Crocuses in October!

I passed a house in the neighborhood yesterday that has a front lawn strewn with lavender crocuses!  I'm jealous - I want "encore crocuses" too!  Anyone know whether that's a specific variety, or just a fluke?

Heading into the busy season

And here we go - my next show has its first read-through on Monday.  My pet charity is having a "do" in a couple of weeks on what would have been a rehearsal night, but the director tells me I'm not called that night.  Now the Chief & I can have a "date" during the week, which will feel like playing hooky. :)

The Chief & I will be home for Thanksgiving for a change and are trying to decide on a menu and guest list.  That weekend is usually when I pull out the Christmas china and put away the everyday stuff, so this means we'll have to decide whether we want to eat our Thanksgiving dinner on Christmas dishes, or not bring those out until dessert, or maybe the next day.  Neither one of us is big on rushing the season, so we might not even bring the dishes up from the basement until that Friday.  Yes, it's time-consuming to "rotate" the dishes, but I'm always glad when we do.  We don't decorate the house beyond a few pieces, so the dishes help put us in the Christmas spirit.

I'm taking off the day before Thanksgiving but have to work the day after so there'll be at least someone in the office.  However, since I'll be glad to have Wednesday off to cook, and the day after Thanksgiving is a great day to work because it's so quiet, I don't really mind.

We may be having a sit-down dinner party sometime in December for those friends & neighbors who already have Thanksgiving plans or just because.  The guest list will be driven in part by how many people our table seats w/ all the leaves in; it's been so long since the one time we used them all, neither of us remembers how many fit around the table.

Also on the December schedule is a trip for H's PhD hooding!  It'll be a very quick trip but will be SOOO worth it!

We also have to decide whether we'll do Christmas cards this year and, if yes, whether we'll do a newsletter.  With a dinner party, rehearsals and a trip for a hooding filling December, the cards may end up going out in, oh, January, if at all.

Oh, and I owe D some hemmed curtains; can't forget those, especially now that they're draped all over my sewing table & chair.

trying to get into this gym habit

I never did get to the gym last week - fed friends dinner Monday night upon returning from the cabin, audition & callback 2 nights, then Thursday night spent packing and trying to de-disasterize the house before flying home Friday morning.  Today, though, I was back in zumba class.  Kicked my butt, but I stuck it out.  No class tomorrow, so I'll get on the machines for the first time in a few weeks.  Not sure whether I'll get to Thursday's zumba class - it starts an hour later, which makes for a late dinner - but I plan to get to the gym and do something, just so I don't get out of the habit.

This has been the toughest part of this whole "gotta get healthy" thing I've been on for over a year and a half.  I started the healthy eating last February, was talking regular "walk breaks" at work, but didn't join the gym until this summer.  It's so easy to say "I don't have time" and go straight home and start on all my "honey do's".  We'll see where I am with this next summer...

"Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee"

I've just been cast in a play, in which my character's name is Sara Lee Turnover.  I'll be playing a pastry!  :D

No squash :(

I was all excited about having homegrown squash this summer for the first time ever - no such luck!  About 3 weeks or so ago, I noticed the stems of my squash plants were looking a bit peaked.  Then I realized they were dying from the roots up!  Turns out the pesky squash borer had invaded and trashed my plants for me.  Until that point, I'd been dreaming about planting pumpkin next year so I can grow the pumpkins I'll eventually freeze.  Now I'm not so sure; I may put in one or two plants, just to try it, but now I'll know to keep an eagle eye out for signs of infestation.

Jonathans!

My favorite apple variety is the jonathan but they're virtually impossible to find in grocery stores anymore.  Fortunately, there's a family-run orchard near the cabin that grows a wide variety of apples, including my beloved jonathans.  We were out at the cabin last weekend and I ran over to the orchard Saturday morning.  They had only just picked the first jonathans - they were still sorting the earlier apples, and didn't even have that variety listed on the chalkboard yet.  I came home with 2 pecks - half a bushel - and the Chief and I have already gone through about half that.  I'd forgotten how much I love these, and when they've been allowed to ripen before being picked, well - ambrosia, thy name is apple!

The original plan was to make a BIG apple pie, but now it's looking more like applesauce, since that freezes well and is better for us, since I make it without sugar.  That'll be a project for the weekend; the house is gonna smell SOOOOO good!

"What happened to your hair?!?"

I was among the army of volunteers working a post-funeral luncheon at church the other day.  One of the attendees came up to me during a lull to get a refill and asked "What happened to your hair?"  Turns out she used to attend the mass my choir sings at until the schedule changed last year, shortly before I cut my hair.  She recognized me, but was more familiar with me with long hair.  We had a nice chat about types & lengths of hair and how I've learned about the "Curly Girl movement" and am embracing the curl. ;)  But what a funny way to trade introductions with a fellow parishioner! :D

Finally!

I finally got around to filling the hummingbird feeder at the house last week, then watched impatiently for the hummingbirds to find the new restaurant in town.  Maybe they've just been coming by when I wasn't looking, but I finally spotted some tonight!  I saw 2 tiny little emerald jewels with blurs for wings (or maybe it was the same hummingbird, coming back for seconds) and a rather dowdy little thing with great aerobatic skills.  The feeder's quite full, so I'm hoping to see quite a few of these before they drain the feeder and I have to boil up some more sugar water for them.

Squash in our future?

The squash plants are coming along very nicely, even if they are threatening to take over the front yard.  Some days it seems we can actually see how much they've grown since the day before!  We've now got several squash blossoms.  If even half of those turn into squash we get to harvest, we'll have lots of squash for ourselves and maybe even enough to share with neighbors.

The squash was originally intended as a placeholder until we could plant a peony in that spot come fall, but if this little experiment works out, we may end up designating that the squash spot.  I'm already considering planting pumpkin there next year so I'll have my own to cook and freeze for baking.  And given how much the Chief loves the cranberry-pumpkin bar recipe I found, we go through a LOT of pumpkin now!

Vignettes from a family visit

1. The Chief was teasing our 2 youngest nieces (5 1/2 and almost 7), asking if they'd like to come home with us.  The older one wasn't quite sure; her little sister declared, "I'll go pack!"

2. My godson came over to discuss some paperwork with the Chief, including a reference.  (Godson is planning to go into the Navy.)  The Chief came down kinda hard on him but J was smart enough to know why he was being so strict and appreciated it.

3. I think we managed to persuade a few more family members to come visit us at the cabin - hurray!

4. A cousin who hadn't seen me in over a year was quite vocal about my "new look".  She admitted she'd never really liked my hair long and that the new cut frames my face so much better.  Overall, in fact, she declared I look "fabulous!"  Does one ever get tired of hearing that? ;)

Thieving squirrels!

Friday night we had 5 or 6 cherry tomatoes ripening on the vine.  Yesterday morning we had none!  My first instinct is to blame the squirrels because I've actually seen the little [expletive deleted]s make off with tomatoes from neighbors' gardens.  However, raccoons, possums or who-knows-what-else could also be guilty.  Good thing we have plenty of wildlife mesh left so we can cover our poor little denuded tomato plant.  Well, okay, not denuded - the little thieves didn't touch the foliage or the pea-sized tomatoes that are still too green even for their marauding little selves - but sadly defruited.

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!