installation is over!

we all survived. courtney left in southampton on saturday, and we all went out to crew bar instead of rehearsing on our last night together. we opened 'piano man', our last show of six, on monday night, and we are officially through install. it's only been a few days, but things have drastically improved. it's incredible what a little time off and a full night of sleep can do.



yesterday was officially our first day off in six weeks, and we were in cadiz, spain... we saw the cathedral, went to play in the tide pools by the fortress at the beach, walked through the gardens and ate at a little moroccan restaurant. i don't know if it's just because i haven't seen daylight in a month, but it felt like one of my favourite days ever. hopefully now that we can get off the ship every time we port, there will be many more to come. as staff, we get to sign up to escort tours and go on them for free, we just have to wear a cruise staff shirt and help herd people on and off the bus. they also offer free/ridiculously cheap tours just for crew at least once or twice a cruise, so this friday i'm going to florence and pisa, and next week i'm going to get to see rome (finally!)

our non-performance related duties on board is something we were worried about, but they're turning out to be a lot of fun as well. i'm usually assigned to ceramics or scrapbooking, so essentially i get to be crafty and talk to the passengers about the shows. it's actually really nice to have an opportunity to hear feedback from the guests, it makes performing more interesting when you see faces you recognize in the audience.



in other news, my cousin amanda had a baby! (congratulations!!!) his name is jacob douglas whiteman, and he's gigantic (ten pounds eleven ounces) and i haven't even met him yet but i miss him so much. i cried like a big dork in the internet cafe when i found out. =)

i know my last few updates were a little distraught, but now that the misery of install is over i'm really having an incredible time. and now, two short lists that summarize my life:

things that suck
- false eyelashes
- hitting your head on the celing when you wake up every morning
- when there's no good cheese left at the buffet

things that are awesome
- there's almost always good cheese at the buffet
- my uber-cool roommate
- having time to read good books and write music
- the view is always gorgeous
- shore leave
- the beach
- my cast is great
- meeting new people
- jamming with the show band
- free gym membership
- a glass of red wine with every dinner
- saving money to pay off my loan
- taking class with the cast

as you can see, the second list vastly outnumbers the first one, so i'm doing just fine. =)