This Year is Our Year for Success!
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She started out wanting to be an actress. She majored in theater at Ole Miss University, concentrating on performance but also took a lot of courses in costume design. Her first job out of college was as a wardrobe tech for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is a well-respected year round regional theater. She worked there for almost 3 years, met her (now) husband there, and eventually decided to follow him to Los Angeles and try to get her foot in any door as an actress. She went on many, many auditions but never landed any significant roles. In the meantime, her roommate and friend from college helped her get daywork at some of the studios as an extra and she worked as a nanny. That job cemented her decision to never have children, lol! Eventually she got tired of the constant round of auditions and rejections, as well as the constant need to keep herself camera ready at all times, the maintenance on her hair and body, etc., and decided to go back to working as a wardrobe tech. She was hired by the LA Cirque de Soleil production and worked for them for about 2 years. In the meantime, her boyfriend had landed a significant role in a production of “Spring Awakening” with the Deaf West Theater. The production was very well received and the producers were invited to take it to Broadway for a limited run. The timing was fortuitous because he was tired of the LA scene and wanted to return to NYC (he was raised in New Jersey and went to NYU). He moved to New York and she followed a month or two later. She immediately found work as a wardrobe tech and has worked continuously in that field since. He has found some acting roles, but most of his time is spent in designing web pages, conducting tours of NYC sights, and most recently, painting watercolor pictures of people’s homes.
She’s been backstage at The Oscars, dressed performers for The Ellen Show, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and a few others I can’t recall at the moment. She’s met quite a few famous actors as well as politicians when they come backstage after performances. When my sister and I visited her a few years ago, we really enjoyed the backstage tour she gave us. It was so interesting to see the costumes up close, as well as the wigs. The wig maker was there and gave us a demonstration of how the wigs are custom made for the principal actors and how they are maintained between shows. Each actor has 3 identical wigs, plus the same for their understudies.
She was dressing the 3 principal ladies on The Lion King, but decided to try switching to TV and film work because that offers much better hours and almost double the pay. So far, she’s happy with the switch, but since the shows she was working on went on a 3-month hiatus, it allowed her to get back to her theater roots for awhile and keep her hand in there as well.
And in her spare time, she’s completing her on-line masters degree. She wants to write young adult fiction at some point. I’m beyond proud of what an amazing woman she has become. Oh, and she’s my namesake, so I feel especially proud to claim her!0 -
Her job sounds fascinating. I remember when you visited her in NYC a few years ago. My niece and her husband had similar career aspirations as they did. She was in a lot of college productions and hoped to continue acting. In CA. She went on a lot of auditions that didn’t pan out and ended up in fund raising and event planning for a number of years. She worked at the Disney Theater a few years and then moved to an events job at Mt Sinai Hospital. Her husband decided to go to law school and specialized in entertainment law. She worked to put him through law school and then they started their family and she’s a full time mom to a 10 year old girl. They’ ve made a nice life in L A.0
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Really interesting!
A world totally outside the realm of my experience. Neither I nor any relatives I'm aware of even acted in a high school play. LOL!
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We,ve been working on power washing our lanai. It was covered with a black dust since the storm. And the storm door and siding have black mildew. DH bought the power washer on Amazon a couple weeks ago. It’s battery operated which is good but the batteries run out fairly quickly. They’re rechargeable but a charge only lasts about half an hour. We got about half done and hopefully we can finish it up tomorrow. We have a friend coming down next week. He’s going to help DH rebuild the stairs which were damaged by the storm.0
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I can't believe we were ever this young. LOL!
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We,ve been working on power washing our lanai. It was covered with a black dust since the storm. And the storm door and siding have black mildew. DH bought the power washer on Amazon a couple weeks ago. It’s battery operated which is good but the batteries run out fairly quickly. They’re rechargeable but a charge only lasts about half an hour. We got about half done and hopefully we can finish it up tomorrow. We have a friend coming down next week. He’s going to help DH rebuild the stairs which were damaged by the storm.
Are you getting Amazon deliveries? Sounds like a step forward.0 -
Yes, Amazon, UPS and FedEx are all making deliveries. The Post Office has gotten a lot of negative feedback about island residents having to drive 20 miles to pick up mail. They’ve gotten the message and are working on setting up a trailer on island where we can get mail, buy stamps and send outgoing mail. It’s supposed to be ready by the end of the month. The place we go to now just has a couple of folding tables with a couple of employees sitting there. They check IDs and tell runners which addresses to fetch. They can easily do the same thing in a trailer. DH is happy that one of the island hardware stores has reopened. The other store was completely destroyed. It was connected to one of the grocery stores. They plan to rebuild but I’m sure that’s more than a year out.0
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I'm guessing that photo was early to mid 70's. I can't see if I had a wedding ring on.
NS now has a 55+ plan - I'm getting all these emails. LOL!0 -
Maryanne, I got lots of mail from NS about that plan, too. Their prices have gone up quite a bit. Not tempting for me, though I do need to lose weight.
Today was the baby shower, but I didn’t get to go. Yesterday DH woke me up at 6 AM asking me to take him to the ER because he was having severe abdominal pain. So I jumped out of bed and got dressed, then spent the day at the hospital with him. In the end, the diagnosis was severe constipation. Unfortunately, any pain meds they could give him would only have exacerbated the problem, so after several doses of milk of magnesia and other meds, he finally got relief early this morning, after being admitted. Once he was settled in a room I came home and got a few things together for him and went back and stayed until around 8 PM. He said he didn’t need me to stay with him so I came home and slept here. He was discharged this morning, but it was 11:30 by the time we got home and too late for me to make it to the shower. He’s fine now, but we will looking at making some dietary changes to get more fiber into his diet. He’s awfully fond of fried foods, so he will probably need to cut back on that, among other changes.
I’ll be seeing the grandmother to be next month, so I’ll take the baby gift to her then.0 -
I'm glad your husband was discharged. Good luck getting diet changes; I'm batting around zero.0
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Yesterday was another day spent in the ER, this time with MIL. She fell while getting dressed and cut her head. Since it was a scalp wound, it bled profusely, so the assisted living caregiver called for an ambulance, then called us. We met her in the ER and then spent several hours while she was checked out. They had a terrible time trying to draw blood, requiring multiple painful attempts before bringing in the ultrasound scanner to find a good vein. Once all the tests were complete, she was found to have a UTI, but no other issues. So an antibiotic was prescribed and some 7 hours later we were able to get her back to her home. What a day! It’s not a good sign when the ER front desk people greet you by name when you walk in the door.0
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We’re getting cold snap here. It probably doesn’t sound that cold to you though. It’s high 50s and overcast. We had mid 80s just a few days ago. And I have zero ambition today. DH has started pulling the front steps apart. He has to pile the debris at the curb. The city is doing free pick ups until February 20th. After that, we’d have to pay for pick up.0
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Yesterday was another day spent in the ER, this time with MIL. She fell while getting dressed and cut her head. Since it was a scalp wound, it bled profusely, so the assisted living caregiver called for an ambulance, then called us. We met her in the ER and then spent several hours while she was checked out. They had a terrible time trying to draw blood, requiring multiple painful attempts before bringing in the ultrasound scanner to find a good vein. Once all the tests were complete, she was found to have a UTI, but no other issues. So an antibiotic was prescribed and some 7 hours later we were able to get her back to her home. What a day! It’s not a good sign when the ER front desk people greet you by name when you walk in the door.
No that's probably not a good sign! But I'm glad she's okay at the end of the story.0 -
We’re getting cold snap here. It probably doesn’t sound that cold to you though. It’s high 50s and overcast. We had mid 80s just a few days ago. And I have zero ambition today. DH has started pulling the front steps apart. He has to pile the debris at the curb. The city is doing free pick ups until February 20th. After that, we’d have to pay for pick up.
We've been having a really mild winter so far. Not a single snowflake. DH insists on closing the cat porch when the night is predicted to be cold and so far this winter I think it's been closed 2 nights.0 -
I haven't been on the computer much. Our Jack took a turn for the worse at the end of the week and I came face to face with the dismal state of veterinary emergency medicine. Jack finally lost his battle yesterday morning at the regular vet (who was wonderful). I spent the day calling/emailing Jack's "fans". Everybody loved Jack. He had a multitude of physical problems so he saw a lot of specialists and his wonderful purrsonality combined with the fact that he donated a kidney to our late Gordy (most of the specialists have never met a donor cat) made him a HUGE hit. I have to get back to work today.0
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Maryanne, I’m so sorry to hear about Jack. I know your heart is hurting, but I hope you find comfort in knowing you did everything possible to give him a wonderful, loving home while he was with you. Hugs to you and your DH for your loss.0
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Thanks, Pam! This one his me hard. Partly because he was so beloved and partly, I confess, because it really hit home for me the current state of veterinary care.0
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I’m so sorry about Jack. He had a special place in your heart. How are the other cats taking the loss? As Pam said, you gave him a safe, happy home to enjoy so many years. You and DH were a blessing in Jack’s life.0
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I’m so sorry about Jack. He had a special place in your heart. How are the other cats taking the loss? As Pam said, you gave him a safe, happy home to enjoy so many years. You and DH were a blessing in Jack’s life.
I think Tuffy misses him. I found Tuffy lying on one of Jack's favorite spots yesterday. For the most part they are concentrating on avoiding Simon (the almost grown kitten).
This week I took Smokie, our little black girl, for a checkup at the internist. No sign her tumor is regrowing but he found an issue with her one ureter. So we'll be off to an (even more specialized) specialist to see if he thinks she needs a stent to permit urine to flow around some obstruction (which wasn't apparent on the ultrasound except in the effect).0 -
Maryanne, I think you watch the SW Florida eagle cam. Harriet, the mother, is missing. She was last seen a couple of days ago chasing off other eagles. She didn’t return to the nest. There are two eaglets in the nest and so far, the father eagle is taking care of the chicks alone. Everyone is hoping she’s okay and will return.0
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Maryanne, I think you watch the SW Florida eagle cam. Harriet, the mother, is missing. She was last seen a couple of days ago chasing off other eagles. She didn’t return to the nest. There are two eaglets in the nest and so far, the father eagle is taking care of the chicks alone. Everyone is hoping she’s okay and will return.
I used to watch the Decorah eagles but they aren't on any of the nests on camera and I sort of forgot about it. Never watched Florida. What a shame about the mother!!!0 -
The vet today is apparently trying some new system and they sent me this long long list of "so and so needs such and such" so I went through the whole thing and corrected and asked questions. Turns out when they got into the main files they know much of the list is wrong. Why should we get organized? We'd rather waste clients' time. Keep in mind my vet's target clientele are professionals and such (it's not a cheap place).
My head is spinning with all the things on my "to do" list right now. Still missing Jack terribly. The vet Smokie's internist wanted me to see is instead saying I either need to take her to DC or Philly so I've been trying to contact the DC place. We'll see.0 -
Harriet has been gone a week and it seems doubtful she’s coming back. She’s 16 years old and her original mate was Ozzie. Ozzie died in a fight with Harriet’s current mate M15. The don’t give eagles names anymore. M is for male and his number is 15. There are 2 chicks in the nest and so far M 15 is bringing food and .caring for them. Florida Fish and Wildlife is monitoring the nest and will only intervene if the dad stops caring for the chicks. They speculate that Harriet must have been in a fight and is dead or injured.0
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That's one part of the nature cams that's tough; they show us the great things but also the sad things!
I'm still missing Jack something awful. Yesterday I decided to work on my "to do" list like it was Saturday. The good news is that after working 7 days a week since the pandemic started it's let up just enough that I could do that and the world didn't end.
Today I worked on our tax returns. I can't send them in until H&R Block sends out its next update, including a final Maryland form for the senior tax credit.
I hate doing taxes but I'm always glad when it's over and they're filed.
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We haven’t even started the worksheets for our taxes. We’re still waiting on some 1099s since our mail gets forwarded from MA to FL. Once we have everything, we send the worksheets to our accountant. Even though we don’t do the taxes ourselves, organizing everything is one of my least favorite tasks. DH is heading to Ft Myers to buy lumber for the deck and stairs rebuilding. I’m staying home to start organizing the taxes.0
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We haven’t even started the worksheets for our taxes. We’re still waiting on some 1099s since our mail gets forwarded from MA to FL. Once we have everything, we send the worksheets to our accountant. Even though we don’t do the taxes ourselves, organizing everything is one of my least favorite tasks. DH is heading to Ft Myers to buy lumber for the deck and stairs rebuilding. I’m staying home to start organizing the taxes.
I surely don't envy you the rebuilding and everything else I'm sure you need to do!0 -
I've spent the last two days helping my boss with a research question, dealing with the Toyota dealer, and trying to get an appointment for our Smokie with a specialist in DC. I don't look forward to driving Smokie to DC but you have to go where the specialists are. The alternative would be Penn, and I REALLY don't want to drive there.0
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We make that DC to Baltimore drive twice a year on our trips to FL and back. The traffic can be really bad. We take I 295 instead of I 95 because trucks aren’t allowed on the Gladys Noonan Parkway. Do you have to take 95 all the way or do you know some local roads you can take? I hope you don’t have to wait too long for an appointment.0
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I have an appointment to finally get my haircut and color today. It’s my third attempt. The first time, I arrived at the salon and my stylist wasn’t there, due to an undefined “family emergency”. I rescheduled for last week but got a phone call about 30 minutes before my appointment telling me that my stylist was making funeral arrangements for her grandmother and it was taking longer than expected. So I rescheduled for today. Fingers crossed that it works out this time because my hair is in desperate need of cutting and shaping.
I was supposed to have lunch with my grad school friends on Friday but that will also have to be rescheduled because 2 of them have Covid. They attended a party last Friday, and since then have learned that at least 7 people in attendance now have Covid. I’m really glad I wasn’t at that party!
DH always handles our taxes and he’s been working on them a little bit. He creates his own worksheet/schedule for our investment income and that always takes him some time to prepare. We don’t file electronically because a few years ago someone tried to file using our SSNs, so now the IRS always sends us a special code to use every year to verify our identity. This requires us to file by mail, along with further verification that we are the true filers for our SSNs. It’s a nuisance but at least it was caught before it caused any problems.0
