Worlds, Overstimulation and Results

In the interest of time, this must be a short, but informative, post. I promised family and friends that I would keep the news coming while I am in SJ at Worlds. So, here are the highlights:

1. Skatetown skaters are doing great! Many first place positions, which 'earns' the rink points toward winning the Worlds trophy.
2. Skated my technical program yesterday. Came in a disappointing second, but achieved my goal of skating a clean program to haunting, beautiful music, in a fantastic costume. I thought I skated well, but guess the judges didn't agree with my assessment. That noted, it was fun, I was not nervous when I stepped on the ice, and enjoyed my one minute, 39 seconds of private ice.
3. Many of my skating buddies have done very, very well. Kelli, Marci, Kathy, Donna, Matt & Heather, Bella, Atrin (I am sorry if I have left anyone else out, but the old brain isn't working well right now) all have racked up single or multiple first place positions. I am SO proud of how our skaters are doing.
4. I am totally overstimulated. Completely, utterly, beyond imagination. My temporary 'skating Mom'(who is also a dear friend and skates in the ensemble with me on Friday at 5:30) slept until 9:17 this morning! I haven't done this since college. We are completely wired from yesterday's event and spending all day at the rink with hundreds of other skaters, coaches, parents, siblings, spectators, vendors, etc., etc. Think of this as the World's Fair of skating and you get the idea.

Tonight is the BIG parade, like the Olympics opening ceremonies, but on a smaller (much) scale. Should be fun and really supports the rink. Tomorrow Maddie and I volunteer from 7:30 am to 10:30 am checking in music and running scores. We will have a very early morning wake-up call.

Dear Husband, I miss you and the doggies so much and can't wait to be home on Saturday. And, I am indeed eating. Just got back from a huge breakfast.

Must run. Off to lunch at Maddie's friend's house then to the parade. Love to all Dear Readers, especially my best skating buddy, who I desperately wish were here. I am thinking of you and carry your first place medal in my skate bag.

The Swans are Singing Now

One final post before leaving for Worlds. I hope, Dear Readers, you enjoy the humor of this one.

You know that advice that you should never get a new hair style the day of a big event? I have more advice to add to that. "Never change your laces the day before leaving for a competition!" This should be etched on the wall of every rink where skaters prepare for a competition.

Yesterday, I had on my lengthy task list to switch out my laces for new ones. Now I haven't changed my skate laces for over 6 years. Mine were looking really pitiful. Because I hadn't had my skates polished, as I had planned, I figured the least I could do was have some nice looking laces. This ended up being a very bad idea.

It look me two hours to complete this job. Why? I purchased cotton laces (my old laces were nylon) and they absolutely would not fit through the eyelets of my skates. Dear Husband came up with the idea of make the eyelets larger which we accomplished with something akin to an ice pick. Great idea and the only one that would allow me to thread the laces. At one point, DH told me to stop working on this task and take a shower. Guess he could tell that my frustration level was through the roof at that point. I complied, but only until he had gone to nap; then I was back at it again. At one point, I even looked on YouTube for some clips entitled "How to Put New Laces on Your Skates." No luck, except for a video from a hockey player on how to great maximum "skate volume" (what is this anyway?) from tight vs. loose laces. No help here.

I finally had one skate laced when I realized that I had - OF COURSE - done this incorrectly. Yep, there was an entire hour down the drain. So I sent an e-mail to Coach J and my best skating buddy asking the following: "Do you lace the skate from the inside up or the outside down?" and telling them about my lace problem. I was so embarrassed to have to ask for help. One would think that 11 years of skating would have taught me how to do this, right! Apparently not.

After two hours (maybe a little longer), I had my old laces washed and dried, packed in my skate bag, along with my pliers and ice pick implement (hope I don't have to go through any metal detectors at the rink!) just in case I have to switch laces while in SJ, new laces on my skates and a sense that I must be the dumbest skater alive. Perhaps this was just a symptom of pre-competition jitters.

Here I sit at 8:00 am, drinking my last cuppa of java, and reflecting on the week ahead. And, outside, I hear the sound of swans singing, "I DID IT MY WAY."

At long last, onward to Worlds we go!

"Ka-boom!," the Countdown and Prayer

Friday was not what I had expected or wanted. I had envisioned a beautiful hour ice dancing with my 'Prince Charming' pro-partner, Coach Chris. Oft times what we envision turns out to be just that - an image of the impossible.

I'll spare Dear Readers the details of the traffic jam on the 9:30 am freestyle session. I've beat that one into the ground, I believe. Suffice it to say, the rink is at its all time fever-pitch. Thank goodness Friday was the last practice day for me (at Skatetown at least) before Worlds.

Coach Chris arrived and we spent some much needed time talking about how to manage competition jitters. He is wise beyond his 27 years, likely the result of having some excellent coaches in the many years he has been skating. He provided me with some excellent advice, which I will try very hard to put into practice on performance day. Then, we got started, initially working on entrances, presenting, and exits. Seems simple; it's not.

Finally got down to business with the Hickory Hoedown. Dance went well. Coach Chris gave me a fab tip about the end-pattern three turn. He said to think of it as a breath. As I tend to completely hold mine when I do the turn, exhaling while executing was a stroke of brilliance. Worked like a charm. He was happy with the dance, but we worked on the end pattern a couple of times, including one when another young ice dance couple nearly clipped us, I leaned way too far into the circle, and we nearly went down. Avoided this one by a hair.

Next on to the Willow Waltz. I had worn my blue dress from China to see what it felt like doing the Willow in it. It's perfect, I am happy to say. We started the dance with a left, right, swing roll, drop three, then moved into the back progressives. Suddenly, "Ka-boom!" - we were both down on the ice. The fall was hard for us both. At first, I was more worried for Coach C than myself because his fall sounded quite hard. Then, I realized that I felt the impact from my bumm right up through my spine into my neck. My first thought was "Oh *S _ _ _*, this is it - major injury time again. It wasn't like my life passed before my eyes in slow motion, but I knew this wasn't a good thing. We picked ourselves up, Coach Chris dusted the ice (there was plenty) off his pants, we made certain we were o.k., then determined the problem - I flexed on the back progressives instead of pointing the toe. What a skating idiot I can be some times! Identifying the problem corrected it immediately. We did two patterns of the dance and Coach C gave me feedback on the drop three (even said it was *good*). I was feeling pretty shaky still wondering if I was going to have a delayed reaction to the fall. Later that day, I was very stiff, sore, and somewhat worried. Even as of today (Sunday), I still have residual pain, but nothing I can't handle. So glad my ice angel was looking out for me!

So, it's now only a matter of hours until I leave for San Jose. Because I was House Manager at the Magic Circle's production of "Cinderella" (very sweet and well done) on Saturday, I had some time during the show for reflection on Worlds, since the House Manager doesn't actually get to be in the theatre, rather we are stuck in the lobby area :( I couldn't help but wonder if going to Worlds is one of those ultimate acts of selfishness, in the face of danger. I asked myself how I would feel if something really bad happened to me and Dear Husband was stuck having to take care of me. Frankly, I didn't like the answer. This is all pretty hard for me. I feel pretty darn conflicted now, 24 hours before the big adventure begins. Was I in love with the notion of Worlds, but not the reality (the money spent, the hysteria of other skaters that rubs off on me, the endless practice to the detriment of doing anything else in my skating, the near abandonment of my responsibilities to Dear Husband and pets, my friends, my extended family, the lack of time to quilt, read, go to the movies, the absence from my home, husband and doggies for a week, etc., etc)? Will it all be worth it? Let's hope so.

I had a wonderful conversation with my best skating buddy on Friday. She was the wise-woman who is not going to Worlds. We are in the same place at this point with our skating, I believe. She described her feelings as being very Zen-like. I could not have expressed it better. In light of world and personal events, I have come to realize that in the larger scheme of things, the real value of doing anything other than being in my own skating space at this point in my life is marginal at best and not worth the effort, time, and expense. The only aspect of skating I will continue to pursue will be to test my ice dances. I like testing, always have. It's not the same experience as competing at all. It's a much better way to set goals and assess your progress also.

So, today is filled with many tasks to get ready to go. I will end this missive with the following:

Dear Lord, I ask that you watch over me while I am at Worlds. Please send your angels to protect me while I am on the ice. Give me your Grace and strength to stay calm. Help me enjoy this event and understand the proper perspective of what I am doing. Understand that I am skating one program to honor your Son and give me the ability to express my feelings in a way that recognizes the greatest sacrifice of all time. Protect and watch over my wonderful husband and dogs, Merln and DeeDee, while I am away from our home. Thank you for the gift of being able to skate and participate in this event and bring me home without injury. Amen.

And So It Goes

I only have two words to describe my sentiment about Worlds right now - "Mercy Me!" In ordinary circumstances, I would take all of this in stride, but yesterday was the straw that broke this poor old skating camel's back (not literally, BTW).

The day started with an hour-long 8:00 am dress rehearsal. My beautiful black-and-white dress for my dramatic program has a design flaw. The sleeves are too short, which means the finger loops pull the shoulders down. Coach suggested that I get someone to add an extension to solve this problem. This is one more tasks I cannot attend to at this late date. My solution: Cut off the finger loops and wear the dress as is. Alright, so it won't be perfect, but no one is going to be looking at my sleeves anyway.

Dear Husband attended the entire hour, poor patient man. He got to see - up close and personal - what it's like to skate on a FS session before a major competition.

There was a mother-daughter team doing this snake charmer routine, with the daughter being inside what looked to be a brown garbage can (it's actually supposed to be the basket in which the snake is). Now this posed a number of problems for me. First of all, as Indiana Jones said, 'I HATE SNAKES,' so the very concept of this was abhorrent to me. What possesses a coach to think this is cute? Enough judgment on my part - sorry! In addition, they were right in the path of my program run through, so I had to make a beeline around them because, after all, a four-foot garbage can cannot move easily, let alone see anything. For the daughter's sake (she is the snake), I do hope there are eye holes cut in the basket so she can see out.

This was the first challenge to the first run through of my Passion program. It rather went downhill from there, but Dear Husband gave me a hand-sign (a personal joke of ours) that I skated the program nicely. Little did he know it was riddled with problems, so Coach and I spent 20 minutes working on some of the issues, like this is going to help at this point? As I cannot get down low enough on the ice to do a decent hyroblade, Coach suggested another way to execute the move that is much better. Now if I can just remember this at performance time. Also worked on the lunge exit into the catch-blade arabesque. I was able to do what she suggested and it does help the exit from the lunge look more graceful.

On the positive side, replacing the salchow with a half-flip was a brilliant idea. Coach told me yesterday that my half-flip is higher and bigger than "average" and all I need to do is hold the landing longer to make it even better. Yay! At long last, a jump I can do with some degree of prowess! Amazing. It's hard to believe that we are making changes 5 days before the competition, but so it goes in skating.

Then, on to my technical program run through. In a short, crude phrase, "It sucked." First time, I completely fouled up the opening. Not a good start. The spin was wretched (wouldn't even pass the requirement), and I did something I have never done before: totally missed the dance sequence footwork. Could this be because Dear Husband was there? Who knows? I was nervous, no doubt about it, but this error was unnerving. Coach was very disappointed, I could tell. Maybe it was the garbage-can snake that was the problem! Second run through was better, but certainly not my best. I know I can do much better than this.

I left the rink and went to get some breakfast, only to return two hours later for ensemble practice. By the time we had run through the program 6 times, I was at my maximum saturation point. Most members have an opinion, including me. Mine is "Can't we just be done with this, P-L-E-E-Z-E?" Having noted this, it is a lovely program with beautiful costumes and music, so maybe these things will distract from any errors we make. One can only hope.

When I got home, I was absolutely exhausted beyond words. All I could think of was "Why did I ever do this?" But, it is always darkest before the dawn, so this morning, I feel somewhat renewed and ready for my last dance practice with Coach Chris tomorrow morning. What a joy it will be! I have absolutely no expectations of placing anywhere but last, so there is no pressure on me at all.

I am treating myself to a pedicure today and then a day spent in quilting activities. Dear Husband, thank you a million times for putting up with all of this nonsense. You have truly been a saint about this. And, I loved your comment, "What's up with the garbage can snake?"

Limping onward to San Jose!

Deperately Needed *Down Time*

Here I sit in our spectacular backyard, enjoying a cup of morning java. There is a slight cool breeze in the air; such a respite from the heat wave we've had. Our doggies are inside to avoid the bark-a-thon that is typical of the morning hours when people are walking on the path behind our house and our pooches are outside. Between our two Collies and the neighbor's Irish Wolfhound, the noise gets pretty loud. I am counting my blessings for the luxury (and I know it is) of having a husband who works as hard as mine that allows me to enjoy these relaxing moments. What's the expression about a 'guilty pleasure'? That's mine, I must admit.

I was contemplating skating today, but decided I am in much need of rest from Worlds "mania."

Yesterday was a complete zoo at the rink. Too many skaters, too much chaos, too few freestyle sessions, resulting in a veritable sea of skaters on one sheet of ice. Even the coaches are in high-frustration mode; they can't get all their students in for the last push of lessons before Worlds. The tension is thick in the air. And I wanted to do this, "Why?"

A 15-minute ensemble practice with our Team Captain at the helm was excellent. She put us through our paces with three run-throughs, one right after another. I knew she had leadership skills the minute I met her, which is why I *appointed* her to this position. It was a bold move, as I have no authority over this group of seven skaters, but I knew we needed someone to get us out of the political mayhem that had emerged. Hey, all those years in corporate America paid off for me. Strong decision on my part - and no one seemed to mind, except one skater who currently isn't speaking to me. That's show biz for you!

Tomorrow morning I will do a quick dress rehearsal with Dear Husband present. I tried on all my dresses yesterday, to finalize what I am going to wear for which programs. After much wavering, I decided to wear my "good luck" dress for my technical program, not the new blue dress I acquired from China, which I will use for the dance event. I wore this black and red dress for my first pairs competition and for my technical test. I love it and now that I've lost weight, it fits even better. I'm very comfortable in it and it has some lovely bling that is sophisticated and beautiful.

I will spend today with my doggies, working on my latest quilt. Have a hair appointment to get rid of the "skunk girl" look and cut some of the bulk off the bottom of this bob. I am actually going to try for a "style" rather than continue to live in perpetual bob-land.

Onward we go. The countdown has begun. A week and four hours from now, my technical event will be over! Yay!

Latest Quilt Project

When I first started quilting, I volunteered to make a quilt for the silent auction for our homeowners association Crush (as in grape crushing) Party in September. Dear Husband reminded me that time is ticking away, thus I better get cracking on this piece. Here is a picture of 4 blocks of the pattern. It's the same one I used for "Wine Styles" and "The Grapes of Rhone" but this theme is more olives/olive oil than wine (we have olive trees growing in our development as well as grapes).

I made a good start yesterday, getting two rows completed. This look is a more "country" than I would typically use, but it's Debbie Mumm fabrics that are supposed to be used together. It is coming together well and will work up quickly, which is why I use patterns with these large blocks.

Musings of a Miscellaneous Nature

The heat is really on now, in more than one way. I am glad I picked ice skating as my hobby sport in my advanced years. With the temps hitting 103 to 107 range here in the Sacramento area, the rink is a great place to be. That said, yesterday was a zoo!

You can certainly tell that skaters and coaches alike are revving up for Worlds. I skated the 9:30 freestyle session. Major mistake. Could hardly get anything done and my anxiety level was exacerbated by the many excellent, young skaters doing their programs. There were a number of my adult friends who are going to Worlds also on the ice and, with the exception of one, we all felt the same way - it was a waste of $7.00 for the ice time. That said, I can only imagine what the practice ice will be like in San Jose. Oh horrors!

I managed to limp through both programs, nearly wiping out one young skater who was clueless as to my presence. I am hyper-vigilant when I am on the ice, watching as many other skaters as possible. The littler ones (who I don't think should even be on the FS sessions with teen and adult skaters) just do their thing. I suppose they don't have the realization that danger is all around them with "the big skaters" zooming to and fro.

The two practice runs were alright, but certainly not anything to be proud of. I do hope I skate better than I did yesterday in SJ. I know my programs, like them very much, but I have never grown used to skating with lots of people on the ice. I just am too nervous and this definitely affects my performance quality.

Dear Husband will be coming to the rink this week to see my "dress rehearsal." As he is not going to be at Worlds, I wanted him to see my programs. This is the acid test for my ability to perform. It is always difficult to skate in front of your peers, but in front of your husband is nigh on to terrifying!

After skating at my home rink in the morning, I then had to travel to another rink for additional practice. This rink is pitiful, but I did have the pleasure of seeing my former pairs partner and his new partner in their lesson with my dance coach. OMG, they are looking absolutely fabulous and as if they have been skating together for a long time. It was very cool watching them skate.

My dance coach, Coach Chris, is drilling me on things that I should have learned long ago; rather, he is correcting some very bad habits I developed, like NOT keeping my hips underneath me, which results in a very unattractive tendency to have my bum sticking out. This is the single biggest problem with my dancing. If I can fix this, I can do any dance, I am quite confident.

We started working on the dreaded Ten Fox in anticipation of testing this dance again in the future (like 2012 maybe!). Coach Chris gave me homework - practice the end-pattern running steps into the Mohawk - by myself. He showed me how he wants me to execute the Mohawk. EEK! Blade parallel the other blade at the instep going into the move. Alright, like I can do this? I don't have dance blades, so it's HIGH ANXIETY time, but I will practice this and get it right. I refuse to get another re-try on this dance; one was plenty.

Working with Coach Chris is so great. He has a great sense of what it takes to work with adult skaters and is perfect for me. I suppose I am a pretty high-maintenance student but he doesn't seem to mind the fact that having fun in lessons is a big requirement of mine. And, watching him ice dance is a treat in-and-of-itself. He makes everything looks absolutely effortless. I wish, I wish, I wish that someday I could even come close to this goal.

I am attempting to stay calm as the excitement (and anxiety) builds towards Worlds. This is a great challenge with all the chaos going on at the rink. So, onward we go, getting closer to the big event.

"H-e-e-e-r-e's Barney"

Isn't he cute? This is the second Cabin Fever Block-of-the-Month, Barney the Bear. In total, he took two hours to cut out and sew. I'm sure others could whip him out in one, but I'm still a very slow, deliberate quilter.

The astounding fact? He is exactly 12 1/2 inches square - precisely the size he is supposed to be. I think this is the first time I've managed to get a block the required size. Hooray!

A Thing of Beauty

Here is my completed Japanese Puzzle quilt, nearly five months after I began it. Making this piece caused me to fall in love with batiks. As you can see, they are quite beautiful. I absolutely adore this quilt. It will have a very special place in our home, hanging over our front door in our entry way (inside the house). There is a perfect spot to display it for maximum effect.

As noted long ago, many thanks to Kathy S. at Cabin Fever who taught the Japanese Puzzle class, but also finished the piece for me by adding the magnificent flying geese and gorgeous borders. Without Kathy, this top would still be unfinished I fear. Of all the pieces I have made, this is by far and away my favorite - and Dear Husband's too.

Yesterday, I completed my floral quilt top. Funny thing about this hobby. You can work on a piece and all the while think, "This is too easy" or "I don't really like this," but once it is completed and you see it in its entirety you have a completely different view of it. So it was with this piece. It actually turned out to be quite lovely and the dramatic play between blacks and whites and the vivid colors in the flowers make it quite striking. Lesson learned: Don't judge a quilt top until it is completed. You might really surprise yourself.

Off to work on the latest Cabin Fever BOM, Barney the Bear. Quite adorable. I hope to finish him today.

Onward we go in quilt-land.

"Oh, what a feeling!"

This morning I had the privilege of spending an hour on the ice with my pro-partner, Coach Chris, with whom I am competing at Worlds with the Willow Waltz and Hickory Hoedown. It was a fabulous way to start the day, allowing me to leave the rink feeling as though I had accomplished something while having fun at the same time. Doesn't get any better than this in skating, at least not for me.

Coach Chris is a fabulous ice dancer. He is also a good partner because of his height and stature; in short, we are compatible in terms of looking well-matched on the ice (except for the age thing, of course). What I love about Coach C is his wonderful sense of humor (we do spend lots of time laughing, which is great for me), his belief that I can do these dances, a positive mental attitude, and great instruction skills. I am also able to take 'positive criticism' from him in a way that truly improves my ice dancing.

By way of an example, he pointed out that when we did the Willow without the music on, I did the dance well, with good flow, but when we danced to the music, I became a "frightened little turtle" (his phrase, if I am quoting him precisely). He was absolutely right! I wasn't offended by this observation on his part; rather I appreciated his insight and ability to communicate a need for correction.

We spent a good deal of time on the Hickory today as we hadn't worked on it much last session. I am feeling pretty good about this dance, although it's still isn't as ready for competition as I would like, or I suspect he would like either. Good news is we still have time to work on the dance.

Gosh, there is so much information that my head is just spinning, but it was an immensely productive and enjoyable session. My inner ice dancer was very much present on the ice. There is really nothing in skating quite like being in the arms of a male ice dancer and knowing that you can do things you can't do when you solo dance (which I don't do as my act of skating *civil disobedience* as I express it). It was embarrassing when Coach C asked to see a pattern of the Willow by myself. I think I looked at him like he was asking me to fly to the moon. I had to tell him I don't solo, which he just took in stride and we moved on to do the dance together.

I'm getting so excited about competing in dance with Coach C! I have a lovely dress and a magnificent pro partner who is this incredible ice dancer and with whom I feel comfortable, secure and safe. No matter what my standing at the end of the competition, I know I will feel like a princess out on the ice dancing with Prince Charming. Can't wait.

My best skating buddy watched us dance for a few minutes. Her advice to me: 'SMILE!" She is absolutely right, too. It does make so much difference in terms of presentation and expression.

Onward we continue!

Coming Down Home Stretch and Other News

Worlds is rapidly approaching while I seem terminally stuck in migraine-land. My headaches are firing every other day, in some form or another. I'm trying hard to stay focused on the task at hand (get my programs as good as they are going to get), without completely stressing myself out. As I said to Coach the other day about the spin in my technical program, "It will be what it will be on performance day." That's true for everything in skating, I believe. You can prepare all you want, but at the final moment-of-truth, you are only as good as what happens that day.

I know that Coach feels the programs are at performance level because we only do one or two run throughs during my lesson. That's a sure sign that she believes one has reached a point of diminishing returns. The 'drilling' aspect is over; now it's up to me (and my ice angel) to 'Git her done' (as a former boss used to say) on competition day.

I tried on my competition dresses again. I've decided to wear a different dress for my technical program because the blue one is just too long for a freestyle program. Fortunately, I have a red dress that I bought when I was going to Nationals with a pairs program. It fits even better now that I am down to my all-time-low playing weight (this is not intentional, BTW). The blue dress is too much dress for a free skate performance; it hides too much of the leg line to have a positive impact. Funny that I should even consider such a thing, but one has to pay attention to the details. The dress for my dramatic program is still perfect, thank goodness. I now have two dresses to chose from for the dance competition; I can either use the dress we're using for the ensemble number (without the over-skirt) or the blue dress, the length of which is perfect for dance. I'm certainly not worried about not having the right costumes.

Yesterday was the last session the ensemble group had with Jill Shipstad. It was rather sad to see this lovely lady leave us, but at some point, the mother bird must kick the babies out of the nest. It is up to us - with Coach J's guidance - to take the ice and pull it together. Jill did a great job putting the program together and coaching us over the last few weeks. And the idea of using our over-layer skirts as props was brilliant. It's fun to work with them and adds tremendously to the program. What we need now is major league finishing, like making sure our lines are straight and our arm positions are consistent. I feel very comfortable with the program at this point, since I replaced the right 3-turn with a left Mohawk, as did others. Frankly, I'm not sure we'll come in first, but I think we'll do a nice job and have fun.

I've been hard at work practicing my toe loop for the jump-and-spin competition. I can execute it correctly off-ice, but the minute I try it on the ice, I revert to my old bad habits. Total bummer. I'm pretty sure I can fix this by Worlds, however.

Tomorrow is ice dance day with my pro-partner, Chris. I can't wait! I was hoping to dance with him twice this week, but had a migraine on one of the days and had to cancel, then I had to spend $50.00 on practice ice in San Jose, which left me busted for skating expenditures for the week. This competition has become quite costly so thank goodness it is my last.

Lest anyone think I am no longer quilting, I figured out why I've slowed down my activities in this arena. First, the floral quilt I'm working on is just too simple. I never thought I would say this, but it is true; it just isn't challenging for me. Second, this is also an expensive hobby; so I needed to stop spending money on fabric, quilting, etc. I've set today aside to finish the floral piece and start a more interesting quilt top. And, Saturday is the next Block-of-the-Month at Cabin Fever, which I am really looking forward to. Kathy S. is a great teacher and I will get to see two of my quilting buddies there, which is always a plus.

My volunteer House Manager duties at the Magic Circle Theatre in Roseville have been fun. The newest musical is "My Fair Lady," which is my favorite show of all times. The production is fantastic and very professional. There is such talent in the community and nearly everyone participates on a volunteer basis (this, of course, includes all the actors). My mentor tells me I'm doing a great job; I'm not so sure about that. There are many details to being a House Manager, particularly at the large theatre that holds nearly 600 patrons. My first experience at that theatre had an audience of about 250, which was a manageable size. I've already been called and asked to house manage this weekend. Ah, show biz!

Dear Husband has continued to be very patient and supportive of all my activities, particularly all the prep for Worlds. I suspect he will be quite happy when the competition is over and he can have his wife back. He truly has been a saint, coming home to take care of me when my headaches strike, not asking me how much I'm spending on Worlds, etc. But, even I must say, "Enough is enough." I need to get back to taking care of my family which is my primary purpose in my retirement.

For you blog followers who wrote asking why I hadn't posted for a while, thank you for taking time to read my missives. I know they are very detailed and I do so appreciate your interest in my various adventures.

Onward we go!