Almost Famous

So this year's Mistress of Ceremonies for the gala at work is a certain Housewife on T.V. When she accepted the gig earlier in the year she asked if her & her daughter could be in the show one night. Last night was the night. Her & her daughter were there & in a piece & "Entertainment Tonight" was there to film it all. The piece on ET aired early this evening so I didn't see it as I was working (did anyone TIVO it by any chance?).

She had requested a separate dressing room (which was totally smart because my little pre-teens woulda' mobbed her) & I got to dress her. Not only did I get to chat with her, lace her up in a corset & dress her but she wore a dress I made! So I'm like almost famous now right?! MY DRESS WAS ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!!!!! She was SUPER nice, totally nervous & her daughter was very polite. What a neat experience to find out that a super star is a neat person &, like the rest of us, puts her tights on one leg at a time. I know, I was there!

31 & 2/365

Well Monday was my birthday so as of today I am 31 2/365 years old. Here's how my day went: I worked at SCR from 9-6 raced from there to Pageant & worked to 10:30. Was home at 11, detoxed on the couch 'til almost midnight. Kaisara was a great hubby & listened to his wife when he asked her what she wanted as a gift. Gift Certificate for a massage BABY!!! Come early September, consider that thing spent. My neck & shoulders are eagerly awaiting. Peg at SCR brought me a vase full of her own home grown yellow roses, I had lunch with Mom & at Pageant the stage crew had ice cream sunday fixins' for me. One of my volunteers gave me a nice bottle of champagne on Sunday & another brought birthday cake yesterday for me & another volunteer. I'm well loved. Not a bad birthday considering I was at work for 13 1/2 hours of it.

Almost There

Though one of my pet peaves at work is people who seem to dred the whole thing before the summer even begins, I'm really looking forward to the end myself. I'm not sure if it's because of all of the really neat family stuff I had to miss before the show started or what, but I can't wait. It's starting to really wear on me that I've missed over 2 months of family & friends & haven't had more than 6 consecutive waking hours with my man. 15 more nights. I'm almost there.

It's been a great run though. I really feel that God is using me there if nothing else to smile & be friendly. I'm amazed how much just that can draw out of a person. I've heard people say that I'm always so happy or cheerful or great. Now, come on, we ALL know that's not true. But it could be that that's what they honestly see because of the Holy Spirit in me. I've even won over some pre-teen girls. Is there anything on earth more difficult? Pre-teen girls, come on, I was one, they're difficult. It's gotta be God. Isn't He good?

SCR has been going REALLY well. I've been able to do much more that just fitting & rigging costumes like I thought I'd be doing. I've had numerous tasks that are usually given to a cutter (the position I one day hope to have the skill to hold myself). So I'm not really a first hand but I'm not yet a cutter. It's been challenging but great. I've had to stretch my comfort zone & so far all of my stuff is going well. YEAH!

Should Look Back With Smiles

I've got a great 13 year old girl cast member at work who owns a horse. She & I talk about it quite a bit & she really wanted to see my horse show scrapbook so I took it to work tonight. Several people looked at it with all of the same comments: "What a great album." "You used to ride horses?" "You jumped!". All of those things are nice to hear & my 13 year old cast member loved the album (she even brought pictures of her horse for me to see). What I don't understand is why I can't look through the album & back on all of the great memories & things I learned at the stables without holding back tears? Why do I have to get "really busy" with work & hide behind a rack of costumes because I don't want to break infront of everyone (for goodness sakes my other cast just saw me cry last Saturday!)

I am so greatful for those experiences I had at Mr. Harris' stables. What a totally blessed Orange County kid I was to grow up there. I started riding there in 1981 & stopped around 1992. It was a HUGE part of my life. I learned so much. Loved so much. Grew so much. That's good right? Sure there are some bad memories there (huh Jen?) but that's o.k. those just make it real, a part of life. Why do the memories make me so sad that I want to hide my album & horse show ribbons away so I don't remember for a while (again). What I want is to react how a totally normal person would react: with a huge smile, some pride, lots of great stories to tell & even more memories to treasure in my heart.

Sometimes I just don't make sense to myself. What a dork!

Bad Day Made Better

Saturday night was a horrible night at work. I had a cast member go irrate on me & started cursing at me around my crew & other cast members (including children). He totally denied cursing & I found out later he was telling the powers that be that I was cursing him out. Needless to say, I was shocked. But yesterday a family of cast members (who are fellow believers) brought me a gorgeous bouquet of sunflowers because they knew I had a rough night the day before. It is always so encouraging to me that every time I have a horrible experience there, there is an awesome one to follow. Each year I find more believers & other really great people. This is why when I've having a hard time during the build (Jan.-Jun.) Kaisara reminds me that summer's coming & the great volunteers will be there making it all worth while. I LOVE my job!

Confused by the Chaos

I've recently been made aware of some of the horrible things happening in the country of Zimbabwe by my friend who was born & raised there. Below is her response when I asked her for more details & what Americans could do to help:

Mugs (the president) has been bad for a long time, and now some say he has syphilis and is literally crazy! It's SO sad as the white farmers (we have family who are some) have had this land for generations and it IS a science on how to farm. They know the soil, the weather, the crops, etc., better than anyone and know how and when to farm. The black people use "subsistence" farming which consists of a "slash & burn" principle, which is use the land you have, overwork it to get as much out of it, then move on to the next (instead of alternating and resting the soil). So, now that Mugs has done this (LOTS of farmers were killed during this take over) the country is in greater need of food than ever (although he tells the world they they don't need aid and are just fine. Over 1 million people have died of hunger and or AIDs and it's only getting worse.

There are 2 main tribes in Zim. (hundreds in Africa total) there are the Shona and the Ndebele. Mug is Shona and is the main tribe. Now, over 1.2 million are without homes. Most people believe that it's because these are the urban poor who support his biggest opposition because the last several elections have been rigged, he knows that he's hated and this is punishment to those who voted against him. Hundreds of thousands were turned away from the ballots because they didn't have the "right paperwork" but what you weren't told, is that it was taken away from them so they couldn't vote. PLUS, hundreds of thousands of votes were cast on Mugs side with names of deceased people. So again, it was unfair.

He's killing his own people by starvation and homelessness (it's winter there now and people are freezing to death with no cloths or shelter). Aid that is sent there NEVER arrives at the destination (that was going on when we lived there).

Honestly, I don't know what an American can do, except pray. August 8th is a day of pray and fasting for Zim.

Please join me in interceding to the LORD for Zimbabwe. For the people's protection, nourishment, & above all their souls.

What happened to the Lazy River?

Well yesterday was my outing to Wild Rivers with my neices Kayla (10) & Tiana (8). Their favorite by far was the lazy river. Only when you're 10 & 8 the lazy river doesn't equal find a tube, lay on it & bob around the river all the while soaking up the sun & listening to the best sound known to man, kids giggling & laughing. No quite the opposite my friends. The lazy river equals jump, run, swim (over people & under them), climb all over Auntie...repeat. About a MILLION times. We had a great time & I am so glad we went. On the drive home Kayla was pleased to say that she had faced her fears :-) Her and Tiana went down 3 of the "grown up" slides. I was very proud of them.