I got cast!

I got a role in the play! I'll be playing the role of Mrs. Winemiller in Summer and Smoke! The read-through tonight was really a lot of fun. We have the next few days off and I have to be completely off book - meaning I know all my lines - by Sunday's rehearsal. I've also got an assignment due next Monday, a test on Thursday, internship things to do, and a work call out at our properties storage Saturday. Time to get back into the swing of things.

School days again

Went back to classes today after spring break. Time to knuckle down on my internship work; I spent most of my day doing exactly that. Had auditions for summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams. Cast list will be posted tomorrow. Not sure how well I did yet.

Back to school; relaxing

Classes start tomorrow. Rehearsals tomorrow night. Time to finish some homework.

I love a parade!

Today, I went with all the parental units, grandma, and Princess Emma to see a St. Patrick's Day Parade. We headed out early to eat breakfast beforehand. The meal was good, warm and filling. The parade was very nice to watch. There's nothing like the excitement of a four year old to make everybody else get a little more energy themselves. Emma was asking all through breakfast if it was time to go to the parade and when her food was coming.

When it was time, we went outside to watch the parade. Emma loved it, especially the dresses and the horses. Hearing her voice change in pitch as she smiled and said "those horses are so small!" was adorable. It wasn't her first parade, but as she watched it, it was almost like she was seeing everything for the first time. Of course, I had my job during the parade: candy detail. I got to gather the pieces that Emma didn't see or that just hadn't been thrown far enough. When we got home, we divided the spoils.

A parade is a great way to start the day.

Rearranging

My Mom has always said that when she gets bored, there are only two things to do: rearrange furniture for a change of scenery or dye her hair for a change of looks. She and I spent today defrosting the freezer and, since we had to move it outside anyway to do that, we moved things around in the kitchen and dining room. Princess Emma was with us today and got to play in the water while Mom washed the frost from the freezer. She loved it.

The downside to all the furniture moving was the time it took. The chore took most of the day and we still have a couple of things to get put up. Better yet, my left calf is killing me. I've done some internet research, but don't know what I did to my leg, just that it hurts. A lot.

Pain aside, I like the new look of the kitchen and dining room. We cleared a lot of space and moved a lot of things; it's made the space a lot more comfortable and created more room both around the table and near the refrigerator and freezer.

Spring break is almost over. All in all, I've enjoyed it. I even managed to get some homework done, thankfully. Yeah, to be honest, I'm ready to go back. I miss the routine of school, the regularity of the schedule. On Monday, after I finish my classes and get my director's notebook turned in for Shakespeare (boy is that assignment going to take a while...) I'll be joining the rest of the department in auditioning for roles in our next production, Summer and Smoke.

For the moment, I think I'll revisit an old past time and test my new (used) memory card for my PlayStation. Seems like a good way to spend what is left of the day.

A day with Princess Emma

Today was spent with Princess Emma while the other parental units went to a doctors appointment. I'd just like to note how proud I am for my own ability to remain productive while entertaining a little girl. It really was a good day; of course, any day spent with Emma is good. how could it not be when I've got a Princess keeping me company?

Lately, Emma has been telling me all about her little red dragon, Ruby. This is the first imaginary friend she's come up with all by herself. It brought back my memories of my own imaginary friends. I'll admit, I was a little older and borrowed from stories I'd read. Falkor, the luckdragon from Michael Ende's The NeverEnding Story, was one of my favorites. Another was Little Bear from The Indian in the Cupboard. I'm so thrilled to see my sister using her imagination. She really has a knack for it.

Flying a Pillow

I tried to be productive today; really I did! Turns out jet lag got to me instead. I managed to pound out about half a page worth of a cover letter. Not nearly enough. I got another act read out of Hamlet, but still haven't finished the play. I still need to read The Mousetrap for lighting class and will be trying to get Summer in Smoke  read by Monday - I doubt that'll happen - so I can be ready for rehearsals that evening.

Instead of all that, I spent a large part of my day trying not to fall asleep and a small but most enjoyable part of my day in the park with my little sister. Getting to the park, on the other hand...

It didn't take much for Other Mom and Princess Emma to convince me I needed a break. I'm not sure whether it was because the jet lag had me functioning way below my usual level or because I wanted to spend time with my sister. I'll be sentimental and chalk it up to option two. So, we loaded up and I hunted a snack before we left, thinking falsely that my exhaustion was caused by a drop in my blood sugar. Yes, this jet lag thing is completely new to me; I didn't recognize it for what it was.

On the way to the park, the car died. Something about an oil leak. A rather massive oil leak. Car's not going anywhere. We call Mom, who comes to get us and ended up joining us on our trip. At the park, I got to help my little sister slide and watch her climb and swing. I also got to fly my kite. I remember owning kites of various kinds since I was about thirteen, if not younger. Thirteen is the number sticking right now in my sleep-deprived brain, so I'll go with it. However, no matter how many kites I owned, I could never get any of them to fly. Of course, we lived in apartments, trailer parks, etc. so flying kites probably wouldn't have been the brightest idea where we were.

This kite, my triangle shaped nylon fabric rainbow kite, actually flew. Not only did it fly, but it made a kind of flapping motion on its own between catching the wind currents to ride. It was amazing. I had a blast.

It also woke me up, but the jet lag set in again with a vengeance. Of course, I didn't know what the problem was until Dad told me this evening after dinner. I hope this passes tomorrow. I feel completely off kilter and really don't need to end up snapping at Princess Emma just because my body thinks it's tired. She doesn't deserve that. Maybe tomorrow we can have a good day emotionally, if nothing else. I'm going to go check my eyelids for cracks. Will try to tackle the to-do list again on the morrow.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................

Bad Recipie

Hm. Friday night was interesting-and I wasn't even there! I opted to skip the karaoke night event in favor of catching up on this blog and working on homework. I don't regret the decision; I needed some productivity and normalcy. Funny thing is, what happened didn't even during a convention event!

Here's the disclaimer that might keep me from having to delete spam comments. I'm writing about this as someone who was not there. This is here say with my own opinion added. Because this is my blog, I'm allowed to give any opinion I wish. I will not name names, however.

as I heard, a group of Twitter friends got together for dinner and drinks. the met up at a bar in the hotel. at some point, somebody arrived late and got upset because someone else they hadn't had a chance to meet yet had already left the bar. Keep in mind, it's the end of the first day in a jam packed weekend. Most of the people there had had to fly in on Thursday and the entire group was collectively running on little sleep, perhaps as result of decisions to drink. With all these ingredients, I'm not shocked to learn that the person who was upset got a little teary-eyed.

I was surprised to hear that someone else at the table said "If you're going to bring the rest of us down, you can just ******* leave."

They let her go.

Excuse me while I die of embarrassment at how incredibly rude this is to do to someone.

After hearing about that event and watching the others hang out together while drinking, smoking, gossiping, etc. I pretty much decided it was time for me to take care of my own skin. I chose to ignore it and go about my business. I want to enjoy myself while I'm here and I bought the (expensive) convention ticket to attend convention events, not to avoid them.

Because of this decision, I spent a good portion of Saturday fending for myself and loving every minute of it. The people I was sharing a room with chose to sleep in. They missed Leah Gibson's second Q&A as well as Q&As with Patrick Brennan, Gil Birmingham, and Charlie Bewley. So, you know, everything. When I won a $100 gift certificate in a twilight trivia game, they were in the hotel room, as they'd been the entire day, drinking. They showed up in time for the evening's autographs.

That evening, at the formal event organized for some attendees, one of the ladies wanted to go back to the room. I volunteered to accompany since, much like clubs, dances aren't my thing. In truth, I wasn't 100% ready to leave, but not 100% committed to staying put 'til the event ended. Another member of our party insisted that the person who mentioned leaving finish their drink first. I reached over for a taste with no complaints from the drink's owner. As the insisting continued, I took another sip. If the drink has to be finished, fine. It'll be finished. When the drink owner objected, I said hell with it, put the glass back on the table, and grabbed the room key.

I'm sitting in the room with the lights off because there's someone sleeping. The person who wanted to leave the event has yet to show up and I've got the room key, meaning they can't get in unless I open the door. How the hell did I end up getting screwed over in this situation?

Truer words were never spoken

"Whenever you have a little bit of time for yourself, read a book. Always carry something with characters written on it with you and look at it when no one's looking." -Hojo Soun

 I read this quote and think more deeply of the idea of living for your passion, keeping what you are passionate about close to you all the time, no matter what anyone around you says. I want to live for my passion. I won't get dragged into people's real life soap opera style dramas. I want to focus on me.

Volturi,and Nomads, and Wolf Dads oh my!

Day two was even better than day one. I was flying solo, baby, doing my own thing! I attended all the Q&A sessions and got autographs from every star appearing there. I was really struck by Breaking Dawn's Patrick Brennan, who played Liam. During his Q&A, he sat down on the front of the stage and, at one point, lay back on one arm, totally at ease and relaxed. I loved it!

Leah Gibson did a second Q&A session. I was a little shocked at how empty the room seemed during this time. I was the only person sitting in my row and I was hanging on her every word.

Though I've been teased by some others in my group for this, I don't care. I admit to having some complete and total fangirl moments today. The first came when I won WON a $100 gift certificate in a Twilight trivia game. I'd participated in the first round on Friday, but got eliminated after about five questions. I was expecting the same this time, but I WON! I was eliminated in the next round, meaning I didn't get to double my winnings, but that's fine. I can use the gift certificate for merchandise the vendors are selling, meaning I can get some of the things I've been looking so hard at all weekend and it won't cost me anything!

Fangirl moments two and three came during the autograph sessions. Charlie Bewley, who plays the Volturi tracker Demetri, smiled at me and called me "sweetheart" after he signed my notebook. I melted! As if that wasn't enough, Gil Birmingam told me about a Native American tribe that has my name and Patrick Brennan called me "love." Again with the melting!

I really don't care about the teasing. Nobody else in my particular group got called sweetheart or love. Besides, I'm allowed to fangirl as much as the next person. Everybody gets a little starstruck sometimes.