Restoration

Thanks for the comments, concern, emails, and presents contributed to the Save Elsbeth From Despair Campaign. I am happy to report that after Two Entire Days Off with my parents feeding me and being highly entertaining, my body has packed up and refused to cooperate, but my mind is much clearer and more cheerful.

I can appreciate my fellow actors, make small talk, crack jokes, and go back to enjoying myself instead of being Ms. Grumpy Pants. Today I sat in my corner while everyone else put on gobs of makeup and hummed a little tune of thanks that I don't have to be in Cats. Hurrah! I was able to purge a lot of the anger the other night making the list in the last post, so for everyone who has expressed concern, keep in mind that if I can vent my anger and bitterness here, usually I can leave it behind me.

My Mom and Dad came to visit, which was a fantastic aid to soul repair. First, they are the cutest ever, especially after 41 years of marriage and 10 days of a road trip. All sorts of petty arguments to be witnessed there, let me tell you. But they so clearly can't do without each other, that it is sort of sweet. They had great family stories (I've been missing weddings and births galore), they make good companions, and while they don't always agree with everything I say, they always love me. My mother made a birthday cake and brought it across five states in a cooler that had to be re-iced every day.

Also, my mother takes great pride in being s Southerner outside of the South, and often chats away with perfect strangers in a bid, she says, to make sure everyone in the country thinks Southerners are kooky. We had a hit and miss success with this: the tour guide from the Martin Van Buren house was from Georgia, and did all sorts of things to impress fellow compatriots - unlocking the orginal 1797 dutch door, letting my mother take pictures, offering to email photos. However, my mother's friendliness in a shop later led the woman inside to unburden herself. I could tell you all about this shopkeeper's marriage, divorce, recent car wreck, etc.

I won't.

We also went exploring in the beautiful countryside. It is nice to spend time with my parents and remember that I have certain beliefs because I was raised by them. I would happily spend a fortune to buy an antique sleigh bedstead like the ones we saw in Martin Van Buren's house but an expensive Coach bag or jewelry would be a waste of money on me.

Now I just need a good night's sleep and a few very small healthy meals, and I might be a person again, instead of a complete bore.

Oh, and my Dad had a great addition to my list when someone says, hey, you're not in Cats:

"Sorry, I've already been in one kid's show."