Giving Thanks!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Yes, I'm aware that I'm a day early, but I know I'm not going to be posting tomorrow so I thought I spread some holiday cheer while I had the time.

I hope you all have a great holiday, and enjoy your time with family and/or friends....away from work!!!

Have a great holiday! xoxo

Hopefully none of your guests will show up at the front door with one of these:

Short Week!!!!

Another weekend has come and gone. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad coming into work today, knowing that it was only a three day work week, but is it ever easy to get up at 5:15am knowing that you’re going into work?!?!?

Friday night, Jim and I met up with B, K, and {b} for dinner and a lil’ shopping. It was great to see them and to catch up after not seeing them for a while. They just got back from a few days in Florida and had a GREAT time. Jealous.

On Saturday, Jim and I did some stuff around the house, and then I took off to go see the matinee of ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ at Brandeis University. As I mentioned earlier, I knew the director as well as the woman playing the lead, Dot.
I’m very happy to report that it was an excellent production. The sets and costumes were outstanding and the performances were quite good. The director made the choice of having two different men play George (usually it’s the same actor playing George in act 1 and in act 2). I was a bit apprehensive at first when I heard about it, but I have to say it made SOOOO much sense and really added to the whole thing. I loved it. McCaela Donovan as Dot was beyond great. She really made the part her own and avoided the temptation to put on her best Bernadette Peters. She’s not only got an excellent voice, but she is a great actress. I can’t WAIT to see her in ‘nine’ at SpeakEasy in February!!!

After the show, I headed home, had dinner, and then Jim surprised me with a trip to go see ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1’ – which I loved! As you may have heard, this was by far the ‘darkest’ of the HP movies, but it was one of my favorites. I’m not gonna lie – this isn’t a sit back and relax kind of HP movie, where you spend a lot of time watching all the fun and crazy wizardly stuff happen around Hogwarts. I spent a majority of the movie on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next ‘thing’ to happen. Yikes. I’m not one for running out and seeing a movie as soon as it’s released (the crowds tend to make me crazy) but this time it didn’t bother me at all.
If you’re a HP fan, I highly suggest it. I’m already looking forward to seeing part 2.

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day around the house, with the usual Sunday stuff going on. Laundry, grocery shopping, etc… This week, Jim and I are going to be building something fun which will be the place where we display the Christmas village.
Every year we talk about it, but this is the year we’re going to make it happen!!! I’ll be sure to share some pictures with you as we begin the journey. Very exciting….

Have a great day everyone!!!!

McCaela Donovan as Dot

Finale of Act One - amazing

Quickie...

This is going to be a super short post, because I have a TON of stuff to do before I head off to my morning full of meetings. Blech.

We had our 'Employee Appreciation Luncheon' yesterday afternoon, which was a big hit. The lunch was catered, but people brought in desserts. I made whoopie pies (again) and they were gone in seconds. I got lots of compliments, which was nice. People apparently don't expect male software testers to be able to bake something decent. Little do they know....

Anyway, that was yesterday - and today I have to write up my year-end self evaluation, which I find tedious and annoying, especially since my boss really couldn't care less about it. He likes me, he knows I do my work, and he'll write up a decent review regardless of what I say about myself. Although, it is nice to have some additional stuff added in that he maybe wouldn't have thought about or even know that I was working on. OK....I'll get writing.

Nothing too exciting going on this weekend. I'm going to see a local college production of 'Sunday in the Park with George' tomorrow, which I'm VERY excited for. The girl playing the lead is going to be playing Carla in 'Nine' at SpeakEasy, and I can't wait to see her in this. I'm sure she'll be fab. And the director is someone who works a lot at SpeakEasy and does excellent work.
I'm sure it'll be a treat. Come back on Monday for the details.

Have a GREAT weekend, and enjoy your Friday!!!

xoxo

Rainy days....

Good day!

I finally made it into work this morning after having to deal with some CRAZY ass rain. Good GOD it was pouring this morning!!! As you can imagine, that makes driving on the highway a complete nightmare. That being said, I made it into work unscathed, and wasn't even late!
Nice work.

Things have been busy since I last wrote. I got my flu shot, which was no big deal at all - I knew it would be fine, but what's the fun of getting a flu shot if you can't throw some high drama into the mix?!?!? It was a little bit sore for a day or two, but only if I touched the place where she gave me the shot...other than that - no biggie.

I had a fun softball meeting on Sunday...you know - getting ready for the season....which starts in May.
Actually, it was a very necessary meeting, as we're planning on making some changes next season and we wanted to get the team's input before committing to anything. We're going to have a new coach, we're losing a few players, and gaining a few players, you know...stuff like that. Also - we're planning on going to Orlando in January for a tournament, so if you're going to be in the area around that time - let me know!!! You can come watch us play!!! :-)

I'm planning on going to the tournament, assuming I still have a job in January.

Yes folks, that's right.....the layoff rumors have been flying fast and furious once again!! I'm pretty sure they're more than rumors at this point. I've heard from several very reliable sources that there will be layoffs and they'll be happening soon. I've heard a few dates thrown about, but December 2nd seems to be the most popular one out there. That date makes sense since it's a Thursday and that's when they all took place the last time we went through this - 2 short years ago. Once again, I have no idea what's going to determine who stays and who goes, so all I can do is hope for the best. I'll certainly keep you posted.

Hmmmm....what else? I went to see Sutton Foster (Broadway S*T*A*R) in concert on Monday night and she was SOOOOO good. It was such a nice treat. Originally, I wanted to go see her, but it was a benefit concert with tickets starting at $150. Not in my price range.
Then, out of the blue on Friday, I got an email offer for $25 tickets!!! After clearing it with my business manager/accountant (a.k.a. Jim) I bought a ticket. She sounded and looked amazing and I was very happy I got to see her.

That brings me to today, which incidentally happens to be the one year anniversary of when Jim and I started our MAPP (Massachusetts Approach to Partnerships in Parenting) training.
I can't believe it's been a year!!!!
Time certainly flies when you're going out of your mind each day, waiting to be placed with a child. :-)

Yes, we're still waiting...and slowly losing our minds.
But that's a post for another day.

Have a great day everyone!!!!!
xoxo

Shot through the heart....

It's 1:45pm on Friday, November 11, 2010 and I'm about to go get my flu shot.

It was nice knowing you.

Who said I'm dramatic?!?!?!?

Happy Friday. :-)

Sup?

I had a free moment this morning, so I thought I'd say hi!!

It's Veteran's Day today, but we don't get it off from work, so here I sit. It's a very quiet day, as most of the people in the office took the day off to be with their kids who are off from school.

My commute was fantastic this morning, and I anticipate getting a LOT done!!!

Today's also the day that the furnace gets cleaned/fixed!!! I hope it all goes well and we don't have to start working the streets in order to pay the bill. I'll keep you all in the loop. ;-)

Here's a fun picture from the concert rehearsal on Monday.

(For those of you who are friends with me on 'the book' it will probably look familiar)

Have a great day!!!

Hey y'all!

Good day, and happy Wednesday to one and all!!!!

I've been a busy, busy fella the past few days, which has left me NO time for blogging and I apologize. I know how much you've all missed me.

Anyway...I was kind of going out of my mind towards the end of last week because I was asked to be a part of SpeakEasy Stage Company's 20th anniversary concert, which took place on Monday night. The weekend was a whirlwind of activity, but SO much fun. I wasn't singing in anything, just doing a few 'talky' moments during the evening. Apparently, appearing in 8 of their musicals over the years isn't enough to get you into a musical number for the concert.

But I'm not bitter ;-)

Seriously though, I was thrilled and beyond honored to be asked to be a part of the concert, and I was happy to contribute my time and my 'memories' for the evening. There were over 40 (46, I think) people that were part of it, ranging from people who appeared in the very first shows they produced, right up to people who are in the show that's currently running. It was a long show, but to be honest, I watched most of it from the audience and they seemed to be having a great time, in spite of the running time.

Now that the concert is behind me, I'm just playing 'catch up' with everything else.

Our furnace has been giving us grief for a week or two, and I'm hoping THAT will be taken care of tomorrow when the 'furnace men' come and clean it.

Every so often it sounds like it's working really hard, and gets really loud. When it first happened, we kind of panicked (as I'm sure you all would have) and called someone to come out and look at it, because we thought the house was going to blow up. That man replaced a part and said that all it needed was a good cleaning, so I called the next day and made an appointment. Of course, they had nothing even remotely close coming up, so I made the first appointment I could. Well, since then, it's continued to act up, so I called again on Monday and they were able to squeeze us in for a cleaning tomorrow. PHEW! Let's just hope we make it until then.

I'll keep you all posted....because I'm SURE you're dying to know how it all turns out.

OK faithful readers....I'm out....and going back to work.
Luv ya! :-)

Here are some pictures that Barrie took of all the fun stuff we've been doing together over the past couple of weeks....seeing our friends in 'Annie'....dinner at their house, etc...etc...
She's a great photographer and I love stealing her pictures. :-)

November?!?! Really.

It's November, and I've been a very bad blogger. Of course, when I'm neglecting my blog, that usually means that I'm being an excellent employee. :-)

Things at work have continued to be super busy, and not at all fun, but I won't bore you with that crap.

Jim and I had a great weekend last weekend, and I had an excellent day off from work on Monday!

Friday night we got together with all of Jim's family to celebrate the anniversary of the first night his parents met. I'm pretty sure this is the first year we've celebrated such an anniversary, but since they met 50 years ago this year, it seemed fitting. Jim's mom was VERY surprised and happy to see everyone, and it was a nice night out.

On Saturday, we hung around the house and then headed over to Jim's sister's house to celebrate her birthday. I only stayed for a little while, as I had previous plans to go see a friend of mine in a show that night.
The show was 'A Class Act' (a not often produced musical) and I have to say it was quite good. I worked on the show when they produced it a number of years ago at SpeakEasy Stage Company, so I know the show quite well and they really did a great job with it. As expected, my friend was EXCELLENT in the show (Yay Jackie!!!) and the majority of the cast were great as well.
There were a few 'clunky' moments, but overall, I was SO glad I went.

On Sunday, Jim and I went out in search of some more Halloween decorations, in hopes that they'd be on clearance. Well, much to our dismay, what little Halloween stuff they still had out was complete CRAP, and was overwhelmed by the crazy amount of CHRISTMAS merchandise that was out on the shelves. I was flabbergasted. Seriously?!?!? On Halloween they're putting out ALL the Christmas stuff? Gross. Anyway, we ended up buying some purple Christmas lights, which looked FABULOUS in our windows for Halloween night.
We had about 17 kids come by for candy, which is great considering that we live on a main street, and all the kids that came by seemed to really like the way we had the house decorated.
Fun!!

Monday I had the day off from work, so I totally 'de-Halloweened' the house and did some cleaning/laundry. I met B and {b} for lunch,which was VERY fun, and then pretty much just hung around for the rest of the day. Jim came home from work, started dinner, and I headed out to the dentist (NO CAVITIES!!!). I came home, ate dinner, and then we had some 'family time' on the couch until bed time. :-)

As I mentioned earlier, work is a NIGHTMARE, so my posting may be few and far between, but I'll do my best - I promise!!!

Happy Wednesday!!!
xoxo

This is our house on Halloween night, note the purple lights in the side windows. ;-)

My Yankee Candle haunted house all lit up for the night....

Jim - ready to hand out candy....and terrify the neighborhood kids.