Oh my gosh, the memories! Concerts... when tickets used to be reasonably priced, like souvenir t-shirts! I saw Judas Priest live when they were a BACK UP BAND for UFO!! :-) I've seen so many concerts live, I couldn't even recall them all... Rush, The WHO, Yes, REO Speedwagon, Journey, AC/DC, UFO, ELO, and the list goes on and on... the t-shirts may have faded, but the memories will be around forever! Good times... good times! Being in northern IL, there were plenty of large concert venues... The Amphitheater in Chicago, Alpine Valley in southern WI, then the one built closer to Barrington, IL... can't recall the name at the moment... I love Journey! I can tolerate a little country rock, like 38 Special, a little Willie & Whalen, maybe... Steve Earl... and a few others... but for the most part, I gotta have my rock! I liked Ted Nugent when he was younger, and then with the Damn Yankees... but now, I find him insufferable due to opposing political views. I tend to be a bit on the liberal side, while he's just gone over edge conservative, but I think a lot changes when wealth enters the picture, so... I'll just leave it at that. Anyway... I hear ya, Bev! And, Lisa, I think our playlists would definitely overlap... maybe more than you think! I can definitely jam to Eminem, 50 Cent, Pink, and a lot of other varied artists! My kids, who are all adults now, were into the same music we are, plus a lot of newer stuff. My son is a huge fan of ICP, which isn't my favorite, but I find a few tunes kind of humorous, so... we all have slightly different tastes. As long as it isn't straight out country or bubblegum pop, I'm ok with it. Rock, Metal, Rap, Grunge, you name it. I even dig the Blues... old stuff from Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, to a lot of the more well known modern bluesmen, like Jeff Healy, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray... and who can resist BB King when those fingers make his guitar, "Lucile", just sing on her own?! You ladies are really taking me back... good times, indeed! :-) I haven't exactly asked my plants which they prefer, but since I haven't gotten any complaints, I'll stick with what I've been listening to... and until they complain about my off-key singing, I'm just gonna go for it! It makes me happy! :-) I'm glad you started this thread... this has really helped... it's brought back a lot of missing memories for me. About 7 or 8 years ago, we were caught in a bad car accident as passengers, myself and my husband, and I woke up in the hospital with a heck of a head injury... the worst kind, and the slowest to heal, with lots of memory loss. You've jogged loose a lot of things that haven't surfaced in years... so, thank you. :-)

No, I haven't even tried an exercise bike, lol. Pushing anything gets me unless I can somehow not use my arms... pretty much anything that uses my arms gets me at some [too quick] point unless it's just the forearms. My lower back is seriously strong as a bull - I use the well-known 'bad for the lower back' positions TO lift, lol. Legs are still best of course. My pain never travels up - there's always a nerve spot beside C6-7 that starts the ball a'rollin'. Then that always-hateful spot through the trapezius and eventually making my scapulas wing if I keep it up or if the movement is too severe. I put the med patches on that spine spot, BTW. It's a little monster, I swear. So it's all the arms and head movement [or just holding the body/head up like sitting too long]. Bikes still take arms, so I'll try one for a day to see if it's nice like a ride-mower or one of the bad-arm positions. Of course, Dad has his mind set on a car it sounds like [he always has free rentals 'cos of work]. Perhaps he can drop me off closer, although Oxford is largely a pedestrian town. They mailed info on exams and a link to OLD EXAMS! Yeah! The tutors are emphasizing that the exam isn't as hard as the coursework, so that's one worry minimized. Here's one from facebook: "Oxford - where your best isn't good enough since 1117". Bwahaha!

I'm glad to see that I can come here to get some motivation on the days that I am slacking! Walked 7 miles today -- cold, wind chill was the big issue, but the sun was out for most of the day -- the first day that I can remember in weeks! I had put on too much weight so far this year, and had really allowed myself to get deconditioned after a series of injuries (including broken toes followed by plantar fasciitis). I miss the feel-good of running but just couldn't seem to get myself up and out -- I guess fear of the foot pain returning had something to do with that. So I took vacation days this past week, set last Monday as the day, cut out grains, sugars, milk and legumes, and dusted off my "The Firm" exercise videos (plus a few others). So far so good -- I've alternated videos with walking, even jogged a few minutes, every day. It is back to work on Wednesday; hopefully I've far enough into the "reset" to keep my momentum after working 12 hour shifts.

For a custom house, I agree, there is much to be desired with this plan, but the owner is okay with it. Bottom line is this is absolutely true. I do know that when I drive up or walk up to my house, it always puts a smile on my face because my house does not look or feel run of the mill or like a tract house, but feels like it's been part of my neighborhood for 100 years, which is what I wanted. I smile because my interior and exterior, including the way the house and garden are sited on the lot are a cohesive whole and work together. I know that when I walk through my house, I am constantly smiling because my layout is expansive with little wasted space and it has an excellent flow. I smile because in every closet I can easily reach every corner. I smile because my mudroom can easily handle multiple people entering at the same time and my staircase doesn't take up a huge amount of my floor plan. I smile because my kitchen has windows on 2 walls and the dining area adds a third wall with windows and because of that I only have to turn lights on at night. I smile because my kitchen is designed so that no one can walk through my work zone to get to another part of my house. Between my kitchen and dining area? Yes, but my kitchen is safely designed to be self contained. I smile because all three of my bedrooms do not share walls with one another so there's no sharing of noises. I smile because all three bedrooms (actually one doubles as my studio) have windows on at least 2 walls to let in lots of natural light. And I smile because my south facing balcony into my living room and dining area is not so deep that light doesn't penetrate it. In summer yes, it only gets filtered light (but still gets light from the north windows) but in winter, the warming sun warms those rooms on cooler days.