Slow and Steady

I have decided that it is progress, not distance, which really does make the heart grow fonder. The more we get done on the set, the happier and less stressed I am. I am tired and sweaty and paint-covered, but I have a nearly-completed fireplace, almost completed trim, clean-up is started, and I will be ready to go at tomorrow's rehearsal. (The floor will have to be painted tomorrow night -- after about 6 hours today, I was DONE.) As of last Sunday, I was not so sure how things would go this week. I needn't have worried -- community always pulls through in a pinch.

So some of my time today was spent using sponges, making this, which looks kind of crappy close-up:






But back up a bit, and it looks better:





And from farther away, it starts to look kind of cool:





And when you get to the back of the theater, you can see that we just might have a set when everything comes together:





I need a shower. Au revoir.

Barefoot in the Sauk

So we're doing Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" at the theater...we open on Thursday. We were supposed to open almost 3 weeks ago, but the theater leaked like a sieve on the Monday before, and we postponed. In the meantime, we've painted and cleaned (and tried to ignore the mold and the smell of the mold, which frankly makes me a touch nauseous) and tried to upgrade the set. Last night, when no one else was there, I went to the back of the theater and looked up at the stage. By Jove, I think we've got it. A little more paint today, some cleanup, and some purchasing of supplies tomorrow, and dress rehearsal should be a snap.

I have pictures of where we started from and I'm just amazed. I always am. Theater is always world-building in miniature. We started out looking something like this:

Progressed to this:

Had some cast photos posed when it looked like this:

My favorite picture of the production so far, and just to clarify, I do NOT have a foot fetish:

One day set construction and a run-in with a drill ended me up here:

Looking like this:

And by this past Thursday night, we had progressed to hanging the radiator like this, which required a LOT of teamwork:

And now, once the finishing touches are done this afternoon, I'll post the finished product. Or the nearly finished product. Or something. But my early morning ramble has finished, I'm going to chase off the screaming cats outside my window (these aren't even mine, I swear!!!) and it's back to bed. It's Saturday after all -- I can (sort of) sleep in.

Rambling before Bedtime

Life would be so much easier if my brain would actually wind down when I want it to. But noooooooo. Closing in on midnight and I'm still wired, hoping that I have things as under control for the play as I think I do, hoping that my schoolbooks arrive before my class starts, planning future vacations in my head. Walking in the morning helps -- at least I'll be tired by midnight or so. If I don't walk, sometimes it's 2:30 before I settle down.



So to relax, I give you flowers. Mom made me a bouquet for my birthday out of flowers from her garden, and it's still hanging in there -- 2 weeks later! I went a little nuts testing out the macro function on my camera. Man, I have a lot to learn about that thing.

And because I am just such a sucker for my niece, I give you her first day of "early-fives" (pre-kindergarten):

Still not especially sleepy, but I'll put on the season-ender of Heroes, which I've watched about 5 times, and hopefully I'll zonk out. Of course, with a meeting at 7:30 tomorrow morning, I'm sure to be a zombie...

I spent part of my Saturday at the Toledo Zoo. I am a fan of the Toledo Zoo, and even used to be a member when my stepkids were smaller. It's a lovely spot, well-maintained, and their education programs are ubiquitous within the park, as well as in local schools (90+ miles away and in another state!) and media.

Talk about service. We arrived just before noon. Sis ordered picnic lunches ahead of time. We went right to get lunch, and the hostess told us to find a table and she'd be right out. She arrived with a big basket, with a peanut butter/no-jelly sandwich, pretzels, and a Capri Sun for Niece, half a dozen cookies, Sis's lunch with a sandwich, chips, pasta salad, fruit cup, and a drink. I had eaten on the way, but the hostess came back at least 3 times to make sure I didn't need anything. The thing is -- this was just at one of those big picnic areas at a zoo, where there aren't hostesses generally around anywhere. The food wasn't any more expensive than regular zoo food, but it was good and came with such service. So. Kudos to the zoo. We wrote a fantastic comment card.

Now pictures. I took about 200 or so -- obviously not including them all. The rest of the trip was pretty much your standard zoo experience, so the pics say most everything:

While waiting to take the "Safari Train" in "Africa," I noticed this funny little sign:

Sis and Niece on the train:

Here are the animals we saw from the train:

There was a carousel in "Africa":

All the wolves were asleep, but there was this statue of a cat in the overhang of the viewing area that I thought was adorable:

Lots of birds in the aviary -- and a really big, cute one hatching:

I love the purple on this bird:

And then there was the aquarium:

And then the reptile house:

My best photo of the day for sheer timing:

The same snake looking much more benign a few moments later:

And on to the African Savanna (which is different from "Africa" mentioned earlier...):

I do not have a picture of the Hippoquarium. This is a frickin' shame. These hippopotamuses (hippopotami?) love to swim and in the Hippoquarium, you can see them above and below the water. They swim right up to the windows. There was one that seemed to smile at me and I was just as excited as the time I swam with a dolphin. No kidding. So I'm scamming a picture that i did not take so you can see it (Thanks to Michael "Nick" Nichols -- link to his site by clicking on picture):

I can't remember the name of this bird, but it's very unusual. The picture was taken because the damn thing reminded me way too much of the velociraptors in "Jurassic Park":

This primate (again, so focused on the camera that I didn't even get the names...duh), had a little friend in his cage, on the stump below him to the left. So I focused in for the 2nd picture:

My favorite little monkey:

And on the way out of the zoo, we saw the rescue area for 2 bald eagles. This photo shows the feathers in such a way that they look painted. Amazing bird.

So that was my trip to the zoo. It was fun. Definitely better pictures than if I'd stayed home. Heh.