100 Things: 11-15

Five more completely fascinating entries in my list of 100 random facts about myself:

11) I have watched every episode of every single season of "Survivor." When they said that last season was the TWENTIETH season, I practically choked - that's a lot of life hours I've dedicated to that show.

12) I have worn glasses since I was 10 years old. I have absolutely horrendous vision, and am really jealous that Greg had Lasik this past weekend. I am afraid to go get evaluated for the surgery because I don't want them to tell me I'm ineligible. I just want to hold on to the dream of life without glasses before someone crushes it for me.

13) A boy broke up with me in high school with a note that started like this: "Hi Amanda. What's up? Not much here. Anyway, I like you as a sister, not as a girlfriend." Ouchie.

14) I made sure I did the breaking up from then on.

15) I couldn't imagine having kids until I was about 31. All through my 20s I proudly told people I was never having kids. And I meant it. In my case, the biological clock thing was quite true.

on second thought...

Eff this heat. I could barely sleep last night, and the fan was blowing something in last night that is making my eyes burn like crazy. We're probably sleeping at the boat tonight.

(is that better, Shane?)

hot, but currently not bothered.

Our central air conditioning decided to up and die during a very hot week here in CT. I have a ton of work to do at my house to prepare for some upcoming parties, and combined with my newly-diagnosed allergies (that's for a whole other post. Did I mention I went to the ER last week? And for a minute there it looked like they were going to give me a spinal tap to test for meningitis? And by a "minute" I mean "a lonely hour where they mentioned meningitis and then left me there alone with my hypochondriatic mind"? Yeah, that was fun.) the heat really killed me yesterday. My head hurt so much I could barely lift it by 8 p.m. I let Jane sleep in bed with me because I couldn't bear the endless back and forth routine that now makes up bedtime for hours on end.

Aaaanyway, today we escaped down to the shore, where it was only 85 degrees instead of 90, and had a lovely day. Just now, back at home, it started to pour, and I watched Jane dance around in the puddles while I enjoyed the FINALLY cooler air (although it's still 80+ in our house). I've been so spoiled with air conditioning all my life that I rarely really appreciate a nice cool breeze, and I've never let Jane run around in a rainstorm, and tonight I did both. And it was really, really nice.

Did you do anything nice this weekend?

100 Things: 6-10

And the list continues – five more absolutely fascinating things about me, as part of my list of 100 Things:


6) I haven’t had a consecutive 8 hours of sleep in at least four years.

7) I am completely obsessed with reading. No matter how busy my life is, I polish off a book at least once every two weeks, and more often, once a week. I am currently reading a book called “Living Oprah” – a memoir from a woman who decided to follow all of Oprah’s advice for one year. Typically I read fiction, and am currently in two awesome book clubs.

8) I majored in English and minored in Journalism in college. So I can read really well and fast and write a decent sentence every once in a while (but rarely on this blog).

9) My first major celebrity crush was Johnny Depp, in his 21 Jump Street days. Oh my God, you guys, I was IN LOVE WITH HIM. I seriously believed we could one day be together, even though I was 13 and he was 23 and he lived in LA and I lived in CT. Seriously – our age difference and locations were the only impediments to our love that I could see. And hey –t here are far more embarrassing celebrity crushes, because that guy STILL GOT IT.

10) I have known my best friends for 30 (THIRTY!) years. They grew up across the street from me and we have somehow all stayed in the same area and stayed really close. They are my other family. Like, I actually forget I am not really related to them.

100 things: 1-5

On a lot of blogs, I see that people have come up with a list of 100 things about themselves. Just random facts of real or no significance that make up who they are as people. Because I’m short on time lately (have I mentioned that?), but I do want to keep this blog active, I’ve decided that I am going to come up with 100 things about myself. Here and there I will post five tidbits about me, and hopefully someday I will have 100. Hold on to your hats – it’s CLEARLY going to get VERY exciting around here.


1) My fingers are double-jointed.

2) I have hazel eyes, but my father thought they were brown until I was about 12.

3) I wore orthodontia from fifth grade through tenth grade. This included two permanent retainers, full braces, a mouth guard, and two removable retainers. One word: sexy.

4) I want to lose 5-8 pounds. Not 58 pounds. Five to eight. Five is what I absolutely need to lose; eight would make me happy.

5) I had no middle name until I got married, when I took my maiden name as my middle name.



Now you do it!

call the whambulance

You know what people can't stand listening to? Me. Me complaining about how tired/stressed out I am doing a show. "Here she goes again," they say. "Why does she keep doing these shows?" Perhaps you are one of these people. In fact, I know you are. Well, to that I say, here I go again.

You guys! I am sooooo tired! But as you know, this has been overall a shitty year for me, feeling-good-wise. I actually have a physical this Thursday (first one in nine years) (shut up). Boy, my doctor is going to rue the day he was born! Because I plan on typing up a list of all of my ailments and everything. Lucky him! And he has to listen to me, because my insurance tells him he has to! (Oh, my insurance is going up 80% next year. I know, I know, I AM happy to have it, but yeesh.)

Anyway, so Chicago rehearsals are rolling along. However, this time around, we are rehearsing four nights a week. This is the first time I've rehearsed so much on a regular basis (hell week doesn't count). It's rush rush rush all the time, and it's hard. It amazes me that that I used to do this non-stop, show after show, but things are different with Jane. Now basically being home only to sleep isn't so cool anymore.

But, dudes, I think this is going to be a really good show. I love co-directing. It means I can use my strengths (character work, blocking scenes) and not have to worry about my weaknesses (CHOREOGRAPHY) damaging the show. I can't wait to see this thing go up.

In other news, Father's Day weekend was nice. We were at the boat both days. Took a ride out with my in-laws and brother yesterday, and we were at the pool on Saturday. Jane got a sunburn, despite my constant attempts to keep her covered in sunblock (BAD MOMMY). Had our book club meeting at Alan's house on Saturday night, which was awesomeness.

Also, have I mentioned that I'm tired?

the story of my life.

So, yesterday, I had rehearsal at 7, which is typical for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. After work I took Jane to DQ for a treat, got back around 6, and headed out around 6:30. I walked to my car and realized I didn't have enough gas, so went back into the house to tell Greg I was taking his car. I got into his car and realized I needed to switch sets of keys. I went back into the house and got his keys, and left mine, in case he needed my car. I got back into his car and realized I forgot the Chicago soundtrack in my car (we needed it because we were choreographing and our MD wasn't there last night). I got out of the car, got the soundtrack, got back into Greg's car, and drove to Southington. I pulled into the theater hall's parking lot with eight minutes to spare - pretty good for me these days - and realized that the keys I left on the counter included the key to the hall. I told the two girls who I was working with to get started working on one of the numbers in the parking lot with a scary rain-threatening sky above and drove BACK home (a 20-minute drive), got my keys, got my car because I had now used up all of Greg's gas, and finally got to rehearsal around 7:30 (I think my car was running on hope and dreams at this point, and a few drops of gas fumes). Luckily I only had two extremely understanding cast members there last night, who indeed worked out a whole song while I was driving to and fro.

I am such a scatterbrained ass sometimes.

please excuse this pity party

When chatting with another mother at daycare today who has a daughter Jane's age, I realized that Jane will be moving up to the preschool room (UPSTAIRS OMG) (versus, you know, downstairs, where she has been thus far) (SHUT UP, it's a big deal) in July when she turns three, rather than in September, like I thought.

Why is this making me so sad? Why did I have to fight the lump in my throat when the mom was telling me this (her daughter is a month older than Jane, so she is moving upstairs next week). These room transitions have been such a big deal for Jane - and the most recent one last fall was super-traumatic for her, and thus, for us all - and I am hoping hoping triple hoping that this next move is easier and more positive for her. Apparently the kids get really excited about going upstairs - but my mind is all cluttered with thoughts of her friends are in her current room and it's what she knows and she loooooves Miss Sharon and they only have one teacher per 10 students up there and what if she needs help and what if she gets lost in the crowd and what if, what if, what if.

Of course I know she will be fine. She's such a big girl now. Yes, we are still having trouble with potty training and the bedtime routine, but she looks different. She talks. so. much. She's losing her baby fat (not all of it, thank God). She loves Dora and birthdays and grapes and school buses and singing her ABCs. She's such a....kid. So why am I so sad?

I am still the number one person in her life. She loves me the most (and Greg too, of course). She wants to be with me the most. She still screams "MOMMY!!!!" when she sees me come in to pick her up at the end of the day. She holds my ear to comfort her. How much time do I have left of this? A year? Two, absolutely tops?

How is this happening so fast?

friday, finally

What a week. Nothing like a truly hectic schedule to smack you in the face after a relaxing vacation. It was a really busy (and unsettling) work week, and I also had three nights of rehearsal for Chicago. Still trying to get into the schedule of staying out until 10:30 and not getting more than 5ish hours of sleep a night. On top of that, I had pink eye this week, and on top of THAT, my eyes (both of them) have been horribly burny and uncomfortable this week, and I'm not sure why.

Oh my God - I feel like this blog is being written by a 90-year-old. Oh, woe is me, I have to stay out past 10! And my eyes hurt! What time is the early bird special again?

Speaking of early bird special, I have also been horribly hungry all week, because I unfortunately weighed myself after vacation and dudes, I have some weight to lose. This sucks. I really NEED to lose about 6 pounds and I would PREFER to lose 9. As each year creeps by, it gets harder and harder to do this. Freakin' A. And that's all there really is to say about that.

But look! We got new granite counters in the kitchen! Aren't we fancy?

Have a great weekend!

back to life, back to reality

So I'm back in the world of the non-vacationers. I got a crash course in reality on Sunday when I ended up at the eye doctor with an eye infection. Then I proceeded to Target (where I had already been that morning) to pick up my eye drops - only to show up 20 minutes before the pharmacy re-opened after lunch break. THEN I had to wait another 20 minutes for the drops. Also I was really hungry and lightheaded at the time. Why, you ask? Oh, because I have to lose 10 pounds, seriously. I went on a wild eating spree on vacation, and that added to the already several lbs I had to lose.

Sidenote: WTF? Why do I keep getting eye infections? The doctor said parents with toddlers get them all the time, except JANE isn't getting them, I am. Is she just passing the germs on to me without getting anything herself? Madness, I tell you.

Then last night I had my first rehearsal for Chicago. It went pretty well and I am excited, but boy, I am not used to those late-night rehearsals (by late-night, I mean 10 p.m.). We are rehearsing A LOT for this show - Sunday, Tuesday, some Wednesdays, and Thursday evenings.

In addition, this is a particularly busy week at work.

So, hi! I'm back. And cranky, as usual.

vacation, all I ever wanted

Is there anything more depressing than the evening before the day you have to go home from vacation? I am sitting here in the cottage we have been staying at since last Friday, the sky is blue, there is a lovely breeze, we spent the morning at the beach, Jane is currently napping, and I have a HUGE lump in my throat and heart, thinking that it's all over in a few hours.

This has been a GREAT vacation. Sure, there have been bumps in the road (turns out, Jane refuses to sleep in her cottage bed. So she's been with us. Every night. Yeah.). And I could give you the itinerary of every day here. But I'm not going to do all of that. Bulletpoints are as follows:

*beach every day but Tuesday
*didn't go to beach on Tuesday because we went to Mystic Seaport and Aquarium
*lots of good food (seriously, my shorts are tight. this is not good, people.)
*sunshine every single day
*visiting friends

Yada, yada yada. Here's the most important thing. The reason that this is one of the most special vacations in my life is that this was our very first family vacation. This is the first non-staycation I've had in 3.5 years. Introducing Jane to nearly the exact same kind of vacation I used have growing up has meant so much more to me than I ever imagined. See her go in the water, make sandcastles, collect shells - all the stuff I did when I was her age, when I was at the beach with my parents - well, it's huge for me. It has been so meaningful to truly step away from our lives for the first time since she was born and just hang out together as a family.

I cannot wait to do this again.