Life in the Open Road

Fame

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:20:31 -0600

Well everyone, it’s been nice knowing you all. Now that I am a famous movie star, I probably won’t have much time to talk to any of you. What? You haven’t seen my movie? Oh, that’s probably because (if it actually gets made, and my scene doesn’t get cut) I’d have to be standing next to you with a pause button to show you my 15 seconds of fame.

Here’s the story: My mom (as a joke) sent a picture of me to a modeling agency who was looking for someone to act as a body double to their red-headed lead who was not on set yet. She told me to expect a call, and to find out what the movie was rated before I agreed (she didn’t want me acting as the dirty kind of body double). Well, the next day I got a call telling me to show up at 6 and wear a skirt.

It was all very exciting. They whisked me onto the very hectic set. One person was dressing me while another was giving me instructions, and another was checking to make sure my hair color matched the actress's. Basically my only job was to drive a car up and down a road (I did all my own stunts) and to avoid eye contact with the camera. Everyone kept asking if I was an aspiring actress, or what I had acted in before, but I don’t feel like my part had any acting job prerequisites. After my filming was over, they asked me to work as a stand in (stand where the actors will be so the director can set up all the lights and cameras, then I move and the actor does his thing).

Overall, I found the whole experience very exciting.
This is what I learned:

Acting is a good job. I did nothing and got paid 50$/hr
When on a busy set, no matter where you stand, you will be in someone’s way.
Actor’s are kinda snobby. (The male lead was the blonde guy from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants!)
The worst job is the Lights guy. He spent 45 min to set up the lighting for a 5 min scene.
To be a director you have to be very bossy.
Stereotypes about gay guys are true.
To be behind the camera, you are required to be Emo.
Food on set is pretty crappy.
Movies are hard to make.
I’m so glad I’m not in the movie business!!

Mother Nature Hates Us

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:25:22 -0600

The lack of current blog entries is simple: Life has been good! Let’s face it, you’re not here to read about how normal life in a 5th wheel is. How is that entertaining? Well, lucky for you, Mother Nature intervened.

Heartstone of Oklahoma has been very busy and very spread out across Oklahoma. (Our top 3 favorite restaurants are in Tulsa, Stillwater, and Lawton. Adam recently commented that we could easy hit all 3 in a day, without even going out of our way!) Well, when we are moving around that much, sometimes we have to lock the door to the Open Road and just pray that it is still there when we get back.

It was late at night when we returned to the Open Road, and the sight we returned to was not pretty. The entire bottom of the trailer was covered in icicles. It was worse when we walked inside....everything was flooded. Just to be safe, we had left the bathroom faucet just trickling, so the pipes wouldn’t freeze. Well, instead the drain froze and backed up the sink all over our entire house. Adam and I were so overwhelmed that we didn’t even have a chance to be mad. We just walked to the bedroom, took off our wet socks, and went to sleep.

The next morning Adam had a project to tend to, so me and my team of experts attacked the flood head on.

After a full day of vacuuming, fanning, and dehumidifying, it was good as new! I can now proudly walk anywhere in the house and my socks stay dry!

De-Skunking

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:53:44 -0600

Besides the vacuum cleaner, skunks are Red Rock’s number one nemesis. Birdy, unfortunately, has taken after Rock’s love for chasing down a skunk, so I have probably de-skunked a dog over 30 times. Because of my experience, I thought I should share with you the fool proof way to deal with a dog that smells so bad that you can’t stand to be within 50 feet of him.

Here’s the trick:
Start with a skunky dog.
Mix Hydrogen Peroxide with dish soap and pour it all over the dog till he is completely sudsy.
Then rub in Baking Soda so that it makes a paste.
(I make him stay like this a while so that it sinks in.)
Then rinse him off.
Now you have a dog that you can put back in your bed at night.

Note: They DO NOT like this. It burns my hands, so I can only imagine how it feels to the dog.

You would think that eventually they would learn to just leave the skunk in peace, but they are not that smart. (I am very confident that if Birdy came in contact with another Rattler, she’d shove her face right at it again.)

The Never Ending Christmas Break

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:11:21 -0600

Well, we are officially back in the Open Road after approximately 3 weeks of Christmas break back in Kansas. There was so much excitement that I don’t even know how I would begin to tell you all about it. Instead, we’re going to do this Letterman style and count down the highlights (idea curtsey of Sarah Hachmeister from
the-o-house.blogspot.com).

Two bird dogs in our bed every night (there’s nothing like waking up with a 70 pound dog passed out on your chest)

Fondue at the Fink’s on Christmas Eve (best tradition ever!)

The annual Ginger Bread House Competition (which my team should have won. We were cheated out of a victory)

7.Never ending delicious food (being home is good for our budget)

A last minute Colorado trip with some really fun people (and no broken bones to go with it)

Seeing all our favorite friends and family. (especially the ones who gave us really awesome presents)

All the heat we could ask for...in just one room (as long as we kept the fire stoked)

All new dirt bike gear (which would really come in handy if my KTM ran)

2. A White Christmas! (conveniently, also the reason for our long break...can’t work in the snow!)

And most importantly....coming home to a 5th wheel (no one had hooked up and driven it to Mexico while we were gone) with no frozen pipes and fully functioning water (just one small leak turned icicle)

We had so much fun in Wichita, and really enjoyed the break, but it’s good to be home!

Which, by the way, happens to be in Tulsa right now

On the Run

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:29:29 -0600

Even since it stopped staying light outside past 6 o’clock, I’ve tried to figure out a way to exercise both in the light, and while it is warm. Well, at this point I have accepted the fact that I am just going to have to face the winter and run in the cold, dark mornings.

On the plus side, the 15 degree weather freezes the sand on the beach as hard as concrete!

Adam always says that his life is controlled by the weather, and now I am starting to understand. The length of my morning run is controlled by how cold it was the night before. My beach route gets cut off by these muddy fingers of the lake, and unless it is frozen solid, I can’t cross and continue on. (I suddenly feel a strong connection to the plight of the polar bears!)

Every time I attempt to cross, I walk very gently and pick my steps ever so carefully. At the same time, I have two wild bird dogs who tear by me, realize I’m not following them, turn around and stand right next to me like they’re trying to help. I can’t count how many times I’ve screamed at them “Go Away! You’re breaking my ice!”

As you can imagine, I usually I finish the run in cold, muddy shoes.

I hate waking up, but I love watching the sun come up over the lake every morning!