**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Wednesday and Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY

Woke up feeling wrecked. I slept well, but my throat is sore...hoping that's from an hour of straight talking during the masterclass plus lots of talking with my brother and his fiancee's family, and not me getting sick. Plus it was just a long day! I was up from 5am to midnight.

Coffee and breakfast had me feeling better. Called the post office and waited on hold to try and find a package that they're refusing to deliver. USPS has done this to me multiple times and I can't stand it. If they don't want to deliver it or don't have time, I wish they'd just set the package for pickup. Made no headway at all on getting it delivered, but found out where the package is being held so will go in person tomorrow to try and rescue it. Just how I wanted to spend my morning.

Worked on Foodie Finds, and gifted myself an hour of watching Owl House.
Walked to the theater a bit early to wash out my tenor slide before the matinee (it's been smelling tarnish-y.)
At this show, the entirety of Disney Theatrical Group (DTG) was in the audience. EIGHTY people!!
Fortunately we had a wonderful show, the sold-out crowd was hyped, and overall it was just lovely.

Between shows I went back to the hotel as usual. I've gotten an offer to do a clinic at my alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, while the show's in Pittsburgh, so I sent off that information to the host and then ate dinner.

Back at the theater we found that DTG had loved the show and had left us a zillion cupcakes to show appreciation!

(photo stolen from our Stage Management team when they announced the cupcake deluge in the group chat.)

This is in addition to the huge pile of cupcakes that we received for Lunar New Year!
Cupcakes for days! I took one and will work it into my nutrition planning for tomorrow :p

The evening show was mostly-good but something went wrong with the Transformation scene. We had to do a Plan B show (we essentially do a shorter/reduced Transformation.) We still have a substitute on keyboards while Connor (Key 1) is out on vacation, and this was his first time playing the Plan B. Josh, our assistant MD and Key 2, happened to be conducting tonight, and this was HIS first time conducting the Plan B as well! They both did an incredible job!! This is why they get the big bucks!

Finally, I had a friend in the audience! Mike, who I went to college with and who is now a local French horn player and teacher. Between ourselves we didn't really make time to connect (well, he reached out but I was so freaking inundated that I declined his offer to hang out) but we chatted a bit at the stage door after the show. I hope he and his friend had a good time despite the, uh...."Disney Magic" that happened! Lol!

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THURSDAY

I woke up several times feeling like my throat was dry as the desert, so I guess that sore throat is scheming to become a throat infection. Not surprised at all. I have been stressed, it has been very cold and dry, I've been playing more shows than usual and talking a LOT more than usual. I feel very tired and under the weather, but otherwise not sick which is why I think it's likely not a virus.

That said, I decided to bow out of attending the company-sponsored tour of Philly's African American History Museum :( I'm disappointed, but there is still so much going on this weekend and I have got to prioritize whatever health I have for upcoming shows and family visits.

And THAT said, I still had to bundle up, march myself down to the T-line at 9am, ride across the river, and show up at USPS in person to negotiate for the release of my package, which they've held hostage for three days under pretense of "Package wasn't delivered because the business was closed."

It's a hotel. It's literally NEVER closed.

The good news is, the ladies working the desk were incredibly helpful. And while I'm annoyed at having to basically handle delivery of my package myself, I was still smiling and pleasant because whatever happened isn't THEIR fault. So we were all chill as they looked up my tracking and disappeared into the back...FOR 20 MINUTES. It wasn't that busy so I chatted with other postal workers while I waited and texted with Jameson. He's got THREE overnights with Disney corporate this week and is being run even more ragged than me. But he is hanging in there and still enjoying the work.

Finally, the ladies appeared again holding my package! My heroines! I thanked them profusely and ran away hugging my box. Rode the subway back, but decided to exit one stop early so I could walk through City Hall Courtyard and see if the Dublin Portal had been un-frozen yet. It was!!


I was too shy to keep filming, and it was just as well because right after I stopped those little kids started doing the "6-7" hand sign, eew :p
But it was so adorable and fun to see people of all kinds stopping to interact. Those workers in the first part of my little clip were waving and giving thumbs up as they walked by. An elderly couple stood next to me for a bit and did some jumping jacks, which both kids and adults in Dublin imitated. It was about 10am here, so 3pm their time. And it looks like our weather is similar! Seeing these lovely interactions made me feel warm inside :)

Back at the hotel I opened my box. It's candles from Bittersweet Candle Co., which quickly became my Favorite Candles Ever after I discovered the Chai candle in Schenectady. After the one I bought finally burned down I missed it terribly, so ordered another one plus the Coffee Shop scent. These will last for months and I can store them in my trunk. The packaging was beautiful...there were even dried flowers in the packing peanuts! And they sent a sample candle, a book of matches, a sticker, and a piece of candy.



This is someone working from home to make these. If you've ever had a Swan Creek candle, these are very similar and imo, better. I'll probably keep buying them for as long as they're available.

A little time to hydrate and rest, then a walk to meet an online friend for lunch! 

ratphooey arranged for us to meet at Ray's Cafe & Tea House, an absolutely adorable family-owned coffee shop in Chinatown. They do siphon coffee there and have HUGE siphons! It smelled delicious inside. I would have loved coffee but one of the joys of getting older has been suffering consequences of too much caffeine in the evening. So instead we shared a dumpling sampler and a bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. 

The dumpling flavors are white = pork and napa cabbage; yellow = pork and leeks; green = veggie; brown = fried curry.
My favorite were the pork/napa, the pork/leek and veggie are tied, and I found the curry dumpling a little dry but the flavor was awesome. 



Everything was absolutely amazing (and made in-house by people who very clearly love what they do!) The soup especially was incredibly flavorful, you could tell that the beef had been braised in there for hours if not days, and the flavor was complex and rich. It reminded me, in fact, of THIS SOUP that I got to enjoy at Three Fold Noodles in Arkansas in 2023.

As we ate we chatted and learned about each other as this was our first time meeting in person. At first I had trouble remembering who she WAS on LiveJournal because she prefers to read rather than post (I totally get that!) but finally remembered, haha. I learned that she works in large-scale building design. Her company (if I understood correctly) designs hospitals and stadiums. This is actually fascinating, but I will look into it more on my own because we only touched on our jobs and then moved on to other topics like politics (such as they are, uuuugh) what's going on in our lives, and things that we enjoy or have in common. To be honest, I have been so stressed this week that I was worried another social interaction might push me over the edge. But ratphooey was relaxed, and so I felt relaxed and calm and happy to be there :) 

At one point the owner came over to greet us and make sure we were enjoying the food. I wanted to rave like a maniac about how good everything was but didn't want to come across as a nut job! Just know that I immediately shared pictures of the food to our tour Foodie group to encourage others to stop in, and that if I lived here I'd be eating here once a week. ratphooey has been coming here since she was a child, and I am JEALOUS of that! 

This was a really wonderful lunch, and I love to meet online friends in person!! The opportunity that technology has given us, to connect and meet and embrace each other, is such a privilege that we get to enjoy living at this point in human history. We got our leftovers packed up, walked to the nearest street corner, and hugged and parted ways. I believe she'll be coming to our Sunday show, yay!! 

On the way back to the hotel I swung into CVS for distilled water for my kettle and band-aids because somehow I'm out. Then I remembered MOMs Organic Market was close and popped in there for sliced turkey and hand lotion. I might have found a new favorite hand lotion to boot: it's "spicy chai" scented and I LOVE how it smells! Maybe I'll actually start moisturizing regularly if it's this stuff! 

Wow...retrieving my lovely scented candles, finding a new favorite hand lotion, waving to people in Dublin, eating incredible homemade food with a new friend...Thursday was actually really lovely :)

At the hotel I put everything away, packed snacks for tonight's intermission...and shut off the lights and got into bed. I read for a little bit, and managed to nap for maybe 45 minutes. Then later on dinner and walking to the theater as usual. For the sake of getting to bed before midnight tonight, I'm going to post early tonight and write about the evening show in the next post. Fingers crossed that it's just a normal Thursday night show! 

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Friday: NOTHING!!! Well, one show at night but I'm reserving this day for personal recovery. Laundry and resting.

Saturday: My sister Raven gets in around 10am, we'll probably get lunch. I have two shows, we'll hang out between 'em.

Sunday: My sister Kate and fam (and ratphooey!) will be here for the show. Family and I will get brunch. Packing up for the bus ride(?) to Pittsburgh. 

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers Tuesday.

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TUESDAY

Not surprisingly, tossed and turned, and every time I woke up I was halfway through part of my presentation haha. Got up reluctantly with my alarm. Coffee, and decided to eat breakfast on the road so packed it along with some snacks and water.

Around 7am I walked to get the rental car. It was easy and I was finished around 7:30...which I was banking on, because Sprouts down the street opened at 7! This meant I had time to pop in there and poke around. They always have interesting foods that I don't find elsewhere. I found two more flavors of Drizzilicious, Very Berry and French Toast, and picked those up to go in my trunk. I can try them in upcoming cities. Also picked up some hand lotion, fruit, and a new flavor of Mezcla bar which happens to be strawberry, like the new Koia shake flavor that came out a few days ago.


I'm sure this flurry of strawberry-flavored products were released intentionally close to Valentine's Day, but unlike Koia, Mezcla didn't at all advertise that there would be a new flavor, which I find odd.

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The Masterclass

Anyway, from there I drove 90 minutes to Delaware State University. A straight shot down I-95, eating my overnight oats and yogurt.

Arrived well on time and happened upon the organizer, who had just pulled up with catering trays of cold cut sandwiches and cookies. He wouldn't let me help carry anything but I held a few doors and followed him to the green room. He set up the food and got me comfortable. I ate a snack and listened to the presenter before me, who was giving a jazz clinic. It sounded great! There were several high schools visiting for the event, and some students got up to take solos with the presenter.

As they were finishing up, a tech helped me to get my laptop and PowerPoint set up backstage. We chatted and I felt nervous until it was time for me to go on.

There were maybe 40-50 students in the crowd, plus their teachers. The presentation went exactly as I'd practiced it in my hotel room. I only tripped over my tongue once or twice, and sometimes while gesturing I'd hit the lavalier mic because I'm not used to wearing one (but it was better than a handheld.) The PowerPoint went flawlessly which was a huge surprise. I wrapped up in plenty of time for the next presenter to set up while I was doing the Q&A. As far as whether the students got anything out of it...I'm honestly not sure :/ Several were making eye contact and nodding, or laughing at my little interspersed jokes. But others looked bored, or were clearly looking at their phones, and a few looked like they were half asleep. Most were high school students so this didn't bother me...kinda typical, you know?

I did see several students taking pictures of some of my slides that contained detailed information about application processes and contact info. And afterward pretty much all of the teachers/faculty made a point to tell me they'd enjoyed the presentation and found it informative...in fact, the teachers had more questions during Q&A than the students! I hope this doesn't mean my presentation wasn't a good fit for this audience...I hadn't been aware that high schools would be attending too. A lot of those kids haven't decided on careers yet.

Afterward I thanked the presenter, packed up my gear, wolfed down a catered sandwich and cookie, and hit the road. Whether anyone learned anything, I don't know, but at minimum it's good for me to get more practice doing these. Hopefully I'll get feedback from the presenter in a few days.

Drove all the way back, returned the rental car, and had just enough time to get dressed for the show and put away my Sprouts goodies before heading back out to meet Jonah and his fiancee's family for dinner.

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The Family Visit

They had chosen an Italian place near the theater. It was very small, but warm and inviting and the portions were HUGE. Danielle (his fiance) and I got gnocchi, hers was sweet potato with alfredo sauce and mine was regular with a 12-hour beef ragout. It was real homemade gnocchi and was AMAZING, pillowy and fresh. The ragout was incredibly flavorful and had chunks of tender beef. Everyone else’s food looked amazing as well (no pics because I didn’t want to be rude.)

This was my first time meeting Jonah’s soon-to-be in-laws. They seem completely pleasant; Danielle’s dad in particular was chock full of agonizingly awful dad jokes :p We talked a LOT, and of course they all wanted to know all about touring and the shows and whatnot. But I made sure to ask everyone at the table about their work, or wedding prep, or basic facts in the case of Danielle’s parents since they’re New Family.

This is maybe an odd thing to say, but as Jonah doesn’t really have parents—his dad/our stepdad is an absentee drug addict, and our mom has passed away—aside from my Aunt, I'm kind of the oldest family representative he's got. As such, I was a bit nervous to give a good impression. I certainly got a good impression of all of them!

After our lovely meal it was still a bit early, so we killed time at a nearby bar (I didn't drink.) When it was time I walked over and they followed to get their tickets. 

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The Show

Backstage, we had a lovely surprise from Disney Theatrical Group and the venue for Lunar New Year:

(photo courtesy Darrel, ensemble)

The pretty envelope is called hongbao, and they are traditionally filled with money and given as gifts during the New Year to wish good fortune, blessings, etc on friends and family. These had New Years wishes in several Asian languages, and a chocolate gold coin :) There were also cupcakes backstage which I was too full to eat but took one for later.

The show went just fine. I am not shaking any more...it went away on it's own. And I was exhausted, having spent all of my adrenaline on that masterclass. Jonah & Co. enjoyed the show very much, but we didn't meet up afterward because everyone had to work early tomorrow. It was great to see my little brother and spend time with him and his soon-to-be wife and in-laws!

Additionally, housekeeping DID service my room today, yay!

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Wednesday: Two shows so no plans.

Thursday: Meeting an online friend for lunch at a cafe, possibly visiting the African American History Museum, and an evening show.