Christmas joy

I know this picture is a little blurry, but aren't we all about this time of year? I still love this picture -- Gracie and Clara Ann feeding treats to Maggie and Josie after a matinee of the Nutcracker with the Columbia City Ballet. It is such a great show, and a Christmas tradition for us for the past four years or so. This was the first time for Clara Ann, but Gracie's third. Clara Ann did pretty good considering she is four and hasn't learned how to whisper real good. The show was a little more interesting for them, I think, because we know two of the dancers, and pointed them out to the girls early on. So throughout the show, it was "Where's Katie? Where's Alexis?"

We got some great pictures of the girls after the show, too, but that's kind of a secret right now...

We had such an amazing weekend last weekend too. We went to the Christmas DREAM magic show at Workshop Theatre (featuring the magic of Brandon Wagster). He is so talented, and a joy to watch perform.

Saturday we went to the lights at the zoo with a group of friends, then everyone came back to the house for dinner. It was such a great group of people to be around, and it was nice to have the house filled with laughter and joy.

Sunday was the Volunteer Holiday Party at Workshop Theatre, and as an added bonus our old friend Melanie was passing through town on her way home from Disney. She stopped and we got to spend about 45 minutes catching up and squeezing on her little baby and meeting her husband and other kids. There's just something about reconnecting with someone you haven't seen in eight years, and picking up like you haven't missed a beat.

All this happiness over the weekend has left me with a bit of a happiness high that has carried through for the week. Gifts are in the mail, almost everything is bought, except for a few little things for Jeni so she has surprises under the tree (which isn't an easy thing to do). Jeni's family should roll in tomorrow (just a little more cleaning to be ready). It's going to be a merry Christmas indeed.

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?

Full weekend

Victor/Victoria opens tonight at Workshop Theatre! We'll be going to opening night. We saw the last dress rehearsal on Wednesday, and worked the house last night for the preview audience. It's a fun show and we're looking forward to it.

There's a roller derby bout on Saturday -- it'll be a good one, and some healthy competition for the QuadSquad (although I'm sure they'll win).

Sunday will be a good bit of yard work. We've got to try to keep those neighbor's weeds from visiting us. Always fun. The botanical garden plant sale is coming soon so that'll give us something to get excited about. We kind of let the yard go a bit last year so this year we're going to wrangle it and get it looking right again.

Good Bee!

Jeni produced The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Workshop Theatre. It closed this last weekend. It was a fun play, and a good -- if not exhausting -- experience. She's also producing the next show, A Few Good Men, although I think this one will be less demanding on her. Saturday was a late night, with an after party following the show, and breaking down all the lobby decorations. When we got home I stayed up too late (so late it became early) watching the UT-UAB game. After staying up so late, it's a good thing UT won. It rained on Sunday, so instead of doing the much-needed yard work, we were able to be lazy, lounge in bed with the windows open watching TV with the cats. Nice to have a day to recharge.

July update

Here I go again ... I know ... another month wrap-up. Willy Wonka has been a little absorbing of our time. And when we weren't at the theatre, we were on the road to Atlanta for my cousin Kerry's fantastic wedding. I should post pictures, but they are on Jeni's laptop, and I'm on my lunch break at work avoiding projects I don't want to do at lunch but probably should anyway.

The Willy Wonka postcard turned out really well, and despite taking a dive on the last dress rehearsal, it survived and looks cool. We had one of those long weekends of over-volunteering at the theatre this past weekend, but someone had to do it.

I sat in as Chip in a read-through of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Jeni's producing). The actor playing Chip was performing at another show. It is such a funny show -- I'm really looking forward to it. Sitting in the read-through made me wish I could sing. But I know better.

Pictures will follow soon...

[Let the spam comments begin now.]

The Sao Paulo postcard for Willy Wonka

Workshop Theatre is putting on Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka as their Summer show. It opens this Friday and we are very excited about it. We have been more involved in the set with this one than any other show we've helped with. Jeni did a lot of bejeweling of part of the set, we've been painting, and shooting video for Mike TV, and setting up the Mike TV computers. And then there's been what seems like our biggest, most visible project: The Sao Paulo postcard. The postcards fly in when the kids find their golden tickets. So Pam traced the postcard for us using an overhead projector, then we took it home to paint it.


Jeni worked on the border while I started the sky.


Here I am working on some of the edges and detail spots around the letters.


This was the postcard after Day 1.


After Day 2 it was really starting to flesh out. We were painting in the hot garage after work.


This is the finished postcard after Day 4. Somewhere is a picture of Day 3, but I guess I didn't upload it to Flickr like I thought. I'll try to add it.

Finally cut the yard

After more than a month and way too many excuses (to the point that I wasn't buying my own excuses), I finally got the back yard cut. I had to get up at 7:45 just to get it finished and still I was overwhelmed by the heat by the end, at 9:30. The edging can wait until next week. Vacations, rain, and heat interfered with the grass cutting this past month, but this is also prime "grow like a weed" time for the grass.

It is also "baby birds in the fern" time. There are at least two baby birds in the hanging fern. It is a very wise place for a nest, except that it usually results in a dead fern since we can't water it like we should. Small price to pay, though. We'll try to get some pictures, but momma bird dive-bombed Jeni yesterday when she was checking things out, and Jeni is NOT a bird fan so this was not exciting for her.

Maggie, the smallest cat, had a new trick, which she just did. When I'm on the computer, she likes to put her stink on the tower, and bumps the button to open the CD drawer.

We're off to work on the Willy Wonka set today. The set needs to be done this week, so Jeni and I are going to chip in with our minimally-skilled hands while trying to stay out of the way.

Oh, and ironically, my last post on spam comments got five comments -- four were spam.

In the blink of an eye

And poof, just like that, it's November 12 ... Jeni's play is into it's second week and for the most part the "producer" part of the play is done for the time being, but that doesn't mean Jeni's not busy at it. She always finds something to keep her going. Yesterday was one of the crew's birthday, so we were up celebrating before the show, then watched the first scene before heading home to work on some promotional mini-flyers to take around today at lunch. Always staying on the go.


The cast and crew of Same Time, Next Year ... with a two actor show, it's easy to get everyone in one picture. In the back are Chip (George) and Vicky (Doris), and sitting in front, from left, Pam (Producer), Frank (Stage Manager and yesterday's birthday boy), Jocelyn (Director) and, or course, Jeni (Producer).

We had a 50th birthday party for Barbara before she left for Japan with her mother for two weeks.


Jeni made this amazing chocolate cake, and her classic coconut cake, both of which were great that night, but better as breakfast the next two mornings.


We also hung the window treatment that Mom made for us just before the party. It looks really good and is a nice touch on the office. I have absolutely no vision for fabrics or curtains and leave this all up to Jeni's eye and Mom's sewing machine. But it makes such a difference to have something hanging over the windows.

We also hung curtains in the dining room. We've been struggling to decide how to do it, and decided to just go with some curtains from Target for the time being, basically to have something for Barbara's party and then once we decided, we'd put the "right" ones up. But as it turns out, we bought the "right" ones the first time. It seems we were looking for the wrong thing the whole time, and when we bought the ones from Target (love Target), it worked out. Who knew?

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th, so get your lucky whatever's out ...

Week in Review

We've been real busy with so many things going on lately. The blog should be a chronicle of what's happening in our lives, but somehow our lives got so busy that the blog got left behind. This last week has been full and exciting.

Last Friday was opening night for Caroline or Change at Workshop Theatre. Jeni is the co-producer of the play, as well as doing props and stepping in to help stage manage when necessary.


Here's a shot from after opening night of Jeni with Caroline (the musical director) and Jocelyn (the director) Jocelyn (the lead, Caroline), LaToya (the radio), Jeni, and Anna (grandma). We have more pictures from the show, and afterward, on Flickr. The show has been a fun experience for Jeni, but very exhausting and time-consuming, too. Jeni may have to step in and help stage manage this weekend, which may interrupt our plans to visit with Lisa for her birthday.

On Tuesday, I donated some blood -- seven vials, to be exact -- for genetic testing. Back in 1998 Jeni and I registered with the National Bone Marrow Program as possible donors. There was someone in Davenport who was in need. We weren't a match -- didn't really expect to be, honestly. But then last week, 11 years later, we got a phone call. Apparently, I might be a match for a five-year-old boy. So they're doing some more specific testing of certain genetic markers (there's a pdf here, if you are really curious). So I guess it's wait and see time, now. It's pretty humbling to get a call like that.

Last night, Jeni, Tiff and I went to see Coraline while it is still in 3D. I really wanted to see it in the theatre to experience the "Real3D" effect. It was pretty cool. I was really impressed with the movie. I'm glad the Jonas Brothers Movie tanked so we got a second chance to see Coraline (since there are only so many 3D screens to go around ... Monsters vs Aliens takes over tomorrow). If you go see Coraline tonight (and you should) sit through to the very end of the credits for the best 3D effect of the whole movie. I think at that point they were just showing off.


Here I am with buttons for eyes ... I always felt this picture of me was a little creepy before the buttons, but the buttons sure make a difference. You can trade your eyes for buttons, too, here.

So I guess this was a Caroline/Coraline themed week.

I'm going to try to keep the updates more regular. I still owe a post about Gracie and Clara Ann's birthday party, too.

Caroline or Change

Jeni has spent the last few months working as the co-producer for Caroline or Change at Workshop Theatre. Opening night was last Friday, and it went very well. It was so nice to be able to sit and see all the hard work from everyone involved come together into a wonderful show. Jeni posted some pictures on Flickr today. I'll leave it to Jeni to write about the experience of producing a play. I know it was hard work, and rewarding work. I'm very proud of her -- she helped create something memorable.

Missing Halloween

It looks like we'll be missing Halloween this year. Jeni has been working at the theatre trying to keep things afloat while they search for a new executive director, and the next show opens on Halloween night. Jeni has to be there, and there's something special about going to a show on opening night. Unfortunately this means that we'll be missing out on the trick-or-treaters coming around. Now the debate is: do we put out a big bowl of candy for the first group of teenagers to plunder, or do we just leave the house dark and make up for it next year?

Help Workshop Theatre with your reviews

We saw where we can create donations to Workshop Theatre by writing reviews of local businesses with a maximum of $25 dollars donated (one per review). So Jeni and I set out writing reviews, and you'd be amazed how hard it is to come up with 25 businesses you are willing to write a review about. I guess I only really go to about 10 places regularly.

High School Musical: The Musical

We went to Workshop Theatre on Sunday to see High School Musical: On Stage, the stage production of the Disney show (really, I think it should have been High School Musical: The Musical, but probably because I like Spaceballs, the Movie). It was actually very fun, but the first act was better than the second.

Lisa and Brian brought Gracie to the show, too, which was a lot of fun. Gracie was very good during the show, less fidgety than many of the other children at the show, and there were a lot of kids there. It was so fun seeing her (and pretty much all the little kids) all dressed up to come to the theatre.

Really, though, the highlight of the show for me was afterward when all the children were waiting in the lobby for the actors to come out and get their autographs. And what a thrill for these local actors, too, to get a true celebrity experience.

I had my camera but forgot it was there. I wish I'd gotten a picture of Gracie because she looked very cute, and her freckles across her nose are out from being at the beach...

I Am My Own Wife

Jeni and I went to the opening night of I Am My Own Wife at Workshop Theatre, a one-man show with 29 different characters. I had never seen a one-man show before and had little idea of what to expect out of the story, but I have to say I was very impressed. This is a show about a transvestite Holocaust survivor. I am thankful that I took German in college since there was splattered German throughout the play, although it was translated later, but it helped to follow the flow of the play. But it was very interesting to see one person portray so much and demonstrate the talent he did.

Rest in Peace Walter

Today the Columbia Theatre community is grieving after losing one their cornerstones - Walter O'Rourke. Walter suffered a stroke in late January and died yesterday. Walter was a master carpenter and was the Technical Director at Workshop Theatre for over 17 years. And he build some of the most amazing sets you have ever seen.

The first time I met Walter, I was so intimidated. He was very gruff and I thought well this guy definitely doesn't like me plus he ignored me. Later I had a conversation with Randy, his partner, and he said "oh don't worry about that. Walter's a little gruff on the outside, but he's got a warm heart. Oh and don't think he's ignoring you, he's pretty much deaf. He only hears half of what I say to him and I yell." A couple of months later, I was talking to Walter and he said something to me that made me feel like all of the hard work was paying off. He said "You're doing a good job. It's good to have some young blood in here." It doesn't sound like much, but it meant the world to me.

Walter and Randy had 31 years together. I never saw them apart. I wanted to say something about Walter and Randy's life together, but I really couldn't put into word, so I'll use someone else's.

Walter's devotion and respect for his partner, Randy, was an inspiration and lesson to us all--watching them work together, on the stage as well as in life, defined mutual respect, love and extraordinary talent."-Susan H.

Walter will be missed greatly. I know that his devoted crew will continue his work.