Rehearsal shots

Last night I had to run in and get a few rehearsal shots of Cinderella for the local newspapers. Half of them are in costume, half are not, but you can tell it is gonna be fun!

WHAT!!!!!!??????

Is anyone besides me just mad as hell that one political entity in One state can change the wording in History books at their own WHIM? There were wars fought over the fact that someone burned books and covered up the real history, and we are doing it again in TEXAS!! (sorry Donna!) I can understand religious entities wanting to write their own history for their own people, although I personally think it is WRONG, but to change real time school books just because you dont like the way they portray history should be forbidden!

If I had children in school right now, I think I would be jumping up and down on the school board's desks to ensure that our entire history was told correctly! The bad and the good! If we continue covering up the bad, and changing things, then our future generations will NEVER learn from our forefathers misdeeds, mistakes.

I am so sick of the Religious Right dictating things in MY life. Religion has NO PLACE in our governments or in our schools, but in our CHURCHES and Synagogues and other places of worship.

GAK!!!! I am becoming a nasty old lady! And no one hears me scream! Look out! you could be next!

It LOOKS like Spring...

The Baby Geese are getting bigger, the trees are all in bloom, but I'll be DAMNED if it did not have snow mixed in with the rain yesterday. It was not just me that saw it either!

The wind blew 60+ MPHs, knocked out phone, lights, and cable. Even had a TORNADO in Eastern Washington...RARE indeed.

It is so cold out right now, that I am seriously thinking about building a fire to take the chill out of the house.

I know that if it ever warms up and gets really hot, that I will complain about that too, but Man oh man what I would not give to have some nice summer or even late SPRING weather! I really think we are entering a mini ice-age. no matter what they say about global warming. BRRRRR!!

I have on my fuzzy slippers and nice warm socks. and my feet are STILL cold.

I am so glad I got my garden planted early! PHFFFFTTTTT!!! so much for tomatoes this year I guess!

spring...finally?

Well, our weather has sure been strange this year. A warmer and wetter than average winter, and a colder than average Spring! I THOUGHT it was safe to put out bedding plants, but aparently I was wrong, as my lettuce is not doing well, and my spinach is turning yellow! My pumpkins did not thrive, and we had frost last week.

HOWEVER! They are predicting warm and dry for the next few days. in the 70's! Whew! Everything is late growing, but the tulips were really early! The blossoms on the apple and pear trees are setting fruit already also! THe grass is growing like mad! So MAYBE, just MAYBE, we have ventured into SPRING!

I wonder what the summer will bring?

I attended a class on Septic tanks this weekend. We are required to have an inspection before July 1, and hardly anyone has heard of this yet! with over 40 thousand septic tanks in the county, I am sure that they will extend the deadline, as there are very few qualified inspectors. After this class, I supposedly am qualified to inspect my own system, however I am not physically able to. So I have to pay some one to come dig up the cover anyway, so might as well bite the bullet and just have them inspect it for me. That way I know it will be correct.

Egads, There comes the jets!! along with good weather come the Navy jets bouncing off the OLF. Lots of noise! SIGH!!! Sound of freedom!!!

MUD!!!! Oh Boy!!!

You dont EVEN want to see my Utility room! SIGH!!!!

It's RAINING grandma!

I could tell the minute it started raining. The BOYS had been sleeping in the snoopy doghouse all day, just laying around being puppies, suddenly, they stood up, looked at the dirt pile and ran full bore toward it. Before I could stop them, they had their muzzles and their elbows in the mud and were having a ball. I just shook my head and grabbed the camera.

I have a better picture, but it is not downloaded yet. I will get to that tomorrow. Right now I have them locked in the utility room with a big blanket on the floor, so maybe they will dry off and shake the mud off. GOD!!!!

They are just adorable! But MAN can they eat! I put them to bed with a big pigs ear apiece, thinking it would last a few nights! WRONG!!! after about 20 minutes all traces of the pig were GONE!! Not even a smear on the floor was left! Each of them gets 4 cups of puppy chow twice a day, and all the water they can suck up! Sadie is in AWE! Loki tolerates them, and Schroeder has not been seen!

Tim and Misty were in Talladega during all of the tornadoes, and now are in Columbus, GA. Having fun and enjoying family. The boys and I are having fun too, before the rain started, we all were laying on the couch watching TV, and relaxing. MY LORD they are heavy!

Bubba and Napolean

I had to laugh when I saw this picture, as I know exactly what Misty was thinking. OHMIGAWD! They had gone out to potty, and discovered a mole hole, and decided to explore it. The looks on their faces are priceless. SEE HOW DIRTY WE ARE MAMA! We are sooo proud of our muddy feet, and we brought it into you nice clean kitchen too!

THey are 9 weeks old now and getting bigger by the day. I get to babysit while Tim and Misty go to Talladega to NASCAR and then on to Georgia to meet the family. I actually THINK I am looking forward to it. then again.....

Cash On Delivery On Stage Now!

Air station talent hits stage in ‘Cash on Delivery’

Whidbey Playhouse photo
“Ooh no! Poor Uncle George is dead.” If you’re looking for a good laugh, see “Cash on Delivery” featuring, from left, Kent Peckenpaugh as Eric Swan, Allen Young as Uncle George and Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Dustin Curtis as Norman McDonald.


Thursday, April 1, 2010
A live comedy featuring NAS Whidbey Island military and civilians hits the Oak Harbor Whidbey Playhouse in April.

The show is a full-on farce, complete with slamming doors, dead bodies, bold-face lies, mistaken identities and men dressing as women. This fast-paced physical comedy involves a con artist who has duped the welfare authorities by claiming every type of benefit for the innumerable people he claims lives at his address.

The cast includes Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Dustin Curtis of Fleet Readiness Center Northwest, who plays Norman McDonald.

The audience will also see retired Lt. Cmdr. Kent Peckenpaugh, who works on base with Innova systems Int’l LLC, a software contractor for the Navy. Peckenpaugh is in the role as Eric Swan.

“Following the lost of his job, Eric rectifies his situation by creating fake tenants and submits benefit claims in their names,” said Peckenpaugh. Although in the lead role, Peckenpaugh said. “Dustin Curtis really steals the show, becoming the central character.”

Navy Exchange customer relations employee Joyce Napoletano plays Sally Chessington.

Among those working behind the scenes in lights and sound are Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class Mike Tucey of FRCNW and Aviation Electrician’s Mate Airman Matt Benson of VAQ-138.

“I’ve been doing live theater since middle school,” said Benson, a native of Wenatchee, Wash. Only arriving here last February, Benson said he originally went to the Whidbey Playhouse to help usher, but the Playhouse decided to use his theater technical expertise instead.

The play directed by Bob Hendrix and Melissa Bridges opens April 9 and closes May 1. Tickets are $16, and groups of 10 or more receive a $1 discount on each ticket. Call the box office at 679-2237 for more information and show dates throughout April.

© 2010 Sound Publishing, Inc.

Poor little Sadie!

My poor little Sadie bug is a wreck! She has been digging at her neck for 4 days now and it is raw and bleeding. It looked like there was a dog bite on her neck and it could have been Rocky, although I am not sure he has the energy to actually clamp down on anything as he is so old. But they do get into it once in awhile. It is usually Sadie's fault. I held her down and looked at her closely and it looked like there may have been a B-B in her neck and her leg. I would not put it past the wicked Witch of the North to do something to her, so I took her into the Vet today.

No B-B! Whew, I would be in jail right now if there was. But the Dr smiled and said, I know it looks bad, but what she has is an extreme reaction to all the pollen in the air right now.

WHAT???????

He said that they have been so busy the past two weeks with dogs with exactly the same thing. Well....Shut my mouth!

So she had to have pills. She is on Prednisone and Antibiotics for a week. She will not keep a bandage on, and I can not put a CONE OF SHAME on her either, because it would rest right where the sores are.

I tried to get a pill down her today...PHFFFTTT! no way! so I waited awhile, and went in and cut a piece of Zuccini bread and came in here. Sure enough there she is begging for a bite. I put the Prednisone in it and mushed it up and gave it to her. She sniffed it as if to say "I Know you did something to this". But when I put a piece in my mouth, she swallowed hers. So then I did the same with the Antibiotics. So there are two pieces of bread on the desk, one with the pill one for me.

Guess which one she got?

I worked out in the yard all day Saturday. Cant work hard or fast, but I worked! I pruned all of the wisteria. It has taken over the fence, and has grown roots under the fence and up the trees out back. Si I am trying to get it back into the two spots it was originally planted. I found a yellow climbing rose that the wisteria had covered. so now it will thrive. THe two climbers I planted two weeks are are sending up shoots already. I cleaned up under the bird feeder and now that area is ready for some petunias. 5 of the eight raised beds are planted,. The cabbage is doing great and so is the spinich but the onion sets are wilting down. May have rushed it a bit.

I transplanted the rhubarb and got five plants out of it, so they new plantings should do better in the sun.It too is looking good.

Now to get Tim to come home and move the rest of the dirt into the backyard so I can have my driveway back. (Yeah, THat will never happen!)

Isn't he CUTE?

His name is Bubba, and he is 6 weeks old. He is my New GrandPuppy! Tim and Misty got him last week. THeir neighbors were raising a litter and mama quit nursing, so they sold them cheap. Tim says he has doubled in size in a week. I told him, Phhft that is nothing compared to what he will be!

I have wanted a St Bernard Puppy ALL MY LIFE!! I wanted a female, and I wanted to name her Heidi. But I love my little Sadie just as much!

Bubba is a rough coat St Bernard, and will soon be HUGE!!! He came and spent the day with me. ANd I get to puppy sit next week and then again in May!

Sprinter?

I can't really say we have had a bad winter, because we haven't. It has been one of the warmest. driest on record. The snowpack is very low, below normal, which means that there will be a water shortage this summer. We don't run out of water, but our rivers get lower, and our reservoirs behind our dams get really low, and we can not generate enough electricity to sell to California. (oh DARN!) If you watched the Olympics in Canada last month, you saw how very mild our weather is right now.

Well Hang on! the weather reports have a possibility of SNOW in the next few days. Not at all unusual for this time of year, but the record COLD temperatures are. THe tulips in the Skagit Valley are blooming a whole month early, the fruit trees are all in bloom, the bees are buzzing, and as I have said before, i have mowed my yard three times already this year. The cold will hurt the blossoms on the fruit trees and even though they are loaded with buds, They may not produce fruit if they are frozen in their infancy.

My roses that I just planted, already have new tender shoots on them, and those too will freeze if I dont cover them.

We are a week or so away from SPRING, and have not yet had a WINTER. So I guess we are going to have a SPRINTER or maybe a WING? El Nino is giving up and we are in the middle of a new phenomenon called ( Well, I read it last week, and now I can't find out where I read it, so I can't remember what it is called. Anyway it is between el Nino and La Nina, and affects the weather in the Pacific. Hard to say what we have next.

I wish I had paid more attention to science when I was in school, as I really get into the geo sciences! I love geology, climatology, and earth sciences. It is just awe-inspiring to me, to watch things happen, to walk along a beach and see where the cliffs have fallen away, and realize that I am the first human to EVER see that particular ROCK!

Ah...I digress. I really need to get my taxes done, so I had better stop and go visit taxact.com!

Bad neighbors..

Anybody got 80' of solid fencing laying around? I have a wicked Witch living next door with two darling children, who love to tease my Cocker Spaniel, My SMALL Cocker Spaniel. Sadie also likes to bark at them when they are teasing her. She also likes to bark at strange people walking on the other side of the chain link fence.

Wicked Witch moved in about 6 months ago, and proceeded to tell me that she works from home, and she is not supposed to. And if they find out she is working from home she will lose her job. She told me she works for a credit card company. She told my other neighbor she sells travel insurance to time-shares. If she hears her kids playing outside she screams at them to be quiet or she will lose her job, then they will lose the house. THe kids stay outside from the time they come home until dark. RAIN OR SHINE! COLD OR WARM! so SAD!

Sadie is used to being out side during the day, but wicked witch called the animal control officer on her. Said officer came to the house, with a citation. I met her on the porch, and asked her if she heard anything, she said NOOOOOOOOO. and rolled her eyes. I said Sadie only barks at strangers, said officer said "that is her JOB!" I said that I am trying to keep Sadie in when the kids are out so she wont bark at them, but it is really hard. She agreed and said just make sure you comply with the noise regs. Which state, "continuous, repetitive, barking..."

I put Sadie out, and when I hear her bark, I bring her In. 7 barks max. It takes me that long to get up and let her in. I have even gone so far as to sit out there and watch her while she is out. Now I am being accused of SPYING on her!

Dear Lord! Will you PLEASE give her laryngitis so she will MOVE! (cant talk, cant work, have to move!) I wonder just what she REALLY does that she has to have complete silence? Wonder how she explains the jets flying over? I wonder what she would do if I sat in the backyard and sang....

I HATE being held hostage by an evil minded Witch who does not even OWN the house! I was here first! GRRRRRRR

Just a simple old woman with no brain...

I bought a new dryer a few weeks ago, and it came in on Wednesday. I mentioned to Bob that I would like to pick it up on Thursday. (I have to plug into his schedule!) I waited and waited and finally about 230 he shows up. We went in to the Base to load up the dryer, and bring it home. We pulled into the driveway and he said he would off load it into the garage and be back sometime later to hook it up.

NAH NAH says I. Please just set it in the Living room, and I will get the pigtail hooked up. So he brought it in, plopped it right in front of the couch and left for his 5:00 appointment with a beer at the Local Watering hole. He will be 70 next week, and NOTHING stands in the way of his routine.)

I looked at it, and looked at the laundry room (really a wide hall between the living room and the back yard.) and thought....HMMMMMM I can do this. I pulled out the out dryer, unhooked the wiring, and then tried to get it out the back door onto the deck.

It was like a chinese puzzle! this has to move here in order for me to go there, in order to get this over there! Like I said WIDE HALL. just wide enough for for the door and the appliances. Nothing else. and If you dont have it set just right, the door wont close.

After realizing that the dryer would not go through the door unless I took the door knob off, I had to move everything back to square one, to go get the screw gun and bits. Got the door knob off, got the dryer to the deck and then put the knob back on.

Step one done! Now I opened the cardboard box that the dryer was in, got the dryer turned around and went to open the flange that covered the wiring screws. OOPS, the one socket that fits that particular screw, was missing. Off I went to hunt down a pair of pliers. Found one but it was rusted shut. So off I go again looking for the WD-40. Finally got the pliers working and the screw off, got the flange off and hooked up the pigtail from the old dryer unto the new dryer. (Now WHY don't the manufacturers put real plugs on their merchandise?) Then I sat and rested, because my back was starting to spasm. I sat there and looked at it sitting there in my living room and thought, I can do this. So I tried to push the new dryer over the carpet...Nope! So I moved the couch, pulled back the rug and then realized that the really heavy display case that I rescued from the demolition bin at a place I worked, needed to be moved, so that I could fit the dryer through the door into the utility room.

That damned near killed me! But I got that done. Then I pushed the dryer into place. OOPS....gotta put the vent ducting on and plug it in, SO back out it comes, and then I crawled behind it. ( no easy task with a bad back and a giant stomach!)
GOt it hooked up, sorta, and got out, and then pushed everything back into place and turned it on. VOILA!! Step two done

I went out back to see if airflow was coming through the vent to the outside, and it was not. I got a flash light and looked up in there to see it was jammed full of lint and fuzz and more than likely RATS!! I thought the sense was the better choice and left it for Bob. After all he can move a lot faster if there should be something alive in there.

The dryer does not have much clearance between the wall and the vent pipe, and If I did not get it set just right, either the vent would kink up and not blow outside, or I would not be able to get the door shut. I Waited for Bob.

Late yesterday he called and said I am planning on coming over to hook up your dryer does that work? I said it works fine. :) he came over and was shocked that I actually could do something. (after all I have been doing for myself all my life)
I handed him a long wire clothes hanger and took him outside and told him what was left to do. Nothing alive or dead for that matter was in there but it was 6 feet of solid lint and mud! No wonder the old dryer quit!

So to make sure that the vent worked right, he unhooked the dryer and crawled back ther to see how far up the duct the clog went. We got a big sack fuyll of junk out of ther and then said he had to go to ace hardware in oak harbor for some tape and some clamps. I KNEW if he left, it would not be hooked back up until later in the week, so I said WAIT!! and pulled out a package of clamps from the kitchen junk drawer. He gave me one of those looks...You ruined my plans...teehee. He got the dryer hooked Back up and pushed sort of in place and then said he would see me later.

Step three will be to get him to actualy wiggle the dryer back far enough to shut the door and be straight with the washer. That one make take a few years. I now have a dryer again, and the vent is cleaned out and all the clothes are dry and my house no longer looks like a chinese laundry!

Mission accomplished, and once again, I am a simple old woman with no brain. At least that is what he thinks!

Opening Night Friday Feb 6, 2010

By LIZ BURLINGAME
Whidbey News Times Reporter
Feb 03 2010, 8:34 AM · UPDATED

A feel-good photo that graced the cover of Life magazine in the 1940s turns out to have a dark underside in “The Cover of Life” opening Friday, Feb. 5 at the Whidbey Playhouse.

Kate Miller (Cynthia Kleppang) is our narrator, a Lois Lane-type character and Life correspondent who is thrust into southern women territory.

She’s reporting a “woman’s piece” about three wives who have come to live with their mother-in-law, who goes by Aunt Ola, while the boys are at war.

Apart from a few squabbles, it’s a pretty civil household, until the second half. That’s when the wives’ happy facade breaks down, and bad news and wartime separation takes its toll on the women.

“The newlyweds don’t know what marriage is all about because their husbands quickly moved away,” said director Rusty Hendrix. “It’s a touching story.”

The play is set in a tiny, Louisiana town, and we see Aunt Ola’s early Americana-style home, porch and screen door. The sets were built by Bob Hendrix, Rusty’s husband.

After some insistence, Kate moves in with the wives. She meets the modern and racy Sybil (Amanda McCartney), who describes herself as “hot as a Saturday night and safe as Sunday morning.”

Weetsie (Michelle Hunter) maintains that she’s a plain, common housewife, while Tood (Lisa Datin) just wants to break free of the family and start a life elsewhere.

Mary K. Hallen is the homespun Aunt Ola who has a feisty sense of humor. When the newlyweds spar, Hallen nicely conveys strength as the family matriarch.

Although the script is considered a bit dark, Hendrix said her cast brought some playfulness to the characters.

“What they made is better,” she said.

Rounding out the cast are Judy Hendrix as Addie Mae, the gossipy local reporter who tipped off Life in the first place, and Fernando Duran, who plays Tood’s husband.

“The Cover of Life” is a show (like it’s punning title) that hints that life isn’t always what appears on the outside. It also briefly casts a light on a media that won’t let personal feelings ruin the story it wants.

Part social commentary, humor, drama and hope, it’s a surprising and deep story written by R.T. Robinson. Hendrix said it may touch on some feelings of Oak Harbor’s military families. She adds that a few of the play’s scenes are “too strong” at times, and it is not for children.

DAMN SPAMMERS!

Well Much to my dismay, I have had to add comment moderation to all comments, which means that your comments will not show up until I say they can. Which in my case may be several days. If I have to go further I will then ask for word verification Which I HATE! or turn on the doo-hickey that says you have to register. All becasue I do not think that my blog should subject all of you to having to read crap that others put on there. ARRRRRRGHHHHH!!! Thank you for sticking with me.

Now on to putting away the crap I bought at COSTCO today! I hate this part of shopping. i want to pay for it and have it magically appear at home and put in it's proper place...Isn't there an App for that?

Next on stage....

THE COVER OF LIFE


Amanda McCartney from Anacortes is one of the featured women in the WWII story The Cover Of Life. This poignant story is about three women who are married to brothers who have all joined different branches of the Military. Sybil, the Modern one, (Amanda McCartney) is the oldest, and the most worldly.



Tood (Lisa Datin) is the youngest and the one who is most likely to move on.



Weetsie (Michelle Hunter) is the third sister, and wants more than anything to be exactly like Aunt Ola. They all are sent home to live with Aunt Ola (Mary K Hallen) the brothers mother in Sterlington, LA.



Adie Mae MacGough (Judy Hendrix) is the local reporter who sees a story in the women, and forwards her report on to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Eventually Life Magazine gets wind of the story and sends their ace Reporter Kate Miller (Cynthia Cleppang) to Louisiana to interview the girls. The Husbands are all over seas, and only one, Tommy (Fernando Durran), is seen in the Play. Kate befriends Tood, and learns the secrets and the joys and sadness of being left behind while the boys go off to war.

This production, Directed by Rusty Hendrix is not for young children, but is sure to pull everyone into the story, and no one will leave with a dry-eye.
Tickets are now on sale at The Whidbey Playhouse box office, by calling 360-678-2237, or in person during box office hours Tues-Friday 11-3, Wed and Thurs until 6PM. The Playhouse is located at 730 SE Midway Blvd, Oak Harbor. Tickets are Reservation only, and all seats are 16.00. Check out our website www.whidbeyplayhouse.com

Ok, Donna, Is this better?

What did I forget?

I have had the strangest things happen to me in the past several days. My Calendar is chock-a-block full, and I just turned the page a few days ago. But already I have so much scheduled, that I have to look every single day to figure out where I am supposed to be when!

Lately, I have gotten off a day or two, looking at the calendar, knowing where I am supposed to be and what time I am supposed to be there, only to find out that I was on the wrong day. And in some cases, WEEK! I have no idea what causes this, and I am not at all fond of it.

I think it is tied in to just being really really tired! I need some time to ME! And that may be to just lay in bed all day, or read a book, or listen to absolutely NOTHING!

I forgot to take Sadie in for her hair appointment. I was up in time, I just looked at the wrong day. I think that it is .... Well SHIT!! I forgot what I was going to write!

WAHHHHHHH!!!!