Goin' decaf

I've now been caffeine-free since Tuesday. After being awakened around 4 a.m. 5 days running with nasty headaches, my doc referred me to a neurologist, who told me that pattern was classic for "rebound headaches", when the body finishes metabolizing caffeine. Four in the morning?!? When I hadn't had much caffeine, and none of it after 10 am? Apparently so. This is particularly weird because mine isn't a big caffeine habit - I fill the cup halfway with milk, then top up w/ coffee, so I'm getting no more than the equivalent 12 oz. a day of straight coffee; less caffeine than in a 12-oz can of Mountain Dew.

Since Tuesday morning I've had no caffeine that I know of - only herb teas or decaf coffee, haven't had any chocolate. The "withdrawal" headaches have only been an occasional nuisance, not the constant I'd feared from seeing others go cold turkey from caffeine, though yesterday's did segue into a migraine.

The doc recommended a couple of books, one of which outlines a "migraine diet", which I'll definitely try. He also said yoga has been shown to help, and there's a yoga studio near our house; guess I'll check out their class schedule. It's much too soon to tell how all this will affect my migraines, but I've got my fingers crossed.

Why is this so complicated?

I've wasted a bit of time this weekend trying to find someone who'll cut my hair for my Locks of Love donation. The first two times I donated, I just went in, got my hair cut, and done. This time? Not so easy, for some unknown reason or reasons.

Attempt #1: Called the salon around the corner, which I haven't patronized in lots & lots of years. I thought I had made a 4pm appointment w/ Matilda, but when I got there, I was told Matilda had already gone home for the day. I took in the spanish-language program on the tv, looked around & realized I was probably the only person there not a native speaker of Spanish, saw how many people were waiting (for their turn? for the person they'd brought there?) and realized that perhaps the person who took my name didn't understand "appointment", only the time I was asking about.

Attempt #2: Called the salon I used last time, where the woman had done a particularly good job (20 miles away, which is why I didn't call them first). I was told that donation cuts are done on a walk-in basis only; probably because they do it for free, so paying customers get first dibs. Fair enough. So I drove over there after church this morning only to find a different salon there! I tried to reach TW to have him check the address (which of course I'd left at home, along w/ the phone number), but no luck, so I went into the salon anyway. The gentleman working alone had obviously never heard of Locks of Love and couldn't take me anyway, so I drove back home, having wasted nearly 2 hours in the process. Once he realized what I was trying to accomplish, he did say that what I was trying to do was nice. I wish now that I'd had the presence of mind to give him the donation instructions I'd printed out.

Plan C: Call the place again, find out exactly where they are, landmarks and all, and try again next weekend.

Still alive

I've just been grossly overscheduled - Mother Goose rehearsals Monday thru Thursday, then my February show had its first read-through last Friday and a chorus rehearsal Sunday. Tonight I have the night off, then Grand Duke rehearsals tomorrow & Sunday, Mother Goose Monday and so on. Load-in is the day after Thanksgiving, set build that Saturday, then it's Tech Week. My poor husband really will be a theater widower for a while there, as Mother Goose has a pretty heavy performance schedule - Thursday thru Sunday for 2 weekends, with 2 performances on Saturdays. And since I put in for my end-of-year time off before I even auditioned for Mother Goose, I can't really take any time off to recover.

As if my Tech Week schedule weren't full enough, I have a class at work that Wednesday and am called for jury duty on Thursday.

So if you don't hear from me for a while, I'm probably at work, in a theater, asleep or perhaps in a padded cell...

Enough comfort food for several people

Spent a good chunk of yesterday in the kitchen - made a big pot of veggie-beef soup, this time w/ some oxtails. The oxtails were disappointing: 1) They were supposed to thicken the stock but that didn't happen; 2) I had to trim a LOT of fat off the pieces; and 3) the meat was very tough and difficult to get off the bone. The soup's still good, mind you; it's only that the oxtails were not a particularly successful experiment. The only problem is that TW bought 3 1/2 lbs of the stuff, which I had divided into 4 smaller portions; 3 of those are still waiting in the freezer. Maybe I need to look through our cookbooks for an oxtail soup recipe so I can use that stuff up.

The pea soup I made for TW turned out every bit as thick as he wanted. He was insistent that it be "thick!" so I made it w/ 8 cups of water instead of the 12 cups the package instructions called for. This stuff was so thick, it would make traditional oatmeal seem runny; I dubbed it "pea sludge". TW was delighted with the results, though I did have to add back quite a bit of water when I heated it up for dinner tonight.

Let's say "Thanks!"

In honor of Veterans Day, go to http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1024.html and pick a card design to send to some servicemember stationed overseas. You don't get to pick who gets it or even which theater it gets sent to, but someone somewhere will get mail out of the blue letting them know their service is appreciated.

"The Sack Lunches"

From my e-mail. I've seen this before, but it's particularly appropriate today. Thank God for all those down the years who've served, whether conscripts or volunteers; God bless them and their families and friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Chicago to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq.'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time. As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago.' His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty-dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you're doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best, beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked. I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seatbelt, I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor.

Gonna hafta make this quick

Yeah, I know, long time no see and all that. Maybe I'll get caught up, but in case I don't - TW and I took a nice, long vacation in Yorkshire, where we had surprisingly decent weather, saw a bunch of really cool old stuff and I gorged visually on the lush scenery. We got home Thursday, then hared off to the cabin Friday afternoon to try to recover.

Panto rehearsals kicking into high gear - runs starting tomorrow night, load-in the day after Thanksgiving.

Got a comprimario role (i.e., named chorister) in Grand Duke, which starts Fri/Sat/Sun rehearsals this Friday. That means that, unless the chorus gets a bye somewhere, I'll have a rehearsal EVERY DAY between now and Thanksgiving! =:o So if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm at work, at rehearsal, or trying to get a little bit of sleep. Pity my poor theater widower - he won't be seeing much of me until the panto closes Dec. 13th.

Fall was particularly colorful this year, and the sugar maples were downright spectacular.

I'm sure there's more, but I need sleep.

Been a tough few weeks

My sister-in-law's mother had been living with her, my brother since they bought their house over 13 years ago. Docs didn't think she'd survive to see them married 6 months later, but she defied the odds and lived long enough to see my bro & SIL bring home and start to raise not just one but two kids, who doted on their Granny. Granny finally succumbed to her many serious health problems a couple of weeks ago. My poor SIL is having a really rough time of it, given that as a nurse, she was the primary caregiver and for the last year or two, had made it a full-time job. Worse, she buried a beloved aunt the day after her mother died. Pray for the family, please.

And after not having much time to follow FB or friends' blogs, I started getting caught up tonight and learned that a friend lost his girlfriend's mother, then the girlfriend herself, barely a week apart! They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but given this kind of double whammy, who wouldn't prefer to be a weakling! Please pray for G, too.

But life goes on. L&D became grandparents again yesterday morning - bouncing baby girl, 7 lb. 10 oz and "long" (the beaming grandpa didn't say how long, just that she's tall).

Comfort food

Yesterday the remainder of the Jonathan apples became applesauce (too long on the counter instead of in the fridge had them getting a bit mealy) - oh, how wonderful the kitchen smelled! It was a team effort - I cored the apples and threw 'em in the pot with some cinnamon, nutmeg & ground clove (no need to add sugar), and the Chief ran the results thru his food mill to sieve out the skins and most of the seeds and things I missed when I was prepping the apples. Yummy stuff!

Today our errands included a fill-a-few-holes grocery run so I could make chicken tetrazzini. Now we've got a big pot of the stuff in the fridge, all ready for tomorrow's dinner. We also picked up a big slab of salmon on a big, fat sale, so dinners this week will probably alternate between the salmon and the tetrazzini.

The tetrazzini takes a while to assemble, even if you don't count the time to cook the chicken or turkey for it, and the cream it calls for (I substituted half-and-half) isn't exactly heart-healthy, but after all the raw weather we've had lately, I really wanted some comfort food, and the Chief isn't big on soup.

Oh, and I bought my very first bottle of sherry for the tetrazzini. I had no idea there were so many options - very dry, medium-dry, cream... I haven't tasted the stuff yet, but I suppose I'll do that eventually, if only out of curiosity piqued by reading so many novels that mention the stuff.

New front-loader

Tuesday the Chief & I ended up ordering a new washer & dryer from Sears; front-loading washer, so we splashed out on the pedestals for them so we don't have to bend over quite so far when loading & unloading them. The new items came today; with the pedestals, they don't clear the ductwork by very much at all! (Our basement has a low ceiling, which means the ductwork is so low that a 5'6" person can't walk under them on tiptoes.) We were told that the doors for the washer & dryer would swing in opposite directions so you don't have to work around the doors to transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer. Well, yes, they do open in opposite directions, but because of where the water & gas hook-ups are in our basement, we'll now "get" to work around both doors. Ah well, it's not as though we're doing laundry for a big family; we usually do only a couple of loads a week.

The old dryer is still in place because today's deliverymen aren't certified or authorized or whatever to do the gas disconnect/reconnect. They did do a great job of getting the 27"-wide machines down the stairs and into the basement thru the 29 1/2" doorway with nary a scratch, however, so we're happy.

The new machines, like all the machines on the market these days, have electronics running the show, so they chirp and sing as they go about their business. Until we have a chance to put them thru their paces, though, we won't know whether we'll be able to hear all that upstairs, nor whether we'll find it annoying, soothing, cheery or just different.

The Chief just put a "test" load in the washer to see how it works. We may have to relearn how to do laundry, since everything we've read says a front-loader takes longer to run, but spins out so much more water than a top-loader that you don't need to run the dryer nearly as long. As long as it does the job, though, I'll be happy.

OBX

The Chief & I just got back from a lovely long weekend with friends in the Outer Banks of N. Carolina. I now understand why it's such a popular vacation spot - it's lovely, and not as heavily commercialized as so many of the popular beach towns along the Maryland/Delaware/New Jersey shoreline. We got to see lots of pelicans, herons & egrets in flight, as well as the usual shorebirds.

Our friends have a place down there which they rent out during the high and shoulder seasons and which is nice and airy. Not on the water, but you can see both the ocean and the sound from it. The Chief has always wanted a place near the water, and while the cabin had satisfied his wish for a vacation place, now he's talking about selling it to finance a beach place. As always, he picked up a few real estate magazines, and we'll probably contact our friends' agent. Friends of ours at church also have a place down at the Outer Banks, so we'll be asking them a few questions about their experience too.

Now the latest plan/pipe dream is to retire to somewhere between Williamsburg and the Norfolk area, with a beach place at the OBX. However, if we vacation someplace else appealing, all that could change again...

Go to Plan B?

I just learned that auditions & callbacks for the show I want to do next will be held while the Chief & I are on vacation. I've already e-mailed the director & MD about scheduling an audition, but I might end up having to sit this one out, or just doing chorus (since I've done shows with both of them before, they'd let me do that without auditioning). I know I could get into the ensemble, but I want to do more than that. It would be ever so much fun to get the character mezzo role, but now that I won't be able to audition alongside the other contenders for that role, well, let's just say I don't fancy my chances.

On the bright side, though, if I don't do this one, that frees me up for other shows running at about the same time.

Spending too much money on the house

We got new, casement windows installed in the blank wall in the kitchen last week, and replaced the narrow little sash window over the kitchen sink with a larger, casement window. The lovely thing about casements is that when you open them, you get the benefit of the full window opening, not just half of it, so they bring in all kinds of wonderful breezes. We also had the same contractor replace the siding on the back of the house (the addition the previous owners had put on). Looks much better now.

The painters started scraping old paint on Monday, started priming yesterday, and the first of the actual paint went on today. Even though they're still priming. I'm not sure what they're methodology is, but as long as they do a good job, we aren't going to worry about it too much.

As if we weren't spending enough money, the transmission in the washing machine died on Sunday. I went down to transfer the first load of wash into the dryer to find that it was still sodden - the spin cycle no longer spins. Monday a repairman came out and diagnosed the bad transmission. The machine's too old to make it worth the cost of the repairs, so last night found the Chief & me in Sears checking out washers. Such a romantic date! :p

Avoiding duties

... and catching up here. Another apple cake just came out of the oven about half an hour ago, so the house smells pretty darn good. The Chief made chicken soup with the carcass from the roast chicken from the other night, and he whipped up a batch of Moroccan carrots with a little coaching (and some cumin-hunting - the bottle had fallen off the spice rack).

Got another audition, for G&S's The Grand Duke, in a couple of weeks, trying to pick something to sing. One suggestion, the fan song from Mirette, is reminiscent of one of the 2 big songs of the role I'd like, but a) I only heard it for the very first time last night and 2) the song doesn't really grab me. Ah well, I have a few other possibilities and 1 or 2 more lessons between now and then.

Got some nice feedback at panto rehearsal the other night. We were going over all the chorus' music (I really like a couple of the original songs - well written both musically & lyrically), one of which starts with us rather than the accompaniment. The MD said we'd probably need it led by a chorister with a strong ear - looking & pointing directly at me. Some of the music has some tricky syncopations and intervals, really testing whether you're paying attention. I was sitting close to the piano, where I could hear the accompaniment readily. Apparently our accompanist could hear me, too, because as we were leaving, she said as she passed me that it was nice to work with "real musicians". I don't usually consider myself a "real musician" as my only music education has been what I've picked up in choirs and voice lessons, but I guess it's enough that I can hold my own in these rehearsals.

A new recipe and an old favorite

Made an apple cake this afternoon with some of the 1/2 peck of granny smiths the Chief brought home last week. Didn't make the house smell as good as usual only because it's a gorgeous day and we have all the doors & windows wide open.

I also tried Beth's Oatmeal Cookies. The batter was rather liquid, so after the first 2 cookie sheets when into the oven and I saw how much the cookies spread, I added probably 1/2 c. of flour to the remaining batter. I wasn't thrilled with the results but they aren't bad, and the Chief thinks they're just fine. However, I also have an Outrageous Oatmeal Cookie recipe I cut out of the paper this summer which it says was adapted from a Starbucks recipe. It calls for a variety of dried fruit - regular & golden raisins and dried cranberries. The Chief is a purist about his oatmeal raisin cookies, so if the first attempt turns out otherwise OK, I may be asked to omit the cranberries in future.

Part of the cake will go across the street to a neighbor whose birthday is coming up on Wednesday and who loves this recipe as much as the Chief does. The cookies will go to the beach with us next weekend, to share with the friends who will be letting us share their beach house for the weekend. I'll also make another apple cake for the weekend - I went ahead and cut up the necessary apples while I was prepping them for today's cake - especially as she's the one who gave me this version of the recipe, which has become my favorite of the 3 versions I've tried.

Oops!

Friday was a first - I missed my stop because I was too engrossed in my book. All of a sudden I heard the conductor announcing an unfamiliar stop and looked up to see a name I didn't recognize, so I checked the map - yep, 2 stops past where I shoulda gotten off. And of course I realized this as we were leaving that station, so I had to ride to the next one to turn around and head back. Just as insurance, I gave up my seat a stop early so I had nothing better to do than people-watch and keep an eagle eye out for my stop.

The book? Aunt Dimity and the Duke, by Nancy Atherton.

The fantasy was nice while it lasted

Which was about 24 hours. Got the call this afternoon, offering me a place in the ensemble. The director was so apologetic, complimenting my singing and such, that I kinda felt sorry for him. Ah well, that's community theater demographics at work - as the director put it, there are only so many roles to go around. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that yesterday he would have given me a lead quite happily.

The gentleman who played Samuel when I was in Pirates last year has been cast as the evil king. He's got a nice, rumbly bass voice, so I'm sure he'll sound OH, so scary & evil! He got some practice playing a bear in a Fringe show this summer; a foretaste of thing to come.

The ASM was in Merry Widow with me earlier this year and told me yesterday that the company "took me in and were very welcoming", which is why he's done so many shows with them. That certainly matches up with my experience yesterday. I'm looking forward to working with this group, and to doing my first British panto - it promises to be a lot of fun.

Another audition, at last

Had my first audition since, oh, April this afternoon, for a traditional British pantomime, or panto. The turnout seemed to be an exaggerated model of the community theater demographic; I thought I heard someone say they'd had only one man audition (auditions continue tomorrow)! However, I think I stand a good chance of getting something more than chorus. My song felt good, and the room's acoustics made my voice feel oh, so big - always a good feeling. The director had 2 of us read together and complimented both of us on our acting. He had us read a scene between the members of a comic duo, and had each of us read another role. I got to read the evil queen. I'd love to play a villain; I think that would be fun.

I expect to hear by tomorrow night, given that the tentative rehearsal schedule they gave us shows the first rehearsal scheduled for Monday night!

Great place for history geeks

The Chief & I just got back from a long weekend in Williamsburg. We got a B&B a block from the historical area, so we were able to spend a LOT of time wandering among the 18-century buildings, both original and reconstructed. We got tours of at least 6 different buildings. Each "interpreter" has his or her own style and emphasizes different aspects of a building's history, but there's enough about how the building was used and what the layout, decoration and furnishings say about the occupants to make me very happy.

I loved talking to the weaver who explained why fabric was rarely more than about 45" wide, and the woman who explained that in the 18th century the colonists were very definitely not self-sufficient. The sheep they took with them were great for eating, but their wool was too short to be very good for weaving. The Egyptian variety of cotton didn't grow in Virginia and the kind that did, had way too many seeds per boll, all of which had to be picked out by hand. (No cotton gin yet, after all.) I think even the Chief found it interesting.

We walked our feet to nubs every day, so we had no trouble falling asleep each night, but I think we managed to see nearly everything we wanted to. The weather was absolutely perfect - a little cool for September, no humidity worth mentioning, clouds but no rain on Saturday, and sunshine and lovely breezes on Sunday. It was all so lovely that the Chief is now talking seriously about looking into moving down there once I retire (whenever that may be). I don't know if I want to pick up stakes & move after nearly 30 years in the same area, but I'm willing to at least consider the possibility.

On the other hand, "move" and "pack" are 4-letter words...

Adventures in voice

My voice teacher told me at my lesson yesterday that she's given up on having a studio recital this year. It got to be entirely too difficult simply to find a date that everyone could make, including the all-important accompanist. Now her plan is to get past the turn of the year and try to lock in a date. Then, if people can't make it, "That's too bad; perhaps you'll be able to join us next year."

In related news, I had a good lesson yesterday. Last week's was pretty rocky - only to be expected after a month off. Yesterday was another story, however; I was remembering all the technical things I'm supposed to do, the voice was remembering that yes, it can hit those Fs and Gs and such, my teacher was very pleased with my phrasing and delivery and even told me that "that was beautiful!" The chest voice is still much too new to be anything approaching easy, but I'm starting to figure out where the "sweet spot" is between too far down in my chest and too far forward (which gets nasal).

Not having the recital looming large (latest date was gonna be Oct. 4th) changed how my lesson went. Not quite so much push to polish my technique on my 2 would-be recital pieces, and now we can spend next week's lesson picking audition material (I'm looking at one audition coming up a week from Saturday and another sometime in October).