A Little Bit of A Lot of Things
The firefly petunia was glowing mainly from the leaves and stems last night. I like when it does that :)
Jameson told me all about his haunted house adventures when he got home (around 2am, good GRIEF, he's a night owl for sure!) and said the Insidious house was amazing. Also that he didn't have to wait more than 50 minutes for any of the houses, meaning next time we need to make sure we don't book our trip on a holiday weekend. He and I were only able to see three haunted houses because of the crowds; by contrast he and his friends were able to see seven houses plus a stage show last night. Jealous!
Despite being awoken at 2am I was up at 8am for breakfast. It had rained hard last night so I took the opportunity to fertilize the bananas while the soil was still wet. They are looking good, though they may be ready to harvest while I'm on tour!
The second tree also has a banana flower now!! But I suspect it's coming too late in the year to bear fruit. We'll see.
The rest of the day was a day off. I hope that doesn't make me lazy.
I worked on Foodie Finds, watched anime, wrote a letter to my grandma, received a mute from a friend who's letting me borrow it, ate snacks, and generally WAS lazy. Working at the hat shop is not difficult, but it is 5-7 hours of standing and moving around and, well, WORK after all. For dinner I made us Dude Diet Cheeseburger Fusilli which we've enjoyed many times before.
Before bed I received onboarding paperwork for Elf. Once that's processed I'll get an official contract. Eeeeee!
Near the end of the onboarding paperwork was the question, "Is there anything else that you'd like tour management to know?"
I said, "I am willing to make and eat Buddy the Elf's Breakfast Spaghetti."
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Friday, I slept poorly again. Latent tension or anxiety I'm sure.
Jameson got his official offer and schedule for Jollywood Nights. The event is being extended an extra week this year which is great, more money for him and more enjoyment for guests.
I got my official Elf contract offer and payroll setup paperwork, and filled them out right away.
It's official. Looks like we both have our holiday gigs lined up!
Here are the cities for Elf on Tour. You can see dates and get tickets HERE.
The week of Thanksgiving Elf happens to be in Milwaukee, which is very close to Jameson's parents. He's hoping to fly up to visit, and then we can all be together and they can see the show. That would be awesome, I really hope it works out!
Then came the cringey task of letting Main Street Philharmonic and Candlelight know that I'm no longer available for Nov/Dec. I feel bad about it, but if all they're able to offer me is substitute work (as opposed to actual scheduled performance dates,) I'm sorry but I can't just wait around hoping for calls from Disney that may never come. Hopefully they can understand that.
And in October I will give two weeks notice at the hat shop. Thankfully none of those people follow or check my social media (to my knowledge) so I should be able to share the news online without serious consequences.
Anyway. Spent the morning filling out the paperwork and contract. Jameson went to the gym and for a haircut, and I went to the bagel shop and to Skechers for lightweight black sneakers for tour. I'd meant to practice but air-tromboned instead.
Today's hat:
I hadn't planned to wear another cloche, but the sun hat I'd picked out wasn't right.
It turned out to be a good choice because just a few minutes into my shift a woman walked in, saw my hat, and immediately lost her absolute mind over it! She not only bought the hat I was wearing, but also two more Kathy Jeanne hats and FOUR hat boxes, for a total sale of $600. I was the hero of the shift lol.
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Saturday, I received an email from the transcription job that I've been approved to start training!
I'm very nervous about it, especially with the tour coming up, but am going to plow ahead and do my best. I could certainly use the money and the new skills set.
Disney's Candlelight coordinator also got back to me, and said that if I want to remain on the call list despite my unavailability I need to attend at least one of the three overnight rehearsals. The only one I could possibly make would be on 11/25 because that's a travel day on the tour. And to make it I'd have to fly from Newark to Orlando, rehearse overnight from 6pm-3am, then basically go straight to the airport and fly to Milwaukee in time for the afternoon sound check and evening show. It's....a lot. I'll have to see if NETworks will be cool with it.
Things I did after breakfast: filled and sent transcription paperwork; practiced the 2nd act of Elf; dropped some pants off at the tailor for hemming; got wings and hot sauce for dinner. I'd meant to do more but the tailor took longer than expected. There's a lot to do before I go on tour such as cleaning, preparing my car for storage, prepping the plants for my absence, packing, learning the music of course, and gathering some Christmas presents in advance. Not to mention the hat shop, starting the transcription job, and maintaining my memorized Main Street Philharmonic music. There's plenty of time, but also two months can fly by quickly so I gotta stay on top of stuff.
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Sunday I had taken the day off from the hat shop because our friend Alan (a sound guy that we worked with on Ringling Bros) was doing a Queen tribute show in Melbourne and we wanted to meet up!
During the day I practiced my entire part for Elf, washed my trombone, and made us some air fryer bagels as a mid-meal snack.
We found the recipe on TikTok but it's pretty simple:
- Slice a bagel like you would a pie, in eight chunks/"slices", making sure NOT to cut all the way through the bottom.
- Fill the cuts with cream cheese of your choice.
- Brush with a butter glaze.
- Air fryer at 400°F/204°C for 8 minutes.
- Let cool a bit and enjoy!
Here's a plain bagel with garlic herb cream cheese and parmesan butter brush, before and after air frying.
(We also brushed it with butter again after I took this pic.)
And here's a cinnamon raisin bagel with honey cinnamon cream cheese and a cinnamon sugar butter brush.
Both were fantastic! Different than toasted bagels because they were more crisp on the outside, the cheese got crisped on the outside too, and the insides of the bagel were soft and saturated with liquid and flavor from the butter and cream cheese. This was super easy to do. I can think of many other great combos like chocolate chip bagel and strawberry cream cheese; blueberry bagel and lemon or strawberry cream cheese: cheddar jalapeno bagel with chipotle or BBQ cream cheese. Etc etc.
We drove the 1.5 hours to Melbourne and retrieved Alan for dinner at a burrito place together. He seems to be doing well, in fact has hardly changed at all since we last saw him seven years ago! I don't have a pic but Jameson took one (he's asleep as I type this) so may post one later. We got caught up on our doings. He's having fun with the Queen tour and says they're extremely popular in France.
After dinner he took us backstage to meet the Freddie Mercury impersonator, who turned out to be an older Scottish dude with a VERY thick accent and a fantastically crass sense of humor! He and Jameson yapped it up, swapping stories about the time they met Brian May or the time they've performed Queen's works. It was clear they'd hit it off, and later Alan sent the guy's contact info so they'll be able to geek out even more haha.
This was the tribute band's last show and it ended up being a great audience despite Melbourne having sort of an "older demographic." Lots of standing up to dance and cheer just like at a rock concert :) Jameson is a Queen superfan so I was worried he wouldn't like them, but he had loads of good things to say (some critiques, of course, but he said he was nitpicking.) I'm not a Queen superfan, but could tell that the impersonator had put LOADS of research and effort into emulating Freddie Mercury. He was very impressive, and the band sounded great.
Afterward it was load out for Alan, so we waited a bit while he packed his equipment and then went outside to hug goodbye. It was very cool of Alan to take us backstage, get us tickets to the show, and spend time with us! Glad we got to see him again :)
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I completely forgot to post this blog before the concert last night, so am speed-typing the last bits this morning.
Our pool solar heater broke last week, and the pool guys came to look at it this morning while Jameson was sleeping, and said they didn't have the right part (I swear he took and sent a picture of the exact part -_-) They'll try again next week.
Today: practice, starting transcription training, calling NETworks to see if I can go to that Disney rehearsal, making dinner, Jameson has a rehearsal for a Hooligans gig at Epcot.
Tuesday + Wednesday: Hat shop shifts. I'll also practice, and will probably have more transcription training.
Thursday: Another day off, not sure what will happen.
Jameson told me all about his haunted house adventures when he got home (around 2am, good GRIEF, he's a night owl for sure!) and said the Insidious house was amazing. Also that he didn't have to wait more than 50 minutes for any of the houses, meaning next time we need to make sure we don't book our trip on a holiday weekend. He and I were only able to see three haunted houses because of the crowds; by contrast he and his friends were able to see seven houses plus a stage show last night. Jealous!
Despite being awoken at 2am I was up at 8am for breakfast. It had rained hard last night so I took the opportunity to fertilize the bananas while the soil was still wet. They are looking good, though they may be ready to harvest while I'm on tour!
The second tree also has a banana flower now!! But I suspect it's coming too late in the year to bear fruit. We'll see.
The rest of the day was a day off. I hope that doesn't make me lazy.
I worked on Foodie Finds, watched anime, wrote a letter to my grandma, received a mute from a friend who's letting me borrow it, ate snacks, and generally WAS lazy. Working at the hat shop is not difficult, but it is 5-7 hours of standing and moving around and, well, WORK after all. For dinner I made us Dude Diet Cheeseburger Fusilli which we've enjoyed many times before.
Before bed I received onboarding paperwork for Elf. Once that's processed I'll get an official contract. Eeeeee!
Near the end of the onboarding paperwork was the question, "Is there anything else that you'd like tour management to know?"
I said, "I am willing to make and eat Buddy the Elf's Breakfast Spaghetti."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, I slept poorly again. Latent tension or anxiety I'm sure.
Jameson got his official offer and schedule for Jollywood Nights. The event is being extended an extra week this year which is great, more money for him and more enjoyment for guests.
I got my official Elf contract offer and payroll setup paperwork, and filled them out right away.
It's official. Looks like we both have our holiday gigs lined up!
Here are the cities for Elf on Tour. You can see dates and get tickets HERE.
The week of Thanksgiving Elf happens to be in Milwaukee, which is very close to Jameson's parents. He's hoping to fly up to visit, and then we can all be together and they can see the show. That would be awesome, I really hope it works out!
Then came the cringey task of letting Main Street Philharmonic and Candlelight know that I'm no longer available for Nov/Dec. I feel bad about it, but if all they're able to offer me is substitute work (as opposed to actual scheduled performance dates,) I'm sorry but I can't just wait around hoping for calls from Disney that may never come. Hopefully they can understand that.
And in October I will give two weeks notice at the hat shop. Thankfully none of those people follow or check my social media (to my knowledge) so I should be able to share the news online without serious consequences.
Anyway. Spent the morning filling out the paperwork and contract. Jameson went to the gym and for a haircut, and I went to the bagel shop and to Skechers for lightweight black sneakers for tour. I'd meant to practice but air-tromboned instead.
Today's hat:
I hadn't planned to wear another cloche, but the sun hat I'd picked out wasn't right.
It turned out to be a good choice because just a few minutes into my shift a woman walked in, saw my hat, and immediately lost her absolute mind over it! She not only bought the hat I was wearing, but also two more Kathy Jeanne hats and FOUR hat boxes, for a total sale of $600. I was the hero of the shift lol.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, I received an email from the transcription job that I've been approved to start training!
I'm very nervous about it, especially with the tour coming up, but am going to plow ahead and do my best. I could certainly use the money and the new skills set.
Disney's Candlelight coordinator also got back to me, and said that if I want to remain on the call list despite my unavailability I need to attend at least one of the three overnight rehearsals. The only one I could possibly make would be on 11/25 because that's a travel day on the tour. And to make it I'd have to fly from Newark to Orlando, rehearse overnight from 6pm-3am, then basically go straight to the airport and fly to Milwaukee in time for the afternoon sound check and evening show. It's....a lot. I'll have to see if NETworks will be cool with it.
Things I did after breakfast: filled and sent transcription paperwork; practiced the 2nd act of Elf; dropped some pants off at the tailor for hemming; got wings and hot sauce for dinner. I'd meant to do more but the tailor took longer than expected. There's a lot to do before I go on tour such as cleaning, preparing my car for storage, prepping the plants for my absence, packing, learning the music of course, and gathering some Christmas presents in advance. Not to mention the hat shop, starting the transcription job, and maintaining my memorized Main Street Philharmonic music. There's plenty of time, but also two months can fly by quickly so I gotta stay on top of stuff.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday I had taken the day off from the hat shop because our friend Alan (a sound guy that we worked with on Ringling Bros) was doing a Queen tribute show in Melbourne and we wanted to meet up!
During the day I practiced my entire part for Elf, washed my trombone, and made us some air fryer bagels as a mid-meal snack.
We found the recipe on TikTok but it's pretty simple:
- Slice a bagel like you would a pie, in eight chunks/"slices", making sure NOT to cut all the way through the bottom.
- Fill the cuts with cream cheese of your choice.
- Brush with a butter glaze.
- Air fryer at 400°F/204°C for 8 minutes.
- Let cool a bit and enjoy!
Here's a plain bagel with garlic herb cream cheese and parmesan butter brush, before and after air frying.
(We also brushed it with butter again after I took this pic.)
And here's a cinnamon raisin bagel with honey cinnamon cream cheese and a cinnamon sugar butter brush.
Both were fantastic! Different than toasted bagels because they were more crisp on the outside, the cheese got crisped on the outside too, and the insides of the bagel were soft and saturated with liquid and flavor from the butter and cream cheese. This was super easy to do. I can think of many other great combos like chocolate chip bagel and strawberry cream cheese; blueberry bagel and lemon or strawberry cream cheese: cheddar jalapeno bagel with chipotle or BBQ cream cheese. Etc etc.
We drove the 1.5 hours to Melbourne and retrieved Alan for dinner at a burrito place together. He seems to be doing well, in fact has hardly changed at all since we last saw him seven years ago! I don't have a pic but Jameson took one (he's asleep as I type this) so may post one later. We got caught up on our doings. He's having fun with the Queen tour and says they're extremely popular in France.
After dinner he took us backstage to meet the Freddie Mercury impersonator, who turned out to be an older Scottish dude with a VERY thick accent and a fantastically crass sense of humor! He and Jameson yapped it up, swapping stories about the time they met Brian May or the time they've performed Queen's works. It was clear they'd hit it off, and later Alan sent the guy's contact info so they'll be able to geek out even more haha.
This was the tribute band's last show and it ended up being a great audience despite Melbourne having sort of an "older demographic." Lots of standing up to dance and cheer just like at a rock concert :) Jameson is a Queen superfan so I was worried he wouldn't like them, but he had loads of good things to say (some critiques, of course, but he said he was nitpicking.) I'm not a Queen superfan, but could tell that the impersonator had put LOADS of research and effort into emulating Freddie Mercury. He was very impressive, and the band sounded great.
Afterward it was load out for Alan, so we waited a bit while he packed his equipment and then went outside to hug goodbye. It was very cool of Alan to take us backstage, get us tickets to the show, and spend time with us! Glad we got to see him again :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I completely forgot to post this blog before the concert last night, so am speed-typing the last bits this morning.
Our pool solar heater broke last week, and the pool guys came to look at it this morning while Jameson was sleeping, and said they didn't have the right part (I swear he took and sent a picture of the exact part -_-) They'll try again next week.
Today: practice, starting transcription training, calling NETworks to see if I can go to that Disney rehearsal, making dinner, Jameson has a rehearsal for a Hooligans gig at Epcot.
Tuesday + Wednesday: Hat shop shifts. I'll also practice, and will probably have more transcription training.
Thursday: Another day off, not sure what will happen.