all the world's a stage

Well then, it will be an experience for both of us. I'd offer my hand for you to hold, but I'm afraid I may pull you down with me if I fall. Regardless of if you bust your ass or not, I'll get you some hot cocoa. You can't go ice skating without treating yourself to some cocoa afterwards to warm up. @fallonpriya

There’s a flyer posted on the bulletin board at the Cityview Park right now that says apparently somebody is going around stealing people’s gloves, and that the park isn’t responsible for any stolen property as well as a warning to keep your gloves either in your coat pockets or within your line of sight whenever you’re not wearing them. And I don’t know about you, but this opens up a whole world of questions for me. Why only gloves? Is there a secret underground glove blackmarket that’s booming right now while the gloveless masses of Merrock are left stranded? If the person I’m now dubbing the Missing Gloves Bandit found one glove unattended but not the other, would they settle for only half of a set or would they wait until two gloves became available at a later time? I need answers.

It is quite odd that they’re warning people about only gloves. You’d think it would be all winter wear like scarves, hats, and even coats or jackets. Maybe there is some sort of glove thief lurking around, just waiting for us to leave our gloves unattended. You’d think that if they had such a passion for gloves, they wouldn’t let only finding one stop them from the thrill of the steal. Maybe they even have a thing for mismatched gloves and prefer finding single gloves, since it means more combination possibilities.

OPEN STARTER

Not realizing she was blocking the way while she scooted about—around the pool area—looking for reception on her phone, Az felt her cheeks growing flushed when she realized someone was trying to get past her. “I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to check in back home and have no reception.” 

@merrock​

Nick had just gotten a refill on his drink and was returning to his spot in the sun. He shuffled his feet, trying to get around a woman on her phone, clearly trying to find cell reception. “No worries,” Nick politely smiled. “I’m pretty sure my cell has at least a bar or two if you need to borrow it.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket to confirm that it did have one bar of signal, which was better than nothing.

There’s a lot of work that goes into it! And it is no easy task. Oh, that’s awesome! Variety is good. People like to take on different projects and it’s probably more fun that way. I can see how it can get frustrating at times, most of the time too, everyone’s learning from scratch, right? In the end, it’s pretty worth it, all that hard work!

Variety definitely keeps it fresh and more fun, definitely. All the hard work we put into our productions makes it all worthwhile. Though I am happy to be on this trip and have a bit of a break from everything. Plus it’s been nice to escape the cold and be back on the beach. How are you enjoying everything?

It is the furthest from a bother, I will be prepared!

Have you been on any fun adventures since we’ve gotten to Costa Rica?

That’s probably for the best! Otherwise they just end up taking up a lot of space that you could fill with other things and, like you said, who has VCRs, anyway? I hear you, but now it’s getting harder to find the good stuff, you sort of have to grab whatever is there and hope that the kids like it. Or hope it’s what you like, if you’re like me. I feel like that’s the general favorite for everyone! That peanut buttery goodness mixed in, and everyone wanted to hoard them. I can remember when the caramel apple lollipops and sugar babies and daddies were all the rage. And the flavored tootsie rolls!

VCRs are basically an ancient 90s relic at this point. It can be harder to find the good stuff especially once it’s closer to the holiday. Plus they have so many variety packs of things now. Sometimes they have a little bit of everything good. But anymore I feel like most of them are candies I hate, combined with maybe one or two that I like. Those caramel apple lollipops are really good. I got some earlier in the fall season, actually. I do remember the flavored tootsie rolls! There were only a couple flavors I really liked. Mainly the cherry and I think the orange ones too.

So far, Costa Rica is much more gorgeous than I had expected! Not that I expected anything less than it being gorgeous. But I also did not know what to expect. I’m excited to taste all the local dishes and the fruit! This is what I miss, fresh fruit and maybe some desserts. How is everyone enjoying the resort?

It’s precisely the type of vacation I’ve needed in my life. It’s a nice little break from the cold weather back home. Food is always the best part of vacations for me. Especially when you’re somewhere brand new with foods you’ve never tasted before. I’ve mainly been lounging on the beach and enjoying the food and drinks. Though I did take a bike tour through the town, which I quite enjoyed. I’m planning on trying out snorkeling or maybe even scuba diving tomorrow. How are you enjoying your vacation?

He wants that chance to slip by even faster, which makes things even more sad. Well, that’s very charming. Were the kids excited for it? I’m sure they are now that rehearsals are underway, but sometimes kids want like Wicked or The Lion King or something.

I do remember being a kid and not being able to wait to grow up. I feel like it’s one of those “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” kinds of things. Because adults wish they could go back to their childhood, while kids just want to grow up. They were and still are excited about it! Though I’m sure, they’ll be more excited for the spring musical. Still have no idea what it will be yet, but there’s still plenty of time to decide.

“Sounds like a dream job to be honest. I always found drama teachers fun. Mine was a hoot to be around.” Ali grinned. “If you have to be a workaholic at least you should have fun, you know? Oh, my job’s boring. I’m an Investment Banker.” She exhaled a disappointed sigh. “Oh man, and here I thought you’d be making your own costumes, but when you do, let me know, I’d like to see it.”

“Well it’s nice to know that drama teachers have a fun reputation. Much better than being labeled as a boring science teacher or something,” Nick joked with a laugh. “Investment Banker may not have the same fun reputation that drama teachers have. But I’m sure your job also has some perks to it.” It seemed like the kind of job that required a certain level of education and training to take on. “I promise you’ll be the first to know when I start making my own costumes.”

That is a plan that works well for me!

They’ll probably be going on sale around the middle of November, so prepare to be bothered then.

Exactly, like I would, so never tempt, I’ll have an elf costume, bells, and all other Christmas baubles tagging along. That would add a challenge that I haven’t had before, since I’ve never celebrated Hanukkah and wouldn’t want to overshadow it in the slightest, to find a way to balance the two decors. I have a few Halloween things up but now I also have this demon baby doll in my house that does not make me a happy mama at all but it makes my daughter happy. I’m 98% sure she’s haunted now though – Rosalyn… the doll possibly too. Use what you have, it’d be so much easier to raid that then having to go out and buy something new. 

I have to say, I’m curious to see this elf costume and all these Christmas baubles you speak of. I can teach you all about Hannukah so you have some general knowledge about the holiday and the meaning behind it. A demon baby doll? Is this something she saw in a store and had to have or something? Hopefully you didn’t get it from a thrift store or something of that sort. Because those things are usually one hundred percent haunted. Use what you have are the wisest words ever spoken. I did find a dark blue jumpsuit in the costume closet, so I’m thinking I might as well find a Michael Myers mask and there’s my costume.