Hodgepodge

As promised, an update. It has been a wild and crazy five weeks. First, the Fourth of July. I headed to Houston Friday afternoon. Adam came in Saturday afternoon from San Antonio, and we watched fireworks together as a family. I love fireworks. I figured it was the first time we had been together as a family on the 4th since 2003.

I have a new dessert recipe. It it really good and really unhealthy so I only make it when I have an occasion for which I can share them. Down side of living alone, whatever I make, I'm probably going to eat it all. They are called Cake Balls and I was so thrilled with my drizzling skills I had to take a picture. I made a second batch, this time strawberry, so with a pink tint, and they were as well received as these.

Work is going well. My last day is the 31st. I am basically done with the original environmental assessment I was working on and was asked to help with a second one dealing with the targeted application of herbicide on native understory brush growing invasively and causing dangerously high fuel loads. Very fun! I have now applied for ten jobs, hope to turn in application eleven by Friday, and have not found anything. I have started a wall of rejection in my apartment. I tape my letters under the aptly named 'thanks for playing' sign. Don't worry, I have hope and plans. Keep reading. I do not find this wall in any way depressing, but amusing.

The big news in my life, and what has consumed my time, and in a most enjoyable way... I got cast in a musical!! I have auditioned a few times at the local community theatre here in town and finally got cast. The show is "Damn Yankees". My high school did it when I was a junior and I remember going twice because I really liked it. I've had the soundtrack for years and the show is in my top ten favorite musicals. I play multiple roles. I'm an annoyed house wife in the beginning, I'm a baseball player (it's an equal opportunity show), an assistant, a 102 year old woman, a woman in a night club, and a baseball fan. I'm in four dance/song numbers and am absolutely loving it. It's been three years since my last musical and I couldn't be more thrilled. The cast is great and hopefully we'll be polished by opening night, July 31st.

After two years of life in College Station and in the same efficiency apartment, I am starting the process of packing up. While not as painful as moving from the first apartment I had by myself in Montana, this is turning out to be a somewhat bitter-sweet time. My place was in a perfect location in terms of campus, and it was just the right size and price for me. I'm really going to miss it.

Where I'm going or what I'm doing next is still up in the air. My last performance is the 9th, we strike set, and I move out the 10th of August. I'll be headed to Houston for a week or so, then I might drive with my brother back to Utah, attend education week with my parents at BYU, take a quick and much needed trip to Montana, it's all up in the air. In terms of work, I don't plan to be in Houston, or Texas for that matter, in September. I'm seriously contemplating packing up my car and driving wherever the road takes me, finding a place to live, and getting a job there, doing whatever I can find, while continuing to apply for NPS jobs. At the moment, I'm leaning toward Raleigh, North Carolina or Ottumwa, Iowa but it's still very open. Anyone have a place they really would like to visit and would therefore like to have a friend living there for an excuse? I could be that friend!