Been a Busy Bee!

It's not enough that I had to learn a new script and construct a giant squid, I decided to throw a bunch of other projects on the calendar to really amp up that anxiety-induced tight feeling in the middle of my chest.

We successfully refinanced our mortgage during that lovely low dip in interest rates last week thanks to Adam Stephens at Capstar Lending. He rocks!



The back yard fence that was leaning out into the street at an ever-more precarious angle has now been replaced. The new fence is beautiful. I had to contact five different fence builders before I got anyone to get back to me for a consultation. Capitol Fence did a gorgeous job. It was only five days from the initial contact to the completion of our new fence. Capitol Fence gets a gold star!

My car needed an oil change. The technician found an oil leak. The shop ordered the part needed and told me to come back a week later. A week later, the shop sent me off in a nice loaner car, but had to keep my car for two days to fix the first oil leak they found, and discover a second oil leak and fix that. Friday I picked up my car, got about ten miles down the road and watched in horror as EVERY warning light on my dashboard lit up in quick succession, followed by the car's transmission going into default emergency mode, making it near impossible to get the car's speed over 40 miles an hour. I made the U-turn right back to the shop. The shop put me in yet another lovely loaner car, kept my car another two days and put in a new alternator. In layman's terms, the alternator is like the heart of the car. It's vital to make the car go. It's also crazy-expensive to replace. Thank Goodness I bought the 3 year extended warranty on my car. All of the above craziness only cost me a cool $50 deductible.

I took on a new client for my freelance writing and popped out a press release for her. I like this new client. Her business goals and identity are clearly defined. She is organized. She loves what I wrote for her. Happy sigh.

A very important piece of paper that was sent to me by certified mail over a week ago is missing. The Postal Service website says that the piece of certified mail was returned to sender, because it was undeliverable as addressed. The sender assures me that this very important piece of mail has not arrived back yet. I am very much losing sleep over this mysterious mail disappearance.

I still have three performances of the Fronterafest show to go and a dinner theater show in two weeks. I have that tell-tale tickle at the back of my throat that says I'm getting sick. I am sucking down Emergen-C and willing myself to stay healthy.

I have a weird skin rash on my left foot that I get when I'm stressed out. One of my toes is red, angry-looking and painful as a result of the rash. Will you still be my friends if I only have nine toes? Going to the doctor for that tomorrow.

Somewhere in all of this excitement (okay, stress), I've lost another two pounds. Grand total of pounds lost: 24. I just have ten more pounds to lose to hit my goal.

Constructing the Giant Squid

I don't mean to give away any spoilers here, just in case you're planning on coming to my latest theatrical venture, but there was need for a giant squid for this show. Feeling ever-so-crafty, I volunteered to make the squid. The tentacles are 10 feet long each. I stuffed the tentacles with (two each) five-foot-long floating noodles, because they provide flexible structure, and padded with polyfoam. There are approximately a hundred suckers on each tentacle in four different sizes, crafted out of pink felt with a single tight stitch in the center of each to give a puckered effect. The budget for the squid was about $50.

No patterns here, I just winged it. I think the squid turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. I feel a call to start making props for movie and theatrical productions.


Mid-construction.


Marigold wants to know what kind of freaky pet we've adopted now.


Finished and headed for the show!

My Birthday is in 10 Months...

How cute is this necklace?!

Do I Need Botox?

In the two shows (Fronterafest and dinner theater) I'm acting in currently, I play women who are older than I am in real life. It's got me feeling a little self-conscious about how old/young I look. Losing 22 pounds over the past year has been great, but the one downside is that my chubby, youthful cheeks have sunk. The skin on my face feels and looks to me like it's not as taut as it was a year ago. I see lines in my forehead and around my eyes. I'd chalk it up to wisdom, but I don't feel any wiser than I did last year.

Today while I was getting my monthly microdermabrasion facial, the technician said that she got as close to my eyes as she could to concentrate "on the little, fine lines we get around our eyes". Sigh. The technician had skin the color of an oompa-loompa from too much tanning, but I wear SPF 65 on my face daily. So how do "we" have fine lines?!

I think I need botox, at least in my forehead. Slap me if I start pining for a face-lift.

Our Maybe Dog

We went to the Blue Dog Rescue meet-and-greet Sunday. We met two dogs that I'd had my eye on. One was a complete spaz. I won't name names about who the spazzy dog was, but the other dog was just right. She walked with us. She sat on command. She let us pet her tummy. She's very calm. She has a big head and a small body.


Meet Janie, our maybe dog. We put in an adoption application. She still has some health issues to clear up, but should be ready for her forever home in about a month.



Here's her Blue Dog description: Janie

About three months ago, a Blue Dog volunteer saw me and my newborn puppies at the shelter. I was so patient with my babies (and so trusting of the humans who were handling them) that she promised me she would try to find a place in foster care for my little family. Thank goodness, a space opened up just in time, and I did a great job raising my babies in a foster home. But they have now all found wonderful forever families, and I'm hoping one day soon, it will be my turn! My name is Janie. That would be as in "Plain Jane". Let me tell you, my exterior may be kinda nondescript, but I have a beautiful doggy soul! I'm very sweet with everyone and good with other dogs, too. We've been working on "sit" and leash walking. I would play with the cats in my foster home, but they don't seem to want to play with me. I'm heartworm negative, about 1.5 years old, up-to-date on vaccinations, and have been microchipped and spayed too! Best guess is a Lab mix, about 38 pounds.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Busy, busy! I should be learning lines right now (how many times have I said or typed that phrase?) but instead, I'm listing the dates and times for my next show. Unlike the dinner shows I perform in, which are usually private shows, this show is open to the public -- that's you! Part of the Fronterfest Long Fringe, the show runs about 70 minutes.

You're Happier Than You Think
by my old friend, Max Langert
All performances are at the Blue Theater at 916 Springdale Road.
Tuesday, January 22 at 9:00 PM
Thursday, January 31 at 9:15 PM
Saturday, February 2 at 6:15 PM
Sunday, February 3 at noon

For tickets, call 479-PLAY (7529) from 1-6pm Tues - Sat. or make reservations online at www.hydeparktheatre.org.

Yikes! That first show is fast approaching. Must study script. Must go to gym.

Is it Memorex?

People sometimes ask how I memorize entire scripts, or how I learn my lines for a show. I use the same tactics that many people use to study for a test.
• I look over the script in sections, or scenes, trying to become familiar with little bits at a time, kind of like studying one chapter of a textbook at a time.
• I look over my lines right before bed so that I think about my lines or dream about the script while I'm dozing. This really works for me, much like looking over material the night before a test.
• As I get more familiar with a script, I start using an extra sheet of paper over the script to hide the next line from myself, I say what I think the next line is aloud. If I get the lines right, I move on down the page, but if I miss a line, I repeat it aloud five times before moving down the page. This is similar to using flashcards to study material.
• I learn the whole script, not just my lines. You never know when you or a fellow actor will forget something. As actors, you have to know your own lines and other character's' lines in case you need to help each other get back on track, or throw out a reminder. When you're studying for a test, you review all the material, not just the words printed in bold lettering, because you don't know exactly what you'll be asked on a test.
• Practice, practice, practice.

I'm lucky that I have a good memory and pretty quick recall when it comes to things that I hear or read. It's obnoxious that I can "parrot", or imitate, people's voices and facial expressions, but it totally comes in handy on stage when I want to make quirky characters seem more real.

Crafty

My first quilt! Technically it's a quilted wall-hanging. I'm so proud! I took a four hour class at Craft-o-rama! that covered all the basics. I highly recommend the classes at Craft-o-rama!.

Why did I want to learn to quilt? Chad is afflicted with oddly long, some might say monkey-long, arms. He also has freakishly pointy elbows. He manages to rip the elbows of his very lovely dress shirts at the rate of about one per month. I have tried repairing the ripped elbows, but they split open again or rip in a new section, thus not worth fixing. I've saved all of his ripped shirts and plan to cut them down for quilt blocks. Those old shirts will make the prettiest quilt when I'm done with them. The shirt-quilt will likely feature some of the most expensive fabrics you've ever seen in a quilt. Check back in a few months for photos of the shirt-quilt.

Channeling My Inner Betty Crocker

Here it is, photographic evidence that I can cook. I'm just not inspired to turn the oven on when the temperature is above 85 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I made a pumpkin pie from scratch. I even made the crust from scratch. I substituted half-and-half for the heavy cream. It was delicious and a little less fattening.

I still stand by my decision to take art and theatre classes for my electives in middle school and high school. Who needs home-ec classes when you have the internet to help find recipes and cooking tips?

Friends

On cold days, the kitties are the very best of friends. Purr... share the body heat.

Where's My Flying Car?

2008?! Here are my resolutions for the year:

Go to the gym at least three times each week.
Lose that last 12 pounds and keep it off.
Get professional headshots made and update acting resume.
Go on at least three auditions a month in an effort to branch out to new acting employment opportunities. My current director-friends are very good to me, but I need to work more often than I do.
Finally leave the continent. I've been all over North America, but no where else as of yet. Chad and I are finally going to Italy together in June -- Amalfi Coast, Rome and Florence as part of a free-form tour group led by a native Italian who now calls Austin home.
Read at least one book each week.
Kick my nasty heroine habit.
Stay off the pole.

Okay, the last two are a joke to see if you're paying attention. My only drug habit is the legal use of Claritin D for breathing. I'm an enthusiastic, but terrible, dancer who keeps my clothes on when I'm in public places.

Mystery Callers

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that a woman called and chatted with me for an awkward moment after revealing that she meant to call her new friend also named Jennifer. I never caught the caller's name. Her voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place the voice, let alone the mystery phone number. She seemed to know me from some theater work or show. I attempted a reverse look up based on her phone number, but all the sites I found expect payment for the information. Boooo... never mind.

Last week I got a mystery voice mail at 2:32 PM on December 18. It was a song from beginning to middle, a love song to be precise. The caller's phone number does not appear on my call log. I tried a Google search of the song's lyrics, since it was not a song or singer that I recognized, but failed to find the song. I'd like to think that the message was left by an old flame who still pines for me, but more likely it was a wrong number, or someone who didn't lock the buttons on their phone and accidentally/coincidentally called me while the song was playing on their car stereo.

I've been with Chad for almost fifteen years. I can say with great confidence that all (three) of my old boyfriends are either dead (long, sad story that has nothing to do with me) or were never that into me anyway. None of them would bother to find me at this late, very much attached, date.

Life is not exciting like the soap operas that I watch, and read the captions for, at the gym. Most days I'm very glad about this fact. Everybody seems to dress-up often on soap operas, and I'm a jeans and t-shirt girl. Plus I'd get bored staring off into the middle-distance dramatically after every conversation.

Merry Christmas!

Santa was good to me. I got the Hitchcock box set of 15 DVDs and the supercute collector's series for the Gilmore Girls. The packaging alone for the Gilmore set is amazing! The DVDs come in a plastic, padded box with a handle like the old Barbie carrying cases. The DVDs are accompanied by two books too: a dictionary of Gilmore references and phrases; and an episode guide. I'll be firmly planted on the couch between trips to the gym and rehearsals* for the next few weeks.

I also got a pop-up Nancy Drew retrospective book full of clues from famous cases. Cute, cute, cute! Speaking of clues, I got the board game CLUE, so come over and play detective, but be forewarned, I'm really good at this game.

Hope Santa was good to you too!

*That audition I mentioned a few weeks ago resulted in a part for a Fronterafest long show. Rehearsals start January 3. Watch this space for show times and venue.

Feliz Nativity

My sister, who is six-and-a-half years younger than me, was the cutest little kid. She was kind of a mischievous monkey. At age two while in day care, she discovered and adopted a little green inchworm on the playground one day. She carried the inchworm around with her all day and gave it a name, probably Sammy-Jo, because that's what she named every bug or critter she kidnapped -- er, I mean, adopted.

Her daycare had fun activities. They went on little field trips around the huge southern church that sponsored/housed her daycare, like the church recreation center that had air hockey and ski-ball. They had art activities. Sometimes they would go to the pool. On this day, they mixed and baked cornbread as a group, learning about how the cornmeal was made. As the cornbread baked and the class waited for their yummy treat, the daycare teacher experienced a disturbance in the force, a sense that something was not quite right. It must have dawned on her as she went down her mental checklist:
count the students √
closed the garage door at home when I left today √
zipper zipped √
buttons buttoned √
set timer for cornbread √
inchworm... Wait, where is the inchworm that she found on the playground?
So the teacher asked my sister where her little inchworm went. I wasn't there to witness the event first hand, but the teacher told us that my sister gave her a sly smile and responded proudly, "In the cornbread."
Ewwwwww. They baked up a new batch and tossed out the one with the inchworm carcass.

Among the thousands of quirky-cute things that little kids can get away with because they're little kids, is the reshaping of family vocabulary. In my family, anytime the golden arches appeared on the horizon, my sister would pop her head up from her car seat and proclaim, "MeMac's! Ambooger, mmmmm, good!" Thus McDonald's became MeMac's in my family's lexicon. At this time of year, I am reminded of the funny names that my little sister and Chad's little brother had for nativity scenes when they were little kids. My sister called nativity scenes the "baby Jesus farm", while Chad's brother said "activity scene". Too precious.

It's beginning to...

look a lot like Christmas around our 1952 house.


Who's that under our tree?


It's baby Sonic -- all fifteen pounds of him!


My favorite new ornament this year. A little longhorn, the mascot of the college where Chad and I met.


Got ornaments that don't match the others anymore? Throw them in a bowl to look fancy.

Merry Christmas. Safe travels to those of you visiting friends or family.

Blueprint for a Cookie Exchange

I volunteered to host a holiday reunion for my somewhat defunct networking group. Over three years ago my realtor at the time, the lovely & talented Dian Adair, invited me to come to a women's networking group that she and her friend, Lexi, started. The group was called SWANK (short for Smart Women's Association of Networking Knowledge). Never mind the fact that Swank was the name of an old pornographic magazine along the lines of Hustler, we were making the name our own. Dian's friend, Lexi, ended up being an old coworker from my college days who I've always liked and respected, so coincidence worked in my favor to join the group. SWANK went strong with Dian and Lexi at the helm for about two years of monthly meetings. But, members had babies, moved to different cities and were all busy with business of life, and SWANK kind of dissolved. The SWANK alumnae still run into each other from time-to-time at fun social events, but there weren't any SWANK-sanctioned events for over a year.

I really love all the ladies who were part of SWANK, and really wanted to see them together again. It seemed the only way to make this reunion happen was to plan it myself. I set up an Evite and had the invitees vote on whether they wanted to get together for a happy hour out at a restaurant, or have an ornament exchange at my house, or have a cookie exchange at my house. Honestly, I was hoping for the ornament exchange option to win out as I thought it would mean less prep work/baking on my part, but in the end, the cookie exchange won by a landslide. I love to bake. I love hosting parties. The thought of baking four dozen cookies and hosting the party was a bit daunting.

Somehow I got the house cleaned, baked the cookies, set out drinks and snacks and pulled off the 2007 SWANK Cookie Exchange. Guests were asked to bring four-dozen cookies each. I provided printed recipe sheets for the cookies I baked, but spaced-out and forgot to ask guests to do the same. File that under "next time I'll know". I bought big, 1 gallon buckets with a Christmas theme from Container Store for about $2 each for guests to tote home their cookies with wax paper separating each layer. I used red and white Marimekko paper plates and napkins from Crate & Barrel for a festive touch that wasn't overly holiday-themed.

Chad half-joked that since a bunch of girls were coming over, they would probably just look at the food and not really eat much. He was wrong. Here's what I served:
Platter of chopped, raw veggies with cucumber-dill dip
Bowls of mixed nuts/seasonal candies
Platter with a cranberry cheese roulade, hickory cheese roll & crackers

When the first four guests arrived, I asked if they would eat pizza rolls if I ordered some. Oh, yeah. Austin's Pizza to the rescue! Everybody loves the spinach & mushroom pizza rolls. I got a few pepperoni rolls for the meat-eaters. I think I should order two spinach & mushroom pizza rolls per guest for every event I host henceforth, no matter what the theme may be.

Here are photos:







_________________________________________________________


The cookies I made.
Recipe for Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
From Bon Appetit, December 2005

Makes about 18 sandwich cookies.
Cookies:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg

For cookies: Whisk flour, cocoa, salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients; beat until blended. Refrigerate dough for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough by the level tablespoon full, then roll into smooth balls. Place balls on prepared cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using bottom of a glass, flatten each ball to 2-inch round. (I found it helpful to dip the bottom of the glass in flour and cocoa to prevent sticking of dough.) Bake until cookies no longer look wet, about 11 minutes. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely.

Filling:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops (or more) red food coloring

For filling: Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl until well blended. Add peppermint extract and 2 drops food coloring. Beat until light pink and well blended, adding more food coloring by the drop if desired. Spread 2 generous teaspoons of filling evenly over flat side of 1 cookie to edges; top with another cookie, flat side down, pressing gently to adhere.

Place 1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) of crushed candy canes on a plate. Roll edges of each cookie in the crushed candies to adhere to filling. (Candies can be crushed by placing in double-bagged zipper bags and whacking with a mallet or dropping from chest height onto a hard floor.)

Cookie sandwiches can be made ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.





I made (very popular) goodie bags for each of the guests that contained:
Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses - You must try these. Yum!
Candy Cane Hershey Kisses - These are good if you like white chocolate.
Hershey Chocolate Santas - festive
Lip Smackers in various soda flavors - This brand does not test on animals!
Ms. Manicure Blocks that make your nails so pretty and shiny that you don't need polish!
All of the above items were procured from my favorite chain store, Target.

What Would Laura Ingalls Think?

My massage therapist and I were talking about the need in modern society for exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle. She quipped that she wondered what Laura Ingalls (of Little House on the Prairie fame) would think if she saw me sweating away on the elliptical machine. How odd it would seem to someone from the 19th century that we modern people have such an abundance of food, and that most of us do little physical labor, that we have to work off calories and build muscles at a gym. I quipped in response that people back then died at much younger ages from malnutrition and from wearing out their bodies due to hard physical labor. I tend to agree with the ancient Roman dude, Andria Terence, with his most excellent quote, "moderation in all things."

Tonight, I wanted to take a long, hot bath with my fancy ginger fizz bath beads. The hot water heater was feeling cantankerous and refused to cooperate, supplying only about eight gallons of hot water before taking a long winter's nap. Hot water heater, your days are numbered. I'm replacing you with a tankless hot water on demand heater mounted outside of our house, just as soon as I can talk Chad into it. City of Austin codes dictate that if your hot water source is inside your house, it must have one devoted closet. So I'm moving the hot water source outside and gaining a coat closet (just as soon as I can talk Chad into it).

Back to my wish for a long, hot bath -- I asked Chad to please boil some large pots of water. I perched on the edge of the tub as he poured those steamy bowls of hot water into the lukewarm water of the bathtub. I tentatively checked the water temperature with my big toe, and as Goldilocks would say, this one was just right. As I soaked in my nice, hot bath, I caught myself thinking that Laura Ingalls would think about this scene of boiling hot water on our gas stove with its visible flames at each burner and lugging large pans of water through the house for a hot bath. She'd probably wonder why technology had not advanced further over the years.

Diaper Butt

Losing weight has been a necessary action with its own rewards. I look better. I feel better. I have more confidence. Boys (a few young ones!) notice me again*. For a while, my clothes fit me better. I've lost 22 pounds since March. I'm noticing a little muscle tone from many trips to the gym. I'm also noticing that my clothes are getting a bit baggy now. My favorite jeans, which are only a few months old, fit me only when fresh out of the dryer now. After about one hour of wearing, I get the dreaded diaper-butt, which occurs when one's pants are saggy-baggy in the booty and appear as if one is wearing a (full) diaper. I'm ordering a size smaller in those favorite jeans later tonight.

I have 12 pounds more to lose before I hit my goal weight/my average college weight. My immediate goal for the holiday season is not to regain any weight and to keep going to the gym despite the delightfully hectic holiday schedule. I'm in a holding pattern until January.

Do not report me to the body dysmorphic police, but I still think I look a little bit heavy. One of my pretty, thin friends grabbed my arm the other night and said, "you look so skinny. It's kinda weirding me out." Thanks, but I don't feel like I'm there just yet.

*Wednesday, I caught a stock-boy at the grocery store checking me out. He chuckled upon realizing he was busted, and told me to have a nice day. He looked about 19-years-old/young. Friday night, I got a free refill of pricey bubbly from a server. When I started to say "thank you", he said "shhhh..." and smiled at me in a semi-lecherous way. Chad witnessed this little exchange and teased me about it. Good thing Chad is not the jealous type.

Prep Style Pusher No More

I've heard my personal style of dressing described by others as: cute, funky, bohemian, retro/vintage and some other not as nice adjectives. I've never been preppy, even when it was stylish in the 80s. I believe I was stuck in my Madonna-wannabe when all the preppy stuff was chic. So why did I work at J.Crew for 2 years? Uhm, the generous employee discount on wardrobe basics? Or was it that Chad and I were poor then and J.Crew was the first place that offered me a job that Christmas season? Maybe the sneer I got from the hipster at Urban Outfitters when I turned in my application also had a little something to do with it.

At J.Crew, whenever we got a shipment of new items, my fellow prepsters and I would marvel at how the items looked the same from season to season and year to year. We had a saying, "SOS" which stood for "Same Old Sh!#". We'd also marvel at how anyone could afford the clothes, or would pay the silly-high prices, without the 50% employee discount. I miss my J.Crew cohorts, but I do not miss those clothes.

I followed a link from jensational's blog to Jezebel that riffed on Brooks Brothers, then found another link mocking the J.Crew holiday book, pretty funny. Check it out.

Cavity Creeps and Home Intruders

Thursday I went to my lovely spa-like dentist's office for a check-up. My warm neck wrap and hand/arm massage were a tiny bit marred by the discovery of two small cavities in neighboring teeth. From age eight up until age thirty-one, I didn't have any cavities. Now it seems as though I get two cavities every two years. Remember those Crest toothpaste commercials from the early 1980s with the Cavity Creeps invading Toothopolis? These nasty grey creatures that looked like rocks with humanoid features attacked teeth only to be rebuffed by Crest toothpaste. I brush at least twice a day with a fancy electric toothbrush and toothpaste, and I floss a few times a week, but the Cavity Creeps somehow prevail.

Earlier today I was home while my next-door neighbors' house was robbed. Someone, or some group of people, kicked in the front door, violently tearing out the door frame and landing the door with the locked dead bolt on the floor of my neighbors' living room. I heard the loud thud and thought it was the noise of a big construction truck barreling down the street, hitting a bump. I even looked out the window to try and spot the big truck, but didn't see one. I saw a man slowly getting into the passenger side of a jeep-type-vehicle in front of my neighbors' house. He didn't speed off. He wasn't carrying anything. I think he even saw me looking out and he didn't so much as flinch. I thought nothing more of it. My neighbor said that the thief/thieves took only a desktop computer. They left the TV, radio, VCR and all other valuables. I was shocked at this news. My neighbors have an alarm system with a sign in their yard alerting would-be intruders to the alarm. I never heard an alarm today, but the alarm company did alert my neighbors and the police to the break-in. I feel awful that I didn't understand what was happening when I heard the noise. Maybe by drawing back the curtain and looking out, I made the guy/guys leave before they were done hauling things out? It didn't happen to me or my house, and yet I feel scared. I feel unsafe in my home now. I want an eardrum-bursting-loud alarm system, a large canister of pepper spray in every room and a really big dog whose size and bark relay the message to stay-the-heck-away. (But I want my big dog to actually be happy, nice and well-adjusted, of course.)

You do everything you can to fend off the Cavity Creeps and home invaders, but have to face the sad fact that despite your best efforts, no defense system is completely impervious. If I can sleep tonight, I'll probably dream about Cavity Creeps breaking in to steal my computer.