Saturday Mayhem

There is no mayhem today. I just really like that word. :-D

So, some stories from Harvey. I can't remember what I wrote the last time, so I'll tell you all the stress inducing fun that I'm just laughing about right now. :-D

The day before the show, I was feeling like crap. I couldn't breathe, my nose was all runny, and my head felt huge. So, I went to the office during 6th period (last period) to ask if I could have an announcement to cancel stage tech for that day. It was only until 4:30, but I know these kids, and I would not have been out of there before 5:00. I asked several people, all who sent me to someone else, eventually getting me to the Principal. She suggested we just call the classes of the six students affected, and I said OK. Unfortunatly, I didn't know where they were--or most of their last names, for that matter. 15 minutes later, I'm back in her office with my program, and she starts looking up the kids (my PRINCIPAL, mind you; not a secretary. She sat down with me to help me out. What a trooper!). Unfortunatly! That was the day that we opened report cards to parents; they are all online these days, and the program used for scheduling was also the one with report cards. So it took us 15 minutes to look up two kids. I was running all over the office, asking anyone to look up a kid, but the site kept crashing...oh, it was a mess. Finally, 5 minutes before classes ended for the day, she told me I could make an announcement.

Our first show was on Veterans Day, last Thursday. I have always worked on a donation basis, so it wasn't until Thursday morning that I realized I would need money for our money box. "No problem," I thought, " because I have to cash some checks anyway. I'll just use that money for the change, and get it back at the end of the night." On Veterans Day. When every federal office is closed. -sigh-

So I called the former director, and left a message for him, saying "It's Veterans day and I need change. Help." His advice? Get out money and see if a store would change it for me. Well, that wasn't so much an option for me; thankfully, though, between my parents and myself, we came up with enough change to get us through the first night. The next day, the former director found me and made sure everything had worked, and we both had a laugh over the fact that he never thought to tell me about change, and I had never thought to think of change.

The first two nights of the show went fine. The final night, however, led to some fun. I went into the auditorium to tell the students that the house was about to open to find all of my techies on the stage, huddled up. Turns out that one of the student's iPods had been stolen. I told her that we would deal with it on Monday, but that the house was opening NOW. All was fine until after the show, when the girl called her mom, and SOMEONE called the cops.

Now, for those of you who don't know, schools have very different rules for searches than the outside world does. So, the regular police aren't allowed to search school students on school premises at school functions without an admin present. And there was no admin present. The admins took off about five minutes after my show ended each night. So I was essentially alone in the school, except for a very nice old Latin teacher and her sister--glorious people, both. Ever though they didn't have a clue any more than I did, they both refused to leave until I got in touch with an admin and got everything figured out. They were my lifesavers.

SO I called my AP (assistant Principal) and explained to him, and he was very nice, and then the police tried to get into the office where I was, but I accidentally locked the door behind me, so I was juggling the phone and the door and the keys, and the policeman didn't want to talk to the AP, he just said that he wouldn't be doing any searches and that the admin would deal with it on Monday (which I knew.) The Police left, the girl with the stolen iPod was sobbing uncontrollably because she thought I was going to kill her (I had TOLD them not to call the police, because they couldn't do anything), and I decided to never again host a cast party at the school.

By the way, they found the person that stole the iPod in the first 10 minutes of school on Monday. He had been stupid enough to take it when right in front of a camera. They had a clear shot of him reaching down, taking it, and putting it in his pocket, and then turning to face the camera and walking away. Ah, I love high school kids. :-D

So, that was Harvey. The music people have taken over the musical, so I'm done until the spring one-acts. Today, I made caramel. It was a first attempt. I need a thermometer that goes up to like 300 degrees; mine only goes to 220, and I am supposed to heat the caramel to 240. I tried futzing with the dial (you know, once it stayed at 180 few a few seconds, turning it back to 160 so that when it showed 220 it would actually be 240) but that didn't work at all. My caramel looks like caramel, though, so I don't think I ruined things too badly. It's still cooling right now, but it is really sticky. Once I get a better thermometer, I'll try again.

Sadie was so cute while I was cooking. She sat at the kitchen door and watched me the whole time, only leaving few a few seconds at a time. When I was done with the stove and everything, she finally went and sat on the couch. Either she just wanted to watch, or she thought she could get some food out of the deal. We went on a nice long walk this morning, so I think she is tuckered out. She's curled up on her little bed right now, just sleepin'. My Sadie is soooo cute!

Off to NaNoWriMo!