Weekend 6- Mixed Bag

This weekend had to be one of the hardest weekends to get through. For the most part I have no idea why, and have every idea why.

First of all- I'm tired. I haven't slept through the night all week (last night included). The only night I didn't wake up at 2AM was Saturday night. I'm hoping this week will be different. I'm praying this week will be different. I don't know why I can't sleep through the night. It's not like I'm not active during the day, I have a decent diet, I don't consume large amounts of caffeine or sugar before bed.

Second of all- We're past mid season and I know the Faire is going to be closing soon. I was looking around on Sunday and suddenly had de-ja-vu to my first Faire weekend. I only have three weekends left of what has been the best experience of my life.

Thirdly- College classes start again in two weeks. I'm looking forward to my classes, but not the environment that I'll be in.

Fourthly- I very dear childhood dress-up-dress of mine was partially demolished Friday night. I've had this dress since before I was 4 years old. It was my "pretty" dress, my princess dress, my garden dress. I'm not girly and I love this dress. I wanted to pass this dress on to my little cousin (the daughter of my aunt who gave me this dress). I think it's really important to pass things down and preserve history, especially family history. The partial demolishing seriously threw me and I spent a little while on Saturday hugging a stuffed sheep consoling my inner child while trying to keep in character. Thank goodness Anne Drew had an odd attraction to fuzzy animals and puppets.
Now that I actually write this out- it sounds really silly and trivial. I guess in times of upheaval and eustress and non-positive stress, these are the things that make you seriously unsettled. 

Mostly it's just this reason- I'm dreading living with the feeling of loneliness again. I haven't been lonely all summer, and I hate the idea that I'm going to be going to back to being just a face in a crowd, seeing true friends maybe once or twice a week. I could elaborate, but that would mean telling my life story getting all deep and emotional.

This weekend has some really good points, apart from struggling to keep going all day.

-I tried a lot of new foods. They were all delicious.
-I had some great interactions with children. I was able to coax a really shy little boy to come and play Towers with me. I also got to dance with a princess during closing gate. I had a few other adorable little ones interact with me, but those two were my favorite.
-I got some crazy responses from patrons about how to get a captain out of jail. Most of them would result in his death. For some reason everyone was fixated on the captain dying. I felt bad for the captain and really wanted to look at some of those patrons sideways and ask "What the heck are you thinking?"
-I broke a photographer! Multiple times! It was beyond hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing.
-I got broke by a parody of "That's Amore." I laughed so hard I cried.
-I almost hit a bulls-eye when practicing archery!
-I had an amazing conversation with a fellow cast member and a very fun dinner out with friends.
-I got/am getting jewelry from a pretty shop, and the owners are some of the nicest people ever!
-I found a hat that I will buy next week for a reasonable price.
-I had epic poke/tickle sibling fights with one of the towne criers.
-I had an awesome bit with some of the Draco Disciples.  

So the good moments outweigh the moments I am currently blaming on tiredness/stress. Let's just say that I called myself fat (which is something I strive NOT TO DO) and unintentionally may have insulted someone else because of my self hate comment. I also forgot that they had coal in Elizabethan England, and made blatant reference to Thanksgiving while on the street. I will make fun of myself for the later two things and make a lesson to myself out of the first. The first lesson is this, when I am tired I need to watch my tongue.

Weekend Two- The arrival of a new Anne

This past weekend was really when I felt my character coming out and coming together. Before this weekend, Anne was a little wishy washy about who she wanted to be. After a (much needed) character change in back story during dress rehearsal, I really wasn't sure what to make of Anne. Instead of being a slightly more docile yet sneaky run away, she is now a much bolder and cheekier (and still slightly sneaky) personality. Instead of being Captain Frobisher's servant, she's now more of a protege. All in all, I can wreak a lot more havoc as this new Anne than I could with the old one. My Captain did warn me that this would happen. Once those gates open, everything changes.
Another thing that helps, I work with a lot of bold personalities. I'm just going to get lost if I don't make my own character bolder to compliment and work alongside of the other characters. 

This weekend was a mixed bag. On one hand everything on the Street was great! On the other hand...I was finishing up a 9 day marathon of physical activity that I am not accustomed to. Saturday was much harder than Sunday for reasons that I do not know. I think I got more sleep on Saturday night than I did on Friday.

Saturday went fairly well all in all. There were a couple more times where my captain let me "take the wheel." I also got my first try at playing "Towers" with the Captains. It's like a giant Janga game.  I borrowed a sword for whenever I removed a block, and the blades did feel really awkward in my hand. I am in serious want of lessons in swordplay and archery.
Unfortunately, while I felt much more secure in my character than I did opened weekend, I didn't have all of the energy reserves that I usually have going into a weekend. I did have a moment when I turned to Lefty and said "I'm fading in and out." This was around 2:30pm and he made me go backstage and rest for half an hour. I had really mixed feelings about that because I wanted to talk to more people, but I also know that if I don't rest and am not the top of my game, people aren't going to really want to talk to me. I didn't take as many risks as I did on Sunday and coasted through with a lot of "fake it till you make it" when I was feeling low on energy. Then when I was on my second, third, fourth, fifth, etc, winds I put as much effort into my work as possible.

My stupid performer mentality usually makes me push through anything. I won't pretend I wasn't a little annoyed with Lefty for making me go backstage (he offered to walk me back himself), but I probably wouldn't have made myself take a break. I do stupid things like that. I push through things when I should probably sit down. I sat down this time, and I'll remember to sit down next time. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

I got a lot more sleep Saturday night than I did Friday night, and I think it helped a lot during Sunday. I was also a bit more stressed out on Saturday, still recovering from the week at camp.

Sunday my knee was twinging a bit so I wore a knee brace as a preventative measure. While I might not be so great about the whole "take a break" thing yet, I am getting better at the pre-injury prevention. My knee doesn't bother me today, so I think I did the right thing.
On Sunday the BRF got a visit from the fuzzy orange muppet like puppet. I saw it twice and freaked out both times.
I also got a surprise visit from my Uncle and his girlfriend. I was really excited to see them since they live in a different state and I don't think I've seen them since Christmas. Over the weekend I got to see a lot of friends and family. It's a lot of fun because you're playing with people you know, but at the same time you aren't entirely yourself since you're playing another person.

Things I learned this week-
People like to give me advice about being manly. I actually got some great advice from a woman about walking like a man. It was hysterical.
Anne cannot lie to the Queen and will correct the Captain is he is lying to the Queen (I can't wait to see this play out).
Just take a 15 minute break. Seriously. Ice rags, salty snacks, and an extra drink of water will go a long way. And you won't get glares from your director after you tell him (at 1:30 in the afternoon) that this is your first real break. Oops. 

Favorite moments?
Writing false "State Secrets" and incriminating Drake.
Watching my mom sing along to the sea shanties.
Seeing my drama teacher from high school.
"Are we in a bad French Novel?"- the Captain
"Are you sexy, and do you know it?"- Lefty, giving "advise" 
Gertrude Normyl blowing her owl whistle with her eyes crosses and cheeks puffed out. I just about died from laughter.

Now to figure out who is most likely my father. Historically and Fictionally.