Friday, November 28, 2008

Thanksgiving

This year, we had an impromptu quiet Thanksgiving. Mom and I did a majority of the cooking; though Dad couldn't resist helping out.

Here's cranberries in-process:

Cooking Cranberries

The pups couldn't resist being left out, too:

How Can You Resist This Face?

This face too...

But despite those adorable faces, they didn't get a taste.

Here's our final feast: turkey, baked stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with pears, cranberries (dried and whole), and green beans and peas.

Our Feast

Accompanied by a delicious Riesling from Indiana's own Oliver Winery:

Riesling in Crystal

This is what happens when you eat too much good food:

Post-Thanksgiving Snooze

Post-Thanksgiving Snooze

Just kidding. :) These photo were taken the following morning (this morning) and neither pup partook in our Thanksgiving Feast. But were too cute not to include.

More pictures of the pups to follow...

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

These Past Few Weeks

These past few weeks have been absolutely jam-packed with work. When i wasn't in rehearsal, I was working on something that related to the show. My source of internet was painfully slow dial-up and I just never carted my camera everywhere like I usually did.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

A colleague and her darling companion:

Adorable Pair

A harvest moon:

Harvest Moon

These are pictures from our show, sets designed by Maurice Sendak, taken with my iPhone during a tech:

Forest I Dream Owl Four Angels Fruit Ground Row Dew Fairy Dawning Witch's House

An exhibit at Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis:

Radio by Richard Swanson

That's all for now: next up are some lovely holiday decorations which I won't post until after Thanksgiving and some pup pictures, of course.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Goals/Life List

I just signed in for the first time in awhile (boo to dialup and jam-packed work schedules), and realized that my last, somewhat boring post, was my 100th! I wish I could say I planned the 101th post to celebrate such an event, but I did not. It was simply happenstance.

A fellow blogger and colleague posted her Ultimate To-Do List last April. I was indeed inspired by her list of goals, and have unofficially been compiling one since then. I kicked it up into gear because I recently worked with a colleague, KS, who is trying to visit all 50 states before she is 30. We're accomplishing state #50 on her list in March with a vacation to Hawaii. Wheee!

However, chatting with her about said list inspired me to actually post mine and, by publishing said list, will help me stick to it. It's not exactly a bucket list; and there's varying lengths on time-frames, but they are things I would like to accomplish in the near future. I'll elaborate on some later. And I'll probably revise them as I get a chance to see the too-close parallels that may lie between some of them. I think I caught most, but I'm not sure.

So here's my list of 50, in no particular order:

1. Make a weekly happy list for a year and publish it here.

2. Live in a city I love, or at least, don't hate.

3. Help someone else cross something off their list.

4. Learn another language.

5. Visit all 50 states. (And stay at least a night, or more. Driving through doesn’t count, unfortunately.)

6. Go back to writing good old-fashioned letters.

7. Fall in love.

8. Get paid for my photography or a photo of mine.

9. Lose weight and keep it off.

10. Incorporate exercise into my daily or weekly routine.

11. Teach someone to read. Bonus points if it’s an adult.

12. Become a better photographer and master my camera.

13. See a movie at a drive-in.

14. Take a picture every day for a year.

15. Take a road trip across the US.

16. Raise and train my own dog.

17. Remove money as a driving concern in my life.

18. Make a high-school reading list of books I never read. Read them.

19. Fly first class, preferably internationally.

20. Train a dog to help others (seeing eye dog, therapy dog, rescue dog, I’m not picky.)

21. Live in a house with a porch, preferably wrap-around.

22. Visit all the national parks in the continental United States.

23. Spend New Year's Eve on a beach.

24. Have a baby.

25. See Northern Lights in person.

26. Grown my own food. (I’m talking like an herb or vegetable garden, not farming.)

27. Learn how to do my own taxes.

28. Build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

29. Visit South Korea.

30. Build my own furniture (IKEA and DIY kits don’t count).

31. Go on a hot air balloon ride.

32. Widen my social circle, meet new people.

33. Accentuate the positive/downplay the negative in my daily life.

34. Remember to take time for myself.

35. Learn how to manage stress better

36. Visit the Crater of Diamonds and find hopefully find one.

37. Get over my fear of needles and join the Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and maybe save someone’s life.

38. Own my own home.

39. Consolidate my possessions and learn to live less materialistically.

40. Eat more locally.

41. Learn how to cook less like a college student again.

42. Learn how to play a stringed instrument (violin?) don't have to be good

43. Make more time for reading books.

44. Take a calligraphy course, in order to improve my handwriting. (worked the last time, for awhile)

45. Travel via train, preferably cross-country.

46. Own a piece of Chihuly glass.

47. Be a bridesmaid.

48. Donate to a charity regularly, despite my non-richness.

49. See a really spectacular fall foliage display since I’ve lived in areas without seasons for too long.

50. Blog about each item done.

Any suggestions? Comments? What's on your list?

I'll also be catching up on other posts intended for... well... a month ago.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Fall is Here!

Long time, no update. The internet situation in Indianapolis is slo-poke dial-up for the most part. Photo-blogs might go on hiatus, but I couldn't pass up the chance to share glorious fall color with you before all posts turn to word-only.

Orange

Green, Yellow, & Red

Tree-Lined Street

Rehearsals are going well; we're into the second week of rehearsals and I am tiring of children. Somehow pre-teens are a little more crazy than having younger kids. Strange but true. Less running around and screaming, but more volume and more silly teenage stunts. The adult cast are amazing and I thoroughly enjoy working with them all.

The other two assistant stage managers are also here which is a welcome change in rehearsal as well as they are both colleagues and friends with whom I've worked with before. We'll be into tech before we know it... this show'll keep us busy for sure.

More soon... The weather now is chilly and my last day off was rather dreary - which mean no good picture taking opportunities.

And I cannot let this blog post go by without acknowledging a sad tragedy back in Houston. The adorable baby elephant that I snapped pictures of mere months ago passed away suddenly. 48 hours from diagnosis to passing on. Poor little thing. :(

Here's him playing around instead of napping. RIP, Mac!

Baby Elephant Smile