Wow. So it’s been days since I’ve posted. I’ve missed it, too. However; sleep, work, kids, work, surprise parties, work, lovely wife, work…still, things are great, and the month is proving to be busy but wonderful.

SO. Catching up.

This weekend was great.
We threw a surprise 40th wedding anniversary for my parents this weekend. It was a TON of fun, and very touching. My sister, Gina, spearheaded the thing, and everyone pitched in. There were about 60 people there, my folks were totally surprised. Gina had set up a brilliant cover story, convincing my parents that we were having a surprise birthday party for Gina’s husband, Bill. It was great, because my mom made a bunch of food thinking it was for “Bill’s party”. My dad let us borrow his big stereo, thinking it was for “Bill’s party.” In fact, they took Bill out the evening of the party, thinking they were ‘decoying him’, while we were all setting up for their suprise party! My dad was the one calling me to say “We’re ten minutes away!”. It was very funny, when they walked in, and we all yelled “Happy Anniversary”, and ‘their song’ (Popsicles & Icicles by the Murmaids) began to blast thru the speakers.

Have I mentioned that I’m a registered Minister? Yep. Thru the Universal Life Church. You can be too, if you’re interested!

I mention it now, because we also had my parents re-new their vows, and I officiated. Got ’em a new certificate and everything. Yep, it’s legal, for those wondering. (Did my friend Chris and Tobin’s wedding a couple years ago, as a point of interest.) So, we surprised them and called them up in front of everyone, and I performed a ceremony with 1/2 sweet and emotionally resonant vows, and 1/2 fun things like “Diane, I will love you, and cherish you, and get things off of high shelves for you”, (yep…Mom’s short…) and “Frank, I will encourage you to achieve all of your goals…and I promise to leave all of the good stuff in our will to Tony.” (I don’t think that one’s gonna work, but it was good for a laugh!)

AND, my sister, sister in-law and wife made this marvelous scrapbook, full of pictures from when my folks started dating up to now, with all the family, kids, grandkids, etc…it’s really beautiful, and choked up a lot of people.

So. A fun party. A nice big family/friend get together with tons of food, music, dancing, drink, laughing and some tear-shedding from all the wonder and joy of it all. I hope after 40 years Jeanne and I are having as much fun as they’re having! Once again, I’m reminded of how lucky I am.

In Other News…

Started rehearsals for Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol today at The Performance Network. Great cast, looking forward to the next month of interpreting this thing for the stage. It’s very “reader’s theatre”, and bringing that to life without making it feel stilted will be a little bit of a challenge, but also a very exciting prospect because, since it’s SO open and malleable, we get to be very theatrical and really push the audience to use their imaginations, which I’m very excited about.

Also, in other news:
-Teaching at Eastern Michigan University is going well.
-Plans for the newest professional theatre company in Michigan, The Williamston Theatre Project (I think I’ve mentioned it a few times here) are coming along – I’m hoping to hear back soon from a couple of contractors about getting bids on our first step of renovation!! More news when it’s available. Feel free to check out the website and send huge fat donations of money and equipment! 🙂
-I have completely neglected to post about going deer-hunting with my father and brother in-law Bill over the weekend of October 1st. We had a blast. I saw one deer, but sat there in my blind with my bow, basking in being in the woods for hours on end. Had a nice deer presented itself, I would’ve happily tried to turn it into food for my family’s table…(apologies to vegetarians or the weak at heart)…however, the one deer I saw ran away, and I sat back down and relaxed. So, not only did I get to de-stress by sitting in the woods, I got to hang out with my dad and brother-in-law, which was an absolute blast. And, there’s something magical about going out into the woods when the sun is not quite up, walking as quietly as you can, flashlight in hand, settling into your spot, and then just…sitting…listening…watching. As the sun starts to come up, the woods wake up…the wind kicks a little bit, the leaves rattle. You can hear, but not quite see, different creatures moving – squirrels, birds, porcupines and chipmunks. (Deer, too, I’m sure, just out of eyesight.)

It’s an amazing thing, being there when the woods wake up – the smell, that earthy, mossy aroma – old leaves mixed with soil, and dampness – the relationships you create each time you sit there; “Okay, that squirrel knows I’m here. He’s chittered at me, wandered over here, watched me and decided I’m not worth his time.” Still, he bops around thru the underbrush burying this and digging up that, bouncing and scurrying here and there, every once in a while stopping to stare at me, just making sure I’m keeping up my end of the non-aggression treaty we’ve silently agreed upon.

Deer or no deer, hunting or not, I need to remind myself to hang out in the woods more, and take my family with me. I love my job, but a lot of my life is spent indoors!

Okay, this catch up post has been huge and long. Nice to type again.

Hope life is good out there with the rest of the world.