February Journal Entry

 Wow, it’s been a whole month since I’ve written anything. I don’t even need to say how busy I was because that says everything right there. I will, however, give a little run down of what’s happened this month so that I know in the future how I spent February of 2023. 

The first week, I felt like I was getting my feet back under me after New York (a journal about that is still coming if just for my own mental clarity lol). I went to an American eye doctor for the first time in literally 10 years to get my prescription changed.

I had to pull up my last prescription as part of my paperwork to check in and it said “Noel’s prescription 2013.” So it’s safe to say my glasses got a big upgrade. I picked frames that felt timeless and could be used for period shows and weren’t super modern looking. My girl friends and I have been getting together every other week to check in with each other and pray. We’ve started a Beth Moore study on the book of Philippians which has been really good so far. Since we’re busy and actually want the time to absorb the information, we’re splitting up the four week study into 8 weeks which has been super helpful. 

The second week of February was a blur. It was tech week for the Color Purple and since we had an ice storm, covid sweep through the cast, and some other disruptions to the schedule, I wasn’t able to get approval on the costumes until early in the week. This meant I spent most of the week working on getting alterations and last minute costume pieces ready. Of course, I could have taken the initiative and gotten things done much earlier in the whole rehearsal schedule than I did, but it’s ok, we live and we learn. The show opened February 10th and was amazing and gorgeous and the actors did so well. Nathaniel and I learned that fast food several days in a row is not great on our tummies but we bounced back quickly after my job was finished and I was able to cook at home again. 

The third week was a nice recovery week for me after the scramble with the show. I did a handful of repairs during the week for the next weekend of performances and was able to focus on my own creative work again. My mom came to see the show Friday and we went with my close girl friends. Everyone enjoyed it. I realized I was too close to the production of it to fully appreciate the art we all made and how amazing it was because I sat during that performance analyzing everything that was happening. It’s ok though, I know it was a great show. 

This last week has really felt like my time is my own again. Nathaniel and I had a production meeting with Allison about Thank you, Places, our new theatre group which we’ll be really focusing on for the next year. More information on that soon. The season of Lent started Wednesday with Ash Wednesday. I will be posting throughout the season about my experiences as a protestant believer participating in Lent and some of the historical reasoning behind the traditions. And! Nathaniel took me to see Hamilton. The Angelica tour is in town and although I have seen it before, he hadn’t and it was magical. It reminded me why we do theatre. I also checked several of my goals for the month in this last week. I finished the reading challenge from the local library. I have actually read 12 books so far this year but only 5 fit into the reading categories. I also have made a quilt block for the month of January working towards my goal of having a year quilt where each month gets 1 of 12 blocks. 

It’s been a good month. It’s gone by very quickly. It’s a short month, but I still feel like my lack of checking in with myself contributed to the feeling of time passing as quickly as it did.