If you're in casting don't ask

Well I did it, I went ahead and turned 40. I was thinking about not doing it and then just said what the F...it can't be that bad. My friend Julie did it in November and she looks amazing! No one would ever guess she's 40.

In my head I still have visions of what I thought 40 meant when I was 20; polyester pants, body parts slipping, a "mom" hairdo. Gratefully I'm of the new generation that believes 40 is the new 30. My girlfriends back home all subscribe to this belief as well. I am so lucky to have them.

As part of my birthday celebration Julie cashed in some airline miles so I could come back to Portland and celebrate with the Bella's. It was such a thoughtful gift. I got to spend time with my mom and Rance's parents and of course the girls. I told very few people of my trip to Portland, I knew I would have only limited time available and wouldn't possibly see everyone. I'm sorry to have missed so many people but also grateful that I got to spend quality time with family and the Bellas without rushing around to a ton of different places. They were so damn thoughtful and wonderful to be with.

I got to go with my mom to her square dance lesson. What a blast and a great group of people for her to be with. They were all so ridiculously nice. Unfortunately, I missed her graduation by one week, otherwise I would have been able to see her dance in full square dancing costume. I bet she looks adorable.

I got to see Joni for all of about 30 minutes, but boy in that time the energy sparks were flying. She is such an inspirational woman! The ideas and encouragement she provides..AHH! I just love her.

So here's to The Bella's and 26 years of friendship. Thank you for helping to make my transition into my 40's an easy one. You're next Linda...and you look mah-ve-lus!

Day Off Update

Things have been a little out of the ordinary lately.

Sunday we did a three person show that did not include Larrance or Jen. Just me, Rance and Mike. Larrance and Jen were in Maryland attending his mother's funeral. The show went really well and though it felt weird not to have any music. We adjusted nicely and the audience had no idea it could be any different.

Last night just as we started the show there was an earthquake that for instant had me thinking the bottom of the stage was dropping out. It was quick and over with no after shocks, but I'll admit it had me on edge the rest of the first half of the show. It was a tough first half, it felt like work...and then Frank Bauchman joined us. We performed with him last year, he's amazing. He toured for several years with the Broadway show Evita and just has a beautiful voice. He and Larrance prepared songs in secret and we then used them as our inspiration for our scenes. The work melted away and it became much more entertaining for everyone.

Pirates Favorite TV Show? E-ARRGHH

In a weeks time here, I've gone on a hike, went on a whale watching excursion and lost badly at 36 holes of adventure golf. I've also lost two pounds. Mostly because last time I was here I gained about 7 lbs in my six weeks here and I'm determined not to let that happen again. There's so much food around all the time that it's hard to pass it by even when I'm not hungry.

It's gorgeous here today, supposed to be around 76 degrees, maybe one of the last great days of summer here. Rance and I plan on doing laundry, that's right no long hikes, no sea kayaking...laundry. A girl's got to have underwear, at least this girl does.

Sam Adams was the idea man

So we've that for the two of us to travel together well we need pre-planned stops between starting out and our destination. I'm much more of a free spirit when I travel, enjoying stopping along the way if anything intrigues; Rance on the other hand is a planner and likes to know from point A to point B what is on the schedule. So for us knowing that we had time to stop in Philadelphia and two nights in Boston was perfect. From there my little free spirit wishes could find the time to fill in the hours.

With about three hours in Philly, we took time to see the Liberty Bell, the graveyard where Ben Franklin is buried, got a detailed overview of how it's possible to pack 4,000 dead bodies into an area no larger than 1/2 a city block, breakfast and a quick drive by the Philly Art Museum where Rocky made is run up the famous steps. Of course we only got a small tasting of the city, but we did manage to get ourselves off the planned route to the part of town that isn't on any tourists map.

To cap off our tour of major historical cities we headed towards Boston. I'd never been to Boston and had heard nothing but great things about the city, and now I can see why. Our hotel was about 15 miles outside of the city, so we got in to the city about 10am, parked the car and headed out for the day. Keeping the bikes on the back of the car for this trip seemed like a no brainer. With all the small cobblestone, easy to get lost on streets by foot is the best way to see Boston. Because it was the Friday before Labor Day traffic volume was way down both by car and by foot. We walked the Freedom Trail, (thanks Erin for making sure we did this!) hopped a trolley to see more of the city came back and walked through Boston Common and the Public Garden, and then meandered our way back up to the North Side for dinner and a show at Improv Asylum. One of Rance's friends Michael is in the cast and Sarah Maher another improviser from Chicago joined the cast recently. They were great!! It was so wonderful to see how Michael has grown and with a show like that it's hard not to. They do shortform, long form, musical improv and sketch. All of it right in the heart of the Italian section of Boston.

We stopped in Salem, MA on our way up to Maine. Two things of note Salem is of course where they had the witch trials in the 1600's. It's also the home of...Get this..."Bunghole Liquors". We laughed a good long time on that one. If you got to Salem I would suggest steering clear of the Witch Dungeon, supposedly the more historically accurate representation and head right on over to the Witch Museum which is the more popular.

We're in Maine now. We arrived Saturday and watched a couple of shows that night. Yesterday Rance and I walked a little around Ellsworth and got our room all setup for the next six weeks. Last night's shows were crazy fun. ComedySportz is such an amazing training ground for being able to entertain a real audience, not just an audience of other improvisers.

Two Hour Monument Tour

There really isn't a better way to see a city than by bicycle. Rance and I pulled into Washington DC at about 1:30pm, unloaded our bikes off the back of the car and gave ourselves two hours to ride around the capital mall to photograph the monuments. We have both been to DC before and last time we were there Rance got some fantastic shots of the Korean Memorial but they are all in low resolution. Now armed with a much better camera we set off.

First stop was the Washington Monument. We realized we were in DC at a perfect time most kids were either back in school or getting ready to go back so the tourist level was low. Making biking even easier around the foot paths.

We hadn't seen the new World War II memorial before; last time we were here it was under construction. It's a beautiful mix of fountain, carvings and granite. I could have spent a little longer here but we didn't have time. We set off towards the Lincoln Memorial, parked our bikes and walked over to the Korean Memorial. Rance got some great shots again and then we headed over to the Vietnam memorial. After a quick call to Rance's Dad we got a couple of names that he would like to have photographed.

From there we hopped back on our bikes and cruised the whole length of the Capital Mall all the way down to the Capital Building. Again the bikes were perfect. We never would have been able to do everything we did if were on foot.

We made it back to our car right at 4pm just as the parking restrictions were going into effect. We loaded up and were back on the road. We spent last night in Newark, DE and are heading out this morning for a quick tour of Philadelphia and then on up to Boston.

Hotel Bed Rating:

1st Bed - Way too soft ( ended up trying to sleep in the bathtub for a couple of hours)
2nd Bed - Way too hard (my back is killing me this morning)

I'm hoping the 3rd bed tonight will be just right.

Pressure to Make it Great

After having taken such a long break from blogging there's a little self induced pressure to make my come back entry something really worthwhile. But I am squashing that pressure with this mild mannered post. I don't know if anyone is even checking this thing anymore...I know I wasn't.

I'm sitting in a Days Inn Motel somewhere outside of Pittsburgh after driving/riding for almost 500 miles today. Rance and I are heading back to Bar Harbor to perform with our friends Jen and Larrance in their theater: ImprovAcadia. Tomorrow we're driving in to Washington DC to spend a few hours taking photographs and just checking out all the monuments see if anything's changed since last time we were there. You never know, Abe could get tired of sitting so erect all the time. I'd like to see him slouch for once.

Then we're off to Boston for a couple of days. I've always wanted to go there and experience the "most European city in America" (I just read that quote in reference to Boston). I don't know what that means but I'm guessing the women don't shave their armpits.

Today's most adorable/gross entry goes to the restroom stall in the first and only Pennsylvania rest stop we visited. I walked opened the door to the "mommy and me" stall to find two toilets side by side in the stall. Quite possibly the last thing I would want to do is urinate with my mom sitting next to me doing the same. The plaque on the bathroom stall showed mommy holding hands with her kid and so as I sat their doing my business staring at the vacant toilet bowl next to me and I tried to come up with anyone I would want to hold hands with at that very moment. The only person who came to mind was Oprah because I was guessing her poo wouldn't stink.

Mike and Duncan I hope you're working hard.

- D

Thank God That's Over

Okay, I'll admit it the holidays stress me out!! Rance and I were playing the "well known" characters of Rocky the Reindeer and Tammy the Christmas cowgirl during the holiday weekends at Marshall Field's for their Breakfast with Santa events. Since we were at the Woodfield Mall in beautiful Schaumberg we decided to go shopping for Christmas after one of our gigs. It was torture!! People everywhere, so much to choose from and an overwhelming desire not to disappoint which of course leads to the inevitable dissappointment which I caused this year by not even sending out the gifts I did manage to get.

Rance did end up spoiling me for the holiday; he got me some new makup brushes and a KitchenAide counter top mixer. You know the kind that does it all. I made home made cinnamon rolls on Monday and they were delish.

Rance and I will be heading out to Portland, OR the first week of January so we'll have Christmas with family and friends then.

Speaking of going out to Portland. On one of my corporate gigs I got bumped from a flight and got a free travel voucher which I was hoping to use for this flight. Of course with the stress of the holidays I waited until the very last minute to book the flight and when I did they said I had to go down to the airport to get ticketed. What in the hell? Go to the airport on the day before Christmas Eve, one of the busiest travel dates to one of the busiest airports to get ticketed? There's no way in hell I'm going to do that. Fortunately, through my searching I found that Southwest was having an awesome sale on flights and I got a ticket for $190 to Portland which is the cheapest I've seen in a long time. Take that free ticket. I'll save the voucher to go see my dad in Arizona in February.