Held together with, well, not tinfoil & baling wire...

Dad gave us a bit of a scare the other day - fell and hit his head, needed to be patched up.  They closed the scalp gash with staples and the cut behind his ear with glue.  We had to tease him about his hardheadedness and being held together with staples and glue. :)

Ack! Too soon! I'd love another week to prep.

Doing Daddy's Dyin' made me a Del Shores fan, so I was happy to see that another company will be doing his Sordid Lives this season.  However, I just checked their web site for updated audition info - the auditions are tomorrow & Tuesday!  =:o  I need a 2-minute monologue so I'll probably come up with something from Daddy's Dyin' - can't think of anything else I can come up with on such short notice.  Wish me luck!

At least I know there won't be a dance audition, so I don't have to worry about crippling myself again/more. :D

Squash!

Back this spring I planted 8 butternut squash seeds, all of which sprouted and thrived.  I ended up giving away 5 plants to coworkers.  The 3 I kept are continuing to flourish - I guess they're enjoying our unusually cool summer this year - and this morning I noticed a few enormous blossoms.  One of the vendors at the farmer's market this morning told me that the butternuts he had available were his first of the season.  I planted late, so maybe I'll be able to start "harvesting" by Labor Day.  I'm looking forward to being able to pick my own and cook with them!

Last week I bought a little anise hyssop bedding plant.  The vendor told me they attract the "good bugs" that eat the critters that eat my plants.  The hyssop also has a nice, light anise smell and a pretty little purple flower that kinda reminds me of a very tiny thistle.  Here's hoping it thrives and does indeed keep squash borers and other vermin away from my squash plants.

Auditions can cripple!

Or so it would seem after this week's round.  I auditioned (unsuccessfully) for a musical.  The dance combo included a little sequence in which you came down on one knee, then reversed and came down on the other.   Repeat that sequence several times, with quads that are not used to having to work that hard, and it's no wonder that I wobbled out to my car afterwards.  In fact, my quads didn't stop swearing at me until yesterday; musta gotten tired of it, though they still mutter a lot, especially when I go up or down stairs.  In an effort to ease my seized-up muscles, I made myself take the stairs instead of the elevator, get up more often to top up my water, or take the longer route when going from point A to point B.

However, it seems I still managed to do something wrong.  Thursday I noticed I was getting an occasional twinge up (or down?) the back of one leg.  By yesterday, it was much more pronounced (woke me up at 4:30 a.m.!) and pretty nearly constant, so that I was afraid I might have torn something.  My doctor told me it was my back (!); turns out I managed to give myself sciatica! 

Now I've got a set of back exercises and stretches I need to do, recommendation for a body pillow, and orders to swim.  First, though, I've gotta find out where all the local pools are, what their hours are, whether any have an adults-only swim period...  Today I got as far as picking up a flyer from the (outdoor) pool that holds a Saturday farmer's market (where I also got some lovely veggies).  Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and actually swim, or at least walk in the pool.