Tonight is the night we change our clocks for Daylight Savings Time.  I guess we’re ending Daylight Savings – or maybe we’re starting it.  I don’t know and I don’t really care.  All I know is that I will be losing an hour of sleep.  Ok, it’s not THAT bad; I do like when the sun stays out later, although there is no sun in the weather forecast for the next few days…  But I loathe the idea of losing a precious hour of sleep.  If I remember correctly, the time change throws the kids into a tizzy for a few days every year until their bodies readjust – something else to look forward to.

So anyway, this should serve as your reminder to change those clocks – no excuses about being late to church or theater meetings tomorrow!  And yes, you must flip the clocks forward, not backward.  Remember, it’s SPRING ahead, FALL back.  And try not to fret about losing that hour of sleep.  As Jay Leno said last night referring to this horrible economy that only seems to  be getting worse:

“After losing your job, your 401K, and your house, losing an hour of sleep seems like nothing!”

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You heard read me right – I did say Polyp Man.  Found this amusing picture in the newspaper the other day and I couldn’t resist posting it:

It’s a little goofy, but hey, whatever works to raise awareness to help people detect and combat colon cancer.  If Polyp Man saves lives, more power to him.  I do have a little sympathy for the guy in the Polyp Man suit though; he looks like he feels ridiculous.  Is being Polyp Man a resumé builder I wonder?

Tonight was opening night for Meet Me in St. Louis (Louis) and it went remarkably well from the stage, anyway.  The director presented us each with a carnation and told us that we were the best cast she has ever had (and she has been involved with the theatre since 1974).  Prior to the show, she gave a short speech on the historical significance of not only the show but also the Huber theatre itself.

But for anyone who has never had the opportunity to be inside the Huber, you owe it to yourself to visit it.  It is really amazing and has a large history to it… some good… some best left forgotten, but all part of history.  I vaguely remember when the building was known as Tremors and eventually fell into ill repute until a group went in and cleaned it up.  It really is a gorgeous site in which to see a show and even better, to perform.

During intermission, refreshments were sold.  These were also a nice addition to the historical effect.  Ice cream cones and cotton candy were both introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.  The break lasted a bit longer than the typical 15 minutes.  The ice cream was still hard and people were standing outside the building to get some.  Carol, bless her heart, jumped in to help scoop ice cream.

During curtain call, I watched John Truitt, who stood to my right, to bow.  Unfortunately, he was bowing all over the place at the wrong time.  Finally, I just watched the center of the line for our mass bow.  A wonderful show with a very responsive audience.

Following the performance, I went out to greet the public.  Megan actually got me a totally unnecessary gift.  Just her and Carol’s presence in the audience was the only present I needed.  There were a few other audience members I knew and had to chat with, lots of cool compliments for Grandpa.  I even considered going out to McDonalds across the street in full dress and makeup, but decided against it.

This weekend seems to be jam-packed with theatrical productions.  We have Meet Me in St. Louis at one theatre.  Lion in Winter at another (hope it went well, j. You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown being presented at a nearby high school as well as a high school production of Les Miserables.  Lots of good stuff happening if only I had time to see it all.

Nerves, nerves…. Yes, I found out I have them. I’ve known about them before, but only before a show. Will I forget all my lines? Will I stumble on stage? Will I remember the blocking? Will I miss an entrance? Will I have ALL of my costume? Will my fly be zipped? Oh yeah, I don’t have to worry about that one in this show. Will my tights stay up? That’s better…

I guess I can’t think of anything else that could go wrong for me. But the same things could happen to anyone else on stage. Live theater don’t you love it?

Just a few more hours remain until the curtain comes up. The butterflies are floating in my stomach, and that is a good sign. Energy levels will be up, and we get to feed off the audience tonight. Most of the theater folk I know are just big hams. We crave, want or desire to be in front of people. We like the applause and laughter. I don’t even mind criticism every now and again. This night is the night when all the hard work and long hours finally pay off.

Come watch a show. We are just waiting to entertain you.

Because being a Stay-at-home-mom (SAHM to laypeople) is my current profession, I am required to multi-task on a daily basis in a way some people have never experienced.   My “pay” (bringing up healthy happy children who turn into independent, admirable adults) is by no means immediate, and it also depends upon my ability to multi-task.  Consider the following 2 scenarios most SAHM’s must endure on a daily basis (and these are just 2 of MANY!):  Can I fold and put away a load of laundry while planning and preparing a nutritious lunch for 4 kids while simultaneously managing “surprise” but necessary tasks that appear; like changing diapers, washing hands, and refereeing any arguments that break out?  Can I accomplish buying everything I need at Walmart while staying within our family’s budget AND concurrently fulfilling the needs of my two youngest children in a timely enough fashion to be able to pick up their older sisters at school at the time I’m expected?

Man, when I put that all on paper it sounds difficult.  And sometimes it is, but most of the time, I do it without thinking because I love and treasure my family.  But if you know a SAHM and she seems like an airhead or like she’s not-so-bright or even a little bit loopy, just remember everything that must go through her mind on a daily basis, then multiply that by how many kids she has…  It just might provide enough explanation for her scatter-brained behavior!

Gee, being a SAHM-of-four sure makes my working-mom-of-one days look easy.  Back then my multitasking consisted of paying bills and doing paperwork while I sat in  traffic…  And although my current lifestyle is much more hard work than I’ve ever had before, it’s that much more rewarding also, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

WOW… here it is 2AM wee hours of opening night and I cannot sleep.  Really, the last time this happened was opening morning of my favorite show and I got even less sleep for obvious reasons.. chief among them being I had to be up SUPER early to be on television promoting that show.  Plus, I had a good excuse then … I was used to being up at those crazy hours since I worked 3rd shift at the time.

Now, as Diamonds are Forever is nearing the end, maybe I will be able to just lay back and close my eyes… oops there is a yawn… maybe sleep is on the way.  Better to crash now than on stage tonight, eh?  But it’s so much fun to feel this rush.  Theatre is MY anti-drug.  And there goes the Bomb Surprise between the legs of Mr. Wynt and over the side of the cruise ship he goes.   And James Bond will return in Live and Let Die and I will sign off and let the adrenaline rush wear off.

After Tuesday nights ever predictable rehearsal from heck, the cast, crew, and orchestra really pulled together tonight.  Tuesday’s rehearsal was predictably bad because I have yet to be in ANY show in which opening week was not full of pitfalls.  I actually would be very surprised if I ever in one that ran flawlessly… I would have to walk out and come back into the theatre.

The entire evening was magical.  You would have thought we had a paying audience.  This was the first time that Grandpa got to be in makeup.  The director’s major comment after the run is that I needed more age lines.  OK, I will inform the makeup mistress of this tomorrow night.  I DO NOT do my own makeup.  Although a certain female within my home theatre scares me sometimes when she carries around a mascara applicator.  Honestly, look into my eyes and tell me that my lashes need extended.

One thing that was mentioned in early rehearsals.  Meet Me in St. Louis actually has a basis in fact.  Sally Benson,whose nickname was Tootie, wrote about her childhood experiences in St. Louis and attending the 1904 World’s Fair.  The house that her family lived in on Kensington was demolished in 1996 as it had fallen into disrepair.  That is all that I know that is historically accurate.  Like The Sound of Music, The King and I, Titanic, and any other historical musicals or plays like Lion in Winter, I am sure there are many tidbits added for dramatic purposes.  But what a treat.  Total run time… we started at 8 and got done juuuuust after 10.  I think the 15 minute intermission went a bit long.  We did get to indulge in some chocolate cake following the rehearsal.  If you happen to be coming, the doors will open at 7.10 Friday and Saturday nights and I would say 1.50 Sunday afternoon.  To The Cast… BREAK A LEG.  To those attending… ENJOY!

No rehearsals tonight, and that is a good thing. I have to go over my lines again, but that is a given when in a play. Until it is over, the lines have to be comfortable in my mind. But it is an easier night.

I used my time to get a bit of shopping, and also some relaxation. So I found the ultimate in relaxation, someone else to do my housework. And here is someone that will work for peanuts, or dried fruit, and maybe some hamster food.

If the embeded youtube doesn’t work, here is the link
Bionic Hamster

I had a really stressful day yesterday.  The kids went completely crazy at night – was it a full moon?  I didn’t check.  Even if that was the case, other little things kept going wrong also.  Little things – things that really  shouldn’t matter.  Except that when those little things are added up, they equal one bad day.  So I thought I could beat my stress by looking forward to watching some BASEBALL on TV.  Yes, that’s right, I said BASEBALL on TV!  And it’s only early March –  we haven’t even changed the clocks yet!

I just happened to look on tvguide.com yesterday to see if I could look forward to a new episode of Lost, and I noticed that my favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs, were set to play their cross-town rivals, the Chicago White Sox and it was going to actually be on tv in our little corner of NW Ohio!  Even though it’s only spring training, that brightened my mood considerably since it’s been MONTHS since I’ve gotten to watch baseball.  With the way my day was going, I was sure something would go wrong – the tvguide had made a mistake and we didn’t get it, Vegas (where the game was played) would disappear into a sinkhole, something like that.  But 10:00 finally rolled around, and the game was on!  AND, the teams were putting in their starters rather than their scrub players, which meant real, actual baseball to watch!  So I felt better; I relaxed and sat down to watch the game, and of course, that’s when my  two middle children (the trouble-makers of the brood these days) decided to start fighting.  So it wasn’t peaceful, but I did get to watch the game.  And it was a good game – the Cubs were down, but then they tied it up, but of course the Sox came back to win.  A disappointing outcome for such an otherwise great game.  But the good news is, it was only spring training so who cares  who won!

After the game I left WGN on the tv, and I was treated to an episode of the old tv show Alf.  Remember Alf?  It was a sitcom from the 80’s about a family who discovers an Alien Life Form (ALF), and takes him in to live with them.  Alf is a furry wise-cracking puppet with an affinity for cats (to eat!), and the family must keep him secret so he doesn’t get taken away.  Alf was a huge fad in  the 80’s; there were toys, lunchboxes, a cartoon spinoff, you name it.  After the Alf episode, on came the Steve Wilkos show (he’s the former bodyguard from the Jerry Springer show who now has his own trashy talk show – I wrote about this in a previous post, probably because of my disbelief that they would actually give this guy air time).  And that was my cue to hit the sack for my lovely 4½ hours sleep.  So far, today has been a little better, although our trouble-making 4-year-old is at school.  Tonight I’m looking forward to a brand spankin’ new Office episode – YIPPEE!  But first I have to get through a few boring meetings.  Sure hope I don’t doze; I am awfully tired!