Great Good Times

Two weeks ago, Amy W sent me a text message asking if I'd be willing to sit with her daughter, Jessie, while the rest of the family rehearsed in Sandy's Seussical the Musical. Amy had no idea how much I would need this distraction, and I was grateful to say I could help on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. When I arrived Tuesday, I found that I know a LOT of people in the cast! It was fun to see people notice me in the second row and mouth "Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?!" I love it when people are surprised and happy to see me! I had a blast sitting with Jessie. She lights up when her dad sings, and at one point laughed so hard she got the hiccups. I tried to scare the hiccups out of her and she gave me an exasperated look. My favorite Jessie moment was when I started singing "I do not like green eggs and ham!" I stopped after that line, but Jessie picked it up "I do not like it, Sam I am!" I was surprised and laughed. She is such a sweet girl. I'm glad I got to know her better. And the show is fantastic, too!

Laren got to go to ComiCon and I am SO JEALOUS! Sunday afternoon she sent me a text asking what kind of t-shirt I wanted. I had no idea, so she picked out a Supergirl shirt with a gold "S" on it. She gave it to me at lunch last week and I love it! I miss you Laren! Good luck with the new job and semester -- I know you'll rock both!

My brother Aaron was in town last week for his 10 year reunion and to introduce our family to his girlfriend, Shonni. I finally got to meet Shonni on Friday, and she's darling! She and I had a blast teasing Aaron (who teased right back, of course). Aaron and Shonni were kind enough to accompany me to see Sandy's Seussical the Musical and indulge me as I chatted with the pro team and the cast after the play. Fortunately, they aren't the sort of people to slink into the background, so I introduced them around and they took all sorts of photos of me with my friends... all on Aaron's camera, so I don't have access to them yet. It was a fun night, though. I'm glad I got them all to myself for a few hours!


I miss Peter. Today was his first day of law school in Philadelphia and I am fiercely proud of him. I hope it went well! His girlfriend, Jordyn, joined my family for dinner yesterday and filled us on on the road trip as they moved his things. She had some awesome photos, too. A few weeks ago, Jordyn's family threw Peter a going-away party. They invited us to Jordyn's parents house, and we ate home-made ice cream in their amazing backyard (complete with koi pond, sweet, no?) It was a fun way to say good-bye. Guess we all have to grow up sometime. I wonder when my turn will be....

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and she made out like a bandit! We showered her with gifts, and all the kids worked together to provide the dinner so Mom wouldn't have to. All she had to do was open presents, play with her grandchildren, and bask in our love. At least, I hope that's all she had to do. I know my brothers didn't let her do the dishes. My mom is such a modest lady that we take her for granted a lot. We'll have to be better at that, 'cause it was nice to let her relax a smidge for a change. Oh, and kudos to Dave for the roasted garlic idea; I couldn't get enough of it or the bread!


I was invited to four baby blessings within two weeks. The first two were for my nieces, the third for my friend Rachael S's little boy, Aidan, and the fourth for Stephanie M's daughter, Peanut. Stephanie's son, Wakko, was baptized and confirmed at the same gathering as Peanut's blessing, and it was a terrific morning. I took notes at all of these events, and for Aidan, Peanut and Wakko I audio recorded the blessings as well. As I transcribed the blessings for these darling children and their parents, I prayed for the spirit so I could hear the words and reconstruct them (when I compared my notes to the transcription, I realized how extremely lousy my shorthand is). I loved getting to hear the blessings over and over again! I am grateful I get to give the recordings to their families, and that they'll have them to refer to. These are wonderful kids; I can't wait to see how they grow and those blessings come to pass!

Harry Potter Tuesday!

I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I think the characters are great and I am FLOORED by the attention to detail in the plot. When I read the seventh book I was totally amazed by references to the older books that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up being really important. There is a reason the Harry Potter books became such a phenomenon: they are wonderful! I've been rereading books 6 and 7, and I am delighted -- I had forgotten how good the writing is.

The whole phenomenon is one of the reasons I wanted to be an editor in college. Wouldn't it be incredible to be part of a project that got so many kids reading? Kids who started when the first book came out, and ten years later were excited to see how the last one ended. How many authors have that effect on people?

I am also a fan of the movies. I think the actors are great and the screenplays have enough of the details to keep me happy. They may not have been made the way I picture them in my head and some key information and great lines are missing, but how tough must it be to translate a 500+ book into a 2+ hour movie? No, the directors and especially artistic directors have done a great job. I rewatched the first four movies last week in preparation for the latest, and was reminded once again how much I enjoyed them. It was also fun to think about the circumstances of my seeing all of them:
1. I saw the first movie the first day with my brothers Peter and David at about 10 at night. I wore a cloak, and I remember thinking it was kind of cool that David was wearing his glasses, Peter has red hair, and I have curly hair, like the three main characters! Since David was the one who introduced me to Harry Potter (he even read the first few chapters aloud for me), I was glad to see the movie with him. When we took my mom to see it a couple weeks later, she was inspired to make David and I our very own House scarves for Christmas -- Hufflepuff for David and Gryffindor for me. I always get compliments when I wear mine. One girl chased me down the street to ask me where I got it. Well done, Mom!
2. I saw the second movie a few days after it had come out; I was in school at the time and took a break from studying to see a matinee. I thought I'd hate the spider scene more than I actually did... There weren't many people in the theatre, and since I'd heard there was an extra scene at the end I made sure to tell as many people as possible to stay until the end of the credits.
3. When I saw the third movie, I had tickets for a noon matinee, and took the afternoon off at work. I invited a guy friend I had a HUGE crush on (we were both writing HP fanfiction at the time), and his best friend the Brad Pitt of our singles ward. They were pretty disappointed by the film, but I liked it!
4. For the fourth movie, a friend of my Dad rented out an entire theatre on opening day, so I got to go for free. I took the day off work again to see it with my mom, and even though it was in July I took my scarf. Why not?
5. For some reason, I didn't see the fifth movie until a week after it was released. I was tired of waiting for a group of friends to go, so I went by myself on a Saturday afternoon. When I got out of the movie, I had a message on my phone from my brother Aaron asking if I wanted to see the movie with him. So I went again that night. It was so fun seeing it with someone who wasn't familiar with the books. He hated Professor Umbridge as much as I did :D

This brings us to last Tuesday, the day before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (movie 6) came out. My friends Kate and Laren had put together a group to see the film at 12:01 opening day. When they first mentioned the idea, I thought "I should invite Aaron". I had intended to do so, but the deadline to RSVP was the week I got sick and I forgot. Luckily, they had one ticket left over, and were happy to sell it to me. However, when Aaron came into town and I mentioned I had a ticket, he expressed an interest in going, as I had thought he might. A friend at work had mentioned he had tickets for 5:30 on Tuesday; I asked if there were any left that day, and he managed to get three. I bought two for Aaron and I and mentioned to another work friend, Emily A, that there was a third, so the three of us ended up going together. I had no worries Aaron and Emily would get along -- they are both the kind of people who get along with everyone.

Aaron met Emily and at work at 4, we drove to the District theatre together, found awesome seats, and Emily and I walked over to Target to buy snacks. We didn't see many people dressed up for that showing, but there were plenty waiting in the lobby when the movie was over. Hagrid, Tonks, Luna, and even one guy dressed as a Nimbus 2000 -- with a broom fitted around his neck to go over his head! It was pretty awesome.

But those costumes were nothing compared to the craziness going on at the Gateway when I finally arrived there about 11:30 that night. I am pretty sure the people with feathers were Hedwig, one guy looked like the European Father Christmas but probably was supposed to be Professor Dumbledore, and one middle-aged woman had brought a live owl. How cool is that? It was great to sit with my friends and see the movie again--

I liked the movie a lot! Book 6 is my favorite, mostly because of the contract of light-hearted humor and teenage angst vs. all of the dark goings-on and shocking climax. I wanted to like Jim Broadbent more as Professor Slughorn -- I thought he was surprisingly low energy -- but everyone else was fantastic, especially Rupert Grint and Bonnie Wright as Ron and Ginny, my two favorite characters from the series. Oh! And Alan Rickman was fantastic as Snape and I think Tom Felton is brilliant. If the bad guy in a movie stinks it just doesn't work (I could give you examples), but they more than made up for the lack of Voldemort. Good movie!

And if you want the opinion of someone who hasn't read the books, Aaron loved it too. He's going to take his girlfriend to see it when he returns to D.C.

So... go see it! Even if you already have! I'm already looking forward to the next in November 2010...

...I think I'll go to my condo pool and finish the last chapter of the novel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this afternoon.

To read about my experience seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, see this post.

When It Rains It Pours

I am learning that I have pretty much no control over anything going on in my life...and I don't like it. But, I do have to deal with it. I am really tightly wound. I've cried so much in the last five days that I now have a perpetual crying headache. I did not want to work today. I wanted to lie down on the floor under my desk, cry for a little bit, and then take a nap. I would prefer to have this meltdown at home, but since my car died yesterday, I don't have a way get home until Laren and I go out tonight which I am really, really looking forward to. I love Laren! I love that we go to so many plays together, and we're seeing Oklahoma together tonight. We were going to go on Friday, but it turns out she has Seussical rehearsal Friday and we are both free tonight instead.

But I digress (how I love that phrase!). My latest disaster is that my car died yesterday. Ironically, I had already been planning on taking it to the shop today and had even called the mechanic to let him know I was coming. At the time, my engine oil was leading, and my battery and brake lights were lit up on the dashboard. Not horrible, right?

Well, yesterday I went out for lunch and noticed that my radio played for about a minute and then died. This happened on the way to Einstein's Bagels and then when I drove back to work. Odd. After I left work at 8pm, I drove over to Cold Stone because I very much wanted ice cream in spite of the wonderfully splooshy rainstorm. Once I had some ice cream to-go, I decided that I should get some more gasoline, because I was just under a half tank, so I got on I-215 going West and then took the 280 E. exit in search of Sam's Club. At that point, I noticed that my windshield wipers were moving more and more slowly...

And then, while I was making the left hand turn from the freeway ramp onto Windermere, my car started to move more and more slowly. I had the gas pedal on the floor and it was barely moving. I made the mistake of taking my foot off the gas, hoping that reapplying my foot would somehow rev the engine, but there was no response. I was just past the intersection, crawling down the street on nothing but inertia, and the inertia was dying. All I wanted was to reach the parking lot. I got so far as the entrance to the parking lot when inertia ran out. So, I put my car in neutral (not an easy task since all electricity was completely unresponsive) and got out to push.

In the rain.

With my injured arm.

For a minute, it didn't occur to me that the only way I'd be able to turn into the parking lot was if someone were at the steering wheel. I thought I could just push the nose of the car. Nope! I did manage to stop it before it crashed into a jeep at the entrance that had been hoping to turn left.

I will forever be grateful to the driver of that jeep. The young man got out of his car and volunteered to push mine so that I could steer. His girlfriend took over his jeep, and the man pushed me into the parking lot. Then he asked if I had anyone to call. I assured him I'd be fine and encouraged him and his girlfriend to go do whatever they had previously planned.

You know, it's not the first time Heavenly Father has sent me someone to help when I've had car trouble. Often when I have a flat tire, a minivan will stop, and a middle-aged man and his teenage son will take care of me (although I know how to change a tire, I've never actually done it on my own). I worry as a woman who usually drives alone that a man might take advantage of my situation, so I'm always grateful when it's a man with his teenage son, wife, or girlfriend. I hope they are blessed for helping me. It's really the coolest thing.

I called my mom first to tell her what was going on and ask for a ride. Then I called triple-A. Ironically again, I was parked outside of the Fashion Place Mall Sears Auto Center. I gave the guy on the phone the directions and told him what had happened, and he said someone should be along in half an hour. I ate my ice cream, read a bit of my book, and tried not to think about the possibility of buying a new car. If I have to buy a car then I'll need a roommate, and my fortress of solitude will disappear. Then again, maybe I could use the social network that would likely ensue, the cute green room will finally be occupied (I adore that room but never spend any time in there), and few people could be worse to live with than my last roommate (which is why I haven't had one in at least four years).

I called my friend Michelle B. Turns out she was just up the street and offered to wait with me. Somehow, I accidently put my phone on silent, so that wait became over an hour. It gave me time though to vent and cry with my best friend. It just felt so good to complain and talk. She went through similar problems a few months ago and now things are great, so the hope she offered was nice too!

We discovered at 9:45 that my phone had been on silent and the tow truck driver had tried to call at 9pm. I called his company and it was then we found out he'd been sent to the wrong Sears Auto Center, so he couldn't have found me anyway. Triple-A sent someone nearby within 15 minutes and didn't charge me for the trip. Yay! I called my parents, told them Michelle would give me a ride home, and asked my mom if she'd be willing to give me a ride to work the next morning, which she was.

Michelle and I ended up getting spinach dip and raspberry lemon cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory (we ate them separately) and talking for awhile. It was nice having some one-on-one time with her. She gave me a ride home and let me proudly show off the latest stage of my condo. I was up late, but it was worth it!

I talked to the mechanic this morning, and let him know about the new problems. He said most of the issue may have to do with the battery or the alternator or both. He's supposed to call me sometime today with an estimate. I loathe being without a car and this week is especially busy. The timing stinks!

My friend Emily A says that hard times are holy. I believe that is true. Those are times when I reexamine my relationship with Heavenly Father and redetermine my priorities. I am forced to grow up which apparently I need right now. I need to at least teach myself it's okay not to be in control, and learn to have a lot more faith than I have of late. Hopefully, once I've figured all this out, I can clear the way for blessings (and other trials, too, probably), or at least recognize the blessings better.

Meanwhile, I've been cheering myself up by thinking of ways my life could be worse (because it definitely could). Last night I had a horrifying dream that made me wake up and think: "I'm glad I don't have to deal with that!" Sometimes when I'm stressed and then I have dreams like that, I think Heavenly Father must have a sense of humor. My right arm still hurts, my left arm is starting to feel the strain, I have periodontal surgery this week and no dental insurance, I'm drowning at work, I'm in a relationship loop, and now my car has died, but all is not lost. I have a great job with wonderful coworkers, darling friends, events to look forward to, nieces who are finally home from the hospital, parents who are always willing to help, money in my savings account, and a roof over my head. Even writing this post makes me feel a lot more cheerful. Heavenly Father is showering me with tender mercies that punctuate the rough times, and I am grateful.

I will get through this. I will. I just wish I could take two or three days off from all of the rest of my life to recoup. I need a relaxing vacation, soon!

I Should Be More Strange!

Laren and I saw Romeo and Juliet at Pioneer Theatre Company on Friday night. It was wonderful! I am always a fan of Shakespeare, and it is always delightful to see different versions of such a familiar piece. It was also delightful to share the experience with Laren, who appreciated the play as much as I did, and who I could talk about it with.

We agreed that the young couple playing the title characters were absolutely marvelous. I thought it brilliant that they acted like a 13 year-old girl, and a 17 year-old boy! The balcony scene was hilarious and adorable, as Juliet babbled on about her inexperience and concluding with "should I be more strange? I should be more strange!" (A.K.A. "I should be more shy!") And there was Romeo, listening to her in joyful silence with the emptiest, most adoring expression on his face -- SO. CUTE. They were completely believable as an infatuated, rash couple.

It was also interesting that the director apparently wanted all of the characters to be unlikeable except for Romeo, Juliet, the Nurse, and Friar Lawrence. Everyone knows how the play ends, and still I hoped that it might be happy. That Tybalt might believe that Romeo didn't want to fight any more, that Capulet would be sensitive to his daughter's wishes, that Friar John might reach Romeo in time... but alas. The play came to its heartbreaking conclusion and I wept as all of the other horrible characters realized that their selfishness had caused a tragedy that could have been avoided if just one person had thought to give someone they didn't trust the benefit of the doubt.

Thank you, Laren, for accompanying me to see the brilliant play, and for recommending Tucanos for dinner! I had a great evening!

2008 was Pretty Great

Last night I got to celebrate New Year's Eve with a bunch of strangers mingled with people I very much adore. It was my friend, Laren's, birthday, and she invited me to a party at her house. Well, with the mixture of people from her ward, family members, friends her roommates invited, a few folks from Bye Bye Birdie, and me, the place was pretty packed by midnight!

I arrived at the party at about 9pm, after having worked a few hours earlier in the day, seeing the movie The Tale of Despereaux (which I loved) and taking an early evening nap. Laren gave me a huge hug and I wished her a happy birthday, and then she reunited me with her sister Sharon, and introduced me to her cousin Hannah, and a bunch a people who were singing a PlayStation 2 karaoke-type game. Would you believe they talked me into singing a couple of songs? The only other time I'd ever tried to do karaoke I dissolved into laughter after about 3 words because I felt so self-conscious; the friend I was supposed to be singing with was pretty annoyed. It helped last night, though, when I realized everyone would be singing along anyway. I sang "Uptown Girl" with Sharon, and "Material Girl" with Laren. SO. MUCH. FUN. Yeah, we rocked.

While checking out the food situation, I ran into a friend from a play I did last year, and while I was telling her about doing Little Women, two Little Women cast members walked in! Talk about freaky. I ended up chatting with Dee Dee and Elisha and the men who collected around them for a good portion of the night. You know, when I wasn't watching people play Guitar Hero or talking with Birdie friends Mandee and Scott.

At one point, we gathered pretty much everyone in the house into the not-terribly-large kitchen and sang "Happy Birthday to Laren". Then she started passing out colored sparklers and herding everyone outside. There must have been 50 of us on that square of patio! We lit the sparklers before the new year, but waited on the noisemakers and bombs until midnight. It was pandemonium and sheer awesome. I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me, Laren! If not for you, I would have spent the new year at the movies by myself and wouldn't have made such good memories. I adore you, dear. Hope it really was the happiest of birthdays!

Today I got up later than I should have, got more dressed up than I should have, and drove over to my parents' house. Mom cooked up a splendid dinner, and then the two of us went out and saw Yes Man while the men stayed home and watched football. The movie was hilarious! Jim Carrey was a little off-the-wall, but not so much so that if it were reality and I had witnessed his antics I would have been put-off. My mom and I laughed a lot -- out loud. Good times. We might go see Australia later tonight, but the only showing at the nearest theatre is at 8:30pm, and I do have to work tomorrow and Saturday. Yay, I'm an adult!

As I reflect on 2008, I realize that 2009 has a LOT to live up to. 2008 was really good to me! Highlights include:

cruise in the Caribbean
Little Women
maintaining my goal weight and earning the accompanying rebate
LASIK
Washington D.C.
Bye Bye Birdie
Girls' Nights
opportunities at work
Las Vegas and the Star Trek Experience
The Utah Shakespearean Festival
my condo
30th Birthday party
announcement of the impending twins for my sister-in-law
Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve at home
Babes in Toyland

That's an impressive list, and so much those events just fell into my lap. I am really grateful for the people who made it happen and who made the year as fun as it was. I've grown a lot, and learned a great deal about who I am and what I want. I do have quite a bit to look forward to this year, and am looking forward to seeing how it all works out. I haven't made any year-long resolutions, but I do have a few things I'd like to accomplish this month. I feel they are realistic goals, which is probably the most important thing.

Good luck 2009! Hope you're better than just "fine". Thank you 2008, you were great! (Please forgive the cheese. I couldn't help it.)

Spoiled by my Girlfriends

I am still reeling over all that happened on Tuesday and Wednesday night. I can't say anymore that my 30th birthday was "blah"!!

Mandee and Laren had both let slip that they were planning something for me. I can't fault either of them, since I tend to have a big mouth sometimes and accidentally stumbled into it both times. So, since the secret itself was blown and I knew something was up, they made darn sure that I had no idea what was actually going to happen. Laren told me very emphatically that there was no party. Since I'd wanted a surprise party my whole life, I was happy to just go along and marvel at their ingenuity. And golly -- I wasn't disappointed!

Laren picked me up about 5:30pm and drove zigg-zaggedly so I'd have no idea where we were going. She had warned me ahead of time that I'd want my camera, so I took the opportunity to take the only photo of Laren I got that night:


Our first stop was director Steph's house. Steph opened the door and gave me a huge hug and invited Laren and I to sit in the chairs on the front porch. She then presented me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers*! Oh how I love flowers! Then Steph told me to look inside, and I saw that she had hidden a little bottle blue hair gel in there! Yay! How perfect that the woman who made sure I see the Star Trek Experience before it closed also helped me in my desire to bluify my hair. I really appreciate that she doesn't want me to have any regrets! She said that using this stuff I could either just streak a few curls at a time, or use it as a gel which would turn it all blue at once (it washes out). I wish I had put in a streak then and there, but I chickened out. I did put some in about 10 minutes later though -- loved it! It was the perfect way to start the evening.

*Editor's note: As of Saturday 9-20-08, these flowers are still alive and lovely.


Next, we went to Mandee's house. Mandee said later that she made sure to be otherwise occupied so that her husband, Scott could be the one to present me with a pink rose; she really wanted a man to give me flowers! Then Mandee gave me a STACK of gifts! I was so surprised! Each one was lovely and hand-picked for me. I nearly started crying as I opened them. Scott had baked an awesome chocolate cake drizzled with caramel -- dude! I could have eaten two or three slices! But we were apparently on a time table, so we each just had one before we were off again!


Emily H's daughter Grace greeted us at the door, followed directly by her mother. Yay! I hadn't seen Emily since Birdie closed! I love her new haircut! Emily started off by saying that she is Miss America for Halloween every year, and then she proceeded to crown me "Miss Amazing 2008". It was hilarious! She dressed me in a crown a "Miss Amazing 2008" sash and presented me with a certificate. I couldn't believe it when she gave me even more gifts -- the crowning was already so wonderful! I will definitely be putting up the candle and the photo of her, Kate and I from Birdie, and using that photo album. It was just too perfect that it was Emily who thought to make me to be a princess! Loved it! Love her! I was only too happy to acquiesce to Mandee's command that I wear the crown and sash for the rest of the evening.


Emily's husband -- also named Scott -- kindly agreed to put their kids to bed so she could come with us to our next stop: dancer Stephanie's house! Stephanie's kids were sick, but they poked their kids in and said "Hi" while she brought out her gifts. I was delighted by the pumpkin spice candle and absolutely beautiful orange roses. Seriously, I couldn't have been any more touched. She is such a sweetie, and I was grateful for some time with her, too! Stephanie then pulled out two of my favorite movies: Sense and Sensibility and the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice. That's when everyone told me we were going to go back to Mandee's house to watch one together! Hooray! I got to hoard those four fantastic women for at least two and a half more hours!


Disaster struck as we left Stephanie's house, though. There's a light pole that the city decided to put in an awkward place in Stephanie's driveway, and Laren hit it with the front of her car! Emily said her husband might be able to help repair it cheaply -- he's good with that kind of thing -- but we all felt guilty about it. It was the one dark spot of the night.

Another surprise was waiting when we arrived at Mandee's house: Emily B. and Tiffanie were there! It didn't expect that at all, since Emily B. lives in Utah County and Tiffanie and I had emailed that afternoon saying we needed to see each other soon. She's so devious! After a few moments of chatting, Laren called everyone but me into the kitchen. While I sat by myself for the first time that night, the doorbell rang. Someone yelled for me to get it. I was shocked again when I opened the door and there was Rachael (Wretchel!!) with her baby Sabrina! Holy granola! I flung myself into her arms I was so surprised! Before long, the doorbell rang again, and before I could get to it, Amy had opened the door and peeked in! She and director Steph had come together. I don't know why I just couldn't believe that so many women that I love and admire had all come together to celebrate my birthday with me! And more incredible was that they all brought gifts! I have chocolate and yummy-smelling candles to last my new apartment for a good couple of months. That's a good start to a comfy home! Emily B. also gave me a Princess coloring book, just so I could color them all blonde! Oh my goodness, I laughed about that for awhile. Just brilliant. Everyone just seemed so happy chatting together. Most of us hadn't seen each other since the play had closed, and everyone wanted to hold the baby. I regret not getting a photo of everyone there together. It was so comfortable and easy-going and fun. I felt relaxed and loved and happy; what more could a person want?




When I finished opening the gifts, Laren sat me in a special chair where everyone could see me, and explained that she had told me this wasn't going to be a party, because I and all the women there are Goddesses, and this was a gathering of the Goddesses. She said that since it was my birthday, I got to choose where we'd all go together for dessert. I choose the cheesecake factory, so after some hemming and hawing, we left Mandee's house. Tiffanie, dancer Stephanie, and Emily H. needed to get home, so I heaped good-byes and thank yous on them as much as I could. Really, there was no way to exactly convey how happy they had made me!

Laren wasn't able to stay at the restaurant, but she gave me a gift card to cover my dessert! The group at the Cheesecake Factory included Mandee, Amy, Emily B, Rachael and Sabrina, director Steph, and Mandee. What a fun group of ladies! We had a quite table near the back where Sabrina could sleep, and the rest of us could chat and laugh and flirt with our charming and energetic waiter. They made sure the waiter knew it was my birthday so he could flirt outrageously and try to make me blush in the low light. I had everyone try an appetizer I like, the avocado eggrolls. Soo good! Everyone laughed at my reaction when our waiter and a bunch of other servers sang "Happy Birthday" and brought out my slice of caramel turtle cheesecake. I saw they were coming, and people from other tables were looking around, so I waved and smiled enthusiastically so everyone knew the servers were singing for ME! My birthday! Yaaaaaaaaay!

from left: Emily B, Steph, me, Mandee, Amy, Rachael



It ended too soon -- about 11pm -- and Mandee drove me and a huge stack of gifts home. I put all of the flowers in water, organized all of the other wonderful things into boxes to transport to my condo, and placed a huge bag of peanut butter M&Ms into my purse for work. I had a hard time sleeping that night. You know how sometimes you don't want to sleep because you're so happy you don't think even your dreams can compete? That's how I felt. It was such a great night!

I felt like the Hale Centre Theatre anniversary party on Wednesday was another extension of my birthday! At least, that's how my friends made it feel for me. Candice invited me to be her date, and Kate invited director Steph. I met Candice and Steph at Candice's house, and the three of us drove over together. Kate was running a smidge late and told us to start without her, but we had a tough time getting to the buffet tables because we kept running into people we knew! We first ran into Dave and Patti as we finally made our way into the hallway leading to the rehearsal rooms. That's when we had our first look at Patti's purple hair. She looked fabulous! I accidentally dyed my hair purple once and it did not look nearly as cute as Patti's. I am totally in awe of her bravery!

We grabbed some turkey, yams, rolls, butter, salad, potatoes and gravy (those mashed potatoes were so creamy!) and found a table. The three of us sat with Patti, Dave, Michael Hutch and his date, and Kate arrived after not too long.

I would now like to take the opportunity to say that Steph, Candice, and Kate looked absolutely stunning. They are beautiful women even on their worst days, but it was so fun to have all of us dressed up, and accidentally color-coordinated in black, cream, and gold. I really do need a copy of the photo we took with Patti. I wish I'd taken my own camera to the party, too. I seriously love these women. Seriously.

Before long it was time for the entertainment, so we all trooped into the theatre, and sat on the back row where we could heckle and talk and laugh at unintentially hilarous speeches without bothering too many people. It was awesome to see scenes from the shows run during this last year: I teared up when Kate, Brad Charon, and the octet sang "What Child is This?" from A Christmas Carol; we all laughed as Bredesen pretended to try to kill himself with a fork and a pillow in a scene from Lend Me a Tenor; I felt chills while the northern and southern armies from The Civil War the Musical sang "By the Sword/The Sons of Dixie"(the South was outnumbered during the number, but they did have brooms while the North was unarmed...); my friends and I laughed hysterically as Mary Parker Williams tried to convince the rest of the cast of The Curious Savage that the bathroom was on fire; we marveled at Danny's trampoline skills and jivved with Kate and the Big the Musical cast during cross the line; and looked forward to seeing Candice in Into the Woods while Josh Richardson and Brian Hague sang "Agony". Then we were in for a treat as four actors chosen at random used bumper cars, sticks, and whatever they could to pop the balloons on the other contestants' cars and hats in an attempt to win $500. The last one to have one balloon unpopped was the winner, and boy did they work for it! It was so, so funny!

The program ended with all of us singing "Happy Birthday" to the theatre. Except, I realized at the second verse that Patti, Dave, Candice, Steph, and Kate were all singing to me, and even sang "Happy Birthday, dear Megan". I nearly started crying. It was a very emotional moment for me. The lights finally came up; Candice and I slowly made our way to the German-chocolate cake. Sally Deitlein served us both, and I thrilled when she told me I remind her of Bernadette Peters. If only I were as talented as Bernadette! I felt pretty cool. Candice and I ate cake and chatted and wandered around trying to find Kate and Steph, who we'd lost before going for the cake. After we found them, we decided none of us felt like karaoke or dancing, so we went instead to Applebee's. We made up one of the two tables filled there. The server mentioned she was kind of bummed there weren't more people there, and we said that since it was the Hale party that night, there hadn't been a show which would probably explain the lack of post-show diners. We tried to make up for the lack of any other customers by being as wacky, loud, and fun as possible (so, basically, we were just ourselves). My friends made sure everyone knew it was my birthday and that the servers all sang to me and brought ice cream! Oh, how I loved the attention! I loved having those three women all to myself; I don't see them nearly often enough.

The best part of the evening was that everyone who hadn't been able to attend my surprise party was at the Hale party, so I really did get to celebrate with everyone! I couldn't have asked for more. There wasn't anything else I wanted.

This has probably been the best birthday week in my own 30 years! If only everyone could celebrate this way, no one would ever not look forward to that milestone! I was surrounded by people I love, and I was reminded of all that I have and am and am grateful for. Future birthdays sure have a lot to live up to!

Thanks again to all who made it what it was. Thank you Laren and Mandee for putting together and executing such a mind-boggling and surprising evening, to Candice for inviting me to the Hale party, and to everyone who came to both events and let me know how much you care for me. I truly am blessed to know each of you.

Let my 30th year commence!

Some Enchanted Evening!

Just want to thank Mandee and Laren for joining me at Sandy City's South Pacific last night! I always have fun with these two, and this was no exception. It was cool to sit between these two darling women, and through Mandee see the play with new eyes, and through Laren realize how truely beautiful the music is. With gorgeous music and a thoughtful storyline this show is classic for a reason, and I really enjoyed watching my friend Jason play the hammy Luther Billis. Not only did I wish I were on stage with him, but I wanted to go back to Hawaii and sit on the sunny, peaceful beaches...

I took Amy and Jason up on the offer to join them and their cast at Village Inn afterwards, though I couldn't blame Laren and Mandee for chosing not to come; it was late! I didn't order anything, but Tony let me share his pancakes which I thought was awfully nice! Mmmm... pancakes... I think it worried Jason just a little that I didn't eat more, but I'd been eating all day and felt good about not overdoing it. It was lovely to chat with my Wadsworths and their friends.

Good times! Thanks to everyone who was there.

"Birdie" Backstage

Anyone who has done anything involving a group of people performing for another group of people, such as a play, dance recital, or sport, knows that sometimes the drama going on behind-the-scenes is just as fun as that going on in front of the crowd. There are millions of little things that go into making a show what it is, and consequently millions of opportunities for craziness.

For awhile now, I've considered bringing a video camera to rehearsals and performances and to record some of the wacky and sometimes stressful goings-on. Well, I don't own a video camera (although my digital camera takes limited amounts of decent video recordings), but I've been making an effort during this show to write in my journal random things I don't necessarily want to forget. Such as:

"June 3, 2008: The scene where Conrad (Karl Rosengren) tries to kiss me is tricky, because I do ALL the talking, and Karl's part is all visual... While the rest of the cast ran some other scenes, Karl and I set up away from the group, worked on the scene, and then rehearsed it about a bajillion times. Karl's wife, Susan, took some photos of us that she jokes she's going to blackmail Karl with. Ah well, it's not the first time I've been the "other woman" in these theatre relationships..."

"June 11, 2008: Music director Candice mentioned during notes the last two nights that I sound out-of-breath in my first song 'How Lovely to Be a Woman'... she suggested I try practicing while walking on the treadmill or something, which I will try as soon as I have a few minutes..."

"June 18, 2008: After the second run-through, I decided to take up the pro team's request to help out with cleaning and painting props (I've never done that in a show; I always hope someone else will go!)... Everything was dusty and cobwebby and gross... Laren asked the firemen if we could use their hose to clean everything off, and I'm glad they said "yes" because it saved us a lot of time! I helped Karl and Maida paint two benches yellow, and a table green with Amy H..."

"June 22, 2008: Kate, Emily and I created a space just for ourselves. The backstage area is just one big, long room that feels more than a little like a bomb shelter, and with 60 and more members of the cast, it can feel more than a little claustrophobic. To give us some privacy, Kate and Laren create a "room" for Emily, Kate and me by putting up a screen, covered shelf, and our costume rack up as three walls. Consequently, we have a place to make our many costume changes away from wandering eyes, and we have a place to sit if we need some quiet..."

"June 22, 2008: I realized this weekend that unless I interact with someone onstage directly, I really have no idea what anyone else is doing. I'm pretty involved with my own character's story... This is why I'm glad I got to watch while Autumn rehearsed as Kim: I got to watch the show!... Everyone has grown so much since March when we all auditioned. We've become a family, and it's been great to see how committed to each scene that each actor is (wow, that's a lousy sentence). Everyone gives so much energy and personality and thought into every minute. It's easy to see they are having fun, and that makes it even more fun to watch... That makes me want to work even harder -- I don't want to let them down!"

"June 22, 2008: The big stressor during the show last night was with our darling Austin... who plays my steady, Hugo Peabody. He has appendicitis and is going in for surgery next Friday, but last night he had a flare up and was in so much pain we worried he couldn't perform... Fortunately, Austin was able to perform last night, and is going to the doctor today..."

Do you see how this could be a cool documentary? Waaaay cooler on video than my lame attempts to capture the experience in print. I am super excited when I get a video of the stage performance, but even that and the photos don't quite get the essense.

Ah well, enjoy it while I can. Two shows left!!

Tonight's the Night!

Bye Bye Birdie opens tonight! I am so excited! Finally. Right up until we started the dress rehearsal last night it just didn't feel real. I thought, "Oh, no! Tomorrow isn't going to be special. I'm already taking the play for granted." And then I heard laughter (at the right places) from people who hadn't watched the show 80 times already, and heard my voice over the microphone, and saw the excitement from all of my cast and crew members and all of a sudden it hit me: we're opening!! Yay!

I even went out with a few of the cast members after the show last night. Kate, Brandon, Kristen, Laren, Austin and I went to Village Inn and chattered away and laughed a lot. I sure do love this cast. Kate and I are planning on going out after every show, and we hope that more and more people join us each night. Wring every great moment we can before it all ends.

Break a leg tonight, everyone! I wonder what will happen? I'm ready for some fun! Wah-hoo!