SO

So, I finally got my walk-through done today. It took about ten minutes, and went a lot like this:

SOFIA (complex manager): Okay, so there's some spots on the carpet, but that'll probably buff out, so I'm not worried.
ME: I can try and work on it some more.
SOFIA: Don't worry about it. This carpet might be old enough, I won't have to charge you. Some people, I try and get everything I can. You, I won't charge.

Apparently, if you're a pleasant person, they won't try to hit you with every possible cleaning fee. (It probably helps to be staying on site.)


I'm supposed to drop by tomorrow (if I can), and I'll potentially get to pick up my new key early. I can see only positive things in this, especially as she still won't mark down that I'm moving until Saturday (thus not starting my three days/two nights until a day and a half after I start moving). This is probably contigent upon the corporate office, which has been my downfall lately, but maybe it'd work out. It means another lunch hour spent in the company van, driving through Galleria traffic, but I'd say it'd be worth the time.

trouble

It's probably not going to end well that a new rare and used bookstore is opening on the street I take from the bus stop to the office...especially one with copies of Agatha Christie, Catch-21, and Harry Potter in the window.

The Madeline print was a nice touch, too.

THINGS I'VE GAINED

(the joys of being the last out of the apartment - you get the choice of whatever's left)

* two more bottles of detergent
* countless candles
* an extra full-length mirror
* six bottles of shampoot/conditioner/body wash
* doubles of many spices, along with several new bottles
* more rice and spaghetti than I'll ever want to eat
* hangers. oh, the hangers.
* a third set of salt and pepper shakers
* the kitchen fairy (not an actual fairy, though does live in a jar)
* a bouquet of live flowers
* a fine selection of household cleaning chemicals
* one large gold hula hoop, with a "bands of love" label

On the plus side, I also get to take all my favorite pieces of furniture with me across the parking lot. (And the red painting with maple leaves - I'm glad that gets to stick around for awhile longer.)

On the my feet now look smart side, I've gotten to the point where I'm packing things in shoe boxes, so it's a good thing I have a large supply.

help.

I just used "fixin' to" in a sentence. Too bad I'm moving into a new place with a year-long lease; I've clearly already been in Texas too long.

ummm....

I got an email from the apartment's corporate office that included the phrase "since you wanted to transfer next Saturday" [3/19], so I guess I'm moving on (by? round about?) next Saturday. I need to get this clarified with someone closer to home, as I don't actually want to move everything and then go deal with a two show Saturday.

But, hey! Look who's up and about to start throwing things in boxes? Hurrah for a morning off?

Seriously though, I'm so glad to be moving out of limbo stage, even if it means I get less sleep for the next week. Scratch that, I'm never happy about losing sleep...but I'll still take the moving onward.

if I had realized the last post was #1984, I would've done something different with it.

Are you tired of hearing about my stalled moving plans yet?

Sent in the old DVR this morning, reminding me of the great fun it is to cart a large package on the metro bus. I took a large pile of boxes home last night in an effort to start packing, but promptly fell asleep instead. Perhaps I should do a one-on, one-off cleaning/packing/etc. system? I did, however, first manage to get a scanner to work properly so my last (maybe? possibly?) bit of paperwork could reach the corporate office. Naturally, the person who is handling my stuff is out today (thanks, instant reply email!), so I'll hopefully get a moving day tomorrow.

I really wish I did have other news. Both shows are running okay, and my office is incredibly cold.

You know what'll be great? Not living in limbo.

I cleaned in Deb's room yesterday, as it was a giant open space and not my still-fully-together bedroom. I wish I knew how all that soil got in the windowsill, but it's out now. Also, BOO on whoever decided to paint the metal frame with a cheap white plaster paint, as it DOES NOT WANT TO BE CLEAN.

I did do handwash laundry, so I'm glad I hadn't disassembled the patio clothesline system yet. Washed windows, and am now fascinated with using newspaper to clean them (thanks, Real Simple!) Also, I found an old People magazine with a feature on "when will Prince William propose?," and felt superior to the people of 2007.

Also-also, there's a fantastic drop-leaf dining table (with mid-table storage underneath!) that'd I'd love to purchase from IKEA, were it not $130 more than I'd like to spend or from the 2010 catalog and likely no longer around.

I plan on stealing a van Friday-Saturday so I can drop recycling, take in broken electronics to be disposed of (thanks, Best Buy), and buy baby shower gifts. One of these things is not like the others.

...except that it won't be, because I have a pile of handwash items I should take care of while I still have ample drying room

I started taking things off the walls yesterday, but that turned too depressing, so I had to sort recyclables instead. I've taken measurements of just about everything in anticipation of all this paperwork finally being finished and getting to play tetris in my new place. The postage paid-box for the DVR receiver arrived yesterday, so I'm strictly on DVDs until I set up cable again. (Fun fact: the postage paid-box even came with a strip of tape to close the box.) I went through the very awkward moment of how to figure out how to hook up a DVD player to a TV yesterday...while Deb's CraigsList pick-up folks awkwardly watched.

I feel like I should be packing things, but I don't want to until I have an actual move date. I have a picture in my mind (one that I'm sure will prove completely false within an hour of trying it) of just shuttling all my things from one side of the complex to the other, recycling the same boxes/rubbermaid containers I own over and over. Even typing it, I'm aware of what a ridiculous plan this is, but it does give me a reason to sit around and *not* pack.

[likely] last time I'll dry laundry on the back patio

You know what'll start to depress you? Thinking of all the moments of the "last time" you'll do something in your apartment before you move. Hanging up my clothes should not make me cry.

I don't remember getting like this about leaving Ryle 315, but I suppose dorm living has a built-in expiration date. I had enough emotions about my parents moving out of my childhood home, I wrote my English senior seminar paper on the topic. (What up, Jesus and the kittens story!) I'm not a fan of change, and it doesn't get much bigger than choosing to sort through all your belongings, pack them into boxes, move them to another location, and work out where to place all of them again.

I'm glad that I'm staying in the same complex, as that'll keep me with a lot of my status quo (grocery store, bus stop, same distance from the closest movie theater, etc.), but it's still weird to watch this apartment get emptied of furniture and artwork as Deb packs up for Illinois and I pare down for a smaller place. I own far too many things, and will be better off from having cleared out extra items. But I almost need someone else to step in at times to help me sort out if I just really have an emotional attachment to this end table/bookshelf, box of stationary, or just my four and a half years I've lived with them.

I should be doing laundry right now.

...or mopping the kitchen floor, or weeding the backyard, or continuing my sorting through old magazines/newspapers. I'm still in bed, though, and it's hard to argue with that. I like this show, and I don't do much during it, but it's not easy to get out of bed early when you don't reach home until 10:30ish.

another bullet list, hurrah!

You know it's Big Scary Tech Day (as I like to call it), when the following are the contents of your pockets/pigtails:
* three pencils
* one pen
* one black sharpie
* one full pad of post-it notes
* one giant eraser
* scraps of glow tape backings
* two pairs of scissors
* one constantly buzzing phone

Also, there was briefly two rolls of gaffe tape on my arm, but I took them off.


There's a certain relief in making it past the Q2Q (or, "cue to cue," for you non-in my head folks) portion of the day. Everything after this will now include full costumes, actors onstage saying the lines as if they mean them, and it makes my pushing of buttons and calling of cues less the focus. I've already proved I can do my part of the show, now we're adding other people on top of that layer. Lights, costumes, sound cues, front of house crew, audience, until it's a full show.

With this show, it also unfortunately means a lot of reading in the booth, but that's a nice break every now and again. Also, these pants aren't going to hem themselves.

( ... )

I am so stinkin' tired at this moment, and I absolutely cannot shut off my brain to sleep. That bodes well for tech day tomorrow. Especially since "tomorrow" is about twenty minutes away.

THINGS TO DO
* put together callboard (or at least sign-in sheet)
* prop tables?
* hang up laundry
* pull dead plants from patio
* taxes
* sort through shoes
* get lease quote from complex
* FALL ASLEEP, you idiot

fifteen minutes

[I just wrote a post titled "I'll only say this once." Blogger ate it. However, I'm gonna stick with the title and not redo things. Why? Because it is too dang pretty outside, and I have twenty minutes before I need to do things for rehearsal.]

#7-You don't always have to just sit on the couch.

I was unaware that there'd be a version of me who could end up in a downtown art gallery past ten p.m., eating cheese and listening to stories about drunken British actors, but apparently she exists. Also, I kinda want to just sit and read Shakespeare for about the next week AND see a full production of the Scottish Play* lit by flashlights. The Classical Theatre Company, both of these things are your fault. I forgive you, however, due to that beautiful chocolate truffle thing at the postshow reception.


(*Yes, dear friends, I'm one of those obnoxious people who refers to the Scottish Play as "The Scottish Play" or "Mackers" or whatnot, despite being a mostly rational human being in many other endeavors. I do try to control my urge to make people spin thrice and spit whenever they use don't adheare to the same scruples.)

foggy day in London town

In a way that I never thought would even back out my day, I've watched the clip of Gracie Allen saying "how d'you do" to the skeleton in "A Damsel in Distress" about seven times now. Thanks, TCM.

sometimes I zone out during rehearsal and think about things like this instead

A dream I had earlier in the week is still bugging me at this point. It was set up like a horror movie, with a possessed elevator that, I don't know, ate people or something whenever they rode it. Problem was, everyone *knew* the elevator was possessed, they just kept needing to go places and thus were tricked into using the elevator.

Have I mentioned that the evil elevator was next to a flight of stairs? Perfectly normal stairs? WHY DID NO ONE TAKE THE STAIRS?!

Dream logic is stupid.

about movies

Yeah, I'm watching Raising Arizona right now instead of the Super Bowl. (It's okay, I have twitter pulled up, so it'll let me know if anything goes down.) I'll happily watch anything that lets me bask in the glory that is Holly Hunter's twang.

A quick THANKS to Danny Boyle for yesterday's moviegoing experience at "127 Hours." (Brief spoilers if you know nothing about current movies) I really do appreciate that he went out of the way so the audience forgot everything was leading to James Franco sawing off his arm, but it was *really obvious* once you were there, what with the blood and all. And, you know, I handle blood so very well. So, THANKS, Mr. Boyle, for causing me the very first time I passed out at the movie theater.

I can hear the explosions of Deb watching Inception down the hall from here. I maybe shouldn't be able to hear Leo over Nic.

some of this is because I need a checklist

* cancelled production meeting
* cancelled PR shoot
* moved rehearsal to afternoon for director who insists on people driving in
* working on checking tomorrow's conditions for RT show

"It's been thirty years, but I know how..."

I like that nearly everyone I've talked to this morning about the threatened wintery mix doesn't want to deal with driving in the weather because of the other people. I find it a little suspicious that all these people know what they're doing as compared to everyone else. That seems to be the way Texas drivers operate all the time, and is usually what makes me glad I'm on the bus rather than dealing with them.

featured student of the month

I'm not saying that this is now a given thing to happen, but there have been so many strange tidbits pop up relating to this [can't talk about it] that I need to stop waiting for it to disappear and just finish my paperwork.

VAGUENESS! Just another feature of this blog...like the bulleted lists and insufficient paragraphs.