Unfulfilled dreams

I found my old National Record of Achievement yesterday. There were a few things inside that I’d forgotten about – karate grading certificates, a skiing certificate (from my one and only skiing lesson). What made interesting reading was my ambitions: “…just finished writing my first novel which I hope to have published…” – here I am 13 years on from writing those words and still in the same boat writing-wise. That first novel might have been trash, but at least I finished it which is more than I’ve done with any ideas since! Maybe one day that particular ambition will be realised.

Papier mâché Jesus

We’ve been working on producing an Easter labyrinth at church with 12 different stations focusing on the journey to the cross and towards Easter morning, allowing focus for prayer and quiet reflection. One of the stations depicts Jesus in the tomb and thanks to one of the dads, we have created a life-size model of Jesus made out of chicken wire and papier mâché. I have been spending some time over the last few days helping to add layers of white toilet roll and kitchen roll to represent the body coverings. It’s good to be doing something a bit different.

Clock changing

I’m rubbish at remembering exactly when the clocks go back and forward, particularly when I’m on leave and therefore not looking at my diary regularly. Fortunately someone reminded me about it yesterday, otherwise I would have turned up at church an hour late this morning (not ideal when I’m doing the reading!) I remember forgetting to move the clock forward one spring when I used to do karate on a Sunday morning and arriving an hour late with a couple of other people who’d also forgotten. The karate instructor was not impressed and made us do 20 press-ups as punishment.

All that jazz

Yesterday’s concert at church featured a jazz quartet and a couple of jazz singers performing standards such as I Get A Kick Out Of You, Girl From Ipanema, A Foggy Day and Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off. It was a good concert, and the performers were all really friendly, which is a bonus (it can be quite stressful setting up for a concert when the performers act like prima donnas!) We usually have concerts at church every other month, but there are so many people interested in performing lately that the last few have been monthly which is great.

Starry, starry night

Driving down to my parents’ the other day, I was struck by how pretty the night sky was with all the stars. I had forgotten how gorgeous a starry sky can be. Where I live, there is so much light pollution (not helped by my next door neighbour who has installed outdoor lighting that floods her back garden with bright light at night), that I honestly can’t remember the last time I actually noticed the stars We are surrounded by so much that is artificial, that we are in danger of missing out on the beauty of the natural world.

More on weddings

This week has been predominantly focused on wedding preparations and so my head is very much filled with wedding things. I had my trial hair appointment yesterday (very happy with the results), tried on my wedding dress after having my hair done (was so happy it made me cry!) and then went veil shopping with my twin sister today. Having tried to avoid bridal shops, I finally succumbed but the level of customer service reminded me why I was avoiding them in the first place! On the plus side, I did find a very pretty veil so that was good!

Beading

We have craft days every so often at church, with sessions teaching beading, flower arrangement, kite making, glass painting and card making. It’s great fun to go along, socialise with people from church and learn new skills at the same time. I’ve developed quite a hobby for beadwork as a result of the craft sessions and have made several necklaces for friends and family. I’m now working on the necklaces for my bridesmaids and flower girls, and have now made my own necklace for my wedding. There’s something so satisfying about being able to make things for my big day.

The curse of Bridezilla

Wedding planning has been relatively stress-free on the whole and I was beginning to think I was immune to the curse of Bridezilla. The realisation that I’m not immune has come as quite a shock. Some wedding invites were sent out without some key directions. It’s not a big problem – 90% of the people they’ve been sent to are on email and I’ve updated our website with the info so just need to let them know it’s there. It really didn’t warrant quite such a huge wobbly. Thank goodness for lovely understanding fiancés and fingers crossed it was a one-off!

The winds of change

As Maria says in ‘The Sound of Music’ – “Whenever God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.” Sometimes life throws unexpected challenges our way. Things tick along nicely for a while, we get comfortable and then just as we settle into this nice comfort zone, something changes and we suddenly have to rethink our plans. Changes are often uncomfortable but then looking back, we can see how they can help us to grow – although at the time we’d rather stay still and not have to grow! Hopefully the anticipated changes that are currently afoot will ultimately be positive ones.

Mothers' Day

Feeling quite tired this evening after a late night last night at the after show party, having to be at church early this morning as on vestry duty and then a busy day trying to fit time in with both mums (Michael’s and mine) for Mothers' Day. We took Michael’s mum out for Sunday lunch at a local restaurant – had roast pork which was very yummy, and then arrived home to have dinner in the evening with my mum – roast pork on the menu again! Sunday roast is very nice, but twice in one day is a little too much!

Last two performances

We spend months rehearsing for a show, and then show week itself always seems to go far too quickly. I can’t believe tonight is the last night of the show – I shall be quite sad when it is all over as I have enjoyed it so much. There’s always such a good atmosphere backstage and it is just so much fun. It is strange to think this is my last show before my wedding – when Michael does the backstage calls for the next show, it won’t be “Miss Crouch to the stage”, it’ll be “Miss George to the stage!” instead!

Ramblings relating to rollers

I got some funny looks last night on the way to the theatre. There I was with my hair in rollers with a lurid pink scarf tied around them to hold them all in. I’m not quite sure why I own a lurid pink head scarf, but as I headed to the station, a passing driver stopped to ask me where I bought it as she wanted to buy one! Running up the steps of the tube station opposite the theatre, my rollers started to make a bid for freedom but fortunately were retrieved by the bemused businessman behind me.

Oklahoma opening night

Opening night seemed to go fairly well – no major disasters (or at least not any that I was aware of!). We had a fairly good audience for a first night, and they all seemed to enjoy the show. Most of the midwives from work came along (fortunately no-one was having a baby at the time!) and tonight I have quite a few members of my family, including my mum and dad coming along and a reporter from the local paper is also going to be there so hopefully we will manage to put on a good show tonight as well!

Signs of spring

Spring has got to be my favourite season. The world is so much prettier this time of year than at any other time. Whilst I’m still waiting for the daffodils that I planted at the end of last summer to appear (my lack of green fingers is sadly quite evident!), I can at least appreciate everyone else’s daffodils which all appear to be in full bloom. The blossom has started appearing on the trees and this week has been so lovely and sunny that I’ve been able to venture out for the first time without having to wear a coat.

Dress rehearsal

The dress rehearsal went about as well as dress rehearsals tend to go. There were a few technical hitches here and there, a few missed lines, one or two slow entrances but on the whole, it went reasonably well. Hopefully we can improve on the sticky bits and put on a much better performance tomorrow night. It’s good to finally be off the pager and on annual leave although being at work today has left me quite tired by the end of the show – hopefully tomorrow I can have a lie-in and therefore hopefully have more energy for opening night.

Technical rehearsal

Having a busy day at work followed by an evening in the theatre is quite exhausting! I’m looking forward to having some time off after tomorrow’s dress rehearsal to catch up on sleep before the opening night. Tonight was the technical rehearsal and whilst I know it can be frustrating as a cast member with all the stops and starts; having worked backstage as well, it annoys me when people grumble about it. After all, we’ve had six months to rehearse – the technical team get just one night before the dress rehearsal to sort out sound, lighting and scene changes.

The get-in

Getting into the theatre is always a bit manic. There’s set to put up, the pit to be lowered, lights to rig, equipment needing testing and programming. Then the band call in the afternoon: a chance to rehearse songs for the first time with the band. After that – back to getting the stage ready for tomorrow’s technical rehearsal. The set looks amazing – a wooden farmhouse with porch, a water tower and a corrugated iron smoke house, all made by our talented set designers. Once we’re all in costume, it will look great - hopefully our performances will be great too!

Tangoed!

My natural colour tends to be pale, and I have more of a tendency to burn in the summer rather than tan. This means I need lots of stage make-up for shows and so I went to have a spray tan today to reduce the need for this. Whilst a couple of people have said I look well, and asked if I have been on holiday, I can’t help noticing the resemblance to an Oompa-Loompa every time I look in the mirror (I have the height, just need the green hair!). It’s just so strange to see myself looking tanned!

Fabulous florist

I have finally found the perfect florist to do my wedding flowers. When I first asked about a quote for wedding flowers, she spent ages discussing exactly what I wanted, suggesting ideas to fit in with my colour scheme and dresses, before finally giving me a very reasonable quote. After having some florists seem reluctant to even spare five minutes, it was wonderful to finally get some proper customer service. We had another meeting today to confirm the details and she has just been so lovely and friendly, I can’t help but feel my wedding flowers are in safe hands!

Diverting tactics

It’s been a bit of a busy day and I’ve ended up doing a couple of evening visits. One of the advantages of doing visits late into the evening is that generally the traffic is so much better on the way home. Not so tonight! Road closures due to road works on the main route home, then every time I tried to divert and try a different route, it seemed I encountered yet more road closures and had to think again. Is today the day for the Road Workers’ Convention? I’ve never seen so many of them in one night!

Last rehearsal before the get-in

Tonight was the last Oklahoma! rehearsal before we get into the theatre on Sunday. Six months of rehearsals seem to have flown by and now opening night is just a week away. We’ve been polishing up the dance routines tonight and Michael has been busy building the set, and has managed to find a new lighting designer (phew!) There’s also a decent article in the local rag (half a page which is quite impressive!) and ticket sales are going so well that we’ve almost sold out on a couple of nights. Hopefully everything will go well for show week itself.

Boxed in

One of the things that I tend to grumble about when out and about on the roads is drivers who stop in box junctions. It drives me mad. So as you can imagine, I was quite shocked when a penalty charge notice arrived in the post complete with photos showing my car stopped inside a box junction. Even worse, I don’t remember doing it (clearly I was on auto-pilot at that moment). As a result of this, I’m now £60 worse off and suddenly have become a lot less vociferous in my condemnation of other drivers stopping in box junctions!

My mum's birthday

Spending time with my family is so important to me, and it is frustrating sometimes not being able to go home and see them as often as I would like to. Today, however, I managed to spend some time at home seeing my family as it was my mum’s (and her twin sister’s) birthday. I got to see three of my sisters, one brother, four nieces and two nephews (always difficult trying to fit as many family members in as possible on brief visits) plus also managed to catch up with an old school friend – not bad for one day!

Oh, what a beautiful mornin'

Early morning is one of the most beautiful times of the day, particularly on mornings like today when the kitchen is bathed in sunshine (making me feel awake and alive even before my morning cup of tea!) I rarely have the time or energy to appreciate how lovely an early morning can be, but this morning I’ve had time to sit and be still and just appreciate the wonders of God’s creation – the daffodils outside, the birds singing… sheer bliss. After an emotionally charged couple of days, it is a joy just to feel at peace with the world again.

Through a child's eyes...

I attended a lovely home birth of a previous client recently and a few minutes after the baby was born, the older children (including the little boy I’d welcomed into the world two years earlier) all came into the room to meet their new sister, which was a magical moment to see. The little one was particularly fascinated by seeing the cord (placenta having not separated at this point) – “Mummy, there’s a worm!” I’d never thought of it in that way, being seeing it through a two year old’s eyes, I guess it does look a bit like a worm!

Being a twin

I was listening to a discussion on the radio about twins and whether they are generally closer than other siblings. Obviously that depends on the twins themselves, but I love being a twin, and have a bond with my twin sister that I just don’t have with my other siblings, much as I love them all. Being a twin means having a ready-made best friend from birth, having someone to share the highs and lows of growing up. I love sharing birthdays and always try to make sure we can celebrate together – particularly this year as we’ll both be 30.

Avoiding March madness

When Michael and I first got engaged, one of the wedding dates we considered was at the end of March, but we decided that booking our wedding for the week after a show was a bit mad. Whilst I have no doubt that I could have organised a wedding in four months, I’m now quite glad that I didn’t try. Things are busy enough with adjusting to my new job and preparing for the show – I think if I’d had to think about last minute preparations for a wedding as well, I would have been incredibly stressed at the moment.

Technical hitches

The opening night of Oklahoma! is in exactly two weeks’ time and there has been a slight technical hitch. Our lighting designer has suddenly had to pull out of the show due to unforeseen circumstances and so the search is now on for a new lighting designer who can step in at fairly short notice. Fortunately, there seem to be a few potential options available so it isn’t a complete disaster – or at least not yet! Fingers crossed that we will manage to find someone quickly, particularly as there are only two rehearsals left before we get into the theatre.

Cinderfellas

Conversations during the pub quiz often tend to be fairly random but tonight’s was particularly bizarre. There I was at the end of the quiz, sitting at a table with three men and the conversation turned to “Which Disney princess are you?” Keith was Cinderella, Bryan was Pocahontas and Michael was wavering between Ariel and Belle, but eventually decided upon Belle. Having never really thought about my fiancé in Disney princess terms, I’m now not sure whether I should be amused, or concerned. At least our size difference means there’s no danger of suddenly finding him trying on my clothes!

A taste of spring

I love days like today. Days like today make me feel that the winter is almost over and spring is nearly here. The sun has been shining and I even managed to put some washing out on the line (funny how such a small thing can make me happy!) I’m still waiting for the daffodil and snowdrop bulbs I planted in the back garden at the end of the summer to start flowering, but there are some very pretty daffodils in the front garden already. Amazingly half of the plants on the balcony have also managed to survive the winter.

Honeymoon

Wedding plans are coming along nicely. We booked the flights and hotels for our honeymoon yesterday. We will be spending a week in Switzerland starting in Geneva and then travelling around to finish in Zurich. We’re planning a trip to the chocolate factory and a scenic train journey through the mountains, but have not made any other plans – it will be nice just to do things on the spur of the moment. Neither of us has been to Switzerland before – it is somewhere that I’ve wanted to go to for a long time and I’m really looking forward to it.