Hey, Y'all!

Working Girl

Today is my day off after my second week at work.  Things are going well.  The show is a lot of fun, the actors are a pleasure and the director and I are getting along well.  Tomorrow, we head into technical rehearsals, where we add all the lights, sound and other theatrical magic.  The days will be looooong and tedious, but this is one of the most exciting points of a production for me.  I love watching everything fall into place.  As with any new play, this show continues to change on a daily basis.  We open on Sunday afternoon, then enjoy a full 48 hours off before our first rehearsal for the next new play. (We'll rehearse that one when we're not performing this one.) 

I moved out of the hotel yesterday and into one of the apartments provided by the company.  I miss the hotel.  Ok, mostly I miss the free hot breakfast, free coffee, free happy hours and housekeeping service. But the apartment is fine. I was thrilled to see that it has a washer/dryer.  That will be great because it will mean I won't have to spend my one day off doing a laundry marathon to get ready for the coming week. 

Marcus was at a conference in Kentucky all weekend, so my mom and dad stayed with Dean. I think he gave them a run for their money.  It was a load off my mind knowing he was well-cared-for in our absence.  The nights away haven't gotten any easier, but I don't cry every time I think about him while I'm working. (More like every third time I think of him.) 

Spring has finally arrived (Thank merciful GOD) and the warm weather is here!  I've been wearing short sleeves and flip flops today and I just packed three pairs of capri pants in my suitcase.  I'm not really sure why I'm bringing anything cute to wear this week--I'll be sitting in the dark for 12 hours a day. 

The one thing I'm most proud of is the fact that I've managed not to eat like a college student over the past couple of weeks.  Had it not been for those pesky free Chick-Fil-A coupons they passed out with our paychecks, I would have gone all week without fast food.  The apartment is a bit better-equipped for cooking than the hotel suite was, and I'm bringing my crock pot with me this week, so I should be able to keep it up.  Hopefully the weather will stay nice so I can escape  on my dinner breaks and spend a little time by the pond in front of the theatre.

This is quite possibly the lamest blog post ever, so here--look at pictures of my giant child.

 Moooooooooooooom, I'm standin on your suitcase.  Pack me up--I'm going with you! (Do you see the MIRACLE before you??? He's wearing socks AND pants!!!)
 

I could TOTALLY do theatre. 

The current state of the Marjen Household

Wow.  I need a day off to recover from my day off.  I've been going since about 7:30 this morning--cleaning, cooking, laundry, playing with Dean, helping Marcus tie up loose ends before he leaves for a conference on Wednesday, and trying to get a list together for my parents, who are graciously taking care of Dean while Marcus and I are both out of town.  I'm tired, y'all.

My first week of rehearsals went very well.  We even got a run-through of our play in last night, so now we've got a good idea of what needs work this week.  I came home on Friday night so I could spend some precious hours with Dean.  If it weren't illegal to drive 32000 miles per hour, I would have, because I could not get to him fast enough.  When I got home, BJ had just gotten him out of the bathtub and he was in just his diaper with curly wet hair. (Dean, not BJ.  BJ has very straight hair.)  When I walked into the room, he saw me and pointed, giving me the biggest toothy grin I've ever seen from him.  We cuddled for a long time, reading books, talking and singing songs.  He eventually sweet-talked me into turning on an episode of Jack's Big Music Show, so we danced a bit before he crashed around 9:45.  I got ot feed him breakfast and play a lot on Saturday before heading in for my noon rehearsal.  Today's been great--we've had lots of time to color, play with toys and do all our other fun things.

Hotel life is interesting.  I love the fact that someone else comes in and cleans my hotel room, especially when I come home on my day off to find my house in the state it's currently in and have to do a top-to-bottom scrubbing.  (Can you say BACHELOR PAD?  Yes. Only substitute sippy cups for beer cans on the floor.)  My hotel serves a free hot breakfast each morning, which includes sausage, eggs, potatoes, fruit , juice and coffee.  In addition to the fact that I"m saving myself from having a heart attack from eating too many Chick-Fil-A chicken minis lots of cash by not eating out for breakfast,  this also forces me to eat something more substantial than just a bagel or a piece of toast.  It makes for a more energetic work day.  And really--free coffee just rocks.  They also do what they call "Happy Hour" on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, where they serve soup and salad one night and hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixin's the other night.  When I checked in, they were really excited to tell me about these offerings and the clerk whispered loudly, "We even have BEER!"  And they do. There's a Bud Light tap right there in the table.  And they serve box wine.  Me? I stick with the free Coke Zero.

The only downside of hotel life is when a drunk moron pulls the fire alarm at 5:30am on the ONLY day you can sleep in all week.  It continued to go off about every 45 minutes for the next three hours, so I finally just got up, had breakfast and went to Target.  You pretty much have Target to yourself if you go at 8am on Sunday morning, by the way.

And now for the big news...the winner of my Jaq Jaq Bird bib giveaway is...DESIGNHER MOMMA! Congrats, Emily!  (If you have not read her blog, GO DO IT!  Her baby boy is way cute, as are her 2 girls.)

The first week

My first week back at work went quite well.  I commuted each day from home, which was good for all of us. It eased us into the transition and made sure I got a good amount of Dean time each day.  He's adjusting beautifully to our new schedule and loves having BJ around more. 

I fell right back into the rhythm of my job, as I hoped I would.  Once I spent a day remembering the nuts and bolts of this particular theatre, I was able to dive in and work on prepping for my show.  It felt good to use those parts of my brain again. I was especially proud to be able to do my job and still be a mom.  I made Dean's lunch every day and put him to bed every night.  This week will be a little different, as I'll be spending a few nights away from home, but I've already made his lunches for the week and a few dinners to keep him and Marcus from eating hot dogs every night  give the guys some variety. 

Instead of the apartments the theatre usually uses for housing, I'm staying in an extended-stay hotel for the duration of my contract. At first, that seemed like a drag, but then I realized something:  SOMEONE ELSE WILL CLEAN THE ROOM!  They will make the bed, bring me fresh towels, even run the little dishwasher in my kitchenette.  That?  Sounds heavenly.  I'm going to be very spoiled.  Fortunately, this means I can save my energy for Mondays when I'm sure I'll have plenty to clean up around my house.

 When we are in the rehearsal hall (where we rehearse before moving to the theatre), we put down spike tape on the floor to show where the set will be.  I needed to tape the floor out on Saturday, but didn't really have much other work to do, so Dean came with me.  He had a blast playing with my friend Tanya and running around the big empty room.  He even found a yoga ball in a corner, which entertained him for MINUTES! 

Dean has started showing a real interest in music. He's always been drawn to music, but his interest is maturing a bit, if you will.  Ever since he was a tiny baby, he'd stop whatever he was doing if some music came on, and he'd usually dance or sing along.  The other night, he went up to the theatre with Marcus and walked up to the piano onstage. Instead of running up and banging on it, he climbed up onto the bench and carefully plucked out several notes with his index finger.  Our friend Laurie, who's our music director for the department, said, "You need to encourage that! Most babies that age just bang on it. He's got a respect for the instrument."  He did the same thing with the piano in the rehearsal hall on Saturday--climbed up and started gingerly playing single notes.  I started playing piano by ear when I was 4, then took lessons for 10 years before dropping out to devote more time to dance.  What I'm saying is it's in his blood.  We're not going to push, but we are going to encourage his interest.  Inside I'm squeeing because OMG, how cool would it be to have a little musical prodigy?

On Friday, Marcus cancelled his rehearsal so he and Dean could go to the Expo at the Bassmaster Classic. (For those of you who are clueless as to such things like I am, it's a fishing thing.)  They came home with a giant bag full of fish-related swag, including a set of Mardi Gras beads with wooden bass on them.  Dean makes me wear them around the house. 

Dean had to wear credentials while they were at the Expo.  How hilarious is THAT?

That's about it for us this week.  Next week is going to be insane.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to it.

Have you entered my giveaway?  Don't miss your chance to win a super-cute bib from the great folks at Jaq Jaq Bird!  Giveaway ends 2/28.

You may ask yourself...

Why doesn't Jen talk about her students this semester?

I'm not teaching this semester.

Why isn't Jen teaching this semester?

Well, an opportunity presented itself that I couldn't pass.  I got an inquiry from one of my stage management mentors from grad school asking if I'd be interested in stage managing 2 new plays at Alabama Shakespeare Festival between February and April.  I was interested.

Does this mean you'll never be able to go back to your teaching gig ever ever again?

No way.  In fact, the boss and the big boss were both VERY supportive. Remember, I'm an adjunct professor, which means I'm part-time on a semester-by-semester basis. I basically teach specialty classes, in my case, theatre and stage management, and overload classes that won't fit into the full-time faculty's schedules. I was just slated to teach one section of intro to theatre this spring (my management classes are out of rotation til next year), so they were quite understanding and willing to let me go, with the understanding that I"m interested and availble for next fall.  Not to mention, I'll be doing what I DO, what I teach others to DO.  I don't want to be that teacher who hasn't done her thing in 10 years.  Theatre technology is constantly changing and I need to keep up, lest I teach outdated things to my little whiz kids.  They were also excited that I could offer our students current contacts at ASF, especially since it's one of the only professional theatres in our state.

What does Dean think about all this?

Dean's pretty jazzed that his manny, BJ, is going to be spending a bit more time with him and he's excited about the increased guy time with his dad.  He's also excited that he gets Mommy all to himself all day on Mondays, which will be my day off. 

Is the pay better?

You better believe it.  Let's put it this way (without getting too specific):  I"ll make more in 2 weeks working at ASF than I would teaching one class for an entire semester.  This will allow us to have some much-needed electrical work done to our house and will also help us build our savings back to the healthy place it was when we moved to Montevallo.  And I can get a pedicure. And possibly a latte from Starbuck's.

When does Jen start?

Feb. 15 begins my "pre-production week." That's the week before rehearsals actually begin, when I go to the theatre and prepare things, like paperwork, scripts, the rehearsal studio, etc.  I'm slated to have a production assistant who will help me, but I'm not sure whether or not that person will be on contract during pre-production.  Rehearsals start on the 23rd for the first show.  As soon as the first show opens, we start rehearsals for the second show. That one ends on April 26.  It'll be busy, but it should go by quickly.

Will Jen sleep?

Possibly.  Jen will be coming home as much as she can.  I'll have an apartment in Montgomery for nights when rehearsal goes late and during our long days of technical rehearsals, so I will stay there some.  But the way the schedule looks, I should be able to make it home most nights to spend some time with Dean before bed and to feed him breakfast in the morning.

What does this mean for Jen's blog readers?

Hopefully, I'll still be able to blog about 3 times a week.  I've lined up several guest posts for Comfort Food Saturday (still accepting recipes, if you're interested!) and I'm pre-writing some posts to put up while I'm busy.  I'll probably start doing Wordless Wednesday a little more, hopefully giving you some nice shots of the theatre, which is absolutely gorgeous.  If you've got questions about what I do or my shows, I'm happy to talk about that, too, as much as I can.

So that's what's happening with me.  I'm excited to get back into a professional theatre setting for a while, especially since I'll be working on 2 new plays.  There's nothing quite like collaborating on a play for the first time in its existance to get your creative juices flowing.  And at the end of it all, Dean and I will become "people of leisure" for the entire summer, hopefully sleeping in a bit, working on our herb and vegetable garden, taking swimming lessons and just letting the days go by.

One order of auditions, well-done

Our statewide auditions were yesterday and they went GREAT!  I seriously could not have imagined they'd go as well as they did.  There were small issues that arose throughout the day, but my staff and I handled them and pressed on, ending the day EXACTLY on time! My students busted their butts, most of them working alongside me for the entire 15 hour day.  When the process was over, several faculty members and students from across the state said this was the most organized audition process they had ever experienced and that their nerves were eased by the warm, welcoming environment.  I could not be happier.

I woke up Saturday morning with a knot in my stomach.  I was incredibly nervous that I'd forgotten something or that something would go horribly awry.  However, once I got to work and started things rolling, I was totally in my element.  I'd almost forgotten how good it feels to do what I do.  The day was long and hard.  We saw over 220 auditionees in 9 hours.  As much as I love teaching, nothing will ever compare to the rush I get from stage managing a show or event.  It's what I know. It's what I'm good at. It's who I am.

Know who else I am?  Dean's mama.  Know what Dean said yesterday while I was working 18 hours?  MAMA.  He's said it before, but not for a loooong time.  Like, months.  He said it a few times when he was just starting to talk, but then started to call me Nah Nah, which was cute.  He said "Mommy" once, but hasn't repeated it. He doesn't have problems with M's because he can moo like nobody's business and says "Elmo" all the time when watching Sesame Street or reading books about the Annoying Red One.  Marcus came home for a couple of hours yesterday to give BJ the Manny a break and to try and get Dean to nap (to no avail) and he heard him say "Mama" three different times.  sniffle sniffle

This week will be busy as I get ready for midterms, but I should be able to come up for air a bit.  The weather is supposed to be gorgeous for at least a couple of days, so hopefully we can get out to the park for some fresh air.

Forgive my lack of Comfort Food Saturday posts while I have been working on these auditions.  Sadly, my blog had to take the backseat for a while in order for me to get everything done.  Today was about recharging my battery.  Marcus got up with Dean this morning so I could sleep in, made me a big pot of hazelnut coffee and even cleaned the kitchen and unloaded the dishwasher.  We made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch (ultimate comfort food) and vegged out in our PJ's all day. I took a three hour nap with Dean. We played and laughed and read the whole newspaper.  I'm catching up on my blog reading. We ordered a pizza for dinner.  I'm about to treat myself to a nice bath, then hit the sheets early. 

Completing a job and knowing you did it well is a good feeling.

Dean head-butted me in the mouth and knocked out all my "create a clever title" cells

I got home from my week of freelance work on Saturday.  We had the hotel room through Sunday, but the bed was awful (meaning SOFTY MCSQUISHY SQUISH) and they didn't have cribs (!!!!!!!!), so Dean was sleeping between us, which is never a good thing.  SO we decided to head home on Saturday evening.  Marcus and Dean had re-joined me in Montgomery on Friday and Dean was MAD AT ME! This is the longest we've been apart since he was 9 weeks old, so he wasn't thrilled that I'd been away.  I held out my arms to take him and he buried his face in Marcus's chest and clung to him.  Hello, broken heart because my baby stopped loving me while I was out of town! Ok, so he actually got over it pretty quickly, especially once he figured out I was the one who knew where the milk was.  Friday evening, we had a lovely dinner with some friends I worked with in grad school and their adorable daughters.  Dean started to crash around 8, so we headed back to the hotel. We bathed him, gave him some milk and read his bedtime books, then tried to put him down to sleep.  He jumped up, slid off the bed and commenced to run around the room for THREE HOURS.  He went to sleep just after 11.  He was wild. He tried to eat my hairbrush, unpacked all the socks from the suitcase and threw them in the bathtub, hid all his books in a dresser drawer, demanded that I spin him around in the swivel-chair again and again and tried to play in the toilet.  We finally caught him and bundled him in a towel picked him up gently and put him in the bed and turned off the lights.  We tried to be as still as possible and FINALLY, he fell asleep.  I'm pretty sure it was after I fell asleep, though.

The play I worked on was fun.  I had a great cast and an awesome director.  The play itself was very interesting and sparked a lot of discussion. It was a truly collaborative process, which I love, and I think we all gave valuable input that will help the playwright with his next step in the writing of this play.  Our reading for the public was on Saturday and was followed by quite the post-show discussion!  Folks get passionate about these plays, which is what makes the project so much fun.  My only disappointment of the week is that I didn't get to eat at El Rey, my favorite burrito place in Montgomery.  They have stopped opening for lunch and that was the only free time I had to go.  So sad.  That means we'll be making another trip soon.

On the way down last week, guess where we stopped for lunch and shopping?

 

OMG, can you believe there's ANOTHER one?  This one's south of us.  We actually had a great lunch at the Islamorada Restaurant inside Ye Olde Bass Pro Shop.  Dean likes fish and chips, apparently. This trip also inspired Marcus and Dean to pick me up a little prize while I was gone:

 

Why, yes, that IS a pink and purple fishing rod!  I plan to use it on vacation next month.  Even if I don't catch anything, won't I be cute and prissy?

By the way, THIS Bass Pro Shop had some "bling" for the camo truck we saw at the last one:

Yep.  For $29.99 you too can own antlers for yer truck.  Go git u sum!

God bless the deep south.

On Wednesday, I head to North Carolina for a training session at the SETC central office.  I'll be learning the software for my job as state-auditions-coordinator-chickie-with-the-pink-and-purple-fishing-rod.  But what I'm REALLY excited about is my first IRL meet-up with one of my blog friends!  On Wednesday evening, I will have the pleasure of Ilina's company! Ilina writes for Deep South Moms and Foodie Mama, as well as her own awesome blog.  She is extremely fiesty, smart, funny and just plain cool.  This makes me feel somewhat better about not being able to go to Blogher this year.  I'm seriously considering figuring out ways to get my job to send me to all of the towns where my favorite blog friends live so that I can visit more of you.  Tis a good plan, I think.

And finally:  Grey's Anatomy season finale.  Holy cow.  Discuss.

A step back in time

I am sitting at the desk where I spent a great deal of my time as a graduate student between May of 2000 and August of 2001.  To say this week has been surreal would be an understatement.  Walking into ASF, I was immediately whisked back 8 years.  The smell of coffee, though not as strong now that they've switched to a coffee vending machine instead of "real" coffee, the frigid cold rehearsal studios, the grey nameplates gracing each door, they were all he same.  Most of the faces have changed,though.  I was greeted by a new receptionist who asked if I needed help finding the stage management office.  I chuckled to myself and said, "No, thank you."  Even 8 years later, my feet seemed to go on auto-pilot, winding down the seemingly endless stairs to the sub-basement office.  Imagine my surprise when no one was in here!  Apparently someone got wise and gave the SMs a satellite office on the same level as the rehearsal halls (Brilliant!).  Once I trekked back up the million and three stairs to the main level, a harder job now that it was when I was 24 and super-skinny, I was greeted by one of my favorite mentors from my grad school days.  Tanya was one of the three resident stage managers who trained me during my 15 months here and she recommended me for the job I'm currently here to do.  Catching up with her has been a blast.  We've both been through a lot in the past 8 years.  This morning, we were talking about mutual friends and where they are now, and suddenly she said "I'm so proud of YOU and all you've done!"  I was so, so touched.  To hear that from one of the people who literally held my hand as I figured out how to do what I love was incredible. 

Back in ye olde grad school days, this building often gave me indigestion.  If you've been reading for a while or know me in real life, you may have noticed I'm a bit of a perfectionist. (wonder where I get that, DAD?)  Usually, the stage management grad classes that come through here have 2 students.  I was the only one in my class.  This meant I did not have a peer to whom I could compare myself to make sure I was up to or above par.  So, in true Jen form, I compared myself to the professionals who were training me and worked with all my might to be as good as they were.  It was probably ridiculous of me to put myself through that, seeing as I was 24 years old and had been doing this job for about a minute in comparison to their 20 + years of experience in the field.  But setting the standards that high pushed me to do well, pushed me to expect more from myself, pushed me to learn more. 

And now I'm back.  I'm 8 years older.  I'm a wife and mom.  I'm a member of our professional union. I teach stage management.  I've got 8 years of solid work experience under my belt.  The young lady who was so terrified of making mistakes that she would sit at this desk for an extra hour each evening chewing Tums and proof-reading schedules and reports and making checklists to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything is now a little older and wiser and about 1000 times more confident.

I spent some time today with one of the current grad students, talking about what her plans are for after graduation.  It reminded me of all those crazy feelings I had back then:  excitement that the entire world was at my fingertips, complete and utter terror that I was leaving the comfort zone I had come to consider my professional home, and along with it, the mentors who had been at my disposal 24 hours a day, and the sense of accomplishment that I'd made it through a rigorous training program and was now ready to start a career doing what I love.  I felt a slight twinge of nostalgia, remembering late-night trips to Taco Bell during a break from reading play after play for theatre history class.  Then I realized I haven't had indigestion for one single minute during the two days I've been back working here.  Growing up's not so bad after all.

Quick update from the road

We've arrived safely!  And this hotel suite is bigger than our NYC apartment was.

Dean is sacked out in the middle of the bed. The hotel doesn't have portable cribs. Even though their website and the amenities list in the room say PORTABLE CRIBS.  He has really enjoyed exploring the room.  He and Marcus leave tomorrow to go back home until Friday, when they return to pick me up and take me home on Saturday. (I think. I may not be done til Sunday.)

Have a good week! I forgot the white cord thingy that attaches the camera to the computer, so I'll have to wait until I get home to upload pictures.

In my absence...go read my friends on my blogroll and check out Foodie Mama!

School's Out For Summer (And Now I Go To Work)

I gave my final exam on Tuesday.  It was bittersweet.  A part of me is ready for the school year to be over, but another part is a little sad to bid this semester goodbye.  My arts management class has been amazing.  I know for a fact the students learned a TON, and it was so much fun for me to be back in the classroom.  Next semester I'll be teaching introduction to theatre. I was given permission by the chair of our department to give it a bit of an overhaul and to structure it how I'd like.  I'm very excited about this.  Those classes are often really heavy, concentrating on a lot of theatre history. I want to put a more modern spin on things and treat it like the "theatre appreciation" class it should be.  I want to train and nuture a future theatre AUDIENCE.  My textbook is super cool.  It has lots of pictures and articles from current or recent shows and I even counted 46 people I know who are pictured!  I'm hoping at least half of the NINETY+ people in there will find it interesting.  Needless to say, with NINETY+ students, there will probably not be a lot of paper-writing. (Cuz Mama don't wanna grade all that, yo.)

You'd think now that classes are over that things would slow down. NOPE! On Monday, I head down to Montgomery for a week of work at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the theatre from which I earned my MFA.  I loved the 15 months I spent there as a part of my graduate work at Alabama.  (For stage management/arts management, you spend 9 months, or one school year, at Univ. of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, then move to the Shakespeare Festival for the remainder of your time to work for the company as a production assistant.)  It has been a dream of mine ever since I graduated to be asked back.  On Tuesday, I start rehearsals for a staged-reading of a new play. It's a part of the Southern Writers' Project and is being considered for future production by the Festival.  I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and making some new contacts.  The most fun part is that one of my Cornell students is working there and will more than likely be cast in the reading.  Small world.  They're putting me up in an extended-stay hotel suite, so Marcus and Dean are coming with me for the week. I think their plan include fishing in the pond outside the theatre and swimming in the hotel pool.  Sounds like a plan.  My days will wrap up at around 5:30pm, so we'll have the evenings together to play, eat and visit.

The next week, I head to Greensboro, NC for a quick training session at the Southeastern Theatre Conference's central office.  I think I told you that I'm the State Auditions Coordinator for Alabama, so I have to go and learn the software and the ins-and-outs of the job.  I'm excited about seeing the SETC office and learning all the stuff for my new position, but I'm REALLY excited that I may be able to meet one of my blog friends!  Ilina of Dirt and Noise lives close to Greensboro, so I'm hoping we can meet up and say HI in person! This will make me feel better about the fact that I'm missing BlogHer this year. Marcus's 20 year high school reunion is the same weekend and there's rumor of a reunion of his band, Bikini Red, while we're in town.  I musn't miss that.  On a totally unrelated note, (actually, it is kinda related) Marcus was in a different band before Bikini Red. That band?  Was called TYH: Turkish Yak Herders.  Marcus was lead vocalist for both.  When asked to describe their style, he said "Think INXS meets The Cure meets John Cougar Mellencamp."  Um, ok.  I really REALLY hope there are videos of that floating around at my mother in law's house. They are probably hidden in the basement right next to the showchoir tapes.  Anyway, for those of you who ARE going to BlogHer, I expect a full report.  And maybe a text message or two.  I'll give you my number.

Other than that, I'm gearing up for my first super-hot Alabama summer in 8 years.  I went in CVS yesterday to get a card for our Manny, whose last day was yesterday, crrryyy, and noticed they had flip flops on sale buy one get one free.  And so I did.  I now have 6 pairs of flip flops, 5 of which are black. In my defense, one pair has polka dots and another has rhinestones on the straps.  They look good around my fresh spa pedicure. (I mean, if you're paying the Manny to be there all day and you finish your work early, you might as well take a moment for yourself, right?  Plus Mother's Day is Sunday.)

What's everyone doing for Mother's Day?  Or is it a surprise?  I got something neato for my mom, but she reads this blog, so I can't tell you about it.  (MOM! DO NOT OPEN THAT PACKAGE! PUT IT DOWN! IT'S FOR SUNDAY!  We are those people who shake gifts.  We can't help it.  My grandma started it.)

The dish on SETC

  I'm back!  What a great weekend.  I had forgotten how much these conferences wear you out.  My voice is ragged and I feel like I haven't slept in 2 weeks. (Not true! In fact, we overslept by 2 hours this morning! Woops!  Fie on you, time change!)  Here's the lowdown on our weekend at the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Glad you enjoyed the video, by the way.  My accent, you'll be happy to know, has gotten much thicker since we moved back to Alabama. Had it been this thick in NY, no one would have understood anything I said.

So, we arrived in Birmingham, Dean in tow, on Thursday afternoon.  We immediately ran into our friends from grad school, Stacy and Rob,and their 2 year old daughter, Evy.  We set up a little date for Evy and Dean for later, after nap time. (ha ha, nap time...)  We turned around and ran into our friend Bethe, who neither of us has seen since 2002.  She teaches at another college in Alabama, so we'll be seeing a lot of her now.  It was just like old times.  She showed me pictures of her cat, Bear Nelson, who I rescued from underneath a truck when he was 7 weeks old way back in 1999.  I was happy to know he's still around.  Dean enjoyed exploring our hotel room and seeing everyone we'd worked with over the summer, but he REFUSED to wear pants.

Evy did come to play after HER nap. (Dean did not nap. At all.  Ever.)  Dean loves the ladies and went straight in for a bear hug, which freaked Evy out.  She cried. I felt really bad.  Poor Dean, he just wanted to make her feel welcome. :)

That evening, Marcus and I took turns attending meetings for our various committees we are on and keeping Dean.  Dean had too much juice and threw up all over Marcus while I was in my meeting.  Dean and I came home on Thursday to spend the night, but not before I managed to lock my cell phone and hotel key IN the hotel room.  Marcus was already in his meeting by the time I realized this and had his phone turned off.  I had to convince the hotel employees that I was his wife by showing them my driver's license and my insurance cards with Marcus's name on them.  Dean was totally over it.

On Friday, Auntie M took Dean until Grammy and Papa arrived and I headed back to the conference for our 9am workshop, "Moving to New York City:  What they didn't teach you in careers class." Like last year, it was well-attended and lots of fun.  I drank many cups of coffee.  Our friend, Scott, who has Marcus's old job at KBCC in New York, told stories about me not wanting to drive in New York, so everyone got a good laugh at my expense.  After the workshop, we headed down to Five Points to eat at the Original Pancake House. I ordered 2 entrees.  They ruined my life by being out of potato pancakes, though.  We rode the trolley bus to get there.  I slipped all over those wooden seats like you would not believe.  I also had a brief bout of motion sickness, but fortunately, did not vomit on the trolley bus. 

That's our pal Neil David, Scott from NYC, me and Tammy (Kate's mom!) on the trolley.

The rest of Friday was about killing time until our 5:30 workshop and finding all our old friends and colleagues.  I was very excited to see some of my favorite folks from TWV, grad school and other conferences.  At 5:30, we presented "Networking in New York City" to a HUGE group of participants.  It was a lot of fun and we got some fantastic feedback.  Then it was back to Five Points for dinner at Fire and Ice.  My friend Mary Fran, who is also a stage manager, and I had to take control at the restaurant after we'd waited over 2 hours to be seated.  We asked the hostess if she could give us a time frame of when we'd be seated, and she pointed to a table in the back and said "We're just waiting on them to leave."  Mary Fran and I went over and realized our friend, Jeff, was the one holding things up.  We told him to get a move on so we could eat.  Meanwhile back at the bar, all our friends were sitting in the holding area watching us gesture wildly at these people to leave.  We got back and said "Our table's ready, they're leaving."Our friends were very impressed, if not a little scared, that we had gone over and made these people move.  That's when we had to admit that we actually knew one of them.  We're still cool, though.

Mary Fran, Jeff and me.  Notice I am the only dork still wearing her name tage and lanyard.

On Saturday, I started the day with a Stage Management committee meeting, where I was assigned the workshops I'll be presenting at the 2010 and 2011 conferences.  I made some great contacts in there and was excited to get more involved in the stage management side of SETC.  The folks on the committee have a great variety of experience and expertise, so I think we'll be able to offer a nice variety of programs to our participants. 

I presented a workshop on Saturday afternoon on Stage Managing for Outdoor Drama. I had 52 people in attendance, which was MANY more than I'd expected!  I did end up doing the tape demo. I soaked several different types of tape in a bowl of water (a Dora the Explorer bowl to be exact) to demonstrate which types would stand up best to heavy rain.  The winner was cloth gaffer's tape.  The loser was Scotch foam mounting squares.  I didn't wear my poncho in the workshop, but I did model it for some of my friends in our hotel room:

 

Wouldn't you want YOUR child to pay to be educated by me?  Yeah, you would!

After my workshop, I was weary, so I collected my friend Patrick and BJ, our manny, and sort of held court in the hotel sports bar.  We ate queso dip and talked to friends as they passed by.

 

BJ, our manny.  Also a very talented actor and singer.

At some point, I don't remember exactly when, I made Marcus chase down this girl (who we do not know) and take a picture.

 

BECAUSE SHE WAS WEARING A BATMAN CAPE AND JORDACHE HIGH TOPS.  IN 2009.  TO A PROFESSIONAL AUDITION.  I'll bet she gets a really good job.

(Dean has a cape like that. It attaches to his Batman pajamas.  He is 14 months old.  This girl is about 20.  Yeah.)

On Saturday evening, some of our students and the folks we worked with over the summer wanted to go to dinner.  Brittney decided we would go to Fromaggio's, an Italian place.  We thought it was, like, a nice Italian place.  It was a pizza joint. We sat on an indoor patio with fake leaves and even faker bricks.  The food? SO good.  I had a spinach and mushroom calzone. We spent a couple of hours laughing and remembering funny times from the summer and catching up on each other's lives.

 

Me, Katy, Brittney

Last night, we took a couple of our students in for auditions with companies we knew, then gathered on the hotel's veranda (ha ha, we're in the south, we have verandas) for more socializing.  It was a really great time and I'm so proud of our students.  My favorite thing about the weekend was sitting down with the kids from my class and talking about their interviews and helping them figure out how to choose which job offers to consider and how to negotiate for what they need.  You have no idea how much it thrills me when they tell me things like "I asked what their company's mission statement was so I could get a better idea of what they were all about." Or "We talked a lot about their target audience and the demographics of their location."Those are all things I have taught them and the fact that they are putting their lessons to practical use gives me a huge sense of accomplishment.   On the flip side, it's so much fun to see old friends and fall back into your usual old patterns and conversations, even when you haven't seen some of them in 8 years.  Mary Fran and I are still as goofy as ever.  Bethe and I can still make each other howl with laughter.  And Marcus and I were reminded of a time 10 years ago, at our first SETC together, when we were just starting out, like our students.  It reminded us how far we've come and how hard we worked to be here.  At the end of the night, we allowed ourselves a small pat on the back for sticking with this crazy thing called theatre that we love so much, for investing our time and care in our students like our teachers and mentors once invested in us and for growing up to be happy with our lives and our jobs.

 

Marcus at our recruitment booth.

 

Evy and Dean playing.

 

Mary Fran and me plotting to take over the world...or at least to make it a little more organized.

 

Zach, who is one of our students and who also worked with us at TWV last year.  He looks like he could be our child.  We call him our "older son."