Linda's Backstage

Score: Bathroom 2 Linda 2

2010-07-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day I feel like there's light at the end of the bathroom tunnel. Together, Rod and I managed to get the backer board laid, taped and mudded. Not as simple as it sounded when I read up on the process.

Step 1 included ripping out the old floor. There were two layers of linoleum on top of wood planks over the sub floor. A dusty mess. The original builder (Sargent April) did an amazing job cutting in the wood floor to the tub (the tub has a curved side), I didn't even see the joint at first -- it was that precise. And I live in what is probably the only bungalow with exactly square corners in the rooms. Amazing. It made cutting the backer board much easier, since we could work with square corners. Backer board is a cement board that, once in place, creates a bond with the sub floor and the tile, effectively creating a single unit of many different materials.

As we were cutting the board we laid it out in a jigsaw-like pattern, around the plumbing and the old radiators to make sure it would fit before we added the mud. Then I troweled the mud down in sections and placed the backer board and then Rod added fasteners to hold the board down. Finally I mudded and taped the joints. This process is remarkably similar to joining theater flats, here instead of ripped muslin or canvas dipped in paint I used nylon mesh tape and lots of mud. Messy. Very messy. But it's done now and with a little cleanup I'll be ready to spread the waterproofing this afternoon.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

2010-07-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy year. Quite possibly that last sentence was an understatement.

After dating for a year, Rod and I moved in together last summer and then bought a cute little bungalow in Snohomish last fall. True love sounds a little cliche, but that is what we seem to have. School was taking most of my time, and when I wasn't swamped with homework I spent my spare moments curled up on the sofa with my sweetie. Letting my brain uncramp.

I graduated just two weeks ago and have jumped into job-hunting with a vengence. The problem is manufacturing hasn't really recovered yet, so the jobs are far and few between. Combine that with a specialized skill-set and I'm having a harder time than I'd like finding work in my field. So I've widened the net a bit and am managing to send out a half-dozen or so resumes a week. I've never been unemployed for more than a couple of weeks before and though I've been out of work for a year and a half, most of that time was in school so it felt like I was working. I'm trying not to stress too much. Really I am. But I am not the type to sit around eating bon-bons and watching the soaps.

I managed to connect up with the fine folks over at the Thumbnail Theater here in Snohomish. Tim Noah and Cyndi Elliot are two very talented performers, and there's a cabinet of Emmy awards sitting in the corner to prove it. They put together the sweetest children's shows and the kids just eat them up. I'm also working on a vaudville show called Tap Happy that is running monthly at the theater. Tap Happy brings together a group of actors and dancers for a light-hearted musical review. So back to theater in a very low-key sort of way.

Currently I'm getting ready for an invasion of the Currey Clan. Rod's family is coming to visit in just 10 days. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the guest bathroom wasn't quite functional. And since we were tidying it up a bit, we decided to re-tile the floor and paint the walls. I'm learning that home improvement projects are never quite as simple as they appear on the surface. The major setback was removing a cheap wall mirror and discovering that the former owners, when they pulled out the old medicine chest, left a gaping hole and two electrical boxes hidden behind the mirror. They had used a saw to cut off the face of the old chest and left the frame in place. While that explains the large, ugly wall mirror, it left me with the chore of repairing the hole. Thank goodness Tim Hickey stepped in and patched the hole. But waiting for plaster to dry has put me a couple of days behind schedule. If we are in there working on the wall, we can't be in there working on the floor, since the various layers of thinset, grout and waterproofing do much better setting up if nobody is walking on them.

Tim's knocking on the door....off to work.

School Daze

2009-05-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting the hang of this school thing, at least it's not so difficult to get motivated and keep up. I do a little each day before class and a little in the evening. I'm procrastinating now, just a bit.
It's a drippy, dreary day outside and my soul wants nothing more than to crawl back in bed and sleep for another couple of hours. Hope the coffee kicks in soon.
So I'm taking three classes this quarter, a diverse little grouping of engineering classes, Fluid Power, Digital Electronics and Advanced A+ Certification.
Fluid power has possibly the worst-written text book I've ever had to wrestle with, could they not afford an editor? It reads like a rough draft. A very rough draft. Another challenge is keeping a straight face when the instructor starts talking about extending and retracting rods and pistons. The nomenclature is very phallic. Pressure, pumping, relief valves, etc., maybe it's my own bent mind, but the giggle factor gets really high during some of the lectures. At least I amuse myself. As is the norm I'm the only woman in the class and giggling must be kept to a minimum so I spend a lot of time with my eyes wide open grinning, I hope the professor thinks I'm just very attentive and not a little nuts.
Digital electronics is a lot of review, I had self-taught a much of the material at work. I'm now learning boolean algebra which is fascinating stuff. Did you know that your computer can't subtract? Not really. It uses a complex method of adding ones and zeros that makes it think it's adding but comes up with subtracted totals. Behind the slick interface that you are looking at are thousands and millions of tiny signals that have only two values - 0 & 1.
The last class I'm taking is A+ certification. Yes, I will be fully qualified to trouble-shoot computers and networks. It's already coming in handy, I've set up the wireless access for our computers at home and have helped my sweetie chase down some problems with his system at home. I'm thinking of buying a computer to tinker on, but don't want to spend the money just now.
Ah, the coffee is kicking in -- back to work.

School Daze.....

2009-04-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

So it's been even longer this time, I have a great excuse. Really, I do.
Honest.
I am now a full-time engineering student. Surprised? Me too. I wish I could take the credit for this being a part of a grand scheme that came together just the way I had planned, but alas, I'm not that slick. In fact this is a serious case of lemons transforming into lemonade.
Raspberry lemonade.
Sparkling raspberry lemonade.
hmmmmm, now I'm thirsty.
Anyway I've been a tad busy with the whole homework thing. Actually I thought that if I could take 10 credits while working full-time I could carry 20 when unemployed. I did it for one quarter and will cheerfully never try that again. I'm not sure how, but I managed to pull a 3.58 for the quarter. With electrical engineering courses, and crazy lab partners, and more books than any book bag could hold. Oi.
I'll try to update whenever I can, in the mean time feel free to send me good study karma.
;)

2008-09-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Ok - so I've been neglecting this little corner of my world, I admit it's been a little too much to maintain this summer.

Summer definitely started out in low gear, I had mono. Yes, mono. Who knew old farts like me could get mono? That was a rhetorical question - I just thought I was run down. Just not enough energy to go around. I worked full-time, started dating again and managed to get through the season without too much stress. My energy is finally coming back. Just in time to start school.

So the goal is to actually finish my degree, but the method has changed a bit. There is a general lack of engineering programs available to those of us who have to work full-time. In a perfect world I would take the next three years off from work and finish school. In the real world I'm planning on about five years. The next two-two and 1/2 years will finish a pair of associates degrees/certificates. The first will be the Engineering Technology Certificate and the second will be a general transfer degree. The next two-three years will finish an English degree with a focus on Technical Communications. There are two options, one is an evening program through UW, the other is an online program through WSU. I like the UW program better - so that's plan A. Wish me luck.

I also started seeing a counselor - one of the symptoms of mono is depression. Between that and the high-stress year I'd had some outside help was definitely needed. It took some detective work to find someone that I can work with, and Joanne fits the bill nicely. Kind, compassionate, she understands that it's hard for me to trust and has the patience to help me connect and open up. She's given me some great tools for my coping toolbox. Which is exactly what I needed. It feels good to finally clear out some of the crap from my past. To recognize where my issues come from and to set them aside. One of the things that has come up in my counseling sessions is that I tend to live with a certain amount of the 'fight or flight' reflex up and running in the background of my consciousness. I'm not nervous or anything like that, just a tad detached. I tend to react on a intellectual level long before I react emotionally. I do have emotions, lots of them, they come into play a day or so later. Good in a crisis, I usually have a Plan B in place, though I rarely need it. It's at the root of a couple of my health issues. So, as I address the emotional my physical body is healing. Pretty cool.

It's been a good summer all-in-all. I'm seeing a very kind and gentle man, he's got a great sense of humor. And I truly relax around him. It's been a long time since I've been with someone that I could connect with like that. I actually miss him if I don't see him for a couple of days. We both work at Philips though not in the same department, so no conflicts there.

Flights of Fancy

2008-05-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

The circus is in town - Cirque de Soleil that is. I was given a ticket as an early birthday present and with Annika and her pals from Germany (Tini and Heiko) spent a truly amazing evening. I had seen the videos before and was enchanted - but live is a totally different experience. For one thing the venue was surprisingly intimate - there isn't a bad seat in the house and everyone is close enough to feel a part of the show. Breathtaking doesn't even come close to describing the beauty of the performance. Everything was simply perfect. It left me with a sense of wonder and inspiration that I haven't had in a very long time.
A second healthy dose of inspiration came during my weekly massage. As Jeff worked his magic on my neck and upper back I dozed off - partially. Images began to form, of artwork and how to do it, complete with step-by-step instructions. I sketch -nothing too elaborate - mostly faces and figures. I'm not great at it, but every once in a while something comes out that isn't too bad. These images were different from my normal fare. With a faded, desaturated look they showed texture and depth far beyond what I'm currently capable of. It was a complete art class with everything from what types of exercises to do in order to learn the techniques to what materials I need to pick up and how to use them. Wow.
So I spent the evening sketching with a combination of colored pencils and graphite. Blending the two and practicing the shading.
I just hope that I can hang onto the knowledge from those visions long enough to learn the techniques.

Of Froggy Choruses and False Springs

2008-04-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Rather poetic, that - at least as far as alliteration goes.

Spring made a brief but enthusiastic appearance this weekend, bursting through gloomy weeks of cold wet rain and bumping the temperature up to almost eighty degrees. Sunshine for the Dali Lama, I think someone up there likes him. It also gave us poor Washingtonians just enough hope and vitamin D to make it through the next couple of months until summer. At least I hope it did. It's true that we generally get through the winters by ignoring the rain. We hike in it, we bike in it and a few of our more eccentric souls even wear shorts and sandals (with socks) in it. I didn't even own an umbrella until last year.

Speaking of water...our duck pond is full again, and the ducks have arrived. Mr. and Mrs. Howell, a handsome mallard couple, make a daily flight from their nest, up the length of the back yard, around the north side of the house (at eye level to the top floor) and splash down on our humble, over-grown, mud puddle a couple of times a day. At which point I open the front door with a squeak that they have come to recognize, and they waddle across the yard, muttering just like the Howell's from Gilligan's Island, to collect the crackers I've saved for them. Hopefully, later this spring, they will be joined by the rest of the crew, a group of rowdy male ducks I've dubbed the bachelors.

And the frogs are awake. During most of the year there is a single, sullen bullfrog. He sounds so lonely out there, calling for his friends. In late January the rest of the froggy chorus wakes up and joins him. From dusk 'till dawn they sing a different song every night. There must be dozens of them. Spring is definitely here, and if it's a tad wetter than normal, at least the neighbors don't seem to mind.

Breathe

2008-03-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

I wake up, groggy and out of sorts. The sky is gray, the house quiet and the mat is calling. How will my body respond this morning? Do I drag my ass out of bed or do I turn the first alarm off and get an extra 45 minutes of snooze time? My body is craving the movement, my mind is craving sleep - which one wins?
Movement.
I add baggy pajama bottoms to a t-shirt and stumble into the living room. The TV is turned on mute 'till I find a mellow music station. I can't abide commercials before coffee.
I dig through a drawer to find a stick of incense - something light and spicy. Once lit it gets tucked into a holder on the mantle.
I unroll the mat. Face the window. I sit and breathe. Slowly the movements come, each one building on the last, each one in concert with the breath. My breathing accelerates and threatens to run away with the movement, my heart pounds. I slow down and let my breath catch up with the movement.
The movements have evolved, in the beginning it felt like there were bits of fishing line holding my joints back. Now the larger tendons and muscles feel the stretch. I try for the perfect expression of the pose, but I take whatever my body will give. Ever grateful. Patience, while not a virtue I normally possess, is something I've learned to live with here. If I go to fast, push too hard, I will loose what I've gained.
Distractions tiptoe through, a cat that wants to show me how to properly stretch and assumes that my hands near the floor are available to scratch ears. I pause. I find the joy in the distractions. It's the universes way of saying enough.
I breathe.

3 things and 21 days

2008-03-05T21:36:00.000-08:00

I was reading the other day about habits - both good and bad - and how it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. As the owner of many less that desirable habits and not quite enough good ones, I found this fascinating. Three weeks, I can make or break something in three weeks, and maybe keep it up for life. hmmmmm.
Being an overly analytical sort, I began envisioning my life as it stands and my goals. I decided that I want to achieve a few things in this life and that starting NOW I'm going to achieve them. That is not to say that I'm making radical changes, but I'm taking the little steps. You see I also read an interview with a rather well-known trainer and she pointed out that people who have much weight to lose often get discouraged by looking at the total amount and how hard that would be to achieve. She suggests that those folks set aside that large figure and focus instead on loosing that first pound. Baby steps.
I've often been discouraged by books and success stories that tout making long-term goals and, with a singular drive, reaching those goals months and even years in the future. I've set those long-term goals before, but my life has a great deal of serendipity in it. I spend a lot of my time living on plan B, or C or even D. Those long-term goals shift fairly regularly and when they do I feel a sense of disappointment and loss for them.
Instead I'll have ideals - and take little steps every day to achieve them.

Radiant Health - I so admire people that have health, I have enough health challenges that setting specific goals here is frustrating - but I do have a vision of what that means and what healthy people do and feel. So every day I will do three things to be radically healthy, maybe not the same three things every day, but three little somethings to move myself along the path.
Friends and Family - I used to be painfully shy, combine a soft voice with a childhood where my family moved at least once or twice a year and my social skills are still a little rough around the edges. My heart is in the right place, but I sometimes try too hard, or not hard enough. I will do three things every day to nurture those around me, to grow the relationships I have and develop new ones.
Material Mastery - I've often struggled with finances, what it means to be responsible and accountable for my success. Quite frankly, for many years, success scared the hell out of me. I was very good a stabbing myself in the foot and walking away from a good situation or staying too long in a bad one. Three little things each day to build my confidence and new positive habits regarding work, finances and my physical world.

Nothing too radical, for instance today I had watermelon for desert instead of baking a cake. I did fifteen minutes of yoga before work and got my teeth cleaned. I also followed through on a couple of projects at work, gave away an old TV, tidied up the kitchen before bed and got the trash out to the curb for pickup in the a.m. Finally I dropped a line to a couple of friends and posted to by blog. Would I have done these things anyway? Perhaps. I think by making a conscience effort I'll try a little harder.

Piece of Cake -

Try this for a couple of days - let me know what you think.

Ahhhhh, Creative Space

2008-03-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

After eight months of working in the dining room, shuffling books from surface to surface with myriad distractions and logistical challenges like actually eating in the dining room - I finally have my office back.

Rosie was using my office as her bedroom since they moved in. We even let her pick out the color for the walls. Green. Disney, Little-Mermaid green. Perfect for a six year old who's into princesses and fairies, not so much for an adult artist-writer-student. Happily she and her mom moved into their own apartment last weekend.

I thought about waiting a couple of months to paint, but the color was so intense that the light reflected green onto whatever was in the room, yes that includes people - when a person walked into the room they looked seasick. Not exactly the peaceful/creative space I craved.

After the truck pulled away my first errand was to the hardware store to pick up paint and primer. For the record it took a coat of primer and two coats of paint to banish the green. The new color is a little more intense than I thought it would be, but it reflects a lovely warm glow into the room and makes the most of the natural light from outside, which is good since the windows face north and west. My sister, Lois came up yesterday and helped me paint and then helped move the office furniture back in, she hung all the artwork while I replaced books on the shelves. I'm home at last. It feels great. Here's a copy of the results.

Chicks

2008-01-31T21:30:00.001-08:00

My latest adventure in theater is Chicks - a slightly twisted look at kindergarten as see through the eyes of the more-than-slightly eccentric Miss Phallon. Jenny B. is doing a fabulous job with the lead and it's always a joy to work with Zanne. Dates are Feb 17 - 25, Sunday and Monday evenings - go to the Driftwood link to buy tickets if you'd like.

Rhiannon is Here!

2008-01-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

Born around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday January 12th, she weighs in at approximately 8lbs 9ounces - oi. With a full head of thick, dark hair this little one spend most of her time sleeping and cuddling. She's a very happy baby and thankfully a very quiet baby. Jennifer is a great mom, and Rosie is getting used to being a big sister.

I'll take obscure eighties music for 500 Alex.....

2008-01-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! May this year be filled with joy, laughter and all those things that make life fun and a little unpredictable.
On the fun side, I've just spent an evening reconnecting with my inner DJ. Remember when making a mix tape was a gesture of true friendship? Remember when it meant actually spinning vinyl on a turntable, pausing the tape recorder at just the correct moment, leaving enough of a break in between songs to actually mimic the amount of time in between tracks on a LP?
I'm such a geek.....
I found this turntable at Goodwill today, - just like the one I'd been eying for the last couple of years. Instead of $150 to $200, it cost a mere $30. Pretty good sound too.
I know because I extensively tested it - at least that was how I justified pulling out the box containing what's left of my vinyl collection. It's modest, it's obscure, it's pure bubblegum in places, but that's ok. We giggled our way through The Bangles, Max Headroom & The Art of Noise, The Pet Shop Boys, and assorted 80s dance music.
For a break in between the 45's Annika shared Firesign Theater's "The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra" - for anyone who doesn't know Firesign Theater, think an American version of Monty Python, with lots of caffeine and really bad puns.
So a girls night in, just the four of us, with a healthy dose of laughter and joy.

Snow, rain, knots and beads

2007-12-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

It's done - the book was sent off to the publisher on Saturday - in a snowstorm. Ya for us. Mostly for Annika, she's lived in a cave downstairs cranking out macrame at an amazing rate. The number of beautiful and truly unique projects that emerged from her nimble fingers is amazing.
All I had to do was wrestle with Windows Vista to get Adobe Illustrator to behave and draw over 40 diagrams of the knots. Piece of cake right? Not so much - Vista does not play well with others - I installed and uninstalled and reinstalled, navigated around the blue screen of death, and eventually dumped as much as possible off my brand-new laptop(say goodbye to all my purchased music), just to get Illustrator running. So in the next week or so I'll be shipping my computer off to the local guru to be downgraded - NT here I come.
In the mean time I'm getting ready for Christmas, trying to figure what to get the roommate who has everything, the niece who needs everything and the niecle (Rosie) who wants everything (as all six-year-olds do). I'm so not used to buying for girlie-girls.
Non-Christmas purchases are easy I found couple of cute outfits for Rosie at Goodwill this morning - she's growing like a weed, like most of the kids in my family, long and lean.
I also found a couple of treasures for myself - a raincoat, black wool skirt and purse. I'm headed off to Andover Mass, in a couple of weeks for a business trip, so must look professional. And warm.

Micromacreme - aw knots !

2007-11-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

Check it out - this is one of the illustrations for Annika's book on micromacreme. Yes, I did this, and even though it's not finished I'm quite pleased with it. Annika is finishing up the writing portion as I write this and I've just got a couple of things to finish - this being one of them. So stay tuned, I'll update with publishing and release details as soon as I hear about them.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving
I must say a pleasant day, it's been too long since I've had the opportunity to cook for such an appreciative audience. Marcus and his mother were quite lovely and I will cheerfully cook for them whenever I can. Marcus brought two beautiful pies, and his mum did the sweet potatoes. It was a lusciously-lazy afternoon with the lot of us snoozing in front of the fireplace after dinner.

Once upon a time I wanted to be a chef. That was before I discovered that there is a world of difference between cooking for a living and loving to cook. I tried to work in a restaurant for a time, it was great fun until I killed a prime rib (it made a lovely pot roast) and made my boss cry. For food mangers out there a bit of advice - never leave a vegetarian in charge of an expensive cut of meat without very explicit instructions. So my cooking career went the way of my vegetarian diet - gone but often looked back on with fondness and a vague sense of longing.

I still love to cook, and love feeding people. Since I don't have a family to feed my friends get pressed into fulfilling my inner Grandmother tendencies. Come on over and the first words out of my mouth are, "Can I get you a cuppa tea?" Tea usually comes with whatever nibbles I have on hand, fresh fruit, cheese, and gluten-free goodies.

Speaking of nibbles I made the most amazing scones on Friday. Pamela's Baking Mix has been a sanity-saver and on the back of the package I found a recipe for scones (I love scones - and missed them terribly when I gave up gluten a couple of years ago), to which I then added a couple spoonfuls of cranberry-orange relish to the batter. Yum...I was in heaven. Try it with your own recipe, it rocks.

Monday, Monday

2007-11-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

It's the first Monday in quite some time where I haven't had to drag myself out of bed and to work. I love my job, I do. But it's nice to be typing at the kitchen table with slightly-dated rock and roll playing in the background. Peaceful y'know. Our house lives out in the country, with older, somewhat neglected landscaping. Nothing pretentious, gnarly old apple trees, grapes that wrestle with the blackberries for dominance (with a little help from me and my pruning shears), rhodies, volunteer roses and asian plums. We didn't get any plums this year - the neighborhood raccoon swiped them all just as they were getting ripe. I don't mind, I'd much rather a vegetarian raccoon feasting on plums than a omnivore getting into the garbage and threatening the cats.

2007-11-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Vacation.....of a sort. I'm taking this week off to take care of all-sorts of neglected things. Including my blog. So stay tuned - I'm learning to use Adobe Illustrator and will be uploading some of my tests.
I'm also doing Thanksgiving this year - as a single person, cooking a turkey is normally an exercise in excess, but this year there's Jennifer, Rosie, Annika and a couple of friends coming over. So I've ordered the bird, and am planning the menu. I'm thinking a wild-rice risotto/stuffing dish, sweet potatoes, cranberry orange relish, a fluffy salad and snacks. Oh and mashed potatoes, just so there's something to put under the gravy. And how does one make gravy without the evil wheat you ask? Why with potato starch, it gives a smooth texture somewhere between cornstarch and regular flour and absorbs all the wonderful flavor from the drippings. And there is no learning curve, since it works about like a regular flour roux - in fact I've used potato starch to make a roux for cream-based soups, macaroni and cheese and other sauces. Even when I could eat wheat, I preferred it in soups, because of the creaminess. One note though, it seems to take less salt in the final product, so be gentle with the shaker. :)

Another Saturday....

2007-09-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Homework - gotta love it. Today I'm trying to refresh my memory regarding rationals, radicals and roots. Sounds like a lawfirm doesn't it? The firm of Rational, Radical and Root, specializing in tax shelters and corporate law. Hmmmm....wonder if they can set up a trust. Maybe I should do a Leona Helmsley and leave my vast fortune to the cats.
This is Gatto (a little unimaginative, I know) -he came with the name and any attempt to change it has been met with supreme indifference. Indifference describes him very well as a matter of fact. He's currently curled up on the sofa snoring. Loudly. Imagine how hard it is to stay motivated when you are sharing the room with someone so intensely asleep.
I should mention that although he technically belongs to Annika - he feels he's above the whole ownership thing. He treats all of us as staff, when he decides to notice us at all.
Oh well, enough of a break - back to work. Wish me luck.

2007-09-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Fall.....ing asleep.
It's hard to believe that another summer has slipped away. School starts on Monday and before I crawl back into the world of academia I wanted to get some random thoughts on the nature of reality out - you know, light stuff.
As a society we tend to identify ourselves with various archetypes, I'm currently dealing with a group of folks who identify strongly with the victim stereotype (I did at one point in my life - but that's a post for another day). It's true that they have been wronged at various points in their lives and, rightfully, have a lot of anger and fear from those experiences. But I'm coming to realize that a victim is a very powerless place from which to live, true that there is a certain amount of sympathy that can be gleaned from that position, but a victim has given all of their power to the people around them, and can only gain power from pity.
The other problem with this world view, is that a victim requires a villain. That paints any relationship as fundamentally unequal. So- how does one move beyond that victimhood to reclaim one's power and grow from these toxic experiences? Any thoughts?

Ah Changes.....

2007-08-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a hectic summer here - my fabulous niece, Jennifer,and her lovely, six-year-old daughter Rosie have moved in with Annika and I. Unexpected - yes, a big adjustment - you bet, but an opportunity to get to know a couple of really beautiful souls. Jennifer and Rosie have been dealing with some troubling circumstances with more grace and dignity than 90% of the people on the planet.
So there's some major adjustments going on in my homelife. I'm in the process of clearing out my office so Rosie can move in there. Jennifer is taking the guest room which, thankfully, was in pretty good shape. So I'm busy weeding out a dozen year's worth of art and crafting supplies, paperwork and junk. Some of which I still need to unpack from the move, the rest I'm trying to decide if I'll need to get to it in the next year or so. Why so long? Well, Jennifer is pregnant, and I don't expect her to be in a position to move out until at least next summer. Did I mention that there are some radical adjustments being made at home?
So the first thing Jennifer did was go out and find a full-time job. She intends to work as long as possible, and get back to work at least part time soon after the baby comes.
Annika has been amazingly cool through this whole process, and Rosie has cheerfully adopted her as a surrogate Auntie. We have a hard time keeping Rosie from pestering her though, Annika is busy writing a book on micromacreme, and Rosie sneaks downstairs whenever she gets the chance. It's cute.

Don't Drink the Water

2007-06-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

Several of my actor friends are currently in a show over at the Wade James Theater in Edmonds. I haven't seen it yet, that happens this coming Saturday, but these folks are amazing. Jay Irwin, Ian Gerrard and Keith Remon can individually make a show - I expect fantastic things from them as a group. The show itself is a classic Woody Allen - full of witty dialog and physical comedy. I can't wait.

2007-06-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

Another wet June day....and boredom sets in. I've got stuff to do, but am lacking the necessary oomph to drive me to action. There is calculus to review over the summer, furniture to arrange, a shelf to hang, dishes to wash (laundry too), vacuuming and tidying to be done - but all I really want to do is curl up with a good science fiction novel and snooze. Coffee....I need coffee.....preferably in a pure form.

Bit by bit, I've been redoing my bathroom - it's a small space that was filled with clunky retro-70's oak. Since it was from the 70's most of the finishes were pretty well shot. It was dark and impossible to clean (bathrooms are one room that must be scrubbable) . The first thing to go was the oak toilet seat, then the oak towel bars that were not only screwed to the wall, but glued as well (what a pain). A medicine chest that was too big for the space was replaced with an oval mirror. I filled the holes from the old fixtures and painted everything white, including the old vanity. I also replaced the mis-matched knobs with brushed chrome and put up a hook for a robe and a single towel ring. Everything matches. Then, last week, someone at work was selling the shelf I'd been looking at buying, instead of over $100.00, I picked it up for $15.

Well - off to work.

2007-06-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

OK so it's been a while....the old work thing has been taking too much of my time and creativity. And when not working I've been trying to get the yard beaten into shape - so far the blackberries are ahead, but I have a radical comeback strategy, involving pruning shears, a weed eater and shovel. And sweat....lots and lots of sweat.

Here's a snap of the front yard - it's hard to tell the scale, but the rhodies are well over 10 feet tall.

In other happenings, Annika, (my fabulous roommate) and I spent last weekend sewing - actually she does the sewing and I do the cutting and pressing. We put together the most beautiful shirt - a sort of medieval print, wrap t-shirt. Also completed were a skirt and trousers.

Dreaming of the UK

2007-02-03T20:19:00.000-08:00

I'm planning a trip to the UK this fall and am so looking forward to it. I was there last spring for the first time with by buddy Annika. Here's a picture of Glastonbury Abby - I love the texture and colors of the ruins.

2007-02-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

Well I survived Dear World, with my sanity more or less intact. Kirkland Performance Center is a great house with a seriously fabulous tech crew. Every show has to have one crisis - I think it's a law or something - one of our actors had a nasty flu and couldn't go on opening night. The good news was our director was able to step in without a hitch - he learned the music a scant 15 minutes before the show and rocked. It was great catching up with a couple of friends I haven't seen for a while and meeting a couple of new ones.

Dear World

2007-01-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

A dear friend of mine talked me into stage managing a show for him. Marcus is an amazing actor, writer and all-around performer who is directing Showtunes' latest production of Dear World. What is Showtunes, you ask? Showtunes is a theater company that regularly puts up concert versions of musicals that, for one reason or another, don't get produced regularly. They keep it fun - and so far it's a great group. So here's the link. We go up next weekend.

www.showtunestheatre.org

My first post....

2007-01-12T15:10:00.000-08:00

Wow, a blank slate on which to store my ramblings....too much fun. I'm currently snowed in, the northwest hosted it's second snow-storm so far this winter, the roads around here are pretty much sheet ice. And since I'm off the main roads, the chances of getting plowed, sanded or salted are pretty slim. It is gorgeous though.

I'm feeling a little anxious - I'm working on a couple of shows and I need to be able to get out tomorrow for rehearsal. The scripts are in my car, so I REALLY need to get out.