Happy Birthday, Jared!

I just wanted to say a quick happy 6th birthday to my little brother, Jared! Today is gonna be AWESOME!

POW interview

I don't know how long these links will be available, but this is a 3-part interview of 3 POWs who served with John McCain. One of them is Jack Rollins who is in our ward (congregation.)

http://video.nbcsandiego.com/player/?id=654082
http://video.nbcsandiego.com/player/?id=654121
http://video.nbcsandiego.com/player/?id=654112

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday morning Douglas caught me "sleep nodding." I remember someone made a statement in my dream and asked if I agreed with him. Since we were at a rehearsal, I didn't want to say "yes" out loud so I just nodded. Well, I really nodded and Douglas was awake and saw me move so he said, "Yes?" He called it "nodding off." Later, we set up for our ward party (we are on the activities committee) which was held that evening. We had a potluck and played "To Tell The Truth." There were four groups of three people and in each group one person would tell the truth about something nobody knows about them and the other two in the group would lie about the same thing. The object is to guess who is telling the truth. I think I got 1 or 2 right. Some of them were really convincing and fooled pretty much everybody. It was very fun. Afterwards, Douglas and I went over to my family's house and hung out. Mom had gone on a little mini vacation for a couple days and brought me home some pretty butterfly soap. I don't know if I can use it; it's too pretty. :) Mom, Douglas, Michelle and Liz played Scrabble and it was Douglas' first time. He was so proud that "burp" was his first word. Sunday morning we heard this loud noise outside and we saw these two yellow planes flying over and around our house. They were super close. They flew down to the lake and landed on the water. I guess they were picking up water or something. They flew around a few times and left. I don't know what they were doing but it made the morning exciting. After church, we went to a Celtic Spring concert. The whole family (6 kids) play the fiddle and step dance. It was really neat to see. They were very talented. At the end, they played the fiddles and danced at the same time. I seriously do not know how they do that. I have a hard time walking around in a circle while playing whole notes. The only part I didn't like about the concert was the vocals. There were two songs where one of the girls sang and she wasn't very good. The playing and dancing was incredible, though. Thanks for the tickets, Mom! What a treat.

After we finished setting up for the ward party. I think we did a pretty good job

This was out in front of the house. In the back of the pickup truck is some gardening equipment and a drumset. So, I guess the drummer's day job is a gardener (because apparently, you can't make a living just being a drummer)

Pretty presents from Mom:
butterfly soap, heart soap and a butterfly bag

Here's one plane landing on the water (notice there are boats on the lake)

And the other one (this was as it was scooping up water)

The kids range in age from 8 to 22 and their parents perform with them on drums and keyboard

America's Got Talent

Tonight's show made me mad. I usually agree with the results, but tonight some acts went through to the Top 10 that I didn't agree with and some went home that deserved to stay. America voted off Extreme Dance FX and The James Gang. The James Gang didn't do their best last time, but they're still really entertaining. And Extreme Dance FX did AWESOME in their last performance. I'm also ticked at stupid David Hasselhoff who was the determining factor in putting through Joseph Hall (Elvis) over Jonathan Burkin, the baton-twirler. Jonathan SOOO deserved to go to the top 10. He could have won it. He was flawless and never made any mistakes. Sorry, just had to vent.

Jonathan Burkin

Extreme Dance FX

The James Gang

9/11

Today we went to lunch at Fish House Vera Cruz (I had the best shrimp tacos I've ever tasted) and went to Fry's for some toys (well, just a power supply.) Our Fry's has a fish theme so we got lots of fish today. On the way to San Marcos, we passed lots of flags at half mast. It was moving to think that so many people were being respectful to the events of 7 years ago on this day. On the way back, we counted 18 flags (mostly at people's houses) during the 5 minutes from the freeway to our house. It was really neat to see so many flags and it gave me a renewed respect for our country's flag and the people who have sacrificed for our country. BTW, I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to my cousin, Ann! I hope today has been wonderful for you!

Douglas figured out his silverware was magnetic

This was taken from the car (a giant flag at half mast.)
Sorry for the reflection of my teddy bear on the dashboard

God Bless America

Things That I Love A-Z

I know, I know, I've been slacking with blogging. That's because nothing out of the ordinary or exciting has happened (well, there is one thing, but you'll have to wait until next Thursday.) So, I decided to post things that I love.

A: APPLEBEE'S

B: BOOKS

C: CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

D: DOGS

E: Entertainment

F: FAMILY & FRIENDS

G: GAMES

H: HOLIDAYS

I: INTERNET

J: JACK IN THE BOX

K: KING'S SINGERS

L: LAUGHTER

M: MUSIC

N: NICKELODEON (when it used to be good)

O: ORCHESTRA

P: PAPA JOHN'S

Q: QUARTETS

R: RATS

S: SCRIPTURES

T: TV

U: UNITED STATES

V: VIOLINS

W: WINGS

X: (Since I could not for the life of me find something I like that begins with X, I'm using this as a wild card)
FOREVER PLAID

Y: YOGURT

Z: ZIM (as in INVADER ZIM)

Closing Night and Cast Party

I can't believe Les Mis is over! It's been a great run. It went by fast and slow at the same time. It was a ton of work because there is so much playing and it's a really complex show. But it was fun and I'm glad I got to do it. And it was the last show before they tear down the place and build a new one! Before the show, there was a ceremony onstage with the mayor and other important people to celebrate the important turning-point in Moonlight's history. We all received goblets and made a toast. It was really neat. A few minutes before the show was supposed to start, one of the patrons fell on the concrete, hit his head and had a heart attack (not sure which came first.) He ended up going unconscious and we had to call the paramedics. Luckily, we have an EMT on the crew who was able to help out while we waited for them to arrive. They did 20 minutes of CPR before they took him to the hospital. It was scary. We couldn't do anything but watch because it would have made things worse if we had to usher 2,000 people off of the premises. Last week (Thursday, I think) another man had a heart attack after the show (after most people were gone) and the paramedics had to be called. I couldn't believe there were 2 heart attacks in 2 weeks! So, we ended up starting the show 25 minutes late (what a way to start closing night.) I switched places with my stand partner so I could watch the show. I'm at an angle facing away from the stage in my normal seat. Most of it I could watch while playing but of course I had to keep glancing at my music to make sure I was playing everything right. We've had a problem with spiders (HUGE ones) during the performances, but this was the first I noticed 2 onstage building webs (I'm getting shivers just typing this.) One of them was hovering about a foot above someone's hat and the girl standing next to him starting slowly shifting her way away from him. Apparently, it landed on his hat right before a blackout. So, I'm not sure what happened after that. A few days ago, there was one right above the music director and it landed on someone's music. Yuck! Besides the spiders, it was a really good show and tonight was sentimental for a lot of reasons. After the show, we had a cast party at Feliccia's (the restaurant on the premises.) I said goodbye to everyone and went home. I'm sad that it's over, but I'm relieved because I have been SOOO stressed lately. I guess because I was supposed to do another show right after this and for some reason couldn't handle it (I'm not sure why.) Anyway, I don't have to do the show after all and now I have a nice long break and I'm ecstatic!

Another NORTH COUNTY TIMES article
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/09/03/entertainment/backstage/z009ee3244e875dde882574b70063fb89.txt

When "Les Miserables" closed its mostly sold-out two-week run at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista on Sunday, it was more than the end of the show and the summer season. It also marked the end of the old Moonlight stage, which will be torn down next week to make way for a new state-of-the-art stagehouse (scheduled to reopen next July).

To "salute the past and toast the future," Moonlight officials handed out plastic goblets (each emblazoned with the Moonlight logo) to every one of the more than 1,800 people who attended Sunday evening's show. After an onstage, preshow ceremony attended by Moonlight staff and city officials, the assembled crowd raised their glasses to collectively toast the theater's upcoming transformation.

The new stagehouse ---- which will include a much-needed fly system, orchestra pit, light and sound canopy, and backstage dressing rooms and storage ---- will be built with city funds raised through Prop. L, a voter-approved sales tax increase that will also pay for a new city hall and two fire stations.

Vista Mayor Morris Vance praised city taxpayers for their foresight and sacrifice.

"It's almost unheard-of for people to tax themselves for something like this, so I think the public should congratulate itself," Vance said.

City Councilman Bob Campbell cheered the fact that the Moonlight renovation project will feature more public restrooms, long a problem for showgoers (particularly women) who often stand in long lines at intermission. "Les Miserables" drew some of the biggest crowds in Moonlight's history and the need for lavatories was especially critical. Additional restrooms were trucked in for the "Les Miz" run to handle the crowds. The need was even more critical last Saturday, when a temporary water outage shuttered the bathrooms for the show's first half.

The ceremony (that's my stand partner's face on the left)

The music director and director onstage during the toast

The toast! (I'm WAY down there in the pit)

The "old" Moonlight before they tear it down

The "old" pit

My last night in the pit

The erasing party! We all have to turn in a "clean" book after the run. Good thing I used my stand partner's music and was able to erase mine the day before

My "official" pass that I had to turn back in tonight :(

At the party with "Javert" and "Jean Valjean"