On The Road — Page 121

Random on Thursday

May 19, 2011 at 11:08 am by Claudia

I don’t know if I’ve ever done a Random post on a Thursday… it usually seems to fall on Wednesday or Friday. Time to shake things up a little. (This is about as daring as I get.)

:: Chloe is with me on this trip. For those of you who are newer readers of this blog, Chloe accompanies on all my longer coaching stints. A few years back, I had to be away from MHC for 6 months. Yes, you read that correctly. I was a mess at the thought of being away from my husband and dogs for that long. Don, knowing me all too well, decided that Chloe should go along for the ride. I don’t know about you, but I need something to cuddle.

:: Chloe is sitting on the sofa in the above photo. Our company manager has done a nice job of temporarily decorating this apartment and I’m grateful. But all these beigey earth tones are getting to me. I miss my colorful home. (It ain’t so easy styling a photo for the blog, either!)

:: Big news: I am now driving a new rental car. It would be impossible to underestimate how this has changed my life here. No more obsessive looks at the gas gauge. No more wondering if the car will start. No more driving with the windows shut so I don’t have to smell the exhaust pouring from the rear of the car. The theater really listened. Thank you.

:: Because of this change in car status, I drove to a neighboring town yesterday. I didn’t have to worry about how much gas would be sucked out of the tank on a 19 mile jaunt. There were supposed to be 3 antique shops there. Farming seems to be the lifeblood of some of these towns and I fear the economy has taken its toll. Only one was still open. I saw a few interesting items and the owners had two dogs which always makes me smile. I may go back. Once again, I didn’t take any photos because it was raining. Someday… I promise you.

:: Speaking of farming, this morning I saw a lone golfer on the course. He was probably in his seventies. He had on one of those John Deere-like caps, a flannel shirt and overalls. He looked like he’d just climbed down from his tractor and decided to hit the links. Adorable.

:: Mama is still sitting on the nest. Any day now. I’ll keep you posted.

:: I couldn’t get to sleep for a long time last night. We had evening rehearsal, so I didn’t get home until late. Then I proceeded to read my mystery in bed. I read too long. I find that I cannot go past a certain moment of all-enveloping sleepiness. If I do, then I’m suddenly wide awake. That’s what happened. All the images from my reading were racing around in my head and just wouldn’t go away.

:: Thank you for all the wonderful comments about my last post. I love hearing your thoughts. I’m wondering if I should add a new category to the tabs at the top of my blog. Perhaps it should be called ‘Rants?’ Or maybe I should go with something less obvious.

Reunited

May 13, 2011 at 9:37 pm by Claudia

For those of us who grew up in Michigan, Vernors Ginger Ale was an everyday part of our lives. This was the ginger ale I knew and loved. If any of us were sick, Mom gave us some ginger ale to calm our stomachs. When I went to visit my Grandma, we had Boston Coolers – Vernors and vanilla ice cream.

Vernors originated in Detroit. A concoction of ginger, vanilla and other ingredients, originally aged in oak barrels, it has a very different taste than any other ginger ale. If you’ve grown up drinking Vernors, nothing else will do. Canada Dry? Yuck. Vernors remains a regional favorite. When I moved to Philadelphia and Boston, I had to give up my Vernors. Every once in a while in San Diego, I would discover it in some specialty store. When my parents visited, I managed to get a hold of some and my Dad introduced Don to Boston Coolers. I had one friend who, after moving to Ithaca NY, would buy cases of Vernors when he was visiting back home, take it back to Ithaca and store it in the bathtub.

The other day I was at rehearsal and I saw an empty Vernors can. On the Stage Manager’s table. I did a double take. Then I proceeded to interrogate everyone in sight. Where did they get this? Who carries it? My mission was clear. Find Vernors.

I did. Clearly Wisconsonites have good taste. I love this stuff. I’m happy.

Now… how to get it regularly shipped to my cottage?

I missed most of the craziness of Blogger being down. It wasn’t until late this morning that I realized that something was wrong. That’s one of the perks of being so busy, I guess. I did lose some comments from my Wednesday post, which is annoying. But I know some of you lost posts and that’s unfortunate.

Have a good weekend! I’ll be working.

Flowers, Food & Clunky Cars

May 11, 2011 at 12:03 am by Claudia

My friends, I’m going to tell it like it is. I am very busy here in Wisconsin. My days are long. I’m really, really tired. I’ve been trying to keep up with my blog reading – but I’m not always up to it. I owe many of you visits and I hope to catch up soon. But the schedule here is intense, with 5 plays rehearsing at once. As you can imagine, the daily schedule is very detailed and extends well into the evening hours. I also start teaching on Thursday morning and I have a great deal of prep to do. And my allergies are going haywire.

With only 1 day off a week, we had to use that time to do some food shopping. Chris and I drove into Madison (a really neat college town that I want to explore further) and our first stop was a new super-amazing Target. Wow. I got a few things there and then it was on to Whole Foods, where I bought some produce and where we ate lunch.

Then Trader Joe’s, where I bought food and flowers.

I’m on a very tight budget, so I went for long lasting Alstromeria. I was tempted by the tulips, but these beauties won out. (I bought the vase for $2.00 at Target.) After I went through the checkout, I saw these sweet little potted begonias – for $2.99. So I went back in and bought one.

I have it on the table by my computer.

Such a pretty, delicate shade of pink.

When you’re away from your home and your garden, fresh flowers can make a big difference.

I took my camera along on Monday but it ended up being a very stormy day. Not the best for taking photos. Hopefully, I’ll have something to share with you after my next trip into the city.

I’m trying another car – a Honda Accord that must be 20 years old. So far I can’t tell whether the gas mileage is any better. It’s noisy and the ignition is problematic. Sometimes it is next to impossible to turn the key. The other option was a Geo that has to have the oil checked constantly. These are my choices. Each one of them has something going on that will make me nuts. I’ll keep you posted on this saga.

Edited to add: Congratulations to my nephew Jeff and his wife Raina. Their first child, Beatrice, was born on May 10th.

Random on Thursday

Reunited

Flowers, Food & Clunky Cars

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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