I vacuumed my dog today

This is Sam. You may have met him before on this blog. He's one of the three animals currently living in my home who are determined to send me to an early grave with the amount of hair that comes off their bodies. Sam is by FAR the biggest offender. I don't know how he isn't bald. I could make yarn and knit extra large afghans in bulk out of the stuff that comes off of him.

Today, I had just finished vacuuming our hardwood floors when we decided to go to the store. Yes, I said vacuuming hardwood floors. Trust me, it's the only way. Anyway, we took a two minute stroll to get some milk. When we returned, there was already a dusting of honey-gold hair all over the lovely cherry beneath my feet.

I groaned. I cried. I gnashed my teeth. I gave Sam a dirty look. I stomped my feet. Then, he gave me his best "but, mama, I love you" look and all was forgiven . . . for just a second until I brushed a hair from my eye (it was apparently disturbed by the foot stomping). I then proceeded to vacuum him with the brush attachment for about ten minutes.

If this doesn't work, he's getting a buzz cut.

Ramblings

My husband left yesterday (in the wee hours of the morning) to be with his mom in Georgia as she recuperates. I miss him. :-(

I've been blessed for almost a year now to get to stay home with our daughter. What this also means is that I actually get to hang out with my husband now, too, and I've had a chance to rediscover what a cool guy he is, and why the heck I married him in the first place. He is off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and we've developed a little bit of a routine. We usually have lunch together one of those days (love that soup/salad/breadsticks deal at Olive Garden!), and we ALWAYS go for a bike ride on one of those days. We almost always squeeze in a trip to Lowes or Home Depot, too. Or both. We should have our own parking spaces there.

But, I digress.

I really miss our bike rides. I don't know when it happened, but some time during one of the last few trips, I stopped being scared to death and the trails started to get really fun. I can almost keep up with him, and I actually look forward to giant mud puddles (I really, really love the mud puddles), squeezing between two trees, a nervous tummy when I have to negotiate a tight turn at the bottom of a little hill, and surviving the inevitable crashes. I figured out that I'm not supposed to feel in control of the bike at all times . . . sometimes you have to just let go and hang on for the ride . . . and keep pedaling! No matter what, keep pedaling!

I actually like riding so much now that it's affecting how I plan vacations. Our tenth anniversary is coming up this year, and I want to go to Missoula. It's beautiful, I'd like to try some fly-fishing, and they have FABULOUS biking trails! In fact, there is a trail system within the city so you can get wherever you need on your bike!

Mostly, though, I just miss my hubby. I miss hanging out with him in the woods. I'm ready for a bike ride.

Yep.

Watching the 5 finalists attempt to resuscitate long-dead Neil Diamond songs last night was just as awkward and painful as I expected it to be. I realize that there are some big Neil fans out there, but most of them were as high when they listened to his music as he was when he wrote it. Have you ever really paid attention to any of his lyrics? We googled his songs for fun the other night (not really . . . we googled them because the only one we knew was the America song) and our googling gave us a giggle. Some of our favorite excerpts:

"Let me hear that, let me near that - Crunchy granola suite - drop your shrink, and stop your drinkin - Crunchy granola's neat - Da da da - da da da da - dee dee dee dum"

"Stones would play inside her head . . . la la la la la la la la la on stones"

"Gitchy goomy, gitchy gaddy . . . goggin' noggin papa's rockin . . ."

"You're so sweet, horseflies keep hangin' round your face"

And if you still had any doubt about his inspiration:

"La la la - Pot, pot, gimme some pot."

It didn't help that Carly got voted off last week. I loved her, and I always looked forward to hearing her. I'm not even sure if SHE could have gotten me excited about Neil Diamond, though. I really don't know what the producers were thinking.

Can't Stop Yawning Today

I am so tired. I didn't get home until 11:30 from last night's performance, and I didn't get much sleep at all the night before that. I still can't believe the toll my nerves are taking on my body. They were calmer last night than opening night, so I'm hoping things will greatly improve when opening weekend is over!

I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, though. I'm exhausted, but I'm having so much fun, even considering the tumble I took on stage last night! Yes, I fell. But let me tell you - it had to have been the greatest recovery in the history of theatre. Justin and I were singing the reprise of "There Once Was a Man". It's a fast song, and at the end, we dance around in a circle, and I basically balance my hip on his hip (facing each other), and he dips me completely upside down and my legs go straight up in the air. Well . . . when he brought me back up from the dip, my feet never got any traction at all. I tried to plant them, and my legs just came right out from under me. He tried to catch me, and ended up falling over my legs just a little. BUT, we hopped right up, never stopped singing, and went right into the final spin, then he slung me over his shoulder and carried me offstage and the audience ate it up. I thought my finger was broken for just a few seconds, but it turns out I just jammed it. It brought new meaning to "the show must go on!"

Needless to say, I'm switching to slightly less slippery shoes for tonight's performance, lol.

It's over!

Opening night, that is. I had a bad case of the nerves (from which my stomach is still recovering), but it went really well! There were a few opening night moments, like changing a few lyrics around, and not being able to change fast enough between one of my scenes so everyone hung out on stage a few minutes waiting for me. We covered it well, though! :-)

I will admit . . . the thing I was the most nervous about was the fact that my husband was there, and the day of reckoning had finally arrived - I had to kiss someone else in front of him. I survived, and bless Justin's heart (the leading man), he was nervous about it, too. When the show was over, I introduced him to my husband, and he apologized "for the whole kissing your wife thing." It was pretty funny.

Matt and Haleigh brought me a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of red roses, and that was the moment I truly felt like a star. Haleigh also insisted on bringing some roses for my new friend Katie, and I thought that was just about the sweetest thing ever.

And to top it all off . . . Matt came and woke me up this morning by bringing the laptop to bed so I could see the review. I am not at all exaggerating when I say our local theatre critic is NEVER this nice. He loved us! :-)

So, if you are interested, here's a link to the original story just telling people about the show (please excuse the silly expression on my face):

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/apr/20/local-theater-musical-loving-wwca-plays-game/

And here's a link to the review!

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/apr/25/local-theater-forget-the-bottoms-wwcas-145pajama/

Now, I think I'll go scrub the hairspray laquer from my hair, rest my vocal chords, have some tea, and get ready to do this all over again tonight!

Nerves of Steel

Yeah, right.

Opening night has arrived. In a few hours I'll be teasing my hot-rolled hair and getting into costume while running through last minute details for the show. My brain has been rendered completely useless. I have zero concentration and I long for something to settle my stomach.

What if I forget a line?
What if my daughter gasps so loudly (or. . . heaven forbid ... says "ewwww") when I kiss the leading man on stage that I lose my concentration and get out of character?
What if my husband does that? LOL
What if I have a wardrobe malfunction?
What if my voice cracks?
What if I get dropped on my head?
What if I trip walking across the stage?

As you can see, I need to chill out. If I could trust myself to do this and still remember my lines and entrances, I would have some yummy wine. A lot of it.

I suppose I will just look forward to drinking after the show. Opening night is sooooo nerve-wracking. I'll be glad when it's over . . . but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ten very random thoughts

But it has been a random kind of day. :-)

1. It is funny to me that so many people arrive on my blog because they have googled "humphead parrot fish". I wonder if they are watching the same National Geographic show that I watched. I can understand their fascination . . . have you seen them? You can observe one in all his (or her) beauty here.

2. I like my little live traffic banner. It's interesting to see where people come from, and how they land on my little blog, but it still gives them anonymity.

3. Speaking of visitors, I had one recently from Valdosta, Georgia! That is the neighboring town to my hometown of Quitman, and the city in which I graduated from highschool. I wonder if it was anyone I know?

4. I had to put gas in my car today. I can no longer fill up my car in one visit if I have less than an eighth of a tank - gas has gotten too expensive. The machine actually stops dispensing gas when you hit $75. I almost wept when I hit $75 and my tank was still not full. Such a sad state of affairs.

5. I was driving home today and I saw my husband at work. He was at a house to arrest a man that we affectionately call "crazy machete guy". It occurred to me that my husband is a big, imposing, slightly intimidating guy in uniform. I couldn't look away. It was as if I observed a parallel universe. The image before me just didn't mesh with the guy I snuggle with at night.

6. I might like coffee a little bit too much.

7. My nerves (about opening night THIS FRIDAY) are already affecting me. I think I need a massage.

8. I don't see how people function daily with long fingernails. I had acrylic nails put on for the show, and I want to gnaw them off at least 27 times a day. I do like the bright tomato red color, though. It makes me feel fiesty.

9. There's a giant Marmaduke-type puppy (Great Dane? mastiff?) bounding across the park. I'm watching him out the window and wondering how he can move so quickly and elegantly while being so enormous. It's kind of like that big tall athlete guy on "Dancing With the Stars."

And finally . . .

10. I wonder how many brain farts they had while figuring this one out.

And how has YOUR day been?

Mad Libs are 50!!!

I read today that Mad Libs are turning 50. The story of the game's creation is actually pretty interesting, and you can read all about it here.

When my husband went to boot camp, I stayed with his mom. I have a lot of really great memories from that time, but our evenings with Mad Libs are way up at the top of the list. I don't remember if we couldn't find the actual books anywhere, or if we just decided to play one night and didn't have any. Either way, we decided to make up our own stories. As we sipped our Dr. Thunders and ate chocolate covered cashews, things got very funny . . . and very strange. There was one story in particular that ended up being about a raccoon that seems to always come to mind. I think one of us may have it tucked away somewhere, and I think it might need to make its blog debut!

So, today I want to take a moment to say happy birthday to Mad Libs, and thank you to Ms. Robbin for the memories!!!

My kid, she's a little shy

Not really. :-) Last Thursday, she had her last day of Spanish class. The students had all chosen the type of character they wanted to be - they could pick anything they could imagine - and their teacher wrote a place involving all those characters and using the vocabulary they had been learning. There were two mermaids, a griffon, a dragon, the Queen of Spain, and Haleigh decided to be the lady at the circus who dances on elephants. (She's a little obsessed with elephants right now.) A few of the kids read their lines without ever looking up at the parents gathered around to watch. Most of them missed their entrances, but it was so cute anyway. Haleigh, however, once she figured out it was her turn, migrated right to center stage and made herself at home. I see a lot of this in our future.

Making grown-up friends

As outgoing as I am, I am not an overwhelmingly social person. That said, I always appreciate having one or two really good friends with whom I can totally be myself. Isn't it a great feeling when you meet someone and you immediately click? You just get each other, and it adds a wonderful new dimension to your life. I think it's a bit like dating, really - you meet people you like, but they fade away. Every now and then, a true friend comes along and that is something really special.

I had a lot of friends in school, but two girlfriends and I were inseperable. We were never without each other. In fact, people would often call all three houses if they were looking for one of us. I also had my cousin Chelsea, and you can read more about her here. My friends and I got married and moved away from one another, and my soul-mate Chelsea died when I was 19 and had just moved away from home. I was very consumed with my husband, and making our first home, but I think I realized even then that I missed having good girlfriends. I've made a few good friends over our Navy years, but inevitable one of us always moved away!

Until now. I've met my Katie. :-) Maybe one day I'll tell her about my blog and she can know how much I truly appreciate her. Katie is performing in The Pajama Game with me. She plays Gladys and she is MARVELOUS. She also teaches elementary school music - exactly what I probably would have been doing if I had finished college the first time around. Last night we were invited to a bonfire party at the home of the show's leading man, and Katie said she would go if I went. I knew my hubby would be working on homework and heading to bed for an early work day, so I said sure. We thought we would probably be home around midnight. We were in good company and having lots of fun, and I think Katie and I could literally sit up all night and talk. We practically did. Katie dropped me off at 2:40 this morning, but we were so deep into a discussion of religious philosophies that I still didn't make it inside until 3:30! Ouch. So, I'm sitting here, sleep deprived, and my hair REEKS of smoke from the bonfire, and I would give anything for a few more hours of sleep. But I am thankful for Katie, my new stay-up-until-all-hours-of-the-night-talking friend. We just have to start our outings earlier from now on. :-)

Just one more reason

to enjoy bicycling.

Goodbye, Mr. Heston

Charlton Heston has passed away. He certainly brought some iconic cinematic moments our way, didn't he? What was your favorite? Although I immediately think of him as Moses or Ben Hur, I had completely forgotten he starred in Midway until my husband reminded me. That's my favorite.

Just some thoughts

My mother-in-law shared a beautiful story on her blog yesterday, and for me, it provoked it a lot of thought. Hers is a tale of two little girls - one black, one white - who find each other as playmates around the wall that separates their two sides of a waiting room in a doctor's office in the segregated south. As I read it, I was reminded of a conversation I had with my father recently.

This summer, I enjoyed an extended vacation in Georgia with my family after a cross-country road trip. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my daddy and I like to hop in a vehicle and head out to "see what we can see". One afternoon we were coming back into town after a drive deep into some rural farm areas where my daddy's family came from. He had shown me where his daddy proposed to his mama - on a wooden bridge over a creek - and the land where his grandaddy's farmhouse stood. Now, we were headed to a farmer's market in an area of town I wasn't completely familiar with to pick up some peanuts for boiling and some acre peas. Yes, most of my trips to the south revolve around food. As we passed over some railroad tracks, he pointed out an old school building to me. He said it was the "colored" high school before integration.

My father was 16 when schools were integrated in his hometown. I'm not sure that it happened as soon as the laws were passed, since much of the south fought the integration laws for a while. When his school district finally got around to it, they decided to split the district up, between the "white" highschool and the "colored" highschool. Depending on where you lived, you would be bussed to one or the other. As expected, many of the white students and their families did not want them to be bussed into a colored neighborhood to attend the colored school. My father was one of the students who would attend that school . . . and he chose to drop out instead. With the full support of his parents.

What???? My daddy told me all of this in just a few sentences as we passed by the school, but I had a really difficult time processing it! You see, my parents did not raise me to be a prejudiced person. I learned early that racism and intolerance are ugly things. Considering the times, this revelation shouldn't have come as such a shock to me, but it did. It reminded me how much we are influenced by people and our environment.

My mother-in-law's parents taught her tolerance. She passed that along to her children. My parents did the same for me. Most importantly, they taught us to use our brains and our common sense rather than be swayed by every breeze. As we reflect on a great man who was assassinated for encouraging us to challenge racism and embrace each other, I am grateful that I can share these lessons with my own child.