So, I've shared before about my desire to be a star! Well, this week I had an opportunity and I seized it. Unfortunately I will not be on any billboards nor will you the see the 2 minute trailer anytime soon BUT if you are being trained as a Patient Advocate at hospitals around the country, you may catch a little glimpse of me!
Here's how it happened:
I was leaving our Social Work all Staff meeting and Donna, who I am on a committee with, told me to come inside a room for auditions. I was a bit confused so she briefly explained about some video that was being filmed to show what a day in the life of a Patient Advocate looks like. At Duke, PA's are there to listen to complaints and to ensure families and patients are receiving the best care possible. It is not an easy job and they can be pulled in many directions everyday.
I went into rehearsal and apparently everyone there had already received a script and knew what part they wanted to try out for. I quickly looked over the script, started to get nervous and lucky me, my pager went off! I explained to Donna that I was paged to clinic and had to go. She had me quickly write my name and number and suggested I list a character that I would like to play. Since I hadn't made it past page two, I wrote down chaplain which was one of the onscreen parts.
I went about my day and later that afternoon I was paged by Donna. She wanted me to come back and read for a part of the Chaplain. OMG...seriously. I started to get nervous and I quickly read through the lines so I at least knew what I was supposed to be talking about. I got there and was shuffled to the front for my rehearsal.
The scene is a chaplain entering the office of Chris, a PA as she's rushing out the door. The chaplain explains to Chris that a patient they worked with last week didn't do well with treatment so he was discharged to hospice. Chris had worked closely with this family so the chaplain is trying to provide her with support in the scene as Chris receives this terrible news.
I figured this part was actually perfect for me. Hell, I had 7 years of hospice experience to draw from!
I held the script tight and did my first read through without much emotional sincerity. I was nervous and had 25 people staring at me. The director made some suggestions, I took a deep breath and delivered my 12 lines like a star. The room actually applauded and one woman said she had tears in her eyes. I was a bit overwhelmed and the director said the part was mine.
I was on cloud nine! Now don't get me wrong, I knew this wasn't going to be the next Oscar-worthy performance but I was damn proud of myself for doing it.
Today was the shoot and it was a bit like a real set...lots of lights, props, even makeup! Initially there was alot of sitting around because they weren't running on time. I eventually got my microphone attached and entered in to the brightly lit room where they were shooting. In the first two run through's I totally flubbed my lines but luckily everyone was nice and said they could fix stuff in the editing room. They shot two more closeups, one for me and one for the woman playing Chris. I did those lines PERFECTLY. Not one mistake!!! I heard the word cut and I was done. The bright lights faded. My 15 minutes were over and I had to return to work.
Reality quickly set in and I returned to the barrage of emails that were flooding my inbox. I don't' think I will ever get to Hollywood to be a star but I can say that I had a few onscreen minutes even if the only people that ever see it are hospital employees at some random hospital in the middle of Nebraska.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
To be 18 again
Amidst the turkey gorging and beer drinking, we had a special birthday to celebrate this past holiday. My niece, Marina Jordan Casto turned 18 years old.
It seems like only yesterday, I was performing in my senior play at school when I was told I had a telephone call on the school payphone...do you remember those? I ran down the hall between scenes and I learned that my sister had given birth to a healthy baby girl. I was even lucky enough to have suggested her middle name. I was ecstatic.
Over the years I have watched her grow into a beautiful and downright HILARIOUS young woman. Sometimes I felt like more of a older sister because we often enjoy the same music, movies, etc. She is kind and thoughtful and a little bit sassy. She's smart, funny and an all around blast to be around. She is the queen of one-liners...it makes me a little jealous since I am the kind of person that thinks of something funny to say about 10 minutes after the moment has passed.
We were there this past week to share in the blowing out of those 18 candles. Just like I was there at her Christening serving as godmother, her confirmation serving as her sponsor and I will be there watching her walk across the stage at her high school graduation in a few months. She is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to see where life will take her.
(Currently I am hoping that life takes her to school at either the College of Charleston or Coastal Carolina!)
Her visiting me in Chicago in 2007
Christmas 2009
Oh. My. Gosh.
It seems like only yesterday, I was performing in my senior play at school when I was told I had a telephone call on the school payphone...do you remember those? I ran down the hall between scenes and I learned that my sister had given birth to a healthy baby girl. I was even lucky enough to have suggested her middle name. I was ecstatic.
Over the years I have watched her grow into a beautiful and downright HILARIOUS young woman. Sometimes I felt like more of a older sister because we often enjoy the same music, movies, etc. She is kind and thoughtful and a little bit sassy. She's smart, funny and an all around blast to be around. She is the queen of one-liners...it makes me a little jealous since I am the kind of person that thinks of something funny to say about 10 minutes after the moment has passed.
We were there this past week to share in the blowing out of those 18 candles. Just like I was there at her Christening serving as godmother, her confirmation serving as her sponsor and I will be there watching her walk across the stage at her high school graduation in a few months. She is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to see where life will take her.
(Currently I am hoping that life takes her to school at either the College of Charleston or Coastal Carolina!)
Her visiting me in Chicago in 2007
Christmas 2009
My wedding
Monday, November 8, 2010
Current Events
I think life is finally calming down for a least a few weeks before the holidays hit us smack in the face. Last week, MJ finished his course for work and passed all three of his certification tests. I am in the home stretch of the grief group for which I have been a volunteer for the last 8 weeks. This week is our last group and then my Thursday evenings will be free again.
My parents were in town this weekend so my mom, Christian and I ventured out for some Christmas shopping. A girlfriend of mine told my about this church that hosts an annual bazaar where they sell large chicken pot pies. Apparently they are the talk of the town and the best things since sliced bread. Well, my mom and I arrived at 9:15 (the bazaar opened at 9am) and we were immediately put in a line about 40 people long. They have a maximum number that you can buy and they were going like hotcakes! We bought the maximum number(10), figuring we would freeze them for winter and decided to try one out for dinner that night. Boy was it yummy! I totally get why people wait in line for these round pies of warm goodness. A perfect comfort food delight. I am looking forward to enjoying them throughout the winter.
This weekend my parents also met Luna. She is getting big but is still the sweetest little puppy. Here's a little report card update:
She's now has a designated a spot where she tends to potty. We have added a bell to the door to teach her to ring when she needs to go out. She has started moving towards the door when she needs to go out so think she realizes she needs to potty outside. The whole weekend was accident free!
Chewing: B+
She still wants to chew EVERYTHING! She does good with redirection to one of her toys and understand "NO". She totally destroyed one of her 'bobo" dolls which had to go to the trash can but at least it wasn't' one of our shoes.
Tricks: A
She has learned to sit very well especially when we go outside to put on her leash. She will sit on command 9 times out of 10. I am working on stay and she's doing pretty well. We can't wait to teach her some more fun stuff but we need to get the basics down first. Michael is excited to teach her, "Are you a Duke fan?" to which she will lay on her back with her feet in the air. I think that one is a long way off though.
Crate Training (Sleeping): A-
She will "kennel up" very well at night and sleeps until about 6:30 or later. The only accidents she had in her crate was once during the day last week.
Crate Training (Daytime): C+
She barked when I left her this morning but stopped when I said "quiet." MJ goes home during the day to let her out cuz her bladder is still small and she cannot hold it more than four or so hours. We are hoping for no accidents this week,
People Interactions: A+
She LOVES meeting new people and will even try to follow them home. I am trying not to take offense to that.
Dog Interactions: B+
We were dog sitting Maya a few nights last week and they are working on their friendship. Initially Maya wanted nothing to do with her but was amenable to Luna crawling all over her. She has met some other dogs when we've been out and she's done well.
Overall we are so pleased. She's super cute and such a lap dog. She can now jump up onto the couch so snuggle time is pretty much anytime we are home!
My parents were in town this weekend so my mom, Christian and I ventured out for some Christmas shopping. A girlfriend of mine told my about this church that hosts an annual bazaar where they sell large chicken pot pies. Apparently they are the talk of the town and the best things since sliced bread. Well, my mom and I arrived at 9:15 (the bazaar opened at 9am) and we were immediately put in a line about 40 people long. They have a maximum number that you can buy and they were going like hotcakes! We bought the maximum number(10), figuring we would freeze them for winter and decided to try one out for dinner that night. Boy was it yummy! I totally get why people wait in line for these round pies of warm goodness. A perfect comfort food delight. I am looking forward to enjoying them throughout the winter.
This weekend my parents also met Luna. She is getting big but is still the sweetest little puppy. Here's a little report card update:
She's now has a designated a spot where she tends to potty. We have added a bell to the door to teach her to ring when she needs to go out. She has started moving towards the door when she needs to go out so think she realizes she needs to potty outside. The whole weekend was accident free!
Chewing: B+
She still wants to chew EVERYTHING! She does good with redirection to one of her toys and understand "NO". She totally destroyed one of her 'bobo" dolls which had to go to the trash can but at least it wasn't' one of our shoes.
Tricks: A
She has learned to sit very well especially when we go outside to put on her leash. She will sit on command 9 times out of 10. I am working on stay and she's doing pretty well. We can't wait to teach her some more fun stuff but we need to get the basics down first. Michael is excited to teach her, "Are you a Duke fan?" to which she will lay on her back with her feet in the air. I think that one is a long way off though.
Crate Training (Sleeping): A-
She will "kennel up" very well at night and sleeps until about 6:30 or later. The only accidents she had in her crate was once during the day last week.
Crate Training (Daytime): C+
She barked when I left her this morning but stopped when I said "quiet." MJ goes home during the day to let her out cuz her bladder is still small and she cannot hold it more than four or so hours. We are hoping for no accidents this week,
People Interactions: A+
She LOVES meeting new people and will even try to follow them home. I am trying not to take offense to that.
Dog Interactions: B+
We were dog sitting Maya a few nights last week and they are working on their friendship. Initially Maya wanted nothing to do with her but was amenable to Luna crawling all over her. She has met some other dogs when we've been out and she's done well.
Overall we are so pleased. She's super cute and such a lap dog. She can now jump up onto the couch so snuggle time is pretty much anytime we are home!
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