What a difference a week makes.

At the end of last week I was starting to get a little lonely. With only one (fairly quiet) roommate, no cable and internet, and no one to go do anything with, St. Louis was starting to seem a little boring. But then Kenan showed up. Kenan is working with Costume Crafts (aka building hats, purses, etc.) and arrived last Saturday night. He was here last year and has filled me in on all the goings-on of the theatre. Since I'm still a newbie, and I don't tend to ask a lot of questions, he has been a get source of information. He's a lot of fun, and he and I can carpool to work together, which makes the morning drive is more tolerable with company.

I'm learning that this theatre expects nothing but the best work of its employees. I had one rather discouraging morning when nearly every seam I had sewn needed to be redone for one reason or another. Not that I didn't do it right the first time, I just didn't do it as close to perfection as expected. Although I was never criticized for my work in a negative manner, it was still a frustrating day. But Kenan so thoughtfully reminded me that since it is so early in the summer season, everyone can be nit-picky because there is little else to focus on. In a couple weeks, when the other draping team arrives and the work load starts to get overwhelming, no one's going to care if I sewed with a seam allowance of 7/8" of an inch rather than an 1" (yes, I had to redo a seam where I did that.) I am finally working on costumes for the first show. After waiting for measurements from the actors for several weeks, we are starting to build costumes for Ain't Misbehavin.' These costumes are a bit more interesting than nuns, I must say.

My first visitor from back home visited me this week. Okay, technically John was already coming to St. Louis this weekend before I moved here, but I was just as excited to see him. He is playing at a wedding which will be taking place inside the City Museum, which if you don't know is kind of like a jungle gym museum for adults. The wedding party is bringing a change of clothes to climb around in during the reception. Sounds like a very interesting wedding. Even though I didn't get to see John for long, it really was the highlight of my week.

Actually, the highlight of my week may very well have been the abundance of mail I received. I had 3 envelopes delivered, and inside them were 3 cards and one letter. There was a birthday card from my brother and his family with a belated birthday treat! I received a congrats card from my Sunday School teacher, on the day I left NC which Mom forwarded to me with her own letter (which informed me of several things that Mom had informed me over the phone earlier in the week). And the handbell choir at church that I had to leave before our Easter performances sent me the sweetest card ever. Even though I was only in the choir for 6 months, it was one of the perks of living at home again. I love those ladies! And David and Jack :). A couple days later Mom sent me a care package with homemade cookies (that are half gone already) and a loaf of her bread. If you have ever had some of my mom's bread, you know how big of a treat this is!

Tomorrow is the first Easter I can think of where I won't be home! I doubt that I will be going to church, but some of the carpenters that live locally are coming over for a cook-out. It will give me the chance to meet more of the summer staff and enjoy the holiday. I'm looking forward to it.

Happy Easter to you all!

Getting Back into the Habit... Literally.

One week ago, I moved to St. Louis and started a new job. And so far so good.

Work has been really slow, which I am very grateful for. We are still waiting on some actors to turn in their measurements, so we can't get into the full swing of making costumes, but we finally started making costumes this week for the nuns in The Sound of Music (get it, "back in the habit"?). It's been nice being at a more relaxed pace this week. It's been a while since I was sewing. I haven't been in a shop since September, and I wasn't doing much sewing then anyway. So I've been getting back into the routine of working in theatre and I couldn't be happier. Even though the shop has been really quiet this week (and pretty boring at times), the feeling of being in a shop is reassuring and comforting.

Nuns seem to be a reoccurring theme as of late. Not only have I been making habits, I live with nuns. Yes. My new apartment is in a school for deaf children and the nuns that teach here also live here. I knew I would experience new things when I moved to St. Louis, but meeting and living with nuns was the last thing I expected. But I've hardly seen them. School is in session when I am at work so I don't see the children, and the nuns seem to keep to themselves. Until yesterday I only had one other roommate, so it was really quiet and kind of creepy. But I've been okay with the quiet. Getting used to being a full time working girl again, also living on my own and buying my own groceries- it's been kind of nice not having to deal with roommates on top of all that.

I decorated my room. I absolutely LOVE it! I got some really nice curtains at some really good prices and I created my own wall coverings without having to spend a fortune. I really like it, more so because now my room doesn't look like an insane asylum. Before it was more white than I could handle. Now it's bright and welcoming. It's still a small room but I like it.

One week of solitude on my own in a new city has gotten old. Luckily we added a 3rd roommate last night. Very talkative and very social. I still like my quiet time, but I was so excited to have someone to talk to last night. He may very well become my new best friend while I'm here. It's another 2 weeks before anyone else moves in. Eventually there will be almost 20 people living here. And we will all share a kitchen, with the nuns. Luckily it's a huge kitchen, but still.

So far St. Louis has been kind, but I'm looking forward to more exciting adventures while I am here.