I've missed the theatre

For those who knew me...years and years ago... allow me this one sentence.  Since high school I have done more indies, voice overs, promos, model work, and other "entertainment industry" work than I actually remember.  But one thing I haven't done in a very long time was stage.  So, I decided it was time again, and contacted the Cumberland County Playhouse.

I looked them up in Equity and didn't find them, so I assumed they were purely amateur.  I got a new monologue and music piece ready (wow, it has REALLY been a long time) and went for it.  I am now the wallpaper in Sound of Music.  (in other words, no one would miss me if I wasn't there) 

I am a nun (one of many, many nuns), and I shall be called...Gretal...  And I shall wear...a black habit...

I later find out through a real nice young lady that they are professional and found their rates of pay-YES-I CAN get a gig that pays around here!  I hold hopes for next year, but not really until then, but it would be SO much better than tax returns!  (The director did ask me to stick around and give them a chance as he would make it worth my while.  I didn't understand this until I found out their pay scale-nice.)

So, I'm in rehearsal, and I see people running around in sweats, scarves, gloves, character shoes, taps, tights, full makeup with wigs (promo pics) and hilarious costumes that have nothing to do with anything I know about that's going on there, and I realize just how much I missed the ordered chaos of theatre.  Absolute insanity, and yet, somehow, everyone always knows where to go when.  Amazing really. The lead (Lindy-she plays Maria) goes through a scene we're blocking and everyone (literally) has to hold back the tears b/c we're not supposed to be crying.  She's truly amazing.  The Mother Abbess (I keep thinking "abscess" whenever I see that) is an opera singer and sounds beautiful on her part.  When I wrote this, I had yet to see the work of Captain Von Trapp-Steve is his name.  I have now and he can go from evil intimidation to loving father/husband in a blink...literally...very nice.

We were then sent home and I realized just how much I envied those who got to come back tomorrow and block another scene.

AH-I have MISSED the theatre!!

Operation Dead Dog

I guess it has been a week since posting, so I should post this...

A while back, I shopped for emergency food since I'm gone so much recently for Arlis in a pinch for supper.  This included a giant bag of 30 fish sticks.  Arlis didn't see it, and it got left in the trunk of the car...for 3 days.  It wasn't cold enough outside, so they had to be thrown out.  A bad storm hit (not the one a few days ago, the one before), and a trash can fell over.  Goober got into the bag.  Mya went out that morning and came back in smelling BAD of fish.  I mean you could smell her from the other end of the room.

Here it is, our Sabbath, and Arlis goes out to clean up the mess, and I wash the dog.  Marcus knows Goober will "run away" if this turns out not to be the storm's fault. 

So, later that day, Marcus comes running to me screaming.  

......

Mya has puked up the week old fish sticks onto the bedroom carpet.

We used paper towels...

And pinesol...

And vinegar...

And baking soda...

Twice....

Sigh...It still smells.  I mean it smelled so bad your eyes would water being in the bedroom!  It was horrible!  Talk about a damper on things!  I almost passed out doing my exercises!  It's dried now, and pretty much without scent, but it's still a different color where it's dried on the fibers and I couldn't get it all off.  I've used bristly brushes and everything. 

Just when you think you can sleep in and relax! 

How I now feel about Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th had always mystified me.  I never understood the conception of it at all.  In fact, I usually had very nice days on Friday the 13th.

Until today.

First, here's the background:
I recently taken on a new job working for a tax preparing company at a kiosk in Wal-Mart.  Just a few extra bucks for a few extra jollies.  Training started in Oct the year before.  So, that means most people had 2-3 months training.  I had one week.  During that week I was required to do online training and go 50 miles out of my way for classes, both ways.  EVERY hour I wasn't out of town doing classes, I was online "learning."  It was also during this time I traveled to Knoxville to get my first root canal and spend time with a friend in need.  I was told testing would be open book.  It was not.  I traveled to Cookeville once again for final testing, only to wait over an hour b/c the instructor wasn't ready.  Two days later I went to take a final test.  Now I'm exhausted.

Now, here's my story:
I got called in early to fill in for someone with adequate training.  So, with no name badge, no uniform shirt, and no experience, I set off for Wal-Mart in the beginning of a snow storm with a packed bag just in case I can't get home.  I couldn't, but that's later.

I am alone for six hours.  I have to close everything myself and open it all back up the next morning myself.  Wal-Mart was so cold the cashiers wore coats, scarves, hats and hand warmers passed out by the manager.  I shivered a lot.  I did one tax return, and the rest of the time handed out fliers and watched people. Lots of really scary people.

"Would you like a coupon?"
3:48

Do you really think that tattoo makes you look better?
"Would you like a pen?"

3:55

Is that a lug nut sticking out of your body?
"Would you like one?"

4:15

And seriously people, there is NOTHING attractive about pajamas in public.
"Do you qualify for the EITC?"

4:12  (seriously, that happened.  I actually believe time went backwards)

The same people would pass me over and over, it was the weirdest thing.  Why would you go to Wal-Mart for hours on end and walk around it and go to the bathroom 3 times?  Weird.  The buggy guy was freaky weird and kept hanging around me and spoke in hick, so I didn't understand him much.

People began taping the fliers to their body as they passed so that I wouldn't bother them again.  I don't blame them.  I hate it when people hand stuff out, it's ridiculous, but it did generated business.

I did one tax return, one of the easiest there is.  It took...oh...15? minutes?

Sigh....


4:30

An eternity later, I closed up and went home.  Unable to access all the programs I'm supposed to b/c my name still isn't in the thingy and help desk won't help, I turn it off and head for the doors.  My car is frozen shut.  I came back in to try and recruit help, to no avail.  I bought some cokes and Granola bars for supper, b/c Hot and Ready didn't appear to be an option any longer.  I managed to open the doors only to have 1/2inch thick ice on the windshield and a wiper shaped like a banana.  I warm it up enough to drive...300 feet...and try to see again.  Nope, still iced banana.  I get on the road, a state highway, and can't see much, and realize I am NOT driving home.

We live 30 minutes from Crossville, up 127.  Now, this isn't flat country with street lights.  This is 1/2 mile high ravines with bridges, valleys, steep hills, and guard rails.  Arlis calls the neighbor sheriff who said it should be OK as he hasn't heard anything bad.  Don't care, where's the Motel 6.  I pull off at the Cracker Barrel for Arlis to find me a bed for the night.  That's when I smelled it...  the e-brake has frozen on.  Good thing I'm not going home.  Motel 6 is just across 40, so I'm fine, just another 300 feet.  I can't really find the entrance, so I guess, and wind up amongst a bunch of truckers.  I finally make it to the office, pay my day's wages to spend the night, and draft the receptionist to hold the key turned while I pull on the frozen trunk.

I was told there was Wi-Fi.  I was thrilled and got out my Kindle to watch a little Netflix.  Nope, no signal.  So, I turned on telly to see what the rest of the world was up to.  We haven't had so much as a local channel in years.  Thank God.  This stuff is horrible!  Obama's speeches cut to Lady Gaga, Madonna doesn't care that she has children, she still wants to "push the envelope", Miss America is still going apparently (I thought that died out years ago), and "Celebrities are wearing..." click.  Some group of rude people are cooking in a contest and making WAY too big a deal out of it, all the weather is Knox/Nash/nat'l and none local, and a white girl and a black girl with a giant fro are duking it out to Michael Jackson music while their clothes just happen to rip off here and there in certain places.  So...so...sad...

So, I read Enola Holmes and the Case of the Bizarre Bouquet, eat two bars, drink half a coke, and try to sleep, waking up every hour or two.  Finally, I leave to go back to another 6 hours (9-3).  By now the Wal-Mart associates are asking how I made it last night and are happy with my decision to be in a hotel, and as time goes on, it gets busier to normal flow almost, so I know it's OK to go home.

But the real adventure was actually work that day.  There's the buggy...guy?...that looks like a really ugly Jack Black.  Only, I can't tell it's gender.  The one time it went to the bathroom, I had to answer some questions for a potential client. Drat!  So then the freaky weird buggy guy comes back to talk to me again.  He says the same sentence twenty times, "You know Nashville's where we got that snow from."  Really?  I thought it was God.  I didn't know they made snow in Nashville.  (at this point I have a severe attitude problem with horrific snide remarks, but I actually managed to keep them all inside and still smile-yay for me!!)

He leaves, I answer a few more questions, and not a single...oh wait..he's going to the bathroom again...and..it's...a...BOY!!   ...ew...

Not a single tax return allowed the day to last even longer.  I get an e-mail saying I'm supposed to get paid today for those 12 hours of training in Cookeville.  I still haven't...

Sure enough, when the time comes, I can traverse without too much trouble where I buy a pizza and chow down on the way home to light and fluffy music.  I am scheduled again next week, but I will be with someone, and there should be a few returns to do. 

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH-may God have mercy on your soul!

The new dog

We have a new dog.  This was not our intention.  Arlis's brother's neighbor pretty much abandoned it.  It has been fixed, trained well, housebroken, and is very friendly and boring.  That's great b/c I don't want an energetic little puppy to train.  He came with the name Goober, and I don't believe in changing animals' names unless required.  (We once got a dog named Roxy.  He called her Roxy cotton b/c of her white tipped tail that looked like cotton....Right.  We changed that name)  So, he asks if we want a dog.  No thank you.  But he just came up to us and was so wonderful and lovable.  Arlis opened the van door and he jumped in like we were his family.  He was good when we visited his sister's house.  He was a good boy when we left him in the car for an hour at Wal-Mart on the way home.  He came in, ate, drank, laid down and slept with Marcus.

  I tried not to mother him, so he could be Marcus's dog.  He sleeps with him, follows him around the house, and lays down at his feet during school.  He's older, at least 8, so we have tried to prepare Marcus for the inevitable.  He had on a collar.  A training collar with spikes going into his neck.  What horrible person would do this??

The first thing we did was buy him a real collar and replace it. That day from Wal-Mart!  Then, we made him a bed, and fed, and fed, and fed him.  We got him Fri, and TODAY is the first time he acted unstarved.  We took him to the vet this morning for rabies and got flea stuff to be safe, and dewormer too, in case it wasn't neglect, but worms that caused him to lose so much weight.  As you can see above, he's just about gained back to normal.  While at the vet, however, he peed on the "Caution wet floor" sign, peed on the vet's exam table, and weighed in at 90 pounds.  He also does NOT like his dewormer!!  It's an oral suspension.  I gave him 1mL out of 9, and he ran to Arlis and hid his head under his arm.  Poor thing! 

What's really nice is he comes and goes as he pleases b/c he doesn't bother the chickens or ducks at all.  He helps to herd them, but is afraid of the cows.  The resident pets are getting used to him, and enjoy his company.  It's like he was meant to be with us....weird.

Ripley's Aquarium

It's time for a new post, and as last winter, backed up photos are finally seeing day.  We went to homeschool day at Ripley's Aquarium.  We went with Marcus's girlfriend "She's not my girl friend!!  And we are never getting married because I'm not ever having any children!!!"  OK OK, so his...friend that happens to be a girl...


Yeah, THAT's just a crush...

 There is a shark fin there.  They actually do swim with that dorsal sticking out.

 Whoa!

 His friend's mom helping out.

 Um...I'm not sure about this...Do I have to?

 They even let the littler siblings join in that were too young for it all.

 Hi!  I'm cute.

 Seriously Mom?

The boar

UPDATED 12/18:  (see below)

I've thought about writing this.  And as more time went by, and more adrenaline left my body, I realized how funny it all was.  But I still didn't want to without a pic.  We got one.  Now, the other night, Arlis barges in the house screaming to keep Marcus in the house and runs out with a gun.  This wasn't the first time something like this has happened, but this was the first time I heard an urgency in his voice that made me concerned.

Flashback:
Arlis (remember now, he's blind), sitting on a tractor and sees what he believes is a calf in the lower field, only the cattle were in the upper field.  "What is that?"
Dad, near his truck and able to see better, but not the best "That's a boar!"
Arlis jumps off the tractor and RUNS to the truck.  They drive to the house and the preceding events took place.

After all this, I find out it's a boar, and I hear "RIEEEEEEEEH!" from near the chicken house.  It was a pretty awakening sound.  Only problem was, that was a good 100 yards or more from the boar they were going after.  (We never saw a second one, and the chickens were unscathed).  Arlis shoots the 30-06 at the boar, only to miss and barge back in "Of all times to only have one bullet in the gun!"  So Barney loaded up, I grabbed the 9 mil and we headed back out.

There it was, as big as a young calf, just staring at us like we were in the cage at the zoo.  (I had to edit the photo as it was blurry b/c it was starting to get dark)

Now, boars are deadly (one usually bleeds to death from the damage, and children are killed before they have the chance to bleed to death).  They are also invincible.  They have shields on their foreheads and shoulders that have actually been known to deflect bullets.  Go ahead, look it up, I'll wait.....

Told you....

Now, Arlis grabs my gun and hands his to dad (I never get any of the fun) and as usual out of 15 bullets, only 1 or 2 hit, and they weren't from the rifle.  He just stood there and looked at us, never moved.  I know one hit b/c he finally moved and started running like something was biting his bum.  The next day they traversed the fence line and never saw a trace of blood.  Told you, invincible.

We called the neighbor, who hunts, and now he's determined to get him.  Hope he doesn't come back!

UPDATE: So, we get a call from a friend just yesterday who hasn't called in several months.  Anyway, we tell him about the boar, and he tells us that there's a hunting lodge past our woods (the direction the boar came from and went to) and that they set boars loose periodically to hunt them.  Sounds beyond stupid to me, but at least we know where he came from.  So then, I put an ad out for our turkeys today, and this guy calls to buy them.  He owns that lodge and said they had 2-3 get loose that day, and the one we shot at was later killed by hunters out for deer that day.  So odd that we had two people call us so close together with this info.  So we called the neighbor who was VERY relieved to hear it's dead.  In fact, Arlis left his gun in the house today when we went out to work following the phone call, so it's put a lot of minds to rest!

We heard some pops after it went into the woods, and although dad and Arlis believed it to be boar directed, I thought nothing of it b/c we hear gunshots all the time around here.  I guess it really was aimed at the boar-how coincidental!  The slaughterhouses around here apparently call the guy with the lodge when they get one of his b/c his are tagged.  I'll be honest, I didn't see a tag.  It could be a chip, or fallen off-who knows?  TOO WEIRD!!

The science experiment

I have all these blogs from over the summer that I figured I put up once I got to a dry spell.  Here's one.  We went crazy this year trying to keep the pool perfect.  Checked it at least once a week and added all the stuff you're supposed to.  But the rain just killed it.  Finally, I noticed some eggs on the surface.

 At first I started skimming them off.  Then I asked myself-"What am I doing???"  Frogs are great insect catchers, and we have tons of frogs, and little mosquitoes....tons of flies but...
So I let them live.

 And they started hatching.

 And hatching...

 And hatching!!!

 And growing...they started getting little back legs.

 And then front legs...

 And perching in places.

 And trying to get out.

 And floating on sticks.

 And having parties.