Weekly recap + what we ate: Tech week and Opening!

We opened our show. Hooray! It’s been a doozy of a tech week. The first day in the theatre, there was a power outage an hour before we were supposed to start rehearsal and we didn’t know until the last minute whether or not we would be able to proceed. As our Production Manager said, “Either the power will come on or it won’t. There is no third option.” Luckily the power came back on about ten minutes after we were supposed to start rehearsal, and we were off to the races. The the second day of tech, we had some last minute staffing adjustments and were severely shorthanded for that rehearsal. It was an exhausting few days. But we got through the show, and

Picture from backstage:

The orchestra is onstage for this show, upstage of the set. That is my music stand on the right, where I stand for much of the show. Behind me is the harp, the brass section, the timpani, and the entire percussion section. (The strings are on the other side of the set up..) The percussion section is three players and takes up a lot of space, and spills into the wings – that’s that white line marked out on the floor. This show is very loud. Last week, I posted about being grateful for a strong downbeat from the conductor. Once we got with the orchestra, I was even more thankful. Most of the time, I can’t hear the singers because the percussion and brass is so loud right next to me. So you bet I’m watching the conductor and counting downbeats. And actually, there is so little space backstage that half the time I can’t have my music stand with me, so I just have to memorize entrance cues and count downbeats and trust that I’m sending people on at the right time.

Also – this alarming moment, when I looked down at my hand and saw:

You know when you have that moment where you can’t remember hurting yourself, but you obviously did because you’re bleeding? Well, this wasn’t that. It’s fake blood. There’s a battle scene in the show and in the 15 seconds people are off stage the make-up team bloodies them. It’s a super chaotic moment backstage – the orchestra is wailing away (did I mention this show is loud?), there are people running on and offstage with (fake) rifles, there are people getting (fake) stabbed onstage, there’s smoke, there’s very loud bomb sound effects, there are wardrobe people trying to fix costumes that have come apart during the action, there are prop people ready to put (fake) dead bodies onstage, there are make-up people standing by to make everyone bloody, and I’m trying to push people in the right direction – onstage, down one wing, towards the make-up station. All within a very small corner of backstage space. Anyhow, no wonder I looked at my hand and panicked for half a second. Then I realized I must have had a brush with the make-up crew. It made for a nice badge to wear though, evidence of a tough rehearsal.

Things that got me through this tech week:
– Planning out my wardrobe for the week. As always, it’s great when I don’t have to think about what I’m going to wear.

-Making sure I brought food to eat. I barely had time to eat meals what with all that was going on, so I’m glad I brought a lot of food with me. The typical daily food pack this tech:

From left to right: apple, cut up strawberries and cucumbers, marinated beans with cucumber and cherry tomatoes, beef stick, yogurt with bluberries and walnut (pink lid Thermos), congee (Blue thermos), banana, string cheese, rice crackers with avocado, trail mix (mixed nuts and dried cherries), tamarind balls, Korean spiced almonds. This is all the food I brought to get me through the day. There’s no food option close to work, so this is pretty much what I eat. If I don’t pack enough food, then I go hungry, or I have to get in my car and drive 10-15 minutes to the closest retail/restaurant strip.

-Taking a walk outside, even if it was just ten minutes.

-Watching the Olympics. It has proved a perfect way for me to turn my brain off and relax when I’m not at work. This past week, I’ve been very much into watching the Sport Climbing. It’s so inspirational to watch the climbers – their strength and ability to puzzle out a climb is jaw dropping. It makes me want to go to the climbing gym more often.

The bummer thing – The four year old (really she’ll be five in six weeks), won’t be going to kindergarten this year. Our appeal for her Early Entrance to Kindergarten denial was rejected. The whole thing is so confounding and frustrating. The report listed all the things that she did well and all the glowing comments from her school administer and from me, but just said that she didn’t meet criteria. I go back to the fact that her only insufficient scores were for reading skills, but she would have gone to a French Immersion program where we were specifically told not to teach our kids to read – and I feel like even though she didn’t check all the boxes, there is additional context that was not accounted for. Or maybe there is a bigger picture in terms of school numbers/funds, etc. that we don’t know about. Humph. Oh well. It really stings right now, especially since her preschool tuition is going up this year.
I’m trying to look on the bright side –
-she’ll have the new experience of being the oldest in her class, after spending her whole life being the youngest, so that will be a new dynamic for her.
-We actually do really like her preschool, so it’s not as if we wanted to find a different place for her because of that.
-I guess we will only have to pay for two kids in college for one year rather than two (I mean anything can happen on this though…)
-I won’t have to figure out summer camp for her next summer…
Even still – I don’t know that those points out weigh 1) not having to pay another year of tuition, and 2) having to do only one drop off/pick up.

Highlights of the week:
-The 7 year old’s theatre camp performance. They did a play called Wing It, about baby birds who don’t want to leave the nest. The 7 year old played a bird appropriately named Baby Orville, who is the first bird to leave the nest and fly. It was delightful. And afterwards, we went for a Carousel ride since the carousel is in the same park as the theatre camp. That was fun. It’s still just $2/ ride or $5 to ride all day – one of the best deals for entertainment in the area.

-Broccolini and sun dried tomato sandwich from The Sandwich Shop. My favorite sandwich, but I only get to eat it when I work this summer job. The bitterness of the broccolini and arugula, combined with the meaty sweet sundried tomatoes, make for a really satisfying vegetarian sandwich. I don’t usually buy lunch or dinner, but I decided to indulge one day when I didn’t have time to pack dinner and then the day of the final dress, the 12 year old came to the show and we picked up sandwiches and boba tea for dinner. It was nice to share some of tasty food.

-Playing the Disney playlist in the car at top volume and listening to the kids singing along from the back seat.

-Finding a new snack at Costco:

Nestle Crunch was one of my favorite chocolate bars growing up, but I always felt as if there were too much chocolate and not enough crunch. Also I prefer dark chocolate. This little snack rectifies all that, lovely bite size, crunchy, dark chocolate combination. . Gluten-free, vegan, so you know, I feel virtuous eating them.

-Giant umbrellas to protect us from much needed rain.

-Going on a hike. After dropping the 7 year old at camp one day, I went to a local trail. I was thinking I would go for a run but it was drizzling and the trail was slippery, so I went for a walk/hike instead. It was wet and grey, but it somehow gave the hike a misty, solitary quality that I really needed.

-Dog-sitting. I’m not a pet person. I have no desire ever to have a dog. But I do enjoy dog-sitting for my friend once or twice a year. It’s just enough to scratch my “Maybe I want a dog..?” itch, and then I get to give the dog back. I imagine grandchildren might be the same way. Anyhow we’ve been dog-sitting for a week and and I love the cuddles, the long walks, and the big brown eyes.

-This impulse buy at Target:

I had a hand held Tetris game when I was growing up, and I LOVED that game, would play for hours and hours. It’s the perfect brain break for me. Sure, I can play on my phone, but I love how whimsical this is. And I don’t feel the temptation to scroll when on it. I might have shut myself in the bathroom last night with this game when I should have been doing responsible parenting things. The kids are fascinated too, though I have to constantly explain to the kids that the game is not a building game since they love to pile the bricks high.

Grateful For:
-Wonderful, patient colleagues. With all the roadblocks thrown in front of us during this tech period, I think things could have gotten really stressful and miserable. I mean things were stressful, but it always felt as if we were all in this together and there was no anger or bitterness or demeaning behavior. Everyone just really worked well together with the goal of creating a beautiful show and being kind to each other. Sometimes at the end of a tough rehearsal, I just feel deflated, but I never felt that way with this show.

-Not having to commute during rush hour any more. I really like the opera company I work for during the summer, but I don’t like that I have to go around the beltway to get there and that there is always construction on the way. But now that we have moved on to tech and performances, I no longer have to commute during rush hour anymore since I’m mostly working later now.

-That I had a safe commute so far this summer. There have been some pretty bad accidents on the beltway, causing lots of traffic delays. There was one day where the accident had happened at 3am, and still wasn’t cleared by 9:30am and they had to bring in cranes to clear the big rig that was tilted over on the side of the road. Every time I turn on the traffic report and hear of yet another accident, I would get annoyed at the delay it was causing me. But at some point in the summer, I started to re-frame my thinking – instead of being angry at the traffic and the drivers causing the delay, I told myself that I should be thankful that I’m not the cause of the delay, and that I continue to get back and forth to work safely.

-A nice place outside to eat my lunch. during tech, I spend most of my days in the theatre, so I try to go outside on my meal breaks so I get a change of scenery. The theatre I’m working at backs out a grassy and woodsy area, and there is a patio and tables where I can sit and each my lunch while looking out on the grass and trees. It is so soothing.

Looking Forward To:
– Catching my breath and getting some sleep. Tech week always makes sleeping and adulting hard. I’m looking forwards to going to bed earlier and having time to do all those tasks I’ve been putting off for two weeks. These last few weeks before school starts also feature just ONE child that needs to be dropped off, and no camps. I’m looking forward to the time and margin in the schedule.

-Back to school shopping. Two weeks until the start of school. Eeep! It’s tax-free shopping week this week in Maryland – perfect timing because the kids need new shoes. And I love shopping for school supplies. It’s always kind of a mad house and the kids don’t have the patience for it, but I love wandering through Staples

-Cooking dinner and eating vegetables. We went to the Farmer’s market this past weekend. I bought lots of fruit, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, carrots and potatoes. I’m looking forward to making dinner.

-This audiobook:

The title pretty much says it all. Each chapter is read by a different person – artists, journalists, thinkers, politicians, it’s quite a cast of readers. I’m only on object 12, and it’s so fascinating. The first object is a “Healed Femur c. 30 000 BC” – and it is pointed out that while animals with a broken bone would die, the amazing thing about humans is that when humans get injured someone (usually women) will care for them, and so we can survive. I had never thought about care work in that context before.

What We Ate – another tech week menu:
Saturday: Pizza and The Hunt for Red October for the family. I packed dinner and ate at work.

Sunday: Dumplings and green beans for the family. They saved me two. I had a broccolini and sun dried tomato sandwich from The Sandwich Shop.

Monday: Pasta w/ red sauce and sausage. I ate leftovers when I got home from work.

Tuesday: The family ordered Banh mi sandwiches. I ate my packed leftovers at work.

Wednesday: Sandwiches from The Sandwich Shop for the 12 year old and me before she came to see my dress rehearsal- broccolini and Sun dried tomato sandwich for me, Italian Cold Cut for the 12 year old. And we each got a boba. The Husband took the kids out to eat as a special treat since they weren’t coming to the show.

Thursday: Eggplant and pork stir fry eaten with noodles. The Husband cooked.

Friday: Pizza and Hamilton (the proshot on Disney+)for the kids. I had leftovers at work. I think the Husband also had pizza – he came to see my show after dealing with a water crisis.

Hope you are having a sun-filled week as summer hurtles towards the finish line! Or perhaps you are already there?