Theater Production-check

After I moved to Vermont I realized I had just checked off two of the biggest items on my life long to do list, college degree and living in New England. So I decided I really needed to write down some of the smaller things I always wanted to try, in the hope that this would encourage me to actually do some of these things. Almost immediately I was able to check off yoga from my list, I tried it and liked it and continue to do it semi-regularly. When I was talking about this list with one of my coworkers she told me she could help me out. I always wanted to participate in a theater production. My friend performed these past two weeks in Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing in a small community theater. They use volunteers at every performance so I stepped up to the plate. Most of my theater experience revolves around professional actors either at the Aranoff in downtown Cincinnati or at Playhouse in the Park. The difference between those productions and this one were huge. Instead of vested bartenders serving food and drinks there were people like me serving homemade baked goods, made that day. I got to have a glimpse at the behind the scenes as the actors applied their own makeup and did their own hair in between turns practicing pieces of their performances on the stage before the audience showed up. When people began to come it was fun to watch the crowd as most of the people knew at least one other person there, and many of them took an interest in me. The friendliness of the small audience was very welcoming and their enthusiasm for the play being put on was authentic. It was an all around up-lifting experience and perhaps with a little more warning next time I could be even more involved.
P.S. The play was very funny, I had never seen it in any format before and I really liked it :)

The end to a good day...

So yesterday was a really good day. Work was good and we spent a lot of time outdoors because the weather was beautiful. When I got home I decided to take in more of the good weather from my deck and got to see an amazing sunset. So at around nine when I normally would sit down to watch some tv I found I was still restless. My TV viewing has been drastically cut down to size since I moved here, but I still often end my night with it. I decided last night it just wasn't going to cut it so I opened a bottle of wine, put my ipod on shuffle and had a living room dance party for one...it was AMAZING!! You would be amazed at what you learn about your dancing style when you are by yourself as opposed to being surrounded by a bunch of people on the dance floor. For example I learned..
* My hip swing to the right is far superior to my hip swing to the left
*I am more of a Phoebe (large sweeping gestures) then an Elaine (shorter more contained movement)
*I am not nearly as good a dancer as anyone in either step up movie, I'm actually quite terrible but it won't make me stop.
A few tips for your own at home dance party...which I am strongly suggesting you try.
* Limit the number of lights you leave on, they will make you self-conscious
* Give yourself one skip on the music, do it too much and you won't get any rythm down, but there is always that one song that will kill your mood if you don't skip it
*PUT THE WINE DOWN before you try krumping, which you would think would be self explanatory
*Baggy clothes will just slow you down, yoga pants and tank top worked for me
So seriously, it's an amazing stress relief, apparently a pretty good workout since I'm a little sore today and it's just plain fun. Hope everyone tries it at some point.


Here's a picture of the sunset from my deck....

Highlights

I thought maybe instead of explaining my WHOLE weekend I would just give you the highlights to sum up another fabulous one, so here they are in chronological order (haha)....
Friday-
*Starting the night out with my family by having everyone do a shot like we were celebrating my cousin Derik's 21st birthday instead of his 30th
*When our entire group of people accidentally went to a metal/punk band's show. Not only were we the only people not dressed in black and headbanging we were the only ones who ordered drinks and drank not even a third of them before leaving again.
*I am truly sad I missed the moment when the creepy old man who spent his night hitting on various female relatives turned to my uncle mike and said "I saw her first," about my cousin Shannon, who is his daughter. All together now, "EWWWW!"
*Ending the night somewhere around 3am with guitar hero and yet another shot and Doritos that were like eating fire
Saturday-
*Watching the birthday boy try to make himself feel better by washing some bread and butter pickles down with some orange juice. yuck!
*Taking my little cousin Madison, age 7, to the Hannah Montana movie where I found myself convinced that popcorn and gummy bears was a perfectly acceptable lunch
*Dying easter eggs with Madi, Derik and Janelle. This process is way more complicated now then when we were kids and used spoons.
Sunday-
*Easter church and a totally delicous brunch with various family members at my cousin Maria's place, followed by chocolate and a discussion that mostly revolved around "Master's Naps" (naps that occur on the sunday of the master's golf tournament, which apparently are the best naps ever) which Beno didn't hear because he was in the middle of his.
*Laughing so hard I cried, and then continuing to laugh until my contact actually popped out while hanging with my cousin Brian and his girlfriend Lindsey. This lasted for approximately 5 hours, my core muscles got a great workout.
Monday-
*Realizing spring is definitely here when we were alternating between playing basketball and baseball in the street and the younger boys were out riding their bikes around in the sunshine.

Support Systems

Sometimes I think people highly underestimate the power of a support system. These come in many different varieties and are essential to life. I always knew I was lucky in my family and friends and I do my best not to take any of them for granted. I am becoming more and more aware that being so far away from everyone you have learned to depend on is a test in itself. Having a work week like the one I am currently in the middle of, were I in Cincinnati, could see me heading in a number of different directions depending on what I wanted to do. There are people to see if you need to laugh it off, drink it away, stew in it, bitch about it or simply be distracted away from it. I am happy that I am starting to build a new and different kind of support system here. I am making friends at work who are in the trenches day after day with you and can fully understand the ups and downs of our jobs, and I have family in every direction that are ready and willing to welcome me at any time. I also have my apartment which from day one has felt like a good place for me, but increasingly feels more like a home and has become a comfortable escape from the rest of the world. Even as I write about the new life I am building in the beautiful northeast I am fully aware of the fact that the reason I know how to do this and what to look for in my new support system is because of the one I already have. I am, after all, not replacing anything I'm simply adding to the amazing support that I continue to be beyond blessed with.

Webcams...

...are awesome. As part of my graduation present my sister bought two webcams, one for the Cincinnati branch of the family and one for me. So every so often I have video chats with my parents or megan or sometimes all of the above. It's nice to see a face once in awhile, and honestly it leads to quite a bit of comedy. Mom likes to use props from her cereal boxes to enhance the video chat experience. Last night the book club my mom and I have belonged to for like 7 years or something was meeting and talking about the book "The Soloist" which I really loved, so they webcammed me into the meeting. Mom set up her lap top on a chair and I got to be part of the book club via the internet. It was so cool. I won't say it's the same as being there, because its not, I didn't get to taste the yummy treats and I had to open my own bottle of wine. It was really fun to see all the ladies again and be part of the conversation. Next time we are going to try and three way video in our other out of town member which should be interesting...

Busy, Busy

Ever since I moved up here I have been waiting for that big moment of doubt. I prepared myself for pushing through and coming out the other side knowing that in the end it was a good decision. I have come to the conclusion that it's not going to happen. My uncle asked me recently if I had any regrets, and I answered very honestly that I don't, because even on the days I am really frustrated or upset over work I am so happy to be living where I am that I could never regret taking the job that got me here. I miss seeing my family more than words can say, but thankfully there is technology that allows me to be in daily contact with them. A couple days ago I finally got my license and plates switched from Ohio to Vermont and it occured to me that for six months or so I have constantly had something that I was searching for or taking care of. First it was finishing school and finding a job, then it was finding a place to live, then it was the stress of figuring out whether to stay in my current apartment or moving to a new one to ease the transition to a being a Vermont resident. So on Tuesday when the decisions were all made and the plates were on my car, the license in my wallet I became concerned that the big lull was about to hit and without anything to do I would finally be bored and start questioning my decisions. Then, the very next day, I spent the day at work, drove straight up to Burlington to meet my aunt for dinner and then went out with friends for trivia night. We lost, badly, but we laughed alot and I will never again forget the coefficient of friction (mu, who knew?). So with the snow from a brutal winter melting, future social plans in place and the season for opening camps on the lake around the corner, I see nothing but blue skies ahead.

New York

With yet another beautiful weekend off I headed to Peru, NY on Saturday to visit my Aunt Sarah. Ironically, her son/my cousin, moved to the Cincinnati area for a co-op and is spending some quality time with my parents. Anyway, to get there I get to ride the ferry across Lake Champlain, which I really love to do. If they didn't charge me to ride it, I would probably find a reason to go to NY everyday. Once I was there we decided to go to Ausable Point and walk around, we took my camera and a pair of binoculars and set off. Ausable Point is a beach and campground on Lake Camplain and it's right across from Valcour Island and Gumboat island, which a nice man told us were vital during the Revolutionary war. I also got to see TWO bald eagles, one in flight. I had never seen one live before and I thought it was pretty cool, but we could only really see them through the binoculars, they were too far away to capture on my camera. I did get pictures of the mountains surrounding the lake though. Once we were sufficiently chilled we decided to head home where I enjoyed another first, my Aunt Sarah made me a Kir spritzer, which is wine, creme de cassis and some soda or tonic water, I don't remember. It was delicous though. We then headed off to see a showing of the movie Frozen River, which was filmed in the area. The movie won at Sundance film festival and the lead actress and the writer/directer were nominated for academy awards. The coolest part was that writer/directer Courtney Hunt was at the showing. She introduced the movie and then stayed afterward for a question and answer. She was so cool, she actually seemed humbled that she could fill a school auditorium and she was so personable. It was interesting to hear details about the making of a movie, from how the idea came up to how they got it funded, not to mention little anecdotes from filming. Then, of course, she told us about the Oscars which apparently are amazing. So there goes another amazing weekend in the books!
The view from Ausable Point across Lake Champlain