November 2024 – Life Off Headset

What I wore, one week in fall. NaBloPoMo 2024 Day #5

First of all – Happy Election Day for folks in the U.S. I’m excited for possibilities, but also worried about the realities. This week is a big week at work, so I’m just going to bury myself in my show and focus on what I can do, which is tech a show, breathe the fall air, and hug my family. (And maybe post here.) I voted early the first day I could here. There were also some local school board elections and an important Senate race in Maryland, so voting did feel weighty despite living in a blue county in a blue state. All the same, there is a sense of helplessness as I watch things unfurl across the country. I’m not one to talk aloud, but I tell you, more than once while listening to the radio, I’ve exclaimed “What the f***!!?!?” at one sound bite or another. Listen – I’m clearly left leaning, and you can lean whichever way you want. But I hope ever American (well, every American who can, which is a whole other issue) understands what’s at stake here and goes to vote.

On to the topic at hand….

I did a “week of outfits” post this summer. Now we are in fall so I thought it would be fun to see what I wore one week in fall. I love dressing for fall. The layers! The cozy hats and scarves! Warm colours! It was unseasonably warm last week, so a lot of my outfits were an exercise in interstitial dressing- in fact aa lot of these weeks outfits have something that I also wore that week in summer. Most of these photos were taken in the dressing room at work.

Sunday- (Chorus Rehearsal Day – I like to up my game a little for chorus rehearsals) my first time wearing this new top. This top had gnomes and toadstools on it! Perfect in keeping with my three words (Colorful, effortles, and playful). Vest is Uniqlo, dress is Wool&, leggings are Jockey, boots are Sorels. I never thought I’d be a puffer vest wearing person. Or wear leggings. I was never going to be that iconic suburban mom. But now I wear them all the time. Practicality and comfort wins out.

Monday – (Another chorus rehearsal day) Someone said this outfit was very autumnal. This plaid skirt has an elastic waistband and pockets. What’s not to love. Hat from San Diego Hat Company, a gift from a friend. Sweater from Uniqlo. Can’t remember where I got the skirt- maybe from Nordstrom Rack? I’ve had it for at least 1o years Orange pocket leggings from Toad & Co. Boots are Reiker via Zappos. The boots really need a polish.

Tuesday – (Just rehearsals with Principal Singers today, so a little more casual) I love this sweatshirt/ hoodie dress- it’s so comfy and the sleeves have thumbholes. The pockets are kind of useless, though, so I don’t wear it as much as I like. I think I got the dress at Kohl’s when I was pregnant. It is cotton spandex and very stretchy. Hat- gift from my sister in law. Sweater hand me down from my cousin. Not my usual thing because it is acrylic, but I love the slouchy shape. Leggings from Duluth Trading Company. Same boots as yesterday.

Wednesday – (Another Chorus Rehearsal Day). This outfit was definitely interseasonal dressing. The pants are wide legged linen pants that I got from Old Navy this summer (you can see them in the post from last summer). It was an impulse purchase one day while I was there looking for pjs for the kids. They are so comfy and easy to wear. I love them so much and regret not getting more. elastic waistband and pockets. The sweater belonged to my late father-in-law. I love the over-sized coziness of it. Boots- same Sorels that I wore on Sunday. Honestly it was too hot for this outfit, but I was only wearing a tank top underneath, so I couldn’t take the sweater off.

Thursday – No rehearsal this day, so I biked to work. Shorts are Uniqlo. Shirt is a tie back top from Old Navy from the days when I was nursing. It’s open in the back so it’s kind of like wearing a nursing cover disguised as a shirt. You can also tie the shirt at the back for a more fitted look. When I was nursing, I wore these shirts all. The. Time. Running shoes are Altrecs. I don’t wear them to run because my insoles don’t fit, but they are comfy for walking and running around doing errands. I did change into a dress when I got to work. (It’s the green linen dress from the summer post). When I bike to work, dresses are an easy thing to pack and throw on for the day.

Friday – Free day. I went on a walk and to dinner with friends. The weather was almost in the 80s this day. This tank top from Duluth Trading Company is my latest go-to for a day off. It has a built in bra! The plaid flannel is also Duluth. I love that it’s nice an thick so I can wear it as a light jacket if I need that layer. Shorts from Uniqlo. Same Altrecs as the day before.

Saturday – (Double Chorus rehearsal day). Another interseasonal outfit. The cotton poplin skirt was another a new purchase this summer. (Also can be seen in the summer post) It was on the sale rack at JC Penny- there was a whole rack of these super cute blue striped skirts. Why would anyone not like this skirt? Elasric waistband and pockets! Sweater DKNY probably from Nordstrom Rack, twenty years ago. Plain blue top under. I don’t remember where I got that top – maybe Marshall’s? It’s been in my wardrobe for over ten years, I think. I definitely remember wearing it when pregnant. Shoes are Allbirds. I’m sad Allbirds don’t come in bright cute colours anymore. These are almost falling apart, but I’m not excited enough by the current colours that I’m rushing to get another pair. Same black knit hat as Sunday and Tuesday. Also my ginormous lunch box is at my feet, since I had to pack two meals for work that day. Photo taken by the 12 year old. (Who said this outfit was “not frumpy”. She tells me when my outfits are frumpy.)

Maybe I’ll do another what I wore post next week? It gets a little boring once I move to stage because I wear a lot of black. 🙂

What is your favorite thing to wear in the fall? Anything that you swore you’d never incorporate into your wardrobe but have since changed your mind?

I’m writing this post as part of NaBloPoMo – click on the icon below to see who else if participating. You can also leave me questions for an upcoming “Ask me Anything” post via this link. Happy reading and writing everyone!

What We Ate This Week – NaBloPoMo Day #4

Even though I try to meal plan, I usually find it more helpful to write out what we actually ate in any given week. This past week was a very functional week of dinner – just about the simplest and fastest ways to get dinner on the table and everyone fed. I think it will be like this for a few weeks since 3 out 5 of us will be at a rehearsal or performance every night of the week.

Monday: Barley Vegetable Soup – from the freezer. I’m not even sure when we made this.

Tuesday: Mac and Cheese and green beans and waffles. Waffles are one of those things that are easy for me to prep ahead on nights when I have to work. I put together the dry ingredients and the Husband add the wet when he gets home. I made savory cornmeal waffles from the King Arthur Baking book, and it was really really tasty – like Mexican food in waffle form.

Wednesday: Ribollita Soup. This wasn’t a great recipe. It was too acidic for our tastes – I think too much crushed tomato? I might throw some pasta in the leftovers to make it more like a pasta dish.

Thursday: Hallowe’en. We went to a Friend’s house and they fed us. Veggies, and dip and pizza before trick or treating, and chicken wings and salad after trick or treating.

Friday: We had dinner out with friends that were visiting. The Husband and I shared sandwiches – a fig, prosciutto and brie sandwich and a BLT. We had fried portabellos for an appetizer that was really tasty.

Saturday: the Husband and two littles had pizza and watched Dispicable Me 4 at home. I had dumplings (from the freezer) at work. The 12 year old went to the opera with friends. I think they had pizza and fries. She sent me a picture!

Sunday: I worked late and had Wednesday’s ribollita in a tortilla. It was a little soggy. Not sure what the Husband made for the kids, but the house smelled really nice when I got home. I love walking into a house that smells like home-cooked dinner.

What was your favorite meal last week?

Looking Forward To Right Now – NaBloPoMo Day #3

In my weekly posts, I always write a couple things I’m looking forward to. Anticipation is actually something I track daily. A few years ago, I read an article about how social scientists have found that anticipation increases well being and ever since I’ve tried to find something to look forward to every day, from big things to small things. (It’s not this article, but same ideas)

I thought for NaBloPoWriMo, I’d write my gratitude list on Saturday, when I look back at the week, and then on Sunday I’d look forward.

Things I’m currently looking forward to:

-Tech rehearsals. Actually being at the other end of tech. I’m going to be honest – there are stage managers that LOVE tech – those rehearsals where we move onstage and start incorporating scenic, lighting, costume, wig elements into a show that hitherto we have been rehearsing in a room on lines of tape. I don’t know if I’m one of those stage managers. I find tech extremely stressful. There is a lot to keep track of. There is never enough time or money. Sometimes what we do in the room don’t always match with the realities of what we can do onstage, no matter how much we try to anticipate it all. On top of that, it’s hard to “life” when in tech – I eat crappy food, don’t get to read or exercise, or see my family. Not to mention the Husband is solo parenting through all this, and driving all the kids to all the things. It’s rough. But, I do love seeing things onstage, solving problems, driving the ship, hearing the orchestra and singers come together, collaborating with directors and designers. So yeah – I’m looking forward to tech and the opera we’ll create together onstage. I’m also looking forward to the day off before final dress rehearsal.

-Running along the Potomac. To give myself one “life” thing to look forward to during tech – I’m going to try really really really hard to fit at least one run in on my dinner break. I love running along the Potomac – watching the sun set over buildings, over Roosevelt Island. Monuments in the background. Seeing the crew teams rowing down the river. Other runners. There’s a lot of see, even as I try to clear my mind.

-Chocolate chip cookies. The cafeteria at the theatre has the BEST chocolate chip cookies. They are the size of my face and have the just right degree of squishy slightly underbaked quality in the middle. Of course, they are often sold out by dinner time, so even thought I almost always bring my food, I always go to the cafeteria to get myself a chocolate chip cookie (or two). Some days, it’s the best part of my day.

-A Year with Frog and Toad, the musical. We went to see this show at the local professional children’s theatre last year and it was delightful. The kids still sing parts of it. (Sometimes when I ask the 7 year old to take something to another room for me, he’ll grab the thing and run off singing “I’m a snail with the mail and I’ll deliver without fail!”) The high school is doing it for their fall musical and we’re going to go see it. A night at the theatre!

– Visiting a friend in January. I had a friend that was supposed to visit this week, but didn’t end up being able to come to town. So we’ve make plans to plan a visit in January.

-reading everyone’s posts this month for NaBloPoWriMo. Thirty people have signed up for the challenge! I’m looking forward to “meeting” more bloggy friends.

What are you looking forward to?

Weekly Gratitudes – NaBloPoWriMo Day #2

On my weekly posts, I always try to write at least three things I am grateful for that week. So for NaBloPoWriMo, my weekly gratitude list gets it’s own post.

This week, some things I’m grateful for:

-My sewing machine still working. I sat down two days before Hallowe’en to sew my 12 year old’s costume, and when I plugged it in – nothing happened. I started to despair. Is there anything more despairing than a non-working sewing machine two days before Hallowe’en???? After a moment of spiraling, I unplugged the machine and plugged it into a different outlet. And it worked! Turns out the machine is so old that you have to plug the plug in right side up. I tried to google why this is, but the explanation is too dense for me to process right now. The important thing is that the machine worked and I was able to finish the 12 year old’s Hallowe’en costume.

-Beautiful balmy weather this week. There were a couple days where the weather was in the high 80s this week. Not what I expected for end of October, but the sunshine and warm air was lovely.

-My bike. I had one day when we didn’t have rehearsal so I just went to work to do some paperwork. Since the day was a little flexible, I decided to ride my bike in. I did walk the bike up the big final hill, but other than that, it was a great ride. And then a few days later, because my bike was still at work, I went for a bike ride instead of a run on my dinner break. Running is not so fun for me. Biking is pure joy.

-Text from my 12 year old. There have certainly been some ups and downs and learning curves with getting the 12 year old a phone, but one of the most delightful things is that she now texts me. Sometimes it’s just “hi.” Sometime it’s more than that. Often it’s “When are you coming home.” And then there are lots of pictures – mostly food and selfies. There are parts of the phone that aren’t really working for me, but getting texts from my daughter does make me smile.

-Daylights Saving time ending and getting one more hour of sleep. (Though it’s a little bit of bad timing because I’m about to start tech, which means a lot of late nights. When my body will think it’s 11:30pm and I’ll still have 30 mor minutes of rehearsal to go….)

-Binder Clips. Is there anything as useful as a binder clip? I mean aside from the obvious purpose of holding paper together. We use them in the kitchen to close up bags, like a chip clip. I use them at my desk as a photo holder. I use them when cooking to hold my cookbook open. I use them to clip a bunch of scrap paper together to make a little notepad. So many uses! This week, I discovered a new use – to hold up a music stand. So if you’ve ever worked with a music stand, you know that the top part goes up and down so that if you are standing or sitting, you can adjust the stand to the right height. But… Sometimes with not so great music stands, you pull the top up to be able to use them at a standing height and the weight of your book slowly makes the top sink down again. It’s maddening. Often, we just take gaff tape and tape the stand at the height we like, but this really pisses the prop people off because it can really gum up the shaft of the stand and then it won’t raise or lower anymore. Well, one of my colleagues showed me something brilliant. You can take a binder clip, and clip it to the inner shaft at the height you want and the binder clip with keep the top part of the stand from sinking down. Amazing! The simple binder clip fixed a problem that I’ve had ever since I started stage managing. I’ll take a picture and add it to this post if I can – it’s a little hard to describe how truly brilliant this is.

What are you grateful for this week?

I’m writing this post as part of NaBloPoWriMo – click on the icon below to see who else if participating. You can leave me questions for an upcoming “Ask me Anything” post via this link. Happy reading and writing everyone!

Okay, I’m going to do it…. NaBloWriMo – Day 1.

So I originally titled this post, “I’m going to try…”. But then I kept hearing yoda’s voice o my head, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

It might be bonkers for me to attempt to post once a day in what will be a very busy month – tech starts next week, I have 2.5 show and a vocal recital to work on this month. (The 0.5 is a shortened adaptation of a show that I’m already doing.) The kids still have the full slate of activities. There’s Thanksgiving.

But I love the idea of old fashioned blogging. And it’s so much fun to take a walk around the internet in November visiting all the thoughts and ideas and images that other people are putting out. And yes, maybe there is a sense of FOMO and wanting to be a part of it all. So I looked at my calendar and started plugging in ideas for posts, fitting in shorter ideas for the busier weeks, and it doesn’t look impossible. Ambitious, maybe. Not impossible.

So I’m going to start one day at a time – as evidenced by the fact that this post is on day two – and lean into writing posts on my phone in the gaps of time I do have. Maybe things won’t be as polished. There probably won’t be as many pictures. The posts will certainly be shorter.

Also… I’m absolving everyone from the responsibility of leaving comments here. I love getting comments and that sense of community, but – there are a log of blogs to read in November. So… if something I write inspires you, I’d love to hear it, but I think we all realize that sometimes… nothing needs to be said but a big “heart” or “thumbs up”.

So here we go….

Day #1. Shall we start with introductions?

I’m Diane. In live in the Washington DC area and I work primarily as a stage manager in opera. I also do other stage management gigs when offered and I also do supertitle work. (Supertitles are the translations that flash across the screen above the stage during operas or concerts. I do titles work for a series of vocal concerts.)

I would say I’m employed full time seasonally. There are weeks when I work 10 hours and weeks when I work 60 hours. There are also weeks I work 0 hours. It really depends on where I am in my season. And I should say by “work” I mean “paid work.”

There are a lot of other things I work at in life. House, laundry, cleaning – none of that very well. And we do have a bi-weekly cleaner. And then there’s the kids. We have three kids. I usually refer to them by age on this blog. They are 12, 7, and 5 right now. Everyone likes to tell me they are well behaved. They certainly are in public.

A lot of my mental energy is also spent thinking about what we eat and how to feed everyone when we are all on different schedules. I do a lot of meticulous meal planning. Or at least I try. Some weeks it’s toast and box Mac n cheese.

I also like to spend time writing here and reading and idly scrolling the internet, visiting museums and taking long walks outside. I write the occasional haiku and paint the occasional picture.

And then there is the Husband, who is amazingly supportive and holds down the fort as I’m off doing opera. He’s a super hero in a dad’s disguise.

I started this blog as a pandemic project. I liked reading blogs and would always leave long tangential comments, so I thought maybe I should find my own space to write long tangential comments. It’s been a lovely outlet, and I also love that I’ve found other blogs to read and that people from those blogs come visit this corner once in a while.

For more about me, here’s some more “get to know me” things to read (as if you need more to read during NaBloWriMo):

– you can read my guest posts on Elisabeth’s blog and Engie’s blog.

– Backstage mishaps.

– 20 fun facts about me.

–Twenty Hats I’ve worn.

Anything else you want to know? I’ll do an “Ask Me Anything” post if anyone has questions to ask me! Ask questions in the comments, or here.

Welcome November!

12 year old is full on tween. She has startlingly human moments but also moments when I want to crawl into a ball and not emerge for six years. I suppose those moments are very human too. She likes basketball, musical theatre,

7 year old is my little old man. He has an incredible imagination and loves nothing more than to sit and read. He’s also into