Thursday, November 29, 2012

TA DA!!

The doctor says...I CAN SING AGAIN!!!

Here is a page which talked about Adele's problem...just like mine only her hematoma was bigger and nastier looking... Yikes!

It happens folks. The rule of thumb is...trust your instincts! I felt my hoarseness was different - in the absence of any cold or drainage - and I got looked at. Only vocal rest was needed for a cure. I think Adele had to have a little laser work on that blood vessel.

Been reading about Enrico Caruso...amazing man! His voice took tremendous strain and overuse. His schedule was WAY over the top.

Okay..that's it. Just wanted to share the good news!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Okay...so it's been awhile!

Howdy readers.

It has been a bit of time since I last wrote and time & events have passed without my comment. So.... here goes! Walking back in time...


Peter Pan curtain call

The Lost Boys, Peter and Wendy. Mallie is 4th from the left.
 Mallory and I are involved in youth theater productions, as always!. She was a “Lost Boy” in Peter Pan which ran the weekend before Thanksgiving and, in addition, I have started work on Little Mermaid. Mallory will stage manage with me. The show will run in February 2013.

Steve has been very busy playing a couple of silent Japanese films the last month. Apparently, the Japanese made silent films till 1936 which incorporates  a thing called Benshi. It is the traditional narration done by a live actor along with music. Very interesting. Steve also did a magnificent recital with a percussionist on Sunday, 10/21 and it was great to have the Warners in town and staying with us. The unfortunate thing was that I was also to have appeared on the concert. 

I went to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor on the Friday  (10/19) before and a vocal scope proved that I had a ruptured blood vessel in my right vocal chord with some bleeding behind the folds. This very thing happened to the singer, Adele, only she had it on both sides! I was ordered to immediate vocal rest for six weeks – no singing and limited speaking! The good news is that the chords can be restored by rest and I have a great doctor will do another scope tomorrow to see if I have been a good enough girl. You can imagine how it’s been running youth theater rehearsals! I have spent alot of time at home and away from people so as not to talk much in the daylight hours. I have had to cut out all voice lessons, church choir and teaching at the Montessori until next month. With the aid of a voice amplifier and NO SINGING I was still able to run the rehearsals with the help of some of the staff. Yowee!! Luckily, with Peter Pan finished and Little Mermaid now into blocking and dance rehearsals, I am off the hook with the youth theater till January.



Mallory had a wonderful three day trek to Washington, D.C. with members of her 8th grade class. They left on a Saturday night and drove through the night so as to make the most of their time. Highlights included a tour of Mt. Vernon, The Ford Theater, the National Cathedral, Arlington and the Tomb of the Unknown Solider where they laid a wreath, all the major monuments and a ghost tour of Alexandria, VA. They arrived home early morning on Wednesday tired but very happy.
Okay, this wild thing happened to me as well in October!!! The day before I went to the ENT,  I was teaching my usual round of music classes with the 3 ½ - 5 year olds when I noticed that one of the children was slumped down on the rug. We are all on the floor and sometimes the kids will take advantage of the relaxed rules to lie down on the rug we are on. This time, when I spoke to her, the child did not move and it was then that I looked at her face and realized something was terribly wrong. Her eyes were blank and she was not breathing!  The teacher asked me if everything was okay and I told her to call 911 immediately. She did and another teacher cleared the children out of the room while I rolled little Ava over on her back and started chest compressions. It was an awful sight – her eyes weren't focusing and her mouth was turning blue. The director of the school came in and, together we worked on her till the EMS appeared. Her mother and grandmother came and they all went to the hospital with her. She was awake and talking by then. She was running a fever and they were able to confirm that she had had a cerebral seizure. At 3 ½ it is amazing what you can come back from. They actually released her later that day. Wow! I must admit, when it was happening I was cool as a cucumber. When the technicians started asking questions about what had happened I started to fall apart. In fact, one of them asked if he needed to treat me as well! What a wild day!

To continue the strangeness, my next appointment, that day, was to teach a voice lesson at a Frank Lloyd Wright house! Yup! One of my students had a great aunt who had commissioned him to build her house in the late 40’s. We decided that since I was keen to see the place and there was a lovely Steinway there that I would come there. So after this scary, emotional morning I found myself, in the afternoon, in a lovely space, at a nice piano looking out over a pond and gorgeous foliage. Wild, eh? I was still able to sing but the hoarseness - in the absence of any cold - made me look for an ENT the very next day.... Yikes!

I was also able to go visit my "cousin" Hazel. She is my father's first cousin and I have never really figured out how that works so I just consider her a cousin. Poor thing is suffering from advancing dementia.  I did call before I drove to the facility - very nice, btw -  and she was so excited to hear from me. I had the weekend to put together a photo album of lots of old and newer pictures to take to her. I found the place and was let in by a woman with a heavy Eastern European  accent. The reception room was very nice with a fire place and all. She went looking for Hazel. Turns out she was in a day room, of sorts. She looked really good and had a big smile on her face when she greeted me. She was a lot more “with it” than most of the other residents. We went to her room for our visit and I was surprised to see her little white dog there. I guess as long as the dog stays in her room she (?) is allowed to stay. I must admit, I felt very sorry for that little animal. Kind of a dismal life. All the doors have the residents’ names on them. Hazel seemed a little unsure as to which was hers. I was there about 90 minutes and we had a good visit. I gave her the album and we spent a lot of time looking through it. She cried over all the old pictures. She knew every person in them too. It was a little hard as she would say…every minute or so…”so you’re Leonard’s daughter!” There were many times when she would try to tell me something and she could not find the correct words. I tried very hard to follow her intent to get to what she was trying to say. It was difficult to hear her speak about my parents as if I did not know them. She feels that they had turned away from her and I kept trying to steer her back to something else. Of course, I had to stop telling her that they had passed away as that upset her every time so I would, again, just try to change the subject.I noticed, in the visitor book, that her son, Dan,  had come the day before so it seems her sons are in and out. She claims no one comes to see her. She told me that she feels that she is more “engaged” than the rest of the folks there and I would agree with her. Most are incapable of speaking. Her room is very nice and has an attached bathroom. Her dog is great company to her, as you can imagine. In fact, every time she cried, which was often, she would sit and lick her arm. She did so enjoy the photos I was glad I had taken the time to make the book for her. I will visit her next month with another one – I have so many of my grandmother’s photos too – and it will be a great basis for conversations. She did not recognize herself in any of the photos she was in. I must admit it was very difficult to see her but I was glad to be able to spend time with her and see her smile. 

Now on to the present. We had a lovely Thanksgiving up north, per usual. It was warm on the holiday - 60s! The next day it snowed...of course! We stayed at Stephen's cousins' house on Long Lake. A lovely place built in 1899 and across the street from the Lake. Really nice and we enjoyed the change. This is a shot of us as we took a walk, before dinner, along the bay. As you can see, it was a really beautiful day.

The 3 of us on Thanksgiving Day enjoying the Bay!

The sleeping loft at the house

The stairs leading from the loft.

This is at the bottom of the stairs - kitchen to the left and living room straight ahead. We had the Macy's parade on!

The cool enclosed porch!

Looking out at Long Lake.

Hope your holiday time was great! Onward to the end of the year!!!