Running around...

Took some stuff to the base for the Spouse's Group--a box I made for party donations and some mail for Tom. Did an inventory of prizes we have on hand for our upcoming Egg Hunt. Must type that up and send it to one of the ladies who is doing the shopping for prizes this year. Left the base, went to Chuck E. Cheese's for some tokens to use as prizes, Big Lots for decoarations, the Party Store for face painting make up, the dollar store for table covers, a candy jar (guess how many jellybeans), and some decorations...and remembered I needed to go to the ITT Office on base because I won a door prize at the Travel Fair on Tuesday. Went to the location I knew--and they weren't there! Must have moved a while ago, because no sign indicated where they went....back to Hubby's office to ask him and drop off the stuff I picked up. Went to the new location, got the goody bag (Carnival Cruise lines chap stick and pens), and home--to get ready for the dinner we attended this evening. Five new Chief's were inducted tonight, one of them we knew back on Langley when he was an E-5. Tom always liked Willie (he lived catercorner to us), and thought they could be friends if Tom weren't his superior at work. Now they are colleagues. Very cool.

No theater work today--but I will be spending the day there tomorrow and hoping to finish the painting then. I'll try to remember to take pics!

Not much going on...

The only thing happening right now is the preparations for "The Canterbury Tales." The set is coming along. A new helper came in last night. John helped with "Inherit the Wind" also, and he is FAST! He helped me add a curved beam (to enhance the 'Tudor' style) and painted the grout on the fireplace. He took home some signs to work on--Sylvia printed out some Old English font names of towns for one of the props. That was a good idea--I'm not sure I'd have thought of that. I need to post some pictures so you can see what I am talking about.

So Thursday...

...was Michael's last time working with us. He wanted to keep coming, but his Dad said it was too far to bring him every night. Thanks, Michael--it was fun having you work with us.

Today, we got home from the theater by 4:00pm. So unusual! But there was a rehearsal going on, and the stuff we neeed to paint was steps and furniture, so we will work at a more convenient time during the week.

I should take pictures and show you what the set looks like! There are several levels and interesting angles. The director loves it--and the director of the next show loves it, too! She is hoping to incorporate the levels into her show.

I have laundry to fold, and Tom is busy doing Tom things.

Happy Sunday, y'all!

On the set of "The Canterbury Tales"

While I was at my meeting with ACES on Tuesday, Tom had a new helper on the set. Michael was just recently seen playing the role of Howard Blair in "Inherit the Wind." He's twelve years old and wants to learn all about the production of a play. He was there again last night, when I, too, was helping with the set. With just one person to teach, I find I can be thorough in giving him all the information he needs without feeling like I am neglecting anyone. Michael is a big help. He listens and does what you ask. I asked him what he knows about tools--he said 'nothing.' So he is learning from the ground up. But he IS learning, not just playing, so I think he is going to be a huge asset. He really wants to paint, which we did not do last night. Instead, we prepared to paint and helped Tom set the fireplace. It's going to look great! The fireplace is going to need to be completely repainted, so we will start Michael with that tonight. Then we will move on to the steps and then the walls and floors. We will alaso be drawing the framework of the set onto the flats so we know what to paint.

This afternoon I have an appointment for a bone density scan. Fun stuff.

Tuesday

Late this morning and most of the afternoon was spent at the theater, painting for "The Canterbury Tales." So far, it's just base coat stuff, nothing interesting, but it still needs doing. Once I got a coat of paint on everything, I came home and prepared for an evening meeting of ACES (Associate of Civil Engineer Spouses). We need to start planning the Easter Egg Hunt. Two of us brought along some food to share--pizza and sub sandwiches. The four women who attended had eaten their fill, when the commander came in with her son. She had just picked him up from soccer and popped in to say 'thanks' for all we do. I thought that was really nice of her. As long as they were there and we had food, it was offered to them. The commander didn't have any, but her teenaged son who had just finished soccer practice didn't have to be asked twice. The rest of us shatted a bit and then his mother says "Stop eating Jerrell!" He looked up guiltily, with a full plate in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other, asking "Do you want me to put this back?" She told him 'no', but 'just stop' and she hustled him out of there. As she was saying goodbye, he said something unintelligible through his food. She told him he could not be understood talking with his mouth full--so he swallowed and said ''Call me if you need any help with the rest of that!" All us Moms just laughed. Something about hungry boys...

"Bad Dates"

Tom took me to see "Bad Dates" in Charleston today. We went down a few hours early, just so we could enjoy this beautiful day by walking around the city. We were really surprised when the city was full to overflowing! Seems there was the Southeast Wildlife Exposition there this weekend. Who knew?

So we did walk around and enjoy the city, then we went to the American Theater for the 6:00pm performance. I was so surprised to see people walking in to be seated after the play had begun--not just one or two, either, but three different parties. Then, during the first scene, a couple got up from somewhere near the second row and walked out! They didn't stay long enough to know if they liked it or not, so I have to assume there was some sort of emergency. How else to explain such behavior?

The play was good--entertaining and funny. Not spectacular, but good. Afterward, we went to a place called "Juanita Greenberg's" for dinner. We sort of went there by default, since the three other places we stopped had a wait time of over an hour. The place was OK, but not the nicest or most fun place I have ever been. The food was OK, too. At least it wasn't as overpriced os some places in Charleston!

Welcome, Finland!

New country to hit on the blog--how cool is that?

I don't know anyone in Finland, and this hit came from another blog, so chances are someone is just surfing--but I still get to see that Finnish flag on the stats! Love it!

Thanks for visiting, FInland!

Happy Valentine's Day!

These are the roses that Tom brought with him when he came in from work tonight. Aren't they beautiful? I did the arranging, so don't blame Southern florists.... Since he is working long hours and late evenings this week, we had our Valentine's Dinner on Saturday. We went to the Outback. Tom had a crown steak with horseradish sauce that was deLISH and I had the seafood special--two shrimp, two scallops and a filet of salmon over rice and veggies. Excellent! It was a nice prelude to working the light and sound booth during the play!

To all my family and friends, I hope today is a happy reminder of the love in your life. Take time to tell the people who mean the most to you that you love them.

Jen, T.--you two mean the world to me. I wish you happiness always.

Zachary, Ryan, Lily--you three bring such happiness just by being yourselves. I hope your lives always reflect the joy you take in every day right now.

Tom--I saved the most important for last. You make my life an adventure. I'm so happy we decided to make our lives together! I love you.

..and "Canterbury Tales" begins...

Tom managed to strike enough of the set from "Inherit the Wind" to allow the cast of "The Canterbury Tales" to rehearse on the stage. The director was very eager to get the kids onto the stage, even though it is not set up for them, yet. I got a call in the middle of the afternoon, asking if it would be OK to move the stacks of wood that were sitting on the stage, to allow the Children's Theater access. Tom had already asked me to do that, and I was on my way there when I got the call, so no big deal. I moved the wood, picked up the loose screws and had one of the kids who arrived early sweep the stage. I watched some of their rehearsal yesterday, and the kids haven't yet grasped the idea of the different levels that will be there for the show. (Of course not--they only just started working on the stage!)

I get to go back today to remove some luan from the front of the platforms and clean up the workshop by putting that wood away, as well as storing some tools. Yippy. Tom won't be able to give much time to the set until things slow down at work--maybe by the weekend. We'll see.

Speaking of the weekend, we have tickets to a show in Charleston. If the weather is nice, we will go down early and spend the day in the city before the evening performance. I love Charleston. It is a beautiful city.

"Inherit the Wind" is gone with the wind (sorry--couldn't resist)

Yesterday was the last run of "Inherit the Wind." While Saturday night's audience was FABulous--getting all the jokes, laughing out loud, applauding when the desire hit them--the final audience was a bit dead. They didn't laugh much at all, and only applauded at a few scene changes--but then one lady told the actors on the way out that she wanted to applaud several times, but felt funny about it--afraid she would be the only one. What a shame. Anyway, it was a good show, in spite of all the mishaps along the way. Yesterday had a large number of problems, but in general the show had some challenges to face. Yesterday, Tom went in really early to repair the headset that had broken the night before and try to trace the feedback that was piercing the Stage Manager and light operator's eardrums during the show. When I got there 2 1/2 hours later, he was still struggling with the headset. Then Katie (Damron, Executive Director Emeritus) came to him with another problem--someone had pushed in the button on the file cabinet that locks it--and they have no key! Ten minutes before the doors open, and the box office has no cash. Tom solved that problem, and fixed the headsets. Meanwhile, no one for the box office has shown up, and only one usher. When one woman for the box office arrives, Katie greeted her with 'You're late!' This did not make this particular volunteer very happy. We pulled another usher from the cast and another box office lady showed up eventually. Whew!

This play was hard to do in the first place--it requires a lot of men, and all you theater peoplpe know that getting a LOT of men in one cast is difficult. Women are not so difficult to cast, but getting that many men with the time and inclination is a challenge. Katie beat the bushes, called in quite a few favors and bullied at least one jury member into it.

The rest of the play, we dealt with lots of sickness among the cast. One of the leads was diagnosed with pneumonia, another ran a high fever for several days in a row. A fair number of the cast got sick through the run, although the sickies managed to be sick on 'off' days. One cast member's job moved to Charleston, and he was told report or lose the job, so he quit after one performance. But the show went on and people who saw it really seemed to enjoy it.

Tom spent the Cast Party time on stage, striking as much of the set as he could since he will not be able to go in again for about a week. I went back and forth--I didn't think I would enjoy the cast party much, since we really hadn't gotten to know many members of the cast this time...but it was fun. They do gag gifts here--this time only the actors were included. In smaller shows, they include the crew, but not this time. Some of the things people come up with are really clever--it's fun to watch. The food was pretty good, too.

Kalei and Gary

I finally downloaded my photos. Here is a shot of Kalei and Gary in January:I'm hoping we get the chance to see them again soon. :)

Slightly nervous...

Turns out our light man (my husband) has a conflict for tomorrow night's show. If he cannot find a suitable substitute to go to the Graduation Dinner tomorrow night, I will have to run the lights (and sound) for the show. You'd think I'd be comfortable with that, since I have been in the booth for five shows....but I watch the show! I haven't been paying attention to what he does over there! We went in tonight for a little training, so I feel better for that. I wrote down, step-by-step, the start-up and shut-down of the equipment. I have the script at home so I can make my own notes...

So think of me Thursday evening at 8:00pm and wish me well--but this is theater, so remember we say 'break a leg' NOT that other thing!

Monday was a very long day...

Tom and I got up early so we could drive the two plus hours it takes to get to the funeral of a dear family friend's dad. Actually, Laura referred to Lindsay as their 'sister by choice' in a recent email, and it is the perfect description of the relationship. We are the closest members of the family - geographically- and we wanted to be there for Linds and her family. The service at the church was simple but moving. The three grandchildren sang beautifully for their grandfather, and the moment was made all the more moving for the obvious emotion in their voices. It moved me to tears--I see another person cry and I feel for them.

The ceremony at the cemetary was equally moving, although afterward Ken(Lindsay's Army husband) did comment to Tom that he (Ken) was proud of Tom for not going up and showing the Army soldiers the proper way to fold a flag! Seriously, the poors kids were not very well trained at all and struggled with the final tuck...they must have been new and nervous.

We left from there because Tom had to get back to his duties and I had a doctor's appointment to discuss the results of my lab tests. So off we drove, for another two and a half hours.

Tom went right to work and I went to my appointment. Just before I went in, I checked my phone, which had 2 messages Very rare for me...one was from the clinic, the nurse calling to give me 'medical guidance.' She said I should call back through the appointment line--last time I did that it took 36 minutes to get through to a person! I decided to just go to my appointment and ask about it there.

So, they took my weight(not telling), temperature (98.7) and blood pressure (112 / 78). The tech asked all kinds of questions--when was my last PAP smear, last mammogram, been screened for colon cancer?, had a bone density test? I was able to answer all the questions positively, which really seemed to please her. Why does that make me feel so good? Anyway, then the doctor came in, and I finally met my Primary Care Provider! She is young (can you say Doogie Howser's sister?) but she was informative and helpful--to a point. My iron is good, cholesterol is good overall (184) but we would like to see the HDL higher and we acheive that through weight control and exercise, triglycerides are a little high, but not dangerously so-again, weight control and exercise. I am not diabetic. How about my thyroid levels? We don't know, those tests are outsourced and they have not come back, yet! WHAT! That is the reason I wanted to talk to her! Seriously, I take the synthroid because they tell me to. Symptoms of low thyroid levels include dry skin, flaking fingernails, weight gain and fatigue. Since taking synthroid, I have all that-some more severely than before-, plus constant headaches! So what good is this stuff doing me? We can't talk about that until the test results come in. Argh! I did get answers to a lot of my questions, so I could feel good about that. Now I have to call on Thursday if they do not call me sooner. If there is no need to adjust the dosage of my medication, we will discuss the headaches then.

After my disappointing appointment, I had about a half-hour before Tom would be ready to leave work, so I went by the library and visited The Quiet Cup for some reading and a cup of iced coffee. Back to get Tom. He is still busy, so I tell him I will make some phone calls from the car and he can come out when he is ready. I am on the phone with Mom when he comes out. We are still chatting, so I get out of the driver's seat and as I walk around the car, the end-of-duty-day music begins on the loudspeakers at the base. Mom asks "What, is Tom announcing his arrival at home?" She didn't realize I was on the base. I had to be quiet during the National Anthem, then I could talk again!

On the way home, I learned that Tom has to go to the airport at 11:00pm to pick up the sister of on of his troops' wives. The wife is having medical issues while hubby is deployed, so the sister is coming to take care of her. I went with him. The plane was later than anticipated, and we got home about 2:00am. L O N G day.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Fifty-eight years as Man and Wife, and still consider each other the other's best friend. How cool is that ?

"Inherit the Wind" is up and running

Opening night was Thursday, and we haved played to almost-full-houses since. Not bad considering this is a straight play. The local paper has reviewed the show twice . The second review is a tad unkind to our protagonist, Bertram Cates as played by Bryan Gulley, and I think she missed the point. She says he "seemed more as an observer rather than an actual participant in the drama surrounding him. " Well, the two lawyers are using this case to forward their own agendas, so this young man was just that--an observer, being played by two brilliant, manipulative men.

We had a small drama of our own in the booth tonight. I have been sitting in the booth with the light board operator, helping now and again when three hands are needed. That is why I was aware of a light cue that was missed in the second act...I looked over and the light board operator had his chair tipped back and his eyes closed! I smacked him on the leg and repeated the cue, but he needed a second to orient himself. I knew there were lights to change, but didn't know what they were, so I told him to put on his headset so the Stage Manager could tell him. She must have been absolutely freaking out! I know I would have been...or maybe I was more freaked because I knew why the lights were delayed. Anyway, the lights did what they were supposed to eventually, and the actors went on as if nothing was out of the ordinary--so the audience was not too affected..... and now we are off until next weekend.

Congratulations to the New York Giants!

Wow, what a game--specifically, what a fourth quarter! When I don't have a stake in the game, (in football, that means the Ravens aren't playing) I root for the underdog. In the case of Giants vs Patriots, the Giants were definitely the underdog--and they pulled it out! Yay!

Seriously, I did not really care who won this game--it would have been cool either way--underdog wins, or a perfect season for the Pats. In truth, the fans are the winners cuz they saw a terrific game!

Hope your Super Bowl Sunday was a good one!

Catch up...

So, those of you in the know figured out that I was not at home last week--I was in Maryland with my daughter and her family. Hence the comments about the grandchildren in previous posts....

The reason I went to Maryland was to attend the promotion ceremony of a friend I met in Belgium. Karlton and I were in French class together. He also worked with Tom on special Air FOrce events, like the annual Ball and the Awards Ceremony. Karlton pinned on full colonel at a ceremony in the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon on Friday of last week. In order to attend, I drove up on Thursday and spent the night at a hotel across from Andrews AFB. I know two people who work there--my son and another frined from Belgium--Gary. T.J. had to work that evening, so he understood completely when I made dinner arrangements with Gary and his wife Kalei. Gary met me in the hotel parking lot and I followed him to a restaurant in Waldorf, where we met Kalei. It was so good to see both of them again! We knew their family through the theater program in Belgium, and we really got to like them a lot. We spent dinner sharing news of what has been happening since we separated and news about mutual friends, as well. We all missed Tom, but decided we will get together again when he can be there. We also arranged for me to go by their house on my way home on Tuesday, so that they could show it off.

After dinner, I went back to the base and spent some time with my son. T.J. was working the desk, but we still managed to share some good conversation. I left there about midnight so I could get some sleep and be ready for my adventure in the morning.

I got up at 6:30am, showered, dressed and headed down to the lobby for breakfast. I checked at the desk to be sure leaving at 8:00 would get me to the Pentagon by 9:30. The clerk very kindly checked online to see if there were any delays on the Metro. There were not, so after I ate, I drove to the Metro station just about five minutes away. I asked a woman in the parking lot if she minded if I followed her, since the Metro was new to me. She was very nice and showed me the machines and told me what I needed to know regarding parking and travel. I needed to buy a Smart Card inorder to get out of the parking lot--I did know that from reading the literature the hotel provided, she just confirmed it for me. One of the Smart Card machines was out of order, and the other had a patron in front of it, trying in vain to retrieve her credit card from it! I was concerned that if both machines were down, I might have a problem. Then the woman having trouble turned to me and asked me to help her get her card--her nails were too long! She couldn't properly grasp the card to pull it out. I wonder how she does her job? Anyway, I arrived in plenty of time, and spent about thirty minutes making small talk with Karlton's tailor, who is also his friend. The ceremony was very nice and afterward, Karlton arranged a "Friends and Family" Tour for his guests. Yeah, I went. Very cool. When all was done, I took the Metro back to my car then frove up to Jen's to visit for a few day s before returning home. Jen was sick, so I was able to help by taking Ryan to school, grocery shopping and making a meal or two. Poor thing didn't go to the doctor until after I left, when she learned she had a sinus infection. The visit was good for me, though. I love being with the kids and they teach me new stuff all the time. This time I learned to play the Wii. I am not good at it, but it is still fun. I am sure I will be the family joke for some time--but what a gift to bring laughter to people you love... On Monday night, I went to my parents' for a visit and we watched the President's State of the Union Address together.

The day I left, I went to Kalei's, as I mentioned before. I also arranged with another friend from Belgium-Jacque-to meet at a crossroads cafe in Port Royal, Virginia. We had something to eat and caught up a bit with each other. She had all three kids with her, and they were very good--which made visiting with their mother so much easier! The girls are Ryan's age, and very sweet. Finn is younger than Lily by about six months--so he is not verbal, but he is vocal! He did a good job letting us talk. It was great.

Then I drove home--in all, the trip took about thirteen hours, but I had a great time visiting with everyone.

The day after I got back, I went into the theater and finished painting the floor so it would look like flagstones--although only about half the audience has any view of the raised floor... It does look like flagstone, though, so I am pleased about that. I also did some touch-up of things that Tom added while I was away--a raised lip around the edge of the platforms for the jury box ond the spectators, so that the chairs wouldn't accidentally slide off; two benches that were added to the jury box, as the four we had were not enough; and some repairs to hings that got nicked or scratched. That night was Dress Rehearsal With an Audience. Members of the actor's family's are invited to watch the show. This gives the actors the feel of an audience, but they are a friendly bunch. When I met the wife of the guy from Tom's squadron, I asked if she knew about our spouse's group--she said 'yes'--she gets our emails and showed her husband the one I forwarded about auditions. He came and got the role of the schoolteacher! So my forwards work! I'm so glad.

The play has been going well since, playing to a three-quarters full audience on Thursday and an almost full audience last night. This is terrific for a straight play! The audience seems to like the show, too, which is always good.

The only other thing going on is my hypothyroid medication seems to be giving me headaches, which I called the clinic about. We are now in the very slow process of getting me to see my Primary Care Provider to discuss it. I had an appointment Thursday, but when I got there the nurse said they could not locate my labwork. Duh! I didn't have any done, because the nurse told me not to! She said the doctor might want to do more than the thyroid test, so wait until I talk with her...then the doctor ordered a bunch of labs for me, but somehow I was never informed...I did the labwork Friday and have an appointment Monday with the doctor. Whew! I've been trying to get this looked into for over a month.

Today, Tom and I worked in the yard. He raked and I picked up leaves. Yes, I know I got the easy part. Seems odd to be raking in February, but there are still trees with brown leaves hanging on...they've been falling since September! Spring bulb flowers are coming up at a furious pace, and we still have leaves to rake!

I think that does it. Thanks for checking in!