May 29–June 4, 2011

No softball this week as it was Memorial Day weekend.  However, I got a chance of a lifetime.  A few days earlier, my friend Sandy, asked if I wanted to join her for the Prince concert as the person she’d bought the tickets with could no longer attend.  I couldn’t say no to Prince!  He’s a legend and so very talented!  She had to work earlier in the afternoon so I met her at Disneyland and then we headed to the Great Western Forum in LA for an evening of incredible music! 

After some interesting people watching in line we were let into the arena.  We grabbed some food and headed to our seats – and they were some amazing seats – on the floor, eye level to the stage (which was a raised platform in the shape of Prince’s symbol).  The show was scheduled to begin at 7:30; well, the opening act didn’t even take the floor (actually they performed in the tunnel opening at the entrance level – very strange) until almost 9pm.  They did a quick 3 numbers and then we waited another brief amount of time before Prince took the stage.  He did not disappoint!  It was quintessential Prince – the outrageous clothes, the heels (oh the shoes – first gold pumps and then knee high fuzzy wedge boots with lights in the heel), and the awesome music!  He played all the classics and then some.  Overall he played until after midnight – 4 encores, and we think the 4th was unplanned – the crowd just wouldn’t leave so everyone came back out and just jammed for another 10 minutes or so.  An amazing night – I’m so glad I got to share it with Sandy!

Monday (Memorial Day) was closing night for Join Jack’s Crew.  It was bittersweet – I understood the reasons for closing but am going to miss everything about the show: the cast, crew and laughs we shared.  I was Entertainment 1 that day but spent all of my time with the pirates.  I helped set up the tables & chairs for our potluck, got the food organized, and then enjoyed & shared stories with my amazing group!  We took a cast photo before the first show of the evening.  And since I called the first two shows, I thought it fitting to call the last two shows.  I so much didn’t want it to end that I let the opening improv banter go on an extra 5 minutes for starting the “show”.  I was just having to much fun and laughing too much to make it stop!  Needless to say, all great things must come to an end.  I will, however, always hold a special place in my heart for my pirates on Join Jack’s Crew!

Here’s Kevin hanging with his buddies ready for 3D…Waiting for the daily goat parade…Yeah! The goats are here…The men (and women) in black, otherwise known as my awesome Crew!!!Some of the creative and production staff with a few out of dress pirates…More food being enjoyed by the cast & crew…Catching up and sharing stories…Ralph & Traci – he missed the cast photo but I captured him here!Traci & Knuckles – he’s a funny guy…Glenn, Sharon and Furgus…Crow’s Nest & Knuckles (leashed!)…You can climb a gate but can’t escape!

Keeping the spirit of busy going, on Wednesday, it was time for the next production in our season line up at OCPAC (SCFTA) – Burn the Floor.  I met up with Sarah beforehand for dinner at Claim Jumper.  We ordered the same meal and enjoyed lovely conversation.  And for a change, we even splurged on dessert.  We then walked over to the theater to meet up with Karen & Jamie.  The show is an amazing ballroom dance concert with 2 live singers and a cast full of talented dancers.  And my sister got all excited when she realized two of her So You Think You Can Dance stars were in the show!  After the show, Sarah and I ended up chatting at our cars for another couple of hours.  It was a great night out!

The rest of the week was a typical work week – time spent on The Magic, the Memories, and You! and Magical fireworks and Grad Nite.  Nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary to report on this week.  

Apr 17–Apr 23, 2011

I finally got to play my first softball game with Fantastical – the coed Disney team I play with in the spring!  It was four weeks in the making and it was epic.  We lost, but it was a close game.  I played second base & got beat up – took a couple of line drives/hard hit grounders off my body.  I made a couple of plays, even almost turned a double play!  I went 2 for 4 at the plate – not my best night but not my worst.  I just need to work on not hitting the ball right at the opposing players.  We don’t play again for two weeks, due to the Easter holiday, so I get a bit for my bruises to heal :)  I can’t wait for our next game. 

Monday was Shane’s actual 5th birthday.  I headed down to the house for dinner, gifts, and cake.  We enjoyed a lovely BBQ and conversation before Shane wanted to open his gifts and eat some cake.  I got the huge Batman fan a Batman action figure with some accessories.  Here are a couple of photos from his party on Saturday and the family celebration on his birthday.

The rest of the week was filled with work – all kinds of it.  I had a couple of fireworks shifts, a Pirate shift, and a Grad Nite prep shift.  I very much enjoyed my one day with my Join Jack’s Crew this week.  There is just something about the pirates and the shift that is just plain fun.  Yes, we have plenty of things to do and make sure happen, but we sure have a great time doing it!  I just wish I had more of these shifts.  After all, this is a temporary gig – only through Memorial Day – and after May 1st we are back to weekends only. 

Also this week, I finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!  I am so loving re-reading the series.  There are so many details I’d forgotten about and it’s just plain fun sharing his adventures again.  I’ve jumped right in to Order of the Phoenix now.  It only gets better and better from here! 

Even though we still have several shows left in our season subscription for SCFTA (formerly OCPAC), it was time to renew for the 2011-2012 season.  Since my sister is moving out of state and her best friend is having a baby, I invited 2 new girlfriends the seats.  It’s not the best season ever but there are a couple of shows worth seeing – Les Miserables being the one I’m most looking forward to seeing.  I haven’t seen it in many, many years.  And keeping my seats through an okay season will allow me to renew again for a hopefully better season for 2012-2013!

My sister has been touting How I Met Your Mother as an amazing show for years and trying to get me to watch it.  She enjoys it so much I started buying the season DVDs for her on various holidays & birthdays.  Well, I finally borrowed season 1 from her and watched the first disc.  It is quite a funny show.  I’m going to have to catch up on all the seasons she has on DVD before she moves away now!

12 on 12 April 2011

Today was full of the mundane and the exciting.  For the second month in a row, my 12 day fell on a day off.  So I’ve now done two months at work and two months off.  I can’t decide which I like better.  Each give a different glimpse into my daily life. 

My day off started like many often do – chores.  Firstly, I was overdue to change my bed sheets.  Mundane, I know, but I warned you!  Since the weather is starting to get a bit warmer on a more regular basis, I decided to mix it up a little & change my comforter to my quilt.  So the whole bed set is a bit contrasting in colors but I figure who sees it but me (and now those who actually read this)! 

Next up was another chore which was way overdue, even more so than my sheets – coloring my hair.  And trust me, it’s a chore when you have to do it yourself.  First you’ll see how overdue I was – good & bad, the picture doesn’t truly show how gray I actually am (though it’s close)! And now my product of choice – Garnier Nutrisse #53 Golden Medium Brown aka Chestnut.  I found this color about 3 years ago and really like it!

And here are the lovely chemicals in my hair!

While my hair was ‘setting’ I headed out to the front room, turned on the light, and ‘poof’ – out it goes.  This is the second light bulb I’ve had to change on a 12 day!  If it happens again next month, I’ll know something’s going on for sure.

Then I decided to start some laundry – more mundane, it’s true, but the exciting is coming later, promise!  I will say I love having my own washer/dryer in my house!  So convenient and money saving, I don’t miss paying for laundry one bit.

After the laundry was going, it was time to catch up on my blog.  I was a couple of weeks behind.  During the tech for Join Jack’s Crew I fell behind and have been slowly catching up.  I also had some music playing from my iTunes library (which is over 3000 songs and not even my entire music collection – how did that happen?).

Then it was time to get the hair color chemicals out.  I will say, this brand is quite lovely on my hair – my hair always comes out soft and luxurious, almost salon like (but not totally).  Here is the finished look, natural highlights where the gray would be located.

Ok, I promised exciting, so now we’ve reached it.  My dad had received tickets from a friend for Rain-A Tribute to the Beatles playing at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles.  So we had Father/Daughter date; he met me at my house to start our evening.  [Side note – the last time we had a night out together, he got a traffic ticket; this night, he managed to rear end someone.  My mother is threatening to not let us hang out again!]  We spent our 80 minutes on the road to go 40 miles and enjoyed some great conversation.  I even learned some things I hadn’t known before – my dad went to an Elvis concert (with his ex-wife) and took my mom on a date to see Johnny Cash!  How did I not know this before?  P.S. – he took my mom on some great dates!  No wonder she fell for him!

We took some pictures in the lobby of the Pantages.  It is a beautiful theater.  If it weren’t so far away (and more expensive than OCPAC) I’d definitely see more shows there – I love it!  The show was great – it was opening night so the energy was up and rockin!  Rain is a tribute band and the show is more a concert than a show.  They do incorporate some clips but mostly it’s them playing and singing live.  But you can’t go wrong with the Beatles!  I seem to forget how much I enjoy them until I hear their songs again.

Once again, it was a busy day for me but it keeps me out of trouble, and keeps my 12 on 12 days interesting! ;)

Mar 6–Mar 12, 2011

Another week in the books – I can’t believe it’s already mid-March.  I could swear I was just celebrating Christmas and the New Year!  As I grow older, time seems to move faster and faster.  Time slips away from me – living, working, playing.  And this week I experienced a very nice balance of work and life.

As always, work was busy this week.  I originally had taken an overdue holiday so I could have 3 days off but that was not to be for me.  Due to extenuating circumstances, I had to “bank” my holiday again (for use at a later time) and work the entire 5 day work week.  However, it was a lovely and varied week of work.  On Tuesday, I made sure James made a ‘guest’ appearance in my new show.  Several of his friends came out to see it.  It was a really moving moment and a lovely tribute to our friend.  I will always carry that memory with me.

In addition to MMY this week, I also got to ‘refresh’ on Disney Channel Rocks and Disney Dance Crew in preparation for my scheduled shift on Sunday.  I loved being back on the Pier and in the Backlot!  As much as I love my current Disneyland status, I miss my DCA shows – the cast, the crew, the shows themselves.  Hopefully I won’t have to go another 2 months before getting to make another guest appearance.  Speaking of being away – I also miss my Jedi cast & crew.  But this week, I had the opportunity to lead a meeting with half of the cast.  It was just a couple of hours but they are a great bunch too!  Starting at the end of the month, I will see a few of them on a more regular basis because I’ll be playing on the Jedi softball team again! Super excited!!!

For the life portion of my week… it was my little sister Karen’s birthday week!  One of the reason we bought the season tickets for OCPAC was because of Wicked.  And the fact it was playing the day  before her birthday was icing on the cake.  We made it a girl’s night out event.  Mom, Karen, Jamie (Karen’s BFF), and myself met for dinner at the Olive Garden before the show – Sarah joined us straight from work for the show.  After I got off work, I drove over & picked up Mom from her job.  Since we were early for dinner, we stopped at Costco and did a bit of shopping before heading to the restaurant.  Karen and Jamie got stuck in a bit of traffic but eventually made it to dinner.  We ate way to many breadsticks and had enough meal leftover for lunch the next day – yum!  And no matter how we plan to have enough time, we always seem to get the waiter who just disappears as we are ready to wrap things up and pay our check.  Ah well…best laid plans and all…

Then it was on to the show.  We made it with just enough time to purchase the requisite magnet and hit the ladies room before taking our seats.  This was the first show in the two years I’ve been a season ticket holder, in which there were no empty seats.  We usually sneak forward a few rows but we actually had to sit in our assigned seats for a change.  We enjoyed a lovely production of Wicked and Sarah & I knew two people in the company from their days at Disney!  Mom & Karen had never seen it and it was joy to share this experience with them.  Overall, it was a lovely celebration for the ‘small child’ :)

Saturday was also a very fun filled day – in short (because you’ll get to read all about it in my 12 on 12 post) I got hang with family, including cousin Barbara, shop a bit more for a sofa, and play at the Park in the afternoon/evening.  Needless to say, I was exhausted when I arrived home that night.  But before bed there was one last task to complete – changing all the clocks ahead 1 hour for Daylight Savings.  I am not a fan of ‘spring forward’ and losing that hour.  Alas, I got all but two clocks changed and hit the hay because the new week was going to start with a bang early the next morning!

Jan 30 - Feb 5, 2011

Looking back on my week, it was all about work again.  I really need to get a life.  Alas, it turned into another 6 day work week.  The proverbial "they" called me in to help cover for someone who called in sick yesterday.  Thankfully it was a pretty easy work week.  We were still working out bugs in the operational flow of the new show but overall I was pleased with everything.  I have such a great team that makes even the issues seem not as bad.  

I'm still on a late night schedule but am slowly working back to a "normal" schedule.  In the meantime, I am also adapting to this night schedule.  I do all my at home chores late after I get home from work.  The only trick is getting to the grocery store during operating hours.  Thankfully, my mid-week work schedule gets me off a bit earlier and can race over just before it closes (if I don't have to write a long, issue filled report at the end of the night!).  

My highlight of the week was the 2nd show of our season subscription to the recently renamed Segerstrom Center for the Arts (formerly Orange County Performing Arts Center) - Hair!  My sister Karen, her best friend Jamie, my friend Sarah, and I bought the season last summer but it didn't really get going until this show (we saw South Pacific last fall).  The next 4 shows fall within the next 5 months!  Karen, Jamie, and I went to dinner at Chili's before the show.  We love that place (2nd blog reference in 5 weeks kind of love though usually don't go that often).  Karen had a coupon for free chips and queso - can't go wrong there!  Other than a super slow waiter, we had a great time.  

At dinner before the show!  Jamie & Karen - BFFs!

The super slow waiter caused us to have less time to get to the theater than planned.  We hurried over (following all traffic rules!), parked, and had just crossed the street when a car drove by with the window down and a girl hollering out the window at us.  Turns out it was Karen & Jamie's other best friend Marissa!  She lives near the theater and was out and about.  Apparently she thought the girl on the corner looked like me and the girl next to me Karen and so on and then realized - wait - that can't be coincidence - it's got to be them.  Conveniently there was a bus turn out just ahead of her where she could pull over and we chatted for a bit.  Small world indeed.  

Before the show (L-R): Sarah, Me, Jamie, Karen

Of course, the brief conversation delayed us again so we very quickly hurried over to where Sarah was waiting for us just outside the theater.  Then the small world run-ins continued - Sarah and I ran into some co-workers as we were in line to go inside.  They had decided just that week to buy tickets.  After all that we made inside with a few minutes to spare - just enough time to use the restroom before the 80 minute first act.  Hair is not my favorite musical but this company and production was quite good and well done.  There were some annoying lighting choices (bright l.e.d.'s at the back of the house - a very large house, really?) and a really annoying family in front of us, both causing us to move forward a few rows at intermission.  So even though it wasn't our favorite show - it was a great time out with the ladies.  And our next show in the season is Wicked - the day before Karen's birthday!  What a fun way to celebrate her birthday!  We're going to get an extra ticket for Mom to join us as well.  I'm so looking forward to it!