The Elevator Epiphany

This morning I had some deep thoughts I thought I would share. I went down to the hotel's lobby, and I grabbed some food for breakfast. After I got in the elevator to go back to my room and pushed the level three button, I realized I had forgotten something. I was able to push the open door button and get out, but the level three button was still lit. After I got out, the elevator went to level three empty. I realized then that there is no cancel button in an elevator. I wonder if people realize how much of a commitment they make when they step into an elevator. Once you push that button, there is no taking it back. You have committed to that floor. The only way out of it is to get out of the elevator and get in a different one. Think about that the next time you get in an elevator!

Celebrities at the Christmas Spectacular

Sheryl Crow, Scott Hamilton, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley attended our first show of the Christmas Spectacular last Saturday with their children. During intermission after microphone check, I walked around trying to (casually) bump into the celebrities backstage. When celebrities come to the show, they stay backstage until the show starts and then are brought back again during intermission and after the program so they are not hounded by the audience. (Instead they get to be hounded by the performers! :)) I figured they were down the stage right hallway because all the kids from the show’s moms were standing there with their cameras. Dead giveaway. I thought they were farther down that particular hallway closer to the stage. As I rounded the corner, I realized they were right there! Well, hello there, fancy running in to you! The group was taking pictures with Mrs. Claus. They said, "Oh look it's one of Santa's elves!" I smiled and asked them if they were enjoying the show up to that point. They said they were. It was cute to see the kids so excited about the show and having a good time.

Scott Hamilton took multiple pictures of me.

Sheryl Crow shook my hand and told me it was a pleasure to meet me. (If I didn’t know Sheryl Crow was at the performance, I would have walked right past her in the hallway and never would have known it! See picture below.)

I exchanged smiles with Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Kimberly’s son looks just like his daddy (Brad Paisley).

Here are two pictures of our Company Manager Tim with the celebrities after the show:

Hockey

Some of the cast members and I drove to the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville to watch a Nashville Predators hockey game. It was so much fun! I had a great time yelling and cheering. The locals say the Nashville Predators aren’t a very good team but they shut out the New York Islanders five goals to nothing. (I heard a guy behind us say that out of the last 23 games the Islanders have played, they have only won 5!) The only disappointment was there were only two small fights. The gloves never came off but one player got whacked in the head with the other team’s hockey stick. Good times!

One of the goals was pretty amazing. A Pred had the puck and were about to hit it into the net when an Islander was coming full blast at him. The Pred jumped over him, hit the puck to the teammate, and the teammate whacked it into the net. It was awesome!

On the jumbotron, they showed a guy with the name "Randy Houser" on the bottom of the screen. We all asked each other, "Who is Randy Houser?" I answered, "He must be Doogie Howser's brother." Ha ha! About 30 seconds later, we hear this girl in front of us ask her husband, "Who is Randy Houser?" To which he responds, "He's Doogie Howser's older brother". Then she laughed. Excuse me! You just stole my material! That is a copyright infringement! Then a little while later, things were not going the Predators way and I said, "Come on!" Then two seconds later the guy behind me says, "Come on"! Geez, I was surrounded by parrots! Come up with your own material!

As we were leaving the arena, people were handing out coupons for a free energy drink. Most people were tossing them in the garbage. While we were waiting for our car to pick us up, Lina and I watched a guy pick up the free drink coupons from the garbage can. A nicely dressed man watched him pick through the garbage. When the first guy left, the nicely dressed man took over at the garbage can and went dumpster diving for more coupons. Then his (assuming) wife started dumpster diving as well. The only thing was she was wearing a dark brown long fur coat! Are you kidding me?! Your dressed like that and dumpster diving for free energy drink coupons?! That's crazy! Then the nicely dressed man got a phone call and they left. Lina joked that it was the limo driver telling them he was waiting out front for them! I laughed so hard!

Another interesting thing we saw was a scooter/ice cooler. A guy was riding a motorized ice cooler out of the game. I had never seen one of those before! Very handy for the sports enthusiast though! Another guy in a motorized wheelchair was carrying a hockey stick with mistletoe tied on the end. Good luck, pal!

Good times at the Predators game! Great entertainment!

Hanukkah 2010

I went to my first ever Hanukkah Party. I learned the story of the Maccabee's and their miraculous oil. I ate some latkes which were tasty. I also ate a lot of other food. I had a great time. I think I will party every December for eight nights. Oh wait, I already do and then some! (Photo credit-Facebook)

ICE!

Each year the cast receives free passes to ICE! at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. We received the passes after my parents left so I decided to invite my friend Mindy and her family to join me since they live in the area.

ICE! is a huge tent filled with themed ice sculptures. This year's theme was the movie Santa Claus is Comin' To Town. They have huge ice sculptures (as you can see in the pictures) that are colored and larger-than-life. They also have a room with slides made of ice and the kids enjoyed them. Since it is so cold in the exhibit, they give everyone a beautiful blue coat to wear while they are there. Thanks Mindy for sharing your family with me and making it a fun night!

Time Warp

Last month, I woke up one morning at 6 AM because a siren went past the street. (Well, the clock said 6 AM anyway.) I made myself go back to sleep. Then I woke up and the clock said 7 AM. I still refused to get up. I have a rule that if I don't have to be up at a certain time then I have to stay in bed until at least 7:30 AM!

The next thing I knew it was 7:50 AM. I got up and exercised. The clock on the wall of the fitness room said 10:15 AM when I was done. Don't worry, I don't exercise for two and a half hours, although you might think so when you look at me. Ha ha! I thought that someone had changed the clock in there because I thought it was only 9:15 AM.

The housekeepers had just got done with my room when I returned after exercising. I thought they had started kind of early that morning because usually they didn’t get to my room until around 10 AM. (I still thought it was 9:15 AM.) I looked at the clock on the microwave and it said 10:30 AM. I thought the housekeepers were playing a joke on me. I looked at my cell phone, and it also said 10:30 AM. Then I looked at my iPhone which I keep hidden and it also said 10:30 AM. My friend had text asking me if I wanted to go to the movie that afternoon. I said sure and then asked him if it was really 10:30 AM. He said it sure was!

I walked back in my bedroom and the clock in there said 9:30 AM. My question is: How did the clock change an hour while I was sleeping? My clock was correct when I went to bed the night before because it was the same as my computer. When I woke up, the clock was an hour behind. Weird!

New Scene, New Role

This year the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in Nashville, TN had a new workshop scene. That means I had a whole new scene to learn during rehearsals. In previous years, I would coast through rehearsals because it was the same scene and same role. Well, this year, I really earned my money during rehearsals. I actually had to think during rehearsal (AHH!!) and practice before and after rehearsal (unheard of)! The character I play now is named Bob instead of Bruce. I do a lot less during the scene even though I am on stage the whole time. I'm basically a prop that moves itself. Very handy for the crew!

The reason Nashville got the new scene was the old set was a casualty of the flood in May. You can reference the pictures from my post back in May about this. So here is the back story I tell people when they say, "I really miss Bruce." (Don't we all?)

Bruce was, unfortunately, a casualty of the great Nashville flood. Since he was so short (reference picture above), he drowned when the waters rose; may he rest in peace. Luckily for the show, Bruce has an identical twin brother named Bob who is taking over for him. Fortunately, they are identical so Bob can wear Bruce's clothes. It all works out! Bob is not nearly the prankster and jokester that Bruce was but Bob still creates his own mischief. We all miss Bruce. He brought smiles to thousands of people throughout the years. Now he is fake fainting for porridge and then flinging that porridge at his friends in heaven. Let's have a moment of silence..........

Opening Night 2010

I know I am such a slacker! You don't have to tell me! I am obviously having a hard time being motivated to update my blog. I blame it on having two jobs. When I get done with my day job, the last thing I want to do is work some more on the computer. I want to play until I go to my night job. That's my excuse!

Anyway, Opening Night was way back on November 19th. From what I remember, I had a fantastic show! My mom was in town for opening so she was my date to the Opening Night Party. This year the Opening Night Party was held at the Gaylord Opryland Golf Course Club House. (In previous years it was held in one of the ballrooms at the Opryland Hotel.) It was very nice! I actually liked it there better because you didn't have to walk so far to get there and we had the whole building to ourselves.

I ate way too much pasta and I had to restrain my mom from drinking straight from the chocolate fountain (hee hee). It was a great evening to celebrate a Spectacular opening. These are the only pictures I have (thanks to Facebook and the people who took them).

The Little People-Eric, Lina, Amy, Ryanne, Me, Cezar

Emily and Me

Emily performed the role of Clara my first year in Nashville when she was 13 years old. Now she is old enough to be part of the ensemble. Wow, am I really that old and have I been doing this that long? Where does the time go?