Still working on it...

This barn is driving me nuts!  I've got a couple of scattered ideas floating around for it, but nothing solid yet, and it's frustrating.  Of course, today was a crazy day, and I didn't do much writing.  I did, however, make meals to last most of the week, and I finished making a set of curtains, and I finished up all of the yarn that I had for my newest crochet project (it's going to be a warm-up sweater and matching legwarmers in green, aqua, and pink).  So now I've got to get back to some older projects... Charlotte's blanket needs to get finished!!  And my sweater-turned-pillow cover is also up for finishing.  

Ugh.  That paragraph sucked.  Clearly, I'm not in a coherent writing mindset tonight.  But I'm still percolating with that barn... I need my baby name books, I think.  Once the MC has a name, stories tend to flow better for me.  Guess I'll have to dig the books out!

What, no number?

Nope, today's post has not been sponsored by a number!  Bwahahaha!  Just when you thought you might have figured me out... I change!

Anyways.

I'm posting early tonight, and that's throwing me off a bit.  But I'm having people over, and that always screws with the bedtime blogging, because bedtime is VERY late most of those nights.  

I've been thinking about the picture that I've been given to write about (thanks, V!), and I've got some ideas... but most of them have turned into a Harlequin-style romance!  Although I suppose that's not a bad thing, necessarily.  In any case, while I'm not writing fiction today, I am pondering it, and you should expect to see something about this barn in the next week or so.  I'm carrying a notebook around with me, to catch any stray ideas!

Bikes and more

One is the loneliest number...

I've been thinking about motorcycles a lot lately.  Well, it's more that they've come up in conversation a lot lately (even got to hear about a doctor who keeps his in his kitchen the other day while in surgery!), and I've started to wonder about the differences in terms.

There's motorcycles, bikes, crotch-rockets and dozens of other terms for what I thought was all the same thing.  Wait!  Don't hit me!  I know there's some sort of difference, but it just never mattered to me before because I didn't know anyone who used any of these words on a regular basis!  It'd be like someone who didn't dance thinking that pointe shoes, character shoes, ballet slippers, jazz shoes, half-soles, jazz sneakers, or teaching shoes were all just 'dance shoes.'  I won't get all excited about that if you promise not to beat me for not knowing about motorcycle-y things!

In any case, I decided to go and do some research (because that's what I do when I don't know stuff)...

Wikipedia defines a motorcycle as "a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle powered by an engine. "  Okay.  It also lists "bike" as a synonym for "motorcycle."  But go check out that article - there are three major types of motorcycle!  Cruisers, scooters, sportbikes, and mopeds are all types of street bike.  Off-road bikes include motocross and dirtbikes, and dual-purpose bikes have a combination of features.

But it turns out that you can also classify motorcycles based on the position of the rider - sport (leaning forward), standard (leaning slightly forward), or cruiser (slightly reclined).  Hey!  Cruisers!  Those are what they build a lot of on American Chopper, right?

I google "crotch rocket" (because that's what the doctor rides), and discovered that it refers to a type of sport bike.  I also discovered (looking at the pictures) that what I think of when someone says "motorcycle" is definitely NOT a crotch rocket.  I think they look a lot more safe, though, and if I were inclined to try a motorcycle, that's probably what I'd look at.  (Don't look at me like that, Mom!  I said IF!)

So there you go!  I went, I looked, I learned.  And now you've learned too!  (Unless you already knew.  In which case, you got a brief review session.)

Bellatrix breaks me

Today's blog is brought to you by the number 8.

I have had a long day.  Most days that I go to work are long days, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I may have to break one of my resolutions, and that's sad... I don't think there's any way that I'll be able to finish any of my current knitting/crochet projects in time to make the fishnets for Chicago.  :(  And on an even sadder note, I'm going to have to rip out the sweater that I'm working on, because I just don't have enough yarn to finish it.  That makes me very sad.  I love the yarn, but I got it on clearance about four years ago, and there just isn't any more of it around.  I've actually started about three different patterns with it, and I've run into the same problem every time.

Wait!  I just had a thought!  I love the yarn, I love the stitch, and so far, there's not any shaping done... I can make it into a pillow!  Sweet!  I don't have to rip it out!  And then I don't have that same damn yarn cluttering up my stash!  Whoopee!  Hotcha!  Jazzzzzzzz!

Can you tell I've been at a Chicago rehearsal?

Big ugly thing

Tonight's blog is brought to you by the number three.

I've got three big-ass bruises.  Okay, they're not all that big-ass.   But one is definitely butt-ugly right now.  This one is on the back of my right hand, at the base of my thumb.  I noticed it on Saturday, but I don't know how I got it.  It's currently about an inch long, and half an inch wide, with a dark burgundy outer rim, and some yellowish tinge to the center.  Ick.

The second bruise is on my right middle finger.  This one I got smacking my finger into one of the handrails at MTC while carrying a box on Monday night.  It's small, about a quarter-inch diameter, and pinkish-purple.

Bruise number three is just below my right wrist.  It appears to be the oldest of the three, as it hurts less, and has a funky brownish colour.  Again, I don't know what I did.

And that's the story for today.

Food?

Sweet pickled cheesecake covered in orange salsa.  That is all.

Actually, no, that's not all, but that's all I need to say on the subject tonight.

In other news, my dog has learned a new trick (mostly).  We've been working on 'touch' - she touches my hand with her nose.  She's doing it about 90% of the time now, as long as my hand is near face-level for her.  Next week, we're gonna move the hand higher and see how she does.  I'm so proud of my baby!

And in other news, an update on my resolutions:

- Blog every day.  Check! 146 days and counting!

- Finish at least two craft projects before I start on a new one.  Check!  I've finished three projects, so I started a new one... once I finish one more, I'm allowed to start another... which is good, since I need to get started on costume bits for Chicago.  I'm making my own fishnet thigh-highs ;)

- Lose 20 lb.  Check!  Down 6 so far!

- Get in better shape.  Check!  I've been exercising lately, and while I plan to stop doing aerobics for the next seven weeks, it's because I'm going to be dancing in a show, so it balances out.

- Read more.  Check!  I've read 12 books so far this year, which isn't bad, considering that I've been at the theatre almost nightly since, well, the year started.

Thunderstorms

I kind of like thunderstorms.  Mostly.  

What I don't like is when they repeatedly knock out my power.  Now I know we've been in drought conditions for, like, forever, but did we really have to make up for it all in one week?   Seriously, every day that it's rained this week, I've come home to find my clocks flashing and my tv's unprogrammed.  I fix it all, and then next day, same thing.  

*sigh*

At least my watch doesn't get plugged in.

Over-achiever? Me?

So I was perusing Facebook today, and one of my friends posted one of those pictures where you have to label each photo as one of your friends.  Do you know what I'm talking about?  If you're on Facebook at all, you've seen them.

Anyway, I got labeled as "The Over-Achiever."  And I'm okay with that, I think.  And it doesn't surprise me, really.  My plate is always full, sometimes overflowing, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Sometimes, it stresses me out, but outside of work, 99% of what's on my plate is there by choice, because I love it.  So yeah, I'm a bit panicked that Baby Charlotte is almost a month old and I haven't finished her blanket yet.  And yeah, the whole Chicago audition was a headache, and trying to decide whether I can take the part is also problematic, but I love the theatre.  And sure, I've just realized that there's no way the amount of blue yarn I have will finish this damned sweater I've been working on for like, two years, so I'll have to frog the whole thing... 

I'm happy with who I am.  It works for me.  Hopefully, who I am works for you, too.  If not, well, I won't force you to stick around.  (Unless, of course, you're family.  Then you have no choice.)

Powering down

Shannon sat on the couch, surfing through the channels, listening to the rain against the windows as much as she was listening to the inane babble on the television.  She sighed, wishing that she had the energy to do something more than just channel surf.

However, she did not.

So Shannon continued sitting on the couch, surfing through the channels.  The rain pounded harder against the windows, and Shannon sighed again.  There was absolutely nothing on today.  She started to get a bit bored - one can only surf channels for so long before that happens.

As she sat there, the lights flickered.  Shannon sat up a little straighter, but everything seemed to go back to normal.  She shrugged and pushed her hair back from her face, then went back to her channel surfing.

A moment later, the lights flickered again, then the power went out completely.  Shannon waited a second before moving, wondering if the lights would come back on.  They didn't.  She slowly got up from the couch, wishing that she had lit a candle earlier.  The room was almost pitch black - the lights in the apartment were off, of course, but it looked like the street lights outside were off, too.  

Shannon felt around in the dark, her hands waving slowly in front of her as she tried to draw a mental picture of the furniture in her apartment.  There was an end table beside the couch, there, she thought, touching the corner of it.  There should be a coffee table -

"Ouch!" Shannon yelped, finding the corner of the table with her knee.  "Crap," she muttered, rubbing her knee.  That was going to leave a bruise.  She crouched down a bit, following the tablearound, then returning to waving her hands again.  She managed to find the television with her hands rather than with her knee, luckily, and she followed the edge of the television stand until she reached the wall.

Pausing for a moment, Shannon looked around again, squinting to see anything in the dark.  If she looked straight forward, she could see the outline of the kitchen doorway in her peripheral vision.  When she turned her head, though, it was almost impossible to see.  She heaved a sigh, and started edging sideways towards the kitchen, keeping the doorway in her peripheral vision and hoping that the flashlight was still in the junk drawer... and that there wasn't anything sharp in the drawer.

After what felt like an eternity, Shannon finally reached the kitchen.  She hung onto the edge of the counter as she crossed the room until she reached her junk drawer.  Shannon opened it, took a deep breath, and started feeling around.  Can opener?  A pen... or maybe a pencil.  Rubber bands.  Something squishy... what on earth was squishy? she wondered.  Paper.  More paper.  More paper... Flashlight!

Shannon pulled out the flashlight and slid the button.  Nothing.

"For crying in the sink..." she muttered, reaching back into the drawer.  There should be batteries in there somewhere... Another pen, more paper, the squishy thing... "Ah-ha!" she exclaimed, feeling something battery-shaped.  A moment later, she came up with another battery-shaped object.  Carefully, she opened the flashlight and emptied out the batteries, trying to feel which direction the extra little bump on the end faced.  Slipping the old batteries into the pocket of her sweatshirt, so she wouldn't mix them up with the new ones, Shannon shook her head and vowed that she would keep fresh batteries in the flashlight from now on, and that she would keep the flashlight in a more convenient place.  

With the new batteries in place, Shannon slid the switch again.  The flashlight shone a beam across the kitchen, and Shannon smiled.

At that moment, the lights came back on.

I hate photos

I don't like photos of me.  I don't think I'm actually all that photogenic.  If you look around, you'll probably notice that most of my profile pics are the same on all the sites I use, because there are very few that I even half-like.

We did photos of "The Sunshine Boys" tonight, which was fine.  It was really good, actually.  My friend Penny came and took shots of the whole show.  Go visit her site - she's awesome.  Anyways, after the show was done, the cast wanted a few fun shots, and a group shot.  I almost got away with it, then the director pointed out that I wasn't in the picture.  So we did another.  Blah.  We'll see how it looks.  

In related (ish) news, I'm doing better with my new year's resolutions - I've done some sort of exercise for three of the past four days, and I've been drinking more water and less pop.  And I've lost six pounds since January.  So yay!  But I still don't think I'll like the way I look in the picture.

Blink blink

I had a horrible audition.  Terrible, horrible, walked-off-stage-and-knew-I-was-screwed audition.  Somehow, I got offered a part.  Huh?

I've got to let this marinate for a bit... I had such an awful audition that I started making other plans for the summer, because there was absolutely no way I'd get a part.  Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do...

I'll keep you updated.

Stealth posting

Heehee!  I got internet at the theatre tonight, so I'm using the inordinately long time between cues to post to my blog - whee!

The show is going swimmingly.  I actually don't know what swimmingly means, so let's Google it...

From Merriam-Webster online:

swim·ming·ly 

Pronunciation: \ˈswi-miŋ-lē\

Function:

adverb

Date:

1622

: very well : splendidly swimmingly>

Hey, that totally works!  The show really is going swimmingly!  Hooray for a vocabulary lesson!  Now, honestly, I had a pretty good idea of the meaning of the word, otherwise I wouldn't have attempted to use it, but I didn't know the exact definition.  I looked up another one today, at work.  Takayasu's disease is an inflammatory disease of the arteries characterized by decreased blood flow to the upper extremities, brain, and eyes. 

See?  You really do learn something new every day!  And today I learned two new things, so I don't have to learn anything tomorrow if I don't want to.  :)

Drawing a blank

I want to write.  But I have no ideas at the moment.  I don't know where to go next on my WIP, and I don't really have any short story ideas (for once).  I'm going to blame my crappy day.  So instead of writing, I'm going to knit.  Well, crochet.  I have a pattern (ish) to follow, so I know what's ahead.  I suppose, if I ever managed to outline, I would have a pattern-like thing to follow for my writing, but I've never been able to write a proper outline.  Even in high school, when we had to hand in our outlines as part of our grade for an essay, I'd write the outline after I wrote the essay.  I keep hearing that outlines are important, but I just can't make them work for me.  I'm more of a 'rough idea' sort of girl... or a 'notebook full of ideas that may or may not work together' sort of girl.   I like the feeling of a story unfolding for me... perhaps I should stick to being a reader...

A rock sort of evening

I was in the mood for heavy music tonight.  Heavy music and fast driving.  Unfortunately, the speed limit was 45, so the driving didn't get very fast.  But the music was heavy and loud.

There's always been a definite connection between music and mood for me.  When I get frustrated, especially over things I can't control, I turn to one of two types of music - heavy rock, or showtunes.  Yeah, I realize they're on completely opposite ends of the musical spectrum, but they both work, depending on the day.  Showtunes are great for belting out at the top of my lungs in the car, with me being much louder than the song (and I'm pretending that cars are soundproof so no one else hears).  A bunch of good, upbeat showtunes can turn my mood into something much more chipper.

The heavy stuff is good for when I want to savour a bad mood, if that makes sense.  Sometimes, I just need to feed the irritation, the frustration, the anger, until it dissipates on its own.  The music can make it go faster.  I play this stuff as loud as the stereo can handle it, and instead of belting along, it's almost a growl that I have going on.  And after about three songs tonight, I felt better.  And then I was just listening to the music for the sake of enjoying it, which was nice.  Plus, I rediscovered some tracks that I haven't heard in a while, by Jet Set Satellite (whom I hung out with once upon a time almost ten years ago) and by the Fleshtone Rockets (whom I also knew, but they have since disbanded).

Of course, I'm a fan of most music... except love songs.  You've read that, I'm sure.  (I was going to link back to the post where I ranted about how creepy love songs are, but I can't find it.  It's around here somewhere, I'm sure.)  I was in surgery this morning with a different doctor than usual, and I LOVED the music - the first three cases were with the Elvis station playing, and the last three had swing/jazz music.   It was all very peppy and upbeat and singable.  None of this "I love you so much I want to die if you even think about thinking about leaving me!" crap.  

Being a fan of most music, however, means that I like a lot of crap, too.  But I recognize that the Spice Girls are not high quality music, and neither was NKOTB... but I still love listening to them sometimes.  There is music for every occasion, and there are occasions for every song.

Paniiiiiiiiic!

You know that rush of adrenaline you get when you get really worried or nervous?  Yeah, that one.  I don't like that rush.  It means something bad has happened.  At least, that's what I always assume.

I had that rush of panicky adrenaline today when one of my actors wasn't at the theatre yet, and it was five minutes to curtain.  And he's one of the leads.  And I like him, he's a nice guy.  So I was worried.  Last time an actor was late to a Sunday matinee, he'd had a wreck on the way to the theatre.  So I worried.  That's what I do.  I'm a worrier.

Luckily, he got to the theatre with about three minutes to curtain.  We stretched the curtain speech, and he had plenty of time to get changed.  And the show went on!

But I still worried.  And that sucked.  And now I've got that shaky, hot, coming-down-from-panic feeling.  Ick.  But he's safe, and that's the important part.

Attention all drivers:

Please read my blog.  That way, I won't have to have yet ANOTHER blog about idiot drivers.

Please do not ride my ass when it's raining.

Please do not ride my ass when I'm driving the speed limit.

Please do not ride my ass.  Period.

Thank you.

A little disappointed.

I was all ready to have people stay over tonight... I even made elephant towels!  But they didn't :(  But I can't let the elephant towels go to waste, so you all get to see them!!

It pays to know the right people

I'm dealing with a FedEx kafuffle right now.  That's right, a kafuffle.  Basically, the guy at the store screwed up, and now my package is stuck in customs, and has been for about two weeks, and apparently will continue to be there for another two or more.

In any case, a friend of mine works at FedEx/Kinko's, and I sent him a text asking what the best way to get action was, thinking he would direct me to a manager, or a customer service number, or maybe a website (he lives in a completely different city than I do).  Apparently the best way to get action is to send him a text!  He's getting everything sorted for me - thanks Matt!  You rock!

Eep!

I didn't mean to come off as flip with yesterday's blog!  I hope I didn't offend anyone - I really do understand that latex allergy is a major problem.  We occasionally have patients with latex allergies come into the OR, and there are a ton of precautions that we take because the complications can be life-threatening.

My eye-rolling came at the idea of being 'unhireable' because of it.  There are plenty of jobs that don't require any contact with latex, even in the medical field.  And, as long as proper precautions are taken, a mild sensitivity may never develop into a full-blown allergy.  Basically, my point was that the anesthetist was blowing red fingers way out of proportion.  This is just something that she does.  EVERYTHING is a major event in her view.

If you don't know anything about latex allergies, definitely go and check out the links that lafer posted as comments on my last entry.  I checked them out earlier today, and while I was familiar with a lot of the information, I did learn some new things, too.

It's catching up to me

Well, after two weeks of rehearsals, it's caught up to me.  I'm tired.  Very tired.  But that's okay.  Only two more weeks to go... and I get at least four sleep-ins.  Wait.  No.  Only two sleep-ins.  Crap.

In the meantime, ponder this:  I was told today that "once you're labeled latex allergy, you're unhireable."  This came from the nurse anesthetist at work.  I'm thinking it doesn't necessarily apply to all healthcare employees... If I weren't scrubbing for surgery, I don't think I would ever notice if I had a latex allergy or not.  And so many things come latex-free these days, it really shouldn't be an issue.  So you might have to wear different gloves.  Oooo.  Half of the staff at work asks for latex-free gloves anyways, because they're just nicer.  

But that got me to thinking... what other random things might make you "unhireable"?  Maybe if you have crooked teeth, you can't work for an orthodontist.  If you have a limp, you can't work in physical therapy.  If you're allergic to feathers, you can't work for a vet.  Interesting...

On a related note, if you're allergic to feathers, you can't get the flu shot.  Did you know that?  It's because the vaccine is cultured inside chicken eggs, and if you're allergic to feathers, there's a teeny tiny chance that some feather proteins made their way into the vaccine, and you might have a major allergic reaction.  Strange, but true.

Tired... but no dead turtle!

So I'm tired, and not too inspired, but I thought I'd share this with you.

I HIT A TURTLE!!  I was driving to church on Sunday morning, and I thought I saw a brown paper bag in the road, but as I got closer, I realized it was a turtle.  I was on a stretch of road going uphill with limited visibility, but I tried to swerve a little to avoid it.  Did you know that a turtle makes a very distinctive "ka-THUNK" sound as you drive over it?  I only heard/felt one wheel go over it, but I had no idea if it was alive or not.  I felt AWFUL!  

After church, I made a point of going home the same way, because I had to know if it was dead.  I figured if it was, it would still be in the road.  But it was gone!  So it didn't die (and please, don't ruin my dreams of a somewhat-pissed-off-but-not-dead-turtle walking away from this!).  I was happier.

That was the first live thing I've hit since I started driving.  I didn't like the feeling.  I don't want to do it again.

Yet another awesome day!

This has totally been my weekend!  I have felt amazing, and I've accomplished a lot.  The most notable accomplishment is the completion of the first draft of my WIP!  I'm thrilled about this!  Yesterday's field trip totally inspired me, and, as an added bonus, I got a really great incentive to finish - I get to workshop my play this summer!  Woot!  The offer came yesterday, and I accepted very eagerly.  I'm really feeling great right now.

I also managed to do a lot at home -  my place is almost in shape to have a party this weekend, which I'm hoping to do, since opening night for the Sunshine Boys is this Friday.  I've washed a bunch of blankets and sheets, so if I need to have people crash chez moi, there's plenty to use.  I did some cleaning upstairs, and more will follow next weekend, I hope.  And I've started weeding through my clothes and pulling out the things that aren't flattering on me anymore.  I know, I've been talking about losing some weight, but a lot of these things just aren't age-appropriate now.  So if there's anyone out there who is interested in some second-hand clothes (all good condition, all good-quality garments), size small to medium, let me know!  Friends get first pick, then the rest is going to Goodwill, I think.

Like I said, it's been a good weekend.  I hope this mood carries over into Monday...

Inspired!

So I spent the day with dancers, and it was awesome!  I know how to fix some of the icky bits of my WIP, and I am feeling so inspired!

Off to write now!!

Field Trip!

That's right, I'm going on a field trip!  Tomorrow, I'm heading to Dublin to study a pair of wild ballroom dancers in their native environment.  It's sure to be a day full of surprises - I've got my camera and various recording devices ready to go!

Serisously, though, I'm spending the day with a couple of dancers, hoping to get a better feel for how they interact while rehearsing, so I can improve the quality of my WIP.  Of course, that means that tomorrow morning, I'll be frantically writing to have the piece finished, so that I can work in these improvements.

Big hugs to Colby and Chris for being my beta-readers for the first half - your comments helped so much!  I'm looking forward to finishing the rest to give to you!  And if things go well, I might be able to have an almost-finished product for my critique group soon... I wasn't sure if I was going to submit it, but I think it'll be very helpful to have non-dancers read the piece, too.  They'll be able to give me an honest opinion about whether or not it makes sense to anyone who doesn't dance.

I'm sooo psyched!  I love this feeling!  And I love that I'm almost finished!  (Okay, so I know there's still a lot of editing and whatnot to do, but that stuff is actually much less intimidating for me, because I've got a lot of experience in technical writing, and I like to edit.)

Can't wait for tomorrow!

Naked puppy!

I went out and bought a new harness for Mia today.  She had been using an extra-small size, but it seemed awfully tight under her front legs, even at its largest.  So I picked up a small... and it looked huge!  But it seems to work well, so I guess she's bigger than I thought.

I decided that it was kind of goofy to have her wearing a collar and a harness, especially since her collar doesn't have any tags on it, so I took the collar off.  She wore the harness around the house all evening, so it was easy to take her outside as necessary.  It's bedtime now, so I took it off, and I've got a naked puppy running around!  It's so strange to see her without any sort of collar on... I'm considering putting it back on, just so she doesn't look so bare.  I'd hate to feel the need to knit her a sweater!  And I'm sure she'd hate to wear one!

Cinco de Mayo

**Notice:  This story is based on true events.  Names have been changed to disguise the stupid.

Ella sighed as silently as she could, watching the doctor at work.  It had already been a long day of surgery, but now she was being forced to listen to the man drone on and on about nothing in particular.  Dr. Morris was certainly a skilled surgeon - his patients always left looking better than when they had arrived - but he was a particularly boring man.

Today's stories seemed to center on birthdays for some reason.  Dr. Morris had recounted the tale of his son's first birthday... again.  The boy had been given a ridiculously over-priced cake in the shape of a race car, and, like all one-year-olds, had dived in with both hands, covering himself in cake.  If Ella hadn't seen several dozen other children do exactly the same thing, she might have been mildly amused by the story.  Of course, it didn't help that the adorable one-year-old in the story was now a surly, foul-mouthed sixteen-year-old who seemed to think that the world revolved around him because his father was a surgeon.

"When's your birthday again, Ella?" Dr. Morris asked as he began the painstaking work of sewing up the incision beneath the patient's left breast.

"May fifth," Ella said, reaching over to blot the blood that oozed from the incision.  "Yesterday."

"Ah!  On Cinco de Mayo!  That must have been fun.  Say, is Cinco de Mayo always on May fifth?" he asked.

Ella blinked.  Was he serious?  "Yes."

"You must have great birthday celebrations!  Say, did I ever tell you about Roger's fifth birthday?"

As the doctor began to recount another story, Ella stared at him.  Did he really just ask that question? she wondered.  That was like asking if the Fourth of July always fell on July fourth...  For a brilliant man, Dr. Morris could be awfully stupid.

It's not Monday?

Because it sure felt like a Monday...

Today sucked.  On multiple levels.  A friend was in a wreck on the way to work, but seems to be fine, thankfully.  Work was, well, work, but much delayed because of that wreck - a lot of our coworkers come from the same direction, and all got stuck.

However, today is almost done.

I am off to write a bit more - on Friday, I'm meeting with my beta-readers for lunch to get their comments on the first act of my play, and I really want to have the second act done to give to them.  If the blogs suck for the rest of the week, it's because I'm concentrating my efforts elsewhere.  Hope you don't mind!

I'm certified!

NOT certifiable... there is a difference!

Today I passed my exam, and I am now a Certified Ophthalmic Assistant.  So what does that mean?  Well, it means I get an extra letter on my name tag - COA instead of OA after my name.  Um... it means I still do the same thing that I did last week... and it means that in a year, I can take the Certified Ophthalmic Technician exam... which will give me COT after my name instead of COA.

Okay, so it doesn't have a big impact on my day-to-day job.  But it should get me a little raise, which would be nice!

And better yet, I'm done studying, so I can do more writing!  Well, when I'm not at the theatre. 

Yawn, stretch, blargh

I wanted to do more with my day.  I had great intentions.  

Instead, I watched TV with some friends, then spent the evening trying to study for tomorrow's COA exam.  It's really hard to study for something that doesn't really interest you at all.  But the office pays for it, and I should (theoretically) get a raise once I'm certified.  So I did a whole book of practice tests, and I scored between 69 and 91%, without actually studying... so tomorrow morning, before the test, I'm going to review instrument maintenance, Schiotz tonometry, and how to examine kids... and I should be okay.

I think.

We'll see.

At least the main floor of my apartment is clean!

Look what I made!

It's a birthday cake for Shane!

I don't really understand the frog thing...  I had froggy wrapping paper, and then I found these froggy dohickies to stick on the card that I made for him, so it seemed right that his cake should have a frog, too.

Another night of neglect

I ended up staying up until midnight last night, writing.  I managed to write 8 pages!  I'm pretty impressed with myself.  And I'm still in that frame of mind, so I'll be writing more tonight!  At this rate, I should have at least one first draft done by the end of next week!  (I'm taking into account that I'm losing some time this weekend to study for an exam on Monday.)

Go writing!

And again, go visit my friends if you're looking for something to read!