Come and Gone...

As per usual, I have let our updates lag horribly, so now I have to try and play "catch-up" while remaining succinct enough not to bore you all to tears. So, forgive me while I roll up my sleeves and wrack my brain for some semblance of an orderly contribution...

Spring came and went in a lovely breath of jasmine-scented air and warm sunshine. We were further spoiled by our visit to Florida, where it was quite a bit hotter, but really quite enjoyable. After all, how can one not enjoy bright, sunny days spent playing on the brilliant, white sands or lounging in the dappled shade with lots of snacks and beer within easy reach? It was a little piece of heaven and, as always, we were very grateful to Paul and Joan for being such gracious hosts. Here are some photos of our final adventure at Grayton Beach. Farewell, Florida, and thanks for all the fish!

And along comes... babies? Yep, two new members of the clan, Max Stephen and Brianna Kathleen joined the world on April 11th and May 20th, respectively. Moms and babies are all happy and healthy and thriving. I can't wait to see them again! I almost missed seeing Brianna completely when the little minx insisted on arriving on the last day of my visit! Max, being eager, arrived early, so while I got to visit with him, I missed the big event. As I packed my bags on the evening of the 19th, in preparation of my return to California, I was sorely disappointed to think that I was going to miss Brianna's birth as well. Happily, I was wrong and was able to be there with Nikki and Mario for Brianna's dramatic appearance. Contrary to some women, seeing the birth did NOT make me want to go out and do it myself. It looked like a lot of hard work! Three cheers for the bravery of motherhood!

June and July were very busy months for both Phillip and I; work at Qualcomm went into its cyclical upswing with the release of a new systems upgrade, and things continue to be a bit hectic as old code is replaced and tested. It is not unusual for Phillip to be paged at ten o'clock at night by a weary co-worker who has found some problem that he - along with a whole chain of others - has to fix.

Meanwhile, I was thrown directly into "The 8:13 Series", a project my fellow thespians and writers from Aspire Playwrights Collective were working on while I was away. Only days after my return, I stepped onto the boards to take up the role of a series of ex-girlfriends in "Exes", who were haunting the playwright (that guy has GOT to get over them, in my opinion). In the same night, I performed as the goddess, Athena, for a really funny play called "The Pantheon", depicting a People's Court type enactment of a messy divorce between Zeus and Hera. Turns out, Medusa is quite the little home-wrecker!

Shortly afterwards, I was asked to be in a show called "The Collection", which was to be performed at a professional theatre, 6th & Penn, for the Resilience of the Human Spirit Festival. I loved the script and accepted eagerly. The story takes place in the Hermitage Museum during the siege of Leningrad (1942) and my role was the part of a young artist and tour guide who, along with other museum staff and Russian military, is slowly starving to death while waiting for the siege to lift. Natalya's passion for art, and her infallible belief that "The Museum will live again", helps her survive, even when faced with the despondent, angry and violent soldiers who burn priceless chairs for firewood and mock her naivety. Here's a few shots of some the more climatic moments... By the way, I have a new scar to show for my efforts there.

The play ran until early August, which was also the end of the festival. I went to a general audition and was asked to do another play for the North Park Playwrights Festival (summer is the season!), however it was only a ten-minute script which I felt, despite having an interesting idea and surreal theatricality, needed quite a bit of editing. Incidentally, I had submitted my own short script to the same festival, but it was not chosen by any of the directors involved. When I happened to speak to one of them, she explained that, while she liked the idea, the requirement of working with teenagers turned her off. I had assumed that no one wanted to do a "Canadian" play. Hmm, not what I expected, but insightful nonetheless. Anyway, regarding the acting role, I decided that for the amount of effort I would be putting into rehearsals, it would not be a good use of my time. Right now, I'm focused more on planning our Italy trip.

Yes! Italy! We are leaving San Diego on September 14th (happy birthday Steph), and will be flying overnight to Heathrow. Side note: the Economist recently quoted the Daily Telegraph as declaring, "... using Heathrow airport is more stressful than getting mugged at knife point." Yikes! Stress aside, we will be staying in London with Lincoln and Deb for a few nights before flying to our first Italian destination; Venice! I can't help but grin to think that a part of my mind will be comparing the real thing to the Venice Hotel in Las Vegas. I expect it will be less pristine and more smelly.. ha ha!

Our general plan at this point is to focus on one type of activity in each of the places we visit, since we know that it is impossible to see everything in one trip and we would only exhaust ourselves or ruin the fun by trying to do too much. So, after some deliberation, we decided that in Venice we will focus mainly on theatre - I plan to buy a performance mask, if I can, and then we will be traveling by train to Tuscany. Our focus there is to visit the country-side and take in some local cuisine (wine!) and culture before continuing on to a locale outside of Naples, where we plan to meet up with Paul and Donna and visit the ruins of Pompeii. Afterwards, it's off to Rome to see as many of the glorious artistic and historical wonders as we can before heading back over the pond, with a brief stop over again in London. Yes, we will be bringing our hosts prezzies to thank them for letting us take up room!

Final tidbits: Phillip's soccer team came in second last season, with our friend, Nora, topping the charts as the highest-scoring female player! Woot! Scuttle has required more medicating - I'm afraid she's starting to show her age, which is eleven years, since March, but is otherwise well. Maverick is great - his training is still slow, but steady. It was nice to hear positive feedback from friends saying "he's getting better"! We've had a few very successful parties here - you guys know we throw great parties - with my fresh lime margaritas and Phillip's eclectic music taste getting top marks! We've made some new friends and things are actually progressing positively with the visa documents. Phillip and I are both starting Yoga in the Park, which is awesome, especially since it's free, and we're both healthy (except for those pesky soccer injuries) and happy.

So, that wasn't too bad, right? Succinct summary of succulent... ah, never mind. I hope you're all caught up, and enjoying summer while it lasts. Take care, drop us a line or give us a call when you can.