highlights of 2019
this is just a quick review of the year. to see the full details, keep reading after the Highlights, including many many pictures!
january
started the year off at the movies, and saw fan favorite Aquaman! enjoyed the company of my Nutcracker family at our cast party. got to participate in our company MLK celebration. for live theatre, saw a new (to me) production called Snapshots. Janet and I are once again playing in our band. my boss, my 2nd "best boss ever," is retiring next month, and I will SO miss him!
february
saw several friends in a local production of Big River - twice! ventured to a new venue and saw The Revolutionists. back at my "second home" theatre I saw a comedy called Beau Jest - hilarious! also saw our local jazz band play with a guest performer. sang a little karaoke too. at work I got the opportunity to watch a live webcast of the captivating motivational speaker Vernice "FlyGirl" Armour.
march
lots of theatre activity - saw Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Bye Bye Birdie. signed on to help with costumes for The Wiz. was one of only a few people who came out in slightly rainy weather to move our "2nd home" theatre's set/prop shop. got my very first passport in preparation for summer travel abroad! took the opportunity to read at a local school as one of my volunteer activities through work.
april
dragged my sewing machine to a shop where I participated in my very first quilting class! saw theatre productions of 9 to 5, Queen of the Mist, and the touring production of Aladdin. flew to Texas to participate in the inaugural Easter Parade and Egg Hunt in honor of our dad. attended both services - sunrise and regular - Easter morning at Daddy's church. on my last day in town I placed flowers at his grave, met his old boss at the paper, and spent a little time on the Kemah boardwalk, before flying home. the next day it was Admin Professionals Day at work, and in the evening I was at the theatre for tech week for The Wiz where I needed to finish costumes as well as help as a dresser. caught the fabulous Tom Jones in concert at our performing arts center! went up to SF to see the Monet exhibit and the exquisite Japanese Tea Garden.
may
while I worked most of The Wiz performances, I got to see it once. also saw A Spoonful of Sherman about those famous brothers. finally got a chance to see Hamilton in the city! went to see the hilarious One Man Star Wars.
june
saw a production of In the Wake of the Moon, as well as the local male acapella group Chanticleer. one of my Wiz cast members invited me to her church, the oldest black Baptist church in SJ. was asked by two of my cast members to be sure to attend the theatre company's annual meeting, indicating that my voice is important! I won't be in the country for the summer mentor production but volunteered to help with props.
july
went to a 5th anniversary cast party for 1776 on the Fourth! saw Beach Blanket Babylon before it closes forever. saw the Hugh Jackman concert at our sports arena in town the night before I flew out to Spain! met Janet in Barcelona, and our road trip included stops in Zaragoza, Bordeaux, Chambord, Paris, and then I continued on solo to London! it was a trip I will remember all my life!!
august
one additional activity I was pulled into - my first time - was running the light board for our junior mentor production of Beauty & the Beast! had an opportunity to go to an Eichler Open Block where several of these homes were open for public viewing.
september
Janet and I started rehearsals again for our band. I will be reprising my role as Grandmother and sharing the role of Mother Cupcake in Nutcracker. I won tickets and Janet and I went to see the hysterical opera Die Fledermaus. spent a long day around the bay going to the USS Potomac with Elvis again, going to the Disney Family Museum and then catching the touring company musical Anastasia in the city!
october
spent birthday week in San Diego mostly at Balboa Park. first stop was the USS Midway. then the air and car museums took up a full day. an art museum took up another. on our birthday Joyce and I met on Coronado and had birthday lunch together! we hadn't seen each other in nearly three years. that evening I treated myself to dinner and jazz performed by the local youth jazz organization in the open air setting of the sculpture garden. the next two days were filled with more art museums and botanical and Japanese gardens.
caught the touring company production of Jesus Christ Superstar. joined theatre friends at a Mad Hatter themed afternoon tea. spent Halloween away from the apartment at our football stadium restaurant watching the game and avoiding trick-or-treaters.
november
volunteered to help with costumes for our home theatre's production of Freaky Friday. saw Frozen 2 on the big screen - of course!
december
with plans to move next year, I gave my notice that this would be my last production of Nutcracker. all my ballet "family" are sad that I've had to make this decision. crocheted a Grogu for Joyce for Christmas/Hanukah. helped coordinate the holiday party at work, and my "ugly sweater" creation came in second. again. went to an early morning viewing of the final Star Wars movie on opening weekend. spent new years eve as a bartender at our "2nd home" theatre for the evening's two comedy shows.
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 9
looking forward to peaceful holidays.
performed for the last time with my Nutcracker family. I will truly miss this opportunity. Each year getting to meet, influence and cherish a new set of grandkids.
Joyce told me what she really wanted for the holidays, and so I found the pattern online, then tried to get all the recommended yarns (many were sold out and totally unattainable). I finally finished this little guy and got him in the mail right after Christmas.
at work, coordinated the holiday gathering as usual and crafted a unique sweater entry in our competition. I didnt win again for the 3rd year in a row.
oh yeah, I did that, opening weekend. Had a great seat too, at the 8am Sunday timeslot.
had our holiday band concert, and got a little melancholy that this was the last time I would be performing with these fine people too, who all, like me, have a passion to share their musical gifts no matter our skill level.
wrapped up the year helping Janet out at our favorite theatre that has a bar, where she is the new concessions manager. she needed bartenders for the 2 new years eve comedy shows. the last show is over before midnight, with a balloon drop at 11pm (midnight mountain time) so folks can be home at a reasonable hour. I put in 7 hours doing setup, then serving, then clean-up, then champagne prep for the second show finale. then serving and final cleanup after all the festivities. I was exhausted! but the comedians were all funny, and it was a lot of fun being the bartender "trainee" for the evening.
