You Wake Up in Moncton. You Wake Up in Tracadie. You Wake Up in Saint John.

Well, here i am, back in Moncton again, having spent a long weekend in Saint John.

Our last two shows of last week were on Thursday: a French show in the morning in Tracadie, and then an English show in the afternoon in Miramichi. I remember virtually nothing about either of these shows, except that the Miramichi school (which wasn't actually in Miramichi but rather someplace called Sunny Corner) was the first one so far that hasn't had a proper theatre. It still had a stage, but it was conveniently located at one end of the school cafeteria. The steady hum of the pop machines and fluorescent lights were the first real challenge we've faced in the audio department; thank goodness for Soundman and our trusty collection of hands-free microphones.

The plan had been to stay Thursday night in Miramichi, but instead we made for Moncton as soon as the last show was done, and i hopped on a bus for home. I got into town just in time to catch the end of a gathering at the SJTC loft; they were screening some DVDs of Second Stage's greatest hits. I missed most of that, but still had a chance to see and talk with quite a few theatre friends. Any opportunity to catch up is a welcome one, these days.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key, but a good time. All indications are it'll be the last time i'll get home before the tour's done. Last night (Saturday night) there was still more reunioning with friends at Elwood's; there was a show going on that was quite well-attended and all the acts i saw were very good, but i didn't stay very late.

Finally, this afternoon, i drove back to Moncton as a part of a sort of mini-convoy. The Theatre Company had rented a big truck to transport some materials into town for an upcoming production, and so i accompanied the rental truck back to Moncton rather than taking the bus.

So now i'm sitting on a bed in the Rodd Parkhouse Inn in Moncton. It's an hour or so past when i should have been in bed, but i feel like i've been going nonstop for days, and forcing myself to wind down for sleep is sometimes a little tricky.

I'm looking forward to getting back to doing shows. The longer we go between performances, the more this whole thing starts feeling surreal again. Being on-stage, preparing, performing -- those things i understand, those things make sense. All the other stuff that's built around it: sitting here in a hotel room, so far from home, driving countless miles from one school to the next and one province to the next...this still seems strange to me. Not bad. Just strange.

Our last French show in NB is tomorrow morning right here in beautiful Moncton, and then in the afternoon we're doing the show for the original Money People, the bigwigs who are funding this whole affair, at their head office. To some degree, this performance is to demonstrate to them that they haven't been wasting their money on us. So, no pressure there.

Actually, i'm not worried. The feedback we're getting from all sides (Director, schools, and previous avatars of the Money Gods) has been really positive. We just need to go do what we do, and i'm sure they'll like us just fine.

And if not, well, the headset farm is right where i left it.

Sweet dreams, everyone.