Well, let’s get the crappy news out of the way, first. On my way to Rochester, I stopped at a thruway rest stop to use the bathroom. The parking lot wasn’t crowded. I backed out of my space, then proceeded, very slowly, down the aisle toward the exit. Suddenly, I heard a crunching sound. A man driving a VW bug had backed out of his space and right into my car. Couldn’t believe it! His first words to me were “I didn’t see you.” He repeated that several times. I was upset, but kind, because I know how many times I’ve almost hit someone because I looked away for a moment. There was more damage to my car than his and, although he wanted to brush it off as something you could buff out, I have lots of scratches and a significant dent. I insisted that we exchange phone numbers.

And then I called Don, who said he would handle calling the guy. Long story short, after Don left a few messages, the gentleman returned his call and we will get an estimate for the damage. Thank goodness, it was a fender bender and I was driving less than 5 miles an hour.

The rest of the drive was uneventful and I arrived in Rochester. This time, I stayed in company housing, which is right down the street from the theater. Another loft-like space, not unlike the company housing at Hartford Stage.

The next afternoon, I coached a woman who is replacing the lead actress (who got a great job with the national tour of The Kite Runner) when the show travels to Dallas. I also worked with a couple of understudies. Then I took notes on the first preview, went back to the apartment, wrote them up via email and that was that. The next morning, I was up at 5:30 and started prepping for my trip home. On the road at 8 am and home by 1 pm.

Lots and lots of driving, and a few snow squalls on the way home, but no snow to speak of on the journey. It did snow in Rochester during the day on Tuesday, but much less than it snowed here. But it is  snowing right now.

I’m satisfied that I did the best I can do on this show, given the time constraints. I need to mention how nice the actors are and lovely to work with. And I got to see Elizabeth, the Artistic Director, who is an old friend, and her assistant, Fiona – also an old friend – both of them were at Hartford Stage. I’m still coaching in a way, as I’ve been answering questions from the actors via voice message and email. I’m fine with that – anything to make them more secure as they head toward opening night tomorrow.

Pru accompanied me. Here she is when we first arrived at the apartment, standing on the window ledge.

I missed Don, of course. After so many years of having to be away from each other when working out of town, we really LOVE being together here at the cottage. It’s much harder to be apart these days. He felt it and I felt it.

What else? Not much. I’m still tired from the trip. Instead of taking it easy yesterday, I had to pack two Etsy orders as well as buy a box and more packing tape and going back and forth to the post office. So most of the morning was spent on that.

Today, I’m going to chat with my friend Doug at 10 am and then hang out with my husband.

Thank you for all your supportive comments the other day. I so appreciate them. I had a comment from someone who I’ve never heard from before telling me I was self-absorbed and whiny. It was quite mean and, despite my efforts to shake it off, it stuck with me a while. But I did shake it off, thankfully. Don’t know her. Never have heard from her before. The blog is about me and my life and I’ve been writing it for nearly 16 years, so what can I say? I write about myself. Don and I had a good laugh about that.

She turned out to be a nasty person and came back when I deleted her first comment. Very troll-like. So I blocked her.

It’s been a strange and stressful week. But last night, we caught up with the first episodes of All Creatures Great and Small  and now, all is well.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

I’m wiped out. We’ve been very busy this week and we’re tired. The furnace/oil burner had to be repaired yesterday. Can’t wait to see that bill. We had been waiting since Monday for them to come and look at the problems. One was water leaking from a – I would say release valve, but it’s really a copper pipe. So I had to put a largish pan underneath the pipe to catch water, then go downstairs at least twice a day to dump the water. On Sunday, I noticed oil leaking as well. We now have a big oil spot on the cement. Anyway, that turned out to be a loose connection, and the water leak required a new part. We’ve had so many repairs in the last year. It’s disheartening. And expensive.

With the heavy rains following the foot of snow we had, we also have a wet basement. Since our home is so old, we have always had a wet basement but this was a lot of water! So it was rather like a deluge. The dehumidifier is working overtime.

Also, I’m supposed to drive to Rochester next Tuesday, but now it looks like we’re getting snow here (and in Rochester) so I might have to leave a day earlier than planned.

I watched and noted a run-through of Dial M for Murder – through a link on Vimeo. Also disheartening. I’ve had exactly one hour to work with each actor. That’s it. I can no longer do my work at the level I have in the past. And it’s not just me; the length of rehearsal time is less, which means the director and actors have to work way too quickly. If I didn’t need the meager amount of money I earn, I would retire. But I can’t turn down work.

Anyway, this has been a tough week for me, physically and emotionally.

Enough of that. Just needed to vent a bit.

Pretty Chloe in a hat and sweater made by Natalia in Ukraine. I don’t know how she does it! I can knit, but not at this level. The artists who make clothes for any doll, but especially Blythe, are so talented.

Reader Vicki requested a picture of this girl. She spotted her in a photo of the studio.

She’s a 16 inch fashion doll by Robert Tonner. She’s from his Ellowyne Wilde line. If you’re unfamiliar with Robert Tonner, just google him. He has been designing dolls of every kind for years and years. He sold his business a few years back, but has entered into a partnership with Rachel Hoffman (who owns a doll shop in Denver, CO) and every year they hold a Virtual Doll Convention where he debuts about 4 new dolls. I happened to discover this world of dolls last year and managed to snag this beauty at the last minute (several months ago.) She’s so gorgeous. Her name is “Bright Ideas.” The discovery of these dolls is what led me to Gene Marshall dolls.

My favorite line of his is Ellowyne Wilde and eBay is full of examples of those whimsical and magical dolls. They had amazing clothing and hair styles and beautiful faces. They are highly collectible. I’d love – someday – to obtain a few of those older dolls, but if I  can’t, I’m plenty happy to have my Bright Ideas.

I met Robert at Wonderland of Play. What a nice man! He told me that Bright Ideas was his personal favorite in his latest line. He also lives just about 30 minutes away from me to the north – so he’s a neighbor.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.