And so it begins...

And so it begins...another school year. My last semester and Dri's Jr. year. It doesn't even seem like I had a summer vacation since I was working in the theatre all summer. A few weeks before we started rehearsals and a few weeks after we closed our last show and that was it.

I'll be student teaching this semester. That means it'll be up early every morning for me as I travel to Dayton Elementary the first half and Oil City High School for the second half. Of course I had to be up early today for a Student Teacher Orientation. Why they couldn't start it later I don't know.

Dri will undoubtedly have more responsibilities this semester as she is now one of the only upper class techs. She'll probably also be designing more this year. She's just worried that she won't be able to go back to sleep after I leave at like 6:45 AM every morning.

Well, that's all for now. Be prepared for much ranting from me this semester.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Clarion University Summer Theatre Festival's presentation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opens July 23, 2009 at Clarion University's Little Theatre at 8 PM. Performances continue through July 25. After that, the show moves to the Sawmill Theatre in Cook Forest for performances on July 30 through August 1 and August 5 through the 8.

Audrina designed the set for the show and painted everything herself and I am musical director. I'm also playing the role of Pharaoh. Some of the show may be different than the version you are used to but it is going to be an awesome show. Audrina's brother Nicholas is also part of the children's choir.

Tell everyone you know and make sure to order your tickets because shows are getting close to being sold out.

Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium Trip

Audrina and I went to the zoo last Friday. We both agreed that it was kind of nice going without any children along. We were able to walk around without any strollers or wagons and to look at what we wanted to look at. The first time we walked around, we were in the middle of about 12 different schools there on field trips. Let me just say...there are some very rude children out there. Add to the fact that at least two of the schools had clipboards or papers that they had to fill out along the way.

It was a very nice day otherwise. We thought it was still cool enough that the animals would be out but there were still quite a few that were hiding. I haven't been to the zoo in four or five years and Dri said it was longer for her so we enjoyed ourselves. We had enough time in the day to actually walk around the entire zoo a second time. Luckily, there were no schools that time. There's no way I could upload all of the pictures we took, but here's a few of the better ones.

The baby elephants that were born last year.

A sea otter...just cause I like them.

Rocky, the Kodiak bear enjoying play time.

The penguins showing their Penguin pride.

Overall it was a great day and both Dri and I are looking forward to going back soon. Everyone should visit the Pittsburgh Zoo, it's a great zoo, very nice, and the animals are all great.

Finally, a new post

Yes, I know it's been quite a while since I've posted, but I've been busy. The end of the semester is always a busy time. Professors always seem to assign the large projects towards the end of the year. They probably think it's fun. It's not...trust me. I'm glad I stayed an extra semester and got some classes in that I've been wanting to take and some that I think will help me student teaching next semester. I would liked to have gotten a little more out of one of them...but you'll have this. Both Dri and I made Dean's List this semester. She was just floored that she got an A in our Principles of Macroeconomics class. Sadly, I don't know what I got because I took it for Credit/No Record.

So, we have the month of May off before we have to start summer theatre. Last week we didn't really do a whole lot...just relaxed as much as we could. This coming week we're moving to a new apartment. It's just down the street from the one we were in last year...but it's a lot nicer. Pictures will get posted of the new place once we take some. The week after that, Dri gets her tattoo and pictures will get put up of that too. The last week of the month I have to be back at Clarion for rehearsals for the elementary school tour of "Schoolhouse Rock, Live!" we're doing and then the actual tour. Then rehearsals start for "High School Musical On Stage." "High School" is first this summer, followed by "Schoolhouse," and finally is "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." I'll get dates of performances up here shortly.

That's all for now. Watch for new posts and pictures soon. I promise I'll keep up with this more often.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and anyone who is a Mother figure.

The End of Another Show

After two pit rehearsals and a week of rehearsal for us and about six weeks for the cast, "Big River" finally closed on Sunday. Based on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the musical follows Huck Fin and the runaway slave Jim down the Mississippi River. They meet all sorts of characters on the way until they end up in Arkansas.

(Broadway Recording Cover, thanks to Wikipedia)

The music is a little country, a little western, and a little gospel. At first I was not a fan of the music, but after playing it so much and seeing it in the context of the show, it kind of grew on me. Our pit included two guitars, a violin, a bass, percussion, clarinet/sax, flute, trumpet, trombone, piano, and me on synthesizer (covering banjo, mandolin, organ, English Horn, and some harmonica). We also had a harmonica player, but he was also in the show so sometimes he was on stage, sometimes he was in the pit.

Audrina was the sound designer for the show which was something she was not happy about considering she never did sound before. On top of that, the sound system in our auditorium sucks. Of course, the day before the first tech rehearsal she had her appendix out so the technical directors were scrambling to figure out what to do. Luckily, Dri was feeling good enough to make it to the last three rehearsals so she was able to yell at her crew. Everything with the sound was great and even though I know she's glad it's over, she's probably also happy to have a little exposure to it, even though she would never admit to that.

(Opening scene from our production thanks to Erin Thompson)

So now that "Big River" is over, I have the summer shows to look forward to. I'll post more on that a little later.

Exciting Week So Far

So we've had a pretty exciting week so far. Dri was feeling sick all day Tuesday and thought she was just coming down with the flu. Well after being in pain all day and it only getting worse, I took her to the ER Tuesday night around 10:30.

After waiting there through tests and scans, the doctor came out around 1:30 AM and said that her appendix was inflamed and needed to be taken out. So I called Mary and told her and she started up (took her and hour and a half thanks to the fog). Around 3 AM, Dri was finally moved into her own room and Mary got here around 3:30. I dozed off and on until the nurses came in around 6 to get her vitals and everything and then the doctor finally came in around 6:15. He explained exactly what was going to happen and was very cordial and professional for it being so early.At 6:50, they took Dri to the OR but she didn't get in until 7:30 because they had to run a final test. The doctor called her room around 8:15 and figured we'd be worried since he told us it would only be and hour total. Everything went fine and she got back in her room around 9:20 after being in recovery for an hour. She was still out of it and told Mary and I that she wanted more anesthesia because she really liked it.
After spending the day in the hospital Wednesday, she was discharged and came home Wednesday night. She didn't get a lot of sleep that night and I was awake for a while, but we both slept some today. Hopefully, she'll start feeling better and will be able to sleep better tonight.

Just some ranting

So, I just had to rant about a couple things. I try and do this every now and then so I don't flip out on people. Normally, I like to rant face to face with people. Makes it easier I think...but since I have this blog now, I can use it.

Rant #1--Personal Music Players
Yes, I have my own personal music player. It makes it nice for walking to class and for car rides when there's nothing on the radio. A lot of people have them and I think they're a great idea. My only problem is when I can hear your music coming from your own CD player/iPod. I thought the whole point of these items was to spare those around from hearing your music. Now I understand that some people like to listen to their music loud. Occasionally I do as well. But we shouldn't be able to hear it from across the room. If you need it turned up that loud, you better start thinking about turning it down or you will go deaf. I know...I'm a music major and they warn us of these things. One more thing about personal music players, please don't sing along. If we don't want to hear your music, we certainly don't want to hear you sing it...badly. I'm not talking to everyone out there...just the people who can't sing to save their life. If you're friends with these people, please let them know. They need to know they can't sing.

Rant #2--Rude people on sidewalks
It's winter. There's snow piled on both sides of the sidewalk which makes it even smaller to walk on. You can comfortably fit two (2) people on most sidewalks. Now I understand you want to talk to your friend as you're walking to class, but if you see someone coming the other way...Get Out of the Way! It's not polite to make them walk in the snow just because you don't have the common sense and decency to take one step forward or back. Surely I was not the only one raised this way. Other people have to know this. It's simply the right thing to do. I'm beginning to think that the number of polite people in this world is dropping at an alarming rate. I must try to fix this when I'm a teacher and a parent. And for anyone reading this you can trust me, my children will be polite.

I think that's all for now. I like this whole idea of ranting on here. It's nice.

I am not an Eskimo...and this is not Alaska!

So last night...Dri and I went to bed as we normally do but I soon woke up a couple times between midnight and 3AM. When I woke up, I realized the heat was on but there was cold air blowing out the vents. I figured it was just at the end of the cycle since there's always a little cold air right before it shuts off. I also got to thinking that it must have just gotten a lot colder than they thought.

Well...I woke up around 3:30 or 4 and realized that there was a constant stream of cold air blowing out the vents. I quickly got up and got another blanket to put on the bed and turned up the heat. I figured it might get warm that way. Well...I went to lay back down and Dri asked what was wrong and I told her and she made the point that since I turned the heat up it probably wouldn't shut off at all. Well, I went out to turn the heat back down...it was 48 degrees inside our apartment! What the (insert your preferred exclamation here)!!!! I do not live in Alaska! It's just not cricket!

So I turned the heat completely off. I figured no cold air blowing was better than cold air blowing. Then I went back to bed but soon realized that if they came to fix it they might need the heat on. So I turned it back up even if I knew it would do no good. I then called our landlord to leave a message and let him know about the furnace. Well, as soon as I got off the phone with him, the furnace kicks on and is blowing hot air now. What the (insert your other preferred exclamation here)!!!! I don't know about this place sometimes. Things just kind of suck here sometimes. Again, I say...I am not an Eskimo and this is not Alaska!

And it starts again...

It's that time again...time for another semester. Classes started today and oh what fun! Just kidding. It's never that much fun the first day.

Big News!!

Although, pretty much everyone who would reads this knows already, we thought we'd make the announcement on here that we're Engaged!!!! Audrina said yes on December 22 but we are going to wait until she's out of school to get married. We don't have a date set yet, but I'm sure we'll figure it out before too long.

Audrina's one of a kind ring.



We'll be sure to let you all know the date when we know ourselves.