July 3rd

Our biggest fan. Another little girl was dancing and kept yelling my name. When I told her I liked her dancing she said "Yeah, me too."

As you can tell from the expression on my face I was not loving this noonday patio show next to the chuck wagon. I was sleepy and trying to chug coffee and got chastised by Matt the sound guy for trying to take it up on stage because he said I was going to spill it. Sadly he was totally right. The stage is rickety and I jump around so it was probably going to fall for that reason. Also I spill every drink within 5 feet of me nowadays. I don't recall always being like this... But don't think I didn't try to pout my way out of putting my coffee on a table.
We are playing four patio sets a week, seven fondue sets a week and obviously seven of the musicals a week. At the beginning of the summer the actors were getting jobs and I started to feel like maybe I should get one. Now I am REALLY glad I didn't because we are BUSY. I play from 5:20-9:30 with some days and 4-9:30 some days. But I am making bank. I got my first check for the non-musical work (troupe America pays us for the musical, the Theodor Roosevelt Medora Foundation pays us for the patio and fondue gigs, so different checks) and it was over $400. Our next one should be even more because we are picking up more and more patio gigs. I already have a hefty cache of savings as well as treating myself to things like new running shoes, a running hat, a new shoulder rest for my fiddle, a cup of fancy coffee and most importantly NEW UNDERWEAR.

 In other news I managed to leave my shoulder rest in Belfield for the show the other night so I had to improvise something so I didn't keep dropping my fiddle. I wandered around from tech person to tech person asking for foam or a tiny pillow. No one had any good ideas. Finally Dana walked up with a swimming noodle in her hand and said "How big?" I think what happened is that everyone was thinking very literally and Dana just went "Hmmm, foam? Noodle!"

So this was our creation. Half a noodle shaved down on it's curved side rubberbanded in place on top of my cord and next to my wireless .... what's the opposite of a receiver? Sender? output? I'm sure there's a better name. Next to my wireless whatever baggie.

Speaking of which, today I developed a terrible pain in my shoulder. I get those sometimes so at first I didn't think much of it. Fiddle players have shoulder pain. It's a fact of life. But then it spread down my back and it started to hurt to breath. Before the show Dan worked on my shoulders for a while and let me tell you, if I didn't have zero interest in him romantically and he didn't have a girl he wants to marry I would marry the man for his shoulder rubbing skills. Apparently he spent six months getting physical therapy for a neck something-or-other and he payed attention to what they did. Basically he sat down behind me and squeezed my should and went "oh HONEY, there isn't a knot because it's all so tense!" It was so funny, after only 5 minutes of him working on my shoulder I didn't feel like crying anymore. Partially because he took the edge of the pain but also, I think, because he made me feel like I wasn't being a baby about it. My shoulder really is that bad. So two things are happening. I'm switching from putting my wireless..... whatever on my fiddle to putting it on my belt because I think the weight may be contributing to my tension and then I am using the gift certificate for a 90 minute massage all the girls got and I am going in and telling them to spend 60 of those minutes on the left side of my back.

 Meet Dana, our chief electrician who is about three feet tall, loves balloons and blew everyone's mind on the bar patio by whipping our a large pocket knife and starting to curl all the ribbons on the bottom of those balloons. She is currently making pretzels in the lounge apparently. I'm pretty excited.
Today I bought groceries for chili, so I think we will be having a chili feed of some sort in a couple days. I bought enough so about 10 people could eat themselves sick. So I'm guessing the six people in the band will eat half of it and the 12 actors (who actually think about things like calories) will eat half of it.

I also wanted to make mention of Carolyn for being such a great friend. She had been a great help to me in the last week because she is the kind of friend who both encourages you to tell her every single detail about a boy if your interested in one, but will also bar hop with you until you find him. We at one point actually craned our necks to look in the window of a bar didn't find him and headed to the next place. It was both really creepy and oddly just fun. It was kind of like a quest we were on together that bonded us. In other news I was laying on her bed waiting for her to pee last night at 2am and I heard a CLANG CLANG CLANG!!!!! "GAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" She dropped her keys in the toilet before she flushed. It was a sad day for Carolyn. And also proof that my bio weirdness has not left me because I yelled "It's okay! Pee is sterile when it comes out of your body!"

 Matt (who volunteers at the stables as well as being our sound guy) has started taking us on trail rides where it is just people from the musical and he takes a little bit off trail. This last time he let us gallop for a while. It was AWESOME!!!!! I really really really really really really liked it. My horse was happier, and I was happier. We went up on the bluff above Medora and it is amazing. I'm petty sore from my first experience going over a walk on a horse possibly ever (?) but I figure the best way to cure that is to go again.
Nick did the world a favor by taking video right when we all started to gallop. He is not the most assertive person ever so his horses never give a crap about what he wants them to do. By the end his legs were sticking out the sides and he was leaning back over the horse holding on for dear life. It was pure comedy gold. The video can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3206518417344&set=vb.1697691591&type=2&theater Listen closely and in the background you can hear Patti and a screeching with laughter.

And finally another picture from a run. It just doesn't get old.