More Carolyn

I know it may seem like I only have one child... or that Carolyn must be my favorite because she is all I write about lately, but the truth is she is the one that is being particularly *active* lately. She graduated from high school, went through bartending school (along with Melinda--yay!), and has been submitting for restaurant jobs, and auditioning for indie films, student films and modeling shows ever since.

In August she will be moving to Tampa to share an apartment with Melinda to be closer to where most of such jobs are, and closer to Sarasota, where she is cast in one film, the super-natural thriller, "Line of Descent" (a popular genre these days). This film was formerly named "The Witching Hours", and I love the name change! It better describes the storyline, and doesn't sound so "trick or treat". In this film Carolyn plays "Raisa", a young witch well-read and well-versed in her craft. Here is the website for "Line of Descent".  Here is her Character Page from the website: 

"Line of Descent" will be fund-raising on IndieGoGo.com in the near future.

Carolyn was cast a couple of weeks ago in another indie film being shot in Jacksonville called "Girl of My Dreams". She was cast originally as a speaking extra (two lines), but was taken aside at rehearsal last week and told they were going to write a bigger more featured part for her because they liked her screen-tests so much. (We're hoping that she gets a name, not just "Gossip Girl" haha!) This film is currently fund-raising on IndieGoGo.

At the moment she is driving to Orlando to audition for a student film being produced at Full Sail, a college devoted to the entertainment arts. In general, I have heard that if you submit for 100 roles, you may get 10 responses, and then out of those ten, you may get 1 call-back. So far she has beat those odds in acting, but has yet to land a modeling job. She is only 5'3", so runway is kind of out of the realm, but I would think that she might have a shot at print.  What do you think?

These were from a recent "high fashion" shoot in Orlando.

In order to be taken seriously in auditioning for film, she needs to have a few clips on what is called a "reel" (like a portfolio). We are hoping that these films will produce work that showcases her talent and will fit well on her reel. Carolyn has passion for her chosen career, and passion for the people she will eventually work with, and I have no doubt she will be successful. She knows that God is in control of her path, and knows that the "mission field" she has chosen will be challenging, but is oh, so needy!

Prayers up, please! :-]

Youtube...

Hey!  Just thought I'd let you know that I have a Youtube Channel with a few of Carolyn's latest performance snippets uploaded...

TheLloydChannel

Enjoy!

Milestone Event!

~Carolyn~

~~~

is graduating from

Buchholz High School

June 3rd, 2011

~

Thank you for your love and support!

That's a Thespian Bear on her head.

No, she's not dramatic...

Forbidden Broadway

I realized I had not posted pictures of the costumes from the run of Forbidden Broadway that my daughter was in, her last Buchholz performance. "Forbidden Broadway", by Gerard Alessandrini is a trip through top Broadway shows, spoofing the characters, show genres, and the theater culture itself.  It was a very talented cast. Most of these costumes actually came out of my loft stash, as the funds were short. I think I did well though.

The cast dressed in all black as their base, and costumes were layered on as needed.

This is the spoof of "Rent", entitled "Seasons of Hype", where they just wore their basic black.

First up, "Bebe Neuwirth" in the Chicago spoof. Chicago puppet,

and Bebe.

Annie: "I'm thirty years old... Tomorrow"

"Call on Carol" Carolyn impersonating Carol Channing as the forever Dolly Levi.

Spoofing Stephen Sondheim in "Into The Words". Red Riding Hood from "Into the Woods" and "Dot" from "Sunday in the Park with George".

"Sweeney Todd": Like the "special effect" blood?  :-]

 

 

Idina Menzel in "Defying Subtlety".

Mandy Patinkin roasted in "Somewhat Overindulgent" (to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"). Sequined suspenders were all that was needed there.

There were several Les Mis jokes. 

Carolyn as Fantine singing "I Dreamed a Show in days gone by... when pathos wasn't overstated..."

 

 

Cosette: "I'm an obnoxious singing waif..."

and Eponine: "On My Phone... I check up on my voicemail..."

 

 

Of course "Cats" must be spoofed...

 

 

Liza Minelli is impersonated in "Liza One Note".

 

 

Mamma Mia: Don't you love these outfits? On the left, I found a dress that I made into a pantsuit, and the gold shirt and plastic pants I actually had in my stash.

The "Fiddler on the Roof" spoof (called "Ambition") made fun of the types of actors that all lived in the "little village of Manhattan":

"I never had a pimple so I do... commercials."

And a spoof of Barbra Streisand. The beadwork on the dress is amazing. My mother-in-law was a ballroom dancer, and often over the years had sent us old dresses and accessories she no longer used. This beaded collar was in one of the boxes years ago. What an addition it made to this dress!

(Too bad it's not a better picture.)

I wish you all could have seen this performance. Maybe I can figure out how to upload some of the songs from the DVD. If you love Broadway and ever get the chance to see "Forbidden Broadway", you will not regret it.  It is too funny!

HE'S SO FLUFFY!!!

This is Klondike:

He is THE ABSOLUTE CUTEST puppy in the entire world, and he is ours! Well, he's my daughter Melinda's, really. He is a Great Pyrenees/Maremma mix.

Here is info on the Great Pyrenees.
And here is info on the Maremma.

Melinda had gotten a dog that was the same mix when she came back from Germany, but had gotten it as an adult, and there were some behavioral issues that would not be curbed, so she had to give it up. When we found out about these puppies that became available we were thrilled, and got one for her. Right now we have him because we have three other dogs that are teaching him "manners" and how to be a cuddly fierce protector dog for Melinda when she gets her own place after college.

He's about two-and-a-half months old, so that makes him about one-and-a-half in people years. So he's testing the boundaries: biting the electrical cords, stealing shoes from the closet, touching things while looking you straight in the eye...

Here are some pictures to enjoy:

His favorite place is under something...

With Carolyn--don't know how long she'll be able to pick him up...they get big!

Finally Melinda gets to meet her puppy when she came up from Tampa.

Melinda named him: Klondike the Polar Bear (with a Coke!)

Chillin' with big brother Kaiser.  He should get about the same size.

Maybe we should have named him Velcro...

New Fridge!

Okay here is the old one...

side view...

My husband had been hearing a loud clunking noise for months that was making him nervous.  He was at Lowe's last week and found one that had been returned and repaired, and marked down a significant amount.  He had also recently aquired a rebate debit card from buying a new AC unit for the downstairs, so it's kind of like not even paying for a new fridge!  :-]

Okay for the reveal:

Side by side stainless steel (to match the kitchen sink)

AND...

Yes, folks, we're roaring into the 80's with an in-the-door water and ice dispenser!!  Most of the fridge pics will end up in a scrapbook that I have for the every-several-years-when-I-clean-off-the-fridge-door event.  Most of the magnets will stay, but this is a particular favorite, the lobster that Lee and I got on our 20th anniversary trip to Maine. (The legs are attached with springs, so they move whenever the door moves!)

Okay, I had to share...  Next I'll be telling you all about our NEW PUPPY!!!  :-D

Sarah Landauer

Perhaps you heard of her because she was the third of three athletes that collapsed within a week of each other and died. She was featured on Good Morning America Thursday morning, along with many questions about Sudden Death in Athletes (which is becoming another "Syndrome"). I know her because I taught her in Middle Schoool Youth Group Bible study, her family and mine worship at the same church, and she was a dear friend of my daughter Carolyn.

Sarah Landauer was an intense young lady. She fiercely competed in sports, soccer being her highest priorty. A few years ago she decided to learn and compete in one new sport each year. It was at track practice last Monday that she collapsed and needed three rounds of CPR and a defibrillator just to make it to the hospital. Sports is how the general public in Gainesville knew her. Those close to her and those at church knew her character as well, and we knew she was a dedicated child of God that loved Jesus so much. Within hours of her collapse, there were hundreds of teens with Phil. 4:13 written on their arms in her honor.

This was the verse she had adopted as her own. This is the verse she lived by. And this verse made its way to the arms, the thoughts, and the minds of people who had never opened a Bible in their lives, those who were indifferent to God, and those who believed but maybe hadn't walked as intensely in the Lord as Sarah had. Just go to the Supporting Sarah page on Facebook and read the comments... Athletes, teachers, complete strangers, black, white, Indian, Jew, Muslim, punk... all supporting Sarah by writing a verse on their arms.

Why, why, WHY God? Why take this sweet, loving girl who Loved you so much? and Lived for you to the fullest? The answer was clear to me at her "celebration" service on Saturday. Over 800 in attendance, mostly teenagers, who had never been faced with their own mortality and the reality of a God Who loved them. All loved Sarah and had been impacted by her life, and now they would take away with them the lifelong impact of someone who loved God and that God who loved her and loves each one of them here and now.

We Christians are a strange bunch. In the midst of such a tragedy, with tears in our eyes and streaming down our faces, hearts aching in agony over those who loved her most, we each smile on the inside, knowing that Sarah is not really dead. In fact she is the only one of us that has truly started to LIVE!! She is rid of the flesh and sin which so easily besets us all, and she is running, and jumping, and tearing up that heavenly soccer field! She is laughing and singing, and dancing in the arms of the Love of her Life, Jesus. And she is waiting for each of us, who will be joining her when God sees fit to call us home.

Please pray for the teens in Gainesville, Florida.

Celebrating Sarah:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156458721076990&ref=ts
Supporting Sarah:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=195486977140834&ref=ts
TV Coverage:
http://www.wcjb.com/news/8940/remembering-sarah-landauer
And Google "Sarah Landauer" to read more.

Pool Party!

I promised a look at our new pool finish, so here it is.

But first, a look at how it used to be.

This was taken when we were building a rail for our deck to please the insurance company. The pool is in frame. This is before our pool became very sick. It developed a leak, and went down in level about two feet. It's only 5 and a half feet deep to start with. Here is our sick pool.

This is a picture of... well, actually, it's a picture of an alligator in our pool, but the water was so cloudy and un-chlorinated, the gator was very happy.

Backstory is this: Our dog Lola...

here she is...

...is a barky thing, and will run and bark at anything that moves. Well one day she would not stop barking outside, and I noticed the pitch was a bit anxious even for her. I went outside and found her standing off with a three foot gator. Now despite what you may think, gators are VERY quick--we have had a 12 foot gator in our yard before, and when the animal control guy tried to grab it with his rope pole, I WAS WATCHING IT AND I **DID NOT** SEE THE GATOR MOVE, but one second the pole was intact, and the next nanosecond, it was snapped in half and in the gator's mouth...

Anyway, I got Lola inside, then grabbed a flashlight to shine in his eyes (it's supposed to distract and mesmerize the gator, keeping him still--worked for me...) and called my brother to come *do* something about it. (My husband was at work.) Two hours later... (don't ask) ...he put on welding gloves and grabbed it by the neck (don't try this at home) and held it up for all to see, then he did the obligatory "flip it on its back and rub the tummy and watch the gator go to sleep" (yes, it really works, but don't try this at home!) and at my request, dropped it in our pool, which was already very sickly and cloudy and the perfect place for a dehydrated alligator used to being in lakewater. It was quite dry last summer in Florida and instead of raining every afternoon like it normally does, we had a bit of a drought. Gators will come roaming under two conditions--really wet and really dry. We live next to a State Preserve where gators are plentiful, and like to roam when it floods or it droughts. (Is that a word? It is now...)

So, backstory aside, Here is our new pool!

We went with black RiverRock,

and off-white tile on the steps.

Important for safety... always a mom.  :-]

I think it looks great with our existing border tile treatment.

With the water, it looks like a cool dark green.

As for the gator, my husband caught it the next morning in the fishing net (don't try this at home) and after doing the obligatory "flip it on its back and rub the tummy and watch the gator go to sleep"...

(don't try this at home)

...we let it go (a mile and a half away) in the middle of the Preserve next door. Happy endings all around!