Hud and Viv in front of my favorite building in the whole world.

See that building?  That's the beautiful Sheridan Opera House...and I don't work there anymore.
It's been a week and I still can barely wrap my head around it.  On the night of my final performance, the wonderful SAF staff surprised me with a slideshow with photos of me from the beginning to the end of my 17 year run.  It was so special and meaningful I still can't even think about it without crying. Sigh....Thank you, Opera House and the people who work there.  I love you to the moon and back.

So what now? I'll tell you what...I JUST JUMPED ON THE SUPER-HIGHWAY OF EXTREME LEARNING!!  The very next day after leaving my job I emcee'd for the Mountainfilm Festival for three days, and I found myself right back in my good old Opera House, interviewing filmmakers on the very stage I had just left. I introduced 31 films, met dozens of filmmakers, and LEARNED SO MUCH.  Holy moly, did I learn.  I learned about Syrian refugees and how climate change effects political instability, and about the pollution of the Ganges River, and about brilliant yo-yo artists and about dead pets. My brain exploded about 800 times during the weekend.  As an emcee, there were highs and lows.  At one point I forgot the word for hyphen as I read a web address out loud and I stammered and struggled and then said, "you know, that small horizontal line?" Jeez.  And another time after a river film I merrily shouted out, "Didn't that movie make you want to go camping RIGHT NOW?" And the audience was absolutely silent. I'm squirming now just thinking about it.  I also forgot a film title once and the audience had to remind me. Ughhhhhhhhhh.  (The rest of it went really well but the epic fails are funnier so I had to mention them).

And THEN, the very next day after Mountainfilm, I began a 3 day Wilderness First Aid and CPR course.  And AGAIN, my brain exploded with all of the new info.  You GUYS!  I can bandage!  I can splint!  I know what shock is and how to treat it!  Do you have a some kind of gross, infected cut?  I totally know how to fix it.  Kaboom!!!!

Next up on the learning adventure: diesel engine repair and how to take better pics on my Iphone.

This post was all about me, sorry about that.  Next time I'm going to write all about Hud and Viv and Trav, I promise.

Oh, and my smart sister fixed our blog so it's easy to find how to follow it.  There's a button to click on the home page near the top, so please follow us.  Thanks so much for reading!!!