exhausted

Today was a rough day. It was mentally and emotionally exhausting. It's pretty rare that I feel that way about my days at work, but today I feel that way. I'm glad it's a four day week. I plan to enjoy my 4th of July weekend completely! It felt strange not going to rehearsal last night. I'm not sure I'm going to like having a week off. I've gotten to know and love the cast and it's strange not seeing them on the days we've been seeing each other. We are having a production meeting sometime this week and since I'm publicity I'll be there. I'm looking forward to hearing her ideas about lights and sets.

I haven't done any knitting lately, but I'm looking for a nice, simple sock pattern. I think I'd like to try to make some socks to wear in the show. They don't care what kind of socks we wear as long as they don't show, and with the boots, they won't. I think it would be cool to wear some hand made socks, made the way women would have made them back then. I think it would connect me even more to that time and to their struggles. Is that odd? I'm sure it is, but it's the way I like to do things. It's like when I played Heidi in Fuddy Meers - I would only chew Fruit Stripe gum because I thought that would be the kind she would chew. I knew the character would be a gum chewer and it really added a lot to the character. For some reason, I settled on Fruit Stripe and wouldn't chew any other kind. Anyway, I want to get back to knitting so I can make those socks. I also have a cute sun hat pattern I want to make for my mother. She can't get any sun on her face since the cancer treatment, so a sun hat with a big brim would be great for her. She likes pink and burgandy, so a mix of those colors would be best. Looks like it's time for a trip to the yarn store!

Writing... let's not talk about that! Rehearsals really eat into my writing time, but I'm trying to make some progress. I'm still working on the outline, mainly during lunch hours now, although I've spent my last few lunch hours looking for boots on eBay to wear in the show. Who knew it would be nearly impossible to find old-fashioned looking boots in brown or black in a size 9 1/2 in the middle of the summer in South Alabama??!! I keep thinking I may just have to raid the costume room at the theatre, but she really wanted us to try and find our own boots if we could. I went to 5 different thrift stores Saturday and still didn't find any appropriate boots. Ebay doesn't even seem to have any that I can use - that aren't too expensive, anyway. I need them by next Tuesday! Not sure that's going to happen...

3 down, 97 to go!

Yes, it sounds daunting, but I'm not going to let it discourage me. I lost 3 pounds last week! They say a nice, steady rate of weight loss is best, so that's what I'm going to keep doing. It'll be even easier when we start the choreography for the show, because I'll be getting all kinds of exercise then!

I read some very inspiring stories about weight loss last night - about how women who weighed over 400 pounds just decided that was it for them and they lost 150-200 pounds each, most of the time in the space of a year. Their loss was due to diet and exercise rather than crash diets and I'm really trying to live by their example. It's tough, but I know it will ultimately be worth it. I just have to stick to the plan and make an effort to improve my life.

Journal topic: I am...

This time, the topic is simply: "I am..."

Lots of room for interpretation, huh? It brings to mind a song called "32 Flavors," which I love. While the singer doesn't actually list 32 flavors, I think that's what I'd like to do with this journal topic. Most of these will be positive about me, and that's okay. Sometimes I think we focus so much on the negative that we don't see the beauty in ourselves, so this is an exercise in being honest about my qualities and roles as a person, but also making sure to show that there are very good things about me. So here they are, my 32 flavors:

I am...
1. a daughter
2. a sister
3. a friend
4. an advocate
5. a believer
6. a skeptic
7. honest
8. loyal
9. loving
10. compassionate
11. sarcastic
12. friendly
13. musical
14. dramatic
15. energetic
16. introspective
17. creative
18. intense
19. easy going
20. funny
21. intelligent
22. single
23. straight
24. a Christian
25. an individual
26. a knitter
27. a writer
28. an actress
29. optimistic
30. political
31. altruistic
32. in the moment

You know, I could actually keep going. This was a fun exercise in thinking about my qualities and listing them. There may be some overlap with the 100 things about me list, but that's okay because they are both lists about me! Boy, I must really love listing things about myself, huh?

week 1

Last night ended the first week of Quilters rehearsals and I have to say, so far it has exceeded my expectations. The women in the cast are amazing and I've already found a couple of kindred spirits among them. It's always nice to make new friends.

I'm still reading scripts for the selection committee. I liked the one I finished last week. It's called "A Nice Family Gathering." What's funny is that I read a summary for another script called "The Marriage Counselor" that sounded absolutely hilarious. I want to order that script. Of course, I think we will probably fill our comedy slot with "Faith County," since it was a finalist for this year but we needed a drama.

I'm going to see The Trip To Bountiful tonight at my theatre, and we have rehearsal for Quilters tomorrow night, so my weekend is pretty full. That's good, staying busy keeps me from thinking about the fact that I haven't had french fries in two weeks! (yay for me!)

music

Rehearsal last night was pretty awesome. The songs are so hard, and I'm singing harmony in pretty much every song with the exception of my solo parts in two of the songs. Some of the other ladies have more solos, but that's okay. I like singing with the group. In fact, my favorite songs so far are the ones the entire company sings.

I'm working on a way to get a CD to all the cast members with our singing parts on it so we can practice at home. I think I figured out a way that will take very little effort, which is great because nobody has time to sit down and play all the parts or input them into a computer. The music director kept saying we could "bang it out at home" but several of us (including me) do not have a piano at home to "bang it out" on, so we can't do that! I really wish I had a piano. I'd totally take it back up and learn more. I was never a very good player, but with some more lessons and lots of practice, I think I could be a decent pianist. Maybe one day...

back to work

Today was my first day back to work after being away at a conference for a week. It was nice - everyone said they missed me and asked if I had a good trip. I shared some of what I learned at the conference and even put some of the techniques into practice when I started making a new plan for fund development. It's perfect timing, as our fiscal year is ending this month, so we have an all new year to implement some of these new techniques, especially the ones that involve making a fundraising plan.

Needless to say, it'll be an interesting FY 09. I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen.

First rehearsal

Tomorrow is the first Quilters musical rehearsal. I can't wait! It'll be fun when we start working on the speaking parts too, since I already know my first scene! :) Normally, they don't expect the actors to be off book until about a month into rehearsals, but my plan is to be off way before that. I can't really do a lot of character work while holding the book in my hand, and playing 11 characters will require a lot of character work!

I'm back

This is just a quick post to say that I'm back from my trip and everything went very well. I'll post about the trip later, right now I need to unpack and do laundry. Fun, fun, fun!

I have parts!

Okay, that title is strange, but I meant it to sound that way. I got an email from my director today with a list of parts I will be playing in Quilters. It's not a "normal" play because each actress plays a different part in each scene, so there's an opportunity to get to know several characters. It turns out I will be getting to know 11 different characters (possibly more, but so far it's 11.) Some are children and some are adults - all female, thank goodness! I've played a man before and never really liked the things I had to do to make that part convincing... let's just say it involved a very tight sports bra and sometimes Ace bandages to .. um.. flatten a certain area... So yeah, not really in the mood to do that every night for two weeks.

I have the first solo in the show, which is cool. It's a very sad and dramatic scene - actually, there's a trend in the casting as I've been placed in the most dramatic scenes as the most difficult characters, which is fine by me because I love a challenge. I was also told I would be in most of the songs, doing harmonies - which is also great because I love singing harmony parts. Anyone can do the melody, but the ones who sing the harmony are the ones who really make it beautiful! I would have liked a longer solo, or maybe another shorter one somewhere in the show, but no worries. I think it's going to work out very well and I'm going to have an amazing time doing this show! I'll be on stage most of the time, which is awesome! Our first rehearsal is the Tuesday after I get back into town. I can't wait to get started with everything, especially the music! So many of the songs are sung by the full ensemble, and a few of them feature 6 and even 7 part harmony. It's absolutely beautiful! Here's a little taste of one of my favorite (so far) songs from the show. It's an old song that we've sung in church before, but it's somehow more touching knowing its context in the story. This is a video of a production several years ago. I like how they posted it in black and white - like it's old, you know? I just think that's cool.

working hard for the money...

Today was a fun day at work. My boss is doing a presentation tomorrow and she wanted to get some music to go with her powerpoint presentation. I don't know if everyone else just didn't know how to do it or if they didn't want to, but I ended up helping her with it. Other than that, I interviewed three people for the open position in my department and worked on several projects. We also had a fund development meeting in the afternoon where I got an idea of how much money I would need to raise in the next fiscal year. Can I say... yikes...? It's going to be a challenge, but at least it'll be interesting! I've done it before, so I'm not freaking out or anything, but it's interesting to see a number with that many zeros behind it and know you're responsible for getting it.

Tomorrow and Saturday I will be packing for next week's trip to Indianapolis. I think I'm going to learn a lot and I'm sure I'll enjoy that. Also, some of my Ravelry friends who live there have given me some tips on what to do in my free time, so I have some ideas about that now! I hate going to a new city and just sitting in the hotel, you know? There's no reason to travel if you don't get to experience the place a little. Obviously I'm there for work, but when the sessions are over, hopefully I can find some nice local color to experience.

I get back on Friday 13th, which also happens to be my dad's birthday. I'll have to get him a special gift for not being around on his actual birthday. I'm not really sure what that's going to be yet, but hopefully I can find something while I'm away.

I'm taking several knitting projects, my laptop for writing, and some plays I need to read for the selection committee. It's too bad I don't know which parts I'm going to have in Quilters, because I could start memorizing my lines on the flights there and back. Oh well! I'm not sure if I'll have Internet access or not (depends on if the hotel has wi-fi) so I may not be posting at all next week. If I do have wi-fi, I'll post as much as I can.

Quiltin' and Dreamin'

I'm in the cast! At call backs last night, she let us know who was cast and gave out the scripts. I'll find out what parts I have at the first rehearsal, and if I got a solo or two. I hope I get at least one! The way this play is, she could make everyone's parts fairly even if she thinks that's best. It's truly an ensemble show and after meeting everyone who is going to be in the cast last night, I think we are going to have a great time!

Arrowhead lace shawl

I started this shawl because it's always cold at work. I wanted something that would be nice enough for work and to throw over a little black dress for a night at the theatre or symphony, but casual enough to wear over jeans and a nice top at the movies. I was planning to use a different pattern, but I could not figure out the cast on for the life of me and decided to choose an easier pattern. I'll do the other one later because it's beautiful, but I need some time to talk to my friends on Ravelry and see if someone can explain the provisional cast on to me in words I can actually understand! I love this pattern, though. It's a lot of fun to watch the "arrowheads" appear. Here's a picture of the first repeat and a couple of rows into the next one. The yarn is Patons Wool in Leaf Green. I love the color and the texture of the yarn. So much better than working with acrylic. So here it is...

I'm still working on the Christmas throw. In fact, when I leave for Indianapolis next week, I'm taking the Christmas throw squares for the plane with my acrylic needles to make sure they don't get confiscated and I'll put the shawl in my suitcase for evenings after the sessions - and after any nightlife I decide to experience. I've had some great suggestions from Ravelry friends on what to do while in Indy, so hopefully it'll be a fun trip. Even the conference sessions sound interesting, so I should have a nice week.

Wild thing!

We took the kids to the zoo yesterday. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures I took at the zoo. I'm pretty proud of them...