taz_39 | Tootsie on Tour: Orlando, FL (Reply)

**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**

Note:
Due to an ongoing family emergency, there are times where I may post less regularly or with less content.
Thank you for your understanding.
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The venue: Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

(stock photos)

Covid Tests to Date: 15
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Monday seemed to take FOREVER. I just wanted to see my boyfriend!!

But we had to wait until noon for the bus, and then the bus ride involved a bathroom break, and some traffic, and also driving past the exit to Jameson's house, lol. Then getting to the hotel, unloading, and finding an Uber to take me the 40 minutes home. Jameson could have come to get me but that would be almost 90 minutes round trip, and he had a LOT of work on his plate this week.

Finally I barged into the door, spilling luggage everywhere and squeezing my boyfriend. YAY!!!
The last time I saw him, he was in a lot of pain and discomfort.
Today he looked tired, but GOOD. Better. Healthy. I'm SO glad. So so so so glad, beyond what I can describe.
It's been a very hard month, for both of us. I was just glad that one thing at least has gone right, and that's the fact that we're both OK.

We got caught up on this and that--we've been texting of course, but some things are better in person.
We ordered dinner (and got someone else's order somehow, had a good laugh over that) and watched Holiday Baking Championship and Great British Baking Show. I watered my indoor plants and vacuumed, did a load of laundry, switched some things out from my luggage, and riffled through my mail. All of it was spam except the packages: I got some silicone booties to put over my sneakers for when it rains, a black long-sleeved shirt for layering, and three graphic T's because it's been a DIFFICULT month and they've been on my wishlist for over two years now.

The things I switched out from my luggage were my tortilla blanket (I love it but it takes up too much space for how little I use it), a few shirts (I plan to swap shirts on every break to keep from wearing them all out), some jeans (too bulky, getting yoga pants instead), my over-ear headphones (no roommate = I never use them), and the programs and other little scraps of paper I've collected so far. Other than that, I've been happy with everything I've brought with me on tour. Everything serves a purpose, and everything has been useful. Good job, me!

I found my trombone stand and "snake" (a cleaning tool) which I will bring to the theatre and store in the band box.
Then I went to the grocery for a few food items for the week, followed by an attempt to find yoga pants at Target (failure) and a trip to Skechers for some black sneakers because it seems those are acceptable in the pit and currently I only have one pair of black shoes. Tomorrow I will do some cleaning, try Walmart and Ross Dress for Less for the yoga pants, and then hopefully still have a little time to relax before the evening show.

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Tuesday, I woke up excited to enjoy a day at home!
First I made breakfast, which was nice.
Then I decided to check on my plants. Surprises awaited me!

The biggest surprise was the roselle plant, otherwise known as "Florida cranberry" or "Jamaican sorrel".
When I planted it, it was a tiny cutting about a foot tall.
Now it is a sort of TREE or SHRUB, with a huge thick trunk!
Apparently it must have bloomed while I was gone, because it is covered in juicy red calyces!

This plant is called "Florida cranberry" for a reason: the calyces have a flavor similar to cranberry or rhubarb, and can be used in all of the same ways you would use cranberries. This plant is covered in lots of big fat calyces...will I have time to make use of them before the week is over? Perhaps I could whip up a jam really quick!

The banana trees are now taller than me! I can't wait to see if they will bear fruit next year!

My Meyer lemons are doing well, I have three growing on my tiny tree and it looks like they could be ready in February or March. Hopefully I'll be home in time to harvest and enjoy them!

Finally, the vanilla has grown exponentially! I'm really surprised at this, usually it slows down by now but I guess it's been warmer than usual. It now has a third branching vine that's looping around the tree in a different direction (that's like 5 feet of vine that was NOT there when I left) and the main vine is now as thick around as a roll of quarters! When I left it was the thickness of my index finger. Wow! No signs of flowering or anything, but I am glad it's doing so well!

Back in the house I finished my coffee and got to work cleaning.
Dusting first, followed by tile floors and bathrooms.
I'll be home again around December 13th, so no need to get too crazy.

For lunch Jameson and I went to Publix for Pub Subs which we will split between lunch and dinner.
Then he did some work while I ran to Walmart and Ross in an attempt to find black yoga pants. No good.
Well, I shot my shot. My choices now are to order something online and hope it fits, or try to encounter a good thrift store on our next tour stops. I'll probably try for the latter, then when it gets closer to Christmas break if I still haven't found anything I'll order.

We had sound check at 5 so I left the house at 3:45, hoping that would be enough time to find a parking spot and get inside the theatre.
It was plenty of time, I found a spot right in front of the company-provided hotel and hoofed it inside, where went through a metal detector and had my bag searched before following signs to the pit area.

The "signs" are just little laminated paper slips with arrows that point the way to various rooms:
Pit, Dressing Rooms, Production, Wardrobe, etc.

In addition to these more obvious signs, we also have a few that let us know when we're NOT where we should be:

...and another that guides us back outside, to "Everything".

Kinda cute.
Anyway, since I was so early I had plenty of time to wash my trombone!
It would be better to take it home and use the bathtub, but doing it at the theatre was quicker and I'm well used to washing my trombone in dressing room sinks. Then we had our sound check. This pit has a safety net over our heads.

Then I ate the rest of my Pub Sub and chilled for a bit until showtime. It was a big rowdy audience, they laughed SO MUCH!!

TikTok by @tromboneontour

I drove home and went right to bed, where Jameson was waiting with an episode of Community.

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Wednesday, I got up early because there was covid testing at the hotel. Since I'm staying at home I'll have to drive to the hotel, about 35-40 minutes. Though I was sad to get up early, it's STILL more sleep than I ever got working for CapTel. And so: breakfast, the drive, getting a swab stuck WAY up my schnoz, and on the drive back realizing that there's an Academy Sports store nearby so made a quick stop there to continue the yoga pants hunt. And behold! I found Actual Yoga Pants! NOT leggings! For only $14! I bought two pairs and will wear one to the pit tonight to see if I get called out on it.

Back home I had a video chat with family, then ate lunch and relaxed with Jameson until his work meeting.
Almost fell asleep, but didn't. We had tacos for dinner, mine with a cup of weak coffee to perk me up for the show.

Parking was a little tougher this time, I had to do a lot of circling and eventually had to accept garage parking.
The show went well, another great audience.

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Thursday I didn't sleep well, not sure why but I think because I was hungry? I woke up STARVING for some reason.
After a good breakfast I started my impromptu project: roselle jam!

I don't want the roselle calyces to go to waste. I don't have the equipment or time to dry them for tea, but making jam takes just a few hours and a few standard ingredients. I bought some 4oz jars, small enough that I can probably take one with me on the road and distribute the rest among our neighbors for the holidays.

Here's a TikTok detailing how I made the roselle hibiscus jam.

TikTok by @tromboneontour

There were no measurements given for anything other than the sugar: "equal parts sugar and pulp".
That's kind of how I ended up using too much water and having to pour some out, it said to "cover calyces with water" but if they're not chopped down they take up more space, plus they float. Next time I'd add just a cup or so of water and wait for things to cook down before adding more. Still, it seems to have come out well. Obviously I can't open the jars to find out, but I did make one unsterilized jar and should be able to check on that tomorrow to see how it set. I tasted the unset leftover scrapings from the pot, and it was quite good! The spices I used were based on a traditional Jamaican Christmas beverage. Next time I'd like to leave one of the ginger chunks in and blend it up to add more spice, but that's just my preference.

That project, plus the cleanup, took most of my afternoon.
But it was worth it to enjoy my first roselle harvest, and learn how to make something new :)

Our evening show went well, and I got lucky with street parking.

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Friday. Woke up to a nice rainy day. Very satisfying!
It made me consider bringing an umbrella on tour, but I just don't want to bother. A cheap poncho is fine, and the silicone booties I got to protect my shoes. It's just water, ya know?

After a cup of coffee and some work for family, I did my last load of laundry at home and started re-packing my luggage.
I tried to be smart about it, redistributing some things and weighing my large packing cubes to see which one weighed less, putting the lighter one in the large suitcase. The result was a 42-pound weigh-in. Awesome!

Also, the roselle jam set pretty well! It's still more runny than I would like, but for a first attempt, not bad.
The flavor is actually really wonderful. It's like a cranberry cocktail with holiday spices. Definitely puts me in a Christmas mood :)

TikTok by @tromboneontour

I am checking in to the hotel tonight because we will likely have covid testing in the morning on Saturday, and with the weekend matinees I wouldn't get much time at home anyway. It'll just be easier to be close to the theatre for the weekend, less logistics.

It rained all day, and it poured as Jameson drove me to the hotel.
I'm already going to miss him so much! Again! Man, there is just NOTHING like your special person! ^_^
We hugged and parted ways. I'll see him again briefly on Saturday after the show, and then in another month over the Christmas break.

I got all checked in to my room then walked to the grocery in the rain, putting my little silicone booties to good use. Those things are lifesavers!
Got something for dinner and a few things for meals for the next two days, then it was back to the hotel to unpack, get cleaned up, and walk to the theatre for the evening show. It was a nice enthusiastic Friday crowd :)

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Saturday, I made my breakfast using the skillet since there's no microwave in the room:

TikTok by @tromboneontour

You'll notice a lot more TikToks in this post, right? I'm working on developing my videography, and recognizing moments that might work well in short video format.

After breakfast I had my covid test, ate lunch (yes it was already noon by the time the video editing was finished, good grief) and walked to the theatre for the matinee. It went well, nice responsive audience.
Saturday night, Jameson was coming to the show, along with some friends!! I was so excited!!
It's something special when you've got people in the audience! Especially your Special Someone ^_^
Everyone had a great time. Afterward they shared with me their thoughts on the show, which I valued a lot because I know Jameson will be honest with me as a fellow musician and performer. He truly did think the show was awesome, and had nothing but good things to say. It makes me proud to be part of a show that is enjoyable, that makes people laugh, that I can share with my friends and family.

I squeezed Jameson extra hard as we parted ways, because this was the last time I'd see him for a month.
I wish I could bring him with me.

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Sunday, daylight savings! I woke up too early, had breakfast, typed up this blog, ordered a PubSub for lunch, went to fetch it, and started my packing process while watching Great British.

The matinee show went well, but personally I didn't play very well. I think my mind was elsewhere. A lot of things going on now and through the holidays, and sometimes the wall I put up between work and personal life breaks down and needs to be rebuilt. It happens.

After a break for dinner, the evening show, which went much better for me.
And after packing up to leave, we all got to sign a spot on the wall that had been prepared for us.

Getting to sign the wall here in Orlando, at the Dr. Phillips Center, means a lot to me.
Whatever may happen in the future, looking back on this moment will always give me a smile :)

Our last show in Orlando.
Next stop, New Orleans!

I've been to NOLA several times with the circus, but never with as much free time as I'll have now.
I hope to visit some historic sites and museums, and enjoy some local cuisine, and OF COURSE put on some great shows!