Wednesday Through Saturday

Let me catch up on highlights of the last few days.
Wednesday we went to the Aronoff to see the touring company of War Horse. We had decided to see Trip to Bountiful instead of War Horse because War Horse, like most productions at the Aronoff, was so expensive. But then, after we had committed to the Playhouse play, I got an e-mail offering a "family pack" of tickets to select performances of War Horse—four tickets for only $100. I couldn't resist. I emailed Evelyn and Dave Ray and asked if we and the Rays would be free on one of the available times, and we picked Wednesday, April 3.
The play was remarkable. They did so many creative things on stage, with several life-size puppets, not just the horse of the title. We enjoyed it.
But as we were driving home at 11:30 on the night before my 6 a.m. Bible study the next day, I realized I was paying a price beyond dollars to have this experience.
The highlight Thursday was taking a break to go to a small recording booth at the Fox Broadcasting

Plaza, not far from downtown. A Christian radio station operates on one floor on one side of the building, and I had been asked to go there to record a 60-second promo for two Standard books by Beth Guckenberger. I enjoyed it, and it was really nice to have the break after the short night before.
"You've got a nice set of pipes," the guy pushing the buttons said to me. "Seems to me you've wasted a good voice on a career in print!" It's nice to think about the possibility of a back-up plan.
Friday night Evelyn and I had a nice evening: dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (used a gift certificate from Christmas) and then went to Pearle Vision to spend our Flex money on a couple of pairs of glasses for Evelyn.
Today I woke up early (by 7:00). We had some breakfast. I prepared for hosting at the 8:30 Chapel service and checked the checkbook. We Skyped with Wendy and then I spent some time thinking about hymns to sing during our gathering times on our cruise this summer. (I promised to have song sheets ready by April 15.)
We ate Easter leftovers for lunch and then took our walk. (Almost 60 degrees by the time we were outside.) Then I cut down the dead pine tree in the backyard and went to Lowe's to buy 8 bags of soil to cover up the stump (and maybe do some landscaping later this spring). I hauled the 8 40-pound bags to the back and spread 'em around on the bed and did some other clean-up in one of the perennial beds. I also took some time to plant some lettuce seeds in a window box on the deck. Then I took my shower and settled into the recliner in the living room to skim Time and take a nap.
Evelyn fixed our favorite salmon recipe for dinner, and I spent time afterwards getting acquainted with my birthday present. I bought myself a new camera. Found a deal on Amazon this week that I couldn't resist. When it was all over I got this for slightly over half price. Now I have to learn how to use it.
Here are a few pictures I took this evening while I was experimenting. Probably more tomorrow.