BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02627 Eva was up bright and early today for the METG High School Drama Festival. Her theater group from Feehan performed their one act play, "Around the World in 80 Days" tonight. Allison went in to Boston to see the play. She caught up with Tara and Erik as well because they flew in for the weekend. This was the first time that Erik was able to see one of the performances that Eva was involved in. The festival is 3 days in Boston and the kids go back and forth on a bus over the days. Eva is very excited for this experience and we are hoping to hear good things from the group when awards are presented. They have a fantastic show. Tonight I went to see Andy's last band concert for Brennan. Mem and Grandfather came up from the Cape and went with us. They also took us to dinner at House of Fortune where they could congratulate Jason and Stephanie on their upcoming retirement. The meal, as always was delicious. Andy and I had plenty to take home and enjoy tomorro...

Photo-A-Day #02626 I have been enjoying the warmer weather lately. Today I went and picked up my comic books from The Laughing Shield Comic Book Store. Today I picked up the latest Thundercats book and also Void Rivals. Thundercats has been really fun to read and the next couple months will be even better since they will be crossing over with the Silverhawks, another 80's cartoon. It makes a lot of sense because these two cartoon series featured many of the same voice actors. Void Rivals is part of the Energon universe and so there is crossover between the characters in this and those in Transformers and G.I. JOE. Soon we will be getting M.A.S.K. added to the mix so that is exciting for me. Another cartoon and toy brand that I really enjoyed as a kid.

Photo-A-Day #02625 One of the best things about Paramount + is that they have several great Star Trek shows ont he platform. I love Star Trek Discover, Strange New Worlds and now Starfleet Academy. Through Tik Tok I discovered a cosplayer named Seraphima and her service dog, Riker (Named for Johnathan Frake's character Commander Riker from Star Trek The Next Generation). Around Christmas Seraphima ran a campaign to get Riker (her dog) to meet Riker (Johnathan Frakes) at Wondercon. Meeting a celeb at these events can be costly so Seraphima sold photos of Riker that were "signed" by Riker. She put paw print signatures on the photos. When I got mine I also got this sweet christmas card of Seraphima and Riker along with some Star Trek themed stickers and the signed photo of Riker. It was a very nice package and she was able to raise enough to meet Johnathan Frakes recently. And some additional money to help pay for Riker's extensive vet bills. I think about that today not...

Photo-A-Day #02624 I've been very lax for a couple months now on my eating habits. I had been so good and had gotten down to nearly 190lbs. My blood sugar was under control and it was good. Then, I slowly re-introduced things at a moderate rate that quickly turned into eating more like I used to, not as bad but not as good as I had been. So, I decided that once the play was over I would get back to Virta. For dinner tonight this plate is mostly Virta approved, the baked potato is not. I did give myself the smallest possible one in the bag and loaded it up with cheese, butter and sour cream for the fat content. I also prepared the baked potato alton Brown's way which made it really really tasty. Eva was so excited for a baked potato. The meat, however was perfect. This is a roast that I cut into quarters, browned, and then pressure cooked with beef broth, onion soup mix and onions for 1 hour. What came out was a very very tender and flavorful meat. Then there's the broccoli ...

Photo-A-Day #02623 Today was supposed to be the final performance of The Winter Wolf. Sadly, that did not happen. Our star, Emma, is in the hospital and the performance was cancelled. I'm trying to process what that means. My first thought is that I am a curse for performances. Every performance that I have been in for ACT has had an illness that would have cancelled the show. In the past two shows I stepped in to take on the role and the show went on. This time there is no way I could pass for a 13 year old girl. That was my dark humor trying to process this.  It is a loss. While being part of this show has been a major win for me. Finally getting a role in a performance that was not a one line walk on, walk off. Finally I had a very good role that I loved doing (even the dancing). My partner, Stephanie, was amazing. We had some great chemistry in our roles as Father and Mother. I had finally gotten a chance to shine on stage and it was fun. After 33 years away from the theater I ...

Photo-A-Day #02622 This is a photo of Eva and her friend Aviva. The two of them have decided a while back that they'd be attending prom together, however, Eva learned that Avivia was going to hit her with a promposal and so Eva had to do it first. Eva had me take her to Michael's to get a posterboard on Wednesday in anticipation of today. Today Avivia was coming over to go with Allison, Andy and Eva to Case high school to see the play the Woodsman. Eva got to hit Avivia with her promposal as she walked intot he backyard. It was very cute and Avivia promised retribution even though she said yes, of course, she would go with Eva.  The two are such good friends. Avivia has such great energy about her. I got to visit with them before I headed to The Winter Wolf's 8th performance. I also visited with my Mom and Dad briefly as they have just returned from their trip to Florida. Allison picked them up at the airport while I ran and got pizza for dinner for everyone. Tonight's ...