Sunday Hijinks at the Theater

As happens, if I’m really lazy one day of the weekend, I tend to actually get out and do things on the other. While I completely spaced on having my car looked at, I did venture out to do Sunday afternoon fun things.

That wasn’t before finishing up season 1 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Can we talk about that show for a second? I wasn’t sold when we first started watching it. The first few episodes were kind of boring, but once the show found its pace, it was amazing! After I got home from being social, we started season 2 and I got punched right in the feels. I’m still hurting a little bit.

My faves!

First outing of the day was seeing Fox on the Fairway at the Manhattan Arts Center. Unlike the last few shows I’ve seen there, I didn’t have the background on this story. One of my job perks is that the owner of the company will often buy tickets for employees (our company is a sponsor). I love live theater, so I jumped at the chance to go.

I have to give kudos to the MAC staff for hooking me up with a more comfortable chair. Their normal ones are super narrow, and not wide-bottom comfortable. In the past, I probably would have been too shy to say anything, but age is great for no longer really caring and valuing comfort over being afraid to just say “My butt needs a bigger chair.” So I did and no one was weird about it. They got me a comfy one right away and even thanked me for letting them know.

As for the play itself, it was hilarious. The actors were spot on, the story was really fun, and being that it was a Sunday production, the theater wasn’t super crowded, so I didn’t feel claustrophobic.

From there, I went to the weekly Stitch ‘n’ Bitch gathering, which was held at Panera this week. I went early to meet up with a fellow knitter who was giving me a ball and swift winder lesson and winding up a couple skeins of alpaca for me for my next project. Recently I got it in my head that I need these tools, so I wanted to see how they worked and get some feedback on good brands. I kept waffling over the weekend about buying them, but I didn’t order anything yet. I think I’m going to wait for our new yarn store to open and I’m going to see if I can purchase one through them. I’ll feel good about keeping it local, and in this case, I’d like to see what I’m buying beforehand.

We did have a bit of a yarntastrophe, but I suppose that’s how it goes sometimes. We finally detangled and still got some quality knitting time, though I’m a bum and still haven’t taken any pictures of my work in progress to share.

Not much got done in the way of housework this weekend, but I have a free Monday night tomorrow, so after grocery shopping…which I desperately need to force myself to do…I’ll do a little bit of cleaning and prepping for the rest of the week.

On that note, I’m off to bed. Onward to the Monday!

A.

The Balance Between Fun and Responsibility

Last week was a busy and exhausting week. My natural tendency to pull away from people showed itself, and yet I pushed through it to be social. Some of that social interaction wore me down. Most of it was fun though.

In gaming, my halfling rogue was turned into a vampire, which made me sad. My werewolf saw combat, which frustrated me (not the story so much as the game mechanics). I’m also kind of a sore loser, even though that really shouldn’t apply to this sort of gaming.

I also played a game called Superfight and found out that it’s tough to beat someone or something that has been turned into a poltergeist.

In knitting, I realized I really need to learn to read a pattern better. I read the length instructions for a hat wrong and ran out of yarn. I figured I’d just use some matching scrap, but it wasn’t working for me, so I completely fudged the end of the hat. I suppose it doesn’t look horrible, but it drives me nuts because the original pattern would have been super cool looking. I’m going to try that one again. Some day.

Thursday was the highlight day of the week.

1. I paid off all my credit cards. Doing this involved going against what many a financial advisor would advise. I cashed out my previous 401k. It wasn’t a decision I made quickly or easily, but when it came down to it, I wanted to free up money to comfortably pay Jon’s student loans each month. I’m glad I did it, even if it means pushing retirement back.

2. We bought new games. What better way to celebrate financial responsibility than to go out and spend more money. I have no regrets. We picked up Smallworld: Underground and Betrayal at House on the Hill from our new game store. They were 2 games we’ve been wanting and we know they’ll see play.

3. I had my 90-day evaluation at work. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been there for 90 days. Most of the time, I feel like I just started. The eval was good. I’m right where I should be. I was fairly stressy about a week ago with regards to my speed and quality, but at the urging of my boss, I stopped stressing and all has been well since.

The weekend has been lazy enough to offset the . Snow and cold kept me inside watching movies, listening to podcasts, and knitting like a maniac. I finished an easy project and then moved on to a not so easy project. Not sure if that was a great idea considering I’ve been knitting more in social situations, but I realize I do have the power to just start a different, easier project.

My first cowl.

Onward to finish off the weekend and prepare for the inevitability of Monday.

A.

Change is for the Good

I’m sitting at my laptop attempting to finish my goal for NaNoWriMo, but I’m having a hard time with focus, partially because I’m a little burned out on writing and partially because I’m having the most bizarre conversation with my nephew about raccoons. It’s entertaining, but slightly disturbing at the same time.

It’s been a pretty eventful weekend. There was gaming on Friday, but I wasn’t feeling great so I ended up stopping early. I tried to game on Saturday, but I had a headache that wouldn’t quit, so I came home and napped before a few people from the writers group came over to hang out. I managed to make some headway in my novel AND get slightly drunk.

Today was writing, reading, and getting things in order for the week.

It’s a little strange not preparing for the work week, but my last day at work was Friday. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to a lot of great people. I cried a little. However, I’m excited to start my new job next week. In the meantime, I’m taking a week off to get some personal stuff done and enjoy some down time. We’re also trekking to Illinois to see some of J’s family for Thanksgiving, so here’s to hoping for some good weather.

A.

Kansas City and Tori Amos

This weekend, my friend Janet and I went to Kansas City, MO to see Tori Amos in concert on her Unrepentant Geraldines tour. This was my fifth Tori concert and Janet’s second. We kicked our adventure off Saturday morning around noon with the drive to KC and a quick stop for lunch at the travel plaza where we saw fellow MHKers who were going to to an event in Lawrence.

The drive was quick and easy, and after touring the one way streets in KC’s Power and Light District to find the theater, we pulled up to our hotel to check in. The Aladdin is an old but updated boutique hotel with valet parking and a spa in the basement. Janet’s husband hooked us up with points for the room, free breakfast, and free valet parking. We didn’t know about the free breakfast or parking, so that was a nice surprise, as was the complimentary glasses of champagne they gave us at check-in.

Kicking off the fun with some bubbly.

The room was kind of cool and funky. We got a king sized bed because that was all that was available. The woman who checked us in seemed a little confused at first, but we assured her we were just kicking it high school style.

How does one get one of these chairs? Because I loved it.

In lieu of exploring the area in the heat, we chilled in the hotel room with some drinks and “Mean Girls” on cable. After showers, we decided to walk around the corner to have dinner at the Kobe Japanese Steakhouse. It was a little bit of a splurge, but not horrible, and hibachi makes for a fun dinner experience.

From there, we went ahead and lined up outside the theater. We were there early enough to get close to the doors, and we got the chance to visit with other Tori fans during the wait. That’s one of my favorite parts of the concerts…fellow fans are super friendly.

Once the doors opened, we went to the merch station where I bought a tote bag and met Tori’s daughter, Tash. She was genuinely sweet and gave us hugs and chatted with us for awhile.

The theater was comfortable and kind of cozy. Since we were there early, we waited about an hour for the opening act, then another half hour for Tori to start. I had heard that The Midland didn’t have bad seats, and while technically that was true, that doesn’t take into account what happens when a bunch of tall people sit in front of a short person. Because the seating is not tiered, there were some challenges seeing through the tall gentlemen in front of me, the woman who kept dipping her head right into my line of sight in front of them, and the guy in the hat in front of her.

Luckily, being in the back row meant we could stand without blocking anyone, so I stood part of the time and sat at just the right angle the rest of the time, a feat made easier when the woman with the dippy head left early.

The show was just as good as we’d hoped. Tori looked and sounded amazing. Hearing some of her songs done live triggers all the feels. I teared up at some of the songs that I don’t usually cry to. For Lizard Lounge, she covered “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Over the Rainbow” (relevant to Kansas, even though the concert was in Missouri). I was especially stoked to hear “Take to the Sky” in the encore, as that song hits me on a personal level.

While Tori was great, I did take issue with some of my fellow concert goers. While I’m all for showing your enthusiasm and love, doing it every thirty seconds, including when she’s trying to talk to the audience, is just obnoxious. Also, if you’re going to spend money on the concert, think about the fact that other people have done the same thing and don’t make the concert your social hour. We had people behind us who rudely carried on a conversation the whole time. Not cool, and I think some of the people down from us were ready to start a fight afterwards over it.

We walked back to the hotel room and debriefed over Doritos and Chex Mix, then crashed out. This morning was breakfast and the drive home, with a stop for some Baskin Robbins on the way. Because sometimes ice cream just sounds better than an actual lunch.

For a weekend away, it was actually very relaxed, but I’m still taking today just to reset, clean, and get ready for the work week. Now the planning begins for the next tour and another girls’ weekend. It’s likely two years away, and I’m already excited for it.

A.

 

Work, Homework, and Working Out

After blogging fairly regularly for the last several months, it definitely felt weird to go a week without putting down a post. At the same time, most nights I was too brain tired to formulate a complete sentence by the time I got to the bloggy part of the night. I was using my words for book reviews I guess. Which I enjoyed doing, but I figured it was time to do an actual update.

Sadly, I’m a little hazy on singular events that happened over the past week. The weekend was fun. Jon went out of town, so I did some self pampering: walking, gym, art opening with wine, ears pierced, manicure, and quality time with friends. I introduced one crew to the movie Secretary and hung out with Forsh and Baby Forsh for some Bubble Guppy/social time.

Manicures are one of my favorite things that I don’t get often enough.

I missed Jon, but I definitely needed the pampering, and though I’d planned to do some work over the weekend to get caught up, I ended up giving my brain the rest it deserved.

Work has been pretty whoa. Remember when I mentioned I was transitioning to a new position? Well, the transition has happened, but the position itself has changed a bit, at least temporarily. I’m doing several different things, including coordinating some projects and diving into some marketing type stuff.

It’s a little overwhelming.

I’m hanging on and trying to focus and manage my time, and I think I’m doing okay for the most part. There are a few things I’m trying to get a handle on, but I think I just have to roll with it at this point. Some of it is fun. I never thought I’d enjoy doing html updates, nor did I think I’d be attempting to head up a social media campaign. But I’m doing both, along with a bunch of other things, and I’m pretty excited.

Outside of work, I’ve been finishing up a Coursera course and trying to maintain a regular schedule with finishing the lectures, quizzes, and assignments. Writing has taken a backseat to everything, as has editing, though I think I’ll be able to work on those things a little this week.

I’ve managed to hold on to an exercise routine, though I haven’t fully met my gym goals, nor have I taken the steps I initially wanted in training for a 5k. Still, I’m not going to beat myself up over it. As long as I’m staying active, I’m on the right track. Tonight we walked from our house to Subway and back. It was a pretty decent walk. There was a hill that kicked my butt, but I made it without too much trauma. As far as goals go, I’m keeping my current ones in my head, but in March, Jon and I are going to try to get back to doing some strength training.

I’m a little sore tonight, so I’m going to shower and lay down with a book for awhile. The plan for tomorrow is to be wide eyed enough to tackle some of the projects on my to-do list and put out some more fires. Fingers crossed.

A.

Valentines and Palentines

Jon and I are super non-traditional about Valentine’s Day. I’ve never been a big fan of V-Day, though this year I was a lot less cynical about it. Since Jon and I are always doing stuff together, Valentine’s Day just seems like any other day to us. Of course, that’s a personal thing, and I hope other people had fun doing whatever they do on Valentine’s Day.

We decided to ignore the commercials that said we were horrible people if we didn’t buy our significant other flowers/jewelry/a giant teddy bear. Instead, we chose things we actually wanted. Jon got some gaming supplies (play mat and sleeves for MtG) and I’m going to treat myself next weekend to some spa type things while he’s out of town (manicure time).

We did the whole Palentine’s Day thing. Jon went the game store, and I got together with the normal crew for some hang time and a Twitter party, which also included a fun Twitter conversation with my brother-in-law.

On Saturday, Jon and I chilled, then hijacked Terry’s boys and took them to see The LEGO Movie with us. All four of us liked it. It was a really fun movie, and the kids are always well behaved, so no worries there. There were so many kids in the theater, but we knew that going in, so it wasn’t obnoxious. We didn’t mind the child chatter during the movie.

Today we hit the gym, went out to eat at Longhorn’s, and went to gaming. I shared it on Twitter, but not FB or the blog – I logged a half hour on the elliptical machine last week. It’s been several years since I’ve been able to do that, so I felt super accomplished. I only logged 20 today before shifting to one of the other machines, but logging anything more than a few minutes on the elliptical is a pretty big thing for me.

The weekend was relaxing, but as always, I’m sad that Sunday night means returning to the work week. Going to shower and read myself to sleep in preparation for whatever Monday’s going to through at me.

A.

 

Mellow Weekend and Learning All The Things

The weekend was fairly uneventful, but highly relaxing. I was able to counteract the feeling of being a complete lump by getting to the gym both days, which then made me feel okay about vegging out. Not that I should feel guilty about down time, but sometimes my mind wanders to what I should be doing. This often equates to “I should exercise” and “I should clean something.”

I counteracted both of these this weekend. I used the gym to quiet the exercise voice and I made it a point to do twenty minutes of cleaning each day so I could get that done and out of the way (Jon helped me with this, because he’s awesome). The twenty minutes has been effective. The house is pretty nice and tidy right now, and we finally got a start on packing for an eventual move and paring down our pile of stuff.

Once those two things were done, I was able to enjoy a lot of reading time (including staying up super late on Friday night), some movie time, and some knitting. I also did some writing. The other night I had an idea for a new story, so I started writing it. I decided to make it a habit to write 1000 words a day. It’s not a lot, but it keeps me on track and it limits me from burning out in a few days. Plus, I’ve noticed that some days the words come easy, and other days it’s like sludging through mud to make a coherent sentence. The story isn’t going the way I thought it would, but I’m going to see it through to the end to determine if there’s anything viable there.

Today was mentally taxing. Learning a new job is tough, and I’m currently working on a challenging project that is making me question my abilities. Luckily, I’m getting help and support from co-workers, but I’m having a hard time keeping my confidence up. I’ve toyed with the thought of asking to keep my old position, but I’m pretty sure that comes from fear and stress. I have to keep telling myself that at some point in the near future I’ll learn this and it won’t be so hard and I’ll be back to knowing that I have a few talents to offer up. Right now, though, I just need to breathe and try not to focus on just how incompetent I feel.

Day jobs, right?

Though I was pretty hyped about making it to the gym over the weekend, we decided today was a good day to just head home. I have no regrets. We did our round of cleaning the apartment, though I have a few more things to do before bed to prep for housesitting the next couple of nights. I also managed to watch some of the newest lecture videos from my Coursera course, and after I catch up on some blogs, I’ll have plenty of time to read before bed. Yay for time management!

On that note, Harry Dresden is waiting for me, so I’m off for the night.

A.

February Goals and Progress with Revision

This past weekend was spent doing almost nothing. I think I was still fighting an infection because the stomach pain from the sickness I had last week didn’t go away, so I wasn’t feeling up to doing anything besides sitting around and reading and watching cute movies on Netflix. The highlight of the weekend (or lowlight as it were) was probably a bad haircut, though realizing it as a bad haircut was kind of a delayed reaction. Either way, I’ll be rocking the headbands for the next few weeks. My hair grows fast, though.

My stomach pains seem to have gone away. I’m avoiding soda and carbonation until I know for sure, but today was good. I was even able to walk on my breaks and get a workout in at the gym before we headed home. We’re waiting for a big snowstorm to hit. The city of Manhattan and the university and all the schools are already closed for tomorrow. My place of work is still open, however. If it’s not too bad in the morning, I’ll probably still go in. Current projects are much easier on my dual monitors. But if it’s bad in the morning, I’m prepared to work from home.

Since we’re into a new month, I’ve been trying to come up with some good goals for February. My writing goals included putting together the second draft of my novel and sending it to my beta readers, a goal which I accomplished tonight. I’ve set the deadline for the end of this month, which means March will be more revision and formatting. But now, other than the small bit of anxiety I’m getting with actually putting my work out there with the intention of maybe publishing it, I can rest for a few weeks and focus on some other things.

Seriously…even if this book doesn’t happen and even if everyone who reads it hates it, I’m going to feel good about the fact that I’ve gotten this far.

The two main goals for this month are going to be to finish my current/newest knitting project and to recommit to three days a week at the gym. Though I’ve been active (with the exception of last week, which turned into a seven day rest to heal from my illness), I haven’t been putting in the gym time, which is fine, except I’m paying for the membership. Since this might go away soon, depending on the job and money situation, I feel I should take advantage while I have it. Once the weather gets warmer, I’m going to be putting my goal focus into walking and running goals, so might as well take advantage of the gym while the weather dictates.

I may come up with some other goals later. My brain is all over the place right now.

It’s past my bedtime and work is likely to still happen tomorrow, so I’d better get a shower and get some sleep.

Side note: Cress releases tomorrow! I can’t wait! I’d be tempted to stay up until midnight to download it, but that will lead to starting it, which will lead to staying up all night reading it, which means nothing would get done tomorrow, and I need to be functional.

A.

 

 

Weather Woes and Scenic Views

It’s been a good weekend, other than the fact that I keep having bouts of sleepiness and stuffiness in what seems like a constant fight to keep from getting sick.

Friday night was a chill night with my friend. We went to Olive Garden, and I tried OG’s zeppoli for the first time (italian sugar coated donuts with raspberry and chocolate dipping sauces). I may now have a reason to go there just for dessert sometime.  After I left her, I had some time to kill while Jon finished at gaming, so I had a coffee and some reading time at Hastings.

We’d planned to take a walk and go geocaching on Saturday, but the weather wasn’t as agreeable as we’d hoped. Though the temperature was warmer than it has been, it was really windy and cloudy, and we got a little bit of rain. We also couldn’t seem to figure out where to buy a park pass to go hike around Tuttle Creek State Park. Once we find out where we’re going to be moving to, I’m definitely investing in an annual state park pass.

It worked out okay since we were saved from being caught out in the weather. We did make a pit stop at the dam to take some pictures and look for a geocache that we didn’t end up finding.

It was fun climbing around on the rocks to look for the cache, but it was a bummer that we didn’t spot it. The wind was biting, so maybe we’ll have better luck on a warmer day.

We chilled at our house sitting house for the afternoon and watched This is 40, which I thought was pretty funny. Later, we went to our friends’ house for some  social time and to get a check on the car. We also watched Iron Sky, which was…as expected…pretty ridiculous.

Today, the weather was more agreeable, so we relaxed through the morning, then took a walk around the neighborhood before going to lunch at Longhorn’s. I tried the Parmesan Crusted Chicken this time. So good! Afterwards, we headed back to Wamego and decided to take further advantage of the nice weather by walking the track and doing a zombie mission. This might not have been our best idea, since lunch was really filling and I felt sluggish the whole walk. But in hindsight, I’m glad we did it.

I’m sleepy tonight and as I’ve been writing this, my throat has gotten progressive sorer, so I think I need to go ahead and lay down early and try to sleep it off. I’ll read for a little bit. I’m currently reading Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. It’s not about dating nerds. In fact, it’s a very unsettling novel and definitely a turn from the stuff I’ve been reading.

As for my January goals regarding coursework and novel revision, I’m not sure if I’m going to reach them, but this week I'[ll be kicking things into high gear. I also start a new Coursera course tomorrow. More friends are going to be in town this week, and I’m excited to see them, but we’ll see how much social time we get. Either way…I can’t be sick, so fingers crossed that I wake up feeling great tomorrow morning.

A.

Wintery Weekend

Last year, I was able to find some good things about winter. Then again, it was pretty mild. This year, there are no redeeming qualities to this season. I’m hating it more than I’ve hated it since moving out of Michigan, and this weekend only solidified that. Don’t get me wrong, I know other parts of the country are having it ten times worse. But here in my little corner of the world, winter can leave and never come back.

Friday night, we made it to the gym then went to Imperial Garden for dinner since I’d been craving some sweet and sour chicken. We went to Terry and Erica’s for our scheduled game night, but we didn’t game because we were all brain fried. So we visited and introduced them to some pretty awesomely bad fan fiction on the web.

The snow hit on Saturday, and we waited too long to get out and take a walk. Even though the morning was clear, we putzed around, and by the time we finally did go outside, the sleet sent us right back in. I finished some knitting projects and watched several hours of “Cheers.” Still, by the end of the day I was super restless. Besides the fact that we didn’t get out to do anything, the fact that I felt trapped by the weather just made me want to go out and do something that much more. I did do a little cleaning, some reading, and some putzing on the web, but nothing really active.

The sun came out this afternoon, and the plow trucks did a fair job of clearing the roads, so we headed into town for gym and gaming. Though I was pretty happy to get back into the gym, I didn’t hydrate well beforehand, so my feet hurt and I felt lethargic. Still, I exercised for about a half hour and finished Season 1 of Zombies, Run. I found out tonight that the initial purchase doesn’t give you all the new seasons, so tonight I bought the Season 2 pass so I can continue. At some point, I’ll have to buy season 3, but I think that’s a little further down the timeline (it’s not even released yet).

We made it to our Pathfinder game, doing a holiday one shot, and then Jon and I did a little bit of shopping to get dinner for tonight and lunches for the week. Things are going to take a little planning since we’re staying at Forsh’s the next two nights and we’ll want to plan what we’re making on Christmas Day. I think the day after Christmas will be chili since we both have that day off. I hope the weather is nice. I’d like to use the time off to get out and do some walking and geocaching.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been watching a lot of “Cheers” since it’s on Netflix. I put it on on a whim last week and realized how much I enjoyed it, both for the amusement and the nostalgia. It’s also really interesting to see how the show handled certain issues back then and how different it is from today. Some of the jokes throughout the show wouldn’t be acceptable today, especially those involving racism or gays. There have also been at least two scenes (I’m only in season 2) in which someone attempts sexual assault on Diane and the laugh track continues. She then proceeds to say how it was her fault. Yes, times have definitely changed. It’s also kind of strange that as an adult watching the show, I realize what a jerk Sam is and how dysfunctional his relationship with Diane is. It doesn’t help that I can’t stand Diane. I think she’s one of the worst TV characters ever. Luckily, the rest of the cast makes up for her.

Tomorrow’s Monday, and our work deadlines have been pushed up due to the holiday, so I need to get some rest so I can kick butt tomorrow. Off to shower and bed.

Stay safe out there.

A.