For those of you who might be wondering where the aich-ee-double-hockeysticks I've been and what I've been up to, I can easily sum it up in two words: THEATRE WORLD.
Things in my life have never been dull or still. I usually stay busier than the average Joe (if not the average Jane. Most of the Janes I know are pretty danged busy ladies.), but lately everything has been cranked up a notch, all the way to '11' really.
I think you all know about the comedy troupe I perform with - The Feral Chihuahuas (Stoneleaf Festival (cool, huh?) which is VERY exciting, but also only a few weeks away. We are also performing our regularly scheduled shows every other Wednesday (Thank goddess though, after this week, we'll basically just be doing our Stoneleaf rehearsals on stage). THEN, on top of this, this weekend is the Renaissance Festival. We (myself, Chris and two other members of The Feral Chihuahuas, our good friends Liz and Jay put together a Shakespearean (well, loosely Shakespearean... ;) show called "Periwig" to perform at the faire. In that 30 minute show we do an intro, an ad for Gandalf's 'Plague Be Gone', a strange little piece that breaks the 4th wall, a fantastic "dueling thespians" scene betwixt Hamlet and Antigone (the boys did it for Kumquat this week, with Tommy playing 'Duelling Banjos" on the guitar - it was a RIOT!), and our big show-stopper - a 15 minute production of "A Midsummer Nights' Dream", in which we pull EIGHT victims... I mean, er, volunteers from the audience to play all of our uncast parts (we lost most of our troupe to the plague, y'see...) and perform a MUCH abbreviated version of the entire play - including a catfight betwixt Helena (moi) and Hermia (our Liz), and multiple excellent death scenes for our poor volunteers. (The boys get their fight during Duelling Thespians.)
SO. We've been rehearsing EVERY SINGLE DAY for weeks now. Sunday we had THREE different rehearsals (Kumquat, a run-through of A Midsummer Night with vols from the faire - THANK THEE, GOOD FOLK!!!, and a full run-through of Periwig on Sunday night.) On the other nights we've done both Kumquat and Periwig, and on Wednesday we performed Kumquat. The few nights that we've been unable to meet, we've spent learning lines, working on props, costumes, etc. and on the nights that we have been completely off (only because a principle couldn't make rehearsal), we've gone to see OTHER people's plays.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please forgive me for not being more present, more involved, more noticeably in tune. I promise that I have been aware of what's happening in all of your lives. Mama-Norma has come through her diagnosis and surgery with flying colors; baby Bella (Isabella Madison Sitton - MOOOOO!!!!) came into the world big, beautiful and healthy on April 28 - our little spring flower Princess;
life spins in its' circles, and even in my nigh stupidly hectic (but happy and helping) state, I think of you all while I work and whistle, wishing you all good things.

One other bit of news... big news, happy and sad at the same time: on May 4th, I gave my notice at the Library. I will work 'til the end of this month, and then, flower in hand, I will take that leap of faith and trust in myself to make my way with my hands, my head and my heart - once more! The day that 'Bella was born was the day I lost my fear of leaving the security of this good job, and realized that there is more happiness and better health for me if I just follow my heart. The library won't lose me - in fact, they'll have me for free, because I'm going to join the ranks of the volunteers! And I am looking forward to being my own woman again, having a more flexible schedule to do with as I please - see my friends more; work on projects I've needed and wanted to for so long; learn to use my sewing machine; get back into photography wholeheartedly; put more time into my jewelry work and other saleable arts; get my sick body back into better shape; walk the roads and wander the woods and fields (HURRAY!); set up a little ebay business; try as many part-time jobs as I want and need to; visit family; write more; finish Loki's Little Acre (and convert it to a screenplay!); help Chris with his films; knuckle down to the Comedy-grind; clean my house and yard - well the list is fortunately, joyfully endless. What it comes down to is that I can live on Sam-time, and I believe with all my heart that I can make Sam-time even MORE productive and at least as lucrative as TheMan-time - AND I CAN WEAR PAJAMAS AND FLIP-FLOPS 98% OF THE TIME IF I WANT TO! WHEEE! I can work a 14 hour day one day and go fishing the next, if I want to. I can say 'Yes' and 'No' to whomever I please, and if someone has a problem with me, I can walk away and smile and forget that they exist. I can explore the change that the last five years has made in me, and hopefully repair the physical change for the worst.
I don't have to ask for you all to wish me luck - I know you do. Everyone has told me how happy they are for me to have the chance to live my art (art my life? :) on a bigger scale. My patrons and co-workers have said they're proud of me for taking the chance. I doubt they'll ever know how much that means to me. I promised myself that if I left the best job I've ever had, that I wouldn't leave it for less than something wonderful. I'm going to do my damndest to make this jump count. I can still see my patrons and kids when I volunteer - not to mention spend social time with them sans the fear of - for example - getting too squiffy on red wine at the W_____'s house on Friday night, telling all my fave naughty jokes, and then having the whole town talk/it getting put in the paper/getting called on the carpet) the next Monday. *sheesh*

So, let it be OFFICIALLY known: after May 28, I'm a free woman - I have taken on a luscious baby-sitting commitment for the bulk of the summer, 3 days a week, mid-week, but I'll be able to work my art while I do that, too. And the rest is an open field. If you have commissions, ideas, need to "Rent-a-Sam" for a day, for any purpose (for example, Liz is hiring me to help her organize her house, in trade for some sewing lessons...), let me know! I suspect that my calendar will fill up fast! :)
Much love, and many, many hopes and dreams,
(much more like the OLD-)
-s.