Day 73

Every Sunday I try and ride my bike 20 miles. Usually Lexi comes with me but she did not go to church with us last night so she had to go this morning during bike ride time. She gave me that face that makes me melt so I told her that I would ride 10 miles without her and when she got home from church I would go another 10 with her. After my ride alone, I came home and started working on more video's for my show and when Lexi got home from church, we went on our ride. From my house, I can get to the West Orange Trail pretty easily. It is about a mile and a half to the trail and you have a choice to go toward Apopka or Winter Garden. Lexi chose the Winter Garden way like last week so that she could stop and get an ice cream.

If you recall last week we were eating ice cream when the guitar player sang piano man, which I thought was brilliantly funny. This week we were eating the ice cream and the guitar man was playing. Every song he played, Lexi would ask if this was the piano man song. We never did hear him sing that one but I thought it funny that she remembered that. After our ride home, it was back in the office for more work.

Now I started this blog to keep everyone posted on my leg healing process so here goes. I wake up in the morning and walk like I am 95 years old until the stiffness goes away. Once I can walk normally, my leg starts cracking especially when I walk up the stairs. After about 15 minutes, all of the cracking stops and I forget that I have broken my leg. The swelling is still there but not bad at all. Of course I am not ready to jump around and dance like I am 20, but it really gets better and stronger every day. I am praying that by the time I have to start dancing for PartyLite, I will be ready.

Karen and Kyle's fiancee went to see Sex in the City tonight. They loved it. Lexi is watching Legally Blonds, a Disney Channel addition to the original movie, Kyle is watching sports and Adam is playing Wii with his girlfriend, which leaves me here to write. Not home alone yet....alone. I will miss them when they leave. Having everyone here is always fun. So now I will go to bed and leave you with this:

“We need others. We need others to love and we need to be loved by them. There is no doubt that without it, we too, like the infant left alone, would cease to grow, cease to develop, choose madness and even death.”

Leo F. Buscaglia quotes (

Day 72

So I thought I would sleep in but I was tossing and turning all night. I have a million things going on in my head and I could not sleep. At one point I did fall asleep and I woke up sobbing. Not sure what happened in the dream but it must have been bad. I got up before Karen left to teach her class and started to do laundry. No one was home to stay with Lexi so I could not go to the gym until Karen got home. I made good use of my time and cleaned out my garage and cleaned the racks from the oven. Karen is trying to deep clean everything before my family comes here on the 13th.

By the time Karen go home I was ready to go. My workout was so so. I am so used to doing it first thing in the morning that when I go later, I kind of drag. After the workout, I came home and made another video for my show. I have a little more than two weeks left before the show so I have got to get it into gear. I got my poster from my friend Mark Flanagan who printed them up for me. They look great. Andy did such a great job.

I went to church tonight and sang in the choir. Because it is Memorial Day, we sang some Americana songs and they went well. People were crying. After church we went to the Flanagan's and ate dinner and played Bananagrams. Great game. Karen won twice and I won twice. So the Flanigan's kicked the Flanagan's butts. LOL. Now we are home and ready to go to bed. My foot is a bit swollen today. I did not do my exercises so I have to before I go to sleep. I can finally sleep under the covers. 11 weeks of sleeping on top of the covers with a blanket over me and my foot up on pillows. I have now graduated to under cover sleeping. Maybe that is why I did not sleep last night. Hmmmmmm? I bet so. Well on that note, I leave you with this:

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”

Arnold Bennett quotes

Day 71

I am so tired. 2 nights of 5 hours of sleep is not good. Especially after 10 weeks of 8 hours. Yikes. I got up at 4:45 to take Ryan to the airport to go see his fiance. He was going there to meet with the priest for their classes before they get married. After dropping him off I went to the gym. I took my time working out because I was there so early but after finishing, I got to work early. Of course as soon as I walk in, I have to cover some call in sick people. Good thing I got there early.

I only had to do 2 shows which was great. My foot did not hurt at all during the shows. Even after I did the 4 shows yesterday. After the shows I went over to the Epic Stunt Spectacular to meet with my friend Kevin who was going to help me with a filming I had to do for PartyLite. Kevin has lost sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much weight!!! He kept walking and pulling his pants up. I kept want to sing "Pants on the Ground". He has been doing a workout similar to P90 X and it worked. He is ripped!!!!

Got the video done, ran to Friday's where Kyle and his fiance were working to grab some lunch and then off to the Apple store for more project time. Brian was my instructor today and he is great. He has seen more embarrassing photo's and videos of me than anyone. I keep telling him "Don't judge". Nice kid. Got stuck in traffic on the way home and my air conditioning is broken and it was raining, so I was in a hot car with no air, not moving with rain. Great ride home.

I spent the rest of the night working on my show. Tonight I did the diabetes section with pictures of my sister Gail who passed away 10 years ago. I showed Lexi the video that will be playing while she is dancing and she started to hug me and then wipe tears away. It was so cute. She tried to pass off like she was not crying, but it moved her. I hope it does the same to the audience. So now I am going to bed and not waking up to an alarm. I hope I sleep. So tonight I leave you with this quote that describes my day best:

Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express. ~Joseph Addison

Day 70

Got up and went to therapy at 7:30. I was the only one there for a bit and I had Mary Anne today. She was great. She worked on my foot for the first 45 minutes and got it loose before I started my exercises. Kristie was hanging out chatting with us and I told them both about Stacy's foot massage....you know, the one where I feel her boob with my foot. They were laughing so hard but then said, they too use their boobs as a resting place. They were sad I did not notice that they did the same thing. I guess because Stacy is...um......larger in that department, I notice it more.

Got to work a bit late because of PT but was there in time to eat my breakfast and get on stage. I had four shows today, all Mr. Ray and Chum the shark. By the time I got to the fourth show, my foot was sore. I made it through the day with one ice bath in the middle. Wow do those hurt.

After work I went to the gym and then went out to Lexi's dance studio to pick her up. I had the pleasure of driving some of the other girls home. One of them was texting the whole way home, she is in 5th grade, and the other two were so not wanting to be in my truck. They looked miserable. I am not sure if Karen gives these kids treats or what but they were not having it. I dropped them all off and not a thank you for the ride or nothing. I told Lexi, that if I ever found out she did not say thank you for something, I would be very disappointed. She assured me she always says thank you.

Ryan called and asked for a ride to the airport tomorrow. He leaves at 7, which means to the airport at 6 which means leave the house at 5:15. So it is bed time for me. Karen is in the office taking an online driving course for the last ticket she got. She gets them at least every 6 months. I am surprised they still allow her to take the courses. She has a lead foot. Kyle too. I think Adam just got a ticket as well. Does anyone pay attention to the speed limits? People get so mad at me when I take Lexi to school because the speed limit on one road is 25 and I go 25. They honk and get mad but I still go 25. Anyway, until tomorrow, I leave you with this:

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone. ~G.B. Stern

Day 69

I have got to be crazy being up this late. I have physical therapy at 7:30 in the morning and then 4 shows. I was so excited tonight because the amazing Andy Terechenok designed the poster for my show and it is just incredible. He is so talented and I hope that if you ever need graphic designing, you call him. I actually cried when I saw it. I am so blown away. It is everything and more than I could imagine.

Today I drove the the car care place and left my truck for an oil change and some freon. My air was not working great. Well there was a hole in the hose that the freon runs through so I have to replace it and it will be a fortune. Good thing I am back at work. Anyway, I dropped my truck off and rode my bike to the gym, worked out and rode my bike home. Beautiful day for it. When I came home, I mowed my lawn and finished in time for a shower and to get to work. I did 3 shows today, one as Gil and the other two as one of the sharks. My foot began to hurt after doing the shark shows. It is just more running and moving. I drove home with ice around my leg.

When I got home we watched American Idol finale and what a joke that boring boy from the paint store won. He got votes cause he cries. I can cry. Will I get a million dollar recording deal......NO!!!!! Oh wait, I actually smile, I think you have to cry and not smile ever, that is how you get votes. He is just lucky. Crystal should have won. That show is dead to me. No more. Janet Jackson looked great. Kelly Clarkson needs to lay off the french fries and Carrie Underwood is so classy and great. She is the best thing that came out of that show. Where was David Cook? Wait....who cares?

So now I have to get to bed so I can function tomorrow. I hear the Nanny on the TV in my bedroom. That means Karen is still awake. Until tomorrow, I leave you with this:

Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves. ~Larry King

Day 68

My day started out with Karen's alarm going off but she did not hear it. It was Tuesday and she does not have to teach on Tuesday's so I got up, shut her alarm off and got Lexi ready for school. Well, when a soon to be 11 year old is used to Mom doing her hair and then Dad tries to, all is not well with the world. First I did not part it good, then there was a lump in the back of her head, then the pony tail was not tight enough, then her earrings were too long then the knot in her shoe was not on center when she tied it so I need to assist, then we were leaving too late for her to be able to sit on the bench before school. It was not a good morning. After dropping her off at school, I went to the gym and then to physical therapy. I had Stacey. She is the one who rubs my feet and presses her chest into my foot. Again, today, after kicking my butt, she rubbed the foot and just as expected, my foot and her chest were best of friends.

From therapy, I met with Sheila, who will be hosting my show. She had some great ideas and I was laughing all through lunch. She is so talented and funny and nice. I can not imagine anyone ever disliking her. I am so humbled that she will be there to host this show. She will make it a success. Finished lunch with Sheila and off to Nemo for 2 shows as Gil.

After work, I zipped to a PartyLite recording session. I had not seen many of the singers in a long while and they all looked great. Kurt lost so much weight, Ryan was looking great and Jeremy was great as always. The girls were Michelle M, Michelle A and Suzie. A wonderful group of ladies who look and sound wonderful. The session started at 7 but because of our late show times, I could not get there until 7:45. We were there until 1:00. So now I sit in quiet, writing and thinking about my day tomorrow. How could I go from sitting on my couch for 9 weeks to full steam ahead? It was great having the time off and it is great to be back to work, but I need to meet somewhere in the middle. I am not sure I know how to do that. I need to learn. So I will leave you with this:

Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.

Anatole France

Day 67

Late shows today and what a surprise when I walked in and saw that I was doing Gil. A much easier roll for my foot. I was thrilled. I did the show with no pain at all. I was so excited. For the first time I did not feel like I was walking on broken toes. I can even walk in bare feet and it feels okay. I do have some swelling but it feels great.

After work I went to the Mac store for a session on taking video off of a VCR and putting it on you computer. It was so cool and very easy. The thing to do it cost $99.00 but it is tax deductible and I really need it for getting some video for my show. How embarrassing it was to have the tech at the Mac store watch really bad video of my when I was 19 and dancing like a girl. I can't believe I ever looked like I did. Skinny, with long hair and.....well if you come to the show, you will see. I found video of when my family was on Family Feud. How funny. Late 70's and just wrong. All my sisters had Farrah hair and my Dad and I had matching suits. We lost big time, but had many parting gifts. That is a story waiting to be published.

After the Mac store I came home and was in my house alone for 50 minutes. Pretty good. I ate and answered some email and then the girls came home. Lexi is in her last week of school and she has final exams this week. We are pre studying for them so there is much to do. I was on her bed as she was on the potty and I was helping her with her Bible verse. Well I begin to hear the toilet paper roll turn, then turn some more, then more and even more. I mean, she is 10, how much toilet paper does she need? Before she flushed I ran in to look and sure enough, it looked like the finale of Blue Man Group in her toilet......with one little poop!!! My frugal self began to get upset and she started to cry and scream and go into this melt down. All over toilet paper. I was brought up to use 4 sheets and fold until you could not any more. I tried to explain that philosophy but she would not hear of it. We spent more time discussing the toilet paper than we did studying. I think she cried herself to sleep.

I must go back up to my office and work more on my video's. 3 weeks from tonight is the big show. Spread the word. Tonight I leave you with this:

“Today you can go to a gas station and find the cash register open and the toilets locked. They must think toilet paper is worth more than money.”

Day 65 and 66

So I did not want day 66 to be alone so I combined 65 and 66. I am so lying!!!! I was way too tired yesterday to sit down and write so I will catch you up.

I went to the gym and worked on my butt and legs. I can finally do lunges again so now I can't even sit down without pain. Good pain but pain. When I got home, I started doing things that I have wanted to do for the past 11 weeks but was not able to. I cleaned my fountain so it is no longer green, and took Steve and Tracy's advice and put a toilet bowl cleaner thingy in it too keep the mold away. We tried that a long time ago but Karen bought the blue one's and I did not know that so when I put it in, all of the water turned blue and it looked so wrong.

After the fountain cleaning, I went on the roof and cleaned out my gutters and made sure all of the leaves were off the roof. Then I washed all of my windows outside with the Windex outside window cleaner. It comes with a pad and a long pole to reach higher windows, and the pad had enough cleaner on it to wash 20 windows. Perfect. So I followed the directions and wet the window, washed with the pad and then rinsed them off. It says you don't need to dry them with a cloth and it will leave no streaks. Well they did speak the truth, it left no streaks, only WATER SPOTS!!!! So after all of them dried, I had to clean them again with regular window cleaner. What a rip off. Don't think I am not writing to Windex and telling them I expect free window cleaner.

I was so hot from all of that so I jumped in the pool and swam for a bit. Then it was off to church to cantor the 5:00 mass. After church, Karen and I went to Bonefish for dinner. Adam opened that place as a server. I wish he stayed there. Love the bang bang shrimp. By the time I got home, I fell into bed. We were going to watch a movie but I could not keep my eyes opened.

Woke up today and went to the mac store to work on my show projects. They are coming out great. I stopped at Steve and Tracy's to return music and found out it was Steve's birthday. I am so embarrassed. I had it in my calendar for tomorrow. He never forgets a birthday. My bad. Happy Birthday Steve!!!!!! I came home and Lexi and I went for our Sunday 20 mile bike ride on the trail. I promised her this week that we would stop in downtown Winter Garden and have an ice cream. So we are sitting outside of Scoops having our ice cream and across the street at one of the bars, a guitar player starts playing. Okay, in my opinion this was wrong and humorous at the same time. His first song.....on the guitar.....was........Piano Man!!!! How funny is that. I started laughing so hard. Lexi did not understand why I was laughing and when I told her she even laughed. Brilliant!!!

At mile 11 Lexi was tired and for the next 9 miles, I did more pushing than pedaling. Tough ride. We got home and swam and Karen made a great dinner that we ate on the screen porch. I am going back upstairs to work more on my show. Lexi is in her last week of school this week and has 3 more final exams so the rest of the week will be taken up with studying. So please enjoy this quote for the day dedicated to my friend Steve:

“I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me, I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be; I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day, as you have meant old friend of mine, to me along the way.”

Day 64

What a disappointment and a relief at the same time. I walked into my therapy session and it was Larry. He is the nicest guy but he does not take as good care of me as Kristi and Stacey. When the girls are giving therapy, I am there for 2 hours, with Larry I am there only 1 hour and 15 minutes. I don't get a foot massage with Larry and that is the worst part. So all of the worrying for nothing. Stacey works every other Friday. Oh well, I go back on Tuesday.

I got to work and there was a call in so I got to do the easier on my foot role but I had to do an extra show. I did not have a check this week. Something happened in the system which made them not pay me. I was so excited that I was going to get paid for the first time in 2 months and nothing!!!! I know I will get it but there is nothing worse than going on line to look at your pay stub and having it be blank.

I did my ice bath on my foot before Phil came up and made me. My foot was still in the ice at places. I screamed (of course I had to give drama) and hobbled to the stage with a frozen foot. I did not have time to wrap it and it wasn't till the finale of the show that my foot defrosted. I thought it was bad doing a show on a hurt leg but doing it on a frozen foot takes the cake.

Had a great dinner with all of my kids and Karen. I love that. When all of my kids are here and we are laughing and sharing stories, there is nothing like it. Hard to believe that two will be married in a few months. Before you know it, I could be a ...... G pa~~

Well it is late again and I have to get up early again so I leave you with this:

“The love of a family is life's greatest blessing”

Day 63

4 shows today and boy am I hurting!!! I had a break between the first two and last two shows and did the ice bath on my leg. Frost bite set in for sure. I think some of my toe nails actually had icicles forming on them. I made it through the day and got home in time to make dinner. Karen was with Lexi getting her from dance and she had gone to BJ's (we have a free 60 day trial) so I fixed dinner for us and I have to say it came out great. It was a salad......but I cut everything up, and Karen bought lobster meat that is almost like the imitation crab and it was delicious!!! I also made Lexi's dinner.....hot dogs. So I am not a gourmet cook. I could have made eggs and oatmeal but that is my breakfast food.

Tomorrow I have Physical Therapy and I have to tell you a bit about my therapists. They are really great. Kristi is the one that came to the park to see my show and she helped Stacey rearrange my workout because of what I need to work on. Well Stacey is as tall as Karen. Only 5 feet tall and blond and in great shape and she has large baby feeders......if you know what I mean. Anyway, at the end of my therapy, they do a laser treatment and then they rub my foot and leg to move the swelling out. So Stacey (remember she has large ..... boobs) has to stand on a stool to reach my leg because I am on a high table. She grabs my foot and as she rubs the swelling up my leg, my foot basically massages her breasts. So I flex my foot to try and get it away from her but she then tells me to relax my foot. OMG!!! I am totally feeling her up with my foot and it does not faze her what so ever. I blush, I try and talk so that there is no silence but I feel like a dirty old man. My foot has had more action than my hands since my injury.

There is just no avoiding it because of how small she is....well short.

Then there is the British man who is there in the morning who talks about how stiff his leg is and he calls it a stiffy. Now I am no idiot, I know what a stiffy is and it is not a leg. I tell you, it is like a brothel in there. My favorite is the lady who comes in, picks up a towel and puts it on the wall and moves her arm up and down. It looks like she is washing the wall. I thought I would be funny and I said, "put some Windex on that clean the windows"......the lady was not amused. Maybe she needs a good stiffy.

So because my PT is at 7:30, I have got to get up early to go to the gym first. So I am going to go to bed early tonight. Oh wait, it is 9:30, there goes the early. So here is my quote for today:

Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.
Will Rogers

Day 62

I can't believe that I have been writing this for over 2 months. It seems like yesterday I was sitting here and I started this. Time for me to go back and reflect on my journey to recovery.....not that I am done. Glad I am not in the sit in the shower stage or fall in the toilet stage. Over!!!!!

Got up early to go to the gym because I had a phone conference call with PartyLite at 9. I got home at 5 minutes before 9 only to find an email that said "we will call you at 11" So I mowed my lawn. I have the lawn mower set to turtle so it ended up taking me about 45 minutes longer to mow than normal. Now that I have the pool and all of the extra bushes, I have more edging than ever. I was so hoping for rain because my grass is dry in spots that get hit by sun all day, but no luck. Good thing tomorrow is Thursday....my even number house water day. (it's the little things)

My call lasted an hour and then it was off to work. No time to shower so I smelled like grass......lawn grass that is. I was not in the green room for 2 minutes before Phil came up and said "are you ready for an ice bath". So back in the ice my foot went. It was not as bad today. I did not start whining until the 8 minute mark. 10 minutes in 10 minutes out and then 10 more minutes in. Phil said when he pulled his hamstring at Indiana Jones, they had him sit his lower body in ice. OMG can you imagine? I am sorry if this offends you but talk about blue balls. His penis must have been inverted by the time he got out. Shrinkage!!!!! Okay I'm done the the profanity. Sorry.

After my one show at Nemo, I showered and went to the Boardwalk to host a game show for the Disney Vacation Club members. My friend Steve was there so it was a great show. We had fun, but those people really love the actress who plays my wife. Dee Vee See, the first lady of the Disney Vacation Club. So they get a bit disappointed when they see me. What are you going to do.

After that game show, I was off to the Mac store for another project time for my show. I did a video with my PartyLite footage. It came out so great. This will really be fun. Don't forget to spread the word. June 14th at the Garden Theater in Winter Garden at 7. So now I am home and ready to get to bed. Up early again for a very long day. I am supposed to do 4 shows. We will see what happens there. Yikes!!!!! I have to say how blessed I am to have such great friends, a great family, health and employment. I am truly thankful. On that I leave you this:

“There's always something to be thankful for. If you can't pay your bills, you can be thankfulyou're not one of your creditors.”

Day 61

I have felt the worst pain I ever felt today. I was at work and my dear friend Kevin and my friend/stage manager Phil have been in cahoots and decided that it would be best for me to put my foot in a bucket of ice for 10 minutes. I now know what the Titanic passengers felt like. OMG!!!! Talk about pain? 8 minutes in I thought I was going to vomit. I did last the whole 10 minutes and pulled my foot out and I swear I had frost bite. I wrapped it in a towel and 10 minutes later Phil came back and said "okay, time for round 2". Are you kidding me? So back in the ice my foot went. I screamed like a girl but I tolerated the pain and went through round 2. I have to say, I might not have made it through that third show if I did not do that. Maybe I was just numb but it did feel better.

I had therapy today and because my PT went to my show, she totally changed my therapy. They kicked my @$$!!!!! I was sweating and could not breath. I am not in as good shape as I thought. After this whole thing is over, I need to do PX90 to mix it up and get in better shape. They told me at PT that I had to wear a compression sock. I went to get one and there were way too many choices. I will decide later.

I have a new app on my ITouch that gives you workouts and exercises for every body part. It is so cool. It even gives you demonstrations on how to do the exercises. So I used it today and did an entirely different workout. I expect to be sore tomorrow.

I am now watching Glee. What a great show. I want to be the Glee teacher. Will was the original Link in Hairspray on Broadway. One of the Voght brothers was on there tonight. It is always so great when you see people you know on stage or on TV. Plus Idina Menzel was on tonight and she and Rachel sang a duet and I always thought they looked alike. What a great episode. How about American Idol tonight? It was awful and really who cares who wins this year? Not me. Off to dreamland now so I leave you with this quote:

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

Days 58,59 and 60

Well to all of my readers, I am so sorry for not writing for two days. I guess you can tell that I am back at work and trying to find time now to write what is going on. First here is the update on my injury, as that is why I started the blog. On Saturday I signed my PT in so that she could see what I do and have a better idea of what to work on with me. She was great and came back and met the stages PT and they talked about how to best help me. She also said something that must have been relayed to her by my doctor because it was the first I heard it. She mentioned to Michelle (the stages PT) that they would be dealing with a protruding screw, that it was not in all the way. Remember I told you the doctor wanted to go in and put a longer screw in, well since the swelling has gone down, you can actually see and feel where the screw is. It is very uncomfortable so I am now wishing that I went back in. Too late now but if it bothers me in a few months, I will be going back in to get it done.

Saturday I did two shows and because I was doing Gil, it was much easier on my leg. Sunday I had off and went on a 7 mile bike ride with Lexi and then went to church and came home to ride 13 miles to that I could get back into my 20 mile biking on Sundays. When I was not biking, I was doing bills and scanning more pictures. I tried to work on my power points and forgot everything I learned in my project time so I go back on Wednesday to do that. How about Desperate Housewives finale? Not such a cliff hanger.

Today, I went to the gym (shocker I know) and then to work. I did the first two shows and my foot was killing me by the end. I am supposed to do three shows tomorrow so we will see how that goes. I stopped at Walmart on the way home to pick some things up and my bill came to 19.71. When the cashier said 1971, I said, "Now that was a good year......of course I was not alive then but I heard it was a good year". She looked at me, paused and said..."No comment!!" OMG I totally look 50!!! I was not having a hard time with the number thing because I really did not think I looked 50 but I guess I do....according to the Walmart cashier!

Came home and worked on my show some more and now I am going to collapse. So I leave you with this quote:

• A person is always startled when he hears himself seriously called an old man for the first time. Author: Oliver Wendell Holmes

Day 57

I woke up at 5:15 to go to the gym before Physical Therapy and went back to bed. I have never done that but I think after sitting for so many weeks, trying to get back into my normal routine to fast was a big mistake. So I slept another hour and went straight to PT. Stacy was my therapist today and she kicked my butt again. Actually I kicked it. I am such an over achiever that if they say do 15 I do 20. If they say 70 pounds I do 80. If they say rest for 1 minute I rest for 30 seconds. I just want to be better faster and they say that I am doing great. 10 weeks ago today I broke my leg, 9 weeks ago I had surgery and I am doing well, but I don't have the speed or the weight baring that I would like to have. Can you say impatient?

I was in PT for 2 hours and then went right to work. I did two shows, some lead work, iced my leg and then went to the gym. The crowd in the afternoon is quite different than the morning. In the morning you have all of the men and women who are there early to workout, shower and go to work. So your business types. In the afternoon it was the after school crowd. All young men and women on the hunt. OMG I must have heard the word "hot" from the boys and "stud" from the girls at least 20 times. And if you think that I look in the mirror alot...........I have nothing on these young guys. They check themselves out every second. I was laughing as they did some sit ups, lifted their shirts to check the stomach out, flexed and then back to the sit ups and shirt lifting. Did you ever see the commercial where the guy weighs himself, runs on the treadmill for 15 seconds and then goes back to the scale? That was the crowd today. One asked me to spot him. I looked at the weight and said "Okay Popeye, I hope you ate your spinach cause Whimpy here might not be able to help you". Boy did not even know who Popeye and Whimpy were.

After the gym I came home and worked for PartyLite for a few hours before showering and going to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Garden Theater. (where my birthday show is). Mark Huffman from Disney is the director and Patte DePova was the narrator. It was really wonderful. I brought my daughter and her friend and they loved it. I saw so many people I new. Rhonda Day was there with her mother Thelma, Ken Thiboult was there and Ray Fornieer and Amy Bullock who is not Bullock anymore and even some old Tarzan groupies. It was very fun. After the show the girls wanted to meet the entire cast, especially the boy who played Benjamin. (he looked like Justin Beiber) It was so cute.

Came home to find Karen on her new IPad. I think she might be addicted. Oh well, I am glad she likes it. So now I have to get some rest for another day of work. I am working on a Saturday this week to get my 40 hours in. I will actually get a pay check on Thursday. I am so excited. I am still having trouble with the speed thing but it gets a little better every day. Just being around friends and family helps me heal a little more each day as well. So I leave you with this quote:

“The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.”

Hubert H. Humphrey

Day 56

OUCH!!!!!!!! I actually did shows today. I think I should have been a bit less aggressive and did one show but I have to be an over achiever and I did 2. I had my foot wrapped pretty tight and I had a tight shoe on. It was a brand new shoe. I got a pair of new shoes a bit before I got injured and when I went back to work today, they were gone. Someone said that they were taken and sold on eBay. I am sure that they did not make much money. LOL. Anyway, I got through the first show okay but the speed at which I am trying to move is very hard. The second show I stopped a bit too hard in the shark number and for the rest of the show, I limped. I know that I just have to get used to it and I am thrilled to be back, I just have to take it easier.

After the last show, I stayed around for another 15 minutes and iced my leg. I worked on schedules and filled in all of the holes we had. It is a never ending job and God bless Serena (the other lead) for doing an incredible job while I was gone. I was told that she was scheduled for the first two shows and at 5:40 was still there filling schedule needs and never complained or fussed about it. She is the sweetest person in the world and is going through a lot personally, so the fact that she stayed extra and made sure that all of the shifts were filled shows how dedicated she is. I am so blessed to work beside her in the lead role.

I came home and ........ oh crap I have to shut off my sprinkler.............hold on......I am back, as I was saying, I came home and had to check my sprinkler system because there was a section of my grass that was dry and did not get enough water. I have cups that measure and it was way low. So I tested them and found that one was buried under a bush that got very thick. So I had to trim the bush and then put the sprinkler on the section that was dry. You know I live in an even number house so my water days are Thursday and Sunday so I had to take care of it today. Plenty of water now cause if forgot all about it. Now my water bill is going to be way more....dang it!!! Thank goodness for the blog, otherwise it would have been on all night.

I have PT at 7:30 so it is up at 5:15 to make food and go to the gym before therapy and then off to work to do 2 more shows. OMG Lexi is soooooo going through puberty. What a crank tonight. She just came down and said " I am going to sit in my room and be by myself cause nobody cares about me". This after I just spent an hour pretending that I know anything about diagrams in grammar and then studying for a health exam. Wow. Uh Oh, Karen is on her way up, let's see if it will be menopause verses puberty.......wait for it..........hmmmm, pretty calm, I am impressed. As I was saying earlier in this paragraph (I know what a paragraph is) I have to go to bed so I can get up early. So here is the quote for the day:

The trouble with learning to parent on the job is that your child is the teacher.

~Robert Brault

Day 55

I have only 15 minutes to get this done so that Tracy can read it and go to bed.

MY TOES HURT!!!! I am walking very carefully still but my toes hurt. The PT's said that because they were trapped in a boot for 9 weeks and did not have any weight put on them for that long, it would take a while. It feels like I have 5 broken toes when I walk. I am sure it will get better but not yet.

I went to the gym today and came home to mow my lawn. I have not done that for so long and it was a perfect day to do it. Edged, blew, swept and picked more trees out of my lawn. Good thing tomorrow is water day because I have many dry spots. I remember when I first moved here to Florida, every day at 3:00 it would rain for about 30 minutes. Now that I own a house and have a lawn, it decides not to do that anymore? OMG where the heck is the rain..........anyone?????? Al Gore???? Leonardo DiCaprio????? I need rain!!!!!!

Last year when I put in my pool, I had my sprinkler system redone and went from 4 zones to 8 so that I would get better coverage. Well not only did I get better coverage but I got a bigger bill. Wow, water costs a lot of money. I am about to do what my mother did when we were young because we had a septic system. There were times we could not flush the toilet because it would cause something to back up and then something else would go wrong. Anyway, look at your bill and see what you pay in waste water. That is truly flushing money down the toilet. I tried to leave pee in the toilet once because I was drinking a lot of water and it looked clear and I thought Karen wouldn't find out, but does that woman have a good nose. I guess it smelled. The only time I smell my pee is after I eat asparagus. TMI??? Sorry.

I did a convention today with my friend Steve. It is so great to work with him and since he lives so close, we went in together. Great conversation, great company and just a great friend. He even came with us to see Ryan's new townhouse that he is buying. I know that Ryan appreciated him being there. After dinner I barged in on Steve and Tracy to borrow some music for my show. I am sure I stayed too long but they are so fun to hang with. I know that I will always laugh when I am with them. I was talking about my doctor having MS and not walking well. Tracy thought I said he was a mess and asked if he were a drunk. I can see how he could have heard that wrong but it was funny. So one minute to go before I have to push send so here is my quote for the day dedicated to Steve and Tracy.

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

Day 54

I clocked in and celebrated being back at work. I always knew that I loved my job but I really never knew how much until it was taken from me. I walked in in my beard and immediately had to shave. It took about 20 minutes to get it all off and now I look so weird. I sat with Serena (the other lead at our stage) and she got me all caught up on what has been going on at the stage. I went back stage with our PT Michelle who helped me figure out just how I will get up and off of some of the set pieces and then I danced through the shark number back stage during the show. I think I will be okay but I will for sure have to take it easy for a bit. That will be harder for me than anything because I always try to give it my all.

I spoke with Cate, our stage manager, and she was saying what a year we have had at the stage with the abundance of injuries and pregnancies at the stage. Hopefully with my coming back and babies being born, we will be on the mend.

In physical therapy today, they kicked my butt. I was in there for 2 hours and 15 minutes and worked my leg so hard that right now I am soar as all get out. I brought in my banana bunker today and I think I may have changed some of the PT's lives forever. My favorite thing to do is to put an empty banana bunker on a chair and watch peoples reactions when they see it. Just in case you don't know, a banana bunker is a hard shell for banana's so that when you place it in a bag or lunch box, the banana is protected and won't bruise. The center is ribbed so that if the banana is curved more or really straight, the bunker can be shaped to match the banana. One lady walked in today and I only wish we had her reaction on camera. She sat next to it and kept staring at it and finally picked it up. I yelled across the room "Banana Bunker" to which she quickly put it back and acted as if she never touched it. They need to do that on candid camera. Google banana bunker and you will see for yourself. The best invention ever. Thank you Karl for the gift.

Tomorrow I get to do a convention with my friend Steve and then go look at Ryan's new home he just bought. I will let you know how all of that works out. I am just so glad to be back and I can't wait to get on stage in front of an audience. I watched Glee tonight and Rachel said such a Billy Flaniganism. She said that her life would be nothing without applause. I kind of feel the same way. I know better but the applause is just the best ever. I mean really,"what is it that we're living for....applause, applause"

“There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.”

George Matthew Adams quotes

Days 52 and 53

Well everyone say a big YAHOO!!! Cause papa is going back to work tomorrow. That's right, I was released to go back to work and I could not be happier. I had to explain to the doctor what I did in my show so that he could write some restrictions and when I told him that I ride a bike with a mana ray over my head and jump off of a scull while holding a puppet, he was quite perplexed. So he wrote, no restrictions as tolerated so that I can determine what I can and can't do. The stage has been great about allowing me to gradually go into shows. I am sooooooooooooo excited.

I had to go to health services today to get my restrictions lifted paper and waited about 2 hours. There were only 3 people there including me so I did not know what the hold up was but when I got back, realized that there was only one nurse. She was as sweet as could be and was from a town not too far from the one I grew up in. We ate at the same pizza place when we lived there. What a small world.

So much to tell as it has been two days. Yesterday was Mother's Day and I have to say that Karen's was fantastic. She slept in till 10:30 and then Lexi and I played a game with Karen called garbage that Lexi learned at dance school......it's a card game. When the boys got home from church, they cooked an amazing champagne brunch for Karen, eggs, waffles, sausage, bacon, orange juice and of course champagne. Lexi had made the pool deck look like a beach (work with me here, it looked like a pool deck) because she wanted to go to the beach but Karen thought it was too much work. We heated up the jacuzzi on a beautiful 79 degree day (again work with me, that is what she wanted) and she sat in there for a long time and laying in the sun. We all swam in the pool and had a blast. After that, Karen took a nap and Lexi and I went on a 10 mile bike ride. When we got back the boys were making dinner. Chicken, rice, veggies and salad. We then took Karen to Twisty Treat for her annual ice cream. What a great day had by all and the fact that Karen did not have to cook or do anything was such a treat.

Today, after the doctor, I went to meet up with a publishing company about my book. We had a two hour meeting and talked about all of my options. Thank you Alice Bass, you were so much help and gave me so much to think about. This is really going to happen. I am so excited. Now I just need to finish the book.

So now I will have to start getting up early, you know, make my eggs and oatmeal, go to the gym and then get to work. I will start my day tomorrow with physical therapy and then go for the last 3 shows. So I will go to bed now. I just want you all to know how much I appreciate your prayers, thoughts and well wishes during my healing process. I will still be writing my blog as my healing process is not over, just getting better, so please continue to read on. I am sure that I will have many stories to tell.

Today would have been my parents 58th wedding anniversary. I know my Dad is in heaven singing one of the many songs he wrote for my Mom. So I leave you with some lyrics from a song he wrote called Happy Anniversary to My Wife:

If God would so choose that my life he would give a second chance to be

And if he would say that I must choose someone to share it with me...............

..............then I would tell my God above, that once more I choose you!!!!

He loved my Mom more than life itself!!!! I miss you Dad. I love you both.

If you want to hear the rest of the song, come to my show June 14th at the Winter Garden Theater, downtown Winter Garden Florida. 7:00pm start time.

Day 50 and 51

It is so hard to believe I have been down for well over 51 days. Yesterday I got home from Boston and seeing my mother for Mothers day and I went directly to the gym and then to physical therapy. I go see the doctor on Monday and I am praying he releases me to go back to work. I am sure that it will be a slow return but a return is needed at this point.

Being out of town really messes your daily routine up. I missed a few days and I am sorry. Tomorrow is Mothers day and I really want to do my best to make this a very special day for Karen. She is an amazing Mom and to have raised the 4 kids AND deal with me, she will certainly go to heaven!!!!!!

Today my neighbor had a cook out and while talking to another neighbor he told me of how his son had a big party while they were gone and they came home unexpectedly in the middle of the party. He works for a beer company and gets free beer samples and needless to say, all of the samples were gone. In my way of trying to make him feel a bit better I said, "well I bet they were trying to decide weather to go to your house or call Adam (my son) to come over to my house. Lance (his son) probably said "my dad works for a beer company" and Adam probably said "my dad wears lycra" so they went to your house. Poor Adam was all alone last night. Really, I can't wait to get back into my lycra at Nemo. I miss everyone so much.

I sang at church tonight and it went really well. I love my church and the people who make up our church. They are all so nice. One couple asked me to sing at their wedding in March of next year. I looked on my calendar and can you believe it, I was free. Also one of our priests is Philipino and he sings in the Philipino Priest choir. They are doing a concert at our church on Sept. 17th and he asked if I would be the guest singer. Again I looked at my very busy calendar and amazingly enough, again I was free.

Off to bed to get rested up for tomorrow. Happy Mothers Day to all of you mothers out there.

“Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs… since the payment is pure love.” – Mildred B. Vermont

Days 48 and 49

I traveled yesterday up to Boston, taking a checked piece of luggage to bring my mothers and Karen's mothers day gifts. I waited for what seemed like forever for my luggage to come out and guess what? It never came out. I checked it in way before the cut off time but it did not make it on the plane. It was on the next flight. If I waited at the airport for it, I would have been stuck in so much traffic going to my mothers house so I opted for them to deliver it. They were to call me when they got it in. I specifically told them NOT to call my home phone (how they had it I don't know) because if Karen found out she would freak out because her mothers gifts were all in there. Well they called me and said they were at the airport and verified the address. Then I get a message from Karen about an hour later saying "the airlines called, they have your luggage". OMG, the driver they passes the luggage off to called my home phone. How could this happen. She was all worried and I was so mad.

After giving my mother her gift, I took her to dinner at a place my sister Patty was going to be hosting a trivia night at. We played 3 games, coming in 2nd twice and winning the last game. We had a very nice meal and my sister took my mom home so I could go to my hotel. Late night up and early morning.

I was up at 4:45 to go to the gym because I had to be at PartyLite by 7 for a telethon I was hosting on line. 11 hours later the telethon was over for me and my foot and I were both tired. I went to dinner with a friend and got some pretty devastating news that I can't share right now. The quote below sums it up for me. I ended up coming back to Patty's house to sleep and I am about to fall over so I will leave you with this quote:

There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right....
Martin Luther

Day 47

I can not believe that I let Sunday go by without saying Happy Anniversary to myself. I celebrated my 28th year working at Walt Disney World. That is right youngin's, I started working here before you were born. It is so hard to fathom sometimes that I am working with people who were not born when I started working here. I always make the joke that when Gina Varchetto came to Hoop Dee Doo in a stroller in 1983, I leaned over to her and said in my best baby voice, "Who's gonna be my Flora someday, you are, aren't you, your gonna be my Flora" to which she smiled and 20 years later, we were Flora and Jim. I am truly blessed to have been working there 28 years. Pray for at least another 2 so I don't have to change the title of my book (30 Years Wearing Ears).

I went to the gym today in 2 sneakers. I brought the boot just in case but I wanted to walk as much as I could without it. My ankle looked like a cankle by the time I got home but it was not bad. I spent the rest of the day going through pictures to put in the power points for the big show....which by the way I have come up with a title. Are you ready for this.? BILLY FLANIGAN.....50 YEARS ON CENTER!!!!!

Now you must know that this is a benefit for the JDRF but I want to have as much fun as possible while we raise money. I figure, all of the people I would want at a party, will be in the show. Perfect.

My friends the Flanagan's, spelled wrong, did me a huge favor and printed up a picture that I am giving my mother on Mothers Day, which by the way is this Sunday so you better make sure you call. Mark did an amazing job and I am so very grateful for their help and generosity. Came home from getting the picture and packed for my short trip to Boston. I will be able to give my mother the gift in person. When my family was here last year, my friend, the amazing Jim Harrison, took a family photo of all 27 of us on my stairs, and that is what I had blown up. It looks great. Thank you Mark and thank you Jim!!!!!!

Ocoee Middle School was on Oprah again today. Target finished the library redu and it looks great. Lexi was so excited to see her new school for next year on television. Too fun......PT at 7 am and then a flight at 11:30. I will be tired I am sure but I can sleep on the plane. I leave you on this 4th day of May with this:

By learning you will teach;
by teaching you will understand.
Latin Proverb

Day 46

I get a call from Karen this morning that she left her music in the garage and she had to teach her class in 15 minutes. I couldn't find the keys to my truck and we only have one set (we need to fix that quick) and the truck was parked behind the mustang. OMG talk about pressure. I found the keys in my closet, why they were in there I don't know, took the 429 against every fiber in my body because I have been boycotting due to the raise in the tolls, and got there just before her class started.

I had to take my lawn mower in again because the thingy that makes the mower move on it's own broke off when Adam was mowing the other day. So I took it there before working out. Back to the gym to workout and ride the bike and then off to physical therapy. I had a new therapist today, she was good, they all are. I actually did leg presses today. My @$$ is going to kill me tomorrow. I was told that my plantis flexion was good and my dorsal flexion is bad. The plantis is my point and the dorsal is what the flexing. I can flex but it stops at a certain point which makes it difficult to walk DOWN stairs. I have to go sideways but I am trying so hard. They said that they are amazed at what I can do after only 7 weeks. I thought I was way behind where I should be. She massaged my foot and iced it and I felt great when I left.

Home to clean my AC filters and do little chores I have not been able to do. I swept the floors, and killed some weeds, did some laundry and folded it. I just love that I can get around. It was so hot so when Lexi came home, we went in the pool. It was wonderful. I love having the pool. Very refreshing. It was 81 degrees, too cold for Karen, perfect for me. We swam and then studied some with her friend Rachel for their big health test. They are studying the small intestines and from the picture of them in the book, the girls thought that the small intestine was the penis. I laughed so hard. Poor thing must have over heard Karen talking about my small intestine............badum chink!!!!

Well Karen is now finishing her soap opera from today, from what I gather, Hope is wacko, Nicolle is a liar and Philip loves to make his father mad. Thank goodness that we do not have as much drama in our lives as those on the soaps. I am falling asleep sitting here so I am signing off.

That which does not kill you makes you stronger.
Neitzsche

Day 45

I love Sundays. There is nothing like a beautiful Sunday that makes you want to get out and do yard work, clean the pool and wash the car, and clean the fountain. Not even a broken leg can keep you down. OUCH MY LEG HURTS!!!!!!! I know, it is my own fault. I did not mow my lawn, Adam did that, I just edged and then together we cleaned the fountain. Well, I did edge all of the bushes as well, and pick the weeds but Adam was there to pick up the mess. The fountain was green and filled with those blind mosquitoes. It looks great now. Clean water and trimmed bushes and mowed and edged lawn. Plus the first of the month is when you take your pool water to Pinch A Penny and get everything it needs to keep it running well. I just couldn't stop. I have not done anything for 8 weeks and I just had to go. So washing my car that sits in the garage was not a priority but it was dirty with pollen. I did not vacuum it though, just washed the outside.

I did go to the gym when Karen got back from day two of Lexi's competition. She only had one number and there was cast of thousands and she is not on center so I stayed home. I know that is sad but I have seen it twice and I will see it many more times as the competition season is not over, and of course there is the recital. The won double platinum and an over all first place for the number. My house is now filled with medals and medals and more medals from the past 4 competitions.

Can anyone explain the latest bracelet thing for girls. They are little stretchable colored rubber that is in the shape of many things, animals, food, shapes etc. and you wear them as bracelets. Now when they are on your wrist, they are no longer the shape they were but a crinkled rubber band basically. Such a stupid thing but an amazing phenom. Whoever created them is now a millionaire and I am totally jealous. Perhaps I will invent an animal shaped condom that once placed on the ding a ling will be crinkled enough to act as a ribbed condom. Not that I ever wore one and a good thing too because I have a skin allergy to latex and rubber. Too much information, sorry. No one take my idea, I am submitting it tomorrow.

After a long day of work, I am so ready for bed and to put my foot in the air all night.

They can because they think they can.

Virgil

Day 44

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG day. We were up at the crack of dawn and on our way to Lakeland once again for yet another dance competition. Karen and I drove separately because she was going to spend the night there and I was going to Tampa to see some friends in "Hair". While we were waiting for Lexi to perform, a woman started starring at us with her mouth open. It was Lori Matta, the daughter of the woman Karen took dance from when she was in high school and the sister of my old girlfriend. She moved to Florida and opened her own dance studio in Plant City. Lori was so excited to see us as were we to see her. We watched Lexi do her dance and Lori cried the whole time. As soon as Lexi was done she called her sister Linda (my old girlfriend) and handed the phone to me. Can you say....uncomfortable??????? We small talked about our kids and then I handed the phone back to Lori. Small World.

Today Lexi's numbers all got either Platinum or Double Platinum and placed from 3rd to 1st over all. She did great and just loves dancing. She is like a little Karen up there. There was time in between numbers for me to go to the gym, where I worked on legs and did all of my physical therapy training on my foot. No swelling all day, it felt really good. I also had time to go to church, where they were doing a mass for the first communion kids. They looked to great. I tell you, the Latina's really go all out with the brides dresses and crowns on the head. WOW!!!!

I then left the competition to drive to St. Pete to see Luerne, Stefanie, Clinton and Laura in "Hair" that our friend Eric directed. It was very far but leaving from Lakeland it was only an hour. What an amazing show. The entire cast was just fantastic and such great singers. Of course my friends were the best ever. Luerne opened the show on center with Aquarius and sang the crap out of it. Stefanie played the pregnant one and she dyed her hair blond to do the roll. She looks great and the part was written for her. Laura Houdos was amazing as always. I always tell her that I am her number one fan. Girl can sing anything and has a range that would make Julie Andrews blush. Clinton was soooooooooooo funny. I see him perform at Nemo and he is great but his talent goes way beyond that. Boy can sing, act and he is funny. I am so proud of all of them.

Stefanie went above and beyond talking me right to the stage because the directions I had were bogus, and she made sure that I got a seat to sit in. The show was done on a stage in a park so most of the people either sat on blankets on the lawn or brought their own chairs. What a great night. On the ride home I did the unthinkable. I was so hungry and, I am embarrassed to say this, I stopped at a Burger King. I ordered what I thought might be the healthiest thing, a fish sandwich but I got the fries and a Dr. Pepper in honor of my friend Alex. So I ate it and then a few miles down the road there was a rest area, and I think I disposed of it......not in the trash but in the.....ca mode. My stomach was screaming at me. I have not had Burger King in 10 years. What a mistake that was. OMG!!!!

So it is late and I must go to bed. Busy day tomorrow.

A wise man learns by the mistakes of others,
a fool by his own.
Latin Proverb