Audible Review: Girls & Boys

I love reading but with a crazy lifestyle I don’t get to do it as often as I would like.  A few months ago I got a free month of Audible and decided I would give it a try.  I was skeptical because I am a real book kind of girl.  I like to hold a book in my hand.  I like to dog down the pages to save my place and I like to pull the spine back and see my progress.  Because of this I have never been into Kindles or Nooks or whatever you want to read on electronically.  But the thought of being able to put my headphones on and fall into a story was appealing enough to make me give it a go.

I love it! I have listened to a few books but last month I got an email that said that you could pick 2 free options from a small list.  I looked an saw that an Emma Thompson narrated version of Emma was available and I was super excited.  I wasn’t sure what else to pick but I saw that Carey Mulligan had narrated one so I chose that.

Boys & Girls debuted this Feburary at the Royal Court Theatre in London staring Carey Mulligan.  It was written by Dennis Kelly, an English writer and playwright most notably known for his work on Mathilda the Musical. Unlike the playful song and dance of his musical work, Girls & Boys is a serious venture into the world of a mother. The mother does not have a name but she is the only presence on the stage for the 90-minute work.

I didn’t research the story at all before I started listening and I didn’t realize that it was a play. Once I caught on I was slightly confused because I felt as though I had missed something.  It was very different to listen to,what really feels like, a very long monologue as opposed to seeing it.  It took me a minute but as I listened I could image the character.  It was almost as though she were telling me a story.  Just having a conversation between ladies.  Something that could easily be said over lunch or more likely on a therapist couch.

It spent a solid hour and a half with my headphones and listened to the entire story.  There should have been a mascara alert somewhere because I was not prepared for the gut wrenching turn that takes place as she tells this story.  Carey Mulligan is in a word, BRILLIANT.  I have never really had any feelings toward her as an actress.  I’ve never watched her in something and thought “wow she was the best part of the movie”.  However, in this piece she carries the story so beautifully that you are 100% engaged the entire time.

I do not want to spoil anything so I will not go into the details of the plot but this is a beautifully written story that should be shared.  I am linking a more detailed review from theguardian.com below for those who are so inclined to read more.  This was defiantly worth the time.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/feb/15/girls-and-boys-review-carey-mulligan

 

Life After Bankruptcy

I’ve been pretty transparent about the fact that 4 years ago my husband and I made the decision to file for bankruptcy.  We were lucky enough to get out early and are now back on track to financial success in our family.  Through this process I have realized there are a lot of misconceptions about people who file.  So I thought I would try to debunk the top 5 misconceptions we have come across in the past few years.

1. Bankruptcy is the easy way out – this by far is the biggest misconception we came across in the last 4 years.  Not only was it NOT the easy was out, our lives were way more complicated than before.  Choosing to file is not an easy one.  In our case it was used as a last resort.  In the first few months alone we had countless appointments with our attorney, more paperwork than you can imagine, and courthouse visits than anyone would like. Over the 4 years we signed endless amount of legal documents and divulged every little detail of our financial lives to complete strangers who we had to trust were working in our best interest.  While this was definitely a great decision for us it was by far not easy.
2. Those who file are in debt because of their extravagant lifestyle – This is another one I can attest to is for sure not true.  When we filed, the only credit card we owned was used for dental coverage when we couldn’t afford to have my husband’s wisdom teeth taken out.  I do not own a giant TV.  I do not own a luxury vehicle.  I do not have designer clothes.  I do not have a fancy house.  Our money did not go towards things we didn’t need.  We fell victim to a recession that started just as our marriage started.  My husband was laid off every year of our marriage for the first 4 years.  When you are set back that many times it is very hard to catch up.
3. You will have more money once you have filed – This was actually the complete opposite for us.  Once an agreement was made on how much our monthly payment would be for our settlement, we never saw that money.  The majority of my paycheck was drafted straight to the trustee.  Also when my husband’s company closed during our first year of bankruptcy and he started a new job, the amount we paid was not adjusted.  He was making a good bit less at his new job and in turn we spent most weeks in the red while working extra jobs just trying to keep the lights on.  There were times when there was either no lights or water for a few days but we always worked our way out of it.
4. Bankruptcy will ruin your credit – Before filing we did a lot of research.  We really looked into how this would effect us in the long run.  Most people who file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy are in it for 6 years.  We were able to get out in 4 by having to turn over our income taxes every year and unfortunately having my husbands truck totaled.  Thanks to gap insurance what was owed went directly towards our balance and paid a big chunk out.  With that said we had our credit run this summer and after just being a few months out we are in a good credit range.  The bankruptcy will continue to be on our record for several more years but we would still be able to finance things if we needed to.
5. Bankruptcy is something to be ashamed of – For some this may be the truth but for us it was a blessing.  We do not come from rich families that could bail us out.  We did not have a savings account with enough to get us through unemployment.  We didn’t have the means to pay a financial adviser and even if we did they would basically have just told us we didn’t have enough money.  We were honest with ourselves and others about what we were going through.  We made the decision to file because we knew in the long run it was the most responsible option.  We got married very young and with that came a lot of growing up.  We have grown and we have learned and we do not regret anything.

A Special Memory

Earlier this year I lost someone that helped to mold my life.  My nanie fought a hard fight against breast cancer and lost her battle in February of this year.  While this has been incredibly hard for me to deal with I try to remember the good things.  There is a very special memory I have from the week before she passed that I would like to share.

She was in the hospital when I left for Disney the first week of February this year.  She had been in and out of the hospital frequently and while I was nervous to leave with her not well she told me to go.  When I landed I was walking around the hotel trying to find my room when I received a tearful call from my mom.  She was very concerned. She thought for some reason that she was not going to make it.  Earlier in the day Nanie had requested that my mom bring my grandma to the hospital to visit as well as calling all of our other family members to do the same.  While I sat outside in the rain I facetimed my Nanie.  She was in good spirits and was talking to me like everything was ok.  Teary eyed I asked her if she was ok and if I needed to come back home. She told me absolutely not and to enjoy myself.

That evening I went to Magic Kingdom and called her as I got on Its A Small World.  When I was little my Nanie had me almost as much as my mom did.  She and my uncle brought me everywhere.  Out to dinner, shopping, baseball games.  I was a good kiddo and loved spending time with them.  At 4 years old they decided to take me to Disney World.  This was my first trip.  Being the theater kid I am I was not into any of the rides.  I wanting to see all the shows.  For the rest of my life I heard the story of how I dragged them on to Small World over and over and over again.  To those of you who haven’t been on it you should know it is the most annoying song on the planet and its gets stuck in your head immediately.  But they humored me and continued to keep riding it.

Almost 25 years later and here I am on the ride again.  This time I facetimed her and asked do you want to ride Small World with me?  For almost 10 minutes we sang and talked and laughed and shared a ride on the silliest ride in Disney World.  I came home on Tuesday and my Nanie passed away that Friday.

I never thought I would lose her that quickly but I will treasure our last ride together always.

Doing Disney Solo Pt 3

Day 3

After sadly not making it to the finals we were left with a free day of magic that we weren’t expecting.  I left that morning with my two roommates and headed to Epcot.  While in line for the Finding Nemo ride we checked our My Disney Experience app constantly for some Flights of Passage fast passes.  Somehow I managed to get one for the next morning.  By the time we got out of our shell on Nemo magically they had gotten fast passes as well for the exact same time!  We went our separate ways and I headed to some character meet ups.  I met Baymax from Big Hero Six and made sure to fist bump him and after seeing all the kiddos have so much fun with Mary Poppins I decided to meet her too.

I headed to World Showcase to try the cheddar cheese soup poutin.  I am a lover of fries and cheese and gravy and there has never been a bad review about the LeCellier cheddar cheese soup so I wanted in.  I was not disappointed.  I was also not disappointed with my Frose’ from the France Pavillion.  I jumped on a bus to Disney Springs and met my boss for dinner at Art Smith’s Homecomin.  That fantastic meal deserves its own post so more on that later.  While waiting on a bus back to the parks I managed to get a coveted Frozen fast pass.  When I texted one of my room mates they too had managed to get a Frozen pass for almost the same time.  Because Disney Springs buses don’t travel to the parks I jumped on a bus to the Polynesian Resort where I then jumped on a monorail to Magic Kingdom to pick up my partner in crime.  We got back on the monorail and got off at the ticket and transportation center and then jumped finally to the Epcot  monorail where we basically went into a sprint to get to get to Norway.  The ride was so cute and very well done it was worth the run.  I left and got on the Grand Fiesta tour at the Mexico Pavillion and then lastly onto the single rider line for Test Track.  I managed to get out before the end of the fireworks and got a nice seat on the bus back to the hotel.

Day 4

This was our last day in the parks. After a long couple days I slept in a little and went to Animal Kingdom with the roommates to ride Flight of Passage again.  It was just as fantastic the second time around as it was the first.  We did Its Tough to be a Bug again and then I headed to the Lion King Theater to catch the show where I proceed to sing like a 5 year old and cry while the birds were flying.  I was hitting the tired wall at this point so I said to myself that I needed to get to Hollywood Studios before the trip was over.  I grabbed some lunch and then braved the single rider line at Rock n Roller Coaster.  I went back to the room and then spent the evening in Disney Springs doing some last minute shopping and eating at the Polite Pig.

In 4 days I was able to:

Ride

Its a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Space Ranger Spin, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Winnie the Pooh, Little Mermaid and Dumbo.  Expedition Everest,  Its Tough to be a Bug, Dinosaur, Na’vi River Journey, and Flight of Passage.  Rock n Roller Coaster, Test Track, Soarin, Grand Fiesta tour, and Frozen.

Eat

Casey’s Corner, Cosmic Rays, Refreshment Port, Aloha Isle, Polite Pig and Homecomin.

To me the amount accomplished in 4 days in which none of them were full days spent in the park is astounding to me.  I enjoyed myself immensely and I can’t wait to go back and see how much more I can get done.

Doing Disney Solo Pt 2

First off lets review lessons learned in the first post on this topic 1) check a bag no more stupid rolly bags 2) Magical Express is the bomb.com 3) think about inconvenience

Day 1

While I could have stayed at the hotel and moped I chose to jump on a bus and head to the best place that Disney has to offer, Magic Kingdom.  While at the bus stop I managed to make a few fast passes.  Somehow I had the amazing luck of booking a Seven Dwarfs Mine Train fast pass so my spirits were lifted.  I got off the bus and walked as quickly as possibly to the gates and down Main Street I went.  I knew there was only one thing that was going to put me in a good mood…DOLE WHIP!  I swear by these things.  Just as I thought, it absolutely put me in an amazing mood and I was ready to enjoy myself.  I got to Magic Kingdom around 6pm so I had about 4 hours to try and get some magic under my belt.  I first went to fantasy land where I was able to ride the Journey of the Little Mermaid with only a 10 minute wait.  From there I got in the fast pass line for the Mine Train.  The last time I visited this was not open so I was very excited and it did not let me down.  When I got off of there I was able to make a fast pass for Winnie the Pooh and jumped right on.  Next I headed into Its a Small World.  While this is not everyone’s favorite I have a very special story from this that I will share about in a later post.  I jumped off and ran to my favorite ride, The Haunted Mansion, and then Thunder Mountain Railroad and got right on.  That is one of my favorite rides to do at night.  For some reason it feels to me that after the ride has been running all day it gets faster in the evening and its more fun.  I headed back to fantasy land and rode Space Ranger Spin and walked to Space Mountain to realize that my fast pass was useless since the ride was down.  I hoped over to Cosmic Rays and grabbed some dinner and then met up with one of the cheer sponsors.  We went to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Caribbean and ended our night on the last boat of the night on the Jungle Cruise.  For only a few hours in the park I felt like I got so much done.  I also learned that the rumor is true about getting out of the park faster if you walk through the gift shops on the right side of main street.  Well that is at least true if you are not tempted by the shopping.

Day 2

I jumped out of bed at 545 am leaving my room mates to think I was nuts.  Since we were on property we got to use Magic Hour. The hardest ticket in the park at the time we traveled was anything in Pandora at Animal Kingdom. The Magic Hours were early and I was hoping to get to Pandora when the parked opened to avoid the hours long waits.  The park opened at 8am and by the time I made it to gates it was a few minutes past.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea since I had to join in the stampede going towards Pandora.  I was determined to wait in the line for Flight of Passage no matter how long it was.  I followed the line that had already formed.  Walking.  Walking.  Walking.  Until I got to the back of the Lion King Theater.  If you know anything about the area this is no where close to the actual ride.  I stuck it out though and waited a little over an hour to get on the ride.  The good thing about it was that it was early in the morning so that sun was not yet beating down on you and the line was continuously moving.  The theming at Disney is always wonderful and there was always something to look at so you were never bored.  As for the ride it did not disappoint! while I wouldn’t wait 4 hours for it I was not mad a bit that I waited in line for it.  Since it was still early when I got off that one I was able to do Na’vi River Journey with just a 15 minute wait.  While this one was not a long as I thought the animations were great and I still enjoyed it.  Next I was able to do Its Tough To Be a Bug, I saw the new baby tigers on the Maharajah trail, rode Dinosaur and Expedition Everest all before lunch.  I had no fast passes for the rest of the morning.  Since I had a park hopper I headed to Epcot for a little more fun before the cheer competition that afternoon.  I used my fastpass to ride on Soarin and then headed to World Showcase.  I made my way to the UK pavillion and had a lunch of fish and chips with a very grabby squirrel while watching kiddos excitedly meet Mary Poppins.  I took the rest of the afternoon to rest and get ready for the cheer competition at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.  After an evening of competing I headed back to the Magic Kingdom to grab some food and catch a few more rides.  I stopped at Caseys and got the biggest hotdog I had ever seen which was delicious.  I rode Dumbo because well did you really go to Disney if you don’t ride Dumbo? I managed to get a fastpass for Space Mountain since I missed it the night before and this was my first time ever riding it.  I had such a good time on the ride that I thought I would finish out my evening with another mountain and my biggest Disney fear….Splash Mountain.  I know its completely irrational but I have always been terrified to ride this one.  I got in line and told myself I had to do it.  I was terrified the entire time and felt ridiculous as the tiny human behind me sang along to all the songs.  When the big drop finally came I had worked myself into such a frenzy I freaked.  Afterwards I laughed at myself when I realized it was great fun.  I made it back to the room around 1 am fully exhausted but so happy.

Doing Disney Solo Pt 1

While sitting at my desk last fall my boss came in and said very non-nonchalantly that we should go to Disney World with the cheerleaders.  Being the person I am I looked at her and said that’s not funny.  You can not joke with me about Disney.  Well she wasn’t.  That day we booked our tickets and for the next few months I prepared to join our cheerleading squad at Nationals.  Now I know this may seem as though the title of this blog is misleading considering I didn’t travel completely alone but I did find myself alone in the parks for a good part of this trip and I wanted to share some tips and my experiences.

My boss and her spouse flew with me from our hometown early that morning and we planned to meet up with the rest of the group once we made to Orlando.  After a terrifyingly short layover in Atlanta we landed in Orlando.  My boss was staying at a different hotel so she headed out for an Uber and onto the parks she went.  I on the other hand had a little different experience.  I sat in the Orlando airport for about an hour trying to find me cheerleaders.  Many many squads past me by before my team finally made it off the plane beautiful and spray-tanned.  We headed downstairs to the Disney Magical Express buses and it wasn’t long before we were on our way to the resort.  When we arrived we checked in with the cheer association and made our way on a mad hunt to find our rooms.  We stayed at the Caribbean resort.  While it is beautiful it is HUGE!  We found ourselves walking in circle and mazes of brightly colored buildings trying to find our island.  After some cheer practice and another stretch of walking we finally found our rooms.  Much to our dismay they were not ready for us.  Even though we arrived only slightly an hour prior to check in we waited much much longer before we could get in.  At this point I learned lesson number one.  The $25 cost of checking a bag is worth every penny if it means you don’t get stuck with a carry on for a day with nowhere to put it! I thought I would save some money and take my carry on.  First thing, the regular rolly bag I got when I graduated high school no longer fits down the aisle of a plane.  I apparently didn’t get the memo that you need the sideways rolly bags if you don’t want to break your arm trying to wiggle down the aisle panicking about missing your connecting flight.  Lesson number two though is that the Disney Magical Express is worth it.  While I was lugging around me rolly bag my cheer pals had only their backpacks to worry about.  The Magical Express will take care of your bags and have them delivered to your room.

After carrying my rolly bag and backpack and sitting in the heat and rain looking into the window of my room that I could not enter I decided to bribe the cleaning lady to let me leave my stuff in the room.  That may not have been my brightest moment considering the amount of things that were in my bag but I was willing to take that chance because well its Disney.

Another thing to mention about the hotel is the fact that it is currently under construction.  We received a $100 gift card for our inconvenience.  At first we all thought how awesome a free $100 who cares about inconvenience.  Yea well lesson number 3…you should care about the inconvenience.  After flying out at 8 am it was now about 5pm and the most I had eaten or drank was airplane coke and cookies.  With the hotel construction there was no way to get food unless you went to a park.  So after the bribery to leave my things in the room and waiting almost 45 minutes to catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then subsequently being squished onto the bus by an entire squad of angry cheerleaders and their coach it was finally time for me to feel the magic!

I will explain my adventures in my more posts but one more thing I would like to add before I tell that part is the fact that we were not able to access or magic bands or tickets prior to arriving.  Therefore we were not allowed to book any fast passes before we got there.  This became quiet an adventure itself.  It was a small victory anytime anyone could manage to get more than 3 passes at the same time for Space Mountain or if anyone managed to get anything for the Pandora rides at all.

In my next post I will give you guys a rundown of how I made the most of my time with no fast passes and throwing a cheer competition in the mix.  Until next time…

Something I Am Missing

This post was originally started in April 2017…

This year I was hoping I would have had the chance to return to the performing arts program at work.  Sadly this didn’t happen for me and I’m heartbroken.  I am so happy that I helped to find them an amazing new teachers though.  My friend Lauren has been such an amazingly positive force for the show choir.  The kids deserved someone like her.  Also I could not be more proud that my friend Curran is working with the kids on the school musical.  I hope he realizes how truly amazing he is.  He would be the most perfect teacher and I hope one day that happens.  If it does his students will be so incredibly lucky.

All that being said I miss my babies.  I miss where it all started.  My first experience was tap dancing in a T building with some of the most caring girls I’ve ever met.  The show choir had been established a semester prior.  Very few people knew of my experience in the dance world.  My short chubby body is not one of a typical dancer.  It just so happened that that year a show I was auditioning for was a tap show.  To prepare for the auditions the choreographer did a tap workshop a few weeks before.  I showed up to the workshop and found one of my fellow co-workers there.  While I did not get a part in that show I apparently my tap skills became a little more obvious.

I was approached to choreograph a number from Thoroughly Modern Millie.  I knew only a little about the show and I wasn’t yet the Sutton Foster lover that I am now.  I said sure why not.  I wasn’t really ready for what I was walking into.  I didn’t know what the girls knew how to do or if they would understand the terms I was using.  What happened was a wonderful collaboration of dance, hard-work and determination.

While I went on to work with the show choir for several more years after that this first dance and that group of girls will forever have a piece of my heart.  For all of my girls here is a reminder of how far we came in that T building.

Lastly I would like to take the time to celebrate and remember the life of one of those girls.  We love and miss you Anabelle.

 

I just need to do it…

I have not touched my blog in over a year.  For some reason this evening I am really feeling the need to get back to it.

I am stressed and tired and overworked and I think I just need an outlet right now.  I have had some crazy ups and downs this past year or so and I have over 40 blog topics in my draft box that I just never got around to.  I think using some of my creative brain will help me get through whatever this funk is I am in.

Here’s to more blogging and staying committed!