Observations on my very first 5K

Walked in my first 5K today.  It was a beautiful day for it - a bit chilly when I checked in shortly after 8, but quite comfortable by the end, and sunny with just the tiniest breeze.

• I was surprised by how many people showed up with their dogs - big dogs, little ones, puppies and adults. The organizers were ready, though - they had bandannas for them in the same day-glow green as the race T-shirts.
• This was a fundraiser for cancer research and prevention, so there were several teams with matching shirts.
• Part of the route ran along a river, where I spotted a few common loons.  I didn't realize we had them around here!  I also saw some egrets or herons; they were too far away for me to tell for sure.  (can you tell I'm no birder?)
• Lots of people participated with their children; the youngest one I spotted was only 8 or 10 months old.  Several of the kids were having a great time racing with their parents, playing with the dogs or each other, throwing sticks into the water - the usual kid stuff.
• Starting at a ballpark meant real restrooms, not the portapotties I'd expected.  That's a good thing!
• I was disappointed that one hip decided to start bothering me as soon as we left the starting point.  Fortunately, it didn't hurt constantly, so while I did limp rather a lot, I still managed to finish in under an hour.
• I was surprised by how hungry I've been since I got home!  Yes, that was a lot more walking than I usually do, but I was walking, not running, and I didn't feel I was pushing myself all that hard.
• Being new to this 5K business, I had no idea what to do with my stuff (keys, wallet, etc.) during the race so I wore cargo pants and loaded up the pockets.  I had wanted to take a book to read on the subway but it would have been too uncomfortable so I left it at home.  Instead, I snoozed on the train and people-watched once I got checked in.  That was certainly entertaining.
• They played an instrumental recording of the national anthem shortly before the starting horn.  Yes, of course I sang along. :)  I don't know what key it was in, but it was a little higher than I would have picked, especially at 8:45 a.m.  I still managed to sing it all, and the highest note actually felt pretty good, so that was a nice little surprise.

I'm already signed up for another 5K.  This one's at work, the day after Halloween, so they call it a "monster dash", complete with costume contest.  Now to decide how to dress up for the occasion.  It needs to be comfortable for walking and not too bulky, since I'll be bringing it to work in a gym bag along with towel and toiletries so I can shower afterwards.  Any ideas? :)

They'll have to reunite without the Chief

The Chief and a buddy from his old Reserve unit have been organizing a reunion, to take place in Manhattan the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend.  Nothing very fancy, just 3 hours' worth of drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and getting caught up.  The other night the Chief spent a few hours on line researching hotels and fares.  Short of staying in a VERY spartan room and taking one of those cheap buses, he didn't see any way to do even 2 nights, let alone 3, for less than $2000 for both of us.  Especially given the way we've been spending money to fly out to see Dad while he's still alive, he just couldn't justify the expense.  Maybe we should buy a lottery ticket...

Another day spent playing in the kitchen

Big kitchen plans for the weekend:

• I got 2 nice spaghetti squash this week, which are now in the oven.  They should fill at least 5 or 6 2-cup containers.
• I also have a pair of butternut squash to cook; need to replenish my supply, as last week's soup finished off what I had left in the freezer.
• A batch of rather old apples are currently on a back burner, cooking down to applesauce.  They needed a little moisture, so I poured in a slosh of boiled cider; can't wait to see how that works out.
• I want to make a batch or two of lemon loaf (if I can find the recipe again), to take to work on Tuesday, assuming we aren't furloughed.  My excuse?  Tuesday is the first day of the new fiscal year.
• And then there are those mushrooms to be sautéed and added to a jar of spaghetti sauce, which is great served over spaghetti squash.

Still auditioning

I auditioned for one production, got called back, had fun with the improv exercise, but wasn't cast.  I replied to the email that I'd be interested in helping on the tech side but haven't heard back.

Then last Saturday I auditioned for another show.  The director asked me on my way out if I could make callbacks; yes, of course!  Sunday was the 2nd day of auditions, with callbacks scheduled for Monday.  I was therefore a bit confused to get a "sorry, you weren't cast" call Sunday night!  Turns out I had too many conflicts (the show has a rather compressed rehearsal schedule), and the director was able to cast from auditions.  Once I got past my confusion, I consoled myself with having been called back, even if I didn't actually get to callbacks. :D  I also offered to help with hair; 1940s hairstyles should be fun.  I won't be able to do it alone, though - 6 women to coif?  I'd need to start around 4 p.m. to have them all ready for curtain!

Monday I have yet another audition.  I'm not too optimistic about that one, mostly because the women's roles consist of 2 grandmothers and one 20-something.  If the demographics hold true, there'll be plenty of us trying out for those 2 grannies - tough odds.  Later this month I can then, finally, audition for a coupla musical things - 2 G&S shows.  I'd love to get either Dame Carruthers (Yeomen of the Guard) or Ruth (Pirates of Penzance).  For someone my age, the only other option is ensemble, and I've already done ensemble in both shows (twice in Pirates).  I might do it for Yeomen, but not for Pirates - that'll be a summer show, and I try to keep the summer a "theater-free zone" so the Chief doesn't spend too much time as a theater widower.

I've been auditioning for things but not performing (unless you count the sing-out) since Daddy's Dyin' closed in January. This is the longest I've ever spent auditioning without being cast in anything.  I might have made Guys & Dolls had I been willing to take ensemble, but that group rehearses just far enough away that I wasn't eager to make the drive to repeat a "role" I just did last summer.  The artistic director of last summer's group asked me to replace someone in their production of Quartet, but I just couldn't make the schedule work.  I'm glad I got to work my "pipes" a little at the Sing-out; it was the first onstage singing I've done since last summer's Guys & Dolls, which is way too long to go without!

Time to take another look at what's being done this season to see what else I might want to audition for.

"Meals on wheels"

I spent last Sunday making soup for people - veggie beef for the neighbors with the new baby, and squash soup, which is nice and smooth, for the friend w/ cancer who has trouble swallowing.  The kitchen smelled wonderful, of course, and 3 guesses what was for lunch that day.

Fall weather always makes me want to cook up vats of soup; so nice to have a good excuse to do it, and someone to give it to so the Chief and I aren't swimming in the stuff.

No squash this year, I guess :(

I keep checking my squash plants for fruit and finding nothing.  Not sure if they didn't get enough water, or the soil isn't what they need or what, but I keep getting blossoms and nothing else. What's worse, one of the 2 coworkers who got my culls came up to me a few weeks ago now, delighted to be able to tell me that she'd just harvested her first squash!  I'm jealous - everyone else who's got squash plants has squash by now.  Maybe another coworker was right - "You gave away the good ones." ;)

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.

He's plotting travel again...

The Chief has been on the phone with one of his Reserve buddies starting to plan another reunion of their unit.  This time they're looking to hold it somewhere in New York City.  The Chief's buddy mentioned that the Marine Memorial Club has reciprocal arrangements with 3 or 4 nice clubs in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  That got the Chief to wondering what other clubs the MMC had reciprocity with.  Let's see - not just US clubs, but clubs in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Belgium... He's already starting to plan our next trip. :D

My inner reference librarian is at it again

I sometimes joke that I must've been a reference librarian in a previous life because I'm always happy to help people research things, or to share my own notes on this or that topic with someone else.  This weekend I had a chance to prove that to myself yet again.

First a theater friend commented that her little one might have a gluten allergy.  I sent her a few links to gluten-free resources (which I'd started compiling a coupla years ago for my sister when one of her kids needed to go GF) and offered to share some of the xanthan gum I bought over the weekend for future GF baking.

Then a neighbor told us she'd been diagnosed as diabetic and asked for recipes.  I not only sent her some of the recipes I've found online but found a few discounted diabetic cookbooks which I ordered for her.

Got a question? Need some information?  Just ask! :D

Squash update

A month or two ago I planted some seeds from the last butternut squash I cooked, crossing my fingers that they'd sprout.  Not only did they sprout, but they're doing so well in the relatively small space I have for them that I'm going to have to thin my 8 plants down to 3 or 4.  I may hunt up a large pot or two for the culls; we'll see.

Speaking of squash, there was a gentleman behind me in line at the commissary on Friday who was buying a whole crate of butternut squash!  He told me he liked to roast it.  When I asked if he'd tried squash soup, he said he'd only had it from cartons, so I gave him a very quick rundown of how to make squash soup from scratch (the cashier was finishing ringing up my groceries).  I wonder if he'll try making it?

All in a good cause

A company I've done lots of Gilbert & Sullivan with is hosting a G&S Sing-Out over Labor Day weekend, during which we'll sing through all the music (no dialogue) of 12 of the 13 surviving shows, with piano accompaniment.  (The company will be presenting a concert version, with orchestra, of Utopia, Ltd .)  Yesterday was the committee meeting that's always the longest - assigning roles to people who'd requested them.  Lots and lots of moving parts to this piece of the process:

• We had over 130 people sign up and request at least one role (most requested several, chiefly to indicate everything they'd be willing to sing, not because they expected to get lotsa roles);
• Where possible, we try to give people one of their top 3 choices, where they stated a preference;
• If we know the people involved, we try to match voice sizes when casting people to sing duets together;
• we try to give at least a comprimario role to people who requested a role and are trying to break out of the chorus;
• we try to make sure everyone got something;
• We try not to give anyone more than their fair share;
• We don't want to set anyone up for failure (giving someone a part too big for their stamina at the end of the weekend marathon, or too high/low for their range, etc.).

Fairness is one of the hardest things to achieve.  Tenors get more roles, simply because there are fewer tenors requesting roles.  We weren't able to give principal roles to all the women because there were a lot more women, and fewer women's roles.  Good thing Grand Duke has 4 female comprimario roles, and we doubled up on bridesmaids in Trial by Jury.  

Committee members were offered first pick of roles, but we limited ourselves to something we wouldn't be likely to be cast as.  I chose Phoebe (Yeomen of the Guard), since I'm too old to play her on stage.  However, I ended up ceding Phoebe to someone who, I was told, was an excellent singer but who had nothing when we finished. The other committee members were funny; "Are you sure you don't mind?"  I didn't want to be greedy, and I'd've felt bad if the other woman got nothing at all.  Instead, I'll now be singing Angela (Patience), with a side of Baroness (Grand Duke).  And of course I can sing all the choruses I can stand; I'm OK with that. :)

At it again

The group I've done most of my G&S with is doing a "sing-out" over Labor Day weekend, when we'll sing all the music from all 13 of the surviving G&S shows.  12 of these will be done by all registered comers, with conductor and piano accompaniment.  The host company, however, will be presenting a concert version of "Utopia, Ltd", with full orchestra.  Auditions are coming up Friday and Saturday.  I managed to get one of the first slots Friday night - the "get it over quickly" slot.  Competition for the role I'm interested in will be fierce, but I'm not gonna take chorus without at least *trying* for something bigger.  If nothing else, it'll be a good warm-up for auditions for fall shows.  Wish me luck!

Perfect!

The Chief and I headed out to the cabin Friday.  I had to come back yesterday and almost decided to stay home; I am SO glad I didn't!  When I woke up yesterday morning and wandered into the great room, my eyes still half shut, I turned to the window wall.  The view immediately opened my eyes fully - the sun was streaming in through nothing but trees, their dewy leaves sparkling in the sunlight.  The trees always look best at that time of day, when the sun is still low enough to be shining through as much as on them, but yesterday morning the trees were fairly glowing!  The temperature was very comfortable, the humidity too low to be worth mentioning - the kind of day that makes you rejoice in God's creation.

That sort of morning not only makes you glad to be alive, but makes you feel more alive.  That must be the origin of the exclamation "Great day in the morning!"

A surprise hit

Again tonight, the dinner menu includes green beans from the farmer's market, cooked in sauteed onions & garlic.  Prepping the beans made me think of the last time I served these - out at the cabin, when we had some friends joining us for dinner.  (Went with the "drunken chicken".)  I was surprised at the way our guests raved about the beans.  The woman next door wanted to know exactly how I'd fixed them, as it was the first time she'd seen her husband and son eat fresh veggies willingly, not just out of politeness.  "Um, easy - sautee some onions & garlic in a little olive oil, add the beans, let 'em cook for half an hour or so, until the beans are no longer crunchy."  You can add any seasonings you like, or other vegetables; it's one of those recipes it's easy to improvise with.

I don't usually choose bread pudding

The Chief and I went for a seafood buffet for dinner tonight. The tomato-crab bisque was wonderful, and of course the rest of the seafood offerings were pretty impressive too. The dessert selections weren't quite as good - I'm not a fan of crumb pie crusts - but I decided to try the warm pineapple-chocolate bread pudding, with a bit of hot chocolate sauce ladled on top. Oh wow - worth EVERY calorie! Bread pudding is not usually something I'm all that interested in, but this was outstanding!

George has lots of company today

We were driving past Mt. Vernon and spotted THIRTY-TWO tour buses parked all in a row! Figuring 80 people per bus, that's a LOT of visitors! I sure hope George and Martha can handle those crowds.

Feeling sorry for Frankenstein's monster

I had to get an EMG last week, which involved getting a slew of leads stuck to my skin so the doc could test my "circuitry" (he even described himself as an electrician for the process). It was not exactly a fun time, though my fingers didn't do any lasting damage to the exam table. As I was lying there getting zapped, I found myself thinking of Frankenstein's monster. If the creature was subjected to far higher voltages than I was enduring, well, no wonder he came to life roaring!