No August update?

I guess I missed doing an August update. This is a result of two things: not much happening, and too much happening. Our routine remains pretty much the same: work, theatre, home, repeat. It's hard to give exciting updates when there is so much of the same.

But the "too much happening" is happening around the theatre. (Yes, spell check, theatre is a correct spelling -- you can stop underlining it.) Jeni is producing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Workshop Theatre. This involved a whole lot, including getting the cast and crew organized and all on the same page, handling publicity, decorating the lobby (I'll try to get some pictures -- we turned it into a middle school hallway), and much much more. Imagine the stress of the holidays and increase it exponentially. This has disrupted any attempt at a good diet, straight house, well-maintained yard, and decent bedtime. (Who am I kidding, even when the play isn't going on we still don't have a decent bedtime -- always something to do and not enough time.) Producing is very rewarding for Jeni, but when it hits crunch time it definitely takes its toll.

The show has had a good run. Tonight I get to go on stage as a walk-on speller. This is my second time spelling with an audience. Last time I misspelled "atheist." Although I would have sworn I spelled it right (at least in my head), the letters didn't come out in the right order.

Yesterday was my birthday. We had a little party last Friday following a late night fundraiser at the theatre. In conjunction with the spelling bee musical, we decided to have an adult spelling bee -- "Spell Dirty to Me." Since the actual play is middle schoolers (adults playing middle schoolers), we decided to flip the coin and have them in racy outfits spelling dirty words (OK, mostly words that sound dirty -- like titillate or waylaid -- only with sentences that make sure they are dirty). It was VERY funny and very successful, and people were asking when we were doing it again -- sorry one night only.

So afterward we had a little birthday get-together with cake and snacks and whatnot. Yesterday on my actual birthday Jeni and I went to Blue Marlin for dinner. We were there late in the night because Jeni had a play selection meeting for the theatre. Going to a restaurant late during the week almost insures lackluster service. Buddy Holly wasn't much of a waiter, demonstrated by when we had to get the hostess to get him so we could get a refill of our drinks: "Sorry I was talking to some people outside. They were telling me how I looked like Tobey Maguire." (Sorry, Buddy, you don't look like Tobey Maguire at all.) The food was good though.

The play ends on Saturday. Jeni is also producing the next show, A Few Good Men. I don't think she'll over-commit to that one as much. With the show wrapping up, we are going to get back on track. Back in the spring, when we were gearing up for the Walk MS 5K in Marietta, we were walking almost every day and dedicating a lot of time to the Wii Fit. We both could really tell the difference. Recently, with the stress of the show, we have fallen off the wagon seriously -- drinking Coke, eating junk, not exercising. So starting Sunday we are back at it. With that said, I plan on keeping a log on the blog of our exercise. I know the Wii tells me when and how much I've been doing, but maybe if I put it here too then it will keep me more accountable. We'll see. Maybe I'll keep up with the updates, if it helps. Maybe I'll lose track again -- but hopefully not. But at least Sunday you should see something.

Until then ... I guess I need to get all the sweets and junk in my system before I start having to be good.

Month in review

I can't believe the last update was March 1! (How many blog posts have started that way lately...) I've kind of gotten away from the blog lately. The quick updates on Facebook have been too easy, and the thought-out posts to the blog have been harder to come across. We've been extremely busy. The theatre is very selfish with Jeni's time, and we both struggled with some illness the last two months, which is so unlike us. Happily, we're both on the mend. We've started walking in the evening again, which makes me very happy. We've done the neighborhood lap the last two nights and I just feel so much better having walked a little. It's nice to have that 30 minutes of walking time that is nice and relaxing and away from the noise and errands and chores. We'll be walking in a 5K with Nikki and Co. in Atlanta in May for an MS Walk event. There's more I want to write, but it'll have to wait because it's in my mind, but not flowing to the keyboard right now. But I felt the need to type something. Sometimes it just starts with typing...

Hello 2010!

How on Earth did I make it through an entire month without any kind of blog post?!? Not even some obscure link -- nothing! It's not because nothing was happening in my life. On the contrary, it was because there was just too much going on. We just never stopped at all in December. I think we were getting home after 9:00 and sometimes after 10:00 every night up until Christmas.

I need to upload some Christmas pictures, because we had a very nice Christmas this year. We spent Christmas night with Lisa, Brian, Gracie and Clara Ann helping them get ready for Santa to come. And then Christmas morning with two little ones was so much fun. There's just no beating the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.

And then after Christmas we went to Gatlinburg for a visit with my family. We had to take the detour around the rock slide on I-40 (taking 25/70) and it felt a little easier than 40, actually. And it was so nice to see the Dougs, and of course Mom, Dad, Kelly and Sassy. And there are some good pics from that trip too, hanging out on Facebook, but not on Flickr yet. But they will be up soon-ish.

We welcomed in the new year with Tiffany, Tish, Susan and Judy, with a calm night and a disappointing football game. We actually missed the ball drop while we tried to watch some goofball do an anticlimatic stunt car just that ran long. Oops.

Jeni and I both got QLink pendants and started wearing them on New Year's Eve. This is without a doubt the most "new age" thing I've ever tried, but I have to say that I am encouraged by the promise of the QLink, and intrigued by some of the subtle changes I've noticed so far. So we'll see. I know people who swear by the QLink, and it can only help to wear it. I'll report back.

It would be a boring post with no pictures at all, and for those of you who just skim and look at pictures, here you go. These are the master bedroom curtain Mom made for us (thanks Mom!).

Hectic start to November

November is starting off pretty hectic. Jeni is producing Same Time, Next Year at Workshop Theatre and it opens on Friday. She's also doing props, and anything else they need, while also serving her role as interim director of the theatre. So right now she's spending more time there than home.

We got so busy that on Halloween we didn't even get a chance to carve our pumpkins, and that's a big deal. But things'll have to slow down eventually. But we did have about 50 trick-or-treaters, so that was nice. Just not as many Tootsie Rolls left over as I would have liked.

The treadmill and I haven't connected lately. It's been about a week and a half since I was on it last. It's my fault, although I'd like to share the blame with the treadmill somehow. I had the best intentions this morning, but the time change has somehow managed to make me MORE tired instead of giving me more rest. Go figure.

I taught a juggling class tonight for an improv group at Workshop. The female lead in the show teaches the class, but had rehearsal tonight so I stepped in. There were about 12 or 14 kids there, in a warm tight space (oh, the smell of sweaty kids). There were a handful who really showed potential. I'd love to get them in a smaller group and teach them some cool stuff. I pushed their skill levels, teaching them a lot of partner tricks. There was a lot they couldn't do, but I wanted them to have at least attempted the throws with me there so they had some kind of muscle memory of the pattern. Hopefully I'll be able to work with them again soon.

I looked up the old Star Wars Holiday Special online today. It was one of those things that came on when I was a kid, but then as I got older I somehow convinced myself that I had made the whole thing up. So I'm happy to see it resurface online like everything else does -- even if it looks a lot worse than I could have ever imagined.

A reference to the Star Wars Holiday Special was made on one of the comics on this page, but not this really cool one here. I have to say, I can't imagine the work that went into this one. (This is the one that referenced the holiday special.)

OK, this post is getting way too long now, and I'm not really saying much, so I'll end it here.

(OK, I wanted to post something else here that was funny, so I could end it here instead, but had nothing funny to post, so instead you get the concept of a funny-haha.)

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.