Busy Busy...

Working at the Med. School, show opening tomorrow, lots of application essays to write...updates soon, I hope!

Phone Geek

How we spent our Monday with no power. I claim no credit for this one whatsoever. Expect lots of screaming.

We're gonna turn it on...

So, after 45 hours, our power has been restored. The remnants of hurricane Ike blew through here on Sunday night (right at the beginning of the Steeler game) and knocked out power for over 100,000 people in the Pittsburgh area. I don't know if it's because 1/2 the crews were already en route to Houston, or what, but it took two days to restore our power, and they're saying some people may not get it back until Friday. The kids were off of school yesterday - they went back today with power in 1/2 the building - not sure if they were using generators or what. We played lots of board games and Barbies, and I threw them outside frequently, althought I did NOT use the phrase "get the stink blown off."
We lost all the food in the fridge/freezer, although fortunately there wasn't much in there to begin with. We didn't have any way to cook anything anyway. If asked what we missed most, I'm sure the kids would say the computer, Don would say the TV, and I'd have to toss it up between the internet and my coffeemaker in the morning. At least we had water, and the temperature has been comfortable. In fact the weather has been beautiful. I went running (walking) today up the BIG hill and the road was actually closed, but I went up it anyway. There were three trees fallen on top of wires, on that road alone, that hadn't been cleared off yet. Weird. The storm on Sunday was actually quite cool too - there was no rain, just lots of wind. It was hot in the house, so Don and I went outside for awhile and looked up at the full moon and the clouds just streaking past it as the wind roared around us. It was breathtaking. And candlelight for one night was fun. By the second night it was starting to get old. And by today, we really needed to do some laundry. (I had three days worth of running clothes in there - stinky!!!)
So we're back in business now. Yippee! S -, it was fun to read about your amusement park adventures. We took the kids to Canobie Lake a couple of years ago. It's a nice little park. M and J - hope you're both getting/staying healthy. L -, where are you?

One of my weird jobs

For those of you interested, here's a humorous article describing some of what I do at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical School.
http://www.slate.com/id/2169480/pagenum/all/
Although I haven't actually done the physical exams yet, it's coming up later in the fall. So far, I've only done interviewing skills, where I don't actually have to "gown up". This week I did Nicotene Cessation training on Monday, today and Friday I have training for Psychiatric cases (OCD and Schizophrenia) and tomorrow I have appendicitis. It's been a tough week. : )

Some marketer did his job

From a "Children's Place" magazine ad:

Just after "don't-forget-your-sweater"

and "hurry-the-bus-is-here" and "pick-you-up-after-soccer,"

a small but familiar hand waves goodbye

from inside a moving bus and the world stops

for just a second.

value every moment

Wow

So tonight was pretty amazing. One of Don's on-the-side clients gave us an invitation to an opening night at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Don couldn't go, so I went with my friend, Deb. There was a reception beforehand, with (complimentary) hors d'oeuvres, desserts, and drinks (I had Yellowtail Shiraz.) They gave us a (complimentary) planning calendar with the name of the Playhouse on the front. Then we took our two (complimentary) tickets to the show, which happened to be Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, directed by HIS SON, Rob Miller, who was there, and gave a short talk before the play. The show was exceptionally well done. The set design was simple, but very effective. There was a two-story "house", made out of wire mesh, and filled from floor to ceiling with stuff - a sled, a tricycle, and old washing machine, a dresser, a filing cabinet, etc. Different parts of the house would be illuminated at different times, but the only functional parts were the kitchen area downstairs, and a bedroom upstairs. Then surrounding the house, were towering stacks of windows, representing the encroaching apartment buildings around the house. The only functional window was where the musician sat, playing an oboe, an alto flute, an acoustic guitar. The acting was spot on, and the only drawback was the cigarette smoke from the actors onstage. It got a little annoying at times, but it wasn't enough to detract from the evening.
Then I took my (complimentary) parking pass, retrieved my car, and drove home.
Lovely evening.

Happy Birthday, Cinderella

My baby is 5 now. Fully fledged five, happily going to kindergarten, riding the bus, planning her life. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, her first answer is still "Tinkerbell, because then I can fly". But now she has also added "Policeman" and "President" and "A Mom, so I can tell everybody what to do." (Ha.)

Her dalmation-princess birthday party was a success - it was beautiful weather, so we opened up the pool and that takes a lot of game-playing pressure off of me. Although we did still hunt for plastic bones in the yard, play pin-the-tail and the spot on the dalmation, and musical dog-dishes. Granny made a terrific chocolate and vanilla cake with white icing and chocolate chip spots, and we had our dalmation pinata. She LOVED all her presents, especially the dalmation Webkinz, the Little Mermaid styling head, and all the Barbies. She's been playing with her new toys all weekend, and there wasn't one that she seemed disappointed in, with the exception of the socks and underwear given to her by us. Although, it was Hannah Montana underwear and that was pretty cool.

She's headstrong, this five year old. She knows what she wants, and she knows how to get it. I taught her the word kleptomaniac this weekend, because we always know to look somewhere in her room when we're missing a hairbrush, or a mirror, or a flashlight, or the kitchen timer. She's like a magpie - feathering her nest with shiny things that catch her fancy. She's volatile - either joyfully buzzing around the room with shiny accessories flashing, or bursting into tears because we've asked her to eat her waffle. Not many shades of gray with her. Only the new hairs that sprout on my head after each confrontation.


I'm so grateful to have this healthy, happy, spark in our lives. She keeps us laughing, and dancing, and always hopping to stay ahead of her.

Happy birthday, Cinderella.

Back to School!

Well, this is it! Yesterday was the first official day of school, although for Cinderella it was more of a 1/2 day, meet the teacher, tour the building day. Today is her first real day. She's totally confident, relaxed, and happy to be there. Her teacher is very young - just graduated last December - but also seems confident and very happy to be in her job. She's also very pretty, which is always helpful for a Kindergarten teacher. Tarzan's in 1st grade, and he loves his teacher. She's the same one Scooby had in 1st grade, and he's built up a great reputation for her. Tarzan was so excited when he found out he had her too. Scooby has lots of different teachers, but some of his friends are in his homeroom with him, so he's happy about that. He starts string practice next week.

I should be feeling all weepy and nostalgic that my "baby" is going to kindergarten, but honestly, I don't. She hasn't been my "baby" for a long time, and she's definitely ready to go. I was much more weepy when Scooby started. As you can see from the bus pictures, she didn't even want to look back. She's off on a new adventure! And maybe, eventually, so will I be.

I'm back...sort of

How to summarize...

We had a family camping weekend in Cook Forest - even Don came! We managed to set up our tent, build a fire (eventually), go canoeing, and split some wood. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.
Then I went to Mass. for two weeks, and it was wet wet wet! We managed to have fun in between the raindrops, though. We went mini-golfing, ate ice cream at Kimballs, spent a day in Maine (shopping in Kennebunkport, lunch in Wells, beach at Ogunquit), visited Westford's playground, introduced Cinderella to my "vintage" Barbies, brought home an armful of 80's prom dresses for my friend who's costuming "The Wedding Singer" this fall, swam in the pool, visited with family, went back-to-school shopping, drank some wine, enjoyed the new porch, played Guitar Hero for the first time...it was pretty full. I also taught 3 songs to my Mom's chorus, videotaped the choreography, and performed in two hour-long shows at a county fair. It was good. And the transmission didn't fall out, and no one had to go to the emergency room, so it was a step up from 2007!
My mind was pretty preoccupied the whole time, though. I'm trying to figure out Plan B in this whole grad school thing. Plan A, which fell through, was to pursue an MFA in Performance and Pedagogy at the Univ. of Pittsburgh. Plan B has been up in the air since that didn't work out. So, I thought, maybe Plan B was to pursue an alternate route, and I looked into an MA at Regent University in Theater Studies, about half of which can be done online, and the rest with an 8 week summer residency. In the course of "looking into it", they told me they had openings for Fall, so I jumped at it, did all the application essays, resumes, letters of rec., transcript, etc.etc. and they accepted me into the program. However, it's not one of those programs which funds the grad students, unlike Pitt, and the money turned out to be a pretty major stumbling block. Especially since I had missed most of the deadlines around grant and scholarship money. The start of classes was fast approaching, and I was starting to freak out about it, so I asked them to defer my enrollment at least until spring.
In the meantime, I was rethinking the whole MA option, and the online part of it too, wondering if after all the work is done, it might be perceived as somewhat of a lesser degree - a "Jr. College" version, if you will. And that for my ultimate goal, of teaching in a university, I'd probably be better served pursing an MFA after all.
Which brings me to plan C...possibly going back to square one and reapplying to MFA programs. And since the local ones, Pitt and Point Park aren't accepting applications until 2010 and 2011 respectively, it would mean moving if I'm to go somewhere in 2009. Surprisingly, (or maybe not) there aren't that many options for MFAs in theater in the Northeast. My shortlist right now is Boston University, Brown University, Yale (yeah, right!), Penn State, and Regent (which also offers an MFA) Perhaps with Regent, I might not have to reapply with all the paperwork, and could just do the audition phase. There are probably other programs out there, but these are the ones I'm looking at right now. I don't want to live in NYC (sorry Steve...if it were just me, it might be different) I also need to think about URTA auditions (a group audition in NYC or Chicago hosted by a variety of grad schools). It costs money to audition, and you need to be nominated and have a sponsor...It's a lot to wrap my brain around.
In the meantime, I've started working on Murder in the Cathedral, the kids start school on Monday, and I have to learn a new murder mystery script this weekend. The kids all got haircuts today! (There were 10 kids in Great Clips when we went in...fortunately the family of 7(!) in front of us was just finishing up!)
Sorry for the boring post...I'd love to stop talking and thinking about all this, and just get on with it! Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon. All input and advice is welcome!!!

Summer Shower

He's Home!

Camp was fun. Better than okay, but not really, REALLY fun. He'd go again, maybe. It rained a lot, but only at night. He had swimming, and crafts, and hiking, and they were supposed to go camping but they didn't. And he made me a bowl in crafts, but he couldn't bring it home. (Reasons unclear) And they confiscated both flashlights, and only returned one. Everything else seems to have made it home. And he just found his sleeping bag and pillow today, on the way home. And he lost two teeth while eating Starbursts. (I think they were ready to come out anyway) And one of his counselors broke his arm playing soccer during camp, but could still play the guitar. He spent half an hour telling me about "Allegheny Idol" night, and Sledge-o-matic (smashing watermelons with sledgehammers), and the swimming pool, and how the bathroom stalls didn't lock, and what they had to eat. Now he's playing cars with the neighbor boy. (Still in yesterday's clothes...but he really doesn't smell too bad, considering.) Apparently, operation sleep-away camp was a success.

Today's moments

Cinderella: Mommy, while you were sleeping I saw a bug in your hair.

*************

Cinderella: When I was cleaning under the table, I bumped my head. It still hurts.

Tarzan: I can see the red spot.

Cinderella: May you please pray for me?

Tarzan: Okay. God, please make E..'s head better. I pray this forever. Amen.

Cinderella: Thanks, T...

*******************

Cinderella: I saw a feather fall from the flowers. Oh...(giggles) I said feather!

Tarzan: You mean petal.

Cinderella: Yeah.
*******************
Later:

Cinderella: You are a disgrace!

Tarzan: On the contrary.

Cinderella: You're not on the contrary, because I'm the Queen!
***********************
Later Still:

Tarzan: You're cute. (Goes over and hugs Cinderella)

Tarzan: (after about 20 seconds) Stop hugging me.

Cinderella: (Lets go) Was I choking you?

Tarzan: No. I just couldn't breathe.

I got a letter from camp

Dear Mommy
I really, really, really, really, really, really, really miss you. I am writing at 7:25 because they woke us up at 7:00. I am really tired. You are the best mom in the world. Please write back.
Love,
(Scooby)


Aargh.

They like us! They really like us!

Here's a review from the Pittsburgh City Paper about Urinetown. I like the comment about singing and dancing without apparent effort. They must have been sitting far enough back in the audience not to be sprayed with sweat!

All Clear

So yesterday was Scooby's first day at sleepaway camp. We had to meet the bus at 6:45am, so I planned to get up at 6:00. He came in our room at 5:00 saying he couldn't sleep, and spent the last hour not-sleeping in our bed. He was happy and excited during breakfast, although he didn't eat much, and fine while we sat in the car in the rain waiting for the bus, which finally came at 7:10. He was fine until he actually got on the bus, then the tears came. He wanted to be sure I'd packed kitty and pillow, which I had, although he didn't want to hold them right then. He was in tears when the bus left, although I'm sure he was fine by about 10 minutes in. We wrote him a letter in the afternoon, and mailed it for him to receive tomorrow or the next day.
So all day long I'm talking to myself, convincing myself he's having a great time, or at least learning how to survive in a difficult social situation. Then last night, a swath of tornado warnings, funnel cloud sightings, dangerous lightning and golf-ball sized hail passes right through where the campsite is. Don and I spent an extremely anxious hour in front of the tv watching the weather. When it had passed by the camp area, we called the emergency number and requested a call back letting us know everything was okay. Five minutes later someone from the camp called back and assured us everything was fine - that it didn't even rain there. Which I don't get, but which made me feel marginally better.
So, it's day two, and we haven't gotten a phonecall to come and pick him up, or any teary homesick pleas. We sent him with some stamped envelopes and blank pages to write us, and I really hope he does. Tarzan and Cinderella miss him, mostly at night, but it has been a lot quieter around here.
If you're praying people, keep him in your prayers. Or good thoughts, or vibes, or whatever. My baby bird is growing feathers on his wings, and it hurts. It might be a little uncomfortable for him too.

Here, look at these!

Lots of pictures from Urinetown...I'm very scary!!!

Looking at Steve's inserts reminded me of these...





I was looking for John-John counting his penny, but couldn't find that one.
Boy, am I old!

Opening Night!

Opening night went great! We had a blast and got a lot of laughs. Larry Cervi, my old dance teaching boss was there...I haven't seen him in about 8 years. I'll post some pictures soon. They're pretty scary!!!
Yawn!!!

Friday

Today was Cinderella's last day of theater camp. She portrayed a "totally cool" zebra in the story "A Rumble in the Jungle." It was a smash hit.

Afterwards we went and trimmed Scooby's hair - the hairdresser showed him that by cutting his bangs on an angle, he could push them out of his face when Mom was looking, then shake them down into his eyes when she wasn't. He was tickled pink.

Then we went and got him some booster immunizations. He wasn't as happy about that. But then we got cookies. Iced Spiced Oatmeal for Cinderella, Snickerdoodle for Scooby, Dalmation for Tarzan (chocolate chip cookie with vanilla icing) and Gingersnap for me.

Then we read in bed, swam in the pool, and now I'm procrastinating making dinner before I head off for a set construction night for U-town. We open next Thursday! Yay!

What's going on out there?

Late Rehearsal

So much dancing. So much singing. So much rolling on the floor. SO MUCH SWEATING.

Monday

Got up this morning at 6:00 to go running, because when I have to be at work by 8:00 there's no other time to do it! The distance wasn't as far, but there was more actual running involved. My ankles are really sore today. I pulled a pectoral muscle last Thursday at dance rehearsal for Urinetown. It's better now, but still stiff if I bend the wrong way.
Cinderella enjoyed her first day at theater camp - she's playing a zebra in the showcase on Friday. I had a really fun day with the little kids age group. I'm pretty experienced with knowing how to talk to them.
The two neighbor kids are over again. Sigh. I like to be hospitible, but it's hard when it's too wet to play outside. I think pretty soon they're going outside, wet or not!
Quiet out there - is anyone home yet?