Friday, October 31, 2008

Update #1

I just got off the phone with my doctor, who happily reported that my cholesterol numbers were very good.

I was at 234 and now I'm at 192....that's 42 points down....YAY for me!!!

I'm going to have something fried and delicious for dinner tonight in celebration.

Maybe I can do one of those Quaker oatmeal commercials now?!?!?

Pump it up!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

I'm in my orange sweater today....actually, it's Jim's orange sweater, but today it's mine. I'm pretty sure the only orange thing I own is a t-shirt, and I CERTAINLY can't wear that to work!!
What ever would my co-workers think of me?
Oh that's right...they wouldn't even care.
Don't get me started on my workplace dress code. Pointless!!

There was no rejection email in my in box this morning.
That's not to say it couldn't arrive at any moment, but it aint there yet!!!
I still haven't heard from my doctor, but I'm calling them later on this morning...the doctor I can call, the director I can't. ;-)

Jim and I carved our pumpkins last night....please excuse my glasses. My eyes were tired, so I took out my contacts. I try to NEVER be photographed in my glasses because I think they're hideous, but I keep putting off buying new ones...some day....some day.


This is Jim, preparing the pumpkin to be carved....




This is me....doing the same.....



This is Scooter....incredibly irritated that we're not paying attention to him.


Jim - displaying the finished product




Me, doing the same.




Don't forget to check back later this afternoon for the theatre and cholesterol updates!!!












Thursday, October 30, 2008

It's gonna be a quickie...

Work is C-R-A-Z-Y!!!!

I was here last night until 5:45, which isn't all that late, until you consider the fact that I'm in here at 7:30am, and I'm usually out the door at 4pm SHARP.
Anyway, there was some stuff that needed to be done, so I sucked it up and stayed.
I'm good like that. :-)


Jim and I had plans to go to his sister's house after work for dinner, cake and ice cream in celebration of her birthday. Unfortunately, because I was so late, I had to take a totally different train home. Thankfully, Jim was kind enough to pick me up at a different station. Isn't he nice??

It ended up working out fine, because they were just sitting down to eat when I walked in.
Perfect timing.


I haven't heard from the doctor yet and I still haven't heard from the theatre.
I did hear (via the 'theatre grapevine') that a couple of people who were called back received a 'No Thank You' email some time yesterday. I didn't receive one, so it would seem I'm still being considered...or at least I'm not in the immediate 'NO' pile. ...or they don't have my e-mail address. :-)
I'm guessing that I'll hear something today.
Either way, I'll let you all know asap...have no fear.


I have to go delete some data, load some balances, book some trades and finish up my 'pretend' end of day processing.
I can FEEL the jealousy.

Jim informed me that I'm carving a pumpkin tonight. I haven't carved one in years, and the thought of scooping out all the insides makes me squirm a little bit. Gross.

This is one that he did a couple of years ago...he takes his carving seriously.




Have a great day!

If there are any updates to be posted, I'll probably post them in the early afternoon (1pm-ish) so if you want to check back, that's when to look. :-)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Say what???


Can I just say that I had NO clue it was Wednesday already?
What a delightful surprise.
I’ve been so busy at work that I had no idea it was the middle of the week already.
Speaking of work….don’t you LOVE it when people sit at your desk and watch you work?
OH. MY. GOD.
It’s right up there with people who stand and stare at you if you’re on the phone and they need to ask you a question….or the people who see that you’re in the middle of something and come over to your desk and start talking to you as if you’ve been sitting there all day doing nothing but wait for them to come over.
I could seriously write for hours about the things that happen here at work, but it’ll only get me angry…..and who wants that?!?!?

I have to get back to work, but I’ll post some fun pictures, so that your time here wasn’t wasted.

These were our parakeets, Junior (blue) and Buddy (green)...they both passed on last year and I was a complete MESS. I still miss them from time to time, but I don't miss cleaning their cage.



This was Scooter the day we got him....







This is one of my favorite pictures of him...





I miss our pool....

Have a super, duper, day!!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Old Man River


Last night was the call back.
Grab the chips and dip – here’s the story.

I arrived at 8pm – filled out my form (I needed to fill one out, since I wasn’t at the initial audition) and went upstairs to wait with what turned out to be a large majority of the Boston theatre community. :-) There were a TON of people up there chatting and carrying on. I saw a bunch of people I knew, so I sat with them and got the scoop on what was going on. A lot of the people there were called in earlier in the day for specific roles, but were asked to stay and learn the dance combination – which explained the large amount of people sitting around.
After waiting for a bit, they informed us that because of the large number of people they would be teaching the dance in two separate groups. I wasn’t picked for the first group, so I continued to wait. Once the first group was finished, they asked the rest of us to go into the rehearsal hall.
Upon entering the hall, I quickly realized that I was by FAR the oldest man in the room. When I say the oldest, I’m not talking one or two years – I was literally at LEAST 12-13 years older than the oldest ‘boy’ there. Interesting. With the exception of one other boy, I’m 99% sure that they were all students (or recent graduates) of the Boston Conservatory. That means that they pretty much spend all day, every day singing, dancing, and acting. Unlike me, who spends all day, every day behind a desk.
Again, totally fine.
As I mentioned before, not everyone in the room at that time was called back for the ensemble. So there were some older women in the room, but as far as the men were concerned, I definitely was, as I referred to myself at one point, the ‘old man in the back’. The combination we were learning began with fairly standard musical theatre movement and the second half went into a tap section. Totally fine.
Of course, that was before I realized we’d have to learn it super quick. Not to mention the fact that it was all about doing it one way and then reversing everything you just learned. For example, you learn a section that starts out on your right foot….then you repeat the same exact section beginning on your left foot. Total nightmare for me.
I know my limits and I’m well aware of the fact that I’m H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E at reversing steps so I seriously just had to suck it up and throw on the thinking cap.
Once it was all learned (or as learned as it was going to be) we were brought out in groups of 6 to do it alone (without the choreographer doing it in front of us).
When my turn was up, I didn’t even come remotely close to doing it correctly. I’m fine with it though because I did my best to remember it all, I didn’t flip out, and I didn’t stop moving the entire time…and I smiled. I can honestly say that in the entire room, there were only three people (3 of the BoCo boys) who actually managed to get through the entire thing and have it look like a dance combination, so that made me feel a tad better…and not so alone. I’m fairly certain that all the people in charge were taking into consideration the circumstances we were under, so I’m sure they were looking for people who will be able to learn a dance under normal rehearsal circumstances. As opposed to a 20 minute ‘lesson’ with 25 people crammed into a room trying to learn it at the same time.
Once the dancing portion was done, they told all the people who were staying to sing for the ensemble roles to take 5 minutes and then we’d be brought back into the room to sing. We took 5, and then went back into the room. This time I had a better understanding as to who I was ‘up against’. There were 7 of us that were singing the bass/baritone part and once again, I was Grandpa McElderly within my group. No prob. We had two short pieces to sing so we sang through each one as a big group, then we were brought out to sing them in smaller groups of 8 (with 2 people on each part) then we were brought out to sing only the first piece and focus on the ‘acting’ of the song in quartets. It went well….everyone in the room could sing, so it wasn’t a matter of getting the right notes, it was a matter of who did what as far as delivery of the song was concerned. I had fun with it and felt like I did a decent job.

Once we were all heard, the director told us that we would be notified either way by Friday.

My gut feeling is that I won’t be cast. I’m not being all ‘Poor me’ – but I just have a feeling about it. They’re only looking for 2 men per part and judging by the rest of the men in the room – I'm guessing that they’re more interesting in casting younger men for the ensemble roles. What ever happens, I’ll be completely fine. I think I did a decent job, and I’m not at all upset about my ‘performance’.

So now I just sit back and wait…..I hate waiting.

Here are some pictures I promised…..

This is Jim and I at the Halloween party last weekend. I'm not wearing a costume, so stop trying to figure out who I am. However, this is a brand new outfit from the shopping spree at the outlets I mentioned on here some time ago. :-)





Scooter is going to be a skeleton for Halloween!!!!










Monday, October 27, 2008

A hot time in the old town tonight...make that Saturday night.

Here we are….another Monday.
Awesome.

As expected, I had a very busy, yet very fun and exciting weekend.

Jim arrived home from Germany on Friday night, which made me tres happy. (Sorry, I don't know any German) Even though I had to rush out the door and get to my final dress rehearsal, I managed to see him for about a half hour and quickly hear the highlights of his trip.
Side Note: Friday night’s rehearsal was SO much better than Thursday night that it actually got me a little excited about doing the show in front of an audience.

On Saturday morning, Jim and I had breakfast, lounged for a bit, and then headed out to run some errands before we went to baby {b}’s birthday extravaganza.
The party was SO much fun.
The only children’s birthday parties I ever attend are the ones for my nieces or nephews and it’s always just the family in attendance, so we never have anything all that exciting in the way of decorations, favors, etc… Since this was a party for family AND friends, they had decorations, balloons, a table for the kids to color on, and all sorts of snacks…. Even thought I had JUST eaten lunch, I ended up selecting a spot conveniently located in front of the potato chips.
No willpower whatsoever.
It was great seeing a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a while, catching up on all the latest news, and seeing all the adorable/super fun and creative gifts that he got. He got a lot of really great stuff.
With the exception of a giant Cookie Monster balloon that met its demise (in what would undoubtedly be a slow and painful death) the day went off without a hitch!!!

After the party, I headed off to my show. (cue: dramatic music....."DUM…DUM…DUM….")

I’ll try and keep this brief…..it may not be easy.

I arrived at the conference center (where the show was being held) early enough to hang out for a bit, socialize with the guests, and have a quick speed-through of the show. We decided on Friday night that it would be a good idea for us to quickly run through of the show (dialogue only) on Saturday before we had our ‘opening night’. That way it would be fresh in our minds and get us excited for the first performance.
I think it was a great idea…it went well and served it’s purpose.

The show started and things went great throughout Act 1. The audience was a bit quiet, but that happens. Doing live theatre, you never ever know how and audience is going to react to a show. Some nights they’re off the walls with laughter and other nights you’d think you were performing in the county hospital morgue. That’s what makes it exciting. Regardless of what happens, you just keep on going!

Act 1 ended and we went back stage to the room that we were assigned to. Into the room walks our costume designer (who was watching the show) and informed us that there was a fire in one of the lights and that Act 2 would be a bit delayed…if we could go on at all. Excellent.
Because we were performing in a conference center (think banquet hall) they had to build a stage for us to perform on as well as setting up a truss above the stage, so that they could hang lighting equipment. Well, apparently one of the chords used to connect the lights caught on fire and had to be put out by our sound designer who climbed up a ladder, fire extinguisher in hand and put out the fire. Good job Ed!!!
Once that was taken care of, and we got the ‘OK’ to continue, we began Act 2.

Act 2 was moving along nicely until, with about 10 minutes left in the act…
All…Hell...Broke...Loose.

Out of nowhere, just as the second to last song was getting underway, the FIRE ALARM starts going off!!!!! The pianist stopped playing, I stopped singing (yes, it went off right on my line) and we all just stood there waiting for something to happen.
Finally, one of the people in charge came in through the lobby and announced that we all had to evacuate. At that same moment, our director approached the stage, told us all to grab our stuff and get out!
I followed the rest of the cast to the backstage area, grabbed ALL of my stuff and went outside. While waiting outside, we could see that several of the audience members were leaving, as opposed to ‘sticking it out’. (not that I blame them)
However, there were several people who approached members of the cast asking us to reveal who the murder was. None of us gave in, instead telling them they’d have to come back and see the Sunday afternoon performance. :-)
Several fire trucks arrived (as did several cute firemen – who knew we had cute firemen in the area?) and after a WHILE, they gave us the ‘OK’ to re-enter the building. Upon re-entry we were told that we were not continuing the show and we could leave. They then told us that we couldn’t go beyond the lobby, which meant that most of the cast couldn’t get to their ‘real’ clothes or any of their personal belongings. I was lucky though. Because I grabbed everything before evacuating, I was able to change into my ‘real’ clothes….in the middle of the lobby. Whatever…I’m not shy.
By the time I was finished changing, we were allowed back stage so we all (the cast and crew) reconvened in the make-shift green room. It was determined that we DID in fact have a Sunday show and we were free for the night.

I left the theatre and met up with Jim at a Halloween party already in progress. He was dressed as a nun, and looked GREAT (I’ll post a picture of that ASAP). Since I was so tired, and he was still on German time, we didn’t stay long – but it was great to see some of our friends we haven’t seen in a while and tell them about the excitement. They’re ‘theatre people’ too, so they could definitely appreciate it.

Sunday’s show went off without a hitch…and we got to finish it!!! The crowd was quite into the show and I was happy to see some familiar faces in the audience (including Jim and his mother). They enjoyed the show and I was VERY happy that it was finished. Not that I didn’t have a lot of fun, but I’m glad to have my ‘free time’ back.
I came home after the show to beef stew that Jim had made (have I mentioned that he’s a great cook?) we watched a movie (I’ll talk about that at another time – yikes) and then went to bed.

I got up this morning and got my blood drawn for my cholesterol screening re-test. Keep your fingers crossed that my numbers are lower!! As I mentioned before, they weren’t horrible, but I’ve been REALLY trying to get them lower over the past few months.
If it didn’t work, I’ll be pissed.

Don’t forget….call-back tonight for ‘Jerry Springer: The Opera’!!!!
Keep your fingers crossed for me!?!?!?!?
Thanks.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday's 'actual' post.

This is the post for Friday.
Not to be confused with the imposter directly below this post.
I was so busy at work yesterday that I didn't get to write until late in the afternoon. Once my post was written and approved by my editor (me) I tried to post it and the Blogger gods were all "Blogger isn't working right now...SORRY!".
I ended up sending a draft to my home email address and then posting it when I got home last night.

Anyway...ENOUGH explaining.

We had a run through of the show last night that pretty much sucked ass. There were several reasons for the suckage, none of which I'll mention here, but let it be known that I have COMPLETE confidence in myself and my fellow cast members and I'm sure we will make the theatre gods proud on Saturday and Sunday.

What's all this god talk today? I've mentioned gods twice already...I wonder what the underlying meaning is behind that? God only knows.

Jim is coming home today!
Little does he know that he's coming home to a sleep deprived husband and an off-the-wall Jack Russell Terrier. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see us even in our present condition. :-)

I'm done writing for now.
By the time you read my next blog entry, I'll have been to an adorable child's second birthday party, completed the run of my show, and had blood drawn to see how my cholesterol numbers are holding up.
Good Times.

Oh - and a special shout out to Miss Mississippi herself over at http://rookieruggerlsu.blogspot.com/ - you should read his blog.
It's fun, funny, and I bet you'll learn something in the process.

And for the sports fan in you, he also writes this one http://biloxisportsguy.blogspot.com/

It's where I go whenever I feel the need to be an athletic supporter.

On that note - I'm going back to work, God help me.

Hurry....before I have to get back to work.....

I wrote this blog entry on Thursday afternoon, beginning at 1:30 and finishing at 3:30. When I went to post it, the blog world was totally out of commission - so I'm posting it 'late night' from home. history is being made folks...and you're part of it.

I'm going to try and write this as quickly as I can, because at any given moment I may have to get back to work.
Once again, the stuff I'm testing ain't workin' so I'm waiting for the developers to fix it before I can move on.

Aside from work, things are CRAZY.

1. The show - it's getting better and better every night. Things are flowing as they should and as we add more 'layers' (lighting, sound effects, costumes, etc...) it's feeling more and more like it's going to be performance ready. I'm fairly confidant that we'll be in good shape for Saturday night. That's not to say we don't have a lot of work to do before then, we definitely do, but it's totally achievable.

2. The dog - Scooter has been great all week in dealing with the schedule changes. He's been forced to get up earlier than usual, which has caused him to give me some VERY entertaining looks when I turn on the light at 5:30 in the morning.
In addition to getting up earlier, he's gone to daycare on Monday and Wednesday this week (as opposed to the usual Tuesday/Thursday schedule) so he's been spending his days with a different group of dogs than he's accustomed to. According to the staff, he's been fine and getting alone with everyone. :-)

3. The husband - Jim has been very busy all week in Germany , but has been giving me nightly updates and has kept me posted on what he's been up to. He's spent a lot of time in the gay section of Frankfurt and the other night he ended up in a bar sitting next to a gay couple from Minnesota trying to explain Sarah Palin to the 'regulars'. Needless to say, it wasn't easy!!
He's had a lot of fun, and apparently schnitzel is now one of his favorite things. (The Sound of Music anyone? No? OK.) Maybe I'll post some pictures of his trip...

4. The call back - I haven't mentioned it at all on here, but I have a call back for 'Jerry Springer: The Opera' this Monday night. I haven't mentioned it because it kind of sets me up for possible embarrassment if I don't end up being cast. However, I decided to mention it because it's something that's on my mind. Isn't that what blogging is all about? Shouldn't my blog be a place where I can say whatever I want??? (within reason, of course) ;-)
Anywhoo...I've been called back for an ensemble part, which is exactly what I'm 'right' for. In all honesty, I'm THRILLED to be called back at all. Besides, I think that being in the ensemble of this show would be F-U-N!!!
The scary, poop-my-pants part about the whole thing is that the call back is Monday and I have 2 short pieces of music that I need to familiarize myself with before then. I don't have to know it cold, but I certainly have to be very familiar with it, since they're not going to spend a ton of time teaching it to us. When am I going to learn this music, you ask? I have no idea. Awesome.
I'm guessing that I'll have to find some time either early Saturday morning or sometime Sunday night after the show to squeeze it in. The good thing is that I'm a pretty quick learner, and the music doesn't seem too difficult. That's what I'm hoping anyway.
In addition to the singing, there's going to be a dance call and we were told to bring our tap shoes. So, not only will I be cramming in some music-learnin' time, but I'll have to "get out my tap shoes Frances " (' 42nd Street ' anyone? No? OK. ) and make sure I can still make some sounds. :-)
Keep your eyes peeled for a 'call back story' on Tuesday morning!!!

OK - I'm done now....and by the way, since I started writing this entry about an hour and a half ago, I've been interrupted COUNTLESS times, went for a walk with my dear, dear friend and co-worker Sophie, and re-tested the issue that I mentioned at the beginning of this entry.

Time flies with you're blogging.

Tomorrow is Friday and I'm already wicked psyched! (thank you, Boston lingo)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Gimmie that crown!!!


I heard this on the news this morning and it made me laugh.
Poor dear, I'm sure she's actually quite smart! ;-)

Beauty Queen Arrested After Skipping on Restaurant Bill

BOSSIER CITY, La. — Reigning Miss Teen Louisiana USA Lindsey Evans and three friends were arrested over the weekend for leaving a Bossier City restaurant without paying their bill.
Police say the 18-year-old Evans of Blanchard left her purse at the restaurant and the women were arrested when they returned to get it.
Police spokesman Mark Natale says Evans and her friends were booked Saturday night on charges of theft after they ran up a $46.07 bill and left without paying. He says the women admitted intentionally leaving without paying their bill.
In addition to the theft charge, Evans was booked with possession of marijuana that was found in her purse. The other women face similar charges. All four were released from jail Sunday after posting bond.
Evans' reign as Miss Teen Louisiana ends in November. A spokesman for the Miss Louisiana Teen USA organization says they spoke with Evans on Monday but have not decided whether to take action against her. That action could include her losing her title.


According to the report on the radio this morning, she was indeed stripped of her crown, with only 11 days left in her 'rein'. Ouch.

I do have to give her credit for her mugshot. Let that winning personality shine through!!!!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I got a job to do!!!

OK - I have a TON of work to get through this morning, not to mention the fact that I haven't even had my breakfast yet...and I don't want to get hangry (hungry + angry) because that would be bad.

I'm going to keep it brief.

I've received a bit of sad news over the past few days.

One of my dad's best friends passed away the other day. He and his family (wife and 4 kids) lived across the street from my family for the first 23 years of my life and although we don't see each other as much as we used to, there's always been the 'neighborhood bond' that we share. When our families all get together it's amazing to listen to the seemingly, endless amount of stories that are told.

In addition to that loss, I received news yesterday that a friend of the Boston theatre community passed away on Sunday COMPLETELY out of the blue. She was literally walking down the street, collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where she later died.
She was the stage manager for a show I was in a number of years ago, but since then, our paths have crossed several times. She was only 37 (if that) and will be sorely missed by everyone in the community.

I don't want to be sad, or get depressed about the whole thing.
I just want to remind you all to live each day to the fullest. :-)

Kisses!
John

Monday, October 20, 2008

Yes it's Monday...and it feels like it.

For all you readers out there who were worried about Jim's safe arrival in Germany, worry no more. I just heard from him a few minutes ago and he's currently wandering around Frankfurt, enjoying the scenery and taking lots of pictures. Granted, he informed me that he was lost at the moment, but I'm sure he'll find his way back to the hotel. I hope. :-)

The Red Sox season has finally come to a close. As much as I would have loved to have seen them in another World Series, I'm happy for Tampa Bay. They've had a pretty amazing post-season so far and I'm sure they'll continue to play well against the Phillies.
I'm glad that the Red Sox were able to keep things exciting right to the very end, as opposed to it all ending in game 5.
If nothing else, they went down with a fight!

Jim is in Germany once again (as you probably guessed from my first paragraph) so my schedule is a bit screwy. I brought Scooter to daycare this morning, since he spent a lot of time alone yesterday. He was MORE than ready to play this morning when I woke him up so I'm sure he'll have a great day with all his 'friends'.

The weekend was very fun...and as usual, quite busy.

Friday night I went to a little gathering for a softball teammate and his wife who are expecting a baby in a couple of weeks. It was very low-key but lots of fun spending time with the softball gang. I've mentioned it before, but they are so much fun to be around...and I'm not just saying that because some of them read this...believe me, if they weren't fun, I'd totally let them know.

Saturday morning I was all set to get up and go see some of the aforementioned softball teammates play flag football. A few of the guys on my team also play in the Boston gay flag football league. The gays just LOVE their sports!!!
Unfortunately I never made it to the flag football game because we had a ton of stuff to do around the house, and not nearly enough time to do it. I'll have to go another weekend when things are a bit 'quieter' around the house. I definitely want to see them play though. I'd NEVER survive playing flag football, the flashbacks to high school gym class are enough to keep me away...never mind the fact that it involves contact AND chilly weather.
I'm perfectly happy on the sidelines with my pom-poms and tight fitting sweater, thank you very much.

Jim and I cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, and while I walked the dog, Jim got a much needed (his words, not mine!) haircut. We 're-convened' in the early afternoon and began preparing all the appetizers for a little get-together we were having on Saturday night with some of our friends. It ended up being SO much fun (as I expected it would be). There were only 6 of us (including Jim and I) but we had a ton of fun, chatting and catching up. The food was all excellent...can I just say that Jim is such a good cook. Not only that, but everything that our friends brought over was de-licious as well. The brownies were great B, get over it...especially for breakfast on Sunday morning.
Yum.

Apparently, Scooter thought the food was good as well. When we moved from the front living room into the den (in order to keep the conversation going with the Red Sox game in the background) I noticed that Scooter wasn't with us.
I went searching for him and found him in the front living room, standing IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TABLE with all the food on it, enjoying a some of the chicken salad in endive that Jim had prepared. He heard me coming, grabbed one more appetizer, LEAPED off the table and took off to the other side of the house with the helpless appetizer in his jaws.
He's lucky that he's cute...and that I'm a total pushover.

Sunday morning, Jim and I woke up and went over to his parent's house for coffee. We haven't seen them for a while and his mother wanted to see him before he went to Germany. It was nice to see them, talk, and not be surrounded by all the grand kids. Who tend to make a LOT of noise.
On the way home, Jim and I ran a few errands and then he had to get home to finish packing.
We ate a quick lunch and before we knew it, the 'service' was there to bring Jim to the airport.
Sad.

I started tech rehearsals for the show yesterday, so it was a good thing that Scooter was tired and didn't mind being left alone for a while. The rehearsal went well. We have a LOT to do before Saturday, but I have complete confidence that it will all come together in time.
Keep reading for more updates. :-)

One last thing...Scooter was mentioned on a blog last week...it's a great blog for those who are fans of 'all things dog'. You should check it out, particularly the entry from October 16th. ;-)
http://www.houstondogblog.com/

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

They won?!?!?!??!?


The Red Sox have done it again!!!
Just when you think it's over, it ain't.

Needless to say, there are a lot of very surprised folks in 'Red Sox Nation' this morning. When your team has been slaughtered in the last two games and they're currently losing 7-0, you generally don't have high hopes. You go to sleep.

However, last night's game was the perfect example of why you should 'Never Give Up'!!!

In a rare turn of events, I was awake last night and watched the Red Sox win.

When I got home from rehearsal, I checked the score and saw that we were losing 7-0. I immediately shut off the TV and went to check my email, in order to 'give them some time'. After checking my email and poking around Facebook for a while, I noticed that there were some interesting status updates out there from some of my local friends.

Something about a comeback? A tie score? Don't give up?


I RAN into the other room and turned on the TV. Much to my surprise, it was the top of the 9th and the score was tied.


"What you talkin bout Willis???"




I was so excited, not to mention THRILLED that I was awake to see what ended up being the biggest post-season comeback since 1929.

They won the game in the bottom of the 9th (8-7) and there is a definite 'change in the air'* around Boston.

It was VERY cool.

*Not to be confused with 'A Change in the Heir' - the big ol' Broadway flop from 1990.

The Red Sox we know and love are back. We've done it before, let's do it again!!!

Happy Friday and Go Red Sox!!!!


Remember, it ain't over until the fat lady sings.





Thursday, October 16, 2008

Going, going, gone!

Here's the beard story in a nutshell.

I grew a beard. I was asked to be in a show. The director of the show asked if I would darken my beard, so that I didn't look so 'mature'. I told Jim about this conversation and he went to the director's Facebook wall and wrote something to the effect of "Darken it?!?! You were supposed to have him get rid of it!!"
At the next rehearsal, the director asked me to get rid of the beard. I laughed it off, accusing her of being intimidated by Jim's idle threats.

A few rehearsals later, she brought it up again, asking me to shave it off.
I reluctantly agreed.

I'm not sure if she was using Jim's comments as a 'cover-up' - meaning that all along she wanted me to get rid of the beard, but didn't want to be the 'bad guy' in asking me to shave it off.
Or, if she really didn't care either way, and was trying to remain on Jim's good side by having me get rid of the beard.
Either way, I'm fine with it.

Since the beard was disappearing, I decided to have some fun in the process.
I hope no one is offended by my shirtlessness. ;-)

If you are, I say: "Get over it Prudy McPrudington!!!"






NOT a good look for me....I repeat....NOT a good look.


Bye Bye Beardie!!!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Picture time! (Part 1)

Here are some of the previously promised photos from the weekend!

These are mostly from the walk in the woods with Jim and Scooter at Massasoit State Park...get your leaf peepers on, and enjoy!!!!



Scooter doing a little 'investigating'.....





I'm not quite sure why I look slightly annoyed....I definitely wasn't. :-)
These are of Jim and I, about to embark on the 'Salem Witch Trial Walking Tour'

Stay tuned for more Halloween 'frights' to come........


Tuesday, October 14, 2008

And you thought the weekend was long!!!!

I LOVE long weekends!!!

Hello blog world, did you miss me?!?!? I had a fantastic weekend, and I’m as pleased as punch to be back at work!!!! (sarcasm)

While I’m not at all happy to be back at work, the weekend was great.
Here's the scoop...

Friday – went to dinner with Jim (yes, at Ye Olde Standish Grille, our home away from home), followed by the Red Sox game at my sister-in-law’s house….VERY fun. They won.

Saturday – got up, played with the pooch, Jim made waffles for breakfast. (Yum-O!!!) The three of us then headed to Massasoit State Park for a little bit (OK, a LOT) of exercise. Scooter was a bit of a pain, but I think it was because he was SO excited and happy to be walking around. He was VERY ‘pully’ on his leash and had some obedience issues – oh well!). It was such a nice day and we took a bunch of pictures….which will be posted here soon.
Thankfully, the plan worked and Scooter was exhausted by the time we got back to the car. He slept the entire way home.
Saturday evening, Jim and I went up to Salem, MA to take part in the various Halloween activities that go on up there every year. We’ve both been to Salem before, but neither one of us had been up there as ‘tourists’ so it was kind of exciting. We ended up doing a lot of walking around, and went on a candle-lit ‘Salem Witch Trial’ walking tour. It was very interesting and a little bit spooky…I actually learned a lot about the witch trials that I’d never known before.
After the tour, we went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant called Ristorante Gioia that was AWESOME. The food was excellent, the service was great and it wasn’t too expensive.
If you’re ever looking for a great restaurant in Salem, I highly suggest it. (http://ristorantegioia.com/)
Of course, with all the stores and shops that we went into, the only stuff we bought was for Scooter.
I’m not saying what we bought, but let’s just say – photos were taken and will be on here soon.

Sunday – woke up, had b-fast, puttered around for a bit and then went to Jim’s brother’s house to help him move some furniture from their garage into their house. They just had all their hard-wood floors re-done and they look AMAZING! I’m totally out of shape because it hurt to lift things. Nice.
Once we had all the heavy stuff moved back into the house, Jim and I went grocery shopping and then Jim dropped me off at rehearsal.
While I was at rehearsal, Jim whipped up three different calzones for us to bring to the softball ‘gathering’ that we were attending that night. He never ceases to amaze me. :-)
After rehearsal, Jim picked me up and we went to Matt’s house in Jamaica Plain for the party. It was so nice to see my teammates again since I hadn’t seen most of them in over a month. None of them have seen me with my beard, and much to Jim’s dismay, they all said they liked it. Whether they meant it or not, they said it, and I took it as a compliment.

There will be a beard story coming up in the next day or two….you’ve been warned!!!!

They’re such a FUN group of guys to spend time with…YAY for the Scoooooops! (and all their friends)
By the way….we got to meet the guy that Kevin has been dating. His name is David. He’s very cute, friendly, has perfect teeth (jerk) and is a total saint for putting up with our endless attacks all night long.

Monday – woke up, ate, and played with the dog. I cleaned the bathroom while Jim tackled the rest of the house. Once the house was cleaned, Jim did a heap of ironing while I did the laundry and took Scooter for a walk. It was a very domestic day.
We showered and then went to Lowes, a few farm stands and then back home.

Purchases for the day – 2 large pumpkins, 4 small pumpkins, ½ bale of hay, large potted Mum, 1 ceramic bowl filled with gourds, 3 new bird feeders, 2 bags of birdseed, 2 containers to hold (and dispense) birdseed, 2 electric Jack-O-Lanterns, and a partridge in a pear tree.
I’m kidding – there was no partridge and no pear tree.

Jim made a giant chicken pot pie for dinner (that was ridiculously delicious) and then I went to rehearsal. When I got home from rehearsal the house had been transformed into a Halloween paradise. It was so exciting and such a surprise. Apparently, Jim went to Target and since all the Halloween decorations were on clearance, he went ‘hog wild’.
The house and the outside look great!!!!
I won’t go into details, but as I’ve mentioned a few times before, there will be pictures posted on here eventually.

OK, enough writing….I have a few stories lined up to tell over the next few days, and a ton of pictures that will be posted here at some point, so STAY TUNED!!!!

PS – Don’t even mention the Sox game last night. What. The. Hell.

PPS - My beloved [title of show] closed on Broadway on Sunday. From what I read, they went out with a bang. While I'm so sad it's closed, I'm beyond happy that I got to see it, and according to Jeff Bowen there are 'more tosadventures to come'!!! I can't even wait to see what they have up their crazy-talented sleeves. :-)

Friday, October 10, 2008

Is anybody there???

Seriously.
I know that it's the Friday before a long weekend, but is ANYONE coming to work today? I could have spent the last hour completely nude at my desk and not one person would have known. The really odd thing is, Monday isn't even a holiday for us! Most people (myself included) take it as a vacation day or a personal day, but we're definitely open and 'fully operational'.

On the train ride in this morning (while my 'seat mate' continuously jabbed her elbow into my ribs as she read the paper - excellent) I was thinking about what a cool thing the 'blog world' is.
Since work was SO slow yesterday I spent a fair amount of time in the afternoon searching around and seeing what blogs were out there. I can't get over how many blogs exist!!!!

I started out by doing a search for blogs written by people in Massachusetts. The reason being, most of the blogs I visit regularly are written by people in other parts of the country. There are a couple that I read which are written by 'locals', but I find that most of the ones I read are written by people Down South or on the West Coast.
I'm pretty sure that Down South and West Coast aren't supposed to be capitalized, but this isn't English class, so suck it up and keep reading. I'll capitalize whatever the hell I want!!! ;-)

That's because I tend to find new blogs by looking at other people's favorite blogs.
Does that make sense?
Either way...I'm amazed that there are so many blogs out there. I also came across many that were super specific in their subject matter. In my brief search yesterday, I found blogs that strictly dealt with golf, the stock market, football, and wife-swapping. Yes, wife-swapping.
Hey - there is something out there for everyone!!!

OK, I've written enough for now...but I may be back later this afternoon.

I have to get dressed, someone's coming.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Ho-Hum

Good Day!!

I didn’t write when I first came in this morning.
Not because I was too busy or anything (although I did get a bit of work done) but because I really didn’t have much to say.
Isn’t that ironic? On a blog entitled ‘I got somethin’ to say’ I had nothing to say.
Funny.

Anyway, I’m writing now, while I wait for my 10 o’clock meeting to happen.
I can’t test at the moment, because the stuff that I’m supposed to be testing isn’t working correctly. That’s the lovely thing about being a tester. You test, you find a problem, and then you wait around until the problem is fixed before you can move on.
A lot of times, in order to fix the problem you discovered, the developers need to make a lot of changes. When this happens, it becomes necessary for you to test not only what you were originally testing, but a lot of other stuff that has been affected by the changes that had to be made. A total pain in the ass.
But whatever…it’s a job and I’m lucky that I have one.
Right? Of course right!! (thank you, Bock and Harnick).

Jim informed me yesterday that he’s most likely (90% sure) going to be returning to Germany again this month.
This is in addition to him going to San Francisco for that conference at the beginning of next month.
And no, I’m not going to San Francisco with him. I don’t want to talk about it.

EXTREMELY bitter, party of one??

So….that’s what’s new.
Clearly, nothing exciting.
Oh! The CSI season premiere is on tonight!!!
That’s exciting.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

$5.00 = Jeans on a Wednesday

It's Wednesday and I'm wearing jeans.
That's because today is the day that our company is 'celebrating' Lee Denim Day. For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about, here's a brief history:


Lee National Denim Day® History
Since its inception in 1996, Lee National Denim Day has adhered to a simple philosophy: one day, one cause, one cure®. In 12 years, that philosophy has become a mantra for millions and has made an impact Lee Jeans never dreamed possible.
It all started when several Lee Jeans employees realized that each of them, in one form or another, had been touched by breast cancer. An everyday conversation sparked an idea and led to the creation of Lee National Denim Day, which has become one of the largest single-day fundraisers nationwide for breast cancer.
In its first year, Lee Jeans set a goal of raising $1 million on Lee National Denim Day. To do this, Lee Jeans invited companies to go casual for a cause, inviting employees to wear their jeans to work on Denim Day in exchange for a $5 contribution to the fight against breast cancer. The underlying concept behind the program was simple—by convincing enough people to take one small step, together they could reach an incredible goal.
The response to the inaugural Lee National Denim Day program was astounding. That year, more than 3,000 companies signed up to participate, raising $1.4 million dollars for the fight against breast cancer, setting the stage for what would become one of the most captivating social action campaigns in the country.
Since its first year, Lee National Denim Day has raised more than $70 million for the fight against breast cancer and unites nearly one million supporters nationwide each year.


Excellent.
This year, Lee Denim Day was on Friday, October 3rd but since everyone here can wear jeans on Friday anyway, they made things a little bit 'special' by allowing us to wear them on a day we normally wouldn't be wearing them. Smart thinking!! Although, I'd like to think that people would have still donated even if it was held it on a Friday.

Since my mom lost her battle with breast cancer almost 23 years ago (Wow...that was a LONG time ago) I've always been a big supporter in the fight against cancer...so I'll be donating.
:-)

Other than that, nothing too exciting is going on in my life (Les Mis anyone?).
We had a very 'rough around the edges' stumble through Act 1 last night. It was our first time running Act 1 off book, and shockingly enough, it wasn't a complete train wreck. Granted, we only ran the book scenes, so we didn't have any of the musical numbers to contend with...but for the first time without scripts in our hands, it wasn't half bad. It will only get better...as long as people do their 'homework' (myself included) and learn their stuff. That means you...blog reading cast members!!!

That's all for now...if anything exciting happens, I'll let you know later on.

OK - as I was finishing up this entry, my friend Joanne sent me this joke. Since it's one of my favorites, I'm sharing it with you......

One day a teacher had a taste test with her students.
She picked a little boy to do the first test.
She blindfolded him, put a Hershey kiss in his mouth and asked "Do you know what it is?"
" No, I don't," said the little boy.
"Okay, I'll give you a clue. It's the thing your daddy wants from your Mom before he goes to work."
Suddenly, a little girl at the back of the room yelled,
"Spit it out! It's a piece of ass!"

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Who's got an Anacin?

I have a bit of a headache this morning, and I'm not sure why. It could be from lack of sleep, but it's most likely because it's time for me to put in a new pair of contacts. I can never remember when it's time for a new pair. I'm 'supposed' to change them every month but I totally lose track of time. They're not the kind that you leave in all day and night, so I take them out every night.
Usually I can tell when it's time for a new pair when my vision isn't 100% and/or they feel dry all the time. Both things are currently occurring - which tells me it's time for a new pair.
So there you have it. I'll be putting in a new pair of contacts when I get home from work.
Aaaand scene.



I stayed up later than usual last night in order to watch the Red Sox WIN!!!!!
Since they weren't on super late, I decided I'd watch the game...and what a game it was.

My favorite part of the game was when my professional baseball playing boyfriend (the soon-to--be officially divorced, Jason Varitek) hauled ass down the third base line to tag "Mr. Fancy-pants squeeze play" out in the 9th inning. It was excellent. That's him on the ground in the picture below. :-)






Whenever I'm watching the Red Sox, my friend Kerry and I turn into texting LUNATICS throughout the game. It's fun.
At one point last year during one of the games, I was texting with Kerry, my friend Bob G. and my friend Chris L. It was tres confusing at times, but SO much fun. Especially when things were getting exciting. :-)

Anyway, the Sox won. I'm very excited and happy to hear that their next game is on Friday. That gives me time to catch up on my sleep, and since it's a Friday night, it fits perfectly into my schedule.


Have a nice day and GO SOX!!!


Monday, October 6, 2008

Tell me why...

I don't like Mondays.
Actually, that's not entirely true. I don't particularly enjoy any day that I have to get up at 5:15 AM and go to work. It's just that Monday takes the brunt of my hatred because it's the first day of the week. Either way, it's Monday. I'm sleepy and don't feel like working.

This weekend went by quickly, but I had fun and got a lot accomplished. Love that.
Friday night Jim and I went out to dinner (PS - he had a great time in Toronto and got lots of 'work stuff' done - good times all around) and then had our friend Katie over. We sat around a fire our backyard drinking Miller Lites and making s'mores. The weather was perfect for it. It was nice and cold, without being TOO cold. I love the fall.

Once the fire died down, we went inside, watched some TV and had some pumpkin ice cream. Clearly, it was not a low-fat night.
Jim and I have been REALLY good about watching what we eat, so we felt OK about 'cheating' a little bit. The ice cream was AMAZING and totally worth the cheating.
It's from a local place that makes everything homemade, right on the premises...yummy.

Saturday morning we went over to Jim's brother's house and helped him move some furniture. They've built an addition to their house and are having the floors re-done in the 'old' part of the house so they needed to move everything off the floors. What a pain. I'm sure it's going to look great once it's finished, but yeesh - what a chore. After moving some stuff, we stuck around to help him start ripping up the old kitchen floor. THAT was not easy. Jim and I only helped for a little while, since we had things planned for the afternoon.

We went home, had lunch and then went SHOPPING! We both need new clothes and this was the weekend to do it. We went to the outlets (not too far from us) and we did very well. We each got a ton of stuff and didn't have to spend a lot of money...which was awesome.
I can't wait to start wearing everything!!!

Saturday night we ate dinner at a little BBQ place we've heard good things about, but have never tried. It was VERY good. The only bad thing was that we were in a very small dining room and there was live music. It was only a woman playing a guitar (and occasionally the keyboard) with another woman singing, but they were kind of loud...and kind of ummmm.....not so great??
Thankfully, the food was good, and the singers weren't horrible...just not great.

After dinner we went home and watched some TV until SNL came on...then we watched a bit of that and went to bed. Tina Fey is simply amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Sunday morning we got up, Jim headed to the Cape with his brother and brother-in-law to help get their boat out of the water for the season. I stayed home, took care of the pup, and learned my lines. After rehearsal, we re-connected, went grocery shopping, and began the 'summer to winter clothes swap'. While Jim switched his, I watched the Patriots (who ended up winning!!) and while I switched mine around, Jim made dinner.

Once the clothes were all switched we had three full bags of clothes going to the Red Cross (yay us!). We ate dinner and parked it on the couch for the night. Unfortunately, the Red Sox did NOT win. Fortunately, I didn't stay up to watch that entire game.

And here I am today. "Working" :-)
Here are some pictures of our ultra-patient dog, modeling his fall fashions and potential Halloween costumes. He loves us....really, he does.







Friday, October 3, 2008

Zzzzz...

Apparently I think I can still go out drinking during the week and still be able to function in the morning.

Guess what?

I can't.

As I mentioned yesterday, I had plans last night to go out with my friend Kevin.

Kevin plays second base on my softball team and he's a total rock-star (who also happens to read my blog) :-)

We met up at Fritz in the South End and watched a little baseball...watched a little VP debate...and then some more baseball. I think there was more baseball. It's a tad foggy, but I do know there was definitely a lot of 'people watching'.

At one point, I said something to Kevin and the guy standing next to me laughed and said something to me. Now, I'm not exactly sure what he said - but I thought he said "That was funny, you should write a blog." I wasn't sure that I understood him, so I said "Excuse me?" and asked him to repeat it. He repeated it, and I STILL had no idea what he said. Awesome. I love when that happens. I was forced to do the 'smile and nod' thing accompanied by a half-hearted "Yeah." and hope for the best.
At one point, the 'stranger' went off to smoke or go to the bathroom, so Kevin and I tried to decipher what he had said.
We decided that he was a faithful reader of my blog, recognized me from my picture, and was trying to be all coy about letting me know what a huge fan he is of mine.
That's the story we're sticking with.
So - if you're out there reading this Mr. Tall Man with the fancy-pants sunglasses - "Thanks for the compliment!!!!"

Oh - and my beard seemed to get a positive reaction from a few friends that I ran into.
That's always nice.

I saw my friend Erin in a Friendly's commercial this morning. It was very cool. It's the one with the mini-van full of singing girls and the funny/crazy singing mom behind the wheel. She's the mom. She looks and sounds amazing. YAY Erin!!!

And a BIG Happy Birthday to my dear, old friend Will. :-)
This is him in SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of 'Some Men'.
It was one of my favorite parts of the show.
Isn't it fun to have super-talented friends?!?!?!


Happy Friday....have a delightful weekend.

Peep some leaves if you can....they'll be gone (and I'll be raking a million of them) before you know it!!!!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Oh Canada!


I've been abandoned once again.

Jim is en route to Toronto as I type. Granted, he's only going to be gone overnight, so it's not a big deal, but the fact of the matter is...he's gone....leaving me with two hungry mouths to feed (my mouth included).

Actually it'll be fun. I'm meeting a friend for drinks tonight and hopefully we'll be able to catch the shit-show (also known as the Vice Presidential debate) at 9:00.

Now, I'm hardly a political expert, and I would never consider myself to be one, but this Palin thing is quite fascinating.

I've heard and/or seen the recent clips of her interview with Katie Couric, and I feel like I'm watching the early weeks of American Idol. You know...when they're purposely showing you the most cringe-inducing performers just because it makes for 'good' TV.

I get SOOO uncomfortable watching them struggle through their auditions, and I feel the same way when Palin opens her mouth. I sit there in a state of awe, talking out loud to the TV: "Stop...oh no...shhhh...stop talking....STOP TALKING!!!" It makes me sweat a little.

Hopefully I'll get through tonight unscathed (will Miller Lite in hand) and it'll be over quickly.

In other exciting news...the RED SOX WON!!! Yahoo! That's awesome. I only watched a little bit of the game, but it was a nice treat to wake up to that news this morning.

Oh...as promised...or at least as mentioned (I don't think I made ANY promises) here's a picture of me with my newest addition.

Keep in mind, it's only been growing for three weeks. Actually, it'll be exactly three weeks tomorrow since I've shaved (Happy Birthday Beard!! YAY!!) so it's still fairly new.

I'm hoping that it will fill in a bit more, which will make me happy...and I'm hoping that the grey-ness of it all isn't yucky.

Let me know what you think. I can take it.

As long as all comments are positive. ;-)


Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Take a walk.

On the train this morning, I overheard (overheard = completely eavesdropping and listening to every word she said) a woman telling a group of her friends that she finally 'got rid of her dog yesterday'. As it turns out, she's had the dog for about 4-5 years and was tired of taking care of it, so she gave it away. She was completely thrilled that she no longer had to 'deal with it' and wasn't the least bit sad. Bitch. Clearly she has no heart. I can't even imagine ever getting tired of this.

Speaking of the train....for some mysterious reason, I never received my commuter rail pass for the month of October.

And now it's October, which means I had to pay to ride the train this morning. Annoying.

Well, that's not entirely true. The annoying-ness of it all is very true, but the paying part isn't. The truth is, that I had 2 one-way ticket vouchers sitting in my bag because of the 'On Time Service Guarantee' the MBTA offers. If your train gets you to your destination more than a half hour late, you can submit a form and be reimbursed for that trip.

Well, it happened to me not too long ago, I got reimbursed, and the vouchers were still in my bag. It worked out quite well.

Anyway...my voucher was only good for the commuter rail and since I also take the subway in the morning, I was going to have to pay to ride the subway (my regular commuter rail pass allows me unlimited access to all buses and subways, so I normally don't have to pay). Well, THAT wasn't about to happen. I'm not going to spend potential coffee money on a train ride, when I can walk to work instead.

As it turns out, it was a fantastic idea.

I had GREAT walk from the train station to work. It's not a great day (weather-wise) but it's fairly cool out and there was no blazing sun to contend with.

My route took me right through the heart of Chinatown, and while there were a few people milling about, it was fairly deserted. That's a part of Boston I NEVER go to. Not for any specific reason, it's just not somewhere I ever have to go...especially right through the middle of it. It's like being in a totally different city.


Speaking of roads not often travelled by moi...on my walk, I happened to pass by both 'Centerfolds' and 'The Glass Slipper'. Boston's two (and only??) 'Gentleman's Clubs'.

Now, I've known for a long time that both of these places existed, but I'm kind of fascinated by the whole thing. Do they do a lot of business? What exactly goes on in there? Are the dancers topless only? I'm kind of obsessed with finding out the details. And who the hell works there? Are there a lot of local ladies willing to earn a living doing whatever it is they do in there?
I noticed they're open from Noon until 2am. Are people in there at noon? Do they serve lunch?
That would be crazy....and I'm pretty sure I'd never eat there. :-)

My only exposure to clubs of this nature (where you see naked-ish women) was a trip to The Foxy Lady in Brockton, MA for a bachelor party. I have to say that it was a lot nicer (dare I say 'classy'?) than I expected...but I'm not sure what lies beyond the doors of these Boston clubs.

If anyone has any first hand experience with either of these two - FILL ME IN!!!

(and no Jim, TENS doesn't count, I'm talking specifically about these two places)

Maybe I'll take a little 'field trip' and report back. Excellent.