What a week! (and a bit)

After a very boring day as Tigger on the 11th and a day off on the 12th I had a pleasant surprise on Saturday when I started my late CAF shift. I was talking to one of the ACC's (a really nice guy called Fabian) and next to my name on his timesheet it said "SC APP R de B N jeudi 10" which puzzled both of us. I was Sheriff of Nottingham in the Café so it was a very boring shift of not doing much because no-one liked my character (but we watched The Notebook in the breakroom) so I spent a lot of time thinking about what the code on the sheet meant. After the end of the shift, Fabian gave me that section of his sheet and when I went into work on Sunday and asked Character 1 what it meant and it turned out it was to change my shift to have my Evil Queen approval on Thursday 18th. So the code meant Shift Change Approval Reine de Blanche Neige jeudi 10am (shift start). And because I was working an 8:15 start they had to change my time so that it fitted in with the face trainers. So that was incredibly exciting and also nerve wracking because I had my training 2 months ago!

That Sunday I was working 1:15 'til 9:15 as SPP and was Tweedle Dum in Park 2, Green Army in DOUD and then I did my first Fantillusion parade as a Serpent Villain. Luckily I could still remember everything from my REP 2 weeks beforehand but unfortunately the girl I was partnered with couldn't remember it (even though she'd done the parade a week before) and she also wasn't trained to push the light truck. So I had to do it for the whole parade! Because Fanti has showstops, I have to park the lights so that they shine on the float, but for the first showstop I accidentally set them up the wrong way round!!! Meaning I had a bit of a panic and a rush to put them the right way, which confused my partner even more and we must've looked a right mess! And then the second showstop the lights didn't turn on so I didn't know whether I had to switch them to manual and do it myself making me panic again flicking switches and pushing buttons etc. but the eventually came on which was a relief. That second showstop went MUCH better! I had the day off on Monday so I did some much needed washing and cleaning and then was very lazy all day after that. It felt so nice to have a day off but it's frustrating that I haven't had two off together in a while because I don't ever feel fully rested.

I worked a 12-8 SPP shift on Tuesday and did 1 set as Tigger which was both good and bad at the same time. Good because it meant I wasn't mobbed ALL day, but bad because there was a lot of hanging around waiting to see what we were doing etc. For DOUD I was supposed to be doing Tigger, but as I got into my kit I was called back down to sign in and was changed to Green Army which was slightly annoying because I was quite looking forward to it. It was also freeeeeeezing cold that day and the Green Army costumes aren't that warm so I wasn't even more miffed that I got changed to Green Army. But at least I was doing parade and not doing more sets. After DOUD I was on Fantillusion again but this time I was a Flame Villain. And my partner was a friend of mine, Bev, who can also push the light truck so I got a break from that between showstops as we alternated each time. It was a lot of fun and some people I knew were watching it too which made it even better. J After my shift I did a Fosse dance class taken by none other than Daniel Harding himself! Lots of people turned up and we did a routine to Sing Sing Sing which is one of my favourite pieces of swing/jazz music so I really enjoyed the class. I stayed for an hour and a half but 8 or 9 people stayed for another hour and a bit on top of that and learnt the whole routine. Part of me wished I'd stayed but Charlotte did and she didn't get back 'til gone 11 so I was also glad it didn't stay that long.

On Wednesday (17th) I was Tigger again on set in Fantasyland just doing 1 set again and then was Tigger on DOUD so I was very excited this time. Although, the weather had strangely perked up that day so it was quite warm for mid November! I definitely managed my energy better that time though. I wasn't anywhere near as tired and enjoyed it instead of wishing to get to the end of the parade route. I was down to do Fantillusion as well, as a Flame Villain again but apparently my partner wasn't actually in work or something so I was rope carrier instead. The costume is SO cool! It is white satin trousers (lined though so that they're not cold) and a cotton turtle neck and a white satin jacket with big puff sleeves with cerise accent fabric and then I got a cape covered in sequins and a big sequined hat with heathers and fluff on it. I also got to wear make-up which felt quite odd but nice at the same time. I'm so used to seeing my face without it that I couldn't figure out whether I liked wearing make-up haha. That day my friend Laura had her Evil Queen approval (totally out of the blue which surprised her) and she got approved so she was giving me loads of pointers and reassurance about mine the next day.

When I came in on Thursday for my approval I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing and felt so scared about it. I think I was most worried about the talking aspect of it because I didn't want to say the wrong thing or try and speak French and not be understood. Make-up seemed to take ages and I wasn't sure whether my make-up artist was nice or not, because some things she said were but then she also seemed annoyed sometimes and would push my head from side to side so that she had good angles to apply my make-up. Whilst I was in Cosmetology Sebastian, one of the face trainers, who was observing my approval came up to tell me that I wouldn't start my sets until 1.30 so I had an hour and a half for lunch to come back at 1 for retouch in make-up and then go out at 1.30. I did 3 sets and I think for the first one I was too nervous so I got quite a lot of pointers and then the second set I was focussing too much on the fact that I did things wrong and so by the third set I started to enjoy it more. I wanted Tom to come and take some photos of me but Sebastian wouldn't let him come with us. Luckily a friend Izzy had her parents visiting and she went to meet them and as she walked past she used her parents' camera to take some photos so I'll put those up for you to see.

I had the day off on Friday and Sunday and today which was quite nice, but it felt like a waste a little bit because I was only working a day in between two days off which seemed silly. And Saturday wasn't a very interesting day because I started at 9 and was down to do Christmas Goofy but obviously I can't do that anymore (even though they keep giving me those shifts) so instead I was Geppetto on the ASE which wasn't very interesting. I think they don't have him on the train until they get a spare person with nothing to do and then they put him on it which is silly. I would've much preferred to do Tigger that day.

Mum, Dad and Tom come out in just over a week and luckily I've managed to swap my shift so I can meet them when they first arrive and check them into the hotel and then I have the day off and will go around the park with them on Thursday (corrected from Friday) which I'm soooo excited about. It will be really nice to see them and I hope Tom enjoys being back here. I think he's planning to have a few friends meet up with him when we're in the park which will be good for him. After their visit it's only 5 weeks until I'm home. Sometimes I feel like it's gone really quickly, and other times I feel like it's gone and is going so slowly. I think Christmastime will really hit me as I won't be spending it with family as I have done all my life but at least after that it's only 2 weeks until I come back. I'm giving mum and dad my presents for everyone and then we'll have a 2nd Christmas when I get back which will be lovely. And hopefully for my Birthday George and his Parents will be coming out to visit. But as it's a busy time it's quite expensive so we will see. I'm so grateful that my family and George are so supportive while I'm here, especially when I get homesick and they make me feel better. It always surprises me how much I miss people. I'm just glad that I have skype and George and I talk every day which makes it easier and harder at the same time. I really like hearing about what he's doing though cos he's so busy at the moment recording his first album and doing lots of gigs all over the place. He's just played a charity gig in honour of his late best friend Graham that apparently went really well and he's playing in Bristol on Thursday so things look like they're going very well for him. It's just a shame I'm missing all these great and important gigs :( All you readers should check out his music at www.georgemontague.com :)

Right, that's all for this week, I will update you in about a week or so!
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