Showing posts with label Wicked the musical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wicked the musical. Show all posts

Monday, November 16, 2009

Such a busy time!

Alright everyone, it's been quite a busy little time for me.
Well, busy and yet not.

Lets go in order shall we?

Sunday night:
Had dream I was laid off. This was not me panicking. This was me happy, and deciding how best my day was going to proceed. I had decided in the dream that I was going to walk to the library every day, which is up quite a good sized hill. This urge to walk it every day, meant that I was skinny (less jiggly) by the time 1)I moved to England next year, and 2) the wedding.
It was a good dream.

Monday morning:
Come into work to find that 5 people had been laid off.
Go have a chat with the bossman.
He tells me that 3-4 more people needed to be laid off by the end of this week (err last week by the time I'm writing this)
Casually discuss with bossman that I've got contingency plans in place if I were to be laid off. Saw his eyes light up at that. Assured him that I was not volunteering to be laid off.
Go home, double check my contingency plans just to make sure.
Have some important discussions with family.

Tuesday morning:
Have discussion with bossman again about the whole layoff situation. Can't go into details, but I just level with him more about my personal situation.

Wednesday:
Day off of work. Spent the day cleaning. Seriously cleaned my bedroom.

Thursday:
Work a 10 hour day with no lunch.
Was informed by bossman that I was in fact being laid off. Don't worry, this is a good thing. I've got it all planned out, I've got contingencies, and I'm also leaving the country in 33 weeks. It just means that Pan (my kittah) will have to wait 6 months (That is of course if the vet tells me that he's healthy enough for the process).
Drove home with a sense of calm. Which is odd after a 10 hour shift with no lunch. Wasn't cranky. Didn't want to cry.

Friday:
Good day at work. Another 10 hour day. Pack my desk up. Drop off my badge at the end of the day. Said goodbye to my favorite security guard.

I'm one of the few people who got to know ahead of time that I was getting laid off. Mostly, it was because I had given so much to my job, and been such a loyal worker for so many years. Not to mention all the s*** I had put up with.

It was a good Friday the 13th in my opinion.

Saturday:
YAY. It's my birthday.
4:30am attempt to email from my phone- doesn't work. Drag my butt out of bed and turn on the laptop. Quickly email Guy to call me.
5am he finally calls, when I'm supposed to be getting out of bed and getting dressed. So I talk to him for a moment.
6am we leave the house. Drove up to the Boulder Tea House (with a stop at Walmart first to pick up a few needed items for the house as it's snowing and things like toilet paper are things you do not want to run out of in a snow storm)
I order a pot of my Russian Caravan. Nom. Love that tea. If anyone is ever curious what you can get me... Russian Caravan from the Boulder Tea house (yes, they are online) is a good bet. Lapsang Souchang is also another one. (There are a few that peaked my interest after I had ordered, but I wasn't going to try it on that day. Mayhaps next month)

Katte and Mimi show up shortly thereafter. It was supposed to be a huge surprise that Mimi was in town. It was great to see her. I did know she was in town, which I"m glad I knew... if only because it allowed me to make my bedroom livable while she is here.

Mark, Darla, and Aidan joined us.

We had a grand old time, and breakfast was quite nummy. And I have the coolest friend. Crystal (of the Vampire Halloween Swap rescue package fame), sent me the coolest birthday pressie. A necklace of Wicked. I loved it.

Mother of Mine then dragged all of us to a yarn shop in Boulder. Which... to be honest... I wasn't impressed with. I mean, it was alright... but... meh. I knew exactly who one of her suppliers was, as she didn't even bother changing the name.

Then we scooted down to Denver so that Mum could be entered into the Wicked Lottery.
Mum gave up her ticket to Mimi so that she could join us for the show.
Unfortunately Mom didn't win one of the spare seats. (You show up 2 hours before the show, and you get the chance to win a seat to purchase.)

We walked over to the Tattered Cover, and looked at books etc.
Then Mimi and I had to head over to the theater again.

Don't worry, Mum had her own adventure with friends so it all worked out. And next year Mum and I will go see Wicked in London, so it will be fine.

The show...

The show was FANTABULOUS!
The girl playing Elphie was just... amazing. Honestly.
The girl playing Glinda.... was a bit nasaly. Which bugged me to be honest. But she was still good.
The boy playing Fiyero was good. Much better than the previous performance I've seen. (Though towards the end he played it... lets just say "a little less than straight". Which frankly I prefer to the previous Fiyero who played it "ghetto prince")

Everyone else was quite good.
Went and picked my Mum up at another LYS (which was not the original plan, but as I said.. she had her own adventure)
Drove home in the snow storm. (Started snowing in the middle of the performance)
Stopped at Petsmart for kitty food.
Stopped at Whole Foods for the dinner fixings. Homemade pizza with Chocolate Chip Angel food cake with homemade ganache for dessert.

Quite a splendid day all in all.

Sunday:
Was spent in jammies and a Firefly marathon, as Mimi had never seen it.

Which brings us to today:
This morning, I went to look at my phone to get out of bed, and dropped my cellphone on my face, busting my lip. Joy.
I was highly afraid it would set the tone for the day, but in fact it didn't.
Started the unemployment process.

It was amusing, I didn’t get the phone call over the weekend, so I panicked, and I called my employers (not the bossmen, but the people who actually handle the contracts) as I had a few questions in regards to the form I had to fill out for the unemployment benefits…and I got a hold of her before she checked her email. And the convo went like this:
Me: Hi, I was laid off on Friday, but as I didn’t get the phone call, I was just checking in to make sure everything is copacetic.
Her:My computer is still booting up, it’s rather slow.
we chat about other things
Her:Just got the email from (Bossman). And it says ”I’m emailing you to inform you that I had to lay off Erin G*****. Please call her in the morning to inform her of this.” So, Erin… I have to tell you (trying not to giggle as it was amusing) you’ve been laid off.
Me: Phew. And yes my desk is already cleared out, and my badge was already turned into (bossman).

The reason for the amusement of the convo was 1)I’ve been aware that I was being laid off since pretty much last Tuesday. (Can’t talk about the details of how or why I knew. But lets just say the entire decision was not only bossmans) 2)It was now Monday morning, and I was laid off on Friday. 3)I was the calling her instead of the other way around.
But yup, she confirmed that I was now in laid off status, and that I am in the “Rehireable” status, and that all I needed to do was send her an updated resume. (which counts towards my UI weekly requirement.)
So I was able to finish applying for UI this morning, already made 2 out of 5 of my requirements for the week.

After that we decided to head to Garden of the Gods as the snow was finally starting to melt and the Sun was out.
Stopped at Colorado Mills to look at fabric. I finally found my wedding fabric. Of course, I've got taste. So it shall be highly expensive. Must see if I can find it online. But... I've decided on White Crushed Silk. As I will be able to dye it after the wedding, and thus my wedding dress will no longer look like a wedding dress, but instead a fabulous silk dress.

Then we get to Garden of the Gods, even stopped at the Nature Center. Which was neat.
Went through the hike on the path, it was quite a beautiful day.

Apparently they were filming The Biggest Loser in the park there. And I managed to slip on the one bit of ice right in front of about 10 of the contestants. But I spectacularly caught myself and didn't actually fall. They applauded.

Came home, been watching Inspector Lynley. Just been enjoying the rest of the day.

I can now officially do the ”I’m Free at last” dance (Which I was doing a lot this morning while I was taking the hike through Garden of the Gods)

The weight is already off my shoulders. :-)

Tomorrow I have to drive Mimi to the airport in Denver.

Don't worry, there shall be lots of photos of the Garden of the Gods, and the Birthday enjoyment, uploaded here and onto my FB.

Have gotten lots knitted.
Current book: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynn Jones

Bugs and Hisses everyone!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Too many things to list them all- Happy Halloween

I realize it's been a while since I last blogged. Or mayhaps it just feels that way.

Sadly I don't have much new to report. (Well, a few things)

Just been trying to get through the days at work.

Down to 35 weeks.

I have the best friend in Canada ever. Halifax, Nova Scotia to be more exact.
Here's the story.
I was part of a Vampire Halloween Swap.
It was supposed to be secret. Meaning, we victims didn't know who was "spoiling" us.
Well, right off the bat the secret got spoiled by my spoiler as she messaged me to make sure I was her partner. That took out a lot of the fun on my part right away.
Then the package finally arrived.
Lets just say I was less than enthused by the contents.
The colors were not colors I would choose at all, it was yarn I stated I was allergic to... and there was not a vampire related item in sight.
She reasoned that I didn't want to have to ship things.... *head desk* Thats fine, but she could have included something that was vampire related.
So, to be honest. I was disappointed. I was well within my right, as other people noticed how lackluster the package was.

What does this have to do with my friend in Nova Scotia?
Well, a package arrived to me from my friend Crystal that knocked my socks off. It was to make up for the lackluster package I had previously gotten.



The yarn alone had me drooling. It is Seacell and Silk. Meaning it is HEAVEN to smoosh.

Honestly, I was so blown away and touched by the kindness of the package.

Moving along, here are some things I've made over the past couple of weeks.




Hoot is a little hair clip designed by Ysolde Teague. Whos work I absolutely adore. Hoot knitted up in like 10 minutes, I've actually made 2 of them as I couldn't find the first one.

The stitch markers were little metal bobbles I found at Michaels craft store. I loved them so much that I went back to get more so I could make myself a set. These, and Hoot were going to my Halloween Vampire Swap partner, so they are no longer in the house.


I just made some new stitch markers for the Flirt and Flounce custom order that I have.

100_1883

Yesterday I made myself exceedingly proud.
I made homemade bagels from scratch. Sure, a bread machine was involved, but that was just to save my hands from all the mixing and kneading. I do after all have early arthritis (or darn near close) in my hands, so I have no qualms about using my bread machine.
I made Cinnamon Raisin bagels.
And let me tell you,
No, they were not hockey pucks like I feared.
Yes, they were absolutely delicious.
No, they weren't beautiful store bought perfectly round bagels.
Yes, they had the perfect crust, and the perfect texture inside.
No, they weren't a pain in the ass to make.
Yes, it was amusing twirling the dough on my fingers.

I was absolutely shocked at how easy they were to make. The actual making of them... took far less time than I imagined.
The boiling in the pot was not as scary as I imagined it to be.
The only thing I might try differently shall be to use actual bread flour instead of regular flour. But pretty much.. thats the only change I'll do for next time.

Eventually, my goal is to also know how to make Pumpernickel, as Cinnamon Raisin and Pumpernickel are my two favorites.




Other than that, we had a very quiet Samhain/Halloween.
Mum made a pumpkin sauce with black pasta for dinner which was very good. You can read all about it over here. (Once she posts the blog that is. So if it's not up, just be patient.)

I guess really thats all I've got to say right now.

I guess I'll end it on the note that yes... I've had the weird realization that this time next year, I'll be in the UK and finishing up my wedding.

OOOHh! Just remembered one thing. Had an awesome dream last night. The kind of dream where in the middle of it, I was awake enough to go "Oooh this would make a great novel". Can't recall it at all, I mistakenly fell into the cocky writer mentality of "Oh, it's so vivid and I'm awake enough right now... I'll remember it in the morning." - Yeah. How silly was I.
I know it involved fast cars... A theme park... a roadway quite like the autobahn, a sinkhole that swallowed a pickup truck, and promptly repaved it's self (alright, someone repaved it.. but in the time it took me to glance away) with the truck and a body inside. A dying car crash victim, a lot of questionable money, the disappearance of the car crash victim and her body, and over all the entire sense of intrigue and "who can I trust" sensations. - Mind you, none of this is in the order it happened in the dream. It also no where near covers the depth of the dream and the complexity it had. By typing all this out for several times, I'm hoping to recall other details.. But no... no such luck.
I know, I know. I should have woken up and grabbed the dust covered notebook I have on the floor. But sadly I did not.

The only good thing that this is telling me, is that possibly the creative spark inside me that I feared was being killed by work possibly isn't fully dead. This gives me hope that next year when I can actually sit down and write, I won't just end up staring at my keyboard in vain.

Well, thats all I've got for now.
Ta everyone. Have a safe and happy start to the new year if you celebrate it.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Crazy Holidays and other randomness

First I want to say, Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. (And of course all it's territories)

Though I do not celebrate Thanksgiving, because in the US it's all about Turkey... and well... I'm allergic to Turkey. I don't do cranberry sauce, I don't do stuffing, I don't do gravy on my mashed potatoes. I don't like marshmallows on my sweet potatoes (or yams). I don't like almonds on my green beans... Yes.. I am a freak.

Oh, I'm also not a Football (US football) fan either. I don't like to go shopping at the crack of dawn for christmas pressies... Really... I'm just not big into the T-Day.

But I've still got more than a month before I have to deal with the US version of it.
Moving along.
Today is Columbus day.

Which means, once again the kids in NY are not at school. Which means I am once again having to make up time throughout next week. I'll actually be working on Saturday to make up for the pay.

Well, this weekend we got a new couch. Spent 45$ on it.. and so far, my ass does not fall asleep. My body is objecting to the new positions, but thats alright.
We are also in the process of rearranging the house completely.
The stuff currently in the dining room area is going upstairs to the loft area (which was a bitch to clear enough space for)
The stuff currently in the living room (meaning our Dining room table) was moved to the dining room. (What a concept)

Still not done yet of course. But we are getting there.

Unfortunately in the aftermath, I broke one of the Harmony size 4 needles that currently are holding my Legal Assassin socks. Luckily, we had a random size 4 around the house, not to mention 2 other sets floating around as well. So we actually have "matched" sets. Which is all good.

I have discovered that shopping on any holiday.. even if it's not a normally celebrated holiday in this state... is never a good idea.
People are freaking crazy. Seriously crazy.
Never again. I don't care if it's National Smile Day... I'm staying home.

Which thinking on that.. means I'll never leave my house as there is a holiday for every day. Shoot. There goes that idea.

Oh.. I totally forgot.

I dyed this weekend.

New colorway called "Flirt and Flounce".
No pictures as of yet as it is still drying and well.. we had an Ice Storm down here in Colorado Springs so it's cold and there is moisture in the air.

The colorway was for a custom order, which is why it got bumped up before continuing with either the Repo series, or the Moonlight series.

I guess that's all I've got for now. Gotta go make dinner. Tomorrow is going to come very early. Sigh.

Bugs and Hisses peeps!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Lots of updates..

Alright, I realize I haven’t blogged in a little bit. Or at least it might feel that way to me.

Mostly I have been brain-dead thanks to work, as it has been busy (at least for me).

We had a Bear sighting at the doors of my work. Nope, I didn’t see the bear, but I do have a photo.

Knitting:
I finished one project, the Seaweed Shrug (still need to take photos of the finished product), and discovered that it being narrower than the pattern suggested, was not a bad thing, but just didn’t quite work for me.
So, it was given to Mother of Mine, who absolutely loved the color. (Don’t blame her, I love the color too)
So one of the Pay It Forward projects has now been completed and handed off. (no, I hadn’t planned the project for her, but it worked out.)

I am now using the last of the yarn from that project to work on the next Pay It Forward.

Marissa’s project (the only one I had a plan on) is on the back burner till I buy the last of the yarn. I thought I had it all, apparently I was wrong. Oh well, another trip to Jo-Anns.


I have started a new project, which my mother has already blogged about…
But yes, I have been sucked into the world of socks.
I have my first sock on the needles right now, and I have to admit I’m quite proud of it.

Reading:
Currently, the only book I’m really reading is “White Witch, Black Curse” by Kim Harrison.
So far it’s not bugging me to much. Though honestly.. in a shocking reversal it’s Rachel’s whining that is annoying me, and Ivy is downright silent.

Writing:
Nope. Nada. But I did have a kick ass scary dream last night that everyone is telling me I should use for a novel someday. So it is tucked away in my “future unknown novels” folder.

Watching:
Just finished watching the first series of “A Touch of Frost”, what can I say, I enjoy British crime dramas. It was highly enjoyable, and for once felt very real. Most tv shows now a days make the mistake of having it be “1 episode, 1 crime” (unless it is an ensemble cast, then you get at least 2 crimes to solve), a real cops life, you have more than one case that you have to work. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a child abduction, or a hand found in the dirt. You have to work them both. So for me that made it quite enjoyable.

I also just finished watching season 1 of Pushing Daises.
Now, there was an irony to this.
We were eating fresh apple pie that Mother of Mine made, and of course as always knitting.
We pop in the episodes, not sure if we were going to watch past the first one.
There is pie… there is knitting.. there is dead people coming back to life.
Lets just say, we were absolutely hooked.
I’m sad to know that there is only one more season, but I’ll still watch it.

Health:
I finally bought a back brace. Just a 20$ one from walmart. I’m still undecided if it is helping. The reason for the unsure status is because all week long, even before I started wearing it, I would wake up in the morning with a stiff back. Then putting the brace on, on a stiff back meant my back never got a chance to relax before putting it on.
Yes, it makes me sit up straight at work, and at the end of the day I’m not so much in pain, but I am still in constant stiffness, and slight pain while at work (that’s nothing new)
So today, I am not wearing it. I will see how I feel at the end of the day.
Part of the factor, is I haven’t been sleeping well, Spring has finally Sprung, and my Dream Insomnia has started to kick in. Which might be why my back has been hurting me so much in the morning.

It’s been making me tired and cranky at work, which in my mind is not acceptable. I need to keep this job.
So yesterday when I went to Whole Foods to pick up something for dinner, I decided to get a little homeopathic remedy that is supposed to help with “Intellectual Fatigue or Overwork” which, describes me to a “t”. Basically, I’m taking Zincum Metallicum, which is supposed to help with 1) Mood, and 2) back pain (amongst other things)
So, hopefully I’ll get my irritability under check. Now, I’m supposed to take 5 of these little tic tacs (best way to describe them) 3 times a day. Nope, not going to do it. That’s the dose for a short term “ooh my back hurts” situation. Me, I’m in it for the long term. I took 2 of the little tic tacs today so far, and honestly.. yeah I’m tired… but I don’t feel crouchy.
My back is sore, of course like always, but I also lowered my chair in hopes of making a difference as well.

The truth is, right now I don’t care how much pain I’m in, as long as I keep my attitude in check. I can deal with the pain later as long as I can keep my job. The long term solutions, I can’t afford, so this is what I gotta do.

So here is everything I’m on:
Fish Oil – wow my skin is looking better and yeah I noticed a difference slightly in my back (skin is also being helped by Burts Bee’s Deep Pore Scrub.. love that stuff)

B-Complex – Stress formula - Yeah it’s helping, was able to stop taking Vit C by it’s self because this has it in it.

Zincum Metallicum – New, we’ll see how it does

Microgestin Fe- Yup, it’s Birth Control, which I don’t need right now.. But it’s keeping my hormones at a constant level as opposed to always in flux.

Jet Alert – yup, it’s caffeine pills, but only 200mg, once a day. Don’t look at me that way… you people who are addicted to your cups of coffee.

Random:
I bought tickets for Wicked for my birthday, yes.. I get to see Wicked again before I leave, and the show is actually ON my birthday. Katte Beth, Jenny (Jenna, but I’ll always call her Jenny), Curtis, Mother of Mine and myself shall go see the 3rd to last show whilst it is in town.
And that morning we girls are going to the Boulder Tea House for Brekkie/Brunch.
No excuse this time, since we will be driving to Denver rain/shine or snow… we are going to the tea house as well.

I’m excited.

Also, this Friday Mother of mine and I are getting a portrait taken of us.. for free thanks to our Real Estate company. Hmm I wonder if we’ll also get the free baseball game again this year, or if this is gonna be it for the “appreciation” stuff. If that’s the case.. man.. that’s kind of prejudiced against the men, as this gift was for “mothers day”.



I guess that’s all I got for now… I should get back to work…

Later people.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Defying Gravity...

So just to make this even more themed...

Yes, I am going to Wicked in October. Wooohoooo! I can't wait.

now on to my Wicked Verdigris.

I am completely finished with section A and B. (Which are exactly the same)They are currently getting some light blocking done. Meaning they were made damp, and currently are pinned to the carpet to "form" them into the proper shapes.
I'm proud of myself, as my tension was pretty darn good and so they really don't need much blocking at all. Woohoo.

I am skipping ahead though, because your supposed to wait till it's all done to block and then put the pieces together.
But as I am modifying section C, I want to put section A and b together so that i can put it on, and see exactly how long i need and or want to make section C. The difference can be at least 40 rows of stitching, so I'd rather just try it out first then end up having to rip stitches out.

Last night I cast on section C (meaning I started it. for all you non knitting readers), and I got about 20 rows done before bedtime. Mind you, that was less than an hours worth of work on a very boring part. You know the boring parts I mentioned on the other sections? Well this entire section is that boring part 200 to 240 (or something like that) rows of nothing but garter stitch. BORING. gotta put it down every few rows.

On the reading front:
Currently reading The Bride of Casa Dracula. I'm about 50 pages in, and the entire time I've been debating it if I want to actually read it. But it's slightly a compulsion. Sigh. it's just... I don't know. Once again there is the whole "i dress like a slut, but why does think i'm a slut?!" aspect. Honestly. A plastic white mini skirt at least a size too small????
At least it hasn't dived into the "oh everyone hates me because i'm hispanic" aspect of it yet. And I say yet, as it will be inevitable.

I guess I read these books as reminders to myself of what I don't want to write like.

On the writing front:
Nope. nothing new. Sigh. Don't have time right now. but I got ideas percolating, and I'm still running high off the new chapters. woohoo for that.


On a random note:
So some of you have been hearing me whine for a while now (most likely in the previous blog on myspace) about how I want to get back into playing the piano.
Well, there was that bruahaha with a certain individual whom I was going to borrow a piano from.

Weeeeeeel... the person who was kindly storing the piano for the bitch in question has also had not fun times with bitch in question, and has decided to let me use the piano. When bitch in question asks for it back, they'll get it back obviously, but for now it's out of my friends house, and soon I shall actually have it set up and shall be reminding myself how horrible I am at playing piano.

Though, as I just discovered, there are some things one never forgets. My right hand has full muscle memory of the right hand intro for Tarantella. Woohoo. Ironically, it was that piece of music which facilitated my abrupt stop of playing music when I was a kid.

Tarantella was the piece I had to learn to move onto the next level. I informed my teacher I didn't want to compete. She didn't want to teach me anymore. And I was terrified of Tarantella because it was so beyond my skill. So it's the last piece I really "learned" and after at least 15 years, my right hand still knows how to play it. the left hand.. has half the memory, but it was confused the last time I attempted to play it.

On the work front:
Busy busy busy. They are messing with us greatly. Which is making more work for me. Which sucketh. To the point where my eye twitches when i'm at work. Almost non stop. I can't stand it.

The only thing that keeps me going is my constant mantra of "15 months, 15 months"

Speaking of that... Today is once again the monthly anniversary of meself and Guy. By the old counting system.. we have 1.39 years left.
The new counting system.. 15 months and a week and a half.

On the Vampire yarn front:
Poll ends tonight. But there might be some last minute changes. Such as I might only have 1 yarn to pick when it comes down to it.
As I said there is issue with the whole dying thing.
And now there is an issue with the whole Weight of yarn thing.

Jen is sending me one of her leftover balls of yarn, out of her "Silk Sock", which I can't remember the content right now but I think it's like 80% silk, 20% wool.. I think i can't recall. Which I might be able to stand, but she can only get it in whats known as Fingering Weight. Which is a lot lighter than the DK that I need to do the project in. So I have to do the math and figure out how much more I'm going to need so as to be 100% sure I have enough for the Alexandra. So I might need 9 skeins of the Lucien just to be on the safe side. And, that means with the 2 yummy Michael Corvins, that will leave only 1 spot open for a random color.

I will of course let ya'll know how it plays out. But I won't know till later.