Nothing out of the ordinary

We have had a very ordinary week here in Lane Land. I can't believe it's only Wednesday. I'm kind of tired and ready for the weekend already. I'm also amazed at how anti-climactic the week leading up to my birthday has been. I usually get much more excited. I guess 32 is kind of an anti-climactic age--no new privileges, no new decade, no double numbers, just a 3 and a 2. On Friday (the actual day of birth--love it when it's Friday the 13th!), my Auntie M and our friend Loretta (or Roletta) are taking me to lunch. Marcus, Dean and I are going out to dinner that night, then coming home to chill out and watch a movie, probably LOVE ACTUALLY so we can quote it as we watch. (after Dean goes to bed, of course) Marcus has scholarship auditions on Saturday, so Dean and I will surely find something to fill our time while he's gone.

Dean's 4th tooth popped through yesterday. It terrified our manny, BJ, who thought something was terribly wrong. Dean always runs a very low-grade fever when he's cutting a tooth and acts really lethargic and cranky. Poor BJ was sure he was sick and that he would shrivel up and blow away because he didn't want much lunch. Once we inspected his gums, we gave him a little Tylenol and a cold chew toy and he was good to go. He did wake up FREAKING OUT twice during the night, though. Poor little guy. I'm going to make him a grilled cheese for lunch. Toast feels good to baby gums, I hear.

There's a new art gallery in Montevallo! It's called the Blue Phrog. We met the owner last night at Eclipse, our coffee and book store. I'm hoping to get in touch with him this week to ask about bringing my class to the gallery for a field trip. It would be nice for them to talk to a manager of an arts organization that isn't performance-based.

In other news, I really need to get cracking on the workshops I'll be presenting next month at the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Last year, Marcus, our friend Scott and I did one on moving to NYC. It was so well received that this year we've broken it into two different workshops, one on moving to NYC, the other on networking in NYC, and added a fourth panelist. I think this will be the last year we present this one, since we've been gone from the city for close to a year and are already losing touch with the way things are there. I'm also presenting a workshop on stage managing outdoor drama. Should be fun. I'm looking forward to the conference. It's always fun to see old friends and make new connections. Since I'm not job-hunting or hiring this year, I'll be spending my days presenting or attending workshops, going to meetings for my new position with Alabama Conference of Theatres and finding other opportunities to get involved. There is an interest group for people who would like to write for Southern Theatre, our quarterly magazine. I'm going to attend that and pitch an idea: I think we should start a Southern Theatre blog. It's an idea I've been playing around with for a while and I think it would be a great informational and networking tool for our region. I would happily serve as "blogmaster" and be responsible for finding content to post 2-3 times a week. I'd like to do one interview with someone working in professional theatre each week, then a feature about new products, new plays, new programs, etc. I'm reading Blogging for Dummies right now to teach myself a little more about the wonderful, mysterious blogosphere.

How's YOUR week going?

PS:

I am TOTALLY a rockstar!

Oh, ok, so this is really going to happen

I think I just realized that I'm really going back to work on Tuesday. It's been a thing we've talked about for a while now, but it's always been in what seemed like the distant future. Yesterday, I locked myself in the bedroom for 2 hours while Dean took a nap on Marcus and finished my syllabus. I have a few tweaks to make, but it's more or less done. Dean took an insane 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon, so I was able to plan about 6 lectures. I'm washing my work clothes. We've arranged child care (more on that later). I go in tomorrow to fill out all my paperwork, get my ID card (which should be lovely because HELLO BREAKOUT ON MY CHIN!), get a university email account set-up and check back in with the department chair. And then on Tuesday, for the first time in a while, I will teach college students about arts management. I'm rather excited!

I'm using the same textbook that I used when I took this class back in my college/grad school days. Reading the notes I made in the margins is fun. I like seeing what I highlighted, what I thought was super-important information back then. Now that I've been working in arts management for ten years, I see how much of that was less-than-useful information and how much of it was stuff I've used every day. I also love it when I see things like "charge phone" scribbled on a page. The chapter on fundraising (not my favorite) even has a grocery list written over a pie chart. I can't remember why I wrote my grocery list in my arts management textbook, but I imagine my thought process went something like this:
Pie chart. Pie. I like pie. Winn Dixie has pie. If I go to Winn Dixie, I should also get chicken, Dr. Pepper and honey mustard.

My favorite marginal note, however is the one that is written in purple highlighter and all caps and doesn't even have an arrow to tell me what I'm referencing. It just says, "NO." Nice, college Jen, nice.



















Jen's first day of class introduction:
Hey, y'all, I'm Jen! Who wants to manage the arts?!?!?!?
No? Ok.

So, childcare. We signed Dean up for Mother's Day Out at a church MONTHS ago, but were placed on a waiting list. I called after the first of the year and was told to call back at the end of January. UGH. Cutting it so close made me nervous. Marcus had even talked about taking Dean to stage combat class with him for the first couple of days (it meets when my class does) if we didn't have it figured out by then. Because that is just what I want--my baby in the room with 12 first-time swordfighters. Anyway, Jesus heard our pleas and sent us BJ. BJ is a recent graduate from the theatre program and the oldest of four kids. And Dean? ADORES him. They've played together a lot and I noticed at the holiday party that BJ just kind of started taking care of Dean while I was refilling the crostini tray. He mentioned the other day that he didn't have a job in town yet (he's hanging around til the end of the school year). Marcus and I talked about him and today we signed him on as our Manny. (that's New York talk for "male nanny." Seriously. That's what they call them there.) There were jokes made about requiring him to wear a uniform involving a neckerchief and a beret, but we decided that might be pushing it a little. He did offer to dress like Dean each day, which we thought was charming. I feel good about leaving Dean in his care for the few hours I'll be gone those two days. Who knows? I might even have time to go get a pedicure!

Speaking of luxury, another of our students wants some Dean time on Sunday, so Marcus and I are going to a movie! Do you know the last time we went to a movie? I do. It was January 2 OF LAST YEAR! We are giddy with anticipation.

Happy 74th Birthday, Elvis!

Thanks to everyone for your super comments on the eczema issue mentioned in yesterday's post!!! I will be referencing them many times, I'm sure.

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.

I could eat candy and watch HGTV, but that would be counter-productive.

Ok. Scroll down to yesterday's entry with the pictures. Look at the 4th one. (Dean sacked out) That has been our day. He took an hour-long nap this morning and is currently down for the count again! I look at these naps as God's little gifts to me. It's my first day at home alone with the little guy since the wreck. (whiplash doing better, thanks. Haven't had a muscle relaxer since Sunday. Thank you, Lord, for rapid-release Tylenol!) We've had a full day involving pureed apples and butternut squash, a bath with brand-new bath toys, several storybooks and some time with our new giraffe ring stacker. I even got to eat lunch while he snoozed. I ordered a booster seat for Dean yesterday (Rainforest collection, of course) and am looking forward to its arrival. We've been feeding him in his bouncy chair and it's KILLING my back!

So now comes the time when Jen reaches out to her internet friends. Tell me, moms of all ages, how long did it take you to feel like yourself again after the arrival of your bambino(s)? I have not felt like myself lately, and this accident on Friday was kind of the tip of the iceberg. Marcus keeps telling me it's hormones and stress and to give myself a break. My mom friends tell me that it's learning to re-prioritize things now that I'm a mom. I'm having a rough time separating work from home, no doubt because of the insane hours we keep and the fact that I work with my husband. (and Dean is with us at work some nights) I know Dean is healthy and happy. He loves being around lots of people. He's the life of the party. I, however, feel like I'm hanging on by a thread most days. There has been a LOT of stress at work this season, more than I think any of us expected. We joke a lot among the production staff that we sometimes feel like we spend more time dealing with off-stage drama than we do dealing with the shows. And that takes its toll on you when it's your job to mediate the drama, help solve the problems and keep the peace.

If you've been there, tell me how you coped with life "on and off stage!"

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. ;)