Christmas Tour

Since I have a few minutes while everyone, except Wayne and I, are out shopping right now, I thought I'd mention a few tidbits from the last Christmas tour before I forget. Wayne is busy playing Tetris so he'll be busy for awhile.

We arrived in Costa Mesa, CA at the hotel early in the afternoon on December 15th because it was a direct flight from Chicago to the John Wayne Airport in Orange County. We checked in the hotel that was close by the Orange County Performing Arts Building where they were going to be performing. Wayne and I went directly to our room. I was excited to visit the mall across the walkway and bridge but Wayne was really exhausted so we decided to have a little nap first.

Being really thirsty I had to have something to drink first but refused to pay $5.00 for a small bottle of water that was sitting on the dresser. I decided to see what else I could find. Wayne was lying on the bed falling asleep so I told him I'd be right back, grabbed a key card and wandered around the hotel looking for a vending machine. I was disappointed to find that this hotel was too top of the line to have a vending machine so I went back to the room.

I discovered then that the key card I had picked up wouldn't open our hotel room door and started knocking and then banging on the door. That didn't get Wayne's attention so I used my cell phone to call him and there was no response to my phone call and left a message. Down the hall by the elevators was a hotel phone so I called our room on that phone, sure that he would answer this time. Finally I gave up and talked to a housekeeper that was cleaning the room next to ours. She didn't speak English very well and I can't speak Spanish at all so we had a little communication problem. I finally deciphered what she was saying. She couldn't let me in the room and I had to call down to the desk.

v I went back to the hotel phone that was in the hall. (I don't think that I've ever seen a phone before in the middle of the hall in a hotel before.) I called down to the desk and told them my situation and they said they would send security up to let me in. After quite awhile here comes a security guard that asked me some questions and told me that I had to show some ID before he'd open the door for me. When I told him my husband was in the room probably sleeping, he said that letting me back in the room would wake him up for sure.

The security guard walks right into the room to view Wayne asleep on the bed. He looked so surprised that Wayne didn't wake up that I mentioned to him that Wayne had probably taken out his hearing aids. Come to find out the key card that I had picked up before I left actually opened the refrigerator that was in the room. That's the first time that I've seen a refrigerator in a hotel room locked. Even after 35 years there are new adventures to experience when traveling. I experienced one of the reasons that Jimmy and Jay want me to travel all the time with Wayne.

Jimmy says it's Jay that wants me to go and Jay says it's Jimmy that wants me to travel all the time with them. Either way I now understand why they insist that I travel with the boys. I guess a similar situation happened a couple of years ago when they were in England only Wayne had put the dead bolt on and even the security guard couldn't get in. The security guard was ready to use a hatchet to break into the room when luckily Wayne woke up to the sound of the phone that the Brothers kept ringing over and over.

Word Press or Blogger.com

I've had some feedback on blogging and it is their opinion that word press is a better way to blog and has more options. Since I am just getting started and it wouldn't be too hard to switch over right now, what do you think? I read that I could use my iPhone only with word press but I don't know that I'd use the iPhone that much for blogging. It would take me a lot longer to post something using my iPhone. I don't text message much because I'm so slow. Blogger.com has been really easy just to get started with and I really have liked that since I'm a beginner.

Since I lost my Sony vaio notebook, what is every one's opinion of me switching to a Mac? Everyone that uses one seems to be sold on it. I'm wondering if it will take too much effort to switch back and forth since our computer at home is a PC. What has been every one's experience? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Clarifying Yesterday's Blog

I need to clarify yesterday's blog. I decided to tell Wayne what I wrote on the blog last night because I don't know if he'll ever read them and I wanted to make sure it was accurate. He doesn't read a lot like he used to because he can't see as well.

Before we knew that Wayne had brain cancer an omphthalmologist discovered on a routine check that his eye was bleeding inside and lasered his eye to stop the bleeding. Since then he hasn't been able to see as well out of his right eye. Also after the brain surgery he had double vision for quite a while and wore prism glasses.

Just recently he has started wearing his prism glasses again. Our son, Greg, who is in a pathology residency noticed on our family.com site that a picture was posted of Wayne wearing two pair of glasses at the same time - his prism glasses and his reading glasses. He wondered how often his dad was wearing two pair of glasses at once and was mostly concerned because Wayne has started wearing his prism glasses again. That is one of the reasons he had an MRI done on Christmas Eve day.

After brain surgery and removing the cancerous tumor, Wayne still had hydrocephalus, so Dr. Allan Friedman operated again and inserted a shunt that goes from his brain into his stomach. Most shunts need replaced every 7 to 8 years and Wayne hasn't ever needed his replaced. Our daughter, Sarah, asked someone in the neurology department at the hospital where she works how long they had seen a shunt go without having it replaced and they told her 13 years.

The hospital in Utah sent the MRI back to Duke to have his doctors, Dr. Henry Friedman and Dr. Allen Friedman examine them and compare them with previous tests. With the holidays we haven't heard anything yet so after the first of the year if we still haven't heard anything I'm sure he'll be calling the Dr. Friedmans. By the way they aren't related. If it was something serious I'm sure they would have contacted Wayne right away.

I got off the subject. Last night I told Wayne what I had written on the blog and he said that he didn't know that the bags that came in the mail were from Marie. He had thought that I had just ordered them off the Internet. I wonder if he would have kept them to use instead of giving them to me if he had known they were from his sister?

Wayne's Christmas Gift From Marie

Adam, Sarah and Noah flew back to Chicago this afternoon. I drove them out to the airport and when we got there Noah decided he wanted to go back to Grandma's house. After Sarah reminded him that they were all going to fly on the airplane he decided to let them take him out of the car. Whenever Noah wants me to come over by him he says, "Grandma, by you!" Aren't grandchildren precious!

For Christmas this year we were very practical, probably too practical, but with not getting home until the afternoon of December 21st from touring, we didn't have much time for cleaning, decorating, shopping and wrapping, etc. Most of our children and their spouses are just getting started in life, so Wayne decided that he wanted to give them all money instead of picking out gifts that they may or may not need or want. Around Thanksgiving we gave them money for the grandchildren so their parents could buy them gifts from us to unwrap on Christmas Day. Jeff and Amy are out tonight shopping with their Christmas money while we are home babysitting our grandchildren. They have fun picking out gifts for themselves, going out to dinner and having some alone time.

Last year I ordered most Christmas gifts over the Internet and boxes were arriving at our house, piling up when we were still on tour. When we got home there was so much to do it was overwhelming with all the unpackaging, organizing, wrapping and returns, etc. I think everyone liked receiving money better because they enjoy shopping the after Christmas sales, paying off bills, etc. It actually gave us more time to celebrate the reason for the season instead of focusing on material things.

Wayne and I decided not to give each other Christmas gifts until after the holidays, except that Wayne got an MRI on Christmas Eve Day and we are still waiting for the results. Wayne received one large cardboard box in the mail. Marie sent him one of her new classy black and white flowered totebags with a matching cosmetic case. For some reason he gave the gifts to me. Can't exactly figure out why? I love black and white assessories because they match my black and white traveling wardrobe. It makes packing simple and sometimes I'll get daring and throw in a colored shirt for variety. I'd like to hear new Christmas ideas that you have enjoyed.

Our Three Carry On Items

I would like to know how everyone remembers all their user names and passwords to all their different accounts on the Internet. Ten years ago when I first started to use a computer it was pretty easy. All I had to remember was one user name and one password with at least 6 letters. Every business and Internet account would let me use the same user name and password, so it was a snap. Since then some accounts now make me use letters and at least one number, letters and at least 2 numbers, letters -numbers -symbols, pictures, secret words, etc. They don't want me to use the same password and user name for more than one account.

It took me about an hour to get into my blog tonight and I didn't have a problem at all last night. It must be those senior moments again or maybe my brain is just fried from babysitting 2 toddlers not quite 2 years old, 1 toddler 2 years old and 2 elementary school age children today. Some of my darling, energetic grandchildren that I love so much! Of course, I love being a grandma, it is the very best!

On Monday, I left my laptop computer that I have traveled with the past 2+ years under my seat on a Delta flight from Spokane, Washington to Salt Lake City. At least I think that is where I left it, but so far no one has found it on the airplane or at the airport. I usually put it in my carry on suitcase but there wasn't room this time and I really liked having access to the laptop on the flight without having to dig through my carry on suitcase before we put it in the overhead compartment while the other passengers are lined up behind us waiting.

I've decided that Wayne and I can't keep track of more than 3 carry on items on an airplane. 1. a small carry on suitcase, 2. my purse, 3. a very heavy clothes bag filled with all of Wayne's show clothes. What would Wayne do if the airlines lost a checked bag with all his show clothes in it? He wouldn't have any clothes for the concert when we arrived? You know what his travel and casual apparel consists of and I know his brothers would never approve of that attire. We were carrying the laptop in a soft, grey case in addition to the above 3 other articles mentioned and our jackets. That was a big mistake! I should have learned my lesson the last Christmas season in 2006.

After accumulating more in Branson last year than we had originally taken to Branson, we had to carry an additional large shopping bag along with the 3 main items mentioned above. It wasn't because the suitcases that we checked were too full, but because they weighed too much. I took out most of our underwear and put them in a sharp, colorful shopping bag with a couple other items so the bags we checked wouldn't be over the weight limit. Guess what? On the layover in Chicago we rushed onto the next plane so excited to go home that we left our large fancy shopping bag in the sitting area at the gate. We called the airport and airline as soon as we landed but of course the bag wasn't turned in and we never retrieved it. I would have liked to have seen the look on the person's face that took off with our bag expecting to see all kinds of expensive Christmas gifts and finding used underwear inside. Well, at least it was clean. Ha!

I'm sure you all have your own traveling stories to tell and I'd like to hear them. Traveling on the airlines gets more complicated all the time. I'd like to go back to the 70's era where we took whatever we wanted, the airlines never charged us for luggage, we didn't even have to show ID unless we were leaving the United States. It was so fun to have friends and family at the gate seeing us off and waiting for us to return home. Who would have dreamed then what we have to go through now to board a plane.

Traditional Christmas Dinner

All three of my girls and their husbands and children are here visiting. It has been such a treat. They wanted to celebrate together with the traditional Christmas dinner today since only Adam, Sarah and Noah were here on Christmas day. Joe, Michelle, Jeff, Amy, Jacob, Maia, Lizzy and Jenny all arrived yesterday. It was so relaxing to have them cook this beautiful meal and clean-up after. I didn't have to do one thing! What more would a mother want for Christmas?

They also surprised me by updating all my kitchen cabinets with new hardware and polishing them so they looked like new cabinets. Aren't they the best! I've been going to do this for years but never seem to get around to it. They know what I like!

My boys and their families couldn't come out for Christmas but they live about a 2 hour distance from each other so Greg, Kaylynn, Oscar and Adelaide drove to Steve, Anneli, Aili, Paul, Elyssa and William's house to spend Christmas together. Santa came for them all while they were there. Everyone was so excited on Christmas morning. Even the little ones that didn't know why they were excited were. Wayne and I are so blessed to have such a beautiful family.

Sample My Bad Apple Dish

I decided to name my blog "One Bad Apple Dish" for a bunch of reasons . . . 1. "One Bad Apple" is the name of the Osmonds first hit. 2. I know the real "dish" on the backstage fun and follies! 3. I once spent all day making a pie for Wayne when we were first married, but he didn't eat any of it! It must have been one bad dish! This blog is a fun experiment for me. There's always a lot to say about traveling--like the time that Wayne lost his luggage, or the time he only brought one pair of underwear for a month-long tour. I also have a lot of funny info about the Brothers--like where Merrill's secret hideouts are in between shows. But, for the most part, this blog is about me, the only woman in a traveling group of musicians . . . 4 Osmond Brothers, 4 band members, and one woman trying to get Wayne to the shows.