The Prodigal Blogger Returns
It's been WAY too long since I've checked in on LJ (although, to be fair, I was "unplugged" for about a week while we were on vacation in MI; I didn't even bother to pack my laptop) and it's been even longer since I've posted anything. So let's fix that, shall we?
Will-ness: OK, it's time to 'fess up. I've done a lousy job staying on target and I completely let myself go while we were on vacation. I now weigh 170 pounds (give or take a few ounces), which means I need to lose a minimum of 2.2 pounds per week for the rest of the year to make my final goal. This is still a fairly healthy rate for losing weight and not an entirely impossible feat to accomplish, although I am a little upset with myself for making this harder than it had to be. When I started out I was on target to reach my end goal by Thanksgiving. Now I'm going to be scrambling to make my goal by New Year's and I won't have any room to cheat during the holidays. I did this to myself, however, and now it's time to buckle down and do what I said I would do, which is lose 50 pounds by the end of the calendar year. I owe it to Optimist Theatre, to my Sponsors, and ultimately to myself, to not back down from this significant goal. If When I reach my ultimate weight goal, I will officially no longer be "clinically obese," which is a huge step for me in reclaiming my health. I can't shirk away from that; I need to do this. So it's back to limiting and examining every bite of food I put in my mouth and ramping up the exercise to as close to daily as I can get. I started off today with a 155 calorie breakfast and a half hour of Spinning, so here's to getting back on the wagon - and staying there!
Faire: Wow, what a season! First of all, I must have been particularly hard to find on the Street this year because I had a number of people come up to me and ask me where I've been all summer and why I haven't been around this season, etc. I did take Sundays off this year, and I did not perform at all the 3rd Weekend because I was in KY, but I guarantee I was there for all the other Saturdays and spent very little time backstage overall, so I have no good explanation as to why I was so hard to find. It's not like I'm dressed in camouflage out there or anything.
2011 was a season full up extremely wonderful moments and extremely unpleasant moments. I had some of the best audience interactions I've ever had during this season. I've exchanged Letterbox Stamps, given out Spankings and Buttons, sung dozens of new songs for appreciative audiences, participated in some fantastic Wenchings, and even gave my Muffin to the Queen! (And yes, there really was an actual edible blueberry muffin involved - I'm not THAT kind of performer, you know!) Behind the scenes, though, there was a lot of unexplained turnover which made our work situation very uncertain and somewhat uncomfortable. Of course, it can be argued that it really shouldn't have affected me at all because none of the individuals involved directly impacted my ability to perform my character. But I was affected. People I liked and admired were suddenly gone without adequate explanation. It left me wondering what new change I would have to suddenly adjust to every day I walked on site. Who might be missing from my world without warning, without being given a chance to say goodbye? And how easily could something I do or say get me ejected into the realm of persona non grata, without warning or chance for rebuttle? It was not an easy atmosphere to work in this season. Fortunately, the patrons helped me to push all of that aside and do what I do best: focus on them and let them know that they are the most important entities on the planet and that they deserve to be loved, admired, and appreciated. So that is what I will choose to take away from this season - a marvelous audience who reminded me every day why I wanted to do this in the first place.
Certifiable!: Last night I received my certificate for completing the Parish Liturgy Program from the Office for Divine Worship. This was a 2 year program, culminating in a Final Project, much like a graduate thesis, which had to be formally presented and had to have a practical application in our home parish. Halfway through my classes, the ODW had some major personnel changes, so my final semester was delayed by half a year. The location of the classes was changed twice before I finally completed the course, and the commute was always at least an hour away from home. But it was all worth it. I learned so much and I feel so much more confident doing what I'm doing at the church because I have all this knowledge and experience to guide me that I never had before. I'll miss my friends from PLP, but hopefully we'll have some opportunities to get together and stay in touch.
Back in July, I auditioned for the Basic Cantor Certificate at the national convention in Louisville, KY for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. I passed with high marks and got my certificate via snail mail about a month ago. So now I'm officially certified to plan and perform liturgy and to cantor the Mass. Not sure where I'll go from here with my career/ministerial development, but for now I'm feeling very accomplished.
Home & Garden: Yet another set of projects that has clearly gotten away from me. Just trying to keep on top of the laundry is an almost insurmountable task. The garden is doing fairly well, although it is completely full of weeds and looks just awful. We've got lots of tomatoes now, so I guess we better start canning soon. We've got some cucmbers and some squash, the cabbage is still a little small, the peppers haven't yielded much this season, and the melons are too little and too late. Next year I won't bother with the melons and just plant pumpkins instead. The tomatillos aren't ready yet, but we'll have a fantastic harvest when they're ripe - assuming we won't get a hard frost before then. I have a lot of maintenance to do in the yard, particularly in creating new beds for us to plant in next year. I've been pulling weeds and then putting down wet cardboard, wet paper grocery bags, and mulch to smother any weeds that might try to come up again. So far, this technique has been fairly effective and has at least decreased the amount of weeding needed in those areas I've already prepared. Next year, we can add plants and the composted cardboard and paper will act as fertilizer for the new transplants. I'll have to replace the weed-block layers after I put in the new plants since the weeds will likely reemerge once the cardboard/paper layer has broken down, but it certainly seems to be a good way of controlling weeds organically and it doesn't cost much since cardboard and paper grocery bags are readily available for virtually no money. (Of course, you generally have to spend money on something else in order to get the packaging, but we intended to buy food anyhow, so it all works out.)
Great strides have been made inside the house to get us organized, but we're still a long way from being able to invite people over for a party. We're still lacking places for people to sit because we've got stuff piled everywhere pending new homes. As soon as we get the stuff put away somewhere, something else tends to take its place. It's the Curse of the Empty Surface - it just never stays empty. But we're definitely closer and as soon as we get the place in order, we'll probably host a big Game Day or something to get all of our friends over to see the place and hang out. But first we have to find a place for all the stuff. The kitchen is the hardest; this kitchen is the absolute smallest kitchen that isn't in an apartment that you have ever seen. We need about twice as many cabinets as we have in order to fit everything. We've decided that we will establish a "butler's pantry" at the bottom of the basement steps to store all the extra stuff, but that has meant long hours rearranging the basement so that such a space can be established. It's been 3 and a half years since we've moved in, though, and we still haven't had anyone over because the place is such a disaster, so we are extra-motivated to get this place into shape so we can stop being social hermits.
That's all for now. I have to get into work so I can print some worship aids for tomorrow's funeral. And I need to change over the binders for the LIFE Teen Mass this weekend. And we need to have lunch. And I have a piano lesson to practice for. And we have choir rehearsal tonight. And...
Will-ness: OK, it's time to 'fess up. I've done a lousy job staying on target and I completely let myself go while we were on vacation. I now weigh 170 pounds (give or take a few ounces), which means I need to lose a minimum of 2.2 pounds per week for the rest of the year to make my final goal. This is still a fairly healthy rate for losing weight and not an entirely impossible feat to accomplish, although I am a little upset with myself for making this harder than it had to be. When I started out I was on target to reach my end goal by Thanksgiving. Now I'm going to be scrambling to make my goal by New Year's and I won't have any room to cheat during the holidays. I did this to myself, however, and now it's time to buckle down and do what I said I would do, which is lose 50 pounds by the end of the calendar year. I owe it to Optimist Theatre, to my Sponsors, and ultimately to myself, to not back down from this significant goal. If When I reach my ultimate weight goal, I will officially no longer be "clinically obese," which is a huge step for me in reclaiming my health. I can't shirk away from that; I need to do this. So it's back to limiting and examining every bite of food I put in my mouth and ramping up the exercise to as close to daily as I can get. I started off today with a 155 calorie breakfast and a half hour of Spinning, so here's to getting back on the wagon - and staying there!
Faire: Wow, what a season! First of all, I must have been particularly hard to find on the Street this year because I had a number of people come up to me and ask me where I've been all summer and why I haven't been around this season, etc. I did take Sundays off this year, and I did not perform at all the 3rd Weekend because I was in KY, but I guarantee I was there for all the other Saturdays and spent very little time backstage overall, so I have no good explanation as to why I was so hard to find. It's not like I'm dressed in camouflage out there or anything.
2011 was a season full up extremely wonderful moments and extremely unpleasant moments. I had some of the best audience interactions I've ever had during this season. I've exchanged Letterbox Stamps, given out Spankings and Buttons, sung dozens of new songs for appreciative audiences, participated in some fantastic Wenchings, and even gave my Muffin to the Queen! (And yes, there really was an actual edible blueberry muffin involved - I'm not THAT kind of performer, you know!) Behind the scenes, though, there was a lot of unexplained turnover which made our work situation very uncertain and somewhat uncomfortable. Of course, it can be argued that it really shouldn't have affected me at all because none of the individuals involved directly impacted my ability to perform my character. But I was affected. People I liked and admired were suddenly gone without adequate explanation. It left me wondering what new change I would have to suddenly adjust to every day I walked on site. Who might be missing from my world without warning, without being given a chance to say goodbye? And how easily could something I do or say get me ejected into the realm of persona non grata, without warning or chance for rebuttle? It was not an easy atmosphere to work in this season. Fortunately, the patrons helped me to push all of that aside and do what I do best: focus on them and let them know that they are the most important entities on the planet and that they deserve to be loved, admired, and appreciated. So that is what I will choose to take away from this season - a marvelous audience who reminded me every day why I wanted to do this in the first place.
Certifiable!: Last night I received my certificate for completing the Parish Liturgy Program from the Office for Divine Worship. This was a 2 year program, culminating in a Final Project, much like a graduate thesis, which had to be formally presented and had to have a practical application in our home parish. Halfway through my classes, the ODW had some major personnel changes, so my final semester was delayed by half a year. The location of the classes was changed twice before I finally completed the course, and the commute was always at least an hour away from home. But it was all worth it. I learned so much and I feel so much more confident doing what I'm doing at the church because I have all this knowledge and experience to guide me that I never had before. I'll miss my friends from PLP, but hopefully we'll have some opportunities to get together and stay in touch.
Back in July, I auditioned for the Basic Cantor Certificate at the national convention in Louisville, KY for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. I passed with high marks and got my certificate via snail mail about a month ago. So now I'm officially certified to plan and perform liturgy and to cantor the Mass. Not sure where I'll go from here with my career/ministerial development, but for now I'm feeling very accomplished.
Home & Garden: Yet another set of projects that has clearly gotten away from me. Just trying to keep on top of the laundry is an almost insurmountable task. The garden is doing fairly well, although it is completely full of weeds and looks just awful. We've got lots of tomatoes now, so I guess we better start canning soon. We've got some cucmbers and some squash, the cabbage is still a little small, the peppers haven't yielded much this season, and the melons are too little and too late. Next year I won't bother with the melons and just plant pumpkins instead. The tomatillos aren't ready yet, but we'll have a fantastic harvest when they're ripe - assuming we won't get a hard frost before then. I have a lot of maintenance to do in the yard, particularly in creating new beds for us to plant in next year. I've been pulling weeds and then putting down wet cardboard, wet paper grocery bags, and mulch to smother any weeds that might try to come up again. So far, this technique has been fairly effective and has at least decreased the amount of weeding needed in those areas I've already prepared. Next year, we can add plants and the composted cardboard and paper will act as fertilizer for the new transplants. I'll have to replace the weed-block layers after I put in the new plants since the weeds will likely reemerge once the cardboard/paper layer has broken down, but it certainly seems to be a good way of controlling weeds organically and it doesn't cost much since cardboard and paper grocery bags are readily available for virtually no money. (Of course, you generally have to spend money on something else in order to get the packaging, but we intended to buy food anyhow, so it all works out.)
Great strides have been made inside the house to get us organized, but we're still a long way from being able to invite people over for a party. We're still lacking places for people to sit because we've got stuff piled everywhere pending new homes. As soon as we get the stuff put away somewhere, something else tends to take its place. It's the Curse of the Empty Surface - it just never stays empty. But we're definitely closer and as soon as we get the place in order, we'll probably host a big Game Day or something to get all of our friends over to see the place and hang out. But first we have to find a place for all the stuff. The kitchen is the hardest; this kitchen is the absolute smallest kitchen that isn't in an apartment that you have ever seen. We need about twice as many cabinets as we have in order to fit everything. We've decided that we will establish a "butler's pantry" at the bottom of the basement steps to store all the extra stuff, but that has meant long hours rearranging the basement so that such a space can be established. It's been 3 and a half years since we've moved in, though, and we still haven't had anyone over because the place is such a disaster, so we are extra-motivated to get this place into shape so we can stop being social hermits.
That's all for now. I have to get into work so I can print some worship aids for tomorrow's funeral. And I need to change over the binders for the LIFE Teen Mass this weekend. And we need to have lunch. And I have a piano lesson to practice for. And we have choir rehearsal tonight. And...