What I wore today: going retro for church

So... I've been feeling fat and uninspired with the clothing options in my closet lately. I don't want to go shopping; instead I've been playing around with outfits. This is what I came up with for church today:

Maybe it was silly to wear the crinoline petticoat under my sparkly skirt, but I felt pretty. I even had a bunch of compliments!

Does anyone else wish we wore dresses like this more? Sometimes I grow very tired of my sweaters, jeans and t-shirts. Wouldn't it be lovely to wear dresses like Zooey Deschanel's in (500) Days of Summer, or Diane Kruger's at the beginning of National Treasure: Book of Secrets? Going retro suits me better than the current styles.

I am considering dressing silly like this more often...

Reflections on Valentine's Day

As I sit in my apartment and watch the snow flutter outside my window, I am grateful for Valentine's Day. Yes, it was two weeks ago, and yes, I didn't have an official "valentine" date, but I'm grateful for the holiday anyway.

As one who has never really liked the "February" time of year -- tired of winter, post-holiday doldrums, etc. -- I realize it's kinda nice to have something to look forward to. Otherwise, February could be one depressing month!

So, I find it annoying when people dismiss Valentine's Day as a "greeting card holiday" and more trouble than it's worth.

I've never had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day. I did once have a date on the day, and it turned out to be terrible. That guy just wanted someone to make out with on the "romantic" holiday, and he didn't care that I wasn't really up for it. Lame.

And yet, even though I'm single every year, I don't like to call it "Single-Awareness Day". After all, why must it be a romantic holiday? Obviously, for people in romantic relationships that is the most important one to celebrate, but I love a lot of people! Why not just spend it with family or friends? Why must it be a stressful day full of crazy plans and trying too hard?

Maybe I'm just low-maintenance.

On my Valentine's Day this year, it was the first day at work for my new co-worker Kyra. So, our boss took her and me out to lunch. After work, I grabbed tacos-to-go from Cafe Rio, and watched Woman of the Year at my condo. I was alone, and it was still a good day.

So, I guess I'm just saying that I'm grateful for an excuse, ANY excuse to celebrate the people I care about. I may not have had a big party, or a romantic date, or any plans at all, but that doesn't mean I didn't think about those who mean the most to me. I hoped that wherever they were, they were doing something fun, and grateful for those important to them, too.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day! I hope it was everything you needed it to be, and that it chased some of the winter doldrums away!

The "sometime" trap

I've been friends with Laura since my Sophomore year of high school. During our high school years, we had at least one class together, and we ate lunch in the same group, so I pretty much saw her every day. We became pretty good friends and I was always happy to see her.

Then we graduated and went to different schools. The schools weren't far from each other, but they were far enough we didn't get to see each other every day anymore. Fortunately, we both had e-mail accounts, so we wrote to each other fairly often. She was also one of my most consistent pen pals during my mission. Now we keep each other up-to-date through Facebook.

Sadly, we almost never see each other face-to-face. Both of us think this is stupid, since we've both lived in the Salt Lake area for most of the last 12 years. Yet, I would be surprised to discover that we have seen each other more than five times since graduating high school. "Why?" you might ask?

The "sometime" trap.

Almost every time I hear from Laura, she says some form of "I'd really like to see you sometime." or "We should really get together sometime." She rarely mentions a specific date.

I picked up on this fairly quickly, and for a long time I responded with, "Yes, I'd love to see you! How about next Wednesday? Or what are you doing on Saturday afternoon?"

But she never responded until after those proposed dates had passed. And then her next e-mail would end with "Let's get together sometime."

GAH!!!

I get it, we're busy. I have a full-time job, she has two-and-a-third kids to chase after. It's hard to find time to get together, but somehow I manage it with other friends. Because one of us will say "How about this day?" and the other person either says "Absolutely, let's do it!" or "I can't that day, but what about this?"

It takes effort to get out of the sometime trap.

I'm very glad that I do have friends who say, "I haven't seen you in weeks, can I sleep over tonight?" or "Some kids asked me to see them in High School Musical Jr in April, do you want to come with me?" or "Let's do lunch next Thursday and talk about that 'way back when' theatre reunion." I'm glad that there are people who want to see me NOW and pick a date. You ladies totally rock!!

I'm one of those people who likes to jump on the nebulous "sometime" and make concrete plans as soon as possible. If I don't, I might never see that person. I don't want to wait until my previously close friend is engaged to a guy I've never met or heard of. I don't want to wait until another friend's going through a crisis and has a billion other people who are also trying to offer comfort. I want to be a good friend now. I am so grateful for the people who let me just drop by, and are excited to hear from me, and who also want to make an effort. I don't always feel like a good friend; thank you to the people who validate me and help me to be better!

I'm sad to say it, but I've given up on Laura. Apparently, it's just a polite way for her to end e-mails, like saying "How are you?" when you walk past someone in church. I now end my e-mails in the same nebulous way. I don't like feeling like I'm leaving it up to fate, but I refuse to feel guilty about letting the relationship get lazy. It's what it is, and I will accept that.

I honestly would like to see her sometime, and I hope that it happens eventually. Until then, I'll just have to put my efforts into those who want "sometime" to be now.

February Tybbling

tyb·ble  /ˈtahybəl/ Show Spelled [tyb-uhl] Show IPA verb, -bled, -bling
To babble through the written word, such as an e-mail or blog post.

A recent Google search informed me that I am not the first to use the term "tybbling" but I still love to use it! I really want it to catch on. Maybe someday I'll create a word of my own that truly no one else has ever thought of before...

Random things I've been thinking about lately:

• I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this previously, but I have a really terrific boss. Also, I stress out about a lot of things that I don't really need to stress about :-P
• I loathe money. I wish I had more of it. But I guess if we didn't have to earn it in order to purchase food and shelter, there would be a glut of professional actors, writers, and filmmakers, and far fewer construction workers, farmers, and government workers than there are right now.
• "The status is so not quo!" - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
• The more I learn about the state of college and university funding (no pun intended), the less I think I'll be able to send my children to college, nor will they be able to pay for it themselves.
• How much longer until the people who maintain parking meters put credit card-availability on them? I generally don't have cash and almost never have change, so I ended up having to circle the SL Public Library for 15 minutes until the 6 o'clock free parking time. This makes me feel terrible, considering the inversion we have every February... I am really, really sorry about my contribution to the smog, Steph!
• Last night I made scrambled eggs for dinner, in which there was almost more spinach than egg. It also had tomatoes, onion, cottage cheese, and colby jack cheese. So. Good.
• In Junior High, I discovered Dunford Donuts and fell in love. This love continues today. Happily, Fresh Market sells them! Sadly, they sell them in packets of four, they get stale quickly (because of that wonderful freshness), and I really only want 1 at a time anyway. Does anyone else want a Dunford doughnut? Fried chocolate cake covered in a shell of chocolate frosting... mmmm. I can't believe I resisted the urge to buy one yesterday...
•  I tried a different Zumba class last week. I'll admit that up to then I'd been enjoying the exercise but didn't LOVE it as much as so many other seem to. But that class converted me! I love the teacher and her music choice and choreography. I worked so hard that I almost made myself dizzy during one song (don't worry, I drank from my water bottle often). SO. FUN! I wish the class weren't in Centerville, but the drive may just have to be the sacrifice I make...
• The new tech writer is darling! She's totally personable and nice and we have quite a bit in common :-) My boss took us to lunch on the first day and it was fun to get to know her a bit and him a bit better. It'll take some getting used to having someone to chat with again. I feel so lucky she's here!
• Okay, if you park in the Winter Parking garage at the Gateway mall in Salt Lake City, and you DON'T pay a monthly fee to park there, DO NOT try to exit out of the Monthly Parking exit. You'll only embarrass yourself when you have to back out again, especially if there are a bunch of other people behind you who are waiting for you to get out of the way.
• Two people this week complimented me on my hair's "natural color" and curls. I really should tip my stylist more on the great coloring job! Or just get her a nice wedding gift :-)

C'est tout!

A rootin' tootin' good time!

Last year when I saw Busytown at the Childrens' Theatre, I wished I'd taken my nephew with me. It was absolutely adorable, and I know he would have liked the apple car, the pickle car, and Lowly Worm.

This year when I decided I could not miss The Tall Tales of Pecos Bill, I decided not to make the same mistake again. I asked my sister-in-law last Sunday if I could take him on Friday night. She said it was fine with her, but expressed some concern that he might not be a great theatre-going buddy. I know the G-unit doesn't often like going to the movies, but he really, really liked Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when I did it last year, so I crossed my fingers.

Even so, I didn't mention anything to the G-unit, just in case I chickened out. To be honest, I was a little scared of having this energetic, clever, handsome, sometimes shy, six-year old to myself. We haven't had a lot of one-on-one time together lately and I'm not always sure what to talk about with him. What if I really am the lame aunt?

But I still wanted to see the play, and I still harbored hopes that he would like it (especially when I heard it was in the same vein as Busytown), so I plunged ahead and left a message with Lindsey on Thursday morning asking if it was still okay to take the G-unit with me the next day.

That afternoon, my nephew left the following message on my phone:

"Hi Megan. I was just letting you know that, um, I want to come tomorrow and I'll be at Grammy's house and pick me up at six! 'Kay, bye."

Cue some very subdued waterworks.

Now, you have to understand that the G-unit has never called me before. And you also have to understand that in my mind he's still a very little boy, inspite of his lengthening limbs and widening vocabulary. So to hear his voice on the line, so excited to come and sounding so grown-up... well, it made my whole day! I was SO GLAD that I didn't chicken out! I immediately bought tickets online and then walked around the rest of the day with a huge, silly grin on my face like the boy of my dreams had just told me he loves me.

My mom was baby-sitting the girls Friday night, and Adam and Lindsey were meeting there for a date night, so I picked up G-unit from there, assured Lindsey that the tickets were on me, buckled his booster seat into my car, and off we went! We chatted about school and plays and G-unit's summer plans during the car ride and found a parking spot right in front of the theatre, which almost never happens for me. We also didn't hit many red lights. I've decided my nephew is a good-luck charm in cars.

We were there for opening night, which I didn't take into account, so they started a bit late. I knew a lot of people there and felt guilty whenever I talked with them, although at least G-unit knows and has opinions about Disneyland (he's very jealous that I went last month)... he seemed pretty bored while we were waiting. I finally pulled out my iPod and started teaching him Solitaire. Maybe not the most kid-friendly game in the world, but it's all I had! I did ask at one point if I could take a photo with him in front of the set. The G-unit doesn't care to have his picture taken (I have a lot of him jumping out of the way or hiding behind things) so he said, "Maybe later." Of course, I forgot about it "later". Clever boy.

Once the play started, though, there was no time to be bored. It was awesome! I laughed so hard, and my nephew laughed and smiled through the whole thing. He really could not get over how Pecos Bill caught a bullet in his teeth (he's come up with a few theories since that night). I offered to buy him a treat during intermission, and had to giggle when he picked a container of mini-M&Ms. The lid makes a popping sound whenever you open it, and I happen to know the actors hate it... sure enough, he popped that thing many times during the second act, but nobody seemed to notice. We were too entertained by the crazy antics going on. The flashy costumes, the actors teasing one another, the inventive props, the hilarious ad-libs, the wonderful music played and sung by actors who could apparently play every instrument... it was wonderful. They encouraged the audience to sing along during the chorus of "Home on the Range" and I was a little surprised that none of the kids seemed to know it, though all the adults did. The G-unit, however, is very good at following along, so he sang with gusto! It was seriously adorable.

Afterward, my nephew was kind of in a hurry to get going, so I didn't get to stop and say Hi to everybody as I would have done otherwise. The G-unit was so anxious to have more time to play at Grammy's that he didn't even want to stop for ice cream on the way home! So, we headed to my mom's house where my nephew spent the rest of the night playing Wii games with Grammy and me, and I played with my rambunctious, impossibly enchanting nieces. They both amazed me with their sign-language skills... there were several things they signed that I had no idea what they were. Kinda nice to know when they want a cracker, and to see them say "Thank you" when they get one!

When Adam and Lindsey arrived, they were surprised to learn that the G-unit had wanted to stay for the entire play. Apparently he usually requests to leave during intermission. I am really glad that I hadn't known that ahead of time, because I would have been even more nervous than I already was! He recounted some of the cooler stage business and his parents thanked me for taking him with me. It was my pleasure. I was so proud to introduce him around and enjoy the experience with him. It was a great night!

So, if you and the kids in your life are looking for something to do on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon for the next couple of weeks, I highly recommend the Tall Tales of Pecos Bill. It was a lot of fun and made for a great auntie/nephew date night!

Web site improvements

I had a job for several years at a company that used an in-house website for all of its services. Part of my (and everyone else at the company) job was to submit suggestions to improve the web site whenever I thought of them. It was awesome, because I used the web site every day and I got to see how my suggestions helped make the software easier to use. This was also great, because often I had to explain to other people how to use the software, and was always glad to make the process easier. I really loved having that validation that my suggestions were good, and they they were used to help make the lives of everyone else who worked there easier too.

Now, any time I use a web site, I'm always thinking of ways it could be better and wishing I had some way to affect the change.

One of my web site pet peeves? When a login page loads and I have to use my mouse or hit the tab key 12 times before the cursor displays in the login name field. Is it so hard to have the cursor automatically populate in that field, since it's the one people are most likely going to want anyway? Such a little thing, but it's a hassle every time.

Anyway, web site recommendations has been on my mind a lot lately, because I wish that Google Reader had the option for me to request that all of the blog posts on a site display on my reader just once a day. For example, I love Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats and It Made My Day - Funny Win Stories, but there seems to be a new entry every half hour or so from one or the other or both. I leave a window open most of the day at work because I love reading about what my friends are doing. However, it's annoying to get my hopes up that one of my friends might have posted and instead it's some stranger chirping about how happy they are that their tailgater got pulled over for speeding. There are some great stories that really do make me smile, and I'm considering contributing, but as a reader I'd rather get them all bundled together. Can't I set it to display once a day, and then all of the blogs posted within that 24 hour period all display at once? I don't even care if I can't set the time. Just a check box in the Manage Subscriptions page that says "bundle posts to appear once a day" next to each blog subscription would be great.

I'm a reader. If I'm going to break my concentration on whatever I was doing before I saw there was a new post, I'd rather have one 10 minute interruption than twenty 30 second interruptions. The instant-gratification monster inside me has a hard time waiting while the posts accumulate over two hours or so.

I should point out that when I pull up gmail.com, the cursor defaults in the user name field. Thank you, Google! You get so much right... maybe that's why this oversight bugs me so much.

What do you think? Should I submit my idea to Google? Do you ever think of things when using the computer that would make it easier to surf around or complete a task?

Library irony

As you might have noticed from the Goodreads widget on the side of my blog, I've been reading the Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale. I read the first book, Goose Girl, over a year ago and loved it, but was afraid the rest of the books wouldn't be as good... such a silly thing to worry about.

Anyhow, I devoured Enna Burning and couldn't wait to start in on River Secrets. Run-to-the-library-as-soon-as-I-finished couldn't wait. And then -- dun, Dun, DUNNNNN! -- I discovered that both copies were checked out. NOT OKAY! Neither were due for at least 2 weeks and I could not wait that long! I even asked the lady at the checkout counter to check if someone had dropped it off. She pretended not to understand the request and reiterated that they were checked out until their due dates. I did notice that Forest Born, the last book in the series, was still available, so I checked it out to make sure I'd have it when I wanted it. I felt like a brat, but I knew I'd read it fast so I tried not to beat myself up too badly (I read it in about 4 days).

I was devastated (in writing this, I'm starting to feel like a crazy, obsessive, 13 year old girl, but to be fair I was already miffed that I can't seem to find the fourth Peter and the Starcatchers book so I haven't been able to finish that series). I went to Barnes & Noble and read the first two chapters of River Secrets while sitting in the only seats available, which happened to be kid-sized wooden chairs. I did not buy the book (again crazy considering how much I wanted to read this book). Instead, I went to another library the next day and checked it out there. I read it in less than 2 weeks and LOVED it. Totally worth the drama!

Want to hear something ironic? I went to the original library today and took a look at what was on the "purchase for 50 cents" shelves, and IT WAS THERE. Well, no wonder I couldn't find a copy when I needed it. They'd removed the last one from the shelves!

Fifty cents for a book I already know I like? Sweet! I bought the copy.

I'm no dummy.

Shuffled Songs, round 2

Just for fun (and 'cause I don't know what music I am in the mood for at work nowadays) I put my iPod on shuffle. It's always kinda fun to see what comes up... and more than a bit funny that I get chunks of the Harry Potter audio books... and even funnier when I get two snippets from two different HP books one right after the other!

A few days ago, I went through past blog posts and thought it would be fun to revisit the "10 Shuffled Songs" idea. Only this time I've already been listening on shuffle for a couple of days already and I didn't start over.

Anyway, here are the first 10 that came up today:

• "Where are You?" Spamalot the Musical
• "Chapter 26 - The Cave part 1" Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince audiobook
• "Waitin' for my Dearie" - Brigadoon
• "I am the Very Model of a Cartoon Individual" - Animaniacs
• "Winter's on the Wing" - The Secret Garden the Musical
• "The Schmuel Song" - The Last 5 Years
• "Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah" - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Rock of Ages album
• "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" - Bing Crosby
• "The Gods Love Nubia" - Aida (the musical, not the opera)
• "'Sit down,' said Dumbledore, landing beside Harry." - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince audiobook

Huh. Nothing contemporary? No instrumental only? I'm really surprised there isn't anything from Glee on there (but not at all surprised that I had 2 from the HP audiobooks). The very next track was from Chapter 21 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The twelfth was finally a pop song ("Knock Three Times" by Tony Orlando).

Then again, the shuffle algorithm picked a lot of High School Musical yesterday. It really does seem to pick tracks totally randomly!

I probably wouldn't have noticed the inordinate number of theatrical songs in this set if I had not kept track. Good times! Guess I'll get back to it and see what else appears!

Home improvement... getting closer to the final vision!

My parents came over tonight to help me with some home improvement projects. They are so kind to help and teach me. I am so excited to see my house come together! It's a never-ending process and I'm having fun.

Mom hung this painting above my mantel. She gave it to me for my birthday and it's perfect! I like that it's just a bit impressionistic and that the colors are so splashy. It is wonderful to have something to break up all that crazy brick space (the painting is hanging from the ceiling so we wouldn't have to drill holes into the brick).

My dad, drywaller extraordinaire, cut out a big hole out of the drywall at the back of my front closet, which means that I am a step closer to getting washer and dryer hookups installed! The last time I had the plumber by, he said he needed to know where the pipes are. Well, since my HOA doesn't have any blueprints to share, we had to cut into the drywall. I cannot tell you how gleeful this wonderful hole makes me!

 And I am proud to state that I figured out all by myself where to cut that hole. I'm not completely useless when it comes to home improvement projects!

That's two projects I can tick off my list. It feels good!

Now to schedule another consultation with the plumber...

Anticipation is the best part!

...Or the worst part, as the case may be.

I finally baked some cookies so that I could offer something nice to my downstairs neighbors. Truth to be told, they aren't the best cookies in the world. They taste okay and are soft (I gave them the good batch. I burned 2 out of 3) but nothing special. However, they are the first cookies I've baked in years, and I made them from scratch, and I'm glad they weren't a total disaster.

The good news is the neighbor I met was really, super nice! The bad news is his wife wasn't there, and I'm afraid she's the one I really wanted to win over. But, the man was nice and we had a nice little chat while I stood in the hallway. I told him I try to be quiet and it turns out that he can hear me when I sing but he thinks I'm really good :) Plus, I'm not nearly as annoying as the drummer who lives below him. Bwahahahahahaha!

Done and done and a lot less painful than I thought it would be. They've been living their since last spring, so the visit was waaaay overdue. I do wish I'd met the wife, too, but now at least I've met one of them so maybe -- if they were the rats who called the police on me -- next time they'll warn me before calling for backup.

Now, what to do with the rest of these slightly burned cookies?

I miss my Charmios

Once upon a time, I did a little play called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In this particular version, we had a drill team called the "Lucky Charmios" and I was lucky to be one of them. Our brilliant choreographer, Stephanie Maag taught us some moves and helped us be much, much better and more flexible dancers than any of us had been previously. We really wanted to make her proud, so we practiced our butts off. Our favorite song to rehearse to was the Glee version of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."

Because I miss my Charmios, and because I promised them I'd put together a video of the choreography with our song, I decided to finally learn how to use iMovie and put together a little tribute video. It's my first attempt at this type of project, so please forgive its imperfections. Truth to be told, I had a lot of fun with this and now I can't decide what to immortalize next!

(I must say, I'm pretty impressed with how well we stayed on the beat, considering we didn't actually have the music with us when we filmed the drill moves!)

February funk

I'm bored!

No vacation and no play makes Megan a dull girl.

(And you all are thinking "Megan, today is February 1st! How can you be in a funk already?!!)

This time last year, I'd just come home from an eye-opening cruise and had no job or other form of income, so it's possible I'm still a little traumatized. I got so depressed and sick during Febrary that I barely had energy for anything but dragging myself out of bed three times a week to do a show. I slept until noon just about every day because I had no reason to get up before then. Thankfully, the illness cleared up just as soon as I found that wonderful temp job.

So maybe this year I'm just worried I'll fall into another depression that my fears are making me antsy.

That, and I don't want my freshly-dyed red hair to go to waste.

I want a project to give me an excuse to take photographs and change my Facebook profile photo. But I must admit, my current profile photo is a really good one.

Usually when I feel like this I audition for a show, but even though there's a fun audition this weekend I'm not sure if that's really what I want to do right now. I miss the demanding schedule and fun costumes and honing my talents and laughing with my castmates (the best way to get to know anyone is to find out what makes them laugh and then make sure it happens often). On the other hand, I like being available when people ask me to do things -- especially when my friends have impossibly busy schedules -- and I like letting my hair be its natural crazy self, and I like that I have time to take a Zumba class right now and hopefully start tap in a few weeks, and help my mom baby-sit my nieces and nephew once in awhile. Plus, I'm still waiting to find out what a few theatres are doing this summer. I'd hate to be tied up in a show and find out too late that someone's doing one of my "dream" shows.

I like the idea of doing some home improvement, but I'm so busy playing with friends, going to Zumba, supporting local theatre as an audience member, and other engagements that I don't have time to putter around at home (and yet, those things exist when I do a play and they magically seem to fade away... or get put off... same diff).

I'm suddenly stressed about my finances, so I don't want to do anything expensive like go on another vacation right away... which may -- again -- be related to the fact that last year when I lost my job I cancelled a vacation I wasn't sure I could afford. Even if I did want to go somewhere, my weekends this month all seem to be booked anyway. Meanwhile: Yay for my friends who want to see me!

And I'm annoyed that I can't seem to follow up on my commitment to actually ask so-and-so out. It all seems so easy when I write down my words and practice in the mirror, but when he's right there -- surrounded my his friends and admirers -- I lose my resolve. Then I just feel hopeless and frustrated and lonely and I really need something to take my mind off it.

Restless and bored.

I'm not really looking for suggestions or answers, just complaining. One thing I've learned is that this feeling rarely lasts very long. Even I'm surprised at the randomness of some of the things that cheer me up, like leftover rotisserie chicken, or recovering from an embarassing fall at Zumba, or listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on my iPod while finishing up a project at work.

Thank goodness February is only 28 days long!