oh my goodness...

way too much going on.

1. Painting the great room. The room is huge and I am doing most of the work by myself. I am almost half way done. When we bought the house the first thing we wanted to do was paint but ended up in escrow hell and had to move super fast. Now, 6 months later I'm finally getting the chance to get it down. We are going from blue and pink (yuck!) to a couple really nice shades of brown. I'll post pictures as soon as it's done.

2. Decorating. I need to get it done and want it done this weekend. Enough said.

3. Medical mumbo jumbo. I have to have a medical test done on Monday. I have been having some gastrointestinal problems and the doctor wants to figure out exectly what is going on. I won't go into all the completely disgusting details, lets just say that doctor's are gross.

4. Christmas Shopping. I managed to get most of it finished. Got to love Black Friday. I finish that day every year.

5. New York. I leave for the Big Apple on Tuesday. I am very excited about the trip although a little nervous about the flight (see item 3). What is even better, the stage hand strike is over, which means the shows are running again!

6. Auditions. I was supposed to go on an audition on Sunday night. This plan has been derailed by item 3. The prep for the procedure begins Sunday afternoon. I am keeping my options open and will see how I feel at that time, but it's not looking good.

So that is my life in a nutshell. Now it's back to painting.

I survived!

It's over, done, finished, and best of all is survived and I'm not sick!

The show went off wonderfully. The audience really enjoyed the production and the kids were amazing. As wonderful as it all was I have one incident that has tainted the experience and has made it very difficult for me to ever cast a particular kid again.

Evidently there was a mild verbal altercation between him and two of the girls in the cast as they came back to the school for their call time. They started out making some slightly racial jokes back and forth (I don't really get that) and then all of a sudden he just flipped out on them. From the accounts I have heard he was participating in the joking, it wasn't like they started to include him and he was immediately offended.

They bickered back and forth for two hours and let it come to a head 2 minuted before the show was supposed to start. Literally, I was talking with audience memebers and my stage manager comes running up to me and says that I am needed immediately backstage. On the way he told me what was going on. I laid into the kids first about how this was stupid, that they had a show to do and they needed to get over it and give the audience what they came for, a great performance. Then I started calming them down. I was angry first because they needed to understand the gravity of the situation and what they were doing. This was on Friday.

Come Saturday I thought everything was fine when during intermission the SM cames to me again with a paniced look, it was starting again, only this time it was pretty much just the boy. He was getting in people's faces again and he shoved one of the freshmen girls (yes, we refer to them as a collective). I went back stage and just walked from group to group and told them the exact same thing, I didn't want to hear their side, that nobody was to be getting into anybodies face, that they needed to suck it up and get through the next hour and after that I didn't care if they ever talked to each other again.

After the show I talked with my AP who came to the performance and told her what was going on. After the Thanksgiving holiday she wants to talk to the girls who where involved and then she will meet with the boy. We are all concerned that it might escalate from him shoving someone into him actually hitting someone. And they are backstage by themselves, I may have to station a parent backstage from this point on.

This kid has pretty much sealed with fate for future productions. He is pretty much "drama" in every production he does (and not in the good way). I would rather not work with him and have a good experience then have kids quit the program because he makes them miserable and they can't work with him.

ARGH! The joy of working with teenagers.

Next on the school schedule: The Silly Project. My advanced students are creating a performance piece for the new Mentally Handicapped (MH) program kids. There are 11 MH kids now on our campus. The project is based on a project we watched a documentary about (Yellow Brick Road). We are going to get these kids on stage and see what they can do. We will be inviting a couple of classes , parents, administration and people from the district. It should prove to be a whole bunch of fun.

On the Home schedule: The rest of the day is devoted to recovering my house. It has just gone all bad with me being at school so much and M has actually had the nerve to tell me I have a lot of stuff to put away. I told him I knew and called him Mr. Obvious. So, while he is working today, I'm cleaning, doing laundry and looking for all the holiday stuff in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Now, it's time to get some work done.

change of service...

that's what I'm considering. I am developing a complete disdain for blogger. I'm not happy with an incident that occurred when I changed to a gmail account. Google automatically made that account my user name, I don't want that account linked to this blog at all. There are just some things I like to keep in separate areas of my life.

I know that sounds silly, but it's the way I like it.

So, what I would like to ask...those of you who use other blog services, what do you like? What would you recommend? Is there a service where I could just transfer my current blog content over? Or is it just gone forever?

Thanks a bunch!

drowning...

That's what I'm doing, drowning. I have come to the conclusion that I will never catch up, I will never be prepared and I will NOT feel like I am being successful this year.

I have 4 preps (for those of you who don't teach, that means I teach for different classes), one I haven't had to teach in at least 10 years. I have a student teacher, which actually makes things harder. Everyone keeps saying "but you have a student teacher to help". What they don't understand is that the word "STUDENT" means they don't know what they are doing yet. They are just that, a student and are learning and do need my attention from time to time. (I'm still trying to figure out why they would give the likes of me a student teacher).

I really feel like this might end up being the last year I teach. I am just not liking the feelings of "I suck", "I don't know what I'm doing", "I don't have any support" and the mentality that I can handle everything. I used to be able to do that, but somewhere along the line I have lost that ability. I can no longer handle it all! I'm just not that good anymore.

I am so busy I can't even find the time to get into the gym, hell, I can't find the time to work out in my living room. I try, but in the last two days I have developed a nasty cough, can't do anything even mildly related to working out when I have a coughing fit every two minutes.

So, with all that said and feeling like I truly do suck eggs in the job I used to love...I am off to get ready to head to school and have another low self-esteem filled day.

Ay me!

I live in amazment each year at how incredibly busy I am during the school year. I am smack in the middle of rehearsal for Midsummer, have a one-act opening next week, need to decide what the kids are doing second quarter and need to get my tech kids building platforms and stairs like crazy. (M has been trying to talk me into a truck for months, today I wish he had succeeded, I need to buy lumber!)

It's breast cancer awarness month! Are you aware? Some of you may remember my brief adventure with dying my hair pink for the Avon walk? Well guess what! I'm going to be pink for the entire month of October. It's been almost two weeks, I love it and never want to go back. The color is "hot hot pink" by Manic Panic. It ROCKS!!!!! (Even if it does look a bit like Lacey from Rock of Love) And in case your interested, I signed up for the walk again next year! Let the fundraising begin!!!!

M is spending most of the month in Vegas working on various shows. It's very strange to only be married 3 months and have him leave town for so long. Although, I have discovered that being married really doesn't suit my attitude. I have been pretty gumpy lately. I absolutely LOVE M. There is something about being married that just sets me off. So, we have decided that I will just pretend that we aren't married and things haven't changed that dramatically and see if my attitude gets adjusted to one we both like better.

A word on procrastination...I'm the queen! As I talk about the length of my to-do lists I sit and write a blog that nobody will read or care about, but it makes me feel better. I should be grading the bazillion papers that are on my desk waiting to be graded and returned, only I don't feel like it. I'm tired and I just don't want to do it. I guess I could grade a few and then go home and sit on the sofa and procrastinate on the stuff that needs to be done there...

theatre in review

This weekend was fab. I got to see lots of theatre, during the school year 2 plays in a weekend is a lot!

So, here's what I saw...

Saturday night M took me on a hot date to the Gala Opening of the Camino Real Playhouse's production of

It was a really fun time. Riff Raff was amazing. If you haven't had the opportunity to see the live stage version of this cult movie classic...then get off your duff and get to the theatre. It really is a lot of fun.

Then on Sunday we had tickets to

while the show was enjoyable, it just lacked the spark that live performance usually has. I am hopeful that it was because it was closing night and not that it had been a bad run.

Upcoming shows on my social calendar include...

We also have tickets to Spamalot, but I couldn't find a good graphic.

I love theatre!

remembering what it is all about...

After a 9 1/2 year battle with breast cancer a dear friend has passed. It is so very sad, we got the email on Monday. D was only 44. She is just one of the many, many reasons I am so commited to the breast cancer cause.

She and her husband, K, where the perfect couple. He even went as far as selling his share in the company he helped start when they were told they should get their affairs in order because treatment wasn't working. He wanted to spend all the time he could with D. They were fun, enjoyed not only each others company but brought so many people into that loving circle.

D offered me so much hope and support when my mom was diagnosed and going through treatment. At that point D had finished her second fight with cancer. She remained strong through all three of battles.

This last time the doctors had discovered cancer in her chest cavity. She had gone in when she just didn't feel right after one of her workouts (she was a tri-athelet). She never gave up, even when they told her treatment wasn't working. She continued treatment until it was just making her too sick to enjoy her life. At that point she decided to stop treatment and have a quality of life with her husband and two children (the youngest is a junior in college). They took wonderful trips and really enjoyed each other while they had the time.

The last time I saw D was in June at a wedding. She looked great and we talked about seeing each other at my wedding and her wanting to meet my mom because she knew her story. They missed the wedding because D wasn't doing well. I never got a chance to visit with her again.

I am sad that I didn't get to know her better. I am glad I had the opportunity to get to know her as well as I did. She really is an inspiration for me, to remember to not give up no matter how bad it gets, to love those around me with my full heart and let those people know I love them.

I guess the point I really want to get across is let those you love know that you love them. Love them like there is no tomorrow, because there might not be.

Please keep K and the kids in your thoughts and prayers as they say formal goodbyes at the funeral tomorrow. Pray that they remember the good times and put the bad behind them.

And to you, my bloggy friends, I love you and send you all good thoughts and wishes.

eggs

Have you ever noticed that organic, free-range eggs are almost three times more expensive than regular eggs? Why is that?

It is so bad that I have actually stopped buying them unless I am at the farmer's market.

I have noticed that everything organic is more expensive. I would really like to go completely organic and natural, but with it almost tripling the cost of groceries I just can't do it. Even if I really want to. How sad is that?

one week down...

We're back, we're chugging along and all is going well. So far I am loving my students, then again it's only been two days.

My classes are not so big (pretty sad when you consider under 40 not so big). I have a really big Theatre 1 class and 22 in Advanced Theatre. That is the biggest that class has been since I came to this school 4 years ago. I guess the program is growing a bit.

I have picked up a new class with the ROP program. I am teaching Theatre Tech. It is going to be so much fun.

Productions lined up so far include A Midsummer Night's Dream for the school's fall production.
Then in my Advanced class the kids will be directing one-acts while I direct The Suessifcation of Romeo and Juliet with the. That will be my modeling show for how to direct a play. After that there has been a request for a murder mystery play by the advanced students.

And here is the big news...I told the VD that I won't be working on the musical this year. I am done working with him (I didn't tell him that part). I told him it was just too much stress and I want to take care of my health this year. He seemed to understand, didn't seem upset and said he doesn't know if he's going to do one or not. Should be interesting. The Drama kids have started telling me that if I'm not doing it, they aren't doing it. I will be directing a spring play instead.

My new lighting and sound system come in starting next week. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. Imagine doing a play with real audio, cool lighting and all kinds of fun stuff. The kids are walking on air about this.

This is going to be an awesome year. One full of positive thinking and postive happenings. I REFUSE to let anything get me down this year. I know I said that last year and actually did pretty well until we hit the musical. This year there is nothing standing in my way.

Yosemite

Although I have lived in California my entire life and my family camped for our vacations while growing up I had NEVER been to Yosemite. In fact, I'm note sure I had ever been mountain camping. We usually camped near water, lakes, rivers, beach, that type of stuff.

M on the other hand grew up going to Yosemite. It's his favorite place to go. So, that is where we spent our first vacation as a married couple.

If you have never been, get online and book a trip! It is a most amazing place.

This is the first view you get of Half Dome as you start to enter the valley. You can actually hike to the top of it. We didn't. Niether one of us is in that kind of shape. But I plan on doing it before it die. Apparently it's only 16 miles round trip, the problem comes into the nature of the trip. It's up hill, or mountain I should say, and the last bit, in which you actually climb the dome is done with pull ropes. We talked to people who did it and it sounds SO cool. That is my next big goal.

Bridalvail falls. We actually climbed in to this area. There is a vista point and from there you can climb boulders to get closer to the falls. I am so glad I did that. It was beautiful. I didn't go as far as M and the kids did. I'm a wimp like that. I had never been bouldering before. M was just happy I did it.

I got to see a bear! This was the best! There were only a couple of things I really wanted to do in Yosemite and one of them was to raft the river. Well, the river was down by the time we went so the rafting was closed. Getting to see a bear completely made up for that. She was in an apple tree in the Curry Village parking lot. Apparently she had been hanging out there all day. I watched her for about an hour. And took tons of pictures. I won't bore you will all of them. Just the one. (Unless you want more, I would be more than happy to share) I was probably only 30-40 feet away from her. The rangers did a good job keeping people a safe distance away while letting us get close enough to get some good pictures and really enjoy the actual wildlife in the park.

I also saw lots of deer and tons and tons fo squirels.

Our closest encounter with wildlife happened our second night in the park. M and I were in our cabin, M had been up late reading the final Harry Potter book. It was hot so we had left the door open until about 12:30. After M finally went to bed, door shut and everything, we hear this scratching noise. I sit up bolt straight in bed, he jumps up and turns on the light, the noise stops. Neither one of us has any idea what it might be. We did know that squirels had been trying to enter our cabin during the day when we were in there with the door open. We thought maybe one got stuck, but couldn't find it.

We turn off the light and try to go back to sleep. A few minutes later we hear the scratching again. Same thing, he turns on the light, I sit up and the noise stops. By this point I say "I'm scared" and he replys with "So am I". (that's my big strong man for you)

We turn off the light and I stay sitting up. I'm going to figure out what this monster that is stalking us really is. I listen intently, finally the scratching starts again. He turns on the light, I carefully get out of bed as to not upset the thing that seems to be scratching in the trashcan. I slowly move the can by the door, poke it with my shoe and look around like the thing could have gotten out of the can without me seeing it.

I wander around the room for a few minutes. Then take the bag out of the can, maybe the monster will be traped in the bag. I open the door to put it outside, bears be damned I wasn't walking to a trashcan with a monster in my hand, when I catch a glint in the can itself. I look closer and find a little, bitty field mouse. Some how this little guy had gotten in the trashcan, under the bag and was stuck. I put the can outside the door, tipped it over and the little guy ran for his life.

Man, we felt pretty silly about it the next day. But damn it, It could have been a bear in the cabin! Well, it could have been!

just a vent...

The weekend of my wedding I found out that my dad and his wife are splitting up. Actually I didn't find out the weekend of the wedding, I actually found out a few days after. But it all really came down right before the wedding.

My dad hasn't actually talked to me about it. My sister's husband told me what was going on. Apparently my dad has engaged in a bit of an indiscretion, to put it nicely. Pretty much the same thing he did before he left my mom. C (his wife) has told him he has to be the one to tell me and my sisters and apparently I am the only one he hasn't talked to.

He called me today to try to set up a time to come and talk to me and M about what is going on. He knows that I know bits and pieces, but not the whole story.

I am avoiding the call back for the time being. I just don't know what to say to him. I really like C and plan on keeping her in my life. In fact I like her much more than I like my dad, especially after this stunt. I know that people make mistakes, that they screw up, they make poor choices, I've done it. But to continue down the same path again and again, it just doesn't make sense.

coming to an end...

Summer is quickly coming to an end. I can't believe I go back to school in just a few weeks. I am so not ready (am I ever?).

There is so much I want to get done before that first staff day but don't think it's going to happen. This summer has just been crazy busy. With the wedding, Yosemite (pictures to come later), a trip to Oregon in a couple of weeks and then on to Colorado to see my new niece.

Thank you to those of you who wished me luck on the auditions. I ended up not going. I decided that I was just too busy. Not to metion none of the shows sounded like much fun to me. I will continue to watch the audition notices for something that sounds like fun and tackle that later.

auditions

I am thinking about auditioning for a series of one-act plays today at a local theatre. I had considered the possibility months ago when they first sent out the notice, without dates. Then the final notice was emailed and I was to be out of town, in Yosemite (more on the trip later), so I didn't even think about it again. Then Thursday when I arrived home I found another email from the theatre that they were having a round 2 of auditions. Today.

I have downloaded sides, I have read the play descriptions and still can't decided if any of them look worth my time. They are all original plays, but they also all sound dumb, with the exception of one or two.

So, with my mind not totally made up I may be heading to an audition in about 4 hours. Wish me "break a leg."

Picture Time!

Here they are...Pictures from the wedding day.

The car was completely jammed full of stuff for the wedding. M drives an Acura, so it was a challenge to get everything from Anaheim to Temecula. But with his master packing skills we were able to do it.

Because we where having a wedding at winery we decided that the centerpieces needed to be simple, in fact the tables are the only things we decorated. We pretty much let the winery shine.

Here M is filling the wine bottles that we used as vases.


I'm putting the Gerbera Daisies into the bottles with a little bit of greenery.

We were very lucky that the winery owner was willing to give me empties every time I went to the winery, otherwise I would have had to drink 30 bottles of wine to get enough for the tables and the bars.

It's hard to see but the lables on the bottles look like they are actual wine lables, they have our names and the date where the wine type and vintage would be. We scaned a Longshadow lable and then taylored it to our wedding. They turned out really well. In fact the owner kept several to put in the tasting room with flowers in them. I can't wait to go the winery and see them.



The main winery sign, this is where people entered the lawn area.

The location looked just perfect.

We didn't do a traditional wedding ceremony. Instead of having an aisle we just had everyone gather around for the ceremony. It was nice to be surrounded by family and friends instead of feeling like we were on stage.

We didn't have any attendants, but M's girls happened to pick dresses that were very similar to each other, and with the flowers we gave them, they looked like Jr. Bridesmaids.

The lady we found to officiate the ceremony was wonderful. If you are in this area looking for someone to do a wedding I would totally recommend her. She does weddings because she loves being a part of the happiest day of people's lives.

A good friend of ours took this picture while the photographer was doing pictures, I love it. Even if it is a little blurry.

The cupcakes were a hit. Frosted in Long Beach/Belmont Shores did an amazing job. Red Velvet cake with cream cheese iceing. How can you beat that.

This was taken near the end of the night, I had a mouth full of cake and they didn't let me swallow before snapping the shot.

So, there you have it. Our wedding in a nutshell. When I get the CD from the photographer I'll post some more.

The owner of the winery actually told us that this was one of his favorite weddings done at the winery, because we kept it so simple. We didn't try to go over the top with stuff and used the beauty of the winery to our advantage.

It was just amazing.

It's Official!

I'M MARRIED!!!! We are both so happy (it's almost disgusting). I will post pictures tomorrow, we just got home and now I need to change and head out to Disneyland to meet family. I would really rather stay home, open gifts and hang out, but you know how it is when family comes in from out of town.

Let me just tell you this much about the wedding....it was perfect. Absolutly nothing went wrong and everyone had a great time.

Thank you for the well wishes and happy thoughts.

final countdown...

The next time you hear from me I will be a married woman. We leave tomorrow morning at 7:00am for Temecula. We have to pick up the flowers from the wholesaler. I still have lots to do, M has already gone to bed. I spent the day shopping with my good friend, L, for her birthday. I should have stayed home and done my stuff, but I wanted to see L and I was making myself crazy trying to get everything done. Now I have the quiet of everyone either gone or sleeping to finish.

My biggest stress right now is forgetting something that should go. Followed very closely with how am I going to wear my hair and will I gain weight in the next two days and not be able to fit in my dress. Because let me tell you, it is SNUG!

Anyway, off to check my list again and look for all my cute hairbobs that have never materialized since the move. I need to find 1, just 1, dragonfly bobbypin. I know I have one in the right color, I just can't find the darn thing.

Have a good one and make sure to send me happy thoughts at 6:30pm pst on Sunday.

6 days...

Less than a week, here's the most recent "To Do" list...

1. Wine tags - they have been created and laminated. Now they just need to be cut out from the laminating stuff, punched and ribbon ties added. We bought this repositionable laminate that is supposed to fully set in 24 hours. As of hour 18 I could still pull the stuff apart. Which means when I cut them appart they won't be fully sealed. If I have to go buy the permanent stuff and redo them I am not going to be happy.

2. Programs - I am creating a program sheet. Just a one pager that tells everyone what time things are happening and gives a few directions. For example we aren't having a guest book, we are having a guest photo album, I may have mentioned this before. Anyway, I have people who will take their photo and then the guests will fill out a little message card which will go under their picture in the album. But if we don't give them the directions to do this we might miss someone.

3. Guest book - I have to mount the handmade paper on cardstock so it will hold up better when people write on it.

4. Wine lables- I still need to print these. The girl at Staples said that if we bought the giant sticker sheets she could copy onto them for us. When we went back to pick them up we were informed that we could not do that. So we took my jump drive and left, leaving the two other print jobs we had done sitting there unpaid for. (which means I have to have those done someplace else)

5. Accessories - I must decide on the jewles I will wear for the big event. I may post some pictures for opinions.

6. Hair - Decide if I am going to do my own or trust some strage person to do it the day of. I know this is something that should have been done months ago, but I really thought I could do my own up-d0. I have discovered I can't, I am up-do deficient. Any suggestions to this one?

7. Pack - I will be staying in Temecula for two days. Need to pack my clothes.

8. Organize Wedding Central - Our library is currently Wedding Central, I need to move it from there into the entry way and organize it for the trip down on Saturday.

9. Timeline - I need to finalize the timeline and get that out to everyone who needs it.

Okay, I think that is everything that needs to get done before I leave on Saturday morning. I have to be in Temecula to meet the wholesale florist who is coming in special for me to pick up my centerpiece flowers. We will then drop them off at the winery and I will assemble the centerpieces on Sunday after brunch. Other than my pamering that will happen that weekend, that is everything.

And if one more person from M's family asks me if I'm going to see Harry Potter with them I may have to slap someone. As much as I want to see the new movie I think I have some more important things going on. I can't believe that they have even had the nerve to ask.

7 days...

There are 7 days until the wedding! I can't believe it, it has come up so fast. And what I really can't believe is that today it was spung on me that M's ex-wife (D) will be staying in Temecula as well. Because she wants to be there to get B ready for the wedding. Not that there won't be TONS of family there to take care of it. My theory, she wants to be there so she can screw things up for me and M. I could not believe what I was hearing when B made the comment on wanting to take her dress home so her mom could figure out how to do her hair. When asked how that was going to happen, we were told that her mom was going to be down there anyway and wanted to get her for a couple of hours. She wants to get her so she can get B all worked up and upset right before the wedding.

I HATE THAT WOMAN

What's worse...M is going to let her get away with it. Because even if he tells her we don't want her anywhere near the wedding, she is going to fight to do it and he will give in to her, because he doesn't want to deal with her. It kills me.

I will never bond with this child because of her mother. Her mother doesn't want B to like me. She doesn't want B to get over the divorce, she wants to create a codependent disfunctional child. And there isn't anything I can do about and nothing M will do.

what another post?

Okay, I just posted, but I couldn't let this one slip by.

I just read an article on the Simpson's movie promotion being done in conjunction with 7-11. It's actually really cute, several 7-11s have been made into Kwik-E-marts for the next month, selling things such as squishies and KrustyO's. Now, here is the cool part...7-11 decided not to sell Duff Beer (Homer's favorite) because the movie is rated PG-13.

The head of marketing felt that while yes they could sell it, but why. They decided to just promote the good clean fun of it.

I thought that was pretty cool. They could have sold tons of Duff Beer, but instead decided that they would rather not because of the effect on the younger audience they will be drawing in because of the Simpson's "stuff".

This struck me so hard, that they didn't put the money first, that I sent an email to 7-11 to commend them on the decision and I have decided that I will be buying squishies and KrustyO's for the next month (the duration of the promotion).

Pretty cool, huh?

when is it enough?

I live in a beautiful new home with M. I used to live in an adorable little townhouse, which I now rent to M's former roommate, R.

It was hard for me to move because I was very close to my neighbors. D and I shared a common wall between our units, we used to hang out in V&G's garage. We were all friends.

Now, R is in the townhouse. He has met D once. She had been to his house once to complain about the volume of the music. She has emailed me twice about the volume of the music. The first time M went over and talked to him, this time I sent an email to him asking him to keep it down. To his defense I also asked D for more information regarding level of the sound and the times that it is too loud. But it shoulds like it is pretty much all thetime.

Here is my dilema...when do I tell him he may have to move because of this issue. He has lived there for 2 months and I have gotten 2 complaints and the neighbor has gone over once.

M and I actually argue more about this than anything. He defends R in the not turning down the music until he is asked and I side with D on she shouldn't have to go over everytime it's too loud, he should remember at what level it was when the complaint came. Mark it on the dial for goodness sake!

I don't know what to do. When do I start looking for a new renter? How do I get it through to M that D is in the right by contacting me and she shouldn't have to go to R's house everytime it was loud. I used to play my music pretty loud and she never complained about me or to me.

Ah! The perils of being a landlord.