phone rings, door chimes...

...in comes company. I've been cast as Paul in Cassidy Theatre's production of Company! He's the guy who calmly reassures his hysterical fiancee that she is, indeed, "Getting Married Today." He gets a nice tenor solo there too. So that was a nice belated birthday present.

As planned, Stu, Laurie and I took Monday off to go to Cedar Point, and while it was a little chilly in the morning, in the sunny afternoon it was pretty comfortable with a sweatshirt. Maverick wasn't behaving on opening day, so Stu and I wanted to ride that first in case it broke down later. Laurie waited for us outside, but started to feel faint and laid down in the grass. When we got off the ride, Stu had a voicemail saying that she was at First Aid. We're still not sure what caused the dizzy spell; she hadn't even been on any rides yet, and seemed to be fine on the way there.

They suggested I go on a few rides while they figured out what to do. One option would have been for me to ride with them back to our rendezvous point (Midway Mall) to get my car and I'd drive back to the park. Except by then I'd probably just as soon go home, since I have a season pass, rather than spend the rest of my birthday standing in queues by myself.

Or, Stu could take Laurie home and come back. She was well enough to just stay home and rest, so that worked out. It sort of put a damper on the day, and we all felt bad about it for different reasons. I wish she could have been there with us, especially since we were all using vacation days from work to do this, and I felt bad that Stu had to do all that driving to come back and get me.

Nonetheless, I did get on 10 of 17 coasters and generally had a good time. The crowds weren't too bad, but more than one might expect, thanks to buses full of school kids and Senior Skip Day'ers.

In order: Maverick, Skyhawk, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Gemini, Woodstock Express, Magnum, Corkscrew (which I only ride once every few years), Iron Dragon -- then Stu came back -- Raptor, Blue Streak, Wicked Twister, and Power Tower. I took my digital camera, so the casual pace of my day allowed me to take a lot of pictures, which I'd never done before. We took a train ride back to Frontiertown to see if we could book-end our day with Maverick, but the line was just over an hour so we left.

I was pretty tired by that point anyway, and took a power nap when I got home. Dinner, then cake and ice cream with the family followed that evening. I got a bevy of Target gift cards and a few kitchen utensils to help furnish my upcoming apartment.

Yes, that's right; it's official: I will be moving to Strongsville in one month! It's both exciting and intimidating, as I now need to plan and coordinate things like furniture. I already have a love seat, endtables, a kitchen table, and cooking pans coming my way from friends, but the trick will be storing these things until the moving day. I also need to take some measurements to make sure I can fit the furniture I'm being offered.

And five days after I move, I'm off to New York City for a week, so... there's that.