October 31, 2007

Autumn's Eve

Okay, I made up that title/holiday. It sounds better than Halloween. I will say that even though I don't like Halloween, I enjoy this short season and mild temperatures. It seems that we just barely start enjoying autumn leaves, baked pumpkin bread (I'll get around to the baking soon) and a little spiked apple cider, then we have to start on Christmas.

The earth tones of orange, brown, red and green are so pretty even here in East Texas. We may not have as much changing of the colors as the folks up north, but I do enjoy the crunch of brown leaves under my feet as I walk. The squirrels are gathering in families as they unearth their buried acorns. I've never seen so many squirrels in one place as we have in this yard. Of course, it helps that we have several oak trees for them to enjoy. The autumn picture the squirrels and leaves make is very pleasing.

I actually put out fall decorations in my house this year. I hung my "Happy Fall Ya'll" sign on the front door. I don't care that my sons have made fun of that before, I like it. My tables have fall-colored cloths on them adding to the seasonal look. There is a cute toothy terra cotta Jack O' Lantern named Punk, alongside some other pumpkin likenesses glowing on the hearth. The house feels all cozy and warm with the pumpkin candles lit in the evening.

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it and I'll be ready for it. The turkey and dressing, pumpkin bread (which will be baked by then) and all the other fine foods make for a family holiday that I really enjoy. Its a slow day and everyone seems to like sitting around while their food settles and watching football or perhaps getting up for a walk. In my husband's family, there is a traditional walk through the cemetery after Thanksgiving lunch. Sounds more of a Halloween tradition doesn't it? Oh well, its the togetherness that is important on that day, and not so much the traditions.

Today I baked sugar cookies in the shapes of pumpkins, ghosts and bats for my grandchildren. It may not be my favorite holiday, but going to their house this evening to see them dressed up in their Halloween costumes will be a treat for me. I also have a little holiday treat for each for them. I see stuff all the time to buy for my grandkids, but try not to indulge them too much. However, a treat on a special day from their Mama Lou can't be spoiling them. I say that it is better than a trick. At least this day is good for something and that is to see my Aidan and Regan. It's going to be fun, and I look forward to being with them this evening.

Whether you are treated or the one doing the treating, I hope you don't get tricked this Hallow's Eve...I mean...Autumn's Eve.

October 19, 2007

Home Decorating

This is a photo from the HGTV.com website. I love the painting on the brick wall and the black cubby-like shelves on that same wall. To decorate our house with such simplistic comfort is a dream of mine. I pour over design and home decorating magazines. The only channel I care to watch anymore is HGTV so I can see what other people are doing to make their home not only appealing to the eye, but functional.

If I could go back to college, it just might be in home design. Although, there surely must be some natural ability, it would make sense that a talent for decorating could be learned and cultivated. I believe, however, that I do have a creative bent toward the arts. It just needs some cultivating and self-motivation to bring it out. I have a love of music, color and theater; all of which are attributes of creative home design. A learned knowledge of how to create a cohesive palette of color and design in our home would be helpful in accomplishing my decorating goals.

Sometimes I think that it takes a lot of money to fund a designing itch. After watching a lot of HGTV and reading the design magazines, a lot is done with things the homeowner already has. Being able to change the way furniture, pictures, fabrics and colors were used in the past and initiate new uses or places for them in the house is all it takes.

That being said, sometimes I also see the designers chunk an old worn out sofa in exchange for a new one. The sofa in our den is a 5-piece sectional that I really never liked from the beginning and have experienced buyer's remorse ever since it was purchased from dear "Mattress Mac". When we bought it, the idea was that we had three growing boys that had been pretty rough on furniture. We were down to a piano stool and one heavy sofa in the living room and we were aching for more places to sit. The purchase was made while living in our previous, smaller house that really couldn't handle the giant-sized sectional either. However, my husband liked the large comfy recliners, sofa bed and pull-down table that made up the large one-piece living room set. I thought I liked it too until we got it home and I could see what a mammoth it really was. It has served us well over the years and given us an extra bed when the boys brought friends over, but there are no more little boys and it is time this mammoth became extinct.


We have never really had a lot of money to invest in furniture. There are some pieces in our house that we've had for most of our marriage and are still in modest condition. However, my taste and need for it has changed. The wood color, size and shape are not as functional anymore. At one time the trend for bedroom furniture was maple colored and heavy. Our heavy dresser with the big mirror standing on top and heavy chest of drawers just isn't practical in our bedroom. Our master bedroom is really too small for such large pieces. So, the furniture overpowers the room size. I'd love to get something more to scale with the proportions of the room to aid in the flow and feel of the space.

However, I realize I need to start inexpensive. The first step will be to paint walls. When we bought this house, every room was painted a different color. Designers say its good to add color and pop to a room. However, the colors were not of my choosing and not ones that I would have chosen. So, we had all of the walls throughout painted a neutral, new-house beige with white trim. It felt fresh, new and I liked it. Now, having lived here for five years, I am ready for that bland color to disappear. All the designers say that paint is the least expensive way to change and update a room. So, that is where I'll start. I'm thinking the trendy mossy green color on the walls of my formal living and dining rooms might look nice with dark wood furniture.

The house will be an ongoing project for my retirement years. Creative projects will be a lot of fun as I see and enjoy the end results. As I progress from one project to the next, I'll get better at redecorating. I will look forward to and enjoy the challenge of turning this house into a decorative, functional home. That is, with a little help from my friends at HGTV and most likely, also Lowe's. I'll let you know how it goes.

October 14, 2007

Closings and New Beginnings


The BLT-I (Baytown Little Theater the first) took a hit and sank last July, but the real heart of the theater, still beats strong through each person volunteering their time and talents to producing her plays. Our new space, the BLT-II, as it has been dubbed, will carry on the long tradition of dramatic theater in Baytown for as long as it is needed. The future is looking like a bright star for the Baytown Little Theater.

The Good Doctor closed to a receptive audience Saturday night. As our cast and crew were moving out, the church group meeting in that same space on Sunday mornings, was moving in. The 230 or so patrons that graced the sanctuary of the Presbyterian church building gave favorable critiques to the BLT production for which I assisted Kim's direction. In spite of all the hassles associated with sharing a facility, I really enjoyed the challenge of putting on the play. We had a great cast and crew to work with. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ll miss seeing them as much.

Today I’m left with costumes to dry clean then return to the University of Houston theater costume shop next week. There is also a small assortment of props to be returned to their rightful owners, not to mention some leftovers from the cast party on Friday night with which something must be done. The fact is, the play has ended and oddly enough, I’m ready for another one. Well, perhaps not right away, but definitely in the future.

Furthermore, the future of the Baytown Little Theater is definitely all the buzz right now. Excitement is building along with the theater's new digs in the middle of Baytown. Many of us working the late night set strike of The Good Doctor were locking up some of BLT’s properties in our new permanent/temporary theater, presently undergoing renovations. I have made several quick visits to the space over the past month to follow the progress of transforming 5000 square feet of space from a physical therapy clinic into a playhouse of theatrical renderings. Walls have been knocked out, risers constructed for seats and theatrical lighting of all kinds are being installed to illuminate the acting space. Yes, it is very exciting times for the Little Theater.

It is my perception that many of my thespian friends are getting as itchy as I am to start producing plays in our renovated space. The upcoming much anticipated move of costumes, properties, sets, tickets, make up and mirrors to Hugh Echols Drive, will truly be an opening we won’t want to miss. Though it's location has changed, the BLT will continue to bring award-winning theater to our community.

October 12, 2007

Secrets

Secrets are those things we keep hidden from other people because we are afraid of what those people might think about us if they knew..........

I found a blog that apparently has been around for a year or more and is the most read blog with Blogspot. It is called PostSecret. From what I can tell, the person that began the blog started this project by asking people to anonymously mail a homemade postcard to him with their secret written on it. He has received so many (which he posted to the blog) that now he has published his 4th book with their postcards and secrets. The secrets are a poignant commentary on people's everyday lives.

I watched a YouTube about the project and it was very intriguing to me. All people have secrets, or at least I believe most people do. I do. There are usually a safe few with whom we trust our secrets, but still something inside of us wishes everyone, not just our confidant, knew the real truth about who we are.

Here is a little secret about me. There was a time in my not so distant past that I wished I was Catholic so I could go to confession. It seemed like a good way to finally tell an unbiased person, who didn't know me, about all the sins I'd committed. The priest would absolve them, making them nonexistent and the burden of my past would be lifted.

In the church where I attend, anyone can confess sins by walking down front after the message of the preacher, while a song is sung. Then, one of the preachers or elders sits down with that person to hear their confession. Next, they announce to all who have assembled for that service, what was shared and a prayer is led on their behalf. The glitch for me comes with confessing to everyone in the sanctuary and not just one person who is sworn by God to secrecy. So, the Catholic confession seemed to me less open to ridicule by all who were present at that service.

Frank Warren is the author of the book "A Lifetime of Secrets", recently released on October 9, 2007. My plan is to buy the book and read it cover to cover. In some weird way, it makes me feel better about myself to know there are other people that have secrets like mine. Who knows, maybe one day I'll send Frank an anonymous postcard too, or perhaps visit a Catholic confessional.

"Now make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do his will." Ezra 10.11

October 6, 2007

Theater 101



Having survived the first week and slim crowds on opening weekend, The Good Doctor is doing quite well. Kim had to replace two actors the week the play opened with one of them starting right off on opening night and the other taking over his new role just last night on the first performance of our second weekend. Surprisingly, and with much relief, our replacement actors both preformed as if they had been rehearsing for a month instead of the one and two weeks they actually had. I was very proud of these two talented young people for coming in at the last minute and working hard to rescue our show.

Of course, for me, Ryan’s performance is wonderful, and like his grandfather said, it’s just too bad that he can’t make a living at acting. He probably could if he didn’t care so deeply for paying his bills. Ryan plays the part of the writer and narrator of the nine vignette type stories. His character is supposedly the playwright, Neil Simon or perhaps Russian storywriter, Anton Chekhov, the inspiration for Simon’s play. The writer is supposed to be writing the short stories he and the rest of the troupe is acting out throughout the evening. It is a most entertaining performance by Ryan and the rest of the cast.

This play has taught me a lot about putting a show together under different circumstances from which we were previously accustomed. Our beloved Little Theater was comfortable from the standpoint of having a moderate collection of props and costumes at our ready disposal. That is not to say that we didn’t have to construct or search for an appropriate prop or call on a seamstress to sew up a dress or suit every now and then. Though for the most part, our theater attic housed a treasure of stuff to browse through as if visiting a flea market. I missed the convenience of simply climbing the pull-down staircase to venture into the emporium likeness of our theater’s attic.

A lot of back and forth between the church-turned theater, our garage and the old theater set shop took place during the construction of our sets. Being a bit displaced, Kim and other cast members, cut and hammered wood for flats and platforms in our garage. We painted the completed products inside of the church fellowship hall working hard to keep paint off of the floors. I brought furniture pieces home to apply painted stencils and then went back to the theater set shop where I sweated in our Texas heat to apply stencils to our flats that were awaiting transport to the church. It is a relatively simple set, but nice.

The biggest challenge of all for working on this play was the sharing of the building with a religious group that was also renting the space. They were in the building first and we have tried to accommodate and respect their scheduled activities in the building by striking our set before each Wednesday and Sunday. This weekend is particularly difficult because we have a matinee on Sunday afternoon. This means that we not only strike after the performance Saturday night, we then have to return as soon as the church group has completed their Sunday morning services, to reset our stage for the matinee. Even though our set is not too difficult to put up and take down, it does take time and hands of several helpers to get the job done.

At the end of our run in another week, I just hope we won’t be forgotten. The Good Doctor has been a good play. It wasn’t a big musical and not near as many people have come to support us as did Titanic that took place right after the crash, but I think the ones that see it, will be glad they saw the first show of this 2007-2008 BLT season.

October 1, 2007

Just Hanging Out



Pink flamingos at the Fort Worth Zoo. They look so carefree.

For a retired person, I sure have been busy. The Good Doctor, a play by Neil Simon and directed by Kim, opened this past weekend. (Which, BTW, you should see if you are near Baytown. Ryan is such a good actor!)

Everyday last week I was running errands for the play, finishing sets and getting things completed for opening night. Kim and I had the cast and crew to our house for an opening night party that went on way into the morning with a small number of us sitting around our patio table talking about the play. I enjoy conversations after a play I've seen or worked on. Discussing the play, the performances of the actors and hearing the interesting viewpoints from others can be a lot of fun.

So, with the play underway, my days are not as busy. This morning I've been online writing and reading email, on the web reading blogs and taking it very slow and easy. I've made a couple of lunch dates this week and hope to do some volunteer work for a friend at her school library and perhaps tomorrow at our church.

A friend that has already retired once told me that when I retired I would have not trouble staying busy. She was right and I like this kind of busy. It's not near as stressful to me as teaching school always was.

Well, I've got to get up and get moving this morning. Don't want to be late for my lunch date.
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