The Fantasy begins...

Well We finally have most of the main character costumes done and they look good...All except for Peter pan who looks like he is wearing a basketball uniform. OOPS!! That is being changed! amazing how one person's vision gets twisted in another person's mind! And Nana the dog is made of STRIPED fur. Ever seen a tabby DOG? Neither have we. But we will live with it...Our ostrich and our Lion are still not done yet...WAHHHHH!!! but we have a very forgiving Press up here, and since tonight is technically still an official rehearsal, we can go forward. The Press will be here and the cast families. We still have a week to go before opening night. By then everything will magically come together and no one will knoe just how hard a very few people have worked to make this happen. SOme of us are close to the breaking point, but we will all make it!!

Now to just get those tickets sold!!!!

Still Busy

Along with everything enumerated below...I have a spreadsheet to make for the Coupeville Festival Grant Meeting next Monday. I LOVE spreadsheets. and the New Office 2007 Excell is WONDERFUL!! I just have not figured out all the buttons yet.

There are over twenty five Grant applications all wanting a piece of the pie, and we have to review them all and select the most worthy. I am still VERY new to this job, so I do not not what all goes into qualifying an application. Judging from the apps though, it must be all arts and crafts and history I will know more soon.

I have 1/2 the light cues assigned to dimmers for PETER PAN and will or SHOULD finish them tonight, then I will be concentrating on the paperwork, ie: PROGRAM Finalization, Biographies for the Lobby, Photos for the Lobby etc. We open in 10 days, with Press Night on this Thursday, so we are getting close. Once the show opens, I will be on a downhill slide, and can relax and get myself ready for the Holidays.

This will be Tim's first Christmas home in YEARS and I am really looking forward to it. He is doing so GOOD, (Thank you Lord!) and calls once a week. That is such a worry off my mind. As hard as it was to say no to him for Bail money, and make him face his obligations, It was the best thing that ever happened to Him. I think He thinks so too. He is totally off drugs now, and swears he will never go back to them. (now to work on the cigarettes!)

We are having an EXCEPTIONAL Fall here this year. COOL and SUNNY. makes up for the crappy summer we had I guess. WOnder what winter will bring. I saw only one Wooley bear caterpillar, and it had a BIG orange stripe, so who knows....

This weekend will be more applesauce, and then I am done canning for awhile, unless the mighty hunter finds some other windfall fruit, or gleans more fields for veggies.

Gotta run...

Almost Halloween

It has been an absolutely beautiful month! Sunsine and chilly. The trees are really colorful right now. We have not had our usual October Storm yet either.

Bob has filled my new wood ricks so now I have 2 cords of wood dried and ready to burn, so I wont freeze. I also have been putting up apples. A make really chunky applesauce with cranberries in it and it is really good, almost like pie filling. My kids scarf it all down as soon as they know I have some made. 1 case of apples will make about 20 qts of applesauce.

I am canning pears too,and Wednesday I took a day off and stayed home to rest, and got to looking at my filthy house, and cleaned! Never even stopped, just cleaned away. I made some applesauce that night, but then started right in on thursday canning pears. I was bringing a five gallon pot of pears down to the table where I was working them and I dropped the damn thing all over my kitchen floor. boiling hot syruppy pears and syrup. Sadie ran like hell thank you Lord, and did not get burned. It plashed onto my pants and my warm suede slippers but I did not get burned either. I was so freaking mad!!! the floor had just been cleaned! SO I grapped an armfull of old towels and got it all wiped up, but then the floor was sticky, so I had to rewash the floor with hot water to get all the syrup up. I was not in the mood to finsh, so I turned everything off, and went to bed. By this time I was in sever pain. SO I hit the Ben Gay and wenbt to bed.

Today I was still in pain, but I managed to finish the case of pears. I was going to start in on the other one, but the corner store was out of wide mouth qt jars, and they didnt have any fruit fresh either so I will do some tomorrow night after I play all day with the lighting for Peter Pan, and go eat Pho.

Ever had Pho? oh yummy!! gotta try it!

I need time to breathe!!

I have been so busy!!! Friday, I had to work on the Program for Peter Pan, and then I went to Aquarobics, then rushed on to a Play reading. A group gets together and reads from the script, a play that the playday committee has chosen to submit to the membership for next season. We read CASH ON DELIVERY which was a British Farce, and FUNNY!!!! I drove home through the ground fog around 10:00, and hit the shower and crashed. I was so tired!
I went in to set the lights for the show on Saturday, and worked on them for 5 hours, until time to head home. They still aren’t done. I will get the cues set into the computer this week, and finish moving the lights next weekend. I will be so glad when this show opens. For some reason, I am really stressed out over it, More so than most. Might be the huge cast and all the kids that don’t listen. (ya THINK?)
Today I got up and processed a case of apples into applesauce. I have another case in the garage, along with two cases of pears. But those are going to have to wait. Tomorrow I have a dentist appt, then swimming, then aquarobics, then rehearsal. Tuesday I have a meeting with a member of the Coupeville Festival Board, to show me the ropes on their office computer. I will have to have the minutes ready, from the last board meeting and the spreadsheet done for the grant applications, all by November 3rd!
Thank God for vitamins! And coffee!

It's Autumn...ya THINK?

Every year in October, Coupeville has a scarecrow contest and each business tries to participate, this year's theme was COWS I guess, because most of the ones were cow related. I only took this one which is Island Transit's entry, and the cutest by far.



Our one and only grocery store, Prairie Center had their display of Pumpkins out front and it just looked really fallish, so I took it.




My Sister's friend Nancy's Husband Al puts up a different theme every year also...this year it was a big black BAT!

When traffic is not so bad, I will try to get the rest of them for you. we only have one main street, and during the day it is too busy to get good pictures, because you have to stop in the middle of the road, and the tourists get really cranky!

The weather took a drastic turn too. It got COLD last night, almost freezing, but not quite. Donna lives on the mainland, and she has already had to scrape ice off her windsheild. Yep, one week of summer and now it is Fall. I expect Winter to be right around the corner. I saw my first wooley Bear, and he had a small brown stripe and big black ones, so that means COLD IS COMING...

Passing the Turkey platter!

Beings as how I have the biggest house, and I am the oldest, I have always held Thanksgiving here. Last Year Phyllis wanted to go to the community center with her church, and ended up here.

This Year, Donna has offered to cook for Bob and I and Tim at HER house, so Phyllis and Sherry and Mike can go do their thing without feeling bad about not coming to my house this year.

Actually it works out GREAT, as I will be right in the middle of Peter Pan and will be really busy not to mention TIRED.

Donna's Husbands boss always gives them a turkey for thanksgiving, so all that she will need to do is stuff it in the oven, and cook the potatoes, and I can bring the rest! COOL!!!

I kinda feel bad about NOT having family over, but they say they wanted to go eat with the community center, so there ya go! I will still do my Killer Prime Rib Roast for Christmas dinner though. Already have it in the freezer!!

Bob brought me over 2 boxes of fuji apples and 2 boxes of anjou pears to put up, so I had better get busy huh!

for those of you that DON'T have my email it is marylouchandler46(at)gmail(Dot)com
so your comments will go there and I can post them. easy now!

I'm SOrry

I'm SOrry, But I have an anonomous commenter that is making derogatory remarks, and since I am not smart enough to remember how to delete the comments, I just turned them all off for a while. When the weather clears, I may return them, in the mean time, you know how to reach me.

I will still continue to post, just not allow comments for awhile.

Please keep checking.

Am I Missing SOMETHING?

When I was a little girl, we lived in a 2 bedroom 700 SF house, Phyllis and I shared a bedroom, we had 1 bath, a kitchen and a livingroom. We felt very secure, we were loved, and we rented because in those days Military people just did not BUY houses, because they would be transfered in two years.

When My Dad retired, and we were permanently in one place, we rented again, this time an older 3 bedroom home, that was floated in from Seattle where they were tearing down neighborhoods to build the Seattle World's Fair. AND I-5. It was bigger than anything we had lived in before, had a fireplace, a dining room, a bath and a half, and a HUGE eat in kitchen. It was probably 1200 SF a two story home and needed repair. We felt Loved and we had room to grow in. Phyllis and I shared a bedroom and Mike had his own small room, but we all shared a closet.

When I married and moved on, we lived in a 3 bedroom home around 1200 SF, with a bath and a half one story with a dining room and a kitchen, a typical rambler. We felt secure, and we were loved, and we were comfortable.

Years passed and I was single again and Tim and Donna and I all lived in a tiny TINY studio apartment with a tiny tiny bedroom big enough for a twin bed and nothing else. We had a pull out couch in the living room, a kitchen and a full bathroom. It was a mother in law apartment attached to the main house, but it worked for us, we felt secure, cramped but secure, and we were loved.

More years passed, and I was transferred to Adak, Alaska where I made more money than I could spend there, so I saved! I came home on leave one summer and bought a home. The one I live in still. It is 1400Sf with 3 small bedrooms, and 2 full baths, and a HUGE great room and a kitchen. an attached garage also. I had to put a standard despoist down on the mortgage, and also had to take out PMI (private mortgage insurance) as I was single and had never owned a home before. I was finally secure again, and alone, but I was happy with what I had.

Yes, I dreamed far above my means, and swore if I ever had the money I would build the dream home I always wanted, a log home with tall rafters, and a view of the Water. HA! That aint gonna happen. I lived within my means, sometimes not making other payments but always making my mortgage payments.

Now I am looking at the stock market crashing again, today, with banks failing in Europe and the United States, from mainly sub-prime mortgages and corupt banking practices.

People were buying homes FAR above their ability to pay, and far bigger than they ever would NEED. we are talking 4-5000 SF homes, with Master suites, 5 bedrooms many baths and a family room, living room, and a bonus room. WHY? because they were unwilling to settle for something they could afford at the time. THey were unwilling to invest in a smaller home, and then upgrade as they could afford it.
The Banks and Mortgage companies were encouraging this also. Developers were cutting down forests and building gated communities in places that were safe and secure anyway. The American Public gobbled up the lies and dove head first into a puddle that was not as deep as they thought, and now those homes are being forclosed and those people are sitting there with mud on their face wondering what the HELL happened?

Let me Tell you what happened folks. YOU GOT GREEDY!! ALL OF YOU!! You KNEW you could not afford that house, You KNEW that the bubble would someday burst and still you continued with your insane ways of doing business.

It is now going to be up to ME who I will say is still living in a 1400Sf home that I CAN afford, with a mortgage that is half way to being paid off, to bail you out! Why should I have to be taxed to Bail YOu out of your mortgage? Now I am not talking about those who really did buy within their means, a modest home with a modest mortgage. I am talking about those people with McMansions, three cars, etc. and now in foreclosure.

I am retired, and drawing Social Security and now the GOVERNMENT has just given those same banks and mortgages brokers a 700 BILLION dollar bailout. I have heard that they are also going to help YOU keep your McMansion, while I am still left struggling to pay mine off. My taxes are going to help you, and NO ONE is helping ME.

What did I Miss? Should I have bought a bigger house? should I have let my mortgage go? I dont understand.....SOmething had better CHANGE in WASHINGTON!!!

Getting set up

GADS! I forgot what all it takes to get your computer set up the way you like it. The problem I am having right now is my Bose speakers are not working!! GRRRR

I still do not have my address book imported from gmail into Outlook, but soon I hope. I also do not have every one saved in my favorites. Since I blogwalk from my FAVORITES and not my side bar, I am sorry to say that it is not up to date. If I am neglecting you, let me know!!!

I LOVE this monitor though. It is HUGE! a 24" viewing surface! I can almost open 2 pages side by side!! Great when I am working on a spreadsheet.

ARRRGHH!!

Below is the rehearsal picture I took outside of Pirates of PETER PAN.
Cute huh? Smee and Michael and Sweetness and Kangaroo.

Smee's cap

Ok, Since I am going to start putting everything I crochet on here too, I have just finished pirate SMEE's Hat. It is gonna drive him wonky though because the tassle is gonna tickle his neck. Aw well!!

new computer

ok, here we go again...I need you all to list your blogs so I can add them to my favorites, otherwise I will not be around to see you. If y ou are listed on the sidebar, I can get you that way, but if you are not, please let me know so I can get you listed, now that I have a computer that will let me do things without freezing up. AHHHHHHHH this is so nice!! Gotta get used to the keyboard though.

A RAGING HEADACHE

As I was driving into to town this evening, All of a sudden I got slammed with a head ache. It was like it was standing right there in the road in front of the San de Fuca Church just waiting for me. I drove through it and it hit. WHAM!! ANd I had to go play herder on 30 little kids all restless because they have no clue what blocking is about, so they talk. THen I have to quiet them down so Rusty can talk, and I can hear.

ARRGGHHH!!I really do like little kids, I just do not like the ones that test you,or talk back or ignore you or have no manners. NO tolerance for that, so that made the headache worse.

I came home ate a chocolate bar, took a pain pill and went to bed. Can't sleep. SIGH!! I hope I get a good nights sleep soon! I really need one.

Fall Has Fell....AGAIN!

BRRRRRRR. Our Late summer finally arrived about the end of August and lasted until Yesterday! It started raining, and is still. THe leaves are falling off the trees like snowflakes falling. My poor tomatoes are so confused! THey were very late to get growing, but once they did they went to town, and as of last weekend, They were LOADED with blossoms and little bitty green tomatoes. ANd as of last night, they are starting to turn yellow and die back. THe tomatoes are too small to do anything with, they are early girls and should be about 3 " across to use for green tomatoes. THey are still only the size of a quarter. ah well.

I have the MOTHER of all slugs in my back yard! I opened the back door when I heard him knocking, and I kid you not, He is the BIGGEST damned slug I have ever seen. a good 3 inches Across and 6-7 inches long and green and yellow spotted. the most vulgar thing to be knocking at my door! YUCK!!



I have no idea where he was hiding to get that large, but his brothers are out now too, and chomping away on anything they can find!

Ever seen one climb a glass door? OH YUCKKKKK!!!! they are so gross!

Which car are you?

I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Only I want it to be a convertible!!

A Night Of Shining Stars

The Whidbey Playhouse held it's annual SHINING STAR Awards ceremony tonight. This year we held it at the playhouse, and it was MC'd by Fil Baca, and Kyla Applegate. Each DIrector is asked to name one cast member and one staff member from each play from last season, and then we present them with a certificate as A SHINING STAR. This is our version of The Academy Awards. After each Play is introduced and each Director has their few words, and shows a few slides of each production, the winners are announced and they come up in front of the membership and receive their award.

Once the 7 plays are introduced and have presented their awards, then there is one Volunteer of the Year that is chosen. This year it was Bob Hendrix, my Friend Rusty's husband. WELL DONE!!!

Bobby designs, and builds MOST of the sets that we use. Bobby knows where each piece is located and stored at the Annex, and he knows which items need to be kept, and which to destroy. Bob also has to work with many different directors and come up with a workable set for the show that the director is producing. No easy task this. Our stage is very constricted, with no FLY room, and no main curtain, so we have to improvise. Bobby is excellent at this. He works after work each night, and some times into the next day. This Playhouse would be totally lost without him.



Our Board Member who was in charge of this years production was Kathy Fox, shown here with Bobby. Before she introduced him, she asked each of us in the audience to stand if we had usheres, or worked in the concessions, and then she asked them to stay standing while she asked who all had worked on set, directed, worked tech, etc. THere were very few people left sitting. We are a Totally volunteer organization, and NO ONE gets paid. So those very few that were left sitting got the message...we need all the volunteers we can get. No job is too small.

YEEEOUCH!

You know that state you are in when you are first waking up. The one that says you know what is going on, but your body doesn't move yet? Well I was there yesterday morning. The sun was coming through the window and hitting my face, there was a nice cool breeze coming in the screen, and I was flat on my back soaking it all in. I was aware of Schroeder on the windowsill above my head, and the others were all sound asleep on the bed.

A piliated woodpecker flew by the window making his loud yukyuk yuk call. THat startled Schroeder, who kicked the binoculars off the window sill right smack unto my forehead.I screamed and sat up which caused all of the others to levitate off the bed and scurry to hide. Schroeder was under the bed, and would not come out.

I have a very large bump over my left eye, and it HURTS!! the woodpecker was no where to be found.

damn animals!

I'm Official

Last night after swimming, I rushed to the playhouse, for the tailend of the Playday meeting that I was late for. Swimming therapy comes first!

I sat next to Dan, whose Partner Had promised me an Obama Sticker. I leaned over and whispered, "did you bring my bumper sticker?"

He quietly smiles and reaches into his brief case and pulls out the prize.

You are the FIRST, he says, As these JUST came in before we closed the shop. (he volunteers at the Demo hdqtrs)

Everyone at the table then wanted one, but he only had mine.

We immediately went out to the parking lot and made a celebration of removing the BUSH/Cheney 04 sticker from the bumper and replacing it with the bright shiny blue OBAMA sticker.

THen there in the lighted parking lot, standing around the back of my car, everyone applauded and cheered for the removal of my SHAME.

I feel sooo renewed!!

WARNING: Rant in progress

Ok, I am working on a rant, so if you are part of the Christian Right you had better close your ears and tiptoe on, because I am sick and TIRED of all this religion crap!

Driving home from swimming last night, I was admiring the sunset and the beauty that the Lord has made in this world, when all of a sudden my favorite ranter (no I do not agree with him a LOT) was saying that Governor Pahlin was calling for all church pastors to tell their congregationshow to vote and how to think!

I hit the roof of the car and screamed!!

I believe in God, and I do it my way and PRIVATELY! I do NOT believe that the church has any business at ALL in my government, or the selection of. I also do not believe that our Government has any right to tell us how to worship. This is a right guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution of The United States. The two should NEVER meet! (ok, ok, I know that it is on our money, and they put their hands on the bible when sworn in. and SO HELP YOU GOD is part of the Oathes of office. BUT to me that is so much more different than a Baptist or a Pentecostal Preacher standing up and telling their congregation that you HAVE to vote for the Republicans because they believe in the right to life.

A woman's body and the treatment of, should only be a concern of that woman, her Doctor and Her God alone! She should not be required to have an unwanted baby, and to tell her that she has to, is WRONG!!!!
On this note, a woman who at the third trimester suddenly decides that she is no longer wanting to be a Mother has waited too long. 1st trimester abortion I fully believe in. 2nd trimester MAYBE, but third trimester is becoming more and more viable, and therefore should not be considered an abortion, but a live birth, and everything should be done to protect that life.

Sarah Pahlin's decision to keep her unborn baby even though she knew it would be born with Down;s syndrome is very very admirable, and I am sure it was not an easy choice to make. BUT it was a choice, and she was lucky to be able to HAVE that choice.

Her using her office as Governor as a soapbox to preach to her local congregation is WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!!!! Being a Governor who has religious feelings is however a right that she has. I heard that the Republican Party had McCain choose her, so that she would sway the undecided to the GOP side. Well, folks, I was undecided until she was presented. I was absolutely SHOCKED to see what would possibly be the next Vice President, and only 1 heart beat away from running this country.

I have been a McCain supporter for MANY years, I was thrilled with his Maverick ways of thumbing his nose at the established GOP, and his way of crossing the aisle in order to make a point. I was hoping so much that he would choose a VP that would also Thumb their nose at the GOP party. We all know that they need a good shake up. But SHARAH PAHLIN? arrrggghhhh!!! n I was hoping that Joe Leiberman would be his choice or maybe even Colin Powell. ( who was hung out to dry by the Bush administration)

I will admit that she is a tough woman...and I admire her for her grit, but she really needs to leave her Fundamentalist ideals at home, and quit trying to force them down our throats. ANd so does eveyone else that tries it. Leave me ALONE!! let me make my own desicions, and let me worship the way that I want to.

Anybody have a big bumpersticker for OBAMA/Biden that will cover up my Bush/Cheney one? I am so ashamed!!!!

ok, rant over...for now, and I know that I do not do it with as much elequence as RAINY DAY THOUGHTS does but then she is much better at it than I am.

Fall...

It has turned the corner from Summer into Fall. Maybe not on the calendar yet, but definitely in the air! The trees are already turning colors, and leaves are falling. The apples are red and laying on the ground, the deer are sporting gorgeous racks, and the fawns are wandering away from Mom. The Blackberries still are not ripe yet, and those that are, are not as sweet as they should have been three weeks ago. Tomato plants are blossoming, but no tomatoes, and at this time, they will not form. The night air is brisk and biting. I think we can say that the summer we have been waiting for is not going to show up. We have had one or two weeks of warm weather, but for the most part, it has gone from a wet cold spring right into a wet cold summer, and now a dry cold fall.

As I was coming home from the playhouse last night, the sun was just setting, and in the few seconds it took me to pull the car over and get out my camera, the sky had changed from orange/pink to purple/mauve. The moon was turning a reddish orange through the forest fire smoke on the Olympic Peninsula. It was still Pretty! I LOVE fall. I love snuggling under the covers at night, all warm and cozy with my nose poking out and breathing the cold night air. It smells so good.

The other morning at 400 I woke up and looked out the window right at ORION, my favorite constellation. When it shows up completely in our sky, we know that Fall is here, and Winter is not far behind. I expect a fairly early frost.

As much as I love the long days of summer...our days run from 345AM until 1045 PM ...I welcome the fresh air of Fall and look forward to Winter.