Holiday Stuff

Today I ran around getting some last minute errands done and meeting with friends. Susan and I opened the gifts that our families mailed us and enjoyed some really good hot cocoa that I picked up for $1.50 at Ocean State Job Lot. (I couldn't believe that they had "Green & Black" organic chocolate products that cheap.) I received a really cool wreath---made out of jingle bells---from Aunt Nancy, Uncle Robert, and my cousins Aaron and David. Susan gave me a rock that reads "remember" and I gave her some of the cookies I made. Now, I've got a green bean casserole in the oven and a pecan pie will be going in there once that's done.

Tomorrow, Susan is heading to North Carolina for a week and Steve and I are going to drive to the eastern part of the state. We're going to stop in at Mark and Carol's open house and then go to Steve's mom's. We'll put up her tree and stay overnight to spend Christmas with her and Steve's sister, Nancy. We will return home on Tuesday night. We don't plan on getting back too late because I have to get up for work at 5:30 AM on Wednesday. I have dinner plans with friends Wed. & Thurs. I'm saying all this now because I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be able to do this week. It will probably be New Year's Eve before I post again, but who knows?

I love you all and hope you have a really happy holiday season.

Ok, I take back some of what I've said about Hugh Grant

I ranted about his performance in "Sense and Sensibility", and wasn't impressed by him in "About a Boy", but I really liked "Notting Hill". I watched it last night and thought it was a sweet movie. Moreover, I thought Hugh Grant was sweet in it. I'm still not convinced that he isn't a bad, dumb (as in taking a lot of parts that are beyond his capabilities or otherwise not right for him), or lazy actor but this was the perfect movie for him. The cute and bewildered look that he does most of the time was exactly what this role called for. He also didn't overact, it was nice not seeing his ego on the screen.

Today I finished shopping for Christmas gifts for Steve's family and Steve and I had a sushi dinner afterwards. I also had a decaf eggnog latte for the first time and it was yummy! Now I'm watching "The Incredibles". I thought it was funny the first time I saw it and I still like it.

Wow, lots going on!

Thursday night was fabulous! After getting a lot of stuff done around the house during the day, I was a camera operator at a local city council meeting. In addition, I ended up helping my fellow camera operators and acting as a production assistant for part of the shoot. I helped with mic check, counted the meeting down into the live shoot, and did some troubleshooting. I talked to Dad when I got home from the meeting.

He and Jan received the gifts I sent and they liked them. Aunt Donna got the cookies I sent her and she really loved the tin I sent them in. It was blue with cute snowmen. I'm glad they all liked their presents. I enjoyed choosing, making, and sending them. Unfortunately, Dad and I had a bad connection so we got off the phone before he was able to tell me he'd gotten into a car accident that morning. He told me about it tonight when we talked. His front end blew out and he ended up in the median. He was really lucky, and he's okay, but he had to get about $1,000 worth of work done on his car this morning.

Today I got up at 5:30 AM! (Yes, I know it's hard to believe but I really did.) I worked my first day as a temp at a local wallet making company. I was only supposed to be there for four hours of training but I ended up getting trained in about 40 minutes and was then asked to stay for the rest of the day. I'll be filling in for their receptionist/switchboard operator while she's on vacation. I was originally scheduled to be there Wed., Thur., and Friday of next week but they've now also asked me to work the following Monday. Yeah! Everyone there was really nice and I was able to help them with a big mailing project in addition to the regular work assigned to me. I was also invited to join in their potluck lunch. A lot of the employees had made great food. There was an amazing chocolate and cream cheese brownie cake that I had two pieces of.

Storms, class, job, and gadgets

Wow, lots to report tonight.

Sunday the Northeast was hit with a big snow and ice storm. Susan and I were happily ensconced here at home with the dogs. We recorded the raw footage of the interview that I'll need for my editing class. I interviewed Susan about the rock creatures her kids at school make. The samples she brought home were great! Some of them were really cute.

Unfortunately, on Monday afternoon, it took me an hour and a half to get my car dug out and unstuck. I finally had to put some "Ice Melt" under the wheels. I was able to meet a friend for dinner but I couldn't return the field camera to the TV station until today. They were really nice about it, though.

Today, I called the temp agency and they had a job for me. It was good timing, really. I called their main office looking for Tami, the woman who had done my intake. I was going to tell her that I really needed to make some money and see if they had a job available this week. Laurie, the woman I had worked with when I was at the Symphony, answered the phone and told me that Tami was in their satellite office. As I was about to hang-up the phone to call Tami, Laurie asked if I was available to work. I will be working as a switchboard operator at a local wallet making company. I will be there for training on Friday morning and then be answering their phones next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It will be good to get that money coming in.

At our final basic production class tonight we took a written test about television production. I think I did really well. I also got to watch the raw footage of my interview project. The editing class will be two weeks in January. In the meantime I'll be a camera operator on Thursday night at a city council meeting and then again at the mayor's inauguration and two city council meetings in January.

One last thing, I finally own a (fake) leatherman! For $5 I bought a generic, 15 in 1, multi-tool. It's compact and has two kinds of pliers, a saw, wire cutter, and lots of screwdrivers. It also came packaged with a 12 in 1 pocket knife and a combination flashlight and carrabiner.

Video Production has started.

Yesterday afternoon I picked up a field camera from the TV station so I could start my homework. I, willingly, was a guinea pig because this was the first time they were checking out equipment to someone. After eating dinner and sending off an email (see below) I began shooting. I have recorded all the images for my countdown and two cutaways for the interview. Susan and I will be taping the interview itself and reaction shots tomorrow. I'd like to come up with one more cutaway but I'm having trouble finding something that won't be problematic to shoot.

The email I sent last night was a piece to be included in a memory book for a former college professor of mine who is retiring. She was my advisor in the Theatre department and she really helped me to grow as a person. Those of you familiar with my sense of humor will not be surprised that this is what I sent:

ODE TO JOYCE (To the tune of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”)

By Alicia Van Beethoven

Joyce, Joyce you advised me
Through the years at MHC.
My life unfolded there before you
Leading to my degree.

You always asked me questions
Probing my drive and skills.
You trusted me with Stage Managing
Even when I was a pill.

Joyce, Joyce you helped me
Create some great memories.
Now I’m returning the favor
I hope you think this is funny.

“I think this would be good for you”,
About classes and jobs I heard you say.
“I’m so glad you dumped that guy”,
Was what you said reunion day.

Joyce, Joyce you inspired me
When you talked about your bass lessons.
And you also employed me
In house- and dog-sitting sessions.

You were a great advisor!
Thank you so much for continuing
To do that even after
My graduating.

Joyce,
Congratulations on retiring and thanks for all you did for me.

In other news: Today I sent off my annual holiday treat packages to my family. Rick, who works at the post office, commented how early I am this year. As London Tipton says, "Yay me!" (insert clapping here). {See "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" on Disney Channel for the reference.}

Making cookies on a snowy day.

I made sure to get my outside errands and chores done yesterday so that today I could concentrate on making holiday cookies while the snow fell. We are expected to receive somewhere between 8 and 12 inches. Susan and I had to do a little outside work earlier in order to get our cars out of the way of the snow plow. Now, however, we are camped out inside the house with the dogs. The dogs are being very good about the fact that I have chocolate all over the kitchen. :)

Squirrels and Birds, Part 2

For some reason, blogger is bogging down and I couldn't put all four of these pics in the same post. Here are two shots of the birds being cute. They let me get pretty close to them. It was amazing standing out there on the porch listening to them chirp, hearing the beating of their wings, and hearing the wind chimes. I especially love the one of the chickadee peeking out from around the green feeder.

Squirrels and Birds, Part 1

Susan hung several bird feeders and wind chimes on her porch and they've had many visitors.
The squirrels have made me laugh out loud with their antics. They just keep trying to get to the feeders. This one decided to come investigate me instead.I hope to get a picture of them in action soon. Unfortunately, today the dogs started barking at them and they were scared off.

My first television class assignment.

Tonight, at our second to last class in this session, my classmates and I were given our first homework. In order to move on to the editing class in January, we each need to compile raw footage of a five minute interview and a countdown sequence. The interview footage needs to include cut-aways (graphics, photos, or other footage related to the interview---for example, if the interview was about City Hall then a cut-away could be a photo of City Hall) and shots of the interviewer asking questions and reacting. The countdown can be any way of representing the numbers 10 to 0.

For my interview, I'm going to interview Susan about the "rock creatures" that she and her class are about to make. My countdown sequence is going to be pictures of numbers on food labels. I'm really excited about this and hope to start on Friday. I already e-mailed the station's Access Coordinator to reserve the field camera. After the pieces are completed in January I'll put them on youtube and link them to my blog so you can all enjoy them too.

Snow/Ice Day!

Woo hoo! Susan didn't have to go to school today so I made chocolate chip pancakes for her birthday breakfast. The rest of the day will be for chores and errands, and perhaps a little laziness. :)

I called Mom, Becky, and dad last night. Everyone is doing well. Becky won't know the gender of her expected baby for another few weeks but Jacob has already decided it's a girl named Alexis. Obviously, I'm quite partial to that name because it's a little like mine. Mom's enjoying retirement and building her Shaklee business. When I called, I interrupted dad and Jan watching the episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" that I worked on.

Back at Susan's!

I'm home from house/petsitting for Raymah and Hutch. They had a great time in Florida and beat the bad weather home. Their dogs and birds are very happy to see them. It just started to snow as I pulled onto Susan's road. I'm not sure how much, if any, accumulation we're going to get but I hope it doesn't interfere with the chores and errands I need to do tomorrow. I'm really glad to be back here because I missed Susan's dogs (Casey & Allegra) too. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be calling them Abbie and Tess (Raymah & Hutch's dogs) for a couple of days. :)

The Capitol Steps are hilarious!

Friday was a good day. I got things done, played with the dogs and birds, and got to see the Capitol Steps perform.

For those of you who don't know, the Capitol Steps are a political musical comedy troup made up of former congressional staffers. They take pride in saying that "when breaking political news happens you can go to our website...and find out what rhymes with it". I've been a fan of theirs since I was in middle school and have seen them live on tour about ten times. Last night's show was mostly material I hadn't heard before which was really nice. My favorite piece was Ruth Bader Ginsberg asking Sandra Day O'Connor to rejoin the court because Ruth was tired of being the only woman there. Another song I love, even though I've heard it several times before, is "Lord Bless My SUV". It's about mass consumption and sung to the tune of Lee Greenwood's "Bless the USA". The guy who I've seen sing it three times has an incredible set of lungs and holds one note for about 30 seconds while the audience just cracks up.

That was awesome!

I had a blast operating cameras at the city council meeting. There were three of us available to operate cameras so we rotated positions throughout the meeting. We also got to sit in the control booth for part of the meeting to observe the director. When I was behind a camera, I felt really focused watching what my camera was seeing and listening to the director via my headset. I was actually so intent on what I was doing that I almost missed the fact that the council decided to go into "Executive Session" and we had to leave. I loved the quick pace of the shoot and the variety of the shots I was asked to get. It was really nice to have plenty of stuff to do.

Catching up

Class was great on Tuesday. We learned about lighting and sound. Some of it was familiar to me because the concepts are similar to ones in Theatre. Wednesday I thought I was fighting a cold so I didn't do much except take care of the dogs and rest. I took a nap today and I've been drinking "Emergen-c" so I feel much better. Tonight I'm going to be a camera operator during a local city council meeting. I can't wait! Happy Hannukah everyone!

The big secret about Saturday.

So, my "big day" on Saturday was very busy. I realized when I was creating my previous post that I couldn't say what I was going to be doing because one of my friends, Lynette---who reads this blog occasionally, was getting a surprise baby shower. Her husband and her mother set it all up and all the guests parked on a side street near the house so she wouldn't see the cars when she arrived home. It was a great shower. I was especially excited because, since we both went to MHC, my present to her was a 12-month MHC onsie for the baby. We played charades at the shower and I volunteered to go first. I ended up winning a cool prize. I now own an original, handmade, piece of art that's also a lunch bag. It's sewn together from "Capri Sun", "Minute Maid", and "Kool-Aid" juice drink bags. It even has a front pocket. I also took home a little rubber ducky that is wearing a baby bonnet.

Unfortunately, before I got to the shower I was speeding around doing errands. I got up at 8:30am and took care of Raymah's dogs and Hutch's birds. I left the house around 11am so that I could drive 45 minutes to check my P. O. box. I had ordered Lynette's present a couple of weeks ago but it didn't show up until Saturday morning. After that I drove back to Susan's to take care of her dogs, pack the rest of the stuff I needed at Raymah's, wrap the present, and take a shower. Then I rushed off to the baby shower. After the shower I went back to Susan's to take care of her dogs and then returned to Raymah's. I was exhausted but didn't feel like sleeping so I watched Lois and Clark until 5:30am on Sunday.

I've been watching Sci-Fi Channel's "Tin Man" mini-series and I like it. The sets are beautiful and the homages to both the Frank L. Baum book and the Judy Garland movie are nicely done.

That's about it. I ran some errands today and I'll be doing Steve a favor by giving him a ride to work tomorrow morning while his car's in the shop. Then I have class tomorrow night.

Okay, I know it's been awhile since I posted, but...

MY DGA APPLICATION IS FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent most of this week finishing my application and mailed it out on Thursday. It was quite an experience. I think I stated on here before that it was like filling out a college application. There were five essay questions in addition to requiring a work history, resume, and college transcript. I was so focused on it that I even forgot to bring the camera to class with me on Tuesday night. Anyway, it's done and hopefully I'll hear good news from them in February.

In the meantime, I've started house and pet sitting for Raymah & Hutch. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have cell phone service anywhere in the town where they live. I can still check my messages though, so I will get back to you. I have a big day tomorrow (today) so I'm headed to bed now.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

Mine was lovely. As I wrote in my last post, Wednesday night I baked a green bean casserole (I add mushrooms to mine) and a chocolate chip pecan pie. The pie got rave reviews on Thursday and Friday when it was consumed by Steve and his family and my friend Susan. We played "Uno" with Steve's family until about 12:30 AM on Friday. I was tired but it was a lot of fun. Friday evening I did a little shopping (the mall was busy but not crazy, I think because people went home for dinner) and got some good bargains. Yesterday and today I've been hanging out with friends and working on my Director's Guild Training Program application. It needs to be postmarked by Friday. Once I'm done with this post I'll head back downstairs and continue working on my essay question answers. I can't wait until my TV production class on Tuesday night, I start dog sitting for Raymah towards the end of the week, and I might be going to see the Capitol Steps this weekend. Yeah!

Small Update

Today I met with some friends, went for ice cream with one of them, had dinner with Steve, came home and baked green bean casserole and a chocolate pecan pie, cleaned half of my room, and watched four episodes of "Lois and Clark". Tomorrow I'm off to Steve's mom's house for Thanksgiving. Before I go to bed, I want to wish all of you a happy turkey day!

I was Katie Holmes!

Last night's TV production class was a lot of fun. To give everyone in the class a chance to work a camera we did a set of fake interviews. We had three camera operators, a floor manager, an interviewee, and some spectators for each interview and we rotated positions each time. When it was my turn to be interviewed I was told that I would be playing Katie Holmes. Soon the videos we shot will be uploaded to youtube and I'll put a link to them on my blog so you can see me in action.

It's a winter wonderland!

I had a great time at the Arlo Guthrie concert this weekend. He's an amazing piano and guitar player in addition to being a great lyricist. I did chores and watched "Lois and Clark" most of Sunday and Monday. (I love the series and recently got a really good deal on the DVDs.) I did get a call from the temp. agency yesterday but the job they offered me was mostly the opposite of what I am looking for. Oh, well. Hopefully they'll call again soon with a better fit. Anyway, when I woke up today I was greeted by our first good snowfall of the season. I hope you like these pictures of the back yard. It's just so beautiful. I love the quiet as well.

Stuff

I took the proficiency tests at the temp agency this morning and did okay. The computer started bogging down toward the end so it was a little awkward. My reference was great so they are just waiting to get some short term jobs for me. Afterwards, I got an oil change for my car. BTW, it's pouring rain outside but the leaves are still beautiful.

Personality tests.

This afternoon I took the online personality & cognitive tests required by the temp. agency. It was weird but okay. I even learned some things about myself. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the assessment tests because they had to be done on an IBM compatible PC. Instead, I'm going back into the office tomorrow morning to take them. After that, I'll be getting my car an oil change.

My first production class!

This morning I went to the temp. agency. They don't have any positions right now but they said that they always get last minute calls. The woman I spoke to said that I'll be the first on their list when that happens. In the meantime, I need to complete a few online tests as a formality. I'll be doing that tomorrow.

Tonight I went to my first production class at the local community television station. This session was mostly to impart basic information about camera operation including various parts of the camera and different types of shots. I can't wait until next week when we'll acutally get to operate the studio cameras. Check out these two pics from right after class.

Career Stuff happening.

I had a great weekend with my friends. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see my family because they were all out of town. On the way back last night we stopped at the home of one of my friends and had dinner. It was nice and I got home around 7pm, exhausted but happy. Today, I called the temp agency that I worked with when I was with the Symphony. I'm going in for an appointment tomorrow and they said that it would be possible to be on call for jobs so that I can keep my schedule really flexible. I'm going to call my mom, dad, and Becky tonight.

Doing lots of chores...

and I got to see my friend Wendy last night. We had dinner at a nice Vietnamese restaurant and then went back to her place to have tea. She also gave me the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" book that she picked up awhile ago. Tonight I'm looking forward to the 2hr. tv event of the case that begins on "CSI" and ends on "Without A Trace". Tomorrow I'm leaving for the Eastern part of the state to spend the weekend with friends.

Updates

Yesterday I mailed my membership check to the community television station so that I can start my class next Tuesday. I also went grocery shopping. Today I got a lot of computer stuff done that I'd been putting off and finally updated my contact info. with my various doctors. Next week I'm due for the second half of the hepatitis vaccine that I got before I went to China. I also called Hutch and confirmed that I will house & pet sit for him and Raymah at the end of this month and the beginning of next month. This is a paid gig and that's a good thing. I haven't called the temp agency yet but I hope to do that tomorrow. Anyway, I'm heading out shortly to meet with some friends.

Not much going on.

Jurassic Park was fun! I laughed a lot. Today I went out to the eastern part of the state and met with friends. I finally got back home around 7pm and I'm pretty tired. Tomorrow I'll have to get groceries and do some more career stuff.

Big News!

Yesterday at lunch a friend of mine mentioned that a local community television station had just moved into a new studio space and that same friend wondered if I'd given any thought to getting involved with said station. When I came home, I googled the station and discovered that they were having an open house/grand opening today from 1pm-4pm. The short version of the story is that I'm now a member of the station and I am enrolled in their basic producer course (6 weeks beginning November 13th). I also spoke to their Executive Director and I may be doing some volunteer work for them in the areas of website and basic production. It will be a great learning opportunity and a good way to do some more networking. I'm really excited.

Anyway, I'm off now to see the midnight showing of Jurassic Park!

(Raymah, I'll get back to you Monday but I can probably pet sit for you. Thanks for asking.)

Halloween and other stuff!

This was my Halloween costume. I made it myself for about $30. I went to a friend's to hand out candy. We sat on the porch (since it was fairly warm for this time of year) and talked while handing out treats. It was nice.

Also since I last posted, I taught Steve how to surf the web on Monday. That was cool and I turned out to be a good teacher. Oh, and on Saturday I attended a goodbye dinner for my friend, Carolyn, who's moving to NYC.

Other than that, not much is happening.

What's new with me?

I made chocolate covered strawberries on Friday. They are really yummy! For some reason, though, I keep referring to them as cherries. Oh, well. :) I made the ganache for the strawberries myself, based on a recipe from Alton Brown's tv show, "Good Eats". He's really funny so I've been watching his show and "The Next Iron Chef".

Yesterday, a couple friends and I went to "Skeleton Crew Theater" as a fun Halloween activity. It was great! We laughed a lot, solved riddles, helped a little kid who was dressed as a pirate, and each won a prize. I now have a cute bracelet with a spider on it.

Today I took another long walk with Susan and the dogs. Allegra wore me out! This is a good thing because I'm getting lots of exercise.

Now I'm watching the Red Sox win, hopefully, the world series. Yeah! (Yes, I'm still a Yankees fan but I have no problem rooting for the Red Sox since the Yankees are done for the season.) It's also nice to root for the Red Sox because I can talk about it with my friends.

My profile has been created.

This afternoon I created my profile on crewsdirector.com including my resume. I also followed up with the production coordinator who told me about that site, sending her my resume and references. The site is how her production company does almost all of their hiring and other companies use it too. Hopefully it will lead to a job.

My weekend and stuff.

Saturday morning I made chocolate chip pancakes for Susan and myself and then we took the garbage and recycling to the dump. I spent most of the afternoon working on some computer stuff that I'd been putting off. In the evening, I finally watched "Pretty Woman" all the way through. I liked it.

Sunday I walked a mile into the center of town to check out Fall Festival. I ate some popcorn and cotton candy, saw a live blacksmithing demo, and walked the mile back home. It was beautiful!

Monday night I found a bunch more production companies to apply to and a great website for finding jobs in the entertainment industry.

Today I took another beautiful walk outside with the changing leaves. I also heard back from another production company. They don't have any openings at the moment but they gave me the website they use for all their hiring and told me to sign up there. They also said to send them my resume. I'll be doing that tomorrow.

***Check out the new links I’ve added to this blog on the right hand navigation!***

New career development.

Thanks to some encouragement from a fellow MHC alum, who is a film producer & director, I've decided to apply for the Directors Guild of America's training program. They have a program based in LA for tv & film and one in NYC just for film. It's a serious process (think applying to college) but, even if I don't get in, I think it will be a real growth opportunity for me. I'm also going to apply for the Spring, unpaid, internship at our local public television station. I may need to take a part time job in the meantime to get some money coming in. I'll keep you guys posted.

Not too much going on.

I stayed up until 6am this morning playing room escape games on the laptop. I slept until a little after 3pm. After breakfast, I walked the dogs with Susan and then went downstairs to get some work done on the computer. I updated my checking account register, friends & family contact spreadsheet, and to do list. I made some phone calls, including following up with a production company I'd left a message for last week. That's about it.

My visit with dad.

Friday night I visited my friend, and fellow MHC alum, Lynette. We had a nice time, just talking and catching up. In addition, I discovered that she's due to have a baby girl in February.

Saturday morning I got up early, met Steve at 9:40am in town, and drove to the eastern part of the state to see his mom and my dad. (My dad called me on Thursday night and told me that he was coming to the state on Saturday for the wedding of one of my uncles on Sunday, hence the surprise in my prior post.) I dropped Steve off at his mom's house, which is about an hour and a half from here, and proceeded to meet my dad at his other brother's house, which was about 45 minutes further. I had a great time visiting with my dad, Uncle Mike, and Aunt Lisa. We spent the afternoon and evening getting reaquainted since I hadn't seen my aunt and uncle in about 12 years. I heard about how all of my cousins are doing and I saw the wedding album of Mike and Lisa's oldest. I also heard the happy news that my oldest cousin is pregnant with her first child. After a nice Chinese food dinner and part of a baseball game I headed back to Steve's mom's house. We played "Sorry" for two hours and I fell asleep on the couch watching the rest of the ballgame.

On Sunday I made breakfast for the three of us. I got to make a chocolate chip pancacke and a bannana pancake in addition to regular ones and sausage. Steve's mom really appreciated me cooking and cleaning up.

Monday I caught up on chores, especially laundry, and today I went to the dentist. I was scheduled for two fillings but my dentist discovered a third cavitiy while he was working. $480 and a lot of novacaine later my mouth is still a bit sore but hopefully okay for awhile. I'm really tired and will go to bed soon.

I'm off to see my dad.

More details when I get back. Surprise visit. :)

I'm going to be an aunt, again!

This is a shout out, CONGRATULATIONS!, to my sister. She is pregnant with her second child. My nephew is the cutest kid in the whole world (in my unbiased opinion :) ) and now he's going to have company. Yeah! Hopefully I'll get down to see my mom, sister, her hubby, and my nephew soon.

I'll be seeing my dad this weekend. He's coming to the eastern part of the state this weekend for the wedding of one of my uncles. Unfortunately, I won't be seeing my stepmom because she's staying at home since her father passed away last week. Her dad was a nice man and he will be missed.

I've done more career stuff (snail mailed a networking letter and left a message for another producer) and lots of errands over the last two days. I also made a yummy tuna dish for dinner tonight. I cooked tuna, baby bella mushrooms, scallions, and mixed stir fry veggies in a white zinfandel for about half an hour. I've been cooking a lot lately and I love it. It also helps to be able to buy lots of wild fish at Trader Joe's.

Whew!

Okay, I got a lot of career stuff done today. I sent my application for a job to one production company and sent my resume to another to be kept on file. I left a message for a third company to find out if they had any openings. I also sent out five networking letters to fellow alums. Yeah! Now, I'm going to be checking my email every five minutes to see if I hear back!

In other news, it's pity party time. My friend Jill and I are hosting a pity party on this section of my blog for all the fans of baseball teams that are out of the playoffs. The Yankees (my team) and the Phillies (her team) both lost in spectacular fashion. While we are, mostly, content to wait until next year, we would like to open the comments on this post for venting and commiseration. Have at it folks! :)

I'm getting a lot done.

My networking letter is completely done and I found 7 alums working in the tv business who I'm going to send it to tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning I'm calling one production company to get a name to attach to my cover letter and resume. Then I'm calling two more to see if they have any openings I can apply for. I also caught up with some other emails I needed to send. In addition, I've been getting a lot of chores done.

Fall Festival!

After being in a funk for a couple of days (worrying about career and move stuff) I was cheered up by friends on Thursday and got to laugh a lot.

Friday I took the scenic route into town (I was trying to find a new, shorter, route to my P. O. box) and got to see the beauty of the changing leaves. The weather here has been gorgeous! After lunch with a friend I returned home to take a very long walk with Susan and the dogs. It was really good to get a lot of exercise. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working on my cover letter for the job application I'm sending in next week. After that I watched some TV. The season finale of Dr. Who was awesome. The teaser for next season had me laughing out loud! Then I went to the midnight showing of Labrynth. That was fun.

I slept late this morning and it was a little hard to get started once I woke up. I had miso soup as part of breakfast because I'd just read about miso's beneficial health effects. Plus, I really like miso soup. Then I met up with Steve and we went to the Fall Festival in the town where he lives. It was fun. I ate crawfish pasta and some fried dough with maple cream. I also drank some applejack soda (think hard cider without the alcohol) that was yummy. Then we went to the library's used book sale. Some people would say that I've never met a book I didn't like. Some silly person got rid of their Piers Anthony "Xanth" collection so I scooped it up along with a couple of "Dr. Who" books and the first book in the "Bartimeus" trillogy. I picked up 16 books for $15.50 and five of them were hardcovers. Later I bought some organic tomatoes. All in all, it was a good time. Returning home I ate some of the teriaki salmon I'd made yesterday. Now I'm catching up on email, this blog, my cover letter, and laundry. I'm also watching Halloweentown. :)

Oops. I didn't realize I hadn't posted since Friday.

Sorry about that. I was exhausted from dealing with my car (did I mention it passed inspection? Yeah!) and then I got a little busy. Here's the recap:

Saturday: Got up when my friend called me around 9:30am to let me know she was ready for me to come help her move. I had told her I could move light stuff and maybe help pack/unpack boxes. I showed up just as they were done unloading but ended up helping her finish cleaning her old place. Then I went home and did my best couch potato impression for the rest of the day since I hadn't gotten much sleep the previous two nights.

Sunday: I finished my networking letter and showed it to Susan, who loved it, and emailed it to the MHC career counselor who's been helping me. Steve and I had a sushi dinner at a great restaurant followed by cannolli and fruit tart at a local patisserie. I even had (decaf) espresso for the only the first or second time in my life.

Monday: Grocery shopping! I had fun at Trader Joe's and was able to come home and make a yummy black pepper topped tuna in chardonnay. ***Recipe: I dumped about half a bottle of Chardonnay into a pan and heated it almost to a boil. Meanwhile, I took the frozen, wild, ahi tuna steaks and put them in a bowl of cool water to thaw. When they were ready, I placed them in the wine and let them cook, covered, for a few minutes on medium heat. I uncovered them and sprinkled on a generous amount of black pepper. I recovered them and cooked them, covered, on low to medium heat for about 20-25 minutes.*** After the tuna was done, and had been removed from the pan, I realized I didn't want to waste the tuna and black pepper infused wine. I decided to use the concoction to flavor some rice but I ended up creating a kind of shrip risotto. ***Recipe: I took some frozen, basmati rice and dumped it into the wine and let it cook for two minutes. Then I added some large, tail on, pre-cooked but now frozen shrimp. After the rice had soaked up all of the liquid, and the shrimp was about halfway heated, I poured in some 1% milk. After about 10-12 minutes total cooking time the dish was done. As a final touch, I added some freshly chopped scallions to the cooling mixture.*** It was fabulous! Next time, I'd probably add some butter and parmesan cheese and change the milk to heavy cream to make it more of a true risotto. Oh, I also baked another batch of those great Trader Joe's chocolate chip cookies. Susan is really enjoying the smells, and tastes, of my cooking and I'm having a lot of fun!

Tuesday: Not much except that I discovered that my leftover tuna makes a great sandwich when put on a soybuttered whole wheat bagel and microwaved for 2 minutes.

Wednesday: Dentist appointment. Cleaning went well but I have two minor cavities that need to be filled. Oh, well. I met with some friends, ran some errands, and came home and cooked. I made shrimp fried rice for the first time and it turned out really well. I used Susan's wok so it's officially Chinese. ***"Recipe: I heated up some peanut oil in the wok and dumped in some freshly chopped organic scallions. They burnt to a crisp really quickly so I turned down the heat and added my frozen shrimp. Once those were well on their way to being heated I dumped in the frozen basmati rice. Once that was well mixed I threw in some leftover, now cooked and cooled, organic frozen peas and corn. I gradually added in a stir fry sauce to taste as I stirred. Finally, I threw in more chopped scallions.*** The rice itself was a bit mushy but it tasted really good and the house smelled fabulous.

Sci. Fi. & Fantasy TV premiere roundup

"Bionic Woman"-yes, a remake, but good and guest starring Katee Sackhoff from the new "Battlestar Galactica" (who doesn't like romance and good hand to hand combat?).

"Dr. Who"-fantastic! (not a season premiere but who cares? Season three is the best of the new version so far, possibly the best overall so far. I can't wait to get it on DVD. I could go on for waaaaaaay too long here about all the good stuff but, suffice it to say, the plots are well thought out, the dialogue is well-written, and the acting is a joy to watch. Oh, and did I mention that the Captain Jack Harkness character is back?).

"Moonlight"-ok, sort of a remake ("Forever Knight" anyone? I still miss that show and I haven't found it cheap on DVD yet, btw.) but good, funny, & co-starring Sophia Myles who portrayed Madame du Pompador in season two of the new "Dr. Who". The line that made me laugh out loud tonight was a question asked of the main character (lonely, 90 year old, vampire with morals, private detective) by his best friend (400 year old, rich, investor, vampire) about the A+ from our hero's stash of blood bags: "What is this? Lowfat, decaf, soy, vegan, blood?".

"House"-love it and, yes, I know it's not Sci. Fi. or Fantasy, and it's premiere wasn't on tonight but I watched a re-run while waiting for "Stargate: Atlantis" to come on and I was laughing throughout the episode.

"Stargate: Atlantis"-still good but I miss Carson's character (on the upside, I'm intrigued by Elizabeth Weir's character becoming a bad guy).

My car passed inspection & Not really retail therapy, part 2.

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! I got my car inspected at 8:15am and it passed. Of course, I had to take it back to the dealership this afternoon because one of my brand new tires was flat and I was experiencing shimmying occasionally and vibrations while braking. It turned out that the tire had a defective valve stem, which the dealer replaced, and that my front tires had been balanced incorrectly (they corrected that as well). They didn't charge me for anything and apologized profusely. It turns out their tire balancing machine had been calibrated to the wrong setting.

On the way home, I stopped at Payless to buy new sneakers because my current ones are getting holey. I got new sneaks for $9! On a lark, I wandered into FYE and purchased a used copy of a Patrick Troughton Dr. Who episode called "Tomb of the Cybermen". It was only $10.99! Usually they retail for $25-$35 here in the US depending on the length of the episode. I am especially excited because I'm pretty sure I haven't seen this one. The complete episode tapes went missing from the BBC and weren't found until 1992.

Stuff from today and important change to this blog!

If you look to your right you will notice a new link on the right-hand navigation on this blog. My dream blog! is a link to the first blog I set up. It is over on livejournal and is the place where I record my dreams when I have time. It's a neat glimpse into what goes on in my head when I sleep. Feel free to check it out.

In other news...I've gotten a lot done over the last two days. Yesterday, I mailed off my COBRA election form and my first payment so that I will continue to have health insurance after this month. I also purchased a doubling card for my Tracfone so if any of you would like to purchase Tracfone minutes for me as presents (hint, hint---hee, hee) they will go that much farther when I'm RMing the country. Today I spent three and one quarter hours at the dealer getting my car fixed. $827 later (Serpentine belt & tensioner, EGR valve, solenoid, and four new tires) they tell me that it will pass inspection after I've driven it 200 miles to get the computer to acknowledge the repairs. Since my car needs to be inspected by the end of the month I'll be doing a lot of driving tomorrow! Anyway, I should go now because I'm at the library and only have seven minutes left on my computer session.

I'm not engaging in retail therapy, really!

I just had to share my two, exciting, new acquisitions with all of you. Last night I had dinner with Steve and he told me all about the game he'd attended at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. While he was there he purchased a Johnny Damon t-shirt. When he got it home he discovered it was too small. Bad for him, good for me. I'm now the proud owner of a Yankees t. Yeah! After dinner I stopped at CVS and purchased my first digital camera. It is a mini key chain camera but it holds 240 photos and came with a USB cable and software. All that for only $9.99!!! I can't wait to get started. I will post a picture once it's all set.

I heard back from the producer...

I got an email last night from the producer of the show I worked on last week. He's passing my email on to the guys in charge of production assistants for the show and said they'll call me when the show comes back to this area. Oh, well. That doesn't mean it's over. They are scheduled to be back around here next month and if I work with them again I'll have another shot to ask about touring with them. In the meantime, I'm going to expand my networking with my new realization that touring with a show would really work for me. I also got my hair cut today and it looks really cute!

I got stuff done!

Yeah! The gifts that I purchased in China for my family finally got mailed out to them today. In addition, I just sent off my resume to the producer of the reality tv show I worked on last week to see if I can get a regular job with them. I also stopped at Salvation Army and got a pair of Ralph Lauren jeans for $9.99 and a mid-weight coat, that I can layer under, for $4.99.

My reverse lights are fixed!

Yesterday I spent three hours at the dealership getting my car fixed. They fixed my reverse lights, replaced three bulbs in my brake lights, and diagnosed my "service engine soon" light. My EGR valve and solenoid are bad but I'm not going to fix them since I may be getting rid of my car at the end of the month. Later I purchased "Smallville" season 5. It was only $19.99 at Best Buy! I went running today and I am half finished organizing the mailing of China gifts to my family. I hope to have those out in the mail tomorrow. I'm probably going to Salvation Army tomorrow to buy another pair of jeans. I haven't emailed my resume to the producer yet because I haven't heard back from the Career Development Center. If I don't hear tomorrow I'm going to ask my friend Susan to look at it so I can send it out tomorrow night.

Career day

I spent much of today at the MHC Career Development Center. I met with the Alumnae counselor and we reworked my resume and follow-up letter to the producer who got me the job with the reality tv show. I just need one more proofread and I'll send it off. Hopefully it will get me a permanent job traveling with the show.

I just finished cooking some corn I bought at the local farmstand (I ate some yummy tomatoes earlier) and I'm going to watch Dr. Who on tv at 8pm. I can't wait!

I'm back home.

I had a good time working on the show and arrived home this afternoon. The last night that I worked I went up the the actual set (I'd been doing more administrative stuff the rest of the time) and helped the other overnight production assistant. I got to drive a golf cart and the gator! I'm pretty tired but I did sleep for about 12 hours on and off last night. I'm back at Susan's but I'm going to email the line producer of the show (who was my original contact) and follow up about a more permanent job.

How it's going.

This is awesome! I just got back from my second overnight shift. I feel really good about the work I'm doing. It's really nice to be working with a great team of people. I also took my first ride on a "Gator" today. (That is one of those green John Deere combination golf cart & pickup truck vehicles.) I got to stand up in the back while being driven to my car. I'm going to bed now because I'm exhausted.

I have a job!

I am going to be a Production Assistant for a reality tv show for the next week while they are on location in a neighboring state. I got the job today and there is a chance I can turn it into a traveling gig with them. I'm really excited. They're paying me, putting me up in a hotel, and feeding me. Yeah! I am working nights so I'm staying up all night tonight, sleeping most of the day tomorrow, and driving back up there to go to work at 6pm.

As soon as I get off work on Monday I need to find a nearby repair shop to get my car fixed. My reverse lights are stuck on (I hit a really big bump today) and I got a warning from a state trooper tonight on my way home from work. Oh well, I had a really good day and the trooper was really nice about it.

Yum, yum!

I made Mushroom Vol-au-vaunt tonight for dinner to use up the leftover mushrooms and heavy cream from last night's dinner. (The mushrooms and cream were part of the pasta dish that I put the mussels on top of.)

***Recipe: I melted some soy butter in a pan and sauteed some chopped, left-over, onion in it. Then I added more butter and lots of chopped white and baby bella mushrooms. I stirred them around in the butter and let them cook for a minute or two. Then I dumped in a third of a small bottle of Marsala cooking wine and let them simmer for 20-30 minutes while the liquid was absorbed. When the wine was almost all absorbed I dumped in quite a bit of heavy cream and let the mushrooms soak that up while simmering for about 10-15 minutes. I stirred it occasionally and turned off the heat when the liquid was pretty much gone from the pan. Then I spooned the mixture into the (no longer frozen) Pepperidge Farm puff pastry shells that I had baked according to the package directions. I put the tops back onto the, now filled, pastry shells and baked them for 15 minutes.***

Susan raved about them and my mouth was pretty happy each time I bit into one. I kind of had three of them for dinner. :) To keep myself occupied while the liquid reduced I continued watching Charmed Season 7 on Susan's laptop. Later I'm going to join some friends at the midnight showing of "Clue" at a nearby movie theatre.

Good news times two!

The mussels I made last night were delicious! It was the first time that Susan had eaten mussels and she liked them. I poured the last of the white zinfandel I had (about 2/3 of a bottle) into a pot and heated it almost to a boil. Then I dumped in the mussels, turning them so the wine entered their shells, and let them simmer (covered) for 20 minutes or so. They tasted just like ones I would get at a restaurant. Yummy!

Last night I also heard from the producer that I've been playing email tag with. The good news is that there may be some work for me (not sure yet if paid or volunteer, but I'm okay with either) in VT for the next two weeks but the bad news is that now we're playing phone tag. Oh, well. It will work out the way it's supposed to.

Not much going on...

We had a nice barbeque at Steve's mom's this weekend (I found the Morningstar Farms veggie dogs at a local grocery store, yeah! They look and taste like regular ones.) On Monday I got taken out for Sushi and then sat in town peoplewatching. Tuesday I went to a local farm and purchased tomatoes, green beans, corn, and nectarines. Unfortunately, they didn't have any white flesh nectarines left. Last night I got some things organized on the laptop. I'm still waiting to hear back from the producer who's in VT for the next two weeks. In the meantime, I'm going to finish updating my resume and follow-up on the suggestions I received from the other producer. Oh, I am going to attempt to make a white wine sauce tonight to go with some mussels I bought yesterday. Hopefully that will go well.

Keeping myself busy

****IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT****For those of you who were having trouble posting comments on here, I have fixed my settings. You should now be able to post with no problems. Yeah! :)

I've spent a lot of this week running errands and going to the library to check my email. Yesterday, I stopped at a farmstand and purchased some amazing white flesh nectarines. They are incredibly sweet! Today, I'm heading out to Steve's mom's to help celebrate her partner's birthday.

Career Stuff: I recieved contact info. for a second LA producer yesterday (thanks Deborah!) and sent her an email while I'm waiting to hear back from the first one. Also, on Friday I finally got a regular (more formal) email address. It's one that shouldn't get bounced by spam filters and that is okay to put on my resume.

That's about it.

Hummingbird, Class Ring, Career Stuff

I saw my first, real, up-close, hummingbird the other morning. I heard a noise go past my head as I locked the front door. I looked up and saw this tiny bird with wings moving so fast I could barely see them. It was really cute and I felt grateful to have finally seen one that wasn't on TV. I just stood there and watched it for awhile.

I finally have my MHC ring back in one piece! As some of you may remember, the stone fell out about six months after I graduated. Thankfully, Balfour has a lifetime guarantee. Unfortunately, when I called them, they suggested I wait to send it in because they were swamped with new orders at that time and they didn't want mine to get held up or misplaced. I complied, then forgot about it, then moved, and then 10 years went by. At my 10 year reunion in May I gave the ring to the on campus Balfour rep. and she sent it in to be repaired. I finally got the ring back in the mail at the end of last week and am now wearing it proudly. Yeah!

I have a hopeful note on the career front. My friend Deborah, who knows an LA producer, emailed me today with the producer's email address and said that his show is coming to Vermont next week. I'm offering to volunteer while they are in New England and I'll keep you posted.

Boy, I didn't realize that more than a week had gone by.

I'm sorry for not posting in over a week. Things got away from me.

I wrapped up taking care of Max and Chloe last Saturday with a long day of household chores and moving to my next abode. I picked up Keith & Wendy at the airport at 8:30pm, brought them back to their place, talked with them for awhile, and then drove 30-40 minutes back up to Susan's. I went out to the eastern part of the state on Sunday to picnic with friends. We had a good time and I got to play catch (complete with baseball and mitts) and kick around a football. I also got some sun, which was nice.

Unfortunately, I spent most of Monday through Thursday watching TV. I love science fiction and suddenly I have access to the Sci. Fi. Channel and Spike TV. Oh, boy!

Today I am out enjoying the beautiful day, running errands, and catching up on my email here at the library. I'm at a table on the mezzanine because our library has laptops that can be checked out and used all over the library with free wi fi access. I plan on getting my hair cut today or tomorrow and I'm going to a farmstand on the way home to get corn, tomatoes, green beans, and other yummy stuff.

Oh, and I did go to Best Buy on Wednesday and got a really good deal. I purchased all five season's of "Angel" for $15.99 each! (I used my left over vacation money and my birthday money.)

That's it for now. I need to look at some sample resumes on the MHC-CDC website and then finish my errands so that I can go home and watch Doctor Who tonight. I can't wait to see an all new episode! Have I mentioned how cute David Tenant is? :)

Career Update Stuff

Yesterday I started exploring internships as an entry into television production. Our local PBS station has a full-time, semester long, program that is open to almost anyone. Unfortunately, their Fall semester is already full. I also looked at some entry level positions with local commercial stations. I haven't heard back from my friend yet about her friend in LA. I think I'll be going to the career resource center on Friday to see what they have in terms of internships and resume samples. My resume is mostly up to date but it's old school now (chronological) so I have to turn it into an achievement based one.

I'll be moving back to Susan's sometime in the next three days and she said it's fine to give out her phone number and to use her phone for long distance so I will call everyone when I get there.

Oh, I went to the farmer's market yesterday and brought home all natural, semi-local, smoked gouda. Today I made a fancy mac and cheese with it. I re-heated some whole wheat blend pasta, chopped up the gouda into tiny pieces, and chopped up a gigantic scallion that I also got at the market. It was nice. The mac and cheese went well with the IPM corn, organic green beans, and both the organic and non-organic tomatoes that I got there as well. These, along with store bought cherries for dessert, made a really yummy and healthy lunch. For dinner I'm planning on doing the gouda & scallion thing with organic potatoes that I bought at Trader Joe's last week. I LOVE being able to go to farmer's markets!

Warning---Harry Potter SPOILERS!

I finally read "Deathly Hallows" and it was great! I think it made up for "Half Blood Prince" which was more than 600 pages of exposition. I spent most of yesterday reading and crying. I started crying when Dobby was killed and kept crying off and on until the end of the book. I loved Kreature's redemption. I have a few small nits to pick, too much use of deus ex machina for example, but other than that it was very satisfying. I really liked the fact that the center of the story was Ron, Hermione, and Harry working together puzzling things out to defeat Lord Voldemort. I really missed that in books five and six. Oh, and can I just say, "Go, Neville!"?

I celebrated my birthday, for the second time this summer, on Saturday. I received a lot of disposable presents (candy!) since I'm in transition. I had a great time with Steve's family (we were celebrating his birthday too). We had a cookout (I had really yummy vegetable lasagna), played "Sorry" & "Yahtzee", ate cake & ice cream, and exchanged gifts. I also showed them my pictures and some souvenirs from my China trip. Steve gave me season one of "Bones" and I watched the first three episodes last night. I really liked it. She kicks butt and he's cute and funny. (For those of you who don't know, this is David Boreanaz's new series. He played Angel on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and it's spinoff "Angel". I'm a big fan!)

Anyway, I had an interesting experience this morning when I walked Max. We were passing a group of summer campers who were probably elementary school age (but some of them might have been middle school) and most of them were oohing and ahing over Max. However, I could of sworn that I heard one kid say "nice boobs!" as I passed him. That was very strange and I really hope I heard him wrong! :)

I feel better about my blog.

I was feeling a little sorry for my blog because it seemed like no one was reading it. There have only been two comments posted since I started and I felt like I was sending my words out into empty space. Recently, however, two of my friends (Raymah and Susan you two rock!) have told me they have enjoy reading it and they've even referenced some of my entries in our conversations. Yeah!

Update time: I left the house at a few minutes after ten this morning, only a few minutes behind when I had wanted to leave (I'm focusing, once again, on being on time/early for things because I've slipped back into the bad habit of being late). I ran an errand and then arrived early to meet Raymah for lunch. I showed her my China tour pics by inserting my photo cds into her computer. We had a nice lunch and I drove the rest of the way to where I used to live to check my post office box. (I got my new driver's license in the mail today!) I then came back into town to run some errands and now I'm getting ready to go out for sushi with another friend.

Not so random stuff

Okay, it's really warm and humid here. Yesterday, I had my exit interview at work to discuss owed pay, vacation days, bonus, health insurance, etc. It went really well and I got what I asked for. I discovered that there is a farmer's market about 100 feet from where I'm staying and was able to get IPM (Integrated Pest Management-not organic but not full of horrible chemicals either) corn, a nice variety of tomatoes, and some semi-local/non rbgh (bovine growth hormone) half and half in a glass bottle. Around 5pm I got a call I've been waiting for. It's my turn to read the library's copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'll be picking it up later today. That's about it. I've got writing, bills, and resume stuff to do this afternoon and evening, plus some errands. Thanks to everyone who called or emailed for my birthday. I haven't checked my post office box this week so if you mailed me a card I'll be getting it soon. It's a great way to make my birthday last even longer. :)

I had a fabulous weekend!

I was out in the Eastern part of the state on a spiritual retreat with the teenagers that I volunteer with. It was an amazing weekend and I had an awesome time even though I didn't get much sleep. Yesterday, I played three on three basketball for the first time in fifteen or more years and had a blast even though my team lost 11-3. Today, the teens and my fellow chaperones gave me a card and long-sleeve t-shirt for my birthday. I came home to find a happy and relaxed Max waiting for me. We went for a walk, watched some TV, and now I'm going to bed.

I'm up waaaaaay too late!

I was running errands most of today (technically yesterday since it's after midnight). I updated my info. with my insurance company, renewed my driver's license, checked my P. O. Box, got gas, took care of Max & Chloe, finished my laundry, met with some friends, took out the trash and recycling, and now I'm packing for my weekend trip. I accomplished a lot but, boy, am I tired. That's why I checked my email and now I'm blogging. I'm procrastinating. :)

My first day after leaving my job

Wow, does this feel weird. After seven and a half years I finally stopped working for the Symphony around 6:20pm last night. (Actually, I still have to go back on Monday for my exit interview.) I stayed up until midnight last night watching TV and playing with Max. I woke up at 8:30 this morning, had a nice breakfast while reading the paper, and then took Max for a half hour walk through the park. I also finally cleaned up my email account. I'm going to spend the next two days resting, decompressing, and running errands. I'm also working on my career stuff. Now it's time for some lunch.

China pics-finally!

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't kept up. I think I finally figured out the digital photo thing, though I haven't quite gotten the albums all nicely done and on snapfish. Once I do that I will let you know so that you can see them all.

In the meantime, here are two of the best shots from China. The one on top is the entire group of singers on the Great Wall at Badaling, outside of Beijing, near the end of the tour. It was pretty warm but it was awesome! Most of us chose to climb the steeper, but less crowded, side of the wall and were rewarded with stunning views and a great sense of accomplishment. There was a sense of vertigo as well since the angle of ascent is pretty close to 90 degrees at some points! The one on the bottom is me on the Sacred Way near the Terra Cotta Warriors outside of Xi'An. This was the third of the four cities we visited on our tour and I'm doing my best to imitate this impressive statue.

In other news, my last day of work is tomorrow. My co-workers threw me a really cool good-bye party today and gave me lots of white elephants to take with me to my new job. They also gave me gift cards for gas and CVS which will really help while I'm between jobs. That was really awesome of them. I'm writing this blog entry from Keith & Wendy's where I'm going to be pet/house sitting until 8/18. Max, the dog, looks like Lassie and he's a sweetie. Chloe, the kitty, is adorable but it will take her a few days to get used to me. She's really shy. I'm getting used to having lots of neighbors again. It was cute to hear the teenager's music from next door and hear her fighting a little about it with her sister. Boy, does that bring back memories, huh Becky? Oh, on that note, how about a shout out to my sister who just had her birthday on the 26th? Happy Birthday Becky!

Getting back into the swing of things

Today I checked my mail for the first time in over three weeks. The box was just about full but I was amazed that there was any room left at all. I renewed the box for six months (the shortest amount of time you can buy) so that I don't have to change my address until I actually move somewhere.

I didn't make it to my storage unit today to put away the extra stuff I didn't need on the trip but I did manage to get some groceries and see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". I liked it a lot more than the other movies. I had just about given up on them (because I loved the first four books and liked the fifth one) after they butchered "Goblet of Fire". However, when I was in China, I saw a promo for "Phoenix" and it got me excited. I had a feeling that in some ways it would be better than the book, and it was! They didn't spend 3/4 of the movie with Harry refusing to speak to his friends and Sirius wasn't drowning his sorrows, bening a jerk, and descending into lunacy. They also didn't go back and forth between making the movie completely separate from the books and taking plot shortcuts that assume the viewer has read them. That drove me bannanas in the previous movies. The battle near the end was pretty good. I still think Sirius' death is rushed but I'm biased toward Sirius because book three was my favorite.

Anyway, I got back to Susan's around 6:30pm and had a small adventure with the dogs. I gave them treats and Casey decided to guard hers instead of eat it. This would have been fine except that she & Allegra really needed to go to the bathroom and Casey was guarding her treat at the top of the stairs we needed to go down to let them outside. I found a key to the backdoor and went outside from the porch door to call them to me already downstairs. I had to reverse the process, with Allegra on part of the leash, to get back upstairs. They were confused but, when I gave them the treats for going to the bathroom, Casey finally ate her other one. It was actually funny and I was proud of my resourcefulness.

It looks like I'll be heading to Keith & Wendy's on July 30th and July 31st will be my last day at work. In preparation for talking to a reality show producer I watched an "America's Next Top Model" marathon last night. It was pretty good. (As many of you know, reality TV isn't really my cup of tea.) I think that's it for now.

My voicemail is fixed!

Hi All,

Feel free to leave messages again on my cell phone. Dad, I got yours from Sunday. Anyone else who left me a message between June 30 and July 15 should call me again or email me because those were lost. Sorry about that. Anyway, I had a better day at work yesterday and am having an okay day today.

I'm home!

Hi All,

I arrived home (a fellow Alum's house) safely around 2:30am on Sunday after being in transit for 37 1/2 hours. I slept until noon and then went off to connect with my friend Susan who I'm staying with for the next two weeks. I'm now firmly ensconced at her place and enjoying not only her company, but that of her two dogs. They are sooooo cute!

I'm a little under the weather so I slept for about a day and a half once I arrived at Susan's and then returned to work yesterday. Being back at work is very strange---with this whole transition, but I made some good contacts during the tour and a fellow alumn is going to put me in touch with a producer when she gets back from the rest of the China tour.

One other note, I'm having technical problems with the voicemail on my cell phone. If you've left a message for me already, or you need to get a hold of me in the near future, please email me or post a comment to call you on this blog. I'll try to get a hold of my cell's customer service today.

I'm in NY!

We arrived at our hotel about 20 minutes ago. I'm about to go to bed because we have to get up at 4:15am in order to board our bus to the Airport. Unfortunately, I don't feel completely healthy but I just took some emergen-c and I'm going to gargle with Scope when I get back upstairs. I'm excited and nervous. Just a reminder, for more detail on what we are doing on the tour, and in China, please click on the blog link at the upper right of this page.

I'm Exhausted

We have been rehearsing all day and I didn't get much sleep last night. However, we sound fabulous and I love our music. I'm really enjoying being here, singing with everyone, and working under Cathy Melhorn's baton. Also, the food has been really good so I'm eating a lot and drinking plenty of water. I'm also getting some excercise. Now I'm going to do some packing/organizing and go to bed. I hope you are all well.

Please remember: Concert tomorrow, Sunday, July 1st, 4pm, Abbey Chapel.

I have arrived at MHC!

Hi All,

Okay, after several exhausting days of final packing, errands, training and leaving notes for my replacement at work, and studying my music I have arrived at Mount Holyoke in preparation for our choral tour through China.

I moved the last of my stuff out of my apartment yesterday afternoon and turned in my key. My landline phone number and electricity should be turned off by the end of today. A big thank you to Lynette and Andrew who helped me take the last load of stuff to storage yesterday and made a run to Salvation Army with the stuff I wanted to donate. We also got to have lunch together afterwards and that was nice.

Anyway, I've been organizing and handing out dresses for the tour since about 9:30am today and I'm having fun socializing with the rest of the alumns who've gotten here early. I'm really tired and hope to get a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, I don't think my plans for a nap this afternoon are going to come to fruition.

On the career front, I've already had a discussion today with Tiffany, who's a working actress out in LA, and she thinks that's probably the best place to start. We also agree on the circumstances out there that I probably won't like (traffic, for instance).

For those of you in the area, you can come see me off on Sunday at 4pm. We are performing our Bon Voyage Concert at Abbey Chapel before we get on the bus to NY.

My Stuff Is In Storage

Hi All,

Well, I'm a bit sore and really tired but, the big stuff is all in storage. Thanks to Curt providing a really big truck, and Steve, my cousin Jonathan, & my neighbor Lynn helping with packing and transportation, we were able to move almost all of my stuff into storage in two trips (2 truckloads and about 4 carloads). We did it all in about 6 hours on Saturday.

I slept on a friend's recliner on Saturday night and, because I'd only gotten about 6 hours of sleep the night before, I slept until 12:30pm on Sunday. I took it easy for a couple of hours and then went back to my place to continue sorting through my clothes (deciding what is going to China, to storage, and to my friend's house for when I come back from China) and papers. I'll be doing a lot of shredding shortly!

Anyway, Lynette and Andrew are going to help me take the last of my stuff to storage on Wednesday. In the meantime, I have to pick up some more packing boxes tonight.

Storage and Safe Deposit Box

Yesterday I got my first safe deposit box. I can put stuff in there while I go to China and keep stuff in there that shouldn't go in my storage unit. I also picked up my prescription for Cipro (just in case) to take to China and grabbed a couple of other things the pharmacist recommended.

This morning I stopped by the storage place to sign the papers, see the unit, and get my key. Tomorrow I'll be moving stuff into the unit with the help of a friend with a pickup truck and, hopefully, other friends with cars and better backs than mine. :) Tonight I have to finish packing up my kitchen and bathroom and do anything that requires my computer.

Very First Post

Hi All,

I figured this blog would be a great way to keep in touch with my friends and family as I begin this period of transition in my life. So, here it goes...

I am moving most of my stuff into storage this Saturday and will be completely out of my apartment before 8am next Friday. From there I will head to MHC for rehearsals, and our Bon Voyage concert, before leaving for our two week Choral tour through China. When I return from China mid-July I will be staying with, and house-sitting for, friends in the area while I finish training my replacement at the Symphony. I should be done with that sometime in August and will turn my attention back to career stuff. I hope to finalize my plans and know if I'm moving to LA or NYC (to get a job in TV production) by the Fall.

In the meantime, personal and career updates will appear here so that we can still be close.