First Week

I have completed my first week of Grad School. Overall, a great success, I think. The only disappointment I've had has been the casting for the fall season. I was called back for a fairly big part in Dancing at Lughnasa, but ended up being cast in a small ensemble part (Le Beau) in As You Like It. I'm a little disappointed in the casting, but the good thing is, I can complete one of my required Crew Practicums in the same show that I'm in since my part is so small. This means less time spent in rehearsal during the evenings. The good things about the week are: I am excited about my classes. I'll be learning things that I don't already know and am excited to learn about. I'll be stretched mentally, physically and emotionally, and will have lots of new tools in the creative toolbox. My professors seem knowledgeable, empathetic, and enthusiastic about teaching, and my fellow "cohort" members all seem like nice people. There is one guy older than me, one about my age, and the rest are all younger. There are 5 girls and 5 guys altogether (including me.) Four of the 5 guys are married, and two have kids. I'm the only married girl. (Woman.) I took my required Entrance Exam. I needed a 70 or better to pass, and I got a 90. Yay me! I also completed my stupid required Library/Research online course tonight, so that's out of the way. We also found a sitter to watch the kids on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, when I won't be getting home until 5:30. She's a Divinity student from Regent, who has worked in Youth Ministry for several years. Now we just need to find Don a job so we can pay her! Looking forward to Cinderella's birthday - we're having a family party this weekend, and we'll have a friend party later, after school starts, when she's met some friends! I can't believe my baby is almost 6!!!

Quote for the Day

Be patient towards all that is unsolved

in your heart.

Try to love the questions themselves.

Do not now seek the answers

which cannot be given

because you would not be able

to live them.

And the point is,

to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps you will then

gradually,

without noticing it,

live along some distant day

into the answers.

- Ranier Maria Rilke

Day Two

Okay, I'm already kind of getting my butt kicked by school. It's awesome, though!
We had General Auditions for the fall season last night (yes, first day...not intimidating at all, right?) and I got a callback for Dancing at Lughnasa (apparently there's a film...with Meryl Streep. Huh) but not for As You Like It. Callbacks were tonight, and I think I did okay with my Irish accent, but didn't get asked to read much. If I don't get cast in anything, it's okay, as I think the classes are going to keep me very busy. Plus, I have to do four "Practicums" (serve on a running crew) during my three years here, so I'll get one of those scheduled and out of the way.
So far, classes have been mostly going through syllabi and expectations, etc. Lots of sitting around. And lots of meetings. And emails. And stuff. But honestly, I'm really jazzed for these classes to truly begin. I finally get to really dig into all this acting stuff and not just feel like I'm being served an appetizer and then told, "Sorry, that's all a director really needs to know."
I have homework to do now!

First Day of School

I'm off to class!
Actually, I'm off to orientation, chapel, meet and greet lunch, more orientation, part of one class, and then general auditions.
Saturday's potluck went okay. It was inside due to the torrential rains. There were lots of kids there, which was good, but between the acoustics of being inside a very large room and lots of kids bouncing around, I missed about half of the introductions. Everyone will have to get to know each other again today. There are many married students in the graduate dept., and several of them have kids. There are at least three other students older than I am....one of them is a grandmother just starting the undergrad program!
Ciao!

Progress Report

We're getting down to the end of the boxes...I hung up some pictures today (using as many existing nail holes as possible) and that cleared out a few more. I've been able to get rid of all the empty ones by posting them for free on Craigslist - apparently lots of people move around here! We got a BIG job done on Tuesday when we moved everything back out of the garage, pushed the stuff the owners left behind to the back of the attic, (more like a teeny weeny loft space over the garage - unfinished and VERY HOT) moved a bunch of stuff up into the attic, set up shelves in the garage and reloaded everything back into the garage more neatly. And it all fits now! There are still about six boxes of Don's clothes he needs to sort through and store (mostly winter stuff) and several boxes of misc. stuff that needs to find a home, but we're really making progress. We went to the beach yesterday and it was HOT even right by the water. I spent more time IN the ocean than I ever did in Maine! We also saw two jellyfish, which kind of creeped us out, but we kept going back for more wave diving anyway. I bought a glass, hexagonal patio table with wind-up umbrella from Craigslist for $30 - now keeping my eyes open for chairs to go with it. The welcome to new students picnic is on Saturday (at Regent) and I start classes on Monday. I've read three and a half of my books already, and am really enjoying them. I'm really looking forward to starting classes!!!
Don sent in several job applications today, and has a interview lined up next Wed. for a job he doesn't think he wants, but it's a start. Of course, I'm in class, so our first sitter-dilemma is approaching quickly. I'm off to read for awhile...

One week later

We're still here!
Things are strange and much is new and will take getting used to.
I have 5,000 other things I should be doing right now, so excuse the "list" form of this entry, please.
Things that cost less here than Pittsburgh:
- Groceries
- Gas
- Getting to the beach

Things that cost more here than Pittsburgh:
Everything else

Things we've accomplished this week:
Unpacked many boxes
Connected phone, internet and TV (although we're still experimenting with options and they may not be permanently connected.)
Registered cars
Inspected cars
Got new license plates
Applied for VA driver's licenses
Applied for new health insurance for Don and myself
Applied for new health insurance for the kids
Applied for new auto insurance
Cancelled our old auto/homeowner's/flood insurance
Applied for renter's insurance
Filled out a "damage" report of everything wrong with the house so we won't get blamed when we move out
Discovered about a dozen things we forgot to put on the list
Went to the beach 2x
Went to Walmart 3x
Went to Home Depot 2x
Went to Bruster's 1x
Registered the kids for school
Got my Student ID card
Returned Scooby's violin to store in Mass. to exchange for a larger size
Went back to school shopping on tax-free weekend, but they were sold out of almost everything
Lost the cat
Put up "Lost Cat" signs in neighborhood
Didn't tell the kids for two days
Found the cat
Got rid of empty boxes by advertising free boxes on Craigslist
Experienced 100 degree weather
Fixed the broken ladder rung going up to the playset
Stepped on and broke the newly repaired ladder rung, consequently hitting myself in the head with the pair of pruning shears I'd been taking up the to top to trim the tree branches with
Started reading Harry Potter to the kids
Saw the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance
Opened a bank account
Treated Cinderella for pinkeye
Bought mosquito repellent
Argued with Scooby about how often he should be allowed to apply mosquito repellent
Bought Afterbite
Scratched mosquito bites
Tried out a church that meets in the Middle School right down the street
Wrote a three act "murder mystery" play for church in Pittsburgh (previous commitment that I just got to) It stars Charlie's Angels, Starsky and Hutch, and Columbo.

Things I still have to do:
Forget it. There's too much. It's depressing to think about. I'll just look back over that long list of things that I did accomplish...Ah, that's better.

We are here, we are here, we are HERE!

Everyone survived the trip, even the cat, although he really wasn't happy riding in a car with no AC. Of course, neither was Don, so they complained to each other all the way down about what jerks the rest of us are.
But we are here, and the AC is working in the house now, so yay! We're unpacking, rearranging, trying to figure out where to put everything, copying keys, buying groceries, and tonight, for a couple of hours, we went to the beach. The kids LOVED it - rolling in the sand and the surf and coming home (home! it took 20 minutes to get back!) with shorts full of sand and ground-up shells. We had dinner (mac-n-cheese and peanut butter toast) together at 9:30pm, and now I'm sitting down with my brand new internet connection. Hooray!
I am freaking tired.