Boys in the Kitchen

What a stinkin' week and half!  Whew!  That was huge work.  That was intense, challenging, full-body exhaustion and reward all mingled in one dizzying opening weekend.  Lettice and Loveage is open, hallelujah, and all the muscles around my middle are stretched with all the intense low breathing.

Thank God for my boys picking up the slack.  They all tried their hand in the kitchen more since I was working about 11 hours a day.

Weston made a fun snack plate of sliced cucumbers with parmesan (very tasty I must add).  Donovan made his own batch of pink lemonade, and of course, David cleaned, cooked, and kept the kitchen tidy (tidier than I do when I'm always creating in there) and generally did a great job.  The beautiful orange-gold roses were my opening night gift from them -- so stunning.  I felt very loved.  Davey even let me stay in bed most mornings after my super late previews and took care of Donovan's morning rush to the bus and school lunch etc.

The boys play well together and they've had a lot of opportunity to do that recently while Dave and I rush around trying to throw in a load of laundry or grab a bite to eat on our way out as the babysitter arrives.

This was our first day in many to try and be together and not have a schedule.  Ahhhh.  The boys are still unsettled though, and slow to obey.  They're rambunctious and silly.  I wish I could just hold them, but they're too squiggly for that.  They want their play time and they want it now.

Spring is in the air today and we have a river of melting snow in our backyard.  My body is sore from so many hours on my feet on a sloped stage that I wonder if I could go for a walk if most of the ice is thawed tomorrow!?  Now that rehearsals are over, the performance schedule is much lighter.

I hope audiences keep enjoying the story and tracking the relationship between Lettice and Lotte.  Opening night was electric, and Saturday's houses more reserved... but I met two women outside the theatre after the matinee.  They were so inspired!  They were exuberant.  I was so delighted.  They wanted to find some great project to initiate and change the world.  I saw the light in their eyes and wanted to spur them on further.  I saw them as young.  It was great.  I walked away smiling... back to my small white modular home with orange-gold roses inside and two soft heads bent over Legos and one large curly head at the computer screen.  It was great to have my efforts validated by those soul-sisters and then to have supportive men at home.

I'm tired, but now that the fear of the performance is coming to be known, and have the experience of three successes under my belt.  [Big Breath]  It's daunting, but I think I can make the ride again, one moment at a time.

Thanks, guys.  Thanks for letting me work.  For letting me tell a story where I get to play a woman who is larger than life, but not larger than any human soul truly is on the inside.  That's why she's so inspiring -- she's spilling out of the mold, daring to be as big as she IS.  And people around me are trying new things.

I am fortunate.