Mischief Managed

Elphie discovered the kitchen yesterday, in all its glory. She helped Scott load the dishwasher...

She inspected the pots and pans in the cabinet...

And then we had dinner.

Boy oh boy, is it tough to eat a meal with her around! Turn your head for just a second, and she's chowing down. She loves people food. Of course, she has also discovered the "forbidden fruit" of regular Cat Chow (in the big cats' bowl), so I think it's safe to say she loves everything. Except crab legs. We got some from Publix and cooked them up last night as an appetizer. I expected to have to set up a perimeter to eat in peace, but she wasn't interested at all. She wanted to play with the shells, but didn't really get a food vibe. Maybe that's because we were eating with our hands straight out of the pot and there were no plates or forks.

She does like ice cream, oatmeal (strawberries & cream), pork, and everything else we had last night - tilapia, coconut rice, and asparagus.

No, I don't let her eat off my plate. She just gets a bite before I know she's there. Besides, with a face like that, how can anyone say no?

And one more food find? Banana Split Cream Oreos. OMG are they tasty! I don't usually like that fake banana flavoring, and the yellow cream is a little gross to look at, but they are my new favorite store-bought cookie!

Cat House

Things here at Casa ParkHopper are progressing slowly but surely. As I type this, Milo is on my lap purring. I'm glad because this is the first time he's let me pet him in 2 days and I missed him. When he first jumped up, he smelled Elphie on me and started to hiss, so I pushed him down (how much bloodshed is enough?) and he came back a little while later and has been there ever since.

I finally got around to reading some "introducing a new cat" articles online last night, and they basically say "Jamie and Scott are stupid." Apparently you're supposed to introduce the cats one sense at a time - separate rooms connected by a door so that they can smell each other, and then you're supposed to conjure a baby gate (though I haven't met a cat who can't jump one of those) so that they can see each other. And then after a period determined by the cats - 2 days to a month - you can introduce them to each other.

Whatever!

Right now, Elphie is in our room with Scott. We have errands to run today, so we're going to keep everyone in their separate corners until we get home. I'm hoping that Milo's calm isn't temporary. I know that he's still going to growl and hiss, but I'd prefer that his anti-social period be over. I haven't needed to refill their food bowl for the last two days either, so I'm happy to see him eating again too.

Elphie and Kilo are going to be fine. He scares the crap out of her, and occasionally takes swats at her, but they were in the same room making eye contact for most of last night. She's already established herself as the #2 cat, hissing at Kilo until he backs off. That's fun to watch! Poor Kilo - he just wants a little love from someone!

Y'all are just going to be stuck looking at kitten pictures for a while. Enjoy them or skip over them, but I make no apologies. How can I help but snap all these pictures???

Elphie's "sweet and innocent" face.

She may look sweet and innocent, but check out those claws! Coming soon: pictures of Scott and Jamie's various war wounds.

I included this picture just to illustrate her very weird partial long hair. I've never seen a cat with hair like hers before - mostly short, but with an assortment of long (including some white). We're wondering if the long hairs will go away, or whether more will grow in, or if she's going to go around forever looking like someone got to her with a bottle of Nair!

In This Corner...

In this corner, the "Orange Fireball," the "Devil's Cat," the reigning heavyweight champ of Casa ParkHopper, MILO!

In the opposite corner, the "tiny furball," "Daddy's little girl," the newcomer with a lot to prove, ELPHIE!

Guess what! It's a girl! Scott and I batted around names all afternoon, and after my feeble attempts at Disney Princess names (Mulan, Megara), his attempts at Morpheus and Hymen, and some random names like Jack (in Captain Barbosa's voice, "we named the kitten Jack"), Violet, Veruca, Sweeney, Sparrow, and some more I can't remember, we finally found a name that all three of us could agree on. Her name is Elphaba, after a certain green witch in Wicked, but you can call her Elphie. She even perked up as soon as I said it.

The name, which took us about 3 hours to settle on, has been the easy part. We got home around 5:00 and Milo hasn't left his post under the desk since, except for one epic fight with Kilo. He has been hissing and growling, and Scott's attempt to talk some sense into him ended with one of them pulling back a bloody stump. (ok, I exaggerate, but there was blood) He hasn't come out to eat or drink, and he still hisses when one of us comes up to the desk. (once we're here for a minute, he stops)

Amazingly enough, Kilo wins the cool cucumber of the day award. He has been all poofed up a few times, but he came up while Elphie was sleeping on my lap and sniffed at her a little bit. I think he likes her because she brings the new and exotic Kitten Chow into the house, and her food is conveniently located (for the moment) in the living room. She's afraid of him, but I think they'll adjust to each other pretty quickly.

I hope.

I'm really upset about Milo. I've been making "hydro-phobie" jokes all evening because his behavior reminds me of the end of Old Yeller (and no, I will not shoot my own cat). I'm hoping that keeping her in the bedroom/bathroom side of the house overnight will allow them all to adjust to the idea of their new situation. Otherwise, I think Milo will get really bored sitting under the desk forever!

Tomorrow, more pictures of the baby. Hopefully with one of the other cats for scale. She's so tiny! And cute! And fuzzy!

Idina!

Last night was the Idina Menzel concert at House of Blues.

I can't make my mind break down the night into anything coherent, because it was just one big blur of fabulous. She did (I think) every song off of her new album, plus 2 songs from RENT and 2 songs from Wicked. Oh, and Roxanne. Hey - every concert needs a random cover, right?

Idina is fabulous beyond words, and her set was about 2 hours long. Sweet! I love the stuff off the new album (note to self: check BMG before buying anywhere else), but the most thrilling to me were the Broadway songs that she made famous in the first place. "No Day But Today" was totally surreal for me because I was on another stage singing a much less fabulous version just the day before. And I can't even describe what it was like to hear her do "Defying Gravity."

Hearing her do "For Good" is probably something I'll never forget. That song is really special to me for reasons that I'm not going to talk about here. But I had tears rolling down my cheeks hearing her sing it live. Wow. So of course, I went on YouTube to find a video from another concert date, and the one I found has crappy video and crappy audio. She was better last night. But here you go. The song starts around 3:11.



If she came back next week, I'd go again. For now, I guess I'll just have to buy the album and occasionally watch blurry, shaky, illegal YouTube videos to relive the memory.

A Comedy of Errors

The planets aligned Friday night. Had I read my horoscope that day, I imagine the text would have included the words "stay home."

Seriously.

I woke up to find my right eye once again totally red. It didn't hurt, there were no green eye boogies, and it wasn't quite as bad as the last time. Of course, that meant no contacts and no eye make up (not good for any activity under bright lights).

After taking 2 pictures backstage, I got a "card full" error message on the camera. So I spent the next half hour deleting old pictures while warming up, getting notes, etc.

Around 7:40, I turned my camera over to Scott and took the long walk to the UK pavilion to go to the bathroom. The sky looked dark, but not dark enough to imply imminent rain. Wrong! By the time I finished in the bathroom, there may as well have been a waterfall to run through. It was bad! So I borrowed a plastic garbage bag from the custodial woman, and decided the most important thing was my hair. So I wrapped up my head and made a run for it. And I was soaked by the time I made it back. Luckily, the shirt was a light enough fabric that getting wet didn't make it look any different. And no one saw my soaking wet skirt anyway - the back row has its benefits.

I also got foot powder all over my brown shoes, and some other little things happened that I can't even remember.

Of course, the show was fine. My feet are still swollen, but I'm hoping a week of sitting on my butt will cure that. And now, yet another video. Enjoy!

Better Luck Next Time

Scott took pictures for me last night. Unfortunately, most of them looked like a variation of this:

part choir, part giant head.

He said this woman would move every time he was about to take the picture, so even if her head wasn't in the picture, her hair messed with the auto focus. I told him he didn't have to come back tonight, but then this happened.

I am cranky and my feet are swollen and sore. The shows are going just fine, and part of me will be sad to see it end. But my body is really looking forward to getting back to my sitting job!

Have You Seen My Car?

I've taken to wandering around the employee parking lot after Encore rehearsals and yelling, "has anyone seen my car*?" No one answers me. But that's ok. I have a general sense of which quadrant the car is in, and it's pretty easy to spot.

After standing for 3 hours in dress shoes, the last thing I want to do is take one more step than absolutely necessary. I've managed to take it easy on my voice this week, and still plan to not push too hard during the shows (which start tonight!!). There's lots of strong voices around me - I'm just there for the applause!

I am already completely exhausted. I can't complain too loudly though because a lot of my fellow performers are working their day jobs this week, and surviving (if you can call it that) on 4 hours of sleep. Of course, I had the sense to burn a week of vacation...

In other news, no news yet on the interview front. It turns out I really really like the guy that I'd be working for. My interview went pretty well, I guess. He's interviewing a total of 5 people for the job, and I was #2 to be interviewed. I think the rest were yesterday, but maybe not. At any rate, I imagine if I get the job I'll hear by the end of the week. If not, I'll be disappointed but not heart-broken.

...and for now, I have other pressing things on my mind.


* An idea I paraphrased from a story about my mom's wild youth.

On Vacation!

(sort of)

I don't have to be back at work until next Sunday. That doesn't really mean I get to spend the week lounging by the pool with not a care in the world.

If only!

Encore: rehearsals today, tomorrow and Tuesday; performances Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! That's an evening commitment that'll probably end up being about 6 hours a day.

Interview: tomorrow at 11 (yikes!)

Work: Yeah, work! My bosses decided, in their collective wisdom, on FRIDAY that they wanted invitations to our cast party. (bitter Jamie would like to point out that when I asked the Chef last week whether he wanted me to start on invitations, he said they would be relying on word of mouth this year. word of mouth, my butt!) So The Boss and I came up with a design in about an hour on Friday night.

Unfortunately, we only had 25 sheets of card stock left (and a guest list of around 65). So, long story short, I printed what I could, but offered to come in on Monday after my interview and finish up. Hopefully that won't take me very long, because when I'm done Scott and I are going to see...

Batman!!!

I can't wait!

And now here's today's unrelated-to-the-post YouTube video:

"It Tastes Funny, and There's No Cream Filling"

After the success of introducing scrapple to Scott, I thought I'd try out a Philly treat that's sure to please: the Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpet.

It turns out he liked the scrapple better.

He came around in the end, and ended up eating almost his whole half of the carton. What? He was obviously craving less processed cake product than I was! Don't judge!

I'm pretty sure Publix carries at least one variety of cream-filled cupcake. Maybe I'll try my luck with one of those. For me though, the butterscotch krimpet is a cellophane-wrapped passport to my youth!

Dateline: Orlando

Headline: Girl Annoyed by Interview Situation Suddenly Changes Tune

It's funny how being scheduled for a 2nd round interview before leaving the 1st round will do wonders for one's mood!

Also? I'm so happy that now I get to wear my nice suit for that interview!

And now, a little video that has nothing to do with work:

What the Eff?

So you know that interview I had on Monday? The one that I wore my brand new super coordinated suit and painful heeled shoes that even now my feet feel as if they were crushed? The one that I woke up early for? The one with someone other than the person that I was supposed to interview with?

It turns out that interview didn't count for anything.

Yeah.

That face you're making? I've been making it for the past 12 hours.

I woke up today to multiple calendar requests on my work e-mail and a voicemail. When I spoke to the secretary to reschedule and asked if it was a do-over from the first interview, she said yes and then got kind of snippy and said "*I'm* the one doing the interviews, and I discussed it with [the guy I interviewed with] and I need to bring you all in again."

If I were interviewing for a position within that immediate work unit, I would have said "no thank you" and moved on. If this was going to be the case, then they should have called us all that day and rescheduled us. I really feel like there's either some sort of power struggle going on, or there's some other untold story, but I'm really not as enthusiastic this time around. And I have yet to hear anything that sounds like an apology for the inconvenience and the emotional roller coaster.

And since the interview is in the same place, and the same major players work there, I decided I needed to get another suit. I got the brown one with the teal shirt that I tried on before. No time to screw around and try on a bunch of stuff, and luckily I had tried on 3/4 of the mall in my last excursion. This time we were in, out, and to Pay Less for a pair of brown shoes in about 40 minutes. I'm not in love with the outfit, but whatever. At this point, I'm just ready for it to be over.

(this time, I will print out a resume though...)

In Other News...

I had rehearsal tonight, rehearsal tomorrow, work Friday and Saturday, and then rehearsals Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and shows Weds, Thurs, and Friday. My throat still hurts. And I have PMS now, which doesn't bode well for next week.

My eyes are just fine. I still wore my glasses on Monday for my "just kidding" interview, but was back in contacts on Tuesday when we went to see WALL-E. I'm still taking them out at night, but I'm fine. The redness is gone. Even Scott has stopped worrying about them!

Speaking of WALL-E, I loved it. The only thing that stopped me from instantly proclaiming it my new Pixar favorite was the fact that that WALL-E had a pet cockroach on Earth. That ate Twinkies. Every time the thing skittered up a wall, I shuddered. Oh - and it got smashed twice and came back to life. See? Pixar understands how roaches just... never... die! Otherwise, I totally loved it. It's definitely in my top 3 with Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. I'll have to re-evaluate after I've seen it 100 times.

Well, It Didn't Totally Suck...

So...I guess I should start by correcting a mistake I made in this post. My interview was scheduled not with the boss I thought it was, but with her executive assistant. Well that makes sense!

And when I arrived yesterday for my interview, I found out that the assistant had called in and the interviews were now being done by the guy who is the hiring manager for all of the restaurant managers. OK, curve ball, but no big deal.

"Do you have a resume on you?" Umm... no. Shit. I have never been to an interview within the company when my resume wasn't already there on the table before I arrived. And I imagine the girl who was supposed to be doing the interviews probably had the resumes locked in her desk. So I, total professional that I am, ask if I can log onto his computer and print one off my virtual drive.

Of course, the one on the drive wasn't the most current incarnation, but it wasn't too bad. At least it was up-to-date on my work experience.

I'm choosing to not re-live the interview, because I don't want to get bogged down with all those "coulda shoulda woulda's." I did leave with the feeling that I didn't blow it. I also feel like I'm probably not going to get the job, but that I'm not completely out of the running yet.

Two direct-ish quotes:

"With your current job and your background, I definitely feel that you're a candidate..."

"...there are some existing Secretary 1's (that's the title of the position I applied for) who applied." (which means I'm not the most qualified)

I decided to fight for myself though, and wrapped up telling him that I'm not inexperienced completely, that a lot of what I do for my bosses is secretary work, and that I bring knowledge of systems that most secretaries don't know, or at least don't use as frequently as I do, and that I'm a fast learner. It was sort of the equivalent of "I'm not disabled - I'm differently abled."

So we'll see what happens. It'll probably be a week or two before I hear anything... if I hear anything. If this wasn't my time, that's ok. I'm going to force my bosses to give me some more applicable experience. And eventually I'll get out of there.

Rhetorical Question

You have red irritated eyes.

You have a job interview.

Do you explain why you have red eyes right off the bat? Wait until asked? Wait until that "do you have anything to add?" question at the end of the interview?

I found some eye wash last night in the linen closet (yes, Scott does stock up on random things!) and used it last night and this morning. The good news is that my eye boogies are fewer and no longer green. The bad news is that the red is still there. Everyone at work today asked if I had been crying. I guess that means it's not any better.

Of course, "have you been crying?" is a better question than "are you high?" or "have you met my wife, Satan??"

Small miracles, I guess!

Red Eye Reduction

Who doesn't love a good eyeball picture? Oh, most people? Well, if that applies to you, just go ahead and skip over this entry!

So... it turns out Hot Shot to the eyes really is rather problematic!

This is one of those days when I can't adequately express just how stupid I feel. Or how cranky.

It isn't bad enough that my eyes are bright red and occasionally are also itchy/ burning/ watery.

It's not bad enough that I've removed a measurable amount of bright green eye boogies today.

But let's also remember that my eye glasses are a prescription older than my contacts and that the frames never really fit over my ears properly. So I'm walking around in a blurry world feeling slightly sea sick. Wearing the glasses two days in a row is going to give me a headache. It always does.

Also? I still have a sore throat and cough, and have taken so many medications recently that my stomach is pretty much queasy around the clock.

Scott thinks I need to seek medical attention. I just think I need to ride it out. Actually, I'll ride it out until around 11:00 on Monday. THEN I'll go to the doctor if necessary. But I guess then I'll have to decide whether to go to the eye doctor (since I actually have one of those that I'm established with) or back to the walk-in clinic. I don't want to be put back in antibiotics. Hell, I'm about to give up on all medicine!

I just need to take some time off to heal. Sadly, that's not an option.

Yes, I'm done whining now. Thank you for not judging me!

Dead Roach Walking

WHY do they do that?? I empty 3/4 of a can of bug spray in its general direction, it falls from 8 feet up the wall with a satisfying splat into the bathtub below, and then when Scott gets home, it has disappeared.

Why won't someone invent a bug spray that paralyzes roaches until the poison does its job? Then there would be no post-mortem leg twitching AND they would certainly hold the hell still and wait patiently for disposal!

And now, a special feature:

Jamie's eye safety tip of the day: Wash your hands immediately after handling the industrial-size aerosol death-in-a-can. Also, don't stay in the bathroom to do your normal nighttime routine after spraying death-in-a-can. I'm not sure which, but I'm pretty sure one or both of these errors in judgement lead to me waking up this morning with my eyes practically welded shut with green goo. On the bright side, having red eyes really makes the blue stand out!

DAVE!

Last night was our trip to Tampa to see Dave Matthews Band ("DAVE!") in concert.


Allow me to start with a disclaimer or ten:

• I'm still sick. At this point, I may as well be on a continuous IV drip of ibuprofen to keep the swelling in my left tonsil down.
  
• DAVE! is Scott's favorite band, not mine. I like them just fine, and even own a CD or two (purchased in college, and let's not discuss just how many years ago that was!).
  
• I don't like loud noises. When we saw The Lion King at Bob Carr, we were on the right side of the auditorium and I literally had to hold my hand over my right ear during the songs because the sound level was painful.
  
• I don't like crowds, and lawn seating doesn't do much to protect my personal space bubble.
  
• I don't do drugs or drink beer.

I was prepared to go into last night and grin and bear it for the sake of Scott. I was going to be on my best behavior, since we were going with his friends. And I was going to get just as wild and crazy as he did.


We got rooms at the hotel across the street from the fairgrounds. We got to the hotel around 2:30, and our room was oppressively smoky. We knew they were sold out, and the odds of getting another king room were slim to none, and we figured we were going to come back with lungs full of a variety of second-hand smoke anyway and probably wouldn't notice.

We hung out for a little while, and then drove across the street to tailgate in the parking lot. We got there early enough to claim a spot in the shade of a big tree that even had a picnic table. We were front-row for drunken football and frisbee antics, a dramatic vomit incident and I was happy to see volunteers walking around collecting recyclables and registering people to vote (the latter, no surprise, were all Obama volunteers). After our "linner" of grilled stuff and cookies and watermelon, we headed up towards the amphitheater and spread our blankets out in a pretty decent spot. I stretched out on my back and listened to the warm-up band and watched the clouds go by overhead and marveled at the overall pleasantness of the evening.


And then the rain started.


We knew it was coming. There was pretty spectacular lightning in the distance that was most definitely getting closer. The temperature was no longer sweltering, and there was a lovely breeze. The clouds I had been watching were darkening shades of gray. And then we started to hear the thunder.


About the time the opening act left the stage, the sprinkling rain turned into a deluge. This was your typical Florida 3:00 thunderstorm... 4 hours late. All of a sudden, my jeans and white t-shirt were a horrible error in judgement (not my first of the day - see smoky hotel room above). I wrapped my fleece blanket around my shoulders, more for modesty than to actually keep me dry, and hunkered down into the grass. The drunken morons sitting in their metal lawn chairs cheered every time a lightning bolt hit close by.

The worst of the storm let up about the time DAVE! took the stage. So we all got up and stood for the show. I have to say, I was impressed. There wasn't one person up on stage that I wasn't really blown away by. Of course, I knew a total of 4 songs played, including a cover of Sledge Hammer. That was a bit of a bummer for me. But I s'pose I could have done some homework in advance of the show. I got the impression that Scott didn't know much of the new stuff either, but he was in his zen-like DAVE! state. They could have played Happy Birthday for 2 hours straight and he would have probably been thrilled.

I never did dry out, and my jeans added a ton of weight to my bottom half. Standing on a hill proved to be incredibly uncomfortable for my feet, knees, hips and lower back, so I sat down for a while. Unfortunately, sitting compressed my bladder. I could see the bathrooms from where we were sitting, but I knew if I got up and left my group that I would never find my way back. At one point, I started having these crazy "I could just sit down and pee in my pants and no one would even notice" thoughts. But I talked myself out of that!

The full bladder definitely detracted from the show. During one song, I turned around and asked Scott if they had to have every single band member do their own little jam session in every single song. OMG - I honestly don't think they played more than 10 songs total. The songs. lasted. forever.

(sort of like this entry! yes, I'm aware)

That's really my only complaint about the show itself. It was great. And I probably would have even enjoyed the jamming if not for my intense desire for the show to be over. Of course, I would have been happier had I not been sick and wet, and had I not been surrounded by a whole lot of pot-smoking drunk people more concerned with taking funny pictures of each other than with the actual show. But you can't control the people.

All told, I had a better time at the concert than I expected to. In fact, I had fun. Scott did too. Though I think the rain dampened his spirits more than he would admit to me.

And I think it took less than an hour to get from our seats back to the hotel (with stops at the bathroom - yeah, I caved - and merchandise area so Scott could get a hat). Our room was still stinky, but we were so grateful to get out of our wet clothes that we didn't care. We each took hot showers and then climbed into bed. I think I passed out around 12:30. Sadly, the smoke smell was worse than either of us wanted to admit and we were both awake by 6:30 this morning trying not to breathe.

We decided to just get up and hit the road. When the girl at the front desk asked about our stay, Scott mentioned the smoke and the roaches (two of them... but I only saw one) and she handed him a voucher for a free future night. Yay, La Quinta! Congratulations on your excellent customer service!

Of course, the second we got home, we threw everything we had with us (even the clean clothes) straight into the washer. I jumped in the shower to de-funk, and then went to bed. We got home around 9:30, and I was asleep by 10:30. I slept until 1:30, which almost catches me up for the day.

So DAVE! turned out to be a fun little day trip. I'm really glad that we went. Really really glad.

Up next on the Scott & Jamie Concert Tour: Idina Menzel at HOB on 7/26. That one is definitely my summer concert selection. Of course, I just love her. I don't know any of her music. I'm thinking I should probably start studying up now!

Available Now!

Tickets are available now!

There is also a printable parking permit and directions. If you're planning on attending, you'll need that to avoid paying the parking fee at Epcot. (by the way, parking this year is in the Epcot guest lot)

Another Day of Shopping

I'm too tired to go into a while song and dance about how much I hate to shop. We all know it. I doubly hate shopping when I only have one shot to find something that I have to have. Example? A suit for an interview I have on Monday. If I didn't find something today, I probably would have had to fall back on my old black suit. That one is technically fine, but it's about 4 years old. And it's black. You're not supposed to wear black for an interview.

Of course, I'm not sure what the interview fashion police would say about the outfit I ended up with, but I'm happy. I think that's what counts most.

After an unsuccessful run to Dress Barn, then 2 hours of babysitting (cookies in exchange for quiet? it worked for a little while!), Scott and I set off for the Florida Mall. Macy's? Nope. Nordstrom? Nada. Dillards? Zilch. Sak's? They at least had suits, but nothing I loved enough to spend more than $150 on! We hit the "fancy" department stores ahead of our normal stand-by's because Sears and Penny's usually carry a much more casual set of clothes.

As it turns out, Penny's was my lucky store today. The first thing I found wasn't a suit. It was a cute cocktail dress in a size too small that I grabbed and decided I needed to try on. Not only does it fit (there's a little back fat involved, and therefore a shawl/wrap is needed), but it was on clearance for $20. Sold!!

Scott didn't like it on the hanger, and I don't really like it in this picture, but you'll just have to trust me that it looks cute on.

As for suit shopping, I finally hit my stride. There were three that I tried on, and would have bought any of them, considering the complete lack of anything worthwhile anywhere else. One was a light green tweed-ish fabric that was a little too "Jackie O" for a job interview. One was dark brown with teal pinstripes and a matching tank. This one was ok, but didn't fit great, and the pants had a high waist and the zipper was in the back. And then, there was the one I ended up buying...

It's tan with very fine teal and brown pinstripes. Originally, I tried it on with the teal tank that came with the brown suit, and I seriously considered re-hanging the suit so that the tank came home with me. But you know me and that whole honesty thing!

So we circled the store until I happened upon this bright orange shirt. It's basically got a shallow

v-neck with three flat stones that look like a built-in necklace in the exact color of the buttons on the jacket.

oh! And the coolest thing? This suit is really high quality. It fits nicely already (the pants should be hemmed, but since I'm short on time, I'll just wear heels). And it was on clearance for 60% off! The original tag was $190 and I got it for $85. And the shirt was on sale for under $15.

At this point, I'm just glad the shopping is finally over!

Of course, I do have one more "fashion" picture to share. It seems that my cup runneth over with sweaters. Particularly cable-knits. Amazingly enough, I have a dark purple, a dark red, and a brown (all short sleeved) that are mid-laundry and therefore didn't make the picture. I'm thinking my slogan should be, "wear the rainbow!"

Could This Be Love?

Have I mentioned that Mike and Reyna's cat Kevin had kittens? Yeah, Kevin is a girl. She was found when she was not much bigger than this, and they thought she was a boy. By the time they learned differently, the name had stuck.

Anyway, Kevin had 5 kittens. Two are striped (black & beige) like her, two are black like the daddy, and one is black with striped ears.

And I love them!

And Scott loves them!

The one on the left is the one that I love the most. I just learned today that her name is Friend. (the others are DeeDee, Bubba, Shadow Jr., and Gizmo) When the kids were saying her name, I thought they were saying "Fred," so that's what I've been calling her. Besides, since her mom's name is Kevin, I think it's only fitting that she have a boy name, too.

Fred is definitely the most mellow of the bunch. She will let me hold her as long as I want and doesn't cry or jump. I half-wonder if she's sick or something, but her eyes are clear and she can run and jump and eat. She just isn't as into that stuff as the others. She's fascinated by fingers and toes, and she managed to give one of the boys a scratch from his ear to his chin while I was babysitting. (she's not very strong, so the consensus among the adults is that he was probably mis-handling her)

So...would someone please convince me and Scott that three cats are really two more than we actually need, and that someone else out there wants to love these babies to pieces? Tell me that Milo would eat a kitten, and that she's not just the cutest thing ever.

Plain Vanilla

The "costumes" for Encore this year are shades of white. We are all supposed to wear white, beige, ivory, or light khaki. Tops and bottoms can be a mix of pants, skirts, capris, short sleeve, long sleeve, etc.

Well last year I made a very poor costume choice. We were told the following: black dresses, below the knee, look formal. So bought ye olde black frock with sensible short sleeves and the only frill at the hem. And 90% of the women on the stage were wearing spaghetti strap short cocktail dresses.

See me in the top right corner, looking like I'm wearing a black t-shirt? See all those bare shoulders around me? I'd prefer to not look like the dowdy one again this year!

This year I am determined to look like I belong with everyone else. So I took Scott along on a little shopping excursion this morning. I was looking for a new suit, but ended up picking up three shirts for $30 at Lane Bryant (which has recently shifted its focus from making fat teenage girls look like hookers to actually supplying women with stylish size-appropriate clothing. what a pleasant surprise that was!). Two of the shirts were potentials for the Encore concert:

The first is basically two layers of ivory chiffon. Obviously needs a camisole under it (and there is one in the picture, honest!). It's a faux wrap with a really nice satin accent along the neck line, and a satin tie in the back. When I left the store, this was "the one." And I was thrilled to have found it. However, now that I'm home and have tried it on again with a cami underneath, I'm a little worried that I'll look like I have a big X across my chest that'll look even more accented under stage lights. (please disregard the sagging around the waist...the photos were taken without proper... umm... support)

The second one I adored on the hanger, and adored it on. But I had pretty much made up my mind that I wasn't going to wear white. This shirt has an interesting neck line, and really subtle pinstripes in silver and shiny white that probably wouldn't show up on stage. That's unfortunate, because they do add some visual interest. This one I'm going to add to my work shirt rotation, even though it, too, requires that something be worn under it.

The third top I bought was a $5 orange v-neck cable knit sweater. I love it and can't wait for the cooler months so that I'll have an excuse to wear it!

But I have this one other shirt already. I bought it online and totally hated it. It's nothing like the picture implied it would be. It's see-through, pleated all the way down so I feel like I'm in a cupcake liner, and the fabric reminds me of the blouses my great grandmother used to wear. However, I threw it on tonight (since I was already wearing the camisole) and I think it looks pretty decent. It's just about the same shade as the first shirt, but the visual interest is all in the crocheted collar/buttons.

So, disregarding the poor white balance and my funny faces, does anyone have an opinion on any of these? I really think it's between the first and last. The second just doesn't look special enough for the stage. And like I said, I'd like to wear it to work. It's doubtful that polyester (or whatever it is) will ever recover from that kind of industrial-strength sweating and still be wearable.

Poor Scott is back on the trail with me tomorrow (yes, tomorrow - I haven't gone to sleep yet!) for a new interview suit. We also have to babysit, and I was hoping to see WALL*E, but I think we may need to wait another week for that. My throat still hasn't completely healed, and we're going to a Dave Matthews Band concert in Tampa on Wednesday. So perhaps my best bet is to take it easy tomorrow afternoon while I still can.

Happy 4th

On this date, I ponder why we celebrate Independence Day on July 4. After all, the Declaration of Independence didn't make us a country. The subsequent war against our "oppressors" made us a country. The Constitution made us a country. We don't celebrate our birth day on the day of our conception, and I just think it's silly to celebrate the "birth of a nation" in that way.

But I digress.

Since "we the people" don't make a big deal about the Constitution, and don't celebrate Ratification Day with fireworks and gluttony, today I will celebrate my favorite historical document: the Bill of Rights.

Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III: No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Of course, my bread and butter is the First Amendment. Freedom of speech and freedom from religion in one place? What could be better? Of course, I came to the conclusion recently that if I want to preach the Bill of Rights that I needed to respect all of the rights, even the ones I might not necessarily agree with **cough**second**cough**. That's made the past few days here in Tourist Central quite interesting.

I don't have enough time to devote in this entry why I'm struggling with Disney's interpretation of the law (or how funny I find it that the state senators are all pulling fake shock and surprise at the loophole they built in), but I don't have freedom of speech when I'm at work. I can't just tell people on the phone all the reasons they shouldn't waste their money at The Restaurant, The Hotel, or the rest of The Company. So why should people get to bring their guns to work?

Anyway, Happy (Declaration of) Independence Day. May you not encounter a drunk driver.

C is for Colbert

Today's Smile:

Well...

I got an interview.

Woo Hoo!

Of course, don't pat me on the back too much. Poor Scott had about an hour this afternoon of absolutely not knowing what to do with me. When I got the voicemail, I leaned down with my head between my legs like I was going to pass out. When I hung up from the voicemail, I yelled "woo hooooo" long enough to spook the cats. And I alternated between happy dance and wide-eyed "oh shit, I am a crappy interviewer!" terror for the next half hour.

And then things got REALLY interesting. The girl who called me to set up a "preliminary interview" identified herself as being with Resort Food & Beverage. I assumed that meant someone in the HR area - a pee-on if you will - who was weeding through the initial stack of applicants who made it past the computer system.

(Can I get a hallelujah! that I made it past the computer system??)

When I called her back to actually schedule the interview, I got her voicemail (no shock - it was after 5:00). She's not a pee-on in HR. She's the assistant to the F&B director of all of the resorts.

This means my interview is with my boss's boss's boss.

Holy Shit!

Side Note: At this point, I actually started weeping. Why? Well, I wondered that too. On my way home from rehearsal tonight, I think I finally decided on the best analogy. On American Idol, they have those massive cattle call auditions where you sing for some producers, then you sing for some other people, THEN you sing for the judges (the part you see on TV) and they decide whether or not to send you into the actual competition. This is my "you're going to Hollywood" moment. Sure, there's still more steps to come, but I'm just so thrilled to at this point be potentially good enough to get the job.

Anyway, I guess since the new guy (boss's boss) is brand new to the company, they decided to have BBB do a first round of interviews and then maybe only send one or two who can actually do the job to interview with the actual person they'd be working for.

So for now, I'm trying to just remember to breathe. They are scheduling interviews beginning on the 14th, so I definitely have some time to kill. It's time for me to buy myself a new interview suit, and I'll have to do that on Monday or Tuesday next week.

I also know how close The Boss and BBB are. I'm sort of hoping he'll go to bat for me on this one and give me a helluva recommendation. It's a best-case scenario for him if I stay within The Hotel, because I'll still be available to train my replacement and help cover shifts on occasion. If I get a job elsewhere, he'll pretty much be kissing my butt goodbye.

So that's where things stand. I'm hoping that the butterflies in my stomach will go away soon. Also, it would be nice if my mind would stop racing 1,000 miles a minute. Please, brain? Slow down just a bit? Thanks!