Woke up to the alarm this morning. 9:15. I'm going to have to get used to waking up before then as of Monday. Today, it was just a little bit too early for me. But there was a set to be built from 10-2, and I didn't know who else would show up for the build.

For awhile, it was just me, the director, and Gus, the master carpenter. Gus put me to work immediately, taking apart platforms that were going to be stored for the next show. I got to use my power drill, which always makes me feel just a little bit butch.

After awhile, another carpenter named Lou showed up, as well as my costars Will and Ben. We started construction in earnest then; Will and I teaming up and Ben and Lou working together. Gus kept us all moving, and things got put together pretty quickly.

Will still strikes me as funny. He's a big, burly guy who loves construction, but when Gus asked the two of us if either one of us had used a chop saw before, he said, "No, man. Those things scare me." Wimpy, nail-setting me (my Dad used to let me do nothing but set nails whenever I had to go on construction projects with him) said "I have!" and proceeded to get all Ty Pennington with the chop saw. (If you haven't used one, you really should. It's tremendous fun, and only slightly puts you at risk for losing a finger.)

At around 1pm, Jude (my ingenue girlfriend) showed up. When asked what she can do, she said, "I can do anything!" which is the right attitude to have. She teamed up with Lou and put up a bunch of walls, as well.

Everything in community theater seems scrounged from some other source, and this was no exception. The walls are still blue and black, borrowed from other shows (the blue walls are from the last children's production), the railing on the staircase is too short as of now, and the window that's going into the back of the set is just a grid at this point.

Still, I could see the depth of the stage, and once it's all up, it's going to look really good. The walls will get some wainscoating and green paint, the window will be lit from behind, and it's going to look like a realistic interior.

Just having the walls and stairs in their proper places is going to help tomorrow's rehearsal a lot. Working with lines drawn on the floor is fine, but you really get a sense of place when the stage is actually set up and dressed.

The build was supposed to go until 4, but both Gus and I had to leave by 2, and a lot more got done than we expected, so everybody called it a day.

I had to leave early because Mom and I had been invited to dinner in Maine by Heather's Mom, Dee.

I've liked Dee a whole lot since I first met her. She's a very warm and inviting person (as is Heather's Dad, but he wasn't there today), and she's also just a little bit nutty, which earns bonus points in my book.

Heather's brother Steven was there, as was their family dog, Isis:

Isis is about 8 years old. She's an extremely good dog, very friendly and obedient. She doesn't have a shy bone in her body, and leapt up to greet Mom and me when we got out of the car. Isis' heart really belongs to Steven; she follows him wherever he goes, but she can be bribed with pieces of cheese or crackers (not that I'd do such a thing, understand).

Heather is starting to show, something she's not at all pleased at. She thinks she's gotten "fat," which is ridiculous. What she looks is pregnant, which is good, because if she didn't, we'd all be worried. She told us that she's starting to feel the baby move around, which is very "weird" to her.

I know that Heather wanted children, but I think she expected to have them a little bit further along in her marriage (she got pregnant less than a month after the ceremony). I know she's going to be a terrific mother, but something tells me that she's not going to be one of those glowing pregnant women who loves being a symbol of fertility, etc. I have the feeling that if someone came up to her and offered a way of growing her children in a vat, she'd take him up on the offer.

At any rate, part of the trip was to show Mom the location of the baby shower this summer. Heather and Dee realized that there were just too many people to invite to hold the shower in their house, so they decided on a quaint restaurant by the water in York.

The site is gorgeous, even in the last dregs of winter. Sean and Steven dock their boat right by here (they co-own a sailboat), and the guests will be able to either stay inside the restaurant or walk along the deck, which is screened in.

Sean and Heather laughed at me for taking pictures of everything, but I rarely get up to Maine, and just about wherever you stop is scenic in some way. This shot hasn't been altered in Photoshop, it was taken through a screen on the deck of the restaurant. I love the effect it gave the picture, even though I didn't plan it that way (I kind of thought the screen would disappear somehow).

It's going to be a very nice shower, but I'm still glad that I'm not required to attend such events. There are a number of benefits that go along with being born male.

After the mini-tour, we went back to Dee's house for dinner, which was something she called "pizza chicken." She claimed not to remember the real name of the dish, but whatever it was called, it was very good. Not exactly chicken parmasean, and not exactly chicken cacciatore, something in-between. It involved sauce and cheese, so I was pretty happy.

Dee, Sean, Heather, Mom and I had a great time around the table. (Steven left for a bonfire and to go out with friends. According to Heather and Dee, he claims to be a "rolling stone" who is just too busy for words. They don't buy it.) Sean and Dee have a great relationship. "Mother-in-law" doesn't really apply to either Mom or Dee in this marriage, since all the negative connotations associated with the term just aren't there. Heather genuinely loves Mom, and I could tell that Sean loves Dee just as much.

We talked about the iminent arrival of Emma, of course, and about the "Cleary 2 things rule" and Mom's obsession with what I'm eating (she really does get obsessed), and all other manner of things that I can't recall right now, since it was all silliness and laughter and good company.

By 8:30, it was time for Mom and I to head home. I was extremely tired by then, even though I hadn't done all that much with the day. We got home to a comatose Skottie (the poor boy is so deaf, he didn't hear the door open even though he wasn't more than three feet away from it), and promptly flopped down into our TV-watching places. We watched a 48 Hours mystery about a woman who hacked up her husband with a hatchet she bought at Home Depot the night before. Our kind of TV!

Just to mark the event, I did watch the news to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles' wedding. It looked like a nice enough ceremony at the church (the actual wedding wasn't filmed), though the Queen looked none too pleased.

I loved Diana, but Camilla seems much better suited for Charles. Maybe it's because they're both older and we've seen them together for so long, but they looked like a happy couple, which never seemed the case with Charles and Diana.

It's been an eventful week. Mom fell, Trooper died, a consultant in my office died, the Pope was buried, and the royal family has a new member. In all, I'd say it's not the best vacation I've had, but it has left me looking forward to next week.