I'm Going To See WICKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love chicago!! for 2 years my mom and i have been dying to see wicked. who knew that all i had to do was join the circus to get tickets! next tuesday, casey and i have balcony seats to see this wonderful play. i have already warned him that i have had the soundtrack memorized for over a year now. his response was, "are our seats together?" oh man i can't wait!!!!

Horray! Back in the Midwest!!!!

Things I am excited to see so far in Chicago:

1. steak n shake
2. BP gas stations (yes father, i still have the CC!)
3. TARGET!!!!!!!!! and right across the street from our arena!
4. hot dog places at every corner
5. chinese buffets
6. metro link that takes me right into the city
7. 24 hour tanning salon
8. hole in the wall italian restaurants

well i am excited to be here- we had the walk early this morning- didn't get much sleep last night so i think i am going to nap for an hour or 2 then head out and start exploring. we have tomorrow off as well. might try to see if i can find my way into downtown chi-town. i have a list of things i want to do while i am here. good thing i have a month to do it!

ps- britney spears new cd came out today and it is FANTASTIC! way to go brit!

Goodbye Cleveland

so tomorrow we say goodbye to another city. last night there was a halloween party at the union bar- i put some stuff together and went as a cowboy. there were a lot of people- circus and non-circus folk. i partied way too hard and slept way too little- i think i maybe got 2.5 hours of sleep. not good considering i worked a 12 hour day today. but i am finally back at the train- ready for bed. tomorrow we have 2 shows plus loadout. then we head to chicago for one month!!! woo-hoo! cleveland has been one of my favorite cities thus far on my circus journey. can you believe that this is my 18th city? crazy. well...not much else to say. night!

Loving This Show Schedule!

this week has been incredibly easy. we havent had practice all week, and we only have 1 show all week until saturday. this means that i get to go into work, muck out, leave around 9:30 and dont have to go back to work until 5:30 :) it has been great. it dawned on me today just how gross my job really is. when i took my watch off this morning after muck out, i had a watch outline made from manure and dust, when i blew my nose it was black with god knows whatever is floating around the barn, and i had a poop stain smeared in my hair :( ew. other than that- cleveland has been great. i think i have mentioned the union bar just behind the train. i have fallen in love with the place! they have the greatest steak dinner ever. i dont know what i am going to do when we leave here! we have made friends with all the bartenders and cooks and therefore get incredibly strong drinks for a very cheap price. tomorrow night they are having a halloween party- i think i am going to be a cat! the kids are trick or treating tomorrow at the arena around the dressing rooms- should be cute. or annoying- since most of the kids are circus brats, but either way :) well- i think i am going to watch some will and grace and maybe take a nap. have to be back to work in 5 hours. blah. oh yah- my scars are healing up just fine. i have a straight scar on my forehead- about 1- 1.5 inches long and another one right next to my mouth on the right side of my face- kind of shaped like an upside down V. the doc said it will take anywhere from 6-12 months to heal. i have a special cream that i put on a few times a day for the next several months that is supposed to help reduce the scarring. well..... night!

Getting Kicked in the Face = Paid Vacation!!!!

well i have enjoyed my lazy days this week. i showed up to work on opening day on friday and they sent me home shortly after filling out the incident report of what happened. i go back to the doctor tomorrow to get my stitches taken out and i guess to see how bad the scarring is going to be. i havent woken up before noon the past few days- i think yesterday i opened my eyes around 2:30. its been great! we found this great union blub bar/restaurant behind the train. they have the most amazing $5 steak dinner with fries and garlic bread included. it is one o fthe best steaks i have had in my life! and for so cheap! yesterday i went to a mall downtown and last night a few of us went to a blues club called fat fish blue where they had a live band playing. i think tomorrow after the doctor, casey and i are going to go to the rock and roll hall of fame. dont have plans after that. so other than that- my face is healing just fine. i have actually stopped taking pain pills, which is a good thing. i think i only had about 10 of the 30 they gave me. so i will just save the rest for the next time one of my babies decides to jack me in the face :)

So A Horse Kicked Me in the Face....

yes you read right- on tuesday we had a scheduled long water stop in ames, iowa. since the run from denver to cleveland is too long for the animals to stay on the cars without exercise, we find an area where we can unload them and let them stretch for awhile. not 10 minutes into walking the arabians and fresians in a circle- shamal- the crazy arabian hind legged and kicked me in the face- knocking me out and giving me several gashes on my face. the ambulance was called and i was sent off to the ER. after 4 hours, a few x rays, ct scans, 10 shots in the face, and 8 stitches, they released me with a bottle full of vicidan pain killers. i missed the train- so brian and i (he is the production manager for the show) enjoyed a nice dinner on the company, we went to target and bought new clothes, shoes and books for me (on the company), stayed in a nice hotel and flew to cleveland the next day. dont worry- yesterday every meal was also on the company. :) i was incredibly lucky to only have been hurt as little as i was. my face is still quite ugly and will be for the next few weeks as it heals. i get my stitches taken out on saturday-and from there they will be able to tell if i need plastic surgery. i suppose you could say it was just another day in the circus!

Elephant Races and Tiger Feedings

today was had one show- i came in on the 8:30 bus and had practice w/ the horses. while i was setting up the ring- the tigers were in their cages because they had just finished practice- taba handed me a piece of raw meat and let me feed tasha the tiger! she took it right out of my hand! afterwards- there was a PR event with elephant racing. siam, banko, asia, baby and sarah raced to a finishline full of bananas and bread- of course- asia the queen won :) i am sitting in 8 wagon now, waiting for the bus to come take me to home sweet home. well- maybe not so sweet- but it is home i suppose. tomorrow we have 2 shows- 11am and 7:30 pm. we are having a big bar-b-que inbetween shows. after the last show we are having a "no talent" talent show. free food and beer! well- not much else happened today- just another regular day in the circus

Birthday's in the Circus

one of the fun things about working in the circus is when you find out it is someone's birthday. yesterday was laura's bday- she works in the horse barn with me. birthday's in the circus = pies to the face. multiple pies to the face. we only had one show yesterday morning at 11. we brought cupcakes for breakfast and gave her an asia painting. after the show as she was dumping a trash bucket me, zibi and dihn followed behind her and attacked her with 2 pies. she was covered! i will post pictures later today when i get them on the pc. so after she had gotten her birthday pies she rinsed off with the hose. just as she had gotten herself clean again we got her with a 3rd pie :) that began the water fight with the hose and leftover whipped cream. what a fun morning. so after the fights we went back to the train- i took a nap and we all went out to dinner at the cheesecake factory. i started the night with shots of vodka and long island iced teas. when we got back to the train, the band was having a good old fashion kegger. so we partied at the train until early morning (7am to be exact- which reminds me, why am i up at 11:30 updating my blog?) i did too many keg stands and got older people who had never done keg stands to do them. it was a lot of fun. today we have off. i think i am going to probably go back to bed for a little while and then walk to the denver zoo and maybe have some dinner at a local restaurant. more exciting news-- in december duriing winter quarters a group of us are going to fly to jamaica for a couple days! my friend has family down in kingston so we dont have to pay for hotel or food. yay! alright- im exhausted. time for bed :)

night!

Happy 4 Month Anniversary to Me!

Holy Crap- another month in the circus has gone by! wow.... so i am currently residing in denver- about a 30 minute walk from the heart of beautiful downtown. the weather has been incredible- warm and sunny during the day and nice and cool at night. we arrived tuesday and after the animal walk i explored downtown with laura. we ate lunch at a local brewery and enjoyed a lumpy dog beer on the house. i had wednesday off and had a wonderful time sleeping in until early afternoon. i did laundry and walked around again for most of the day with vicci. yesterday was opening day. the arena is too far to walk from the train so i was stuck there from 7am to 10pm. yikes. i brought my laptop and watched movies and downloaded music to pass the time. today was another 1 show day. we had practice in the morning and i had a nice break afterwards where i took a loooong nap. so now i am back at the train ready to take on the 6 show weekend. monday we have a morning show and off tuesday- cant wait.........