Phantom of the Opera

It was FABULOUS!!!! With this outing being probably the fourth or fifth time I've seen the production at TPAC, I was sure I'd be disappointed--after all, once you've seen Phantom, not too much changes. Imagine my surprise when I found that these performers actually made the production their own! The pauses were different than the original version, as well as the timing. This production's performers actually put their own spin on things and it was nice to hear that it wasn't the same "old" production that I've seen over and over. BRAVO!

My aunt came over and we had a photo session out in the yard. As you can see--neither of us have a clue how to act when we're dressed up. Not to mention, our paparazzi were really my parents...so, it was a bust--at least with my camera anyways. We decided to eat at TPAC's restaurant--Maestro's. They had the BEST food! It was a five course meal--buffet style. I think I liked everything there--although the seven bean soup needed some help. The bill was even cheaper than we had anticipated, so we were able to get our souvenirs too.

My aunt picked up the program since she'd never seen Phantom. (How is that possible since I go each time it's in town?) I decided on the ink pen (refillable!) and a silver mask pin to put with my collection.

We were in the sixth row from the stage, although we were not in the center--which didn't pose too much of a problem--aside from the people who decided that they MUST leave during Intermission, etc. In fact, if I were able to take pics during the performance, I would have had some great shots. Unfortunately, all I could get was of the angel the Phantom hides in towards the end of Act I--taken during Intermission.

I was really proud of myself for not singing the whole score out loud, although the conductor was singing along as well, which was pretty neat to see. Alas, the performance was over too soon and we had to leave. We actually ran around to the back entrance to try and catch some of the cast members, but a lot of the escaped before we could get to them. Then, with the mobs of people standing there, we decided that it would be best to go ahead and leave--so I didn't get my picture with the Phantom. :( (Maybe I should dress up and just go to the back door after the next performance. Hmmmm.....)

Happy Birthday!

Today is the 1st Birthday of Misadventures of the Dynamic Uno! It's hard to believe that it's really been a year since I've started blogging, but yesterday was the infamous Gasparilla parade, and I blogged a bit about that after finding my pirate name last year. Thank you to everyone who has checked in every now and then to see what "misadventures" I've been up to lately. I've looked at the stats for the blog and found readers from all over the world--which is completely surprising to me. After all, I'd love to travel the world, and to see that people from those various areas are actually "reading in" is pretty cool. I hope this next year is even better for you--especially with all of the changes that are happening in my life at the moment. (More to come on those in later posts.)

As I'm sure I've mentioned before...I LOVE my new job location! The people are SO nice and wonderful to work with--even the grouchy ones. I HATE the drive though and can't wait until I move closer to work. Right now my routine is to get up at 4 am and I have to leave the house a little before 6 am so that I can be at work (hopefully) by 7 am. Then, I leave work around 3:30 pm or 4 pm and get home around 5:30 pm or 6 pm. Needless to say--I'm a walking zombie right now. I keep telling my self that I only have to deal with this horrible drive for another4 weeks or so until I move, but I think I'm going to have to figure out something else before I keel over, 'cause we ALL know that I am NOT a morning person! Thank goodness for Vanilla Coke being put back into the 20 oz. bottles again! (Not so good for my hips, but great for the caffeine factor!)

Friday I actually had a Girls' Night Out with my neighbor Maggie, and my friend Dawn and her sister Robyn. We went to the local Mom and Pop pizza joint and stuffed our faces. (Okay, so I'm the one that actually stuffed my face--hence the 2 pounds I gained this weekend--but it was SO good!) I had been craving gooey cheese foe the entire week, so I convinced them to come with me. I ate so much I was sick to my stomach, but it was completely worth it! It was fun to get out with the girls and laugh our heads off over "stupid stuff" and oogle the cute (single) guys around us! We ALL still think our mailman is HOTT and I'm trying REALLY hard to get a picture of him before I move! Maybe then I'll even get a phone number....hmmmm..I could be on to something here! Anyway, there's a bet going on to see who will get to him first. I think Maggie's going to win because she's home during the day, and well, I order a lot of stuff online, so she can just open the door and accept the package for me, as she has so graciously volunteered to do. Oh boy, is all I can say! :)

Today I attended church via online broadcast (I LOVE technology!) and now I have to get ready to meet my family at Outback (gee, what a horrible thing to have to do) so that we can celebrate my grandparents' birthdays which happened earlier this month. Getting together with family is always interesting, so this should be really fun. :)

My aunt called me yesterday and said that she upgraded her cell phone and now has bluetooth technology. Hello? My aunt?! My grandmother also has a beautiful lavender phone which is so much better than mine. I am SO jealous! How come I can never come across these deals when it's time for me to upgrade? I always end up paying through the nose and end up with a jerk of a salesman. The killer is that we're with the same company. Grrrrr.... Oh well, at least they'll be able to keep in touch more and won't have an excuse otherwise. Hee hee!

Have a wonderful week! I know I will...once I get over my driving lag.

I'm trying...

really hard to remain calm, cool, and collected, but it's getting really hard. "Why"? you ask. Because tomorrow....

I'm going to DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!


Yes, I know--I live in Florida, but still, my aunt and I are going and she's never really been there. We'll be there through New Years (part of our annual single girl's retreat somewhere fun so we don't mope about not having husbands)! I hope I can sleep tonight. I know my aunt is just as excited because we were talking on the phone earlier today and she was cleaning the house (same thing I was doing) to pass the time.

Have a wonderful New Year--and be careful with those fireworks!

What have I been up to lately?

PRAYER REQUEST:

I just found out that my pedicurist, Nadine, was involved in a car accident last week and she was pretty banged up. I know she has a ton of appointments that she needs to keep so that the at-fault driver's insurance pays the bills--especially since Nadine does not have health insurance of her own. Please pray for a speedy recovery and no lasting side-effects from the accident. I know money is tight and this couldn't have happened at a worse time for her.

Thank you!

"What have I been doing the past couple of weeks"? you ask. Well, let me show you...

I'm crocheting a blanket for my real dad in Texas. His favorite color is red and it gets REALLY cold there during winter, so hopefully I'll finish it in time for his Christmas present. (If not, his birthday is in January.) The yarn is a feathery chenille and it's so fluffy. Madison enjoys it as well--although she likes to play with the yarn and the crochet hook even more.

My best friend, Judy, retired from the Social Studies classroom and moved to Sylvania, Georgia. She came back last week for a retirement reception in her honor at the school where we first met and worked together. Here's a picture of Judy and her mom. (Of course she'll kill me for putting this picture of her with her mouth open online, so if you don't hear from me for a couple more weeks, you might want to check on me--Judy's REALLY good with a hunting rifle!)

I'm very happy that Judy finally gets a chance to "get out of Dodge" and spend time with her Mom and husband after all of this time, but I'm also a tad bit jealous. If I stick with this particular school system, I have 22 more years before I can retire. :( (Especially since they refuse to accept my year in Texas...Grrrrrr......) I know she's put in her time, but I really miss her. Not only has she been a true friend, she's also been my spiritual mentor since we met. In fact, right before she left, Judy gave me a copy of Beth Moore's study on David with the 90 day devotional journal and the accompanying CD! She also gave me a bracelet that says "With God, all things are possible." Something that I need reminded of on a daily basis.

I've also been helping my grandmother with a project she's working on for my grandfather. Papaw (Hey! I couldn't say Grandpa or Grammy, so we have Papaw and Nanny!) was in the Navy when he was younger and sailed on the U.S.S. Amman. Nanny is working on an album for him and I've been trying to get some negatives and slides of the pictures he took printed so she can use the pictures in the scrapbook she's making for him. These are not the best quality, but here are some of the pictures:

This is Papaw on one of the ships. He was a radioman and typed up all of the messages that came through in Morse Code. Unfortunately, the news came in so fast that he didn't really have time to process the letters he was typing into words. (Too bad--he probably knows all kinds of secrets.) The other picture is of him at one of the piers. I think it's in San Francisco.





I also celebrated my aunt's birthday and gave her an annual pass to DISNEY! She hasn't been to the Magic Kingdom in over 20 years, and I don't think she's ever been to Epcot or MGM or the Animal Kingdom. We're both so excited that I'm not sure we can wait two more months! Nanny has had to peel my aunt off of the ceiling on several occasions so I know it's going to be fun!



Last year we started a tradition for New Year's since we're both single with no prospects. We decided that we would do something fun rather than mope around the house at not having anyone to kiss at the stroke of midnight. (I know, kind of lame, but there it is...) Last year we went on the Murder Mystery Train Ride in Ft. Myers. (Way cool if you've never been!) This year I decided--What better way to have fun than to hang out with Mickey and of course, Pooh Bear!? We're going to see fireworks! (We're even going to Italy and France, since neither one of us is going to make to Europe anytime soon. This also saves on the language lessons we would have to take so she could speak Italian, and I could speak French.)



Otherwise, I've been trying to make it through the drudgery I call my job. I LOVE being a librarian, I just HATE where I'm located and the way our system is run. (That's a sure sign it's time to move on because I feel like I'm not being effective and I don't have a purpose.) I'm really hoping something comes along soon in the public sector, or I may quit and wait tables again to try and pay my bills. Truly--we've had 10 people quit teaching this year and it's only been 2 months! Of course, it's not just at our school, it's everywhere in this county. People are fed up with the increasing workload and no time to get it done.



You see, people seem to think that teachers have weekends off and summers off. I NEVER had a weekend off when I was in the classroom! (You can ask my parents--I was still living with them!) I spent 10 hours a day grading all of the papers I collected over the week because I didn't have time to grade them in the evenings after sitting in traffic for two hours to get home. During the summers, teachers have to go to all of the inservices and workshops and classes to gain credits to keep our teaching certificates. (Those people that think teaching is easy, need to come work in an inner-city school for a couple of months. Okay--I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.)



In any case, I've been in a job identity crisis because I don't know what to do now. Nothing seems to be available in the school system and in the public library system that would pay close to what I'm making now with my time in the system. I know this is God telling me to wait, but I'm truly going to need some major drugs if I have to keep working where I am now. So, I guess this is another prayer request--that I find God's will and purpose for my life--especially one that will pay the bills! :)