Getting physical

So, I *finally* joined the gym at work and got there for the first time on Thursday.  I went again this afternoon for a zumba class.  Turned out the instructor couldn't make it, but would we like to try spinning?  4 of us ended up sticking around for that.  The instructor was very good about making sure we got set up correctly (none of us had ever tried spinning) and didn't try to kill us.  I managed half an hour before my arthritic knees started hurting, but I stuck it out, just pedaled more gently and skipped the sprints.  I finished the whole 50 minutes and am feeling inordinately proud of myself.  I just hope I'll be able to walk tomorrow...  :D

I seem to be getting into this whole physical thing.  Sunday we struck the Guys & Dolls set and I went with a few of the guys to the barn where the company stores set pieces and worked right along with them, hauling flats, luan board and various chunks of dismantled set out of the pick-ups and into the barn.  Some of those pieces were not exactly light, so I was pretty pleased that I wasn't quite the weakling I was afraid I'd prove to be.  I was wishing I'd remembered to throw my work gloves into my theater bag, but I managed to avoid any splinters.

We'll see if I can manage to make this gym thing a habit.  I feel pretty good about myself when I do it; I just need to make sure I don't fall into the trap of "I don't have time."

Our first tomato!

Our little cherry tomato plant doesn't have many tomatoes on it yet, but this evening we "harvested" our first.  Yes, we probably could have left it there another day or two but the Chief and I didn't want to wait.  The skin was a little chewy but it was dee-licious!  I just hope that little plant gets busy and starts producing more than a coupla tomatoes a day - those cherries don't go very far and we love tomatoes in our salads.

Here we go again...

It started last week as a scratchy throat, as though I were getting a cold.  Over the otherwise gorgeous weekend, we got our first code orange day of the year; bleah.  Then the other day the tightness started, prompting me to pull out the nebulizer.  Needed it twice last night; never a good sign.  By the time I got home from work this afternoon, not only had I already decided to skip tonight's pick-up rehearsal, but made the Chief take me to the after-hours clinic, where they dosed me good and sent me home with prednisone.  Only a short series, fortunately, but never fun.  However, since I've gotten awfully fond of breathing freely, I put up with the side effects with a minimum of grumbling.  Just say a prayer for my poor husband, who'll have to put up with my moods until that stuff is outta my system.

Playing in the dirt

Sunday I finally got around to doing some gardening!  Spent a few hours buying plants and accoutrements, even a few "experiments" - a strawberry plant and a cherry tomato plant for the deck and some squash as a placeholder (boxwood died, peony bush to go in that spot come fall).  I also got 3 angel-wing begonias to put on the front steps but the pots I thought we had on hand are long gone so the begonias are still in their starter pots.  I got almost everything in before the rains started; a perfect, soaker rain that watered everything for me.  I love it when the timing works out like that.

This year I have red impatiens by the front downspout but portulaca in the bed under the mailbox instead of the impatiens I've planted there for years.  How well the portulaca does will determine whether I go back for more next year or go back to impatiens in that spot.  I also planted portulaca in the beds TW built last year on either side of the lower front steps.  I put a few marigolds in the south corner bed and in my herb planter, along with sweet basil and rosemary.  I put boxwood basil and dill in the ground, and my railing planters have verbena, a red geranium, lobelia, million bells, and a yellow-and-white lantana.  This year's red-for-Mom flowers are the impatiens, geranium & millionbells.

Yesterday TW went out to buy paint and other spring items, with portulaca on the list.  (I didn't buy quite enough.)  What he came home with, though, was a small hanging planter with purslane in it.  The tag was pretty clear, but he was misled by the fact that someone had written "portulaca" on the side of the planter.  Strange.  But it looks pretty happy after last night's rain, so I'll find a spot for it someplace.  It's an annual, so if we don't like it, we just won't replace it next year.

What's in your garden?

Choreo rehearsal goes 21st century

I was surprised to see at auditions that the choreographer was using her iPad to play the music for our dance audition.  She's been using it for rehearsals too - teaches a chunk, plays the music, videos it, then sends us the youtube link so we can study up between rehearsals.  I hate seeing myself klutz through things I haven't learned yet, but I do love being able to SEE what I'm trying to learn instead of trying to figure out what on earth I meant by this or that notation.  Better, she often gets good shots of someone who knows this chunk or that sequence better than I do.  I also get the music that way, and can rerun a particular sequence over & over to drill it.

I bought my iPad for portable e-mail and web access during a recent work travel marathon but it looks like I'll be using it for rehearsals too...

What happened?

While I was off doing other things and not blogging, Blogspot went and overhauled the site on me.  It's gonna take me a while to figure out where things are and whether I like the new interface.  Bleah.  Not because I'm change-averse but because I'm lazy - once I know where things are, I can go to them quickly.  Now I'll have to waste time trying to find things and figure out the new routine before I can actually, oh, blog.  Grumble, mutter, wasn't broke, grump grump grump.

Curly locks!

I finally bit the bullet and went to the high-priced (at least for me) hair salon that specializes in curly hair. Not that I went in with curls, but my hair seemed to be trying to get that way, despite yesterday's rain-induced frizz. It was different from any other salon experience I've had to date.

For starters, Vicky cut my hair dry. Seems that gives the stylist a better idea of the finished length of curly hair, since it doesn't all curl at the same rate. She also kept fluffing it up from the bottom, for the same reason - to see how it wanted to fall and how much it would curl up once trimmed. I was having serious "What the heck have I gotten myself into?!?" thoughts at this point - I looked far too much like a dandelion gone to seed!

Then she took me over to the sink, washed & conditioned my hair, with some running narrative. I knew about sulfate- and silicone-free shampoo & conditioner, but Vicky told me more - wash the scalp, but condition the hair, starting at the ends and working toward the roots. I should also leave a little conditioner, to moisturize the hair.

She then took me back to the chair. That's when the instruction began in earnest. She told me to bend over and flip my hair forward, scrunch the water out of it, finger-comb it to separate the curls, then scrunch the hair from ends to roots while still bent forward. She also recommended using gel to keep the curls separated, but didn't try to sell any particular brands: "just as long as it's alcohol-free." She also recommended a hair dryer w/ a diffuser if I don't want to air-dry, or cotton or microfiber, NOT terrycloth, for toweling dry. She was giving me so much information, I joked that I felt I should be taking notes! :)

All in all, it was a very satisfying session. It probably helped that I went in with a few ideas about what I might want but was open to her suggestions, but she listened to my ideas, explained what kinds of things work well with curly hair (layers!) and made sure I agreed with her recommended cut before she touched her scissors. She told me what kinds of products to use but didn't push or even mention any specific brands. She was very good at instructing me in the care & feeding of my new hair without being didactic or condescending, and of course best of all - I love the results!

By the time she finished, I'd gone from dandelion-head to curly locks. The new cut is shorter in back than in front and curlier than I'd dared hope. A woman sitting next to me in a meeting today raved about it and wanted the salon information (her hair is longer and curlier than mine). I'm still getting used to seeing it in the mirror but I love it! I just hope I can reproduce it...

Catching up

So, I thought I was going to have 3 auditions in a week a coupla weeks ago. I ended up with just one. I auditioned for Guys & Dolls and got a call the next day: "We don't need to call you back - we want you to play Gen. Cartwright and one of the Hot Box dancers." Which means I get to save sinners and to be one! :D

Had my first 2 choreo rehearsals this weekend. Our choreographer was throwing it at us fast & furious, and the dance break at the end of "Take Back Your Mink" is blink-and-you-miss-it FAST! Yesterday was slightly less crazed, but I still felt like an achey, footsore mass of jelly by the time I got home. I was tired and happy; I'd forgotten just how much fun this stuff is!

I also remembered that character shoes have a VERY low tolerance when it comes to keeping your nails trimmed; no more "oh, it'll wait until tomorrow" until after the show closes.

Hair types - who knew?

Since cutting my hair short last summer, I've been happy to see the natural wave reasserting itself. I've recently learned of the Curly Girl method and have been surprised to see how much buzz there is about it. I've finally decided to take the plunge and just ordered some bad-chemical-free shampoo, which I hope will work with my hair type. I just looked at naturallycurly.com's explanations - who knew there were so many hair types out there? (Some of the names they use are pretty funny - I love "curly ziggly".)

I"m going to give it a try, hoping my waves will become frizz-free curls. Wish me luck!

Back to basics

That's what kind of voice lesson I had today. Didn't sing anything, just vocalized and worked on breathing and other technical stuff. We discussed a couple of possibilities for this year's recital (date TBD) and what kinds of things I need to do to progress. While I didn't do any "real" singing, we did some good work; now I'm psyched to work on getting back into a habit of practicing so I'll be ready when things come up instead of scrambling to prepare.

Another audition next week, so I'll be practicing my audition pieces (they want you to bring one and a spare) in addition to my "homework". Gonna be a busy week, in a good way.

Waiting for the "rushes"

I had a photo session this afternoon for some new headshots. I wasn't all that crazy about the ones I'm almost out of, and my face is a lot thinner and my hair a lot shorter than in the old ones, so I had lots of good reasons I needed new ones.

The photographer is a lyric coloratura and has also done a lot of musicals, so we had fun chatting about shows we've known and loved while she put me up against walls (and bushes, fences and other props) and shot me. :)

We shot outside because she prefers natural light. I was glad I was able to get a session now, before tree season kicks into gear and my eyes get all itchy, red and swollen. While we had a sunny afternoon for it, it was also rather windy; she retook a lot of shots because an ill-timed breeze blew my hair into my face. Several times she had me toss my head to try to trick my hair into staying out of my face; sometimes that trick even worked. :) She also commented that I have the coloring she always wanted (she's a redhead). Funny how we always want what we don't have; I've sometimes wished I were a redhead.

She told me she'd start editing sometime tonight, with a few of her preliminary pics to be posted on her Facebook site. This will be the first time I've had headshots in color, though I'll probably get some in black-and-white too. I'm looking forward to the results.

Back in the audition saddle again

Auditioned for a production of Fiddler Tuesday night and a Rodgers & Hammerstein review this morning.

The Fiddler audition was fun. The accompanist was playing random things as people came up to the stage or left it; I got "The Night They Invented Champagne", so I danced across to the accompanist to hand him my music. The reading was fun, too, though I didn't get to read the Yente speech I had practiced. Partly because of that, I didn't fancy my chances of being cast. Four days later I haven't heard anything yet, so I'm taking that as a "no, thanks."

Today I was auditioning at callbacks. This was something of a gamble, as I'd gotten no response to two attempts to see if that would be OK. They let me sing, but didn't give me the callback music. I didn't expect to be cast because this company tends to cast college-age and 20-somethings for their musicals. However, I hadn't auditioned for them in about a year and a half and wanted to remind them how I sound and let them see what I look like now that I've lost weight and cut my hair. The artistic director didn't recognize me at first and must've told me at least 3 times that I looked "awesome!", so even though I was too old for them to cast me this time, they know what I look like these days. ;)

Happy birthday, "leaplings"!

I'd never heard the term "leaplings" until today, but happy birthday to my sister-in-law, Frederic (Pirate apprentice extraordinaire) and all the other Leap Day babies out there.

Frazz for geeks, costumers, knitters, punsters...

I do love me some Frazz!