After looking at my blog the other day I noticed that the last time I posted has been just over a year. So why haven’t I posted in a year? I am sure there are several reasons but the lack time and Farmville are at the top of my list. I have pulled back on my Farmville escapades but I am still lacking a lot of time to sit down and write. In that vain, let me tell you a few things that have been happening in my life over the last year.

At the beginning of the summer I directed, re-wrote, and performed in The Complete History of America – Abridged at the Riverside Center. The experience was fantastic! The audiences grew for each performance and I got to work with one of my childhood friends and one of the best persons I know, David McConnell.

By the time fall came around I was asked to play Edna in Hairspray at Riverside. This time a dear old friend of mine, Mark Minnick, was signed on to direct. I think the world of Mark, he is an extremely young talented man. He tells you like he sees it but he is kind and generous. He’s also energetic and a heck of a lot of fun to work with. On the first day of rehearsal we had a read-through where the entire cast sits in a circle and reads their parts out loud and muddles their way through the music. At least that’s the way it usually goes. I was blown away by almost everyone in the cast knew their songs and belted them out full force. I had a lot of catching up to do. The show opened to rave reviews and the cast was fantastic! The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the high heels and what they did to my knees. Pricilla who played Tracy was a powerhouse and I had the fortunate opportunity to make a new friend in Jason who played Wilbur, my husband. The entire run was t

errifically fun and a great experience.

After Hairspray I had decided to take some time off from performing. But, I was asked to play Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly at Riverside. I have never done Hello Dolly and never really thought of it as a show that I HAD to do. They upped the ante by telling me that they were able to get Sally Struthers to play Dolly. I had a hard time turning down the opportunity to play opposite of Sally Struthers. I had no idea of what kind of a person she was but my gut told me that she was someone I’d enjoy working with. My friends, always go with your gut. We just opened the show last week and Sally is a hoot! She is a dear, compassionate, down-to-earth person who is a pure joy to perform with. I only knew her from All In The Family and the Save the Children commercials she used to do. When I told my girls that I would be performing with Gloria from All In The Family they didn’t know whom I was talking about. Then they looked her up and told me that they knew her as Babette from Gilmore Girls. Me not being a big Gilmore Girls viewer, they had to show me an episode they had and she was so charming.

I am still blessed to be working at The Perspectives Group doing public participation work and writing/directing videos. I love the people I work with, I know it is said too often but they are just like family.

I’m also still very involved with my church, Grace Presbyterian. I’m still singing in the choir and playing drums in the praise band. I also work as a youth leader and sit on the nomination committee. Our associate pastor, Shannon, left us this past January for a position with in the Presbytery and she is very missed.

Our girls have been great! Barbara starred in Once on This Island at her middle school and was fantastic! She looked beautiful; she acted, danced and sang like a pro. Her mother, Mary, and the Paynes flew up from Florida to see her, which was very special. All of my family was there so she had a great fan club. She is auditioning for Hairspray at the Little Theater of Alexandria in a few weeks. I really hope she gets and opportunity to do the show. Her passion for theater and for performing has really grown.

Danielle has been so busy and active at school this past year. She dropped by for a few hours every now and then but she really didn’t have that many opportunities to come home for a weekend or even a night. She is in her senior year at Shenandoah University and in addition to her classes at the campus she has been working in an elementary school with a fourth grade class. She has found the class very challenging but she really cared for the kids. She will be going back to complete her student teaching in the fall and graduate in December. I am so proud of her, she has really showed what kind of person she is and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.

Of course there have been many other things that have happened to us but those will be for another post, let’s hope it won’t take a full year for the next one. May God bless you. - Jim