I always say thank you to our troops at the airport. . .

So. . . I have definitely NOT kept up daily blog posts.  Are you surprised?  My gratitude has not needed as much elaboration as I thought, and honestly a few days it was kind of hard to find something different to be thankful for.  Not that I wasn't thankful, I just couldn't find an angle worth gushing about on here.

Today, however, I jumped ahead of my pre-planned gratitude.  I was going to wait until Veteran's Day to gush about my patriotic thanks for our nation's military, but between the Marine Corps birthday and video footage of LSU's tribute to our veterans ("Taps" makes me teary eyed!) I couldn't help it, I had to say it today.

I suppose that's a pretty cliche thing to be thankful for (I would hope that everyone would understand and be grateful for the sacrifices of a volunteer military like no other) but it's something I feel is deeply rooted in my heart.  I grew up in a community anchored by a large Army base, as the granddaughter of a retired sergeant. I spent my fair share of time on base in my early years.  My grandfather was very sick and had many appointments on base, eventually having to be hospitalized in San Antonio.  My grandmother worked at the Child Development Center, where I went to pre-school.  There were also many shopping trips at the PX and the Commisary.  From an early age I was taught about the daily flag ritual and that you ALWAYS stopped and put your hand over your heart during the national anthem.  My grandmother taught me patriotic songs and even after she passed on, I continued spending time on base visiting friends from school and work who lived in military housing.

In my adult life, I have many friends who joined the military or are married into the military, not just in the Army but in pretty much every branch.  The gratitude and pride I have for those who serve and the families who support them only grows stronger.

Thanks be to Blog

I've been pretty bad about consistently blogging for a plethora of reasons/excuses including but not limited to:

1) Difficulty discerning what is/isn't appropriate to share with the WORLD
2) Not necessarily feeling like what I share is worth sharing to anyone else
3) Generally just not making it a priority
4) Etc. . .

BUT

I jumped on the November thankful Facebook status bandwagon, and thought that some of those status updates could be expanded upon into blog entries.  Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!  A blogging incentive strategy was born.

I won't back track though (at least not right now) so I'll just start with today.

Today, dear internet readers, I am thankful for lasting, meaningful friendships.  Yes, I know that sounds cheesy and trite, but it's true damn it.  Today I reunited with my old roommate after, well I'm not sure how many months.  She moved to Dallas this year and we kind of drifted while living our own lives.  She made an impromptu road trip back this weekend though, so we caught up on life.  It was great to chat, catch up, and most of all give each other perspective and support on the things that have been weighing most heavily on our hearts.  I love that we can keep in touch and catch up despite the usual distance.

I'm blessed with several friendships like that.  Some of my dearest friends live across the country, or even the world!  Two of my particular best friends are military wives I've known since elementary school.  During college we would get caught up in our own lives, sometimes not talking for months.  However, as soon as something big happens we'd reach out via phone call, text message, email, FB message, whatever and it's like NO time has passed at all.  We just pick up where we left off and mix our extensive history with the wisdom from our new experiences and help each other navigate life's journey.

Even living in the same city sometimes my local friends get caught up in life and don't get to chat or hang out every day, or even every week.  Still, we are there for each other and I know that if I wound up moving away there are those friends here who would transition into the same kind of friendship I have with my friends from my hometown.

So the next time I'm having a moment of loneliness, I just have to remember that I've got an unusually high number of top quality friends, in various time zones, to be awesome no matter how long it's been since we've gotten a chance to catch up.  I've got friends for all occasions.

Blessed and thankful,

A message to all girls and young women

My cousin is preparing to celebrate her daughter's first birthday and asked family and friends to write letters for a keepsake book.  I'm in a particularly introspective point in my life at the moment, so I wrote this really verbose letter than my precious baby cousin will not understand for at least 10 or 15 years.  However, I feel like this is worthy of sharing because these are the words of advice I will one day offer to my daughter, to nieces, to young female cousins, to young girls I teach, to any girl or young woman who will listen!  These are the words I wish I had heard and absorbed years ago when I was starting my journey to becoming a mature woman.  How luck is she to have it in writing so she can always refer back to it in difficult times and situation.

Now that I've blown my own horn, here's the letter:

My sweet, precious cousin,

Happy first birthday!  You are a beautiful baby girl with an open, promising future.  As you grow up, you will most likely change your mind several times about your dreams, goals, and heart's desires.  That is ok, because you are going to journey through life finding your skills, talents, and passions along the way, carving your own path to happiness.  People are going to try to tell you what a "lady" is and what is feminine.  Some may try to limit your options because of this, do not let them.  With hard work and determination, you can achieve virtually anything.  

While some women love sparkles, ruffles, high heels, and other traditional "girly" things, others are content to adorn themselves simply, and that is fine too.  I could very well be considered a typical "girly girl" who studied dance and loves all things sparkly and shiny.  That is only one facet to who I am though.  I am also a determined, fierce, strong competitor and when you add a pair of roller skates that led me to train to compete in women's roller derby.  It looks rough around the edges, and it's not for everyone.  What I'm trying to say is the only person who can limit what you can achieve is YOU.  Chita Rivera says "Bring your own shoes."  In the movie "Whip It" they tell the young woman awed by their team to "Be your own hero."  This really just means be yourself and live your dreams.

As you journey through life, the path is going to be filled with mountains and valleys.  When you find yourself losing your footing and falling into a valley, just know that in front of you is the next mountain to climb.  God and your family are always going to be with you to help pick you and and get you to the top of the next mountain.  When people say things that are meant to tear you down, rest in comfort that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made" in the eyes of the Lord.  We all want acceptance in this world, but we can't always see the bigger picture and whose opinions of us ultimately matter the most.   I have lost my way a few times, and while I pray that your faith will be steadfast, I also know that when I have come back from losing my way my faith has returned and grown with greater strength and conviction.  I pray that you always find your way back and that each lesson in life makes you stronger and takes you closer to the woman you are called to be.

I will leave you with one Bible verse that I think all women, of all ages need to memorize.  When the world tries to tell us who we are meant to be, we must remember who God our ever loving Father calls us to be:

"She is clothed with strength and dignity and laughs at the days to come.  She opens her mouth in wisdom; kindly instruction is on her tongue" Proverbs 31: 25 - 26

I encourage you, when you are old enough to read and understand, to read Proverbs 31: 10 - 31 for the full poem of woman's worth.  In the meantime, remember always that you are a daughter of the Lord, clothed with strength and dignity, laughing in the face of uncertainty rather than cowering in fear and anxiety.  You nurture others with your wisdom, guidance, and kind instruction.  You build up those around you rather than tearing them down.

I love you my sweet cousin, and I so excited to see the young lady and mature woman you grow into throughout your life!

Love always,

        Cousin

When it rains, at least you find the rainbow

It's pretty safe to say that my sanity has held on by a thin thread the past month or so.  Truthfully, this year has been trying for me and my friends (some of them have had FAR worse years than me, but I'm the type of person who cares too much, heart on her sleeve, close friends are like family, etc).  Every now and then Murphy's Law comes into play and I start to wonder where the hidden cameras are.

Take Tuesday afternoon for example.

I had big plans for Tuesday night, so I wore my favorite work dress to look classy and fantastic.  I wasn't completely pleased with my hair, but when you're blessed with a lot of naturally curly hair, you learn that it has a mind of its own and you should learn to live with it.  Anyway, I was gearing up for an afternoon of errands.  These errands included a personal trip to bring donations for families who lost everything in wild fires across the state last week.  I drove to one of the burbs, dropped off donations from a coworker, and headed back into the city to finish running errands.

Now, it's kind of a running joke how awful my luck is with cars.  Read this for example. . .

So I'm driving toward the highway and all of the sudden my car doesn't want to keep going.  I've had a few experiences this summer in which I was driving around in the crazy heat and my car was reluctant.  I thought maybe it was the battery being affected by the gross triple digit plus moderate humidity summer.  It usually restarts, but not this time.  I'm in the middle of the road, barely out of an intersection, and I'm kind of panicking.  So I called the troops, got a push from some strangers (and an offer for a push start, which I declined so someone could check out my engine) and start the waiting game.

Well, it was too darn hot to wait outside in a nice, mostly black suit dress, so I went into the nearest shop for A/C.  Turns out it was a natural herb store with a lot of witch references and a robe.  That was weird, but I guess it's quirky and adds to the story.  Suffice it to say, the men folk showed up, tinkered under the hood, tried replacing a part, etc.  I tried very hard to keep a decent attitude (and not have a road side mental break down) and not get crazy and cranky thanks to the heat.  If you know much about how I deal with stress, conflict, and bumps in the road, keeping my mouth in check was quite a feat. 

Two hours after the initial car betrayal I was home to clean up, find a new outfit, go out to dinner and recoup.  My big plans included a show and after party featuring a Broadway legend.  I'll be honest, I was almost so fed up that I wanted to curl up on my couch and reschedule, but I needed to keep moving to not really break down.

The show was AMAZING.  As a dancer and musical theatre lover (I swear my inner monologue is a song and dance) I couldn't help but feel blessed to experience this show.  It was Chita Rivera in concert!  I would say I smiled the entire show, but there was one number that was kind of a crazy song and in my hyper-anxious mood it was almost enough to set me into an attack. (The song is called "Carousel" and was done extremely well.  I think my almost panic attack is a testament to how effectively it showed the emotion of crazy, frantic carousel rides as a metaphor).

 At the after party, I got to meet Chita briefly.  Oh. My. Gosh.  I want to be as vibrant as she is when I grow up.  She literally made my day.  I think that when I'm overwhelmed for the rest of the year I'll just look at this picture and remember how blessed my life really is:

It's the little things.  Seriously though, this is how musical theatre can totally turn your day around.  This woman can move, sing, and fully embrace life at an age when most people are well into retirement.  Truly an inspiration.  So much so, that she really deserves her own post.  Perhaps later, but for now I'm just so grateful for the happy moments that can be the rainbow after the storm.

The Call that Broke the Ticket Girl's Filter

Long time no see!  It's been an ever eventful summer, as always.  Things started off slow, but I have quickly come to regret ever feeling disappointed to be less than sprinting, as the last week or two has been nothing short of a marathon.  I always say my job tends to be all or nothing, and we are all in baby.


My ticket office manager is currently performing in our show, and he is wonderful might I add.  The only hitch is that leaves me as the person with the most experience in the box office.  That gives people the impression that I know things, which leads them to believe I should be in charge of things.  Yeah, that would make sense.  Still scary!


Let's just say, I have a new and undying admiration, respect, and dare I say love for anyone who runs a ticket office.  On top of all else, it's season renewals time, when I'd normally need to be there every night to help but now I want to be in two place at once handling all questions, issues, and snags.  I haven't a time turner or a clone though, so I have to remember to actually TELL people what's in my head and not assume they know so they can be as awesome as me.  That's working pretty well.  Now I see where OCD and control issues come from.  Perhaps that's a trait across the management board.  I've got my system, I know where my piles are, but for the love of all that is good in this world do NOT put more paper on my pile!


*ahem*


I have discovered neurosis I never realized I had.


Most of all though, the days are long and the patrons are crazy, which leads to worn down patience.  Take this conversation for example:

Me:  Ticket office how may I help you?

Patron:  Yes, I’d like two tickets, best available.

Me:  “Best available” is a matter of perception.  Did you want closest to the stage?  I have some in the pit area, added in front of the orchestra section, literally front row center.  Our star could reach out and touch you if she felt so inclined.

Patron:  No, that’s too close.  How about something in the first 5 rows of the orchestra section on an aisle?

Me:  I don’t have an aisle in that area.  How about orchestra left row F seats 3 and 4?  Seat 1 is the aisle closest to the center.

Patron:  You don’t have ANYTHING orchestra center?

Me: Not until row R sir

Patron:  Oh that’s too far back.  Do you have any first level box seating?

Me:  Box 4 on the right hast two seats available. 

Patron:  Oh, I don’t know.  Which do you think are the best seats?

Me:  It doesn’t matter which I think are the best seats.  It matters what YOU think are the best seats.  I’d like row R.  Row F sounds the most like what you asked for, the box has the leg room you’d like if you prefer aisle seats but is probably about as far back as row R and is off to the side.  It’s really up to you.

(This is clearly where I am losing my filter, and where a coworker sitting in the lobby is laughing at me.)

Patron:  Ok, row F then.

I capture the seats and am reviewing the order

Patron:  Oh I’m sorry, can I switch to the box seats, will that mess you up?

Me: *eye roll that thank God the patron can’t hear* No sir, I can switch it out.  Give me a moment.

Me:  Now what credit card would you like to use today?

Patron:  I was hoping I could use yours.

Me:  No sir.  You have to use your own credit card to pay for this.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sadly, this conversation isn't too far off from a typical crazy patron phone call.  Ok, the time the person wanted to LIVE at the venue was a bit more strange, but that was a REALLY crazy patron.  I've even heard the line about using my credit card before.  They think they're being cute and funny.  I am never amused.


This call was the straw that broke the ticket girl's back, or at least the call that almost broke her filter.  After that one I told my other cohort that I was no longer allowed to talk to people, I was sure to start saying things everyone would regret.  Only three more shows and then a week's break from extended show time hours!  :)


Pray for my sanity y'all.  I have started song and dance numbers that make my fellow musical theatre peeps ask if I'm losing my mind. That's never a good sign. . .