PA Meeting for Starlight...
It's honestly NOT surprising that I haven't been able to keep up with my blogging this year. I wanted to, but we're just so damned busy -- and so damned tired when things are finally DONE each day...
Friday last (May 25) was our first day of the festival for 2012. I was so tired on that morning that I actually cried. But from fatigue, not frustration or anything else... I may have gotten things done okay on Thursday night, but it really killed me physically. Probably not the best way to be starting off our festival run, but whatever. I was over the tears quickly and on to other things.
The ceremony on Friday night -- plus the FIREWORKS -- went really well, in spite of a freakish downpour, with thunder and lightning! Marilyn and I were side-by-side for the best fireworks display of my life, in the most perfect spot, ever. I got tons of great shots -- and we were quickly sharing one of those at Facebook after the show ended...
Unfortunately there was a major IT issue on Friday night -- Carol's computer went completely out when Donn was working on it! We were convinced it was DEAD at one point, but Kris was there for the Friday event and came over and took her machine home to work on it...
I spent a mostly sleepless night Friday night, worrying over her equipment. Carol has additional items loaded on her machine -- which includes her software that runs her TICKETING hardware! There was a paid concert on Sunday night, and she needed to spend Saturday running off tickets...
Marilyn and I went in to work early Saturday morning and were there the entire day -- which was NOT what I'd planned. Donn and Denise came in with a brand new computer we bought in case we couldn't get her machine running at all. Kris was working away for HOURS on the original machine... I did my managing thing, along with other work that needed doing, while Marilyn plugged away at her stuff.
We launched our brand new App at the website on Friday, but it's been buggy as hell. I spent a lot of time trying to help Shannon with that...
By the time we left the office on Saturday we too tired to think of going to the Spirit Mountain party (long drive). Nor were we ready to try the drive to the beach house to stay over. We did start watching the movie "The Woman in Black," set in the Edwardian era -- with Daniel Radcliffe playing young solicitor Arthur Kipps and favorite Ciaran Hinds as wealthy landowner Sam Daily. (Marilyn and I love most of the film roles Ciaran appears in.)
It was so spooky (!!!) we had to turn it off without finishing it! But I have to highly recommend it if you haven't viewed it (we did finish it the next day). Really well done -- great period piece and so well scripted and acted. Really scary without any gore!
Sunday Marilyn and I worked, did errands and then finally did drive down to check on the beach house. We didn't stay all that long, but it was nice to be able to make sure things were good there before driving all the way home again...
We watched the end of "The Woman in Black" after we got home. Then Marilyn turned on the movie "Hemingway & Gellhorn," which was AMAZING. Again, I'd highly recommend this film with Nicole Kidman as Martha Gellhorn and Clive Owen as Ernest Hemingway. Hard to believe it was an HBO film! It may be the best work both of these actors has ever done -- and I'm not kidding!
Monday was Memorial Day. No rain and a fairly smooth March (though with some ridiculous glitches, that included going to a formation area where traffic still wasn't blocked off by noon!). As always, the Ceremony that Marilyn runs was wonderful -- and made me cry more than once. I did tear up during the March when several men did the bugle call to begin the whole thing -- very stirring! (In the past three years I've only had one man do that...) The March was huge this year -- and did end up with music (much of it due to Marilyn digging in a bin on Sunday night to find Americana music CDs to have units play). The OMTAAMB turned out with a sizable group at the last minute so that we did end up with one live band...
After all of it was done, we went over to the float maneuverability event, briefly, then home to collapse.
Marilyn had to head off early today to court judging. I stayed home, with the goal of sleeping. But we lost power early on, which was eerie, to say the least! (I now want to write a short story about losing electrical power...) It was maintenance and planned in advance, but I was glad I stayed home for it. When the power came up it was freaky here -- noises and so on!
Then Marilyn came home for me in the afternoon. I needed to go in and set up a profile for Devon, who I moved into the Intern space that used to be Kirstie's. (Long story about Kirstie, I'll skip it for now. But she's not there period this week -- and Devon is there full time, so...) Devon is like me -- a full time volunteer! Her dad used to be a board member and is a long-time friend. Anyway, she now has her own profile and computer and phone, which she has certainly earned!
Then I had my annual PA meeting for Starlight, which Ashley and I went to together. I run that meeting with Gordon from the Royal Rosarians -- but now at least Ashley's been to it and knows how it goes and what instructions I give...
After work was done for the day, Marilyn and I got Mexican food for dinner. Then we were again watching some of "Hemingway & Gellhorn" -- and dealing with our latest bout of flooding here at home. (sigh) Nothing as drastic as last year when the main broke. But that spot in Marilyn's bedroom is damp again -- and we've got an odd odor to deal with. We thought one of our cats had sprayed somewhere -- it has the decided smell of cat spray (!!!). But neither of them are reacting to it, so clearly it's caused by something else...
I did use a spray (Urine Gone) that we bought years ago for the smell -- and it seems to be helping. But we'll need to address the dampness yet again. We have had some intense rains here, so it's little wonder -- but extremely annoying.
I can't believe we have to deal with flooding again almost exactly a year later than the worst flooding of our lives!
Anyway, we're once again too busy to let it get us down all that much. Marilyn is sleeping as I type this. I'm heading to bed any second.
And that's me catching up! Sorry this is so long, but every day is so packed now that it seems like a week. Time is weird during the festival. I was talking today about Memorial Day like it had happened weeks ago...