Take Me Out to the Ball Game

It's the bottom of the ninth inning, the Ironbirds are up to bat. Tie score, two outs, bases loaded, full count--that is, THE pivotal moment in all of baseball. What does Ryan say?

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

Father's Day fun

I will do a longer post about Father's Day, but I want to get this particular memory down before I forget. Our family gathered to honor the fathers at my sister Cathy's shore house. It takes most of us less than an hour and a half to get there, so most of us drove down, including our parents, known as "MomMom and PopPop" to the family. When they left for home at the end of the day, this conversation was overheard:

Grandparent to under-five-year-old: Thank you for coming out to wave goodbye to MomMom and PopPop. Older people like it a lot when young people wave to them.

Child: They do? Do they like it when I wave my butt? [with signifying motion]

Acting Workshop

I signed up for an acting workshop at the community theater this summer. Our first class was last night. We were expecting 20, 10 showed up. However--nothing in the advertising told people which door to come in. If one is not familiar with the place, entry through the theater door makes sense. However, classes always enter through the Mood Avenue entrance. New people would not know this, so we are all hoping there weren't too many waiting in the courtyard for someone to let them in. Eventually Marge realized what might be happening, so she unlocked the door. We are hoping tonight is better.

Tom has been working on setting up the set for the next show, which doesn't go up until September. He wants to get it going because the show in complicated and will take a lot of practice and choreography and we will be leaving around the time the show goes up. Unfortunately, the leader of the Acting Workshop wants to use the stage for classes where we have more than 10 people. Actually, she was disappointed Tom didn't come in last night because she wanted him to clear the stage so she could use it! Whatever. Tom is meeting with the play's director tonight to discuss the set and what they see as necessary for the play. We'll see where that goes...

Anyway, the class was good for movement and meeting new people. Not being a thespian, I am not sure what I learned about acting by doing stretching and balance exercises (still good for me!), pretending to be a mirror with another actress or telling a story with five other people - one word at a time. Time will tell, I guess.

Why would a Sleep Study Be Exhausting?

Seriously--you go there. You sleep. Someone studies you. Why would YOU be the one who is exhausted the next day? Maybe I am the exception, but I was totally wiped out for the next day.

Oh, and I read all the paperwork ahead of time--in the FAQs it asks "Will I be able to go to work the next day?" The answer is 'sure!' and they talk about the fact that there are no showers, but there are facilities for 'freshening up' in the morning. What they don't mention--either in the paperwork of in the video you get to watch beforehand--is that they are going to glue electronic sensors to your head! Yes, GLUE. To your head. Under your hair. As they put the glue in your hair, the technician tells you to shower when you get home 'with the hottest water you can stand' and 'it will come out.' The other thing they don't mention? Gauze. Stuck up with the glue in your hair like chewing gum. So if you decided to go to work with big lumps of glue in your hair, someone is going to notice the white stuff peeking out from under! I mentioned this in the evaluation afterward. I think it is wrong to give the impression that one can go to work when going to work in that state would be totally unprofessional.

Other things were not as one might expect after watching TV or listening to someone else who has had a sleep study. I did not have to stay up all night before the study (like on "Friends"), and I didn't have to sleep on my back all night--although range of motion was limited by the numerous wires and sensors. The bed was comfortable and the room was more hotel-like than hospital-like.

After my first sleep study, the technician said I slept 'goo-od'. She also said I snore loudly and I am a "rough" sleeper, turning this way and that, first hot then cold. Well, DUH! I am 51 years old. Hot flashes, anyone? Anyone at all? I have more than I need. Poor Tom. He says he is used to me and I don't keep him awake, though.

The technician did NOT put the CPAP (Continuous Pressure something something) equipment on me in the middle of the study, as both she and the video indicated she would if I suffered apnea during the first part of the test. Instead, I get to do a second study with the equipment from the beginning. Oh, goody. Have you seen one of those things? The technician says they are different now, but in the video they showed me, the CPAP sleep system looked like an athletic supporter pulled over your head with the cup placed over your nose! I'd never sleep because I'd be too busy laughing at the way I must look like (and wondering if the cup had been sanitized) all night!

I think I am going to need a sense of humor about this whole thing. Rats!

Saturday was BUSY! *photo added*

On Friday, I learned by telephone that our friend Beth was going to be competing in the Highland Games at Furman University (an a side note--how would you like to spend your college years at F.U.?) in Greenville, SC. It is about 2 1/2 hours away by car. During the phone conversation, I didn't glom onto the fact that we could easily go to Greenville to see Beth and Hubby Sid. We haven't seen them in about five years, since they visited SHAPE after they rotated back to the States... but once I got off the phone it hit me and I thought it would be fun to go see them. Yes, I know I can be slow on the uptake sometimes. Anyway, I left a note for Tom at his job about it, then remembered we have tickets in Charleston for "Gypsy" as part of the Spoleto Arts Festival...

Tom thought we could do both. He researched it and decided we should try, so we did. On the way to Greenville, we stopped by the airport in Columbia as one of Tom's folks was due to be arriving home from the desert at about that time. Tom was hoping to greet him, thank him for his service and be on our way...but the plane came in early and we missed him. On to Greenville, where we found the Games pretty easily, parked, paid our admission and went in search of Beth and Sid. We eventually found the group Beth plays with just before a Mass Band performance followed by a competition. We didn't want to distract Beth from her playing, so we waited until after the Mass Band performance, then went back to the spot where her group was headquartered--and there they were! They were surprised to see us because we never did tell them we were coming. We had a nice visit, reminiscing and talking about old friends. Once Beth began competing, we didn't think we'd get to visit with her again, but we were able to say goodbye before we left the grouds of the Games and headed for Charleston.

Here are Beth and Sid, just as we said our goodbyes for the day. Beth had just completed competing with the band. You can tell from the amounts of water being consumed how hot it was that day!
The Parade of Tartans.

The Village Playhouse was a very small venue -- possible smaller than the theater we volunteer with here -- and I was wondering how they would manage to stage such an intricate show on a small, triangular stage with no wings. The answer is very well. The set designer was ingenious in his use of set pieces, hinges, wild walls and limited space. He had some great ideas for the show and they worked. We really enjoyed the play--the acting, singing and direction were terrific. The only place I could see for improvement was the three strippers--they really didn't seem to have any enthusiasm at all, nothing about their portrayal said to me 'she's a stripper.' The actors seemed to think the outlandish costume would do that for them. Honestly, I don't know if that was the actors' choice or the director's. By the way, the show was costumed very well, too. Very nicely done, all around.

Like I said, busy day.

By request~

This is the result of all the work we did over Memorial Day Weekend. That water is so clear you can see the print on the bottom of the pool, and even the drain! Doesn't it look refreshing? And inviting? Don't you want to jump right in and float your cares away? Or do your water aerobic routine? Doesn't it make you want to visit your mother? And bring your kids? Hmmm? :)

Hazlet, NJ?

In the past month, I have had hits from all over the US, from England and India. But, generally I recognize who might be behind those hits...but Hazlet, NJ? No clue. So welcome, Hazlet, whoever you are! Y'all come back now, y'hear? Oh, and feel free to identify yourself if the mood strikes....

"Damn Yankees"

On Saturday, we headed to Columbia and the Town Theater for their final performance of "Damn Yankess!" Tom got our tickets, and our friend Sylvia came along, too, and even got a seat right in front of us. We were expecting some other folks from the theater where we volunteer, but we did not see them there...

What a good show! Very well done--although us three theater-folks that went all found the lighting to be lacking. I hate to be overly critical because I know how much work and time and effort goes into these productions. That said, if all three of us came to that conclusion on our own before discussing the show, perhaps there is some credence to it. So we will keep it in mind for the next show we work on...I hope!

And I loved the way the actor said "Damn Yankees!" like he really meant it, much like us Baltimore Oriole fans feel about them.

Next week--"Gypsy!"