Happy birthday, Jo and Harry!

(My mom has pulled up this page each time I've seen her do her internet loop [email/facebook/blogs], so I thought I'd add something. That's all.)

Happy fourth, self!

It's a joke I've already used today (Hi, Paul! New letter soon! Possibly with a MO postmark!), but part of my brain wonders where my Texas degree went. Surely I've been earning a Masters in Humidity or B.A. (Bachelors of Ate-Stuff) in Queso rather than living the past four years as an adult.

Clearly I've only managed to pass courses in denial, but my thesis on quesadillas in the River Oaks area will hopefully send me over the top.

What? I don't know either. I'm a little bit two-days-from-vacation bouncy (and a touch of Spotlighter-meeting-canceled-hurrah! slaphappy), so it's okay if you don't follow the above. I'm currently listening to RJ yell at her Excel file and trying to find better info about whether or not I can bring half of pan of brownies in my carry-on luggage.

early '90s mix in the S Office today

My favorite part of Len's "Steal My Sunshine" is the line
"L-A-T-E-R that week..."

(edited to add)
Why, YES, we do need to hear Freddie Mercury at that volume. Please turn it into thoughts about "Shaun of the Dead" if it bothers you.

(edited edited to add)
zed-word violence!

calendaring

This time last year I was on a flight home from London (after a last minute stop at the airport duty-free candy store, where I splurged on a better Kinder Egg price rate than Candylicious has ever offered).

Next Tuesday is the four year anniversary of my move to Texas. I'll probably eat at Chuy's to celebrate, especially since I think there's a Spotlighter production meeting that day and I'll want something positive to look forward to at the end of the day. (The Tex-Mex light at the end of the tunnel, if you will.)

A week from today I fly home to Missouri for a week of family, lessened humidity (maybe?), and no work. For a moment I thought I was flying on the day of my anniversary, which would've been it's own blog post of weirdness.

Today: I am going to take lunch, hurrah hot pocket!

1868 68 155

I'm sorry for the absolute dead air, but I promised I would be less flippant the next time. Sadly, it's a lot easier to just talk flippant things (I have a doozy of ridiculousness I want to showcase) than to go over the rollercoaster of the past week.

Let's focus on the positives: I get to come home for over a week...and it's happening one week from tomorrow. Fun! When I started reminiscing about driving curvy country roads at night, the oldies station fuzzying in and out while watching for deer trying to race across your path, it was extra time to head to MO. (It helps that the same week, my Mom mentioned that she wasn't going to be able to do a Texas trip and we worked out that I could head north instead.) Taking this trip will pull me out of the first week of MS1 rehearsals (Have you heard? I'm stage managing two mainstages next season....would you like to point me toward an affordable scooter store?) and I'm not a fan of that. But, choosing between a week of tablework with the artistic director and my mother's caramel brownies on the weight scale tends to tip toward chocolate.

The impending trip home has helped my general attitude toward Texas, which was on a downward spiral (even farther than I realized before I knew I was going to leave for a week). I love what I do here (more so when I'm actually working on shows, but not all desk days are boring), and don't feel like I'm supposed to pick up my tent yet, but it's hard to live so far away from family.

Anyway. Here's a bit of flippancy to get us back where this blog normally heads:

Yes, it's a giant purse that looks like a horse. Not only that, but it's a giant purse that looks like a horse and cost over $100 dollars. For that much money you'd hope it wouldn't be so creepy. (I think Coraline's Other Mother has one of these for her evenings out.)

I think they're pretending to be sea lions???

Goodness, these children in the pool are LOUD. Also, lesson that I should've learned by now: never wear a skirt when you're going to be sitting outside near water at dusk in Texas. (Though it apparently leads to sentences with bouncy rhythm.)

I spent my day off by getting out of bed when I'd normally be pulling up my email at work, watching an old Muppets sing-a-long VHS and most of a disc of Wonderfalls, reading through cookbooks like I actually use them, and cleaning while wearing the above-mentioned skirt (which lends a nice '50s housewife vibe, with or without an apron).

I didn't get to most of my to-do list (dang it, Katie Finneran, for being so entertaining!), but my kitchen floor is glistening with a freshly bleached shine, so I still call today a win. (Though my bottle of chocolate milk is still at work, and will probably stay there until at least Wednesday before I can rescue it.)


Things I Should Be Doing Instead Right Now:
* revamping my grocery list (now that I've looked at all those recipes)
* (actually, that's all I can think of...short of promising a less flippant post, as I will likely spend a day at work before posting next?)

I don't have a reliable pterodactyl impression.

This is called "Hannah had a bad day:"



You may note that it's the large half gallon size. (So we can also call it "Hannah was being economical?")

On the plus side, since they added a speaker to play the preshow music in the lobby, I'm currently rocking out to "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Thanks, John Denver.

side note: the Houston skyline fireworks made me miss the St. Louis extravaganza

(side-side note: I started this Sunday night, but was kicked out of the pool area by a maintenance man locking the gate. People actually enforcing pool closure hours? Crazy!)

Ways in which I've been all patriotic-like today:
* grilled chicken for dinner (bonus points for doing so on a George Foreman grill?)

* watched Apollo 13 and cried (like usual) during the radio silence section toward the end

* prayed for country leaders during morning service

* um, I'm currently wearing blue?

Okay, so I also spent a fair amount of the day with the BBC on in the background (which is likely less than American), but I did so while crafting with American newspapers, so it evens out, right?