My Aunt Melanie

Something I often talked about in my old blog with my Aunt Melanie. For those who have followed my old blog before, you would be pretty familiar with her. For those who don't know, let me tell you about her. She was my mom's younger sister, the middle child. She was more like a big sister to me than an aunt. We were only 11 years apart, in fact we were closer in age than my sister and I (who is 13 years younger than me). Today -June 19- marks 9 years since she lost her battle with breast cancer.

Mel was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer when she was 30 years old in the spring of 2000. The previous fall, she was misdiagnosed when she first discovered the lump. The doctor said it could have been from drinking too much coffee or the fact that she had a son in April 1998. This misdiagnosis may have been what cost Mel her life. By the time spring 2004 came around the cancer had spread, and she lost mobility in her legs, because of the tumors and was confined to a wheelchair. I had moved away to grad school in London in May and she died the next month. The last time I ever saw her was the day I graduated from university, I stopped in to see her and showed her my degree.

I say she was like a sister to me, because she lived with me and my parents when I was a kid. She and I used to drive up to St. Charles in her red Chrysler Daytona on the weekends to visit my grandparents, so we spent alot of time in that car together. One of my cherished pics is of the two of us with her car. My mom told me she was so mad when she left a can of 7UP in her new car and in exploded, I remember seeing the spots from it all over her dashboard. I can remember listening to MC Hammer can't touch this on cassette in her car!  When I was older I lived with her and her family the summer after my first year of university.

I still think about her all the time and miss her alot. I don't know if I ever really be over her death. It just seems so unfair that she was so young, 34, that is only 2 years older than I am. Scary. It's hearbreaking that she left her then six year old son behind. I try to think of the happy memories and stories: going to my first bingo with her, or going garage saleing with her, Something that still makes me smile is I wanted Alanis Morissette's album for my 15th birthday, and Mel bought it for me and sent it in the mail. There was a parental advisory on it for explicit lyrics and she highlighted it to bring it to my parents attention. Or my mom telling me when they worked together after watching part of Little Mermaid with me in the morning, Mel was singing Under the sea all day at work even though she didn't really know the lyrics. Or how she was so archnophobic she couldn't watch the scene with Aragog in the second Harry Potter movie.

In a random bit of weirdness. James Gandolfini  who played Tony Soprano died today of a heart attack. The Sopranos was one of Mel's favourite shows. While James' passing is sad and my heart goes out to his loved one, I can't help being slightly amused by the timing. I digress and will leave you with a one of my favourite pics of me and Mel and one of us with the Daytona.

The last myspace post about galas, write offs and the Book of Mormon

I usually type out my posts in wordpad, before I post them, in case my laptop crashes, so I do have my last myspace post, which I will repost here:

Settle in for a novel. Things have been crazy and this a long post. Yay! Spring has finally arrived! The flurries didn't stop me from wearing a supershort/sexy dress to a community theatre awards gala a few weeks ago. If you had asked me a year and a half ago, if I could see myself wearing that sort of dress I would have said hell no Just goes to show how things have changed for me. The dress itself is by black sheep, and was a fab find at Marshalls for only $20. There was something familiar about the dress, it bugged me for a couple of days until it hit me; the dress is similar to one Jamie Lee Curtis wore in My Girl (one of my all time favourite movies). I decided to accessorize with coral for spring, I tend to be all matchy matchy with my nails etc. I bought a some two packs of earrings and frankensteined my own necklace charm, by taking apart a couple of the pairs. My philosophy is that if I dress for spring, it will come.
　
For the gala I even had my makeup professionally done by this local guy who offers free make up application you just get your picture taken for his portfolio. It was very intimate having someone work that closely on you. I definitely didn't like washing off all that warpaint that night. I am not going to be rushing to have it done anytime soon, although the artist expressed interest in working on me again. Here's a couple pics of me all dressed up and one is a still of the My Girl dress.

I wanted to be free to come and go as I pleased so I drove to Vaughn on my own. It was easy enough to get there with my phone's GPS. Our theatre group had several tables, it was awesome to see people from various shows I worked on, even some from the one I am currently working on. It was very fancy, with a fake red carpet where you could get your picture taken. The way the Gala works is you have to pay $50 for a ticket, you find out the nominations that night as the awards are presented. It was expensive but worth it. The meal alone was awesome and worth it, there was of course passed hors derves, bottles of wine on the table along with bread, a salad course, a pasta course, then the main course. I had never had potatoes duchesse before and I am eager to try it again! I was a bad pre-diabetic that night let me tell you, the desserts were beyond. There was this ice cream puck stuffed with caramel. After 10 there was a pastry table, that was crazy. I had a lobster tail, tiramisu, and an eclair. I was quite pleased that my two hour reading was within range after all that. Plus ther was the whole awards aspect, our group did every well. We were nominated for 7 awards and won 3. Not too shabby. Here's a pic of the decor, main entree and the dessert table:

The way the judging works is that there are three different categories, comedy, drama and musical. There is one adjudicator who goes around and sees all the entries in those categories. There are the standard awards, lighting, sound, costume, best actor/actress, supporting etc. The adjudicators get to do something really cool, each get to come up with four awards like best props or ensemble etc. It was fun cheering wildly when we got nominated or won. I can't wait for next year, if something I work on is entered again.

I am starting to have anxiety about the show I am working on now. Lots to do and not alot of time to do it. The main person behind costumes and I haven't had the best of luck meeting up. For the show there is a hospital scene, I was sorely tempted to take a hospital gown when I was in for an ultrasound the other day. I was not a happy camper, because my appointment was at 11, I figured that would give me a nice cushion of time to still get to work on time, except they were 75 minutes behind. Fortunately I wasn't late for work, but it cost me a small fortune in parking. I wouldn't have felt guilty putting the hospital gown in my bag after that especially because we have such a small budget. I bought a special foot for my machine. It does a rolled hem, you feed the fabric through and it makes a very fine hem. Very useful here's a pic.
　

I have built some princess dresses for the show. My inspriation is that Disney princess mix and match. Each dress has a couple of elements of a Snow White, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty (Aurora). It has been an interesting experience, working on them. One of the actress is bigger, and it has given me a new appreciation for why some clothing labels do charge more for plus size clothes. There is the cost, because bottom line more fabric is needed and it costs more to produce. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but facts are facts. Knowing that the dress is for a bigger girl it influenced how I designed for her. I wouldn't for example put the Cinderella hip poofs on her, because it would widen her. My reaction to this kind of surprises me, especially having been a large woman, and having made clothes for myself at that size. I think because I didn't have the direct comparison of having made a dress half the size for a very tiny lady. Working on costumes has giving me a different perspective on my body and I think helped my body image, because the numbers don't lie. when comparing my self to other women. I think it helps give me a dose of reality because I do tend to see the fat girl still when I look in the mirror. I have literally had all my measurements taken, it's helped alot with the way I see myself. How you see yourself is so important.

Overall I am happy with how the show turned out, there were a few mishaps opening night, but it is to be expected. I was really excited to bring my mom as my date, she hasn't seen any of the shows I have worked on before, so that really meant alot to have her there. This was also the first time I had a pic and bio in the programme. I am a total geek and grabbed a stack as a souveiner. Here are some pics of the princess dresses.
　

I have debated talking about this, because it is taboo, but upon reflection I don't know why. I don't think there should be a stigma about gyno exams, or anything to do with lady bits, we talk about periods and tampons in hushed tones. Why should I feel ashamed or embarassed to talk about this stuff? I went for my first pap smear last month. If you don't like my talking about my female bits you can stop reading. I have to admit I was really anxious about it, having never had one before. Especially with my body issues, I was worried about feeling self consciencious. Because it is women's health it is taboo, as I told my mom, it's not like there is a Berenstein bears go to the gyno. Because of a medical condition I have, I had to have an ultrasound as well, which I mentioned earlier. That's my rant. That wasm't so bad was it? I do have another safer rant about my doctor's office and the fact that they didn't call me to advise me about my ultrasound being booked for the following Monday, I only found out about it the Friday before when the hospital called to confirm. Lovely.

Moving on, N's cousin is in a new band, so we went and saw one of their first public performances. It was awesome, they really had the crowd going. I loved the chemistry and the music selection. I am a geek and took the setlist. I hope they do well. They have a 90's No Doubt vibe about them, that I love. The music is way more my style than his old band.
　
Other news, my brand new car was written off. On April 20, it was a really windy day when I was driving up the highway to a bridal shower for a high school friend, when debris, whether it was a board off the back of a truck or a sign something blew across the highway from the on coming lane and hit my car going across the front diagonally across the roof. My drivers headlight was smashed, and my wing mirror and antanae was knocked off. Needless to say I didn't make the bridal shower, I turned around and started the first of many hours on the phone with my insurance company. I had learned I made the stupid mistake of going for cheaper payments and a $1000 deductible. (That has since been fixed) Even though I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time I was going to have to pay out all this money, which was really unfair. The irony being I got a new car, so I wouldn't have to worry about expensive repair bills. It was still better than what the guy thought was originally around a $4000 repair bill, plus my insurance paid for a rental for me as well. Here is a pic of the damage

　

　

Imagine my suprise when I get a phone call at work that my car was a write off. It was going to cost over $10,000 to fix it. Getting written off turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. I made one of the smartest decisons ever when I was getting insurance, I opted for the $60 per year replacement value option. This basically means that if my car is written off within the first two years, I get full replacement value back. I ended up getting a cheque for 21,000 from the insurance company and I owed Ford less than that. I don't know if it was because of the estimate Ford sent them, but it turned out I didn't end up having to pay the deductible. Also I retain the resale value because I have a brand new car again that hasn't been in an accident.

I ended up getting the exact same car cheaper, but without the 0% financing. It works out to the same payments though. I feel like the salesperson just saw me as a dollar sign, because when I told her the other dealer would offer me cheaper, she didn't do anything about it even though she said she would. She must of had a good salesday the day before. I also feel bamboozled, because I found out through the total loss department of Ford Credit, they could have just switched the VIN's rather than making me go through another credit check and going for a bank loan etc. Not happy, I was ready to return the car when I found that out. We could have kept the same original deal, guaranteed it is tracked differently when they do a whole new deal etc. Bastards. It is just incompetitance, as if the business manager didn't know. I don't think I will stay with them when I get a new car in the future. On the plus side having a car paid off in 6 weeks looks really good on my credit rating. That's never happen again, unless I get win the lottery. It was stressful dealing with the insurance company, I had to drive to my brokers in Aurora to get the cheque. I was so paranoid about something happening to the rental and having to pay out on that. They were really nice and understanding about it.

The timing couldn't have been worse though for all this too happen, it was crunch time for the show I was working on and I had all this running around to do to the cops, OPP etc I had to go clean out my old car, which was very sad. It didn't help that I had a sore neck and shoulder. My left shoulder still bugs me a bit, as does my neck. I ended up going to the ER and having a follow up appointment with my family doctor. I am mostly okay, but when I was folding laundry it was really acting up after a while. It was also pretty bad having to do alot of hand sewing for the show with a sore neck, it definately burned. We will sadly have to unalter our borrowed stuff after the show closes. One of the things we borrowed was a vintage nurse's dress from the 70's which I got to try on. It worked out well that we were able to get that. One really neat thing one of the actress has the same medical condition as me which is kinda neat, you don't meet many of us with Turner's Syndrome.
　
Lastly I went to go see the Book of Mormon. I wasn't planning on it or excited when I saw it was coming a year ago, but when I heard the opening number "hello" I thought it would be a hoot. I can't afford the $130 regular price, so I decided to try my luck at a $25 lottery ticket. I lined up really early because I remember with the Wicked lottery the lines got cut off, and I wanted to be sure to get my name in. I was dressed in my newly homemade dress with a book in hand and was first in line. I just stayed positive and it worked, I won! They couldn't read my name though... I don't know why, but whatever. I had even teamed with up with a married man, who was second in line, his wife was busy and N. was working, so we decided to each put down for two tickets instead of one. The seats weren't too bad, they were in the balcony along the side.
　

Book of Mormon is definitely not for everyone. It is written by the guys who write South Park along with one of the guys who wrote Ave Q and it won best musical at the 2011 Tony Awards. I was surprised that they had female circumcision as a plotline. One thing I thought was really cool that the Mormon's actually took ads out in the programme rather than being all uppity about it. I couldn't help thinking that this could be the last show I see at the Princess of Wales theatre before they tear it down. I don't know if I will go see the other shows there. Only time will tell. That is enough of a novel for now. I will leave you with a pic of me and the lottery tag:



Welcome to my new blog!

This new blog is established with a lot of heartache. Previously I have been blogging with myspace for the past six years. That blog covered a lot of my adventures in the theatre either as a stage door whore, or as someone working behind the scenes in costumes. It covered my contact with various celebs like Daniel Radcliffe, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp,  going to the movies with Margaret Atwood on my birthday, fetching Andrea Martin's coffee, being snubbed by Stephen Sondheim. It was filled with various details about day to day life, concerts and events I have been to, my trips to Ottawa, New York City, camping, things you might forget about but make you smile to remember.

There were things that aren't always pleasant to remember like my car breaking down on my last birthday, my backpack getting stolen or my someone backing into my old car and smashing the front end and driving off.  There was alot of personal stuff like poetry dealing with heartache, the loss of my grandfather, and my beloved cat Hermione and rat Frida, my ups and downs of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and my weight loss, my triumphs as I am reversing it step by step.

It may not mean much to someone else, but it was the story of my life and it is gone now, as myspace has removed the blogs with out prior notification. To say I am heartbroken at the loss of all that would be an understatement, but this blog will just be a new a beginning, hopefully the next six years will be as blog worthy as the last six were!