Saturday, March 24

Slept late and skipped my exercises. Spent the morning after breakfast making sure my clothes were ready for tonight and Monday. Sis and Mother came over mid-morning and worked on a jigsaw puzzle.

They continued the puzzle after lunch, while Hubbie watched a March Madness basketball game, and I gave myself a manicure and then read my John Grisham novel.

Around 2 p.m., Hubbie and I dressed to go to another town about an hour and a half away to attend a dinner theater performance, for which we had free tickets given to us by the area arts council.

Sis and Mother entertained themselves with another jigsaw puzzle, and later prepared a supper of leftovers.

Hubbie and I headed to the other town around 4:30, and arrived around 6 p.m. The theater doors opened at 6:15, and we were seated down on the first row of tables, just below the stage. It was prime spot for hearing all the actors, which was good for Hubbie, who has a hearing problem.

The wait staff are all teenagers, who rely on tips to pay for their time. They are rehearsed for their jobs the same as the actors are for the production, so they approach patrons with prepared speeches.

We've attended several performances at this theater...this was our fifth visit..and we've always enjoyed them. Unfortunately, last year the theater was flooded, along with many other businesses during unrelenting rains. Water rose to the level of the fourth tier of seats, and completely covered the stage. It also destroyed all the computers and paper files, along with costumes and other things.

The city despaired of the theater ever coming back, but generous business and private donors, plus a large contingent of volunteers, put everything back in order. The theater also received grant monies, and a promise from FEMA for aid, which has not materialized yet. The theater is operating in the red right now, and is asking for donations for operating expenses.

The meal tonight was really good...a vast improvement over meals we've had there in the past. We were served grilled chicken fillets, scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots, and a roll, with a fresh strawberry for garnish. As we finished, a young woman came around with a basket of oregano scones, which we sampled. Dessert was a choice of lemon/sesame seed squares, or brownie/whipped cream parfaits. We opted for the parfaits, which were very pretty servedi n sundae glasses.

The play was called, "It Runs in the Family," a hilarious adult comedy. The synopsis reads: "Set in a hospital, "It Runs in the Family," contains the usual assortment of farcical nuts running in and out of doors mistaking everybody for someone else, as Dr. Mortimore tries to fend off a paternity suit, an ex wife, a punkish daughter (in this case it was a son, with different colored Mohawk spikes atop his head, and black eye makeup) and various other lunatics so that he may, at last, deliver the Ponsonby Lecture in an international conference."

About 15 folks from our town attended the play. A group of four widowed women traveled together, and for some reason took a route that traveled them through some scenic country, but was far out of the way of the theater. So they asked if they could follow us home.

The route we take is quicker, though it involves using a bypass that is easy to navigate in the daytime, but is tricky at night. We managed it fine, though, and I'm sure the ladies were grateful to arrive in familiar territory. It was 11:30 p.m. before we got back home.