One weekend down, one still to come! Admittedly, three days of shows in a row following a week of long rehearsals was challenging. By Sunday’s 4:20 showing, the cast was looking pretty rough. (The guy who plays Jack got hit in the eye with a garden hoe during the fight scene the night before; it was so swollen and discolored we had to cover it with an eye patch – needless to say, he was looking even rougher than the rest).
Reefer proved overwhelmingly popular. Thanks to word-of-mouth from the first full house, we played to a sold out audience Saturday night and another brimful one Sunday. Besides the one black eye, all three shows went off without too much in the way of hitches (although we’ve had more than a couple people bit it on the stairs coming off stage, just nothing visible to the crowd). Jesus finally got his flight on by Saturday night (although there were reports that if you sat in the front row your view of his descent was maybe a little TOO good). Myself, I forgot my mic once and really had to belt it for a scene, but that’s the worst (and by saying that I probably just insured some kind of onstage embarrassment during the last two shows…).
Now that months of rehearsal and performing are about to wrap, I’m already looking (out of necessity, mostly) toward the next big thing: namely, the move. But also, a minor detour we’ll be making in the midst of that move to be present at J’s little sister’s high school graduation.
In London.
I hadn’t expected to be able to join J on this little trip, due to cost and logistics (my current lack of passport? my lack of job? my dog??). But let’s just say the flight is no longer an issue, and now I just have to get that passport and find a babysitter or boarding kennel for the Gabe monster and off we’ll go. A little crazy to jump on a plane overseas in the middle of your out-of-state move? Perhaps. But when will I have the opportunity to visit a country I’ve been aching to see for years (ever since my sister and I hashed out a plan to study abroad and live in a little flat together that never came to fruition)? J’s parents live there, so we’ll have a place to stay, and his little sister knows the city back and forth. They’re all moving back to the States this summer, so it’s now or never.
It can be done. I intend to prove it.
But it will require more organization than I’ve possibly ever mustered in the past, some sacrifice (ok, a lot of sacrifice, but with a prize like that, giving up a few things will never have been easier) and the occasional glass of wine (Ahem… make that a PBR. We’re sacrificing, remember?).
The first steps? Drop some excess baggage (in the way of a futon, some clothing, CD’s and otherwise hock-able items) while creating some extra funds. Visit the post office to apply for my passport AND fill out change of address forms. Make dinner at home tonight, in what will be the first in a long series meals that will A) Spare the expense of dining out, and B) Possibly teach me how to cook something other than “Macaroni and Peas” or “Thai Stew Surprise” (my current, sad repertoire).
So we’re off and running… one adventure nipping on the heals of the last. But that’s life, and we run with it, and it’s that much better for it.
~a
Because sometimes that’s all that’s left (and there’s nothing wrong with that; a fine stimulant it is!). So excited about opening night that the endless string of days filled with too much work and too little sleep (but just enough fun to make it all worthwhile) can’t even hold me down.
My coworker just shared this gem with me…
I spent this past weekend in Cleveland visiting some of J’s good friends. One of these is a borderline Scrooge-y saver and another announced that she’d just (after three years) paid off the remaining balance on her credit card. Between the two, I suddenly felt painfully financially irresponsible (I am, but suddeny it stung more), and somehow, by the time we were making a rainy drive home, I had put my foot down. I would cut out needless spending! I would create a budget! I would stick to it! I would consolidate and pay off my $5,000 of credit card debt!!
If you’ve read the last post, you’ve probably caught that I’m about to chuck my salaried (granted a meager one), full-time job in order to attempt to make a life as a beach bum in Wilmington. Not that the whole goal is to laze around Wrightsville all day and be tan and worthless… but is it too much to ask to want to take up residence somewhere warm, quaint and close to the ocean without having to sell my soul to afford that lifestyle?
Having had a military upbringing, I was no stranger to relocating. In fact, the pack-up-and-start-anew became something not to loathe and dread, but to look forward to with an excited anticipation to rival Christmas morning. It became a way to bid a fond farewell to the problems I was experiencing in one locale and say hello to a chance to do it bigger and better in the next town or neighborhood.
