Slow Down.

So there I was, rockin' the running and the workouts, when...
A new shoe, worn too soon with bare feet, rubbed a great big hole in my left heel. No shoes with backs of any sort for a while.
A sore throat and general lassitude, together with our sudden heatwave has put a damper on the exercising for a while. I won't stop, though; I miss it way too much. But resting my sore foot and sleeping in again for a few days won't kill me, either.
My last contract is done, done, done! "Sparrows" closed yesterday afternoon, after a short but successful run at the Surrey Children's Festival. I'll really miss it, and the fact is that the rest of the summer (who am I kidding? The rest of my life, right now) is jobless, which is always scary. The downside of contract work. The upside is that it's only the end of May, but I already have this fabulous tan!

There are some wonderful things, though. We visited J's mother, who is, finally, properly on the mend from the heart surgery, and is a delight to behold: already thinner, fitter and more positive than I've ever seen her.
And although I'm usually the last person to know about, or enjoy, "indie rock", these guys caught my attention a few days ago and haven't let go. Honestly, go check out this video. It's the best summery, shimmery song I've heard in ages.

Dear Thighs,
I'm sorry we got to this point in our relationship. It's ironic that you're the ones who are suffering now, because I've never had any problem with your size and shape. (The Stomach, on the other hand, is definitely in my bad books.)
First, you felt the burn when I started running, lo these many years ago now. But I have to say, you adapted splendidly when I showed no sign of stopping, and now you only punish me when I run again for the first time after too many days of slug-itude. You've done incredibly well as I get into a new training regimen that just may culminate in my running 21 kilometres, if I survive.

But Thighs, this fitness Bootcamp thingy I've been doing this week? The 45-minute torture session of hops and lunges and sprints and pushups and the dreaded (and dreadfully named) Burpees? The sessions that leave you (and me) barely able to hobble up the stairs? Well, take comfort in the fact that it was practically a freebie, and there's no way I can justify the indulgence of regularly-priced bi-weekly sessions with this guy.
But be warned: I may take some of his lessons to heart and spring 'em on you when you least expect it. There's nothing wrong with my memory, although my legs may be barely functioning.

It's been a busy week. I've been wanting to post more, but life got in the way. Which it should. After all, when a talk on costume design has your boyfriend researching this , you might be inspired to suddenly buy this Art Deco floor model General Electric radio:
And then you may just want to sit around and take in its awesome beauty all day. (Nope, it doesn't work, which is how we were able to afford it. But it has all its parts, so we might get it fixed at some point. Or it will be turned into a giant iPod player. Or just a great big lamp stand, which is what it is now.)

And who has time to blog when the weather is so warm and sunny that you're running every day? (About 10 pounds lost so far, folks. booyah.)

And when you're opening this show tomorrow morning, life gets interesting. And fun.

And then you're heading off to here for a quick visit, and then back to town for more shows... well, that would keep anyone from the computer!

*mother-in-law is healing nicely post-surgery and Boyfriend has been a superstar; looking after her, driving to rehearsals and shows, and staying overnight with Mom so that everyone has better peace of mind. What a guy.

The Latest

Good stuff and not-so-good stuff, all rolling around in the mix, like always.

Good stuff:
The Redboot Quartet album is recorded, mixed and mastered! Or, as I should say, Liquor For Thieves is almost ready for sale. That's what we're calling it; don't ask what it means because we don't know, we just liked the phrase. And we all like liquor, so it seemed to fit. Two days, twelve tracks, 1 day to mix and master it. We managed to pull off a pretty skillful album in a tiny amount of time with very little rehearsal, and I'm particularly happy with my playing, which I think is some of the best I've ever done. It's a rush job, but I love the sound. Stay tuned for news on touring and the cd release party we're dying to have!

I'm drinking tons of water, losing weight, and eating my veggies and other low-carb things again. A recently rediscovered friend from highschool is my "buddy" in this, which has been helpful. Also running quite regularly, helped by the fantastic weather we've been having.

Not working a lot, which is financially worrying, but it's great to have some extra time to myself. Yesterday I was able to go for a run, then sit in the park just watching life go by (which I almost never do, and it's so relaxing), and then stroll all the way down the Drive. Very good for the soul, especially in light of the

Not-So-Good Stuff:
Seems to be the era of Worrying About Our Mothers. Our divorced, alone-in-the-world mothers. At least mine is incredibly healthy and active for her age; hell, for any age. And has a strong network of friends and some family. But she needs to find somewhere to live- to own somewhere, not rent- and I don't know what she'll be able to buy with her share of the proceeds once she splits them with her sister in the UK. Who co-owns her condo. And with whom my mother is no longer on speaking terms. What a tangled web. Why does she have to move? Long story. But she does.
And J's mom is recovering post-bypass, but is suffering from balance and memory loss. Which seems to be fairly common after heart surgery, if the internet is to be believed. The question being whether or not she'll bounce back (some do) or not (some don't) to her pre-surgery sharpness. It's starting to sink in that the road to recovery will be long and that J will shoulder almost all of the burden, as she has no other family here, and no friends, and although J's dad will help somewhat, he'll push her buttons almost more than he helps.
I'm trying to help; cooking meals to be frozen so that J and his mom can eat easily once she's out of hospital, visiting when I can. There's this selfish monster in me that's already crying "this isn't fair! What if things get worse? Is this the beginning of much harder times?" The problem is that we've been lucky so far, and have so few responsibilities, and now we have to man up and deal with this. I know there are so many heavier burdens, and I'm not proud of my selfishness, but it's there nonetheless.

As always it's a question of finding balance, looking for the sunlight through the clouds, and growing up a little bit. All around us these days are signs that time is speeding by so fast: friends' children are getting big, we watch Jim Carrey in a movie and marvel: "He's looking old!" A stepmother's ashes are scattered, a father mourns and a mother has an operation. The thing to cling to through this is that there is so much living left to do, and to see this all as a relentless downhill slide to the grave is silly. Now to put these good thoughts into action...

Today I learned what a wuss I am about hospitals.
Today we woke up at 6:20am because J's mom's open heart surgery got bumped up to 9am. She didn't even know she was getting surgery until 2 days ago. She went into the hospital for exploratory surgery, and-surprise!- when she comes out of the OR today she will have had a triple or quadruple bypass instead. These guys don't mess around.
This morning we sat with her for 2 hours until they loaded her onto a gurney and moved her into pre-op. Where I got to meet the surgeon who'll hopefully make her life a lot better. (He was younger than J, clutching his morning Tim Horton's coffee as he said hello.)
Everyone was friendly, sympathetic and competent. I have every faith that they will do stellar work on her. But watching her get wheeled away, looking so much like her son, my heart (luckily so strong and healthy) skipped a beat. I know I've said this before, but I've been so lucky, and my family has been so healthy, that hospitals are almost an unknown world (which is weird, because my brother works in one. But you just don't drop into the Adult Psych ward for a casual visit.)
Here's hoping we won't get to know hospitals any better in the next little while. And that my mom-in-law gets out of this one ASAP.

Spring Cleaning 2

I guess I had a post called Spring Cleaning last year, because as soon as I started typing that into the Title bar, the words popped up! Not an uncommon title this time of year...

Here I sit, smelling not unpleasantly of Heat Rub (as if someone had spilled Wintergreen toothpaste all over my legs) and basking in a glow of accomplishment. It has been a couple of weeks of rest, self-examination and growth since I got back from touring: hammering out new terms and new goals, both alone and with J. Sometimes examining your life under a microscope is not easy, but usually the end results are worth it. I can honestly say that I am happier right now than I have been in a long time.

And... best yet, I did my first Vancouver Sun Run today, and finished one hour, two minutes and seventeen seconds after I (finally) passed the start line! Having my brother running at about the same speed really kept my competitive fires burning. I surprised both him, and myself!

Must go and shower before rehearsal.

The Tour: better late than never...

Things about touring:

You will feel like this at first. Especially if your first venue is the Chilliwack Humdinger RV Show. You may wonder what you've gotten yourself into. Three 30-minute shows a day for people who, well, buy RVs.

2) You will eat a lot of food and most of it will be bad for you. This is a side effect of being in a van with 4 energetic man-boys who are over 10 years younger than you and metabolize way faster than you ever did. Skittles, 7-11 Taquitos, chips, Mike 'n Ikes', burgers as big as your head...


3) Your view a lot of the time will be this:

Five people in a large white van; each staking out their own nest within. You will buy fuzzy slippers and a blankey for the long drives. A power adaptor that plugs into the cigarette lighter so that you can use your laptop whenever. You will bring and buy movies but never use them because you don't want to miss any of the jokes and conversation floating around you. Why touring with boys is good: silly in-jokes, lots of laughs, adaptability, Meat Loaf on the iPod, random goofiness. Why touring with boys is bad: sweaty foot smell, nonstop junk food, messiness, FARTING!!!

4) You get to curl your hair EVERY DAY!!! And wear a fake hairpiece!!! Green eyeshadow!!! FEATHERS!!! You haven't felt this girly since grad.

5) The world narrows to a sharp, small focus: Hotel, Van, Theatre/Community Arts Centre/Legion/wherever you're performing that night, trailer (to unload and load all the gear and costumes), backstage, Van, Hotel.


6) You are reminded anew what an amazing place you live in. Even in the dead of winter there is beauty. And history. You'll see mountains, moose, snow, rivers,


7) And best of all, there are new friends to be had, good shows performed and hundreds of kilometres travelled.

Big thanks to Richard & Amy of Theatre Royal in Barkerville, BC for being great bosses/fellow cast-members. And to Aaron, Elliott, Thomas and Marcello for being awesome van-buddies, cast-members and new friends. My earlier post was totally wrong: I spent almost no time alone on this tour and I had tons of fun!