We are moving

Well, on Saturday night we had another run in with our Resident Manager. She has a little bit of a problem abusing the power she has been given. I may or may not have written about this before, but this is not the first time. She actually informed me that it was the 6th time she has told us to be quiet. Usually what happens is: we are in our apartment doing nothing terribly loud (eg, having a couple people over, watching a movie, climbing the stairs - or not, or even sitting at our kitchen table carving a pumpkin.) She came to the door and I answered knowing full well what was about to happen. We had a small argument where she would say something and I would repeat what she said with the accent on a different word. Dumb ***** "We all have to live here." Me "Yeah, we all have to live here." Needless to say the argument went no where. The last time this happened we called the manager of the building to let him know what was happening. This time she threatened me if I was to call him again, and then threatened me with a written warning.

So we got a written warning - and a fire under our butt to move. Can't live with a crazy lady with too much power living right under you.

So we have been searching for a new apartment and have 4 viewings lined up before the end of the weekend, one tonight. Wish us luck!

Catch up

So my first week of rehearsals with Quest Theatre on The Curse of Shri children's play is complete. It started off quite a bit of work. Then we started rehearsals and the first few days have been fun. And lately I have been feeling the difference between working in an A house (the most prestigious, largest and best paying venues) and Theatre for Young Audiences (close to the opposite of the previous bracket). Never the less, it is a job, I am the stage manager and it will look great on my resume, and an interesting experience in patience and planning (and keeping my mouth shut).

As a perk (and a long story I won't go into now) I was given the very odd stat. holiday, Family Day, off. This is the second or third year for Alberta to have Family Day and the first time around for Sask. And I don't think any other province has picked up this odd three day weekend in February. On this occasion Logan and I decided to go home. Further to that long story mentioned above, I flew home on Saturday night. Logan and two friends of ours; Jen and Jason, drove with Logan on Friday after work. We had a great time. Not near long enough to see even half my list of must sees - but it was short notice and I was there for only one full day.

We had a good time at the Kotlar's for a early birthday party for Logan on Saturday night:

Above is Dad doing his drunk giggle, Stef laughing and Owein being embarrassed for the both of them.

Sunday we spent the day visiting. Stef and I went to Lisa & Curtis' and got to try out the New Nintendo Wii. Good fun.

And then Sunday night it was over to the Glass House. For much boozing and a little bit of the game Pit.

This is Jason and I after we feel off a stool...

... trying to take this picture.

Going home is always a good time! Especially when you wake up Monday morning and have to drive home with Sambuca shots still rolling in your belly!

Catch Up!

To wrap up my time on The Retreat From Moscow I will add some pictures to my blog. Here you will see Gina Moe the Stage Manager and myself.

And here Mr. Duncan Ollerenshaw - Calgary Actor, Ms. Martha Henry - First Lady of Canadian Theatre primiarily of Stratford Festival, and Mr. David Scherman - of Shaw Festival. If you Google the two latter names you are sure to see the amazing career that they have had - and I have had the opportunity to work with them. Yeah for me!

A Short Blog From Log

Wow, my first time "blogging". don't like talking about my training because it seems like it's all I ever do, and I don't want to be one of those people that other people say 'shut up about the cop thing already...'. Here goes:
I love it. The people that are in my group are great, and so are our instructors. The instructors are very level-headed and make us do very difficult tasks, but always include an explanation as to how this will help us. The majority of Police officers are great people. We are told what we can and can not do constantly, but they throw in a side note of "but if there are kids involved, do whatever you can", letting us know that we may be sued civily for our actions....but would you want to save a child's life and get sued, or let one die? It won't seem like it when you get your speeding ticket (I have lots!), but most cops really want to help. I know I have been sitting at a red light and a cop car will turn on the lights, blow through the light, then turn them off again and I thought 'fresh batch of doughnuts eh??' but now I think....I wonder if that guy has a 1 month old baby at home and is enroute to a sids death, or rape-home invasion.
I'm just lucky that I have Stacey and my family and God to keep me flying steady.

First time bloggin'....hmmmm. It was ok, but don't hold your breath.

Happy Valentine's Day

Who says red wine and pizza don't go together?

Logan and I both worked until 5 today - and then there is the drive home. Did I complain about that yet? I hate rush hour. Since we have moved here I have either walked to work - or when I was working at Westjet - was going the opposite direction of rush hour the whole way. Well, by time we make it home it is 6:00. And I had forgotten to take out the steaks we were planning on having for supper. So Logan wanted pizza. So pizza it is. Panago pizza and red wine. We were also planning on having a little fondue with the chocolate and fruit we have in the house. With both of us working early mornings it is hard to say if we will be awake enough to feel hungry for dessert before we go to bed.

Hope you all told your Valentine's you loved them!

Nothing new

There doesn't seem to be anything new to report, but I haven't written in a while so I thought that I should. Today is the first day of the last week of The Retreat from Moscow. I have also started prep on my next show The Curse of Shri - a children's show with Quest Theatre. I am the stage manager on this one and am starting to feel nervous. All the work is on my shoulders, not just assigned to me by someone else. Oh well. I have spent many hours today (and right now during the show) typing out the script. I was given a copy that has rewrites in pencil all over it. I tried to scan it in, but if you have ever tried text recognition on a scanner you will know that if you type quickly it is just as fast to retype. But it is time consuming. Good thing it is short!

Homesick

I haven't been home since the last weekend of August. This is the longest I have been away from home - correct - Regina. Even when I went to England it wasn't this long. I see my sister about once a week, and my mom I went to Vegas with in Oct and she came to Calgary for the Dixie Chicks in Nov, and my brother came for his birthday in early Dec. But I haven't seen my dad in forever! Or my grandparents. Family is so important. I especially feel that this has been a long time because we all used to get together on Sunday. Sometimes both families in one day, Church and then brunch with the Glass family and then supper with the Beatty's. And everyone in the city would be there. It is what I have come to think of as Sunday. I haven't had a Sunday supper in I don't know how long. And we are having one tomorrow. Auntie Shelley is cooking and I only have a matinee with no evening show! Yeah family dinner. It will be nice.

Proactive Defensive Driving Coarse

Now that I have gotten over feeling bad about not paying attention to the show I can tell you what I did today. I went to a Proactive Defensive Driving Coarse. Most of the people were there because they wanted to reduce their demerits. I was there because the next show I am working on is a in city tour - and I have to drive the company van.

What a waste of eight hours. Sitting in a room with delinquents talking about the cons of speeding and drinking and driving. All I really walked away with was a renewed sense of how dangerous it is to drive. Like I needed a reminder. I am living in a city of a million people that has outgrown it's current roadways long before they thought - and we had a huge dump of snow yesterday and it is like the people of Calgary have never seen it before! (it took me over twenty minutes, not in rush hour to get from home to work - I can walk there in that time) I am already afraid for my life when I'm behind the wheel.

But the long and the short of it is, I got 98% on the end of class test, got the certificate and will be able to do my next contract. As a bonus, if I get any demerits in the next 2 years this coarse will erase them - and the company paid for it!

In the middle of a show

Well, this show doesn't have a lot for me to do. When I sit back stage I sit right outside the head stage carpenter's office. This show is so slow that he is on a two week leave to go back and work for Cirque de Soleil. They have brought on someone else. He quickly realized that there is nothing to do and is sitting in the green room reading. So I thought I'd jump on the computer and check out what everyone else in the world is doing - via blogs - but feel a little bad about blogging myself. Oh well, the last show and my next show will make up for my slack performance on this show.

Milestones

Way back in 1999/2000 Logan and I were in Gr. 12. In the first semester of that grade we did the musical Grease.

(in the very bottom center you have Jeff (Danny) dipping Shelly (Cha Cha) - right behind them is Logan in the suit with one arm up and I am directly to his right in the champagne dress. (Kendra is directly to my right, Amanda is behind Logan in the bright pink dress, Stef is right behind her in the black top with red scarf in her hair, Lisa is at the bottom right with the white skirt/blue shirt...)


Our music teacher takes credit and great pleasure in the fact that she matched Logan and I up. I was Marty (a pink lady) and he was Sonny (a T-bird) - (they end up together in the end) - and so did we.

Move forward to January 28th, 2000. Logan and I went on our first date. We went on a double date with Derek and Teri to a movie at the Cornwall Centre. (We were talking and we don't remember what the movie was.) Then we all went back to Logan's house and the two boys had flowers for us there.

That was seven years ago. Seven years! At the same time it feels like a million years ago - and as though it was only yesterday.

30 minute meals

A while ago I was given 2 Rachael Ray cookbooks, both variations on her 30 minute meals. Last week I sat down with one and chose meals I wanted to try and went to the grocery store to stock up with those recipes in mind. They have been great. They have actually taken only 30-40 minutes to make and are so tasty. I highly recommend her to anyone who has not yet discovered her magic!

Rachael Ray

Opening and cop stuff

*** UPDATE****
The puke run was supposed to be yesterday. They all arrived early to the classroom dressed to run (and puke). They had a little lesson on the chalk board about how the run would go etc. Then they said that they were going to go for a nice easy run as a group - choose a partner... no puke run. I am just worried that they will spring it on them. That is something I would want a little warning on, some prep time.
*****************


Opening went well. The show was fine. Once I am preset there isn't a lot for me to do. The show is three actors on stage for the whole show - they don't leave and there are no scene changes. Everything that needs to be done/changed they have to do themselves. But it seems to be going well. The audience likes it and that is all that really matters.

Nothing else new to report. Logan is loving be a recruit. They are working him hard (physically and mentally). He is learning tons of great stuff - and lots of fun stuff that he teaches me when he gets home. Lots of interesting obstacle courses and physical training too. Some that doesn't sound very fun to me! On Tuesday there is a thresh hold run. Basically, they run from the cop shop downtown to the enter street bridge and Memorial Drive (very close to our house and our huge hill) they run up the steps leading you from Memorial to the top of the bridge - at the top do 30 push ups and back down. Repeat until you puke. That is right - go till you puke. The idea (apparently) is to see how much you can actually do (instead of when you might stop). Weird. Not really my idea of a good time - but we will see how it goes. He tells me that they aren't doing it individually, they have to run in a group. So really you are only as strong as your weakest link - so maybe he just has to wait for most of the others to puke. Weird.

Tomorrow is opening

Well, I have made it. Tomorrow is Opening Night! It is such a huge relief to be at Opening. When you hit that big day you no long have to worry about changes or rehearsal. You are strictly in a show state - and with this show that means just evenings. I show up for my show call at 6pm. Empty the dishwasher, clean up the green room from the night before, make coffee, prep the consumable food, preset all of my props, double check everything is in the right place, check in with the cast, check in with the crew, then there is the half hour call (7pm) at this point we can not go on stage as the main curtain is not in for this show. We open the house to the audience at half hour. At the 5 minute call I get on head set and wait for the actors to join me at their entrances. They are given their go - and on with the show.

Video Editing

From previous blogs (here, here and here to name a few) you will know that I really enjoy video editing. I spent a lot of time editing my own wedding video, as well as Lisa & Curtis' wedding and Lani & Regan's wedding. Since Christmas I have been editing our Christmas video and I really like it. Even though it frustrates me, and takes way to much time, I like the pay off. I have thought about trying to make a side job out of it. Mostly when Logan and I were the official videographers for The Calgary Jewellery Gala. We videoed the set up, they transformed of an army gym into a elegant ballroom. We got paid to do it, and I think that it is pretty good. I am just not sure how to go about it. I guess, a little more practice with the actually shooting could help. Stef's friend Sarah is getting married in June and I hope to get to Regina to practice.

I also thought that maybe I should take a class on editing with my extremely advanced program I'm using. I found one at Mount Royal but it is only a six hour beginner class, and I have probably already figured out on my own everything they could teach me in six hours. Well, we will see. I will keep practicing and experimenting on my own and see where life takes me.

Tech week is over- bring on the audience

Tech rehearsals are long and stressful. The problem with the technical rehearsal is that they are 12 hours long. Also, in rehearsal, everyone and everything is visible. You can anticipate what is going to happen next because you are sitting beside the stage manager and director. When you move into the theatre the stage manager and the director are sitting in the audience, the actors are on stage and the assistant stage manager(s) are backstage, behind the curtains. It takes a huge amount of effort to stay ahead of what is going to happen. In the case of this show, there are only three actors and a lot of words and they are not completely ready to do it on their own, so I have been sitting "on book" to supply lines when needed. But at the same time I need to have all the props in the right place at the right time. I am also the liaison with all of the new tech crew. In rehearsal I am the wardrobe lady, stage carpenter and all of the tech crew. Once on the stage I need to let them know what it is they need to do. On top of that you need to be prepare at any time to run out on stage to troubleshoot, move set/furniture/props to a new place, or spike (place tape to mark when something needs to start or be moved to). To sum up, tech days are long and hard because I have to give 100% concentration for the whole time. Nothing is more tiring than having to concentrate for a full 12 hours - and this show is worse because there is not a lot going on. Christmas Carol was busy so it went really fast. There was always something to do. On this show I do a lot of sitting around and waiting. Which makes those 12 hours longer. I am just glad it is over. Now we are on to shows!

I have house envy

It seems as though I have grown up. The other day I was thinking about how Logan has just started his career as a cop. And thinking about how people we grew up with are now Fire Fighters, Teachers and all sorts of grown up things. And that last summer we went to four weddings. Four couples joined their lives together, as we did; what a grown up thing to do. And even more so they are now buying houses and having babies. It is funny how time just slips away from you and now we are all grown up.

This got me to thinking about houses. I am fine with our little apartment on the hill. But many of our Regina (and other city) friends own homes. To make matters worse, two friends here in Calgary are looking. Their parents are looking for the ever popular investment in real estate. So these two are starting the hunt. I am jealous. I want to be looking for a house. But who can really afford that in this city. I went looking and found that in an article from December 5 "According to figures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board, a typical single-family residence sold for $394,712 last month...dropp[ing] below $400,000 for the first time since May...which marked a 36.4% hike over the same time last year." Holy Crap! You could buy a pretty spiffy house in Regina for $400,000. And they are saying that this is the price coming down.

Oh well, our time will come. I'm not really wanting a house right now, or rather, a mortgage payment right now. I'm just jealous.

The long lost gift certificates

For our 1st anniversary our very kind siblings gave us gift certificates out to dinner. Andrea got us one to Boston Pizza and Stef and Matt got us on to the Keg. As they were anniversary gifts we wanted to save them for a special occasion or a nice night out together. And because of this we never got around to using them. When we were looking for something to do for New Year's eve we decided that would be a good time to go out to the Keg. We had a fabulous dinner - thank you Stef and Matt. And tonight we used up the other. We out for dinner to Boston Pizza (on the Red Mile). Thank you Andrea. I just thought I'd let you each know that we have used the gift certificates and appreciated them.

Nothing new

There seems to be nothing new at our place. Things have found a rhythm. Logan gets up and goes to work/school around 7am. I stay in bed until the much later alarm call of 8:30. Logan goes to his police class, I go to the theatre. He finishes around 4pm and I finish around 5:30. We come home, make some supper and sit around a bit. Then Logan starts to get tired and tries to go to bed early. I have been allowing this - even though I am a night person. It is 9 right now and he is off getting ready for bed. And then we will get up and do it again tomorrow.

Exciting - I know. I can hardly convey the excitement on the page. Oh well. Routine is nice. For a while. I look forward to my next contract. I will be working with Quest Theatre as a Stage Manager. They do theatre for young audiences. I will be working with three male actors in a show call "The Curse of Shree" and it will tour Calgary and area schools teaching kids about music. On that contract I will have weekends off. Logan and I will both have weekends off together. It has been a long time since I have had weekends off. Since we both have had the same days off together! Can't wait for Feb.

Day One down

I picked up Logan shortly after 4pm yesterday, just down the street from the downtown Police Headquarters building. He had piles of books and papers, not to mention his duty bag full of goodies. He couldn't stop talking about all that he had learned. And yet, he felt like they had tried to jam so much stuff in his head in one day that none of it had stuck. I think that he quite enjoyed himself.
It will take some getting used to though. It has been a long time since he has been in school. The classroom setting calls for a very different sort of energy. A lot more brain power than one is used to using in a day. He said that his head hurt from cramming so much in.
He was pretty excited to go back today. I think that it will be a very interesting six months.

Today is the first day of a new career

Today is Logan's first day of training with the Calgary Police. Yesterday was his last day as a civilian. The first order of business this morning was to swear all the new recruits in. He is now officially Constable Kotlar. He has to wear his uniform every day and everything. I can't wait for him to come home so I can hear all about his first day.