Out of My Mind

WARNING: The following  blog may be incredibly way to long as it is filled with almost two months worth of information. It may also cause increased amounts of boredom... proceed with caution.

Hello friends and family! I return to you from an airplane somewhere over the Midwest , California bound! I have much to fill you in on so I guess I’ll just jump right in! After the first rain in Corona the area got very dry.  When this happens in So Cal, things tend to catch on fire.  Sure enough in the middle of November a city further south on the coast, Corona del Mar, (not to be confused with Corona) caught fire near the interstate and started to spread.  It wasn’t long before we heard word that the fires were moving closer and closer to us.  Of course a majority of us living in the apartments had never experienced some thing like a fire before and  found ourselves a little worried for our lives! At about midnight the fires had moved even closer and were about 8-10 miles from Corona and you could see a very distinct orange glow on the horizon.  Our directors called us and told us all to pack bags with some clothes and anything we thought was valuable (ie: “If your house caught on fire and you could bring three things what would they be?” but in real life!)  We went to bed finally but at about 2 AM my friend Jakeem comes running in our door saying that we need to evacuate.  We all had received text messages on our phones from fellow new kids saying that they had been forwarded a text from our director Milton C. Anderson and said to evacuate.  We all found this odd because Milt is well into his eighties and I don’t think he can even work the remote control to the CD player much less a cell phone.  Oh did I mention that it was 2 AM, I’m pretty sure he goes to bed at 8.  Anyway most of the kids believed it regardless and when we heard that the fire was 4 miles away we decided it was time to leave so we packed up the car and drove to my friends aunt’s house in El Segundo.  We drove through the fires on the interstate, and when I say drove through I mean the fire was less than 100 yards from me! It was crazy! But no sooner had I stepped foot into her house did my phone ring.  It was my director Nick calling to tell me that the winds had changed and Corona was now where they were sending all the evacuees.  Needless to say we drove out of the safe zone, but we had a fun night and a free hot meal and big squishy beds to sleep in!

After the fire incident life was pretty much nothing but busy! Turns out the text from Milt was a joke that one of the boys decided to play and he had to stand up and apologize to everyone at rehearsal the next day.  We did a lot of production work like building sets and painting things and sewing costumes, I’m very handy with a drill now and I can sew a hem pretty straight.  We spent all our spare time at the warehouse and I spent a lot of that time finishing the pictures I had to take for the show.  The drama of casting went on and everyone was permanently on their toes because people were getting cut left and right.  We finally got our show together almost completely in time for exams.  Exams were pretty easy breezy.  I’ll get my grades back pretty soon but I think I did good for the most part. I know that I made an A on my human body exams which was a 5 question essay test.  Exams were over about two weeks before our show and we spent the whole next week rehearsing and costuming our show.  The week before our show was Thanksgiving week and we had some time off.  All the old kids were starting to come into town from their tours so there was plenty of catching up to do.  Thanksgiving came quickly and I made the turkey cookies we used to make every year at home for my friends and we went to El Segundo to my friend Stephen’s house for Thanksgiving dinner! (Just a clarification, El Segundo is right outside of LA and is where LAX is actually located, it’s also where this famous high school is that they film all these movies at, including Superbad and 90210... in case you were wondering)  Thanksgiving was different without my fam but still fun! We ate outside around a big table that had a fire pit in the middle of it! About 12 of us went over there and we sang and danced for his family =) My mom and grandma arrived in Corona the next day for my show and came up to the Warehouse where we were rehearsing.  They got to meet my directors and my friends and my director, Ross, commented that me and my mom looked so much alike and it was “So cute!” My mom got a kick out of that.   My New Kid show was the Sunday night after Thanksgiving and I am speechless to what I can even say to describe it! It was 2 acts with about 12 numbers in each act. It was a blast! I got to dance in almost every number and I also got to sing two solos! It was very emotional but also one of the funnest shows I’ve ever done.  It was sad because our four directors would no longer be directing us after the show and at least 3 of them are done with the group after the Christmas show.  Nick and I have become good friends and he told me a few days before the show that he was leaving after Christmas and that when he directed us in choral in our show it would probably be his last time directing... Of course he cried through the whole number so we all did too haha.  Nick is gunna be going into TV production and he’s already gotten o work on shows like Project Runway and Paris Hilton’s BFF.  Ross is going on the UK tour because that’s where he’s from. He is leaving with them and directing the tour and then not coming back.  I’ve gotten to be close with him too so it’s gunna be weird not having them around! Melody is done the group after Christmas show but she’ll be living in Long Beach so she won’t be far.  Tara I think will always be there working in the office and doing directing stuff.  I’d say she is  “lifer” as they say.  But lets talk about Christmas show! I said goodbye to my mom and grandma on Tuesday and we immediately started working on our Christmas show, “The Magic of Christmas.” This is a crazy show that we put together in 2 weeks and then perform it! All the old kids and new kids that stay are in it.  I was asked to come in and learn the ballet piece and originally our director told me that she couldn’t cast me in it cause I was too tall and there was no one else for her to put as my opposite.  I was kinda upset about it but the next day we came in to learn Cookies, which is a Rockette-like piece complete with a kick line and all that jazz.  I got cast front and center!? I was quite surprised and not so upset about the ballet thing anymore.  But much to my surprise again Robyn re-cast ballet and put me in it.  She still calls me Erin (which is weird cause she doesn’t even know my sister) but that’s ok she’ll learn my name one of these days =) During rehearsals my birthday came around! I was kinda scared of my birthday cause I’d never spent it without my fam.  But my roommates brought me sweet rolls in bed and took me out for dinner! There were 25 of my friends at my birthday party! It was so much fun, we got dressed up and went to the cheesecake factory, my birthday ended up being less scary than I thought it would be! Then came showtime! Christmas show was a blast as well and kinda of our last time to hang out with all the people who were leaving the group or leaving for tour.  And I don’t think I’ll ever sing the right tune to Silent Night now that I have Milt’s version pounded in my head!  We performed 4 shows and every night we met people who had come to see our show.  I don’t know how many of you have ever watched the show “Moment of Truth” but the host’s name is Marc Walburg, and that’s Marc Walburg the producer not Marc Walburg the actor, but never the less! Marc was at our show! He’s a producer for NBC and he was a Young American in 1981 and me and him are friends now.  We talked and he recognized me from Cookies (Marc Walburg recognized ME ya’ll) He told me he’d find me on facebook.  Also some Polish movie star came... random, but still cool.  The day after show was load out and we said tearful goodbyes to Nick as he leaves to go do things with his life.  I went home and packed and then me and my friends decided we would go bowling! We had a fun time and got home late, my flight was the next morning! So I jumped in the shower and then thought I’d just lay down for a few hours before my early AM flight.  I set my alarm and laid down to sleep.  My dad woke me up with a phone call at 7 AM asking if I had made it through security ok (he didn’t want to hurt my pride so he waited until 7 to call) WELL I was supposed to leave my house at 6 30 and my roommate had the same flight time as me and left me sleeping in  bed without waking me ( ok ok I know not her fault but still! I wake her up for everything!!) So I slept through my flight home! I got to my gate very upset and not really sure when I’m gunna be getting home at this point, I step out of the car and there standing with her mom, is my best friend Erin.  I tell her my story and she comforts me for a minute and then I get my new flight time which is at noon so this means I have to spend my morning in the airport! I say goodbye to Erin and go to get my boarding pass.  They send me to gate 203, this just so happens to be the gate Erin is leaving out of! Along the way I also ran into my friend Matt who bought me an orange juice and joined Erin and me at gate 203.  After Erin left Matt kept me company till his flight left and I wasn’t alone 2 minutes before 3 more of my friends come running towards me saying that Matt had sent them my way cause they heard I was gunna be having a lonely day! So we all got breakfast and had a little party in the airport.  Finally my flight left and I made it home to Nashville a few hours later than I should have =) but my parents got some good shopping in so it ended up being good all around!  Reminding my self to not sleep through anymore flights!! I had a wonderful Christmas in North Carolina and also celebrated my birthday again at home! Now I’m headed back and I hope it will be much much warmer there! I’ll let you know.  I’m headed back to start a program called Overture which is where we start outreach work with kids in 4 different correctional facilities in the area.  I’m really nervous but excited to work with the kids! Keep me in your prayers as I enter this semester! I’m not really sure when I’ll be back. I’m hoping to be on a tour this summer but I will keep you updated on all that as I get more info about it. It was good to be back but here I am again, headed back to California, westbound and always on my toes =)