Stuff and Things

I recently opened an account on Facebook. I put it off for as long as I could, because I feared it would become all-consuming and I'd become overwhelmed right away. It has and I am. But, it's been really cool to see who has come out of the woodwork, and to find people I haven't seen in ages and ages. From 6 theatres, 51 plays, 4 schools, 8 singles wards, etc... I have met a LOT of darling people and am glad for the chance to get reconnected. Just, if you've sent me a note and I haven't responded yet, please forgive me. Like I said, I'm a bit overwhelmed and still trying to figure this thing out.

For no reason other than I wanted a change, I've decided to try straightening my hair for an undetermined period of time. It was going to be 30 days, but it's been 7 already, and I don't know if I can stand it for 23 more. Straight hair is a lot of work, and I think the curly hair suits me. Plus, it was foggy one day, then rained, then snowed -- my hair won't stay straight under those conditions! Don't get me wrong, I love my curly hair, but I'm giving this a shot in order to 1) see if I can actually get it perfectly straight; 2) determine whether I actually would want to straighten it more often; and 3) notice whether I get a different response from men, which has been moot so far because

I've been sick since last Thursday. I have no one but myself to blame. I had feared that the lack of sleep, huge stress I was under during the last phase of the release at work, and the accidental leaving of my balcony door open during this disgusting inversion would get the best of me eventually, and it has. I left work early on Thursday, worked from home Friday, and just slept all day today. I should go back to work tomorrow, I suppose, but if I'm still feeling this crappy I should go to the doctor first. At least I've ruled out walking pneumonia. Had trouble breathing last week, but I'm not coughing!

If you see the movie "Bride Wars", take a friend. I went by myself and left depressed because I was there alone! Silly Megan. I liked it, but thought I'd like it better if I weren't alone. I saw it again on Saturday with my friend Elisa and enjoyed it much, much more! We then picked up another friend, Michelle B, and hung out at my condo just to chat. How I love my single girlfriends. And my married ones. It is my belief that women need other women, and I am very grateful to have the friends I have.

This is my new favorite quote: "You can go back to a place you've left. It won't be the same, but why should it be? Neither are you." -- My Three Sons

Watching the Inauguration

My manager asked my teammates and I not to come to work until after lunch today, so the IT people can add some new programs to our machines. As a result, I got to be home to watch the inauguration of our 44th President, Barack H. Obama, live. I admit, I felt emotional as I watched him take the office, heard his speech, and listened to the National Anthem. I DVR'd the speech so I can watch it again tonight, though I'm sure it will be all over the internet in less than an hour.

I feel blessed to live in this country, where the people get to select a leader they believe most closely reflects their governmental needs and desires. President Obama is coming into office during a difficult recession and unpopular war. I have him in my prayers and hope that the changes he is able to affect (taking into account he is only one of three equal powers) help move our country and those we hope to assist into prosperity, and continue to retain the freedoms we love.

(Oh dear. Whenever I try to be serious, I end up sounding convoluted, pompous, and insincere.)

Good luck to our new President! Our future is in your hands.

One Year Ago This Week

One year ago this week I had one of the best vacations ever. My friend Michelle B invited me to go on a Singles Cruise with her in the Caribbean and I am so glad I went. We flew to Florida, and sailed to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Maartens. I have NEVER been that relaxed in my life, and I can't wait to go on another one someday when I can afford it. From the enthusiastic cruise director, to watching movies in the hot tub, to the cute guys, to eating waaaay too much food, to the dance parties Michelle created everywhere she went, to the peaceful ocean surrounding us -- it was a trip I'll never forget!

Our ship, the Carnival Victory

On the Lido Deck the first day

My table at the first "Formal" night

Joel was the first man to ever buy me a drink. It was a virgin "Miami Vice" -- half strawberry daqueri, half pina colada.

Michelle and Brooke and I with our first look at San Juan, Puerto Rico

A fountain in San Juan

A view of St. Johns (we decided to take a ferry over from St. Thomas because the snorkling is better)

Trunk Bay on St. John's island

Bikini Beach on St. Maarten's island (warning: the women who choose to go topless do NOT have the bodies for it)

My friends formed team Superstar, and crushed the competition at Family Feud

Our valet folded our towels into animals every day. This was during one of the two times each day he cleaned our room, left us extra chocolates, and made us laugh with his witty chatter.

This guy -- Tim -- was one of my French professors at BYU, and now lives in Washington DC. Small world!

One of my favorite photos. We spent a lot of time in the hot tub!

The food was amazing; here is the melted chocolate cake

Emerged

I feel like I've been living in a cave for the last two weeks. I haven't seen anyone or done anything fun. All I've done is work, work, work. Last Tuesday, I worked 9:30am to 10:15pm. Why? Because one of the projects is shared with the whole team, I didn't get it until 5:30pm, and if I didn't get it done that night, I wouldn't be able to finish my part, because two other team members needed it the next day (the day it was due). Fortunately, I don't usually mind working late, because then I really buckle down and get it done and I feel I've accomplished something important. I was tired, but it didn't feel that late. It was annoying though, to get home at 10:30 and still have to make dinner. And although I was exhausted, I needed to unwind, so I ended up staying until 1am. Sigh...

Anyway, it was a long and frustrating week. And it's over now. Friday, my manager insisted each of us try to leave early and not work a full day, since we'd all worked so hard the last 6 weeks (seriously, who decided it was a good idea to release this product 4 weeks after Christmas? I'm still annoyed that most of the department took a 2 week holiday, and yet I and the other tech writers were working Christmas and New Years Eve, and the Friday and Saturday after both holidays). So, I left at 1:30, which was as soon as I was done with the last of my tasks for the release. I am so relieved that my part is finished. And I'm grateful that I happen to have today off for the holiday. And I'm grateful to my dear boss, who insists that I schedule some sort of time off in the near future. To do what? I don't know. But I haven't had a vacation or non-standard holiday since my birthday in September, and I know I could use one.

So, I'm ready to play now! Anyone want to play with me?

Was it Willie?

Yesterday, my friend Emily A and I took a break from work for a lunch run to Harmons. We were talking in the parking lot when a man in a black cowboy hat, red jacket, cowboy boots, and full beard walked by. Emily gasped and said, "Is that Willie Nelson?!" I was full of doubt, since the guy didn't have braided hair and seemed awfully skinny, but Emily was fairly sure. When she mentioned that the Sundance Film Festival should be going on now, I agreed it was possible this man was in fact Mr. Willie Nelson. We waited for a minute, then followed him into the store. We didn't exactly stalk him, since we had our own groceries to locate, but we're pretty sure he noticed us watching him and started avoiding us! We mentioned to the girl at the check-out counter that Willie Nelson was in the store, and she said that Jack Nicholson used to come in all the time! Whoa, Jack Nicholson?

When pressed, I'd have to say I have no idea what songs Willie Nelson is famous for, but Emily and I considered asking him if he was indeed the singer and if he'd give us his autograph. It was a nice little moment on our otherwise icky Monday.

I've never been to the Sundance Film Festival. I'm not particularly interested in seeing the movies since there's no ratings system that I'm aware of, and with my luck I'd probably see a movie worthy of an "R" rating. Call me a goody-goody if you want, but I'm not a fan of the "F" word, or excessive violence or sex. I do think it would be fun to go up to Park City and do some star-sighting, but it's cold, and I have trouble recognizing people out of context, and if I were famous I'd hate not being able to go places without people mobbing me or taking my photo. I don't know what I'd say to a famous person anyway. Heck, half the time I don't know what to say to normal people either! So, I'll probably skip out on the Festival again.

But I wonder if Golnar has tickets to the Entertainment Tonight party again... I may not be invited, but I sure can dream!

Nunchuck Skills, Bowhunting Skills...

I am a little tired of filling out audition forms and not having anything to put in the "Special Skills" category. I play a very little piano, I speak a very little French, I took a tap dance class five years ago, I am afraid to even try a cartwheel. I sing, I dance, I act fairly well, but who doesn't? I need something to help set me apart from the rest of the talented people who want the same parts I do! It always makes me laugh when I talk to friends who say they don't have a special skills, and then ten minutes later they talk about the eight years of karate lessons.

I mentioned this to my family during breakfast on Christmas morning. My dad suggested that since I have such small hands I'd probably be able to fit one in my mouth. My mom pointed out that my mouth is small too, in which case Dad said my special skill could be fitting my hand into someone else's mouth! You know, kind of like a lion tamer who puts his head into a lion's mouth. That would make my skill, what? Bravery? Humor? Silliness? I don't know, but we sure laughed about the idea a lot for the next three days!

Come to think of it, I haven't really tried sticking my hand in my mouth yet. Excuse me....

Nope. Each hand is too big. Boo.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, a special skill. I've been thinking about learning to juggle. It looks fun, and it's something I could practice just about anywhere. It's a little thing, and it may not be terribly useful for any of the parts I want, but it's a start! And it would be something I could write down that I could confidently demonstrate. Plus, I know a professional juggler who could probably teach me some cool tricks once I have the basics down. The more I think about this idea, the more excited I feel about it!

Anyone have a copy of the "Idiot's Guide to Juggling" I could borrow?

Rocky and James

Last night after the party, I watched the original Rocky. I had never seen it before and LOVED it. You know what I liked most? That Rocky was totally over the moon over Adrian, even though nobody else thought she was worth anything. Even she didn't think she was pretty. He thought she was terrific and went for it and made her feel wonderful and loved. She was the first person he wanted to see after the fight! I just... I guess it's true what "they" say. If a guy likes a girl, then it doesn't matter what anyone says about her. He knows she's great and enjoys being in love with her. I'm kind of in love with Rocky now.

You know who else I'm kind of in love with? Young Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger. I had never seen them before last week, and had NO IDEA what I was missing! Golly, he was gorgeous. And for some reason, in the world of James Bond, it seemed perfectly natural for him to fall into bed with every girl he met. Isn't fiction funny? I was perfectly happy with suspending my disbelief. Aside from Sean, what really impressed me about the movies was that the girls were not slender. Don't get me wrong, they were absolutely beautiful, but if you go back and look, they were very, very curvy and the clothes they wore accentuated the curves as much as possible. I suppose times have changed, but it goes along with what "they" say about all types of women being desirable and attractive. The movies were made almost 40 years ago, and the fashionable body types have changed, but they were still beautiful. Again, men like the women they like, and that's that.

Ah Hollywood. I miss the days when you were sincere and had something to say that an average Jane like me could identify with.

2008 was Pretty Great

Last night I got to celebrate New Year's Eve with a bunch of strangers mingled with people I very much adore. It was my friend, Laren's, birthday, and she invited me to a party at her house. Well, with the mixture of people from her ward, family members, friends her roommates invited, a few folks from Bye Bye Birdie, and me, the place was pretty packed by midnight!

I arrived at the party at about 9pm, after having worked a few hours earlier in the day, seeing the movie The Tale of Despereaux (which I loved) and taking an early evening nap. Laren gave me a huge hug and I wished her a happy birthday, and then she reunited me with her sister Sharon, and introduced me to her cousin Hannah, and a bunch a people who were singing a PlayStation 2 karaoke-type game. Would you believe they talked me into singing a couple of songs? The only other time I'd ever tried to do karaoke I dissolved into laughter after about 3 words because I felt so self-conscious; the friend I was supposed to be singing with was pretty annoyed. It helped last night, though, when I realized everyone would be singing along anyway. I sang "Uptown Girl" with Sharon, and "Material Girl" with Laren. SO. MUCH. FUN. Yeah, we rocked.

While checking out the food situation, I ran into a friend from a play I did last year, and while I was telling her about doing Little Women, two Little Women cast members walked in! Talk about freaky. I ended up chatting with Dee Dee and Elisha and the men who collected around them for a good portion of the night. You know, when I wasn't watching people play Guitar Hero or talking with Birdie friends Mandee and Scott.

At one point, we gathered pretty much everyone in the house into the not-terribly-large kitchen and sang "Happy Birthday to Laren". Then she started passing out colored sparklers and herding everyone outside. There must have been 50 of us on that square of patio! We lit the sparklers before the new year, but waited on the noisemakers and bombs until midnight. It was pandemonium and sheer awesome. I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me, Laren! If not for you, I would have spent the new year at the movies by myself and wouldn't have made such good memories. I adore you, dear. Hope it really was the happiest of birthdays!

Today I got up later than I should have, got more dressed up than I should have, and drove over to my parents' house. Mom cooked up a splendid dinner, and then the two of us went out and saw Yes Man while the men stayed home and watched football. The movie was hilarious! Jim Carrey was a little off-the-wall, but not so much so that if it were reality and I had witnessed his antics I would have been put-off. My mom and I laughed a lot -- out loud. Good times. We might go see Australia later tonight, but the only showing at the nearest theatre is at 8:30pm, and I do have to work tomorrow and Saturday. Yay, I'm an adult!

As I reflect on 2008, I realize that 2009 has a LOT to live up to. 2008 was really good to me! Highlights include:

cruise in the Caribbean
Little Women
maintaining my goal weight and earning the accompanying rebate
LASIK
Washington D.C.
Bye Bye Birdie
Girls' Nights
opportunities at work
Las Vegas and the Star Trek Experience
The Utah Shakespearean Festival
my condo
30th Birthday party
announcement of the impending twins for my sister-in-law
Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve at home
Babes in Toyland

That's an impressive list, and so much those events just fell into my lap. I am really grateful for the people who made it happen and who made the year as fun as it was. I've grown a lot, and learned a great deal about who I am and what I want. I do have quite a bit to look forward to this year, and am looking forward to seeing how it all works out. I haven't made any year-long resolutions, but I do have a few things I'd like to accomplish this month. I feel they are realistic goals, which is probably the most important thing.

Good luck 2009! Hope you're better than just "fine". Thank you 2008, you were great! (Please forgive the cheese. I couldn't help it.)