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taz_39MONDAY
I was up at 7:30 for breakfast, then drove 30 minutes to the nearest Toyota dealership.
To kind of recap, I'm selling my 10-year-old Corolla for the following reasons:
At the dealership I was seen right away. They went out to look at the car and came back with an offer of $5000.
I showed them my online offer from Carmax, which was $8000.
Dudebro Associate went away to pretend to talk to his boss, then came back with, "I can probably, maaaybe, get you $6000."
Mm hmm. I took his card and said I'd think on it. He sort-of tried to get me to stay and deal but I wasn't having that. I left saying I'd let him know within the next hour whether or not we had a deal.
Carmax was nearly an hour drive in the opposite direction. Got there and had to wait 20 minutes because they were busy, but that's ok. Showed the associate my online offer and asked if they could look at the car in person and confirm it.
The woman took my key and went to look at my car for about the same amount of time that the Toyota salesperson had.
She came back and said, "Yes, we'll give you $8000 for it. Did you want to sell today?"
Friggin sweet. I still need my car for Candlelight on the 30th (Ubers are not allowed on backstage Disney property) so I made an appointment to bring it back to sell on the 31st. Honestly I'm very happy with that price. If everything goes to plan, I'll use the money to buy an O'Malley trombone and save whatever is left over.
That done, I got home and had lunch with Jameson who had just come back from a haircut. After lunch I practiced bass for 30 minutes, then trimmed my banana trees out back. There are EIGHT of them now! One of them has a banana flower, but there's no way it can fruit at this time of year.
Anybody want a banana tree?? U-pick :p
The rest of the afternoon we did NOTHING and it was GREAT. Neither of us have had a real day of rest since I've been home, and we need it. Jameson has a brutal schedule for New Years. He is subbing for a friend's band both for the money and as a favor. He has a rehearsal tonight at 2am, shows from about 8pm - 2am on the 30th, and the actual New Years Eve gig at Tomorrowland on the 31st. My schedule is more calm, with only one more night of Candlelight, but I will need to do any grocery shopping within the next 48 hours before I lose my car. Then of course there's the cooking, cleaning, packing, and making sure I've done everything that I can before going back out on tour.
Jameson took some Unisom and went to bed around 6pm since he's got to get up at 1am. I stayed up to eat stale cookies and watch Vox Machina and otherwise goof off, then joined him around 10pm.
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TUESDAY
I woke up when Jameson got up at 1, and again when he came back at...I have no idea what time but I felt him roll into bed next to me.
Was fully awake around 8am, a little headachy, probably because the temperature dropped 30 degrees overnight. It's cloudy and downright cold this morning for Florida at 45°F (7.2°C). Will definitely be bringing my black pea coat to Candlelight tonight.
Breakfast, packing dinner for Candlelight, and Jameson wasn't up yet so I took myself to Publix for NYE ingredients. I managed to get everything we need except the shrimp...I once had a bad experience with raw shrimp kept in the fridge for a full day, and since then I prefer to buy it the same day it's getting cooked or not at all. Back home Jameson was up and rehearsing some stuff for his gig. The sun had come out so I went for a shortened neighborhood walk. I'm feeling restless. It's because tonight is the final Candlelight performance; tomorrow is New Years Eve and I sell my car; and on Monday I leave for tour. It feels like I just got here. The holidays are always so BUSY.
Afternoon was very lazy. Not surprisingly Jameson needed to take a nap after lunch, and I was not in a mood to practice anyway. Read some of my book, dozed, and watched Vox Machina.
At 3:30, off to Candlelight. Because of the temperature drop I made sure to bring not only my cheapo black pea coat, but also a black scarf and black fleece sweater with a high-zip collar. The low tonight was 48 or so, but with the wind off the EPCOT lake it could feel like 43 (6.1C) at times. Anyway, as I walked into the green room our show manager Renee was in the middle of handing out certificates for years of service. Some people have been performing in Candlelight for over 40 years!! That is AMAZING!! Jeff (our principal trombone) got his 35-year certificate tonight. As a full-timer, he performed 99 Candlelight shows this year.
I cannot believe that I've been a part of Candlelight for three years. When people ask I usually say two, because I wasn't asked to perform during my second year so that year doesn't exist for me! Lol.
But wow. This also means I've been a Disney cast member for three whole years. Which is so insane considering that I've spent most of my entire life thinking that I wasn't good enough for Disney. Not to mention being rejected at every single Disney audition that I took (and there were MANY.) But somehow, at the ripe age of 40, someone decided to give me a chance. And that one little opportunity ended up being a catalyst that changed the trajectory of my musical career in Orlando, paving the way for so many other possibilities and open doors including the Main Street Philharmonic, Orlando Philharmonic, and Florida Orchestra. I'm forever grateful to whomever glanced over my audition video in 2022 and said, "Ok sure, she can be a sub."
Speaking of Main Street Phil! Kristen (trumpet) was there tonight, and she has made every member of the band a sticker with their instrument!!
I immediately ran to put it on my case! I love it!
All three shows went very well. Our guest narrator was Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was funny and energetic and had this great flair and showmanship woven into her narration. But I don't know how she survived in the short sleeved white dress she was wearing! It was QUITE cold. For the first show I was able to get by with my blazer under the pea coat, but for the other two the chill off the lake was bad and I was glad to have that fleece sweater under the coat. And also THANK GOD that I spent hours visiting multiple TJMaxx, Ross, Marshalls, and Macy's until I found that damn pea coat!! It was well worth the effort to have it tonight and not freeze to death.
One last thing to mention. Jameson's friend Clay Price conducted the final two shows of Candlelight! I have worked with Clay before in Encore shows, but never before at Candlelight. It was wonderful to perform with him again!
(photo from a previous year, poached from his facebook.)
(and also I will mention that it was likely Clay who approved my audition for Candlelight in 2022.)
After the last show we all walked back to the break room, hugging or shaking hands and wishing each other a happy new year. Jeff (principle trombone) and Harold (bass trombone) made a point to shower me in compliments and tell me how much they'd enjoyed having me in the section, and I barely knew how to respond. They suggested getting together to do quartets when I'm next in town, and I think that would be fun :) Note to self to text Jeff about it in March.
And with that my theme-parking is at an end. In just five days I'm rejoining the tour in Houston.
Despite being three weeks long, this was the shortest layoff EVER.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday: Up early to buy shrimp somewhere and take my blazer to a dry cleaner. And then selling my car. Doing some NYE food prep. After Jameson leaves for his gig I'll probably clean and practice and have a quiet New Years Eve by myself.
Thursday: This is when we'll celebrate the new year! I'll make wings, shrimp cocktail, mini naan pizzas, frozen spanakopitas, cut veggies, and of course we'll have cocktails and our Christmas cookies and candy for dessert. And Jameson's caviar and blini too. Just gonna snack on these things throughout the day I think, maybe watch a movie or go for a walk.
I was up at 7:30 for breakfast, then drove 30 minutes to the nearest Toyota dealership.
To kind of recap, I'm selling my 10-year-old Corolla for the following reasons:
- This year my car was infested with rodents and needed $8000 in repairs, of which I had to pay $2000 out of pocket.
- I've just gotten confirmation that I'll be on tour through the end of 2027. This means I'll only be home every 3-ish months, and only for a few weeks at a time, for the next two years.
At the dealership I was seen right away. They went out to look at the car and came back with an offer of $5000.
I showed them my online offer from Carmax, which was $8000.
Dudebro Associate went away to pretend to talk to his boss, then came back with, "I can probably, maaaybe, get you $6000."
Mm hmm. I took his card and said I'd think on it. He sort-of tried to get me to stay and deal but I wasn't having that. I left saying I'd let him know within the next hour whether or not we had a deal.
Carmax was nearly an hour drive in the opposite direction. Got there and had to wait 20 minutes because they were busy, but that's ok. Showed the associate my online offer and asked if they could look at the car in person and confirm it.
The woman took my key and went to look at my car for about the same amount of time that the Toyota salesperson had.
She came back and said, "Yes, we'll give you $8000 for it. Did you want to sell today?"
Friggin sweet. I still need my car for Candlelight on the 30th (Ubers are not allowed on backstage Disney property) so I made an appointment to bring it back to sell on the 31st. Honestly I'm very happy with that price. If everything goes to plan, I'll use the money to buy an O'Malley trombone and save whatever is left over.
That done, I got home and had lunch with Jameson who had just come back from a haircut. After lunch I practiced bass for 30 minutes, then trimmed my banana trees out back. There are EIGHT of them now! One of them has a banana flower, but there's no way it can fruit at this time of year.
Anybody want a banana tree?? U-pick :p
The rest of the afternoon we did NOTHING and it was GREAT. Neither of us have had a real day of rest since I've been home, and we need it. Jameson has a brutal schedule for New Years. He is subbing for a friend's band both for the money and as a favor. He has a rehearsal tonight at 2am, shows from about 8pm - 2am on the 30th, and the actual New Years Eve gig at Tomorrowland on the 31st. My schedule is more calm, with only one more night of Candlelight, but I will need to do any grocery shopping within the next 48 hours before I lose my car. Then of course there's the cooking, cleaning, packing, and making sure I've done everything that I can before going back out on tour.
Jameson took some Unisom and went to bed around 6pm since he's got to get up at 1am. I stayed up to eat stale cookies and watch Vox Machina and otherwise goof off, then joined him around 10pm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TUESDAY
I woke up when Jameson got up at 1, and again when he came back at...I have no idea what time but I felt him roll into bed next to me.
Was fully awake around 8am, a little headachy, probably because the temperature dropped 30 degrees overnight. It's cloudy and downright cold this morning for Florida at 45°F (7.2°C). Will definitely be bringing my black pea coat to Candlelight tonight.
Breakfast, packing dinner for Candlelight, and Jameson wasn't up yet so I took myself to Publix for NYE ingredients. I managed to get everything we need except the shrimp...I once had a bad experience with raw shrimp kept in the fridge for a full day, and since then I prefer to buy it the same day it's getting cooked or not at all. Back home Jameson was up and rehearsing some stuff for his gig. The sun had come out so I went for a shortened neighborhood walk. I'm feeling restless. It's because tonight is the final Candlelight performance; tomorrow is New Years Eve and I sell my car; and on Monday I leave for tour. It feels like I just got here. The holidays are always so BUSY.
Afternoon was very lazy. Not surprisingly Jameson needed to take a nap after lunch, and I was not in a mood to practice anyway. Read some of my book, dozed, and watched Vox Machina.
At 3:30, off to Candlelight. Because of the temperature drop I made sure to bring not only my cheapo black pea coat, but also a black scarf and black fleece sweater with a high-zip collar. The low tonight was 48 or so, but with the wind off the EPCOT lake it could feel like 43 (6.1C) at times. Anyway, as I walked into the green room our show manager Renee was in the middle of handing out certificates for years of service. Some people have been performing in Candlelight for over 40 years!! That is AMAZING!! Jeff (our principal trombone) got his 35-year certificate tonight. As a full-timer, he performed 99 Candlelight shows this year.
I cannot believe that I've been a part of Candlelight for three years. When people ask I usually say two, because I wasn't asked to perform during my second year so that year doesn't exist for me! Lol.
But wow. This also means I've been a Disney cast member for three whole years. Which is so insane considering that I've spent most of my entire life thinking that I wasn't good enough for Disney. Not to mention being rejected at every single Disney audition that I took (and there were MANY.) But somehow, at the ripe age of 40, someone decided to give me a chance. And that one little opportunity ended up being a catalyst that changed the trajectory of my musical career in Orlando, paving the way for so many other possibilities and open doors including the Main Street Philharmonic, Orlando Philharmonic, and Florida Orchestra. I'm forever grateful to whomever glanced over my audition video in 2022 and said, "Ok sure, she can be a sub."
Speaking of Main Street Phil! Kristen (trumpet) was there tonight, and she has made every member of the band a sticker with their instrument!!
I immediately ran to put it on my case! I love it!
All three shows went very well. Our guest narrator was Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was funny and energetic and had this great flair and showmanship woven into her narration. But I don't know how she survived in the short sleeved white dress she was wearing! It was QUITE cold. For the first show I was able to get by with my blazer under the pea coat, but for the other two the chill off the lake was bad and I was glad to have that fleece sweater under the coat. And also THANK GOD that I spent hours visiting multiple TJMaxx, Ross, Marshalls, and Macy's until I found that damn pea coat!! It was well worth the effort to have it tonight and not freeze to death.
One last thing to mention. Jameson's friend Clay Price conducted the final two shows of Candlelight! I have worked with Clay before in Encore shows, but never before at Candlelight. It was wonderful to perform with him again!
(photo from a previous year, poached from his facebook.)
(and also I will mention that it was likely Clay who approved my audition for Candlelight in 2022.)
After the last show we all walked back to the break room, hugging or shaking hands and wishing each other a happy new year. Jeff (principle trombone) and Harold (bass trombone) made a point to shower me in compliments and tell me how much they'd enjoyed having me in the section, and I barely knew how to respond. They suggested getting together to do quartets when I'm next in town, and I think that would be fun :) Note to self to text Jeff about it in March.
And with that my theme-parking is at an end. In just five days I'm rejoining the tour in Houston.
Despite being three weeks long, this was the shortest layoff EVER.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday: Up early to buy shrimp somewhere and take my blazer to a dry cleaner. And then selling my car. Doing some NYE food prep. After Jameson leaves for his gig I'll probably clean and practice and have a quiet New Years Eve by myself.
Thursday: This is when we'll celebrate the new year! I'll make wings, shrimp cocktail, mini naan pizzas, frozen spanakopitas, cut veggies, and of course we'll have cocktails and our Christmas cookies and candy for dessert. And Jameson's caviar and blini too. Just gonna snack on these things throughout the day I think, maybe watch a movie or go for a walk.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-31 05:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-31 12:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-31 10:24 am (UTC)Great price on the car, good decision not to go with the other guy. I think you are wise to sell it, it doesn't make sense for it to just sit there depreciating
no subject
Date: 2025-12-31 12:25 pm (UTC)Thanks, I agree, it's a better price than what I was expecting for a beat-up 2016. But then again it has a very clean interior and an accident-free history, which is rare for used cars in Orlando. I didn't expect to actually sell to the dealer, but have also never dealt with Carfax and wasn't sure they'd give me a good price either, so I wanted at least two parties to play off each other. Seems to have worked out...we'll find out today, I'm up early to do my last grocery run and then sell it.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-31 05:06 pm (UTC)Happy New Year and hope you have a restful start to the year (even if only for 24 hours!)
no subject
Date: 2025-12-31 05:09 pm (UTC)Happy New Year to you as well! Time is a construct but still…Hope it’s a good one :D
no subject
Date: 2026-01-01 04:11 pm (UTC)I kind of prefer that the new year for the northern hemisphere is in the spring - feels strange to make resolutions for growth in the dead of winter!