Sunday, November 30, 2008

White Stuff

It's snowing. It's supposed to turn over to rain late tonight, with rain throughout the day tomorrow, and sun for most of the days to come for the next week or more. But right now there's almost an inch of snow on the ground, and it's a bit depressing.

Not that snow by the end of November is unprecedented, even in my limited experience in New Hampshire. But we are already struggling to get the house finished, and although most of the work to be done is indoors, once we get our occupancy permit, we still have to deal with the matter of moving a house full of stuff into another house. Doing that in the snow does not strike me as a fun thing to do.

I am celebrating one thing, though. Tomorrow the kids are going back to school. I need the break!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

A Long Week

A chance to sit down for awhile to blog and update photos (I'm good for the next five days on photos) after a very busy week, made busier by the fact that the boys had the week off school. In addition to the Thanksgiving holiday, the school scheduled parent-teacher conferences on Monday and Tuesday, and decided to make Wednesday a day off (which they have to make up somewhere), ostensibly in order to save energy. I don't know about the school. but I certainly didn't save any energy this week.

After getting working plugs in the house a week ago Friday, I spent time Monday getting overhead light to most of the first floor. It's just bare-bulb sockets until I get the primer up on the ceilings, but it makes a huge difference.

But the main thrust here at home has been clearing out our storage unit and moving its contents into the new house. I expect to finish that in the morning, with Tom's help, as we still have a small refrigerator and a tall bookcase to move, along with a couple of smaller things I can handle myself after Tom goes to work.

Tom's working two jobs now, sometimes on the same day. He doesn't seem to mind, and it sure helps his budget. Keeps him busy, too.

Thursday and Friday were travel days down to New Jersey to visit with family for the holiday. It was a lot of driving (though not too bad because we avoided the Wednesday and Sunday night rushes), but it was a lovely visit and well worth the trip.

We went to a couple of craft events in town today with Danny and William, a craft sale a the high school, and a craft-making celebration at the Children's Center, where the boys made several different holiday craft projects, some of which I can't tell you about because they're surprises!

Monday the kids will be back in school. so I'll have more time to get things done. It will be raining Monday, so I plan a lot of indoor electrical work and some research (I have to find a fire-retardant vapor barrier for the top floor ceiling; I know who makes it, I just can't find someone to sell it to me).

Tuesday I'm expecting sunshine, which makes it a perfect day to assemble my temporary stairs. And Wednesday we get propane installed and delivered for the one propane heater in the house so far. Also on the list for this week is taping the under-stair area in the basement and cutting into the siding for mounting electrical equipment (outlets and a porch light). That one makes me nervous; I just got the siding finished a few weeks ago and I don't want to mess it up. A relatively short list of things to do and then we can start moving in. I can hardly wait.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

That's a Wrap!

Tonight, playing to our fifth consecutive sold-out house (out of only six performances), we performed Oklahoma! for the last time. The Village Players theater will go dark until the Spring, and I go back to real life.

I have, of course, a lot of real life to go back to, and I could sure use the time I was spending performing, rehearsing, and practicing at home, not to mention the sleep I lost because I was dreaming in lyrics from the show (something that, oddly, never happened to me for either Forum or Pajama Game).

But as always, I'm already experiencing post-show let-down, and I think even more this time. It was a great show, with a wonderful cast and crew made up of familiar as well as new faces, and I've so much enjoyed working with every one of them. I wish that I could do this for a living, but, alas, that isn't in the cards, at least not the way my life is now.

So it's back to house building and house selling and job searching. But right now it's off to bed.

After I go up and shave off my moustache.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Running

I've been going nearly flat-out since the last time I wrote. Between Okalahoma! and the new house and selling the old house and heating the old house and, well, life, there's been little time to take care of this web site or the blog that goes with it. So you get to see some pictures, as we say in the theater, reprised.

Yesterday Public Service of New Hampshire hooked up power to the new house. Nervously (for although I've done a fair amount of wiring, this is the first time I've done an entire house myself), I switched on the disconnect. Then the master breakers. Then the three circuits to which I had connected outlets in the main kitchen. And everything works! Will wonders never cease?

Good thing, too, because now we can set up heaters in the house to help dry the joint compound. The weather here has been horrible, with biting winds and temperatures staying below freezing for days. I finally dug out my winter jacket, which I normally don't need until the end fo the year. It's weird. Not only wrong for the season, but just a week ago it was so hot in the theater that we had to open the backstage door to get some air. Even outside it was in the 60s!

No such luck tonight. The dressing rooms will be freezing cold, as will our costumes, which have been sitting in there since last night. I don't think I've ever looked forward to the hot lights as much.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Oklahoma!

My apologies for letting the daily pictures recycle for a couple of days. As I mentioned in the last entry, last week was Hell Week for Oklahoma! This afternoon we wrapped up our third performance with our second sell-out crowd (and Friday came very close to a full house). Add to that the need to work on the house and prepare for showings of the old house, and, well, something's gotta give. (oh wait, that song isn't in Oklahoma! is it?)

I love full houses. They laugh more and applaud louder, and they just make they show work better. The timing, the energy, the flow, all get a big boost from a big crowd. Tonight was the best of three great shows, and I'm looking forward to doing it again next weekend.

But I'm glad I don't have to rehearse every night between now and then; it's not for nothing that it's called Hell Week.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Election Week

Election week is coming to a close. Thomas voted in his first ever election of any kind. Whether or not you are satified with the various outcomes of the various races that concern you, it's over now, and I for one am looking forward to not getting phone calls from the Republicans (Democrats) telling me that the world will come to an end if the Democrats (Replublicans) are voted into office.

And I can spend a little less time taking out the trash now that I'm not getting six or eight pieces of negative campaign materials in the mail. You know you're in trouble in an election, by the way, when most of the literature you get has an unflattering picture of the opposing candidate on the cover instead of a flattering picture of the politician you're being asked to vote for.

This morning I had a handyman take care of the only task in my electrical installation that I decided not to do myself: putting up the mast where the electrical service will come in. It involved cutting through the roof of the house and I don't trust myself with that kind of thing. Now I just need to run wire to my ground rods and I can have the electric company fire us up.

Meanwhile, Sunday is the official start of Production Week (lovingly known as Hell Week) for Oklahoma! at the Village Players Theater. We're going through that phase when we all wonder if we will be ready in time, though the last week or so has brought about amazing progress. I think it's going to be a great show, worthy of VP's thirtieth anniversary. I'm proud to be a part of it.

So, a busy schedule. But at least it's one filled with activities that are worth my time.