January

Happy New Year! And Happy Birthday Abby!

New Years Eve was okay, I guess. Chrissy (one of Sherry's daughters) dropped her 2 kids off at Jay & Sherry's, so they joined us at dinner. Lexie is a sweet girl but Luke is an extremely rowdy little guy- bitting, hitting, and kicking is a 24/7 thing with him. Between Luke and Jake (Jay's big puppy), I have bite marks and scratches all over me. And Jay and Sherry don't really do anything about this behaviour, so I didn't know how to handle it personally. I just tried to stay out of their paths as much as possible. We had an early dinner at a Japanese steakhouse (where they cook at your table and make a big production of it) and then watched "Seabiscuit" (not my thing- I would have prefered football, but I thought it would be rude to go upstairs and watch by myself), and I struggled to stay up until midnight with watching some Dick Clark in between a zillion car commercials.

I'm overwhelemed and tired again. I've never felt so behind on things and no matter how much I accomplish each day, it's not enough. Yesterday I tried to be productive for about an hour, but after everything I tried decided not to go well, I gave up and spent the rest of the day playing with Abby and laying on the couch exhausted. I got in bed around 7:00 PM, fell asleep by 10:00, and kept hitting the snooze button this morning until almost 7:00. I don't know how I'll finish everything that I need to finish before I leave tomorrow morning.

Don't really want to write anything right now- just wanted people to know I'm alive. I'll probably wait until I get home to update.

Back in Maryland, going home this afternoon.

I'm home.

A few highlights (good and bad) of the past week or so:
- Virginia was nice: comfortable, quiet, fun, and star-filled (I finally got to see plenty of stars)- it was great getting to know everyone and I hope I can go back soon
- Work has been fairly overwhelming and even though it'll all get sorted out in the end, the process has made question why it's been so bad and how to prevent this in the future (so far, I don't have any real answers)
- Had a bad experience with a cop in College Park: they blocked the part of Route 1 that I needed to turn off of to get back to Neil and Maxine's, and when I pulled up to the intersection to ask the cop how to get there, he told me I ran a red light and started giving me trouble. I thought he was kidding (especially since the car in front of me really ran the light by making a left on red and I wasn't even over the crossswalk), but he was not. Eventually, he told me how to get around the road block without giving me a ticket. Well, that was only partially helpful as when I got to where I needed to be, the road was blocked on that side as well. I turned onto the first road I came to, pulled the car over, and cried (I was tired and a little sad about leaving Virginia earlier that day- otherwise, I think I would have had some serious anger rather than tears- that cop was a real creep). Then I called Maxine to ask how to get back to the house, and she decided to come find me. That took some effort because of both the road block (she had to go around the Beltway to get there) and her directionally-challenged self. It took about an hour before I was back in the comfort of their home. The road block was because of a pedestrian getting hit in the intersection of Route 1 and Greenbelt Rd.- haven't been able to find out what happened to them
- A thought I had while waiting for Maxine to come meet me: maybe emotions are like muscles- if you don't excercise them often, they become weak. Well, I've been excercising all kinds of love-related emotions recently, and it's really quite wonderful. I still wouldn't call myself an overly-emotional person (which is good, because I think too much emotion is as unhealthy as not enough emotion) but I certainly have more emotions than I've had in a long time. Thank you, Andy :)
- The train from Baltimore to New York was actually on time and quiet (a red letter day)
- Met up with Robyn yesterday: it was good catching up
- Finished "Angels & Demons" last night- didn't love the ending, but it's definitely one of the best books of fiction that I've read recently
- This upcoming week looks pretty quiet for me. Hopefully I can get plenty of rest to catch up from the past 3 weeks and to prepare for the following week-from-hell.

I finally have time to do something about the exhaustion from the chaotic past few weeks. Yesterday I got in bed around 5:00 PM and dozed on and off until 9:00. I thought I'd go back to sleep shortly after, but instead I did some work in a daze and was up until 4:00 AM. Then I slept until 9:00. It would be nice to go to sleep early tonight and sleep a full night, but I'll take any form of sleep I can get.

Today has been busy with work, travel planning details, and errands (fortunately today isn't as cold as it has been).

Tomorrow Robyn and I are going to try and rush "Wicked", and if we don't get tickets we'll go somewhere for drinks as she's dealing with some issues and could use a break from all that.

Jon called yesterday to tell me that Stanley (Jeff's mother's boyfriend) had passed away (he was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago). He was one of the sweetest men I knew; Stanley was always a bright spot when I went to visit Jeff at his mother's house. I almost want to leave early and go down for the funeral (on Thursday), but I'd have to leave tomorrow and I'm not quite ready to do that. Travel plans are getting complicated enough.

Last night was spent working on all kinds of crazy travel plans for my family. I wish I could help out with the actual travelling, but aside from taking a semester off (which I really want to refuse to do), I can't be of any help since I can't afford that kind of time away from classes. But part of the crazy travel plans do affect me since Neil won't be available to get a ride with to Baltimore on the 20th since he'll be leaving for Florida that day (so he can go to Hong Kong later on... long story), so I had to change the car and hotel thing for myself this morning- that was the easy part.

I had to talk to Michelle last night about a work-related question, and I was reminded of why I don't like talking to her about anything other than trivial things. She's one of those people (which is most people, unfortunately) who put blanket statements on everything rather than look at individual situations to see if it even deserves the blanket statement. I know it makes life less complicated, but it still drives me crazy to listen to these people. So between the work-related issue and a few other issues, she gave me the blanket response, which really started getting on my nerves.

Paula and Harvey are doing a day trip to New York tomorrow.

I really hope we manage to get "Wicked" tickets tonight; getting lost in another world for a couple of hours sounds like a good idea (of course that would require me to not be too critical of the show, but maybe I can work on that for tonight).

Last night Robyn and I didn't get tickets for "Wicked", so we went down to the Village and had dinner at some place I thought I remembered the name of but can't seem to find it anywhere now (it's across the street from John's). It was perfect- we were the only ones in there for most of the evening and got to sit next to the cozy fireplace. We were there for over 4 hours, mostly talking about her issues.

And I'm assuming it came from listening to stories about the disturbed woman Robyn was telling me about or at least partially came from that and partially from the coffee I had earlier which was keeping me awake, but I had a night of irrational thinking and was up until 4:00 this morning dealing with that. Not fun. I'm feeling slightly more rational today, but it's still not a happy day. Far from it, in fact. Down times are okay though; they're good for perspective.

Paula and Harvey are on their way up, and I'm meeting them later this evening at Artisanal.

It was too cold to wait for a cab last night, so after Paula and Harvey met me here, we just went across the street for dinner at Teodora. Fortunately, as we were leaving, there was an available cab, so they made it to the train station in time for the earlier train (which was late as usual- that's why they made that one).

It snowed a little last night and this morning, but of course my street and sidewalks are clear, but the bus lane where there are cars parked is still slushy.

I've finally dealt with the mail from the past few weeks but still need to go to the bank to make a deposit (why can't everyone use some form of direct deposit?). I've also started unpacking and repacking but still have a lot to do in that department.

Feeling much better today.

Happy Birthday Rhonda!

Wound up staying up later last night than I had planned and watched "Murder By Death", but somehow I was able to wake up way before the alarm was set to go off. Hope this energy continues into next week, when I'll really need it.

Went to the bank, got a bite to eat, and picked up the latest batch of pictures (not too many good ones). The street corners are still slushy today. And I guess I can tell that it's slightly warmer than it has been.

Leaving tomorrow for Maryland. Tomorrow night- Sweet Honey in the Rock!

- Train down to Maryland was a bit annoying, but I made it.
- Sweet Honey concert was fun (Abby had a blast).
- Saturday was a beautiful, peaceful night.
- Yesterday wasn't as nice as it should have been- I think because I was tired and not in a happy mood (no real reason- maybe I used up too much happiness Saturday night- I was pretty damn happy that night).
- Today is busier than I thought it would be (good thing I had to stop in the office for a minute- they could really use some help, so I'm sticking around for the rest of the day).
- Not going to a movie tonight with Lynne (too busy). Gonna go on Thursday night instead- we'll be absolutely exhausted after 3 hell days, but at least we can see a movie at night when we won't have a hell day the next day.

Welcome to the world, Teagan!

Long but good days here. Watched the end of the MD/Duke game last night- what a sad end. But for an unranked team, they played really well against #1 Duke. Watched the recent SATC 2 nights ago- the issues in this episode hit way too close to home. That's about it for now.

Home again. I feel like I haven't been home much recently. I guess because I haven't been home much recently.

I have a lot to do, but I'm not doing much today. I'm tired. It's been a long week. I did meet with Robyn this afternoon about some work-related stuff. And I've answered all my email. And last night I ordered groceries which should be here in a few hours. I just didn't unpack, do laundry, start on a work-related project (should do that tonight though), deal with the mail...

Going to the TMBG show tomorrow night with Jennifer. Haven't seen her in a while. Looking forward to it.

Happy birthday, Jon!

I finally cut my hair this morning. Now I'm doing some market research and seeing if I can meet up with Todd before heading down to Joe's Pub this evening. And I hope to unpack and organise today.

Yesterday was a big phone day: Todd, Andy, Robyn, Paula, Harvey, Neil.

I'm looking forward to going out tonight. I haven't been paying much attention to the city recently (mainly because I haven't been home much but even when I am home, I spend most of my time in my apartment), and I miss it in some ways. In fact, I think I'll leave early and take the bus so I can watch the city go by rather than ride through the dark tunnels.

Happy birthday, Rebecca!

I know I've been having fun dreams; I just can't remember what they're about.

The concert was fun- I liked a lot of the new stuff. Jennifer and I got "our table" by the emergency door in front of the attractive bassist. Of course it was freezing, and the 6 train only running express gave me a nice little walk over to Union Square. But I did make sure I passed by Grace Church which added a slight amount of warm to the otherwise bitter walk.

January really is a quiet month in the city. There's even less traffic on my street. I've thoroughly been enjoying the relative quiet the past 2 nights/mornings.

I spent much of the morning organising stuff/laundry... I still have some little things to do, but the majority of what I wanted to accomplish has been accomplished. Finally. My to-do list still isn't really shrinking much though. There are so many things on it which aren't time sensitive that I have a feeling will still be on the list in the spring. Most of those things start with the word "buy". Why do I really need to buy drapes for my bedroom? Or buy folding chairs until just before Thanksgiving? Or storage containers (I've lived this long without them)? I really hate shopping. But I do plan on buying a cell phone either this week or next- just have to think about the options some more to make sure I'm making the right decision.

"The Ice Storm" has come up a few times in my conversations recently (for the atmosphere, not the plot), and it's made me want to watch it again. Think I'll watch it tonight. Added bonus: if it snows while I'm watching (according to the latest forecast, it might).

Happy birthday, Sherry! (lots of January birthdays)

I was sure I had "The Ice Storm" on tape; maybe someone borrowed it. For some reason, I didn't feel like renting it last night, so I watched "Fargo" instead. Love the dialogue in this movie.

And it did snow on and off pretty heavily last night, but it's just small dirty piles on the street corners now. I want to walk over to the park today to check out real snow, but first I have to wait around to see if they'll come fix the heat in my bedroom today. I have a feeling that they won't show up and I'll have to call about it again. Maybe I'll go to the park tomorrow if I can't go today.

Rebecca's having a Leap Year party. I kind of want to go up for that but don't know if I feel like dealing with the travel thing. With all the brilliant people in the world, one would think someone would have come up with a faster, more efficient way of travelling by now. I'll just have to keep hoping someone will come up with something or hope that someone in this world can figure out how to properly use floo powder.

Random stuff:
- Today I did traditional ballet warm-ups in addition to my usual excercise. No idea why.
- I seem to be burning a lot of incense recently. No idea why.
- It's still pretty quiet on my street. Some idea why.

Paula put me on hold when I called her last night since she was putting people on hold a lot at work yesterday so she was in the habit. Funny part? She didn't know her home phone had a hold button... until now. Learn something new every day.

Productivity of the day (so far): worked, worked out, looked into school stuff
Non-productivity of the day (so far): updated My Yahoo page (don't know why they've gotten rid of most of their news sources, but there are certainly other places to get access to every publication for those days when I'm news obsessed)

Classes start tomorrow.

Watched most of the MD/Wake Forest game last night. Maryland's three 3s in a row at the end was incredible. What a frustrating finish, but for a young team in a difficult conference, they're sure doing well. I sort of watched the FSU/Duke game too (hate Duke).

And again I almost remembered my dream from last night. One of these days maybe I'll actually be able to remember details.

This semester:
Theatre History will be the same as the last one- lots of work
Playwriting will be a lot of work too (lots of reading AND papers as well as plays/scenes/group projects) but I have no idea how the instructor will be since she wasn't there today (a woman came in to give us the syllabus)
Next week I should talk to David about working on the show

I ran errands in between classes and on my way home as well and was reminded of all the difficulties I have (mainly shopping difficulties) in this city. Some things are so hard to find.

And I'm still looking for a comfortable place to read/work around Hunter (am willing to go a little out of the way). Anyone know of any?

Still didn't remember any dreams.

Another productive day (so far). I dealt with the mail and did a lot of various organising so I feel more on top of things now. And I have calls into Kristin and Marcell- hopefully will catch up with both of them this weekend. Paula and Harvey came up today; we'll probably have dinner somewhere. I think I'm going to take the afternoon off and get back to being productive later tonight.

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