Jan  -  Feb  -  Mar  -  Apr  -  May  -  Jun
      Jul  -  Aug  -  Sep  -  Oct  -  Nov  -  Dec
  January - rehearsals started for High School Musical 2. Joyce opted to remain a producer, instead of performing, since her work and school schedule were conflicting with rehearsals.
 
 
Shows we've seen with friends - Rocky Horror with our friend Aaron as Rocky, for the fifth year in a row.
 
 
February - what an exciting Super Bowl this year! So happy to see a team that has gone winless for so long finally get to the winner's circle.
 
We went to our happiest place for two days - all that Ana could be spared at work. But we rode our fave rides, dined at our favorite restaurants, and got our D-land "fix." [see the pictures]
 
  Ana has now gone 3-for-3 when she has entered radio contests where she sings. Her most recent effort was in Country Karaoke, where she and another caller are asked to sing a song without any warning or prep, just 'here's the name of the song, now sing!' Then 5 listeners call in and vote - best 3 out of 5 wins. The song was "I Wanna Talk About Me" and the DJ, when she was done, compared Ana to Ethel Merman, and said he'd never heard Toby Keith sung like a showtune before!  And Ana's prize ... they called it the Mega-Pack - two tickets to each of six concerts between April and October. Joyce was SO excited when she found out.  The last concert is actually the night before their HUUUUGE Birthday! What a phenomenal present that will be!
 
Ana was requested to take on the 1-minute, run-on sentence role of Miss Darbus in their HSM2 production. Twenty minutes in the make-up chair, and one minute on stage. Oh, what the smell of the greasepaint will do to a person! The show opened to rave reviews, and we stayed at No.1 on the local Arts Top Ten list for several weeks. 
 
Shows we've seen with friends - Ana ushered for Ain't Misbehavin' which had three of her friends in the show or orchestra.
  
  Miss Darbus Miss Darbus in the Sharpay Box
  March - the show continued the first two weekends and consumed all of the gals' free time. When it closed, they were quite ready for it to be done.
 
But no sooner was the set put away, than another of their friends asked Ana to join her in a farce called Flaming Idiots, where Ana would play the role of the deaf chef. Who could pass that up! Needless to say, she did not refuse. 
 
At the end of the month, Joyce was busy with work, but Ana celebrated at a Passover Seder at Nana's house. "Tradition!"
 
Shows we've seen with friends - when she finally got her weekends back, Ana saw fellow performers in Lady Be Good, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Kismet.
 
  April - Ana is helping with costume alterations for SCP's upcoming Urinetown.
 
Ana & Joyce went to their congregational Passover Seder together for the first time in a few years. Ana could attend this year because the woman who always wore rosemary and lavender oil scents (a highly toxic combo to Ana) is now living in Washington.
 
Joyce's work schedule prevented her from attending this year, but Ana thoroughly enjoyed going to the 49ers Draft Party near the team's practice facility. She and a theatre friend of theirs attended along with 3000 of the 49ers best fans, and watched as Draft Round One went on. Very exciting!
 
Ana did some more recording with her friend Steve, and finally finished up her recording singing "Dream A Little Dream of Me." She also House Managed at their theatre for a couple performances of Urinetown the Musical. At the end of the month they attended the first of the six concerts that Ana won singing on the radio in February. This one was Brooks & Dunn Last Rodeo, since the boys are packing it in after singing together for 20 years. The opening act was another great singer, Jason Aldean. We were glad we got to see them.
 
Shows we've seen with friends - while Joyce was at work, Ana went to see a great comedy (she wanted to audition) about pink collar criminals who solve crime called Delval Divas - very funny! Then she saw Shout the Mod Musical which featured so much great music from the 60's. She ushered for a performance of Sweet Charity, which she hasn't seen on stage since her honeymoon. Ana saw Dirty Blonde which is a great dramedy about Mae West. Joyce couldn't join her but Ana saw their friend Aaron in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which is always a great musical comedy. And she saw several of their friends in a cabaret show called Whatever Happened to Melody? all about songs that ask musical questions. So many shows that so many of their friends are in! 
 
 
May - Flaming Idiots opened to a full house. What a lot of fun, with a great cast and staff, and a perfectly silly script. Ana had 4 weekends, 12 performances, and memories to last a lifetime.
 
Her role is that of a deaf-mute chef who thinks she witnesses two co-workers plotting a murder. The farce occurs when she tries to communicate what she has seen to another co-worker. And when a dead body does show up, well then everything really gets crazy. It was a terrific experience! Plus, she got to wear her sneakers that have flamingos as part of her costume - - bonus!!
 
Memorial Day weekend was the second of six concerts; this one was Love & Theft, Lady Antebellum, and Tim McGraw. Aside from some really rude drunk patrons stepping and falling on us, and singing loudly off-key, it was another great concert evening.
 
Then of course there's always the race at Indy to watch .... luckily the "spectacular crashes" that occurred weren't terribly serious.
 
We didn't get to any other shows, since Ana was being an "Idiot."
Bernadette
At the concert
Joyce at the concert
 
  June - Ana walked thru the Sunnyvale Art & Wine festival handing out publicity for the upcoming theatre season, and met up with her friends Justin and Susan there. They all gathered again that evening for karaoke at a favorite lounge. At a chiropractic visit, she met Dana Stubblefield, a retired 49er! Very exciting.
 
Ana attended the annual awards ceremony at the theatre where Idiots was performed.  She had been nominated for her role in the Best Comedic Performance category. She didn't win, but was honored to be nominated.
 
The gals attended the third concert of the summer, this one the Summer Country Throwdown that was an afternoon and evening bunch of concerts over several hours. They both got quite sunburned, but thoroughly enjoyed the concerts they did see.
 
Shows we saw with or starring friends - Ana ushered at a performance of Hello Dolly, with a dozen or so of their friends; Little Shop of Horrors with a couple friends performing in it.
 
  July - Ana's first Fourth of July without the dogs was incredibly quiet ... too quiet. She misses the puppies!!!   D-:
 
Joyce, with her friend JP, visited the CalAcademy of Science. They had a great time getting away from it all for a day...even the bus-full of children there on a field trip didn't bother them too much. One more place on the list of locations to visit in San Francisco done, and plenty more to go.
 
  Joyce with JPJoyce with JP
 
  The gals didn't catch any shows together, but Ana went to the JCC in Palo Alto to listen to actor and activist Richard Dreyfuss give a talk on today's education system - very interesting; Ana saw friends in a local performance of Anything Goes, and they were all very entertaining!
 
  August - the gals attended the fourth of six concerts; this one was James Otto, Trace Adkins and Toby Keith. They were again bothered by really rude drunk patrons stepping and falling on them, and singing loudly off-key, but otherwise it was another great concert evening.
 
For the first time in a number of years, Ana went out for an audition for a show. (She's gotten her last few roles by luck and personal reputation.) She didn't win the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard but she will try again, as it is newly released to community theatres and this is "her role of a lifetime."
 
Ana caught another performance of Anything Goes, and went to a performance of Cabaret to get ideas for costumes for our production early next year.
 
  September - the gals caught their first football game of the year, a pre-season game against San Diego.  By the end of the game our guys were 4-and-0! It's good to see the boys are playing so well!!  Ana dog-sat for Janet over Labor Day week, while Joyce went to her dad's for the holiday. It was good to have Spectre back in the house again (Jester unfortunately is no longer with us.) 
 
They attended the fifth country concert, this one with Brad Paisley.  They upgraded their seats so they didn't have to sit on the lawn with the really drunk people.  It was a much better concert experience.
 
Planning is well underway for the birthday celebration in Vegas. The gals made reservations at Circus Circus, arriving on 10/9 and departing late Monday evening (Joyce needs to get back for classes at school.) They hope to have a grand time, as friends and family hope to join them there.
 
  October - Ana was invited to sing with the worship team for yet another Bar Mitzvah this year at Temple. This is always a wonderful time, as we watch our young people take monumental steps in their spiritual growth.
 
As she had been planning for several months, Ana tried to take the two days off before their birthday, but Meg managed to suck up four hours of vacation time with work. But after that, Joyce and Ana spent Thursday afternoon getting mani/pedi's for their special day. Ana's phone had been experiencing intermittent technical difficulty for some time, so she went to the phone store and got a replacement, which with the rebate ended up being free! Nice birthday present. Joyce had been looking at new cameras for the trip, and Ana found one online for 75% off! Yeah!! So she started vacation with a bunch of new toys.
 
 
  On Friday, the gals found out that the concert they had been waiting to see since February, the Rascal Flatts concert, was postponed for a week. Bummer. Oh well. They still had their plans of meeting up at midnight with friends at a local bar, so Joyce could drink legally and actually sit AT the bar! Then it was breakfast at Dennys, then on to the airport for a whirlwind trip to Vegas. This was a first (real) visit for both ladies, as they had only ever been thru the airport once as a stop on a trip to Anaheim (yes, that's right, go east to go south - go figure!) See all the pictures, and read the travelog here.
 
Then it was back to school and work for both of them ... so sad it couldn't have lasted longer! But they finally got to go to the postponed concert with Rascal Flatts and Sara Evans.  It was well worth waiting for!
 
Ana watched several of their friends in a cute variety show focusing on songs and routines that had been performed at the Savoy in the early part of the 20th century.  Wow, they knew how to write music then! She also caught a performance downtown of the Broadway touring show Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles which she thoroughly loved!
 
  November - Ana went along with Nana to help carry luggage, drive the car, and push the wheelchair as she celebrated her 80th birthday ... in Hawaii! It was gorgeous, and they spent the week checking out lots of gorgeous scenery. See all the pictures, and read the travelog here.
 
Rehearsals began for The Christmas Mouse in which Ana will play Mrs. Robinson, the town's veterinarian who is building a Gingerbread House for the annual contest in town. And something goes wrong! This show was written by her friend Michael who asked her to play this role, and she will be opposite her Flaming Idiots "dead body'' Steve, who plays her husband in this show. She was also asked to sing tenor in a Christmas cantata by one of her former HP Choir directors, David, who will be conducting "The Winter Rose" at his church.
 
Joyce and Ana, and Ana and Ritchard caught the two 9er games of November, one they won, and the other they didn't.
 
Ana went to the two shows that she would have auditioned for if vacations hadn't conflicted. She thoroughly enjoyed Sunset Boulevard and Hallelujah Girls.  At their home theatre, one of her ushers called in sick so Ana had to sub for one of the final performances of Godspell.
 
Joyce pulled a double shift on Thanksgiving at work (again), and Ana joined Nana and friends from Temple for a turkey and game hen dinner. She brought a lovely curried rice salad that she made in a cornucopia mold which was very attractive, and loved by all.   
 
 
December - Ana had nine performances as Mrs. Robinson in The Christmas Mouse, a fun show for kids with a life lesson as well. And she got to wear a great evening gown too!
 
The following weekend she was in two performances of the cantata, and then saw friends perform in a lovely musical production of The Gifts of the Magi
 
On December 21, Ana strolled their neighborhood and took a few pictures of the decorated houses. She also came across a group of neighbors who were caroling. See the pictures here.
  O Happy Day! Just before Christmas Joyce finally got to have her braces removed. (They were supposed to be off before her big birthday.) Everyone was very happy for her.
 
And on New Years Eve Eve the gals finally got around to walking thru Christmas in the Park. With the poor economy, this could be it's last year. Here are some shots of the trees and displays.
 
flamingeaux home  Blessings to all our dear family and friends.
Here's hoping that 2011 is the best yet!