highlights of 2018
this is just a quick review of the year. to see the full details, keep reading after the Highlights, including many many pictures!
january
singing at Temple and at karaoke were a great way to start the new year!
february
sang and read at two different Shabbats at Temple. Janet asked me to check in on her cat Wilbur while she was on a longer trip. she also invited me to attend her singles bible study, and while she lead and sang the music worship, I chimed in on harmonies - delightful! got a chance through work to see the new movie Black Panther. our community band practice started up again.
march
saw friends and some of "my kids" in The Miracle Worker. continued to cat-sit Wilbur for Janet while she travelled. we were given only six hours to move all of Mama's stuff from her home, grrr. and then my car broke down, in the rain. parts for a 20-year-old car are hard to source. sadness. saw friends in a hilarious production of Sister Act. read Haftarah at Temple, but am going to take a hiatus. it just felt like the right thing to do.
april
worked on the set piece "pouf" and costumes for La Cage aux Folles at our home theatre. in my down time I got see many friends in Adrift in Macao which was delightfully zany.
may
the first two races of the Triple Crown saw Justify win both. flew down to Arizona to see Joyce graduate with her Masters in Sustainability Leadership! also took a trip to the Grand Canyon which has been on my bucket list for decades. spent Mothers Day with Joyce and her beau Brian, and then they took me to the airport for my flight home. won an award with two other admins where we were named Admins of Excellence, which also came with a nice monetary award. saw an unusual presentation of the ballet Sleeping Beauty - we saw the production but heard through special headphones a "behind the scenes" commentary by some of the production staff. Janet and I performed exceptionally well in our band concert. at work we finally hired two new admins and I've trained them well so that I can finally take my postponed sabbatical.
june
saw many friends in a phenomenal production of Hunchback of Notre Dame. took my first sabbatical from work - four whole weeks! part of it I took a trip to Texas to see Daddy for his 80th birthday! also went to Johnson Space Center, the Rusk Palestine Railroad ride through the piney woods, the Texas Prison Museum, and the Columbia (shuttle) Memorial Museum deep in the woods. the highlight was starting Daddy's birthday with breakfast at his favorite pancake spot, then watching the Belmont Stakes with him and the horse Justify winning the Triple Crown!! started rehearsals for Aladdin Jr. where I played the Sultan. went to another concert with my boss, this time to see Andrea Bocelli. finally got to the Remembering Frontier Village annual picnic!
july
took flight in an aerial yoga class put on by a theatre friend who will be offering it later and needed volunteers for a practice class. at work our top dog gave us free tickets to see the new movie about RBG. got to see the five Super Bowl trophies at our team's stadium at an event coordinators open house. woke early to be part of the 50th anniversary stock exchange bell ringing ceremony in the courtyard at headquarters. we even had a special drone show one evening overhead! Daddy was in the hospital for a couple weeks, fighting an infection and needing a pacemaker.
august
the first weekend of the month saw my performances in Aladdin Jr. as well as Daddy's passing from his complications during my final performance. I took some time off from work to go to Texas, to meet up with Aunt Maddy and Jim, and to celebrate his life with his community at his funeral. the church folks had set up a spread and we dined and socialized with so many people who loved him dearly. got to see Joyce and meet Brian when they were in town. saw the Elvis 68 Comeback Special on the big screen, and dressed for the occasion. was quoted in the paper and attended the party for our theatre's 50th anniversary!
september
Janet and I started rehearsals for the holiday concert with our band. Nutcracker rehearsals started too. saw friends in and met the creator of Another Roll of the Dice. Took a ride on the president's yacht Potomac which had a special guest performer, a local artist who impersonates Elvis!
october
there were two trips for birthday month. first was a long weekend to North Carolina, where I saw the Chihuli glass at Biltmore, as well as the Billy Graham Library. the second trip was to LA for a week, going to bucket list destinations I've never seen. spent a day on Catalina Island, a day seeing King Tut and the space shuttle Endeavor at the Cal Science Center followed by a visit to the Griffith Observatory. I spent an entire day aboard the Queen Mary taking many tours and finishing with a lovely dinner at the restaurant Sir Winston's. the next day I spent at the Nixon Library where I was astonished by all the cool historical things that reside there! even took my picture behind his replica oval office desk. flew home in the rain from the remnants of Hurricane Sergio off the coast. so many bucket list items checked!
november
went to see friends and junior performers in stage performances of My Fair Lady, The Women, Cabaret, and Music Man. as an event coordinator at work I get invitations to events at our team's football stadium. got to tour the areas not always open to the public! got to see friends in Uptown Holiday Swing before I went into tech rehearsals for Nutcracker. I've also put in lots of hours sewing, especially on the Russian doll dresses for the small dancers. lots of hours matched with volunteer dollars!
december
performances with Nutcracker filled me with joy playing two roles this year, Grandmother in Act 1, and Mother Cupcake in Act 2. Janet and I performed our holiday music with our community band, and gathered with our fellow players at a post performance pizza party. at work holiday parties I won two nifty sports memorabilia! Janet invited me to her church Christmas Eve service and the next day to her pastor's meal at their home. saw the new Mary Poppins Returns on the big screen. with the joy also comes sorrow ... two friends died unexpectedly.
read about the whole year in greater detail below and in the Older Posts.
d e c e m b e r . 2 0 1 8
we welcome the miracle of the lights and celebrate all the holy days. I was able to kindle Chanukah lights for three nights before my rehearsal schedule collided with the lighting schedule. working with the young dancers on the show is so emotionally rewarding. I have five "grandchildren" this year, the youngest is only 5-years-old! I have watched him grow exponentially in his social and acting skills. I look forward to working with him again. :-) and having 22 young gingies see you and happily yell "Mother Cupcake!" just really warms you all over. the whole experience, while exhausting, has been really therapeutic too. below are two publicity photos, one showing me last year, playing Grandmother during the Grandfathers Dance. the other is last year's MaCake (as my coworker calls her) as played by another actor.
before the closing performance, as the artistic director thanked me for my present (the handmade "grandmother ornament") she also asked me to reprise both roles again next year! of course, I accepted!! these are lovely people, and the product we create is just so special.
and when I found out that not just the (real) dancers could have publicity photos taken, I went to the studio and had not just one of my characters, but both Grandmother and MaCake, with all her ginger babies.
and as if that wasn't enough arts going on, Janet and I performed our band concert the night after The Nut closed! again, our harmonies were special, and this time we both went to the post-concert party and celebrated with our fellow musicians.
at work, as usual, I coordinated the group's holiday gathering at our local watering hole. it's fun to socialize with coworkers, and I won a cool SF Giants growler in the elephant exchange game! at the all-division party, I won a raffle prize, an autographed volleyball with Kerri Walsh's signature! these will be two items I'll be able to regift to loved ones with confidence that they will be appreciated!
Janet and I went to a Christmas Eve candlelight service at her church (well actually she was busy working the A/V up in the balcony), and then joined her pastor and his family for the midday meal on Christmas day. it was nice to gather with a family and join in many and sometimes overlapping conversations around a big table. after the holiday I finally got to the movie theater to see the much anticipated Mary Poppins Returns, which was so much more than I was hoping for! this one is definitely going into my home library.
along with joy though we must endure sorrow... on the eve of Christmas Joyce and I lost a beloved theater friend, Howie, who lost his valiant struggle with severe health issues. we met him 15 years ago when we performed in his production of Joseph/Dreamcoat. and another longtime friend I've known since 1970 lost his wife suddenly... and much too soon. Cyndi felt like a kindred soul to me, and Bill's profound grief breaks my heart.
we are reminded through these experiences to never take every minute for granted. speak your love for loved ones, and live as if each day is your last and best.
