getting busy again, so I may not have as much time to blog in the next few weeks. It's nice to have something to do rather than sitting around bored. Registration has begun for the Summer and Fall semesters, so I am processing a lot of paperwork and fielding a lot of questions.

Furry fashion

The Project Runway finale is TOMORROW NIGHT!! I can't wait. I have a big prediction: SANTINO is going to win. The big bad guy. My reasoning? Last week, the show revealed a "sample" outfit from each of the three collections (Santino, Daniel V., and Chloe) - and Santino's was by far the best. The other reason was that while the "reunion" special focused on what a mean guy Santino was and all of the "mean" things he said about everyone else on camera (he was pretty funny), this episode showed him with his best friends, who helped him up from nothing to follow his dreams of being a designer, at their home where they let him live because he was broke. Cue the family's kids climbing all over "Uncle Santino." It was totally to build audience sympathy for him. It totally worked on me!!

The barkslope.com blog (from the website where Walter was "Mr. November") has the following headline today: Pet Fashion Week hits Manhattan! Obviously, they need to start a "Project Runway" show for pets. Walter could be a model on the show (haute-dog couture?) Lenny could after his hair grows back in and he's not limping, but I don't think he'd have any interest in the catwalk. Unless cats were actually out there too.

Tonight Chuck and I are driving up to Indianapolis to watch a dress rehearsal for "The Marriage of Figaro" by the Indy Opera. Chuck is taking an Opera Management class with the director, so the class was invited up to see the production.

The other interesting thing going on this week is the auditions for potential IU instrumental conducting students. I got to go to see a few yesterday, and it made me really queasy! I was nervous for everyone, remembering what Chuck had been through in the past few years, and what he will face in the future. I thought he was much better than everyone I saw audition, but I don't make the doctoral admissions decisions. Mr. Effron is still not giving him a straight answer about it either; Chuck's hoping to talk him into an assistantship for next year if he'll be a third-year masters student.

Lenny is still recovering well. Last night he got out of bed and wandered into the kitchen while we were making dinner, just in case we would drop something. A very good sign that he is getting back to normal!

Lenny post-op

Lenny made it home from surgery and has been pretty zonked, but overall doing well! He is still on some pretty heavy painkillers, but every day he is showing more and more of his personality through the haze. He gets tired really easily and spends most of the day sleeping. Part of the reason for this is that the hardest thing for him to do is to get up and down, so he just stays put. The first morning home, we were a little concerned because it actually took him a few minutes to decide to come in the kitchen to eat breakfast - a first for him!
He still isn't using that leg - he's supposed to start "toe-touching" in a few days, and about a week after that, start putting more weight on it. After about a month, he'll be walking with a limp, and after about three months, the surgeon said he'll be about as good as he ever will be.

His leg and his butt look really funny being shaved on one side. We had no idea he had so many freckles! The bruising in the picture is just about gone, and he'll get his stitches out probably at the end of the week. The stitches are one long piece of thread, and one side has started to work its way out, but the cut looks like it's healing very well.
Our surgeon, Dr. Koch, was awesome. He explained everything in a lot of detail to us, with a bone/ligament knee joint replica. (He even let Lenny sniff it to examine it!) He explained that this surgery, while not always necessary in people, is necessary (and usually more successful) for dogs usually because their legs are shaped and held differently. It should also help prevent a lot of arthritis that would happen if he didn't operate and clean out the joint - he said this aspect was maybe even more important than aligning the knee correctly again! So we felt even better about going ahead with the surgery.

We've been spoiling Lenny a little bit since he got home from the hospital... Chuck gives him his 4 pills at night with a cracker and peanut butter! (Mr. "No people food EVER!" is a softie!) I got him a few new toys at PetSmart as well as a pig's ear and a Dingo treat (a bone with "meat" in the middle). One of the toys I got was "Bobo" from the cute PetSmart commercial with the dachshund on it. It's a great toy that makes two different squeaky sounds on either end. Lenny has showed the most interest in the pig's ear, but gets really tired after about ten minutes and falls asleep chewing on it!

The big surgery

The news from the vet yesterday afternoon was that Lenny's surgery went well, and that he should be able to come home on Thursday afternoon.

If you would like to see really gross pictures of this kind of surgery that he had, click HERE.