"Check In"

Hi Friends!
Last we left off, Loretta and I were in Wapato, Wa about to head to Missoula, Mt for "Check In". We really weren't looking forward to this because last "Check In" at the end of the Summer tour we thought we both got screwed and were both waaaay to stressed because of stupid stuff. The light at the end of the tunnel was that we knew as soon as it was over, we would have about two weeks off for Christmas break. Meaning. . . .

I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

One step at a time. We woke up and our homestay didn't actually make us oatmeal but a huge breakfast that consisted of bacon, eggs, toast, and homemade hash browns. If you gotta be up early you might as well make the most out of it. After breakfast and a few "Goodbye's" we were gone. On our way to Missoula we stopped in Coeur d' alene and met up with Loretta's boyfriend for lunch. Then we stopped and visited Loretta's Dad who is a very pleasant man. :) Once in Missoula we had some time before we met up with the other TAD's so we spent our time wisely and got costume laundry done and washed the truck.

We met up with our fellow roomates at Ruby's hotel. A bunch of us were sharing a room so we wouldn't have to pay a large sum. My roomates consisted of Loretta, Nicole, Jaime, Anne, Kelly and techinically Eli who actually never stayed in the room. Since there was so many of us, we tried to figure out the sleeping arrangements and it seemed that some people were going to end up on the floor. No fun! I however suggested to push the beds together making one giant bed. Readers you know I love doing that. The problem was one of the beds broke and we got a noise complaint. Whoopsie! Loretta and Jaime ran and hid in the bathroom while Nicole and I answered the door. He was actually very nice and didn't say anything about the bed. Do you think that stopped us? No way! We got the beds together. Anyways it was one GIANT slumber party for us girls. Our first night we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking about our tours, TAD tales, TAD gossip, and of course BOYS! It was so nice to hang out with a bunch of girls for a couple days. It was the closest thing I've had to a "Gill's Night" in so long. It didn't replace it in my heart, nothing ever could, but it was still nice. :)

The next morning we headed down for breakfast. UGH! Too early! We all ate a healthy breakfast and then headed to the home office. At the morning meeting we met up with some of the home office staff and exchanged a few hugs and kind words. Then it was down to business. Luckily for Loretta and I we were not changing shows so our "Check In" wasn't nearly as bad as those who were switching partners or switching shows. Spring "Check In" will probably be aweful since we have to turn in everything. :(

When one goes to "Check In", MCT gives he or she a list of things that needs to be signed off before he or she leaves. Our first day of  "Check In" was just getting the little things done like turning in financial reports, seeing costume ladies, checking out with the box office, and meeting with Dylan the main honcho. Check! To reward ourselves we decided to have a little fun that night.

The night before we found out that Anne didn't actually get to celebrate her birthday so we decided to through her a birthday party. First day of  "Check In" we kept referring to Anne as "Birthday Girl" and it was just so fun to watch her get so many "I didn't know it was your Birthday!" from the home office staff. After day one of "Check In" everyone went back to the hotel room and took naps. While everyone rested Anne looked over my notes about T-shirts. I wanted to make sure I was completely prepared for meeting with Total Screen Design the next day. I didn't want to be taken advantage of again. Anne told me that I had done everything right so I could relax. If you say so. I talked to Rebekah on the phone for a little while that night. I just love that little Gill. Hopefully I'll get to see her when I go home for break.

When I went back into the room everyone was up and playing some game that I never quite understood the rules too. Our friends Jordan and Dan were there to add to the chaos. :) Afterwards we went to this little bar/restaurant that was within walking distance of Ruby's. Perfect! We caught up and had a few laughs, (Kelly and I went to the bathroom and had some one on one "girl talk" which later Loretta joined.) by this point we were exhausted. Loretta and I headed back to the room and everyone followed. When I woke up the next morning, my tired eyes looked up at our giant bed and saw all the girl's in one giant spoon. Oh dear. Yep slumber parties always bring people together. Haha!

We then went to breakfast, headed to MCT and got on with "Check In". Loretta and I had some down time so we snuck back to the room for some rest and facebook. We go back and Kevin tells us that we HAD to paint some of our set pieces. We definitiley didn't feel like it or that they needed to be repainted but oh well. In the end I'll admit they DID look better but don't tell Kevin I said that. We then had to meet with Total Screen Design. We were feeling a little nervous because we had already heard that some people owed them about $600 and we felt sure that they were gonna say something like that to us even though my math said different. We meet with the guy and to our surprise we didn't owe them anything except shipping which we anticipated. YEA!!!!! The rest of "Check In" wasn't that bad. Loretta paid Jordan five bucks to paint the ends of the poles for our set while I met with Gordon the truck guy. We finally got our entire list checked off meaning we survived "Check In"!

After "Check In" there was a small gathering in the lobby of the theatre were we all gathered and snacked on goodies. Loretta and I were ready to go though. We actually were headed to Coeur d' alene for the night with our friend Sara who was leaving out of the Spokane airport just like me the next morning. Loretta being the sweet girl she is said she would take us to the airport. I then flew across the country and I find myself in the comfort of my Dad's house, sitting at the kitchen counter, smelling my dog Gretel's loving but rank farts. Hahahaha!
Aww home. . .
-Jen :)