Tonight‘s dress rehearsal went the best yet and I knew I was ready because I had stressed stomach lol. Everything went very well. We caught each other and fed. Lines were necessary and the pace was good and then afterwards we all went out for a beverage and a great chat and visit. It’s part of the Theatre thing that I love so much making that family for a show.
I woke in the night and realized it was a stat holiday and shut my alarm off. A good sleep in and a few chores before relaxing made for a great day.
I met Tinna at Firehall this go over our lines before rehearsal. She was in a good place as she’d had a good job interview this afternoon.
We were at the theatre by 5:30 and began to prepare for the show. Our costumer has an attitude and she made Tinna feel bad. I could tell she was thrown but didn’t know why until after the show.
The run went fairly smooth. Most of the lines were remembered and if not we were able to cover for them. I’m looking forward to tomorrow now.
Had a wonderful sleep and woke up to 10 am Tinna and I had a casual morning as I baked the apple pies for dinner. We dropped them and a cooler of pop off before heading towards rehearsal. The run through went fairly well. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s dress rehearsal
Dinner was amazing and Tinna loved the family.
Rae and I had a moment as we acknowledged it was the first holiday without her Granny
We dropped off food to Will at work and came back to watch movies and hangout
I was up and at the theatre by 9. We had a long day at Tech work and then a run of the show. There were fun moments as we started quoting and joking. There were also still stressful moments of jumped lines. Thankfully I didn’t do that but sometimes we did jump enough that I lost some of mine. Sawyer and his buddy Jacked b came and delivered a lighter for us to use in the show
Tinna came through board at my place again for laundry and a shower and a warm bed that night. I set her up in the spare room as she hasn’t gotten propane for her heater yet.
She’s been working on her lines and we chat etc. she’s nice company
This is in my spot in the dressing room
I decided with the next six days taken up with the play and Thanksgiving and other things that I would treat today like a Saturday morning and just allow myself sleep in and laze around. I had it for the office around noon. I was quite surprised to see how much my yard has turned to fall.
I did get quite a bit of work done before heading to the Heid-out to meet the gals for an evening out. I enjoyed my nonalcoholic creamcickle beverage. The three of them showed up in fine form dressed to the nines and we had a nice dinner and chat together before heading to Key City Theatre for one of two nights performances of TEN
I watched as a storm, began rolling in and was obsessed with the sound of the leaves rolling down the pavement
I was very happy that they made a beautiful program for the show and to see my name in it from being in The Producers back in 2018.
I wasn’t sure that was really where I wanted to be this evening as I am tired and we have a full day of Q2Q for tech tomorrow, but I am really glad I went. It was highly entertaining. I love seeing my friends performing. Jelena Jensen was amazing having stepped into some of the lead roles only several days ago when someone had to drop out.
After the show, I met the ladies again at the F&B and while I was waiting for them, I sat and had a nice chat with a young man named Burke who works in archives at Fort Steele and knows my daughter. I was actually sad that our conversation ended as soon as they arrived because he was very sweet
The work day was long, I learned that one of my favourite peeps had passed
Shane was one of my favourite people from day one. He was the ‘god’ of Atlin BC and I can’t imagine going there without him. he was also a serious crush when I was in high school.
We had a good run of the show and then Tinna, Nikki and I all joined a friend Rob at his backyard bar which has become‘interesting’
I received some nice feedback from the director tonight. I am fully bring some good moments in my role. It was so great after a hard days work. I am still having waves of grief, especially as the markers pass by. It was cousin Jeanne’s birthday on Monday and her loss has just piled on. I know it will pass, but there are so many triggers about my moms in this show.
So, on a whim, I did a thing. I signed up for Top Host competition! I have not put a lot of thought into it due to my work and theatre life at the moment, but I do know the first cut they take the top 20 and I am currently in 13th spot. If you have a moment to vote for free daily or even once, I would be highly appreciative!! And it is for a good cause!
https://tophost.org/2026/marn-e-bellavance: 10-06-26 Top HostI have always thought I would be good at a podcast and thank you for supporting my endeavour!!
Today was a blur of work and rehearsal. Last night I doubled the medication I take at night for the nerve pain with the doctors permission.
I think it may have affected my energy level today as I felt a little bit like I’ve been walking through mud. Hopefully, it’s a short term transition.
Tomorrow will be a better day
Today was challenging to get through as last night was filled with stress dreams. They weren’t all nightmares, just vivid and didn’t allow for a good sleep.
I know it is because I am worried about where we are with the production. I also know there is a magical moment when a show takes a turn and it all begins to flow. I look forward to that moment.
I worked like a crazy woman, only stopping for physio and to pick up my prescriptions.
At 5:30 I met up with most of the cast and the director at F&B and we enjoyed a little social time before rehearsing
The run through did go better than ever so that’s promising.
I came home by 9:30 and finished my puzzle. I worked on it upside down to finish the sky
I had rehearsal from 1-3 with a few to run lines.
Afterward I texted Leanne and she met me at my office to plan and book a good portion of our trip. We are getting the travel agent to book our flights from here to London and then Barcelona to home. I booked London to Barcelona with my Blue Rewards points and we decided to spend two nights in Windsor, one in Southampton before the cruise and then 8 nights in Barcelona after! it was a lot of work to figure out but I was able the apply my cruise credits to save putting out more for our Barcelona stay. We have chosen some awesome stays!
Now I can relax a bit, pay off the balance and look forward to it!!
I was up at six and gone before the sun came up heading for Rossland for the Rotary Fall District Assembly.
It was a spectacularly, beautiful day, especially with all the leaves changing to oranges and reds and yellows. There was only a short stop for construction on the Salmo-Creston (Kootenay) pass as they are paving it. I was horrified to learn that after filling up with gas in Cranbrook and being so grateful for my $.18 worth of coupon, coupons and discounts per litre that as soon as I left Creston, the gas prices dropped down to normal at what I had paid for in Cranbrook
I had a great day reconnecting with my Rotary friend that I generally only see it these things, and learned quite a bit at my sessions that I went to. I sat beside a guy named Gene, who it turns out was voted this evening as the next in line for district governor.
Our club did win an award for our 8% membership growth and I got to go up and get it and have my picture taken with the group which was lovely and as always it was great to spend time with Scott and Debi Dockins as well as Theresa
I did have lovely moments also with David and Marlisa, who are also going to be going to Barcelona and we hope to plan some excursions together there.
I decided to stay as there was going to be two big tables of people having dinner together at 5:30. I sat and worked on my lines for the hour and a half before then and ended up having some good food and great company meeting Kathy from the states and Lorraine from Castlegar and catching up with Dottie who is always entertaining.
Around seven I decided that I had better get going as it was going to be a long drive in the dark place an hour time change and I did end up getting home around 10:45 my time. Joe was quite horrified that I was going to drive and dodged the animals. To be honest, the worst part of the whole drive was where they were paving over the past because there’s no line along the shoulder at the moment and just a temporary one down the middle so every time vehicles came towards me, it was unnerving as to exactly where the edge of the road was, and I didn’t want to get too close to the middle
The only live animal I saw was about 35 minutes out of Cranbrook when a car coming towards me flashed its lights, and I eagle eyed to see a big cat turn and look at me from the shoulder. Not gonna lie it unnerved me a bit, and I am guessing it was a cougar, probably feasting on something on the side of the road.
All in all, it was a very good day, but I am super exhausted and glad that I came home so I can get a good nights sleep and be refreshed for the next five days of rehearsals
This day was stupidly complicated by others
I was grateful to connect with Tinna at the end of the day and she shared my dinner and then came for a shower and a great visit. It helped me to process the fact that the lead actress has let the director know that she is away at a wedding on Sunday. I am flummoxed. How disrespectful to the rest of the cast to not let us know.
The sky was amazing this evening
Oh and did I mention how awesome the schnitzel was???
Rotary light nah was very interest g as Dan Read gets to Le in s all about Dycar Pharmaceuticals. Their main business is now aimed at international markets for medical marijuana. Pretty impressive industry for Cranbrook
I worked a lot and headed downtown. As I approached F&B, I ran into Tinna and we had a really great visit until rehearsal time. The more I learn about her, the more that I think we are similar in many ways, except for the variety in my life is different than that in hers. Her nomad life is a lot what I could’ve imagined mine being if I hadn’t gotten married at 19 and had my first child at 21. It’s not that I regret any of that. I can just see the way my path would have been different. I admire her very much and enjoy her as part of the show.
Rehearsal went fairly well, although though it would be really great if everybody were finally completely off book and we could just power through. It is hard to stay frozen as a statue when we keep going over and over scenes. I am finding new answers in my character the more that the flow of lines happens from the others to give me something to build on as well. I now know exactly the two little four line parts that I keep mixing up and will work on a hard on those before Sunday.
Tinna and Nikki and I went out for a beverage after and had a fun visit. I appreciate finally getting to just hang out and have some fun which I felt was missing from this ensemble.
It is a statutory holiday for truth and reconciliation. I admit that I did nothing today in honour of that. It’s one of the first times. I haven’t worn orange you’re gone to one of the gatherings or both. I wasn’t sleeping well last night so I let myself sleep in and then the next thing I knew it was time to get ready and go to rehearsal.
The nice part about my getting ready is my routine of weighing myself every morning and I am very happy to see that I am below 200 pounds for the first time since just before I broke my ankle in December 2024.
I wore my corset over my dress for the rehearsal so I could see how it would affect my back and actually it was pretty good. I will wear each rehearsal amount until I’m very comfortable with it because I need to be able to check my breathing and how tight it should be etc..
Rehearsal went fairly well, although there are still a couple of people who need to get off book better. I did have to ask for lines twice so I know where I need to concentrate
I think the issue is there hasn’t been any actual time spent on the intention of the scene the intention of the character the connection so I am just going to continue doing the best that I can do and be sure that it will all come together. I am glad that we’ll have one or maybe two extra run-throughs in the next week.
I stopped to see Rae-Anne meet Lando their new puppy. What a beautiful boy he is he’s a springer spaniel and is so calm and cuddly and lovely and has clearly bonded with her as even while she’s cooking dinner he wanted to lay on her feet. She and I had a good talk about my need to hydrate and monitor my protein intake. She gave me samples of what she uses and recommended creatine and magnesium, as well as electrolyte packages to add to my water, which I did manage to find when I went for groceries afterwards, and then I came home and ordered creatine from Amazon to get the same kind that she had given me a sample of because it tasted good.
I decided to do a shop at Safeway as it has been sometimes since I did a proper shop and I wanted to make sure I got healthy food that I could enjoy in small meals more often. It turns out that protein is expensive. I got two bags of groceries for $301 actually 310 because I used points to take $10 off. And most of what I bought had been on special and the receipt that I saved $67.49.! two bags wow 
I did get two of my favourite things as the cookies always remind me of Jake when they come out and these are new ones for the season. And I love ground lamb and it’s so much healthier and there were six packages on for six dollars each with two dollar markdowns because they need to be used soon so I bought them all and threw them in the freezer. I love using it for shepherds pie and tacos especially as well as spaghetti sauce.
Today I had to meet with a client in the morning then had a doctors call in the afternoon, followed by getting my crown, put in grabbing a bite to eat and heading to rehearsal. I also got moulded for a new mouthguard, which I can’t wait to get being that I’ve been without it for over a month. That probably explains why I am so tired and often headachy.
This is my first non-gold crown and I’m amazed at how they managed to match the colour of my teeth so well
I woke up to a message from the paving company that they were actually starting today so I had to get notices out to the four trailers that will be affected and that went well thankfully. It was nice to come home later and see it all done and blocked off for the next couple days.
Physio with Cynthia was amazing. She does such good work on loosening up the tissues. It doesn’t always feel good, but I know that it’s working towards the best.
We talked about my hand, cramping and other muscle aches, and she agrees that it’s probably the fact that I haven’t been eating regular good meals and that it could be dehydration related so I shall focus on solving both of those problems
I did get some work done and popped home to throw the frozen pies in the freezer that I bought from one of my clients fundraisers and will bake and bring to Thanksgiving. I had a bite to eat did a little puzzling and then went to the municipal all candidates forum that JCI puts on every year I always find it the best way for me to know who I would vote for or not. I also got opinions from a couple of people.
The forum was very good and I did come away, knowing that I would vote for Lynette Wray for mayor. We had spoken beforehand, and she offered me a pamphlet which I took, and then a button which I did not and explain that I would learn a lot from the forum as I did when I voted for her as counsellor four years ago. I think she appreciated my honesty and when everything was said and done, I walked up her and said I’ll take a button now, which did make her smile.
Counsellors was a little more confusing. I still have solid. Feels about three of them and we’ll have to give it more thought and research about three more out of the 10.
I puzzled a little bit more and actually feel tired, which is good
I lazed a bit and then got ready to drop off last nights take to Lallah and meet Colin and Wendy at the Heidout. It’s a beautiful day. Rae joined us and then Will took his break to visit and eat. I was enjoying my time with them but every time I reached for my fork my hand would cramp up. It was painful and disturbing. I wish we’d had more time together but they had to head home to Kelowna and I had rehearsal to get to. I was so weirdly out of it that I didn’t even take a picture with them. Rusty made me my own pepper and onion free version of lunch.
Rehearsal went well but my elbow cramped up. It was good to rehearse in actual costume shoes. Mine are the quietest.
I came home and used my foot spa as my puzzled as per physiotherapist suggestion. It did really help my ankle. I’ve been watching Homeland. My hand cramped up again so I wonder if I am dehydrated. More water is on my priority list to see if it helps.
Lallah and Errol picked me up around 10:30 and we went to the Rotary storage where I grabbed Alice in Wonderland items to share with Debi Dockins for the President training in the new year. I will see her in Rossland on the weekend.
That got me motivated and I spent the next few hours working in my yard. I cut down plants, trimmed trees, and filled 6 yard waste bags before mowing the lawn. I also managed to put a 16×16 heavy duty tarp over the jeep shed in spite of the wind and doing it by myself.
I then soaked in the hot tub and then took a hot shower before making a delicious grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. The tomato 🍅 was from cousin Donna’s garden and so delicious
I was at the arena by 4:30 to be the banker for 50/50 at the Bucks vs Trail game. It took a lot to walk that arena as my body is aching. It was a little more complicated than usual as the internet was down in the arena. Still, with two newbies we made enough to give 1612.50 to the winner who was very happy
It was so lovely to come home to my yard
There is still more weeding to do but it is much improved
I poured a THC tub and soaked. It helped , but I am still aching
I did get good news that Alan and Pam are going to come from Slocan Valley to see the matinee at on the 25th!
