Mystery Comments

I was looking over old blog posts last night and saw some new comments I feel that I should address.

Ryan - I found Java furniture at Skandinavia Furniture (www.skandinaviatexas.com/) and Nest (www.nestmodern.com/).

Melissa - Sorry if I offended you or other Starbucks employees/fans. I think that Starbucks is a great company with good practices regarding sustainable farming and generous employee benefits. My sister worked at a Starbucks for a while, and only had nice things to say about the company. I was writing in hyperbole when I joked that Starbucks doesn't want people to know about the "short" size. Next time I'll put a wink emoticon so you get that I'm just being silly.

Mick - Thanks for the heads-up about Wildflours Bakery (wildfloursbakery.com). It's nice to find businesses that have a charitable aspect to them.

Janie, Our Sweet Dog

We're in love. Her name is Janie. She's slobbery, licky, sweet, funny and eager to please. As previously mentioned, Janie came from the awesome people at Blue Dog Rescue. Who knew that we'd fall in love with this forty-pound, Lab-Terrier-mystery-mix back when we were cruising the Wee Rescue (also a great group) website for a small dog? Our friend, Emily, got a Blue Dog Rescue friend and raved so much about Blue Dog that we decided to give them a try.

Janie nursed her three puppies in foster care, and was just the best little unwed, teen mother ever. Her puppies all got adopted, but she was still hanging out waiting for us to find her. Janie had hip surgery and eye surgery a few weeks ago to correct some mystery injuries. She's recovering nicely, though she still hops on three legs when she's in a hurry and her eye looks a little teary at the end of the day.

Janie goes to work with Chad. She made friends with another dog at work. Janie and Lupita love to wrestle and slobber on each other. They're BFF. I think I need to get Janie a collar to match Lupita's collar, kind of like the necklaces that say "Be fri" on one half and "st end" on the other half, so that you put the halves together to read "best friend".

Janie wants to make friends with our three kitties. Feline relations have been polite, if a little tentative. They're all much more comfortable if I'm in the room petting them or brushing them all at once. They'll sniff each other politely, but no cuddling or playing together just yet. Janie is a tiny bit scared of the kitties, whimpering a little on the few occasions that a kitty has hissed at her. Given her size-advantage, that's probably good.

Janie loves to chew on things, so we make sure to keep lots of Kong toys and Nylabones around, so that shoes don't look enticing. (Janie, I love you, but stay away from my shoes, please!) Janie loves to give people kisses on the chin or bare toes. She wants people to sit on the floor with her and pet her and rub her tummy. She loves, loves, loves going to Redbud Island dog park to play. She gets along great with other dogs. She gets in the water up to her chest, but hasn't done much swimming yet. She has webbed toes like her Labrador Retriever relatives, so she'd be a great swimmer if she wanted.

Janie knows her name and always comes when called. She is great at "sit" and we're working on "stay". She also knows "shake" but has a hard time balancing right now after her hip surgery. She walks very well on a leash without pulling or straining.

Yep, we won the awesome-dog lottery. More photos and anecdotes will follow, I'm sure.

Movies I Watch Repeatedly

Recent health issues have seen me spending more time on the couch than usual this month. I've been reading through back issues of Esquire, GQ, Wired and Texas Monthly. The September 2007 issue of GQ featured an interesting article on Barack Obama, and an unrelated quote from Chris Matthews stating that Rudy Giuliani would nab the Republican nomination--haha, he was wrong.

In addition to reading outdated publications, I've been watching movies. When I'm ill, watching familiar movies can be like a visit from an old, close friend. You know pretty much how it will go, with comfort in the familiarity, but you also are reminded of the qualities you like, and once in a while you discover some new detail. Here is my list of movies that I can watch again and again.

Enchanted April
Bridget Jones' Diary
Scoop
Match Point
The Devil Wears Prada
Singles
My Neighbor Totoro
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Roman Holiday
To Catch a Thief
Bell, Book and Candle
Charade
Mystic Pizza
Groundhog Day
Cinema Paradiso (only in original Italian language with subtitles, the dubbed version is bad)

What are the movies you watch again & again? Maybe you'll find (like I did) that some of your favorite movies are not necessarily the same movies that you watch repeatedly.

Shrinking

I swear that I am eating. I am even eating cookies and chocolate on a daily basis. I lost another two pounds, which brings the total up to twenty-six pounds lost since March 2007. Just eight more pounds to lose! I'm so glad for the healthier lifestyle now, but all this weight loss makes getting dressed a chore. I went through four wardrobe changes this evening before heading out to see Skyrocket at Antone's. The first top I tried was too big, and it makes me a little sad. It was a Marc Jacobs wrap-shirt (see photo) scored from the bluefly.com clearance section just six months ago, now a little too big on me. The second wardrobe reject of the night was a pair of jeans purchased six weeks ago. They were tight when I bought them, but Chad says they're too big now. I would just return them, but I washed them and hemmed them. Sigh...

I donated four large shopping bags full of clothes to a charity just two months ago. Now it's time for another closet overhaul. When I hit my goal weight, I'm going to Hem to treat myself to two pair of designer jeans. The good news is that I saved most of my good skinny clothes from college that I liked, and they fit again!

Stylish Friends!

Mention of two friends caught my eye today as I perused the Style column of the Austin American-Statesman online. I'm proud to have such note-worthy friends who garner nice mentions in the newspaper. Yay for Maggie S. & John L.!

Click *here* for the full article.

Photo credit: Laura Skelding for the Austin American-Statesman

Janie Came A-Callin'

Monday evening our probably-dog, Janie, came for a home visit. Janie has been upgraded from maybe-dog status to probably-dog status as an outcome of this positive visit. Janie frolicked in our big backyard and made herself right at home by taking care of a little business back there. Then she came inside to demonstrate her superior doggy knowledge of the requests to sit, shake, high-five and down. She also showed us her belly for some rubs.

Janie politely sniffed each of the cats. Sonic and Marigold were so at ease with Janie that they took catnaps while she was here. Kenji, ever our nine-pound scrappy, bossy, queen-bee, bravely marched up to Janie and hissed to let her know who's boss around here. Janie gave a tiny whimper and ceded some space to the K-monster.

Janie has her hip surgery today. Send her happy thoughts as she recovers with her awesome foster-mom from Blue Dog Rescue. If all goes well, we could have Janie in our home in two to three weeks!

Political opinions fell by the wayside as I read this sad but sweet-ending story today about two dogs who came all the way from Iraq to find a home in the U.S.

Five Things

I enjoy reading the Design Notebook blog by Austin American-Statesman design columnist, Melanie Spencer. Her Monday Mood Lifter this week was a list of five things she loves about her home. She asked readers to share their own list of five things. So here is my list of five things I love about our current home and my list of five things I want to love at our next home.

Current home:

1. I love the layout of our house. The sleeping rooms are at one end of the house and the social rooms are at the other end. The house has a great flow.

2. I love our original hardwood floors. The floors are a gorgeous dark-honey color and no one will ever mistake them for veneer or laminate. We have a few area rugs, but I don't ever want a home with carpet again if possible.

3. I love that we have customized our home with paint colors we chose. No shiny white walls here. No concern about getting a deposit back. No reverence paid to resale value.

4. I love the deck. The weather here is nice most of the year, so I love having more area to entertain or lounge.

5. I love our driveway. The interlocking paver stone driveway has a quiet elegance to it. It makes the whole curb-appeal greater. The paver stones can shift without exposing unsightly cracks the way that concrete does. Our driveway is just wide enough for Chad and I to get our cars past each other, which means we don't have to move each other's cars to get in or out of the driveway.

Next home:

1. A fireplace -- Chad and I both miss the fireplace we had at our posh condo for the year that we lived there. On cold nights, we would make a fire and warm ourselves in its glow. We didn't like to leave the warm living room to trudge up the stairs to our not-as-warm bedroom.

2. Not located on a major road -- during our married life, Chad and I have always lived on major, high-traffic roads. Now we live at the corner of a major thoroughfare. Next house/condo must be tucked away on a quiet, lazy, low-traffic street.

3. At least two bathrooms -- we only have one bathroom now. It's not a hardship, but I really liked the two-and-a-half bathroom situation at our aforementioned posh condo. I had my own full bathroom in the hallway. I gave Chad the master bathroom. Guests had the half-bathroom down on the main floor/living level.

4. Lots of mature trees -- We have two good shade trees right now. We've planted three teenage trees and one baby tree. For me, nothing says "established home" like an abundance of mature shade trees.

5. Indoor laundry room -- The posh condo had an indoor laundry room just off the kitchen with a door you could close to hide the drying rack full of unmentionables. Our current house has a laundry closet at the end of the carport outside. The doors are big shed doors that in let in dirt, leaves, bugs, slugs, toads and other junk you don't associate with clean laundry. I want to be able to do the laundry in my jammies in our next home, and not have to constantly wipe dirt and grime off of our expensive high-efficiency washer and dryer.

You may wonder why we didn't buy the aforementioned posh condo when we had the chance. We agonized and flip-flopped over that decision for two months. The condo was offered at a great price. We loved the interior of the condo. We liked the wooded setting of the hillside on the west side of our building. The condo had a two-car garage with plenty of storage and big closets. However, the homeowner's association was in major turmoil with allegations of embezzlement by the property management company. The location was just outside of central Austin, on a road with notoriously bad traffic and dangerous curves and hills. The AC system needed to be completely replaced. Both garage doors and both garage door openers needed to be replaced. Ultimately, we decided we didn't want to jump into the homeowner's association fray and the location wasn't right for us. Our 1952 house in a more central location is the perfect starter home for us. We look forward to at least five more years here.

Like Summer Camp

I've finished my performances for another year of the Fronterafest theater festival. I am all at once tired, relieved, sad and wistful. The bonds forged during a Fronterafest theatrical production are like the bonds I formed at summer camp as a kid: emotional, fun, slightly sleep-deprived and most sweetly fleeting.

I am bone-tired and yet can't sleep. I am already thinking of the piece I want to write for next year's short-fringe (shows 25 minutes or less in length) and hoping that Max (my writer-director friend who has graciously cast me in five of his Fronterafest pieces) will cast me in his show next year.

I Can Go Too?

Chad has been traveling the past two weeks. I miss him when he's gone. Marigold tries to stowaway in his suitcase. I don't think she would enjoy riding in the luggage compartment.

Fortunately, Chad will stay in Austin for the next few weeks.

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.