Finster Finds

On Saturday I drive, I sit, I run, I ride, I run, I ride back, I sit, I drive, I drop one off, I drive, I drop the other off, the first one and I have a drink (non-alcoholic - he's only 8), and I drive home, then it's tidying up, supper and then some TV. On Sunday, I sleep in a little, I clean, I do laundry, I fix lunch, I clean more, more laundry, I nap if I am lucky, I fix supper, I do more laundry and probably run the dishwasher, I watch TV, I check my email (etc...) and then I go to bed. There might be a few other things in there, but I am fairly committed to this until Drama is done. I am not sure how long piano will run, but despite the running around, I quite like Saturdays now that I figured out how to only have one child with me at a time. It's like the fox, the chicken and the bag of corn riddle - how to get all three across the river... I know the answer now.

I made a difficult decision this morning. I have been thinking about it for awhile now, and after a few more things piled up I realized that it was time to act. I pulled From Something out of the ADFA Stage Struck! Festival. Back in the summer, when we were on the high of doing the show at Interplay and the Fringe it seemed like the right thing to do, but then when we approached the time the massive conflicts of our schedules made me very worried. It wasn't just the cast, it was me as well. I have a horrible schedule these next two months with Mark in Annie , Tight Rope in New Works , Auditions for From Cradle to Stage and the other things that I have to do for Walterdale (I still have to finish prepping for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ). Everything seemed to be converging and I was getting worried that we wouldn't be able to do the work we needed and that the actors would be stressed to learn the changes. As it was we only had 4 rehearsals. We needed more time. In

The illness in my house last week (mine and the kids) knocked me out of circulation and left me feeling behind in everything. Thankfully I had chunks of time in my very busy Saturday where I could read some of my scripts. The one thing about kid's classes is that while they are in the class you have to sit and wait for them, and reading is a very good thing to do to fill your time. I read Hosanna, The Rez Sisters and Lion in the Streets and I started The Tale of the Allergists Wife . Two were for homework, and 2 for consideration for Walterdale. Check! I still have many more to read, but I always bring one or two along with me wherever I go. I am trying to get on top of things this week and change the momentum of last week. Already I have coloured my hair (the blond was getting to me - too hard to maintain without the proper salon time and money), cleaned the upstairs bathroom, and I am doing a whole house garbage round-up. I also have 2 reference letters to write and I have an

Last week I was sick. It hit Mon Night/Tuesday Morning and hung on until Sunday. I still have remnants but I am functional. In fact, I was functional for most of the week because I had things on the go that I could not opt out of. This week it is a slightly different picture. I am at about 95% but both boys have a cold. This is worse than when I was sick. I will struggle through things when I am ill, but with both boys ill it basically creates a situation where I am stuck at home. Yesterday this wasn't so bad, because I had nothing on the go that was urgent. Today it is much worse, because I have class and an assignment due in class. I emailed and phoned my prof and sent the assignment via email in the hope that she will accept it. I was contemplating dragging the kids to campus with me, but frankly, at this point, I will take a loss on the assignment rather than do that. One kid - I could handle that trip; Two kids - no way. Normally I would have my Mom as back-up, but my parents

All this week I have had this *pain* in my throat. It was mild, and stronger in the morning and at night. Tuesday I thought I had defeated it with hot tea and honey but when I woke up Wednesday it was back. It was fine in the day and then around 9:30 p.m. it started coming back. This morning I woke up and went back to sleep because I was not well. I am still not well and my right shoulder is slightly seized. It feels connected. After Oliver got home from school, I fed the boys and then had a nap. I managed to sleep in until 10 a.m. and then nap for 2.5 hours in the afternoon and if it wasn't because I thought I should feed the boys more I would still be asleep. I have a busy weekend so I plan to get to bed early - hopefully I will be able to go to sleep - and pray for a healthier morning! Got the Donor Voted Show Event on Saturday Night. All Walterdale members are invited - doors open to the general membership at 7:00 p.m. The Donors are invited at 6:00 p.m. for a wine

Well, I checked out that FitDay Site that my sister recommended and I quite like it. I had to do some other research online about how many calories I should be eating (my initial impulse to say 1200 was far too low). It is puzzling, because I lack the knowledge about nutrition that I feel would help me do this really well, but I like the inputting on computer and the fact that it will make little graphs and track my calories and fat grams and protein and carbs and all that. It also forced me to look through the pantry for 'better choices'. A turkey burger vs. a beef burger was a great decision, and I can have many, many pickles before it has too much impact on the calories. I am still struggling to figure out what the balance between carbs, fat and protein should be, but this site tracks it all very well for me so if I don't have success, I can print it off and take it to someone who knows better. I also went on the treadmill again today. I only went for 27 minutes be

So, I got on the Treadmill today. No excuses, so I did it. It was a good hour with about 45 on the treadmill, and 15 of pushups, crunches and squats. It is a new beginning. Wish me luck on my continued comittment to fitness. I knwo I will never be skinny, but I have to do something now before my physical condition gets worse no matter how much I would rather be doing other things.

And I want to buy straight jackets. The classes went fine. Both boys seemed to enjoy their classes and when I only had one of them with me it was all good. It was the hour and a half in between the classes that drove me mad. We are wandering around Edmonton Centre Mall and neither kid can keep his hands to himself. They both were picking at each other and acting like 'those bratty kids' that everyone glares at. I am working on an elaborate plan for next week involving leaving one of them with Mark at the store and my getting the other using the LRT in between the classes. That would work, I think. I don't know. I was just so unimpressed with them. We might also spend the hour and a half at the Library. I could try that. There is enough there to occupy the both of them, as long as I can keep them from picking at each other. Gah! In good news... Anna, the lovely Annelle from Steel Magnolias, is one of Gibson's teachers and Amy from last year is one of Oliver&#

I had to get up this morning at 6 A.M. because I had to go to an interview on Global TV for Kompany! Family Theatre . They are having the competition again for this year's Fringe and they have added some other components to the New Works portion of their mandate, including readings of some of the other scripts. So they asked me, as last year's winner, to go to the interview with Jan Taylor and talk up the company and the competition. It went well, but it was an early morning for me. I watched the interview and realized how huge I am. I should watch that every morning - that will get me on the treadmill! Other than that, the interview went well and I think I sounded okay. After that I headed off to class where we had a lively discussion about what we all thought the Canadian Cultural Identity is. It was interesting. I am anxious, however, to dive into the plays!

Already there are some things in the works for this year, but I am going to try to control the shape of my year better. Last year was great, but there was a tumble, tumble to it because each project or commitment rolled into the next and I felt like I had no down time. Even when I had a few days off I felt guilty if I didn't work on things I knew were coming up and I want to avoid that this year. Wish me luck. My resolutions, if you want to call them that, as as follows: 1. Think carefully about what I commit to. I am avoiding taking much responsibility for the fact that it is my 25th High School Reunion (if we have one). I will help but I will not chair. Hopefully I will be able to attend, but I have some things on the table already for the summer so I can't be responsible for anything else. I also planned the first two. I was Chair for the 10th and heavily involved for the 20th (and the only one of the committee actually living in Fort McMurray so you know how that