"Bits and Pieces" (for January 10)

Just a few bits of this and some pieces of that in my world on January 12....

1.  I have finally finished the Defensive Driving online course!!  At last!  Now I will admit I did procrastinate on getting it done.  Sometimes having a deadline that's  too far away just seems to encourage sloth.  Time is such a funny thing.  It never lasts as long as you (well, I) think.  One day can last an eternity and three months can disappear in a blink!  I didn't exactly wait until the last minute.  I have been working on it in sections since weeks.  I just didn't build in any extra time for problems.  What a dunce!  There are always problems when a computer is involved!  I know that or at least, I should. 

So I was working on the last section and it took me three times to get through it because my computer kept conking out!  And then once I finally got it finished, the silly think wouldn't print what it was supposed to print.  When I called the company to find out how else I could handle it, they have NO back-up system in place to be able to get the documentation to you if you cannot print it!!  What??  Really??  Their advice?  Go to another computer and try it there.  Well, I don't know about you, but I don't happen to have an extra computer laying around waiting for emergencies.  I would have to go to the library and deal with an unfamiliar system in public use.  I would have bet money that once I got there all the computers would be in use or broken.  Ok, let's come up with Plan C.  Call daughter, talk her through process and see if the documentation would print for her!  And, it did!!  Now all I have to do is pick it up.  Then wait for the Completion Certificate to be overnighted, take it to the Court, wait in line, hope that everything is there and finally, get my record clear!  I have to have it done by the 25th.  Piece of cake, right?  We'll see!


2.  It is hard for me to believe it, but the show I've been rehearsing since before Thanksgiving will open a week from Friday!  Having the holidays come in the middle of the rehearsal period really make the time fly by!   Sunday we start Tech Week (or as some call it, Hell Week.....because it can be!)  On Monday evening we start will full costume runs.  Now that doesn't matter much to anyone but me!  The entire rest of the cast has one costume.  Their part of the show takes place all in one day with several different scenes, but still just one day.  I, on the other hand, am in three scenes and I have three different costumes.  At least none of them are quick changes as I open the first act, open the second act, and finish up in the final scene!  I'll have lots of dead time back stage while everyone else is onstage.  Strange construction. 

I actually think it just might be a really funny show.  Of course, predicting what makes an audience laugh is like  telling fortunes....sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don't.  It is also true that no two audiences react the same or  laugh at the same things.  It's live theater, that's part of the territory!   Tickets are available!  (If any of you from this area are interested in coming to see it, let me know and I'll shoot you a flyer with the info.)

You may not hear anything from me next week, because we could end up having late nights and we go right into performances Friday and Saturday.  Just so you know....


3. I got some great news!!  Because the show will be running for four weekends, Little Sis was able to arrange her work schedule so that she can come and see it!!  Yahoo!  She hasn't seen me on stage for twenty years or more and she has never seen me in a non-musical!  Living so far apart for so long, she wasn't able to see any of my favorite roles, which is too bad.  This one won't be at the level of some of the others  (it's just a piece of fluff), still I am so excited that she is coming!!  Whee!


4.  Christmas is slooooowly disappearing, verrry slowly!  From the outside it looks like Christmas has left the building, but inside is a whole other story.  I've been dealing with a little bit (a very little bit)  each day,  When you have as much stuff and Mikey and I do, it takes a long time.  We store most of it in storage bins (around 15"x17"x12") and they are all lined up on shelves along the side of the garage. The large things (mostly outdoor stuff) goes up to the attic.   Because I keep acquiring more stuff, we keep having to add bins too!  We will probably reach full capacity this year once it all gets put away.  Of course, I've said that before.  We just keep reconfiguring things to maximize the functionality.  I suppose I really should make it clear to Ratchlet that she may not get much of a monetary inheritance from old mom and dad, but boy, will she have Christmas stuff! 


5.   Someone asked me yesterday, how my winter has been this year.  It made me remember that just like every year, the fact is that there is still 3 more months of winter AFTER Christmas.   I have always thought that was just so unfair!  Christmas and winter can be pretty (from the inside) and some folks even are disappointed if there is no snow, but once January hits, I am ready for Spring!  Right away!  Enough with the cold, enough with the grey, enough of the rain (or possibly snow or ice).  Enough of sweaters, and socks, and scarves. I do not want to wait until March for Spring!!  I want to see the little daffodils and irises poking up through the soil.  I want those cute little buds that suddenly pop out on the trees.  I'm ready for my Spring coats and brighter colors.  Let's skip right to Easter!  Anybody with me?


6.  You may have notice, that not only is my house still full of Christmas, so is my blog!  I just haven't had time to play around with the background and stuff to move it into January.  One of these days,,,,maybe I'll go right to February!  

I keep telling myself, be careful what you setup in life, it will become a requirement and you'll need to do it all the time.  Do I listen to myself?  (That, my friends, is what they call a rhetorical question.)


7.  I have noticed over time, that the first few days of a New Year can really set the tone for what the rest of the year will be like.  On New Year's Day, our dryer went kaput!  It took nearly a week to get the necessary part (the whole circuit board!!) to fix it.  But fixed it is.  I started the try to catch up on the mountain of laundry tonight, found I had no fabric softener stuff....aaand, the ceiling light blew out.  Can't  reach it myself and can't do laundry in the dark, ya know?!! 

2012 could have gotten off to a better start....but then, it could have been a WHOLE LOT worse!