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.