Something awesome

Complaints about my lack of posting have been getting louder and more emphatic of late, so I thought I would take a minute and share something awesome.

New Toys...

It really is amazing what kind of trouble you can get into when you make decisions based on current frustrations. I will be paying for this most recent annoyance for several months. Grr.

But I can't lie, I will certainly be enjoying it at the same time.

Well, you have to admit, I was really patient - it's been nearly two years since I decided that I needed to buy a new computer, and a year and a half since I decided which one I wanted. I continued to put up with lousy processing time, frequent crashes, and all the other fun that attends an 8 year old PC. Of course, when I broke down, I shattered. I didn't just get the computer. Meet my other new friend...

This is the one that lets me check my schedule while I'm not in the office, it lets me update my calendar, check my email and find extra hours of work when I would otherwise be bored.

Of course, it is also the new toy that allows me to play all kinds of fun games, read books, check the news and waste time on Facebook...

In spite of the price, I can't honestly say that I regret my impulsive decision. It is way too much fun!

Semi Un-hyphenated

30 doesn't look too bad :) Not sure how to describe that face... A bit tired, or bemused, maybe just trying not to laugh at the camera... but it's not too bad.

So there is one hyphenation eliminated. 30 means I am no longer a young-adult. I am just an adult. (Ack!! I grew up! How did that happen?) Sure, I have a few other hyphenations to try and eliminate... my life is a work in progress.

Three decades into this life's journey and I am not exactly where I always figured I would end up, but I am in a good place in my life, and (I think) I am at least headed in the direction I want to go.

So Happy Birthday to me! And thank you to everyone else who has either helped me become this odd person that I am, or who has at least put up with me ;)

The President's Ball

Mama always called me Princess #1, but this Cinderella never thought she would be going to the Ball! I can't deny that moving to New York is having a distinctly positive impact on my social life (the effect on my bank account is, so far, strictly negative - formal dresses are spendy!)

However, I must admit that while yes, I did get to go to the Ball - I went as the Help. No glass slippers or Prince Charming for me.

Still, it was a great deal of fun - if only so I could claim to have attended a ball. In coming here, I knew that I would have the opportunity to work all sorts of functions, and I expected (somewhat) guest lecturers who happen to be VIP's and other non-academic events, but I never attended a ball when I was at college, I don't even know if they had any. So I didn't think much about it till suddenly they needed some extra people to lend a hand. I signed up for the overload, bought myself a nice dress and had all sorts of fun working.

And during my off time, I had a blast watching the antics of the attendees who had taken advantage of the free wine and were now enjoying the casino games... I love people watching.

Fall

I've said it before, and I will certainly say it again, Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. So of course I am just loving New York right now. By all accounts, Fall lasts forever here. Perfect! If only I had more time to get out and play in the leaves... but driving through the falling leaves is more than I could ask for. A week or two ago I drove to work through what seemed to be a one car ticker-tape parade. The flakes of glittering sunshine dancing in the breeze completely took my breath away and I had one of those moments, when the beauty all around filled me with such an amazing happiness that it hurt.

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings. ~Gerard Manley Hopkins~

The new job

Well, I am well and truly started at the new job. For starting such a big new job I am pretty impressed with myself. Usually the bigger and more critical the job, the more I tend to freak out. Yes, I did feel stressed my first day coming in, and certainly on my first day actually interpreting - but it was manageable stress - the type that normal people feel. (I think. Never having been what you might call normal, I don't know for sure.)

All I can say is that these people are GOOD. They have this whole orientation thing down to an art. They put someone in charge of the four of us newbies and left her with us to babysit for three days of introduction, paperwork, procedural nonsense and exploration. Plus, she was awesome at explaining all sorts of ins and outs related to the place. (The part where she treated us to Ben & Jerry's the last day just added to the awesomeness.)

Honestly, the way interpreters are taken care of here is astounding. We are treated like actual people! My first day here I had an email address set up, a mail box with my name spelled correctly, an office (with supplies that I didn't have to provide), vacation days and sick days I can actually USE, a reasonable and healthy schedule... I am still in a state of happy-shock. As much as I LOVED my last job (not being sarcastic here), they really have some work to do. It took me 2-3 months to get an email address. A year to get a mailbox. Five years to get an office. And while I technically had sick days and vacation days, most of my vacation days got cashed out, and in six years I only used one sick day. Not because I didn't get sick, but because I had no emergency subs. Training was never provided, there was no orientation - they basically didn't know what to do with me.

When I applied to RIT, I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting into, or what to expect. I suppose being flown out and given a place to stay for the interview should have given me a heads up. And interviewing here I learned about a lot of the benefits, but it wasn't till I started working that things actually became real - not just some nice abstract idea. It's so nice. I have been so blessed in coming here - I can't help but feel that this must truly be where I was meant to come. I am sure I will enjoy my time here.

Other things I am not so sure about - orange and brown for my school colors? Not such a fan. But I suppose it could be worse... purple and teal perhaps.

Settling in

It takes time for me to get used to new places and really settle in. I wouldn't say that I am 'settled' quite yet (it will be a year or two before this is really home), but the process is going much smoother for this move than it ever has gone before. Impressive, considering this is the biggest move I've ever made!

I think a large part of that is the drawn out nature of the whole process - this deadline has been looming ahead of me for years, and I was able to work myself through the process of saying goodbye in a way that worked well. I also had several months to specifically work on finishing my trailer, look for a new job, sell my place, etc... I don't know how people survive when they have to do it all in a matter of a few weeks, or even days. Anyhow, that in combination with a large dose of help from family (and a whole lot more from Heavenly sources) meant that adjustments have gone well. Once I dropped Dad and 'Nae off at the airport, the tears dried up and the homesickness receded into the background. No anxiety attacks (thus far) - even with challenges faced at work!

I've managed to get mostly unpacked - there are still a few boxes in the garage, but after having a home full of stuff, I am impressed that there there isn't more still boxed up. I even had to go out and buy some furniture (bookcases, a desk, more bookcases) so that I could get properly set up. Books are out of their boxes, clothes are in the closet and art is on the wall!

Meanwhile I have been trying to learn my way around town and get a feel for what this place will be like. To aid in that quest, I sought my brothers advice and based on his recommendation, wound up buying a fun little toy.

I love my Nuvi :) It tells me right where to go, recalculates after I mess up, keeps track of where I am and never lets me get lost - so I don't have to stress about getting my directions exactly right, or worry that I might get lost and end up in Canada (an actual possibility around here.) Plus, it speaks to me with an awesome British accent. So far I have discovered a couple different parks, wandered through all sorts of neighborhoods, found a couple of random addresses, gone on some lovely Sunday drives, and have almost learned the rout to Palmyra. Not bad!

I have even been somewhat social since coming here. Shocking, I know. (At least pretend your jaw didn't just drop.) FHE twice, out to dinner with roommates and friends a couple of times, a cookout with the Deaf group at church, voluntary participation in various meetings, and lots of hanging out with my cousin (though not as much as I would like). There are even some cute guys here - maybe St. George will freeze over and I will actually get a few dates.

Overall, I think I am getting the hang of this place - all I really need now is a BIG umbrella. Preferably a red one.

The move

Well - we didn't manage to leave early morning on the 17th as planned. Selling the trailer really set us back a bit. It wasn't until almost 5 that I was able to leave my parents place and head south to pick up my sis in SLC.

I took one last drive through Preston to pick up a few last items I had stored with some friends, and then it was official. I was really leaving.

We didn't get too far that first night, just to Green River, Wyoming - but it was a good start. The next morning we got going for real. Through the rest of Wyoming and into Nebraska - the geography of the land there was beautiful, but there really wasn't much else to see. Luckily, I have a great collection of audio books on my ipod that make time go by much faster. Also luckily, 'Nae did most of the driving (through the whole trip) and gave me lots of time to let the homesickness seep out of me, one hidden tear at a time.

We spent that next night in Grand Island, Nebraska - so we had made some good progress! We had planned for a bit of sightseeing along the way, and even though we had to condense our trip and skip our visit to Mt. Rushmore, we still had some fun stops planned - church history sites where my Dad had served his mission. First stop was Far West, Missouri.

After that, we got directions to Adam Ondi Ahman, so we backtracked and went up there. It is such an astonishingly beautiful place - and it was fun to see the trees my great-uncle had planted again. Such a restful stop. And fun to hear stories from my dad about his mission and what they used to do up there.

After that we headed south again to Liberty Missouri to see the Liberty Jail. Tender place. It was late when we finished up there, but we were determined to make a bit more progress that night so we hit the road again and made it half way across Missouri before calling it a night.

Next day we were off again, this time to Hannibal - Mark Twain's boyhood town, and location of the caves made famous in Tom Sawyer. I had been there before, and wanted to show them to my Dad and sister - so we did a tour and enjoyed the chilly air and flitting bats before heading north again towards Nauvoo, Illinois.

We got there early enough that we were able to go to the temple - it is SO beautiful! Granted, all temples are amazingly gorgeous, but this is one of my favorites.

The rain hit as we were leaving Nauvoo, and stayed with us pretty much constantly throughout the remainder of our trip. It felt wonderfully good, and cleaned my car of all the bugs accumulated through multiple states - but it made visibility a challenge at times! We stayed the night somewhere in Indiana (I think... it all blurs together after a point)

Saturday we made it into Ohio and by that evening we were just in time for dinner with my cousins - we got to see their new home and all their insane renovations. I thought I had done a good job with my place - but wow, they had only been living there for six weeks and had already beat my work all to pieces! I was super impressed - AND they managed to make us dinner. I can't wait to go back for Thanksgiving and see what else they have done.

We took off from there hoping to get a little farther on our way, with luck staying the night in Erie Pennsylvania. What we didn't know was that on weekends, every hotel that is anywhere close to the Great Lakes gets booked SOLID. We had my mum on the internet looking for any sort of hole in the wall place we could stay, calling back and forth between both vehicles. No luck. There was NOTHING for 200 miles or more. It was nearly 2 am when we finally pulled off at a rest stop and decided to call it a night. We went to the Denny's next door, and since it was still Saturday in Idaho - they let my dad have his free Birthday Grand Slam. (We had been watching for a Denny's the entire day so we could celebrate, but had no luck at all - it was very fitting that they should have one right where we gave up for the night.) After eating, we curled up in our vehicles and tried to get a few hours of sleep.

It didn't last very long - we dozed for a few hours, but we were up and gone by 6. Surprisingly we hit Rochester by 9. We hadn't realized how close were were, or we might have tried to go a bit farther and stay there.

We found my house - and my new roommates all pitched in to lend a hand and we had the Uhaul unloaded in the blink of an eye. SO much faster than the two days it took to load the blasted thing - having help makes a huge difference!

My sister was good and went to church with my roommates - Dad and I found a hotel and napped for a while. I don't know how 'Nae did it - I was so stressed and exhausted I felt like puking. Once she was back, and we had gotten a little rest we decided to explore the area a little more. We drove around, and then headed up to Palmyra to see the Smith farm and the Sacred Grove.

Such a beautiful area - so peaceful and serene. As I walked through the Grove, the calm seemed to just soak into me, and the stress of the move just seemed to melt away.

I have found a refuge from my storms.

The sale

You would think that Friday the 13th might be an inauspicious day to try and show a place to a potential buyer. But having just finished most of the painting and cleaning, I didn't give the date a second thought. Anyhow, as many times as I had already shown it with no real results, I had no real reason to think this time would be any different.

Imagine my shock when I got a phone call Friday night informing me that the woman I had shown it to that afternoon had made a full price offer if I could carry the contract.

Realize, I was LEAVING in a matter of days - FOREVER. And most of those few remaining days were weekend days, when everything is closed.

So instead of packing boxes and cleaning like I had planned, I spent all day Saturday working on sale related projects with my mum, including creating a contract (luckily she knew what she was doing - cause I made her do it all!) and trying to figure out Escrow (silly Title companies are all closed on Saturdays. Grrr.) But, we did get a basic contract signed that night! Woohoo - my mom rocks!

All this nonsense left me a mess - I don't cope well when I have no idea what is going on or what I am supposed to do. I much prefer to have a firm grasp on all the details and have a solid plan.

I was back and forth between my place and my parents place on a daily basis - Saturday after signing papers I spent a majority of the night finishing up as much as I could - cleaning, last minute packing, finishing work on the paint... and I forgot an air mattress so I spent my last night at home sleeping on the floor. Not comfy. But, I got to go to one last church meeting there, and say goodbye to my second family before heading back to my parents again. (Ouch! Goodbyes hurt.)

So with everything that was going on, I had all sorts of trouble getting to sleep - there was just SO much to do, so little time, and still so many new details left up in the air. I was a walking corpse Sunday night - totally dead, and incredibly wired. I couldn't focus enough to do much very well, I felt guilty for trying to work on a Sunday, and I couldn't sit still without starting to freak out about my to do list. Made for an interesting night, thats for sure!

It wasn't until Monday that I was finally able to find out enough about local Escrow companies to know if that was a possibility - and even then, the person I needed to meet with was out of town till the next day, when I was supposed to leave. So I met with the lady buying my place and resigned contracts to include the Escrow company, checked on finalizing details and turned over my keys... sad. The rest of the day was spent trying to get new tires for my car (our original plan of towing it didn't work out, and it seems that NOBODY carries the right tires - crazy!) and trying to get the Uhaul loaded while my dad got some sleep (he had just finished a trip from Washington to Idaho, and he needed it!)

Tuesday morning (when I was supposed to be gone already) I finally was able to meet with the Escrow lady (she was impressed with my mum's contract!) and get things roughly hammered out - at least enough so that I could leave later that day.

But somehow we managed it - in spite of the last minute nature of it all, we sold it!

The finishing touches

Life really kind of felt like it was stuck in limbo while I was waiting to hear about job possibilities - I was showing my place as often as I could trying to sell it, applying to different jobs and slowly packing up my home. I showed the trailer a lot, and the more I showed it, the more I wanted to make sure I finished all the projects possible before I had to leave. I hated the idea of leaving something I had started unfinished - it felt like an insult to my pride, like I just didn't care enough about what I was doing to finish. Totally not true! So I tried to make that a priority and got to work. First project - finish the rock border around the outside.

3 days + 20 bags of river rock + lots of grunt work and the project was done. I planted a bunch of wildflower seeds in the back flower patch along with a couple patches of daisys that were ready to bloom, brushed off my hands and turned my attention to the inside...

For a good while, I mostly focused on packing up and taking loads of stuff up to my parents home for storage and cleaning as much as possible. Then BAM! I got a phone call and suddenly I had a deadline. If I wanted to finish any of these projects I had to get on the ball!

Thank heavens for family - some parts of the job I just couldn't do without injuring my wrists (sanding was a killer!) so once my sis had a spare weekend I conned her into coming down and lending a hand.

She did SO much work for me - I felt guilty just asking her to come! I couldn't have done it without her though. She taped, mudded, patched, sanded all through the night and basically did everything I should have done long ago, and more and got everything ready for me to paint. I wasn't exactly slacking during all that, but she definitely did the hard stuff!

Side note: as we sat out on my porch that night watching Chuck on her laptop we heard something rustling in the bushes and got a big surprise when a crying body flew out of the darkness and latched onto the wire enclosing my porch. Scared us both half to death! Appropriately, it was a lost little kitten that I couldn't turn away - I may not like it, but I refuse to ignore something in need. He spent the night on the porch with us, and I spent a large part of the next day going door to door, desperate to get rid of the blasted thing before I was finally able to find his home.

'Nae went home to a well deserved rest, and I got busy with the paint brush. I finished the walls in the kitchen, hall, bedroom, and living room, touched up the bathroom, and even got a coat of paint onto the ceiling.

Turns out, when you are trying to sell a place, people are more likely to think seriously about it if it looks better. Maybe it was just lucky timing, or perhaps all that work did it's job, but I only showed the place once after we finished the big projects.

That was all it took.

Still in shock

Hmmm. I have this sneaking suspicion that just about everyone already knows the big news - but it has taken me a while to process the information enough so that I can actually blog about it (to those of you who didn't already know... sorry!)

Basically, the long and the short of it is that two weeks ago (has it really been two weeks?!?) I was sleeping. After a long night of not sleeping because I couldn't stop thinking about my lack of a job, who I should apply to next, my microscopic account balance and whether or not I should return to my plasma-prostitute life... I was finally asleep. At least, I was, until 8 o'clock in the morning when my cell phone started screaming at me. (Do you know how hard it is to find a cell phone when you are so confused that you couldn't ID yourself if your life depended on it?)

Good thing I hid the phone so well (it was on the charger) because by the time I found it, I actually knew my name again - and the guy on the other end of the line only kinda thought he might have woken me up.

I woke up plenty fast once he started talking though.

It was a familiar voice - offering me a job as an Associate Interpreter. In New York. Rochester, to be exact - at The Rochester Institute of Technology and The National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Somehow I was able to express my pleasure, and I managed sound fairly normal through out the rest of the conversation, I even took some notes. (Impressive!)

My real reaction was more along these lines - over, and over again.

Needless to say, there was no more sleep that day. And not much since then. I have given up all thoughts of selling my bodily fluids, and exchanged them for a whole new set of anxieties to keep me up at night.

They say that a life worth living will take you out of your comfort zone time and time again - that the only way to grow is to scare yourself now and again. (That makes me wonder why I am still only 5' tall. I should have shot up at least an inch in the last two weeks - talk about being freaked out!) Alas, the only growing I have been doing lately is in width. Chocolate ice cream is my weakness - and it serves as a wonderful feel-good remedy!

So now I am packing. And filling boxes. And hauling them (tiny loads at a time - have you seen my car?) to my parents place for storage. My poor trailer is so empty. It just looks lonely. And taking a Sunday afternoon nap isn't nearly as comfortable when the only cool place to sleep is on the floor. Another two weeks, and I will be on my way New York - ready to start tormenting a whole new group of victims people (I'm practicing my Evil Laugh.)

So Much Fun

There was so much fun to be had last weekend ( the 10th and 11th) - and I made sure to get in on as much of it as I could.

Sunday was the World Cup final in South Africa, where Spain and the Netherlands faced off to see who would win the World Cup. I decided that for this game, I would break my "no sports on Sunday" rule and indulge (hey, once every four years isn't TOO bad). Also, since the internet streaming sites I had been using just weren't going to cut it this time (they worked, but Arabic is not my language of choice) I messaged another soccer-freak friend of mine, and plead to be included in her game watching party. So, it was me and three other couples (all coaches and wives) gathering around with plates of yummy food and watching together as we learned/observed some interesting things.

1. Spain plays a pretty darn good game whenever they're not rolling on the pitch in 'agony' (can we say flop?)

2. The difference between great teams and very good teams is the ability to finish at the goal, and defend; a lot of teams look pretty similar when the ball's at midfield.

3. The biggest new star to arise from these games was an octopus that outperformed the pro's at picking the winners.

4. Yeah, the ref's called a tight game (14 yellow cards and a send off is a record for the final) but the Netherlands were playing a pretty brutal game.

5. Man of the Match (for me) is Spain's keeper, who took some REAL hits, and kept playing for his team.

6. Humans can adapt to almost anything - including vuvuzelas.

And in the end, Spain became the 8th team to ever win a world cup, the first ever team to win the final after losing their opening game, and the first European team to win a World Cup hosted outside of a European nation. But the real winner here (in my opinion) is South Africa. Why? Read this. If I tried to explain it, I would end up plagiarizing it anyhow, and that wouldn't be good.

But, even better than the World Cup was the day I had BEFORE the World Cup.

After taking my mum to that AMAZING play at the end of June, I wanted nothing more than to be able to share it with the rest of my family too. It killed me that tickets were so gall-durn expensive (cheapest were $100). Even worse, when my mum and I were there, there were empty seats scattered all throughout the audience, 3 right in front of us! How could people let these seats sit empty??

So last Wednesday, after checking and finding that Saturday's matinée still had 100+ empty seats, I called the theater in desperate hopes that I might be able to finangle a discount of sorts and take my da and sister to experience the magic. (Sadly, my brother didn't come visit till the next weekend, or I would have made him come too!) Come to find out, any tickets that remain unsold an hour before the performance starts become standby tickets, and are then sold for $25. So I did some calling, twisted some arms and freed up schedules for Dad and 'nae and arranged to meet for the Saturday matinée.

I wanted to get there a few hours early because I figured the line might get long later on. Da and I drove down together, and unfortunately wound up getting stuck in traffic, :( I was right. People started lining up for that show at 8 in the morning, and when I arrived, there were only 47 tickets left, and I was ~48th in line. Talk about tragedy and lots of almost-tears! That was a long hot drive and a lot of cancelled plans, all for naught!

I was on the verge of walking into the box office and buying two tickets at full price in order to make SURE that they got in at least - I had already seen it, and could kill time elsewhere - when lo and behold! a really nice girl (wearing the blue shirt) walked up to me with an offer I couldn't refuse. She had heard me mention that we had driven all the way down from Idaho and felt terrible that we wouldn't get tickets. Turns out some of her friends weren't going to be able to make it, and I could have their place in line if I liked. That jumped me from 48th to 5th, and miracle of miracles, we got our three tickets.

Again, of course, it was a fantastic performance. It was the second to last performance featuring Audra McDonald and Will Swenson - and it was so amazing to be able to share it with those I love.

The Beautiful Game

Excitement is in the air, and it sounds like a swarm of angry bees. As annoying as the African vuvuzela can be - it has certainly added a unique flavor to the world cup games over the last few weeks.

Sunday's World Cup final should be a great game, I haven't been able to see the Netherlands in action, but I have seen Spain play a few times, and from what I have seen, I have been really impressed with their ball handling and ability to play a strong possession game - their control of the ball, and thus the game - has been impressive to watch. I can't wait to see how the Netherlands plan to counter Spain's short, quick passes.

They are the two greatest soccer nations that have never won the world cup, and everything will be on the line for 90 (or 120) minutes this Sunday. One team will return home, the Kings of the World, the other will quickly be forgotten. The Netherlands is the only team that has won all of its games in this World Cup (Spain lost to Switzerland) while many are saying that Spain has been one of the best teams in the world for the last two years. In any case, these are two teams that belong in the final, and Sunday night an eighth country will be added to the short list of seven that have been able to call themseleves World Cup champions. Only seven nations have won the 18 World Cup finals: Brazil (5), Italy (4), Germany (3), Argentina (2), Uruguay (2), England and France. France remains the only new winner (1998) since Argentina in 1978.

Which team will win this Sunday? I don't know. And I am pretty neutral really. But I think it is safe to say that football will win on Sunday. Football, futbol, futebol, calcio, soccer, fusball... whatever you call it - two great teams are coming head to head, uniting the world for a few short hours with their love for the Beautiful Game.

Even the USA is getting in on some of the action - it wasn't too long ago that soccer was a fringe sport here in the states. The fervor has slowly been growing - spreading across the country, for the most part unnoticed. And while the group of soccer fanatics may still be a fringe group, we are a much larger fringe group than we were in the past :) Look at all the excitement generated by a game winning goal for the USA a few weeks ago -

And, just for kicks and giggles, some classic footage - just to show how awesome this sport really is.

Wow. I love it!

Still speechless...

Anybody got a spatula? I think I need a bit of help picking my jaw up off the floor. Last night's performance of "110 in the Shade" was honestly the most astoundingly beautiful and powerful show I have ever seen. And while I may not be the most active theater patron out there - there just aren't that many opportunities in rural Idaho - I have seen some incredible shows in my time. This one pretty much blew the rest out of the water.

The combination of a fantastic story, some astonishing talent and an incredibly intimate setting combined to make June 30th a night that will not easily be forgotten. I love the story of the play itself, it is so sweet and good - and it hits so close to my heart that I would even enjoy going to a high school production of it, just because. And Audra McDonald and Will Swenson are both fantastically talented performers - it is easy to see how Audra won four Tony's and why Will has been nominated for one. The real surprise to me was the impressive talent of the rest of the cast. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that! And the small theater... well, that was something all by itself.

I have to admit - my first sight of the Hale Center Theater had me laughing in disbelief. Had we not been looking for it we would have driven right past it and thought nothing of it. It really looks more like a local hair salon, or even a dog-grooming parlor. Certainly not a theater! Once inside, I had to keep giggling, because the place was just SO small! It reminded me very strongly of the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone - small, kinda run down, and home to the local amateur theater group.

However, in spite of the low budget feel the place had upon first entering, as soon as the show started, the entire theater just seemed to melt away, and it was as if it was just you and them. You became part of the performance without making a move - being at most 20 feet away from the action at any moment. The intimacy that so small a space provided changed a Broadway caliber show into something else entirely - the same way an enclosed space transforms a bit of gunpowder from a flammable noisemaker to a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, because they will NEVER remember me, after the play I had to take on the role of anonymous fan and go get my picture with both Audra and Will (and naturally get them to sign my playbill too.) It felt kind of awkward doing that, it goes totally against my grain - I would usually rather just leave people alone, because really, they just did some very hard work and I am sure that the last thing they want to do is spend their time making inane small talk with clueless fans.

But - I figured what the hey, this is a once in lifetime chance anyhow - I'm not gonna let it pass. Naturally, it took me a while to work my way up, basically letting almost everyone else go first (I hate being pushy) and it was really fun to just sit back and listen to them chat with people - so pleasant, kind and friendly though obviously tired.

And so, here I am with the incredibly talented, Tony nominated Will Swensen, who is in large part responsible for all the nonsense tonight - his brother owns the theater (I think) and since he has worked with Audra in the past, he got her to agree to come down to perform here, for free. :)

And best of all - me and 4 time Tony winner Audra McDonald.

I want to go back! Anyone want to go with me and try for some of the $25 'lottery' tickets?