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Stage Management office. They went all out!

In the green room there were colorful pumpkins lined up for a decorating contest! It was hard to get them all in frame. I like the pink one, and the Jack and Sally Nightmare Before Christmas ones.

I was there just in time to catch the Chip Kids halfway through their trick-or-treating. They were adorable! No pics because kids + permission. Levi was the scarecrow from The Wiz and Kanoa was Tin Man. The other two (who I haven't met yet) were a spartan and I think Violet from The Incredibles.

In the pit, Tim (trumpet) was wearing a bright pink wig! No specific character, I think he just wanted to break character for Halloween, you know? And everyone had turned on the cute little Halloween lanterns I'd gotten, which gave everything a warm orange glow and made me feel happy :) The show went just fine though I can hear that some of us are tired, it's not just meeeeee. Afterward it felt weird to pack up...usually we'd have two shows today!

On the way back to the hotel I caught this Waymo with a jack-o-lantern skin! I've seen it twice this week but was not fast enough to get a picture other times. There seems to be only one with the skin, the rest are the usual pale blue.

At the hotel I found a package from my sister Kate. Inside was the goodie bag from Jonah's wedding (Jameson and I had left before the after party so hadn't gotten one) which had some snacks and small fun toiletries (chapstick, hand sanitizer, gum, etc). There was another present from family too but it's family who doesn't want to be mentioned in my blog so, so be it. I sent thank-yous for the treats and ate a simple dinner, then got dressed in my "costume".

You guys know how I've been SCREAMING all year about that stupid pedal E note that I've had trouble playing? Well I put it on a shirt and am wearing it because it's the scariest thing I can think of :p No one will get it but that's ok!

I went down a bit early in case set-up was needed, but there wasn't much to do. I helped move some tables around and set up chairs for the judges. Soon the costumes started filtering in. They were AMAZING. I've mentioned this before but the prompt was two random ideas drawn from a hat, and then the contestant could choose one of the two, or combine them. Most chose to combine because it was just TOO funny!

Some of the prompts were:

Lady Gaga x A Pigeon
Barney x Rasputin
Corn On The Cob x The West Wing
Coraline's Mummy x A Chair
Pillsbury Dough Boy x A Bar Of Dove Soap
Blanched Spinach x Colonialism (my personal favorite prompt)
Cockroach x Ladybug
Catwoman x Times Square
Jack Sparrow x Pin The Tail On The Donkey
Gandalf x The Duck That Falls From the Ceiling During Belle

...and so many more. Here's the group costume photo...can you spot some of the ones mentioned above?
(Remember that you can click the image to open it in a new tab, then click it again to enlarge)

Keeping in mind that we've got limited resources, the costumes were extremely impressive. This would be a tough competition! A little "catwalk" of sorts was set up with electric votive candles, and each contestant did a walk-and-dance in front of the judge table. Extra points were awarded for creativity, commitment to the bit/dedication, and attention to detail. For example I gave Corn On The Cob x The West Wing extra points because his costume involved layers of yellow-painted bubble wrap which HAD to have been hard to make, HAD to have been difficult to put on, and was clearly difficult to walk in, = extra dedication points! And there was one that was Dinosaur x Duolingo which seemed pretty simple at first, but after his catwalk he came up to the judges table and showed us his pants...there were little dinosaur stickers all over them, and each one had a cast member's face on it!!! Extra points for attention to detail! Blanched Spinach x Colonialism also had one of my favorite catwalks: a tall male actor got that prompt and he wore stripper heels that made him look 8 feet tall, a fitted dark green sequin dress, poop-green wig, and green stockings and gloves!! Strutted down the catwalk and with a paper towel roll as a faux scroll, started reading off parts of the Declaration of Independence! Freaking hilarious!

While the points were being tallied, lots of photos were taken both group and individual (someone had brought a REAL camera!) Honorable mentions were given out for Most Creative/Dedicated/Attn to Detail first, followed by a tie-breaker dance-off between Spinach x Colonialism and Coraline's Mum x Chair for 3rd prize (literally just a bag of candy.) Lady Gaga x A Pidgeon won 2nd place, and Pillsbury Dough Boy x A Bar of Dove Soap won first. His costume was incredible, a mashup of a Dove soap box and a Pillsbury pastry can, and some rather tongue-in-cheek adult humor fine print that had us all laughing.

The whole thing only took an hour. Much candy was eaten, lots of fun was had. It was in the hotel so afterward I went up to my room, got in pjs, and had a cozy night. Other people went out to do late night Halloween activities, but we have two shows tomorrow and this small socialization was enough for me :)

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SUNDAY

Clocks "rolled back" an hour last night, and so I found myself awake at 6:30am. Apple Watch gave me a 100% perfect sleep score and 8 hours of sleep which is hilarious and probably means the watch was also reset during the night. I definitely woke up twice to pee and several other times as well.

Usual morning routine, and after breakfast I decided to walk to Target for some small groceries. It was quiet on the streets of Denver, this morning after Halloween, and the aftermath of downtown partying was apparent by the trash, bits of costumes, spilled drinks, and lost shoes littering the sidewalk and gutters. I saw lots of people in orange sports jerseys gathering on corners, so the Broncos must have been playing today. Back at the hotel I stopped by the front desk to ask for a roll of paper towels and to once again, for the third time, ask if someone could come refresh my room. They seemed surprised that no one had serviced my room for two weeks and said someone would be up "in the next 30 minutes." So I went upstairs, put my groceries away, got dressed for work, and straightened up to make life easier for housekeepers. It was closer to an hour later but they did come, and I was grateful. Went downstairs for 20 minutes to read my book and when I came back the room smelled clean and looked nice :)

Lunch and to the theatre for the first show of the day. Still SO much candy floating around backstage! I am being bad and eating a few pieces each day for a while :p The matinee went well, nothing to report. Between shows, back to the hotel for dinner and messing around online before walking back and doing the evening show, which was also not notable/went just fine. We had a really good audience and a lot of kids who came down to the pit to wave and ask questions. Always love that!

Jessica (Violin) is recovered from her bout with food poisoning and has rejoined us. Gary (drummer) and DAR (MD) will be back again first thing next Tuesday. And now...a lovely day off.

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Monday: Golden Day. I have a rental car and will go get my prepaid re-bought railroad enamel pin that I lost (what a fiasco!) then I'll hit REI for some winterwear for Canada/PNW, then possibly a grocery run or anything else I can think of to do with the car before heading to Kayle's for dinner.

Tuesday: Volunteering with Broadway Serves at an animal shelter! One evening show.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Friday only, because I don't want to overstimulate the TLDR crowd with a too-long post.
I'll post about Saturday & Sunday on Monday as usual.

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FRIDAY W/FAMILY

Slept poorly, not surprisingly, and was up early to do laundry because may as well be useful :p While laundry was going I had coffee and texted with Jameson, packed my purse for this outing with my stepsister, and worked on Foodie Finds as usual. Folded the clothes and tried calling Mountain Warehouse because I tried ordering one of their coats online and the site wouldn't let me (it doesn't like my billing address for whatever reason.) Their customer service hotline is astoundingly good; I wasn't able to buy the coat, but the lovely British woman on the phone did everything she could and was generally adorable to boot.

Kayle picked me up and we popped over to Jelly Cafe. She'd taken me here the last time I was in town with Tootsie.

Four years ago, with my niece Elliotte:

Today! How much she has grown.

Here's what was happening on the other side of the booth, lol.

That's Drexel and Melrose, her younger two. We placed our orders and I played Tic Tac Toe with Elliotte while the two little ones pelted me with questions about "Booty and da Bees" XD When they asked about Chip I told them that the character is played by a little boy or little girl exactly Elliotte's age, and whispered, "He really IS a teacup for the whole show!" so I could enjoy watching their eyes get big. Heeheeeee.

Our food was awesome, the same great quality that I remembered. Last time I got a biscuit with carrot and turnip gravy (it was so yummy) and this time I went with their breakfast sammy: two over easy eggs, bacon, tomato, pesto, and Swiss cheese on multigrain bread. I subbed the eggs with egg white and the side of potatoes with a salad. Small healthy changes. The kids had pancakes or French toast and a chicken sausage (it was REALLY good, I tried it).

At checkout Kayle ordered a dozen mini donuts to go. Jelly Cafe makes their donut bites fresh with a variety of cool toppings like Thai peanut, maple bacon, Mexican chocolate, lemon, etc. They came out hot and fresh.

From there we drove to a park near the local Children's Museum. Before entering the park we did a gift exchange! Kayle is so thoughtful...a while ago I bought the kids some BATB souvenirs and sent them to her. She'd wrapped them nicely, then brought them today so that I could give them to the kids and watch them open them!

I don't think Drexel cared very much about his Beast plushie, but all three kids LOVED their stationery kits and the two younger ones tried to start doodling in them right there on the sidewalk! Elliotte GASPED when she saw her Belle rose tiara. Both of the girls insisted to try them on right away.

And you know...I don't care for children much...but it makes me happy to see them so delighted :)

They also had a gift for me! A while ago the family had gone to a railroad museum, and they got me this Pennsylvania Railroad enamel pin!!

(Picture courtesy someone on eBay...more on why I didn't take my own picture in a minute...)

We put everything back in the car and made our way to the park. First thing's first, crack open those donuts! They were fluffy and delicious, sticky and sweet. Luckily Kayle had brought wet wipes from the car. After the treat the kids pelted off to the jungle gym and slides while Kayle and I watched and got caught up. I told her about my recent ER visit, and she laughed, then told me that her husband had done the exact same thing! Thought he was having Afib and took himself to the ER, and it turned out to be bad indigestion. He was insured, but their bill was still quite similar to mine so we got to commiserate about that. And yes I absolutely felt justified once again in my belief that having insurance or not is largely apples-and-oranges when it comes to that final bill. That said, I did tell Kayle that I'd gotten insurance, and why (hospitals aren't obligated to reduce your bill just because you're uninsured + Jameson's peace of mind). She told me about some childrearing scares she'd had with the kids (young kids get up to so much trouble!) and her frustrations with her house, which is too small for her family but who can afford to move right now? So they're having work done on the house, but can only afford little bits at a time...it's a struggle, and I felt bad that she's somewhat stuck in that situation right now. I'm supposed to come over for dinner on Monday and will certainly see more details of that.

This playground has big granite boulders that have been partially carved or polished, with little nooks in them for sitting or climbing. I took two pictures of Kayle in one of the nooks. She has always made these faces since we were little kids. I love that about her!

Elliotte insisted on taking pictures of me too. One was pretty good and the other not so much, lol

And finally, Kayle took this truly perfect pic of me with the kids :)

Again, I do not like children...but have to admit that Kayle is a fantastic mom and her kids are all well-mannered and VERY well behaved. No screaming or tantrums, no fighting (well, nothing beyond normal sibling aggression anyway) and all three followed directions well. I'm not a parent and have no place to critique her, I'm only sharing what I observed as a person who dislikes kids and avoids them. Kayle's are shaping up to be excellent human beings, and I hope she's very proud of them.

The kids were winding down energy-wise, so we loaded back up into the car. They dropped me off at the hotel where I gave hugs all around and promised to see everyone on Monday for dinner.

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THE LOST PIN

Back in the hotel room I started to unpack my purse, and realized that I couldn't find the railroad enamel pin anywhere :( After opening it I had immediately put it back in it's envelope and into my purse...and thrown the little handful of bubble wrap around it away...or so I'd thought. But in my purse was the envelope and the bubble wrap. In other words, I was probably distracted in the moment and accidentally threw the pin away!! ARRRGH I was so angry with myself!

After sitting and thinking about what to do, I realized that the railroad museum couldn't be that far away because the kids are in school currently and the family isn't traveling. Sure enough, it's a 20-minute drive. An Uber there would be $80 round trip, so that was out. I'd have a rental car on Monday, but the museum is closed that day. I decided to call the museum, explain what had happened, then asked if I could purchase a pin over the phone and come pick it up on Monday if anyone would be on the property or if they could leave it somewhere accessible to me. Unbelievably, the woman I spoke with was perfectly willing to do all of that! I re-bought the pin over the phone, she gave me her cell phone number, and on Monday when I have the rental car I'll drive over and pick it up. I know this all seems crazy just for a pin, but literally as I was hugging the kids goodbye they said, "Don't forget to put your railroad pin on!" (my purse is covered with enamel pins.) I just KNOW that on Monday they'll ask to see it. Will I be able to retrieve the pin in time? The suspense!

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THE CANADA COAT

After that I ate a light late lunch (alliteration anyone?) and thought to try calling Mountain Warehouse again about ordering that coat. The problem is that if I order the coat on the US site, it will not allow me to ship it to Canada (and it wouldn't make it to my US address in time either.) If I try to order it from the Canadian site, it will allow me to ship to Canada of course but had some sort of issue with my US billing information that was causing an error message.

This time I got an agent who found a workaround: she had me mark "Shipping same as billing", and when the order went through, she manually went in and changed the billing information. Yay! The coat is ordered and will be waiting for me in Canada. Not only that, I forgot that US dollars go a bit farther than Canadian at the moment, so it was much cheaper than expected. And not only THAT, the agent also gave me a 20% discount!! I literally just got this excellent coat for $50!!

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The rest of my evening was normal, though boy did I feel tired from getting no sleep and then playing with the kids. Had a basic dinner, then off to the theatre. Our violinist apparently was not feeling well and had to call in an emergency sub...so we have technically THREE subs in the pit right now. Sheesh. I hope she feels better :/ The show was just fine. I tried starting with the O'Malley but was just too frustrated with it and switched to the Bach for the second act. When I am tired especially, that is not when I want my instrument to be pushing back and fighting me and making everything more difficult to do. It's back to the Bach for the most part, at least until we can get to Calgary.

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Saturday: Halloween! We only have one matinee show. Trick-or-treating for the Chip kids, and a costume contest at night. Fun!

Sunday: A normal two show day (please and thank you)

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THURSDAY

Managed to sleep well. Debated with myself about going downstairs to steal walnuts from breakfast but ultimately passed. Coffee, reading your posts, Foodie Finds, breakfast, and some adulting like reserving a rental car for Monday's dinner with my stepsister and looking into winterwear for our upcoming weeks and months in Canada/the PNW.

For walking to and from the theatre, what I have will be sufficient (fleece zip-up, shell jacket, down puff jacket, peacoat over all that) but if I want to go for longer walks, visit national parks, do outdoor Christmas markets, etc, I'll probably need an ACTUAL coat. Possibly waterproof, as I've heard Seattle is more wet than anything in December. I've recently made a trombone buddy in Calgary who has been extremely helpful in recommending coats; he says a "Level II" is what I need (Level I is too light and Level III is for Antarctica/too warm)

I'm thinking either an all-rounder like THIS with layers underneath as needed ($120):

...or a waterproof one like THIS (possibly better for the PNW?) that I could wear over my existing lightweight down layer ($90):

060885_bur_tarka_ii_womens_long_padded_waterproof_jacket_ecom_gbg_aw24_02.jpg

We'll see. I'm still being a cheapskate and am inclined to work with what I already have, but the clock is ticking.
Also feeling annoyed that because of all the wedding stuff I had to bring after the last layoff, I couldn't pack my gloves, hat, scarf, and other winter stuff, and didn't think to ship them to myself either. And I might also need boots or at least water-resistant shoes, which I don't have now.

After lunch I walked to the theatre as usual. I'm feeling cranky but it's just That Time Of Month coming up plus a bit of dread/anxiety about more-than-usual socialization over Halloween. I'm sure in the moment it'll all be great fun though. The matinee went pretty well, lots of little kids came to pelt us with questions at the pit :) Between shows, back to the hotel as usual for a simple dinner and a little more Foodie Finds work, and some anime. Walked back a bit early to drop some laundry detergent in my trunk and dig out my custom in-ear plates, which I'd moved so my sub would have one less thing to worry about. The evening show was fine, nothing to report.

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Friday: Brunch and a little park time with my stepsister and the kids. Possibly some Disney training modules? One evening show.

Saturday: Just one matinee show because it's Halloween! After the show I'll have dinner then help judge the Halloween contest. The costume ideas are hilarious and it should be a good time.

Sunday: Two shows, nothing planned.

(Photo courtesy someone on TripAdvisor)

By the time I got back it was lunchtime. Ate, watched a little anime, and surprisingly got a 40-minute nap. When I woke from the nap O'Malley Brass had messaged back suggesting we shoot for January to address my trombone issue. Although that means a frustrating wait for me, I'm also somewhat relieved that I won't be rushing around on Monday trying to solve things in only a few hours. I suppose it also gives me more time to keep working with it, although frankly since it's harder to play than my Bach that is NOT an appealing prospect. But whatever, with that it's decided. I bed-rotted for a while, TikTok videos and reading my book until my eyeballs felt tired, then had a snack and more anime. I know, how ENTHRALLING.

At some point in there I scheduled a room refresh for tomorrow (housekeeping here is by appointment only), and received a box with some small cheap Halloween decorations that I'll decorate the pit with tomorrow. There are little lanterns for everyone (that really light up!), little cute ghosts for all of the regular musicians, and witches for the MD and assistant MD.

My day ended with a simple dinner of bagel, smoked fish, and apple, and half of a vegan carrot cake cupcake :)

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TUESDAY

I had set an alarm for 7am but shut it off and woke up at 8am. Actually got 8 hours of sleep and felt like I could have slept more. I must be playing catch-up from the wedding week, where I was getting 4 hours of sleep every night for the entire week.

I'd scheduled a room refresh for today but there was no set time for that, housekeeping could show up at any moment, which of course made things like prepping breakfast and going to the bathroom a little harrowing, lol. I also realized that the mental health Zoom seminar that I'd signed up for (Disney offers these once in a while, it's really nice) was at noon EST, which is 10am my time. Glad I realized that before it was too late. Normal breakfast, prepping overnight oats, packing snacks for the theatre, and working on Foodie Finds until it was time for the Zoom meeting.

It was nice, the presenter had limited time and had to rush through the slides a bit but we were given a lot of information that is useful and can be read over later on as needed. Identifying when we are feeling strong emotions, identifying when a physical reaction is tied to an emotion or anxiety, coping strategies, courses of action, resources, etc. All good things. It only took about an hour. Afterward I walked to the theatre with my little box of Halloween decor. Took it to the pit and made sure everyone got something nice and spooky at their spot!

MD and drummer both got witches (not pictured), and all musicians got a little cute ghost and a mini lantern that really lights up!

Walked back and had lunch. Housekeeping still hadn't come so I put the trash out. I haven't seen any housekeeping on our floor at all today so suspect they may have forgotten me, but that's all right, I have plenty of towels and clean up after myself quite well :)

More Medical Joy

Right before dinner I got a call from X hospital in Washington state, saying they'd received my application for financial assistance but couldn't find me in their system. Turns out, they had the exact same name as the hospital I went to in Vegas. In other words, I messed up. When their financial assistance application came up in my search and the hospital name was the same, I thought that perhaps this was a hospital chain that operates in multiple states in that part of the country (like AdventHealth.) So I printed out my huge tax return ($$) and paid to ship it ($$) for nothing, AND I don't have any hope of getting financial aid.

On top of that, Jameson got two more pieces of hospital mail addressed to me.
One of which was the itemization that I'd asked for.
Which totaled $$,$$$. TRIPLE what I was billed.

Isn't America great? We ARE great now, right?

I felt my heart plummet to my toes again, and wanted to cry, but ultimately, what can I do? This is all because for the very first time in all my 42 years on this earth, I tried to take my health seriously.

I'll print and fill out the charity application and send it, even though I don't qualify, along with my 100+ page tax return. They'll get a novel and I'll get nothing. I'll call the hospital billing office again to see if I can negotiate the bill down, and to set up a payment plan. And yes, for all the "I-Told-You-So"ers, I admit and acknowledge that I should have had health care. I was wrong (as "wrong" as any of us can be in a predatory system like this). Had my bill remained at $$$$, I could have continued to argue that health care isn't worth it, but with that extra zero it's open mouth insert foot time for me. Open enrollment is thankfully just a few days away. I will FINALLY apply for individual insurance, and try to see if there's any possibility that they'd retroactively help with the ER bill (I know that this is next to impossible but it never hurts to ask.) And right now my actual online bill still only says $$$$. I will try to find out more tomorrow. But anyway, do enjoy your gloating, those of you who said I should have had health insurance. You were right.

Poor Jameson had to look at all of this too by virtue of opening the mail and taking pics to send to me. Of course he was stressed out by it. I feel bad, but again, there's nothing I can do. The VERY BEST thing I could have done was not go to the ER, and it's too late for that. This is what happens when you seek medical care in the US, honestly with or without insurance. If something had at least been wrong I might have been justified in seeking help. Since nothing was wrong, I am fully in the wrong, and this mistake could follow me for the rest of my life. I suppose that's actually a silver lining: I've lived most of my adult life being crushed by $80k of student debt, so really, what's $$,$$$ more? I'll never get out from under any of it.

PS: For 28 years a large portion of every paycheck I earn has gone to Social Security and Medicare...I have probably paid $$$,$$$ toward benefits that I will never, ever get to use because my entitled elders have gobbled them all up. But I'm not bitter, nope.

What a WONDERFULLY STRESSFUL end to a pretty chill 48 hours. I walked to the theatre for the evening show. Tonight I played the O'Malley (whole thing, no Bach slide) for the first half, and switched to the full-Bach for the second half. Tomorrow I'll start with the Bach and end with the O'Malley. I'm hoping this will, again, help me to get used to the O'Malley and also help me learn more about my issues with it.

My coworkers enjoyed the little decorations in the pit, which made me glad. Michael (Key 2) brought in big bags of candy for Halloween as well. I certainly needed a little sugary pick-me-up today.

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Wednesday: Lucky I had no plans because now I need to get on the phone with hospital billing, followed by comparing health coverage plans and filling out the useless charity paperwork. One evening show.

Thursday: It's a matinee weekday so no plans and two shows. Probably more paperwork.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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Sidenote for LJ people: Not sure if this will help anyone but I've noticed if I open just ONE tab of LJ, it is far more likely to actually load and work than if I have multiple tabs open. Opening more than two LJ tabs seems to cause the site to not to load at all on any of them (at least for me.) Good luck out there.

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FRIDAY

Awake too early, but that's ok, I got to wish Jameson a good morning in real time :)

Apple Watch knows I'm in a high elevation place, and adjusts it's oxygen monitor accordingly (O2 is naturally a little lower than usual at high elevations for most ppl.) Cool tech.

Today I felt pretty tired, probably because I walked around 5 miles yesterday between meeting my sister for lunch and back and forth to/from the theatre. I decided to take it easy today. Friday is usually my Slug-Around Day anyway.

Finally finished Vancouver Foodie Finds and started on Boise. Finished up my birthday shopping for Jameson and got some ideas for him for Christmas. Bought a few cheap Halloween decorations to give to my bandmates. Gritted my teeth, cringed, and paid off my full credit card bill ($$$$) which pretty much knocks out all of the travel, housing, food, etc from my brother's wedding. It hurts my bank account, but now I can try to continue the rest of the year with a clean slate and try to financially recover (what a hilarious thing to say right before the holiday season)

And Jameson voted!

It looked sunny and nice outside, but I just could not muster up the interest or energy. Frankly, I felt a bit mopey after all of the messing around with the O'Malley trombone again. I really DID want it to be a good fit for me right out of the box. The fact that my temporary "solution" is to only play half the instrument at a time...while I'm glad it works, it also frustrates me even more knowing that I have to do more work and spend more money to get the playing experience that I want.

But in other news, I have a lovely clean hotel room and lots of nice snacks. Anime to watch, books to read. A wonderful boyfriend to chat with. And there's SO MUCH going on here in Denver! We have started Equity Fights AIDS fundraising, and there's a mental health seminar that we're all invited to (I've gone to all of them so far and want to attend this one too.) Halloween is coming up, we're having a costume contest and I'll get to be a judge for that!! And there's the orchestra talkback tomorrow, and a Broadway Serves opportunity next week. Lots to look forward to.

Finally showtime rolled around. Once again things were "acceptable" with the O'Malley/Bach hybrid. Nothing else to report. I dug my black peacoat out of my trunk because a cold front is moving through and I'm a wuss when temps fall below 68°F (20°C). And I brought the leadpipe test kit back to the hotel...if none of them make a big difference there's no point changing mine, so I'll send them back on Monday. And I bought a whole-company-signed BATB program for my stepsister for when she comes to the show (sssssh it's a surprise!)

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SATURDAY

Up at 6:30am to do laundry. When that was done, breakfast and fighting LJ to be able to post, making overnight oats for tomorrow, and packing a dinner to bring to the theatre because the orchestra was doing a talkback between shows and I expected that would take our 'tween shows break. A quick walk to Target for extra protein and berries (and yes, a small bag of candy corn because it's that time of year!) And back to the hotel to eat lunch and dress for work.

The matinee was good though I didn't play my best. Since I am forcing myself to play the O'Malley/Bach hybrid, every show consists of me gaslighting myself with "This is fine!" and "It's not so bad!" but as briefly mentioned in my last post, after 28 years of tromboning I KNOW when something is not right, and no amount of self-torture is going to miraculously change things. But I suppose this is being able to say "I tried" before I show up in Chicago demanding a fix. In other words, yes, if I put the Bach slide on the O'Malley "the notes come out", but it is still difficult to play compared to my Bach. I am also taking into account the elevation and dryness here, which make everything more difficult to play. But still. I'm frustrated.

After the matinee the whole orchestra tromped into the house to meet a group of students from a Colorado school. They had driven THREE HOURS to see our show!! With that in mind I certainly gave them my full attention!! There were perhaps 30 late-middle-to-early-high-school-aged kids, and unfortunately no brass players among them...it was all string musicians and/or theatre kids. But they had great questions such as "How long have you played your instruments?" and "How did you get this gig?" and "What do you do when a mistake happens?" I wanted to laugh at that last one as there are MANY mistakes in EVERY show, and we just hide it well and that's the real answer to that question ;D

DAR (MD), Gary (drums), and Tim (trumpet) had lots of anecdotes, advice, and stories as they've all been professional musicians for 50 or more years. The rest of us chimed in occasionally. My contributions were when someone asked how we got this gig; that question evolved into basic advice for getting gigs like ours, at which point I added, "Always express interest in something that you want to do! Make sure the people around you KNOW that you want to play that concert or show. That way when an opportunity does present, they will have your name in their minds (and hopefully your portfolio in their hands as well.)" My second contribution was when they asked at the end of the talkback, "Do you have any general advice for these young musicians?" Connor (Key 1) gave the great advice to "be a team player" when you're in an ensemble, to blend well with your section and be a musician that people want to call back again and again. To that I added, "Absolutely what Connor said, but also, don't give up on or bury that part of your playing that makes you stand out or that makes your music uniquely YOU. Blending with the ensemble is important, but that uniqueness about yourself and your music can also open doors and opportunities for you." I hope that was good advice. We took a group pic with the kids before they had to leave, and I'm sure I'll share that with you when it's available.

We'd been told the talkback would be 15 minutes, but not surprisingly it took closer to 30 minutes before we cleared the theatre, got the kids settled, and then answered questions for longer than planned, lol. I'd packed dinner and made plans to wash my trombone slides during the break between shows. That worked out well for me as the green room here has a big sink with hot water. The evening show went better than the matinee playing-wise for me.

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SUNDAY

Woke up at 5:30am raging out in my head over the trombone situation. It's great that I can technically "play it" now, but playing it is also causing me so much frustration that I'm seriously considering flying to Chicago next Monday to get this sorted out. That may seem like a crazy thing to do, but it's either that or not be able to address the issue at all until February. Four months of essentially not playing it at all and not working toward a fix either, which I'm not sure if I can stand. I'll have to decide what to do, quickly. ARGH.

Otherwise it was a good and chill morning. Breakfast, chatting with Jameson, packing little snacks for the theatre, and eventually getting dressed and heading over there. Matinee show was a little wonky because Maurice's Invention was acting up again (that thing! Always causing trouble!) but otherwise the show itself was good. I was again frustrated with the O'Malley/Bach, and when the show was over I switched it back to the full Bach but kept the O'Malley bell in the pit so that I have the option to switch to it for some numbers. I want to feel the differences and give it as fair an evaluation as I can.

Back at the hotel, a quick dinner of rice, smoked fish, zucchini and walnuts before tromping back. Evening show was fine but I felt extra-tired. Not surprising as it's been my first week in Denver/at high altitude, I've probably been working harder to try and sound the same as usual all week despite the elevation, plus extra practice on the O'Malley and switching the horns around the whole time. Phew, I will appreciate that day off. Still have NO IDEA if I should fly to Chicago or not next Monday to address this trombone issue. Guess I'll have to consult with the shop, get more info, and see if it'll be worthwhile or if I should just wait until months-from-now.

In closing, enjoy these Beauty and the Beast wall tags! There are many wall tags backstage here and these are the three BATB ones that I could find, in order from 1997, 2012, and 2016 (the 2012 was a NETworks tour, not Disney. NETworks purchased the rights to tour the show that year.)

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Monday: Golden Day! No plans, I need to save money.

Tuesday: We have an online mental health seminar in the afternoon, and one evening show, otherwise no plans. Hopefully I'll have decided what to do about the trombone.

(photo courtesy O'Malley Brass because lighting in my hotel room is so bad)

I ate a quick lunch and ran to the theatre to try them out. There are five, and of those two make a small improvement...but honestly not much, not as much as I was hoping. I spent a solid hour playing them and trying all different things, but I am still having the same problem with too much backpressure (aka resistance) in the lower and higher range of the instrument. I am disappointed...but there MUST be things we can do to get the playing feel and consistency that I want. At this point I might need to show up at their shop in person...but after this city, the next-earliest opportunity for that won't be until February. Am I supposed to drag this trombone across the country and not play it in the meantime?? Argh.

On the walk back to the hotel I sent an audio message to Miles (O'Malley Brass owner) to thank him for helping me thus far and to describe what I'm experiencing. I wanted to make him aware of my frustration, but also brainstorm with him about things we can try before I go to Canada.

Back at the hotel, a little snack and rest. Jonah (my brother who just got married) sent some of the professional wedding photos!
First, the happy couple: my brother Jonah and his wife Danielle. It may be a bit hard to tell but his suit is dark green and the tie is brown.

The groomsmen and Jonah. I love the off-white(?) color of the mens' jackets with the fall background, brown ties, and Jonah's dark green suit.

Bridesmaids with the bride. LOVE the pop of color from our bouquets. The dark brown is so classy. And you can see that we each ended up with a different cut of dress! Not planned!

Bride and groom center, my sisters and myself left, my sister Kate's husband Pat (in the cream suit) and Jameson in the grey on the right (Jameson had no idea he'd be asked to be in any photos and had to run over haha)

More photos to come of course :)

I spent the rest of the evening racking my brains about what I should do re: the new trombone. I could fly to Chicago on Monday ($$$) that would be rather rushed but it could be done with a quick turnaround either same-day or Tuesday morning. I could wait one week until Nov 2 (the next Golden Monday.) This would give me more time to play the O'Malley and narrow down what leadpipes are preferable, but the cost of the flight is still $$$ and I'd have to literally fly there and back same-day because I have a morning event on Tuesday. The third option would be Nov 30 when we are returning from Canada; instead of flying to Boise with the tour I could fly to Chicago. Problem with that is I have already taken a buyout and bought my own flight, and the flight change options are all $$$ more and 8+ hours longer. And if I can't do any of these three dates, the next opportunity won't be until February. Honestly, none of these seemed like a good option.

The evening show was good, and Ryu, our former violinist, was in the audience!! It was so great to see her! She sat at the sound board and was able to finally see the show for the first time, lol. Afterward she came down to the pit to congratulate us on a job well done. I think people went out for drinks with her afterward but I couldn't bring myself to do it (not my vibe + very money-stressed right now.) I hope she had an awesome time :)

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THURSDAY

Normal morning. It was payday and my pay was low, I assume because part of it was paid to my sub, but the fact that I get any money at all when I didn't work for a week is excellent.

Breakfast, and finally booking myself an Airbnb for Salt Lake City. The company choice is close to the theatre but somewhat lacking in amenities, and I just felt like I could do better for a 2-week sit. I asked DAR if I could play the new trombone in the show starting today and he said yes. I feel that I need to be more open to adjusting to it, but also don't want to be gaslighting myself into trying to "make it work". If I play it all weekend (six shows) I'll get a better feel for it and perhaps learn some things.

For lunch I met my stepsister Kayle at Watercourse Foods. I've been here before with my friend Bobby and remembered having a great experience. Fully vegan menu and some really creative dishes. We got started with the vegan charcuterie and enjoyed trying all the different little bites as we caught up with each other.

Kayle's entree was the chik'n Caesar wrap, which was GIGANTIC and featured crispy fried tempeh chik'n. She let me have a bite. Fresh and crunchy!

Mine was the breakfast platter: zucchini carrot biscuit in gravy, sweet potato tots, seitan "bacon", and tofu scramble. The biscuit was the best, soft and flavorful with that delicious peppery gravy.

While the food was good, I was sad to realize that things have gone down here a bit. The menu is much more limited than it used to be; most of the sandwiches and entrees that I remember are gone, replaced with simple breakfast dishes. The charcuterie used to come with fresh fruit, pickled veggies, and more types of "meat", and clearly that's not the case any more. It was still very good, just not what it used to be. Sign of the times. But we enjoyed all of it, and the brief time we had together. Kayle's kids are in school now and she had only an hour to spare with me before going to pick them up. I'm going to see the whole family on one of the golden days, and am looking forward to that :)

From there I walked to the theatre because while we were eating, O'Malley Brass/Miles had messaged me back and asked, "Have you tried swapping your bell section with our slide, and vice versa?" OMG! Why hadn't I thought to do that?? It is very common for trombonists to swap out just the slide or just the bell section, to try new combinations and see what might be a good fit. In this case, playing the O'Malley slide/bell section with the slide/bell of my old trombone would help me narrow down whether my backpressure issue is coming from the bell, or the slide. Duh!

I spent another solid hour swapping those parts back and forth, and the good news is that when I put the O'Malley bell with the Bach slide there was an immediate difference. The horn opened up right away and I had no issue hitting the notes that I wanted without excessive backpressure. And when I tried the Bach bell section with the O'Malley slide, the Bach felt more confined than usual...not as bad as the complete-O'Malley, but a definite increase in backpressure. I went back and forth many times and also took audio recordings and listened back to make SURE that I wasn't imagining it or sabotaging myself. Based on this experiment, I'm like 80% sure that my issue has something to do with the O'Malley slide, possibly the difference in distribution of weight. If the O'Malley slide is heavier (it feels a bit heavier) or if the weight is centered in a different spot than what I'm used to, it could be causing my embouchure to shift subtly without my knowledge.

New plan. Tonight I'm going to play the O'Malley bell section with my Bach slide. If that goes well--if all of my notes come out without the horn fighting me--I'll continue to play that mix for all five weekend shows. Then next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll try swapping the O'Malley slide back in. I'm hoping that I can sort of wean myself onto the O'Malley slide if the problem is simply the difference in weight distribution. But if it's something more than that, I can at least play the O'Malley/Bach mixed bone in the show, and worry about addressing the slide issue after we get back from Canada. Relieved at this discovery and happy with my new plan, I put everything away and messaged Miles to thank him for the advice, tell him what I'd learned, and let him know I'd be in touch in another week.

Back to the hotel where I sent Jameson a voice text detailing all of the above, then got dressed for the show and decompressed with some anime. I was still pretty full from our big lunch so had a light dinner before heading to the theatre. The evening show was just fine. I was a bit nervous about playing my half-and-half trombone, but didn't tell anyone what I was doing and I don't think anyone noticed at all, not even Tim sitting right next to me. And all of my notes came out! Phew. So this will work. I'm still feeling some sort of backpressure or weirdness, but it's a lot less, a lot more manageable. I'll try to pay attention because what I'm feeling could be lots of different things.

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Friday: One evening show and no plans except possibly laundry, possibly some sort of walk.

Saturday & Sunday: Two shows each day. On Saturday there's an orchestra talkback between shows and I'm very excited to participate!

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

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Previous Visits to Denver, CO:
I have been here many, MANY times, with the circus and with other tours. Rather than linking all of those which would take a long time, here's a tally of things I've done in Denver across past visits.

Restaurants:

Smokin' Moe's (Winter Park, CO)
Udi's Bakery
Buckhorn Exchange
Watercourse Foods
Sushi Den
Sam's No. 3
Corvus Coffee
Tokyo Premium Bakery
Fox & Raven Bakery
Jelly Cafe
Milk Tea People
Biker Jim's Gourmet Hot Dogs
Gigi's Cupcakes
Kilwin's

Activities:

16th Street malls and shopping, Downtown Denver
Denver Central Market
Pearl Street
Natural History Museum
Denver Art Museum
Colorado State Capitol
Audited a Colorado Symphony rehearsal
The Curtis Denver (hotel with themed floors you can visit)
Winter Park Resort + Cooper's Square with Jameson
My niece's birthday party
Elephant walks with the circus
General thrifting

Per usual, I'm writing this is to show that I've already done lots of things in this city, which I hope explains why I might do LESS during THIS visit. If there are specific things that you think I HAVE to do, you are welcome to Venmo me the money to Do The Thing (@Megan-OMalley-53). Otherwise, don't complain :p

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MONDAY

I fell asleep between 9-10pm, and was awake around 6:30am. Logged about 9 hours of sleep and very much needed it.

This morning I'm at a random hotel a few blocks from the company-booked hotel. I didn't stay at the company hotel because A) they probably would have had to make me switch rooms anyway because it was two separate bookings, and B) I was able to use credit card points for the random hotel, making it free.

Breakfast, chatting with Jameson, wiping down the inside of my suitcase and repacking it. Later in the morning I called the hospital's billing office and they were kind and helpful. I was able to get information needed to fill out the financial assistance form. They also emailed a "charity application" form, but I don't think I'll qualify for charity aid. At that point my Aunt called and we chatted for a bit. She'd had a rough time at my brother's wedding for a variety of reasons, and it was good to talk to her and make sure that she was all right.

Regarding the "mystery card" that I got from an American Airlines pilot yesterday: I posted a picture of it to an Airline Collectibles Buy & Sell Group on facebook last night, and this person explained:

How cool! I had no idea that the pilots made their own cards. It's not publicized online so not something I could have discovered on my own. Someone else shared some pictures of other cards in this series, including mine. Mystery solved!

A little before 11 I checked out and hoofed over to the company hotel, dragging all of my luggage. At the new hotel I was struck--as I often am after being away from tour--by the difference in reception/treatment when it's hotels that I book as an individual, versus hotels where I'm booked with the company. I'm not sure if it's because a group booking = big bucks for the hotel, or because it's Disney, but I suspect the latter. For one thing, this hotel had my room ready at 11am. On other national tours, we knew that if we showed up before 1pm we would definitely be waiting in the lobby, but on this tour I've NEVER had to wait. And on other tours the hotel staff were always generally courteous and helpful...but on this tour it's like...extra. Everything is "Right away, Ms. O'Malley!" and "May we help you with your luggage, Ms. O'Malley?", and when I get to my room half the time someone will call up to ask if everything is to my liking. This level of treatment is of course pleasant and appreciated...and it's NEVER expected. It still takes me by surprise, and makes me feel kinda bashful. It's just little old me, my goodness. Anyway, just something I've noticed ever since joining this tour and again today as I checked in. May I never expect to be treated this way!

This is an extended stay-type hotel so there is a little kitchen with a stovetop, dishwasher, and full-sized fridge. Luxurious! Dropped my luggage and went for groceries at Whole Paycheck, eating lunch at the hot bar. Ubered back and put everything away, unpacked, explored a little to find the laundry room, and got caught up on reading misc LJ and DW blog posts. My stepsister lives near here and we coordinated for upcoming days; I'm sure we'll have lunch or hang out, plus I've got to arrange her tickets for the show. Before I knew it it was 3pm...and I felt VERY tired haha. Which makes no sense because it was only 6pm on the east coast, but maybe it was the altitude + body still catching up. Or just finally being able to decompress and be in one place for a while.

Dinner perked me up a bit, but I didn't feel like practicing (I really should have, sigh.) Emailed my financial aid documents to FedEx to print tomorrow and called it a day. Jameson was also going to bed early. He had an epidural early in the morning for his neck pain/arm numbness, and instead of trying to coordinate rides with friends, had booked a hotel close to the treatment site the night before. I thought this was very smart of him.

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TUESDAY

I got 7.5 hours of sleep which imo is pretty good, but Apple Watch didn't think so. It yelled at me for "missing" my bedtime (I went to sleep early, isn't that a good thing?) and called 7.5 hours of sleep just "OK" because I woke up several times. I think that they could stand to program their watch to be a little less...critical? A little more realistic? Lol.

I WAS awake at 5:30am because A) jet lag and B) I knew that Jameson would be heading to his epidural and wanted to send him a supportive text. He appreciated it, and let me know when it was over and he was safely in an Uber. Meanwhile my brother and his new bride were on their way to a honeymoon in Hawaii...and their flight was delayed, then deplaned, then delayed again, then their bags were delayed and won't show up until next day!! Marriage trial by fire lol. My sisters and I sent supportive words and suggested they visit some tourist shop for tacky shirts/shorts/muu-muus, and make the best of it!

This hotel has free breakfast which is a treat I haven't seen for a while. I got a coffee and snatched peanut butter and walnuts. Worked on Foodie Finds for a while as I've fallen behind on it. Filled out my Florida midterm ballot. It's amazing to me that over the past week I've been at four different addresses across three different time zones, plus participated in a wedding, yet still "somehow" made sure to get my ballot. What's YOUR excuse?

VOTE.

After breakfast I packed dinner and snacks for the theater tonight, then walked to FedEx to print my financial aid stuff and pick up shipping envelopes for all of it. The tax return would not print because it's password protected, so I had to walk back to the hotel and try to remove the password. I took that opportunity to look through the application documents and quickly realized that I definitely won't qualify for the "charity" one as I make too much, no surprise there. I shredded that, completed the other one, re-sent the tax return, walked back to FedEx, and was able to print the tax return and send my application. We'll see if anything comes of it. Back at the hotel, lunch and just a few minutes with the bass trombone to ensure that I hadn't forgotten how to play it (idk why I'm in no mood for practice right now but suspect the elevation is just making me tired/annoyed with the concept.) Did a little research on Salt Lake City housing options and watched more X/1999.

Finally it was time to walk to the theatre, dragging my bass trombone. I remember this theater pretty well, and first stop was the Tootsie wall tag which is hidden in a little side hallway. Can you find my initials? This one's kinda hard! (click the image to open in new tab, then click it again to enlarge)

Down to the pit where I got all set up and comfortable. All of my stuff is in order and Jim (my sub) took great care of my mutes and stuff, which I appreciate very much. Back upstairs to fill my water bottles, find the band's dressing room, and say hi to company management :) Then I found our trunks and made a huge mess in the hallway sorting and gathering and reorganizing things now that this wedding is over. I'd dumped a load of clothes, extra food, and toiletries in there to free up luggage weight for the wedding clothing.

Sound check was just fine. Everyone wanted to know how the wedding went and I described it as best I could but can't wait for the pro photos to come out so I can share them! Between sound check and the show I ate my packed dinner and chatted with people in the green room. Opening night show went well, it sounded like a decent-sized crowd out there and everyone sounded great (most everyone has gotten over the misc viruses that were plaguing us last week.) After the show there was a party, but I had so much crap to drag back to the hotel that I decided to skip it this time.

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Wednesday: My O'Malley leadpipes are supposed to arrive so I'll be on the lookout for those. One evening show.

Thursday: Possible lunch with my stepsister and one evening show, no other plans as of now.

FRIDAY - Pre-Wedding Things

I was able to fall asleep around 9pm, but once again wide awake between midnight and 2am. It's really annoying! But I got 6 hours of sleep so that's at least reasonable.

It felt weird to get dressed in business casual just to go to breakfast ten steps outside the door, haha, but here we are. I had chosen an "early seating", between 8-8:30am. I was greeted warmly by both hosts, a married couple. There were two other couples eating, and all of us conversed with the hosts in turns and with each other: "Where are you from", "What are you in town for", "Have you stayed here before", etc.

(I KNEW this place would involve socializing lol)

Breakfast was lovely, most all homemade, and consisted of a first course of yogurt, fresh fruit, and house granola followed by French toast, eggs, potatoes, and sourdough bread with a homemade fruit compote.

I felt like a little princess eating this! I certainly couldn't eat everything but tried my best. The hosts were so fun and it was a pleasure to meet and chat with them.

I texted with Jameson as he boarded his flight, typed up this post, digested, and packed misc things, outlining a plan for tomorrow's shenanigans. The hour drive to get Jameson was unremarkable and I got there right on time. He had been raving about eating scrapple at some point (he LOVES it.) I hadn't found any restaurants in New Hope that had it...but there was a place serving it conveniently close to the airport. He was TOTALLY down to have scrapple for lunch!

Sulimay's not only has scrapple, it specializes in local ingredients and legendary Philly foods. For example the eggs are from local farms, bread from local bakeries, even flour for the pancakes from local mills.

My kielbasa egg and cheese on Kaiser had Czerw's sausage, made fresh only in Philly since 1938 by a generational Polish family (it's the grandsons running it now.) It is smoked using fruit woods in brick ovens.

Jameson had pumpkin spice pancakes with a glorious-looking pecan glaze and scrapple on the side. The scrapple was crispy on the outside and soft inside. He closed his eyes while eating so it must have been GOOD good!

After that we finished our drive to the bed & breakfast where I gave him the tour. We had a little time to settle in, then I had to run off to rehearsal. My siblings were already there and it was wonderful to see everyone, hugs all around :) We went through the "choreography" in reverse starting with all of us in places at the altar and practicing the couple's procession out, then from there practicing our procession IN to see how we'd end up in those places. It was pretty straightforward but it turns out I'm directly next to the bride, so I'd be holding her bouquet during the ceremony, handing it back to her as she walks out, and straightening her train as she exits. It's not "a lot", just more visible than I thought I'd be, so naturally I'm nervous. But I'm sure everything will be fine. The whole thing only took about 30 minutes.

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Interlude: Financial F*ck-Ups

I drove back to the bed & breakfast to fetch Jameson. He was ready to go but had laid my mail out for me (having brought it from home.) I saw three pieces from the Las Vegas ER and HAD to open them rather than be in suspense.

The first one was for an X-Ray and it was $25. Ok, fine.
The second was $1,800-something and included the $800-something I'd paid same-day, so I guess it was for the visit-in-general? Questionable.
And the third was $7800-something. For everything.

That knocked the wind right out of me. Nothing in the No Surprises Act billing estimates had prepared me for that. Plus of the three bills, the two separate smaller bills seemed to be on the larger bill (i.e. the x-Ray was there at $1000-something, so what is the $25 for? And the $1800 consultation too is in the larger bill without including the amount I already paid.) I had to put them down and drive us to dinner, but I was certainly driving tense. Jameson muttered that he shouldn't have shown the mail to me until after the ceremony (No, he did the right thing and I told him so. I just needed time to process the panic and self-loathing.)

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Dinner was a classy setup with an open bar at the entrance and charcuterie. Right on the Delaware River too, great view.

During this cocktails portion I asked my sister Raven for advice on the medical bills. She has all sorts of health woes and has been in lots of medical scenarios that I've never encountered. Her advice was to first of all call the billing office and let them know I couldn't afford the bill, and then pay something/anything toward it. She added that I should get an itemization and sort out what I ACTUALLY owe before making any large payments, and file applications for reductions and waivers. Talking to billing and sending a little money will buy the time I need to gather information and possibly qualify for a reduced total. I thanked her and felt better about it, especially when my sister Kate (who's an OR nurse) heard me say how stupid I'd been to go to the ER and immediately said "Absolutely not. Dad had AFib, and you're mom's age when she died. I'm glad you went!!" I almost teared up. Grateful that my family isn't disgusted with me for this mistake. We got to mingle and catch up for an hour, then moved to the dining room for salad, braised maple beef or chicken couscous, pasta salad, mashed potatoes, and roasted brussels. Dessert was mini mocha mousse cups or caramel cheesecake cubes. We had such a nice time laughing and talking and enjoying each other's company.

I want to mention one last thing, which happened when my sisters and I were talking about bridesmaid prep. It was brought up (it always is) that I don't wear dresses often and makeup never at all. Jameson said he hasn't seen me in a dress in 13 years (true!) But regarding my lack of makeup he said, "But I love that about her. She's fine the way she is. I always see her real, genuine face." Another thing that almost made me burst into tears! Instead I squeezed him to show that I was thankful and touched :)

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SATURDAY - My Brother Gets Married!!!

I finally got some sleep! Perhaps because Jameson was with me :) I was up 30 minutes before him to wash my face and snatch a coffee from the dining room. Tried to post to LJ but all weekend I haven't been able to access it. Perhaps something with this location using a VPN? But I've tried using data too and it doesn't work. *shrug*

Once Jameson was up and around we had breakfast. Today it was yogurt, fruit, and granola again, this time followed by quiche, croissants, and peach scones. Yummy! After breakfast we'd planned to sightsee, but most things didn't open until 11 so we had to wait around. Eventually we got going. It was a gorgeous fall day: crisp cool air, overcast, the smell of wet leaves and woodsmoke. Jameson was THRILLED. He hasn't experienced fall weather since around 2016, poor guy. He was kicking leaf piles and taking deep breaths of fresh air and generally being adorable :)

We popped into misc quaint shops, walked over a little waterfall bridge, and eventually ended up at Ferry Market which is the local food hall. Everything was saw to eat looked great, it was hard to choose. Jameson ended up with a lobster roll and I had a chicken shawarma. Both were very good. I couldn't eat very much because I was nervous.

After that we had to walk back so Jameson could get me to the venue. I loaded up the car and off we went. I was the last person scheduled for hair/makeup so when I arrived the room was already packed with ladies in satin robes and fuzzy slippers. I got similarly attired, then sat patiently for my "makeover". We had some "getting ready" photos, then the photographers went off to work with the bride so we had a little time to eat finger sandwiches and chat. When it was our turn again we got into our dresses and did bridesmaid-only shots, then a few with the bride.

After that was done, my sisters and I had a few little pics of our own. That's Kate in the middle and Raven on the right.

As we got closer to the ceremony we got more and more anxious and excited. It was 52°F (11°C) with a wind chill bringing it to 45 (7.2). Brutal when you're wearing sleeveless thin satin dresses. But we bucked up, lined up, and walked out with the groomsmen to help my brother get married!

The venue was GORGEOUS. A central fountain with splashing water in front of an old New England stone farmhouse. A white trellis archway, and fall-colored roses in orange, red, and deep purple, plus thistles and cornflowers. When Danielle (the bride) came out, I had to look away from my brother to avoid tearing up after seeing his emotional reaction to her. Also HE was wearing a dark green suit and my GOODNESS he was so handsome! I felt such a swelling of pride for my brother and his wife.

Here's a screenshot of a pic that Jameson took of my sisters and I (unfortunately Raven closed her eyes but don't worry, there will be better photos later on)

We were absolutely freezing and I was thrilled when the ceremony was over. I couldn't feel my feet at all which was very strange and made it a bit scary to walk on the cobblestone. Many guests said, "Are ya cold?" and laughed, or told us they'd seen us shaking during the ceremony, which I found annoying and rude. If you aren't going to help us warm up, or say something kind, don't say anything!!

Anyway, we had a few more wedding party photos in the beautiful but cold-cold-cold courtyard, then we were finally set free to enjoy cocktail hour. Besides the drinks there was a pierogie bar and a huge variety of finger foods including bao buns, shrimp, bruschetta, mini chicken n' waffles, and so much more. They really went all out! Eventually we were ushered into the huge dining hall. Well, the guests were, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen had to line up outside again to make a goofy dancing entrance, haha. It was fun! Jameson and I got to sit almost directly across from the lovely couple! We enjoyed NY strip steak and great conversation with my immediate family. Dessert was tiramisu and a two-flavor wedding cake: Jonah had picked carrot cake and the bride a vanilla-chocolate mix. All of that was wonderful, but goodness I was full! I talked with other extended family, introduced Jameson to people, sat with my Aunt several times, and did one (just one!) dance with my sisters.

Around 10:30pm the main event wound down and we were invited to join the couple for an after party elsewhere, but we declined citing our early flights tomorrow. We drove back to the bed & breakfast full and happy. It was a wonderful wedding and I'm so glad I was able to attend. So incredibly proud of my brother. All of my siblings, really. ❤️

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SUNDAY - That's A Wrap

We were up early to drive to the airport. Since it was Sunday traffic was wonderfully clear, although early in the trip we nearly hit a young buck who ran out of the woods in front of us. Jameson luckily saw it coming and warned me in time. The rest of the drive was uneventful. Returning the rental car and dropping luggage was easy. Jameson was also flying American but a different terminal, so he stayed with me as I checked my luggage, then we walked to my terminal where we enjoyed a Bruegger's Bagel breakfast together. And then of course, my flight got delayed! Rats! We could have slept another two hours!! Aah well, I was able to type up this post anyway, and enjoy an extra hour with Jameson. Before I knew it my flight was boarding and he had to get to his gate. We hugged goodbye. I'm so, so glad we had this time together this weekend. We may not see each other again until April.

I boarded my flight, feeling a bit lonely, but soon cheered up when I remembered there was still an American Airlines 100th Anniversary trading card to hunt down. I was looking for the A321. The pilots on my flight were very preoccupied with whatever maintenance issue had held us up, so I did not get to ask them. The 3-hour flight was smooth and comfortable, and before I knew it we were in Denver. At the original flight time despite getting delayed! I guess they'd gotten permission to fly faster!!

In the terminal I headed toward baggage claim but kept eyes open for pilots. Found one who seemed unoccupied and asked him if he carried any 100th anniversary cards. "You're lucky!" he said. "This is my last one."

It IS the A321, which is what I was missing...but oddly, it is NOT one of the 100th anniversary series! It has a silvery/metallic/foil front, and says "Series 1" on the back. I immediately had SO many questions. Where did this card come from? When was it printed? Did American previously print trading cards after all and I hadn't realized? Caught up in these wonderings, I boarded the terminal train to baggage claim and realized with a start that I was standing next to two more American Airlines pilots. I wasted no time, asking if they happened to carry any 100th anniversary cards. One pilot seemed a bit shy and shook his head, the other said, "Yeah!" enthusiastically....and pulled out the exact card I needed! A321! And he gave it to me in a protective sleeve too! So cool!

We chatted a bit, and I learned that the pilot who'd given me this card had been flying for 14 years and the shy one had only just begun flying last month (explains that!) They were both very kind and seemed genuinely happy to tell me about their favorite planes, and hear about what brought me to Denver. Another really great interaction that I'll remember every time I look at that card :) And now, my 100th Anniversary set is complete!!!

I reached baggage claim and since our luggage wasn't here yet, researched the other mystery card. Once again I could not find any evidence that American Airlines had printed trading cards previously. I did find a few similar cards to mine on eBay, but none exactly like it, even after digging through several Google pages and trying different keyword searches. There is no date on the card and nothing to really help me find THIS particular one. So weird! I will keep looking into this. In retrospect perhaps I should have asked the two pilots on the train, but in the moment that felt greedy/didn't feel right to do.

All of my luggage, including bass trombone, came back undamaged. I Ubered to the hotel, unpacked a few things, scooted down the street to a Target for breakfast items for tomorrow and a few things for a halfhearted dinner tonight. Back at the hotel I showered and immediately did laundry; nearly ALL of my clothes are dirty from this trip! While the laundry was going I ate dinner, cooked overnight oats for tomorrow, unpacked and re-sorted my luggage, and wiped out my suitcase. Folded and put away the laundry and made a game plan for tomorrow...nothing crazy, but I DO need to practice the bass and DO need to call the Vegas ER billing hotline to give them my sob story.

Whew! What a whirlwind weekend. Waiting around for the wedding was hard, but once it happened it was so joyful. Very grateful that I was able to attend.

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Monday: Switching to the company hotel + a grocery run. Starting the process of paying off the ER bill, practicing bass trombone, and kind of re-settling into tour life. How nice that I get a full day to do it!

Tuesday: Opening day in Denver!

WEDNESDAY - Airport Hotel

I had a VERY hard time getting to sleep Tuesday night. Halfway to bed I remembered that I had a package at the front desk and had to go grab it, then ran out of water and had to go down again to use the bottle filler. But that aside, it's just jet lag. At 1am I was wide awake because my body thinks it's 10pm. Having sat still on a plane for 8 hours probably didn't help either.

I groaned awake at 6:30am (3:30am Pacific Time). I took a barely-awake Uber to Sprouts (the nearest grocery that wasn't a *shudder* Price Chopper or Acme) and got enough for two breakfasts, one lunch, and one dinner. Mentally thanked Past Me for making a grocery list while flying.

Back at the hotel, put everything away and chatted with my sisters via text. We all had a few questions about the bridesmaid prep, and one sister is breaking up with her boyfriend right before the wedding so we were all checking in to make sure she was all right. Whipped up breakfast and reviewed my activities for the day before getting down to it:

Ironing rehearsal dinner clothing

Attempting to iron the synthetic cream-colored shawl from Amazon. This was so tedious but I think I got it to a wearable state.

Trying to steam bridesmaid dress with the iron. I actually managed to get SOME wrinkles out.

Confirming airport car rental tomorrow

Prepping Denver Foodie Finds for sending on Friday

Setting misc reminders for things I may forget in the chaos of wedding rehearsals and prep, i.e. "Send Denver Foodie Finds now" alarm, "Check in for your flight" alarm, etc.

More To-Do list items for Future Me: "Get gas on the way to pick up Jameson" and "Bring everything for bridesmaid prep when you go out to lunch on Saturday," and etc.

Lunch + anime

Attempt at a nap

Brief bass trombone practice with mute

After the nap I had a snack and went for a little walk. It's an airport hotel so there's not a lot to see but at least it's not next to the highway. There's lots of empty lots and patches of forest on this side of airport property. I walked to a Wawa and back using a little road that went behind the hotels. It had drizzled earlier in the day so you could smell dirt, plants, smog, exhaust, and a bit of tar and warm steel from the nearby Septa commuter train. Coupled with the golden hour sun slicing through damp leaves and a breeze just barely hinting at fall, I felt myself filled with nostalgia. After all Pennsylvania was my home for 20+ years. And who knows when I'll see it again after this.

On the way back there was this incredibly overgrown field/lot.

The grasses were as tall as me in some places (I'm 5' 5"/165cm).
With my throat tight from nostalgia and thoughts of childhood, I thought to look for it, and found it.

Crown vetch. It's just a weed often used as ground cover. But our mom loved wildflowers and loved to know their names, photograph them, and point them out to us. On walks in the woods she'd point at various plants and ask, "What's this one?" and we'd try to remember. I always had trouble remembering this one; could remember the "crown" part but never "vetch". And now I always remember.

It was a special thing to encounter this flower during a brief stay in my home state, on the week of my brother's wedding. I was glad to have taken a walk.

Back at the hotel I started packing things up. Transferred some food from suitcase to backpack for easy access, put away clothes and the Itaki but left my kettle out for tomorrow morning's coffee. Cut up some moleskin sheets to stick pieces inside my heeled sandals (I wore them while practicing trombone today so I could see where the shoes would cut into my feet.) Did some poking around on another of Jameson's birthday presents, confirmed with O'Malley Brass that they'll ship those leadpipes soon and send me the tracking, and watched an episode of Daily Dose of Internet before dinner followed by a shower and TMI Warning: shaving extensively. Not that I expect anyone to notice or care about my leg hair but this dress does have a slit up to the knee. End TMI.

Read my book for a bit, laid out clothes for tomorrow, made a plan for tomorrow. The main thing is that checkout is 11am and that's also when I'm supposed to pick up the rental car. Which is fine, but I REALLY don't want to put the satin dress back in the suitcase and risk more wrinkling. Yet I can't carry the bass trombone, 29" suitcase, backpack, AND the bridesmaid dress all at the same time. Current plan is to swing by the front desk in the morning and ask for either a late checkout, or for them to hold the dress somewhere safe for me until I can get back with the rental car. Either would be great and I'll bet they'll do one of em.

Evening activity was snacks and watching X/1999. Talk about nostalgia! An old CLAMP series, super emo and angsty and tragic.

I'm a little nervous about checking in to the bed and breakfast tomorrow. I think it's because the hosts at those places often expect *shudder* socializing.

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THURSDAY

Boy golly, I am getting terrible sleep. I just cannot seem to fall asleep before 1:30-2am (11pm if I were still on the west coast.) That said I am telling myself to suck it up. New parents, EMTs, nurses, soldiers, airline pilots, cruise ship workers, etc all get less sleep than this. If they can do it, so can I.

Gradually packed throughout the morning, had breakfast, and had a flurry of texts with my sisters about wedding rehearsal dinner dress code + wedding logistics. For the wedding rehearsal it sounds like they're bringing cocktail dresses, but I have nothing so fancy and Jameson is only bringing what'll fit in a carry-on. Yes, I could run out and buy something today, or I could have left more casual clothes behind in my trunk to make room for something fancier, but ultimately I don't NEED a cocktail dress after this ONE dinner is over. I'm living out of a 50-pound suitcase for more than six months straight, and anything that I won't consistently use has no place in that situation. I'm probably even going to donate this bridesmaid dress and shoes because when would I ever wear them again?

Anyway the restaurant doesn't have an official dress code, so it's all good.

Around 10am I went to the front desk to ask for a late checkout, which I was granted. Yay! This meant I could go get the rental car a bit early, load it up, and practice just a little before heading out to find lunch. And I could keep the bridesmaid dress OUT of the suitcase.

Lunch was Wegmans. Aaaah I love Wegmans! There were so many things that I wanted but of course today it was just the prepared foods and a few things mostly for Jameson (small snacks, water bottles.) My tasty bowl: brown quinoa rice, veggies, grilled chicken, and a big piece of lemon pepper fish.

There was a half-dead mall nearby with a hobbies/trading card store, and I had the bright idea to pick up some protective sleeves for those American Airlines collectible cards. You can only buy the thin sleeves in huge packs of 100 (even online), but the nice lady at the register gave me a handful for free when I purchased a 25-count of "top-loader" hard sleeves. Another thing I'll have to donate or give away, but now my cards are protected.

By this time I could check in at the bed & breakfast, so drove over there. New Hope is touristy and quaint and scenic. The fall foliage is "ok" right now as it's been pretty warm, but should be really exploding with color probably next week. Here is where we are staying:

(photo courtesy Wedgwood Inn)

Named after a brand of blue and white china, a historic building owned by an elderly couple and with an Underground Railroad tunnel running through it! I was given a shortform tour of the sitting area, and dining room, where I met one of the owners and we chatted for a bit. There are sun rooms and gazebos where one could enjoy breakfast outside if one desired.

Here is our room, the Blue King suite on the ground floor.

(photos courtesy Wedgwood Inn)

I stole these pics from the website mainly because I was so busy texting with Jameson and my siblings, unpacking and trying to get organized for the weekend, that I forgot to take any until it was dark and then the lighting was lousy. It's a "cozy", antique-looking room with lots of Wedgwood china, a bookshelf, knick-knacks, and a big four-poster king bed. There's a little fireplace with real flame, and waiting for me were some homemade cookies and some house-made amaretto liqueur.

(where did the other mint go hmmmm :p)

I tasted the liquor and it was nice, but not really my thing (in coffee I'll bet it's DIVINE.) Halfway through setting up realized that the toiletries were somewhat lacking. 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner would be fine if I weren't doing a wedding. And no bar soap, which I know Jameson prefers. That was an excuse to go for a walk to CVS 15 minutes down the road. The weather is lovely here right now, and there are leaves falling. Jameson will love it! After that I finished unpacking, ate dinner, typed this post, and finally crashed in bed at like 9pm. Really hope I manage to sleep tonight for Pete's sake.

Gonna say this now: starting tomorrow things will get very busy and I won't have time to write, upload pics, or format, so it's likely that my next post might be a day late. Thanks in advance for your patience.

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Friday: Finally wedding weekend is here! Breakfast with my hosts at the bed & breakfast, picking Jameson up from the airport, dropping him off at the hotel, doing the wedding rehearsal, and rejoining Jameson for the rehearsal dinner afterward.

Saturday: My brother's getting married!! I theoretically have most of the morning free so current plan is breakfast with Jameson, a little sightseeing, possible lunch together, then driving to the venue for hair and makeup, photoshoots...and finally, the ceremony!

Sunday: Early drive to Philly for my morning flight to Denver and Jameson's later flight back to Orlando.

MONDAY - Last Day in Costa Mesa, CA

I had a lousy sleep again but I think it was the battle against the virus.

(TMI Warning, highlight white text to read: After a bunch of tossing and turning I overheated at one point and threw the covers off, but still woke up drenched in sweat halfway through the night. Like to the point where I took my clothes off, rinsed off in the shower at 3am or whenever-it-was, and switched to the other side of the bed because I couldn't bring myself to lie back down in damp sheets. GROSS. I suspect my body conjured a low-grade fever to help roast this virus. This morning even before making coffee I stripped the sheets and pillowcases and washed them. A wasted effort since they'll be washed after I leave, but I don't want to sleep on dried sweat tonight, you know? End TMI)

When my alarm went off this morning I felt significantly better. No more body aches or fuzzy head, and my nose is still running but it's not stuffed up. Maybe zinc really DOES make a difference for severity (duration has yet to be seen.)

Breakfast and starting to pack things gradually. It was raining and actually CHILLY outside at 63°F (17.2°C), a huge difference from the intense heat we've had all week. Literally a 30-degree drop in temperature. I think it's due to tropical storm Rachel. It caused lots of damage to coastal areas, but Costa Mesa is further inland so the most they'll see is some wind and rain. All it meant for me was more excuse to stay inside.

View from my "balcony" (I just have a sliding door that opens, not an actual balcony)

Despite facing the pool and the road, it's been relatively quiet here. I had aspirations to use the pool but that was before finding out how the apartments encircle it...I was too shy.

As planned, I did nothing all day. Well ok, in addition to gradual packing I checked in for my flight, scheduled an Uber, did a pre-check-in for my rental car, confirmed the wedding bed and breakfast reservation for Jameson and I, worked on Foodie Finds, did some birthday shopping for Jameson, and gradually cleaned, putting things back to where they'd been when I first got here. Wiped down the bathroom and kitchen counters. Swathed my bass trombone in foam and packing materials for flying and activated the Air Tag. Ate meals and snacks, zinc lozenges and tea, and blew my nose occasionally while watching Howl's Moving Castle and Ascendance of a Bookworm. It feels self-indulgent to have a whole day to recover from a basic cold, but the opportunity did present itself after all. I'm sure the people who will be trapped on a plane with me for 8+ hours tomorrow might appreciate it.

(I will miss this sunny little apartment.)

I felt a little twitchy in the evening and perhaps should have gone for a walk, but didn't. Oh well. Final shower followed by washing all of the towels and floor mat (the host didn't require this but I always try to do what I can.) Dinner and the last of the packing. The bridesmaid dress is still hanging up; it'll be the very last thing that I pack tomorrow morning. Fingers and toes crossed for no wrinkles!

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TUESDAY - Travel to Philly

I went to bed around 9:30pm but for the life of me couldn't fall asleep. I kept thinking of little things to remember for coming days.

"Don't forget to turn off the AC when you leave the apartment!"
"Check the flight right away in case better seats opened up overnight!"
"Have a plan B for lunch in case the layover isn't long enough to eat!"
"You need to call the shuttle after you land in Philly!"
Etc etc.

While I usually appreciate the efforts of Past Me to pave the way for Future Me...I DON'T appreciate it when I'm trying to fall asleep before a 4am alarm.

But the alarm went off and I dragged myself up. 4am is 7am Eastern Time anyway so I'd better get used to it. Canned coffee while getting dressed, packing up a last few things, and Put Soul In Body Time before heading to the airport.

Unfortunately my first flight was delayed because a screw was missing from one of the wings(!) so we sat at the gate for over an hour while they called maintenance, waited for them to put duct tape on the wing (I know it's not really duct tape but does look like it), then we had to wait for ground controllers to show up to guide the plane out. We finally took off about 90 minutes late. There went my entire layover. But I'd rather endure the delay than have a freaking wing fall off mid-flight!

There was a slim chance that I could still make my connection if I ran like a maniac once we landed. But why put myself through that? I had no deadlines today. And my luggage definitely wouldn't have made it. You know...the suitcase containing everything I need for the wedding. Not to mention my bass trombone. Fortunately there was wifi on this flight AND I have the American Airlines app so I was able to rebook immediately.

I wasn't picky, just chose the next-earliest flight out. To my delight, that flight was on some kind of CHONK plane! Look at this...nine rows wide!

And also, I thought to myself...isn't that a REALLY good seat?

When we landed I got to take my time, eat my packed lunch, refill my water, and type some of this post before boarding this Chonk Plane. And it was even better than expected. A NEW Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner! The economy seats looked normal, maybe more plush than usual. But my seat was in the main cabin and it was HUGE compared to what I'm used to on a plane. Like a movie theater recliner! Plenty of legroom, and even a remote for the TV!

The wifi was fantastic too, and free. I was using it to message my friend Justin, who exclaimed over the plane with me and asked if there were trading cards for it. I told him that's a Delta thing...but then remembered that it was American Airline's 100th anniversary this year. I decided to check just in case...

They DID make collectible trading cards for their 100th!! I immediately asked the first flight attendant I saw, who confirmed that the pilots do carry them and that I could ask when we landed. Eeeeee!!

Meanwhile the 3-hour flight was smooth and comfortable. It was so smooth in fact that I was able to enjoy reading for 30 minutes at a time, something that I can't normally do on planes due to motion sickness! I ate the nonperishable dinner I'd brought, and the flight attendants gave me cookies :)

And after we landed, you BET I waited patiently while everyone else deplaned and the flight attendant asked the pilots about the cards. As an added bonus I had to (oh noooes :P) step into the first class cabin to stay out of the way. Check it out! They have essentially recliners in little booths, with tables. Posh!

Soon the flight attendant returned from the cabin.
I'd expected ONE collectible card.
He brought me six of them!!!
I thanked him profusely and was so excited that I took this pic while walking up the jet bridge!

And still so excited that I stopped at the first well-lit area in the terminal to take photos!
Fronts and backs of all six cards (remember to click on the image to open in new tab, then click it again to enlarge):

There is a 7th card that would complete the set, the A321. I have at least one more American flight coming up and will certainly try to hunt one down. The cards are thicker and a higher quality than the Delta cards, probably because this is a limited time printing for them. This was SO generous of the pilots, and really made my travel day. Honestly...I have never had the best luck with money, but I sure do have great luck with experiences. Literally all I did was book a new connecting flight, and somehow ended up in premium seating on a huge fancypants plane with a handful of limited print trading cards!

Anyway, retrieved my luggage and as my bass trombone came around the belt I saw a family of five whispering and pointing at it. As soon as I stepped up to grab it they yelled in chorus, "What is it?!" I yelled back, "Guess!" and the game ensued. Dad thought bass guitar and son shouted out "saxophone", but mom watched as I turned the case around in front of them and confidently yelled, "Trombone!" Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Buy your mom dinner :p

This hotel has a convenient airport shuttle. Checked in and it took me forever to unpack. First thing out was the bridesmaid dress. It did unfortunately gather some wrinkles, but it's not a total mess. I tried hanging it in the bathroom while I took a shower but the water doesn't get very hot here; I may need to iron it under a towel or something. Typing up this post also took forever, and I didn't get into bed until after midnight.

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Wednesday: Probably a grocery run so I can grab breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at once. I'll practice bass trombone with a mute, practice wearing and taping the bridesmaid dress/shoes, iron anything that needs to be ironed, and gather and prepare anything needed for the wedding that I can think of.

Thursday: Picking up a rental car and driving to the bed and breakfast in rural PA, stopping for lunch along the way since check in isn't until 3pm. Settling in there and hopefully I can take a walk to scope out the town and find dinner ahead of Jameson's arrival.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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FRIDAY

The cold continues it's course, i.e. it's the third day so it feels awful. I can't tell if the zinc lozenges are working but they taste nice anyway.

Breakfast, chatting with Jameson who is looking forward to a much-needed weekend. My sub sent the dimensions for his large case, which actually might fit inside our band box. I gathered a bunch of things for my trunk. putting more clothing than usual in there to try and free up weight for wedding things...the dress and shoes, extra toiletries, the shawl if I decide to keep it after the wedding, etc. Speaking of extra toiletries, I realized last night that I completely forgot I'll need makeup remover! Glad to have remembered that or I would have looked a MESS the morning after...

(Matchmaker from Disney's Mulan, photo courtesy The AniMoguls)

Around 10am I sent Albuquerque Foodie Finds to the group chat, and a little after that I walked to the theatre to put things in my trunk and measure the trombone spaces in the band box. Turns out my sub's bass trombone and tenor will definitely fit, which means I once again need to find somewhere for MY trombones to live for a week. Tim (trumpet) has graciously offered space on his shelf, if I take him up on that it takes care of one horn. The other I'll see if I can cram in with my sub's, and if not I'll have to talk with the Props department and see if they can find somewhere to put it.

After that, swung into CVS to get the makeup removal stuff, then back home for lunch and resting. I felt pretty lousy from the cold but managed an on-and-off nap. Jameson meanwhile had the pleasure of seeing his new band's promo reel posted to Disney social media!

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce Stage 71!!!

(Click HERE to watch since DW doesn't allow video embedding!)

This is what Jameson has been working so hard on for the past several months: an in-house Disney band. Now instead of hiring third party musicians for special events and conferences, Disney can offer it's own band that can change it's look, style, and music to fit the event! Jameson came up with the vision, arranged the charts, mixed tracks, helped set a budget, gathered talent, held auditions, wrote set lists, and a billion other things, to make this band a reality. I am SO proud of him. I have seen firsthand how hard he's been working on this, and as a musician I know how important it is for Disney to have it's own in-house entertainment option. Word on the street is they're already getting booked for gigs! I can't WAIT to see how things go. Regardless, Jameson has now completed his first major project as a producer for Disney :) :) :)

Near dinnertime Sarah (French horn) texted to say she's got the flu :( We are just a MESS around here lately; pretty much everyone in the pit has gotten sick during this stay except for DAR and maybe our woodwind section. Now I feel REALLY bad for my sub but idk what I can do...he has to shadow me and to do that he has to sit next to me. And Sarah will have to play through Saturday as well, though she's found a sub for Sunday. People often ask us, what happens if we get sick? Here's your answer. We suffer through it.

Fun times.

After dinner I masked up before heading over to the theatre. Went slightly early as usual to warm up and took the extra step of wiping down my stand, pedal, and mutes with an alcohol wipe. My sub was sitting in the audience tonight but I still felt nervous, especially with being under the weather (often makes my playing even worse than usual.) But the show went well, I don't think there were any issues.

During intermission Sarah (horn) arranged for us to take a quick photo on the pit stairs. This is for potential use in a musician's publication but we'll see if they actually decide to feature us. Regardless, it's a nice pic with all our smiling faces :)

(I had wanted to stay masked for this but *shrug*)

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SATURDAY

Had a fitful sleep thanks to this cold-thing. Didn't have an actual "fever" but had an elevated temp at one point. Woke up to my alarm going off, feeling awful. But today my sub starts shadowing in the pit so I had to pull myself together.

Coffee, breakfast, a little texting with Jameson. He's going to see the Queen Budapest IMAX concert today, should be an awesome time as he's a huge Queen fan. Messaged my sub to ask him to bring his trombones even though he's not playing today, because we need to figure out where things will be stored for the trip to Albuquerque. And of course, walked over early because I was nervous!

My sub wasn't there yet and nothing had been set up for him yet. I took care of my own stuff first (warming up, filling water bottle) then got him a chair and stand and plopped him right between me and Tim. It's rather cramped but all three of us have probably had worse. Jim (my sub) showed up shortly after that, and so did someone from Sound to get him headphones and an Aviom. I introduced Jim to DAR and they discovered they'd missed each other on another tour by only a few months, how cool is that! Such a small world we live in :p Then I did a mini-tour to show him where our dressing room, bathrooms, and bottle fillers are. You know, the important things.

The matinee went well. I was of course nervous but Jim seems very chill and not very critical, so as the show went on I was able to calm down more and more. It helped that we had a great audience...judging by the SCREAMING during Be Our Guest and other numbers, there were some school groups out there! Any performer can tell you that enthusiasm from the audience is fuel that drives us to give our very best :)

Between shows Jim wanted to spend time marking his book so I left him to it and walked back to the apartment. It was drizzling! Kinda rare in California, isn't it? Dinner and back for the evening show. To our surprise, during the show there was a special broadcast on Disney+. OUR cast was performing with the Savannah Bananas at the Banana Bowl!! We couldn't watch until afterward but oh my gosh, it looks SO FUN!!

(Click HERE to watch since DW doesn't allow video embedding!)

The show overall went well although Sarah (horn) has a sub for tomorrow because she is still fighting a horrible flu, and DAR did not conduct the show tonight because he felt awful. I think he's finally caught it, too. Whatever-virus-this-is is really taking no prisoners. Ironically, I ought to be glad I've just got a cold, because catching that first may have spared me from this flu. Is there a term for that, when something bad saves you from something worse?

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SUNDAY

Still slept poorly but did my best. I think I feel about the same as yesterday so maybe we're maxing out and soon to be on the other side of this. Breakfast, chatting with Jameson, packing snacks to bring to the theatre, and being grateful that I ultimately changed all of my travel plans to skip Albuquerque. Now I'll have tomorrow off to rest and recover before flying on Tuesday, straight to Philly, where I can crash as needed for 48 hours. But I'd hope by then I'd be recovered enough to be productive.

Walked to Panera before going to the theatre, to grab a Travel Bagel (I always seem to underestimate what I'll eat) then to work. I didn't play very well at the matinee but kind of not surprising. DAR is still out so he must have caught the flu after all. Sarah's sub was here, doing her best. I'm sick and having to play while someone stares at me for the third show in a row, lol. We are NOT in top form up in here :/

Between shows, back to the apartment to chill and try to lower my anxiety. There's no real reason to be anxious but that's how I feel anyway, like I'm one sneeze away from a panic attack. Ah, one GOOD thing that I forgot to mention! My sub (Jim) has decided to fly his trombones to ABQ. They have both Monday and Tuesday off and he doesn't want to go that long without his horns while he's learning my part. I don't blame him and would probably have made the same choice. But this means my trombones can go in their usual spot. That's a big unknown off my plate.

The evening show was better than the matinee, I was able to be less tense and that helped my personal playing. Sarah texted to ask how I was doing: "Better than you!" was my response. She's chugging vitamin C and zinc and riding it out. Hopefully the extra day off for the cast on Tuesday will give people the time they need to fight off these illnesses plaguing us.

After the show I shook hands with my sub and we exchanged well-wishes. I hope he has a really good time playing the show and a lot of fun in Albuquerque! He and Tim (trumpet) know each other well so I think they'll get up to trouble :p Said "See you in Denver!" to everyone else and got out of there, dragging my bass trombone behind me. Back at the apartment I did a load of laundry, and typed up this post. This has been a kind of weird but fun, relaxing but stressful sit in Costa Mesa. Can't believe it's over already.

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Monday: A day of complete rest. I will have to pack and clean the apartment but otherwise no plans to leave or do anything but try and shake this virus. Very grateful to have that time.

Tuesday: Flying pretty much all day to get to Philly, where I'll stay at an airport hotel for two nights.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

I thought I slept well, but also woke up with a sore throat. Half the band has passed around a cold at this point and I must be next in queue. Honestly if it's gonna happen, I'd rather have it now and get through the worst of it before the wedding.

Typical morning working on Foodie Finds, then I did some prep for upcoming travel. Yesterday before the show I'd visited wardrobe to beg a plastic dry cleaning bag, which they gave me (thanks ladies!) I've read that putting one bag on a hanger under a dress, then one over the dress, can help prevent wrinkles because it reduces friction. May as well try it. I also refilled some travel toiletries from larger bottles that I keep in my trunk, and replenished the laundry detergent and dryer sheets in my suitcase. Transferred a bunch of files to an external hard drive because I do that periodically + my 5-year-old laptop is currently crashing once a month and one day it'll crash and never recover. Breakfast and anime, then a walk to the grocery for a few things I'd forgotten on Monday plus zinc lozenges, just to get outside. It's still very hot but at least it was mid-80s instead of high 90s (29ish instead of 31ish for you Celsius ppl.) By the time I got back to the apartment my throat and sinuses were feeling worse so I had a lozenge, water, and sort of dozed sitting up on the couch. Unsure if I actually slept but we'll call it a meditative state. Then a snack and more anime.

I did chat with O'Malley Brass a little via Instagram too, describing the issues I'm having with the horn in case they have suggestions. Overall it plays well but the upper and lower registers give me more resistance than is normal, to the point where some notes (pedal D with the F trigger) will not come out consistently. I probably mentioned this before: we think that when I was play-testing back in July there was something other than the stock/standard leadpipe in the horn, and whatever-it-was was the better match for me. Right now the plan is to send me their leadpipe "test kit" which contains 4-5 of their leadpipes, and hopefully one of those fixes the issue. If not, the next step would probably be trying tuning slides of different dimensions and materials, but I hope it won't come to that. I feel guilty to tell them all the things "wrong" with the horn, it can't feel good on their end :( but I think that they do need to know about both the good and the bad, plus this trombone was VERY expensive so I want to make sure it's the best fit possible for me, and that means speaking up and making things better.

Anyway I'm just rambling because I didn't do anything interesting today and felt guilty about it.

Eventually it was showtime. I went in a bit early to put the O'Malley trombone in the road case since I won't be using it until Denver. Supposedly my sub is bringing his own gigantic road case for his trombones, so he won't be using my trombone storage (convenient for me but no idea where management will put his giant case?) The evening show was pretty good, I didn't have my best playing night but did try my best.

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THURSDAY

Had weird dreams and throat was even more sore when I woke up. Sigh. Whatever, let's get this over with.

Breakfast and prepped the Albuquerque Foodie Finds sheet to be sent out tomorrow (this involves double-checking links to see that they work and adding any notes re: "This city has a light rail!" or "This restaurant just opened, give them a try!", that sort of thing. Updated my iPad and cleared up some storage on it, did some more shopping around for Jameson's birthday presents, and forced myself to go for a walk even though I'm not feeling great. There's a little bike path/walking trail behind these apartments and I gave it a spin. There was no landscaping or murals or anything, just a sidewalk running behind buildings, but at least it wasn't next to the busy streets or the shopping district.

It's SUPER lame to be spending my time in Costa Mesa doing nothing, I know. Arguments in my defense:

A) I've been here before and did a LOT at that time,
B) I have spent literally thousands of dollars on flights, hotels, rental cars, dress alterations, supplies, and food for my brother's wedding in a week,
C) I am still sending every other full paycheck toward my portion of the $16,000 shower renovation that we just did,
D) Jameson's birthday and Christmas are coming up,
E) I've caught a cold, and
F) we have Canadian cities and the PNW coming up, places I've NEVER been to before, and I'd rather be conservative in Costa Mesa so that I can spend more on sightseeing and eating out in those new places!

Hopefully that justifies being a bum in the now. Right? Right??? lol.

The walk got me close to 3 miles. After cooling down, hydrating, and having a snack with some tea, I watched a bit of Spirited Away. One of those familiarity/comfort movies for me. The cold started coming on stronger; now I have postnasal drip, sneezing, and coughing, boo.

At showtime, walked over to the theatre like usual, swinging by the management office to ask if they need anything from me for my sub (they don't) and then checked in with DAR to pretty much ask the same thing (ditto). I'll just have to move my chair over a bit on Saturday so he can sit between Tim and I.

The evening show was fine, nothing to report. My pedal E has been coming out solidly now for several weeks. It is so wild to learn a skill (any skill) and then look back and remember the time when you didn't know it. Sometimes I get so harsh with myself, berating myself internally for "not doing a good job." But if I take a second to think back a year...two years, five years...could I have played this show five years ago, at the level I'm playing it now? Definitely not! For a self-critical person like me, recalling what it was like Then vs what it's like Now is very helpful for being kinder and gentler to myself.

Forgot to mention that around dinnertime I realized with a start that today (the 8th) was the anniversary of my dad's death in 2021. He died because he refused to vaccinate for Covid, then subsequently died of Covid.

Incidentally the anniversary of my mom's death is tomorrow (the 9th). She died of pancreatic cancer in 2001.

They died 20 years apart, but only a day apart. Isn't that odd? Even odder, they were married on the 10th.

Anyway, I felt nothing about my dad's death today. I have been too distracted, and hadn't thought to set aside time to remember him. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. For both of them.

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Friday: Still nothing planned, just hoping that the weather will cool down already. One evening show and my sub (Jim) is supposed to arrive. I'm very nervous.

Saturday & Sunday: Jim will be shadowing me for all shows. Final prep for my week off/the wedding. Four shows.

Pumpkin filled sweet bun: 10/10 These are usually filled with red bean paste but they had a seasonal pumpkin option and it was lovely! Pumpkin and white bean filling, a dusting of cinnamon on top, fluffy golden sweet bread. So yummy.

BBQ Ramen Crackers: 11/10 WHY are these so good?! The flavor and texture both are addictive. Perfect amount of seasoning, amazing light yet satisfying crunch. They have several flavors. Probably buying these again.

Purple Potato Snack: 3/10 Ingredients were just purple yam and sugar. Idk what I was expecting but it was like balls of mashed potato with sugar mixed in? Messy to eat and pretty bland. Just boil a potato rather than eat these.

Vegetables for One Day Drink: 10/10 I was pleasantly surprised! I expected something acidic and super-salty like V8, but this was mildly sweet (no added sugar) and flavorful. Packed with veggies. Absolutely buying this if I see it again.

Mizuho Handmade Rice Crackers: 9/10 Clearly marketed to Westerners (English label + "NO MSG!" in big letters.) They taste standard for rice crackers (v. good) If you don't mind MSG stick to a cheaper rice cracker, but if you need to avoid it these are great.

Kiri Fizz Pear: 5/10 Not very fizzy at all, but the pear flavor was good. That said there was an aftertaste either because they used low quality sake or an artificial sweetener (I suspect the latter because my guts were VERY upset with me after drinking it.) It's not BAD but there are better options.

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MONDAY

LiveJournal was fighting for it's life this morning. I barely managed to make my usual post last night and today I can't even get a page to load. But I use their photo hosting services and link those photos to DW, and I can still see my LJ photos there, so I know the site still exists.

Anyway, woke up at 7am on Monday to get in some Foodie Finds work and eat breakfast before going to get the rental car. Since LJ wasn't working I typed this up in DW. Will copy over to LJ once it's back up.

I promise not to talk about trombones AT ALL today.

After getting the rental car, first stop was the nearest Goodwill. I love thrifting!

Still looking for that cream-colored shawl for the wedding, and while I didn't find it...I found the EXACT fast-fashion shawl I'd been planning to order on Amazon! Wrong size and color but still so convenient because I could see what the fabric is like, see how it tied in the front, etc. I've decided at this point to order one in my size and have it sent to Philly ahead of me. That way it won't add weight to my luggage (or get white fuzz on my blacks). I also found a comfortable pair of lightweight black pants which I hope are nice enough for the pit? For $6, why not.

There was a Target in the same plaza so I popped in for more fast-fashion hunting and to see if they had the Apple Pie Drizzilicous (they did not sadly). Next was a local bagel place. Love me some local bagels! Most of the flavors were standard but they had cranberry and a "Hawaiian" one topped with coconut. I'll freeze most of them and eat 'em throughout the week.

Next was lunch at the Tokyo Central Japanese hot buffet!

You'll remember from a previous post that the cold stuff like nigiri, sashimi, sushi rolls, bentos, etc are in a separate area. The hot bar was mostly fried stuff or street foods like takoyaki, karaage chicken, shrimp veggie kakiage...but the real draw was the grilled fish! They had several kinds including yellowtail collar/cheek, miso-sauced salmon filets, grilled mackerel, and delicate chunks of salmon belly.

They also had fried fish sliders, short ribs, coal-roasted potatoes/yams, and I think I saw some mochi lined up for dessert.

Here's what I ended up with.

Left to right and top to bottom it's chicken karaage, takoyaki, age tofu, "chicken meatball", grilled mackerel, shrimp veggie kakiage, and green beans. (Pro Tip: takoyaki is ALWAYS best super fresh. If you see it in the frozen aisle or at a hot bar like this it'll still be "good" but nowhere near the full experience.)

Everything was delicious. My favorites were the mackerel and the kakiage. The mackerel was flavorful and delicate and somehow perfectly cooked despite being under a heat lamp. The Kakiage was SO crispy! It was packed with matchsticked veggies (zucchini, carrot, onion, other stuff?) and little mini shrimp. The chicken meatball had a gentle spicy kick and black sesame seeds throughout, and the outside of it was crispy-caramelized and delicious, but the middle was weirdly soft. I hadn't known what "age tofu" was and turns out it's just fried tofu...ok, but bland :p Grateful that I got a chance to experience this! I've been to MANY Asian grocery stores (and restaurants) across the country and have never encountered a specifically, authentically Japanese hot bar!

From there I went to Vons for normal boring groceries and took everything back to the apartment. Had a little rest-and-digest, then back out again to shop some of the stores I've wanted to hit since getting here. Starting with Old Navy because they often have fun graphic tees in the boys section. No luck with shirts today but they had really nice pajama pants. I wanted these Muppet Christmas Carol pants pretty badly, but they were too expensive. $35 for pajama pants?? So I went with a sort of fall-colored plaid pair instead. Probably the better choice at $10 cheaper and incredibly comfortable.

Next was UNIQLO. It was PACKED and several times I had to wait my turn just to go down an aisle. Almost everyone was fashionable-looking teens and young people, which made me feel self-conscious as a 42-year-old woman in a sweaty Target boy's graphic tee and bedhead hair. However while in queue for the dressing room I heard someone say, "Oooh I love her Gudetama shirt, did she get that here?" and that made me feel better :) I tried on FOUR pairs of pants and while one did look flattering on me, it was a heavy tweed material that I knew would not be worth the suitcase weight. Sigh. BUT I did find a no-wrinkle synthetic black button-up shirt, which is my Top Choice for pit orchestra fashion! Lol.

The final stop of the day was World Market. They always have such interesting things. I was tempted by many Swedish gummies, and remembered to look for dentaduras gummies but they didn't have 'em. Didn't end up buying anything because I was feeling guilty about the clothing I'd bought and it was time to return the rental car anyway. Dropped it off and walked back to the apartment in the still-oppressive heat. Thankfully the weather is supposed to cool down in coming days.

The rest of my Golden Day evening was chill. A light dinner since I'd had a big lunch, and a load of laundry. I'm sorry for your sake, dear readers, that I didn't go on some big adventure like to the beach or to Disneyland, but right now this is what "enjoying Costa Mesa" means to me...especially when I'm here alone. Calm days, tasty eats, casual shopping, quiet nights.

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TUESDAY

Despite having such a lovely chill Golden Day, I had stress dreams. Not being able to find belongings while packing for a flight that I was already late for, that kind of thing.

But thanks to being trapped in that dream I got extra sleep, waking up "late" at 8:30am. A late breakfast and working for significant time on Vancouver Foodie Finds. Got my Avis car rental receipt and was dismayed that they'd charged for two days instead of one, despite returning it early...but I'm not surprised. The booking was a no-refunds prepay, which saves money...unless you need to make a change. That's the risk you take with those discounts. Now I feel EXTRA guilty about buying pajama pants, I should have just waited for a lucky thrift store find. Ah well...with the holidays coming up I will be on the ropes financially anyway.

I guess today was my "slug day." Stayed in pajamas, watched anime, took out the apartment trash and recycling, did some stretches/standing exercises, chatted with Jameson and my siblings, ate lunch, read my book...you get the idea. A friend who lives nearby texted to ask if I wanted to do lunch and I haven't responded. I kind of don't want to, but also haven't done any social outings in a while and maybe I should? Idk. It's not like I have anything else planned. With the wedding coming up I'm feeling SO conservative about my time, money, and social battery, even more so than usual.

Anyway. The evening show was alright. DAR is back and conducted. And it was a special show because tonight we welcomed our ONE MILLIONTH guest to the show! In celebration of this milestone two audience members were invited to the stage at the finale, where they got to meet the cast and were presented with swag bags. I'm sure there will be pictures and such on the socials tomorrow :)

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Wednesday: Absolutely nothing planned except some sort of walk or exercise. One evening show.

Thursday: Possible lunch with a clarinetist friend and Maria (our clarinetist.) One evening show.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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FRIDAY

Up around 8am, chatting with Jameson. He went to Halloween Horror Nights again last night with friends and had a blast :)

Last night after the show I'd decided last-minute to bring my new trombone back to the apartment. I wanted to have time to look at it, like REALLY look at it and take it in under good lighting. I took it out and admired the engraving, checked out the details in the tuning slides and grip. I made sure to understand how to remove and reinsert the leadpipe. I took off the rotor cap and was surprised to discover that it's made up of two pieces, a face plate and a screw-rim (normally it's just a one-piece cap that you screw on but O'Malley offers custom rotor caps so it must have to do with that.) I tried wiping it with a cleaning cloth, not that it needs it but it's raw brass and that's a new thing for me. There is this whole debate over what happens acoustically when you plate or lacquer brass instruments. Personally I don't care about any of that; O'Malley offers their base models raw so that's what I got. The quantifiable differences are aesthetics and protection. A lacquered horn will look shiny and is more protected against moisture and corrosion. An unlacquered horn will not look as shiny and won't be as protected at first, but develops a sort of goldish brown patina over time from oxidation that DOES protect the instrument. While lacquer and plating are the standard, I've met plenty of professional musicians with raw horns, and I've heard that in Europe raw brass is the standard.

Anyway, mine is shiny now but it'll oxidize quickly. I can already see it darkening around the edges of the bell and near my grip. It'll start to look blotchy but will eventually be more uniform in color. My Williams trombones are so old that their lacquer is wearing out, so they also turn dark brown and benefit from a polish once in a while.

When I felt satisfied with enjoying the appearance of the trombone, I packed it up to bring to the theatre. Remembered to slap some O'Malley logo stickers on the case before I left!

My thought was to get to the theatre and practice early, before people showed up to use the building. For at least 30 minutes I was fully alone and could practice as much and as loud as I wanted. I first played notes slowly with a tuner to see where things live on this horn, then tried some scales and intervals, and finally some etudes. I tried to resist comparing the O'Malley with the Bach again, but in the end I gave in. I mean they're both sitting right here :p They still feel different from each other, but it felt BETTER and less DRASTIC to switch between them today.

I was starting to feel a little better about the O'Malley, though still unsure, when Tim (trumpet) appeared. He's caught the cold that's going around and had come to drop some tissues off at the pit for himself, poor guy (also, watch me get this cold just in time for my brother's wedding. (-_-) ) Tim asked to hear the new horn so I played him a short portion of an etude first on the new horn, then on my usual horn. Tim said he definitely liked the sound of the new horn and found it more centered and bright, which was my impression as well both today and yesterday. I'd been worried that it might be too different from the Bach but Tim thinks it'll be an improvement. He's a straight shooter and typically doesn't sugarcoat things, so his opinion was encouraging and much appreciated. I was glad he'd happened by so I could get some feedback!

After he left I played for 20-30 more minutes, but decided to call it after that. Can't use all my energy on personal practice when we have a show tonight. Before packing the O'Malley up I made sure to take a few more photos of interesting bits and bobs.

The bell on this trombone has a French bead. "Bead" refers to the very edge of the bell where it's been rolled back over itself (otherwise it'd be a sharp edge). Usually it's rolled around a small piece of wire and either pressed or soldered in place, and this is called the "bead." A French bead is when the wire is not a cylinder (round) but a half-circle, resulting in a flatter fold at the bell rim. Hard to get a picture of it.

I like that the tuning slides all have this little lip on them (not sure if you'll be able to see what I'm talking about but there's like a little flare at the base of the bright gold part.) Not sure if it's functional or just aesthetic. I haven't seen that design on other trombones.

This is the slide grip. On both the tuning slides and slide grip, the silver parts would normally be a plain cylinder, but Miles has designed his to be flared. Probably weird of me to say, but they remind me of salmon vertebrae.

Back at the hotel I felt very tired. Had lunch and my Aunt called, we had a good catch-up. She's sort of restarting the violin and I empathize with that struggle! I stopped playing the trombone once for two whole years and coming back to it was HUMBLING haha. After we finished I managed to take a nap, read my book, and watched anime.

The evening show was a bit rough for me because I was tired from my practice session + my guts were acting up, tmi but that's the way it is sometimes. There's a lot going on and I get stressed easily, my body reacts strongly to stress, and THAT stresses me out. A vicious cycle for many people out there I'm sure.

During intermission I got MAD peer pressured to put my new trombone into the show. "C'mon, rip the band-aid off!" and "How else are you gonna break it in?" and "DO IT NOW and ask forgiveness later!" LOL. My coworkers are evil. My big concern is intonation and pitch; the slide positions on this trombone are naturally a little different than those on my Bach. If I'm not paying attention I could default to Bach muscle memory and make us sound bad. But everyone said "Baaah" to that, haha, so...I guess if they're so OK with it, I'll try playing it in the show tomorrow! *nervous smile*

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SATURDAY

Restless sleep. Breakfast, and making a huge big social media post with photos of my trombone build, the completed horn, and tagging everyone on the O'Malley team involved in the build. It's been 9 months in the making. I posted it not only to my own page but across a bunch of trombone groups and pages. They've worked really hard and done an amazing job, let's give them some free marketing :p

After that I wanted to do something physical so swept and mopped the apartment floor, and rotated the sheets on my bed (it's a king bed, I only sleep on one side of it, so if I rotate the sheets I have "clean sheets" lol) Meal planning and trying to relax with some anime. Lunch and walking to the theatre.

I assembled the new trombone, tuned it up, gave some love to the bass, and banished my Bach to the floor because I only have two trombone stands but still wanted the Bach close by in case the new horn was a disaster. Unlikely, but I'm a chronic "what-iffer."

And then we were off. After "Belle", which is the first full number where I play the tenor, Tim (trumpet) leaned over to smile and give me the thumbs up. Later on Connor (Key 1) who was conducting also gave me smile-and-thumbs-up. As we made our way through the first act I started relaxing bit by bit, enjoying it more and more. Listening for differences in sound, trying to adjust my playing to the new horn instead of defaulting to what worked for the Bach. During intermission both Sarah (French horn) and Tim said that this horn has more centered, "aligned" overtones, and Connor said that the overtones sound more direct and also more "colorful" (THIS short article explains the concept of "color" in music.) Overall, it was a hit! The O'Malley is not as drastically different from my Bach as I'd feared; most of the differences that feel "big" to me are so subtle that the audience would never know.

Between shows, back to the hotel and a basic dinner before the evening show. I played the new trombone again, and my intonation was better this time around as I got more comfortable and therefore more confident. By the end of the show I think everyone had already forgotten that I was on a new horn, which is GREAT. I want this horn to be better, but I don't want it to stand out or be disruptive in the ensemble.

To sum up my first playing experiences...I have a lot of feelings.

( Introspection Here )

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SUNDAY

Poor night's sleep, but that's kind of a Sunday Thing for me.

During breakfast we all got a text from Tim (trumpet), apologizing because his wife has fallen ill and so they won't be able to have the planned hangout on Monday. Tim is sick too :( I feel really bad for them for having to cancel, they were looking forward to a fun weekend and now have to spend it under the covers. We all sent well-wishes.

This meant I'd no longer need a rental car for a full day, so I tried to modify the rental but couldn't do it online so that'll have to be done in-person tomorrow. No worries, but now, what to do with my day? I think for sure the Japanese hot buffet at Tokyo Central! Aside from that though, I'll have to come up with something...the beach? Thrifting?

Meanwhile, lunch and off to the theater. Today was a rough matinee for me on the new horn, I keep trying to do things that I'm used to and that don't necessarily work and it's frustrating. But I recognize that I need to be patient. Poor Tim was struggling too, being sick. But we got through it and a lot of people came to the pit to tell us they'd loved the music :)

Between shows I walked to a Staples because I'd ordered a new mouthpiece and sent it there (for whatever reason it was the fastest delivery option.) The mouthpiece is just a stock model in case of emergency, and something that I should have had long before now. Walked back in the blazing heat (97°F / 36°C today!) and chilled at the apartment, dinner and back again for the evening show.

I decided to switch back to my old horn for this last one. Without telling anyone.

No one noticed.
There you have it. I do all this freaking out and caring for nothing.

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As apology for all the trombone stuff, here's this.

There is a lot of prep backstage for the upcoming Equity Fights Aids fundraiser which starts in Denver. The actors are having to sign LOADS of posters and programs, and other souvenirs are being gathered to sell as fundraising incentives.

Among those are some packs of Bicycle Beauty and the Beast playing cards. Actors were asked to choose one number/suit and sign all of them.

However it turns out that there are more cards than actors (willing to sign, at least) so they've said that crew and musicians may sign as well. Tonight I saw that many cards are still unsigned. What the heck. I picked the lowest number of the least popular suit, and signed it.

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Monday: Another Golden Day and my main plans cancelled! Eating at the Japanese buffet, probably thrifting/some sort of shopping, will check the weather and see if the beach is a good idea (even for Tuesday morning maybe?)

Tuesday: One evening show but no other plans. I'll have to start thinking about what to pack and what to leave behind for my brother's wedding.

I then unfortunately decided to remove the boob cups that Maya (wardrobe) had sewn in. After trying the dress on, you could see the bottoms of the sewn-in cups through the fabric; they created a weird sort of underboob shelf? They were also pretty uneven. I felt bad to undo her work but it was just an experiment to begin with. Guess I'll be going with a brown bra and trying not to hike it up every few minutes.

After that lunch, and then I kinda didn't know what to do with myself. Debated going to the mall but that would have been another two miles in the heat, I'd rather save that for another day and go earlier in the morning when it's cooler. So it was a calm afternoon of attempting to nap (fail), trying my Asian snacks, reading, and watching Suddenly Amish. I got to Episode 3 and I've had enough. Either the participants were intentionally prevented from looking up a single thing about Amish customs and ways, or they're having the participants act astounded about some really no-brainer-obvious aspects of Amish life (I have to wear plain shoes and clothes? *gasps, bursts into tears* There are animals? *surprised, horrified* I can't call my mommy? *cries hysterically like a toddler for an entire episode until someone hands her a cell phone*) However you slice it, not a single one of these people actually WANT or intend to be Amish or they'd have looked up/have been allowed to look up the most basic facts of Amish life. When the woman who claims it's been "her dream" to be Amish since she was a child is flabbergasted that she has to use an outhouse, that's not believable. She GREW UP in Amish country, you can't tell me she didn't already know about that. 2/10 and I'm done watching it.

But NOW I'm interested to find a documentary about Amish life. So far I've found just one on Dailymotion, and it's only an hour. PBS did an excellent one called The Amish: American Experience, but I'm having trouble finding it online.

Anyway, eventually dinner and evening show. Michael (Key 2) conducted us again. Everything went smoothly. My pedal notes are good but not drastically better, so certainly the valve alignment helped but probably isn't life-changing. After the show Tim (trumpet) smiled at me and asked, "Will you be able to sleep tonight?" He knows that my trombone is supposed to be delivered tomorrow! I'm so excited! But I do wanna get a good night's sleep because turns out, there's a lot going on tomorrow :)

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THURSDAY

Awake too early but managed to doze for another hour before getting up.

Today is October 1st, and payday....and our 500th show!!....and my trombone is on a truck for delivery this morning!!!!!!!
What an exciting day!!

I chatted back and forth with people online, had breakfast, and listened to Jameson share some work experiences to get them off his chest. He loves his Disney job but he's still in a corporate office and there are a lot of stressful things...deadlines and workloads and politicking over misc events that happen in close proximity of each other. I don't think any company gets to avoid stress at the corporate level, lol.

Anyway, I checked my trombone tracking page and the delivery window had been updated to between 11am - 3pm!

I was so excited, nervous, and anxious that I got dressed and walked to the theater a little before 11. There was a wonderful elderly security guard, who told me that UPS usually delivers around 1pm. Great! To kill time and burn off nervous energy I walked to the mall and the H&M store. Didn't find a thing but hadn't expected to, and I couldn't really focus on shopping anyway with the trombone in the back of my mind. I perused a few other stores before walking back. It was about 3 miles total, and since I still need to go back and forth from the theater to the apartment several times today I'll probably get 4-5 miles total.

On the way back I used a pretty pedestrian walkway that connects the big bougie mall to the normie mall
(yes there are two, it's a huge shopping district here.)

Back at the apartment, a light lunch and cooling down before grabbing a few things and heading to the theater to wait for my trombone. I'm sure you guys think I'm crazy but I literally sold my car to be able to afford this, it was handmade especially for me, and I've been waiting nine months to get it. Hopefully it's understandable that I want to be present when it's delivered! Also, shipping is the most dangerous part of the whole deal. One careless or disgruntled UPS employee could damage or destroy months and thousands of dollars of work. It's f**king terrifying. But the only other safe option would be to drive or fly to Chicago and fetch it myself (realistically impossible.) So here we are.

I had really hoped that the trombone would be delivered around 1pm like the security guy said, but it was around 2:30 by the time he pulled up. But, it's here! The wait is finally over!!

I dragged the box downstairs to the pit. Gary (drums) was practicing in the pit so I grabbed my current tenor trombone, iPad, and the new case for the new trombone and dragged it all to the green room (since it was off-hours no one was using it.)

First, the unboxing. Look how well they packaged it! Like little mummies!

And then admiring it! In person, finally!

( Trombone Pics! )

I'll post more little details with the F attachment wrap ( = just the squiggly bit of tubing) and whatnot maybe over the weekend.

It came with a little card describing the stats and other details. And some logo stickers!

After admiring it for a while I worked up my courage to give it a play. As I remembered (from WAY back in July), it's very easy to play especially in the high register. It's nice and centered, direct, and the attacks are so nice and quick. I'm sure this means nothing to you non-music folks but just stick around and I'll get to a conclusion that hopefully doesn't contain too much jargon.

I then compared it to my Bach (the trombone I've been playing for 20+ years). I was surprised to find that this wasn't as cut-and-dry as expected. I had kinda expected to LOVE LOVE LOVE the O'Malley, and that it would be an obvious improvement over the Bach. But when I play-tested a year ago, I hadn't had the Bach with me. Now, with the two horns together and comparing them, the Bach had a more warm and spread sound and I was able to be more expressive with it, while the O'Malley was, as described above, brighter, more direct and centered, but I wasn't able to express on it as warmly or sweetly as the Bach.

I played for a bit more but then a theater employee came in clearly intending to eat lunch, so I had to pack it up after only 30 minutes of playing.

Jargon-Free Conclusion: I definitely need more time to get comfortable with the O'Malley trombone before I put it in the show. It's way more different than I was expecting and therefore more of an adjustment. But also, you can't get to know a horn in just 30 minutes. I'm obviously going to feel more comfortable and at home with a trombone I've played for decades than on one I haven't even had for an hour. It's very possible that the O'Malley can also have that warmth and expressiveness, given a little time to adjust my playing for it.

Anyway, at that point I was starving and needed to walk back and get ready for the show. Had a very distracted walk, texting furiously to everyone interested to know how the new horn was. Made sure to thank O'Malley Brass and Noah Gladstone for their incredible work. At this very moment I'm feeling a bit...I guess you could say, thwarted. Both horns are excellent, but I was hoping the O'Malley would be head and shoulders above the Bach...but it's not. They're simply...different. And that means I'll need to decide which one is the best fit for the SHOW, regardless of which one is the best fit for ME.

Back at the apartment I cleaned up, typed this up as fast as I could, made a rushed dinner, and hurried back to the theater early because today is our 500th show!! There was a pretty cake for us backstage, balloons, and of course a group photo taken :)

Because of those pesky Rule 24 cities (layoffs) I have NOT played 500 shows myself. Tim says I'm probably around 390-something. But I ate a piece of cake anyway :p And I'm happy to be here for this many shows! Time is really flying by.

The evening show was good, Connor (Key 1) was conducting and he's pretty high-energy so we were, too. I was very distracted for this show, lots of texts from people asking what my new trombone is like or congratulating me on it, and I also forgot I hadn't requested my sister's tickets for Denver yet so had to do that...then a lot of trombonists were giving me advice based on a short video clip I made, and I took notes so I can do some of their suggestions (methods for getting used to the new horn.) I'm really grateful for the advice of people who've done this kind of thing more often than me and are willing to share their experiences! Many members of the cast also asked after the new horn, which was super kind of them. I'm just so glad that the waiting is over and it arrived SAFELY. Now it's time to enjoy it :)

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Friday: Significant time play-testing the O'Malley trombone and figuring it out. No other plans and one evening show.

Saturday & Sunday: Two shows each day so no plans.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

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MONDAY

Awake 10 minutes before my 6am alarm. I have a wildly accurate internal clock.
Also helps if I'm excited/interested for whatever I'm getting up early for.

Coffee in the dark shortly followed by breakfast in the predawn, then loading up like a little pack mule with my purse, 28-pound bass trombone, bridesmaid dress, reusable grocery bag, and garage fob, and off I went to get the rental car. First stop was the shop of Bruce Belo.

(if your repair guy's shop doesn't look like this, get out of there, he's no good lol)

Bruce is well known by word of mouth in professional musician circles. He's a saxophonist, but for some reason he's REALLY good at working on trombone slides. When I asked around about who to take my bass to, EVERYONE said Bruce. And everyone warned me: "He's gonna chew you out for water mineralization buildup in your horn!"

I took the horn out for him to inspect and he immediately started bending the slide with his hands (cue internal scream of terror), stuck a little lightbulb on a wire down in there...and promptly chewed me out for water mineralization buildup in my horn :D Though he did add grudgingly that mine wasn't so bad. He went on to give me tips for keeping slide buildup from happening including spraying the slide with distilled water and swabbing it dry after each use. I nodded meekly and agreed that yes, I ought to be doing these things. Heaven help me if I make excuses to a master repairman who's worked on every celebrity trombonist's horn since the 1970s! But the truth is even if I do put the slide away dry, we have theatrical fog and pyro dust and saliva which all accumulate on the inner slide, and I'm still gonna have to check the thing when I fly with it which is gonna knock it around. Calcifications are going to be the LEAST of the issues. But obviously I wasn't gonna say that out loud.

It took about 90 minutes which is very fast work, but when you've been a repairman as long as Bruce has, setting up a horn is easy. The biggest surprise today was when he checked out the rotors and found that the F rotor was out of alignment. He showed me and I was SO annoyed! It's an internal problem that I couldn't have seen, and even if I could it's not something that I could fix by myself. Bruce got to work on it, uttering a steady stream of curses for Yamaha and their shoddy work. When I told him my tenor trombone is a Bach, he cussed out Bach and their shoddy work. lolol! He re-aligned the rotor and changed out the rubber bumpers (to help with alignment), then asked me to play-test it.

Obviously I had to try the infamous PEDAL E first since I've had such trouble with it and it's a note requiring the F rotor.
It came right out.
CHRIST ON A CRACKER!!!! If I find out that I've struggled with that note for all this time because of a misaligned rotor, I'm going to cuss out Yamaha twice as much as Bruce did!!!

Anyway shortly after that Bruce finished up the slide as well. We chatted for a while about nerdy trombone stuff. He showed me loads and loads of memorabilia around his shop, which was really amazing to see. I even found an ancient pic of my trombone teacher, Jim Miller, from when he was a young college kid! That was wild to see! Eventually we got down to payment. Bruce said, "You brought cash, right?" Er...no, I hadn't. I should've known; most "shops" like this prefer cash. Luckily there was an ATM near the entrance. I tried to use it...and it ate my bank card!! Wouldn't give it back. I was horrified but then remembered, D'OH, I deactivated the physical bank card after the hotel incident in Vegas! Ugh. So then I had the embarrassment of telling Bruce I'd be right back, leaving my bass trombone behind as collateral and driving to my nearest bank branch to get his money. Boy I felt dumb. But I got him the cash and he did such excellent work that I probably won't need to have it serviced again for 1-2 years. Very glad to have met Bruce and experienced his repair skills today. The trombonists of California are lucky to have him :)

Next stop was a dry cleaners because the wrinkles in my bridesmaid dress are so deep that neither a steamy shower nor a handheld steamer are getting them out. Here I lucked out again, because when I explained that all I needed was help getting the wrinkles removed the associate only charged me $4!! Hurrah!

Finally I got to the fun part of the day: exploring Japanese grocery stores! I started with Mitsuwa since it was closest. They have an excellent food court and prepackaged bentos. I was in the mood for fancy nigiri. It was absolutely delicious, especially the sea urchin!

Then of course I had to shop! They had a huge selection of sake and whisky...

Beautiful tuna imported directly from Japan! (but so expensive OMG)

More wonderful bentos. There were hot rice bowls and ramen and such too.

I got a few things but decided to go back to the apartment because leaving the bass trombone in the trunk of the car while shopping makes me extremely nervous. Dropped everything off, refilled my water bottle, and went back out. The next Japanese grocery was across town near a Vons (a normal grocery) so I went to the Vons first looking for two things: seasonal Pumpkin Spice Koia and JIF peanut butter instant ramen. They had both! I texted Jameson excitedly, he's been wanting to try the JIF noodles. I'll bring a package to the wedding for him.

This next grocery was called Tokyo Central and it's a division of Marukai grocery. Like Mitsuwa, they also had incredible bentos...

...and a HOT BAR! I've never seen a hot bar at a Japanese grocery! I had already eaten lunch but I will HAVE to come back here for this.

Their bread bakery was very impressive too, so many different kinds sweet and savory loaves and rolls. I picked up a cute little pumpkin-filled roll.

My last stop of the day was Whole Paycheck where I got the usual things for weekday meals. Dragged everything back to the apartment and while I was unpacking, Amazon notified that the trombone case I'd ordered for my O'Malley trombone had been delivered to the theater. Great! But it was time to return the rental car so I did that first, then walked from there to the theater. Theater staff had stacked my case nicely with other boxes for the tour. Excellent! My trombone will show up in a similar-sized box in a few days, and this was a good test to see how the theater handles large boxes. They passed :D I unpacked the case and made sure it wasn't damaged, then left it in the pit and walked back to the apartment. It was after 5pm and I'd been going non-stop pretty much all day. But I had a lot of fun and got a lot done. Had dinner, typed up this post, and called it a day.

Oh, and here is my Small Haul from the Japanese grocery stores (plus the JIF noodles from Vons):

As always I will share thoughts once I've tried 'em all. Some of these are kinda standard but I'm very intrigued about the purple potato snack? I don't know what it is! The pear sparkling sake looks lovely too.

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TUESDAY

I went to bed very early because I felt tired and a little icky. Probably a bit dehydrated...I didn't drink enough water while running around yesterday. But awake at 8 and chatting with Jameson while having coffee and breakfast. Foodie Finds research, and also ended up booking an Airbnb for one of our Canadian cities because the hotel is a carpool/Uber ride away.

Overall a lazy day. There seems to be a kind of heat wave moving through Costa Mesa, putting temps back up in the high 80s/mid 90s (26-32 C). It's nearly October, I am in NO MOOD for blistering summer heat (-_-). Swept and mopped the apartment floor, lint-rolled the carpets (there isn't much carpet and a vacuum wasn't provided), and did a load of laundry. Started watching Suddenly Amish because someone here(?) suggested it. The first episode is so cringey and such an obvious set-up by producers looking to inject drama where there is none, so I'm not certain I can stomach the whole series. But I definitely want to stick around long enough to watch these spoiled city children boo-hoo over hard manual labor :p

I always feel a bit guilty for taking these "nothing days" where I essentially bed rot. But also, isn't it such a wonderful privilege? The sun is shining through the blinds and this apartment is bright and cheery, but also quiet and cool. Sitting comfortably and reading my book or doing mindless things...well, I think it can be just as YOLO as going on an exciting adventure :) You only live once, so get out there and do things. You only live once, so stay in and enjoy doing absolutely nothing.🌼

Anyway, eventually dinner and the evening show. I felt weirdly COLD tonight at the theater, and hope that's not an indication that I'm coming down with something. DAR is on vacation, and we have Connor (Key 1) and Dane (flute) rejoining us! Of course, a lot of chatter about how everyone's Golden Day went and interrogating Connor and Dane about their vacation time. The show went well imo, and I was surprised that playing the bass WAS somewhat different probably due to the valve realignment...it feels more...open? There's less resistance, it seems, when using the F trigger. But having a day of rest often makes things feel easier, so I am interested to see how things sound tomorrow.

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Wednesday: Picking up my bridesmaid dress, hopefully wrinkles removed. Perhaps exploring the gigantic mall or going thrifting if I've got the energy. One evening show.

Thursday: My new trombone is supposed to arrive and my doings will be centered around that! Once it arrives I'll need to make sure it's intact and see how it plays! One evening show. (PS The new trombone will not go into the show until I've had time to get to know it.)

A while back I posted a Friends Only entry about naming one's instruments.

There was nothing crazy-private in there, but perhaps I was a bit embarrassed about the whole naming thing...even though loads of musicians do it. Even Albert Einstein named his violin! But I guess there was some sorta-sensitive family drama stuff. Ah well, every family has issues and mine is no exception.

With a new trombone on the way I figured to do a quick n' dirty version of that FO post
(but also a somewhat longish introspect on a possible name for the new trombone)

For reference I own two small-bore tenor trombones, one large tenor trombone, and a bass trombone, plus the new large tenor on the way this week.

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Small Tenor Trombones - Truth and Candor

These are two Earl Williams Model 6 trombones. They are only a few serial numbers apart and they sound very similar, but there are a few differences, which is why I named them Truth and Candor...because truth and candor are synonyms, but not really! Truth plays super-straightforward, centered, almost a bit raw. Reliable, strong, really real. Candor is straightforward and clean and centered too, but has a sort of softness and sweetness that Truth doesn't have when I play it. Equally reliable but with more expressiveness built-in? It's hard to put into words.

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Large Tenor - Vengeance

A dramatic name that's fitting considering the drama around it. It's a Bach 42A with a Hagmann valve. I bought it in college after an argument-fight with my dad, who didn't want me to waste money on a professional-level trombone. I can't recall if he didn't think I was serious enough to be buying one, or if he thought my intermediate trombone should have been good enough, or what the issue was, but when I told him I was driving to NJ to pick out a trombone he totally lost it. Sat me down and lectured me for close to an hour on how I needed to reconsider and was making a bad choice. At the end of it I calmly said that I would still be driving to NJ to pick out a trombone and I'd be back late at night. He at least didn't try to physically stop me (I was 19 or 20, an adult) but stormed off when I left, then didn't talk to me for several days after.
I've now had this trombone for 20+ years and have played it on all sorts of gigs, for weddings and parties and concerts and Broadway shows. It's named Vengeance as a sort of post-mortem dig at my dad, who first of all never truly believed that I'd be a musician and second of all tried to stop me from getting this horn, which ended up being the trombone I played for many wonderful years as a successful professional musician. And just like long-held feelings of resentment and vengeance, it has been with me for so long now. Of course it's a good horn, but when I bought it I was a very different musician than I am now, and it was never a perfect fit to begin with...it was simply the best option that I could afford. Vengeance has gotten me this far, and I still love this trombone and will be happy to play it. But my hope is that the O'Malley trombone will allow me to both figuratively and literally put down vengeance...close the book on the past and move forward with a horn better suited to who I am today.

(yes I know that this is "daddy issues." A lot of people struggle with emotional baggage from their parents, it's a fact of life and I'm no different than millions of others in that department.)

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Bass Trombone - Wrath

I just got this trombone last year, specifically for Beauty and the Beast. It's a Yamaha YBL-835GD, gold brass detachable bell. There's not much to read into here...I am not a bass trombonist and playing this horn is a struggle for me, sometimes a frustrating one. Also, bass trombone is such a MONSTROUS instrument...it roars and growls and does stuff that the tenors can't do. I named it Wrath for all of those reasons, plus I just thought that Wrath and Vengeance kind of go together! I might change the name later if I become better at the bass trombone.

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O'Malley Large Tenor - ???

The horn isn't here yet so it might be presumptuous, but I think I do have a name for it already.
It hit me suddenly while I was writing the most recent public blog post. Specifically, this paragraph:

"DAR happened to have his office door open so I popped in to say good morning and ask if he's looking forward to vacation (he'll be away for the next week.) He said yes and we chatted a bit, then I said, "By the way, I'm sorry about yesterday and I'll do better today." I started to say, "It won't happen again" but he cut me off with, "I'm not worried about you. I'm never worried about you. Don't worry about it!", and waved me off. I said something like, "Great, thanks DAR!" and hurried off, trying not to tear up. He is SO kind. He could have chewed me out or held a grudge about it, but didn't. A lot of MDs would have. But he gets that we're humans, not little robots, and that even when trying our best we will make mistakes sometimes. He understands that disappointing him is my nightmare; that not being up to the level of this show is my nightmare. He doesn't need to scold me because he knows my intent."

Intent.

Vengeance was bought while I was just starting out. Like most college kids I didn't fully know who I was or what I wanted. I didn't even really know HOW to pick out a horn for myself. Although my dad expressed his feelings poorly that day, he was probably just worried. He probably wanted to protect me from what he saw as inevitable failure, disappointment, and a waste of money. But from my perspective, he wanted me to be miserable. He wanted to see me fail, and actively get in the way of my goals.

Now I'm 20+ years older and (hopefully) have a lot more perspective. I've certainly gotten any and all revenge by succeeding SPECTACULARLY at being a professional trombonist where nearly everyone in my life thought I would fail. So there's no point holding onto bitterness and resentment. The drive to prove people wrong helped to fuel my ambitions and get me where I am today, but those feelings do not serve me from this point on. So as the O'Malley family motto was being carved onto my new trombone bell, I was asking myself, "What ARE my goals moving forward? What is my INTENT from now on?"

I don't have all the answers to that question yet.
But I do know that I don't want to resent the people who stood in my way any longer.

I was writing about DAR's response to my apology, and thinking about the things I was feeling in that moment. As I was typing and recalling the experience, I thought about how my dad would usually react to contrition with anger and negativity, while DAR's reaction was one of understanding and forgiveness. I thought about why that might be.

He doesn't need to scold me because he knows my intent.

And I thought, with everything that's happened up to this point, and with all the things I'm looking forward to in the future,
Intent is actually a pretty good name.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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FRIDAY

I finally got a decent sleep! Yayyyy.
Once again, as soon as I opened my eyes there were lots of exciting things happening!

My soon-to-be sister-in-law sent a text with the rehearsal and wedding day itineraries, which I copied and forwarded to Jameson. It turns out the rehearsal will not be at the wedding venue at all, so I'm REALLY glad to have switched to a bed & breakfast downtown. Jameson can just drop me off and go explore or chill while I'm involved in all that :)

My O'Malley trombone is officially finished! O'Malley Brass Instruments posted it to their IG today (the post is HERE if you'd like to see) and Jay Friedman came to test-play it. Here are the pics:

Completed trombone.

F attachment and rotor section, front and back. They even make the rubber bumpers for the rotors in-house!

Close-up of the custom "Terra Marique Potens" engraving and slide grip.

Jay Friedman play-testing my trombone.

Jay's opinion on my trombone.
I'm sure he says this kind of thing about EVERY horn that goes out, but I'm still very happy to hear it!

After that I got in touch with Noah Gladstone of The BrassArk, who is their dealer and therefore handles their shipping. I've asked him to send it here, to Costa Mesa. If they ship it out first thing on Monday and everything's on time, I can enjoy playing it for a few days before the next city and maybe even try it during a show! Then it can be transported on tour trucks while I'm at my brother's wedding, and show up safely in Denver. Also, I know two excellent trombone repair people in this area if (heaven forbid) anything happens to it during shipping.

GOSH I'm so excited, nervous about the shipping, and worked up about this and my brother's wedding!!
Wish I could calm down but at least it's all positive things!!

Spent pretty much the entire morning after that revising the rest of my travel plans. Now it looks like this:

10/12 Staying in Costa Mesa for an extra day (it was significantly cheaper/better to fly out a day later).
10/13-10/14 Flying to Philly and staying in an airport hotel.
10/15 Picking up rental car, driving to bed & breakfast in New Hope (because they had a 3-day minimum reservation requirement)
10/16 Picking up Jameson from the airport. Wedding rehearsal and dinner.
10/17 Wedding day!
10/18 8am drive to airport, flight to Denver and checking into hotel a day early.
10/19 Rest of tour arrives in Denver.

So yesterday (Thursday) was changing flights and our wedding lodgings, and today was cancelling the PA Airbnb, extending the Costa Mesa Airbnb by one day, reserving the Philly airport hotel for two nights using card points, adding a day to the car rental (because I'll need it to get to the bed and breakfast on the 15th), and booking one night in Denver since I'll be arriving a day ahead of the tour. I would have liked to enjoy an extra day in New Hope with Jameson, but he needs to resume work on Monday. As for me, since Denver is high altitude an extra day to acclimate is ideal.

Phew. I was done with all of that right at noon and had lunch. By that time the guys at O'Malley had gotten my trombone packaged up and will ship it first thing on Monday. Can't wait! Nothing much else happened this afternoon...I tried to nap but was too worked up, and didn't feel like a walk.

Dinner and the evening show. Michael (Key 2) conducted and did a great job, I thought we played well too. My bass trombone G trigger is feeling stiff and I'm glad I'll be getting it a professional cleaning on Monday. On the way out the stage door I asked security what their hours typically are for receiving packages, and they said someone is manning the desk 24/7!! Perfect, because I also had to order a new CASE for the O'Malley trombone, which I did as soon as I got home. (This is standard; trombones that are resold or not from a major manufacturer often don't come with a case. It's also safer to ship them without a case believe it or not.)

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SATURDAY

Woke up and wished Jameson good morning. He says there is a faint but discernible "cool breeze" in Florida today that has people all worked up. I'd be freaking out too! It's early for that kind of thing down there. Any sign of blessed relief from the heat is exciting.

The matinee show was good, it sounded like there were some school groups out there and they were enthusiastic and loud. Maya (wardrobe) had my bridesmaid dress ready too! Like a week ago I asked her to sew boob cups into it so I wouldn't have to wear a bra. I haven't tried it on yet but if it doesn't work out they'll be easy to remove. Between shows I was surprised to be joined by Timbo (Carpenter) on the walk back to the Airbnb. Apparently several crew found Airbnbs in this apartment complex and took advantage. We just haven't seen each other until now because after evening shows they have to stick around and do Crew Things while I get to walk straight back, i.e. we haven't crossed paths. So cool that they're staying here too!

Dinner and back to the theater for the evening show. Unfortunately this one was a "disaster" for me personally. It started when the tempo started pulling during a section, and I went with DAR's tempo rather that Gary's (drummer's). That was the wrong choice, because even though we're all supposed to go with DAR, if the majority goes with Gary but I stick to my guns, I'M the one tearing the tempo apart and making us sound bad. We HAVE to play together even if we're off. Me insisting that I'm "right" makes ME the problem.

That was my first mistake, and the second mistake happened after intermission. Tim (trumpet) mentioned the tempo pulling to both Sarah (horn) and I, and while we were talking about it I turned my iPad music to the page we were discussing. Then we went to intermission break, came back, and I completely forgot to set my music back to the Entr'acte page. Entr'acte started and I realized I did not have the right music in front of me!! Cue frantically stomping on my page-turning pedal to get to the right page, meanwhile absolutely butchering the Entr'acte and Wolf Attack because I don't have them memorized. Luckily I don't have very prominent parts in those numbers but still, I was obviously fumbling around and it was very embarrassing and entirely my own fault. As soon as we got to a dialogue scene I wrote a text apology in the group chat, then after the show ran to apologize to DAR.

Overall a really demoralizing end to what started as a good and normal day. And this might have been ironic karma for me as well, because on Friday night I'd turned down an invite to hang out and eat pizza and wine, justifying my absence by saying that drinking alcohol and eating dairy the night before a two show day "would probably compromise my playing." And then I played my worst show ever anyway. At least if I'd gone out on Friday night, I could have blamed the hangover and dairy cramps for it all instead of having no one to blame but myself.

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SUNDAY

I was awake early after a fitful sleep, residual stress and shame from yesterday's mistakes. I'm going to have to walk in to work today with my tail between my legs, but am hoping that if I just stay humble and play normally/well today, everyone will have forgotten all about things by the end of the day. I texted Jameson and told him all about it while drinking breakfast coffee. He was empathetic and supportive without coddling or lying to me (it WAS my fault, and admitting that is important for self-improvement.) I appreciate him so much.

Breakfast and making overnight oats, working on Foodie Finds, an early lunch. Taking a few deep breaths and walking over to the theatre. DAR happened to have his office door open so I popped in to say good morning and ask if he's looking forward to vacation (he'll be away for the next week.) He said yes and we chatted a bit, then I said, "By the way, I'm sorry about yesterday and I'll do better today." I started to say, "It won't happen again" but he cut me off with, "I'm not worried about you. I'm never worried about you. Don't worry about it!", and waved me off. I said something like, "Great, thanks DAR!" and hurried off, trying not to tear up. He is SO kind. He could have chewed me out or held a grudge about it, but didn't. A lot of MDs would have. But he gets that we're humans, not little robots, and that even when trying our best we will make mistakes sometimes. He understands that disappointing him is my nightmare; that not being up to the level of this show is my nightmare. He doesn't need to scold me because he knows my intent.

Anyway, my goodness that made me feel relieved. And then we did the show and it was just fine. I did as promised and changed what I was doing at those trouble tempo spots. Nobody was mad or looked at me like I'd ruined everything. Phew! Moving right onward.

Between shows, back to the hotel for dinner and chill. The evening show was pretty good and we had a great audience. I think the band was in a sort of "jovial" mood since we have basically a day and a half off starting tomorrow! It sounds like a big group is going to Disneyland, and several west coast people are flying home or to visit family here. DAR took the whole next week off, he both needs and deserves it and I hope it's relaxing for him! I'm being lame and doing chores! But at the very least I GOTTA have some kind of Japanese lunch/dinner tomorrow. It's a promise to myself!

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Monday: Golden Day! I have a rental car. Taking my bass to be serviced, possibly taking my bridesmaid dress to a dry cleaner if I can't get these deep wrinkles out, and hitting a Japanese grocery for lunch/tasty groceries. Probably a trip to Whole Paycheck.

Tuesday: Most of the day is free, nothing in particular planned but I may walk over to the big mall and scope Macy's for that cream-colored shawl for the wedding. One evening show.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

A leftover photo from yesterday. Here is Dave, Assembly and Repair Specialist over at O'Malley Brass, holding the parts of my trombone slide (the inner stockings and the outer slide.) While Adam has been making and then engraving my bell, Dave has been assembling my slide. He may also end up being the guy assembling other parts (hard to say, several of the guys do assembly)

I woke up several times throughout the night...still not fully comfortable here but it's only the second night in town ffs.
Breakfast and meal planning and trying to do some forward-thinking logistics. There are several upcoming Golden Days which I don't want to waste, I'm having second thoughts about travel for my brother's wedding, and Jameson's birthday is coming up fast, I realized with a start this morning. It's not until November but September is almost over after all, and anything I get for him will have to be shipped so I'd better start making a gift list now.

For the Golden Day, I rented a car so I can take the bass trombone for servicing and then enjoy a trip to a Japanese grocery :)
For my brother's wedding, I'm feeling more and more that there's no need for me to fly to Albuquerque first and then to PA. It was a good idea in my head, but now I'm realizing that I may have to bring a trombone with me (am I really going to go a week without ANY practice before a 3-week sit in Denver?) so that's two checked bags, two flights when I really only need to take one. It would be nice to visit my friend who lives there, but she's working, has a funeral to attend on one of the days I'm in town, and has no interest in seeing our show. So why go there? With that in mind I'm looking into changing my 10/12 flight so that it goes to Philly instead. We'll see if it's doable.

And for Jameson's birthday, I did find one thing and ordered it. It'll show up early but the foundation for the gift pile has been laid :D

After lunch today I went for a walk to pretty much every discount store within a 2 mile radius. There were two Ross Dress for Less, one TJ Maxx, a Dollar Store, and a big thrift store. I hit them all, looking specifically for a cream-colored shawl or poncho nice enough to wear over my bridesmaid dress.

(photo from the big warehouse-like thrift store. They had a lot of electronics and musical instruments too! Like a pawn shop.)

I did find two shawls, but one was too big and the other ended up having a weird pattern that I didn't notice until in the dressing room. When I have the rental car on Monday I'll try to hit a few more thrift stores, but if I can't find anything this might end up being a fast-fashion Amazon order. I did find a few little useful things like an emery board (one of my nails is splitting), some seamless underwear, and dried edamame, but mostly it was just a pleasant walk. The rest of the afternoon was chill.

Evening show was all right, nothing to report there. I gathered a few opinions from my coworkers on how to proceed with changing my flights, and got some decent ideas.

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THURSDAY

Third night of sleeping badly in this apartment. Overall I feel high anxiety every day lately, like my body is always borderline fight-or-flight. It's because of a lot of things, all of which will be resolved with no issue, so what I really need to do is CALM TF DOWN. Easier said than done, but it started with NOT wearing my Apple Watch last night so I wouldn't see my stupid resting heart rate or how poorly I'd slept.

Poor Jameson had a root canal today. He said that it went pretty well after the initial horrors of Novocain, and that he had a slight panic attack when they covered his mouth(?) face(?) entirely with a shield to prevent spit and tooth pieces from flying into his face. Having claustrophobia is new for him, and started after getting an MRI earlier in the year. The face shield being close to his face must have felt similar to the MRI machine. But the procedure was thankfully short, and he got through it. I'm proud of him, he hates the dentist and this was not easy for him.

Anyway, breakfast and I got to work on re-evaluating the logistics for my brother's wedding. New plan is to fly directly to Philly, so I modified the original flight accordingly and then cancelled the secondary flight, which would have been from ABQ to Philly. Changing the first flight cost me $$$, but I received a flight credit for the cancelled flight and overall saved about $200 by making the change.

Next was the more difficult task of finding a new hotel for Jameson and I for the wedding weekend. When I booked an Airbnb close to the wedding venue, it was under the assumption that I'd be attending alone. It was cheap, small, and in the middle of nowhere but walkable to the venue. Not a problem because I didn't plan to do any sightseeing or eat out...just do the wedding and leave. But now that Jameson's coming along, do I really want to cram us into a tiny Airbnb away from everything downtown? With a twin bed for two nights and a 10-minute drive any time we want a meal? No. I called around this morning and not surprisingly most everything is booked up...it's peak fall foliage in October and peak tourist season. But I lucked out. One bed and breakfast happened to have an unexpected cancellation. It's twice as much as the Airbnb, but I essentially used the savings from my cancelled flight to pay the difference. Now we'll be right downtown, king bed, free breakfast, and I'm sure it'll be more enjoyable for both of us.

Then I had to text my Albuquerque friend to let her know I'm no longer visiting, and Jameson to let him know of the changes. I felt nervous...I very much dislike disappointing people and was afraid that my friend would be angry or Jameson would be annoyed. Of course they weren't. My friend is bummed but also has her life to live and it just didn't work out this time. And Jameson thinks the hotel is haunted and is excited to stay there :p

In the afternoon I went for a brief walk just to get out, and when I got back there were a slew of updates on my O'Malley trombone. Here's the rotor assembly along with tuning slides:

The bell being buffed and polished:

And my "Order Status" page! I can't believe the wait is almost over!!

In fact, a few minutes later they messaged me to say that the horn is DONE! They could ship it out TOMORROW.
"But if we do that," they added, "Jay won't get to play-test it."

Jay Friedman. Principle Trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the past 63 years.
I was like, "Y'all go ahead and keep it over the weekend." LOL.
Obviously I trust their OWN judgement that the horn is good and ready to go. But having Jay Friendman play-test and approve it? Extra nerd-points.

Anyway, dinner and then the evening show. It was a pretty good show, the audience was enthusiastic and many people came to the pit to say they enjoyed the music :)

In closing, here's my view of DAR (MD) during the Prologue of the show. Aren't fog effects fun! Lol!
(I had to change the audio so as not to infringe on Disney copyrights, but you only need the visual :D)

Watch on YouTube

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Friday: No plans. I still spent Thursday in a state of high excitement so maybe I'll try to calm the heck down and do nothing. One evening show.

Saturday and Sunday: Two shows and no plans.

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

Heart Health Update:
In a previous post I wrote about having a heart rate / Afib freakout and going to the ER in Vegas. I overreacted and it was stupid. Later on I thought maybe the Apple Watch algorithms had changed due to a recent update. BUT NO. As soon as we left Vegas, my heart rate went back down.

This means it had something to do with location. Perhaps the elevation above sea level, or the desert climate.
Guess I've learned something this week.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

Previous Visits to Costa Mesa/Anaheim

Ringling Bros, July/August 2013:
Part 1: Ate at El Torito, went to the LA Farmers Market to see Bill Watrous play with a group of ultra-talented LA musicians. Did an elephant walk (there are some elephant photos at the end of this post.)

Part 2: Visited my sister who was living in Redondo Beach at the time. We had eel donburi at Rice Things, went thrifting, and visited Manhattan Beach where we got delicious ice cream and enjoyed sand and sun. Our circus train got some new wheels. A baby elephant named Mike was born at the Center for Elephant Conservation. I wonder where Mike is now.

* * *

Ringling Bros July/August 2015:
Part 1: Jameson and I celebrated our 2-year dating anniversary by going to Disneyland! It was wonderful :) It was such a great week and I wrote about how much I was enjoying dating Jameson. Good choice, Past Me :D There are some camel pics at the end of this post.

Part 2: There was one of our infamous circus punch parties at the Anaheim train yard :) Such good memories. We all "tagged" a big graffiti wall next to the train. The next day my sister and I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific and saw lots of cool animals. Afterward we ate at Pier 76. Later in the week we had a bridesmaid dress fitting for our younger sister's wedding, I took lots of pics! My sister's teal dress looked great. We had a couples dinner with our boys at Baci di Firenzo Trattoria, a hole-in-the-wall spot that was absolutely amazing. Some more camel pics at the end of this post.

* * *

Tootsie the Musical, June 2022:
Part 1: I was recovering from Covid and was not allowed to perform, so had several days to just enjoy the city. There are many Asian supermarkets here and I got wonderful things to eat like grilled squid, mangosteen, Boudin sourdough bread, soup dumplings, cream puffs, and delicious bento boxes. And weirdly, Jameson caught Covid this week! What are the odds.

Part 2: I was free from quarantine and rejoined the show for the final week. I spent a lot of time at the Asian grocery stores again, hitting the Daiso (Japanese dollar store) and trying lots of snacks. Ate out with a friend at Seabirds Kitchen, went shopping at an "anti-mall" with a lot of thrift stores and local crafts. Got fresh ramen at Meiji Seiman, it was SO GOOD. We had a nice closing night party, during which I was given a "Biggest Foodie" award certificate and many people came up to tell me how much they enjoyed my food posts. This was the start of Megan's Foodie Finds, the curated list of restaurant and grocery recommendations that I now make for every tour I'm on!

--- --- --- --- --- ---

MONDAY

Awake around 7:30, the usual breakfast and stuff. Finalized closing out my bank card. Ubered to the airport early. There were long lines but they at least moved quickly.

( Small Rant )

Anyway, my seat ended up being pretty far back and it was a bumpy flight, so I had to wear SeaBands and keep some motion sickness pills handy. But it was a short flight and I made it without having to take the pills.

And now the moment I'd been waiting for: Ubering to the Airbnb I booked for the three-week Costa Mesa sit! I was nervous that this would be some sort of scam because first of all I got the apartment for under $200/day, which is unheard of in this area. And second, as our flight was landing I got a message from the host saying that there had been some kind of issue with my original apartment booked, and would I mind switching to a different apartment? Ummm...ok I guess. Having no other choice, I Ubered there...

(photo courtesy Airbnb)

...and it was just fine! I needn't have worried. The space is just as pictured and described. And the host even has their own logo'd towels and other items! How adorable is this!

The only downside was that someone had definitely been smoking in the apartment :( The smoke alarm had been disabled and it smelled strongly of cigarettes. I reactivated the smoke alarm and headed out to buy groceries.

But first I was very hungry, so dinner at a Mediterranean hole in the wall along the way. A fresh and delicious salmon platter :)

It was supposed to be a bowl (smaller portions) but the guy forgot and made the platter instead (he didn't charge me!) I ate what I could and then since this is California and there is guaranteed to be a homeless person virtually every block, I walked a block or two, found one, and gave them the other half. Onward to Target where I picked up some cleaning supplies for the apartment, then to Vons for my actual groceries. I got a little too much and could barely carry it all...having a real fridge is exciting! I Ubered back, put everything away, and unpacked. Unpacking took way longer than usual because I was also getting to know the apartment, i.e. which light switches controlled what, how to work the dishwasher, etc. But eventually I got settled in and went to sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TUESDAY

I woke up many times to pee (hydrated too hard after the flight) but otherwise slept well. It's reasonably quiet here.

Checked my email to find the mock-up for my custom text engraving on my O'Malley trombone!

It says "Terra Marique Potens", and it means "Powerful by land and sea".
This is the O'Malley clan motto. Seemed appropriate for a trombone made by Miles O'Malley, and O'Malley Brass Instruments, for another O'Malley :D The motto is also mostly associated with Gráinne Ní Mháille, or Grace O'Malley, who was a female Pirate Queen in the 1500s. I wanted to give a nod to my stereotype-breaking, rebellious, legendary bada$$ pirate ancestor...but also, it's just a really cool motto! And so very appropriate to put on this trombone in particular.

I was rewarded just a little later with social media pictures of the actual engraving!! It looks SO GOOD.

This is the front of the bell and their standard engraving, ALSO all done by hand by Adam.

I want to mention that the motto part is a lot bigger and more prominent/visible than I ever expected, and I'm SO glad! My original, rather humble suggestion was for the motto to be a stamp (as opposed to hand-engraved, in order to save them labor) and for it to appear on the rotor (a golf ball-sized circle near my neck.) This size and placement is so much more bold, and the fact that it's hand engraved makes it very special. I'm so happy and excited to see it in person soon!!

Around 3pm I walked to the theatre. Lovely weather, and what a joy to walk it instead of commuting or carpooling! I recognized the stage door right away, found my trunk, got set up. The theatre is pretty auditorium-like inside so you'll pardon my lack of photos of it :p Sound check was fine, and between shows a lot of people ate dinner at the theater because there are quite a few restaurants around and the alternative would be driving back to the hotel. We have a really nice green room here so I was able to chat with some people while we were all eating. And this was when I discovered that some people did NOT get so lucky with their Airbnb bookings, and maybe I had been RIGHT to worry that mine might not end up legit. Tim (trumpet) ended up in what he sort of described as a "college beach shack" with his wife. They paid an exorbitant amount of money expecting a special treat for three weeks, and instead they have ancient shag carpet with vomit stains, a dangerous back deck with holes in it, and more :( Another person piped up to say their Airbnb was infested with mosquitoes!! I gave her my Airbnb host's contact information in case she needs to find something else, since mine has turned out well.

The show was all right, personally I kept making dumb little mistakes and was annoyed with myself. Believe it or not I do think it's the change in climate...it's like now I'm overcompensating for altitude that isn't an issue any more, plus my mouth is a lot, erm...wetter (sorry I know that's gross). Overall it's like my body is making adjustments but I haven't adjusted what I'm doing yet. Bleeeh tomorrow will be better.

Two really nice things today. One was a gaggle of high school students who came down to the pit to gush excitedly over our instruments. One young lady said she plays trombone and euphonium, and she was so excited to meet me that she was wringing her hands and sputtering and kept saying, "Sorry!" for nothing! Lol. I felt so silly....it's just, ya know, ME. And I wish I'd played better for her tonight too. But she was lovely and it was not hard to be encouraging and excited for music along with her :)
The second was a young man with developmental disabilities who not only wrote every single department a lovely handwritten note to share how excited he was to see us perform...he also dropped off a MASSIVE tub of candy for everyone!! What a hero!!

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Wednesday: No plans, probably going for a walk somewhere and doing some shopping for a shawl for the wedding. There are loads of stores around here and a huge mall. One evening show.

Thursday: More of the same I imagine! The weather is fantastic. One evening show.

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taz_39

November 2026

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Page Summary

Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 3: Happy Halloween, Standard Sunday
Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 2 (1/2): Friday w/Family, The Lost Pin, The Canada Coat
Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 2: Got the Dang Health Care + Canada Thoughts
Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 1: Golden Do-Nothings + More Medical Joy
Denver, CO 2026 Week 1 part 3: More Trombone Wibbling + Random Weekend Things
Denver, CO 2026 Week 1 part 2: Trombone Tweaking and Sister Snacks
Denver, CO 2026 Week 1 part 1: Acclimating to Altitude + Returning to Tour
Jonah's Wedding Week part 3: Fun, Food, Family, Feels. Oh and Financial F*ck-ups
Jonah's Wedding Week part 2: Philly Prep Day + New Hope, PA
Jonah's Wedding Week part 1 - Goodbye Costa Mesa + Surprising Travel Day
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 3 part 3: New Band Our Band Banana Band
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 3 part 2: Ho Hum
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 3 part 1: Golden Day Doings + Hiding From Heat
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 2 part 3: Music 101 + Trombone Introspect Deep Dive
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 2 part 2: Reducing Wrinkles + A Special Thursday
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 2 part 1: Meeting Bruce, Japanese Treats, Day Of Rest
Trombone Names
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 1 Part 3: Trombone Testing, Travel Plans, Effing Up
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 1 Part 2: More Trombone Stuff, Thrifting, Revamping
Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 1 Part 1: An Airbnb, Engravings On My Heart

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Page generated Nov. 3rd, 2026 08:30 pm

goofball on a train

(adventures of a touring musician)

Recent Entries

Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 3: Happy Halloween, Standard Sunday

Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 2 (1/2): Friday w/Family, The Lost Pin, The Canada Coat

Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 2: Got the Dang Health Care + Canada Thoughts

Denver, CO 2026 Week 2 part 1: Golden Do-Nothings + More Medical Joy

Denver, CO 2026 Week 1 part 3: More Trombone Wibbling + Random Weekend Things

Denver, CO 2026 Week 1 part 2: Trombone Tweaking and Sister Snacks

Denver, CO 2026 Week 1 part 1: Acclimating to Altitude + Returning to Tour

Jonah's Wedding Week part 3: Fun, Food, Family, Feels. Oh and Financial F*ck-ups

Jonah's Wedding Week part 2: Philly Prep Day + New Hope, PA

Jonah's Wedding Week part 1 - Goodbye Costa Mesa + Surprising Travel Day

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 3 part 3: New Band Our Band Banana Band

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 3 part 2: Ho Hum

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 3 part 1: Golden Day Doings + Hiding From Heat

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 2 part 3: Music 101 + Trombone Introspect Deep Dive

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 2 part 2: Reducing Wrinkles + A Special Thursday

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 2 part 1: Meeting Bruce, Japanese Treats, Day Of Rest

Trombone Names

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 1 Part 3: Trombone Testing, Travel Plans, Effing Up

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 1 Part 2: More Trombone Stuff, Thrifting, Revamping

Costa Mesa, CA 2026 Week 1 Part 1: An Airbnb, Engravings On My Heart