A Great Birthday

I had a super day yesterday. My day started with an early text message from Stephen with birthday wishes. I had a happy birthday comment on my blog from Jeff and one from Claire the day before. I had flowers at school from Uncle Ben & Aunt Twila (and WOW, were they beautiful). I had a birthday phone call from Tracy and Olivia who sang me the best birthday song ever. I had an e-card from Suzanne. I had a phone call from Matt. I had a voice mail from Uncle Ben & Aunt Twila. I had a cute Duck game in the mail from Virginia. I had some smoked almonds from Cara. Heather gave me this adorable sign to hang in my house that says "Lose the Drama." :) In the mail was a package from Tracy... the complete unabridged audiobook of Julie Andrews reading her autobiography. It's 11 CD's! YEA!

At rehearsal last night, I felt a little tap on my shoulder, and Jack and Emma (& Suzanne) had brought me a card and a balloon (and big birthday hugs too). I also had a present from Tom... if you can call it that. He gave me a big package of incontinence pads because 1. I'm old, and 2. It's the unfortunate result of me sharing the spelling of my name with a certain brand of incontinence products. :( He also gave me a hosta which I hope to get planted before I kill it. The cast sang to me and so did everyone at my mentoring meeting after school. I had a birthday card from my cousin Wayne, and I also had a very sweet birthday card from Emily R. from the Godspell cast who is a former student of mine, but who is turning into a fun friend. I love it when that happens.

I had the afternoon off yesterday... took a 1/2 personal day... to sing at the FA&CC for 3 different state tourism groups who were checking out Fairfield. A few of us from Celebrate Sondheim dusted off some of our old numbers. I had to sing that damned "Lucy & Jessie" again. It's part of this trio that sounds awesome, but my lyrics are so terrible to remember... "Lucy is juicy but terribly drab. Jessie is dressy but cold as a slab. Lucy wants to be dressy. Jessie wants to be juicy. Lucy wants to be Jessie, and Jessie- Lucy. You see, Jessie is racy but hard as a rock. Lucy is lacy but dull as a smock. Jessie wants to be lacy. Lucy wants to be Jessie..." You get the hint. And that's just half the song. Ugh!!! It's just hard to feel confident on a song like that, no matter how many times I sing it. But... I can't complain about getting the afternoon off to sing on my birthday and promote my town! :)

I also bought myself a little birthday treat. I've been trying to eat healthy foods since spring break, and I've hardly had any sugar since then. I've given up pop, and I've tried to eliminate as much processed food and white refined sugar & flour as possible. But on my birthday, I wanted ICE CREAM! Heather & I had a malt before rehearsal, and it tasted so good. Today, though, I'm back on the wagon. I feel better when I eat better, so I just need to stick to it.

Well, if I left out any birthday details that pertained specifically to you, I'm sorry... I'm doing this quickly. I appreciated every thought and gift. Birthdays were always such a big deal to my mom. She always made me feel like a princess on my birthday. So, sometimes it's hard being older and having my birthday not be a big deal to anyone. You all made me feel so special. I LOVE YOU ALL! I'm so grateful for my fabulous friends and family. Thanks for making my 36th birthday one to remember!

On a different note, I wanted to reflect a little on the whole Godspell experience. It was truly a gift. I can't remember when I've had that much fun on stage. And it was so cool working professionally with some of my students. We got to know each other as people and as friends, not just as student and teacher. Godspell is the kind of show that makes an actor run the gambit of emotions. And the energy was so intense on stage. I can't remember ever feeling so many different things in a part before. So many people came to see it that I didn't expect... like my roommate from U of I, Crissy, and her husband Tom. They've never seen me in a show before. They drove down from Dyersville and even stayed overnight. Lloyd and Jane Luers are two dear cousins from Rubio, and I don't think they'd ever seen me in a show. I was so proud that they saw this one. I also made so many new friends, and other friendships deepened. It was just an amazing experience. Plus, my dad got to see it too.

I've already started Pippin rehearsals, and it will be a really fun show, but I'm grieving, more than a little, for Godspell.