Is it really Monday again??

Saints be praised, the weekends go by quickly, don't they?!?!?

We had a great weekend, in spite of the hideous weather we had on Saturday.

As I mentioned before, we were having a BBQ/Pool Party on Saturday that ended up being a BBQ/"talk about the pool" party. :-)

From the time we woke up on Saturday morning, until about 7pm it was POURING.

That being said, Jim and I had the foresight (ok, it was Jim's idea) to set up one of those pop-up shelter thingys over the grill, so that I wouldn't have to deal with grilling in the rain. Talk about a life saver!!

All in all, it turned out to be a super-fun time. We had a great group of people over who managed to have a lot of fun being confined to the indoors, as opposed to being outside, enjoying the pool. Even the kids that were there managed to have a fun in spite of being stuck inside.

Yesterday was a very lazy day at home......which was nice for a change.

So here I am, back to work and getting ready for my meetings today at 10 and 11....I'm actually going to begin testing this morning on the system I've never even logged into.

Good times people, good times.

Here are just a few of the beauteous pictures that B took of our BBQ.

Jim and I never even took out the camera, so if it weren't for B, we'd have no 'proof' of the event. :-)

After she took this picture, I made a comment about the fact that every time she takes a picture of me, I've got my mouth open....so she took this one to make up for it...

I LOVE this picture.....that's Lara and Dave. Dave is Lara's brother-in-law, and in spite of the look she's giving him, she really likes him. Really.

Pretty People!!!!! (MB, Emilee, and John)

Karen and Emilee

Ben and Jim playing on the porch...

John, Scooter, and Michael

So much to talk about....

It's Friday, and I have a lot to say.

First thing...how about that CRAZINESS in California??? I'm referring to that woman who was abducted when she was 11 and was found 18 years later, alive and well. Although, I'm not so sure about the 'well' part. I hope the poor thing gets herself and her two kids to a therapist, STAT. They're having a family 'reunion' on Good Morning America today and I can't wait to see how that goes. I'll miss it because I'm at work, and we don't have DVR (I know, I know!!) But I'm sure it'll be all over YouTube by lunch time, so I'll see it eventually.
I can't even imagine what her parents are thinking....

All of us in New England are preparing ourselves for a lil' storm called 'Danny' that's coming our way tomorrow afternoon.
As it turns out, Jim and I are also preparing ourselves for the BBQ/Pool Party that we're having tomorrow afternoon.
Excellent timing, Danny!
Whatever. We have a really fun group coming over, so even if we end up stuck inside it'll be a good time. I'm going to speak with Jim about a possible alternative to grilling. Not that I mind grilling in windswept rain and getting soaked to the skin, but I think our guests would prefer not to be eating water-logged food. But that's just a hunch.
Either way, we'll definitely have fun and I can't wait to see everyone.


Our 'visitor from beyond' paid us another visit last night. Nice.

Our niece, Molly made me a 'bracelet' for my birthday a few years ago. It's similar to one of those Livestrong, yellow bracelets, but it's just plain yellow and she glued little, white letters on it that spell out my name. Cute, right?
I keep it in the 'catch-all' container on my bureau (which is actually a big, green coffee mug, a la 'Friends') along with loose change, extra buttons, etc...etc...
Well, last night when I went up to bed, the bracelet was placed in the center of my bureau...odd. I asked Jim if he moved it and he (naturally) had NO idea what I was talking about. I explained it to him, we had a moment of "Well if you didn't move it and I didn't move it, who did?" and then he said out loud. "Thank You very much for taking out the bracelet, that was very nice of you. Thanks!!"
We've heard from several people that when we notice 'things' happening around the house, we should acknowledge them, out loud, with a 'Thank You'.
As many of you suggested, it's always a good idea to keep the ghost (or whatever it is) on your good side. :-)

So....that's my latest ghost story. Fun, fun, fun....

I started going through some of the pictures on our home computer last night and I created a couple of new 'sets' in my Flickr account. They're titled 'Summer fun 09' and 'Misc Stuff' (creative, I know).
In the 'Summer Fun 09' set, are pictures of our 'new' backyard (since we had the two giant trees removed) the beginnings of the vegetable garden from earlier this summer as well as pictures of the pool and the pool area, our trip to P-Town, and various shots of some of the BBQs we've had this summer.
In the 'Misc Stuff' set at this point, the only pictures in there are the ones that I took of my old desk in Boston, before I was moved to the suburbs. I have yet to take pictures of my new desk, but I will eventually, and then we can play 'Before and After....which is the better desk??"
:-)


Here's the link to my pictures on Flickr, and here are a few to get you 'started'.

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!!

xoxo

Holy Smokes!!!

I just looked at my 'counter' and I have over 10,000 'hits'.

Jinkies, that's a lot. :-)

And I owe it all to you.

I was so sad to wake up this morning to learn about Senator Ted Kennedy's death. I know that a lot of people weren't necessarily fans of his, but I certainly was and I know that Jim was as well.

He will certainly be missed. :-(

Adoption Update: Over the past few weeks Jim and I have been toying with the idea of taking the MAPP classes outside of our region or at another location....mostly because we were tired of waiting. However, we just found out that if we do that, we would have to close out our 'family file' with DCF and essentially start over from the beginning with whoever we were taking the MAPP training with. (there's a little bit more to it, but that's the Reader's Digest version)

Soooo...at this point we're staying where we are. BUT the good news is, that I spoke with our case worker yesterday and she guaranteed that Jim and I will be in the next session, which is due to start up in late October, early November. We should be getting a formal invitation letter a few weeks before the classes are due to begin. I know it's a little thing, but it feels nice to be in contact with them and have some assurance that we're not lost in the system. Our case worker was very nice, understanding and above all else, she returned my calls!!!! Most excellent.

I think we should send her a muffin basket as a thank you...or perhaps an edible arrangement.

That's all for today...I've actually got a meeting this morning...for WORK.

I'm going to have to re-train myself so I remember how to do my job.

Seriously.

Happy Wednesday!!!!!!

I Scream, You Scream!!!

Don't worry...this isn't another entry about me screaming.

Last night Jim, Scooter and I met up with Karen, Barrie and Ben for ice cream. Since we were being ATTACKED by the bugs at the ice cream place, we ended up going back to our house to finish the ice cream and catch up for a bit.

The ice cream was delish and visiting with the three of them was a treat as well. Ben and Scooter were both on crazy sugar highs and had a great time chasing each other around the house.

I know I promised you some pictures, but since I still haven't gone through mine, I'll post some that I swiped from Barrie. :-)

Enjoy!!!

Jim showing Ben the cows....

Scooter desperately trying to get a better look at the cows...

Yum!!!

Scooter patiently waiting for his ice cream....

Spoiled rotten.

The neighborhood watch back together again...

Hooray! It's Monday!!!

How is it that I had a three day work week last week and it felt no different than a regular five day work week?
I have a feeling that this week isn’t going to go by quickly….
Maybe (hopefully) I’ll be wrong about that.

At the very last minute I decided to take Friday off, which would explain why there was no Friday blog entry.
I spent the day Friday helping out at the call-backs for [title of show] at SpeakEasy Stage Company. As you all probably know by now….I have spent the past couple of years, pretty much in love with this show. From its pre-off-Broadway run….to it’s off-Broadway run and finally to its Broadway run, I’ve been a BIG, BIG, fan. Granted, I didn’t ‘discover’ it until it had already closed off-Broadway – but that hasn’t stopped me from loving it. :-)
Anyway – since the ‘powers that be’ at SpeakEasy know that I’m a huge [title of show] fan and that I’m quite knowledgeable about the show’s past, present and future, they asked me to help out at the call-backs for the day. I love helping out at any and all auditions and I’ve been doing it at SpeakEasy for YEARS, so it only seemed right that I come in and help out when they’re trying to cast the show that I’m obsessed with. Naturally.

It wouldn’t be fair of me to give specific details about what went on in the audition room, but I will say that I had a great time. I knew several people who were called in for roles in the show, and that always makes things a little more difficult. When you’re dealing with a show that has a cast of four people, and know a good number of the people that are in the running, you know that you’re going to have to give your friends some bad news. It sucks, but it’s one of those things that you just have to deal with. I’ve been on the ‘other side’ of the table PLENTY of times and it really is awful, but in the end, you accept it and move on. That’s not to say you can’t be pissed and angry - but you can’t let it get you down. If I’m up for a part and don’t end up getting it, I call a friend or two, complain about it for a little while, and avoid the CD at all costs.
I know that I’m over it 100% when I can get myself to listen to the show again without wanting to hurt someone. HA!!

Jim and I went out for drinks with our friends Charles and Jerry on Friday night to one of the (few) local gay bars in our area. It’s always interesting to go to a local gay hang out that isn’t in the city. They tend to attract a very interesting crowd. It certainly wasn’t mobbed by any means, but it wasn’t entirely empty either. We had fun, but ended up leaving fairly early and headed back to our house for a few more drinks before we drove them home. It’s been fun getting to know them….they seem like a nice, fun, normal couple….which is always a good thing.

Saturday morning, Jim and I got up and decided to go out to breakfast. We had to run out and buy a wedding present for the wedding we were going to that afternoon (last minute shopping, anyone??) and decided that going out for breakfast would be a great way to start the day.
We went to a local place (that Charles and Jerry suggested to us) and shortly after we sat down in walked Jerry and the twins!!! Funny.
The kids were adorable and were so incredibly cute. They’re just about three years old (if they’re not three already) and were very excited to be out and about.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of the wedding because this entry is long enough.
Jim loaded all the recent pictures onto the computer, so I’m sure that ‘picture day’ entry will be happening soon….. Really, it will.

Have a GREAT Monday, and pray for a quick week…..

I've got a lot of screaming to do....

For some strange reason, several times this week I've found myself in situations that have caused me to run around and scream like a banshee. Most of these situations have also been accompanied by a severe case of 'the willies'.


I looked it up on line and here's the definition of 'the willies':


A state of nervous restlessness or agitation: fidget (often used in plural), jitter (used in plural), jump (used in plural), shiver1 (used in plural), tremble (often used in plural). Informal all-overs, shake (used in plural). Slang heebie-jeebies, jim-jams. See calm/agitation, fear/courage.


From now on, I will not say "That gives me the willies!" I will now say "That gives me the jim-jams!"

Love it.


Anyway...first I had the incident with the chipmunk, which wasn't necessarily jim-jam inducing, but certainly made me scream. Then the other day at lunch I had a brief encounter with a bumblebee that caused a mini-screaming fit accompanied by a minor case of the jim-jams.

Last night however was the capper, as I suffered a major jim-jam attack, complete with screaming and running around in a circle....seriously, I was a bit out of control....in fact, I'm still showing some jim-jam symptoms whilst typing this....


Unlike most places on the planet, our town doesn't allow us to just put our trash on the curb in any old trash bag. In order for them to pick up our trash, we need to buy special 'town trash bags' and put any and all trash in those 'special bags' for pick up. If you happen to have something that won't fit into a town trash bag... say, a couch for example, you can buy a 'bulk sticker', throw that on said bulky item and they'll take it away for you...as long as you only put out one bulk item per week!!
Normally it's not an issue, because Jim and I only generate one tall kitchen trash bag per week, and we can fit three of those tall kitchen bags into one town trash bag. Throughout most of the year, we only have to put out the trash every three weeks, and in the weeks where we don't put trash on the curb, the trash is kept hidden away in the covered trash barrel where it's 'safe' from animals and other things that may want to get into it (fans, stalkers, etc...).


So...last night I requested Jim's help in transferring the trash bag from the covered barrel into the town trash bag. Since we had the BBQ over the weekend, there was a TON of trash in the barrel, so immediately following the BBQ, I crammed everything down and tied the bag so that when trash day came, it would be easy to deal with. Well, Jim and I went outside last night and I had the BRILLIANT idea of laying the trash barrel on its side so I could just slide the bag out and into the awaiting town trash bag.

WELL - as I pulled out the trash bag, I noticed that the entire bottom of the barrel was filled with HUNDREDS of squirming, writhing maggots.


I promptly let go of the bag and went into some sort of tribal, primitive circle dance throwing my arms and legs into about 15 different directions all the while screaming and yelling.

Jim stood there and watched.

While I was in mid-fit, Jim calmly walked over to the shed and got a giant container of bug killer that we use to keep the local ant population under control. He sprayed the hell out of the trash can, but since they aren't really living breathing insects at this point, they weren't really affected and continued their creeping and crawling.

It's kind of like spraying an egg with chicken killer....it ain't gonna do much.

Jim decided that we should just put the trash bag back in the barrel, cover it up, put a 'bulk sticker' on the entire thing and be done with it. I agreed with him 100%, so I ran into the house, grabbed a pair of winter gloves (not even kidding) and shoved the bag back into the barrel. This too was accompanied by more screaming and reprise of the previously mentioned tribal dance.

Once the barrel was tagged and on the curb, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and was able to continue on with my night.


It's always something...

UPDATE!!!!

I just heard from Jim, and apparently the BRILLIANT folks that collect our trash took the bulk sticker off the barrel, emptied it, and left the barrel behind. Seriously?!?!? Do they think that we don't know how to put trash in one of their bags? How much clearer can we be? I put the sticker on the barrel. If I couldn't fit our bag into one of their bags, I would have put the bag on the curb and put a sticker on that.

I'm hoping that the barrel is emptied and maggot free so maybe we can rinse it out and use it once again, but either way, they owe us $2.50 for the wasted sticker.

And they wonder why trash collectors sometimes get a bad rap.

I've been a bad blogger...

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but I have a good excuse.

LAZINESS! :-)

Actually, I've been pretty busy at work and I was partially hoping that I'd have some pictures from the weekend to share with you. Since the picture thing isn't happening (today, anyway) I didn't want to go another day 'blog-free'.

So....we had yet another great weekend. The weather was EXCELLENT and everything went off without a hitch.

We hosted the BBQ/Pool Party for my nieces and nephew on Saturday afternoon, which was a great time. The food was delicious - thanks to my amazing gill work :-) - and the pool was a big hit with everyone since it was so H-O-T out. I made whoopie pies once again and they ended up being a crowd favorite. As a someone who doesn't consider himself a cook, it's always nice to have one of the few things you can make get a decent reception.

On Sunday we spent the morning cleaning up/recovering from Saturday and then we headed out to go grocery shopping. By the time we returned from the supermarket the temperature had risen to a yucky, uncomfortable level, so we opted for some quality time by the pool. Before heading out to meet our friends for dinner, Jim and I had an unexpected guest stop by.

This guest was a lil' chipmunk who ended up hanging out for a bit in our TV room.

Seriously.

I was in the middle of shaving and Jim came knocking on the bathroom door telling me that he need my help because there was a chipmunk in the den. Say what?!?!?

I ran down the hall (in my boxers, mind you) and he had placed Scooter's crate in the doorway to keep Scooter out and the chipmunk in. Jim then asked me to run out to the screened-in porch and make sure that both the doors were open so he could try and lead the chipmunk out. I politely asked if I could run back and throw on some shorts and shoes before completing my task, and he kindly obliged. I quickly threw on some shorts and sandals, ran outside into the back yard and onto the porch. Immediately, I JUMPED onto a lounge chair while Jim went into the den, broom in hand, and tried to shoo the chipmunk outside. As soon as the little thing saw Jim coming at him with the broom, he took off towards the porch. I saw him running towards me, so I had no choice but to scream like a girl.

Once I saw him and realized that he was terrified and trying to get the hell out of there, I was able to relax and tried to get him heading towards the exit. After a few minutes, we guided him out the door into the back yard and we never heard from him again. Phew....

After that ordeal, Jim and I finished getting ready and headed out to dinner with our new friends (Charles and Jerry) whom we met at the gay parents BBQ I talked about last month. It was our first time meeting Jerry so we weren't sure what to expect. As it turns out, they're both SO much fun and we had a great night with them. We had dinner at one of our favorite places and then the four of us went out for a drink at.....you guessed it....Ye Olde Standish Grille.

Of course, we walked in and the bartender knew exactly what Jim and I were drinking so, clearly there was NO denying the fact that we were 'regulars'. Charles and Jerry kind of harassed us for that, but we had a really fun time getting to know them. Hopefully we'll get to hang out with them more often....

On Monday, Jim and I got up early, picked up our friend Katie, and headed to P-Town for the day! Yahoo! We decided against the whale watch, mostly because I have little interest in going on one, and there are plenty of days when Jim and Katie can do that if they want while I'm at work.

We got to the beach around 10:30-11:00, stayed there for a few hours (yes, I went swimming again in the ocean...it's a record breaking year!) and then we all showered, changed, and headed to P-Town for the afternoon. We walked around for a bit and did some shopping, then decided to have a few drinks at a Pied Bar, right on the water. The weather was beautiful. It was hot, but there was such a great breeze on the water that it really didn't matter. After having a few drinks, we grabbed a quick dinner, walked around a bit more....got an ice cream and headed home.

Yesterday was a busy day here at work and we were still pretty tired from the weekend, so it was an early night.

That brings me to today. Work is busy, but not CRAZY busy, s I decided to take some time and fill you in on all the exciting things I've been up to. I hope you're happy. :-)

I'll have to have a 'picture day' soon, since it's been a while....but I promise I'll post them once there all uploaded.

Happy Hump Day!!!

KILLER!!!!

"There were bells on the hill..."

Jim and I went to see ‘The Music Man’ last night at The Company Theatre and had a super- duper time.

This is a show that we both know quite well…..especially since Jim directed me in it back in February of 2007. :-)

If you’re not familiar with the show, let me just tell you, the part of Harold Hill is an amazing part…..but it is EXHAUSTING. I give Michael H. (as well as anyone who’s ever played that role) a ton of credit for making it through the show every night!!
It was one of the best parts I’ve ever had the fortune of playing, but boy….it was a challenge each and every night.

Anyway…..this was such an enjoyable production. Everyone and everything looked and sounded great – especially the HUGE orchestra. There is nothing like hearing an 18-19 piece orchestra playing great music. It made me want to jump up on stage an join them!
We had several friends in the show (some of our fellow ‘Godspell’ cast members were in it) and they all did a fantastic job. I’m not going to go into a huge amount of detail, because I could write all day long about it, but I will say that faithful blog reader and good friend Julie D, was a hoot and a half as Eulailie Mackecknie Shinn, the mayor’s wife. She had quite a few moments that were SO funny that Jim and I completely lost it.
Another faithful blog reader (and The Music Man’s choreographer) Sally, deserves a ‘shout out’ for her work. How she managed to keep 50+ cast members from killing one another on that stage is beyond me….and her ‘Shipoopi’ was one of the show’s highlights. So fun and exciting.
As always, the sets, lights, etc. were top-notch and added so much to the entire experience.
Congrats to everyone on a job well done!!!!

Photo Credit: Zoe Bradford

Of course, it wouldn’t be a complete theatre experience if there wasn’t any drama.

“Right? Of course right!” (Thank you, Yente)
Basically, the ASSHOLES sitting in front of us had tickets for tonight’s (Friday) show, but came last night (Thursday) by mistake.
So, when the 7 people who actually HAD the correct tickets came to sit in those seats, he refused to move.
Seriously? Seriously.
Apparently, he insisted it was the theatre’s fault and refused to move - even though the date and time were CLEARLY printed on each and every ticket in his possession. Had this not taken place literally as the house lights were dimming, I’m sure it would have been a different situation. The house manager had little choice but to quickly find seats for the dis-placed party and try to keep things as under-control as possible. There was no way she was going to physically move an entire group of people or force them to get up and move, so she had to make due.
I couldn’t believe that the IDIOT, upon realizing that he had the wrong night, wouldn’t just get up and move somewhere else!

Now, maybe the usher should have noticed the date was wrong and brought it to the group’s attention before seating them, but in his/her defense I’ve ushered at that same theatre several times and I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the dates on the tickets, and it’s never been an issue. Also, there’s something to be said for getting to the theatre a little bit earlier than 5 minutes before the show starts. At least that way there would have been more time to deal with the issue and the poor house manager wouldn’t have been dealing with this D-BAG as the house lights were dimming.
I just can’t get over the fact that this guy knew that there was a group of 7 people standing behind him holding the correct tickets and he still refused to move. Not to mention the fact that included in his group were three kids who probably would have been just as happy sitting in the back of the theatre on folding chairs (I’ve sat in those seats and actually enjoy them) as opposed to making a group of 7 ‘older folks’ sit in them. Talk about teaching kids the wrong lesson. DICK.
Anyway…it all turned out fine for the dis-placed folks. They seemed to enjoy the show (we were in the last row of the theatre, so they were right behind us in the folding chairs) and as a super-nice gesture, the theatre agreed to refund their money…..but seriously, that guy and his attitude of entitlement PISSED ME OFF.

Aaaaaaand breathe…… :-)

So, it’s Friday and Jim and I have a fun-filled weekend ahead of us! We’re dropping off some stuff tonight at the Salvation Army Thrift Store (we still have some yard sale things that didn’t sell, so we’re donating it all) and then going shopping for my niece’s and nephew’s birthday gifts. Tomorrow we have my family and my brother-in-law’s family coming over for a pool party/BBQ to celebrate all the kid’s August birthdays and then on Sunday night we’re getting together with a couple we met at the ‘Gay Parent’s BBQ’ we went to a few weekends ago. That should be FUN.
I have Monday off (hooray for vacation days!!) so we’re planning something exciting. We may do a whale watch, but I’m not 100% sold on that yet, so we may just spend the day in P-Town instead.
I’ll keep you updated…..

Have a great weekend and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

xoxo

OR......

Happy Anniversary.....to ME!!!!

Yes folks....today is my one year blog anniversary!!!!

Yahoo!

Here is where it all began.

Who would ever have thought that I'd still be at it a year later?

Needless to say, I have really enjoyed sharing my experiences with all of you over the past year. Not only have I made some totally cool blog friends, but I've had a ton of fun discovering and playing around in the blog world.

Special thanks to Barrie, Tommy, and Brett who were the very first bloggers I followed. It was their super fun blogs and their dedication to those blogs that 'inspired' me to start my own.

Not to mention the fact that without their blogs (especially Brett) I would never have found so many of the other amazingly cool blogs that I now follow.

THANK YOU!!!

And of course....a H-U-G-E thank you to all the folks who read and comment on my blog!!

Without you, I'd essentially just be talking to myself. :-)

I'm going to see 'The Music Man' tonight at The Company Theatre and I can hardly wait!!

I'll give you the full report tomorrow, but until then....have a GREAT day and thanks for reading!

What up, BOO?

Some of you may recall me discussing on here a little experience that Jim and I had with a 'ghost' in our house. I would post a link to the blog entry I'm referring to, but I can't find the damn thing. ANYWAY....if you want to read about our experiences, you can check out this entry. It's from Jim's blog (which he's neglected for a while) and will totally bring you up to date.

Now, I'm not one to go all crazy and believe every ghost story I hear, but this latest 'run-in' TOTALLY freaked me out. Totally.

Let me start at the very beginning....it is, after all, a very good place to start (Thank you Rodgers and Hammerstein).

Since it's been so hot and humid out the past few nights (and we don't have central a/c) Jim and I have been watching TV in our den with all the windows open, the back door open and the TV serving as our only light source. (The overhead light gives off WAY too much heat for that small room and makes it a lot hotter than it needs to be.)

Last night, we were sitting there watching TV and out of nowhere, Scooter starts growling. Weird. Not only is he growling, but he's sitting on the couch and staring up at the ceiling - and then he starts barking. Jim and I just looked at each other and watched Scooter to see what he was going to do. He jumped off the couch and kept growling/barking all the while, still staring at the ceiling. I assumed that he was barking at the shadows that were being created by the light from the TV shining on the overhead light.

You know how dogs are....they tend to bark at anything out of the ordinary, for example: if you throw a towel over a chair they see every day, suddenly it becomes a completely foreign object to them and they throw a fit about it.

Thinking that was the case, Jim got up and turned on the light to show him that everything was fine. He continued to look up at the ceiling, but didn't seem 100% 'satisfied'. We turned off the light, and he started to growl/bark again. He finally stopped after we told him to settle down and zip it.

Fast forward to bed time.

Jim asked me to take Scooter out one last time before bed, but before we went outside, Jim took Scooter's rawhide bone away from him and put it on the shelf above the TV. Scooter was not at all happy about having to give it up and when we came inside to go to bed, he was searching all over the place for it. Jim called him into the kitchen, gave him a treat and they went up to bed.

I 'closed up' the house for the night, got ready for bed and then I too, went upstairs and went to bed.

Fast forward to this morning.

I'm at the sink, shaving and there's a knock on the bathroom door.

That's weird. Jim just used the bathroom before I went in -what does he need now?!?!?

I open the door and there's Jim, standing there and just staring at me, not saying anything.

John: Hi. What's up? (all the while wondering why he's not in the den doing his Wii fit....like he is every morning while I get ready).

Jim: Did you do anything with Scooter's rawhide bone from last night.

John: No....you took it away from him before we went out and put it on the shelf in the den. Remember he was pissed and came in searching for it?

Jim: And you didn't touch it at all after that?

John: Ummm, no....you went upstairs, went to bed and took the dog with you.

Jim: Well, his rawhide is sitting at the top of the stairs.

John: Shut up......Wait, are you serious??

Jim: Go and look.

At this point, I walked up the stairs and there it was....sitting on the threshold of the spare room right across from our bedroom.

Yikes.

Jim and I then went through and re-capped the entire evening trying to figure out of if we were 'mis-remembering' something, but there is no way.

He's only got one rawhide that he's 'working on', and he's been carrying it around with him for the past few days, so it's not like it could be a different one.

We took it from him and we both I saw it sitting on the shelf above the TV when we went outside and when we came back in.

Jim took Scooter up to bed and I joined them afterwards without touching the rawhide.

Even if somehow it fell off the shelf (which it couldn't have) Scooter was in our room all night long, with the door shut and he never left the room.

I've been going out of my mind trying to come up with a logical explanation, but unless Jim is playing a trick on me....I'm at a complete loss.

I guess I'm just happy that it's a friendly ghost. :-)

I should clarify...

In my post yesterday, I was referring to the fact that the sun is no longer shining when I wake up each morning and how sad that makes me - not the fact that the sun isn't shining at all.

As anyone in the area can attest...the sun was DEFINITELY out yesterday.

Sweet Jesus was it out!!!

I made the crazy-assed choice to go for a walk at lunch time yesterday and I seriously thought I was going to collapse by the the time I got back to work. It was definitely one of those days where I got home, changed, and immediately jumped into the pool. Granted, there were already several people in my pool when I got home, but that's exactly what I expected. Jim's sister and the kids were all there trying to get some relief from the insane heat and humidity.

What a nightmare.

I remember the days when we had a summer that you could actually enjoy, and these crazy, super hot and humid days were a rare occurrence. Now it seems that we get a few enjoyable days mixed in with a huge number of extremely oppressive days. I blame it on all those girls I went to high school with, and their need for huge hair.

Aqua Net ruined my summers!!!!

Anyway....this awful weather is supposed to pass on over the next few days, which means that we'll hopefully have a decent weekend. I hope so anyway.

Jim and I are hosting my family on Saturday and celebrating the birthdays of my three nieces (all who were born in August) and one of my nephews, who also has an August birthday.

We've been doing it for the last few years and it's always a good time. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Quick update as far as the adoption 'stuff' is concerned, just to say that there's really nothing to tell you. :-)

We're still waiting to hear from someone as to when the next round of MAPP classes will be starting. It's super frustrating not moving ahead in the process, but I'm sure there's a good reason for it. My guess is that there are currently more people interested in taking the classes than there are people to do the teaching. If that's the case, they have no choice but to wait.

Jim and I have discussed the possibility of taking the MAPP classes in a region other than our own, but we're not sure if that's really an option. If the goal in taking the classes is to get to know your social worker and the people you're going to be dealing with, then it doesn't make much sense to take the class with people other than the folks who will be matching us up with a child in the end.

It's all very annoying, BUT we're staying positive and we keep telling ourselves to be patient, no matter how difficult that may be. :-)

Have a great day, and stay cool!!!

I want the sun back...

This is SUCH a rough time of year.

Getting up at 5:15 every morning is pretty bad as it is, but when you're getting up at 5:15 (after a fun-filled weekend) and it's still d-a-r-k out, it's so much more difficult.

In a sudden change of events, Jim and I decided to head down to the Cape on Friday night after work and stay over night. I left work a tad earlier than usual, we dropped Scooter off at daycare (to have a sleepover with his friends) and Jim and I hit the road!

We got to his parent's place and everyone was happy to see us. We don't spend that much time down there during the summer, because we're usually doing our own thing at home, so it was a nice change. We had dinner and then sat around the fire drinking, talking, playing games, etc...etc... It was fun. The evening ended with a rousing (drunk) game of Yahtzee out on the front porch between Jim, his sister, her husband and I.

On Saturday morning we got up early, had breakfast and headed to the beach. I'm generally not a huge fan of salt water, but I actually went swimming. After swimming for a while, we packed up our things and went out on their boat, across the water to a different beach. There, we anchored the boat and swam for a while. Jim and I collected some shells (which I JUST realized we left down the Cape...DAMN!) and swam for a little bit longer. We headed back to his parent's beach around 1pm, had lunch and then Jim's brother opened his presents. That's the reason we were there, by the way - to celebrate his brother's 40th birthday. He opened his presents, we had an AMAZING ice cream cake (which is one of my favorite things ever) and then we all headed back to the beach. After a short time, Jim and I decided to head back, shower and take off for home. We picked up our EXHAUSTED pup, dropped everything off at home, grabbed a quick bite to eat at The Grille, came home and then pretty much went right to bed.

Sunday morning we got up, went to church and on the way home stopped by the grocery store to grab a few things. We spent the day yesterday at my friend Leah's parent's house up in NH - which was a lot of fun. We haven't seen them or our friends Kerry and Guy in a long time but we try to get together every so often. Leah's parent's have a HUGE and beautiful home with a pool, so we all use that as our annual meeting spot.

Seriously, it's gorgeous.

We spent the afternoon/evening up there and then headed home.

By the time we got home, it was pretty much time for bed (can I say how much I despise traffic?!!?) so we got home, got everything ready for today, and hit the hay.

I don't even remember falling asleep, and I didn't have one beer all day long!!! :-)

Have a great Monday and keep everything crossed that the week goes by quickly!!!!

xoxo

Here are few pictures from yesterday:

Jim in the 'Roller'

Me in the 'Roller' - failing miserably at getting it to roll. :-)

Jim doing his back dive....and a cannonball.

Fridays are FUN!

Hello boys and girls!

It's Friday, I'm at work, and ready to go home already....good thing it's not even 7am yet.

Hooray!!

In case you haven't noticed, I've updated my 'bloglist' (that's the thing over on the left side of the screen). I've been meaning to do it for a while, but I kept forgetting about it. I've labeled all the new additions, so if you feel like visiting some new and exciting blogs - give them a whirl.

They're all pretty darn fantastic, and I check them out on a daily basis. I'll warn you right now....Cake Wrecks will probably cause you to laugh your face off. There have been many times (many, MANY times....thank you Blanche Devereaux) that I've had to stop reading it at work because I was laughing so hard, and drawing attention to myself. It's sooooo funny.

The rest of the new additions are a mish-mash of the blogs written by my 'followers' and some random blogs that I found through various other channels.

Fun, fun, fun...

This weekend Jim and I are heading to the Cape all day tomorrow to celebrate his brother's 40th birthday, and then Sunday we're heading up to NH to spend the day with our friends Kerry, Guy, Leah and John and all their kids.

I'm VERY excited to see them...it's been a long time!!!

On that note, I'm going to say my good byes. Good bye!!

Have an excellent weekend and a great Friday!!!

xoxo

Weekend Update - Part 3 (it's a long one)

So, where was I????

Right.

Intermission.

The first half of the evening was over and soon we were sitting back at our table, waiting for the [title of show] gang to take the stage.
When they did, it was VERY exciting.
The piece they performed was titled ‘And Now This Is Happening’.
We soon found out that they had come up with that title that very afternoon (or maybe Saturday night?) but either way, it was a very new title.

I think the best way to describe the show would be to say it was a ‘group cabaret’. If that’s not an existing term, it is now….and they can thank me for coming up with it. What they did was take existing songs, some new songs, and their own personal stories and mash them all together in order to help us all learn a little bit more about the [tos] gang and what makes them tick.
It’s difficult to describe the show and do it justice, but it was absolutely fantastic.

I don’t want to go into too much detail, since not knowing what to expect made the evening soooo much fun.
I will say that in addition to discussing their mutual love for the film ‘Tootsie’, their passion for coming up with new and exciting drag names, their creation of new words (a la ‘cramazing’, ‘hangry’, etc…) and describing their own, personal ‘hot moments’ there were a couple of specific moments that really stood out for me.

One of those moments was when Jeff talked about growing up in Florida and how (like so many gay kids) he used his personality, humor, etc…as a way to fit in and/or ‘hide’ in the straight world. They described it as ‘Dazzle Camouflage’. Dazzle Camouflage (also known as ‘Razzle Dazzle’ or ‘Dazzle painting’ – Wikipedia that shit, Heidi) was a “camouflage painting scheme that was used on warships in both World War I and World War II”. It basically allowed these giant warships to ‘hide’ right in the open.
What started out as a very funny song, going into detail about the MANY girls that Jeff dated and how ‘frustrated’ they were, ended in a completely different place. Jeff described coming home from his high school talent show (where he performed a perfect Ed Grimley) and how completely exhausted he was, not from the show itself, but from constantly having to keep his ‘secret’.
I’m not at all doing it justice with this quick description, but trust me - it was such an incredibly honest moment, it was great. Listening to him describe how he was feeling at that very moment, immediately made me think back to when I was a kid and felt that exact same way. It’s that feeling of knowing you’re different....knowing that all you want is to be happy, yet having to spend an incredible amount of time and energy trying to keep your secret and be what every one else expects you to be. Going through it was truly exhausting…..and Jeff’s delivery hit me like a ton of bricks…..it was awesome.

Another amazing moment was when we got to ‘see’ what was going on in Heidi’s mind while she sang.
Susan served as Heidi’s inner thoughts/subtext as she belted out Pat Benatar’s ‘We Belong’. What started out as a very funny moment between Heidi’s singing and Susan’s speaking quickly became more serious as we learned that Heidi….this incredibly talented woman who can sing her face off (“and sang for the president….the dumb one”) battles with an inner ‘monster’ every time she sings in public. Susan informed us that Heidi’s ‘monster’ can sometimes be the size of a hornet but can also be the size of a border collie…which is how Heidi described it when Susan asked how big the monster was that night.
Heidi then took a brief moment to speak to the audience about how much singing means to her, and how although it sometimes terrifies her it’s something that she HAS to do, and the fact that she is able to sing while being surrounded by the people she loves so dearly makes it all worth while. As she came to the climax of the song, you could totally feel the audience rooting for her, wanting her to sing, wanting her to be amazing and not at all be afraid of anything, because everyone there was behind her 100% and no matter what she did, it was going to be ok.

Being in the audience at that moment was sooooo weird, and cool, and like nothing I’ve been a part of before. It’s weird to think about it now…..because I think we were (at least I was) so wrapped up in that moment, that all we wanted was to see her be awesome.
Needless to say when she finished the song, I was totally crying and I joined the rest of the audience in giving her an immediate standing ovation.
Like I said…it was so odd, yet great to be a part of that moment. I totally felt like we had all come together and helped her kick her monster’s ass.
Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know that I’m the LAST person to get all ‘theatrey’ and talk about getting into my acting space, finding my inner-whatever, and all that acting crap. I’m the type who’s inhaling a Ring Ding off stage left as I’m stepping out of the wings to make an entrance (just like Uncle Richard!) – but that moment, listening to her totally bare her soul and share her ‘monster’ with us all was a really cool theatre ‘experience’.
It was just awesome.

As I’ve said several times before, I think these [title of show] peeps (Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Heidi Blickenstaff, and Susan Blackwell) are crazily talented and so much fun to watch. That being said, my enjoyment of their newest endeavor doesn’t surprise me in the least.
I have to give a quick ‘shout out’ to Larry Pressgrove who was their musical director and arranger, and apparently he helped write some of the original music and was also a co-creator of the piece. Another shout out has to go to (Broadway hottie) Michael Berresse who was their director/choreographer and did an amazing job as well.

As Jim and I discussed on the ride home, they are such a great group of storytellers; and everything they do is so incredibly honest and real that it’s such a joy to watch them perform. I truly hope they keep writing together and working together for a long, long time to come.

If you ever get the chance to see them perform do not miss the opportunity….you’ll be happy you did!!!

Michael, Susan, Hunter, Heidi, Larry and Jeff

PS - One more moment of musical theatre ‘geekery’ for me……Jim and I went out to dinner before the show and Joanna Gleason (daughter of Monty Hall), Tony Award winner for playing The Baker’s Wife in the original cast of Into the Woods sat a few tables away from us, with her husband, TV and theatre actor Chris Sarandon….I was totally star-struck, but resisted interrupting their dinner to gush.

Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon

Weekend Update - Part 2

The saga continues....

On Sunday, Jim and I took a trip down to see one of the final performances of the Cabaret symposium at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut. Our main reason for going was that the cast from the Broadway musical [title of show] was presenting their latest work in progress. I’d seen an article about them performing and immediately called for tickets the day they went on sale. I had no idea what the show was going to be, but I knew if it involved the [tos] gang, it was going to be good.
As it turned out, I was right! Yahoo!
Not only that, but the entire evening turned out to be a big, fat slice of musical theatre heaven for the musical theatre geek that I am.

The first half of the evening was a musical revue of songs that were written by Edward Kleban. For those of you who aren’t obsessed with musical theatre – he’s the fella that won a Tony Award for writing the lyrics to ‘A Chorus Line’. In addition to being a lyricist, he was also a song writer. While he never had major success as a song writer, he wrote some pretty fantastic songs. What I wasn’t aware of, was who was going to be singing those not-so-well-known Ed Kleban songs.

Before I get to that, let me back up a bit. Jim and I arrived at the theatre center (think musical theatre summer camp…seriously, it looks like a summer camp) picked up our tickets and went to the building where the cabaret was taking place. The usher showed us to our seats, which happened to be at a table for two, on the floor, DEAD CENTER. On the table were two wine glasses and a chilled bottle of pino grigio sitting in a big, fancy, silver ice bucket. Apparently calling on the day the tickets went on sale was a smart choice. As soon as I saw where we were sitting, I got all crazy excited. We were sitting about 4 feet from the performers were going to be doing their thing. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!

Anyway, back to the show…..I sat down and started to read the program and that’s when I got even MORE excited. Like I said…to the average person, it may not have been that thrilling, but keep in mind I know way too much musical theatre stuff for my own good, so I started to get all tingly with anticipation.
I know there will be a few people who read this blog that would have been just as excited as I was….so I’m hoping they understand my glee.

Included in the list of performers were Aisha de Haas (Road Show - Caroline, Or Change - Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) Mary Cleere Haran (cabaret superstar), Harris Doran (Actor’s Fund HAIR in Concert - Love, Jerry), Gregg Edelman (original Stine in City of Angels, 14 Broadway shows, AND he’s married to Carolee Carmello!), and Penny Fuller (Applause, A New Brain, and a million other shows all over the country).

I won’t go into every detail about the show, but I will say that it was an absolute treat to see them all perform in such an intimate space. Everything was performed with music in hand (actually, on music stands) since the show was thrown together in a few days, but the performances were quite good in spite of that fact.

Penny Fuller sang ‘Nothing’ from ‘A Chorus Line’ and sounded AMAZING. I only wish that she wasn’t so dependant on the music, because it would have been great too see her perform it without the music getting in the way….you could tell that it would have been even more incredible. Harris Doran (who is adorable, by the way) sang a very funny song called ‘Do It Yourself’ from the never produced musical Gallery. Gallery was never produced because, while there were several songs written for the show, there was never a through line written that would join the songs together. The man in charge of the entire evening (Broadway producer, Michael Bush) at one point mentioned that a through line has been written for the show, and now that there was a ‘book’ and songs, they were planning on doing a workshop of Gallery at some point in the near future. Keep your eye out for THAT.

The rest of the performers did a really fantastic job, in spite of what was obviously a quickly thrown together evening. It honestly made me feel better about some of the musical revues that I’ve been a part of. If these Broadway professionals can stand up there, with music in hand and stumble from time to time – I can certainly do it OFF book, with just as little rehearsal time. :-)

This has gone on WAY too long….and I’m not even at the second half of the show…….stay tuned for more…

Aisha, Gregg, Penny, and Harris

Weekend Update - Part 1

Well, well, well.
I’ve noticed over the past week or so that when I get up in the morning it’s a little bit darker out….and I’m NOT happy about it.
It’s nothing that I should be surprised about, as it happens every year, but it makes me a little sad.

Let’s see….the yard sale was quite a success! We had lots of people ‘shopping’, had beautiful weather for it, made some money, and above all, got rid of a LOT of stuff! There are certainly a lot of interesting people that show up at yard sales, let me say that. Yikes.
A couple of my favorite moments:

Crazy Old Man #14: “So….what are you guys having this yard sale for anyway?”
Jim: “Well, we’re trying to get rid of some stuff since we’re in the process of adopting…and we’ll need the room.”
Crazy Old Man #14: “Jeez, people just don’t know how to make babies anymore. All you read all about are these celebrities taking off to Africa to buy these smoke babies.”
Jim: (mildly stunned) “Oh…….really……”

One of the items we were selling was a VCR video camera. It was pretty much brand new, completely intact, all the parts were there, etc…etc.. My dad gave it to me a million years ago because they never used it (seriously, who WOULD use it?!?!) and we’ve just had it lying around and decided to get rid of it.
Crazy Lady #4 expressed some interest in it and was talking to Jim about it.

Crazy Lady #4: “So……I know that this will film adults……but will it film children???”
Jim: “Ummmmm…….what? Yes…..it will film what ever you point it at.”

Let hear it for the crazies!!!!! Wow.

On Sunday, we went to church, went grocery shopping, and then headed to CT to see a show that was part of the O’Neill Center’s cabaret symposium. I’ll write more about it later, but let’s just say – for this total musical theatre nerd, it was a little bit of heaven. :-)

Check back later for a full review!!!

xoxo



Seriously....who WOULDN'T want this beauty?!?!?