Life, love and the pursuit of a crawling baby: Big Changes

What a couple of months! Well, first off, I didn't exactly make it through the full month of February Facebook Free. I have very little will power. I'm still surprised I managed to quit cigarettes three years ago. I made it till about the last week and then cracked! Very bold!

Sweeney Todd was absolutely amazing! I was so busy with it. My official title was Props Manager. It was manic and a huge learning experience. I made over thirty salt dough pies for Mrs Lovett's pie shop and Beth helped me paint them. In all, there must have been around two hundred props! To be in charge of it all was a lot of fun and stress!!

Official Poster

Final Scene (Photo: Andrew Browne)

Unfortunately, the stress took it's toll and I ended up in A&E with bad abdominal pain a week after the show. They weren't sure what it was (suspected appendicitis or burst cysts) and sent me home with antibiotics. I wasn't able to each much. Ten days later I ended up in A&E for a second time. They finally diagnosed me. Basically, the stress had caused my stomach and intestines to stop working properly. The pain I had been experiencing was caused by spasms in the intestines. It'll take a while to get back to normal, doctor said four or five months, but at least its nothing serious. I'm still getting the odd pain when I eat too much, but nothing as bad as it was. As a result, I've lot over a stone in weight since the beginning of February. I'm not losing now and still well within a healthy weight range. My clothes are all fitting better ;-)

The big news is that I got a job! Two actually! On the 28th February, I started work in a pub that does food. So I'm a waitress/bartender again. It has been over ten years since I worked in the industry, but it all came back to me very quickly. I love going to work and the money isn't bad either. It has taken a lot of stress out of my life by just having a little bit extra money. I only work one or two days a week at the moment, at the weekends, but it suits the other job perfectly.

The other job is completely different. I work as a Welfare Rights Clerk in the Dundalk Resource centre. We give advice on welfare and taxation. The people I work with make it an easy place to arrive to every weekday morning. I feel like the dullest person in the office with all these eccentric and bubbly individuals! It is part-time and I'm able to collect Beth from school everyday. Best of both worlds.

I was also involved in another play last week. Backstage as usual. It was A Life by Hugh Leonard. The Dolmen Theatre Group put it on with a great cast. They are the group I started with, this time last year, with Lend Me A Tenor. It was a great week and well received.

However, that will be my last play for a while. With the two jobs, I need to rely on family for babysitting. Asking my Mum and everyone to take on babysitting when I'm helping out at the plays as well is just too much. So, I'm taking a break for the rest of the year until the next S.O.N.G. production. Already looking forward to it!

Here are some Sweeney Todd photos: