Random thoughts

Just some random thoughts, because I felt like pounding something out here instead of on Facebook. Facebook is fun, but anything you put there is lost in a day, so tedious to recall.

We have wrapped up Cinderella at Workshop Theatre. It ran for about 16 shows starting in mid-July. It was a lot of fun. I was working the mics for the actors, which was a fun and stressful endeavor. Two mics died on me during the run. Thankfully the actors could project and be heard. I don't think Jeni will be producing another show until maybe the spring, so it will be nice to have than break. Maybe we'll get a chance to do the other things on our to do list, like tend to the yard or read a book. (Although it has been so unbearably hot that the yard hasn't been an issue lately.) I need to post some Cinderella pictures, because we have some really good ones and I should show off the set and the costumes because they were amazing.

I'm eager for fall to get here, although I hate to say that because I don't want to wish time away. It goes fast enough already. I just love that time of year. Things seem calmer for some reason -- the season just doesn't seem to last long enough.

We went to see Cowboys & Aliens the other day, which could have been Cowboys & You-Name-It because the aliens were almost too matter-of-fact in the way they were addressed. But before the show we saw the trailer for Battleship. I'm going to say it now, this will be the Snakes on a Plane of this year. It looks so pointless and ridiculous. I'm amazed that they have based a movie on the board game. We truly have run out of ideas.

Earlier this month we went to Fripp Island with some friends. It is an amazing place, and officially one of my favorite beaches.


We saw a baby sea turtle make its last 20 feet of its journey to the sea. I know I shouldn't have taken a picture, but I couldn't help myself. I stunned her briefly with the flash, but she did OK.


They also had deer all over the place. The deer were so tame and accustomed to people. Just amazing.


Could you imagine having this in your front yard every evening?

A while since updating

I can't believe I've gone so long without a post over here. I've been playing more with Facebook, which I think is a nice way to reach people who won't hunt down the blog, or visit it regularly. Plus there are games and distractions that create a feeling of community. I've pittered on Twitter some. I find Twitter a fine place to follow other people, but not a good means to communicate. There are times someone will post something that I want to reply to, but it all seems to get lost in the Tweets, and there's no thread for the conversation. It leaves me feeling like I'm in the middle of a large room, and everyone's talking at once, but no one is actually talking to each other -- just talking. Which is fine if you want to hear what someone is saying, but not so good if you want to have a discussion. Both have served as a distraction from blogging, especially entries longer than two sentences.


We've had a few trips to the beach with Lisa and Brian and the girls, which we really enjoyed and appreciated that we could go.


And a big time was had by all at the Cheap Trick/Poison/Def Leppard concert. We should have sneaked our camera in, I doubt anyone would have really cared, but we follow rules, and have no concert shots. But trust us, it was a blast.

Jeni's dad has been doing better. We're planning on making it up to the family reunion, and I think my parents may come down too. (I wonder if they could bring Lu Lu's?)

The next big event for us is the roller derby this weekend! We're ready to watch the QuadSquad in action.

I guess that's about it ... our August recap from the slacking blogger. Next post will come sooner, I promise.

Back from the beach

Jeni and I went to Garden City with Lisa and Brian and the kids, and Tiff. It was nice to get away for a long weekend and just relax and enjoy the waves and the sand. Sadly, the places that got the most sun were the tops of my feet, my scalp, and my elbows (don't ask me how...). We got to play some Skeeball. Jeni came 20 points away from the big prize, and I was 60 away. (They cheated us!) But it was still fun. I could have one of those in my house and have house of fun. But then would I have to have tickets and cheap prizes, too? I could definitely live at the beach. We took tons of pictures so hopefully I'll have something to post tomorrow.

Betsey and Victor make the blog!

Last weekend we were lucky enough to be able to go over to Sunset Beach and visit with Betsey and Victor. They had come down (over?) to see Linda and Vic and invited us to join them. It was a blast -- and we all hurt from laughing so much. It is such a joy to have people in your life that you can be away from for so long, and then just step right into the room and not miss a beat. And a rare moment to get together with them all.


Here's Jeni with Victor and Betsey on Friday night. I think they were up until almost 3:00 a.m. talking and laughing and catching up.


The plan was to come home Saturday, but we were having too much fun. Saturday night, we all sat around playing cards and cutting up some more. Roger, Jeni and Betsey all posed here late in the night. I think we were keeping Victor awake at this point.


We can't thank Linda and Vic enough for thinking of us and inviting us to come and join in the fun. It had been too long, for sure.

Be sure to check our Flickr for pictures of their great dogs.

Flying Umbrella of Death

It's cloudy and raining on the front side of the house, but sun shiny on the other. Seriously, our house is not that big!

Now, back to the umbrella story. Let's see if I can tell this right...


We had a little rain when we first got to the beach on Saturday and Sunday (scattered showers), so Monday was the first real day to drag all the goods out to the beach. The beach umbrella is my savior because the sun starts to take its toll on me, but I want to stay out, so it gives me some shade. The last time we were at the beach we bought this really cool PVC pipe with an auger on the bottom that screws down into the sand to secure the umbrella so the winds won't blow it away. So first thing, I screw the anchor into the sand and we sent up for a day at the beach.

After we'd been out for a while, these four foul-mouthed 17-ish-year-old girls come down and sit just behind us and to the side. They're sitting back there in their string bikinis with the strings of their tops undone to not get tan lines when a sudden wind gust comes, grabs the umbrella, pulls it out of the sand, anchor and all, and sends it somersaulting toward them.

So as the "Flying Umbrella of Death" comes hurling toward these girls, they are left with one of two options: jump up to avoid the umbrella and risk losing their tops, or face possibly getting impaled by the point of the umbrella. Well, they all four chose impaling, and luckily only one was struck, slightly across her shoulder, as the umbrella fell in front and slightly on top of them.

They didn't sit near us the rest of the week.

It was really something you'd expect to see in a sitcom.