Holy Cow! It's Over!

I started Holy Cow! when I moved to Kansas City seven years ago, and I ended it last Saturday at the championship round of Improv Thunderdome: Season 10 (We got third place, and our show kicked ass. That tells you the quality of Improv Thunderdome.)

Holy Cow started as a project of mine at Rockhurst University. I transferred in as a junior studying English with a minor in Theater. Rockhurst had a great theater department at that time but there was no improv troupe at the school so I decided to start one of my own.

I was naiive about how much work running a troupe is, but I was also fiercely motivated and improv is super fun, so it was easy at first. We did 2 shows a year - one each semester, and it was free admission. It became quite the hit on campus by the time I graduated in 2007. I thought, "I'm moving on, so should Holy Cow." But there were some younger classmen that really loved it and wanted to keep it going, and I am selfish and it's hard for me to let other people be in charge, so I just decided to keep doing Holy Cow.

There were many, many times when I wanted to quit - many weeks where I desperately wanted to cancel rehearsal and stay at home with nothing to do...But I really loved it and I hated letting other people down (also see above about how I am rather controlling about certain things) so I kept going.

Our membership changed throughout the years, but it was always so much fun to perform. We went from being a short-form college troupe that did free shows to a long-form troupe that got paid to perform (not much, but hey, getting paid to do improv is pretty freaking awesome). I was introduced to a whole community of amazing improvisers in KC. I got to perform in 2 big-time improv festivals, and meet some famous and not-so-famous comedians. I've made great friends.

But it has come time to let Holy Cow finally end. The number one reason is I am tired. It is hard work to run a troupe and plan rehearsals and book shows and keep the momentum going.

Also, I have sort of been married to Holy Cow...spending free time in rehearsals and shows and drinking sessions (there have been lots of drinking sessions). And now it is time to go get married to Michael and spend my free time with him. (It also helps that Mike Ferris and his wife are having a baby in February, and Mark Bruce moved back to St. Louis.)

It's not the end of my comedy "career". You can still see me perform many weekends at ComedyCity, and throughout the year with Pretty.Funny. And starting in two weeks, I'll be at ComedyCity every Sunday cheering on high schoolers participating in the nonprofit program I helped start: Seriously Playful's Operation: Show!

Endings are always weird. I sort of thought I would be more sad, but...mostly, I'm just excited about what's to come. Onward and upward.

Letters.

Dear MyFitnessPal,
Thank you for helping me balance my diet. 17 pounds down!

Dear Sunshiny Spring,
You are making it hard to focus at work.

Dear Max and Diego,
Let's go for a walk tonight.

Dear Ferris's and Salierno's,
I hope you are prepared to lose in Settlers of Catan!

Dear Michael,
I love you and thank you for waking up and eating breakfast with me, even when you are exhausted.

Love,
Cindy

We're engaged!!

On December 23, 2011, M asked me to marry him and I said yes! Let the countdown to October 20, 2012 begin! <3

Milestone. Or Two.

Today I ran two miles, and I didn't stop to walk.

The whole time I was thinking, "What if today I did it? What if today I just ran the whole thing? How would it feel to say, 'today I ran two miles, and I didn't stop to walk'?

It feels GREAT. I think I was just trying to go too fast, too far previously. When I first began this running journey, I would listen to fast-paced music and try to have a good "stride" and keep up the pace with the people around me... and I hated it! It was painful, hard, and humiliating.

I started listening to slow music and to pay attention to the pace my body could maintain. Today, I finally got everything synced up right, and I. Ran. The. Whole. Way.

Patience

"And the second thing I wanted to share is, that if you’ve found the right person, and you know you want to get married, the engagement is worth waiting for. It’s worth the anxiety and uncertainty of the pre-engaged state, it’s worth that feeling of bitterness when you hear that kid you babysat is getting married, and it’s worth those aching feelings of powerlessness you feel when you’ve told your partner you’re fed up and he says “be patient.” Because the second it happens, all of that goes away. Instantly."

---from A Practical Wedding

I needed to read this today!