We are back from Illinois; actually we got back a few days ago, but things here have been so non-stop that I’m not even unpacked from the weekend trip yet – working on that this week.  But I had to take a break and write about the super fun Jack Hanna show that we were able to see while in Illinois – after all my anticipating, it was somehow even better than I had imagined!!!

We were the first ones to arrive at Aurora’s Paramount Theater (a lovely old-fashioned theater with beautiful architecture – in fact, it was chosen  to be the setting for a few scenes of the Johnny Depp movie about the mobster John Dillinger called Public Enemies that was recently released), so we opted to stand in line rather than wait at the bar.  This way, we were first upstairs for our “Jamboree Lunch” and got first pick of our seats.  Seeing as how there were only two ways that Jack could get up to the second floor – stairs or elevator – we chose the table nearest both entrances.  We went to go pick up our lunch – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cookies, fruit snacks, and chips situated in a safari hat – and came back to our table which had a bunch of little animal toys on it: lion rulers, a finger puppet zebra, coloring pages, and a parachuting tiger (oh how tempting it was to let him loose over the railing to sail down into the lobby… but Jack was due to arrive, so we were on our best behavior).  Once we saw that all of the kids at the event were going to be seated elsewhere, I scooped up all of the jungle paraphernalia and put it in my purse.  We put on our safari hats and ate our PB & J – did I mention that this event was designed for kids?  Had we known before we got there, we would have brought our kids, but it wasn’t very well organized and so we didn’t really realize it until we got there – oh well.  All was forgotten once Jack Hanna arrived!!  If you don’t know who Jack  Hanna is, here is a brief synopsis:  Jack Hanna is an animal guy, and he was the director of the now world famous Columbus Zoo from 1978-1992.  In that time, he put that zoo on the map; it went from being a place that even locals didn’t know existed to a world renowned animal facility, and attendance at the zoo increased by 400%!  He now travels the world visiting endangered species, zoos, and making live show and tv show appearances (his monthly appearances on David Letterman’s show are always entertaining!!), all in the name of bringing awareness to wildlife conservation.

So anyway, at the Jungle Jamboree lunch, Jack goes from table to table (preceded by a woman carrying a baby wallaby in a pouch and a man with a fox), and he comes to our table first!!  He had limited time at each table of course, but he autographed a little picture of himself, and we did have time to tell him how we saw him at Sea World on our honeymoon in 1999.  He asked if we liked animals, and my response went something like this: “Duh, huh huh huh”.  As much as I had been thinking about what to say to Jack, it happened to me again.  When I finally met him, I was dumbfounded and couldn’t think about the most important things to talk about in such a little time.  No matter; we would be meeting him AGAIN later that same day!!

So after that, we went back downstairs to the merchandise table, and Hubby bought me Jack’s new book (My Wild Life – it’s kind of a re-write / update to my favorite book, Monkeys on the Interstate.  But I didn’t have this new book yet, and needless to say now that I have it, my reading of the Harry Potter series has taken a backseat!), and we waited for Jack to finish at the lunch tables upstairs.  He came downstairs, there was just a few minutes wait, and then we met him AGAIN and he signed my new book, plus ALL of the books of his that I had brought along – and I had a huge purse full.  We explained to him that he is our favorite celebrity (“Oh, I’m not a celebrity!”  he said.), and the nice guy behind us took this picture (note that Hubby still has on his safari hat!):

Not sure what to do with ourselves after our autograph session, we were SO tempted to get back in line.  After all, Jack  Hanna, our favorite celebrity animal conservation personality was sitting within 10 feet of us!  But we wanted to give other people a chance to meet him, and I’m glad we chose to just stand there and gawk at him from the sidelines for 25 minutes rather than getting back in line – turns out that some people didn’t get a chance to get his autograph since he was whisked away to get ready for the stage show.  It just wouldn’t have been fair for us to be in the line twice.  He announced later that people who didn’t get a chance to get his autograph could just email his website and an autographed pic would be sent out.  No offense, Jack, but that’s just not the same as meeting you in person!  I am SO thankful that we got to meet him, and he is even more humble and down-to-earth than he seems on tv!!

Well, this blog post got lengthy, and I haven’t even talked about the stage show yet, so I think I will cut this into multiple posts as my little guy is finished with his ‘quiet time’.  Unfortunately for me (and my ever-growing list of housework), my 2-year-old has outgrown his naps so I don’t have nearly as much free time during the day as I need to get everything done.  So you’ll have to wait until my next post (or two or three) to read about the actual Jack Hanna stage show (best show I’ve EVER seen!!!) and the other stuff we crammed into our jam-packed super-fun Illinois weekend.  Until then…

Today for lunch, I went across the street to my old stomping grounds to help my newly turned  first grade 7 year-old niece celebrate her birthday.  10-10-10… three months after I celebrate my own day  She could have had me over Friday but she did not like the menu.  Today’s offering of  chicken strips, muffin, and peaches was fine (I was never fond of the school’s cole slaw, so I let that go).

As you can imagine I was the most popular big kid in the joint.  All eyes were upon me.  Do you think I minded a bit?  I did have a hard time getting into the building.  All but one door is locked all day, and I did not know which one (it hasn’t been THAT long since I’ve graced the halls).  And a lot has changed.  The elementary section is now where the halls of my high school were.  Alyssa’s classroom is where the library/study hall used to be.

I did see a few faces from the past.  The same elementary secretary who was there humn years ago still occupies the desk (as she did the first day I entered the school back in 19–).  I also came across my fifth-grade teacher.  She has since retired but was subbing for a Kindergarten class.  All this while sitting at a table outside the classroom (usually meant that you were in trouble… ME!?)

It must be my size that made me think that the lunch room appeared to be smaller than it was.  But I thought for sure there were more tables set up in my day.  One change almost broke my heart: the milkshake machine was gone 🙁  DANG!  I also do not remember being so rushed to eat (maybe there are fewer tables).  Nope, just learned that the kids are rushed.  At least one parent has complained… possible while they were sharing lunch with their little one.

After lunch, Alyssa and I went to the Puppy Pound for a bit.  She got on one of the swings.  Shortly after, the swing set was occupied with little ones begging me to push them.  One kindergartener became a daredevil after he was pushed high enough and leaped from his seat.  I remember doing that back in the day!  Unfortunately for my new friend, the result was the same:  A whistle blown and an escort to the wall.  I tried not to grin as he hung his head.

If I had known that I was going to be the center of attention the whole time, I would have taken my camera.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALYSSA!

What can happen in just one weekend in the populous metropolitan Chicago area?  Check this photo out:

As if that first picture didn’t say enough, the second picture shows that people are still filing down the ramp in the center!  What is this guy on you may ask?  Well, two weekends ago (yeah, I’m a lazy poster…) was the Harvest crusade at the Allstate arena.  Greg Laurie, the pastor from Harvest Christian Fellowship in California (not to be confused with Chicago’s Harvest Bible Chapel though the two pastors are good friends) came to our area with a message of hope for everyone.  I attended Sunday night, which hosted a standing-room only crowd!  If I am not being clear, I apologize and think of Greg Laurie as today’s Billy Graham, bringing the message of salvation via crusades in various cities when he is not firing up his own congregation in California.  I have to say- well never mind what I have to say except that it was an awesome experience.  Yes, only God is awesome but since this is His work after all…

Why forget what I have to say?  Because they posted videos of all three nights on their website!  And each night is different.  I actually attended on the night he talked about following Christ even through the pain of loss.  A couple of years ago he lost his own adult son due to a tragic car accident so I would say he is well qualified as a follower and as one who has experience.  Two of the musicians that night also suffered loss- Steven Curtis Chapman who lost a young daughter the very same year as pastor Laurie’s loss, and Jeremy Camp who lost a wife due to cancer several years ago.  Their pain is evident in their songs following the deaths, and they show their faithfulness in the face of it like pastor Laurie by continuing to follow Christ and spread His good news.

Each night is different, so just because you watched one in no way means you’ve seen it all!  Okay, I will have to put my money where my mouth is and watch the other two nights myself.  Saturday I believe was geared toward young adults and teens.  Friday I am not sure, but if you fall into neither category mentioned then Friday will probably be the best choice to watch if you only watch one.

So what does that number in the title represent?  Well, Allstate Arena (formerly Rosemont Horizon) seats well over that amount- in fact over 47,000 attended all weekend.  No, that number represents decisions for Christ made that weekend.  That was one big party in Heaven, as there is much rejoicing over just ONE soul saved.  Look at those pictures again.  The floor of the arena was mostly empty during the presentation and music.  In those photos people who accepted Christ that night came down to receive Bibles and followup information.  Okay, many of the people were follow-up workers (I could have been one since I went through the training beforehand, but I felt I wasn’t ready- next time!) but still- we were told around 2600 had accepted Christ over the last two nights, which means over 2000 were just on Sunday!

Time for me to shut up and let you click to the website.  To a certain blogger who lost his own wife- PLEASE WATCH SUNDAY’S PRESENTATION.  That is all.  And some videos below. [No, the songs I would link to are contained in the messages on the website, so I will not distract you from them].

https://www.harvest.org/crusades/2010/chicago/

All three in that order.  My five hour shift went fine… UNTIL… four o’clock came and the only other employee in the store was due to be off and the next one did not come in until 5.  So, my work completed or not, I had to be up front and mind the store by myself.  I did have a surprise visit from the former band and choir directors from our rival school.  Very close friends of Emily.  I really hadn’t seen them since the funeral so nice to chat for a few minutes.  Five o’clock came without incident and the two evening shifters took over.

After coming home to relax a bit, I went to worship lead at mass.  Went really well.  Looking over the edge of the loft, I saw my two nephews and niece with their mother (her weekend with the kiddos while dad went to Columbus to watch the Buckeyes hopefully take over the number one spot in the rankings after Alabama was beaten).  Noah waved as he was looking up so I waved back.  After finishing the last note of “Go, Be Justice” I had to quickly say my farewell and head over to the Huber for our Saturday night rehearsal which was threatened about a week ago.  Hopefully, Barrymore’s presence was not missed too much in most of Act I, but I did make it for my last beat.

Quite a turnaround from Thursday night’s rehearsal!  Much smoother and a lot fewer shouts of “Line!” to the promptress which made Mare, Mare very happy.  Since she had to leave for work, Watson dismissed us after reminding us that tomorrow is Press Night.  Hopefully, everyone will be on their “A game” as we take the newspaper reviewers to Victorian era London on the trail of the fiendish Hound of the Baskervilles.

AND THAAAAAA YANKEES ARE OFF TO THE ALCS!  SWEEP MINNESOTA!  START SPREADIN’  THE NEWS!

DISCLAIMER:

If you have yet to watch Season 7, Episode 3 of The Office… DO NOT PROCEED.  There is a great abundance of spoilage here!

WOW!  WHAT AN EPISODE!  The opening musical number was even better than the season premiere’s.  If they can keep them coming like this, then the should open every episode this way.  In an attempt to win the heart of Erin back from Gabe, Andy auditions for and snags the role of Anthony in Sweeney Todd.

The entire office staff (minus one) takes in the final performance of the community theatrical production.  The lead role is played by a ringer who just happened to be Darryl’s plumber.  This would not have been such a dramatic turn of events had Michael not auditioned for the role, himself.  His reaction during the curtain call is classic!  Check out Mr. Scott’s hilarious audition during the closing credits.

Unfortunately, Erin is unable to attend the performance.  Jim and Pam have baby-sitting problems and the receptionist volunteers her services.

Andy’s performance and bits of singing are tremendous. “I feel you… Johanna.” On stage, one of the most annoying things that could happen from the audience of a live performance (and I have been on-stage as it happened) happens to Andy while he is on stage.  “I killed it!”

I loved this episode!  One of my favorites by FAR!  I can definitely relate to Andy: disappointment when his co-workers “cannot make it” to the performance;  seeing them in the audience; hoping beyond hope that “that person” can somehow make it.  I’m sure that the audience member sitting next to Dwight found his whispering annoying.

Wouldn’t it be a riot if Michael did keep auditioning with his normal brand of hilarity and was cast in a musical?  HMMM… possibly the plot device for his exit?

View and download the colorful playbill of the Loose Screw Playhouse production of Sweeney Todd

While my girls are counting down the days until they get to go to their Grandma’s house, I am counting the days until I get to see a LIVE JACK HANNA SHOW!!!  Don’t get me wrong, I’m really excited to see family too, but I’ve been waiting to see a live Jack Hanna show for over a decade!!!

I’ve had the show tickets in the car for about two weeks now, since I was so sure that I’d forget them.  I’ve already packed my glasses too, so I can actually see Jack and the animals from my seat.  And I’ve been “cramming” all week – trying to quickly re-read my favorite book, Jack Hanna’s Monkeys on the Interstate.  If all goes well, I should be finished with it by Saturday when I see Jack.  Because we have tickets for a pre-show event called a Jamboree Lunch, I’m hoping for maybe an autograph or even an opportunity to chat with Mr. Hanna!  I know it’s a shot in the dark, but I’ve made a mental list of things I’d bring up just in case; many of them are from the Monkeys book.  Even if I don’t get an opportunity to talk to Mr. Hanna, I am ecstatic just to be able to see his show!!!  I really enjoy his appearances on Letterman every month, and I’m beyond excited to see Mr. Hanna live!!  Just in case, I’m bringing an array of my Hanna collection in case I get a chance to seek an autograph, but I’m not expecting it or anything – don’t want to be disappointed.  It would be nice, however, to replace our autographed Jack Hanna honeymoon memento.  Now I have to tell that story…

When my husband and I took our honeymoon to Florida in 1999, we were driving from where we lived in Illinois to Florida (which is a very LONG drive…  but for some reason, I cannot remember exactly what it was like to do that WITHOUT KIDS along…), and we were talking about all the things we would do.  One of the things that came up  was celebrities we would like to run into, and Jack Hanna was the only one we both decided we would really care about running into.  Once in Florida, we visited Sea World, and we were going to go into the underwater viewing area for  the dolphins, but it was roped off – “TV show taping in progress”.  Just before we turned away to head to something else, a worker lifted the ropes, so in we went, and the crew was packing up the cameras, and THERE WAS JACK HANNA!!!  And we were all alone since the area had just been closed off – no mob of fans to compete with.  Ok, so maybe Jack  Hanna isn’t the type of celebrity to have fans mobbing him wherever he goes, but to me, he is an animal hero.  His Monkeys on the Interstate book chronicles his creativity, his strength through adversity, and his triumphs (and failures!) he went through as he was building the once unheard of Columbus Zoo into the world famous, state-of-the-art zoo facility it is today – a fascinating read for anyone who loves animals, zoos, Jack Hanna, or who just likes funny stories!!  Jack Hanna is a marketing and animal genius!  But I digress – back to my story…

So we got to meet Jack Hanna, right there at Sea World.  I was not expecting it, so I gummed up and let my husband do the talking, and Jack whipped out an 8×10 glossy picture and autographed it, putting our names on it and everything.  Unfortunately, this picture was one of a few irreplaceable items that were entrusted to so-called “friends” during a move we had, never to be seen again…  but that’s another story and nothing I want to dwell upon now.

So yeah, IF I actually get to talk to Jack again this time, I have my list of things I want to talk about…  though it’s quite lengthy, and my brain will be swimming with basically EVERYTHING from the Monkeys on the Interstate book, as well as things I want to know about starting my own zoo – hey, that shouldn’t come as a big surprise to any of my readers, so lift your dropped jaw.  Those of you who know me realize that I have a pretty good start on one already, don’t you?  🙂

This is Jack at one of his Letterman appearances.  Each of his appearances on Letterman has moments of hilarity as Jack tries so hard to get in his animal facts while Letterman is busy making jokes and heckling him.  After decades of monthly appearances, the two have built a relationship of sorts, and Jack now brings animals that sometimes shock, awe, and even scare Letterman!!  Never a dull moment when Jack’s around…

I haven’t updated my blog in quite some time. I wonder if anyone missed me? 😉

I’ve seen a couple of the other bloggers on a regular basis, about 3 times a week. And when I wasn’t with them, I was at work or studying lines. Ok not really studying lines all that much, but it did consume a portion of my time away from rehearsals 😉

I have also spent a fair portion of my time in a contemplative mood. Some thoughts are forming in this head I carry on my shoulders, and I’m not sure what direction they will go. I can’t really say much more than that, since the currents are in a general state of flux.

Anyway what brought me here tonight was something I read in a different social forum. I started thinking about love at first sight. Interesting because to me it seemed most people didn’t think it could happen. I believe that it does happen, and very frequently.

Now, I will state, for the record, that I did not fall in love with my future wife at first sight. That took at least 4 or 5 meetings, and at least 2 dates. Yes, we fell in love quickly. The wonderful thing about our relationship was that we kept falling in love for 20 years. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it. We had a wonderful life journey that ended much too soon. My journey continues, and it holds and reflects the memory of her life journey.

But on to the love at first sight. I had that happen to me four times. Each time very special, and each time resulted in a very long term relationship. I fell and fell hard the first time I met each daughter. At first, that love was very one sided, but it did grow. As they grew and matured, I loved them enough to let them go on their own journeys. I love them still and more each day. The one thing I’ve learned over my life, is that you can never say “I love you” enough, there is always room for saying it one more time.

I am behind on blogging about my favorite tv show (and the only one that’s left that is good enough for me to watch these days!), The Office!  Time flew so fast that the season premiere was a few weeks ago now, and it’s been a great season so far!

The Office is on Season 7 already, and unfortunately for us fans, this is reportedly the last season for the show’s lead actor, Steve Carell.  As a huge fan of the show, I  personally don’t see how it will work without Carell’s lovable idiot boss character, Michael Scott, and I’m hoping that he will change his mind about leaving.  Although he has yet to win an Emmy for his performance as Michael Scott (darn Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock takes it every year!), episode 2 of season 7 of The Office saw the best performance I’ve ever seen Carell give and probably the best acting I’ve ever seen on a tv sitcom!  If you’re a fan, I’m talking about the scene where he is in a counseling session with Toby, and Toby is kind of manipulating him to actually talk to him.  For a few minutes, Michael is actually talking and playing cards with Toby – a man he simply cannot stand.  He even has an “I loathe Toby” face that is priceless.  So anyway, he’s playing cards with Toby, and Toby is actually making some valuable psychiatric headway with Michael…  until Michael realizes it.  Within seconds as he’s realizing what Toby has done, his transformation back into his “I loathe Toby” mode is just…  WOW.  Emmy-worthy material, for sure in my opinion, but only time will tell.

Unfortunately, if you are not already watching this great show, then I can’t recommend you start now in the 7th season – nowadays the show seems to be written for its fan base, and newcomers might not be able to follow the plots which are seemingly being developed around the already established characters.  But I do highly recommend you check out the show beginning in Season 1 – you can do this on dvd or perhaps even on NBC’s website?  That way, you can watch the The Office characters hilariously evolve yourself.  If you work in an office yourself, are looking for a new tv show to watch, or are simply a fan of good tv, talented script-writing, try The Office!!

I cannot wait to see what the 3rd episode of this new season will bring us on Thursday!!

One of the Michael Scott’s (aka Steve Carell’s) famous “I loathe Toby” faces:

This first video just made me laugh.  The second one is just like it- maybe they will make your day too.

😀 😀 😀

If you want to look up more on Youtube, the band is Rick K and the Allnighters, and the person of interest is Steve Moore.  There is even an interview with him someone posted but I didn’t listen to it.

I think most people have fond memories of visiting a special family fun place in the fall.  The pumpkin farms that my husband and I grew up going to are much different now – his has closed down, and mine has expanded beyond the family-owned small operation into a little carnival of sorts; I visited a few years ago.  It was fun, but not the same.  We’ve since moved away from the place of our youth, and we are happy to have found a fun place in NW Ohio to make memories with our own kids: Leader’s Family Farms.

Leader’s has something for every age group: 2 haunted attractions for the older crowd, and for the family: mini-golf, a petting zoo (complete with exotics –  more on that later!), hayrides, a hay maze, slides, chicken coop shooting, and a corn maze.  For the little ones, there are bouncy castles, a moo-train, a hay-climber with tunnel, and a corn box.  The under 5 kids area is really fun, and it’s all free!  My 2-year-old and my 3-year-old had a blast over there for hours, even if my son came home with a diaper full of corn – it was worth it!  Actually, he still had corn coming out of his coat the next morning at church but again, it was well worth it!  Here is a video of him playing in the corn box in case you’re wondering what I’m talking about.  The video pans to the rest of my kids, and finishes with my 3-year-old crawling through the little kids’ tunnel:

My husband took my two oldest girls and their friend into the haunted corn maze.  This was a big deal because this thing is SCARY!  It is the best (read: scariest) haunted house in the area, and my daughter’s friend wanted to go in it, so we convinced our daughter to go as well (they’re both 10).  Thrill-seeker little sis (age 6) really wanted to check it out, so she went too.  They might have been REALLY scared, but they all made it out, and no one cried or tried to back out at the last minute!  I wish I could have seen them in there, but the little ones were WAY too young for something like that, so I stayed out with them.  I didn’t mind too much since the exotic petting zoo was free – I hung out there for the hour and a half or so that it took my family to get through the haunted house.  They had goats, sheep, alpacas, a teeny-tiny little pig, a camel (just a fuzzy baby, not his full height even though he was taller than I…  I was wondering how old he was, and I found out he shares a February birthday with a fellow tangenteer…), and some kangaroos.  They also had some other baby animals (a fox for one) and some parrots, but they could not bring them out because the weather was terrible – windy, cold, and rainy.  But I got to pet some kangaroos and even feed them – I think it was the first time I’ve ever touched a kangaroo!  They were good-tempered, soft, and really interesting to see up close and personal.   I  think the petting zoo people got sick of me, and I would have hung out more by the country band which I also liked, except that the weather was so terrible that it was hard to even enjoy the band – we all just wanted to  stay out of the wind and rain.  Look how little this pig is:

And here is more of the kangaroos and of the camel:

The hayride goes out way back into the forest, and luckily we rode it in between rain showers.  The tractor even drove through a small creek bed that was partially filled – it looked like we were going to get stuck in the water:

My kids all liked it, even if there were some concerns about tipping on the steep hills going down into the forest – but we didn’t tip.  I can’t wait to take my  son on the hayride in our town in a few weeks -there are spooks that jump out from behind the trees there, and given his fascination with monsters lately, I know he’ll have a blast!  I brought out the Halloween costumes last night for the kids to pick through to find what they’re going to be for Halloween, and my son found a Friday the 13th Jason hockey mask and insisted on going to bed with  it.  😉

I must also add that Leader’s is a family-owned farm; we struck up several  conversations with the owners,  and they are extremely nice and caring for their customers.  The farm opened a little late when we visited because of  the rain, so they gave us free passes to come back again – as busy as our Octobers are (this one being no exception), I think going back to Leader’s when the weather is better is a MUST!!  By the way, I was this close to taking home a straggler from the petting zoo.  Only time will tell if I am able to resist next time we visit…  😉

My men on the hayride:

And my girls…  note the beautiful NW Ohio countryside in the background.  The scenery will only get better as the leaves change a little more and the sun comes out: