This is my shower.




By the way, did I mention my parents are coming tomorrow?

Faaaannnntastic.

What a weekend!

Went to the Phoenix Zoo for the first time. It was great, but I wish I'd brought my 70-300 lens. Talked with Austin people and understand the situation a little better. Got encouragement for future stuff. Not to be all cryptic, but I have some awesome opportunities that I don't want to jinx til it's official and I'm out there. Met some awesome people. Actually, there was only one troupe I didn't know this festival: ToySoup from Utah. They had probably the most talked about show this weekend. I know troupes get a copy of their performance. Hopefully they'll put theirs up online so I can link to it.

Did the Neutrino show with Shaun from Bare, Jenn Hoffman, and Tommy Schaeffer filmed. I did last year's show on Shaun's team, too. It was super fun. I got to hip toss Shaun and put my stage combat skills to use. Even Saturday night people were shouting Rape Toss at me. It ran so smoothly. It's hard to come back to LA and face LIMP. It has potential, but isn't being well run or executed. I did Neutrino for a year in PHX, and I have ideas about how to help LIMP improve. But I'm not a producer, and I don't feel like it's my place to say anything. And it's not like I'm coming from the You Need To Do This To Be More Like Neutrino angle. I'm coming from the I Am A Part Of This Show And Want It To Succeed angle. 10 people were in the audience at the last show. Nando was learning how to run the board with Ari two hours before we went on. A person who had never even been to a rehearsal ended up shooting the final scene. These ingredients do not a good show make.

Anyway. Thursday night I crashed on my sister's couch. Her condo is in this huge complex that consists soley of college kids. I've been there on the weekend and it's party central all night long. Lindsay lives on a corner, so there's plenty of traffic. Well, it was a Wednesday and I thought the noise level wouldn't be too bad. I was wrong. At 3 in the morning, a huge group of drunk assholes were yelling Fuck You to each other. There was no real fighting. Just screaming that phrase over and over and over again. I stared up at the ceiling and fantasized about going out onto her balcony with a gun and shooting it into the air to get their attention. I would kindly ask them to either break it up, quiet down, or go inside to proceed with the fucking of each other. Instead I got up and peed, which woke up Sass and opened a whole new can of worms. He, of course, wanted to sleep with me. But it took him an hour to figure out if he wanted to sleep on my feet or by my face or on my stomach or in the crook of my knees or on top of my legs or cuddled up next to me or under my hand so I'd be more inclined to pet him. By the time he finally figured it out, he decided he wanted to be with Lindsay and Chris again. Needless to say, I started my busy ass Friday with little sleep.

Friday night was a late party night, but I was able to sleep til 9 b/c it was totally dark! I love hotel rooms! My room at home faces the sunrise, so it's bright by 6:30 am, and I can rarely sleep past that. Faith was trying to sneak out to get breakfast--she knows how precious little darkness I get. But I wanted to eat free food and figured I'd just go back to sleep til we had to check out. No such luck. Everyone from PIF was at breakfast, so we were there much longer than intended. Brent was ready to go to the zoo earlier than expected, so I showered and got ready. Then it was outside in the sun walking around for a few hours. This is perfectly fine, except I know that when I don't get enough sleep, I get sick. I didn't want to pay for a second night at the hotel, so I didn't have a nap area. When we got back, I found Jose and Jacque and went up to the PIF room to change shirts.

Man, I miss my AZ friends more than I realized. Seeing everyone this weekend...I don't know what I was expecting, but it was really hard to leave. They are just an amazing group of people and I love them all. I can't believe how blessed my life is. I have been fortunate enough to befriend pretty much the most awesome kids on this planet. And not just Phoenix--all over. Being in PHX made me even that much more excited for Austin. The improv scene in LA isn't the tight community it is in PHX and ATX. That's what I miss. Being a *part* of something. LA is the loneliest place on the planet. There are so many people, but they are so wrapped up in their own little worlds. Phoenix reminded me how much I love that family feeling. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my LA peeps, too. I'm gonna feel the same way about them when I move to TX. But there's just something different about the communities. Too hard to explain.

Anyway, by Tommy's party Saturday night I was already pretty sleep deprived. And then I ended up not sleeping at all that entire night. I drove back to LA and got stuck in traffic at the windmills on the 10. There was an accident that backed up traffic for over an hour. I finally got home, but the second wind had kicked in, so I couldn't fall asleep immediately. Monday morning I didn't have the opportunity to sleep in due to the construction. That continued to Tuesday as well. But Monday was when the sickness kicked in. I'm not contagious; it's just my body's way of reprimanding me for having too much fun. It's just a bad cold. I slept for about 3 hours Monday night due to fevers coming and going. Today is my first day feeling better, even though not at 100%. Hopefully a good night's sleep tonight will get me there.

Friday is the premier of Woke at the Newport Film Festival. Afterwards is a beach house party. I want to go to both, but not if I'm still sick, which sucks. Hopefully I can at least go to the cookout. We'll see. I know that if I push it, I'll just get sicker. The weekend after next is my cousin's wedding in Temecula, so I have to be totally healed by then. I'm really looking forward to that one! My folks fly in to LAX Wednesday night at 7. I told them they'd have to eat at the airport b/c there's no way in hell I'm driving to that damn place in rush hour traffic.

Summary of story: PHX was awesome as usual. My heart hurts from missing my friends. I am happy to meet new people and make new friends. Traffic and being sick can kiss my ass. Oh, and pictures are up here.

There's nothing like waking up in your own bed after a weekend of heavy socializing and light sleep TO THE SOUND OF DEMOLITION AT 7:30 IN THE MORNING 10 FEET FROM YOUR BEDROOM.

They are tearing up our balcony--which means hammering the crap out of the cement. Then, in the lot next door, they are weed-whacking the back yard, as it has 5 ft high vegetation. It is taking every ounce of strength I possess to not put my face through the wall.

ANXIETY

It's 5am. Saturday. Oh no! I missed my doctor's, dentist's and hair appointments! I missed my meeting at work! I'm on thin ice as it is, and surely I'll get fired after this. My mind raced with my options. OK, I'll just stay in AZ for another couple of days. I'll go into work first thing Monday morning. Why didn't Marlynn call to see why I wasn't there? If I have to, I can find a doctor and dentist in CA. I can call David today since he's open on the weekend and get scheduled for Monday. I won't be able to try the doctor & dentist til Monday morning, as they're closed on the weekend. Crap! I was supposed to have dinner with Paul Thursday night and I missed that, too!

I smacked my forehead with my palm. That startled me. I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling. This was not my aunt and uncle's house. This was not my sister's living room. This was my ceiling in California. It wasn't Saturday. It's Tuesday. I haven't left yet. I haven't missed anything. It's gonna be OK.

What a way to wake up.

I remember the first time I opened Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I remember picking up my pre-placed order the day it was available. I remember the green wrist band that moved me to a smaller line. I remember how my throat closed and my eyes stung when I read:

THE
DEDICATION
OF THIS BOOK
IS SPLIT
SEVEN WAYS:
TO NEIL.
TO JESSICA.
TO DAVID.
TO KENZIE.
TO DI.
TO ANNE.
AND TO YOU,
IF YOU HAVE
STUCK
WITH HARRY
UNTIL THE
VERY
END.

"As long as I can keep up my work out regimen, I'll be fine." That's how I ended the last post. And then a week goes by and I've been to the gym once. All because I decided to start reading Harry Potter again. Books 1-4 were finished in 5 days. I seriously have been reading non-stop. Ben S and I are getting together today to go hiking, which will be lots of fun. He let me pick our activity, and I chose that over lunch b/c I basically haven't moved in a week.

Well, I'm done with my first week of the meal plan. I've never had so many veggies in my life! My parents are thrilled. Carrots and sugar snap peas and grean and wax beans and lots of broccoli. It's so great. I'm not hungry, and I basically eat all day. Breakfast, soy snack, lunch, soy snack, dinner. Yesterday's afternoon snack was a sugar free cheesecake the size of a cupcake. The crust was made of crushed almonds instead of sugary graham crackers. How great is that?! It was very tastey and definitely satisfied a sweet craving. I've just never had this much variety in my life. My body is getting all sorts of vitamins that it's not had before, and I feel amazing. I have a lot of energy, I'm getting good rest. I'm not snacking. I love it. If I can afford it, I'll probably just keep having meals delivered until I have a family to take care of. It's like having my own personal gourmet chef!