Breaking Free

My therapist cut me loose today.

I don’t blame her, the past few times I had very little to talk about.  I seem to be relatively happy and well adjusted and that is a good thing, in my opinion.

So, I had been going once a week, then every other week, and then a month and now I won’t be seeing her at all.   But she did say that she would be there if I should need her in the future.  I am happy about this because I feel that she is a very good therapist and one that I connected with and it is nice to know that I can go back if I ever have need of more therapy.

I guess I have been seeing her for about a year now.   I must be improving!

One thing she did say and something I will need help with is expanding my support network.  I know that I have many of you “blogging buddies” but I don’t tend to make a lot of friends in real life, so I basically have Chris, my mom and my sister.    I need to get out more and meet more people but I tend to be somewhat introverted as many of you already know and I like my time alone.   And I don’t think spending time alone is necessarily a bad thing.  I do like to watch movies and read but it would be nice to get out once in a while and do something else.

It would also be nice to have some support other than Chris because there are times that he is doing a Wiccan service or visiting his mom and I tend to just stay in when I could be going out and meeting a friend.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

I was thinking about maybe getting involved with local theater.  I do so love me a Broadway play and maybe I can do something backstage to help out.   It might be kind of fun. Kind of like Mickey and Judy putting on a show.   And one of Chris’s friends is involved in theater so I have someone I can contact.  Maybe I will work on that.

Of course I may just end up doing what I always do and staying in with my book.  We shall see!

The Bucket Woman

Chris and I have been using the Netflix  “watch it now” feature as of late.

There are some heinous films out there on watch it now. They have managed to collect some one and two star movies that are terrible.  I don’t know where they get them.  We have watched some real dogs.

One thing that we are enjoying however, is “Keeping Up Appearances” with Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced “bouquet”) and her quest to impress all her neighbors with her candlelight suppers.

It is a British comedy that was made in  the 1990’s and is terribly funny.  And you can watch all the episodes on watch it now.  I think that there are around 43 in total.  I am working my way through them.  I have about an hour before I go to work so I think I can watch at least one and maybe two before I head for work.

I remember watching various episodes of the series but have never seen the entire catalog of episodes so I am enjoying it immensely.

The other news that is fit to print is that it is the start of restaurant week in Baltimore.  I have never heard of restaurant week but apparently it has been going on for years and it happens twice in one year, July being one of the months.   There is a list of restaurants you can choose from and you can get a selection of three course meals for $30.08.   It is a nice way to try some of the nicer establishments that you would not ordinarily go to because they are out of your price range  (well, out of some of our price ranges, at any rate).

We are going to go to La Tavola down in Little Italy.  We have eaten there before and really enjoyed it, but it can be rather expensive.  But this will be a nice way to get a good meal there for not that much spent.   I am going to have to look in to restaurant week when it comes back again because there are a lot of eateries that I want to try.   It will be a change at any rate.

I normally work Wednesday night but I am taking tomorrow off (yay!) so I can hang around here during the day and go out to eat at night.  Sometimes it is nice to have a weekday off.  I can do as little as I want.  And we have been so busy at the library this summer.   It will be nice to have a break!

We had a good program yesterday with storytelling and origami and we had 71 people attending! Not bad at all!

Have a great day everybody!

Catered Affair

By the time you read this, a Catered Affair will have closed on Broadway.

So, should this review make you want to see it, you are too late.  Unless of course it should happen to tour, and then it may come to a city near you.

I thought the play was marvelous.   It was more of a play with music than a musical. There were no rousing, overly choreographed numbers or a cast of hundreds.  It was just a small group of people who lived everyday lives, and occasionally sing a soft song.  It was a simple, perfect, quiet little musical.

It did get pretty tense at certain moments.   The family had just lost a son overseas and was struggling to come to terms with his death.  The daughter becomes engaged, and the mother wants to use the death benefits from the armed services to give the daughter a huge wedding.  The father wants to use the money to buy into his share of a taxicab so he doesn’t have to struggle to make ends meet.   The mother feels as though they favored the son and gave the daughter very little, so they owe it to her to give her this catered affair.   The mother married at city hall and never was able to have her own dream wedding and sometimes feels that she was trapped in a loveless marriage.    The play is set durning the 1950’s.   

The acting and singing was top notch.  Faith Prince stars as the mother, Aggie, and really was fabulous.  Tom Wopat played the father and his struggles to hold the family together proved a meaty role and he did a wonderful job.  And it was nice to be able to see Harvey Fierstein live, as Uncle Winston.  You have to pay close attention to Harvey when he sings because of his gravelly voice, but he is a good actor.  He also wrote the book of this musical and I think he did a fine job.  I really enjoyed myself.  Chris liked it too.  We had a very nice time.

It was hot in New York and as always, we did a lot of walking.  In the morning we stopped at Dean and Deluca for coffee and a muffin and then did a trek up to Central Park and wandered around the park for a bit. I love Central Park.  It is always a hub of activity and it is nice to see so many people about, walking, riding bikes, playing with dogs, ect.    I did have to sit on a bench for a bit as the heat started to get to me, but Chris was amenable to that.

We ended up eating lunch at the Iguana, our favorite Mexican food place and I had the brunch chilaquiles, and they were marvelous.   I was a bit overheated and had to cool down and think I drank about ten glasses of water!   But the food was good and by that time we were near to the theatre so we headed down for the play.

The play was only ninety minutes long and no intermission, so we were done well before four and then had two hours to kill before the bus took us home.  So we walked back up almost to Central Park again to try and go to the Apple Store, but it was packed and we couldn’t get in.  (I know, a STORE!)   So we wandered around a bit, got a yogurt and something to drink and hung around in a coffee shop until we took the bus home.

Oh, and in the morning we went to FAO Schwarz and hugged some stuffed animals.

A good time was had by all, I think.  Another successful trip to New York.  I can’t wait til the next one!

Computer Fun!

I know I am sort of quiet this week.

I have been playing “Madame Fate”

I downloaded it from Bigfishgames.com.  They have many little puzzle games that you can download and play and you can join a game club so you can buy several of them for a reduced rate.  And I enjoy little puzzle games more than anything, so I joined the club and found Madame Fate.

Poor Madame Fate! She is a fortune teller at a carnival and she looked into the crystal ball and predicted her own death at the hands of another.   So, it is up to the player to investigate all of the suspects and find out who wants to kill her.

You do this by looking at a cluttered scene full of objects and you search and find objects according to a list.  Some of them are really well hidden and hard to find but it is quite fun.  Then, sometimes you get to solve a word puzzle or another type of puzzle that you have to think to discover what to do.  When you find all the objects and solve the puzzles you get to see what the suspect was up to at midnight. 

It is really fun!   So if you need a slight diversion head over to Big Fish Games. There are a lot of hidden object games to choose from.  And other types of puzzle games. I am sure you will find one that suits you.

So, I am basically just wasting time…

And that is OK!

Tiger Yogiji mentioned in his comment that the play I am going to see is closing soon.  I looked it up and discovered that it is closing the NEXT DAY after I see it!  Talk about cutting it close!

I have to pick the next show I want to see maybe in the fall…

Tata for now!

Summer Fun

Well, not really.

It has been really hot as of late.  When it gets this hot, I have trouble thinking, moving, and being anything other than grumpy.  It is harder for me to post, because I can’t begin to string any words together.  I am more lethargic at work, even though we have air conditioning there.   It is almost better to be at work.  I can be cool there.

I have trouble with my concentration.  This really becomes a problem as I really enjoy reading but that simple pleasure is taken from me.   I stare at the page and the words seem to swim and I can’t seem to get through a paragraph.   Luckily summer is only so long and soon it will be autumn again.

I have started a book that I am enjoying called “Puccini’s Ghosts”  by Morag Joss, a Scottish author that I recently discovered and really like.  I am not very far along, but it has something to do with Turnandot, it is set in the 60’s  in a small town and there is a woman who fancies herself as an opera singer and her family and I am not sure where it is headed but the characterization is pretty good so far and it makes me want to read more.   Hopefully this weekend I will be able to read a bit more.

Chris and I are headed to NYC on Saturday to see a Catered Affair and the day should be good although it forecasts some thunder showers.    Maybe I can read on the bus ride up, if I don’t doze.

Anyway.  That is all I have for now! Stay cool!

Any Spare Ectoplasm?

I want to send out a plea for any ghosts out there that need a new home.

I am taking applications.

I am in need of a haunting.

You would have to live on the third floor of a row house in my bedroom.   You must not be a poltergeist, I really don’t want a lot of banging or objects flying around the room.

I don’t mind if you appear every now and then just to say hello.  I would really like it if you could be Victorian, but at this point I will take anything that comes my way.

There is only one requirement that I am not sure if you can fulfill.

I watch movies.  And in the movies when you go to a haunted house, characters enter certain rooms and the room develops a certain chill.   Even in the middle of summer.

The truth is, I need you to reduce the temperature in my bedroom.  The AC does not cut it when the day outside is 97 degrees.

So I am requesting supernatural help.     I don’t mind if you continue to live with me and make it chilly in the winter. I can always put on Flannel pajamas and an extra blanket.

But I do need to to cool the room considerably in the summer. 

At this point, I also would not care if the pets became frightened and avoided the room.  The last thing I want on a 97 degree day is a hot cat lying on my chest.

I will be home this weekend and you can drop by with your qualifications.

I would be happy to talk to you.

We all need a good ghost every now and then!

15 MEME

Answer the 15 questions as honestly as you can.

Tag at least 5 people.

Link back to your ‘tagger.’

What did you want to be when you ‘grew up?’

I wanted to be so many things. I kept changing my major. I think deep down I wanted to be an actor but I was never brave enough to do anything about it. I knew somehow, English would be involved.

What are you now?

A Librarian!

What fictional character did you identify with as a child?

I wanted to be Nancy Drew. She had a cool car, a cool boyfriend and she got to solve mysteries. She was smart and plucky and always solved the case. I aspired to be her, but never got very far with that, either.

How about now?

Now that I am older I am more of a Miss Marple. Always wanting to know the gossip, sometimes knitting, still trying to solve that case.

What is your ‘Gay Pride’ song?

Probably ‘Use it up and wear it out” by Pat and Mick. I have fond memories of dancing to that one at the Pegasus in Pittsburgh. Is it still there?

What is your drag song (we ALL have one)?

That would be “Is that all there is?” by Peggy Lee. But I bet I could do a mean Abba impersonation to ‘Dancing Queen’ if Tiger Yogiji was Agnetha.

Earliest memory?

I seem to remember a little plaid outfit I had when I was very young. Oh, and faux wood paneling that was in my bedroom when I was very young.

Memory you’d like to forget?

I have so many that I would like to forget. If I am trying to forget them, why are you reminding me?

If you ran for a seat in political office, what would be your platform(s)?

I would make a really good First Lady!

Winehouse. Want her to succeed or are you over her?

I like the album ‘Back to Black” and I hate to see her suffer. If she makes it I might buy the next one, and if not, there are other artist to be discovered.

The first person you thought you loved?

Probably my first Boyfriend who was only my boyfriend for about two months and tore my heart in half. I try not to think about it.

The first person you actually loved?

Probably that same person. Funny, I met him years later for lunch and realized we had nothing to talk about.

The person you love now?

My other, better , half!
If you could be, do, have, own, or possess anything you wanted, what would it be?I would like to travel a whole lot more. Go on more cruises, see cities in Europe, visit places I have never been. I would love to have a solid year of just globe-trotting!

Even if you are in love with someone right now, who are you/could be crushing on right now?

Luckily Chris knows this one. Colin Firth! Especially playing Mr. Darcy!

 

The only person I am tagging that Might do this is Steve over at Defying Despondency. Have fun!

 

Ugh

Friday morning and I am exhausted.

Not to talk too much about work but there have been so many people in the library this week it is making my head spin.  I have never seen so many people! I am not sure where they are all coming from.  So, I leave work mentally exhausted and I want to post but can’t seem to string any words together.

So I am posting first thing this morning and hopefully I will make sense.  One more day and then the weekend!

We had fun doing the yard sale.  If you want to know one thing about my clan, we are pack rats.  I am just as bad, so I really don’t have room to talk, but my sister and mom are also collectors.  My sister has enough Christmas decorations to decorate three houses.   My mother’s basement is piled with boxes, and she has rented a storage shed to help with the overflow.  I really want her to get rid of the storage shed because it costs her 100 bucks a month.    I hope to help her more with that the next time I visit.

My sister started putting things aside to sell at the yard sale.  I went down in the basement and helped her.  Some things she refused to get rid of, but we amassed a nice sized pile of things to sell.  The trick to a yard sale is price low and be willing to negotiate.    We used a dot system with one color dot being 50 cents, one color $1.00 and so on.  It worked well and we didn’t have to write prices on anything.  

I got up at six on the morning of the sale.  I headed out to the shed to get the card tables and had them set up by seven.  By eight I had everything out and arranged.    And people started arriving at eight!  The Saturday after July 4 is the big yard sale day in Edinboro, so everybody is ready for it.  We sold some of the larger items right off the bat.

Then we were steady up til about twelve when it slowed down.  By 12:30 we had finished and I packed the leftovers to take to Salvation Army.  But we made over 80 dollars and my mom and sister gave me 30 because of my help organize and lugging things all around!  Yay for me!

I also scored a stuffed penguin that my sister was going to sell but it was just too cute.  It is made out of a knit material and is wearing a scarf and a little hat.  I know that the last thing I need is another stuffed animal, but I didn’t have to buy this one, so it must be OK.  Chris didn’t seem to mind at any rate. Probably because it was free.

After the sale we all took naps and then went out to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner.   They had some really good food.  I had some penne pasta with a white clam sauce.  It was tasty.  And the prices were good there, not too expensive.   We went with my mom’s cousin and his wife.  They are always good company.

Well, I think I need to start getting ready for work.  Hope everyone is having a lovely week!

Back, but tired.

I got back home yesterday and it was a long drive.   And I had to work today and it was a long day. Chris came home from a trip to South Carolina so that was really nice.  We had a nice dinner.

My laptop came today and we went to DHL to pick it up.   It is a HUGE 17″ and I have to get used to it.  I also have to get used to Vista.  I am not sure how I feel about it so far, but it could be that it is just different.  Things seem to be working OK and I am playing around with it.  So we shall see.

I have been a bit quiet toward the end of the week, mainly because we were in Yard Sale Mania as my mother and sister and I prepared for the annual after fourth of July yard sale and they wanted to sell some stuff so guess who got to organize the whole thing?

Also, living with my mother and sister is a trip because they stay up until two and are yelling up and down the stairs at each other all night.  My sister had an ear infection so it was even worse this week.  “Mom, you wanna piece of pound cake?” “I don’t know, are you having some?” and on and on and on.

But all in all it was a good week. I like Edinboro.  Quiet town.   Nice people. 

So, I am back.  Will try and check in with all of you tomorrow.  Getting ready for bed, now. 

Night, all!

New Laptop

Well, I finally broke down and bought a new laptop.

It is a dell Inspiron 720 and as in the above picture, mine will be pink.

I should get it somewhere in the second week of July.  They were having a great sale at Dell and I got mine for a little over $300.00 off.  This model even has a little webcam, so if you are lucky, you might get a video post from me!  Although, this is a scary thought.  I will have to think about this carefully.  Do I want any of you to see my mug? 

So, I will have no reason to complain for the next three years or so.   Right now, I am in Edinboro on my old Toshiba.  I am going to reformat this one to the factory settings and give it to my sister.  I am just not sure how to do that.  I might need to take it home and grab the disks.     I think there is a way I can do it through the control panel but I am not at all sure how.   I am going to play around with it later.

On the down side of the day, we ran out of coffee filters and forgot to get any.  I am planning a trip over to the Sheetz for something large and caffeinated to get me started.   Luckily, the Sheetz is not too far away.

I love this Sheetz. We don’t have them in Baltimore.  This one is amazing.  They make smoothies and frozen creme drinks and coffee drinks, much like a Starbucks but more selection and cheaper.  And I love cheaper.

Hope you are all having a good week.