Tuesday, September 30, 2008

One taco short of a grande...

That would describe a lot of the people around here.

Logan walked over to the office of our apartment building because when I went to take a shower, the water trickled, then disappeared.

We've been here nearly a year and this is the first time we've not had water. Reminded me of all those times at my parents' house when we'd run out of water because Grandma liked watering the side of the barn. (Sorry, Grammy, you know I love you!)

Anyway, Logan went over to find out what happened to the water and drop off our rent check. He found out that one of the tenants pulled a gun on the landlady and was now moving out. Don't know why he did it, but she indicated: "He wasn't right... in the head..." (Name that movie!)

We've noticed that the mental capacities of many individuals in this area are, well, not all there. I think the children are the most normal people around here. When I heard about how uncommonly friendly the people are in this state, I hadn't realized they were talking about the kids. Little kids strike up conversations with me all the time. I was at Fred Meyer a few days ago and a boy around 6 started showing me all the costumes he'd like to wear for Halloween (his mom was in the next aisle).

The adults, however, are somewhat f@%ked up!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Hippo birdie 2 ewe!

Happy birthday to my bestest buddy in the whole wide world, the Queen of Hearts aka Mellybean aka Mac to my Tosh, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! I hope you had a wonderful day! I also hope your first year in your 30s was kind! >wicked grin<

Saturday, September 20, 2008

I can see, it's a miracle!

After a year of wearing my glasses every day, I decided to go back to contacts. I didn't really start missing them until the last couple of months, especially when I started teaching.

I'm used to old school teaching. You know, using my theater projection to reach all the ears in the room. But now I'm teaching at a fitness club that has all the fancy technology. Not the most up to date tech, but still more than I'm used to.

I have a headset mic to make it easier to project my voice with the music. Unfortunately, it fits over my ears where my glasses rest. So either the mic sits awkwardly or my glasses get knocked askew, especially if I snag the cord.

So today I went to the eye doctor in the Fred Meyer store and got my first set of contacts in over a year. I'd been wearing them since I was 14, so I'm an old hand. I was glad that I didn't have any trouble getting my new ones in. It was like I'd never stopped wearing them.

The double takes at work have stopped now that everyone is used to seeing me there in the dark green employee shirts rather than the light tan manager shirts. Now they'll start again as they try to figure out why I look different!

Oh, yeah. Did I mention I went back to work at the store where I was the office manager? It's been almost three months since I quit and I was getting bored sitting at home all the time. So when my former boss offered me a position in the receiving department as a regular hourly employee at a VERY decent pay per hour, with the plus of having whatever schedule I want or working in any department I choose (except hunting), how could I say no? I still teach, too. And receiving is much more relaxing than management. I don't think I'll ever want to be a manager again.

But now I'm suspicious. Apparently the lady who replaced me as office manager is, well, let's say she's not enjoying it anymore. I think she's about to quit. I hope my boss doesn't think he'll get me back in that position. He'd make all kinds of promises to me about it, but I know Corporate won't even consider paying me what I'd demand. They'd just tell him to find someone else. Ah, well. Not my problem.

On a chillier note, the snow has started to fall on the mountains that surround the Mat-Su Valley. It was such a blustery day last Thursday that one of my coworkers and I peeked out the receiving door to see what was making the rollup door bang. We caught sight of the mountains and could tell by the blur that it was snowing. By the end of the day the tops were white.

I wonder how long it will be until it snows here. If I remember correctly, it didn't snow until November last year. But this summer was so drizzly and cool, maybe it'll start snowing earlier. The weather is getting colder. I had to turn up my thermostat a smidge yesterday. (The nice thing about a lot of apartment complexes here in Alaska is that they pay for heating. Thank the gods for that! I try not to abuse it, though.)

I can't wait until Bruno sees the snow. He'll go nuts!

Less than a month until auditions for the Spitfire Grill here in Wasilla. I'm so excited I can't sit still!

And the Christmas Show at the Olde Coloma Theatre in Coloma, California was written by me and my best friend! If you live in that area, go see it! Go see the Halloween show, too, also written by my best friend! (Not me, but I was in the first one a couple of years ago. It's good stuff.) If you have a video cam, record these shows and send them to me so I can see them, too!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Teaching in Alaska... Fall is near

I taught my first group fitness class here in Alaska today. All the people who have been involved in getting me ready for this have been supportive and have complemented me so much, it might give one an ego.

Well, if I had an ego, it was deflated today.

Only one person came to the class.

And that one person was one of the office people that works at the club. He had taken the training weekend for this particular group fitness class, too, so it was like preaching to the choir.

Bummed as I was about that, at least it gave me a chance to practice using my iPod for the music and setting up the head mic. I got to feel what it was like to move with that thing and I've discovered that I prefer the old school way: Military voice, like I used in teaching martial arts. Still, I'm just not used to it. As soon as I am, I'll probably appreciate it more.

And now for something completely different...

I can feel the change in the air today. There is a colder, stronger wind blowing. Last night we were shivering, so we closed the windows and put on sweaters. While the fall colors are not evident here yet, they've already started farther north in Fairbanks. Autumn is on its way

And in entertainment news...

My best friend has had some struggles with the theatre she works at. They're in need of new material for melodramas, so I've decided to help them out and put my extra time to some productive use. In this, my best friend and I are very compatible; she has little time to write and many ideas, while I have tons of time and can usually write well as long as I have an idea to begin with. That's always the hardest part for me, coming up with ideas.

So now I need an idea of what to write for National Novel Writers Month in November.