The Pumpkins are Carved

With four hours to spare before the official start of October 31st, our pumpkins that we have had for weeks are finally carved and glowing with candles. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

I'm a day late, but that seems to be the story of my life lately...Actually a day late AND a dollar short really sums up things right now.  Enough of that tangent though...Yesterday was the birthday of one of the most wonderful and important people in my life.  Mom.  She is always the one to sacrifice her own time to help us out.  She is the one that always has a positive outlook and a smile on her face.  She is a fantastic mother and a fabulous grandmother.  We are all so fortuante to have her in our life. Happy Birthday Mom, we love you!

Finally the San Francisco Blog...

One of our favorite spots during the weekend
One of the many spectacular views on the marathon route
Saturday's dinner...we didn't try to match our spouses I swear!
Dave in one of the "street wear" looks that DID NOT work!
The huge window on the side of Nike Town in Union Square

On October 16, 2008, Dave and I departed for a wonderful long weekend in San Francisco.  Never mind the fact that the night before, our NEW ADDITION FLOODED and I twisted my knee. After a hectic morning, we were on our way to LAX-- and numerous flight delays which led to numerous drinks in the airport bar.  We finally arrived in San Francisco, checked in to our adorable "boutique" hotel and headed out to dinner.  Our desk clerk recommended an Irish pub right around the corner. The weather was beautiful that night and Dave and I and our friends Lee and Poppy enjoyed a great meal and a couple of pints.  Did I mention that we were in an alley eating...the atmosphere was part of the enjoyment.  After that we did something Dave and I haven't done since...well...Vegas...bar hopping.  We actually ended up in a club, to those of you that know Dave...yes, a club.  Before we went in I asked the bouncer if there were any other people our age in there and they assured me that there were.  This club was on the top floor of the St Regis hotel and though the details are a bit fuzzy, I'm sure that we had a great view.

The next day we spent much of the morning checking in for the Nike Women's marathon.  In case I've caused confusion- this was the reason for our trip- not a tour of the bars of San Francisco. We were in Macy's shopping and decided that Dave and Lee needed some new clothes...we searched high and low for a floor that had clothes we could afford.  We finally ended up in the "Street Wear" collection and found some things.  It was hilarious.  Two men, one nearing 40 and the other one already  there shopping in the section that is most often frequented by teenagers.  Believe it or not, they both found some things.  Another couple arrived and the six of us resumed the tour from the night before.  Friday night was much classier as we had dinner at a restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf with a great view of the bay.  

Saturday was another perfect day.  We spent the morning watching Big 10 football (my friend Kathleen went to Michigan) in a dive bar.  According to the wall outside the bar it was ranked "the number one happy hour spot according to Betty Ford"  offensive and funny at the same time.  Kind of like the behavior of all of us.  For lunch we had the San Fran classic- bread bowls with either chili or clam chowder.  We stopped by the sea lions and then started our walk to Little Italy to load up on carbs before the marathon.  At this point I need to mention that we had been walking all day and my knee was so sore, I could hardly bend my leg- not the best condition to head into a half marathon with. 

On Sunday all of the girls woke up before the crack of dawn for our event.  Dave and Lee were both wonderful husbands and got up as well to watch us start the event.  It is quite a sight to see 20,000 women congregated in one spot waiting to face one of their biggest physical challenges ever. I think that it was this extreme amount of positive energy that caused me to decided to "just do it" even though I was in pain before it even began. By the time the "slow" group I had put myself in because of my knee crossed the starting line, Dave and Lee had been waiting to cheer us on for almost 1/2 hour- that's how huge this group was.  I was only able to run about 3 miles of the 13.1--it's ok though, I finished.  I'm lucky to have a friend like Poppy who hung with me as I limped the last 10 miles.  If I had to walk an event like this, this was the one.  The route through San Francisco was perfect and the scenery was breathtaking at points.  I think that if I would have been running and breathless I would have missed a lot of the beauty.  After 3 hours of travel by foot, we crossed the finish line where we were handed our Tiffany finisher's necklace in it's little blue box by a San Francisco fireman wearing a tux.  The necklace also had a lot to do with the stupidity involved in me doing the event with an injured knee.  LOL.  

All in all this weekend was one for the record books.  As you can tell it has taken me a week to get used to being back in reality!  

Never Wear Flip Flops To The Pumpkin Patch

What was I thinking?  Other than this slight inconvenience, we had a great time on our annual visit to the pumpkin patch.  The weather was cool and completely reminded me of a crisp fall day in Iowa.  Yesterday was the second day that the pumpkin patch was open, so the selection was great.  The older the kids get, the more fun they have picking out the perfect pumpkin.  Once again I realized how for kids, sometimes the simplest activities are the most fun.  In our whirlwind lives I think that sometimes we forget that.  Bella did have a "moment" at the end of our outing where she was in a "no pictures please" sort of mood.  It wouldn't be a family day worth remembering though if Bella didn' t have a moment!  Happy Fall!

While I Was Away...

During the last two weeks of a production, it feels like I am not really present at all in my life away from school and the theatre.  This time around that was certainly the case, and for the first time I felt like I was a part of a TV show.  More specifically the show "While You Were Out".  On this show unsuspecting individuals leave their home, and return to it with the surprise of a  remodel.  To me of course, it was not a surprise, but a lot has happened in two weeks.  I would leave home in the dark and return in the dark, so it was exciting to finally see things in the light. The project is almost complete and we are in love with the finished (almost) product!

Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair

A scene from our production

Macbeth FINALLY opened last night.  We had a nearly full house and its always a huge feeling of relief when the lights go up at the beginning of the first show and I know that the end of stress is near.  Let me begin by reiterating that this has been the most challenging show I have EVER directed.  It was more difficult than any musical ( and musicals are a huge challenge for me).  Along with the cast, I had to go on a long journey with many bumps in the road to get to opening night.  But, we made it.  Yesterday had to be the most chaotic and stressful opening day I have experienced.  Maybe this really is the cursed play.  Once the show started though, I couldn't have been prouder of my actors.  It was like all at once, they understood what Shakespeare wanted them to do and they did a magnificent job of sharing the story with the audience. (FAIR)  The audience on opening night is typically full of teenagers that are there for extra credit, last night was no different.  While teenagers always are an enthusiastic audience sometimes their responses are not appropriate- especially last night.  It is sad to realize how de-sensitized these kids are.  In scenes that give me chills and make me want to cry(murders, fights, breakdowns, etc), these kids laugh! (FOUL) This reaction really discouraged my actors.  Tonight we will have more adults in the audience and hopefully the reactions will be more appropriate, and the audience will be more appreciative of the fact that very few teenagers can act in a play written by Shakespeare and do it well!

Skate-O-Rama

We had Cooper's sixth birthday at the skating rink and it was rockin!  Everyone had such a great time.  It was really fun to see families doing something active together and it was so much more fun than Chuck E. Cheese.  The details at the beginning are a little stressful- getting things set up for a kids party is a little chaotic.  I told my friend Teri that I'm still much better at putting beer in a cooler and opening a bottle of wine.  By the end of the party everyone was a lot better on skates and Cooper was the proud owner of a ton of new toys(mostly Star Wars).  

Birthday Fun At Disneyland

Cooper the Space Commander and his little assistant
Bella in Wonderland
This pretty much sums up thier relationship
Happy Fall!  
"Gay Days"  See, they even had shirts!

On Friday, after a long rehearsal, we headed down to Disneyland to have some fun.  We didn't even arrive there until 8 and IT WAS BUSY!! Luckily, we had planned on staying overnight there and going back in the morning before heading for the airport to pick up Mimi and Papa.  We only got in one ride on Friday- Buzz Lightyear- thankfully, that is one of Cooper's favorites.  He did get a happy birthday button and he got to listen on the phone in guest services as Goofy sang happy birthday, so all was not lost.  The next morning we got up bright and early to get to the park when it opened.  In the morning, it was not busy, we managed to get in six rides in an hour and a half.  Not bad.  Maybe this was because it was early morning and it looked like it was going to rain, maybe it was because it was "Gay Days" at Disneyland and we were one of the only heterosexual families not aware of this!  The kids were oblivious, and Dave and I could care less about the theme of the day, everyone deserves to go to the "Happiest Place on Earth" (and we got to go on a ton of rides in a short amount of time).

Happy Birthday Cooper!

Cooper is six today.  Six!  It's so hard to believe that he is already this old.  He seems to grow up more and more everyday now that he is in first grade.  He is SO TALL (that's always been the case), his face is thinning out (sort of, he'll always have the famous cheeks) and his voice doesn't sound like a toddler's anymore.  Some of the things I love most about Cooper are:  his kindness, his smile and laugh, his enthusiasm about everything, his creativity and his great hugs.  Tonight we are going to Disneyland to celebrate, tomorrow Mimi and Papa arrive and then on Sunday is the big roller skating extravaganza.  Happy Birthday Cooper, we love you!