Nothing to Write About!

Not much has happened since my last post, but wanted to write to say that I'm still alive, and things are fine...just haven't done anything lately worth blogging about...

Duane and I took the Riviera to Canon Falls "antiquing" on Saturday, and then went to an Oktoberfest celebration at a friend's house in White Bear Lake...

School continues to spiral out of control....half the time I don't know whether I'm coming or going, and I SWEAR that I met myself running down the hall today outside the cafeteria...not sure WHAT that means...

Duane and I are headed to Iowa this weekend.  I FINALLY get to see "Wicked".  I've wanted to see it for about FOUR HUNDRED YEARS...but have been too poor to buy tickets (and they sell out in, like, 10 minutes when they finally get to Ticketmaster). 

We're not sure if we're driving down on Saturday, and spending the night, or flying down on Sunday for the day.  MY vote is for driving down on Saturday, as I'd LOVE to spend time with some Fairfield friends who will be in town, but we'll see.  Duane isn't the greatest at committing to "advanced plans"...

Some interesting new shows debut this week on television...I watched "The Good Wife" with Julianna Marguelies last night...I LIKED it, but we'll see how good the stories are a week or two from now.   "Flash Forward" looks intriguing...good cast...interesting concept...we'll see...

We're HOOKED on "Drop Dead Diva".  What a HOOT of a show.  Last week, Liza Minelli, Delta Burke, AND Rosie O'Donnell had guest spots...QUITE a cast!!!!

As far as returning shows go...

"America's Next Top Model" is okay, so far, but the short model thing seems a little LAME...

I'm not particularly enthused with how "Glee" has been progressing.  I'll give it a couple more weeks, but Kurt joins the foolball team tonight...PUH-LEEZ...

"Ghost Whisperer" begins the season on Friday.  The whole Jim is Sam thing last year got a bit tedious, but it WAS intriguing, and when Sam FINALLY realized that he was Jim, I did cry a little bit.  SO not as great as it was when Andrea was on (remember the whole "plane crashed, and it turns out her car was hit as it crashed and she was actually DEAD" thing??!!  AWESOME...and I TOTALLY did not see it coming...!!!!).

I'm curious to see where "Desperate Housewives" goes this year...haven't they DONE it all already??!!

"Amazing Race" always amuses me, but Harlem Globetrotters...really??!!

Wow...this is a POINTLESS entry.  Just wanted to touch base.  I'm SURE I'll have SOMETHING to say about "Wicked"...stay tuned!!!!!

Hope YOUR life is progressing nicely from day to day...!

WHAT A WEEK!!!

Wow...what a week last week was!  Happy, stressful, sad, EXHAUSTING, intense...did I say exhausting??!!  School started, the play opened and closed, a friend had a baby, and a friend's father passed away.

The details: 

School started on Tuesday.  On that very first morning, I walked in to the office and was greeted by the school secretary, who stated "the computers are down, the telephones aren't working, the copy machine is busted, and your media assistant's background check hasn't come back yet, so she won't be here until it does"... 

I'll leave it at that for week one, except to say that the rest of the week didn't get any better.  I should have just turned around, and walked back out the door.  I'm not sure I'm going to make it through this year...it's certainly going to be a "nail biter" to see who wins...me or the job...
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Patrick Healy, renowned Gilbert & Sullivan expert from Ireland, came on Tuesday evening to "workshop" us for the remainder of "tech week".  I was COMPLETELY intimidated by the man, which is stupid.  He's a very nice, older gentleman, and he was nothing but kind, and funny.  I think it's the "renowned expert" part that freaked me out!  Here I was...a community theater actor/singer...being directed by THE Patrick Healy...gulp!

The rehearsals went well, (mostly), although redoing choreography and rephrasing and setting new tempos on songs we've been working on since July, FOUR DAYS BEFORE WE OPEN, is a little stressful!  It all went well, though.  The Loft Stage at East Ridge High School, which is BRAND SPANKING NEW, was GORGEOUS, and the show was quite good (although I'm still not sure I LIKE Gilbert & Sullivan...)!  It kind of felt like dress rehearsal all weekend, and it's CRAZY that we did two shows and are now closed, but, it's all good.

As I was leaving the cast party last night, I thanked Patrick for his direction, and he said (not directly quoted) that I did a very nice job on my solo.  I'll take THAT compliment!

I really enjoyed working with so many AMAZING performers, and made some really good friends throughout the rehearsal process.  Lenore (the director for MOST of the rehearsals) and Lisa (the vocal director) said last night that they were shocked that so many "solo performers" auditioned for the show. There were MANY new faces in the cast, and it really was a WONDERFUL group. 

I look forward to working with the company again someday (mostly because the "powers that be" kept telling me how wonderful I was, and THAT'S always nice!).

Not many pictures to post from the show yet.  I'll put some in a new post when they get loaded onto Picassa!  Here are a couple that I took with my cell phone...

Michael and Me in the makeup room!

Rachel and "G" (G-Geoff)

Me and Rachel backstage

Me and Rachel backstage- 2

Mugging for the camera...phone...

Janelle, Ro, Jan, and Marcie in the makeup room

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My friend Linda had her baby (three weeks early, and a shock to MOST people!). He was born prematurely, so needed to be in the "Special Care" nursery until yesterday, but Israel is doing well, and I THINK they went home today.

He's adorable, as the picture below will attest, and I can't WAIT to get to know him better!  (I MIGHT even be brave enough to hold him when I go over to visit this week!).

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On the flip side, my friend Amy's dad died on Saturday.  I only met him once, but he was a very nice man, and, he must have been an AMAZING person to raise such a FABULOUS person as Amy (and her sister Sara!).  My thoughts and prayers go out to Amy and her family as they deal with this sad loss.

I guess that about sums up my September...I mean week (ugh...has it REALLY only been a week??!!).

Hope YOUR week last week was ALL UPS, and that you survived it with FLYING colors!

Washington D.C.

Ack! School starts tomorrow, and I'm FRANTICALLY trying to cram EVERYTHING I wanted to do this summer into THIS AFTERNOON!!! I'm also going into "production week" for The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan, the show I'm doing with Woodbury Community Theater, so am going to be COMPLETELY swamped with school, then rehearsal every night. So...wanted to post a QUICK entry before the onslaught begins!

Duane and I spent the DAY Saturday in Washington, D.C. We decided to go for a day trip because

1). we can! We flew out at 7:00 a.m., and flew back at 8:30 p.m (with first class seats BOTH WAYS!!!). We've been to D.C. SEVEN times now, so we know exactly what we want to see, and how to get there on the METRO.

2). our friend Peggy is not in town this weekend, so we didn't have a place to stay and didn't want to try to find a hotel,

3). it's the weekend before school starts and I need some "panic time" at home (and still have about 20% of the G&S lyrics to memorize before rehearsal Tuesday night, and Patrick Healy, the G&S expert from Ireland will be here to "workshop us", and I don't want to look like an IDIOT), and,

4). I've/we've been gone one or both days of the last NINE weekends in a row, and I wanted some time to clean the bathroom, dust, do laundry, go to the grocery store, etc.

We did a couple of things there that we've done before (the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of American History), and something I've wanted to do for AWHILE now, but never got around to (lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl!).

It was a GREAT, if not slightly frantic, day, and, even though the metro was closed from the airport to the pentago stop, the shuttle buses ran fairly frequently, and didn't slow us down TOO much.

Here are some shots of the day...

 

 Inside the Air and Space Museum

The controls in the Northwest jet

 Duane with the Northwest jet

Duane doing the "pointy" thing we do!

Duane and a Northwest wheel

DEFINITELY a GQ pose!

Ben's Chili Bowl! (black owned and operated since 1958,

and TOTALLY a hoot!)

Me outside of Ben's Chili Bowl

The capitol from a street near the national mall

me doing the "pointy thing" with the Washington Monument

The hope diamond at the Museum of Natural History

The Julia Child Exhibit at the Museum of American Histor

Julia's cookbooks, phone books, and videos (of her show) to preview, in her kitchen

Me ALMOST in Julia's kitchen!!

Wow! The Sears Christmas catalog!!!

Kermit the Frog

Oscar the Grouch!

Phyllis Diller's "fright wig", gloves, and cigarette holder

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers

Abraham Lincoln's Hat

Lincoln and Family

Mary Todd Lincoln's Dress

Abraham Lincoln's Suit

the Washington Monument

Duane and the Washington Monument!

Duane and Jeff "up close and personal" with the Washingtion Monument!

Duane took this from the plane window as we were leaving Washington

A LOVELY trip, and a GREAT place to visit...again, and again, and again, and again!!!

Ack! The minutes are TICKING AWAY, and I still have to wash and stain the deck, finish all of the home made "travel tree" ornaments for the hallway Christmas tree, scrub all of the hardwood floors, paint the kitchen, and go to Target and print and place all of my summer (and older) photos in albums.

I'll post again after this CRAZY week is over. I'm SURE it'll be ALL ABOUT the trials and tribulations of working with a Gilbert & Sullivan expert, and how it is NOT recommended to have the FIRST week of school and the LAST week of a show taking place at the same time.

Here's hoping YOUR weekend was fun, and historic, and interesting, and that your coming week is mellow, and enjoyable!!!!

Photos from the Fair

Duane and I spent part of Friday at the Minnesota State Fair. It's always seemed ODD to me that the state fair is held in the middle (actually off to the side) of two HUGE cities. It shouldn't...I've been going to the Iowa State Fair for YEARS, and it's in Des Moines. I guess "fairs" always seem to me like they should be out in the middle of the country.

Anyway...they have this really cool system here where you can go to a park and ride lot FAR FAR FAR from the fairgrounds, and take a bus to get there. No parking hassles, no traffic to worry about, and, when it's time to go home, you go to the "bus area", look for the big sign with the name of your suburb, and get back on the bus...all for $5.00. TOTALLY worth it!

We started the day by checking out the "birthing center" to see what animals were recently born. I always feel sorry for the animal that is soon to give birth to something. It's in a pen, looking uncomfortable, nervous, and hot, with about 200 people standing around watching and waiting. SO not the ideal! While we were passing through a cow was lying down, breathing heavily, and looking like she could "go" at any minute.

Not being one (or two, because I don't think Duane is either) to enjoy watching slimy baby animals pop out of a cow's backside, we opted to move to other parts of the building to see what had already been born.

We saw some ADORABLE lambs, and found a pen full of recently hatched ducklings as well...very cute!

After the birthing center, we headed out to find breakfast. There are only a few "diner-y" permanent food stands left, and we found one near the "eco-building". I had an egg sandwich, and Duane had a pancake on a stick (sausage link dipped in pancake batter and then deep fried).

After breakfast, we headed to the art building to look at the paintings, then went to the education building to try to find my niece's art pieces that were supposed to be there. Both Abigail AND Emilie had projects that made it to the fair (I believe they each had THREE!), but they weren't sure WHAT had made it, and we didn't find a SINGLE one. Unless you know what you're looking for, things are very disorganized in the display cases, and the cards that have their names on them are REALLY small...I needed a telescope to see most of the ones I COULD read.

Outside the education building, we ran into Nan and Pat from work, chatted with them for a bit, then went to check out the butter princesses. They have this WEIRD "Princess Kay of the Milky Way" thing up here that I TOTALLY do not get, but is the Minnesota version of the Iowa "butter cow", I suppose.

We watched the "butter carver" work on one of the sculptures for awhile...




After the butter sculpture, we went to the horticulture building to get an apple cider pop (frozen apple cider...YUM!), went to the food building for cheese curds (DOUBLE YUM!), and "The Salty Tart" from the Midtown Global Market had their AMAZING macaroons, so bought and ate some of them too.

Earlier in the day, I saw someone wearing a "chicken hat". and Duane asked where they got it, so we had to wander around the food building a little longer to find the Gold'n Plump chicken booth. They had a roulette wheel, and, if you did what it said, you'd get a hat. Most of the things were easy, like tell your favorite chicken dish, or why you like chicken. I, OF COURSE, got "do the chicken dance"...

As you can see, I did what I had to do to get the hat...



We spent the rest of our day at the fair wandering around, riding the sky seats (which I found a little unnerving this time for some reason), checking out the vintage tractors, looking at all of the jellies, jams, cakes, cookies, and breads that won ribbons, and trying to find shady places!

We looked at lots of cool exhibits, like the "seed picture" display...



The "show corn" exhibit...



Ate ice cream at the John Deere Ice Cream Maker stand...


We ended our day at the sheep and poultry barn. The tom turkey below had female turkeys in the cages on both sides of him, and spent the entire time we were there puffing himself up, and turning from side to side to try to get one of them to notice him. As BOTH females kept trying to get into his cage, it was apparently working for him!
By the time we left the sheep and poulty barn, it was REALLY hot, REALLY sunny, and the crowds had picked up enough that I was ready to buy a stick and start beating people with it, so we thought it was probably time to head back to the bus and go home.

I really enjoy state fairs! It's fun to see the variety of livestock, food, handicrafts, etc. that the people of the state have spent so much time and care working on or with. It's a nice break from "being in the city", and reminds me of all of the county fairs and state fairs that I spent time at growing up. It also reminds me of my grandparents, who spent their entire lives on the farm...not to raise or grow or make things to exhibit at a fair, but as their way of life.

Here's hoping YOU were able to enjoy "something deep fried on a stick" recently, and that there isn't a cholesterol test ANYWHERE on the horizon in YOUR near future!!!

Lake Vermilion Weekend

Last weekend Pat, Janet, and I drove up to Lake Vermilion to spend a relaxing weekend at Janet and Greg's cabin. It was DELIGHTFUL. I hadn't been there for a couple of years, and TOTALLY forgot how COOL it is!

We left around 2:30 Friday afternoon, and got there around 7:00, after stopping to buy supplies at a grocery store in Cook. Janet and Greg's cabin is on an island in the lake, and it always feels so "far away" when we go.

They built the cabin from the ground up, and they did SUCH an amazing job on it...running water, land line for the phone, composting toilet in the bathroom...very cozy and quaint.

We started the weekend by sitting on the deck watching the sun set. It was GORGEOUS, and was a really relaxing way to "kick things off".

Pat was on "dinner duty" the first night, and is doing the South Beach Diet, so I wasn't sure WHAT we were going to end up with, but she made the MOST amazing feta and sun-dried tomato stuffed chicken breast. It was FABULOUS!!!!

After dinner, we chatted for awhile, went outside to look at the stars, then went to bed.

The next day, we got up, I made bacon and cheddar omelettes for breakfast, and we then planned our day. It mainly revolved around hiking the island, taking the paddle boat out for a spin, drawing/painting (Pat), and eating...LOTS of eating.

I prepared a tapas of cheese and crackers, olives, nuts, veggies, and other miscellaneous munchies for lunch, and then steak on the grill with corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and salad for dinner (we ate WELL on this trip!).

Janet and I explored some of the smaller islands around the island the cabin is on in the afternoon.

We took the speed boat out before getting dinner started to go to the landing to get gas for the boat (and a bottle of wine), then explored other parts of the lake before heading back to the island.

One of my FAVORITE parts of the weekend was the pair of bald eagles who were nesting in a pine tree behind the cabin. They were AWESOME to watch flying around the island, and it was SO cool to hear them "chittering" back and forth to each other.

I THINK the third bird we saw flying around was one of their chicks. It didn't have the white head and tail feathers, but still looked like an eagle, so we're ASSUMING that it was one. VERY cool to watch!

After dinner, we sat on the deck to watch the sunset, then got things ready for the bonfire.

We made smores, which were AMAZING...even though the only chocolate we had was a chocolate bacon bar that I'd brought along. LUCKILY it wasn't "bacon-y" at all, and tasted GREAT!

After the bonfire, we headed to the other side of the island to watch the stars again, then went to bed.

Sunday, we had an AMAZING breakfast of coddled eggs, and fried potatoes, then took the kayaks out for a spin around the island. I LOVE the kayaks, and am glad that I didn't realize this earlier in the weekend, or I'd have spent the ENTIRE time in one!

Pat continued to draw and paint. The next couple of pictures are of her "view", and her painting. She is AMAZING!!!

Here are some shots of our kayak trip around the island:

After spending the morning continuing to relax, and explore the island and surround waters, and after further enjoying the eagles flying around the island, we had a picnic outside Janet's parents' "sleeping shed", and then packed up, took a nice ride around the lake, and headed back to the cities.

Here's a picture of the outhouse I used for the weekend. The composting toilet is cool, but it "buzzes" when it's plugged in and sits about four feet off the ground, which, for some reason, FREAKS ME OUT...so I choose to do things the "old fashioned way"!!!

Lake Vermilion is an AMAZING place! If I were to buy a cabin on a lake in Minnesota (and BELIEVE ME...I'm tempted!), it would be there. What a WONDERFUL piece of nature!

Here's hoping YOU were able to experience some relaxing, amazing, nature yourself!!