#@$%!

Rats. Saturday night Oliver!, the second play in my season ticket for the Davis Musical Theater Company. My play-buddy Cornetta had an emergency so couldn't attend. I found myself musing over who to invite to use up the un-partnered ticket. I attempted to invite musical loving buddies that being Mommy Nancy and Karen, but neither were available. I went to Oliver! solo.

Tonight was the first play for my season's ticket to the Davis Musical Theater Company. I love the Davis Theater. The actors are engaged from volunteers in the Davis community so it is like unto that box of chocolates Forest Gump carries on about, i.e., you never know what you're going to get.

What I got was Bumble, Mrs Bumble, Artful Dodger and Fagin as polished singers with, I am sure, as much singing voice, projection, humour and moxie as in any divas Broadway. The lead, Oliver, was an appropriately rail thin 13-year old with a sweet voice that could blend in nicely with any choir boy of the Austrian Boy's choir.

To the reverse, the very white-bread gentleman who played Mr Brownlow would have been out of his league if he was in a non-speaking role of a kindergarten class's rendition of The Little Engine that Couldn't Could (not if you tied it up with a freakn' bow).

Suffice to say the play was enjoyable and ditto to say it would have been more fun if I had a buddy to chat for the occastion, which brings me to why I'm blaspheming up a storm here - $#%#!!!!

Sunday night buddy-Jeannie called me to chat. She often as not rings me up to provide her with someone to chat with while she has a last smoke in her garage. Sunday night she called and as I told her about Oliver! it hit me - why hadn't I thought to invite her!

Ok, I know good and well why not. Jeannie has never been to a play or musical in her life, unless you count any school productions she may have been forced attend (tied to her chair, no doubt). I've longed to drag her off to the theater for ages. Saturday night would have been the ideal time haul her to Davis and expose her to her very first musical.

Honestly, I could just drop kick myself from here to Broadway. Had Jeannie gone to Oliver! and found herself enjoying the musical that would have been nice. But - even had she hated it - we'd have had a ball fighting over how lame it was/was not. There is no way we would have not had a great deal of fun.

Last Precious Hours of Freedom via 4-day Mini-retirement

9:51

Got up, put laundry in and mused in dejected manner that I have to fly to San Diego tomorrow for a work thingie on Wednesday. Don't want to go anywhere, want to stay home. Yes, cry me a river Claire.

Decided to do something different for breakfast - instead of eggs or cheese/fruit, decided to finally cook up a pot of steel cut oats. Have no clue why steel cut is better than rolled. If I had a choose between the two for myself, I'd rather be rolled than cut via steel. Ouch.

Put new pot on stove to bring water to a boil. Nose twitched - what is that funny odor? EEEEK! It was the paper label glued to the bottom of the spanking new pot. Ashes & smoke everywhere.
No bother! Paper burned away so no real harm done, didn't even take pot off stove. Stirred in oatmeal - when thickened put lid on. Five minutes pass. EEEEEK! Oatmeal boiled up and spackled surface of stove burner. Blast. Steel cut oatmeal had better fecking taste like the food of the gods is all I have to say. *fumes*

10:00 AM

Sat down with wholesome oatmeal, turned on The Wind and the Lion, an old epic featuring Sean Connery & Candice Bergan. Love the old movie. Love Sean Connery then, now. Oatmeal = yum.

11:30 AM

Took off to Curves for 2nd visit of the week. I require three visits per week. Will go again on Thursday. The routine already feels obligatory; and that is a good thing.

2:00 PM

Back from Curves. Collapsed on couch. Slept like the dead.

4:15 PM

Time to do laundry & pack for trip to San Diego.

8:45 PM

Bags are packed. Ready to go.

It is amazing how easy it was to go for a gym workout if you haven't spent the previous 8-9 hours sitting at a desk and haven't spent 2 hours of the day commuting. Not so amazing it is fun to be done with the exercising to come home and collapse on the couch.

Mini-retirement was a success. Tomorrow it is back to the real world. Drat.

Mini-retirement - Day 3

8:40 AM

Blast! Got up too late to watch CBS Sunday Morning. I was up till 1 AM which never would happen if I were not retired. I am allowing myself the luxtury of reverting to my night owl ways for my mini-retirement.

9:04 AM

Am doing something I haven't done in years - I'm keeping a food journal. Not because I am on a [fill in the 'D-word' here], but because it forces me to think about what goes in my mouth. I'm continuing to eat my usual healthy stuff. I'm totally slipping on my campaign to drink a minimum of 5 glasses of water per day. Even being at home hasn't gotten past more than three glasses per day and that is not enough. Anyway, here I am, a whole day for myself... what do I feel like doing?

11:00 AM

Bored. Ought to make phone calls but as usual I am not making them. I have no clue why I don't call people, particularly family. I'm fine when going for visits, but calling just doesn't happen. My medium is either face-to-face, the Internet, i.e., e-mail or Internet forums, this blog and such. I love chatting so why don't I love picking up the phone?

5:45 PM

Can't say I got nothing done today - I cut and sewed curtains for that last window in my bedroom and I made a nice go of it thankyouverymuch. Still I was bored so decided a trip out was the only thing for it.

Thanksgiving will be at Mommy Nancy's & Rick's this year; small crowd, Fran & Mark, Ingrid. Really small and I will be free to go to the State Indian Museum on Friday or Saturday to help out with the Thanksgiving weekend arts & crafts sale. Everyone loves if I prepare 'my' speciality - Sugar Pumpkins baked with a filling of bison (yes, real buffalo meat) and wild rice. Really a showy dish and what everyone loves it combines foods that were on the continent pre-Europeans. Unfortunately, that means I have to find suitable Sugar Pumkins and some years - like this one - it just doesn't happen. The pumpkins at Corti Brothers gourmet market were for carving, not eating (and they were HUMONGOUS.). And Whole Foods had Sugar Pumpkins but they were the size of freakn' apples - way to small to be of any use. Damn, damn, damn. Will have to use some other cool recipe from my Spirit of the Harvest cook book.

Anyway, I decided my outing out would be to hit Corti Bro & Whole Foods in search of pumpkins. How can explain how dangerous shopping at those two stores are? Their prices are as spectactular as their produce sections. If a Pink Lady apple costs 50 cents at a Safeway market, the same apples are bound to cost a buck fifty each at Whole Foods. Food at Corti Bro & Whole Foods are as incredible as they are expensive. You want venison, fresh chantrelle mushrooms, imported Bel Pase cheese or double chocolate stout from a little known micro beer brewery? You know where to go. I spent the afternoon perusing the aisles at those markets and I did good - not totally breaking the bank.

Honestly, I am THRILLED that Whole Foods charges so much for their baked goods. My choice there is 'pay the mortgage this month' or 'buy cheesecake at Whole Foods': I can't afford to do both. If Whole Foods ever drops the prices of its goodies I am doomed; will be featured on a medical channel undergoing surgery to remove my entire digestive tract & replacing my throat with a padlock.

Is nice being retired for a few days. Plan to sit up past 11 o'clock so as to watch South Park. Tee hee! *Nibbles on lovely fresh tuna and salmon sushi (Whole Foods) that will be followed up by a rose-flavored Turkish Delight (Corti Brothers)*