persephone33

★I've decided that even though I don't have time to do it myself, I really love National Blog Posting Month, which is, for those of you not all-consumed by the intranets, is this month. I don't do it because I don't enjoy setting myself up for failure. Because honestly, I'm distracted by something shiny every, oh, five seconds or so. I'd never make it. But during NaBloPoMo, all my friends who are usually too busy to blog regularly do so for the whole month! It's like getting a glut of your favorite TV show. It's fun.

★Nolan signed me up to make cornbread dressing (stuffing?) for 40 people to take to our church Thanksgiving dinner. Do I get to go? No. Is Nolan going to go? No. But I'm still making the crap ton of stuffing. I can't even conceive of the amounts of ingredients for that. There's math in my future. Ugh. I'm not upset, though. Not about the signing up, or the making of the dish, or even the fact that I'm not getting to eat it. I'm upset about the math. Math makes me grouchy.

★Ethan just spent ten minutes trying to convince me that those yogurts that have Oreos or M&M's packaged with them to sprinkle on top are low fat and healthy for you. Seriously, kid. This is not my first rodeo. And: Ew, cough, gag and splutter.

★Tomorrow I have too much to do. A jam-packed full day. It's full of all good things, but there's not going to be time to breathe. I've become rather accustomed to breathing, and it bothers me a bit when I'm prohibited.

★Do you know when you do something, and then people really like it? That feeling you get when you get a pat on the back? I've had a dozen of those pats over the past week, for a short story I wrote for an anonymous fest where I still remain anonymous. Every single pat makes me smile. And if I could figure out how to respond anonymously, I would. But I am technologically deficient. It's a good thing I have other talents, for sure. Like making breakfast parfaits. I make a mean parfait.

★Rehearsal. Rehearsal is SO. MUCH. FUN. Rarely have I been with a group of people who are so creative and hard-working and intuitive as these boys. It's a delight and a joy. I've decided I'm going to do a picture a night on instagram. So you can follow the show and my crappy photography skills over there. I'm carriehuckabay on that particular site. Which is my actual name, if you throw in a space, for those of you who don't know.

★Also, and I'm loathe to "announce" it, but here goes: *deep breath* I'm breaking up with Sugar.

*throws self on floor and weeps bitterly*

It isn't Sugar's fault, and it isn't because I don't believe in Sugar's love for me, or even because I'm trying to lose weight (I'm ALWAYS trying to lose weight), or because I read the ebook of Skinny Bitch and secretly liked that the author was cursing at me like some sort of sailor with Tourette's. I'm leaving Sugar because I can trace all of the times I feel like utter and complete crapola to refined Sugar. Quite frankly, I'm sure I'll miss Sugar. I'll have Sugar withdrawals. I'm going to leave 2 a.m. phone calls on Sugar's phone and write Sugar a love Sonnet a day. But Sugar makes me feel like ass, and even if I do love Sugar from the deepest depths of my black little heart and want to have a billion of Sugar's little Sugar Babies, Sugar has to leave.

That metaphor went wrong somewhere. Alas. You have to know when to say when.

★That's all. *points to the icon* Make the right decision.

Cake. No... death. No! Cake.... It really is a difficult choice. As for me, I'm going to go Google 'Crapton of dressing' and see what comes up.

Later.

&hearts Go HERE and read obrien_blue's recap of the Glee finale. She does fabulous Bones recaps (or squee!caps) and this is the first one she's done for Glee. She's funny and smart and a hell of a writer (warning for language). I always laugh aloud at her entries. Go read. You won't be disappointed.

&hearts If I were in charge of the world, like a High Empress Over All Things, there would be a few changes. Manipulative people? Incarcerated for life. Mean people who insist of ranting about insignificant things and belittling others? Mmmm... the rack, I think. I'd be just and fair. And the bastards of life would need to re-think their positions on being jerks.

&hearts I've been feeling crappy lately. Like a low-grade nausea and intense tiredness. If I didn't know better (and I mean really know better), I'd say I was pregnant. And LHM, if I was pregnant, it would be a baby that would have a purpose, because it would be a freaking miracle. That is, if I didn't jump off a bridge, first.

&hearts I've been trying to write, poking around at a few things, but I'm just not inspired. When the muse takes a vacation, she really hits the road. I have no idea what to write that might spark any sort of even mildly acceptable results. It's sad.

&hearts We leave for Dallas on Friday, and we'll be gone for a week; the boys are going to a golf and tennis camp, and my sister will be there for the weekend. I want to get together with some old friends and family (I'm looking at you, deedsk_tx and tadpole_bac) and I think it'll be good to get away for awhile. When I get back, Nolan and I are going to the theatre's awards gala. I've been nominated for best actress, an award I fully do not expect to win. There are too many other great actors up for it, too. That's okay, there's a lot of that being nominated but not winning stuff going on. Luckily, my self esteem is high enough that it doesn't send me into a tailspin. Anyway, as I've been nominated, it's a great excuse to buy a dress. And I'm at -22 pounds, so shopping in the semi-formal departments in the Dallas area might even be pleasurable.

&hearts Nolan brought me 3 charms for my bracelet today for no reason whatsoever. That's nice, huh?

&hearts I love summertime. Seriously, having the boys home and going to the pool and making brownies and waking up whenever we feel like it? Nice. Really, really nice.

See you all on the flip side!

It's documented. Look it up.

(It's only documented right here, but whatever.)

Nolan decided to take me to San Fransisco this weekend! We only just decided to go on Monday, and we leave in the morning, so it all sort of snuck (not a word. sue) up on me. I have managed to exercise with a friend, do all the laundry, pack for the kids and I, and get Ethan's choir uniform and tie dyed t-shirt ready for his performance tomorrow (Which I'm going to miss! I'm a bad mom. A mom who will be in California having goooooood wine). I've been to the chiropractor (because my back protested all the mopping I did yesterday -- but the floors are SOOOO mopped), the dollar store to get supplies for my acting class this afternoon, managed to cook my lunch for this insanely healthy VLC diet, AND went to JoAnne's, got fabric, filling and thread, and made AJ a phase 2 moon costume (Um...don't ask. I didn't) for his school play on Tuesday.

I did not get to the post office. Sorry Mom and leigh_adams, the stuff I need to send you is sitting on my dresser, mocking me. It'll be next week and late, but still super cool. My most sincere apologies to the both of you.

My literary friend Holle Wood (aka norablackbird, not that she ever uses her LJ and YES, that is her real name) dropped off some new books for me to read! Wheeeeeeeee! I love reading on airplanes. It's the BEST. Thanks, Holle!

Now I'm off to teach class have dinner with a group of girlfriends and see the musical 'Grease,' for which I made two quilts , three kelly green cheerleader skirts and sewed a ton of hot pink rickrack to fuzzy white bathrobes for the Beauty School Dropout number. I cannot think of a better way to kick off my vacation weekend!

See you all on Tuesday!

And happy mother's day to my sweet mom, and all you other girls out there with kidlets. Have a great day!

Many, many thanks to elle_blessing , eustacia_vye , filia_umbrae  and goeungurl  for entering January's contest! Jessica and Mylan entered more than once and all the stories were varied and beautiful.   There were some really great drabbles on the replies to THIS POST if you missed it.  Go read and enjoy them.

The winner for this month is filia_umbrae , for her wistful, angsty, yet hopeful  Booth/Brennan drabble!  Congratulations!  Tell me what colors you prefer for your tote bag prize and I'll get right on it.  You can send your address to persephone3333@gmail.com. :D

And now...  

Facebook, man. I totally got sucked in.

It's a good thing, though. Though there are some "friends" I have through that particular social networking site that... honestly? I have no freaking idea who they are. None whatsoever. And they've commented, you know, so I can't say, "Now, who are you again?"

That's neither here nor there. Bygones.

Anyway, a little over a month ago, one of my facebook friends that I actually DO know messaged me (Facebook! You don't have to know ANYONE'S email address!) and asked me what I thought about taking a dance class from the theatre that I work for. (I teach theatre there, for those of you not in the know.) Ironically, the dance class is taught by another Facebook friend, Jason. Long story short, I've always wanted to take a class from Jason (he housesits for me and is actually my boss if you want to get right down to it), so I said, "I'll do it if you do it." We wrangled another friend into it, and started class last night.

Are you ready for this?

I'm taking a hip hop dance class.

Me.

Miss Uncoordinated.

And it was FUN. The first half is what Jason called a 'warm up,' but what other people might call a full on exercise class. Or maybe the Bataan Death March. Now I know I don't need to do the 30 Day Shred on the same day I have the class. (Mistake. Bigbigbigbig mistake.) I did yoga this morning to stretch everything back out, and there was a lot of sore muscles, whimpering, wailing and gnashing of teeth. But I'm looking forward to the class. If nothing else, my calves are going to look GREAT by May.

And I'll get exposed to a WHOLE different kind of music. 'Cause they aren't dancing to Steppenwolf, over there.

My kids are with the in-laws for a few days and since I've been alone, I've had time to be very thoughty today, which isn't always necessarily a good thing.

Though I'm a solitary creature by nature, I also have a social side. I had a friend once tell me that relationships are cyclical. That we evolve and mature and move on, and sometimes move past the people that we were once close to.

I know that sometimes that relationships are bound by time, that sometimes due to family or other time constraints or distance, or lack of like interests, people are unable to remain close. I can understand that. It's a fault of mine, as well. A lot of my friends have gone by the wayside because of this.

I'm not talking about marriage, either. For me that's a covenant, not merely a relationship. It's a relationship I choose every day. Plus he's right here next to me, and too loud to ignore. ;)

But the people right here in my town? What do i do about them? It makes me wonder, as I blow through friendships left and right, if I'm not doing something wrong? Maybe I need to make more of an effort? But you can only give so much, you know? You can only put yourself out there so much without receiving anything in return. Maybe I'm bad company. That's possible. That sounded maudlin and self pitying, and I'm really not feeling that way at all. I'm pretty happy, actually. Just thoughty.

Ah, well. The kids are going to be gone for a few more days and I have a lot of time to sort through these thoughts, and maybe call a few of these estranged friends of mine to go have lunch. Or maybe not. I'm kind of alright by myself, too. :)

Not a lot to tell, lately. Simple facts, are, I haven't been doing much.

( But here's a super mini photoessay about what I have seen... )

And I got a sweet surprise in my mailbox yesterday! Thanks so, so, so much for the letter and the goodies, heyurs! You're a darling!

Another chapter closes.  For all of the whining I did about this play, there were some good things that came of it:  4 friendships were strengthened (although 1 person to whom I had thought I was close got very weird with me - alas  - what're ya gonna do).  The director and I bonded in a way that only combat veterans can understand...  being constantly under fire with everything out of your control... Cara turned out to be a great friend, even if we aren't just alike, we compliment each other, I think.  Jeff, who's directed me countless times before, was someone I got to know on a whole different level as an actor.  He has a sweet vulnerability as an actor that never comes out as a director, and we got much closer as a result.  Malina (a former student) is all grown up and has turned into a very sweet young lady, and David is a big cuddly teddy bear.  I liked most of the crew, as well.  Overall, it was a good experience, and one that I won't look back on with disgust.  But I won't ever AD again, you can bet your sweet patootie on that.

Favorite line from the show?

"Even if you're scared or lonely, you're still better off than those ones in the ground beacuse at least you have the chance to be happy."

A little depressing, huh?  Definitely glass half empty kind of an outlook.  I'll miss the people, but I won't miss the literature, that's for sure.  Sometimes you feel sad when shows are over, because you know that little microcosm of people and words won't ever be re-created.  I don't feel sad. I feel tired.  I'm ready for a rest, my family is ready to have me home for a bit, and we're all ready for summer.  (Can I get an amen?) That said, I did take another job as Props Mistress (I prefer Props Goddess, but we can negotiate the details before the program is printed) for the last show of the season, Oklahoma.  (Or Gaglahoma, if you prefer.)  All of that can be done during the day, so my nights will still be free.  Any one know where I can get 10 lunch hampers,  and old-fashioned egg beater, a butter churn, and a saddle?  No?  Fine.

In other news, I won rainpuddle13's contest over at ginnylovesdraco.  I'm floored and humbled and thrilled and every other like emotion you could possibly have. (The other stories were very well done--I probably wouldn't have voted for me, although I'm glad others did!)  Writing narrative is out of my comfort zone (though dialogue is NOT) and to know that something that I agonized over (I did, it annoyed everyone in my house) got recognition renews my inspiration to continue all the little (and enormous) projects that I've started over the last year.  So thanks, Rainpuddle.  I had a great time, really.  I was giddy all the way through the writing process and enjoyed myself from start to finish.  Reading all of the other entries was fun, as well!  

I stole this from jandjsalmon:

( Meme )

Playwrighting class tonight!  Everyone have a fantastic week!