How very 21st Century of me

Last Tuesday night, I logged onto Facebook and found out I'd lost my summer job.
Let me clarify. Theatre West Virginia, where Marcus and I work in the summers, lost $100,000 in government funding. On Tuesday of last week, the board of directors decided to close the doors, thus cancelling the 2009 summer season. When I logged onto Facebook, our artistic director's status said "TWV board has decided to close the doors. We would need 100 people to give $1,000 in order for us to stay open." Ugh. I immediately wrote to her, asking what we could do to help. I have no idea why a fundraiser was not thought to be the first plan of attack. However, this week the board has allowed them to start a huge fundraising effort. To my knowledge, they have already collected over $2,000. Marcus and I are going to be sending out a letter to everyone we can find who has ties to TWV as well as to a lot of our theatre contacts. Our goal is to try and get 20,000 people to give $5. Money is tight right now for everyone, but $5 seems like a reasonable amount, even for our employees who are college students. If TWV is closed this summer, that elimnates over 100 jobs in theatre. We cannot let this happen. Not only does this elimnate a huge employment opportunity for college students and early career professionals, it also puts educators and working artists like Marcus and me out of work. And, the most tragic part to me, it pulls the year-round educational tour off the road and puts TWV's 5 full time employees out of work. The tour travels all around the state of WV playing to elementary and middle school students. For most of them, it's the first theatre experience they have had. For some, it will be the only one they will have. The work we do is so important. Please send up a prayer and good thoughts for TWV and let's hope we don't have to close our doors this season.

On the off chance that you are interested in donating to TWV, email me. Address can be found in my full profile. Thanks!

397,839

That is the approximate number of mosquito bites on my body right now, including one on the inside of my right index finger. Avon Skin So Soft bug repellent, why have you failed me!?!? Oh, the glory of outdoor drama!

Today is the day we live for every summer here at TWV...the last show opens tonight! :) This year, it's High School Musical. It's been a stressful summer, to say the least, so we were all a little down about having to go into tech again this weekend. But it turned out to be the best weekend we've had working! This show is a blast. The kids (all 60 of them) are having a wonderful time and it's so much fun to watch things through their eyes. For most of them, it's their first big show and they are having the time of their lives. The tech staff is, too. Marcus (my darling husband, also the director) requested confetti shoot out onto the stage at the end of the "Mega Mix." I pulled out our industrial fans and started cutting up colored tissue paper right away. We tested the fans. They were cool...but not quite cool enough. 'Amir and Josh, our technical directors, got that little glimmer in their eyes and disappeared to Lowe's for about 3 hours. When they got back, construction began on the confetti guns. WE HAVE CONFETTI GUNS! Tonight we'll have 6 of them. They use air pressure to shoot the confetti out over the audience. And it's AWESOME! Meanwhile, I'm backstage with 3 other folks throwing confetti in front of the fans so it blows onto the stage from the sides. The effect is cool and making confetti and guns to shoot it from has been our sanity this weekend. I really do love my job.

Remember me?

Wow. I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. This summer is kicking my tail, y'all. I love my job, but I'm struggling with parts of it this summer. Let me tell you a little about what I do. (Several people have asked--thanks for being interested!) I'm currently in my summer gig at Theatre West Virginia, where I am Production Stage Manager (PSM). In a nutshell, it's my job to make sure everything runs smoothly, both on and off stage. I am a mother-hen, disciplinarian, drill sergeant, confidante, teacher, leader, and many other things. I love my job. LOVE it. It's the only thing I've ever found that allows me to use all of my brain. I get to use my problem-solving skills, personality, people-skills, organization, trouble-shooting, creativity and so many other things. I get to dabble in all parts of the production, not just one. I get to be there from start to finish on a project. During rehearsal, the stage manager takes down blocking, which is every move the actors make. We track all the props, set pieces and costumes, then when we tech the show, all the light and sound cues and put them together in what's called a prompt book. The stage manager calls the show during performances, meaning nothing goes until the stage manager says GO. We sit on a headset in a booth with the sound and light board operators and call every cue in the show, including scenery shifts, etc. SO, it's a big job, but so much fun. I adore it. (most days) Part of being PSM is also dealing with the day-to-day issues that arise and supervising the technical staff. This summer has been a bit trying. Without going into specifics, I'll just tell you that there have been more issues than usual and we've added a fourth show to our season, so figuring out the Jenga-game that is scheduling has been rough on all of us. On top of all this, I'm juggling motherhood for the first time, and Dean is absolutely my top priority. I am emotionally and physically pretty drained right now. Cinderella (the third of our four shows) opened on Tuesday and the weekend leading up to opening was quite demanding. We did three dress runs on Monday, our last ending at 1:30am. I was so hyped up on coffee at the end of it that I stuck around the theatre and helped out in the costume shop for a while before heading home. I FINALLY learned to use a sewing machine! Fun times.

Cinderella opening was a good night, which I needed. It's easy to get discouraged when things get really hard, especially when you have so many balls in the air. I was about ready to throw in the towel, then something happened during the show that reminded me why I do what I do. There's a part in Cinderella where the Godmother makes the house disappear, turns two mice into a coachman and a footman, turns a pumpkin into a golden carriage and turns Cinderella into a beautiful princess. We use a body double so Cinderella's quick change is instantaneous. Well, when that golden carriage rolled onto the stage, about 300 little girls in princess costumes stood up and squealed and clapped and got the most amazed looks on their faces...and it was magical. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the little things and daily grind that you forget that magical feeling you once felt that made you want to do this for the rest of your life. I remembered why I do theatre and why I love it so much. I am so thankful to have had that moment to remind me.

Dean is doing wonderfully. He loves being the company baby and getting passed around all the time. When he's with us on show nights, the girls all line up to kiss him for luck before they go onstage. One day last week, he fell asleep with about 20 lipstick marks on his face. At his six-month checkup last week, he weighed in at a whopping 18 1/2 lbs! (no wonder our backs hurt all the time!) He started solids, which has been very entertaining. So far, we love everything except green beans. I'll post pictures of the horrid messes we have made very soon. Right now I have to go scrub sweet potato puree off the couch. ;)

Mental Health Day

Everyone needs one every now and again and today is my day. I am especially fried right now. Running a 4-show rep season and being a full-time mommy with no child care (except me and full-time Dad) is taking its toll. This has been an incredibly stressful week, so the opportunity to relax a bit was quite welcome. Marcus and I spent the morning playing with Dean. Dean and I even took a little nap together. We had baby bath time (see adorable picture), worked on sitting up, played with some new toys, read some new books and had lunch at Cracker Barrell. Dean continues to amaze Marcus and me. His personality is the sweetest little ray of sunshine. I couldn't imagine a better baby. He is so happy and easy-going. He loves almost everyone, a blessing when we bring him to the theatre with us. The company has been amazing. Everyone has accepted Dean with open arms and people are starting to make reservations for "Dean time."

Our housemate, Donald, is gone for 4 weeks to do a job out of town. We miss him, but not as much as his kitty cat, Dil, misses him. Dil is currently sitting on the desk staring at me and purring. He and I had a nap together yesterday morning from 5:30-7 when a coughing fit sent me to Donald's room so I wouldn't wake up Dean and Marcus. (Did I mention I think I'm allergic to Dil? Yeah.)

This summer has already taught me a lot of things. Part of me is so, so happy to be back at work. It's filling a void that was definitely there in the early post-partum days. However, I'm still having a hard time balancing work and motherhood. I feel guilty when I can't be with Dean, though if he isn't with me, he's usually with Marcus. We have some wonderful friends here who beg for time with him, so finding a sitter is easy if we need one. I keep reminding myself of what I said when I was pregnant, that my work life is a big part of who I am and I want Dean to get to know that part of his mom. I assume it will get easier once all the shows are up, but that seems like a very distant dream at this point. Being the mother hen, disciplinarian, teacher and many more things at work have just taken their toll on me this week. Hopefully by Tuesday, my batteries will have re-charged. I miss blogging regularly, but let me outline my typical day for you and you shall see why I'm not around much:

5:30am Dean cries for bottle. Feed him, then put him in the bed with us, cuddling him until he falls back to sleep. (we hope)
7:15am Get up. Shower. Drink coffee. Play with baby. Wake Marcus up. Dress baby. Wake Marcus up again. Make bottles. Tell Marcus he HAS to get up.
9:00am (if we're lucky) Leave to pick up fast-food breakfast.
9:30am Arrive at rehearsal
10am-4pm Rehearse (with Dean in-tow)
4:00pm Dinner
5:30pm Arrive at theatre for pre-show set-up, warm-ups, fight call, any small rehearsals we need, company meeting, prep time.
8:15pm Show
11:00pm Leave theatre, drive home, fall into bed

Crazy, huh? But I love it. Always have. We're just trying to figure out how to do it all with a baby who is, naturally, now our top priority.

On another note, I love being Production Stage Manager here and will blog about that soon. It's always been a goal of mine to be a PSM and I'm enjoying figuring out how to make it work for this company. It helps that I have two phenomenal assistants. (Thank you, merciful Jesus!)

Hope everyone's having a good weekend. Will write more soon.

Scattered Thoughts from a West Virginia Stage Manager

1. I am craving Taco Bell something fierce right now.

2. In rehearsal today we have killed 3 McCoys, 1 Hatfield, beaten another Hatfield, impregnated 1 McCoy, sung 1 Christmas Carol and argued over ownership of a pig. Good times there.

3. When killing the Hatfield, we didn't have rehearsal knives, so we used sharpies. Hot.

4. I should not be allowed to drive. Ever. It took me 5 tries to park the van today when returning from the bank at lunch break.

5. I may eat Chik-Fil-A every day this summer. I had honestly forgotten how good it is.

6. If Berkshire's Frozen Custard doesn't have peach as the flavor of the week pretty soon, I'm gonna cry. I mean, really, who eats Maple Walnut custard?????

7. We move to the park a week from today and open in 2 1/2 weeks. Someone hold me.

8. I got to go home and kiss my baby at dinner break, so the day wasn't a total wash. :)

3 cheers for David!

I am quite thrilled to report that my Idol boyfriend, David Cook, WON! I was shocked and I think he was, too. I really thought Archuletta had it in the bag, especially given the fact that all teenage girls are in luuuuuuuuuv with him. But they gave it to the rocker. Sweet. I really may have to buy tickets to the tour this year...

All continues to be well in WV. Deano is hanging out with his Grammy, unless I bring him to work with me. He came to rehearsal last night and charmed everyone for a while before passing out on one of our ASMs. We get done early this evening, so we actually get to go out to dinner! Counting the days til Marcus arrives...

My mom said I'd better blog

...and I'm not one to disobey! Deano and I are wrapping up our first week in WV. It's fun to be back and good to be working again. The administrative and tech staff have already fallen in love with Dean as he charms him daily with his ways. Today he decided to show us how well he could poop. It was ALL THE WAY up his back. And when I turned my head for a second to get a baby wipe (or 8), I turned back to see him waving at me with a handfull of poop. EW. One of the costumers and I had to wash him in the bathroom sink. Oh, good times, good times. Being a "single mom" is HARD and I don't think I could have made it through this week without the amazing support of the lovely folks at TWV. We're living with one of our favorite members of the dance company and he's a rock star with Dean. He also has a 25 pound cat. THE CAT WEIGHS 25 POUNDS! And he's sitting on me right now. My feet are asleep.

Speaking of sleep, Dean is doing it like a champ! He went to bed at 7:30 last night, stirred at 1 for a bottle, then slept on til 6:45 this morning! YAAAAY! I'm so glad he's such an adaptable little guy. I've been feeling really guilty that he has to sit in his bouncy seat a lot at work (you know, the 20 minutes a day when someone's not holding him?) since he's used to having my undivided attention all day long. Tonight we came home and had some quality bonding time. He had a bath to wash off any remnants of the big poop, then we cuddled up for some songs and story books. He passed out at 7. I'm not sure whether or not I'll see him again this evening...but I may be in for an early morning.

I miss Marcus terribly. He will join us on June 7, when he's done with his finals in NY. Being apart is always hard, but now that Dean's here, it's even harder. But my mom comes on Sunday, so that will be wonderful, and as busy as we're both going to be, the time should fly.

Next Thursday will mark a year since I discovered I was pregnant with Dean. It's a little nostalgic being back here, since we were just starting at TWV when we found out. (You know, I see a bathroom and go "oh, I threw up there." :) ) Prep week's been good so far. One of my assistant stage managers started with me this week and we are having a blast working together. Company members are starting to arrive and everyone's excited to get going. It's shaping up to be a great summer!

PS. I left my camera in NYC. I know. Marcus will bring it. In the meantime, I'll go get a disposable one soon because we need Dean pictures!

PS2: I'm wearing makeup daily for the first time since Dean was born and my pores are NOT happy! I have a pimple approximately the size of Mt. Olympus on my chin. EW.

Here goes nothin'

The relocation has started. Dean and I are nestled comfortably in DC at Marcus's parents' house where we'll spend this week on our way to WV. Marcus left this morning to go back to NYC to open his show. (We miss him A LOT.) I feel like I'm in limbo. Living out of a suitcase isn't my favorite thing to do, but it'll be ok for a week. It's weird to be between homes. My main concern right now is Dean's comfort. He's just started sleeping through the night (more or less) and I'd hate to screw that up by changing his environment every week. Fortunately, he seems comfortable here at his grandparents' place and is eating like a champ. Either he's growing or preparing for a career as a competitive eater. Marcus and I said a surprisingly tearful goodbye this morning. We'll see each other again in early June when we meet in Alabama to close on our house. Then he'll come to WV to join us for the summer. He has so much to do to finish out the school year in NYC that the time should fly by for him. (2, count 'em 2 shows to open in 3 weeks!) It's never been fun to be separated from him, but now that we're a family of 3, it's really tough. But soon we'll all be together in WV, then in our new home!

Speaking of our new home, I just realized I haven't posted an update. Remember that cute yellow house we were gonna get? (Go ahead...scroll down to a few posts ago and refresh your memory. Ready? Ok.) It fell through. We were able to have our inspection done while we were still in AL last week and we found quite a few things that needed a lot of attention (furnace, HVAC, etc.--all big ticket items). Long story short, it wasn't worth it. So, on to #2 we have moved! Truth be told, we're starting to like this house better anyway. It's not as big (3 beds 2 baths, formal living room, huge den, eat in kitchen, DECK!), but it's move-in ready and everything from the appliances to the paint to the carpet is brand spankin' new! The same inspector will check it out on Tuesday and assuming all goes well, we'll close on June 2. I have officially made us superstitious now, so I will wait to post a picture of it until we have the keys in our hot little hands. (You understand, right? Besides the suspense will make sure you come back!)

In the meantime, I've got a rep season to get ready for! On Saturday, my dear in-laws will drive Deano and me to WV and we'll get set up in our house there. I start pre-production week on Monday, then rehearsals start the next week. I'm looking forward to going back to work, though I'm sure it's going to be a crazy adjustment after being home for so long. My mom and her new kidney are coming for 3 weeks until Marcus gets there to take care of Dean while I work. (Oooooooooh, thank you thank you Bradley for giving my mom her life back so she can come and take care of her grandbaby...and her daughter!) I am hopeful there will be round steak and gravy and possibly a chicken rotel casserole at some point during her stay. (hint, hint, Mom:) )

Productivity

Yes, it can still happen. Even with an 11 week old, I can have a productive day! Dean slept in this morning, so I got the overnight bottles washed (Lord, will all the bottles ever be clean at the same time?) before 10am, hand-washed some delicates in the sink, cleaned the kitchen and even ate breakfast all before the little guy woke up. We rolled down to the "good" grocery store to enjoy the nice weather on our way and get some stuff for dinner. Then we stopped at the drugstore to hit the day-after-Easter candy sale for Marcus. (Who can resist Cadbury creme eggs at half price, I say?) Dean even napped long enough this afternoon that I got to open the enormous stack of mail that piled up while I was out of town. It included a jury duty questionairre by the way, which made me MAAAAAD! I did my time 2 years ago and I'll be danged if I'm going back! Marcus and I have a ton of things to catch up on tonight over dinner. For a while, especially during the colic days, I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold it together, meaning housework, baby, remembering to pay the bills, etc. Let's not even talk about when I go back to work in May. But days like this remind me that I can still get things done once in a while. We'll see how tomorrow turns out!

I'm getting more excited about the summer, too. I have officially hired my two assistants for the summer (Great gals who I can't wait to work with!) and we're plugging away at the rest of our hiring and casting. Having two assistants is not only going to be great for me, but so wonderful for the company. I won't have to call every single show, so I can sit out and do notes when I need to. We will also have an extra floater for the backstage track if we need it. And the best part is that, since both of my assistants are college students, I get to do a lot of teaching while we work. Yay.

I go to the nephrologist tomorrow. I"ve been apprehensive about it all week and I finally figured out exactly why. Yes, my blood pressure is still high and I desperately need this guy to put me on some medication before, as my mother so plainly put it, I have a stroke. But I also need to get answers to my list of questions, the most burning of which is can I have more kids. I have a feeling I already know the answer. But, as Marcus reminds me, we are both teachers at heart and there are always kids in our lives, so maybe I"m meant to be a kind of surrogate mom to them. Time will tell, I guess. I"ll let you know how the doctor visit goes.

Cold meds + Mommy brain = silly Jen

Thanks so much for all the sweet emails wishing Mr. Dean a speedy recovery! I'm happy to report he's on the mend! We are decreasing his breathing treatments by the day and he's back to his usual, charming self. He hung out with his Papa for a while today while Mommy got a nice long shower. Mom, Dad and I are still quite under the weather. My mom, voted the sickest of all of us and, for other obvious reasons, went to the doctor today. She got antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup. She even came home bearing cold medicine for the rest of us. I should get really loopy here in a minute or two.

We are in the thick of hiring for our summer season at Theatre West Virginia. Marcus and I are really looking forward to getting back there and it looks like we're putting together a great staff for this summer. I'm looking forward to not having morning sickness during rehearsal every day. Dean is going to get sooooooooooo spoiled! (Like he's not already!) I'm sure "Baby Awesome" will be the company mascot this year. I imagine that, on my first day back at work, I'll take Dean with me and someone will take him from me that morning, probably Lou Ann or Ms. Gayle, and I will probably not see him again until the picnic dinner that night. And that's why we love TWV...it's one big ol' happy family.

I PROMISE to post pictures as soon as we get home and get them developed. My digital camera died about a minute after I got to my parents' house and of course I didn't bring my charger. Thank goodness for disposable cameras, huh?

The cold medicine is kicking in now, so I'm gonna go watch the trippy screen saver. ;)

Whaaaaaaaa?

Dean Nelson Lane slept through a feeding last night. It's true. We fed him (after a HUGE screaming fit) at 12:30 and finally got him settled into the vibra-chair (he has rejected his bassinet this week...who knows why) about 1:15, knowing we'd be up for another feeding by 3. The whimper cry woke us up at 5. I picked him up and started changing his diaper when it hit me--we should have done this already! I went back to the bedroom and asked Marcus "Did you feed him at 3? Because I didn't." Marcus, still half-asleep, thought about it for a while and replied "No, I don't believe I did." We are hoping this means he's going to start sleeping for longer stretches. That would rock. Needless to say, the poor little guy was ravenous when we did feed him at 5. Poor baby.

I had my six-week checkup at the baby doctor yesterday, even though it's been 7 weeks since I had the baby. I'm good.

This week will mark me kind of "going back to work" as I am knee-deep in resumes for Theatre West Virginia. We're looking for a scenic designer for our musical and I'm starting to interview possible candidates for assistant stage manager positions. It's nice to get that ball rolling. I feel like I haven't really been a part of the real world for the past couple of months, so it's nice to re-connect with some adults again! And it makes us look even more forward to the summer. Marcus and I will go to the Southeastern Theatre Conference in a couple of weeks to help hire TWV's summer staff and cast. Dean will be living it up in Oxford with my mom and dad. (translation: Getting spoiled beyond belief by Grammy and Papa!)

On another note, Marcus and I are absolutely addicted to HGTV. We watch it ALL THE TIME! When we finally have a home of our own, it's going to have awesome curb appeal, a sassy kitchen and a very "zen" bathroom.