Sickly - ness and stuff

Well it started last week Sunday, Eli woke up from his nap with a fever that he had for four days until I took him to the doctor who said his ears, lungs and chest were clear. He was concerned we might have to take him to get further testing to rule out pneumonia, but luckily his fever went away after "treating" it aggressively alternating Tylenol and Motrin every three hours and a prescription cough medicine he prescribed. It just so happened Maia woke up not feeling so well, so I had him check her out too, and he gave her a medicine that is supposed to be administered as soon as you get the flu, but it made her sick to her stomach, so she hasn't taken it since! Maia is also feeling better after a couple of days of fever, but she says her throat still hurts. Of course mommies who kiss their children are bound to catch some form of their sickness. Mine started with the sneezing and has morphed into a runny nose, stuffiness and an occasional cough. Ugh!

On the other side of things I accepted a new job last week and started last Monday. I am now working part-time 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. for a company called Round Rock Entertainment and danceStaff.com as the Director of Operations. I was asked by the choreographer of High School Musical 2 if I would be interested in the job since his current DO is leaving to run her own dance school. With the hours and earning potential, I couldn't say no.

Round Rock oversees the production of events. For example we will be bringing Tabitha and Napoleon from So You Think You Can Dance to lead a master class Aug. 22 to Houston. If you follow the show, they are a husband and wife choreography team who has also done work on America's Best Dance Crew as well. We are also trying to get Philip who was just let go from SYTYCD a few weeks ago who is also from Houston.

danceStaff.com is in beta right now, but will be officially launched in September. I guess the best way to explain it is that we will be the "monster.com" for the dance school business. We will send candidates to studios who need teachers on a temporary or permanent basis. So my job so far has entailed sorting through 8 lists of clients, vendors, etc. so we can upload them to a master list and database.

For now I am still doing the Cy-Fair Magazine thing, which I have enjoyed, but I have always felt that being paid at the beginning of the issue and at the end - I work for free for two months in between magazines. I am also VERY micromanaged, and as editor all I do is oversee the stories and have nothing to do with the layout, design, what stories get cut, etc. and don't really see a finished product until it's about ready to go to print. My new boss is very aware that I need to stay on board with CFM until I get paid for the fall issue. If I leave before then, I know I won't see any money. Then I'll speak to the publisher about if she wants me to stay on although I won't be able to go to as many networking events as they would like me to.

High School Musical 2 opened last night. We had 335 in the house. Tonight was interesting because just as I was arriving at the college a storm was brewing and it started to rain. Which by the way we most definitely NEED the rain around here, but when it comes we usually get deluged and the sewers can't always handle it. Then it dries up and you never knew it rained at all! Anyway, the ensuing thunderstorm knocked the power out in the Fine Arts Center. So we went on hold for 45 minutes, and just about the time we were going to cancel the show for the night, the power came on and we ran the show. Tomorrow we only have 42 seats available for walk ins (the theater holds 425) and then the Monday morning show is Sold Out! This is an 8 show run. We'll finish up next weekend with one Friday, a matinee and evening show on Saturday and a matinee on Sunday.

Then....I get my life back and my family gets me back too! It's been one heck of a roller coaster ride being the stage manager for this show. And while the end product has turned out better than expected, I don't need this stress in my life for a long time to come!

That's all for now! More later! :)

Catching Up

Okay - well my only excuse is it's been a busy summer so far. We are still in production for High School Musical 2 which has proved to be unlike any show I've been involved in before. To date, the whole experience has reminded me why I never did summer shows in Scottdale and why I retired from the theater last spring! Not all, but a core of kids have no focus and are really making progress slow. We have three weeks until opening and not all of the numbers are choreographed and what the director considers blocking is "done", but the cast doesn't really know it because there has been no repetition. After our show closes on the 24th, I will probably not stage manage another show, will not work with this director and will look for an opportunity maybe next year to be IN a show instead.

Evan has been "on vacation" with Mike for a little over a week now. They are traveling today to Connecticut to see more of his family. Thankfully Evan will fly home Thursday.! :) It will be the first Fourth of July he will spend with us in a very long time!

Work has been busy for me getting things ready for the Fall issue of the magazine. My Dine Out section has been particularly challenging. I don't know if it's because the photographer I assigned it to handled it poorly or what, but I've never had the issue of restaraunts not wanting want amounts to FREE advertising! Now we're coming up on the holiday weekend and photos are due by July 6!

It's been really hot the last few weeks. Nothing less than the mid-90's with some days with a heat index of 105! Thank goodness for air conditioning and the pool!

Okay - This was a short update but one none the less. More later.

Moving in - busy as ever

One view of the pool.
A view of the kitchen.
Evan relaxing on the floor before we "officially" moved.

Wow, you guys weren't kidding when you said I hadn't blogged in a long time! Oops! So we made the big move this weekend. Last Saturday Jeff got the keys to the house. Tuesday I was here to let the cable guy in because you know you can't be without cable for the TV and Internet! Evan also got out of school early that day and had two of his friends come over to swim.

I guess the chlorine was pretty strong so the next day when we took Maia's friend Kaitlyn with us I stopped at Wal-mart and bought goggles and some rings to float on. The pool isn't too big, but it's big enough for us to cool off and enjoy. The thermometer in my car read 93 today.

We actually had all of June to stay in the other house, but Evan will be leaving for two weeks with Mike on the 19th, and frankly we needed Evan to help lift stuff with Jeff in and out of the U-Haul. Not to mention I don't think he wanted to leave on house and come home to another after two weeks.

So Jeff rented a 14 ft. truck Saturday and while I was at play rehearsal with Eli and Maia in tow, he and Evan packed up the truck and unloaded it twice!

Our "new" rental is within walking distance to the high school so Evan will be a walker next year. I signed a special waiver for Maia to stay at her school at Northpointe and will have to drive her and pick her up every day.

By the way, Maia had all A's for her final grades for her fifth grade year. Hard to believe she will be in sixth grade and Evan will be a sophomore next year. I have yet to receive his grades for the year, but I expect them to be A's and B's.

Back to the house. It is a one story on a corner lot, three bedroom, 2 bath, one pool, spa (jacuzzi) in the master bath tub. It is indeed smaller than the house we came from, but I'm so happy I don't have to walk up and down stairs anymore! I have no doubt that this will be a year long stay as was the last one with the hopes of buying next year!

I am up to my eyeballs in rehearsal for High School Musical 2 with Houston Center Stage/Lone Star College Cy-Fair where I am stage manager. We had auditions May 8 and 9 and started rehearsals May 16. I am there Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until we close July 27. I'm already planning a family get away to anywhere after it's over!

We brought Furby last night after we were done moving and brought Midnight and Franklin today! With the exception of clearing out the refrigerator. All I have to do is clean things up at the old house and turn in the keys Friday to Renee our soon to be former landlord.

More soon! :)

Still Here

Ok so I jumped the gun on the swan song to Furby post. The Tramadol that he was prescribed seems to have worked as I look over at him and he is laying on the floor nearby a I write. It did take a couple of days for the medicine to kick in, but he is living his usual dog life, however is getting a can of food a day with his medicine hidden in it. I think I even caught him running a few times! I suppose he'll stay on it until it doesn't mask the problem anymore, but for now he is enjoying life again.

My Summer issue of Cy-Fair Magazine came out this week, and aside from a typo that I didn't make (although it's in a story I wrote) I think it looks great! I'm getting ready to type up my list for the writers to choose the stories they would like to do for fall. I'll be sending a copy to a few of you, and they haven't yet posted it online, but when they do you can read it there. www.cyfairmagazine.com.

Tomorrow Eli and I are going to look at a house in Tomball by the high school as a potential rental. We'll need to move out of here by the end of June. Evan will be going with Mike for two weeks at the end of June, so I think it's better to move while we have the extra body to help with the process.

Eli seems to have recovered from his strep although he will stay on the antibiotic for a total of 10 days. I'm convinced he's going to turn into a chicken nugget, fries and a Sprite one of these days!

Evan's Spring football game will be next Thursday (the big red and white game). I guess last year they had 3500 people there. They have a catered meal you can purchase, games, etc. Major fundraiser for the Tomball Athletic Booster Club of which I am the Chair of publicity. Appropriate don't you think?

Well that's it for now. Time for my beauty sleep! :)

Furby

Well it looks like the end of the road is coming for our dog Furby who is 10 years old and has outlived two other dogs and several cats. We weren't sure he was going to make the move to Texas, but instead we lost our other dog Koda who was killed when someone poisoned her a few weeks prior to us leaving.

We've known for about a year that Furby has arthritis in his back legs. He has enjoyed a good life since moving here living in an air conditioned home with no collar since we let him out the back door to our fenced in back yard where he can lay on the patio on cool nights and do as he pleases.

Recently our cat Midnight became an official outdoor cat again too. He likes to be out at night and sleeps on an empty bed during the day until it's time to go out again. Maia about had a fit when he first got out thinking she would never see him again, but Midnight is a very smart cat. He hops the fence to explore, or sometimes he is content just to stay in the back yard, and has taken to scratching at the door or meowing until someone lets him in.

Back to Furby. Last Friday he started yelping when he would lay down. The first time I noticed it was when we gave him Eli's usual leftover chicken nuggets and he yelped when he went to get one. I made an appointment at the veterinarian who my friend Angie recommended for Monday. However during the weekend he went from bad to worse. He would cry horribly any time he had to lay down or stand up and stands pathetically wanting to sit down but afraid of the pain.

So Jeff and I took him yesterday. We were all prepared for them to tell us it was time to put him to sleep. He was seen by a young doctor who checked him thoroughly telling us what we already knew that his back hips are bad as are his shoulders. She said aside from hip replacement there is nothing to "fix" him but she could give him various medicines to make him comfortable.

We are going to give it a few days to see how it goes. We are mixing his medicine every 12 hours with canned food he is eating. He's had two doses now and there isn't a whole lot of change. As I write this I think he's been standing for three hours just panting and looking at me sadly. I'm sure her job is to save animals, but Jeff and I are looking at this realistically that if the medicines don't allow him to at least lay down and stand comfortably without the agonizing crying that we will ask her to put him down at the end of the week.

Lots of stuff

Well let me start by saying earlier this week my computer crashed. Jeff resurrected it by wiping out the hard drive, but not before making a back up thank goodness. However what was NOT saved were all of my email contacts I had since the reunion and more importantly work contacts. I also had to buy a new Microsoft Office suite (originally procured from my sister) and downloaded my printer program from the Internet. I don't have my digital camera program anymore, but realized I can still download my pictures as long as I can connect my USB. The computer is 6 years old and there's a possibility I may have to buy a new one here down the road.

This evening I went to my first production meeting for High School Musical 2 that I was asked to be stage manager for Houston's Center Stage. The production is being presented in conjunction with the Lone Star College Cy-Fair Campus where the rehearsals and shows will be held. There are a gazillion people involved in the production side. A producer, director, asst. director, music director, choreographer, set design person, sound, lighting, stage manager (me), props, costumer and three publicity people. I was taking notes during the meeting, but I about fell over when they said the budget for the set alone was $2,000 and between $800 and $1000 for the props! I have no idea what I spent for AAFC's HSM a few years ago, but I don't think not including royalties we spent over $1,000 total! I was told I'm the captain of the ship and I'll even have an assistant! Which means I'm not sure what the director and asst. director do - but I'll just tell you now I'm not sure about her (the director's) vision - but I'll keep my mouth shut. We'll see how it goes...we have auditions May 8 and 9 with callbacks on the 11th. Then rehearsals begin on May 16th and we rehearse four days a week until we open July 17th for 8 shows including two matinees.

As usual it's late. I'll post some more pictures tomorrow. I finally got Eli to get his hair cut last week! He's so cute!

Easter Sunday

So today was our first Easter away from Pennsylvania, but a busy one at that at least for me. I had thoughts of skipping the first service at 8 a.m., but then I realized I would be shorting the bell choir, so I was out of the house by 7 a.m., stopped at Wal-Mart for some doughnuts since everyone was to bring something breakfast-like for everyone participating in the three services. Our services were 8, 9:30 and 11. Of course our service was on a much grander scale than anything we had in Scottdale. Maundy Thursday was complete with a string quartet. Today we had a brass section, lots of singing and of course bell playing. The 9:30 service was standing room with extra seating in the two parlors and filling the wings. My family made it to the 11 o'clock service, and I was very proud of Eli that he behaved so well.

The Easter Bunny made an appearance Saturday night after everyone went to bed, much like Santa Claus. He hid the eggs and set out the baskets. I knew I wouldn't be around for the "big hunt," so I prepared Jeff with instructions of what people should be wearing and what time to leave the house.

It rained like crazy just before the 11 o'clock service began with thunder and lightening, but by this afternoon it was sunny and beautiful and Jeff, Eli and I were out washing our cars in the driveway!

Maia is having her friend Katylin stay over tonight since they don't go back to school until Tuesday, and at 12:20 a.m. it's time for me to head to bed!