It Has Been A Hell of a Year!

So, once again, Dearly Beloved, I look back on this year as it scurries out the door.  As I contemplate the ups and downs and round and rounds of the past 365 days, the ups dominate my thoughts.  Of course, the biggest of these was the addition to my life of my beautiful granddaughter, Adelaide Margaret Blevins.  Thanks, Vanessa!  Named Adelaide for Addy Prior, who enriched my life so much, and Margaret for my birth mother, Margaret Eilene King, without whom none of us would be here, she was born on February 17th, and is now about to drive us nuts with her speedy escape tactics.

Of course, other things happened as well.  I hit 65 and now have Social Security and Medicare. While I have not yet needed to take advantage of the latter, I will now officially be able to stop complaining about my personal battles with the health care non-system.  Things may still be tight, but I am not as constantly terrified of being on the street or under a bus or something.

You may recall that, a couple of years ago, I lost my directing moxie when Ben Weaver walked out of a show I was directing at Sam Bass Community Theatre, just over a week before the scheduled opening.  As it was a three-character piece, we had to cancel and I was immediately plunged into the well-known Pit of Despair.  Even rereading the awesome reviews garnered by Waiting for Godot and the good ones for Frankie and Johnnie in the Clare de Lune didn't help a whole lot.  Last season, I didn't even submit a show to Sam Bass, but did participate in a Directors' Workshop.  That went pretty well, so I submitted The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for this season.  I figured that, having directed it three times and acted in it once, I could probably turn out a decent production.  That show closed a couple of days ago, and was an unqualified success, so I am now back on track and feel much better about myself than I did this time last year (Photo courtesy of Henry Huey at the Round Rock Leader).

My oldest grandbrat, Aidan Vargas, prompted me to take him for a drive during the summer, and we had a blast, visiting St Louis, PetitJean Mountain in Arkansas, Prentice, WI (the destination of the trip), and Indianapolis.  I am happy to report that, at 16, Aidan is a good travel companion and can read a map.  No small feat in these days of wildly inaccurate GPS.  Here he is on PetitJean Mountain.

As well as all that, I received several nominations among Austin critics' blogs and popular polls for my efforts in costuming with Austin Theatre Project and with Sam Bass.  Competing with shows such as The King and I, my efforts have no chance of winning, but it is nice to know people are watching.

So, while there have been losses, and tears, and fears, this year is definitely one to be remembered fondly and affectionately.

Onward and Upward to new adventures!