Wednesday, November 27, 2002

Ok- all is good on this end of the earth. I haven't had time to write since we still don't have internet at home and every second I've been at work, I've either been busy or just creatively drained and not able to form sentences. I am extatic today. Why? You may ask.... well, first,I took a step aerobics class last night that kicked my ass and it felt SO good! Second, I went shopping last night for Hanukkah gifts for the family and found some cheap, cute stuff for myself... which is always fun! Thirdly, today is my friday! I keep counting down the minutes. I only have 6 1/2 hours left...... 5 1/2 if I don't count lunch. :o)

Tomorrow, Jon and I are heading down to San Diego to have Thanksgiving at James and Lisa's house. James, being his brother and Lisa being James' wife. Should be fun. Unfortunately, I have to be at work on Saturday which TOTALLY bites. So, I will be driving back by myself from San Diego on Friday. Hopefully there won't be a lot of traffic. Sunday, my Mom is having a Hanukkah party for friends and family. I'm looking forward to that.... I'm not looking forward to peeling 30 pounds of potatoes... but, hey, what can you do? Mom makes really good latkes... it's worth it.

So, that is what I'm up to. How about you? Feel free to email or sign my guestbook when you get a chance.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
9:42 AM

Thursday, November 21, 2002

:o) I fixed it.... hee hee hee.
3:57 PM

not funny.... where are all of my archives? It took so long to get them all back and now they have disappeared again! grrrrrrrrrrrr......
3:54 PM

Was home sick all day yesterday. Feeling a little bit better today.... still coughing though. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Need to sleep some more. I tried to stay up last night to watch the finale of the Bachelor but missed half of it. The most important part was the last 10 minutes and I was awake for that part. Not quite sure what I think about it all yet. I mean.... how do you know someone is "the one" after only six weeks... and those six weeks consist of cameras and competition and ABC providing your wardrobe, make-up and hair, and everything being paid for and living in a beautiful place. It all seems unreal. I wonder if it will last.....

ok, going home.... must sleep.
3:50 PM

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Still at work.... feel like ass. Going home in a half an hour. Not sure if I'm working tomorrow. If I feel like this, I am not going to get out of bed.
3:32 PM

Had such a blast at Lion King. I ran into my friend Harrison before the show so he put my name on the backstage list! It was so good to see him. I hadn't seen him since when I first moved to New York. Before I moved, we did a show together out here called Both Barrels..... a two women, three men review. He has an amazing energy... very positive. The only bummer is my friend Alan from college was on vacation that week so he wasn't on for Simba. It would have been so great to see him rather than this other guy. Don't get me wrong, the understudy was good as well. It just would have been more personal to see a friend on stage.

The show was visually amazing. The costumes, sets, lighting, and music were all so incredible. The little kids voices weren't so great but everyone else's voices were really good. I enjoyed the show. I had THEE best time going back stage and seeing everything up close. Did you know that some of those costumes weigh up to 35 pounds? Seriously... pumba's costume weighs 35 pounds and the ant hill girl that goes across the stage on pointe, her costume weighs 25 pounds. That has got to be a good work out! Seeing all of the hyena costumes took me by surprise. They are brilliantly made.... all of the costumes are. Julie Taymor is a genius.

Another cool thing about the show was Harrision showed us that the stage was floating 20 feet above the ground. That is how they were able to do all of the cool raking and turning of the stage. I couldn't imagine being a dancer for the show. The stage is so hard and isn't cushioned my marley or anything. So the dancers are leaping and jumping on pure wood! No wonder 3/4's of the cast are in physical therapy. Their poor bodies!

Sunday, I worked out...(YAY) and then went to my old place to finish cleaning and drop off the keys. Hopefully we'll get our full deposit back. I could really use that right now. Sunday night, I got a massage.... which was SO needed. Last night, started feeling crappy... blowing my nose and getting a headache.

Today- SICK..... and hopefully going home soon to drink lots of tea and go to bed. Waaaaaah. :(
9:13 AM

Saturday, November 16, 2002

Tonight.... LION KING! I am really excited. Jon's parents and sister are coming over in an hour to see our place and take us out to dinner! I think we are going to go to this yummy seafood restaurant in Pasadena and then head over to the show. My friend Harrison that I did Both Barrels with is in it and Alan Mingo, who I went to UC Irvine with is also in it. YAY!
3:14 PM

Saturday, November 09, 2002

Go add your five favorites to Michelle's list. So much fun.

Just finishing up work. Going home to get ready for the Thalians Ball tonight. It's going to be a blast. I met Debbie Reynolds at the rehearsal Thursday night. She is amazing. I wanted to tell her how many times I'd seen Singin in the Rain, and have done the musical a billion times and how she was the best Kathy Seldon I've ever seen.... and I've seen tons of people do it. But I didn't.... I just smiled and shook her hand and said how wonderful it was to meet her. I then walked out of the room to change into my dance clothes and freaked out, softly to myself. I can't wait to see who will be there tonight. I know Tony Danza is performing, Phyliss Diller is being honored, and Ruta Lee is organizing it all, and Carol Channing will be there too. I hope I don't screw up anything! We only had one dance rehearsal. I won't be able to report until Tuesday because we don't have internet at home yet. I promise to give all the juicy details though! Think good thoughts for me!
3:50 PM

Thursday, November 07, 2002

Tonight- off to a rehearsal for a benefit I'm dancing in this weekend for the Thalians Organization. I am so excited. I can't wait to see all of the people that will be there. Just check out the Honorees page to see what kind of people are involved with this group. Pretty cool. I get to wear a ball gown! How exciting is that. Will give more information when I have it.
3:26 PM

Ok, so we have this old gas stove in our apartment. In order for the burners to work, the gas has to be turned on in the back and the pilot lights need to be lit. This is all good, but when I am done cooking, the house smells like gas.... and continues to smell like gas. I've been turning on the gas, lighting the burners, cooking, and then turning off the gas. This is a total pain in the ass. Is it necessary? Does anyone know anything about gas stoves that could give me some advice? E-mail me with your thoughts. I think the bottom line is that we need a new stove/oven. The oven isn't even working right now! They are coming out to look at it today. Hopefully they'll just replace the whole thing... but if you know anything, please e-mail me! Thanks....
7:58 AM

Tuesday, November 05, 2002

This weekend was ....let's see... how do I put this... exhausting. Saturday morning, Jon and his sister, Adrienne showed up at my pad around 8:00 am. We headed out to pick up the U-haul and pick up some Carls Jr. for breakfast. The drama started unfolding here. When we got back to my apartment, there was a big ole Budget truck blocking the driveway. This WAS where we were going to park our U-haul. It was about 20 feet from the elevator.... perfect location. Not only was this a problem for where the hell we were going to park our U-haul, but that meant someone else was moving out and would be using the elevator at the same time as us. Problematic!

We decided to park the U-haul on the street and block the Budget truck. We figured that if they were done before us, we would move our truck .... but for now, we'd be ok blocking them.

The three of us quickly figured out a system. Jon grabbed big boxes with the dolly while I shoved a bunch of crap in a handy shopping cart. We'd load up the elevator and then bring it all down to the truck and drop it off. That's where Adrienne took over. She would take all of the stuff and organize it in the truck while we were heading back up in the elevator, getting more stuff. It didn't prove to be too problematic sharing the elevator with the other people. They weren't moving too quickly like we were. My car and the truck was loaded up around noon. That's when we headed over to Jon's place.

We got to Jon's place and met up with our friends Danny and Christine who were patiently waiting for us. They live right across the hall from Jon's old place. This is beneficial because his couch is so big, it was going to have to through Danny and Christine's second story window. Yes, I am serious! It wouldn't fit down the stair well.

So, the five of us began loading all of Jon's things into the truck. Jon didn't have half as many boxes as I did. But, his boxes were all big and packed really heavy... plus, he had a couch, a big ole chair with ottoman, a bed, dresser, and HUGE entertainment center. That stuff was pretty difficult to get down his stairs. Our friend from work, Josh, showed up for a bit to help get the couch out of the window. That was soooo funny. I got lots of pictures.

Finally, everything was loaded up in the U-haul. Jon was driving, of course... I chose to drive my own car. I don't trust my driving skills to operate the U-haul. We were on our way to the new place. While I was driving, I ordered a bunch of pizzas, chicken, and cinnamon bread from Dominoes to be delivered shortly after we got to the new place. We were all starting to get pretty hungry and definitely could use some more energy. I was keeping my fingers crossed that all of the things we asked our landlord to fix prior to us moving in were indeed fixed. When we arrived at the new place, nothing was fixed. I was livid.

I called the landlord and left a big ole nasty message on the machine. Grrrrr.....

By this time, it was around 2:00 pm. We chowed down on some food and started unloading the truck. Have you ever eaten a taco salad? The reason I'm asking is because if you had, you would know that the more you eat, the more is on your plate. Seriously.... it seems like it's actually growing.... at least for me. This is how unloading the truck was. The more we unloaded, the more shit it seemed we still had left. Did I happen to mention that there are 24 stairs leading up to our new place? Yeah- um.... that made things a bit difficult.

At the new place, Brad joined us... another friend from work. That helped. But still, with half of the truck left, Brad left and Josh left. So, it was just the original five of us. We were all so frickin beat by this point. At around 4:00, Danny and Christine left. They were an immense help.... we owe them big time. Adrienne, Jon, and I took up the remainder 20 or so boxes. We all were dragging our feet and felt like we were about to die.

The rest of the weekend was spent unloading boxes....fixing things.... shopping for essentials like a microwave, toaster oven, bathroom shelving, cleaning supplies, and speaker stands. We both worked really hard... and there is still so much to be done.

Sunday night, I decided to make Jon a nice dinner. I made chicken enchiladas, beans, and Spanish rice. But, guess what.... the oven wouldn't work. I almost lost it. Thank goodness I bought a microwave. I had to heat up one enchiladas at a time. I was not a happy camper. We've called the landlord many times. He was supposed to send someone out yesterday to fix everything but no one ever showed up. I faxed him a letter today. The reason we are so mad is that we paid a $150 cleaning/fixing fee before we moved in. Nothing was clean and there are tons of things that are not working right or are broken or dirty. He promised us last week that everything would be fixed before we moved in. Of course, nothing is fixed. So, we will take $150 out of our next month's rent if this shit isn't fixed soon. So frustrating.

Ok- now I'm rambling. I am absolutely exhausted. Even though I had Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off, I worked the entire time. I have had no time to just chill out. There is too much to do. I really need to go get a massage.

Funny tidbit though..... when we went to drop the U-haul off and go back to my house to pick up Jon's car, the Budget truck was still there! ha ha ha
10:41 AM

Friday, November 01, 2002

I am so frickin tired right now.... just finished packing up all of my shit. Tomorrow is moving day! Even though I am absolutely exhausted and a bit delirious, I am ECSTATIC about my archives returning? Do you see them....do you see me glowing now? Wow.... Derek, did you have a hand in fixing this for me? If so ...... THANK YOU! You rock my world. Now I can sleep peacefully.....

I am hoping that tomorrow I won't have any U-haul drama like Keith had a few days ago. Good thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Tomorrow is going to be an insane day...... must sleep.
11:59 PM

Thursday, October 31, 2002

Happy Halloween..... today, I am dressed as a dancer. This seems funny to me. Last year, I WAS a dancer, dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. This year, I am an Account Manager dressed up as a dancer. Do you see the irony here....man, times really are a changin!
7:50 AM

Wednesday, October 30, 2002

Last weekend, I hosted a garage sale. I had all of this crap that I had to lug downstairs to the front of the apartment building.... which was a total pain in the ass. I took all of my clothes to Buffalo Exchange the week before, but my clothes weren't "trendy enough" so they hardly took any of it. They only took one shirt that was Bebe brand and one pair of shoes. What a drag.

Normally, when I've had garage sales, they were at my mom's house where you could go in and out of the house to get food, coffee, or take a bathroom break. Plus, it was my mom and I so we could take little breaks while the other one held down the fort. This experience was totally different. It was only me....the whole time! I ended up having to drag everything downstairs that I would need for the next five hours......along with my keyboard, lamp, and three bags of clothes and shoes.

So, down I went with a chair, coffee, magazine, book, cell phone, water, and lots-o-change. I was sitting out on the street, reading, for about an hour before my first visitor came by. My first visitor was a random Indian woman who picked up a few things without saying one word, and then left. I said "good morning" and "have a good day" but got no response back. I was a bit worried of how the rest of the day would go.

My second visitor was an older woman who lives across the street. She was a mom who was boasting about how amazing her daughter is and how her daughter would like some of my clothes and jewelry. She talked to me a long time about how you should treat your kids and talk to them with respect. How she has the best relationship with her kids because of the freedom and responsibilities she gives them. She really was inspirational to talk to. She told me about how her daughter is taking Karate and recently cut her hair really short and dyed it because her boyfriend dared her to. Her stories were funny. She ended up taking four shirts, three pairs of earrings, one ring, and two pairs of shoes (for herself!). Her total was $4.50.... she gave me a five dollar bill and told me to keep the change. She wished me good luck with my move and in the future.

My third visitor was an old man. He was kind of hard to understand.... he stuttered and skipped over some words. He was driving up and was going to park on the street, right in front of my sale. But, he rolled down the window and shouted "I'm not going to park there.... because I know what you are doing, girl." I smiled at him, not quite understanding where he was going with the whole "girl" thing. He drove down the street and backed into an available spot. I watched him get out of his car and walk towards me. I was a little nervous about what he may say to me..... but as he waddled closer, I saw he had something in his hand and was smiling.

When he got up to where I was sitting, he handed me a $10 bill and said, "This is for you". I quickly handed it back to him and said, "Oh, no. That's ok. I really can't take that." He pushed it right back at me and said, "Here.... go get an education. Go to UCLA... it's a really good school. Education is so important."

I am totally serious.....

He talked more about UCLA and what an amazing school it was... Even though I barely understood his words, I definitely understood his intentions. I thanked him profusely and watched him walk away..... smiling.

My fourth visitor was a Greek woman with her big fat pitbull. She looked at my keyboard and said "How much for the keyboard?"

"One hundred dollars", I said.

She told me that she needed to check with her husband and that she would be back. Before leaving, she gave my clothes a good once over... I figured I wouldn't see her again.

FIVE minutes later, the Greek woman and dog were back with the husband. He asked about how much the keyboard was and then proceeded to communicate with his wife in Greek. She kept pointing at different pieces of clothing and he would throw her the items. I kept watching the dog to make sure it didn't take a leak on all of my stuff. The next thing I know, she hands me a pile of clothes. I tell her $4.50.... she says something to the husband in Greek.... he says something back.... and then hands me $104.50 in cash! I swear..... I was so stoked. They picked up the stand and the keyboard and started to walk away. Suddenly, the husband turns around and says (with a thick Greek accent) "It works, yes?"

With a huge smile on my face, I answer "YES!"

My fifth visitor was a woman who said she lived down the street, however she seemed homeless. She had a back pack that she carried around with a bunch of stuff in it. She had a headband on, holding back her long light brown hair which had streaks of silver in it. She wore black rimmed sunglasses with red lenses that she still squinted behind. When she approached my area, I immediately said "good morning" which I had been saying to all of my customers. Immediately, she started conversation with me about how she was moving next week to Hesperia to move in with her "man". She informed me that she didn't have a lot to take with her but could always use new things for work. I wasn't sure what to think of this woman. She was kind of all over the place and couldn't really remain still or silent.... probably on something.

She sat down on the cement next to me and told me about her favorite store, Big Lots.... which used to be Pic N Save. Apparently, they sell some really cool stuff.... like, her favorite perfume which is called Heaven Sent. She took a bottle out of her bag and said that this was one of 12 bottles she bought. No one carried Heaven Sent besides Big Lots. She then proceeded to apply the perfume to her neck....talking about who knows what the whole time. After about ten minutes of applying, she then began pouring some of the bottle down her neck, behind her ears, and in her hair. I just kept watching and listening in awe. She talked about her weight, her age, her "man", her 72 year old roommate, more about the Big Lots store and the difference between the 99 Cent Store and the 98 Cent Store, the cream she uses on her face to keep her looking young, and how to lose weight. Finally, once half of the bottle was gone, she stopped. That's when she started going through my things. Now, by this time, it was almost noon. I knew I probably wasn't going to get that many customers after this one.... so, I told her to let me know what she wanted and I would tell her how much it all was. She grabbed two pairs of pants, four shirts, some earrings, and a sweatshirt. I told her to just take it all but she gave me two dollars. I wished her luck with her move and her "man"..... she wished the same to me.

It really was an interesting afternoon. I still have a bunch of stuff left over but by the end of the day, I felt like I had gained so much from my experience and the people I met, that the amount of money I made was suddenly less important.

Tonight, dinner with my dad..... tomorrow... Halloween!
3:38 PM