Post, the last

10, 9, 8........
Go back and check out my posting from January 1 of this year, this is too cool. Last year I spent New Years at The Imp, then at Jenny and Jason's. I dug that same outfit (plus accessories) out of the closet for this year, then re-created the picture, complete with the finger over the flash. How cool is that?

7, 6, 5........
Last year I resolved to: Keep myself better organized- Yes, I managed to, although I'm not quite where I want to be yet, I have a lot more places for things, with more things in their places. Buy a house-Done and done! If you missed it, go back and check out April and May. I couldn't be happier with the place. Lose weight-Maybe a little........Okay, so I have something to work on for 2009.

4, 3, 2.........
I'm sad this blog is about to come to a close, and yes, a little relieved. It's difficult blogging every single day, and I didn't miss a single one, even when I didn't have internet access. I kept the laptop next to me and typed up the entry in a notebook entry. Really! I will continue to keep a photo blog, however, just not daily. Follow me on over to http://www.sugarbumkin.blogspot.com

1...........
Happy New Year.

Chi-Chi a Go-Go

Today was a blur of airplanes and airports. We got up and went into Reno, where we found out our flight was going to be just barely too full for us to get on. (As in, we would have only had room for half the family to be able to go) So we decided to go home via a different (as in crazy) route. Reno-Boise-Salt Lake City-Chicago-Kansas City. Read that again, seriously. Just let it sink in. Yup. It was the only way. The good news is, the first THREE legs of the flight were on the same plane so we simply sat on the plane, it emptied, filled back up, and we continued on on the same aircraft. Unfortunately, that also means we couldn't get out to get books (aaaah, I ran out on the first flight!) or food. Luckily, we had a scant half hour layover in Chicago and were able to eat there. We walked to the food court, got food, snapped a picture, and walked on to the flight to Kansas City. *Sigh....* Chicago. How I loved being there, how I miss it. I really want to take the girls and Jason and show them what I did, what I saw while there. I could seriously move there and be happy, I love that city. Here's a picture of Jason and the girls next to a trash can with the same logo on it as the picture I took my last day in Chicago this Summer (check the beginning of August, it's that Friday's picture) Jason wondered why I was going to take it and I said, "Well, I already have one of ME next to the poster......." We touched down in Kansas City a little after six and I had Jason drop me off at Hype 7 rehearsal. Tiffany gave me a TON of Kinder eggs from Germany. Score! Hey, America, thanks to your sue happy stupidity we can't legally have awesome things like Kinder in America. (Duh.....it's a non food in chocolate, that must mean we're supposed to eat it! Now let me eat the prize from my cereal box, too.......duhhhhhh.....) When I came home after, Sparticus was so happy to see me. I missed him, cutie kitty. It's good to be back home.

You owe me an IOU

In the stockings my mom had prepared for us yesterday was a post it note that said "Admit one to Despereaux" Today she made good on her post its. (I like post its. You can trust them.) The movie was really cute, we enjoyed it. I love how in this picture everyone knew I was taking it, but the girls are too fixated on the popcorn in front of them to care. (FYI-it looks dark, but I assure you I took this picture BEFORE the movie started, not during.) After the movie we drove around looking at Christmas lights then took Lynette back to her place. We put the girls to bed and Jason called to make sure we were good on our flights and he was told, "Oh yeah. There's no way you're getting on a flight tomorrow." Um......okay......so we checked online to see what else we could do, what kind of funky connection we could make (Reno-Chicago-Kansas City? Or perhaps through Portland? Arrgh!) when we noticed how cheap the flights from Reno-Vegas-Kansas City were. So he called again and they told him, "Oh yeah, your flight looks great. No worries." Wait, what? Give us information that is accurate and trustworthy, please. So it looks like tomorrow should be okay....now let's see if we can pack all these gifts into the two carry on suitcases we brougth with us.......

Mum's the word

Isn't my mommy the purdiest? Her so cuuuuute! Today we celebrated Christmas with my folks and Lynette. Leigha oh so conveniently just HAPPENED to find only her and Brianna's presents when we first began opening things, and was disappointed to find toward the end that all the rest belonged to Jason and I. Funny how that works. At one my maternal grandparents, Uncle Scott, Aunt Susan, cousins Kate and Zak, Uncle Jacque and Aunt Laurie all showed up and we had a 'New Year's' party. We had snacky foods, played games, and told stories. My family has some of the best stories of all time, seriously. There's a trivia game we play at family reunions to see if you can match which person said or did this or that. It's fun! My mom gave me the Christmas newsletter today and I read through it. Much to my amusement, my dad actually plugged a link to this blog in it. If you're a family member who was lead to this blog from the newsletter, hey, what's up? Oh yeah, and why haven't you commented to let me know you're reading this? Sneaky, sneaky! After everyone had gone home the girls and I watched Mamma Mia! with Lynette and my mom. It was a really cute, super fun movie, I enjoyed it. Oh yeah, and while they were doing that, Jason totally smoked my dad at Wii golf in the other room.

Airportin'

Today we got up and went to the airport. Flying standby is not at all fun this time of year, but the fact remains that I would like to see my family, they live far away, and this is the only way to do so for us, financially speaking. So we play the game of "What airline/route/city has the most available seats?" Nine times out of ten we end up calling my parents from a random airport and telling them "We'll be in {city} in about two hours. Start driving!" Today we happened to have to fly into Sacramento via Denver (the original plan was to be in Reno via Las Vegas...two bumps, a shuffle, and a "get off the plane there's been a problem, no wait you're good, go back on the plane" later and we ended up getting on a flight.) The West coast is seriously spread out, airport-wise, compared to the East. Trying to get into Northern Nevada is difficult sometimes. At least Sacramento is only a three hour drive (compared to the next closest cities, San Fran, Boise, and Las Vegas, which are about six.) We landed at 7:30, had some In-N-Out Burger, then took I-80 into Reno, picking up my sister, Lynette, on the way to the house. Aaaaaand....now it's time to crash, I'm uber zonked.

Grussgott, y'all!

Happy Boxing day, everyone! Show those nun puppets who's boss! Today was uber happy. I got to see my Tiffanytiff for the first time in like seven months! She's back in town visiting the folks for Christmas. It was so great to see her! We met up for sushi and perused the mall, then I bought her some Starbucks and we came back to my place so we could talk unimpeded by mad shoppers out for blood. She told me stories from Germany, I showed her around my place (we had just moved in before she left), it was really nice. After she left I started sewing furiously with my new toy. (Ahh, it's awesome! Love it!) I found the cutest pattern for a wraparound dress with a circle skirt for Bri. She's going to just adore it, I can't wait to finish it and see what she thinks. I couldn't play any Guitar hero until Jason came home since we accidentally left the Wii power cord at the airport yesterday, but that's all right. After the girls went to bed we quickly began rectifying the situation. I don't like World Tour as much as the last one, they super simplified some of the songs and they got rid of the fun quotes and put up lame "helpful hints" between songs. Blecch. The good news is I can still play Midori. I love her, she's adorable!

The eagle may soar...but the weasel never gets sucked into a jet engine.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours, whoever you may be! We got up early this morning and unwrapped our presents. Although there were no hula hoops or hippopotami, we all got some special gifts. The girls got their hot chocolate mugs and rag rugs that I had made, along with some other things, Jason got the special present that I waited in line for on Black Friday (Guitar Hero World Tour, wo0t!) and I got a brand new sewing machine! (squee!!! It's so nice and it's magical!) Jason had to work today, poor thing. He's the only one who works day shift on Thursdays (excluding his manager who has today off because it's Christmas.......), so instead of him spending the day all alone at the airport and us all alone at the house, we decided to all go to the airport for the day! Here's how it works: Planes come in every couple hours or so and Jason works furiously for a half hour...ish....assuming there's no delay or call from another airline with an issue (not all airlines have mechanics at every airport and if there's an issue they pay another airline for the use of their mechanic for however long it takes to get the issue resolved.) Between planes, there's not a whole lot to do on a regular day. So, again, we went to the airport with Jason today. We brought the Wii and played Jason's new Guitar Hero game all day long. Since we were at the airport and Starbucks was open, we got some coffee. It was nice! Jason appreciated having us around and we enjoyed ourselves a lot more than we would have at home without him. Most people try to avoid spending Christmas day at the airport. There's nowhere else I would rather have been today.

Warmfuzzycozyhappy

Tonight we watched a movie together then went upstairs to the living room, illuminated only by the glow of the Christmas tree, and we drank egg nog. Perfect. The girls went to bed and Jason and I wrapped a few last minute presents before stuffing the stockings. They are so very excited, but when last I checked, they were sound asleep. I doubt there are sugar plums dancing in their heads, perhaps they are dreaming of My Little Pony? Good night everyone, try to get some sleep!

Jigsaw

Two days before Christmas....how did that happen? I mean, really, how? Jason and I got a few last minute preparations out of the way today and took a short trip to the library, and that's about it. It's hard to find motivation to do anything outside the house when it's so dreary and midwestern outside. Not to mention the crazed hordes of shoppers out there. There's a reason I start my shopping in March, people. Practice was uber low key tonight. Cerrome and Zak weren't there and Nifer dropped out of H7, so Jen, Patrick, Joe and I got together to talk about what's going down. I'm really excited by a few of the things we talked about, the changes we're going to make and whatnot. We did a lot of talking and a little rehearsing, then called it a night.

Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah!

This is Ed, Pete, Scott, and Trish at the Kansas City improv community's get together tonight at McCoys. We had a blast getting together and hanging out as a group, and a lot of people came! Tom Farnan came in from Los Angeles this evening and had Jen drive him straight to Westport from the airport. Nice! I'm so glad I got to go. The bulk of today was spent with Jason and the girls. We did some cleaning and watched some TV, but mostly we just hung out together. I love days when we all get to just chill together like that. My family is awesome.

Intermittent Mittens

The church Christmas program was tonight. I wanted to post a picture of all the angels as a group, but somehow my camera managed to make every child on that stage have a major case of red eye, and it looks like a demonic choir instead! Yowza! So here are Leigha and Brianna, if you know any of the other kids at my church and you didn't see the program, just imagine their face and hair in place of Leigha and Bri there and you'll get the same effect. Yay identical costuming! Oh, yeah, if the kid you're trying to picture is a boy, add color to the robe and then a striped cloth and circlet over their head. Instant shepherd, voila! The kids did a fantastic job, and nobody fell off the stage! (It happened last year. See? I'm not the only person to ever have fallen off a stage mid performance! Nyeah!) Today I got some fleece for a small project I'm working on (it's on sale at Hancock Fabrics for $3.99 a yard, woo hoo!) but when I went to sew on it, my machine was snagging and screwing up again. I thought I had fixed the problem. Perhaps I need to readjust the tension or stitch length, but this is just getting frustrating. Yarrgh! Oh, and for a little extra fun on today's blog entry, the subject line is a tongue twister I came up with today. Go ahead, say it aloud! It's fun and I know you want to! *waits* I know, wasn't it great?

I go to De Vry!

The last Roving Imp show of the year. This is Justin and I looking all inspirational and reminiscent about it, or whatever. I don't know what the scene is that we're doing here, so let's just pretend it was about kittens and right now we're listing our favorite things about them. I'm about to say, "They're fluffy." (FYI-that's never, ever happened in a show or rehearsal, it's just fun to list random stuff in the blog sometimes.) Yay for kittens! If you don't have one, buy one! Jason's mom came out today. She bought a new SUV for herself and it was up in Liberty, so she drove up here and we had lunch together. It's really nice! It has a sunroof and DVD player, leather seats, and thanks to the gas prices+current economy=cheap SUV's equation, she got a great deal! Oh, and for anyone worried about the 'carbon footprint' I can't believe she's being so irresponsible, etc. etc., you can stop right now. She lives on a farm and needs to haul horses sometimes, and the sedan she drives to and from work just won't haul 2000 pounds worth of trailer and horseflesh. Kittens!

Academic comma

Today was the last day of school for Leigha in 2008. The school had it's Christmas parties at 10am (???) and Bri and I went to help out. I was hot glue gunning together some reindeer utensil holders (come on, they're called ornaments people! They're small and the kids will use them!) and some glue splooted over the edge of a googly eye and onto two of my fingers. HOTHOTHOT!!!!!! I tried to wipe it off but it cooled off so quickly that it stuck to my skin and fried it as I was frantically trying to pull it off. Finally I ran to the sink and ran cold water over my fingers until it cooled enough to peel off. I have two rather impressive blisters. Just out of sheer curiosity, what exactly is it like to go a full day without maiming yourself in some fashion? I'd like to know at some point. Can anyone describe it to me? Thanks. While we were at the school the principal came on the intercom and announced that the cafeteria was making deli sandwiches for parents who wanted to stay for lunch and to just let the teacher know if you planned on staying. Leigha's teacher asked for a show of hands so I looked at Leigha and she started going, "Ooh, ooh!" And making an emphatic pointing gesture, so I said, "Okay, I guess that's a yes from me." After lunch Bri and I came home and I was trying to think of what to do with the rest of my day when Melissa called. One thing led to another and she ended up at my place to play Guitar Hero for the first time. She was so funny! She got all excited every time she got booed off the stage but had made progress, percentage-wise, in the song. Right before she left she managed to beat "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" on easy and started jumping up and down saying, "Yeah! I rock, I rock!" Go Melissa! After dinner this evening Jason and I felt like getting out and about for a bit so we decided to go to Cabelas and wander around and whatnot. We took the girls into the aquarium part and Brianna said, "Hehehehheh......the fishes are singing!" And then imitated their opening and closing mouths before making up songs that they were singing. *sigh* Rotten kid.

My hair has whiplash?

Whupps! Guess who forgot her camera today? Yup, me! I think it's kind of cool in an ironic sort of way, because just a few days into this blog I had forgotten to take any pictures until late and I took one of.....well, I forget. Go back to January, it's there. So it's kind of a neat little bookend as the blog winds down. Enjoy my "I'm sheepish and trying to look cute about it" pic. I had to run to the fabric store today. I was sewing a present for my mom yesterday and bent the needle on my machine, so I had to get more. If anyone wants a good fish hook, though, go ahead and call me, I'll give you the old one. Due to the massive amounts of ice I had Jason drive me to rehearsal tonight, and since I didn't need my keys, I completely spaced grabbing my purse (ohhhh, thaaaaaat's why she forgot her camera) so it felt very odd going to rehearsal (which was loads of fun, especially when I trekked across the parking lot for a Mountain Dew in my insubstantial shoes. Yay dedication!) and then Wal-Mart, after Jason picked me up, without my purse. It makes a gal feel naked to be out in public with no purse! Unless, maybe, you're one of those girls who is like, "pfft, I got my keys and my wallet, whatever." Weird.

He loves me!

The green tape message on the filters says "Thinking of you. Love ya!" That boy is so good to me. *melty melt melt*

Blame it on the snow

I've been thinking a lot about what to do, blogwise, when the year ends. This is, if you didn't know, a once a day photo blog for the 366 days of 2008. As in once December 31st rolls around, it's OVER, suckah! I have really enjoyed doing the photo blog thing, but once a day gets a bit exhausting (especially if, like this last summer, I'm in rural Minnesota driving around searching for WiFi for the laptop) so here it is: I'm going to continue photo blogging, but not every single day. I will also post multiple pictures if I am so inclined. There have been several days when one picture didn't cut it, but that's the limit I had set, so yeah. As of New Year's, you can jump on over to my other blog (http://sugarbumkin.blogspot.com) and continue to keep informed on what's going on in my happy little world. Okay, so, today I was looking at Craigslist and discovered that some people were giving away the leftovers from an Estate sale for free, so Jason and I went to the house and loaded up on some neat stuff. There were some vintage clothes, fabric, and a few handy items like gardening tools. Score! We also found another ice scraper, which will be especially useful since we got about six inches last night and it's still snowing. After rehearsal tonight Jen and I went to Yard House to chat. It's good to have an awesome friend like her. We can talk about anything and she really listens to me. Most of my other friends who are that close to me live far away (boo hoo!) So, yeah. Jen, I appreciate the crap out of you!

I'm a Jessicle!

Today it was freezing with a capital 'T!' I think the high today was something like 18, and it didn't even get that high until about 4pm or so. Brrrr and yuck! Jason and I went to Target for some essentials and a couple presents for the cat (guess who's getting a new collar with a mouse design and a bell? I bet he's glad he's an animal and therefore hasn't got any self image awareness.) This evening we took the girls downtown to look at the Christmas lights. I love living in a city and being able to see the streets decked out in full splendor. The Mariott downtown always uses the side of their building as a ginormous animated lite brite, and one of the animations we saw tonight showed a sprig of mistletoe, a girl walking in, then a guy walking in, then they kissed! Super cute! I love it when LED diodes fall in love! After driving around for a bit we went to a book store then got some coffee so I could thaw out my poor hands. And you thought it was just for drinking. Hah!

Wild party, man!

Today after church Alanna and her crew came over for lunch. The kids tore up the basement while Alanna and I had a nice quiet coffee upstairs and chatted. It was lovely! Jason was cleaning out the shed so he can move some things from the garage to the shed, which will give us enough room for the garage to house one car, yay! Too bad we don't have openers yet. Next year perhaps. At least until then he'll be able to fix cars and change oil in the comfort of not snow. At four we all went to Braelyn's 2nd birthday party! It was so cute, she stared at us like we were all idiots when we were trying to get her to blow out the candles in her cupcake. One of her gifts was a princess dress up set, which Brianna got very excited about. She pointed at one of the corners of the box and exclaimed, "Those are the SHOES!!!" After the party Jason went to a football watch party while I came home and put the girls to bed. My body has been trying to come down with something for about four days now and I'm finally giving it permission to feel yucky, at long as I'm better by Tuesday night. I only accept planned viruses.

I like hot things, sir, but you don't fit the bill. In your face.

The subject line is a line of song I sang tonight during the game "musical improv." Musical improv is so much fun, I'd really like to try it during longform sometime. Oh to have the talent of Jill Bernard......as if I'm the only one to have ever thought those words. Tonight I did the 'Red Rubber Ball' show at the Imp, it's basically whoever's available and up for it get together and do a couple longforms. At nine was Hype 7 (with free hot chocolate. Woo!) Both shows were fun and pretty good quality too, I'd say. I got a couple complements on some characters I had played (specifically a lady who flipped out over the fact that a McDonald's employee offered her fries and a wine swilling lady who always entered buildings via the window) which is always cool. I like specific comments because it tells you what the audience liked and want to see more of. Jason brought the girls to the first show and Brianna brought Rosalina as well. Earlier in the day the girls and I had run out to the mall because I was out of hair junk and had a coupon for a specific shop that happens to carry my brand of hair junk. Brianna had brought Rosalina then, too, and when we got out of the car she pulled the doll out of the car and said, "Oof. You're getting heavy!" Silly duckling.

Hear you me

Bri and I went to Lawrence today. We walked a good length of the downtown area, perusing shops and hanging out. There's a really cool fabric store down there, fyi. I'd never been there and I just about went into an epileptic seizure when I walked in the door, as every synapse in my body simultaneously switched to overdrive. There was SO MUCH fabric, and all of it cuteamacute! Unfortunately, all I needed was a single yard of white cotton. (Gah! Boring! Gah!) Next time, next time. On the drive back I was listening to the radio and the DJ started talking about a new Weezer single. I went, "Mrrruh?" And my ears perked up. (Mrrrruh is a technical term, shaddup.) He played the single (titled "The Greatest Man that Ever Lived") and it was incredible. Seriously, 19 year old Jessica was jumping up and down inside my brain. (She's the one who was all, "Ahhh! Weezerweezerweezer! Greatest band in the world, I love them!!!" Seriously, just walk up to me and give me the title of any of their b-sides and I'd be happy to sing every word of it for you.) The song was epic, very Bohemian Rhapsody-esque. Very different from their usual stuff. After that they talked with Rivers (19 year old Jess-Ah! Rivers Cuomo, he's awesome!) about the writing of the song and whatnot. They're planning on touring in May and it looks like KC is on the menu. Hmm.......

Now starring?

Today was fun, Melissa and I went to a couple estate sales. I loaded up the car for about $20! *squee!* Saving money is fun! We were in the vicinity of Westport so we decided to hit Jerusalem Cafe for lunch. She's never had mediterranian and she loved it! We got back just in time for Brianna's nap. I made my awesome chili for dinner then went to Roving Imp rehearsal. There was a lot of strange happening, due in large part to a couple people having had bad days, but we did have a good rehearsal. This is John indicating his "This is what a perfect longform should look like" Vanna White style. It would take a while to explain what some of those terms mean (game and relationship don't quite mean what you think they mean when in an improv context) so if you really want to know, ask and I shall go into enough detail so you get it. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you could imagine different animals in place of the words on the pie chart and arrange them biggest to smallest by which one of those animals you think has a better chance of winning a cage match. Just trying to make the blog a little fun for those of you who don't feel intellectually stimulated by my words. (America)

Catloaf

As the weather turns cold, many cats will retract their feet into their bodies for the duration of the winter. Spartacus is no exception to this rule. A couple minutes before this picture was taken, he was playing with a balloon Leigha brought home from church. The balloon kept sticking to his fur due to static cling and he was getting pretty annoyed with it. Finally he caved to the pressure of primal instinct, extended his claws, and *POP!* jumped about 20 feet in the air. Nice. Today I had a great conversation with my friend Sam (go back to around February, there's a picture of us having coffee. Go figure.) who used to hang out with me when we lived in Denver. I'd visited her in D-town several times but as of August she moved to Minot, ND. It was great catching up with her, I miss having my awesome shopping buddy around. We're hoping to meet up in Minnapolis at some point next year. The Pitch came out today (local free publication for events in Kansas City) and Sketchy Thoughts wasn't mentioned at all, despite the fact that the arts reviewer was in attendance Saturday night. That's actually a pretty huge relief to me, he is pretty harsh and usually just reading the titles of some of his reviews makes me cringe. Basically what I'm saying is, since we weren't mentioned, we must have been pretty good! This evening as we were tucking the girls into bed, Brianna was playing a game where she tries to guess what you smell like when you give her a hug. Don't ask, just know that she takes after her mom. At any rate, as I hugged her she said, "Hmmm......you smell like........marshmallows." I replied, "Oh yeah? Well you smell like rotten little girl!" She rolled her eyes and sighed. "No I don't. I smell like pombegramine juice." Again with the 'she takes after her mom' bit. Strange duck.....

The number 7

Jason and I went to the library today. While we were there I figured I'd take a look at books on comedy and sketch writing. Our library has a really good fine arts section, they even have improv books, it's great! I went to look through the writing books and picked out one that looked good.....I couldn't quite stomach the thought of making the first book I checked out on the subject "Comedy Writing for Idiots." Hopefully I'll glean some valuable techniques. Here's a shot from rehearsal tonight. We were getting ready for an improvised musical game in which we take someone's day and make up a song for it on the spot. Individuals sing different songs about a person in the audience's day, and the group chimes in as needed. That's Patrick, Jen, Jen's guitar, Zak, and Nifer. Cerrome had stepped out to make a phone call at that moment. Oh, and the weather has turned, which is kind a huge duh, but from 60 degrees yesterday to snow today is a pretty big change. At least today you're not looking at my feet, eh?

Oh, the truth.....

I've always joked that when I can't figure out what picture to take, on days when not much happens, I'll take pictures of my feet. Look at me proving myself correct! Although, this is not just a "do my toes look happy?" post, no, this is a "look how warm it was at one point in December" post. Seriously, it was like 60 degrees and the perfect amount of humid today! Beautimus! So when Jason and I ran to Target for milk and bread, I went out in flip flops with no jacket on. Because I could. I'm not saying nothing happened today, but do you really care that I enjoyed teasing the cat and beating songs on Guitar Hero that I had been previously unable to conquer? 'Cause that's your alternative.......wait, what? Uh, okay then. Sorry about that. Next time, maybe?

Cookies at midnight for Jessica

This afternoon was the final production of "The Spirit of Christmas." I asked Leigha how she felt about that when we were on our way to the theater. She said, "Sad." Yup, she's got the bug. Go figure. (yay!) The good news is that we can look into children's theater for her this Summer. I have always hoped we'd be in plays together, and it looks as though that could be a very real possibility. (not that I'd ever make her do one if she didn't want to. Living vicariously through your kids is lame.) Jenny and Jason came over this evening for some pizza and Wii. It was a blast! We did some bowling then shredded a few tunes on Guitar Hero. Jenny and Jason both made Mii's and I was showing her a few that we had, and I stumbled across Nifer's. Jenny said, "Huh, it looks just like her." Keep in mind that Jenny and Nifer have never met. It's so funny how many of my friends "know" each other through my blog. The kids played nicely upstairs, for the most part, although there was one point where we were all in the kitchen and Trent came running in, saying something about how something was loose and he couldn't get it, Jenny went around the corner, and a second later came back in asking for a baggie. He had just lost a tooth! Apparently he was wiggling it and she nudged his hand and it just came right out. Nice. After they left Jason and I continued playing Guitar Hero because it's been a while since we've really played together. Even though we only have the one guitar it's much more fun to play when you know there's someone watching and waiting to tell you you rock, in agreement (or lack thereof) with the game. After we stopped playing and were watching I Dream of Jeannie I got a craving for cookies, so I decided to make my famous 'Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World' cookies. They are so good that Carl once accused me of baking crack into them. I've chosen to accept that as a rave review. I'd give you all the recipie, but there really isn't one. It's basically a stick of butter, one egg, then enough sugar, enough brown sugar, that looks like the right amount of flour, oh shoot that might be a lot of baking soda but it's too late to go in and take it out now so what the heck, a dash of salt, oops there's vanilla in there too, and oh yeah, the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 'till they look done. That's about as precise of measurements as I can give, sorry! Oh, yeah, funny story.....I found out today that my good friend Carla, who we visited in October, was in a Christmas play with some members of my family (I knew that part, here comes the info I didn't know) and that her director was Chad. That's right, the Chad that was in Sweeney Todd, which we went to see during that same exact trip in October! I guess she put two and two together just before the last performance of the Christmas play and said, "Hey, I know Jessica" and then he got excited and hugged her, they talked about me and my family, and now they're friends! What are the odds, seriously? I know it's a small town, but still! It's been almost a decade since I've lived there and they just now met! Apparently he's encouraged her and her family to try out for another play early next year. How fun! Real quick here, I just want to say that I feel right now that I'm poised at the precipice of a change for the better in my life. I don't know what it could be, but I'm really excited for whatever comes my way next. Here's hoping! All righty, I'm going to leave now, but since you made it through this semi-monster post, here's a little treat for you. Sing the subject line of this blog to the chorus line of "Springtime for Hitler" from The Producers. Wasn't that fun?

I think we're alone now......

Today was one of those days you just don't want to end. Seriously. I went to the Westport Coffeehouse about 3pm to get in one (LOOOONG) last rehearsal with Sketchy Thoughts before our show this evening. The rehearsal was a tad rough, but we powered through then took a short break for dinner then it was time for our first performance. Seriously, four hours of rehearsing, a 20 minute break, then we performed. Exhausted? You better believe it. But the show was tight and well timed, the set changes were snappy, and everything clicked pretty well! It was so strange doing theater WITH props and costumes again, and in sketch comedy you only get about 3 1/2 minutes per sketch or so, so that's how long you have to change and/or get your props together, assuming someone else is on top of changing the set. It was complete chaos and I loved every minute of it. (and got paid, wo0t!) Oh, and the coolest part was, when the show was over, we bowed and Clay announced all our names, and when he said my name someone in the audience actually whooped. That's never happened to me before and it felt so good! From left to right: Nick Rigoli, Matt Massey, Aaron Bagby, Mandy Bannon, Joe Henley, Clay Morgan, Jen Harmon, and me. Oh, and my dress thingy is one I designed and sewed myself, and I didn't even have a pattern. Just a 49 cent bundle of cloth from Goodwill. Nice. Jen and I had driven together so after the show we went to McCoy's, briefly, and sang some karaoke. I've never sung karaoke before, it was fun! I sang "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany. I think I made the right decision in regards to my first karaoke song.

I'm a big fan of Elvish

Opening night for "The Spirit of Christmas!" It's amazing. I can do a performance every weekend and getting ready is just a blip on my radar. The second the kids are in a show, it's like, "HERE WE GO, people, get the costumes together, let's move! Move! Didn't you have shoes on a second ago? Don't tell me you don't own tights, I specifically bought them for.....is that dinner burning I smell? Aaaah!" In the end, it's beyond worth it, however, and by the time I got them fed and trussed they looked perfectly adorable. I love this picture even more because in the bottom left hand you can see Spartacus contemplating a mistake. The play was really cute. Basically it's all the elves in Santa's living room. They've finished their toy making and are taking a well deserved break before the big drop, and the toys come in to entertain them. So basically it went, "Look, cute elves. Oh, wow! Here come some ballerina toys they made! They're daaaaancing! Pretty!" The Christmas faerie goes around animating all the toys and the kid looked like she was getting pretty sick of it because by the end, she'd get up, wave her wand once or twice, then make a beeline for the wall. It was basically like she was saying, "There, I did the minimum work required, are you not entertained?" It was cute. The best act of the evening was Raggedy Anne and Andy. They were two teenaged girls who were in gymnastics or tumbling or some such, and they were just incredible. Leigha did a great job with her singing parts (ensemble, no solos, but there were only about six in the group.) and I could clearly see Brianna instigating trouble among the other elves, and at one point she yawned hugely and made absolutely no attempt to hide it. Ah, to be young and without social shame. All the kids did a really great job and it was so cute. At the very end Santa came out and handed all the kids candy canes. Brianna thought that eating it and having peppermint breath was a good excuse to not brush her teeth. Nice try, kiddo.

Our lips are sealed

Today was rather special. Jen came over and we made some candy (chocolate covered pretzels and peppermint bark) which was a lot of fun. Drawing on yesterday's theme, however, who feels like an idiot? Show of hands? Anyone? No, just me? Okay, good to know.... I put the pretzels on wax paper and picked it up from the bottom to stick in the freezer to cool, when the wax paper slipped and I started yelling, "Help. Help! Help!! HELP!!!" Jen ran up and grabbed the other side as three chocolate covered pretzels slid off and onto the floor and the other side twisted and stuck to the rest. We hit the ceiling of the freezer with the melted mess and created a chocolate stalagtite. Luckily, we only lost the three that fell on the floor. As we wrangled the rest of the chocolate/pretzel conglomeration into the freezer Jen said, "Hey, Jess......got cookie sheets?" I replied, "Well, yeah, but apparently no intellect." Yurt-de-durrrr! We did some one on one improv workouts for funsies and it was an absolute blast. After dinner the girls went to their final dress rehearsal for the Christmas show and I went to the Imp for our rehearsal/once monthly free show. The show part was pretty fun. All seven of us were there and it was great to have everyone there. This picture is us backstage before we went out, (left to right, top to bottom) me, Nifer, Julie, Josh (look close) and Patrick. Justin volunteered to martyr himself out of this picture by taking it, which was way sweet of him, but I gotta get him in this blog sometime soon. I'm about to run out of time here! Either way, thanks, Justin. It's a great picture, but your visible presence would have greatly enhanced it. I ran to Wal-Mart on the way home for a few essentials and got back to find my awesome husband doing the dishes. He's just to great, seriously. So I fixed him a nummy snack for being so great and we came downstairs to watch some TV. Mmm.......great day.

Good Hair Day!

If I didn't tell you I took this picture myself, I doubt you'd be able to tell.......... . . . *cough* Readers of my blog, rejoice! Behold! I have had a good, nay, GREAT hair day! Behold it I say!!!! My hair was shiny, curled ever so perfectly, and was frizz free. What could possibly go wrong on a day like today? Well...it is still me..... This afternoon I was hanging up some Christmas garland when I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. I happened to be holding the garland up with one knee as I grabbed for the phone with my left hand. Distracted, I answered and discovered that it was a fellow Sketchy Thoughts member looking for Jen's phone number, which, of course, I have. Flustered, I tried to gather my scattered (and perhaps, yes, just a little sketchy) thoughts when I noticed the cat beginning a reckless climb up the Christmas tree, popping out artificial branches as he ascended. Engaged as I was in the activity of trying to hold the phone and garland at the same time, I reached for the only weapon at my disposal at the time-my scariest "You're in big trouble now" mom voice. "NO!!!! No, get OUT of there! Arrrgh!!!!" Suddenly I realized that I was yelling directly into the phone. "Uh.....I'm sorry, er, my cat is climbing the Christmas tree." "......Uh, okay....." Show of hands, who feels like an idiot? Anyone? No, just me? Okay then. Good to know. Later on Bri came up to me and said, "You know, Mom, you COULD make an elf costume for Rosalina." (Rosalina is Brianna's favorite baby doll. Interestingly enough, Rosalina is a boy. Yes, she came up with the name, it wasn't on a tag or anything.) I had enough felt so I made one up for her in about 20 minutes. She giggled and clutched the doll to her chest as she ran upstairs. After I got home from taking the girls to their rehearsal, I recalled the event to Jason. He said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. One of the other kids came to the dress rehearsal yesterday and they had the same doll as Rosalina, and it was wearing an elf costume." Ah, that explains that. FYI, Rosalina is an early '90's Cabbage Patch baby. It is really rare to see the same exact model, though. What are the odds?

Don't let the halo fool you...

This is as close to angelic as Bri gets. Today we decorated our tree (yay!) and Spartacus will NOT leave it alone. He's climbed it several times and likes to get under the tree skirt and just hang out. Fortunately, Jason and I forsaw such events and reinforced the base of the tree. Mua ha ha. The girls had their first dress rehearsal for the play tonight. They were very excited as they donned their little green felt tunics and pointy hats. I went to rehearsal myself and had a great time. We did a french braid (three scenes, each revisited three times in succession) that was really messed up and super fun. I played a girl who was such a fierce stalker that by the third scene my character had literally morphed into Zak's character. Jen and Joe were a wealthy man and his robot wife, and Patrick and Nifer were a newly wed human/robot couple who survived the apocalypse while on their honeymoon and were now captives of a polar bear colony. It really is amazing what the human brain comes up with when you're making stuff up off the top of your head. I swear we're not crazy......for the most part. I got home just after Jason and the girls and we put them to bed. Ah, good 'ol peace and quiet.

They prefer the term "little people."

This afternoon the girls INSISTED on building a snowman out of the tiny amount of snow we got. Ta da..... We didn't do a whole lot today, just some grocery shopping and the girls had rehearsal this evening. Jason and I wandered Home Depot while they were there, discussing various future projects that likely won't be feasible for several years. It's fun to dream, though. I also finished the elf costumes for the play. They are going to look so cute!