the birds and me

So, as you know, I'm trying to be more mindful of my exercise lately. I've been getting up at the ass-crack of dawn to do my running/walking routine, which I hate with the power of a thousand suns, particularly because I've really incorporated a lot more running into it. I am not the kind of person who gets that endorphins rush that makes me all happy when I'm exercising. I'm more the kind of person who cannot wait until it is all over, so I can immediately begin dreading going the next day. But, well, it's good for me, etc. etc., so I'm making an effort.

My friend Alan thinks I should get some sort of spiritual joy out of starting my day off just as the birds start tweeting and the world is just waking up. He thinks I should be happy that I have the opportunity to commune with nature before the day's natural hustle and bustle takes over. As nice as that all sounds, the only thing that keeps me out there on my 51-minute jaunt is my iPod.

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was this morning when the battery died about 25 minutes into the whole thing. So it was just me and the birds this morning.

Please don't fail me tomorrow, iPod.

check me out

I was really sick of the pink, so I changed my template. I have to update my links, but I'm falling asleep at the keyboard (it's just exhausting picking a new template).

weekend review

Well, the rest of my birthday weekend was fairly busy and rife with sickness. Saturday Greg felt like complete crap, so he did not go to my cousin's party. Luckily, he felt good enough earlier in the week to go shopping for my birthday, so I got to unwrap some lovely gifts from him, including some sweet new brown boots, new Nikes (needed them really badly), a nice gigantic new sweatshirt, and a gift certificate to the mall. Later, we went to dinner at Tinker's in Hartford (good seafood, no-frills restaurant/fish market).

Sunday started bright and early at about 12:30 a.m. when Greg woke me up to say he was going to the ER because he ear was killing him so badly. I was in complete REM 4 sleep when he woke me up, so he was out the door before I could go with him. I felt really badly. He came home an hour later to report that he had a ruptured eardrum. They gave him some eardrops and told him he'd feel better in about five days. He's still on the mend.

The rest of Sunday featured clean-up day at SCT Hall, which totally sucked but we got a lot done. Then Sunday night I had rehearsal and helped paint the marquee for our Apple Harvest Festival parade float for next weekend. Yup, kids, I'm in a parade next weekend.

It's not still officially the weekend anymore, but I'm happy to report I went and spent some of my gift certificate at the mall and bought a cool, rust-colored courderoy skirt from the Gap that I'd been eyeing for a few weeks. I had wanted to buy a new purse but I didn't find anything, so I'll still be lugging around that *&!&!^&* pink polka-dotted thing for a while longer.

Also, at one point during the weekend I watched the movie The Family Stone. It's worth seeing, even if it's a little sad.

you know, that's how old Jesus was when he died

Yup, that's what Greg said to me when I said I couldn't believe I was turning 33. I can't say that it made me feel any better.

So, today is my birthday. It started 12 minutes ago. I just got home from a Rumors reunion - the cast from that show that I did in Simsbury back in March got together tonight to watch the video. We had a great time, despite that fact that I had to watch myself on a huge-screen TV.

Anyway, back to the big day. I can almost guarantee that this will be one of my less-exciting birthdays. We are going to my cousin's kids' birthday party, which will be good in the sense that there will be cake and I'll get to see my family. Other than that, I'm really not quite sure what the day will bring. Greg is super sick, so I don't think he's going to be much up for partying hard. And to be honest, neither am I. It's been a long week and I'm thinking the nicest way I could spend the day would be catching up on my TiVo and magazines and of course opening up the little pile of presents that are waiting for me on the dining room table. (Oh, who am I fooling - that will be the first thing I do when I wake up.)

Turning 33 is kind of boring, in the sense that it's not a landmark birthday. At the same time, I can't believe I'm 33, because it feels like I was just 25, or 19, or 12. Where does all the time go? Any way you look at it, I'm an adult. I'm not even sure if I'm a young adult anymore. I think I'm just a regular adult. Yet I'm wearing a Gap sweatshirt and flip-flops with ice cream cones on them. I could have been wearing this same outfit on any of the aforementioned birthdays. Have I grown up at all? I have all the trappings of an adult - the marriage, the house, the 2.5 dogs - but inside, most of the time, I don't feel very grown up. Maybe it's because I still get giddy at the thought of cake. Of course, on my 21st birthday, I don't think I would have been satisfied with just catching up on TV shows I missed that week. Frankly, I don't even think I watched TV at that point in my life. There were too many bars to go to.

OK, OK, I get it. Getting older=watching more TV. Hmmmm....I think I like this getting older after all!

Time for bed.

Imagine if you had a friend whose show opened this weekend

And imagine if this friend updated his blog so we could find out how it went? Wouldn't that be really great and informative and everything? Rumor has it he has a pretty big part, and he's been pretty stressed out about it, and since he decided to slack off and take today off from work, I didn't receive an email ALL DAY telling me how it went, and, you know, I'm just wondering how it went, since, you know, he's a big star and all. Or maybe he doesn't want to talk to the little people anymore.

I'm just sayin'.

dudes, I'm tired!

Well, this was a busy weekend.

Saturday was a nice day. It was beautiful out, and I felt like I really had to take advantage of what was probably one of the last nice Saturdays this year (sigh). I did one of my favorite things - sat out on my back deck and read. Then I felt guilty so I cleaned up the house and did some chores. At night, we went to dinner with some friends at Burton's Grill at Evergreen Walk - this was the first time I'd been to both the shopping center and the restaurant. The food was really good, and I really wanted to check out the shops, but we were going to a movie so there was no time.

We went to see The Last Kiss -that's the movie starring Zach "I am so overrated" Braff. I really didn't like it. It was semi-depressing and was about several relationships that had major problems, and it left me feeling icky and mad at Greg (why is it when I see a movie where someone cheats on someone I get mad at Greg? It's kind of funny). Anyway, unless you want to feel all angsty, don't go see it.

Sunday we headed off to Portsmouth, RI, to young Flannery's wedding. She had a lovely day and we had a lot of fun. She looked beautiful (I must say her co-workers can really help pick out a dress!), but I don't have any good pictures so maybe the lovely Lisa will post some? However, because I am a lame loser who cannot handle my drink anymore, I felt sick on the way home and had to pull over. I only had two and a half glasses of wine!! Who does this? What self-respecting 32 (almost 33!) year old has to pull over on route 9 in Middletown so her stomach can settle? I am getting old, people. An old lady who can't handle her liquor. There was a time in my life when nine drinks wouldn't have that effect. LAME. Anywho, lucky Flannery and Nate are off to Mexico for a week at an all-inclusive resort! Congratulations once again to the newlyweds.

And now I need to go find some Tums.

for your consideration

I am completely obsessing over two CDs right now. They are battling each other for my affection while I'm driving, and so far, there is no clear winner. They are: the soundtrack to [title of show] and Barenaked Ladies are Me, the new BNL CD that came out this week. They are completely different from each other, yet I am desperately in love with both. Thank God I have to do a lot of driving these days, or I'd feel like I was neglecting one. Anyway, go buy these CDs!

but we were on a break!!

So, today I found out that I got a part in a play called Life with Father, that goes up in November. This is another SCT production. Should be fun/interesting - fun, because it's theater, and interesting, because I'm actually playing four different parts. In this show (which is very charming and old-school - it was written in the 1930s, I believe, and takes place in the 1890s), there are four different maids that come and go throughout the show. As a way to make these little parts more appealing to someone who is auditioning, the director decided that he was going to have one person play all four roles, develop four different personas, accents, movements, etc. So, what was four small parts becomes one medium-sized part that is actually quite challenging. I've never done anything like this, morphing from one character to the next in one show. So it should be quite the experience! Rehearsals start Thursday night, but I will only be able to make the tail end because I have to work Thursday night.

The reason I titled this entry the way I did is because I've already gotten flack from my friends who told me that I promised I would go on a theater hiatus for a while after Into the Woods. To those people I say - hey, what was the last month for? That was the break! Oh, you were expecting something longer? Do you know me at all?

In other news, I have a cold. Did I already complain about this? I can't remember.

aaaand....I'm back

So, I'm back from Cape Cod. We had the best trip. Ate a lot, sat in the sun a lot, and laughed a lot harder than I have in a really long time. You know - the kind of laughing where you think you're going to throw up. It was pretty awesome, and the weather was great. But, now back to reality and a very busy week. Bah humbug. Plus, it really feels like summer is over, now that our trip is done. Boo.

I'm outta here

So tomorrow we leave for what is, so far, my big vacation of the year. We're going to Cape Cod for four days with Greg's extended family (parents, aunt, uncle, various cousins and their children). It's sort of a resort place that we've gone to before, and it's a good time. I'm really looking forward to it, probably too much. This week has sucked the life out of me, today in particular, and I'm just psyched to flop myself down on the beach for a couple of days. Crap. I just realized I don't have enough reading material for the trip. Better make a stop at Border's before we leave tomorrow!

See y'all on the rebound.

crikey!

For some reason, I still can't get over the fact that Steve Irwin died. That's messed up. Why I'm surprised, I have no idea. This guy put himself in dangerous situations on a very regular basis. But why would he continue doing it when he had two kids? Not to talk badly about the dead, but that's lame and egotistical.

see this show (or, what I did this weekend)

This weekend, Greg and I thought it would be super-fun to drive straight into the hurricane-like weather, so we headed to New York to see our friend Dimitry and his new bride-to-be. Despite the fact that it was hella windy and rainy, we still had a good time. And how could we not? New York is the greatest city in the world, despite the two giganto rats I saw on the street last night. We went to see a show I had been reading a lot about called [title of show], and it was awesome. One of the best, most original shows I've seen in a long time. It's about two guys who have three weeks to write a musical to enter into a theater festival. It was written by two guys who had three weeks to write a musical to enter into a theater festival. It's just basically a really hilarious (and kinda inspiring) story about what it takes to put a musical together. If you're a theater nerd (Alan, I'm talking to you), then all the better, because there are a million little inside jokes going on throughout the show. But even if you're not so much into theater, you'll still love it. In fact, Greg was the one who started the standing ovation! It's playing Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. It just got extended to October 1, so go see it.

I know no one else watches this but

I don't think any of my loyal readers actually watch Project Runway, but I just have to say that Jeffrey is such a d**k. I can't put it any other way. First off, he was such a jerk to Angela's mother in last week's episode. Who is a jerk to someone's mother?! If I were Angela, I would've punched him in the head. Then this week, when Angela (deservedly) got kicked off, he was all smug and happy about it. The jackass wins, and believes that the reason he won is because God wasn't drunk this week like he was last week (God, not Jeffrey) when he didn't win. Yes, Jeffrey. God cares so much about how you fare on Project Runway. Stupid ass. Anyway, instead shutting his piehole and just be happy about winning, he has to talk trash about Angela, who had to fly all the way to Paris basically just to have to turn around and go home.

Anyway, like I said, I don't think anyone is really going to care about my thoughts on this. But seriously, you should watch this show. It's excellent, despite Jeffrey.

my 100th post!

Oh my good Lord, this is my 100th post on this blog. What the hell have I been talking about for so many posts!?! Have I seriously rambled on that much!?

random

Well, this weekend was a semi-busy one. Friday night I went out to happy hour(s) with work friends - three Cosmos and one Liquid Cocaine shot (actually, it was a half shot -I made Nate drink the rest) later and I was pretty fuzzy by the end of the night. Despite my haze, it was a lot of fun.

Saturday we went to TheaterWorks in Hartford to see a show called Make Me A Song. It was sort of a musical revue of the music of William Finn, who wrote The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Falsettos, among others. I really liked it, although I cried a lot during the second half. He's got some sad songs, that William Finn. Afterwards, we went to eat at Trumbull Kitchen. It was OK. We watched the movie The Constant Gardener when we got home. It was depressing, but good.

Sunday it rained all day, so we wanted A History of Violence. Same as the other movie - depressing, but good.

As you can see, it was a thrilling weekend. In other news, I'm completely irritated with "Survivor." It's one of my all-time favorite television shows. I have watched every single episode of every single season. And now they've decided to pull some sort of ratings stunt by dividing the tribes up by race. I'm pretty disgusted by this, because it's obviously some sort of ratings ploy to get people talking about the show (and of course it's worked - but not to the show's favor, in most cases) and it seems to me that this kind of programming belongs on Fox, not CBS. Lame, lame, lame, Mark Burnett. And I'm disgusted with you too, Probst.

a dog's life

So, today Jimmy and Junior went to their first ever day at doggy day care. But before you think I have officially crossed over the brink of insanity, let me explain:

Greg and I have had issues with finding/trusting/being satisfied with people watching our dogs. In our perfect world, a dog-lover who has nothing else to do with their day but sit in our house and watch our dogs would come over and stay at our house while we were away. We've tried having people stay at the house, or stop by several times throughout the day while we gone, with varying degrees of success.

We found someone to watch the pups here when we go to Cape Cod in two weeks for a few days, but then a semi-impromptu trip to New York came up. We're only going away for one night next weekend, but of course the first question is, "what are we going to do with the pups?"

If you know my pups, you know they are a handful. They are wonderful, and I love them, but they require a lot of attention. So we decided it was time to investigate boarding them. We did not want to take them to a typical kennel. Planet Bark (www.planetbark.com - do yourself a favor and check out this site!) had been recommended to us by several people, so Greg went by there a couple of days ago to check it out. Well, no dice - they were closed at lunchtime for two hours for "naptime and snacktime." We knew this was the place for us.

Planet Bark - which touts itself as being "West Hartford's luxury dog daycare and overnight resort" - has at least 50 dogs there every day for doggy day care. The schedule for the dogs includes morning playtime with friends, the aforementioned midday naptime and snacktime, and then afternoon playtime with friends. Their overnight accommodations might make you jealous -the evening concludes with dimming lights, soft music, and a belly rub.

Jimmy and Junior had their interview this morning, which was followed by their trial run - a day at doggy day care. Of course, because I'm a complete loser, I was worried all day. Worried they wouldn't have fun, worried they would miss us, worried that they would cause considerable damage to themselves, each other, other dogs, toys, people, whatever. Greg thought I was a total lunatic when I asked him if they looked sad when he dropped them off. "What would you rather do," he said, "sit in the kitchen all day or play all day with a bunch of dogs?" Touche.

We picked them up after work, and they got a good report card, except for the fact that Jimmy was a little nippy with dogs and people at first (shocker). They are completely exhausted - Junior fell asleep on the ride home, and they are both passed out on the couch now, which is a miracle, considering this is usually their most active time of night.

So next Saturday will be the true test - will the dogs survive their overnight stay, and will I be able to stop thinking about them long enough to have fun in New York?

walking

So I've started walking again. I know when I tell people that I walk for exercise, they think I take pleasant little strolls. I can tell you that it's a lot faster than that -I do about a 13 minute mile, which is pretty brisk for power walking, I think. It was almost seven years ago exactly that I started power walking before work every day, which (along with majorly restricting my diet) led me to lose approx. 70 lbs. I went almost every single day, no matter what the weather was. It took me about 10 months, and it was very gradual, but when it was all done, I felt awesome.

I kept up with the walking routine for probably a good year after that, but after I switched jobs and had to be in work two hours earlier, I didn't have the motivation to get up and do my routine. Slowly but surely, I stopped my walking, and soon after, started dating Greg.

Well, you know how it is when you start dating someone. You're eating a lot of meals out, you're totally focused on that other person, and all of my will power went straight out the window. Over the next year I gained back about 20 lbs. So I started it all up again, this time having to get up at 5:45 a.m., and guess what - I lost 30 lbs.

This year, I was doing pretty well with my routine up until I started working on the show this summer, and I found that I was so super busy I couldn't bear to get up at 5:45. So, I slacked off for the past couple of months. But last week, I was back. And once I really get into the schedule of it, I find that although I don't become addicted to it like some exercise enthusiasts (freaks!) will say, the guilt I feel if I so much as try to give myself an excuse not to go is enough to push me out of bed, into my sneakers, and out the door with my iPod.

All I want to do at this point is lose five lbs and tone up a bit. Wish me luck - and keep your fingers crossed that my 30-something metabolism doesn't kick me in the ass.

weekend review

OK, so I decided it would be a lot more interesting if I did weekend reviews instead of weekend updates on Fridays, because those are very vague and non-specific, and at least this way I can talk about things I've actually done, not things I plan on doing. So here we go.

Friday night: We went out to dinner with our friends Matt and Cathy to the Wood 'n Tap. I had myself a very delicious coconut mojito, which I decided is my favorite drink of summer '06. It was really nice, so we sat outside, and afterwards, Greg and I went home and caught up on some Daily Show and Colbert Report eps.

Saturday: Basically did some chores and things during the morning. Went to Borders to read the magazines as usual, and then went off to Lisa's at night. We brought the pups, and of course they were disruptive as all get-out, but they had a great time, especially Jimmy, who got to see his BFF Molly. It was a very fun night.

Sunday: Today we went sailing with a couple of Greg's business colleagues and their wives. It was the first time I was on a sailboat - pretty crazy, especially when you hit the bigger waves. We were soaked by the end, but it was fun. Hung out at the marina for a while, and then came home. Since then, I've been doing laundry and basically marveling at the fact that the weekend is already over. Bah humbug!

this is a test

This is only a test. Ignore, ignore, ignore.

boo

I'm sad right now, because I just finished reading Why Moms are Weird by Pamela Ribon - aka Pamie of pamie.com - and I have to say I didn't love it. I was so sure I would. I even waited to buy it until after the show was over so I could totally concentrate on it, because I was positive it would be one of the best reads of the summer for me. Not so much. I mean, I liked it, and it didn't suck or anything, but I love reading her blog so much more than I enjoyed reading the book. There were some touching moments in it, particularly when the character was talking about her father who had died, but other than that, I give it a resounding "eh."

I wanted to love it so much!

weekend update

Yeah, so compared to recent weekends, this one is going to be a little less jam-packed.

Friday: Work. After work, go to Heather's house to see how young Chase is doing. This is the first time I will see the baby since I saw him at the hospital. At night, we're going to dinner with some friends. Not sure where we are going. Any suggestions? I have some gift certificates I might dip into.

Saturday: I think it's supposed to be nice out, so maybe we will take the dogs to the reservoir. Oh, did I tell you? I'm exercising again, after a couple of months of being a lazy slacker. So maybe we'll hike around with the pups. At night, we have a fabulous get-together at Lisa's house. Yay!

Sunday: Really, not a whole hell of a lot. I think Greg said we'd go sailing with some of his colleagues. Yeah, sailing. I'm one of those people this weekend. Between you and me, I hope it rains like it's supposed to. I've got a lot of TiVo to catch up on.

consider the wall hit

I'm soooooooooo tired. I'm so tired I feel sick. Yet I'm not a person who naps, so I will have to wait it out til bedtime. God, I'm completely useless right now. I can't even write anything interesting. Oh well, here's another pic from the show. This is me and my friend Chris. We have worked on approximately one million shows together (or at least it feels that way.) He rocks.

happily ever after

Sigh. The show is over, and today I've got a touch of the post-show letdown, along with a very hearty dose of exhaustion, not to mention anxiety that I won't wake up when my alarm goes off at 330 in the morning (have to be at work at 430 tomorrow-eep!). The past two weeks have been absolutely insane, and this is the first evening I've been home in a very long time. So do you think I feel relief? No, of course not. I just feel a little blue that the whole journey is over. This was one of the most ambitious shows I've ever worked on, and the final product was fantastic. We got tons of great feedback, and had great audiences too. I absolutely adored this cast - they were extremely talented, bright and fun, and I hope to work with all of them again very soon. Plus, they gave me a huge bottle of pre-made margarita, so what's better than that?! However, stage managing and producing a show at the same time has made me think I should take a little bit of a theater break. Hmmm. Maybe 'til September....

The top pic is of some backstage shenanigans before the show with some of the cast. The pic below that is of some of my very favorite and talented theater people - Helen (director), Adrianne (cast), and Mike (music director).

the woods are just trees, the trees are just woods

It's that time again. The show opens tomorrow (oh wait - tonight! I'm up too late yet again.). We're ready as were ever gonna be. This week has been pure insanity. I don't even have the energy to write about it right now. All I'll say is this cast has put a s**tload of work into this show, and I'm proud of each and every one of them. And once again, it's been a crazy journey working with my theater peeps Helen, Mike, Chris, Lisa and Adi. I'm pretty psyched. We've got a really exciting weekend coming up.

I loved the latest entry on www.verbosecoma.com. Read what she has to say about the feelings you get when a show is over. She totally nailed it. I couldn't have said it better myself, so I won't try. Despite the manic summer, I know I'll have show letdown.

What can I say - I'm a nerd.

they don't call it hell week for nothin'

6:30 a.m.: Get up.
7:30 a.m.: Go to work.
8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.: Work.
4:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: Drive to Southington, find dinner, do any sort of chores/shopping/whatever needed for the show or my real life.
5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.: Rehearsal. Drama, drama, drama.
10:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: Rehash rehearsal. Go home. Do laundry, say hello to Greg and dogs, get things ready for next day.
11:30 p.m.(ish) - Go to bed.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

weekend update, August 4 (well, really 3) edition

OK, I'm doing this a little bit early, because I have some time right now and this is going to be a busy weekend.

Friday: Work. I know it's very thrilling for you to read that I'm going to work on Friday, as I do most every Friday, and really, most every Monday through Thursday too, but there you have it. While at work, I will be waiting to hear about Heather's baby. She has a c-section scheduled tomorrow and young Chase will make his entrance into the world at about 7:30 a.m. So I'm really excited about that! After work I will go shopping to pick up something fun for baby, and then later Greg and I will head off to visit at the hospital. After that, we'll probably get dinner.

Saturday: Chores and stuff, and then we have a cookout to go to in the afternoon. Will probably visit the hospital again; if not, we'll go on Sunday morning.

Sunday: Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal, from noon to 10 p.m. That's a long ass time, but we need it, as it's the first day we're in the venue. We've got lots to do, and I guarantee the 10 hours will fly by.

Can't believe the show opens a week from tonight! Crazy. Anyway, have a good one.

I'm such a girl

I finally just finished watching Pride and Prejudice and I was very weepy at the end. I now have to go check imdb.com and see who the heck that dashing guy who played Mr. Darcy was. He's no Colin Firth, but still.

holy heat wave, batman

I was going to write an entry about how much I hate Mel Gibson right now, but my brain melted on the way home from work. So instead, I direct you to this very funny (and completely unrelated) segment of "The Colbert Report" where my favorite funnyman Stephen Colbert interviews CT's very own Ned Lamont. Go here and click on the three Ned Lamont interview segments.

It's hotter than Mark Ruffalo out there

So it's 11:52 p.m., and I just got back from rehearsal for my show. I will admit that I took a slight detour with some cast members to a Mexican place after rehearsal. But, seriously, it feels like it's still mid-afternoon out there. It's so hot and muggy and nasty-ass. Tomorrow it's supposed to get to 102. That's crazy hot. This evening we had our last rehearsal in the rehearsal hall (on Thursday we move to the school). The hall had been closed up for the past couple of days, and it was a good 20 degrees warmer in there than it was outside (which had to be around 90 when we started rehearsal). My point? Two dinky fans didn't quite do it in terms of relief. Mad props to the cast who sang and danced their way through the night despite the heat. That's show biz, I guess.

dog days of summer

I mean this literally, of course. Today was Jimmy and Junior's annual trip to my in-laws' boat. Actually, this was Jimmy's first trip down, and Junior's third.

We were a little apprehensive on how it would all go, especially since we had to stop the car three times on the hour drive down, twice to clean up Jimmy's puke and once to clean up some of Jimmy's poop (on my shorts!!! *^%!**@). By the time we got down to the marina, I was wondering if it might better for us just to take them for a walk around Essex instead. But we soldiered on.

To get to the boat, you have to walk on a series of docks, some of which are not very wide. Jimmy was fine with this, but as usual, Junior was not. Greg had to actually carry Junior across at one point. If you don't know, Junior is a hefty pup, weighing in at about 120. I thought we'd all end up in the ER for sure, or at least in the water.

Despite all of our issues actually getting on the boat, everyone had a great time on the ride. Jimmy got his sea legs right away, and I really don't think he's ever been so well behaved and so content. Even when the boat was speeding along pretty quickly, he was in his glory. Junior too. It's really fun to hear the reactions of other people on their boats when they see the pups, especially Junior. It's hilarious - like being with a celebrity.

After the boat ride, we all went for lunch and ice cream. Junior and Jimmy enjoyed their DQ very much (and half of mine too), and we managed to get home without any additional stomach upset. Now they are asleep on the floor and I have to head out to rehearsal. I wish I could take a nap with them too!

All in all, an excellent summer afternoon.

weekend update, July 28 edition

You guys, I'm so freaking tired. Just got back from rehearsal, so I'm too wired to sleep, but not wired enough to stay awake. It's a bad, bad place. So I decided to write my exciting weekend update. Here goes:

Friday: Work. After work, I have to go get some car wash supplies (see Saturday for details). Later, maybe Greg and I will use one of our many gift certificates for dinner. I am hoping to catch up on my TiVo, specifically, Project Runway.

Saturday: Workin' at the car wash....we are doing a car wash fundraiser for Southington Summer Stage at the Outback parking lot in Southington. Come on. You know you want to come down and have me clean your car in a way I never clean my own. And for only $5! What a bargain. After that madness, we've got Larry's birthday party in the evening. I suspect this will be one of the last, if not the last, time I see Heather before she has that baby.

Sunday: I am hoping that we are going down to Greg's parents' boat with the pups to take them on their annual boat ride. Well, for Junior it's the annual boat ride - for Jimmy, it will be his first ever boat ride. But it really depends on the weather and everyone's schedule. At night, I have a particularly long Woods rehearsal. With less than two weeks to go, every rehearsal is going to be particularly long. I can't believe the show is this close.

Have a good one!

make new friends, but keep the old

Oprah, you've done pissed me off. Here's why:

"I understand why people think we're gay," she said. "There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it — how can you be this close without it being sexual?"

This is the now-famed quote from Oprah, from an interview in her magazine, O, about her friendship with former Hartford-ite, Gayle King. Now, Oprah and Gayle have been bragging about their friendship - the bestity best best best friendship in the UNIVERSE - for a long time. And I think we can all recognize that having Oprah as a best friend puts Gayle in a pretty sweet position. And I'm not even doubting their friendship - they've been buddies for a really long time, long before one of them rocketed to global fame and became one of the richest people in the world.

But that quote drives me nuts! Because, yes, there is a definition in our culture for that kind of bond between women, Oprah - it's called "friendship." You don't own friendship. You didn't create it. Women have been close, in a non-sexual way, through the ages. It didn't start with you and Gayle.

And why do they have to make such a production out of it? I've had the same best friend for 25 years. We don't run around talking about it all the time. I think I'm lucky to still be friends with someone who I played Barbies with, struggled through our nerdy years with, went to college with, celebrated each other's weddings with, and who is now about to have her third child. We have supported each other through individual struggles, and have had many, many, many good times. She is the funniest person I know. But do we run around with our "best friends" necklaces and talk about how great we are because we are friends? No. I think I just consider myself lucky to have not only her, but a very great group of close friends, and that's that. No need to slap it on the cover of a magazine (not that anyone would care about my life).

I guess it just irks me that Oprah has become possessive about the whole concept of friendship now. Doesn't that woman have enough?

culture update

My reviews on what I've seen so far this weekend:

Clerks II - I liked it. I was so nervous that I wouldn't - it's kind of hard to live up to the hype that's been building for, what, 10 years? - but it was actually very amusing. The now-famed donkey part (the one that the USA critic was so upset about, so much so that he stomped out of the movie, muttering and sputtering, before it was over) was really gross, but I really liked a lot of the rest of it, and it really showed how far Kevin Smith has come, writing-wise. In the original Clerks, the writing was very stilted and non-conversational, but it was much more natural this time around. And some of the actors are now, well, acting. Some of it was also kind of smarmy and silly, but I wasn't disappointed overall.

Love, Valour, Compassion - Went to see this at Hole in the Wall last night (www.hitw.org), with Todd and Alan. I thought it was a really good show. As promised, it did feature a lot of nudity, and Alan purchased me an eye mask in case I couldn't handle it (I'm sure he will post a ridiculous picture of me with it on on his blog). But I'm happy to report that I was able to handle it. Anywho, the show, which clocks in at over three hours, moves along surprisingly quickly, and was very enjoyable and touching at points. Good job, Phil!

Prime - This is a supremely crappy movie starring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep. I Netflixed it and am regretting the two hours of my life I spent watching it. I'm not going to waste more time writing about it. I leave you with this - DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE.

I also Netflixed Pride and Prejudice, and am hoping to watch it today. I'll keep you posted.

weekend update, July 21 edition

How is it that it's almost the end of July? Where the hell has this year gone? Seriously. Anyway, it's only Thursday night, but I figure I'd do this now, since Lisa so looks forward to my weekend itineraries (I think because she realizes how lame I am and how much cooler she is than me).

Friday: Workity work work work during the day. Then I am hoping to get a pedicure because my feet need it. Tomorrow night we are supposed to go see an outdoors Hartford Symphony Orchestra concert. I am hoping that it rains. Can you believe I just said that? No, seriously, I'm sure it's going to be lovely, but if it rains, we are going to go see Clerks II instead. Later, I am hoping to stop by the Stonewell in Farmington, because a bunch of Into the Woods peeps will be doing karaoke, and I said I'd try to stop by.

Saturday: This is a very special day, because I get to see Todd and Alan at night. During the day, I'm sure we'll do chores, Borders run, Puppy Center visit, what have you. But at night - that's when the real fun starts, because I'm going out to dinner with Todd, Alan and Phil, and then Todd, Alan and I are working house at Hole in the Wall. We will also be seeing the show there that Phil directed, Love Valour, Compassion, which features NUDITY. It is sure to be a risque and delightful evening.

Sunday: Recovering from the NUDITY. Then a whole lotta I-don't-know-what, followed by a visit to my mother's and Woods rehearsal.

All weekend: Heather's baby watch. By which, I don't mean watch Heather's baby. I mean she's due any second now and I will be waiting for the call. Which probably won't come til next week, but you never know!

I don't care what they say anymore, this is my life

I just uttered the sentence: "Should I brush the dogs or wash Jimmy's ears first? I can't decide which direction I want my night to go."

My nights sure were more exciting a decade ago.

good book!

I just finished a really great book that I'd like to recommend to all of you blogsters out there. It's Faye Kellerman's Straight into Darkness. I love Faye Kellerman - she has a series of murder mysteries with the same detective character that I really enjoy - but this book was a little different, set in an entirely different timeframe with different characters. It takes place in Munich in 1929, as Hitler was coming to power. It's got a lot of German words to it, so (unless you speak German) it might be a little difficult to follow at first, but it gets a lot easier as it goes. The history of it is really horrifying - to see how a young Hitler begins to win over the Germans and create such hate against the Jews - but it is a very worthy read, both disturbingly educational (for myself, who does not know as much about 1920s-1930s Germany as I should) and also has an entertaining murdery mystery to it. And if you like it, check out her other books, as well as the books of her husband, Jonathan Kellerman, who I've been reading for years.

PS - See, I don't always read happy books.

cruel summer

Sons of bitches, it's hot out there today. And we are definitely supposed to exceed tomorrow's record of 97. Ouchie! Stay hydrated, kids.

uuuuuuggggghhhhhaaaaccccckkkkkkk

Yeah. That's about how you feel after a long day yesterday that included an ER trip for Greg (his ear is messed up, still no real idea what's wrong-he has to go to his regular doc tomorrow - but he'll live) and then the big show last night. It went really really well - there were times it was so packed in there you couldn't even breathe, and there were definitely a lot of, oh, how you say, characters there, include a bunch of very young chicks that were dancing in Greg's face - but we didn't get out of the bar until after 2. Navigating the streets (I drove with another girl) of Hartford as the bars are emptying out, with the streets literally teeming with drunken fools (the male half of which feel like they have every right in the world to taunt any girl walking by, even if she's an old lady like me), was not easy. Also, there was the obligatory trip to Denny's after all of the equipment was unloaded at Casa Guay. By the time my stuffed-with-fried-cheese-self came home, walked the dogs, and went to bed, the sun was rising. I didn't have one drink last night (I was desperately trying to avoid having to use the Federal bathroom) and yet I still feel like complete and utter hell. But it was a good show, and I'm happy for Greg. Rock on!

Weekend update, July 14 edition

And, without further ado, here is a fairly boring list of stuff I may or may not do this weekend! Try not to fall asleep.

Friday: Well, I just got home early from work, and read my friend Alan's blog. I convinced him to start a blog, and a handy-dandy link is on the side of this page, so check him out! Tonight Greg and I will surely eat, because that's pretty much all we do, and then maybe we will see a movie. I'm thinking possible that You, Me and Dupree movie, but, God, it doesn't even look that good. There are so few good movies out these days. It's pathetic.

Saturday: AKA KERMIT THE BAND day. Greg's band will be performing Saturday night, so I'm sure all day Saturday will revolve around stressing about/preparing for the big gig. PLEASE COME. I beg you. They are quite good, I swear! I need someone to hang out with. We'll be at the Federal Cafe. I'll buy you a drink. I'll buy you TWO drinks.

Sunday: Recovery from the gig. Even though I'm not in the band, the whole thing involves a certain amount of recovery for everyone involved. I have Woods rehearsal at night, and before that, I will probably go to my mom's.

All weekend: Sweating my arse off. It's supposed to be steamin' hot!

Guilty pleasures

After chatting with Beth today (who does not have a DVD player or full cable), I started thinking about how I would be miserable without my DVD player, and my cable, and lots of other little niceties that make my daily living pleasurable. So, without further ado, here are my top five guilty (or not - I don't feel guilty about them -maybe I mean superficial?) pleasures:

1) TiVo. This is in the number one spot for a reason. TiVo has changed my television watching forever. Now I can speed through a half hour show in 20 minutes, an hour-long show in 40 minutes, and never ever have to watch commercials. Sure, you could do this before with VCRs, but let's face it - those things never record right, you always have to buy new tapes, and I could never set it up to tape the whole season of Lost (first-run episodes only, and it doesn't matter if they change the day it airs to say a Tuesday instead of the regular Wednesday) with just a few quick clicks of a button. I feel like TiVo is part of my family. Maybe I will have it sign my Christmas cards this year. I could seriously go on and on about TiVo.

2) Netflix. You know when there are movies you want to see, but maybe you feel a little silly about it? Take The Pacifier starring Vin Diesel. Because my Netflix agreement is a monthly charge, three movies at a time, no limit per month deal, there is really no drawback to adding a movie like The Pacifier to my queue. And, when it arrives, having it sit near the DVD player for a couple of weeks, unplayed, only to be sent back, unwatched. Because, really - why would I ever want to see The Pacifier starring Vin Diesel? Hypothetically speaking, of course. Anyway, Netflix allows me to be super-finicky about my movie choices, and see all the movies I refuse to see in the theaters (because of the commercials - why do they show commercials at the movies!? This enrages me). I digress.

3) Gossip magazines, specifically US Weekly, In Touch, Life and Style, and People. Every weekend, Greg and I head to Borders, get some delicious mochas, and sit and read the magazines. The above mentioned magazines are the first in my pile. I am such a celebrity gossip whore. I can't get enough of what's going on with Jen and Vince, Brad and Angelina, Jen and Brad, Angelina and Jen - you get my drift. I don't think of myself as a complete idiot, and I do read a lot of books, but I heart these magazines so much. Maybe because they help me realize how much I don't want to be a celebrity.

4) Speaking of reading, the fourth item on my list is what they officially call "women's contemporary literature," but I like to call "chick lit." You know, those books of the Bridget Jones' Diary variety, not the romance novels with the big, chest-heaving Fabios on the cover (which I can proudly say I have never read, save for a couple of Judith Krantz books in college). Anway, I love authors like Jane Green, Lynda Curnyn, Lisa Jewell, Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner...I could go on and on. Don't worry -I read other stuff too. Right now I'm reading a book about Hitler-era Germany! Definitely not in the chick-lit category, unless the story takes a surprising turn.

5) Last, but not least, is my hobby of singing along to showtunes. I. Can. Not. Sing. You wouldn't believe how much I cannot sing, unless you've had the misfortune of actually hearing me. This is my great tragedy. For a person who loooooooves musicals (not as much as I love plays, but still) it seems completely unfair that I am so talent-free that I have no place even appearing in the chorus of one of these shows. But put me in my car with the stereo blasting, and I'm starring in Rent, Tick, Tick...Boom, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - the list goes on and on. Hey, if I turn the volume up high enough, I can't even hear the wretched noise I make.

All of this is not to say that I'm a superficial person. And if you know me, I'm hoping you can agree. But we all need the little things to get us through the day, and these are some of mine. Let the making fun commence.

I'm no fashionista.....

...but I love love love "Project Runway," which premieres tonight on Bravo! (Beth, this is a channel you get with cable.) For those of you who know me (and I assume pretty much anyone reading this knows me), I'm not exactly topping the fashion risk chart. I consider myself a commanding officer of the Gap/Old Navy/flip-flips army. Sometimes I slide even lower on the scale of high fashion, like right now, for instance: I'm wearing an old DQ t-shirt (from my ice cream-slinging days) and pink and white striped pj bottoms. HOT.

I think that's one of the reasons why I love this show. It takes a bunch of fairly-to-very talented designers, and puts them in a competition to show a line of clothing during Fall Fashion Week in New York. Heidi Klum is the host, and I gotta tell ya, I love her, not to mention the snarky Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and most especially, Tim Gunn. Plus, I love to watch people excel in an area where I am completely talent-free (which may explain why I also love "Hell's Kitchen" and "Top Chef" as well).

Check it out. Even if you hate reality television (Alan), you may love this. Give it a shot. It's worth it, I promise.

save a few hours of your life, and don't read this book

I read the book The Washingtonienne by Jessica Culter last week. It's, like, seriously bad. In real life, the author worked in Washington on Capitol Hill, slept around with a bunch of political-types, blogged about it, and then got fired because she was blogging on work time. It was a bit of a scandal a couple of years ago. Basically, the book is a fictionalized account of that part of her life. I thought the book sucked. I thought it was poorly written, and there is no way I'm going to buy another one of her books, if she actually gets published again. I hope she made the most of her extended 15 minutes, because she's a one-trick pony, if ever I saw one. For a better account of all that happened, go to Wonkette.com, and do a search on her name and also "The Washingtonienne" (which was the name of her blog). So much better than the book, and it's free!

Back to work (sigh)

Well, the hours are winding down on my big summer vacation. Can't complain too much - the weather was pretty good - great this weekend, in fact - and I got a lot of hang time with my pups. This afternoon I'm going to a birthday party for twin five-year-olds (one of which is my godson) and tonight I have Woods rehearsal, and then it's back to work tomorrow. And, God, do I have a lot to do when I get back.

One recommendation from my week off is the book The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank (Or is it Banks? I'm too lazy to go in the other room and check. Same chick who wrote The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing.). Anyway, it was a really good book. I flew through several books this week, and that was the best one, by far.

weekend update

Well, here we go!

Today (Friday): I'm off to the beach in a little bit. Finally the weather has cooperated. Sweet! I'm just going down with my towel and my book, and I'm sure after a few hours I will feel very guilty about spending so much time in the sun and I will leave. Tonight I'm hanging with Greg, but I'm not sure what we're doing.

Saturday: I'm going to a cookout at my friend Ethan's house. I'm pretty psyched because I get to see a bunch of my old newspaper friends who I haven't seen in a really long time.

Sunday: Not too much during then day, then we're off to Connor and Cole's birthday party, after which I have rehearsal. Oh, did I tell you the improv show I was doing was canceled? Yeah, we'll do it at some point in the future, but the first booking was canceled. In part, I'm relieved, because it was getting confusing doing two shows at once. But I feel badly for my friend who is producing it. Oh well, I think there's another one coming up in September.

That's all! Have a good one.

Greetings from...here.

So, even though I am taking the lamest of all lame vacations - a week at, well, home - I have to say it's still pretty sweet. And even though the weather isn't panning out as it promised - we were supposedly supposed to have a week's worth of sunshine, yeah right, but hey, at least it hasn't poured all week - I'm still having fun. Since the party on Tuesday, I've pretty much spent the bulk of my time on my back deck, enjoying the warm, albeit mostly cloudy, weather. I was going to go to the beach today, but because the forecast shifted, I'm just hangin' here with my dogs. I think I'll go tomorrow instead. Oh, so far this week I did get an oil change and I went to emissions, and....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....sorry, I just fell asleep writing my own boring blog entry. I guess, to make a long story short (too late!), I just wanted to say it's been relaxing. Wish you were here!

Bang!

So, yesterday's Fourth of July party was quite a success, if I do say so myself. Some highlights:

*The return of Flannery!
*Lisa's dee-licious Jell-o shots (which were polished off after she left)
*The massive fireworks display masterfully put on by Greg, Rob and Dimitry
*The kids' artwork on my driveway and front walkway
*The food, glorious food!
*Hanging out with friend and family
*The petting zoo downstairs - and the fact that Connor and Cole will probably repeat "poopy puppy" about a million times over the next week, since they were so entertained when I said it
*And last, but certainly not least - the fact that it didn't rain! Yeah! Especially considering it rained like a bitch elsewhere in the state.

I'm spoiled (or, my life without air conditioning)

I have always had central air conditioning. We had it in my house growing up, and I had air conditioning in most of my apartments (except for the Hartford apartment, or, what I like to call the ninth ring of hell). Anyway, our AC died last night. I am waiting at home for the guy to come and hopefully fix it. In the meantime, It's hotter than a monkey's butt out there, and I've got over 40 people coming to my house tomorrow - which is supposed to be a combo scorcher with thunderstorms. I'm trying to be Zen about the weather - really, what can I do if it rains? - but I have my fingers crossed and am praying to the weather gods that it stays dry, at least for most of the day!

But I am now happy, because I read that Lisa is making Jello shots for the party. YES.

ETA: The AC is fixed! Thank you, Jesus. And, more specifically, thank you Dale, the AC guy.

Also - now they are saying possible HAIL tomorrow? WTF?!?

The Devil Wears Prada

This was a good movie. I really enjoyed it. It stuck true to the book in many ways - although in other ways, it totally didn't -but overall, it was a really good chick flick. Meryl Streep was awesome, and Anne Hathaway really reminded me of Julia Roberts. She's so pretty! I want to look like Anne Hathaway. Sigh.

In other news, it's dang hot out today! Keep your fingers crossed for good weather on Tuesday.

weekend update, Fourth of July version

Wahoo! I'm off of work for a week. Yay! Here's what's up this weekend:

Friday: I am going to get my hair cut in an hour. I need it soooo bad. My bangs are driving me nuts. Then we're going to dinner at Pastis with Al and Lisa. We have gift certificates, and the place is closing tomorrow. Am I worried about what kind of food will be served in its final hours? You betcha. But it's free!

Saturday: Must get up very early and clean the house. Not only are we having a Fourth of July shindig on Tuesday, but we are now having a houseguest beginning Sunday, so the cleaning frenzy must begin. Those of you with dogs know that anything I clean will be undone it about five seconds, but a girl's gotta try. Then in the afternoon I am going to my friend Heather's family Fourth (actually First) of July party. They do this every year, and since I'm a pseudo member of their family, I go. It's usually a lot of fun - I'm quite looking forward to it. Tomorrow night I'd really love to go see The Devil Wears Prada, because I loved the book and I need to see a good chick flick right now.

Sunday: More cleaning. Perhaps doing the food shop for the party. Dimitry will arrive. I have to do some theater stuff in the a.m., and then we have Into the Woods rehearsal in the p.m. I am going to stop by my mom's at some point as well.

That's the weekend. Have a great one, folks!

It's an honor just being nominated

Although the number one and number two pups of all time, Junior and Jimmy, did not make the final six in Old Navy's search for a new mascot, it's still worth checking out the finalists over at www.oldnavy.com/magic. My money's on Cooper - something about that pup just makes me smile. So go over there and vote! You only have until July 7, I believe.

free time

I'm not a person who schedules a lot of free time in my life. For someone without kids, my life seems incredibly insane most of the time, mostly due to various theater projects, friend and family obligations, and of course, work. So having a free night is a somewhat rare thing. Usually, when I do have a free night, I have to catch up on the many hours of TV I Tivoed that week. But now that it's summer, my Tivo is on a bit of a break. Sure, I'm still recording "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," as well as Kathy Griffin's "My Life on the D-List," among other things. But overall, my TV obligations have decreased dramatically over the past few weeks.

I'm discovering that that is a good thing. Now, I'm not knocking TV - and you will never hear me do that - but it's truly amazing how much free time I feel I have when I'm not watching it. Take tonight, for example. Now, tonight wasn't technically a free night - I had rehearsal for Into the Woods - but I was able to leave early, around 7:45. Since then, I went to Target to pick up some kids' toys for our Fourth of July fiesta, I played outside with the dogs for quite a while, chatted with the neighbors, did some laundry, caught up on my blog-reading, and now I'm writing this. And it's only 9:18! Amazing! Oooh...speaking of which, I really miss "The Amazing Race".....well, September is right around the corner.

What the dog did

For those of you who have to listen to me in real life, you probably think this entry is about Jimmy's latest back-to-back trips to the emergency vet. But I'm so exhausted by all of that drama I don't feel like writing about it. So instead, I'm here to 100% wholeheartedly recommend the book What The Dog Did by Emily Yoffe. It just came out in paperback, and it's the story of a self-proclaimed "reluctant dog owner." At the constant begging of her daughter, she adopted a rescue beagle named Sasha for her family. I was laughing my arse off for the first three quarters of the book. Seriously making a scene of myself in Borders, where I bought it and started to read it. Greg was embarrassed, I think. But it hit home so much, and explained a whole lot about my dog Jimmy (who is half beagle). There are a few sad bits (don't worry, Sasha is still alive at the end; Emily, just talks about some other people's sad experiences - but she gets through them quickly) but overall it was really informational, and most importantly, hi-freaking-larious. I don't think you have to have a dog to truly appreciate this book, but it probably helps. I read a whole lotta books, and this is by far the best one I've read this year. Go buy it now!

another opening, another show

Sorry I haven't been blogging too regularly. It's been quite busy, what with an eye infection (me) and an emergency trip to the vet resulting in a big 'ol pink bandage (Jimmy). But tonight I get to go to the first rehearsal for the show I will be stage managing this summer, Into the Woods. I am so psyched. This is the summer theater group that I helped out with last summer, for college and post-college-aged people. It's a really great group and casting went so well last week that I think we are going to have a phenomenal show. I love this part, the part before we even start, where we can hope that everything will go smoothly, and there will be no problems, and hundreds of people will come see all of our work. Here's hoping it all comes true.

weekend update

Lisa requested that I do a weekend update. So here it is. First of all, may I just say I am so happy it's Friday? This week has sucked the life out of me. So here is what I am doing:

Tonight: I have been peer-pressured into seeing X-Men 3 by Greg and Heather. So off we will go, with Larry too, to see this movie I already hate. I don't see comic book movies, but I don't want to be a party pooper. So instead I will complain about it the whole time! Oh, OK, I'll try not to. Anyway, before that we are going to dinner. This is big doings because with twin boys and another boy on the way in a matter of weeks, Heather and Larry don't go out too much.

Tomorrow: I will watch with glee as 6 inches of rain fall on our lovely state. If by glee I mean all-consuming anger, and if by lovely I mean God-forsaken. This wretched state is cursed, I say. I have to do some shopping and some chores and stuff. I really don't have anything much planned for tomorrow, can ya tell?

Sunday: I have a thing to go to in the afternoon, and then I have improv rehearsal at night. I'm sorry Lisa - I'm so boring this weekend!

this week sucks @ss

Which is why I haven't blogged in a while.

Steamy!

It's the three H's today - hazy, hot and humid. I LOVE IT!

Bring it, summer. I'm ready.

weekend

OK it's the weekend. Why do I feel the need to itemize what I do on the weekends? I have no idea. But here goes:

Friday: I went to work, and then hung out with Greg and watched our Netflixed "Entourage" season 2 DVDs. Well, not all of them, but a pretty good chunk. Went out to dinner w/some friends later.

Saturday: Today we are doing yardwork. I am not one of those people who gets any sense of joy out of yardwork. For me it's a necessity, only so that the neighbors don't talk about us for having a shitty yard. Greg is currently cutting down two small trees in our front yard, which will improve things markedly, I think. I should be out there helping, and I will be, just as soon as I finish this. Not sure what we are doing tonight, because we cannot agree on a movie (he wants to see Superman; I don't. I gave up comic book movies a long time ago, as a result of another relationship in which half of us was comic-book focused. Hint: it wasn't my half). We'll figure something out, but I have a sneaking suspicion it won't be glamorous.

Sunday: It's supposed to be hot as a mo-fo tomorrow. Like, 97 degrees or something like that. We are going down to the beach to celebrate Father's Day with Greg's parents. I will probably be somewhat blue about the holiday - but perhaps I will be fine. This is the seventh Father's Day I have not been able to celebrate. So strange how time flies sometimes. Anyway. Then tomorrow night I have to go audition someone for Into the Woods who cannot make it to auditions next week because he'll be away.

And with that, my friends, I'm off to the yard.

I'm not even supposed to BE here today

(Did anyone get my Clerks reference? Because, you know, BEST MOVIE EVER.)

Anywho, I kind of make it a policy not to talk about my job on this blog. But two really great things happened that I wanted to touch upon:

1) I got a promotion!

2) Drinking games.

That is all.

The pups (because I never post pictures of them!)

Jimmy, the one-nut wonder

Well, I have to drop Jimmy off at the vet tomorrow to get fixed. And of course, because I'm a tried-and-true sap, I'm emotional about it. I know you have to get your pets fixed; it's the right thing to do. Also, it's probably the most common procedure that vets do on dogs. But I'm nervous. Because Jimmy is a true original, only one of his, uh, beans has descended, so they are going to have to go in and find the other one. This, I hear, is also fairly common. But the poor pup is going to be down for the count for a little bit. I feel so bad! OK - tell me I'm a loser now.

ETA: The patient is home and as good as new! Well, except for the lack of desire to hump his brother.

Playin' hooky.

Aw yeah, party people, I'm skipping work tomorrow! OK, not really. I mean, I have already told work I won't be there tomorrow, and I'm using one of my vacation days, so it's not like I'm calling in "sick" or anything. But yay - the weather is supposed to be great, and so I'm just going to sit my arse down on the back deck and read and enjoy the sunshine and actually celebrate that summer is here (well, at least this week, anyway). Wahoo! I can't think of a better way to spend a Tuesday.

Theater dork alert!

The Tony Awards start in 45 minutes. I have my fingers crossed for The Drowsy Chaperone and Awake and Sing (starring my boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo, who is also nominated for an award). It's a big night!

ETA: Nobody wants me to actually see the Tonys tonight. First a bird flew into the house and created much chaos, and then Jimmy somehow covered himself in poop outside and I had to give him an improptu bath in the sink. He used to fit in there fine when he was 5 pounds, but at 20 pounds, not so much. So now he smells like wet dog (because, well, he is a wet dog) and he's running around like a loon, as if the bird didn't excite the pups enough. Also, Mark Ruffalo didn't win best featured actor, but he still looks hot. And Awake and Sing won for best revival of a play. Drowsy is doing well too. Thank God I have Tivo or I would have completely missed all of this.

C'mon, book people!

This is fantastic. Those of you who love Pamie and Glark should love this too. They are raising money to provide books to libraries devastated by Katrina. Even though most of us here in the Northeast don't think about that hurricane anymore, there are many, many people who are still affected by its aftermath every single day. Come on peeps - crack open your wallets and supply some books to some fellow book lovers! (I'm partial to the libraries whose children's sections were completely destroyed. Because I think I was a child the last time I was in a library when I didn't owe a late fee.)

In other news - what in the hell? There's a glowing orb in the sky! What could that be? And I'm going to an outdoor wedding today - how did this manage to work out correctly? I don't need an umbrella or anything! Wahoo! I'm very happy for our blushing bride Christy, because I would have been shi**ing bricks all week watching it rain every single day.

That ain't right.

The restaurant where Greg and I had our first date has been completely demolished. It's just sitting there now in a big pile. What does that mean? Best not to read into it, methinks.

Breakin' up is hard to do

Just saw the movie The Break Up. It sucked monkey ass. Don't see it. There are about two funny parts in it, the ending is not satisfying, and I felt uncomfortable the whole time because the movie is basically Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn fighting. If I want to hear a couple fighting, I'll pick a fight with Greg and I won't have to pay $9 to listen to it.

It's the weekend.

Couldn't really sleep last night, so my weekend is starting earlier than normal (I'd rather be sleeping right now.)

So, as usual, this is a busy one. Today I'm off to work, of course, and then tonight I'll be going out with Heather, Shelly and Maryann - yay! We're going out to dinner and then going to see The Break Up, which I know is going to suck but I still want to see anyway. What can I say - I'm hopelessly addicted to chick flicks.

Tomorrow I'll be doing the usual chores and stuff, and then tomorrow night I'm going to dinner with my friends Todd and Alan, and then the three of us will head off to Hole in the Wall Theater to work house and watch the show, Loot, that my friend directed and Flannery's fiance is in.

Sunday I am going to my friend Christy's wedding, which I am very excited about, particularly because Sunday marks the first day the sun is supposed to come out in a week. Isn't it supposed to be summer now? And Sunday night I'll be planted in front of the TV watching my favorite awards show of the year - the Tonys. I mentioned I'm a big-time theater nerd, right?

Have a good one!

Truthiness

I have a big nerdy crush on Stephen Colbert. I love love love "The Colbert Report," and the fact that some right-wingers actually think he's serious makes me love it (and him) even more. Check out this transcript of a commencement speech he made at a college in Illinois last weekend:

http://www.knox.edu/x12547.xml

You talkin' to me?

Tonight I got to act like a spoiled, obnoxious, bratty New York mob princess. And it was awesome. This is why I love to do theater - it lets me act like a beeyotch on purpose!

Deal or No Deal

What the F is up with this show? I always see the tail end of it when I'm waiting for The Apprentice to start, and I just don't get it. Right now I'm watching people screaming at a girl who is being harrassed by Howie Mandel and Celine Dion to make a deal or no deal. Yes, that's right - Celine Dion. I feel like I'm in the twilight zone.

My rock star life.

Lest anyone who reads this actually think I'm cool, let me give a snapshot of my big Monday night:

I just changed into my after-work ensemble, which includes pink striped sleeping pants from Old Navy and a t-shirt that says (in a very klassy way, mind you) "I do it in Hartford." Sweet. I am also sporting a fake tattoo that I put on today at work (mostly because I have more team spirit than anyone else, Flannery and Beth) that I completely forgot about until I was changing. It's the logo for the Broadway show Bklyn (coming to a theater near you!) and lemme tell ya, it's hot. Hope I remember to wash it off before work tomorrow. Anyway, I'm playing online and avoiding learning my lines (yes, still) and the big exciting focus of my night is the Apprentice finale, because it will feature my very very favorite band, Barenaked Ladies.

Who's cooler than me? Oh yeah. Everyone.

Procrastinator

Must. Go. Learn. My. Lines.

Why do I keep putting this off? Why can I learn a million lines for one show, but then when I have to learn much less for another show, I keep coming up with other things to do?

That's it, I'm going to do this now. No excuses. Right this second.

I wonder what's on TV?

All wet.

So we did Relay for Life last night. I was there from about 4 p.m. to just before midnight, when we decided to collapse the canopy (collapse=destroy, in this case) and head home. I don't think I've ever been so wet in my life. Yes, because Connecticut's new slogan is "The Rainy State," it was pouring last night as we made lap after lap around the track. I soaked a t-shirt, two sweatshirts, my shorts, and most especially, my socks and sneakers. Oh yeah, and my Red Sox hat. I think the whole pile is still dripping. I'm sooo tired today too, but we had fun and many laughs, and it was all for a worthy cause.

And right now I'm rewarding myself with my four Tivoed episodes of The Office. God, I love this show!

Weekend!

And we survived another work week (barely, after last night's festivities!). Anyway, here's what's up for me:

Today: Heading out to Relay for Life (a 24-hour relay to benefit the American Cancer Society) in a little bit. Unfortunately, it's going to rain, but Relay stops for nothing! I plan on earning all of the generous donations people gave by walking miles and miles and miles and miles (remember that Proclaimers song? 500 Miles? Yeah, it'll be like that). I plan on staying until the wee hours.

Tomorrow: Recover from Relay! And do general chores. And go over my lines for the show. And pick up the Into the Woods dvd from Mike to see what show I've gotten myself into for the summer. And then go hang with my girls Heather and Cheryl.

Sunday: Oh this is gonna be a very glamorous day - dropping off a dvd to Rich (Supertroopers - I didn't watch it - I should've, huh?) and going to cleanup at our theater hall. It needs a major cleaning/purging of props, set stuff, costumes, etc.

Who's jealous? Anyone else doing anything fun?

Cosmos + me = tipsy

I had three Cosmos tonight at an event here that is modeled after American Idol. My sister is involved with it, so I went down to check it out. And now I'm waay tipsy after several Cosmos. So, if you're in the CT area, and you want a strong Cosmo, go to Zen Bar in Farmington. YIKES.

Ouchie!

I just drove home in the most frightening thunderstorm I've ever seen. Actually, it was the incessent lightning that was freaking me out. It was non-stop! When I drove up my street, I saw a tree that had been knocked down onto my neighbor's car. Our grill was pushed 3/4 of the way across our porch, almost right through the other side. Mother Nature's pissed about something!

Seriously, it's almost June? Huh?

How is it May 31st? Seriously? I can't believe that this year is almost half over already. Quickest year ever, in my opinion. Anyway, I've been meaning to update this blog for the past couple of days but frankly, I don't want my Mark Ruffalo picture to go away. I jest - sort of. Truthfully, there's not much to tell. Busy work week, and at night I've been trying to learn my lines for my improv show. My heart hasn't been in it much, but I really need to get the work done before the next rehearsal. Met up with my co-organizers for our summer theater program, and we nailed down the logistics for auditions and rehearsals for Into the Woods, and I'm looking forward to starting that in June. I am once again a person who exercises, after having fallen off that wagon for several months. I've been getting up super-early and getting a few miles in before work. All of my muscles hurt because they're like "hellooooooo - you can't just act like you've been doing this every day! we're not in shape right now!" so we'll see how it all goes. I'm pretty determined to stick to it (again). Oh - Junior's drinking out of the toilet. Gotta run.

My Hollywood boyfriend, part deux (I met Mark Ruffalo!!!)

OK, so as y'all know, I went to see Awake and Sing! in NYC yesterday, a Broadway play starring my Hollywood boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo. It was a great play - really worth all of the Tony noms - but the very best part was, Jen and I got to meet Mark after the show. A friend was able to get us backstage to meet and chat with him for a bit, and it was so great. He was super nice and gracious and normal and friendly, and I was so happy that he didn't disappoint me and turn out to be a jerk. I have a picture and everything, which I will post once I figure out how to do it. It was the best celebrity encounter I have ever had, and I don't think it will be topped soon! Oh, and also - he's super hot.

ETA: The picture.

It's the weekend, baby

I don't have to work tomorrow, so my four-day weekend starts.....................................now. Wahoo! The plans are as follows:

Friday: Enjoy the warm weather, despise the clouds, maybe take my dogs for a ride, go out with mom-in-law for dinner for her bday

Saturday: Going to NYC to see my Hollywood boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo, in the play Awake and Sing!, probably run away with him

Sunday: If I don't run away with Mark, I will be going to Lisa and Luke's fabulous joint 30th birthday party. Fun and merriment will abound.

Monday: Sit on my ass on the deck in the sunshine, read a book, enjoy life. Go to a meeting to plan summer theater program in evening.

The end.

Bright sunshiny day, part three

Today is the most perfect weather day ever.

(I figured you all deserved to hear me say that, since all I ever do is complain about the weather)

I'm Lost

So, big Lost finale last night. I did like it a lot. Greg, however, was screaming at the television, because he's decided the writers have no idea what they are doing or where they are going, and that they are just making stuff up as they go along. I told him he shouldn't watch shows like Lost if he wants everything wrapped up like a pretty package at the end. Shows like this are meant for big cliffhanger season endings - otherwise, why would we tune in in September? It answered some questions, posed some more, there was a good amount of action, and frankly, Desmond is a bit of a hottie, once you start really looking at him. I was happy.

Oh, this does not mean I have any idea what is going on. Because as usual, I don't.

Ugh.

I'm in fine form today. Not only am I getting a cold, I am also hungover from my night out with my theater peeps last night. Why did I think three Cosmolitos (like a Cosmopolitan but take out the vodka and add tequila)? Why did this seem like such a good idea? We had an awesome time. But I'm paying for it today. Ugggghhhh.


ETA: Oooh, oooh, I forgot to add that today, while painful, is also going to RULE, because tonight is the big LOST finale! Wahoooo!

%$#@!*^! weather

Oh my God, you guys. I am about to lose my mind. I heard the forecast this morning for the weekend, and where it was supposed to be sunny, hot and gorgeous, it is now going to be rainy on Friday and Saturday. I can't take it anymore, seriously. I'm moving to San Diego. Call! Write! Visit! I'll miss you.

My best friends (of the canine variety)

OK, this one's for Lisa, because she's annoyed that I'm not talking about my dogs. And I know I haven't posted any pictures, but I promise I will sometime soon.

I know I've referenced my dogs in the title of this blog, but I haven't talked about them much. So let me introduce you. I have two dogs, Junior and Jimmy. They have changed my life.

Junior is my Great Dane. We got him about three years ago, right before we got engaged. He was an adorable brindle puppy, about 18 pounds when we got him, all clumsy big feet. Now he's a 120 lb. adorable dog, and he, as those of you who know me know, is the number one pup of all time. He's truly a gentle giant - well, most of the time, unless he's chewing apart something that doesn't belong to him - and I think you could say he was my first real adult responsibility. No matter where we were, at some point, we had to get home to feed the dog or let the dog out. There was (and is) no way of going away for the night - or, God forbid, a vacation - without paying someone to watch the dog. I have lost countless shoes, t-shirts, even a diamond earring to this dog's curiosity. He hogs the bed more than you could possibly imagine, to the point where I think I'm going to have permanent back problems. His favorite snack is a long drink from the toilet bowl. But it doesn't matter - he's the best dog I have had and ever will have.

Jimmy is the newest member of our family. He is a Beagle-Pug mix and arrived on Christmas morning, after months of me trying to convince Greg that two dogs is better than one. He was only five pounds when we got him, and a bundle of excitable nerves. Where Junior was an extremely laid-back, tired puppy, Jimmy couldn't keep still, and still can't. He was so small that we could give him baths in a bowl in the sink, which was good, because it took him ages to housebreak and he was constantly walking around in his own poop (pretty, I know). He is about 20 lbs now, and has taken over the household. He follows Junior wherever he goes - he really considers Junior his best friend. He's very inquisitive - while Junior prefers to relax in a sunbeam, Jimmy is always - ALWAYS - checking things out.

Our house has dog toys everywhere, we are constantly vaccuuming up dirt and dog hair, we are constantly covered in drool, we can never go anywhere for long periods of time and I am up usually every single night in the middle of the night letting one or both of the dogs out, sometimes multiple times. I get the average sleep of a new mother with an infant, and now that spring is here, I have to be on the constant lookout for ticks. I can't eat a meal without standing up, because if I sit, they will just help themselves to whatever is on my plate, and we pay a fortune in vet bills.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

They listen to me whenever I need to vent, and they instinctively know when I need some love. They listen to all of the songs I sing about them, and they are mini-celebrities in our neighborhood and beyond. They believe that no matter how big or small they are, they are lap dogs. They get so excited when I come home, it's as if I had been away for years. I wouldn't trade anything for that.

My Hollywood boyfriend

I'm very very very very excited right now, because I found out this weekend that I will be going to see my Hollywood boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo, in the play Awake and Sing! in New York on Saturday. Yes - I'm five short days away from seeing my main movie star squeeze live and in person. And he's just been nominated for a Tony too! He's so cool - not in that super-hot Brad Pitt kind of way (Brad was never my type anyway), but in a seemingly-really-nice-guy, I-could-see-myself-hanging-out-with-him kind of way.

Whatever shall I wear?

This makes me nervous.

OK, so, like, I didn't come to work packin' my umbrella today. This is the first time in weeks that I haven't had it with me. In fact, the 10-day forecast on weather.com has it so it actually gets super sunny and warm this week. (knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood). Please, oh weather gods, let it be true - because when I couldn't even see out of my windshield because of all of the rain yesterday on the way to rehearsal, I almost lost my mind. I've tried not to complain too much about the weather (yes, I actually have tried to restrain myself, although it may not seem that way) but I need me some warm weather so I can start wearing my new summer shorts.

So let us all keep our fingers crossed for some nice weather, so Amanda doesn't completely go batty.

Strangely quiet

So here I sit, on a Sunday afternoon (weather check - rainy, cloudy, crappy), instant-messaging with my friend Mike but with little else to do. I mean, I have stuff I can do - books to read, movies to watch, laundry to do, etc. But there is nothing I have to do, at least for the next couple of hours, until I head off to rehearsal for my improv show. This is weird for me - I'm usually running around like an idiot on the weekend, to the point where Monday morning comes around and I'm not sure where the last two days went. It's nice to have a few hours of actual downtime.

I think I'll go finish watching the movie Elizabethtown, which I watched half of yesterday, and really really didn't like that much. So we'll see if I hate the rest of it as much. I'll let you know.

ETA: OK, Elizabethtown seriously was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. And I'm fairly easy to please, chick flick-wise. But Orlando Bloom and, in particular, Kirstin Dunst reached new levels of bad acting. I did like Susan Sarandon, however. Don't waste your time, though.

I'm not bananas for the new...

Banana Coconut Frappuccino at Starbucks. I wanted to be. I sooo wanted to be. I love banana-y tasting things. But I had one this afternoon and it was...eh. It didn't suck or anything, but it wasn't all that, either.

And that's my official review on that.

Weekend Update

This weekend, I plan on really embracing the rain. I love it. No, really. Why would I want sun? Why would I want it to be nice? Why wouldn't I want to feel like I live in Seattle? Or Dublin? Those are very nice places. Sigh.

This weekend is a busy one. Well, more specifically, tomorrow is a busy day. I was invited to a bridal shower, a surprise birthday party, and a baptism, of which I am going to the birthday party and the baptism after-party. Sunday I have my first rehearsal for the improv show I am doing, so that should be fun. I wanted to see the DaVinci Code this weekend, but I'm waiting to see if Heather and I can actually make a plan to see it for next weekend, because I'd like to see it with her, if possible. I am hoping upon hope that the weather doesn't completely suck. I hear it's really going to be beautiful on Monday, which is perfect timing, because I'll be back at my desk at work that day.

Sweet.

America's Next Top Chef

OK, so I just watched my Tivo-ed episodes of America's Next Top Model and Top Chef. Here are my thoughts:

Top Chef - WHAT? Dave is out? I don't get it. I also don't get how Billy Joel's child bride is qualified to be a judge, but whatever. I LOVE this show so much, but I really wanted to see Tiffany go and have Dave and Harold be the final two. Oh well, at least Harold is still in there. I think it's hilarious how much joy I get out of this show, considering my main cooking device is my microwave. Or Wendy's.

America's Next Top Model - YAY! Danielle won. I think she's so pretty, although I liked Joanie too. As long as Jade didn't take it, I'm happy. I also think it's hilarious how much joy I get out of this show, considering, um, I'm about 8 inches too short to be a model, and also about 12 or 14 years too old. Among other reasons.

I promise once I'm done with all of these finales, I will restore my brain to its usual, mostly-intelligent self.

damn those hippies!

Why do I watch The Amazing Race? WHY? Half the time it's boring, every time my favorite teams are eliminated early, and this time, the super-annoying think-they're-funny-but-they're-not hippies won! I am very upset. I know pretty much everyone else I know who watches the show loved those guys, but they just came across as a couple of Fakey McFakersons to me. They just tried too hard, ya know? Either you're funny or you're not - and they were NOT.

At least Lost was interesting - what was UP with that boat at the end? Veeery interested in seeing the season finale next week.....

In awe.

So I'm sitting here, thinking, really thinking about the fact that I graduated high school FIFTEEN YEARS AGO next month. Fifteen years! Holy sh*t! And I graduated college ten years ago this month.

Where the hell has the time gone? I'm serious - what have I done? Besides the obvious go to college, get a job, get married stuff? I guess that's a lot - but it truly feels like I am the same person I was back in 1991, ready to, well, if not take on the world, at least party my last pre-college summer away. Which I did, and also successfully did many summers after that. But I don't really feel older - but I'm guessing back in the day, I must've thought 32 was quite, quite ancient.

Holy crap, I need a drink.

I'm a sucker for the stage

Well, once again I've broken my self-imposed theater hiatus (I think it lasted all of a week and a half this time) and have joined the cast of another show. This time it's a little different though - it's a group that does a "mob murder mystery" interactive dinner theater thing, meaning we rehearse the show and then do it whenever it's booked. The good news is, I'll get paid when we do it, which is cool. It's always a lot of fun and fairly challenging to do improv, and I've arranged it w/the director that if another, more traditional stage show that I want to be involved in conflicts with an improv show booking, I can bag out of the improv show. So for now, I've got about 10 rehearsals to go to before our first booking in July. Once rehearsals are done for this improv show, I will move right into rehearsals for my summer theater show that I will be stage managing - rumor has it we're doing Into the Woods. So, here we go again.

Me=sucker. And I wonder why I'm tired all the time?

OK, seriously, the tribe has now spoken.

A fairly good Survivor finale, if I do say so myself. I was never a huge Aras fan, but I'm glad he won over Danielle, because she annoyed me. And I had no idea that Terry was from Simsbury. Maybe I would have wanted him to win more if I knew he was a local boy. Nah - he was pretentious. Also, Aras looked a lot better when he was skinny and scruffy on the island. Now he looks puffy and weird.

In other news, Jimmy is now on the Old Navy dog mascot contest site, but Junior hasn't made it up there yet. And Junior is the one I think should win!

You can tell me to get a life any time now.

The tribe has spoken

Did anyone see Survivor last night? What? No? Why don't you watch it? This season is GREAT!

Of course, it came down to Cirie and Danielle in a tiebreaker fire contest, and now we don't know who will get kicked off until the season finale on Sunday. My hope is that Danielle goes, because I love Cirie, and Terry's being an ass but I still wouldn't mind if he won, and Aras used to piss me off but now I kind of like him too. Basically what I'm saying is, I don't really hate anyone in the final four! This is a big deal.

What? You don't care? Hmm.

TGIF

I mean, seriously. I'm so happy it's Friday. I don't even have anything exciting planned for this weekend. I have to buy my mother a Mother's Day gift, and we will be over there on Sunday, but other than that, I have no definite plans, which is wonderful. After a crazy week last week doing the show, and then this week just being insane at work, I need me some downtime!

Have a great weekend!

obsession

You guys, I am completely obsessed with Old Navy's new dog mascot competition. It is the cutest thing ever. I have entered Jimmy and Junior, although their pictures have not popped up yet. If you need a smile, check this out. And if you have a dog, enter!

rain, rain, go away

I just looked at the 10-day forecast and it has rain or showers every single day. How depressing is that?

I talk about the weather too much. I think I should re-title this blog Me, my weather, my life.

sad.

Today I went to a funeral for a five-month-old baby. Aside from my father's funeral, it was the saddest thing I have ever been to.

Rest in peace, Max.

Bright, sunshiny day, part deux

Can you tell I'm obsessed with the weather? I so am. I must check weather.com five times a day, look out the window at least as many times, and endlessly talk about the weather right now, what the weather will be like in an hour, tomorrow, next week, next year.

And while I love monitoring the weather, there are certain types of weather I despise. Snow is number one on that list. Followed by: cold, rain, ice, clouds, hail, sleet, hurricanes, etc etc. Can you see a pattern? My dislikes pretty much leave room for only one type of day I like: warm and sunny. I like to watch a big weather event long-distance (unless it's tragic, like Katrina - but even that had a can't-tear-your-eyes-away-from-it aspect), but I sure as hell don't want to experience it myself.

Today is perfection. It's about 75 degrees outside, with a small touch of humidity, and very few clouds to be seen. The kind of weather you see almost every single day in San Diego. Why don't I live there? As I sat outside at lunchtime, realizing how much the sun affected my mood and general happiness, I wondered why myself.

The day that never ended

This week feels like it's just one long day with minor naps in between. Between work from 8-445ish, then rehearsal from 6-11ish, I'm about ready to pass out. Last night I came home and crashed at about 1215 or so. About an hour later, I woke up to a noise that sounded like it was an alarm clock going off really far away. In fact, that's what it was - an alarm clock in Greg's office in the basement was beeping. So I woke him up and he went and shut it off. A half hour later, he woke me up with "Oh God, there it goes again" (God forbid either one of us wakes up in the middle of the night and leaves the other person alone). So this time I went down in the scary dark basement to find the menacing alarm clock. I ended up having to move a file cabinet that weighed about 900 lbs to unplug the offending clock, but we slept in silence for the rest of the night. All four hours we had left.

And I wonder why I feel like hell today.