I cut my finger while getting ready for Thanksgiving on Nov 25, 2014 We went to our closest ER and got me all stitched up. DH paid the co-payment while I was being treated and went home on our merry way.
We soon got our Explanation of Benefits(EOB) from our insurance and all was good... or so I thought. Honestly I didn't read it and notice that I "still owed."
Even so the hospital didn't bother trying to get the left over $90 until Sep 23, 2015!!! hummm couldn't have been hurting that much. :-/
So I see on the bill from the hospital that they have broken up the charges for my visit so that rather than paying just my normal co-pay, I was charged 3 times and owe a co-pay for each charge...thus the extra $90. I call up the hospital to ask why they have charged me 3 times and no good reason...just that I owe the money. I got rather testy with the guy, said "I AM NOT PAYING THIS!" and hung up on the jerk.
I then called up my insurance. Where they immediately saw that yes the hospital had billed me incorrectly and said that they would take care of it. I received a new EOB in the mail shortly afterward showing that my co-pay had already been satisfied. And thought nothing more of it...
until...
Oct 27th when I got a bill for the entire amount minus $450. (about $2K) ??? The bill says that "If you provided insurance information, it was billed and all efforts to collect from them have been exhausted."
can you say WHAT???
So I call up the insurance on Nov 4th and the gal there says they paid on Oct 15th. She calls up the hospital billing who says they'll investigate...should hear in 30 days.
on Nov 26th the hospital sends another bill for the $2K. I've been busy, so today with a bit of lag time I call up the hospital. They say that my bill is still outstanding and that no, they have proof of my insurance but that the insurance reversed the payment. Say what? They guy who just happens to be the exact same guy that the insurance gal spoke with on Nov 4th says that insurance gal never sent him an EOB. But if I fax him one he'll look into it.
I don't have a fax, so I get the snail mail addy.
In the mean time I call up the insurance and they say that they'll send the EOB by the end of today. (humm... not so trusting now) so I ask "just for grins...can I get that fax number?" he gives it to me and I google how to fax from my computer.
I scan all the documents and fax it to them. So I've either opened up a can of whoop butt or confused the world. sigh
All I want for Christmas is a paid hospital bill!
Friday, December 11, 2015
Monday, December 07, 2015
oh that wasn't all!
The theater conference saga continues!
We arrived at the conference earlier than the school we were going with. So we hung out, they had provided music in the lobby for the kids to dance to, but we mostly just people watched and kept an eye out for our group.
At about 10 til their arrival time, I checked with registration to see if they had showed up yet... they had NOT.
At 20 min after they were supposed to arrive, I checked again. Seeing as the first session was due to start in 10 min the registration gal allowed me to go through the check in bag to get our badges so we could go ahead to our first session. She just asked that we let the school person know so they wouldn't be freaked out as to why our badges weren't there.
After 3 checks we discovered that our badges were not there. So the registration gal looked and saw that we were registered LATE (which explains why we couldn't get our IEs). So they printed out our badges and sent us on our way. We never did check in with the highschool...although we were at one point sitting near them and said hi to several of the kids we knew.
The schedule for the conference indicated that the vendor hall would be set up before the conference and be open during the entire thing. um... not so much! After our first session when the others were checking into their hotels we went to check out the vendor hall and there wasn't anyone to talk to...EXCEPT for the one college that has been bugging us like crazy since we first signed up to go...it is in another state...in literally the middle of nowhere. So while they may have a decent program, they don't have an audience for any of their shows. :-/
I'll spare you the details on how I thought a lot of the content presented at the group events was totally inappropriate for high school kids and totally juvenile in the gratuitous swearing. Let's just say that I am SO very glad that my child isn't in the public school system as the director was PROUD to be able to present this garbage to our kids. sigh! I got an earful from some totally liberal brainwashed mother on Facebook that if I didn't like that content then Theater isn't what I should be involved with. Sorry but I choose to not pimp out my child for entertainment value! And so far my child has indicated that she won't audition for shows that compromise her morals. I pray she stays strong in that.
Good things about the conference are that she and her friend got to do a lot of very interesting classes and DD did her audition...where she got 5 "callbacks." We thought going in that the callbacks would be offers to attend the schools and possible scholarships. Um nope! they weren't even close. Basically, the callbacks were offers to apply and audition for that school's program. :( And the kicker...the school DD wants wasn't part of the process even though they were at the conference. They couldn't spare the manpower to go to the audition due to an event at the school...projects for finals that the students had to do.
However, DD & I were able to talk to school reps and DD got to take a class from and chat with a professor...cementing her desire to go to that school. so we're happy about that.
Now onto getting her into a program to knock out her core required classes for free through the early colleges program.
We arrived at the conference earlier than the school we were going with. So we hung out, they had provided music in the lobby for the kids to dance to, but we mostly just people watched and kept an eye out for our group.
At about 10 til their arrival time, I checked with registration to see if they had showed up yet... they had NOT.
At 20 min after they were supposed to arrive, I checked again. Seeing as the first session was due to start in 10 min the registration gal allowed me to go through the check in bag to get our badges so we could go ahead to our first session. She just asked that we let the school person know so they wouldn't be freaked out as to why our badges weren't there.
After 3 checks we discovered that our badges were not there. So the registration gal looked and saw that we were registered LATE (which explains why we couldn't get our IEs). So they printed out our badges and sent us on our way. We never did check in with the highschool...although we were at one point sitting near them and said hi to several of the kids we knew.
The schedule for the conference indicated that the vendor hall would be set up before the conference and be open during the entire thing. um... not so much! After our first session when the others were checking into their hotels we went to check out the vendor hall and there wasn't anyone to talk to...EXCEPT for the one college that has been bugging us like crazy since we first signed up to go...it is in another state...in literally the middle of nowhere. So while they may have a decent program, they don't have an audience for any of their shows. :-/
I'll spare you the details on how I thought a lot of the content presented at the group events was totally inappropriate for high school kids and totally juvenile in the gratuitous swearing. Let's just say that I am SO very glad that my child isn't in the public school system as the director was PROUD to be able to present this garbage to our kids. sigh! I got an earful from some totally liberal brainwashed mother on Facebook that if I didn't like that content then Theater isn't what I should be involved with. Sorry but I choose to not pimp out my child for entertainment value! And so far my child has indicated that she won't audition for shows that compromise her morals. I pray she stays strong in that.
Good things about the conference are that she and her friend got to do a lot of very interesting classes and DD did her audition...where she got 5 "callbacks." We thought going in that the callbacks would be offers to attend the schools and possible scholarships. Um nope! they weren't even close. Basically, the callbacks were offers to apply and audition for that school's program. :( And the kicker...the school DD wants wasn't part of the process even though they were at the conference. They couldn't spare the manpower to go to the audition due to an event at the school...projects for finals that the students had to do.
However, DD & I were able to talk to school reps and DD got to take a class from and chat with a professor...cementing her desire to go to that school. so we're happy about that.
Now onto getting her into a program to knock out her core required classes for free through the early colleges program.
Thursday, December 03, 2015
Just what I don't need!
more stress!
DD is in the middle of a show. A Christmas Carol. I'm in it also. :D and I've been working on making our costumes and some extra bits for the rest of the cast...the majority of the costumes are being made by my friend and they'll all become part of her costume rental when we are done.
our tech week schedule has changed so I may have to cancel our trip to the Operation Christmas Child distribution center to pack boxes... most of the folks who were going have to be at rehearsal. I have to break the news about this to DD today...I'm sure she's going to be heart broken.
and today we are heading off to a theater conference. but let me share that saga
DD is in the middle of a show. A Christmas Carol. I'm in it also. :D and I've been working on making our costumes and some extra bits for the rest of the cast...the majority of the costumes are being made by my friend and they'll all become part of her costume rental when we are done.
our tech week schedule has changed so I may have to cancel our trip to the Operation Christmas Child distribution center to pack boxes... most of the folks who were going have to be at rehearsal. I have to break the news about this to DD today...I'm sure she's going to be heart broken.
and today we are heading off to a theater conference. but let me share that saga
My daughter and her friend are both
students of a voice teacher here AND the president
of highschool's Parent Patron's club. (I believe you heard from him when
we first learned that our girls did not have IE spots) He likes to
have all of his students compete in different events as their scores
reflect on him. So he highly encouraged us to attend theater conference this year
and made arrangements for us to go through highschool's Theater troop...
even though when I inquired last year I was told that homeschoolers
could go solo to the event.
We first asked highschool for permission to join them and promised that highschool would have
no responsibility for our kids. All they had to do was get us in the
door. They agreed, took our money and registered us for just theater conference...while not registering us for the IEs that we requested (the
ENTIRE point of us going pretty much.) Apparently the person in charge
messed up several other students IEs as well. There was no
communication between highschool and us after they got our money.
Apparently the person in charge of doing the registration was under the
impression that we would register for our IEs ourselves...but no one
told us that was part of the process. and apparently this was NOT part of the process for everyone as several of highschool's theater troop did get registered for their IEs through this person.
After we
found out that our girls were registered but not for IEs we also learned
that I, as their chaperon needed to be registered also, but no one knew
how to do that. That's where I got in touch with you while voice teacher
badgered anyone who would listen. He learned just a few minutes ago
that I am registered to attend.
okay, so we can go to the conference and I can go also. DD can do her audition for college because that was separate and I did it. whew. Now the scheduling and negotiating all the getting there, food and stuff.
DD is a picky eater. Friend is a vegetarian. We have to figure out how to feed both girls. fun as Friend is used to just eating at home.
Showers for all of us to leave the house by 7am for two days. yay
I'm gonna hide now
Friday, November 27, 2015
Our Thanksgiving feast
Sharing our thanksgiving meal...and documenting it so I remember for next year...what worked...what failed
Turkey - It is only the 3 of us, so last year I cut our small bird in half and only cooked one half...this year I thawed the other half and cooked it... It was already brined from last year (a huge time saver!) and it turned out perfect! The half size is perfect for our family as we will have enough for dinner tonight also and possibly turkey with gravy tomorrow.
Gravy - cooking just the half bird can make gravy time a bit scary, but I've learned that if I carve the bird I get enough juice to make the gravy with. A brined bird makes for a really flavorful gravy. This is something that always concerned my mom. She searches all over town for her special sausage and then bastes her bird constantly. Me, I brine the bird and roast it...no basting!
Mashed Potatoes - this year after boiling the potatoes, I ran them through the food mill into my crock pot with a stick of butter and some milk. I set it at low until it was heated up (a lot of heat is lost in the milling process) and then left it at warm until after dinner. We had nice soft potatoes that didn't get all dried out in the oven. The only problem was that the potatoes did dry and stick to the sides of the crock...but a bit of soaking and scraping (I use an old gift card as a scraper) got it right out.
Rolls - I made the rolls with my bread maker several weeks ago...I just had to thaw them out and pop them into the oven. yum
Yams - couldn't be easier. I don't care for yams. But DH & DD like them in the syrup that they're packed in add in brown sugar & butter. Bake for an hour. done!
Rutabagas - I'm the only one who eats these, but since I don't eat the yams, this is my treat. This is also how I sliced open my finger last year! But I searched online how to cut the rutabaga... and while I didn't find it any easier, I also didn't end up in the ER again this year. I just cut it up, add some salt & sugar and boil them until soft. Then run them through the food mill.
Mushrooms with quinoa - This was my attempt at a stuffing replacement. I'm the only one who eats stuffing. But basically stuffing is just bread with fat. I read online that it was done as an attempt to add calories to the diet. My family stuffing recipe does that quite well...and I don't need it. So I tried the mushrooms & quinoa instead. It tastes just fine, but Thanksgiving food it is NOT! So I'll probably have it for lunch this afternoon. I'll stick with just mushrooms next year.
Green Beans - just microwaved with seasoning
Corn - just microwaved... no matter what I do to the corn, hubby always adds salt at the table. So I stopped bothering to add any salt when I cook it.
Cranberry Sauce - DD could just eat the entire dish with a spoon. oh it is just the jellied cranberry juice. She'll eat the whole cranberries also (but not the fancy stuff with oranges & spice :p ) but I get the cheap stuff and she loves it.
Pumpkin Dessert - This is sort of like a dump cake or cobbler. Mix pumpkin (I get whole pumpkins and make the puree myself...which no one seems to notice or care. If I manage to grow the pumpkins myself it's a savings of money. fingers crossed for a good crop next year!) with spices, sugar, eggs & evaporated milk. pour into a greased pan and sprinkle a dry yellow cake mix on top. pour melted butter on top. The original recipe called for pecans, but DD might be allergic and it is fine w/o the nuts. bake til cake is golden brown & delicious!
Cherry Dessert - Oh this is soooo easy. Cherry pie filling (that's the hard part...finding one that isn't full of garbage) dump into greased dish and sprinkle with dry cake mix and pour melted butter on top. bake til cake is golden brown & delicious!
and that's it. For lunch, I served cheese, sausage & crackers. I served dinner at 4:30 because it was done by then. Lilly thought it must be midnight though. sigh!
Turkey - It is only the 3 of us, so last year I cut our small bird in half and only cooked one half...this year I thawed the other half and cooked it... It was already brined from last year (a huge time saver!) and it turned out perfect! The half size is perfect for our family as we will have enough for dinner tonight also and possibly turkey with gravy tomorrow.
Gravy - cooking just the half bird can make gravy time a bit scary, but I've learned that if I carve the bird I get enough juice to make the gravy with. A brined bird makes for a really flavorful gravy. This is something that always concerned my mom. She searches all over town for her special sausage and then bastes her bird constantly. Me, I brine the bird and roast it...no basting!
Mashed Potatoes - this year after boiling the potatoes, I ran them through the food mill into my crock pot with a stick of butter and some milk. I set it at low until it was heated up (a lot of heat is lost in the milling process) and then left it at warm until after dinner. We had nice soft potatoes that didn't get all dried out in the oven. The only problem was that the potatoes did dry and stick to the sides of the crock...but a bit of soaking and scraping (I use an old gift card as a scraper) got it right out.
Rolls - I made the rolls with my bread maker several weeks ago...I just had to thaw them out and pop them into the oven. yum
Yams - couldn't be easier. I don't care for yams. But DH & DD like them in the syrup that they're packed in add in brown sugar & butter. Bake for an hour. done!
Rutabagas - I'm the only one who eats these, but since I don't eat the yams, this is my treat. This is also how I sliced open my finger last year! But I searched online how to cut the rutabaga... and while I didn't find it any easier, I also didn't end up in the ER again this year. I just cut it up, add some salt & sugar and boil them until soft. Then run them through the food mill.
Mushrooms with quinoa - This was my attempt at a stuffing replacement. I'm the only one who eats stuffing. But basically stuffing is just bread with fat. I read online that it was done as an attempt to add calories to the diet. My family stuffing recipe does that quite well...and I don't need it. So I tried the mushrooms & quinoa instead. It tastes just fine, but Thanksgiving food it is NOT! So I'll probably have it for lunch this afternoon. I'll stick with just mushrooms next year.
Green Beans - just microwaved with seasoning
Corn - just microwaved... no matter what I do to the corn, hubby always adds salt at the table. So I stopped bothering to add any salt when I cook it.
Cranberry Sauce - DD could just eat the entire dish with a spoon. oh it is just the jellied cranberry juice. She'll eat the whole cranberries also (but not the fancy stuff with oranges & spice :p ) but I get the cheap stuff and she loves it.
Pumpkin Dessert - This is sort of like a dump cake or cobbler. Mix pumpkin (I get whole pumpkins and make the puree myself...which no one seems to notice or care. If I manage to grow the pumpkins myself it's a savings of money. fingers crossed for a good crop next year!) with spices, sugar, eggs & evaporated milk. pour into a greased pan and sprinkle a dry yellow cake mix on top. pour melted butter on top. The original recipe called for pecans, but DD might be allergic and it is fine w/o the nuts. bake til cake is golden brown & delicious!
Cherry Dessert - Oh this is soooo easy. Cherry pie filling (that's the hard part...finding one that isn't full of garbage) dump into greased dish and sprinkle with dry cake mix and pour melted butter on top. bake til cake is golden brown & delicious!
and that's it. For lunch, I served cheese, sausage & crackers. I served dinner at 4:30 because it was done by then. Lilly thought it must be midnight though. sigh!
Sunday, November 08, 2015
Conflicted
It's over now and I'm really okay with how everything ended up going, BUT!!!
I came across this article today Is it selfish to have adults only weddings? and that got me thinking about it all again.
I should probably first say that when I got married I wanted an adult only wedding... BUT I DIDN'T GET IT! I was not a fan of children back then (honestly, my kid is the only one I really like...okay some of her friends are really cool...but) so I didn't want them at my wedding, messing anything up. I can also add here that back then America's Funniest Home Videos was in full swing and the most popular videos were guys getting hit in the jewels and kids messing up weddings. We also did NOT want our wedding video taped... guess what we have...
I was not able to have a kid free wedding because my dear fiance is the youngest of 5 children who were all married with kids and so to exclude their children would have really ticked off my new in laws...so we had the kids there. Steps were taken to insure that the kids did not ruin my wedding and they didn't. a fun time was had by most and there were no tantrums from the bride. ;)
Now we are into the time of life where my husband's older nieces and nephews are getting married. The same kids who all had to be invited to my wedding. After attending two weddings in hubby's hometown we had already decided that when the next one got married that we were probably not going to attend...so when the save the date card arrived with a Fall date on it, we weren't all that concerned. We didn't want to go anyway.
But then came the invitation for the wedding. It was addressed to just hubby & me. The invite and reception said it was "Respectfully an Adult Only Occasion." and the RSVP card had that only 2 seats were reserved for us at the reception. It was very clear that my nearly adult (17 & 1/2 year old) daughter was not invited at all.
And even though I had no intention of going to this wedding...I was really bothered by the fact that the couple had clearly excluded my daughter. (I know, weird right?)
But then I got to thinking...
Perhaps the couple really didn't want any of us at the wedding?
I mean think about it...
Do they really expect for us to a) leave our kid at home alone (I know, loads of people do at her age and that's fine...we choose not to) b) pay to fly the 3 of us out there and leave daughter to do something else while we go to the wedding? Or did they expect us to fly all 3 of us out and then ask for kiddo to babysit her younger cousins?
I don't know. And honestly I am not upset at not going to the wedding. We've done two there and there isn't much of anything else for us to see or do in and around hubby's hometown. And sorry family but the thought of flying anywhere for just one or two days? I don't think so.
I guess this opens the door for when kiddo gets married though and she doesn't want kids there... thanks for making it okay couple... and I really do hope that no one gave you any grief about your kid free wedding. It's your party. I guess I'm just a wee bit jeally cuz I didn't get my kid free wedding. :-/
I came across this article today Is it selfish to have adults only weddings? and that got me thinking about it all again.
I should probably first say that when I got married I wanted an adult only wedding... BUT I DIDN'T GET IT! I was not a fan of children back then (honestly, my kid is the only one I really like...okay some of her friends are really cool...but) so I didn't want them at my wedding, messing anything up. I can also add here that back then America's Funniest Home Videos was in full swing and the most popular videos were guys getting hit in the jewels and kids messing up weddings. We also did NOT want our wedding video taped... guess what we have...
I was not able to have a kid free wedding because my dear fiance is the youngest of 5 children who were all married with kids and so to exclude their children would have really ticked off my new in laws...so we had the kids there. Steps were taken to insure that the kids did not ruin my wedding and they didn't. a fun time was had by most and there were no tantrums from the bride. ;)
Now we are into the time of life where my husband's older nieces and nephews are getting married. The same kids who all had to be invited to my wedding. After attending two weddings in hubby's hometown we had already decided that when the next one got married that we were probably not going to attend...so when the save the date card arrived with a Fall date on it, we weren't all that concerned. We didn't want to go anyway.
But then came the invitation for the wedding. It was addressed to just hubby & me. The invite and reception said it was "Respectfully an Adult Only Occasion." and the RSVP card had that only 2 seats were reserved for us at the reception. It was very clear that my nearly adult (17 & 1/2 year old) daughter was not invited at all.
And even though I had no intention of going to this wedding...I was really bothered by the fact that the couple had clearly excluded my daughter. (I know, weird right?)
But then I got to thinking...
Perhaps the couple really didn't want any of us at the wedding?
I mean think about it...
Do they really expect for us to a) leave our kid at home alone (I know, loads of people do at her age and that's fine...we choose not to) b) pay to fly the 3 of us out there and leave daughter to do something else while we go to the wedding? Or did they expect us to fly all 3 of us out and then ask for kiddo to babysit her younger cousins?
I don't know. And honestly I am not upset at not going to the wedding. We've done two there and there isn't much of anything else for us to see or do in and around hubby's hometown. And sorry family but the thought of flying anywhere for just one or two days? I don't think so.
I guess this opens the door for when kiddo gets married though and she doesn't want kids there... thanks for making it okay couple... and I really do hope that no one gave you any grief about your kid free wedding. It's your party. I guess I'm just a wee bit jeally cuz I didn't get my kid free wedding. :-/
Sunday, October 25, 2015
it's crazy here
starting to wonder when it isn't crazy
So kiddo is in a musical revue...she's been practicing and rehearsing for that...every night on her own and then at least once a week with the group, sometimes more. They opened last night to a decent sized audience and they'll close and strike this evening.
This afternoon she has an audition for her next show. Different theater company. Fingers crossed as getting in here could lead to a lot more things. She's pretty attached to her current company, but the new one could mean payment instead of paying.
There's an audition next week with her current theater company but she is leaning toward not doing that show at all...we'll see how she feels this evening.
and now it is the next day so I have updates on the stuff above and more things to add as always...
the revue is now over. They did very well. I didn't go see it as I've been listening to these songs for the past two months and a wee bit tired of some of them. But overall it was a marvelous show and we're looking forward to the next one.
Unfortunately the audition didn't work out for kiddo. they had about 20 girls or so show up with ages ranging from 11 to 17. and all different looks. But judging from the first cut it seemed they were going for a shorter girl...so certainly looking for a size difference between the older and younger versions of this character...oops I forgot to mention that...kiddo was going for the younger version, the older was already cast. However, the silver lining of this is that a friend of ours who was in the revue also was not cut yet. So we look forward to hearing if she is cast or not. Her mom was telling me that they were asking the girls with lighter hair if they minded coloring their hair for the show...our friend already has darker hair. :D plus for her!
We still don't know if kiddo is going to audition for the other show yet. She was trying to determine if any of her friends were going to be in the show also and of course she can't get anyone to commit to it. ;)
In the mean time she has a different kind of audition coming up in December...this one will be for getting into a musical theater program in college. there is a chance of a scholarship, which would be awesome but it will be interesting to see which schools might be interested in her. A friend of hers ended up in New York! so fingers crossed on that one.
still plugging away on the driver's license. I went out with DH & kiddo last time and she was driving my car for the first time...she did awesome. She still needs to get comfortable with my car, but most of her problems were with DH changing the directions on her. We were both ready to hit him. lol
My garden never really did all that well this year...I think I didn't get started in time and all the rain we had also put a hamper on things...now things are cooling off quickly so today I took several of the plants and put them on the compost pile. I am still hoping for a few more tomatoes but they and the peppers keep splitting so probably not.
Time now to make kiddo's halloween costume and then start making broth out of all the bones in the freezer to make room for our turkey and stuff. I have no idea how much I might get...I should go count my jars first. ;)
I found a sewing job the other day. The gal had wanted to meet on Saturday to discuss the details, but of course I was busy...hopefully we can get together soon so I can knock that one out...super easy sewing job, shouldn't take me more than an hour. and then I'll look for others. or maybe keep an eye out instead.
So kiddo is in a musical revue...she's been practicing and rehearsing for that...every night on her own and then at least once a week with the group, sometimes more. They opened last night to a decent sized audience and they'll close and strike this evening.
This afternoon she has an audition for her next show. Different theater company. Fingers crossed as getting in here could lead to a lot more things. She's pretty attached to her current company, but the new one could mean payment instead of paying.
There's an audition next week with her current theater company but she is leaning toward not doing that show at all...we'll see how she feels this evening.
and now it is the next day so I have updates on the stuff above and more things to add as always...
the revue is now over. They did very well. I didn't go see it as I've been listening to these songs for the past two months and a wee bit tired of some of them. But overall it was a marvelous show and we're looking forward to the next one.
Unfortunately the audition didn't work out for kiddo. they had about 20 girls or so show up with ages ranging from 11 to 17. and all different looks. But judging from the first cut it seemed they were going for a shorter girl...so certainly looking for a size difference between the older and younger versions of this character...oops I forgot to mention that...kiddo was going for the younger version, the older was already cast. However, the silver lining of this is that a friend of ours who was in the revue also was not cut yet. So we look forward to hearing if she is cast or not. Her mom was telling me that they were asking the girls with lighter hair if they minded coloring their hair for the show...our friend already has darker hair. :D plus for her!
We still don't know if kiddo is going to audition for the other show yet. She was trying to determine if any of her friends were going to be in the show also and of course she can't get anyone to commit to it. ;)
In the mean time she has a different kind of audition coming up in December...this one will be for getting into a musical theater program in college. there is a chance of a scholarship, which would be awesome but it will be interesting to see which schools might be interested in her. A friend of hers ended up in New York! so fingers crossed on that one.
still plugging away on the driver's license. I went out with DH & kiddo last time and she was driving my car for the first time...she did awesome. She still needs to get comfortable with my car, but most of her problems were with DH changing the directions on her. We were both ready to hit him. lol
My garden never really did all that well this year...I think I didn't get started in time and all the rain we had also put a hamper on things...now things are cooling off quickly so today I took several of the plants and put them on the compost pile. I am still hoping for a few more tomatoes but they and the peppers keep splitting so probably not.
Time now to make kiddo's halloween costume and then start making broth out of all the bones in the freezer to make room for our turkey and stuff. I have no idea how much I might get...I should go count my jars first. ;)
I found a sewing job the other day. The gal had wanted to meet on Saturday to discuss the details, but of course I was busy...hopefully we can get together soon so I can knock that one out...super easy sewing job, shouldn't take me more than an hour. and then I'll look for others. or maybe keep an eye out instead.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Not that it will help any...
today I posted this to my Facebook http://theadaptivemarketer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Social-Media-Explained.jpg
reason?
someone decided to use Facebook like Twitter to keep me totally up to date on a soccer game. Not to worry, she wasn't the first who felt like I needed to know all about the game... I've had several Facebook "friends" who wanted me to be aware of other sporting events or other things constantly!
ARGH!
While I'm sure that folks on Twitter aren't wanting the play by play either...but really I'm pretty sure that it doesn't go on Facebook.
I had unfriend a family member recently because their FourSquare let me know where she was...all the time! and even though I hid her posts they kept popping back up. and I couldn't block FourSquare because I use it for the discounts...sigh!
Maybe I should just stop social media-ing.... yeah right!
reason?
someone decided to use Facebook like Twitter to keep me totally up to date on a soccer game. Not to worry, she wasn't the first who felt like I needed to know all about the game... I've had several Facebook "friends" who wanted me to be aware of other sporting events or other things constantly!
ARGH!
While I'm sure that folks on Twitter aren't wanting the play by play either...but really I'm pretty sure that it doesn't go on Facebook.
I had unfriend a family member recently because their FourSquare let me know where she was...all the time! and even though I hid her posts they kept popping back up. and I couldn't block FourSquare because I use it for the discounts...sigh!
Maybe I should just stop social media-ing.... yeah right!
Thursday, September 10, 2015
I got me a treadmill!
After lots of searching, I finally found a used treadmill that wasn't falling apart and I could get home easily enough. Turns out it was at our favorite thrift store! I had seen several listed on craigslist but this one the money is going to a great cause.
All we had to do once it was in the house was to realign the belt. And even though hubby nearly blew a gasket that I had got the treadmill and moved it inside by myself, he insisted that he be the one to fix it. It really bothers him how independent I am sometimes.
I've used it several times now...still trying to figure out the controls on it...and even with the manual it is confusing. I'm a bit spoiled with the treadmills at my old gym that "talked" you through it. ah well. Another thing is the book rack/control panel is set too far back. If you get close enough to use them you're bumping your feet into the motor housing. I know it doesn't work so well for the folding (oops, did I remember to fold it back up last night???) but the bar should be over the tread more.
In other news:
Darly did get into the musical review (we knew she would though). She's currently singing 4 songs with a few solos. There are still more solos to be assigned so she's working on that music so she can get a few of them...she really wants one that would be one of her bucket list roles. fingers crossed!
She did NOT get into the "Improv" show that wasn't really improv. The folks casting went with their own people. Which I know happens all the time, but why bother wasting folks time if you're not really going to consider them??? Another thing we learned was that this show was for a fundraiser that was going to be $100 per person to attend (not the cast, but if I wanted to see the show). And then there was all that the part required, in the end it didn't seem to me that the pay was going to make the part worth doing...we're a bit spoiled in that the improv troop that Darly is in charges more per hour than she would have made doing this show. ah well
I submitted Darly's headshot & resume for another role, but we haven't heard anything so I guess that's a no. It would have been nice if they had told us that they got it. sigh
Lots of Halloween gigs coming up, but I'm not sure we can squeeze them in with the musical review. One that came up today had their show running for two weekends including the weekend of the review.
Darly went driving last night. With me she was pretty much totally against driving. She got mad at me for DH asking her to go drive. But apparently that went really well. Parents are hopeful to get her driving here soon.
All we had to do once it was in the house was to realign the belt. And even though hubby nearly blew a gasket that I had got the treadmill and moved it inside by myself, he insisted that he be the one to fix it. It really bothers him how independent I am sometimes.
I've used it several times now...still trying to figure out the controls on it...and even with the manual it is confusing. I'm a bit spoiled with the treadmills at my old gym that "talked" you through it. ah well. Another thing is the book rack/control panel is set too far back. If you get close enough to use them you're bumping your feet into the motor housing. I know it doesn't work so well for the folding (oops, did I remember to fold it back up last night???) but the bar should be over the tread more.
In other news:
Darly did get into the musical review (we knew she would though). She's currently singing 4 songs with a few solos. There are still more solos to be assigned so she's working on that music so she can get a few of them...she really wants one that would be one of her bucket list roles. fingers crossed!
She did NOT get into the "Improv" show that wasn't really improv. The folks casting went with their own people. Which I know happens all the time, but why bother wasting folks time if you're not really going to consider them??? Another thing we learned was that this show was for a fundraiser that was going to be $100 per person to attend (not the cast, but if I wanted to see the show). And then there was all that the part required, in the end it didn't seem to me that the pay was going to make the part worth doing...we're a bit spoiled in that the improv troop that Darly is in charges more per hour than she would have made doing this show. ah well
I submitted Darly's headshot & resume for another role, but we haven't heard anything so I guess that's a no. It would have been nice if they had told us that they got it. sigh
Lots of Halloween gigs coming up, but I'm not sure we can squeeze them in with the musical review. One that came up today had their show running for two weekends including the weekend of the review.
Darly went driving last night. With me she was pretty much totally against driving. She got mad at me for DH asking her to go drive. But apparently that went really well. Parents are hopeful to get her driving here soon.
Monday, September 07, 2015
BIG Sore Loser!
Darly decided to teach DH & I a card game that she plays with her friends. It is called Nerts. You can look it up...it's all over the internet and it's a game that I enjoy.
At first I was winning the game almost exclusively. I play solitaire all the time and the game is solitaire with more people. My winning was upsetting to the other two players though, so making sure that I was following all the rules I found that I could stall my wins to make the game higher points for everyone. Well THAT didn't go over well when DH noticed that I wasn't playing my winning card and ratted me out. So I had to be more sneaky about it...
At this point, DH feels that to keep me from winning that HE has to be in charge of shuffling my deck so that I can't win. And at first I allowed this because he was being rather bratty about it and I assumed that allowing him this simple concession would calm him down and show that I was winning only by skill, not trickery.
um no. It seemed that allowing the shuffling made him worse...even though I wasn't winning the hands anymore. He was STILL being a BRAT about it. He was even winning hands (okay, I was still throwing hands) but that wasn't enough to make him quit.
Sigh! It seems that I will have to give up playing my new favorite game...at least with DH.
I've known since meeting him that all of DH's family plays for blood at games...highly competitive and will play all night in order to be the winner. It's so sad. I usually do not play with any from his family. This makes them complain that I'm just a sore loser... but really I don't care about winning...I just have fun playing the game...but not against any of them. They totally take all the fun out of the game.
At one point Darly gave DH a mini speech about how it was JUST A GAME OF CARDS! It was awesome. I told her that I couldn't be more proud of her.
I'm pretty sure that sore loser totally ignored her! sigh
At first I was winning the game almost exclusively. I play solitaire all the time and the game is solitaire with more people. My winning was upsetting to the other two players though, so making sure that I was following all the rules I found that I could stall my wins to make the game higher points for everyone. Well THAT didn't go over well when DH noticed that I wasn't playing my winning card and ratted me out. So I had to be more sneaky about it...
At this point, DH feels that to keep me from winning that HE has to be in charge of shuffling my deck so that I can't win. And at first I allowed this because he was being rather bratty about it and I assumed that allowing him this simple concession would calm him down and show that I was winning only by skill, not trickery.
um no. It seemed that allowing the shuffling made him worse...even though I wasn't winning the hands anymore. He was STILL being a BRAT about it. He was even winning hands (okay, I was still throwing hands) but that wasn't enough to make him quit.
Sigh! It seems that I will have to give up playing my new favorite game...at least with DH.
I've known since meeting him that all of DH's family plays for blood at games...highly competitive and will play all night in order to be the winner. It's so sad. I usually do not play with any from his family. This makes them complain that I'm just a sore loser... but really I don't care about winning...I just have fun playing the game...but not against any of them. They totally take all the fun out of the game.
At one point Darly gave DH a mini speech about how it was JUST A GAME OF CARDS! It was awesome. I told her that I couldn't be more proud of her.
I'm pretty sure that sore loser totally ignored her! sigh
Friday, September 04, 2015
Dares BEARS.....
in dem dare NEIGHBORHOOD!!!!!!!!! (translation: there are bears in my neighborhood!)
okay, they found one cub about a mile from my house...but where there are cubs there are momma bears...usually. We still don't know where momma is. Baby was caught and taken to a rehab center where he'll be fattened up and snuck into a hibernation den in a few months to wake up and wonder "whut now?"
Apparently the word is that last winter froze the berry bushes so the bears are hungry. There have been 8 caught closer to the mountains and one in my friend's neighborhood...which is totally odd because she's pretty much in the all human part of town. At least "our bear" could follow the gulch to where he was picked up.
I've always said that "I don't run, unless there's a bear chasing me. So it is a good thing I live where there aren't any bears!" Now it looks like I'm gonna have to move. sigh
well at least I no longer have to worry about meeting a bear on the walking trails... because I bought a treadmill. Unfortunately, the trauma from getting the treadmill into my house has me not using it yet. That and I also have to adjust the belt and that's just effort! :p
In other news: Darly finished up Fiddler on the Roof Aug 16th. Then took a tiny break...
Aug 29th - Audition workshop
Sept 1st - Audition for Broadway Musical Review
Sept 2nd - Audition for "Improv" show (that's in quotes because I don't think that means what they think it means)
Sept 3rd - rehearse for her standing improv show
Sept 4th - work on picking song for Musical Review
Sept 5th - Improv show
WHEW!
The Audition workshop was just as I suspected...a great big LONG ad for acting classes with this group. But for FREE what can you expect? At least we came away with some useful tips.
The musical review audition went well - but today we have to run over for a bit more work on picking a perfect song for Darly...the director wants to match her voice up perfectly.
The "Improv" show...hummm well first they asked folks to prepare a monologue, but never had them do it. Then they provided way too much for the bits...almost an entire script. It was weird. and they seem to think that a 5 hour long performance will be all short form improv. Like I said ...I don't think it means what they think it means.
Improv rehearsal (see we know what improv is!) - I had to leave Darly to go pick up DH at the airport, so I don't know too much of what went on, but they had fun getting ready for the show. BTW: you can't really rehearse improv...you just run a version of the games so you can fit the suggestions into it.
and in a bit we'll be off to go work on that music piece for the Musical Review. Hopefully she didn't fall asleep in the shower!
okay, they found one cub about a mile from my house...but where there are cubs there are momma bears...usually. We still don't know where momma is. Baby was caught and taken to a rehab center where he'll be fattened up and snuck into a hibernation den in a few months to wake up and wonder "whut now?"
Apparently the word is that last winter froze the berry bushes so the bears are hungry. There have been 8 caught closer to the mountains and one in my friend's neighborhood...which is totally odd because she's pretty much in the all human part of town. At least "our bear" could follow the gulch to where he was picked up.
I've always said that "I don't run, unless there's a bear chasing me. So it is a good thing I live where there aren't any bears!" Now it looks like I'm gonna have to move. sigh
well at least I no longer have to worry about meeting a bear on the walking trails... because I bought a treadmill. Unfortunately, the trauma from getting the treadmill into my house has me not using it yet. That and I also have to adjust the belt and that's just effort! :p
In other news: Darly finished up Fiddler on the Roof Aug 16th. Then took a tiny break...
Aug 29th - Audition workshop
Sept 1st - Audition for Broadway Musical Review
Sept 2nd - Audition for "Improv" show (that's in quotes because I don't think that means what they think it means)
Sept 3rd - rehearse for her standing improv show
Sept 4th - work on picking song for Musical Review
Sept 5th - Improv show
WHEW!
The Audition workshop was just as I suspected...a great big LONG ad for acting classes with this group. But for FREE what can you expect? At least we came away with some useful tips.
The musical review audition went well - but today we have to run over for a bit more work on picking a perfect song for Darly...the director wants to match her voice up perfectly.
The "Improv" show...hummm well first they asked folks to prepare a monologue, but never had them do it. Then they provided way too much for the bits...almost an entire script. It was weird. and they seem to think that a 5 hour long performance will be all short form improv. Like I said ...I don't think it means what they think it means.
Improv rehearsal (see we know what improv is!) - I had to leave Darly to go pick up DH at the airport, so I don't know too much of what went on, but they had fun getting ready for the show. BTW: you can't really rehearse improv...you just run a version of the games so you can fit the suggestions into it.
and in a bit we'll be off to go work on that music piece for the Musical Review. Hopefully she didn't fall asleep in the shower!
Monday, August 17, 2015
Show's over...now what?
We finished up Fiddler last night and struck* the theater (*strike - remove everything we brought to the theater and return back to it's original state as much as we can). Darly & I are both so very tired. I woke up two hours ago but now feel as if I could go nap for another 5 hours or so. ergh!
Saturday night I heard from the director of the film that Darly was cast in. He had recast the role of Tony and wanted to shoot Darly's scene today at 9:30, an hour away from where we live. sigh!
We decided to decline the role...let me count the ways...
Auditions for the next musical got pushed back, so we're happy to not have to audition today...as a day of rest is needed. :D
But now I'm looking for our next project. Future shows with the theater company that did Fiddler have not yet been set. Shows with the other big theaters in town aren't all that interesting to us...so we're looking at smaller theaters.
Maybe I should just go nap. ;)
Saturday night I heard from the director of the film that Darly was cast in. He had recast the role of Tony and wanted to shoot Darly's scene today at 9:30, an hour away from where we live. sigh!
We decided to decline the role...let me count the ways...
- Going into this project we knew that the only payment would be if the film made money. So we accepted for just the film credit. (meaning: we only expected for Darly's name to be listed in the film's credits.)
- Darly was cast into a very small role in the film because of her look. The cast is mainly Latino with a very few Anglo parts.
- The script is very short (less than 100 pages) but the writer/director/producer is a film student and is used to writing much shorter so he felt it was very long.
- The story is, well let's just say it isn't something that is going to have the same appeal at the box office as say um *insert movie title that you wished you hadn't paid to see here*
- The project has faced a lot of setbacks. Mostly due to the inexperience of our "fearless leader." I am pretty sure that he STILL has not secured a location for his interiors.
- Originally, filming was going to take place before tech week for Fiddler. Due to setbacks and recasting filming was pushed back several times...including to have a filming day during tech week. Luckily the new Tony couldn't make it as it was going to be difficult for us to film that day.
- The locations that the team has come up with so far all all about an hour away from where we live. (note: no pay)
- Darly got a last minute job a few weeks ago that actually paid, so the desire to have a film credit on her resume isn't as pressing...and that film will actually be seen by people as it was produced for educational use.
- When we went for the read through, that became not a true read through because 1. only part of the cast could be there and 2. our "fearless leader" decided to turn it into a teaching moment to share his newly gained education with the cast...who were all more experienced than he was. :-/
- While some of the cast members had more film experience, it seemed from the reading that was able to happen that Darly was the best trained actor there. The director loved everything that she did and was trying to figure out how to expand Darly's role.
Auditions for the next musical got pushed back, so we're happy to not have to audition today...as a day of rest is needed. :D
But now I'm looking for our next project. Future shows with the theater company that did Fiddler have not yet been set. Shows with the other big theaters in town aren't all that interesting to us...so we're looking at smaller theaters.
Maybe I should just go nap. ;)
Friday, August 07, 2015
Busy Acting Summer - Funny how that works out
You may remember a while back we were having fun with what to audition for. And then how Darly got into Fiddler on the Roof discount code 18TOLIFE if you would like to come and see it!
For the most part we've been in the grove of going to rehearsals and learning the part. They decided to just rent the costumes for this show because this show is different from anything this theater group has done before and they have limited storage space for costumes...so I haven't been working on costumes. Instead I'll be working back stage for this show, moving sets between scenes.
This theater company does their rehearsals on different days, so it has meant less time with hubby and our dog. We've been eating out a lot more. However, since I haven't been actively working on anything during the rehearsals, I've been walking with one of the other moms...hopefully that will cancel out all the extra calories?
While all this has been going on, I've been keeping an eye out for other opportunities for Darly and found a film for her to try for. She got in and has a small part that will hopefully start filming this weekend (they've had a few set backs). I am kinda hoping that he ends up pushing production to the week of the 17th now because this was originally supposed to get filmed this week and now is running into tech week for Fiddler.
Then while at rehearsal on Tuesday, Darly got an offer to do another film...on Thursday! The gal who told us about it was originally asked Tuesday for her daughters to be in it, but they were already busy. So yesterday Darly and her friend spent the day at a high school pretending to be high school students...in the background.
Darly has mixed feelings about doing film work. While it is quick with filming only taking a few days, it is rather tedious because you have to repeat the same scene over and over so filming can happen from different angles. I'm sure this one she is about to film will be worse as it is a very small production crew. But after yesterday she says that she isn't opposed to doing more film work, but she would rather stick with theater.
Once Fiddler strikes (is over and all the properties returned) Darly will be auditioning for another play. We've been told that she's guaranteed a part, we just have to hope it's the one she really wants. I am also hopeful that the rehearsal schedule changes to something that works out better for our family.
For the most part we've been in the grove of going to rehearsals and learning the part. They decided to just rent the costumes for this show because this show is different from anything this theater group has done before and they have limited storage space for costumes...so I haven't been working on costumes. Instead I'll be working back stage for this show, moving sets between scenes.
This theater company does their rehearsals on different days, so it has meant less time with hubby and our dog. We've been eating out a lot more. However, since I haven't been actively working on anything during the rehearsals, I've been walking with one of the other moms...hopefully that will cancel out all the extra calories?
While all this has been going on, I've been keeping an eye out for other opportunities for Darly and found a film for her to try for. She got in and has a small part that will hopefully start filming this weekend (they've had a few set backs). I am kinda hoping that he ends up pushing production to the week of the 17th now because this was originally supposed to get filmed this week and now is running into tech week for Fiddler.
Then while at rehearsal on Tuesday, Darly got an offer to do another film...on Thursday! The gal who told us about it was originally asked Tuesday for her daughters to be in it, but they were already busy. So yesterday Darly and her friend spent the day at a high school pretending to be high school students...in the background.
Darly has mixed feelings about doing film work. While it is quick with filming only taking a few days, it is rather tedious because you have to repeat the same scene over and over so filming can happen from different angles. I'm sure this one she is about to film will be worse as it is a very small production crew. But after yesterday she says that she isn't opposed to doing more film work, but she would rather stick with theater.
Once Fiddler strikes (is over and all the properties returned) Darly will be auditioning for another play. We've been told that she's guaranteed a part, we just have to hope it's the one she really wants. I am also hopeful that the rehearsal schedule changes to something that works out better for our family.
Monday, July 27, 2015
getting all nostalgic
So Bone was posting lovely stories of his childhood and recently someone on Facebook was asking folks to tag their friends from when they were 8 years old. Remembering the old days is kinda fun so here goes...
My best friend when I was 8 years old was Leigh. We met when I was 4, she was 5. My family had just moved into our first house and my cat Michael had gotten out...so I caught him in Leigh's yard. And as a kid you make friends when you have proximity...we were close in age and location. And at first all things were great, but as I have learned as an adult now...it really stinks when the adults don't get along.
My mom didn't like Leigh's mom so she didn't really want me and my brothers to be friends with their family... (another proximity thing...Leigh also had the same number of younger brothers...all of our ages almost lining up!) It was pretty difficult to keep us apart though because of us living right there. Especially when we could be together all we wanted to at school. ;)
Leigh's house was two houses down from mine... there was an old retired couple (The Gardners) in the house between ours. The Gardners HATED that we used to run across their yard to go and see each other. ("Hey you kids! Stay off my lawn!") and with 8 kids running back and forth, who can really blame them. In an effort to mollify the Gardners my parents offered to put up a fence around the Gardners yard if we could combine our backyards to give my mom more room for her dogs. We would of course clean up after the dogs, but the Gardners would have a fence out the front yard that would prevent us kids from running across the front yards to go see each other.
Well the back yard fence didn't last all that long because the Gardners were forgetful and kept leaving the gate open, letting our dogs get out. So my father ripped up all the fence around their yard and moved it over to just our property line.
Leigh and I would be together all day during the summer. I had a bike, she didn't. So we shared my bike with one of us on the handle bars and the other pedaling. We would ride around the block for hours taking turns. On the other side of Leigh's house was this girl Lydia. She was a few years younger than us, but we still hung out because her mother gave us a bunch of her old skirts to play dress up with and we had this cool story of how we were all princesses and had handsome princes to marry in our "gowns" (those skirts!) So we would plan over and over our weddings, making honeysuckle wreaths for our hair.
In the years that my mom totally banned me from playing with Leigh... we played at Lydia's house.
This lasted forever ...or until Leigh got to the 9th grade in school. That was officially high school in our town.
When we first moved to this town there were 3 schools... the elementary school for K-6th grades, the Jr High School for 7-9th grades and then the High School. The Jr High School was pretty new when we moved there, but around the time I was in 5th grade or so it was burned down. The story went that the drunk father of a Jr High student was at the school. He couldn't read (this was a poor town in the south where many people didn't get a chance to go to school and apparently this father was one of those.) He set fire to a book and left it to burn down the building. Since the school district couldn't afford a new building (oh our fire department was all volunteer so the fire was out of control before they could get to it) they did a shift of grades... the kids who were already at the Jr High's grades were moved into the High School building and then each year those grades were moved over to the Elementary school...so at first there was elementary + 7th grade and then the next year 8th grade was added and the name of the school was changed to Town Elementary & Jr High. 9th grade stayed at the High School.
When Leigh entered the 9th grade she decided that she was not too old to "play with babies" and ditched me as her bff. #childhoodisrough Don't worry too much, I made a new bff Susan that year.
The summer before my 9th grade year is when my mom (who had divorced my father) took us to live with her in Florida...so I never saw Leigh again. I learned years later that Leigh's parents had also divorced (note: Leigh's mom liked to copy everything that my mom did which is why my mom didn't like her) and Leigh with her mom moved to Texas. The moving to Texas story didn't come from very reliable sources, so who knows what really happened to her.
We had old neighbors on the other side of us that we used to irritate as well. And our town was so small that we could ride our bikes everywhere...library, bank, B&B grocery store for a bag of chips and a coke (generic term for all carbonated beverages...not just that brand).
I've kept tabs on my old hometown using Google maps. The town apparently grew a significant bit and then everyone seemed to move away. My old street and "stomping grounds" look way different now...even the old grocery store is gone now...it's a garage the last time I checked. Sigh!
My best friend when I was 8 years old was Leigh. We met when I was 4, she was 5. My family had just moved into our first house and my cat Michael had gotten out...so I caught him in Leigh's yard. And as a kid you make friends when you have proximity...we were close in age and location. And at first all things were great, but as I have learned as an adult now...it really stinks when the adults don't get along.
My mom didn't like Leigh's mom so she didn't really want me and my brothers to be friends with their family... (another proximity thing...Leigh also had the same number of younger brothers...all of our ages almost lining up!) It was pretty difficult to keep us apart though because of us living right there. Especially when we could be together all we wanted to at school. ;)
Leigh's house was two houses down from mine... there was an old retired couple (The Gardners) in the house between ours. The Gardners HATED that we used to run across their yard to go and see each other. ("Hey you kids! Stay off my lawn!") and with 8 kids running back and forth, who can really blame them. In an effort to mollify the Gardners my parents offered to put up a fence around the Gardners yard if we could combine our backyards to give my mom more room for her dogs. We would of course clean up after the dogs, but the Gardners would have a fence out the front yard that would prevent us kids from running across the front yards to go see each other.
Well the back yard fence didn't last all that long because the Gardners were forgetful and kept leaving the gate open, letting our dogs get out. So my father ripped up all the fence around their yard and moved it over to just our property line.
Leigh and I would be together all day during the summer. I had a bike, she didn't. So we shared my bike with one of us on the handle bars and the other pedaling. We would ride around the block for hours taking turns. On the other side of Leigh's house was this girl Lydia. She was a few years younger than us, but we still hung out because her mother gave us a bunch of her old skirts to play dress up with and we had this cool story of how we were all princesses and had handsome princes to marry in our "gowns" (those skirts!) So we would plan over and over our weddings, making honeysuckle wreaths for our hair.
In the years that my mom totally banned me from playing with Leigh... we played at Lydia's house.
This lasted forever ...or until Leigh got to the 9th grade in school. That was officially high school in our town.
When we first moved to this town there were 3 schools... the elementary school for K-6th grades, the Jr High School for 7-9th grades and then the High School. The Jr High School was pretty new when we moved there, but around the time I was in 5th grade or so it was burned down. The story went that the drunk father of a Jr High student was at the school. He couldn't read (this was a poor town in the south where many people didn't get a chance to go to school and apparently this father was one of those.) He set fire to a book and left it to burn down the building. Since the school district couldn't afford a new building (oh our fire department was all volunteer so the fire was out of control before they could get to it) they did a shift of grades... the kids who were already at the Jr High's grades were moved into the High School building and then each year those grades were moved over to the Elementary school...so at first there was elementary + 7th grade and then the next year 8th grade was added and the name of the school was changed to Town Elementary & Jr High. 9th grade stayed at the High School.
When Leigh entered the 9th grade she decided that she was not too old to "play with babies" and ditched me as her bff. #childhoodisrough Don't worry too much, I made a new bff Susan that year.
The summer before my 9th grade year is when my mom (who had divorced my father) took us to live with her in Florida...so I never saw Leigh again. I learned years later that Leigh's parents had also divorced (note: Leigh's mom liked to copy everything that my mom did which is why my mom didn't like her) and Leigh with her mom moved to Texas. The moving to Texas story didn't come from very reliable sources, so who knows what really happened to her.
We had old neighbors on the other side of us that we used to irritate as well. And our town was so small that we could ride our bikes everywhere...library, bank, B&B grocery store for a bag of chips and a coke (generic term for all carbonated beverages...not just that brand).
I've kept tabs on my old hometown using Google maps. The town apparently grew a significant bit and then everyone seemed to move away. My old street and "stomping grounds" look way different now...even the old grocery store is gone now...it's a garage the last time I checked. Sigh!
Saturday, June 27, 2015
That's not art!
Today Darly & I went to an Art & Craft "festival"
We headed over pretty late so I parked a bit further from the "festival" than we had to so I could get us a spot in the shade. It was kinda hot out but not too unbearable...there were lots of bunnies to see on the way.
We get to the "festival" and start looking around. First off, well the "festival" is all contained in part of just one parking lot. Hummm not much of a festival in my book. We had a lot more art to look at when they did Parker Days two weeks ago. The first booth we come to is a food booth...no surprise there. There were 3 in a row and it is clear the organizers expected crowds to be a lot larger than there were. There was also a tented "stage" area for live music. (music should probably also be in quotes, but that's kinda mean. ;) )
There were several booths that contained items that were clearly NOT arts or crafts. I had to fight the urge to ask "did you make these?"... of course I know that they didn't make the books or toys as I have been to these distributor parties before. :p
We didn't see any art or craft that we needed or like very much. We probably walked a bit too fast but the walk to and from the "festival" took us longer. But it had bunnies, so that was cool!
We then headed to Walmart to get more yarn for me to make some crafts with.
We headed over pretty late so I parked a bit further from the "festival" than we had to so I could get us a spot in the shade. It was kinda hot out but not too unbearable...there were lots of bunnies to see on the way.
We get to the "festival" and start looking around. First off, well the "festival" is all contained in part of just one parking lot. Hummm not much of a festival in my book. We had a lot more art to look at when they did Parker Days two weeks ago. The first booth we come to is a food booth...no surprise there. There were 3 in a row and it is clear the organizers expected crowds to be a lot larger than there were. There was also a tented "stage" area for live music. (music should probably also be in quotes, but that's kinda mean. ;) )
There were several booths that contained items that were clearly NOT arts or crafts. I had to fight the urge to ask "did you make these?"... of course I know that they didn't make the books or toys as I have been to these distributor parties before. :p
We didn't see any art or craft that we needed or like very much. We probably walked a bit too fast but the walk to and from the "festival" took us longer. But it had bunnies, so that was cool!
We then headed to Walmart to get more yarn for me to make some crafts with.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
We're still alive!
Sorry for the dramatic title and I'm also sorry that there are no pictures. :( Once you hear the story you'll understand why.
Tuesday I went to the basement to search for some yarn so I had something to work on during Darly's activities...she had voice lessons AND rehearsal that day.
When I go to reach for my yarn what should I see?
In my basement?
A SNAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay breathe... it was just a small garden snake. about a food long and no bigger around than your thumb.
First question: HOW DID IT GET IN HERE???? no idea (still!)
Second question: HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO GET IT OUT OF HERE????? especially since we had to leave for Darly's voice lesson.
Darly came down and we tried to get the snake, but it crawled under a cabinet before we could catch him and we had to leave...so we just had to hope that we could find him when we got back.
I grabbed some yarn and we left.
When we returned the snake was in a sunny spot near the window. GOOD! easy to find.
But it was in the set of wire cube shelves. BAD! easy for him to get away again. SIGH!
So I went to the garage and got some snake catching tools... leather work gloves (in case he bites!), a plastic child snow shovel (why do we still have this???) and a bucket to put him in.
I used several items from the basement to block the snake from escaping again...we also tried to get the snake to come out into the open...but the snake wasn't that dumb.
The snake went behind the wire shelves. sigh
So I moved the shelves and a bunch of other stuff. Luckily the floor where the snake ended up was very cold, so he wasn't in the mood to move very fast.
Eventually I was able to use... none of the snake catching equipment I had brought... I took a plastic shoe box and put it over the snake. Then I took a part from some scrapbooking storage thingy a friend gave us to scoop up the snake alike you do with a bug, glass & cardboard.
The snake...now dubbed Melvin was witness relocated (after many yells at Lilly to get out of my way) to the strawberry patch of my garden. He didn't seem all that upset by his move once he got there. But I haven't seen him since.
In other news it has been storming like crazy here (perhaps the reason Melvin sought shelter in our house?), lots of warnings of bad things, but so far just rain.
Tuesday I went to the basement to search for some yarn so I had something to work on during Darly's activities...she had voice lessons AND rehearsal that day.
When I go to reach for my yarn what should I see?
In my basement?
A SNAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay breathe... it was just a small garden snake. about a food long and no bigger around than your thumb.
First question: HOW DID IT GET IN HERE???? no idea (still!)
Second question: HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO GET IT OUT OF HERE????? especially since we had to leave for Darly's voice lesson.
Darly came down and we tried to get the snake, but it crawled under a cabinet before we could catch him and we had to leave...so we just had to hope that we could find him when we got back.
I grabbed some yarn and we left.
When we returned the snake was in a sunny spot near the window. GOOD! easy to find.
But it was in the set of wire cube shelves. BAD! easy for him to get away again. SIGH!
So I went to the garage and got some snake catching tools... leather work gloves (in case he bites!), a plastic child snow shovel (why do we still have this???) and a bucket to put him in.
I used several items from the basement to block the snake from escaping again...we also tried to get the snake to come out into the open...but the snake wasn't that dumb.
The snake went behind the wire shelves. sigh
So I moved the shelves and a bunch of other stuff. Luckily the floor where the snake ended up was very cold, so he wasn't in the mood to move very fast.
Eventually I was able to use... none of the snake catching equipment I had brought... I took a plastic shoe box and put it over the snake. Then I took a part from some scrapbooking storage thingy a friend gave us to scoop up the snake alike you do with a bug, glass & cardboard.
The snake...now dubbed Melvin was witness relocated (after many yells at Lilly to get out of my way) to the strawberry patch of my garden. He didn't seem all that upset by his move once he got there. But I haven't seen him since.
In other news it has been storming like crazy here (perhaps the reason Melvin sought shelter in our house?), lots of warnings of bad things, but so far just rain.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Who can it be now?
Yesterday at Church I overheard one of the other women mentioning that she didn't finish a project because she was interrupted by a phone call. This got me thinking about our culture...
I remember as a kid that every time the phone would ring it would 99% of the time be for you and only some times be the wrong number. It would also be a call that was important to you and NOT someone on the other end trying to sell you anything or take your money.
My how things have changed.
I remember as a teenager that the calls became more frequent because sales calls started up. My mom hated these calls so much that she made me become her answering service. I would have to answer the call and let her know who and why the caller was on the line...of course if it was a sales call I would simply tell them that my mother wasn't available and hang up.
Sales calls started getting pushier back then as businesses hired folks to do nothing but call and sell their products and the lively hood of these poor folks depended on them selling. So sales folk started asking when my mother would be available to take the call. Back then saying the truth (NEVER!) was considered rude so I had to invent some lie to get them off the phone.
Eventually we got an answering machine and screened our calls. They still called, but we didn't have to answer.
When it was just mom & me living together I put the outgoing message on our machine the chorus to a BeeGee's song "I've just gotta get a message to you... hold on...hold on..." Unfortunately that lasted all of a week because my mom's friends complained that they didn't know who they were calling. I thought it was quite clever and her friends should have been smart enough to know that only one person that they are calling would have such a message...the HUGE BeeGee's fan. oh well
Years later we got caller ID and this was wonderful because our friends no longer had to wait through the answering machine to get though.
But those pushy businesses and scammers started getting sneaky and changing their caller ID... and then everyone and their brother got a cell phone and caller ID went out the window. So back to letting the answering machine do the screening.
My husband got upset with me for "being rude" and not answering calls from numbers I didn't know. But when he would answer and try to get rid of the caller he quickly picked up on how difficult it was getting to get them to understand the word NO. He doesn't answer as much anymore. The last call he picked up they asked for me and it turned out to be a political survey. I hung up and rolled my eyes at him.
It is clear to me that for now, the callers are relying on folks still considering the phone call to be important to them.
However, that isn't happening at my house. If you are lucky enough to have my phone number, expect that I won't answer it.
Sorry, not sorry.
I remember as a kid that every time the phone would ring it would 99% of the time be for you and only some times be the wrong number. It would also be a call that was important to you and NOT someone on the other end trying to sell you anything or take your money.
My how things have changed.
I remember as a teenager that the calls became more frequent because sales calls started up. My mom hated these calls so much that she made me become her answering service. I would have to answer the call and let her know who and why the caller was on the line...of course if it was a sales call I would simply tell them that my mother wasn't available and hang up.
Sales calls started getting pushier back then as businesses hired folks to do nothing but call and sell their products and the lively hood of these poor folks depended on them selling. So sales folk started asking when my mother would be available to take the call. Back then saying the truth (NEVER!) was considered rude so I had to invent some lie to get them off the phone.
Eventually we got an answering machine and screened our calls. They still called, but we didn't have to answer.
When it was just mom & me living together I put the outgoing message on our machine the chorus to a BeeGee's song "I've just gotta get a message to you... hold on...hold on..." Unfortunately that lasted all of a week because my mom's friends complained that they didn't know who they were calling. I thought it was quite clever and her friends should have been smart enough to know that only one person that they are calling would have such a message...the HUGE BeeGee's fan. oh well
Years later we got caller ID and this was wonderful because our friends no longer had to wait through the answering machine to get though.
But those pushy businesses and scammers started getting sneaky and changing their caller ID... and then everyone and their brother got a cell phone and caller ID went out the window. So back to letting the answering machine do the screening.
My husband got upset with me for "being rude" and not answering calls from numbers I didn't know. But when he would answer and try to get rid of the caller he quickly picked up on how difficult it was getting to get them to understand the word NO. He doesn't answer as much anymore. The last call he picked up they asked for me and it turned out to be a political survey. I hung up and rolled my eyes at him.
It is clear to me that for now, the callers are relying on folks still considering the phone call to be important to them.
However, that isn't happening at my house. If you are lucky enough to have my phone number, expect that I won't answer it.
Sorry, not sorry.
BUSTED!!! ???
Friday I received a call from School Public (this is what my caller ID said). I didn't answer this call because:
1) I don't answer the phone for any number that I don't recognize...so for my friends using cell phones, start to leave a message and I'll pick up, because YES, I'm LURKING! The phone is right in front of me!
2) I don't have any child in public schools so there shouldn't be any reason for them to be calling me!
3) In the past when I HAVE been called by the public schools it has been the elementary school that's just across the way and not related to me at all (I didn't answer that one either!)
Back to this call...it goes to the answering machine and roughly it says this is Mrs Blahblah calling because my child "Jason" (I don't remember the exact name, but it was a boy's name) was absent from school and I needed to call them back about it.
Okay, you may have picked up on this... I don't have a boy child! and again, I don't have any child in the public school system. It is summer, so the missing child must be part of the summer school program. So I didn't call back.
But I did do some googling and found that the number was from a elementary school in the northern part of the next city over from me.
I figured that when they school didn't receive the call back that they were looking for that they would do some research on their own to find out why...like 1) checking that they dialed the correct number. 2) googling the number to see if it goes with the child.
apparently they didn't do any of that because today I got another call!
So I let it go to the machine to verify that it was the same school (stranger things have happened!) and picked up... I immediately said "You have the wrong number."
The gal on the phone said "what?"
I repeated that "you have the wrong number. I don't live in "your town", I live in "my town."
I could hear the dawning in her voice (that she had been duped) ... she thanked me for letting her know and we ended the call.
I imagine the scenario at the school... if the child is there today he is called in to explain himself...and if the child is not home some internet searching to find out all they can about him.
I'm guessing that this child gave the school the wrong number and ditched school. It is possible that the child had tried to give the school the number that is close to mine that now belongs to a local Subway shop, but either way, the number isn't the one attached to his parent.
I would "love" to know the rest of this story...sort of. Actually, no, don't bother me.
1) I don't answer the phone for any number that I don't recognize...so for my friends using cell phones, start to leave a message and I'll pick up, because YES, I'm LURKING! The phone is right in front of me!
2) I don't have any child in public schools so there shouldn't be any reason for them to be calling me!
3) In the past when I HAVE been called by the public schools it has been the elementary school that's just across the way and not related to me at all (I didn't answer that one either!)
Back to this call...it goes to the answering machine and roughly it says this is Mrs Blahblah calling because my child "Jason" (I don't remember the exact name, but it was a boy's name) was absent from school and I needed to call them back about it.
Okay, you may have picked up on this... I don't have a boy child! and again, I don't have any child in the public school system. It is summer, so the missing child must be part of the summer school program. So I didn't call back.
But I did do some googling and found that the number was from a elementary school in the northern part of the next city over from me.
I figured that when they school didn't receive the call back that they were looking for that they would do some research on their own to find out why...like 1) checking that they dialed the correct number. 2) googling the number to see if it goes with the child.
apparently they didn't do any of that because today I got another call!
So I let it go to the machine to verify that it was the same school (stranger things have happened!) and picked up... I immediately said "You have the wrong number."
The gal on the phone said "what?"
I repeated that "you have the wrong number. I don't live in "your town", I live in "my town."
I could hear the dawning in her voice (that she had been duped) ... she thanked me for letting her know and we ended the call.
I imagine the scenario at the school... if the child is there today he is called in to explain himself...and if the child is not home some internet searching to find out all they can about him.
I'm guessing that this child gave the school the wrong number and ditched school. It is possible that the child had tried to give the school the number that is close to mine that now belongs to a local Subway shop, but either way, the number isn't the one attached to his parent.
I would "love" to know the rest of this story...sort of. Actually, no, don't bother me.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
A Wicked Good Time
We learned that the musical Wicked would be coming back to Denver last summer I think, and tickets went on sale sometime during the fall. Since it is such a popular show, I went ahead and bought tickets for Darly & I to see it. I gave the tickets to Darly as a Christmas present even though the show didn't actually get here until June 3rd. She was very thrilled and excited to finally see it.
Darly had started following the Wicked Facebook page and learned that there would be an event at a local mall with a costume display (that will still be there for most of this month until it moves onto the next tour stop) and some of the actors from the show would sing a few songs and sign autographs. We of course had no idea what actors would be there, but hey, it was free so we went.
That turned out to be a very good trip. The mall was running a promotion where several of the stores were offering discounts or free goodies and if we collected 5 stamps from participating stores we could enter a drawing for some Wicked merchandise and mall gift cards. sweet! Darly got a Wicked mini-make over at Sephoria.
The actors who showed up for the event turned out to be the understudy for Galinda and the stand-by for Elphaba. (we later learned what a stand-by is... it is an actor who is paid to be dressed and ready to go on stage during the show. So if the regular actor gets hurt or something she was ready to take her place... kind of a bummer most of the time, but the regular actors do take days off so she would get to perform then.) Galinda being a regular understudy could perform as an ensemble character(s) during the show. The girls offered us a really good show and were very sweet signing autographs and taking pictures...although we had brought a black framing mat and the one used a black sharpie to sign it...oops!
Since the mall is really close to a museum that had a Mythical Creatures exhibit going on, we went over there and saw that. Pretty cool, but we would have liked for there to be fewer people, better behaved children and more creatures. lol
Then last night we went to see Wicked! The show was very good. I think the only bummers about it were that our seats were too far off to the side so we couldn't see all of the back part of the stage, but could see backstage when they opened the side curtains! Kinda distracting to see the actors goofing off over there. Also the couple that had the seats in front of us really don't get the "be considerate of those around you" concept... the guy kept putting his arm around the girl and taking it down when his arm would tire...obstructing our view of the show. I really wanted to pop him in the head with my program.
After the show there was a Q & A with some actors...again, no idea what actors we were getting...and of course we got some very minor actors...well the one was pretty major. We got an ensemble/understudy for Elphaba - she was the one who explained what a stand by is to us. She differs from the stand by in that when she isn't Elphaba she CAN be in the ensemble. She told us that since the beginning of the tour she has actually only gotten to play Elphaba once.
There was a Swing - who is an actor who has rehearsed and is able to stand in for all the minor parts. This particular night she stood in for the mid-wife. She's also the understudy for Nessa Rose, but didn't play that part that evening.
We got to hear from Chistery - the lead flying monkey who can speak but is losing that ability thanks to the Wizard.
And finally and a little later one of the male ensemble came out. He didn't have a named part but we were told that he was the one who was lifting all the ensemble girls. LOL!
During the Q&A we were invited to a charity event next Monday where the actors will all be singing any of their favorite songs while auctioning off some cool stuff like a walk on part in the show. While we would have loved a shot at the walk-on, Darly has her first rehearsal for her show that night and I'm sure the director (her friend) would probably hurt her if she didn't show up for rehearsal. bummer
After the show and Q&A we ran into some of our friends. One Darly has been in a few shows with and the other we just met but she is in Fiddler also. Funny, R (in Fiddler) had told C (in other shows) that she was going to be acting with Darly, but since R didn't know Darly all that well C didn't realize she meant my daughter until we saw her. C exclaimed that she would definitely come see Fiddler now and we laughed that she didn't want to see it when it was just R. Ah well, good laughs. C was very sweet and even greeted me which I totally didn't expect as I'm just another mom, but then I also helped dress C in Peter Pan...I guess she remembered that.
Now Darly is still fast asleep, recovering from her adventure. I wish I could sleep. sigh
Darly had started following the Wicked Facebook page and learned that there would be an event at a local mall with a costume display (that will still be there for most of this month until it moves onto the next tour stop) and some of the actors from the show would sing a few songs and sign autographs. We of course had no idea what actors would be there, but hey, it was free so we went.
That turned out to be a very good trip. The mall was running a promotion where several of the stores were offering discounts or free goodies and if we collected 5 stamps from participating stores we could enter a drawing for some Wicked merchandise and mall gift cards. sweet! Darly got a Wicked mini-make over at Sephoria.
The actors who showed up for the event turned out to be the understudy for Galinda and the stand-by for Elphaba. (we later learned what a stand-by is... it is an actor who is paid to be dressed and ready to go on stage during the show. So if the regular actor gets hurt or something she was ready to take her place... kind of a bummer most of the time, but the regular actors do take days off so she would get to perform then.) Galinda being a regular understudy could perform as an ensemble character(s) during the show. The girls offered us a really good show and were very sweet signing autographs and taking pictures...although we had brought a black framing mat and the one used a black sharpie to sign it...oops!
Since the mall is really close to a museum that had a Mythical Creatures exhibit going on, we went over there and saw that. Pretty cool, but we would have liked for there to be fewer people, better behaved children and more creatures. lol
Then last night we went to see Wicked! The show was very good. I think the only bummers about it were that our seats were too far off to the side so we couldn't see all of the back part of the stage, but could see backstage when they opened the side curtains! Kinda distracting to see the actors goofing off over there. Also the couple that had the seats in front of us really don't get the "be considerate of those around you" concept... the guy kept putting his arm around the girl and taking it down when his arm would tire...obstructing our view of the show. I really wanted to pop him in the head with my program.
After the show there was a Q & A with some actors...again, no idea what actors we were getting...and of course we got some very minor actors...well the one was pretty major. We got an ensemble/understudy for Elphaba - she was the one who explained what a stand by is to us. She differs from the stand by in that when she isn't Elphaba she CAN be in the ensemble. She told us that since the beginning of the tour she has actually only gotten to play Elphaba once.
There was a Swing - who is an actor who has rehearsed and is able to stand in for all the minor parts. This particular night she stood in for the mid-wife. She's also the understudy for Nessa Rose, but didn't play that part that evening.
We got to hear from Chistery - the lead flying monkey who can speak but is losing that ability thanks to the Wizard.
And finally and a little later one of the male ensemble came out. He didn't have a named part but we were told that he was the one who was lifting all the ensemble girls. LOL!
During the Q&A we were invited to a charity event next Monday where the actors will all be singing any of their favorite songs while auctioning off some cool stuff like a walk on part in the show. While we would have loved a shot at the walk-on, Darly has her first rehearsal for her show that night and I'm sure the director (her friend) would probably hurt her if she didn't show up for rehearsal. bummer
After the show and Q&A we ran into some of our friends. One Darly has been in a few shows with and the other we just met but she is in Fiddler also. Funny, R (in Fiddler) had told C (in other shows) that she was going to be acting with Darly, but since R didn't know Darly all that well C didn't realize she meant my daughter until we saw her. C exclaimed that she would definitely come see Fiddler now and we laughed that she didn't want to see it when it was just R. Ah well, good laughs. C was very sweet and even greeted me which I totally didn't expect as I'm just another mom, but then I also helped dress C in Peter Pan...I guess she remembered that.
Now Darly is still fast asleep, recovering from her adventure. I wish I could sleep. sigh
Friday, June 05, 2015
Congratulations to my girl!
Last Friday (May 29th) Darly auditioned for Fiddler on the Roof... I should go back
So remember when we had that dilemma of auditioning for show A would mean we couldn't do shows B & C?
Well we ended up not auditioning for show A at all because in the end she didn't really want to do it because it would mess up her chances for B & C which she wanted to do more. There were also a lot of unknowns with show A as it was a new to the area theater group and they seemed to be promising a lot of things that just didn't seem possible. As it stands now show A is in rehearsals (to the best of my knowledge) and seems to be actually happening... but we're glad for them and us to not be a part of it.
Darly DID audition for show B but unfortunately she didn't not earn a part. That company seemed to cast the show with mostly adults except for a few friends who did get in. Darly is actually happy with that as while she wanted to break into another group she wasn't so thrilled with the particular show.
And show C has not had auditions yet.
In the mean time there was an audition announcement for a show that is on Darly's "bucket list." I signed her up to audition for it and she got all prepared to do that. But right before auditions she got sick...really sick. So we gave up her time slot. But that seemed to be divine intervention as she got a text from a friend...
the gist of the text... "You ARE auditioning for Fiddler aren't you?" Whoa! An offer she couldn't refuse! So Darly used her audition song that she was planning to use just two weeks before for the other show and recycled a monologue that she had used before.
And now Darly has been cast as Chava in the show! Even better is the guy cast as Fyedka (Chava's "love interest") is a really nice guy and Darly is thrilled to be working with him. It probably helps that he's also pretty easy on the eyes. ;) Don't worry, I don't foresee any off stage romance going on here.
And show C? That's by this same theater group. So now Darly's chances of getting into that show are even better.
btw: In case you're wondering why I'm being so "stealth" about the names of the shows and the theater companies is 1) If I list the shows, someone searching for that particular show might end up here needlessly and be annoyed with me. 2) If she isn't in the show, it doesn't matter that much.
So remember when we had that dilemma of auditioning for show A would mean we couldn't do shows B & C?
Well we ended up not auditioning for show A at all because in the end she didn't really want to do it because it would mess up her chances for B & C which she wanted to do more. There were also a lot of unknowns with show A as it was a new to the area theater group and they seemed to be promising a lot of things that just didn't seem possible. As it stands now show A is in rehearsals (to the best of my knowledge) and seems to be actually happening... but we're glad for them and us to not be a part of it.
Darly DID audition for show B but unfortunately she didn't not earn a part. That company seemed to cast the show with mostly adults except for a few friends who did get in. Darly is actually happy with that as while she wanted to break into another group she wasn't so thrilled with the particular show.
And show C has not had auditions yet.
In the mean time there was an audition announcement for a show that is on Darly's "bucket list." I signed her up to audition for it and she got all prepared to do that. But right before auditions she got sick...really sick. So we gave up her time slot. But that seemed to be divine intervention as she got a text from a friend...
the gist of the text... "You ARE auditioning for Fiddler aren't you?" Whoa! An offer she couldn't refuse! So Darly used her audition song that she was planning to use just two weeks before for the other show and recycled a monologue that she had used before.
And now Darly has been cast as Chava in the show! Even better is the guy cast as Fyedka (Chava's "love interest") is a really nice guy and Darly is thrilled to be working with him. It probably helps that he's also pretty easy on the eyes. ;) Don't worry, I don't foresee any off stage romance going on here.
And show C? That's by this same theater group. So now Darly's chances of getting into that show are even better.
btw: In case you're wondering why I'm being so "stealth" about the names of the shows and the theater companies is 1) If I list the shows, someone searching for that particular show might end up here needlessly and be annoyed with me. 2) If she isn't in the show, it doesn't matter that much.
Friday, May 29, 2015
organized blather
For Today... May 29th
Outside my window... It is actually sunny! Okay it has been this way for a few days now, but after having nothing but rain for most of the month seeing the sun is sure refreshing!
I am thinking...about everything I need to get done today. Darly has an audition, so I have to print out her resume and get a new headshot ready. Wishing her all kinds of luck to get into this show.
I am thankful... that we are so very blessed. Even with all the storms we've had we have not had any damage. My car was pelted by hail on Monday night, but it was all very small hail and the worst my car got was covered with leaves and small branches.
I am wearing...does anyone really care? I guess it is good that I'm actually dressed today. I'm in my "mom uniform." I might go change and exercise later.
I am creating... OOOH! I found some really pretty yarn. Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable. I love the variegation of the colors...and this one of course has my favorites. I found a cute pattern for a shawl that will be good for church as it is still freezing there.
I'm also about to start making a dress for Darly to wear for her dance next week. It is a "Decades Dance" (meaning the kids should pick a decade and dress like that) she chose a 50's style dress. We found some very pretty material for a big floofy dress.
oh and I am also looking into making my next purse. I've searched everywhere for a replacement for the bag I'm currently using that is falling apart, and of course no one makes what I want. Why is it that when a good idea for something comes out they stop making it??? Well keep it up advertising geniuses...soon I'll just make my own of everything. :p
I am wondering...is everyone as busy as I am? It seems that everyone and their brother wants to schedule something for this time of year. We were invited to 4 graduation parties, I just got invited to a fundraiser concert that I had to decline, I was asked to participate in a blood drive that I am doing tomorrow as they fit it into my schedule, the audition, and I still have to sew the dress and plant my garden.
I am reading... Harry Potter -Goblet of Fire. Again! I know that I've read the series over and over, but I like to be reading, especially when I'm working out and since I own the books it is convenient. I'm just worried that I'm noticing the bindings are cracking...probably our dry climate.
I am hoping... that Darly gets into this show. all signs point to her getting in, but there are some unknowns about it. Oh and we still don't know where the rehearsals are going to be. A friend has warned me that the guy who runs this theater company can be frustrating.
In my garden...all I've done so far is pull out weeds and unwanted volunteers, load up the planting boxes with new dirt. I considered buying my plants Tuesday, but I didn't because of all the thunderstorms we've had. I'm worried that it is still too cold for the plants.
In my kitchen...I haven't done anything all that adventurous lately. Oh wait, last night since we had strawberries I wanted to make shortcake with the baking mix that I have. But looking at the recipe and NOT wanting an entire batch of shortcake, and no way to divide out 1 egg, I went with just the biscuit recipe adding sugar. It turned out really well although it did taste like pancakes. LOL! I've also been making pizza dough in the bread maker. I've been using garlic salt instead or regular to give the crust more flavor. I've learned that allowing the dough to rise longer gives us the thickness we like, and getting the pizza stone up to 500 makes it crispy.
I feel that I should conclude this with some sort of wrapped up paragraph. But honestly, I got nuttin. ;)
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
How to make everyone hate you - at the movies
arrive AFTER the movie has already started.
use your cell phone's flashlight to find your seats while carrying a ton of stuff so your light is shining all over the place
instead of choosing seats in the almost empty theater away from everyone so as to not disturb them with your flashlight, ton of stuff and two children...NOPE go for the row that is right next to everyone else who happened to get to the theater early to choose good seats!
bring your two children who didn't want to see the movie...you were just there to see the movie yourself.
bring tons of stuff to keep said children occupied so while they weren't bugging you at all because you've been ignoring them since birth, their noise was only annoying to the people you chose to sit next to.
make sure the stuff you brought to keep your kids occupied is extra noisy...like potato chips in a crinkly bag and nice crackly water bottles.
ignore the fact that your child keeps hopping up during the movie using the seat in front of him as a brace...and pulling the hair of the person who was sitting there.
also ignore the fact that your child is sick and spewing germs all over the people that you chose to sit near because well you're an idiot who thinks that staying home when sick is for the weak.
use your cell phone's flashlight to find your seats while carrying a ton of stuff so your light is shining all over the place
instead of choosing seats in the almost empty theater away from everyone so as to not disturb them with your flashlight, ton of stuff and two children...NOPE go for the row that is right next to everyone else who happened to get to the theater early to choose good seats!
bring your two children who didn't want to see the movie...you were just there to see the movie yourself.
bring tons of stuff to keep said children occupied so while they weren't bugging you at all because you've been ignoring them since birth, their noise was only annoying to the people you chose to sit next to.
make sure the stuff you brought to keep your kids occupied is extra noisy...like potato chips in a crinkly bag and nice crackly water bottles.
ignore the fact that your child keeps hopping up during the movie using the seat in front of him as a brace...and pulling the hair of the person who was sitting there.
also ignore the fact that your child is sick and spewing germs all over the people that you chose to sit near because well you're an idiot who thinks that staying home when sick is for the weak.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Day Book
I'm going to try this in a feeble attempt to get this blog going again. LOL
For Today... 11 May 2015
Outside my window... stupie neighbor is power washing his extra driveway that is right up against the retaining wall for my yard...so practically right outside my window. ugh!
I am thinking...how to KILL neighbor and hide the body. Why won't these people MOVE?!?! They have the original family...parents & 3 adult boys + at least one gf/wife/babymommah and child. I don't understand why NONE of the boys has ever moved out. Unfortunately, father is a contractor so I'm sure he has finished the basement to make plenty of living bunkers for the entire clan with room for gf/wife/babymommahs for the other two boys also! apparently multiple complaints to the HOA are worthless and make him less likely to sell & move as then all the leans would be finally collected.
I am thankful... that my cold is almost over...I think. I'm coughing a lot this morning, which I hope means that my body is trying to expel the last of this.
I am wearing... PJ's of course...I'm still sick!
I am creating... phlem! sorry.
I am going... to Orange Leaf this afternoon for a fundraiser. I'll drug up if necessary, but I sure hope that I don't have to.
I am wondering... If I should move my blood donation appointment to next week instead. I should go check the guidelines.
I am reading... Harry Potter again. I picked it up to give me something to read while I'm on the elliptical, but I haven't done that since I got sick on Thursday.
I am hoping... that I can feel well enough to exercise soon.
I am learning... how to get Sullivan Promotions to stop calling me! bwahaha! Jerks woke me up with a call at 9am today. Sick people don't want to be called at such an early hour! Or any hour for that matter!
In my garden... pretty sure that anything I had going is hurting pretty badly now...we lost a huge chunk of the apple tree yesterday. I hope my one lone garlic survived.
In my kitchen... should be quiet for the next two days. But then will be filled with foods hubby hates!
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Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Sewing season
Sunday at Church one of my daughter's friends asked if I might be able to hem up a dress she had bought for her to wear this Thursday! Lucky for her I wasn't committed to sewing costumes for a show and had plenty of time. Of course I had no idea what I was getting into until I saw the dress.
She came over Sunday afternoon and I saw that the dress would have to be taken up in the waist as the bottom was too intricate (there were a lot of layers of very sheer material). But taking it up in the waist means adjusting the zipper.
So I pinned up the length, removed half the zipper, sewed the hem up, and then reattached the zipper. As alterations go, this was not all that difficult.
Then yesterday I learned that the show that my daughter's theater group is currently doing (Darly didn't audition for it as the songs drive her buggy) will be getting the costumes that they are renting this week and have to scramble to get them all fitted to the kids as they open next week! So I contacted the gal in charge of costumes. and Darly & I will be helping to fit the costumes this weekend. There are also several dresses that will need hemming. FUN!
If you don't see me for a while, I'll be sewing.
She came over Sunday afternoon and I saw that the dress would have to be taken up in the waist as the bottom was too intricate (there were a lot of layers of very sheer material). But taking it up in the waist means adjusting the zipper.
So I pinned up the length, removed half the zipper, sewed the hem up, and then reattached the zipper. As alterations go, this was not all that difficult.
Then yesterday I learned that the show that my daughter's theater group is currently doing (Darly didn't audition for it as the songs drive her buggy) will be getting the costumes that they are renting this week and have to scramble to get them all fitted to the kids as they open next week! So I contacted the gal in charge of costumes. and Darly & I will be helping to fit the costumes this weekend. There are also several dresses that will need hemming. FUN!
If you don't see me for a while, I'll be sewing.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Mixed emotions
Today I posted craigslist ads for all of my camping gear.
It is well past time to get rid of it all as we haven't even bothered to try camping for over 2 years and really we haven't had a good time camping in a very long time.
And yet I still think that if I just found the perfect camping spot I might have a good time. sigh!
We haven't camped in the tent for a very long time, the last two times renting a cabin instead. Even with the cabin I didn't get any sleep at all.
So yes it is time to let it all go. Now hopefully someone out there is looking to create great memories with their family with all my gear.
It is well past time to get rid of it all as we haven't even bothered to try camping for over 2 years and really we haven't had a good time camping in a very long time.
And yet I still think that if I just found the perfect camping spot I might have a good time. sigh!
We haven't camped in the tent for a very long time, the last two times renting a cabin instead. Even with the cabin I didn't get any sleep at all.
So yes it is time to let it all go. Now hopefully someone out there is looking to create great memories with their family with all my gear.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Driving! ACK!!!
Darly has actually been old enough to start driving for a while. A good year and a half. But she hasn't wanted to do it. Honestly she is still very nervous about it.
However, I am getting very tired of being the mom taxi for a kid who could be schlepping herself all over town. Just last Saturday she "needed" to go to the park to meet up with her friends...I sat in the car during this as it was too far to drive home...and I didn't want to go shopping.
She HAS finally read the driver's handbook. She HAS finally took the online test and passed it.
She STILL isn't all that interested in driving though. But she'll need to hold her permit for a year before she's allowed to get her license...so I would like to get her started before it's time for her to go off to college as I don't want her to be like a friend of ours who has her mom drive up to college (an hour + away) every weekend to bring her home and then back again. bah!
She is nervous that she'll forget everything and/or the actual test will be poorly worded like the online test and trick her into choosing the wrong answer. I'm sure she'll do fine. She's been correcting my driving. ;)
However, I am getting very tired of being the mom taxi for a kid who could be schlepping herself all over town. Just last Saturday she "needed" to go to the park to meet up with her friends...I sat in the car during this as it was too far to drive home...and I didn't want to go shopping.
She HAS finally read the driver's handbook. She HAS finally took the online test and passed it.
She STILL isn't all that interested in driving though. But she'll need to hold her permit for a year before she's allowed to get her license...so I would like to get her started before it's time for her to go off to college as I don't want her to be like a friend of ours who has her mom drive up to college (an hour + away) every weekend to bring her home and then back again. bah!
She is nervous that she'll forget everything and/or the actual test will be poorly worded like the online test and trick her into choosing the wrong answer. I'm sure she'll do fine. She's been correcting my driving. ;)
Update of sorts...
This is an update to the When it rains it pours post.
Yesterday was the audition for Show A. Darly decided to not do it. She gave a very good reason for not auditioning. Even though I wanted her to go and prove them wrong about their opinion of her acting training she was right. Her reason was that she did not want to take a part away from someone who actually wanted to be in the show. Knowing that if she did get cast, she was going to turn down the part. I felt this showed great maturity on her part...or at least a very good excuse making skill. ;)
This show had a new screenplay and new songs written by the director. A friend of ours warned that the director could be very picky about how he wants things to go and might cancel the show on a whim if he doesn't get his way.
This was the show where the artistic team had a very poor opinion of the theater company that Darly has been with for the past 4 years and had me change Darly's resume to omit all references to that company...including the part about her stage combat skills because they wouldn't be "up to snuff" because they were for the "inferior" theater company. :p
Other red flags...
They were planning to use the local theater here for the show, but had not booked it.
The run date for the show is in August with rehearsals starting in July but casting it now.
The actors are supposed to get paid (nicely) but I couldn't see where the money was coming from as it is an expensive theater to rent.
The good thing is now we don't have to worry about Show A anymore. Leaving shows B & C free and clear for being in...no more conflicting schedules.... although I did find another show to audition for. ;) I'm saving it as a back up for if she doesn't get into show B.
Yesterday was the audition for Show A. Darly decided to not do it. She gave a very good reason for not auditioning. Even though I wanted her to go and prove them wrong about their opinion of her acting training she was right. Her reason was that she did not want to take a part away from someone who actually wanted to be in the show. Knowing that if she did get cast, she was going to turn down the part. I felt this showed great maturity on her part...or at least a very good excuse making skill. ;)
This show had a new screenplay and new songs written by the director. A friend of ours warned that the director could be very picky about how he wants things to go and might cancel the show on a whim if he doesn't get his way.
This was the show where the artistic team had a very poor opinion of the theater company that Darly has been with for the past 4 years and had me change Darly's resume to omit all references to that company...including the part about her stage combat skills because they wouldn't be "up to snuff" because they were for the "inferior" theater company. :p
Other red flags...
They were planning to use the local theater here for the show, but had not booked it.
The run date for the show is in August with rehearsals starting in July but casting it now.
The actors are supposed to get paid (nicely) but I couldn't see where the money was coming from as it is an expensive theater to rent.
The good thing is now we don't have to worry about Show A anymore. Leaving shows B & C free and clear for being in...no more conflicting schedules.... although I did find another show to audition for. ;) I'm saving it as a back up for if she doesn't get into show B.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Lez do it!
sorry, channeling Tone Loc there.
For not being "in a show" Darly has had a very busy schedule of late.
Last weekend:
Saturday
Improv show at 11am
meeting at 3pm
Sunday
church at 9:30
dance at 11
voice lesson at 3
Oh and she had improv practice the Wednesday before
This weekend is a bit calmer
she has a "competition" today...it's a weird thing that her voice teacher wants her to do.
and just dance tomorrow
but on the horizon
voice lesson
possible improv practice
vet for Lilly
blood donation for me
then the two auditions!
She has FINALLY finished reading the driver's hand book. Now to get her to take the online test a few more times so that she is comfortable taking the test so we can get that over with. She is still petrified of taking the driver's test and driving too. sigh! But mom is sick of being her taxi.
For not being "in a show" Darly has had a very busy schedule of late.
Last weekend:
Saturday
Improv show at 11am
meeting at 3pm
Sunday
church at 9:30
dance at 11
voice lesson at 3
Oh and she had improv practice the Wednesday before
This weekend is a bit calmer
she has a "competition" today...it's a weird thing that her voice teacher wants her to do.
and just dance tomorrow
but on the horizon
voice lesson
possible improv practice
vet for Lilly
blood donation for me
then the two auditions!
She has FINALLY finished reading the driver's hand book. Now to get her to take the online test a few more times so that she is comfortable taking the test so we can get that over with. She is still petrified of taking the driver's test and driving too. sigh! But mom is sick of being her taxi.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Getting back into the game...
So right now our weekly schedule has changed. Not that it was all that set before, but before I knew that Friday evening and Saturday would be busy with rehearsals. We don't have that now.
I also used to have grocery shopping day tacked onto voice lesson day as we were already out of the house and I was showered and dressed. But Darly has asked that we stop doing that because by the time we get to the grocery store it is packed with moms herding their cats while talking on their phones...and is frankly a mad house. sigh
So here I sit on Thursday in my pj's dreading getting dressed so I can go to the store to buy all the stuff we are out of. sigh
Anyone got any motivation??? One would think that the lack of lunch items and coffee for tomorrow would be motivation...but really not so much. :-/
I also used to have grocery shopping day tacked onto voice lesson day as we were already out of the house and I was showered and dressed. But Darly has asked that we stop doing that because by the time we get to the grocery store it is packed with moms herding their cats while talking on their phones...and is frankly a mad house. sigh
So here I sit on Thursday in my pj's dreading getting dressed so I can go to the store to buy all the stuff we are out of. sigh
Anyone got any motivation??? One would think that the lack of lunch items and coffee for tomorrow would be motivation...but really not so much. :-/
Sunday, March 08, 2015
Well THAT didn't work!
I had been considering getting a cat for our family for a while. One main problem is Darly is allergic to cats. However, we learned that there are certain "Hypoallergenic" cats. And that explained why Darly did okay and well with some cats and not so much with others.
Problem number two is FINDING one of these cats...and I like to rescue my pets, not buy them. So I kept checking our local animal shelters for the breeds I knew, but I was also looking at the characteristics of the cats because sometimes the shelter has no idea what they have.
That was the case with Chai. I saw her photo on line and noticed that she met many of the characteristics of a cat that "could" have less of the protein that Darly is allergic to. So we went to visit with her and yes, we were correct in that Darly didn't react to her at all.
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| Darly & Chai |
As you can see in the photo, Chai is a shy girl, but who can blame her...she was at the shelter surrounded by all sorts of strange things and the visitor's rooms have glass walls so she could see everyone going down the hall...including all the dogs. Poor kitty.
Chai is actually a very sweet girl and of course my softy fell in love with her right away. But we still had another hurdle to jump here... DAD!!!!
I hadn't bothered to tell DH that we were even thinking of a cat because the chances of finding one that Darly could have were so small. Once I told him, he was not at all for getting another animal. Ya know, I probably shouldn't have told him. :-/ He was never for me getting any of our other pets ... well he was for getting Misty, but that was a long time ago.
So we called the shelter and told them that we had to give up our hold on Chai. I'm guessing that was for the best as that evening we saw that they took Chai's picture off of the shelter's website. So we assume that she was adopted. Hopefully she found a wonderful home with a dad who really wanted a cat too.
When it rains it pours!
After MONTHS of waiting ...
Let me back up. Darly decided that she wanted to try out some of the other theater groups in our area. There is one group that she is particularly interested in trying out for (Show B), but they had not announced when their next audition was going to be...or when the show was going to be either!
We knew that one show that Darly REALLY would like to be in will be in the fall...they announced that a long time ago. Darly knows most of the people in that group and likes them and is excited to try them. Show C
In the mean time I found another show that looked (to me) like a lot of fun. So after quite a bit of work tweeking Darly's resume (this group has a very low opinion of the theater group that Darly has been in for the past 4 years, so I had to take out all mention of them) she has an audition scheduled with them. However, after finding out that this is completely an Adult cast we know that Darly's chances of actually getting into this show are pretty slim and her chances of getting a part other than ensemble are nil. However, we're sticking with it for the experience. Show A
Well yesterday (very late in the evening) we found that the other show that Darly was interested in trying for has announced their auditions and when the show will run. I don't know when the rehearsals will be yet. However, the shows over lap. Show B
I fully expect that the formatting on this is going to be all wonky. As you can see below there is NO WAY to be able to do all 3 shows. It is either do show A only or do shows B & C. Thank goodness the chances of getting into Show A are not that good and while Darly would be great in show A she isn't all that interested in doing it. If she sees this, she'll freak out and not want to even audition for A. So I am going to wait to post this until AFTER show A auditions. LOL
Let me back up. Darly decided that she wanted to try out some of the other theater groups in our area. There is one group that she is particularly interested in trying out for (Show B), but they had not announced when their next audition was going to be...or when the show was going to be either!
We knew that one show that Darly REALLY would like to be in will be in the fall...they announced that a long time ago. Darly knows most of the people in that group and likes them and is excited to try them. Show C
In the mean time I found another show that looked (to me) like a lot of fun. So after quite a bit of work tweeking Darly's resume (this group has a very low opinion of the theater group that Darly has been in for the past 4 years, so I had to take out all mention of them) she has an audition scheduled with them. However, after finding out that this is completely an Adult cast we know that Darly's chances of actually getting into this show are pretty slim and her chances of getting a part other than ensemble are nil. However, we're sticking with it for the experience. Show A
Well yesterday (very late in the evening) we found that the other show that Darly was interested in trying for has announced their auditions and when the show will run. I don't know when the rehearsals will be yet. However, the shows over lap. Show B
I fully expect that the formatting on this is going to be all wonky. As you can see below there is NO WAY to be able to do all 3 shows. It is either do show A only or do shows B & C. Thank goodness the chances of getting into Show A are not that good and while Darly would be great in show A she isn't all that interested in doing it. If she sees this, she'll freak out and not want to even audition for A. So I am going to wait to post this until AFTER show A auditions. LOL
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| The really sad part is IF she does get into show A it won't be very professional of her to drop it because she would rather be in shows B & C. Especially given that the folks of Show A are really going out on a limb to even give her the audition spot. Oh well. I'm sure it will all work out for the best, we'll just have to see what that is. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UPDATE: I actually ended up posting this before the auditions because Darly figured out the messy schedule on her own. There's actually another snag in that a trip Darly wanted to go on is during rehearsals for show B. But since none of Darly's friends can go on the trip either, it is less of a big deal. We asked a friend about show A because we couldn't find any info about them. She warned us that show A might not even happen (check to see if the theater was booked, it wasn't) and a few other tips also. So it will be interesting to see how things go at the auditions. |
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