Sister Suffragette

April 13, 2016 By Rebecca in Family, Say It Somehow 6 Comments

This year I’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day… with a brand new Birth Control!

That’s right kids. I’m taking charge of my reproductive health. A woman can make these decisions, you know. It’s a thing now. I was inspired to write about it due to a HuffPo piece this week. Women have been sharing their stories online about Oral Contraceptives using #MyPillStory, and I wanted to add my voice.

I started taking the pill way before I was sexually active. I struggled with painful cycles in middle school, so my mother (talk about a smart woman) took me to my first visit with an OB/GYN at 12. Before this visit, Mom had always come into the room with me during appointments, but this time she let me go on my own. I was nervous, but Dr. Yen was patient and clear. She was the first doctor who talked to me like an adult who was capable of making my own decisions.

I started taking birth control and felt a change immediately. I had lighter, shorter, and less painful cycles. They were more predictable. I wasn’t concerned with using The Pill for contraceptive reasons, so I wasn’t as important for me to take it at the same hour/minute precisely each day.

I stopped taking it my senior year of highschool (still pre-sexual activity), mainly due to finding that I no longer needed it to help with my cycles. I knew it was an option that worked for me if I ever needed to return to it. When I became sexually active in college, I began taking it again, in addition to using condoms with my partners. I wanted to make damn sure there was no fear about babies or STDs. I’ve gone on and off The Pill without much issues, but I’ve hardly been consistent with taking it at the same time each day. I explored the nuva ring for a time, but I didn’t like it for reasons.

This past year, my husband and I started having sex sans condoms for the first time. To calm my child-free paranoia, I have been more consistent with The Pill. There are still days however when I forget it in the morning rush to get out the door, or weekends when I sleep in and don’t end up taking it until 4 hours after my time. I’m frustrated with the inflexibility of this method. I don’t think anyone wants to be a slave to The Pill. After much deliberation and discussion with my heaven-sent adult OB/GYN Dr. Baer, I will be starting a new method on Mother’s Day. A Etonogestrel contraceptive implant. I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

Golden Palace

December 31, 2012 By Rebecca in Family, Friendship, Life Upon The Wicked Stage, Soliloquy, There's No Cure like Travel Tags: 2012, 2013, health care, new year, Physical therapy 2 Comments

Rebecca 2012

2012 started with a flight to Minneapolis for another tour with the National Theatre for Children. Touring taught me so much about myself – I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. I met new friends, reconnected with old, and made some kids laugh. I dined at Chef Michael Symon’s Lola Bistro, hiked Appalachia, had my tarot read, prayed at the Basilica St. Lawrence, and wrote a lot of postcards. I also got to spend a couple weeks working in Cincinnati, Ohio and reconnecting with my grandparent’s roots at the Seminary. Timely – my grandmother passed away before I was finished with tour. She was my hero – a strong, powerful woman who taught me to give 100% of myself to my passions. I returned to Tulsa to celebrate her life, then went back to North Carolina to finish tour with Andy. I spent a lovely weekend walking the beaches and waterfront in Wilmington, NC, visited a wonderful Unitarian Universalist Church in Winston-Salem, and fell in love with Finnegan’s Wake. To top it all off – I spent St. Patrick’s Day with good friends in Chicago – the first of many, I hope. Flying back to Tulsa was stressful (I will never love you, Denver.) but I made it home with a better understanding of myself.

I spent a better part of 2012 trying to heal myself. An MRI showed no injury in my knee – nothing wrong. I worried I might never get over the pain. After more doctors visits than I can count, and a whole lot of BenGay, I finally was recommended to begin Physical Therapy. It has been 4 weeks since I started PT and I am happy to say that I have much less pain. What I and my doctor thought was knee pain… is actually pulled muscles from my Achilles tendon all the way to my hamstrings. Without PT I could spend the rest of my life in pain. Thankfully my pain has decreased nearly 60% and I’m doing better everyday. A combination of Dry Needling and daily stretches seems to be the trick.

This is wonderful news, but it also carries it’s own frustration. You see, even though I do have Medical Insurance, my specific plan won’t cover PT. I have to pay nearly $50 for each session out of pocket. I do it, of course, because I have to. The pain was unbearable – and there is no price I wouldn’t pay. I’m thankful I am in a position right now to be able to take care of myself. I know that there are those who can’t. I support a National Healthcare plan for this very reason. That’s my soapbox for tonight.

Another highlight of my year was working with Carly and Amber on ‘Night Mother. It was exhilarating! Creativity was beyond capacity and I will never forget the absolute joy that came from working on that show. I’m so thankful for the experience. I also am thankful for my work at Clark Theatre this year – joining the staff at the Henthorne Performing Arts Center was a childhood dream come true. I’m proud of my work there. I also helped plan the wedding of Tony and Allison Boese in November – oh my goodness I have been so busy! Where did I find all of this time?

And so I say thank you and goodbye to 2012, the year that I really met myself. My head is high as I look to the new year. I have a show in production at the start of the year, I’m teaching more classes in the spring, and the summer will be full of surprises! It might get windy. Stay tuned! Thank you all for your friendship and continued support. I love you all!

Putting it Together

July 30, 2012 By Rebecca in Family, Friendship, My Funny Valentine, Soliloquy Tags: jobs, shows, Winter is coming Leave a comment

Well, I think it’s about time for another installment of the Rebecca Show. This week’s episode brought to you by 8 o’clock coffee, good at any time – day or night. Find it in your local grocery store today.
Many chores to be done this week, including but not limited to the following; laundry, sewing, grocery shopping (I’m out of coffee), reading, and organizing. Many preach of spring cleaning, but in the spring I would much rather be outside enjoying the weather. This week, with it’s 111 (elevnty-one) temperatures, I will lock myself inside and focus on getting things in order. Thus, summer cleaning has been born. Tell your friends.
It’s all about increasing productivity, really. Winter is coming (you’re welcome Jessie/Allison) and I have to be prepared for anything. My calendar is filling up and I need some sort of order in my life. When I was in college, I took on too much and I would become overwhelmed. Now I can prioritize and focus. I hate to say “no” but sometimes, for my own sanity, I must.
The stressful thing is the choosing. “The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not,” says Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. It frustrates me to no end to waste time on making a decision. Sometimes you just have to stop fretting over which decision is right and just choose. In situations like these, I don’t flip a coin, but go with my gut instinct. I don’t want to say that I’ve never been wrong, but I usually don’t regret the choice I made.
Stay tuned for more good news. I’m in talks to do something magical this fall. Should it come through, I’ll do a back flip. I don’t want to drop too many hints, but I’ve been told there are giants in the sky.

River In The Rain

February 27, 2012 By Rebecca in Family, There's No Cure like Travel Tags: Grandma, grief, North Carolina, There's No Cure like Travel 3 Comments

I will be returning to Tulsa for the summer for work. This is fortunate for a number of reasons – I love the work I do and I get to spend time with family. It’s a win-win scenario. It also gives me time to prepare for the next chapter in my life, whatever or wherever that may be.

Crossing o'er the river in Bat Cave, North Carolina

April showers will bring May travels – Max and I go to the United Kingdom. We’re tentatively planning London for 3 days, then Stratford upon Avon for 2 days, then Scotland for the rest of our vacation. We will take a double-decker bus/walking tour of London, see some shows in the West End, and perhaps even eat some British food (Oh! The humanity!!!). In Stratford we will (what else?) pay our respects to the Bard and see some more theatre. And then Scotland is calling with good friends and good food. Haggis, anyone?

I’m very fortunate for all of my travels. I hope to never stop visiting new places. I suppose at some point in my life I will run out of places to go. Should that point come, I will revisit my favorites. All the world’s a stage.

Guess he kinda likes me, huh?

I must tell you all of the horribly romantic, no-good, silly man who came to visit me last week. You may have heard of him. They call him Max. He surprised me last Friday by showing up in North Carolina of all places.

We had talked in the past of doing a long distance date. I would go to a movie theater here in NC and he would go to a movie theater in OK. We would see the same movie, then skype while having dinner to talk about it.

After our shows on Friday, he asked me to pick a movie and he would go see it too. I looked up times for the town we were in and we decided on Woman in Black at 4:30.

We crossed on huge boulders and stopped to take this picture in the middle of the river.

When I arrived to the movie theater and went to the box office to purchase my ticket a handsome man in a grey sports coat approached me. I was having a bad day and didn’t pay much attention to him, until he said “hey there” in the most familiar voice.

I could not believe it! I didn’t suspect a thing the entire time and here was my best friend and confidant, showing up out of nowhere on a white stallion, looking like a million bucks, holding me up so my knees wouldn’t give out because I was so shocked. Okay, so there wasn’t a white stallion, sue me. Still – you cannot imagine how shocked I was.

“Well, forget the movie!”

The Basilica St. Lawrence

He insisted we go see it anyway. He bought my ticket and we walked into the theater and took our seats half way up and center. (I don’t know what I was thinking – there is no way I could have seen that movie on my own. I screamed at least twice.) After the movie he took me to a delicious restaurant where we shared delicious mussels and a meatball/mushroom Calzone. It was a beyond-romantic evening in Hendersonville, NC. I’m still shocked.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew XI, 26)

The next day had hiking in Chimney Rock State Park in Bat Cave, NC and a decent ghost tour of Asheville with Andy. Every step I took was a skip.

The next morning I got the news that my grandmother had passed. I’m sad to say that Facebook was the one to tell me. It was the worst way to receive the news, but hindsight is 20/20 and I have nothing else to say on that matter. Still, Max was a beacon of light in my sorrow. Without his support, I don’t know what I would have done. We had breakfast, then Dad called and we chatted and I started making plans to return home for the services. NTC was very good to me in my grief – I am so very fortunate to work for such a great company. The rest of the rainy day was spent in Asheville – with a visit to the Basilica St. Lawrence. She would have loved that I found my way to a church that morning to pray/meditate.

I wanted to tell her all about the Seminary and tour. I wanted her to be at my wedding. But she was so sure of her place in Heaven – I can find my own comfort in that. It is selfish to wish her to suffer more for my sake. She even said that she was ready to go home. Not home to her house in Tulsa, but home to her Lord. She’s leading the choir by now, if I know her, and I think it’s safe to say I do. I sure to miss her though.

Anyway, it was good timing for Max to join me for a number of reasons. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts during this time. Most of all – I love you, Dad (since, let’s face it – you’re probably the only one reading this. And it’s true anyway so I may as well say it.)

Flying Home

February 24, 2012 By Rebecca in Family, Soliloquy Tags: Grandma, Grandmother, grief, Leaving, loss, Tulsa 2 Comments

It has been a very strange turn of events that found me here, 30,000 feet above the ground. It was a long journey home to celebrate the life and grieve the loss of our very own Martha Blackmore. Her entire family was there to go through this difficult time together.

I return to North Carolina with a cross to bear, but I don’t bear it alone. I will tell her story early and often. If you’re the praying type – send some words upstairs for Roy, Phil, Tim, and Mark. Thoughts for the rest of the Blackmore Clan wouldn’t hurt either. We’re all doing the best we can, but we need some help.

A Summer Winter in Ohio

January 31, 2012 By Rebecca in Family, Friendship Leave a comment

Ohio was good to us. The snow that we had was mild and manageable. We spent one magical weekend in Cleveland to see the Rock and Roll hall of fame and have dinner at Chef Michael Symon’s Lola Bistro. We had Skyline Chili. I took a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo. I went to a fancy movie theater to see The Artist. Good times were had. Below are some videos we produced for the NTC website featuring some of our adventures. You can see more videos at myenergykit.org.

But through it all, I continued to be homesick. Please don’t get me wrong. I love the work I’m doing and the travels I’m having. But I miss all the people in my life. I can’t wait until I get to see you again.

In case you haven’t caught it yet (and shame on you if you haven’t) every blog I post has a title that is a show tune that I feel is relevant to the day’s post. I’ll just leave you with the lyrics from today’s song from Jason Robert Brown’s Last Five Years:

I could have a satchel full of dollar bills
Cures for all the nations ills
Pills to make a lion purr
I could be in line to be the British queen
Look like I was seventeen
Still I’m certain I’d prefer to be going slowly batty
Forty miles east of Cincinnati

I could shove an ice pick in my eye
I could eat some fish from last July
But it wouldn’t be as awful as a summer in Ohio
Without cable, hot water, Vietnamese food, or you.

Dear Old Shiz

January 16, 2012 By Rebecca in Family Tags: Cincinnati Christian University, Genealogy, Grandfather, Grandma, Grandmother, Grandpa, Seminary 1 Comment

Today I took some time to visit the Cincinnati Christian University.

I can't tell you how proud this makes me.

In the 40’s, both my grandparents attended what was then called the Cincinnati Seminary. Later, in 1977, my uncle Mark graduated from the same Seminary. I have heard countless stories from the whole family about the seminary and their days there. Grandma Martha would tell me about her work in the music hall, which was having auditions while I was visiting. Grandpa Roy also had several stories about the Seminary on the hill. My own dad attended in ’67, but transferred to OU shortly after. My favorite class from his time here was a 3 credit hour class called “Christian Manhood.”

Armed with all of this knowledge, I visited the seminary to see what there was to see. I was awarded with the following sights:

: The view of Cincinnati from the seminary

: Roy Clark Blackmore in 1944

: Graduating class of ’44

: Martha Taylor in 1943

: Graduating class of ’43

: Cincinnati Christian University Seal

: The classes of ’43 and ’44

: Listed on these plaques is the name of every graduate of the seminary

: Roy and Martha were awarded the anchor award for their ministry. This plaque honors them both in the President’s Hall.

I sent the pictures to my Dad who was with Grandpa Roy. I hope they gave him a smile – as I know that my Grandmother has been admitted to the hospital today. I asked Rachel, the kind administrative assistant who helped me find everything, to pray for them. Walking the grounds was like walking in their footsteps. Like Grandma said when I last saw her, it was like looking in a mirror of another time.

90 years young, Grandpa and grandpa on a recent visit

Catch Me If You Can

January 8, 2012 By Rebecca in Family, Friendship, Soliloquy, There's No Cure like Travel Tags: Anxiety, Minneapolis, Tulsa 2 Comments

Well hello again, Minneapolis! It’s nice to see you again. Is that a new bed skirt?

I can’t believe I made it through two layovers and three flights without having to talk to a soul. It’s for the best. I wasn’t feeling too well.

I get nervous, and then when I start to think about being nervous – I get sick. It happens more than it probably should. The only way to fix it is to calm down, which is surprisingly difficult to do when it’s what you need to do. I’ve been like this all week, more so than usual. My parents took Max and I out to dinner the other night, and halfway through my chicken burger, I lost my appetite and then I started to worry about the inevitable loss of my dinner. In my childhood I would fast on show-days because of this phenomenon.

From the window of the plane I could see my bag.

Can’t get butterflies without the butter…? Sounds like that could be a good idiom for it. It’s not that I’m going to choke under the pressure, obviously. Simply choosing not to eat is not healthy and nigh-on impossible for the 10 weeks I’m on tour and single week leading up to it. Besides, I love food. It’s delicious. Om nom nom. I choose instead to eat light fare and take some tums. It works, but is it a permanent solution? I’m still nervous. A fair amount of stage-fright is good for the soul, but this feels different and it’s steadily becoming more overwhelming. Maybe it was just the flight, because I do feel better now. Truth be told, it’s not just touring that gets me in my head like this. I’m almost positive I’m doing damage to my stomach lining. Isn’t this how ulcers are born? Is that a myth? Am I over-reacting and causing more anxiety? How do people deal with anxiety? What are the alternatives? Anxiety medications? Counting to ten? Bulk-orders of tums?

In other news, I probably love Max more than I should – and I miss him. I miss you too, Tulsa. I miss your sunny, 70-degree January days. Try to fix up that construction on I-44 before March. To all of those I’ve left behind, know that I love and miss you too. But it’s almost crippling how much I miss Max when we’re apart.

As for you, Minneapolis, I have a man in a cosby sweater to meet at Liquor Lyle’s. It’s the 3-for-1s, they get me everytime. I ought to put on a sweater myself – Tulsa’s 70 degrees spoiled me and I wasn’t halfway prepared for the 20s that Minneapolis has to offer. Can’t get too crazy tonight though, rehearsal starts tomorrow! I’ll be damned if I spend the night in a bath tub again, amiright Michael and John?

Let the Winter 2012 Tour commence!

Finale, Act One.

December 30, 2011 By Rebecca in Family, Friendship, Soliloquy, There's No Cure like Travel Tags: 2011, Letter, Wrap-up 2 Comments

Dear Twenty Eleven,

You’ve been very strange and all over the place. We started out wonderfully. A sweet kiss from Mark Trotter at the Boese residence. Perhaps my desperation to find a fellow to kiss when the clock struck was unattractive. I had someone else in mind, but they turned down my advances. That could have been my first hint, but I wouldn’t allow it to rain on my parade. I pursued that boy all the way into March when he kissed another in front of me. A ginger at that! Oh, Twenty Eleven, I was furious – but had no one but myself to blame.

In February I traveled to Memphis, TN to audition at UPTAs. While the entire city of Tulsa was snowed in, I was tap dancing across a Marley floor in a hotel ballroom and doing my best Carol Burnett impersonation in callbacks. When I came back to Tulsa from my auditions, I discovered that I was laid off from my day job. Where one door closes, another opens – so I just had to find it. I didn’t find that door until May, but it was on the stage at American Theatre Company’s Taming of the Shrew, directed by the ever-wise Dan McGeeha n. I was very proud of my work.

When spring was sprung, I found myself back where I was happy most – with Max. We kept insisting we were just friends in public, but I’m pretty sure it was obvious. Tragedy struck in May. I helped as much as I could. It was awful. I don’t know what else to say here.

I was contracted for work in September for the National Theatre for Children. Leaving Tulsa was a difficult decision, but one I couldn’t pass up. I don’t regret it – touring made me feel alive. I missed Max with every beat of my heart, but touring is another world. I met so many wonderful people. I’m thrilled to join NTC for another tour next week – this time we’re coming for Ohio and North Carolina!

The holidays were hard, but we made it through for the better with our bellies full and our stockings stuffed. I’m just thankful for every day you gave me Twenty Eleven. You did alright by me, even when I didn’t realize it. Twenty Twelve should have more surprises in store. I’m just happy to tag along for the ride. Thanks for having me.

Need a Little Christmas

December 18, 2011 By Rebecca in Family, Friendship Leave a comment

I’m home for the holidays and I ship out again for tour on January 7th. That leaves me with just a couple short weeks to make the most of friends and family.

Max and I have been nearly inseparable, save for his crew work on Christmas Carol for American Theatre Company and for TCC’s Southeast PAC crew. He’s a hot ticket right now and I feel proud of him. He’s a big fish, and there has been talk about a bigger pond. (I’m rooting for Chicago, but he has aspirations for L.A.. We don’t have plans to move just yet, so there is still time to put in your bid!)

I’ve been reflecting a lot on tour and I think Michael summed it up perfectly in this post and montage.

Since being back, I have cooked dinners that were not of the microwave variety, worked in the women’s department at Macy’s for Black Friday, turned 24 years old, visited family and friends, and done some damage to my liver. In the following weeks I plan to wrap gifts, travel to Kansas for Max’s whole entire extended family, come back to Tulsa for mine, and party like it’s 2012 on New Years.

The best laid plans of mice and men…

Happy holidays to you and yours. And let’s continue working on that peace-on-earth stuff. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

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