How I Spent My Saturday
Got up and put on my painting clothes, as I was going to TC to finish cleaning out the costume supply closet and help make sets.
Detoured by a call from Sis- could I baby-sit if she ran up right then to get her hair cut?
She returned in about fifteen minutes; they were jam-packed, so she made an appointment for later in the day.
Off to TC with my enormous Sonic iced tea. The regulars were already hard at work, stirring paint, unscrewing old platforms, consulting the painting schema and the mock-up of the set, which incorporates the whole theater - turning it into a Roman street.
I returned the random items from the closet to the prop and costume rooms. I can understand some of the things I found while organizing: five pair of tights and a couple of wigs make sense. But a doorknob? A bicycle lock? D batteries? It looks lovely now, I must say - all ready for the assault from “Forum”.
About whose costumes I’d had an e-mail from the director on Friday. Who hadn’t heard that we already had designs in the works from Sandy’s daughter. Though of course, I’d been designing in my head - costumers are incorrigible.
So, I’d produced a few sketches for my own fun, based on Pete’s plan of color-coding the cast by households. I used the figure drawing cheat sheets from the Threads magazine site - anathema, I know and a very bad habit. I’m looking forward to seeing the other designs and getting to work, once the show is cast.
Painted theater walls ‘til two, and made myself a set colors sampler on a paper plate for future reference. Returned home to find Ro and D. burning the DVD of the slide-show for the Theater/Speech Banquet, which she‘d helped edit. The B-Films touch: she’d combined three versions of “How Ross stole a stop sign (in front of an off-duty cop)” by intercutting between the narrators to produce a very funny four minute montage. Not up to the standards of the two previous years, which she did on her own.
But D. appreciated the help.
Took Sis a shirt box for her present for the lingerie shower they’re throwing for another D. This is a surprise and has taken only slightly less planning and maneuvering than the moon landing. The card she made to go with the gift is a masterpiece: bikinis and a teddy in patterned pink and vellum with chocolate scalloped lace. She is a paper genius.
Came home and blogged a bit, then picked up some money and got some dinner to take to baby-sit. Garlic bread and a garden salad from Goodfellas, which replaced the terrible restaurant that had been there.
At the Y’s, Bubs was in his chair, shoveling Goldfish in with both fists. I took him down so he could demonstrate standing up, which I hadn’t seen yet. And he can do it! Yay, Bubbins! Next - learning to go down the step into the living room, instead of sitting there and faking heartbreak until somebody picks him up and moves him,
I shared my garlic bread with Nini and she had some Subway that Jake brought home, as well. Then she joined Bubs in the tub, where he was soaking his red bottom - the result of Baby Boot Camp and not getting up at five a.m. One of those dreadful Mom dilemmas - change him and wake him up or let him fuss himself back to sleep, but chap his tushy?
After his tub, we had some hair-dryer therapy on the booty - it’s like baby spa. Then bed, firmly instructed by his sister.
Who was waiting to play Pet Shop. Now, when Ro was small, Pet Shop Pets actually resembled everyday animals. Now they’re the Keane paintings of the plastic toy world. We suspect the popularity of Bratz has something- bad- to do with this.
Our game tonight was not the usual Talent Show, but first a Spelling Bee, and then a Mathlon. One of the pups won the Bee and the Dog team, including the gecko, clobbered the Cat team, including the inchworm.
She declined a bedtime story and we discovered that “Ball of Fire” was the TCM Essentials film that night, so we watched that, off and on, while playing an abridged version of “Twenty Questions”, until I finally made her shut up so I could hear the Professors’s marital advice to Gary Cooper. You know, the plot to that movie is really quite complicated, especially if you’re explaining it to a five year old.
When that ended, we wound up in Mom and Dad’s bed, to watch “Guys and Dolls”. She was asleep before “I Got the Horse Right Here” was over.
This morning, Sis called to asked “Just exactly what movie did ya’ll watch last night?”
“Howard Hawks’ ‘Ball of Fire’ - Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck.”
“Ohhh -- not the one about Jerry Lee Lewis, then?”
“Sissy, please. I do have some judgment.”
We have these conversations a lot about Ni’s version of events.
The Y’s got home at 1:15. Sis reported that the panty party was a great success. D. was completely surprised and very touched. The hi-jinks were enhanced by their waiter, who insisted on inspecting the gifts and choosing the order in which they should appear on the honeymoon.
“ This outfit - this leopard print teddy - this is very ‘Rrrowwww!” This you should save for maybe Day Three.”
Home to give the boys a midnight snack and so to bed.