Living in the Middle...

I just think it's the best way to go. Too extreme one way or another and you run the risk of being a bit of a wacko... This is not to say you should give in to everyone, but be reasonable.

Summer Daze.... well, almost...

I will miss the hour and forty five minutes I get every Monday, Wednesday and Friday when Gibson is in Fun Factory. Lately I use every minute of that time to get things done for Walterdale, my Fringe/Interplay show, family business and the like. I have learned to work fast! When I do that, work fast, then I can enjoy the afternoon with Gibson and do 'Mom-Stuff'. Today we picked up my nephew Braden from my Mom and Dad's house (my brother Paul and his son are in town for a visit) and went to the spray park, then the golden arches and then home to play in the back yard. Braden is so good with little kids and he and I had a nice chat at the park. We don't get to see him as often as my other nieces and nephews and he's a really interesting and nice kid so I am glad we got to do that. We are going to pick Oliver up from school and maybe see Night at the Smithsonian Museum tonight. It's a good thing.

My Dad is 70 (well, almost, we celebrated early...)

This weekend we surprised my Dad with a Dinner party to celebrate his turning 70 (he will be 70 by the end of this week, but we had the dinner on Saturday night). My sister and her husband flew in from Toronto Friday night, my older brother and his clan drove down from Fort McMurray Friday evening, and my youngest brother and his son drove up from North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Dad was not expecting any of them and I think he was pleasantly surprised. We had a nice family (and some close family friends) dinner on the Saturday evening at Gini's. Sunday morning we rounded off the weekend with a bit of brunch and gathering at Mom and Dad's. It was busy, jam-packed and accomplished the goal of the weekend. My older brother assembled a bit of a slide show for the dinner. He had a computer glitch and could not access any of the photos I sent him (from the last 6 years), but it came together well. We read stories from Dad's sisters and mother and people spontaneously shared stories as the pictures prompted one. It was a fun night.

Now I am tired... Feels like the last 3 weekends have left me longing for Monday. I am, like my father, getting old...

Pre School Party - Advice to Children's Entertainers...

Today was the big Pre-School party at the YMCA in Castledowns. We skipped it last year and I wish I could have gotten away with skipping it this year. It is funny. The YMCA does this as a big event, but I think most of the parents hate it. We would rather just a quiet little 'to do' as part of the regular class on the last day. The problem is, there are kids who go 1, 2, or 3 days and that means that any day of the week could be a 'last' day. So, they have a big party for ALL the pre-school kids. Crazy! It could have been worse. It was loud (which I can deal with) and unstructured (which I have a harder time with) and they had a children's performer... oh my. It was Peter Puffin, and he was okay, but there were a number of things that really were not handled well. About half of the parents totally abdicated any responsibility for their kids. This was the biggest problem and it aggravated all the others. So, when Peter Puffin asked for volunteers and he gave specific instructions (sit cross legged, with hands folded in your laps) BUT he didn't follow those rules for picking his child helpers. Parents did nothing about their kids jumping up, and Peter Puffin let them be the volunteers. Poor Gibson. He followed all the rules and he NEVER got picked. Some kids got picked 2 and 3 times because they jumped up or ran up, or waved their arm and yelled. It drove me nuts and after the 2nd or 3rd time it happened, I had a sobbing 4 year old because it was not fair (Gibson's words). He even asked once 'what about me?' and Peter Puffin said 'I'll get you later. There will be other times.', but he never did. So, when Gibson realized the concert was over and he was not given a turn to help he was distraught. He wanted nothing to do with Peter Puffin, and would not even give him a high 5 when we left. The kicker is that Peter Puffin didn't even realize that he snubbed this poor little kid.

Festival Accompli!

We wrapped up the Footlight Festival on Saturday. It went smoothly but I am glad that it is done. It was an exhausting two weeks (in addition to the Staged Readings, I worked FOH three times, participated in one of the Round Table Discussions and went to one of the Variety Nights - add to that a trip to Fort McMurray on one weekend and a wedding on the other and it all adds up!). I felt a little frustrated with the communication. It all worked out in the end, but I found it hard to shake the feeling that although I thought I was clear about what was being promised, that there were people not happy with what they were getting, and that the Festival was being manipulated to deliver more. A more open and honest conversation about what was wanted vs. what was happening would have been nicer, but perhaps there wasn't time for that, or perhaps in the middle of things people didn't have the ability to articulate things in an open way. Luckily, I had two phenomenal people in the booth, who were able to handle the last minute changes and roll with it and who were able to stay past the time they were called for. I know that it also impacted on the FOH, as some of them were also required to stay later than they had expected, but they rose to the occasion. I think that everyone left happy, and I hope that those who were accommodated recognized that there were many people to thank for it.

These last two weeks have been crazy!

I am off to A Grand Night For Singing (the ELOPE show) tonight. I worked Box Office on Tuesday and Thursday. I was at the Membership Round Table on Monday Night. That was coming off the trip to Fort McMurray and the Staged Readings on Sunday Night. Tomorrow I have Marissa and Kreg's wedding and the 2nd edition of the Staged Readings. I thought June would eases up but I am getting emails about meetings for contracts and Zachary and stuff! Plus I have some birthday parties and it never seems to quiet down.

I am up to 9 on the Waiting List for Fringe and potentially 6 by the end of the week. I feel closer but not close enough. I am going to propose the Interplay idea so the work is useful now.

One Down, one to go...

What a weekend. Could it have been any more jam packed? I doubt it. I headed to McMurray on Sat morning for the Mike and Lorie Eddy Retirement Bash. More on that in another post. Then back home to Edmonton on Sunday. A quick nap (45 min tops!) then off to the South side for supper with friends of Marks that I had never met before. Then dash to the theatre for the staged readings.



The event was sparsely attended, but those that were there were appreciative of what they saw and heard. Mr. Twiddles went off well, there were places that the pacing lagged, but not too bad overall. I think by the end they figured out with a reading you need to push it because you lack the business you'd normally have to keep the audience attentive.



Then we saw/heard The Burning Blood. What a great piece of theatre. Even though it was a reading, it was so very good. I wish I could write that well. Maybe someday if I am a very good girl. There is something about a reading, too, where you strip away all that clutter of set and movement and costumes and all that and you can just focus on the story and the voices. Your mind fills in all the images and you just go with it. The cast assembled all have rich voices and they attacked the script with passion. It was great. My big regret is that the Festival Schedule is so tight that we cannot hear the whole thing at it's second staging on Saturday. But, that being said, I am glad that they got the opportunity to 'do it all' at least this once and that I was there to hear it.