Famous last words: “Let’s see what kind of trouble I can get myself into.”

I know I needed to relax a bit, which is why I went out in the first place. I was too nervous to twiddle my thumbs. In hindsight, drinking was a bad idea. I told myself I would just have one. But one turned into “Hey, Becca – let’s chug this water bottle of liquor before we go in to the club!” and “Hey! I get a free drink for checking in on facebook! I might as well,” and then “James bought me this shot and I don’t want to seem ungrateful” and finally “well, I did say I would just have one drink… but I haven’t technically paid for a drink yet tonight. I should buy a round for Koya and James too!” Koya took care of me though. We walked to Jimmy Johns, had a sandwich, then hailed a cab to get back to the hotel. I went upstairs, drank lots of water, and took a bath to calm myself.

I woke at 7 this morning to pack up my life in a duffel bag and nurse a hangover. I’m a champ though, as you very well may know, so I didn’t get sick. At 8 am, I drove to Andy’s apartment to pick him up and start our tour together. We drove to Chaska and arrived just before 9. Our show wasn’t until 10:30, so we made our way to the nearest Caribou coffee to kill some time. When we got to the school, we unloaded the set and made our way to a classroom where we would be performing.

I think this morning’s performances were the most quirky that we will have. The classroom that we were performing in was too small for the set. Which is to say that it was very small because the set isn’t large at all (about 16 feet wide) but we solved that problem by striking one of the flats. Usually we will be performing in cafeterias or gymnasiums. This show is created for audiences of 100+, and we were performing to a group of 30 so they were quieter than I expect a larger crowd to be. In the second show, when I ask for a volunteer from the audience, no one raised their hand. It seemed like forever before a young lad named Caleb timidly raised his hand. What seemed like forever was actually about 5 seconds – but five seconds of silence is a long time in a presentational show like this.

However, the kids enjoyed the show and fun was had by all. In short, our tour has opened and we are on the road. The main purpose of this post it to say I’m alive and in Reedsburg, WI. More on that tomorrow though – I’ve got a good book to read.