goofball on a train

Thursday, work at Epic, the usual routine.

Super hot. We had hoped it would rain but sadly it did not, so it was just stiflingly humid.
Our sets were well attended however, and I saw Small Bee Photography there again, so perhaps we'll have some nice photos of our sets too :) It is so incredibly awesome of these pro photographers to give us FREE access to the images that they take.

At the final set there was a "show dump" happening right when we were going out to start our performance.
A "show dump" just means the audience is clearing out of the theatre and back into the street. The circus was dumping, and all the people who had just seen that show were pouring into our performance space in Place Cachee. We only have one handler and there was no way she could clear all those people out by herself.

(photo courtesy touringplans.com)

So I went out there as Phillipa, ahead of our cart and the handler.
Saw our tech fighting the sea of people to get to his audio spot.
Planted myself in the middle of the square packed with people, looked around, and shouted,
"AH, SACRE BLEU! I MUST TEST ZE ACOUSTICS IN ZIS SPACE!"


Put my trombone up and started playing short loud notes: "BAP BAP BAP"
...and a few longer ones right at eye level for good measure: "BLAAAAAAT"
While doing that, swinging slowly in a circle, forcing people to move away from my slide.

They scattered like roaches!

"Jules" came up behind me and parked the cart. "Wow!" he exclaimed, in character. "Zat was effective!"
I gave him a pleasant Phillipa smile. "Well! I do my best."

When our day was done I got ready to go see Mariah's band play downtown. I wiped myself down with a "bathing wipe" that I picked up ages ago somewhere on tour. Quicker than a shower, and ensured that I wouldn't clear out the venue with my stink. Had started to drive over there when Jameson sent me a long audio message. Turns out he's already being poached by another branch of Disney corporate. This is only his second day of work!!

This one is called Disney Live Entertainment (DLE) which is a part of Imagineering and for whom Jameson has interviews MANY times. They want him to be a producer for them, temporarily, on the Disney Magic cruise ship at the end of June! The ship will be in the Bahamas and there's a band he'll supervise during rehearsals. How cool! He was SO EXCITED.

This is the thing about Disney. Once your pinky toe is in the door, YOU ARE IN. Buckle up and prepare for liftoff.

Feeling happy for Jameson, I continued on to Judson's Live, the venue where Mariah's band Raspberry Pie was performing.
Ages ago I promised to come see her play, and was glad to be able to keep that promise :)

( Raspberry Pie at Judson's Live )
I decided to leave before the end of the second set, having been up since 5am and knowing that Jameson would want to talk my ear off about his exciting cruise ship opportunity. Got home and as predicted he had a lot to tell me! I listened as he described the job and how it had been offered, his speculations about what it would be like, etc, until midnight when we finally wound down.

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Friday, Jameson had to pop over to Disney to work out some technical issues with his logins, but he was back by lunchtime.

I had breakfast and hydrated, washed our sheets, made the bed, did laundry, typed this post, got ingredients for sesame chicken salad for dinner, got the chicken marinating, and made the spicy citrus dressing. I "should have" practiced but was feeling cranky, don't wanna, didn't. I was in a bit of a mood, perhaps from drinking too much the night before and not getting much sleep.

Ultimately I'm grateful that our non-standard lifestyle does generally allow large chunks of time to rest if I choose. From 2pm to 4pm I was able to doze, read, decompress, and try to gentle myself back into a pleasant mindset. I was 50% successful. Cooked the chicken and assembled the salads, which are napa cabbage, romaine, the sweet-spicy chicken, mandarin oranges, pomegranate seeds, toasted nuts (your choice), crispy wontons, avocado, sesame seeds, and a tangy citrus dressing. Jameson loves it and that makes me happy :)

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Saturday. I was kind of a slug. Breakfast and mostly practiced, spending 1 hour on Beauty and the Beast and 1 hour on the Chicago tribute band stuff. I am starting to (barely, sort of) feel better about the Chicago music, but will be happy when that gig is over with.

Jameson went for a walk, and we both kind of lazed around, then decided, why don't we use some more of our Disney Dining Discount coupons? We looked at the resorts, and Jameson recommended Flying Fish which is at the Boardwalk resort.

Got our reservations and drove over around 5, enjoyed looking around a bit, and were seated very quickly.
Very cute steak and seafood restaurant with whole schools of glass flying fish dangling from the ceiling.
We each got a drink (sauvignon blanc for me, vanilla bean bourbon for him) and I got the following:

Strawberry Gazpacho (vegan)


Ash-crusted Salmon with Herb Risotto, maitake mushrooms, baby turnips, greens, and shellfish broth
(I got too excited and dug in before remembering to take a pic)


Matcha Bavarian Cream with guava curd, sesame white chocolate, and vanilla panna cotta


Jameson had the shrimp cocktail appetizer, "Frutti di Mare" entree (assorted shellfish with pasta and red broth), and this Hazelnut Chocolate Bar that came with a golden truffle.


All of it was extremely good. The gazpacho was visually stunning and also amazingly complex in flavor, herby and tart and fresh. There were tiny cubed vegetables hidden in it. The salmon was very interesting, I assume it's capped in charcoal powder with maybe a little salt. The crust wasn't very flavorful but did give a fun smoky, crispy texture. The risotto was excellent, and I could have eaten those baby turnips in a bag as a snack lol. The matcha guava dessert was VERY good, matcha and guava go together quite well. Jameson's favorite was the shrimp cocktail which featured plump white wine-braised shrimp, though he loved the flavorful pasta in his main dish too. We both felt "meh" about the choco-hazelnut bar as it was kind of one-note; a little fruit would have been welcome with it, that's all.

Once again we were able to use a 50% off coupon. With tip it was probably about $100 each (in other words it would have been $200 without the coupon!) Very, very grateful for our castmember perks.

Back home I took time to move some of the furniture off the pool deck because we're having it sealed tomorrow.

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Sunday, Jameson kept kicking me in his sleep and almost kicked me out of bed!
So I finally just got up ahead of my alarm. Poo-head!

Had breakfast and then moved the heavier pool deck furniture outside of the screen, swept the pool deck.
The sealant guy came around 9:30 and after an amicable chat he got to work.
I had hoped to go for a walk, but received a surprise transcription job so plugged away at that instead (it was supposed to be sent on the 30th so I'm a bit annoyed that I've lost those days to work.)

Pool deck dude was done a little after noon. He always does an excellent job and is THE only contractor we've ever called back (three times now.) I always write him a very good Google review with pictures, so this time he asked me to take photos while he was working and made me promise to add them to my review, which I'm very happy to do. His work was $$$$ and it made me cringe, but I definitely couldn't do this myself and it took him 3 hours, and we only have to do it once every 3 years or so.

After that, lunch and trombone practice, all three sizes of trombone. Then back to transcription while Jameson watched the Cubs game.

Checked my email during a transcription break and was thrilled to see that the music coordinator for BATB has finally sent our music, and play-along tracks!! There are only TEN DAYS until tour begins, and I am seeing our actual music for the first time. Turns out, it's exactly the same as the Australian version. Wooooo!!

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Monday: Transcription, rehearsal for the all-chick Chicago tribute band.

Tuesday: Transcription, and finally getting this Chicago tribute band gig out of my face.

Wednesday: Transcription, packing for Epic, getting my trombone stands and mutes ready to ship to Schenectady.

Monday, I was up at 6:30am to have coffee and get my soul in my body before the sink installer (plumber?) arrived.

Before anyone mansplains me about how easy it is to install your own sinks and faucets:

     - I've been mansplained about this several times already. Thanks, though.
     - I did try to replace/fix the guest bathroom faucet, and was unable to remove it without breaking it.
     - I'm unwilling to rely on my complete inexperience to both remove the old and install the new properly. This is NOT MY HOUSE, it's Jameson's, and we both agreed it's worth the money to have someone do it right.

M'kay, thanks.

Of course the guy did not show up during the first half of his window, so I got up early for nothing, but if I hadn't gotten up then Murphy's Law would dictate that he'd have been here EARLY. While I waited I packed lunch and dinner for Disney tomorrow, worked on foodie finds, and watched some anime. He did show up around 9:30, so I nervously piddled on the computer while he got to work. He was just finishing up when Jameson got back from the gym.

Thanks everyone who had kind thoughts in our direction for this installation.
For once, everything went smoothly and we did NOT get ripped off! Yay!!


One of the new sinks. I forgot to do before-and-after photos. The old sink was off-white with a very corroded Moen single handle faucet. The old sink was also metal, and rust was coming through the enamel where it had cracked (had been like that when we moved in.) Jameson was very happy with the new sinks, and that made me happy :) Since he doesn't let me pay bills, I am glad to contribute to household things when I can!

After that was a normal day: grocery for dinner ingredients, practicing, small tour things here and there, and some down time which I very much appreciated.

One extra thing that I did was wash the little scrap of felt that my mom embroidered for me, many years ago, to put over my trombone stand.


Trombone stands are made with rubber parts, and when there's condensation in the trombone bell it can stick to the stand and cause a loud suction-y noise when you pick up your horn. A lot of trombonists simply put a sock over their stand top to prevent that issue. My mom wanted to do something special for me. So she took a little blue piece of felt and embroidered it, and cut a hole in the middle. It has never quite fit properly, but that doesn't matter, I use it anyway.

My mom died before I got to college.
She never got to see me perform with the circus, or on a cruise ship, or on tour, or at Disney or Epic.
She died not knowing whether I'd succeed as a musician or not.
But that didn't matter to her. She supported me anyway.

And I fully believe that that is a big reason why I was successful in the end.

Today I washed her gift so that I can attach it to my bass trombone stand and bring it on this next tour with me. That way my mom can be there in a way. She would have been SCREAMING and crying happy tears to hear what tour I'm on this summer. We would have been overjoyed together, I know.

Anyway.
Dinner was just Chicago dogs and smiley fries.
After dinner I had a little surprise for Jameson!

A few days ago he sent me THIS TikTok.
If you can't see the video, it features this XL pill bottle...except instead of pills, someone filled it with SNACKS.



I was FLABBERGASTED. What a great idea!!!
You can have your sweet, savory, chocolatey, gummy, sour, or crunchy snacks, all together! Yet separate!
It's like a grandma's candy dish, only portable!

And the bottle is so cheap, I HAD to get it. I mean, how convenient this will be for tour!! At the airport, or on an 8-hour bus ride, or a long rehearsal with short breaks! I can mix and match snacks as I like, and I can refill it from the free hotel breakfasts that offer dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate chips. Not to mention the candies that inevitably appear on tour. And I can easily share with others without them shoving their sticky hands into my bag of candy. People can take what they want from any compartment.

I got one for each of us, and an assortment of movie theater boxes of candy for us to choose from.



There are six compartments with one being double-sized (I felt that this would be good for larger gummies, salty snacks, or granola.) We each added some Good n' Plenty, Jelly Bellies, Skittles, and Peanut Butter M&M's to our bottles. Jameson added Sour Patch Kids and plain M&M's to his, and I added pepitas, and a mix of leftover Robin Eggs and 72% chocolate chips to my large compartment.


Everything fits through the spouts. We might have to shake stuff once in a while, but really, even the large Robin Eggs fit!
I am so unreasonably excited about this!! The possibilities are endless!

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Tuesday was a rehearsal day at Disney. I love rehearsal days because it's essentially full-day pay with half the work for both myself and Keith (the full time trombonist.) I got to do one set and the parade. We did our "Disney Classics Medley" with a new dialogue break, and the guys are doing "You Can Fly" for parade so I got to try that for the first time and it went well. It was a very hot day so I made sure to drink lots of water and keep an eye on myself.

Also, I brought my Snack Pod! (That's what I'm calling the pill bottle full of candy lol)
It was SO NICE to be able to grab a small snack between sets if I felt like it!
Yes, I know that you can pack a small snack for yourself as well, but to have lots to choose from is what's so fantastic here. Sometimes I pack myself salted nuts and find later that I'd rather have something sweet, or vice versa. Whatever I'm still excited about it haha.

It was a nice day, and at the end of it Keith asked me to come in on the 18th! Yay! Always happy for Disney work!

Back home, catching up with Jameson while packing breakfast lunch and dinner for tomorrow at Epic.

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Wednesday, Epic work. The routine has become

5:30am - 6am Wake up, make coffee, do "Phillipa hair"
6am - 6:45am Drink the coffee and work on Foodie Finds or watch anime
6:45 - 7:30am Breakfast, washing dishes, grabbing my stuff, out the door
7:30am - 8am Any early morning errands that can be done. Shipping packages, picking up bagels, going to Sprouts or Whole Paycheck. Today it was Sprouts for extra electrolyte drink mix and a snack mix for my Snack Pod.
8:30am - 9am Park, go through security, sign in, put lunch in fridge, put on makeup and costume
9:10am - 10am Practice bass trombone
10am - 11am Chat with the guys when they arrive, have a snack, warm up on the tenor trombone
11:30am First set of the day

The cart is gone again for repairs, and so is Plume, so we had to do the shows without it. It was fine, I never miss the cart but always miss cute little Plume. No drunk people in our faces today so that was nice. It was very hot so we all tried to stay hydrated.

After work I ate dinner in the car while driving home. Packed meals for tomorrow and made a dinner plan with Jameson for the weekend.

The MD for the tour I'm on announced his involvement across all his socials today, so have hopes that I'll be able to share it with you all soon too. Still going to wait because etiquette is for the full casting announcement to go out first and that hasn't happened yet.

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Thursday: Another day at Epic, no cart and no Plume.

Friday: Early morning car appointment for the 100k service and regular maintenance. Crossing fingers and toes that there's nothing beyond that because after spending $2k on replacing all of our sinks and faucets this week my bank account is hurtin'.

Saturday & Sunday: Nothing planned. Practice and cooking and chores.

Blog post for LiveJournal's 26th birthday, about holidays and celebrations.
Read it HERE

Thursday at Epic Universe again.

Today we had Warner Bros. "audits," which only meant that a lot of execs were at our first show specifically to review it and give feedback. Some of us were likely quivering in our boots, but ultimately only three of us would perform, and they of course chose Mariah (trombone), Adam (trumpet), and Adrian (clarinet). They're the preferred group, so we call them "the PR trio."

This was our first time seeing Mariah in costume and she ROCKED it. Especially the hat, now that I've worked at a hat shop I can see that the shape of it suits her face shape very well. Mariah is black, and the color of the suit is flattering against her skin tone. I was a bit jealous but costumes can't suit everyone who wears them, and this one is totally meant for her!

The PR Trio did all of the shows, all day. Which makes sense...why make costumes drag ALL of our costumes out, or put us ALL in makeup? But the rest of us sadly ended up doing nearly nothing all day. Yes we were paid, but it felt awkward that three of us were doing all the work and six of us were just sort of sitting around reviewing lines and blocking. I should appreciate the down time; we will get our turn.
(Fun fact: this happens in orchestra/theater pits as well, usually during rehearsals when actors and lighting/techs get bogged down in rehearsing stuff and forget that there are ten people below the stage who have done nothing for four hours. So it isn't uncommon or exclusive to Universal, performance arts just be that way sometimes.)


(The Epic Universe ad that aired during the Super Bowl)

After lunch we had a really exciting event: we got to see the stage show, Le Cirque Arcanus!!

(photo courtesy allears.net)

It was INCREDIBLE. I mean...here is where Disney is going to be strapped to come up with something that can compete. As usual I daren't share details, but the technology and staging and animatronics and puppetry and visuals and live performers, all coming together in this show, are STUNNING. I've never seen anything like it. You could actually believe you were watching wizarding magic being performed right in front of you. Really REALLY grateful that they let us see it today. Once the park is open we probably won't get another chance.

After that there was one more show, and we were pretty much done for the day.
I hadn't gotten to play my frankenbone other than to warm up, but Andrea is willing to use it as well since she also doesn't want her personal trombone to be used with our prop. Therefore I left Frankenbone in the green room tucked in a corner, and it will live there for any of us to use as needed, with our own mouthpieces of course and cleaning it regularly.

Before leaving today Mariah and I made a point to have a little photoshoot at the Epic Universe countdown clock.
We were denied a full-cast photo here last week, but Universal has since backtracked on that decision and started allowing pics here. It looks like it's too late for a full-cast photo now since too many people will be missing, so we figured at least we could get individual shots.

Just me, with the timeclock and wearing my Epic badge.


Mariah and I cheesing together:



Back home I packed meals as usual, practiced bass trombone, did a load of laundry, then got a bug up my butt to do more since Jameson was out watching our friend Lea perform in a show. After laundry I washed and changed our bedsheets, memorized some Disney music, and scrubbed the shower with a horrifically smelly bleach-based cleaner that Reddit says is the absolute best but warned me to ventilate to the extreme. Even with the vent fan on in the bathroom my eyes and throat were burning, so I had to open the door out to the pool deck and hold my breath while scrubbing away. Florida is very humid and mold and mildew reappear so quickly no matter how hard I scrub. When I was finished it really did look better, but I can only handle suffocating like that maybe 2-3 times a year. So it had better keep the mold away for a long time.

When Jameson got home I told him of my doings and we went right to bed.

Almost forgot, Andrea, the third female trombonist at Epic, got me an Easter gig! Usually I do the cathedral downtown in Orlando but they haven't asked yet. I'm grateful that she asked me :)

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Friday and another day at Epic. This time I was the one in costume and performing sets, which is good because I want the practice and also PR trio needs a break after they did all of the shows yesterday!

Our first set was canceled partly because @bioreconstruct was back, circling in his chartered helicopter. Now that previews are happening the park and everyone in it are behaving as though it's open for business, so there are people in costume and interactives and performances happening all over. There are still a lot of things that Universal wants to keep secret until the big reveal, and we are one of those things. So we ducked under an archway and waited, and waited. Additionally, there was a malfunction with our entrance door that probably ultimately led to the cancellation.

The rest of our sets went very well. We are getting used to working with our prop, interacting, and even the new changes that we've just learned in the past few days. I am getting used to how the costume feels, and learning how long it takes to get in and out of costume/makeup each day. And my "frankenbone," although it's not as fun to play as my own horn, will work for this show.

You know, I think we might be ready to do real shows! It feels like just yesterday we were panicking about memorizing our music. Time flies.

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

Before our last set of the day, we were given something really special.
Our 3rd party boss had us get out of costume, then took us into the park.
He took us to our performance spot.
I wasn't sure what was happening, but he looked SO EXCITED.

Cosme Acajor's wand shop is right next to our performance space...

(Image from Harry Potter Fandom Wiki)

With a huge smile, he opened the door to the wand shop and said, "Go on in....pick out your wands!"

That's right: they bought us our very own wands today!!!!

(The nine never-before-released wand options at Cosme Acajor.)

It was overwhelming, suddenly faced with the very personal choice of which wand is "meant" for you! And there were so many to choose from. Cosme's new-release wands are displayed beautifully in the shop, each one on an ornate stand and bearing a description of materials and personal characteristics that may be a good match for the wand. In addition to these, there are character wands "imported" from Ollivander's (Harry's wand, Newt Scamander's, Snape's, Dumbledore's, Death Eater wands, etc) available for purchase. The Ollivander's wands are sold in rectangular boxes, and the Cosme wands in triangles ("prisms.")

After gawking like a tourist I just started popping open boxes to see what the wands looked like, because there were at least 20 different Ollivander's wands to choose from. I was tempted by Skender's wand as it's circus-related, but he was a bad guy known for chaining up animals so decided against. Tempted also by the Cosme black-and-silver Deco wand (the one that I'd thought suited my show character) but it had ultimately been designated to the clarinets' character, so I passed on that too. My character's wand, incidentally, was nowhere to be seen in the shop, but if I want to go get it I've got a gift receipt and could do an exchange.

In the moment and a little overwhelmed by choice, I decided to a) look for a wand that suited me as opposed to my park character, and b) strongly consider the Cosme wands as they are the ones that are actually from the "world" where I'm working. I did in fact end up with a Cosme wand, and although I felt a little dubious about it at the time, the more I look at it the more appropriate it seems.

Can you guess which of the nine Cosme wands I chose?

When we had all checked out we thanked our boss profusely. These wands are not cheap, and they are beautiful, and the fact that he was able to arrange for us to own one even though we are 3rd party is incredibly generous and kind. I am not a Wizarding World fan, but very much appreciate the gesture and having a memento of my time here at Epic Universe, however long that turns out to be.

With that, we performed our final set, got out of costume, and headed home.
On the way out we took a group photo in front of the time clock. Not everyone was present but it was still really nice.
Congrats on making it to Preview Week, everyone!


Some folks went to Top Golf for a fun night out, but I have so much to do that I had to pass.
Instead, Whole Paycheck for salmon dinner ingredients, then home to unpack and tell Jameson about my exciting day.
Practicing trombone, receiving a new transcription job, and making plans for my days off before going to bed.

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Up early but spent a lot of time responding to social media messages, as I've just shared that I'm working at Epic publicly for the first time. Everyone has a zillion questions about the new park, which isn't surprising but is a bit annoying when anyone could google the basic info....well anyway.

After that I had my tax meeting, and found out that I'll be breaking even this year, which is just fine by me.

Then made the dill sauce for salmon tonight, and decided to make some carrot cake muffins using leftover matchstick carrots. I used Half-Baked Harvest's recipe, which is semi-healthy and she has you drop a cube of cream cheese into the center of each muffin which should be lovely. I made them today because Jameson is going to a Savannah Bananas baseball game tomorrow with his friend Hannah, and they have to leave early, and I figure they could take some muffins with them to enjoy on the drive :)


Then lunch, and cleaning up from that took a little while so by the time I sat down to do more transcription it was already 2pm. For dinner I made sous vide salmon with dill sauce, creamy lemon orzo, and roasted asparagus. It turned out quite good.

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Sunday, up early after a crummy sleep to do transcription.

Jameson got up shortly after, and his friend Hannah came to the house so they could leave for the Savannah Bananas game in Miami together. It's 8 hours round-trip driving, so I packed them some muffins to go with their other snacks and they left around 10am.

After they were gone I had quite the productive Alone Day:

     - About 2 hours of transcription
     - 1 hour trombone practice
     - Packing meals, clothes, and equipment for Epic tomorrow
     - Vacuumed, dusted, and mopped, which took quite a long time as I haven't done it in a while and was very thorough about it
     - Shopped for misc things like Tupperware to replace ones that broke recently, new underwear, and random household supplies
     - Shopped for crummy trombones on Goodwill so we'd have more than one at Epic (why I'm the one who has to do this is beyond me, but whatever)

By the time all of that was done it was 5pm, so made myself leftovers and a cup of tea and enjoyed typing this post and a little down time.

Tomorrow will be a very early Epic day, but Dwight is gone again so I think it'll just be our sets and hopefully ending at 4pm instead of 6pm. Also, I'm going to start bass trombone lessons this week! Excited and nervous, but looking forward to getting better at the bass trombone.

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Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: An Epic-Disney sandwich, with two Epic days flanking a Disney day. I'll be bringing my transcription work with me too.

Thursday: The first of FOUR WHOLE DAYS OFF IN A ROW. I'll finish transcription, do more household stuff, take my first bass trombone lessons, and cook us some nice meals.

Posting a day early again, but after this I should be able to get back on the regular Monday/Thursday schedule.

Very early in the morning, I was up to drive the 40 minutes to the car dealership. There was already a queue of cars waiting at 6:55. Checked in and waited for about two hours, and then the Toyota associate came back with BAD news.

It was definitely rodents. They had definitely chewed through my AC wiring, as well as the air filter and the straps holding....the AC unit?....in place. The worst part of all was that the mechanics couldn't find the dead mouse either. They suspected it was actually INSIDE the AC mechanism. Which meant they were going to have to pull the entire AC unit out. $$$$

In addition to all of that, my back rotors were basically metal rubbing metal (I had known that they were low but I literally JUST had the car at Firestone and they didn't say anything.)

The total estimate:     a whopping $5300.


( Car and Mouse )
Continuing my walk, I came across this sweet little water snake on the sidewalk, absorbing the warmth of the sun.


I thought she might be dead at first, but then saw her little tongue going blep-blep. Adorable!
(CLICK HERE to see)

She was very small, only a little longer than my hand. She moved away nervously when I put my finger close.


As I continued on my way it occurred to me: 2025 is the Year of the Snake!
How lucky am I, to have seen this year's token animal!

How lucky am I. It is not lost on me.

Back home Jameson and I had Panda Express and relaxed together until bedtime.

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Friday. Up somewhat-early for the 90-minute drive to Warburton.
Breakfast and clearing the table so that Jameson could work on a puzzle if he liked (he's getting very bored, poor guy.) Loaded up the bass trombone and off we went.


Warburton is always in a state of chaos. Boxes everywhere, random pianos, a shelf full of random method books, pieces of heavy machinery, brass shavings, and of course the big black mouthpiece display boxes for trumpet, cornet, French horn, trombone, baritone, tuba, etc etc. Warburton is known for their mouthpieces and their ability to fabricate custom mouthpieces. I'm lucky that they're Florida-based and close enough to visit. At this point all of my mouthpieces are Warburton except my large tenor, for which I use a Hammond (also very good.)

Today I needed a mouthpiece for my new bass. Kimberly, who runs the shop most of the time and plays the trumpet and has a pet squirrel, was there to greet me and we chatted it up, catching up on each others' lives. I think we'd be good friends if only we lived closer. While chatting I tried several mouthpieces, starting with a 1-1/2 standard and then a few custom versions of the same, and also a 2-cup (I know that all of this means nothing to you.)

Note that today was my VERY first time playing this bass trombone, and I am WELL pleased with it. The slide is unlubricated currently so started off a little jerky, but as I played and the brass warmed it got nice and smooth indeed. The Minick-worked rotors also were a pleasure. I had a hard time filling up the horn and got dizzy/lightheaded a few times, but that is something that will go away with time and persistent practice. As mentioned in other posts, I am not a "monster" musician or a power-focused player...but I will have to become one for this gig. Or at least as close as I can get.

I pretty quickly decided on the standard 1-1/2, and Kim threw in some awesome merch! A Warburton 50th anniversary shirt (don't ask why it has sharks and fish, I've no clue) and a Quality Control sticker featuring Meeny, her pet squirrel!


We hugged goodbye and as I was about to leave, a family of raccoons showed up to snack on some kibble that had been laid out for them! A mama and two babies. Kim says there are usually two other babies and wondered where they were.
(CLICK HERE for raccoons!)

I tiptoed around the family and took off with my goodies.
Back home I got an update on my car. Still torn apart. It won't be done today, but I'm hoping for tomorrow.


I practiced my Main Street Philharmonic music because there's a rehearsal on Tuesday. This was the first time I've played my Williams since going on tour with Elf. It went rough but that's ok. Patience and practice :)

We got Pub Subs for dinner, and that seems to have been a poor choice because Jameson threw his up a few hours later :/
I felt fine, so not sure what happened or if maybe it's because his stomach is hurting from all the meds lately.

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Saturday, I was up later than usual and feeling unmotivated.
This is probably my last "chill day" for quite a while.

Breakfast and finished watching Wolf's Rain, and the dealership called to say that my car was finished! YAY!
They'd found even MORE damage to the drive belt and other parts, so my insurance is now covering something ungodly like $8000 worth of work. I would never have recovered from that financial hit. So on the way to the dealership I stopped at Dunkin' and got a gift card for my associate, who had been kind and helpful and waived all of my rental car costs. When I got there we settled up...my bill for the rotors and non-rodent work came to $1080, still not cheap but manageable. Then he showed me my car, all reassembled and smelling fresh and clean, all the feces and acorn shells removed from under the hood. He showed me where I should put blocks of Tomcat bait (I don't want to do it but he says they may come back, as he never found a dead animal + their scent is still in the car.) We shook hands, I gave him the Dunkin' card, and that was that. Hopefully my insurance deals with the rest.

For anyone who's interested, my insurance is GEICO and they have been wonderful, now and in the past when I was in an accident and my car was totaled. Highly recommend them.

On the way home, picked up my coat from the dry cleaners and got a bag of Tomcat bait. Did laundry, chatted with Jameson, ate lunch, installed the bait in my car, and practiced my Universal audition music which had FINALLY come in the day before the audition. Argh, whatever.

At 5pm there was a free acting/dialect clinic for auditionees in Winter Park, so I drove up there to attend. There were 17 people there, 7 of whom were trombonists. Of the 17 only 4 were women, one on each instrument...but TWO of us ladies on trombone! The other female trombonist is Andrea, who I knew was local but didn't think she'd be interested in theme park stuff. It was a pleasure to finally meet her in person!

The dialect coach running the clinic was very cool, and she gave us partial scripts to work with which gave us a glimpse at what we might be expected to do for this role (hush-hush of course.) And from talking with each other we were able to figure out that auditions were roughly 12 minutes apart/going to be 12 minutes long, and that the trombones would be heard first (we all had morning audition times.) And that's pretty much it...the French was fun to practice, but honestly, there's no way most of us will remember this in front of an audition panel. If I retain any of it it'll be a miracle! But it was nice to meet people and get a little more info on what to expect tomorrow.

I drove home and told Jameson of my doings, made sure my horn and music and clothes were all laid out for the audition, then we chilled.

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Sunday: Auditioning for Universal. Jameson gets to remove his cast! I should also get a transcription job.

Monday: Transcription and practicing, possibly making dinner for us.

Tuesday: A day at Disney for Main Street Philharmonic rehearsal.

Wednesday: Taking Jameson to two doctors appointments, more transcription and practicing. I should find out by Weds whether or not I'll be involved in the Universal gig.

After breakfast I got bundled up for the cold and hoofed it over to the nearest Bank of America, about a mile away.

I went there for a "banker's check," because the person I'm buying a bass trombone from would like to be paid that way. He lives in California, so the trombone will have to make it intact all the way across the country to Florida. It's a $,$$$ check and it made me cringe to spend that kind of money. But if I get the gig I'm hoping for, I'll get that money back and then some.

After that, walked to a Salvation Army nearby and had to wait outside for 15 minutes because I got there too early. Stamping my feet in the cold and pacing like an idiot. Finally they opened, and I warmed up and enjoyed browsing for nothing-in-particular. I'm always on the lookout for new khakis (I only have one pair left and they're very old) and black dress shirts, but I never find these things. Instead, look at this FABULOUS shirt that I found!


It's hard to see in the pic, but it's a dark blue stretchy fabric with sparkling stars all over it. The stars sparkle silver or multicolored depending on light. It was only $4 so I bought it, and we'll see if I actually drum up the guts to wear it in public.

Walked back home, and on the way received some ASTOUNDING GOOD NEWS which I can't share yet but if you're an LJ Friend you know what it is! For now I can only say that it's a life-changing job opportunity, and I DO need that bass trombone after all! Overwhelmed with this, I unpacked my things and ate lunch in a daze, then started a load of laundry and spent much of the afternoon trying to gather my thoughts.

The evening show was fine, as far as I could tell. I am in the women's dressing room this week, and while I enjoy having my own space it's also nice to sit with a group of women, chat about this and that, hear everyone's plans and upcoming auditions post-tour, stuff like that.

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Friday, I could hardly sleep at all because every time I woke up my heart and brain were racing with this new job opportunity and what lies ahead. I'll tell you this much, it's another tour. And so I had an insomniac sort of night of randomly reading a book or googling this and that to try and lull myself back to sleep.

Breakfast and only a few free hours before we had to commute to the theatre for the first of two shows. I was extra-hungry so ate a Pop Tart. Show was ok but the audience was lame, very lukewarm.

During the break I stayed at the theatre and “air-tromboned” the music for my next tour. I’ve played through it before, but now that I know I’ve GOT the gig, it feels different. I’m making it “mine,” if that makes sense. A really nice feeling.

The evening show was all right, all of our shows are well-attended right now in the lead-up to Christmas.

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Saturday morning was more exciting than expected.

Upon checking my email, was shocked to see that I'd been offered a callback on a recent audition that I took...

...yeeees, the one that I'd assumed was a public rejection, after they posted a new audition listing and started specifically looking for "female trombonists" only AFTER I'd sent my materials in. Now I guess I have to open mouth insert foot on that. The callbacks are in early January. I won't be able to access my other trombones or audition materials until the week of the audition. Which isn't a problem per se, but it means I'll have less time to work on preparing than many others. But I will do my best.

After that exciting news I walked to Shapiro's for black-and-white cookies for the band. And more excitement happened!
The cashier's name was Greg, a really cool guy who was over the moon about the fact that I'm a trombonist visiting on tour. He hooked me up with a dozen fresh cookies, and also this fabulous Shapiro's Deli shirt with a pickle on it!!


As if that weren't amazing enough, as Greg was excitedly pelting me with questions about touring and tromboning, someone came up behind me and said, "Excuse me, but are you talking about trombones?" It was my facebook friend and fellow trombonist Josh! We've never met in person, but he knew me right away (I think it's the iconic raspberry pea coat that I wear everywhere) and we got to hug and take a quick selfie. What are the odds that we'd both be in the restaurant at the same time, on the same day? How cool!


We wished each other well on our respective gigs (He's doing a local production of "White Christmas") and chatted a bit about bass trombones since I'm buying one and he's primarily a bass trombonist. But we both had to be on our way after that. Great start to the morning!

We had two shows again, and I stayed at the theater again between shows to eat dinner and "air trombone" my new tour music. I would've liked to explore Butler University's campus, but it has been bitter cold here plus most of the buildings are closed for the weekend/holiday already.

Both shows went well and were well attended. We can probably expect some nice overage pay from Indianapolis!

Also, tonight marked the final performances of Jollywood at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
I wish I could have attended at least one show, but it wasn't meant to be this year.
Congratulations to the cast, crew, and Muppets involved. What a fantastic production to be a part of!
And of course, special congrats to my dear Jameson (pictured here with his friend and fellow performer, Lea)


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Sunday, I had gone to bed late because someone in the room above me was stomping around like an elephant until 1am :(
And also got up early because that's how I am :( :(

Made the best of it by packing lunch and dinner, eating breakfast, partially packing my luggage, and starting a new Megan's Foodie Finds for the next tour :) When the sun came out I bundled up and walked to CVS for a protein shake because I shorted myself one this week, plus I feel like I've been too sedentary because of the cold.

At the theatre, our two shows felt very long indeed. The vibe, from everyone, was wanting a break and wanting to go home and see family for Christmas. Still, both shows went well and nothing crazy happened. For the first show Mr. and Mrs. Boyce (Jameson's parents) showed up with Jameson's brother Kevin and his wife Debbie. We got to chat briefly afterward, and it was really great to see them and give hugs all around :)

After the second show I felt very impatient for my carpool to hurry up and pack (I'm always the first one out of the pit) but made myself relax. A few more minutes doesn't get me to Orlando and Jameson any sooner. Before I knew it we were back at the hotel.

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Tomorrow I'm flying with the tour to Charlotte, which for me is a layover and for them is the final city on tour.
From there I'm flying to Orlando to spend as much time with Jameson as possible over Christmas.
I'll be driving back up the east coast on Christmas Day to Charlotte, where Elf will have it's final shows.

Monday: Travel day, last-minute Christmas shopping

Tuesday: Christmas Eve Day, probably unwrapping presents with Jameson and having a nice dinner together

Wednesday: 10-hour drive to Charlotte

After Wednesday's show I was kidnapped by the Boyces!

Here is Jameson waiting for me by the pit, and being a goober :p
(CLICK HERE to see)

Yes, he flew up to join us for the holiday. His family enjoyed the show and had nothing but good things to say about it. We all drove back to their house which is an hour outside the city, so we didn't get there until midnight and then just went right to bed.

The next morning we were treated to a pumpkin "kringle" for breakfast, which is like a giant Danish pastry filled with pumpkin pie filling and is apparently a Wisconsin specialty. It was very good! The rest of the day was very chill, Mr. Boyce took Addison (their Bernese mountain dog) for a walk, I helped Ms. Boyce with small tasks like peeling potatoes and gathering ingredients, and we watched the Thanksgiving Day parade and munched on charcuterie until it was time for dinner.


Addison being a goof. She is 11 years old which is quite old for a Berner, and is slowing down. But she's still very sweet and playful.


Dinner was a lovely turkey with sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, slaw, cheesy sweet potatoes, from-scratch dinner rolls, and Ms. Boyce's cranberry sauce which is my favorite thing ever, she serves it every year. Everything was delicious, and I was grateful to enjoy a real home-cooked meal and a family setting while on tour. It's amazing that things lined up where we could all be there together :)

Unfortunately as the day went on I started feeling under the weather, and by evening it was clear that I'd caught something. It seems to be just a cold, and it is not at all surprising considering how challenging the last 48 hours have been for me, and that half the tour is ALSO sick with colds, flu, or covid. I'd MUCH rather have a cold than the other two!!

Mr. Boyce had gotten us tickets to go see Wicked, so we piled into the car and got there for the 7:30 showing. It's been a long time since I've been to the movies, so long that it felt nostalgic.


I know that Wicked has been over-hyped...but it really IS a good movie. A lot of time and attention was put into sticking to the original story line, and the costuming and dance numbers were absolutely incredible. The visual effects were of course stunning as well. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a 2.5 hour movie so I was sure I'd have to get up to pee at some point, but was so enthralled with the story that I didn't want to miss a single thing!

Back home we each had a slice of Ms. Boyce's from-scratch pumpkin pie, then went to bed :)

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Friday I woke up at 8 to pack up to go back to the hotel.
Ms. Boyce had made scrambled eggs and locally-produced sausage, both very good with a nice strong cup of coffee.

I was feeling slightly better, but playing six shows with a cold this weekend is not going to be fun. Hoping to get it out of my body before we fly to NOLA.

Mr. Boyce drove me back and we chatted along the way. He's a musician and amateur actor as well, so we had a lot of entertainment stuffs to share opinions about. The hour drive seemed to go by very quickly, and before I knew it I was back at the hotel and unpacking.

Typed this blog up and then got showered and dressed for our two shows. Both went just fine, nothing to report. It is bitter cold here right now, low 20s with a windchill so awful that the "real feel" is 6°F (-14.44°C) so I hustled back to the hotel as quickly as possible. It's so cold that it HURTS. Tomorrow I may pack a dinner and just stay at the theatre tbh.

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Saturday I was up early because I badly need to do laundry. Addison's fur is long and thick and black and gets on everything I own and smells like dog. I love Addison very much but absolutely can't STAND smelling bad at work or having pet dander on my clothing.

So, breakfast and an Uber to a laundromat as it was only 15 degrees out and I was not up for lugging my laundry a mile, uphill, with a cold, in those temps. There was a grocery next to the laundromat so I popped in there for end-of-week groceries too. Back at the hotel I rested and ate lunch, then it was showtime. Both shows went well, although we had to stop the second show only ten minutes in because of a "technical problem." This usually means the automated curtain got stuck.

Between shows I came back to the hotel to eat dinner and goof off. Monday starts another round of transcription plus we have TEN shows in New Orleans (normally eight) so I gotta enjoy my down time while it's here.

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Sunday, breakfast and packing for our travel day tomorrow, and also making myself some overnight oats and cold coffee to eat on the bus on the way to the airport (we are flying out of Chicago and it's a 1.5 hour bus ride to get there.)

Managed to apply for a few jobs, set up my two new transcription jobs, and enjoy relaxing a bit before the shows of the day, both of which were uneventful.

On the way back to the theatre for the last show, I took a detour into the lovely little riverfront park all decorated for the holidays. It was only 15°F with a "realfeel" of 5° (-15°C) but there were children running around and playing, couples strolling through, and people walking their dogs. All of this, plus the lights reflecting off of the shining frozen river, made for a beautiful holiday ambiance.
(CLICK HERE to see)

Tomorrow is a long travel day starting with a 1.5 hour bus ride to Chicago, a 2.5 hour flight, and another ride to our hotel in New Orleans. Between transcription and the extra shows in NOLA I don't expect to get a lot of time for fun, but will try to squeeze in whatever I can.

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Monday: Travel, groceries, transcription

Tuesday: Transcription and opening night in NOLA

Wednesday: Transcription, hoping to at least go for a walk.

Thursday: Two shows.

Popped awake Monday morning, ate breakfast, finished packing, and was ready to go by the time Jameson got up.

He drove me to the airport, helped me check in my luggage, and walked me to the gate where we hugged goodbye.
I squeezed him too hard, and felt some kind of way.
This is a short tour but that doesn't make being apart any easier.

This was the fastest I've ever gone through TSA. I think it took three minutes. Unheard of in Orlando!

The flight to Chicago was three hours long and was insignificant. I ate nonperishables and chatted with my seat-mates.
For the second flight our Reed 1 and Trumpet 2 were on the same flight, so we got to know each other a bit.

Neither of them has been on a tour before...Todd (trumpet) has done primarily cruise ships and is interested in doing more "land stuff," and Neil (Reed 1) seems to be doing this for the pay. Neither of them illicitly sourced their music in advance like I did, but have only seen it for the first time when the reorchestrated parts were sent a week ago.

Which is all to say that I'm probably well prepared, having had a part for much longer than that, but we'll see.

We landed in Lexington and had a 40-minute drive to the hotel in Richmond.
I did my thing where I drop my bags, make sure the fridge works, then go get groceries. Nothing special except some locally roasted coffee. Back at the hotel, unpacked and tried to remember what-goes-where when I'm on tour. Prepped as much as I could for tomorrow before falling asleep.

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Tuesday. I always feel like I've been hit by a bus the day after flying. Getting up early was hard.


We had a "Touring 101" orientation from 10-11, for which we were given "breakfast" which was bagels and cut fruit and coffee. I stole bagels because that's bread I don't have to buy. The info was pretty standard, good-to-know stuff, and I got to meet the band and pick up some Elf swag while we were at it! My music of course; my backstage pass; a nice water bottle; and the ubiquitous luggage tag. I've now got luggage tags from three different tours, which is a big flex :p


There are also some props stored where we’re rehearsing (DO NOT SHARE this photo please, super secret!!)


After lunch we got right to work.

This orchestra is interesting because there’s no bass or guitar, and there’s only one keyboard. To fill in all the missing instruments we have a dude with a laptop and mini-keyboard, using a program called Notion.

Notion is some sort of composition and performance software that uses London Symphony Orchestra samples to be lots of instruments. Throughout the rehearsal I played along with a ghost-trombone and ghost-tuba, and any number of other not-really-there instruments. You can definitely still tell it’s synthetic audio, but I guess it helps fill out the sound? Idk.

Rehearsal went way better than I expected. Everyone did a great job considering we only got the music a week ago. During breaks I got to chat with the guys and get to know people better.

Yes, the guys. The entire band, and the entire music production team, are all men. Same old story, different show. Where my ladies at??

During the dinner break I walked around the campus a little bit. It is fall here but still quite warm. The art building is very nice and a good place to rehearse this show.


I sat outside to eat lunch, a thing you can't really do in Florida without ruining your clothing with sweat for the day.
It felt good :)

Rehearsal went until 10pm (a 12-hour day) and I was dead tired by the end of it.

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Wednesday, I was supposed to go visit an American chestnut tree orchard this morning on the campus of EKU. I'd planned it knowing that rehearsal wasn't until 1pm. BUT at 11:30 last night a frantic email was sent out asking us to come in at 10am instead. Something about having to move the drums to the pit without losing rehearsal time? Whatever, I'm disappointed but not surprised. Chestnut visit canceled.

Instead, breakfast and a trip to Meijer for some things that I forgot, like a lint roller and chapstick.

Rehearsal was fine again, though we were all very tired and perhaps a bit frustrated with the acoustics in the rehearsal room. It's a large room with no carpeting, very boomy, lots of reverb making us sound mushy. But at the end of the night we picked up all of our things and moved to the pit. Starting tomorrow we'll have in-ears and Avoim mixes, so we'll be able to hear each other much more clearly. I'll be interested to see how Notion fits into the mix, being a blend of multiple instruments.

As soon as we got to the pit I set my stand and mic how I like them, laid out my mutes, poked my Aviom to make sure it's blank, and configured my conductor cam. When I was satisfied I looked up and realized that it was easy to tell who was a tour newbie: the musicians who hadn't been on tour before were standing awkwardly behind their chairs, staring and looking afraid to touch anything. Ah...I was like that, once. It felt strange to realize that I'm the seasoned veteran now!

I forgot to take pictures in the pit, so instead have this picture of the stage. I snuck in during the lunch break, and they were in the middle of fixing a lighting rig. But you can see the Rockefeller Center ice skating scene is set up. (Again again again, NO SHARING PLEASE.)


Other cool things that happened today:

- During a rehearsal break, Michael (AMD over on Peter Pan, currently giving musical guidance for Elf) came up to me. "I have a present for you from Kevin Vu," he said. "KEVIN!!" I exclaimed. Kevin and I performed together on Tootsie, and he was a big fan of my Foodie Finds! The shirt, it turns out, was from Three Fold Noodles, a restaurant in Little Rock that serves handmade noodles and other delicious Asian goodies. You can CLICK HERE to read about the time I got to eat there (TL;DR it was amazing.) Peter Pan went back through Little Rock, and Kevin thoughtfully bought me this souvenir! I quickly texted to thank him, and will send him a picture when I wear it :)

- After we had loaded into the pit I hustled up to the Green Room to retrieve my dinner. On the way I passed an important-looking guy in a suit, who stopped me by saying, "Hey, are you Megan?" His name is Sam Scalamoni, he's our Director for Elf, and we have a mutual friend! We both know Tom, a pianist whom I worked with on the circus (I don't yet know how Tom and Sam met.) Tom had asked Sam to say hello to me if we crossed paths. How cool, how lucky! And how small the entertainment world is!

We were thankfully done at 7pm today, and I went right home for dinner, a shower, hot tea, and pajamas.

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Thursday: I guess it's Halloween! A 15-hour day with sound checks starting at 8am, then Wandelprobe until 11pm. Kill me now (but it still beats working in a hat shop)

Friday: More rehearsal but I think it'll be just run throughs and a shorter day, thank God.

Saturday: Preview show at 2pm, then load out

Sunday: Travel to Detroit. It's really weird to travel on a Sunday but whatevs, I don't make the rules (plus I think we'll get Monday off?? A girl can dream!)

Sunday's hat: the buffalo hat!! There was only one left so I snatched it and wore it all night. Not excited AT ALL.


Sales were abysmal because it rained for the entire night. It's supposed to rain from now until Milton hits.

Monday. Jameson's alarm went off at 8 because he's got Jollywood rehearsals in the mornings all week. He's very excited and nervous :) I'm happy for him and sorry that he's got to kick it off with a cold.
I'm feeling better...I have steps that I take when I think a virus is after me. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but this time it seems to have worked temporarily.

Monday was a day off for me but I have so much to do that it didn't feel like one. It was 72 degrees out which was a blessing. I savored the feeling of "chilly air" on my skin as I brought the bananas inside. Then:

- Laundry
- Running the dishwasher
- Subsequent folding of laundry and putting away of dishes
- Planning dinner
- Breakfast and two hours of transcription
- Lunch and to the grocery for dinner ingredients

Since this hurricane is now a Cat 5 I used that as a psychological excuse to drive all the way to Whole Paycheck and get some of my favorite treats. They have a new flavor of Koia: matcha latte! Maybe it's dumb to buy perishable stuff right before a storm like this, but oh well.

Back home I decided to once again skip practicing so I could focus on transcription and prepping dinner. I made Chicago dog salad: pretty much all the toppings on a Chicago dog but mixed together in a big bowl with romaine and coleslaw mix, like a salad. Then I cooked the hot dogs in slices and mixed them in too. Instead of buns we sometimes use russet potato skins, which I roast in the oven with celery salt and black pepper. Turned out very good.

Jameson got home and immediately had to do his online teaching work, so I delayed dinner and did more transcription.
After dinner we discussed what to do about the hurricane.


The tough thing is that it's a Cat 5 now, but it's "probably going to" weaken to a Cat 3 by landfall. Probably.
We agreed we'll have to wait and see what happens with the forecast.
If it looks like it's going to hit as a Cat 4 or 5, we'll throw some things in our cars (we decided to drive separately to have double vehicles and double gas and more room for stuff) and GTFO. We'd aim for North Carolina; my aunt lives there and I have good friends there who would take us in. Jameson's brother lives in Georgia, but he has kids and also didn't offer to host us.

Right now, though, we're not planning to evacuate. We've stocked up on food and snacks, water and toilet paper. We're charging our battery packs, bringing anything loose on the deck into the garage, and filling our tanks with gas (I forgot to get gas so will have to do it tomorrow morning.) We're packing small "flee-bags" in case we can't take our time packing.

...I think that's all we can do.
Meanwhile, I still have to work at the hat shop tomorrow.

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Tuesday morning I was up early to go get gas, and was glad I did.
There is a run on gas stations even here in Orlando. I had to queue up, which I've never had to do around here, and wait my turn to top off my tank. But now it's done and one less thing to worry about.

Jameson had rehearsal again this morning, and as he was leaving we conferred again about whether we need anything and what needs doing. The main thing today is picking up anything we think we will need + moving stuff from the deck to the garage.

We shared the first ripe home-grown banana as well. It's so cute! Very sweet, sweeter than store-bought, and the texture is a little more...dense, I guess? But it was quite delicious and definitely a success. Hooray, after 3+ years of cultivating I've successfully grown bananas!!!


They are ripening extremely quickly, so we will just have to eat them as little snacks and I'll freeze some if we don't lose power.


After Jameson left I moved my plants and the outdoor furniture cushions to the garage, and pushed the wicker furniture up against the wall instead of the screens. It took all of 10 minutes.

I drove to CVS for quick oats and candy corn and two extra jugs of water "just in case."
Not necessities at this point but oats can conveniently be eaten just by soaking in water, and you can never have too much water around anyway. It was chaos out there. The CVS was out of propane, gas stations were running out of gas.

Back home I checked our battery supplies, packed my dinner for work, and dusted.
Practiced some of the Disney Christmas music, then finished my transcription job although it took forever because I was constantly interrupted by alerts, texts, calls, and messages from family, friends, the government, and workplaces about the hurricane. I am grateful that there are people concerned for our wellbeing!

But the result was that I felt very scatterbrained and flustered for most of the day, like I should be doing something but kept getting pulled away to receive updates or reassure loved ones.


In fact, I was so flustered today that I forgot it was the anniversary of my dad's death (this also means that my mom's death anniversary is tomorrow.) But my sister Kate remembered. And she sent me a beautiful, thoughtful package which arrived today:


She and our stepmom were able to have a lovely fall outing recently, plus it was the Bloomsburg Fair, and she wanted me to have a taste of our traditional autumn in Central Pennsylvania :)

This is
- decorative squash and corn
- A fresh apple from Rohrbach's Orchard
- Buckwheat honey and apple butter made locally
- Caramel apple and whoopie pie from Rohrbach's
- Apple pie filling made and canned by my stepmom
- A painted wooden decoration from my nephew Declan <3
- Honey sticks and a Cow Tale candy
- Hard ginger candies, which they know I love
- Roasting chestnuts (I've never roasted chestnuts before!!)
- Cloves (the container has holes in it, so this is meant to be for scenting the room)

In addition, several big sheets of locally-made beef and venison jerky from the Bloomsburg Fair!!
I've already eaten some and it's fantastic. Nothing beats homemade.


There was also a large Ziplock full of leaves, acorns, and nut shells, direct from trees in our hometown.
I was so incredibly touched by this. I mean...it really IS my hometown's autumn, in a box!


When I was still a toddler, my mother and I would go for walks and collect all sorts of little nature-things.
In the fall we'd find pretty leaves, and press them between the pages of books.

As soon as I saw the leaves from my sister, I remembered something.


This is a book I've had since before I could read.
And my mom and I used it to press leaves.

That's right...this leaf was pressed in 1987.


I texted my sister, told her about the book, and sent her pictures of me adding her new leaves to the book.
Alongside our mother's leaves, pressed so long ago.
Doing this today, on the day my dad died and a day before my mom died.
On the day before we're hit with a hurricane.

I will remember this.



And then it was time for work.

Today's hat:


We recently got these knitted cloches in, and I was very interested in this deep teal color. Lucky me, my shirt matches almost perfectly! Not that anyone noticed or cared. The few customers that we did have seemed more interested in Disney's hurricane prep than in hats. Interestingly (and perhaps reassuringly) most people in the Springs were refugees from Tampa. This means that people believe it's safer here; that they can ride out the storm here.

I hope they're right.

We closed the store 1/2 hour early.

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Wednesday I was up early to review and send my transcription job. I'm very pleased to find fewer and fewer errors with each job I submit.

Turned it in nice and early and alerted my supervisors that I might be unreachable in coming days.

In order to keep this post short, and have it up before we lose power, I think I'll end it here.
This week, because of the hurricane, I'll do some "Live From The Shit Show" posts, so that I can just update whenever I have power and also not have one long gigantic post that no one will read because no one reads any more.

Here we go. Stay safe y'all!