Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

It's over! The workshop from Hades is over! I won't go into the gorey details of our performance yesterday...just know that it's over and I survived. The highlights (or lowlights) of the day, however, included the following:
1. Anyone who tells you that Hudson, NY is only 2 hrs. away from the city is lying to you.
2. Our dancers and musical director did not arrive until 4pm. (The cast and I arrived at 11:15am)
3. 3 of the kids who are in the first scene never showed up. At all.
4. We started a run through of the show at 1:15. At 2:00, I had to stop us so we could go to the lobby and eat chicken. (The producer was supposed to provide dinner at 5, when our official union break fell, but she thought it would be better to do it right smack in the middle of the day. Cause that makes sense.) I've never had to hold for chicken before. On the bright side, the collard greens were excellent...
5. I had to climb stairs to get to my control booth. Every time I climbed the stairs, I had a Braxton Hicks contraction. Poor Baby Awesome didn't know what to make of things.
6. Bill, the sound guy we hired, was fantastic. Shout out to Bill.
7. IT"S OVER!!!
Had I known it would feel this good to have it over-with, I wouldn't have complained all week. :)
Today has been all about relaxing at home with Marcus. I sat around in my pjs and the slippers featured in the photo to your right. The fall air is crisp, there's football on TV (not to mention a week's worth of shows on DVR), and we ordered pizza for lunch. The best part, however, is that despite the fact that I rode in a car for 6 hours and ran my fanny off all day, I feel great today! And I slept like the dead last night.
So now, aside from working on Marcus's show at Kingsborough, I hereby declare myself officially on maternity leave. Yee haw! My next gig is gonna be sooooooo much better!

What a week!

Oh, y'all. Y'AAAAAAAAALL. What a week this has been! Fortunately, it's almost over! Please forgive me, but I have to climb up on my soapbox for just a second. People who are not in theatre and have no idea how the professional theatre works should not try to produce their plays. There. I said it. I fully support them writing and expressing themselves in the form of drama, but stop trying to produce it yourself! If these people insist on producing their plays, and ESPECIALLY if they go to the trouble of having it sanctioned by Equity (the professional union for actors and stage managers), they should maybe think about listening to the professional artists hired to work on their little shows who DO THIS FOR A LIVING! I am working on a workshop. The playwright/producer knows exactly nothing about theatre. NOTHING. She thought the producer was supposed to tell the actors what to do onstage and the director did the schedule. She had no clue what the heck I did. So, needless to say, it's been an interesting week. Fortunately, the money is great and it'll be over after our performance upstate tomorrow. And she just called me to tell me I was right about several things. So that felt good. I can't wait til Sunday to sleep this thing off! (I just keep saying "This project is buying me a new rug and sleeper sofa...)
Thanks for letting me vent!

On Thursday, I had the fantastic opportunity to do some modeling! Kitty's friend Vikram from work is an aspiring photographer and he's taking a class. He had to do some portraits for class this weekend and wanted to work with a stranger. So we had a little "Jen and Baby" photo shoot in Bryant Park yesterday! I must say, this guy is a fantastic photographer and should really think about doing headshots for actors. He made me so comfortable and though I haven't seen any of his shots yet, I think he really captured my personality in the pictures. Marcus and I are going to have him do some of us in late November and then some of the baby once he/she arrives.

The picture above is me in the overalls Marcus got me last week. The frog's from my mom and he's sooooooooo soft! We are officially six months along, by the way. :)

This weekend presents the ultimate football dilemma for me: Ole Miss vs Alabama. My school ties make me a loyal Bama fan, but a big part of my heart will always belong to the Rebels. (they're having a crappy season, though...) So, in all fairness, I say: HOTTY TODDY and ROLL TIDE!

Doctor, Doctor

First of all, this week's picture. I hope it doesn't gross anyone out. Marcus snapped it just playing around, then we got to messing with it, added the sepia tone and decided it's kind of artistic and beautiful. I imagine my belly will start to look not so beautiful soon, so this was a good time for a bare picture!

We had our first visit with our NYC Obstetrician on Friday. In a word, he's great. The nurse was really sweet and told me up front that everyone in the office was crazy. We should fit right in. She also informed me that her birthday is January 26, so I should try to deliver that day. The exam room was very comfortable and Dr. Moritz put us at ease right away. He jokes around a lot, but is obviously very intelligent, concerned and professional. He got to know us a little, had me talk him through the pregnancy thus far, then talked me through my next visit before even examining me. The exam was a piece of cake. Just a quick sonogram (and I mean QUICK) to measure the little one and a poke at my belly and we were done! All is well with Baby, who weighs 1 lb. 12 oz. Ever the child of over-achievers, he/she is measuring a week ahead of the norm. The doctor said that by the measurements, he would put our due date at Jan.21, but we'll stick with the 27th for now. I made him promise not to leave town during either of those weeks. He also banned juice from my diet. JUICE! I guess I didn't realize just how much sugar is in fruit juice. He said if I keep drinking so much, it'll up my chances of developing gestational diabetes and my baby will be a giant. So, no more juice. :(

The next visit will be Nov. 5, when they'll do the 28 week glucose screening (I get to drink the "sugary potion") and give me a Rhogam shot. My blood is B negative and if you're an Rh negative type, they give you this shot so that you won't reject future pregnancies. He explained it very thoroughly. I will also register for the birth at the hospital at that time and set us up for a tour of the birthing center and childbirth classes. Everything's falling into place!

On a sad note, we made a trip to Ikea today and the sofa we wanted to get is out of stock for 3 weeks. Guess we'll just have to wait. But we did find a rug that we like a lot, so maybe we can pair that with the new sofa when we go back. I don't really care as long as someone gets this futon out of my home by Thanksgiving!

THE VIEW

Two years ago, my best pal Jen Russo (AKA Kitty) moved to NYC. Her first job allowed her a lot of down time to do some exploring and "touristy" things and she sent off for tickets to several tv show tapings. Imagine her surprise 2 weeks ago when tickets to today's taping of THE VIEW arrived in her mailbox! Her sister, who loves that show, wasn't able to make the trip from Michigan, so I got to be her guest. WHAT FUN! We were both thrilled that Whoopi is now the moderator, as we looooove her and have met her before at her book signing. We met up early this morning to begin our day of fun, which turned out to be an adventure. (everything is with us) We thought the show taped in the same studio as Regis and Kelly, but it's in another one on 66th St., practically in the Hudson River! Finding this out 5 minutes before we needed to be in line, we caught a cab and took a $3 cab ride down several blocks. (what a happy cab driver...) The fun began immediately, as the security guard asked Kitty over and over if she was the redhead from One Life To Live. We assured him that she wasn't and made fun of him a little for watching soaps, then went to get in line. (I realize that I live in NY and should therefore say "on line" but the Southerner in me just can't do it.) I must mention here that people make some, uh, special wardrobe choices when they think they might be on TV. We'll just leave it at that. I, however, had a horrible hair day, but I blame the humidity.

The good folks at ABC know how to treat their guests. Yes, we had to stand for an hour before they let us in the studio, but it was worth it. A nice security man offered to get me a chair when he saw my baby belly, but I toughed it out. As we entered the studio, we were handed a bottle of juice and a bag of Keebler fudge stripe cookies (my all-time favorite). A nice lady showed us to our seats, on which were sassy "THE VIEW" canvas tote bags, ready to hold our loot from the show. And now my favorite part of the day--the lady noticed I was expecting and gave me a flyer inviting me back on Oct. 30 for a special "Mommy to be" taping!!! The audience will be all pregnant women and there will be, and I quote, "Suprises, fun giveaways and more!" The only bad thing is that Kitty can't go back with me. But you know they are going to give out some SWEET prizes! I've already confirmed my ticket. :)

On to the show... A guy named Tom was our Audience Pumper (or something) and he taught us the hand signals the crew would use for us to applaud, clap louder, cheer, shut up and stand up. We practiced those for a while, then the ladies came out and took their seats. The show ran very smoothly. I couldn't stop watching the stage managers and marveling at how different their job is from what we do in the theatre. I waved at Whoopi just before we began taping and she waved back (right at me, I'm sure). The first guest was Jack Cafferty of The Situation Room, which I've never actually watched. We all got free copies of his new book! He was actually pretty interesting and I was intrigued enough to read the book. Next came Marcia Gay Harden, who brought out her 3 year old twins in their Halloween costumes. Her son was Winnie the Pooh and her daughter was Tinkerbell. Adorable. She has a new movie coming out that looks pretty good. Then the creme de la creme: Annie Lennox was the musical guest!!!!! I have always thought Annie was a beautiul woman, but MAN is she gorgeous in person! And that voice! It was amazing to see her perform. They transformed the set quickly over a commercial break and used some really cool lighting effects to make it look like a concert setting. She was FANTASTIC! The baby went crazy when she started singing. (he/she loves music these days) Fortunately, they gave us free copies of her new CD, so we can listen at home! We were also awarded Sharper Image projection alarm clocks. They project the time on the ceiling or wall. A fifty dollar value, all ours just for being there.

It was such a fun time! After the taping, we perused the gift cart (it's not a shop, it's a cart), then had a lovely, liesurely lunch at Cafe Mozart. (if you go for lunch, get the Mozart Wrap. The smoked mozzerella makes it perfect!) It's so great sometimes to live in NY and have the opportunity to do cool, kind of unusual things like this. A big thanks to Kitty for bringing me along. I'll let you know how it goes on the 30th!!

PS: I have a lot more pictures of the set and such that I can email to anyone who wants to see them. They appear a little too small here.

What a difference 8 years makes

This weekend has been all about nostalgia! On Friday, our friend Thomas Nealeigh and his lady Alice rolled into town from Hollywood (by way of Washington DC and Ohio!) to bring their professional side show Freak Show Deluxe to Coney Island. Thomas was a first year grad student at Tech when I was a senior and Marcus was a junior. The three of us and our fourth member, housemate Kristin, were inseperable. The guys had a radio show on Sunday nights, The Reverend Tommy Gunn Show featuring Mad Weasel Love (that's Marcus). And, given that we lived in what was technically considered a brothel, the "ho house" jokes flowed! (5 or more unrelated, unmarried women living under one roof in Louisiana is considered a brothel. That's why there are no sorority houses. A little trivia for ya!)

Fast forward to Friday night. I haven't seen Thomas since 2003 when he visited me at Cornell. I was directing a reading of one of his plays for our student production group and he came up to do a workshop with them. Marcus and I caught up with him and Alice at our subway stop and it was like nothing had ever changed. Except, that is, for the fact that Alice and I are both quite pregnant (theirs is due Dec. 31) and we are all 7 years older. It was so much fun to see Thomas and Marcus together again, playing off each other like always. And today we finally got to see a live performance of Freak Show Deluxe! It was great fun. A guy swallowed swords, a girl layed on a bed of nails and Marcus stood on her (they called him up from the audience), lots of crazy stunts. I got to staple a one dollar bill to some dude's chest. Never done that before! It's so good to see Thomas getting to do what he loves and it's especially nice that he has Alice to help pull it all together. (She is the road manager and stage manager. And did I mention she's 6 months pregnant? She's amazing.) My only regrets are that we didn't get to see Grennan, their 2 year old son (He was chillin' with Grandma this weekend) and that Kristin wasn't there. (she's in Atlanta being fabulous)

The pictures above are:
1. The 4 of us (and our babies to be).
2. Thomas and Marcus today at the Freak Show.
3. Thomas and Marcus at the "ho house" Christmas 1998. We all dressed up and did a photo shoot. Cause that's how it was at our house.

Back into the swing of things

We haven't taken a picture this week yet, so here's one taken at Bowl-A-Rama this summer. I jokingly said that's what I would look like at Christmas. I think it may be sooner than that!

The best news of today is that I got an appointment with the #1 doctor on my list! He is the head of the OBGYN Division at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. We'll see him on Sept. 28, then set up a tour of the birthing center at the hospital. I'm already feeling more at ease! My friend Melissa's doctor was out of town when her daughter was born last year, so this doctor ended up delivering her baby and she loooooved him. I am already happy with how the office staff handled my questions on the phone. So this is definitely a huge load off our minds.

Marcus is back at work full-swing. Today is going to be his longest day so far. He has auditions after his classes, so he probably won't be home until about 9 tonight. He is directing ALL IN THE TIMING, which will go up in November.

I'm keeping very busy around the house with day to day chores and the big purge! After a morning of laundry and errands, I'm taking a little break before starting another bag of clothes for Goodwill. I have accepted a gig in early October stage managing a workshop of a new musical. It's just a week, so that will be a fun reprieve from housework.

We went down to DC this weekend and did a little inventory of the great stuff Mirka and Mike will be giving us. We're going to be in good shape! Since we're staying in our apartment, we're going to start out with just the bassinette, then move onto the crib when we move onto a bigger place. This will allow for gender-specific bedding. :)

On a sappy note, I have grown even more attached to the baby this week. I love having him/her with me all the time. And this is one active baby! I'm getting kicked almost constantly now.

Ok, the time has come to purge another drawer. Wish me luck!

Back to city life

Well, we've been home for almost a week now and we're almost used to it! The reverse culture shock was a little more than I was ready for! For the past 3 and a half months, we've driven everywhere, had a Wal Mart at our disposal (24 hours a day!), been surrounded by a support group of people who have experienced pregnancy and parenthood, lived in a big 3 bedroom condo and enjoyed things like very fresh air, cut grass and honeysuckle. Imagine the adjustment to subway delays, crazy NYC traffic, rude clerks in the grocery store and NY prices! But it's good to be back in our own place (small as it may be) and to see our friends, which we're doing one by one, with lots still to go. Last night we went to see Les Miserables, which was incredible. It's nice to be able to go see a Broadway show, then come home and sleep in your own bed! We also ate at West Side Cottage, our favorite "nice" Chinese place. We hadn't eaten Chinese food since we left NYC, so it was extra good. The best thing for me so far, aside from seeing friends, has been visiting Ronen, my stylist. My hair is 2 inches shorter and about a thousand times healthier and happier. He thanked me for not letting anyone in WV cut my hair.

We're slowly settling back in. Marcus started teaching today. His schedule is pretty brutal this semester and it will only get busier once he starts directing his show. We are going to look at a new apartment on Friday. We're really excited--there's no broker fee! It also has new hardwood floors, all new appliances and cabinets and is more convenient for Marcus's commute. PLUS it has 2 bedrooms, which we desperately need. The next item on the agenda is finding me a new obstetrician. I wish I could bring the ones from Beckley here, but they didn't want to come.

Meanwhile, I'm using my time to organize our apartment and get ready for the big move. Oh, and growing a person! I have decided not to take on a full-time production this fall, as I don't think I'll be physically able to do it to the best of my abilities. I have some feelers out for some workshops, readings and small dance shows. Short contracts are key right now. One producer actually called to offer me an Off-B'way show the other day, but when I told him I was pregnant, he freaked out. It was pretty funny. Guess I've found a new way to get rid of people who call with jobs I reeeeally don't want to take! I'll also be helping Marcus with his show, mentoring his stage manager once they get into reherasals and tech.

Baby Lane is doing pretty great. He/she is VERY active and is a really big Les Miz fan, so enjoyed the show a great deal last night. I"m getting bigger by the minute, as shown in this week's photo. We're almost halfway there, which is unbelievable, both because I've been pregnant for 4 1/2 months and because I will be pregnant for another 4 1/2 months! Marcus Lane is a saint by the way. We'll just leave it at that.

To summarize our summer, it was great. We both really enjoyed working at TWV and have been invited back! I'll be the production stage manager with 2 assistants to help split up the season and Marcus will be directing High School Musical. We're excited to go back, as it's a fantastic professional opportunity for us both, plus we made some great friends there! So, we're looking forward to another summer in the mountains next year, baby in tow. :)