And that was January....

Howdy, friends. Long time no update. I've been alternating between too busy to post and unable to think of anything good to write about, but it's been over a month and so I guess it's time for a quick recap of the last few weeks.
We had a lot of snow. Seattle cannot handle that much snow, everyone freaked out and the city pretty much closed down. Not just the city of Seattle, but the greater Puget Sound Area. It was insane.
I got to work at a SCT break camp (unfortunately only one day, because of that pesky snow) and it was wonderful to see my beautiful friends as well as see the fantastic performance of The Wizard of Oz. I missed SCT like you wouldn't believe.
Christmas was snowy and crazy.
January 5th I started my new job. I'm working at an elementary school in Bellevue, where my mom works as well. I'm a one-on-one aid for a 1st grader who has Cerebral Palsy. It's challenging but rewarding and for the most part a lot of fun.
Being back in the Northwest is great. I do miss a lot of things about Austin - not having to make sure I'm wearing at least three layers, one of which is waterproof; The Flying Theater Machine and all the people involved in that; BBQ; Talleri; my cute house; walking to the corner store.... lots of stuff. But being back here is wonderful. I love walking around Capitol Hill with my best friend and going to shows in Ballard and being at Seattle Center and with my family and hearing seagulls and smelling the ocean. It's definitely where I belong.

I still have a bunch of photos that I need to upload and post from the drive home from Texas, but the one thing that seems to have been lost in the move is my camera case, which contains my cord to connect my camera to my computer. Bummer.

As for things to come, I'll be 25 in two short months, I'm going to Las Vegas at the end of March and Maui via Portland in April. I'm also planning on going to New Orleans for Thanksgiving - 2009 is going to be the year of travelling! Hopefully the first in many to come. My big travel goal is to go to Ireland before 2010 is over.

I'm going to a superbowl party tomorrow and I realized I have no idea who's playing... oh well, I'm making guacamole and that's all that's important, right?

Happy February!

Companions

I really want one of these.
It's called an Ornate Horned Frog, but it's commonly called a Pac-Man Frog.
The albino ones are yellow, making them look even more like Pac-Man.
I've been watching Dead Like Me on DVD, and the main character "inherits" one in the second episode. I can't get over how cool they look.
I miss my cat and my dog, but I know I can't get one of those, especially since I don't know how long I'll be here. I thought about fish, but I can't keep fish alive. And I know you can't cuddle a frog, but that's not the point. The point is... I don't know what the point is.
The real point is, I can't afford a Pac-Man frog right now but someday I just might. And then I just might get one
Or not. But they are pretty cool looking.

I've been thinking...

I've decided to name my first-born-child Peanut Brittle. If celebrities can go around naming their kids "Apple" (Gwenyth Paltro), "Zula" (Gwen Stephani), "El-Kal" (Nicolas Cage), "Ocean" (Forest Whittaker), and "Blue Angel" (The Edge from U2), then I'm going to name my kid after something truly awesome.

Peanut Brittle.

 

I did leave the house today, I promise. More than once, even.

Yesterday, I:

Found the ATM (in the middle of nowhere), found the library (closed for Labor Day weekend), and had dinner with my friend Talleri (have I mentioned how much I love Tex-Mex food? Because I do. A lot. Mmmmm). 

Then last night I volunteered at the Out of Bounds Improv Festival. I got to take tickets. Thrilling. But I did meet a bunch of new people, impressed them with my smooth personality and suave manner (ok maybe not), and saw some improv. Saw ColdTowne, awesome as always, and Kape, an all-female troupe out of NYC. I like to see all-female troupes. Girls can be funny together in a different way. After the shows, I went out with some ColdTowne people and other Austin folk, at a bar I had been to when I was in town last. Apparently, nothing has changed since I was here in June. 

After hanging out with improv peeps, I ended up at a party down the street with my roommate and a bunch of other UT people. 

Apparently I party like a rockstar in Austin. 

TODAY, I:

Had lunch at Central Market (which is like Metro Mart times 10), then I went to the Gap in search of work pants. No luck on the pants, but I did manage to spend far too much money. Damn the Gap. 

Then tonight I volunteered at another Out of Bounds show. This weekend (and today in particular) EVERYONE was in downtown Austin. I mean everyone. There was a 10k (The Nike Human Race),* a triatholon, BatFest, Out of Bounds, and I'm sure several other things. 

Due to all of these events, ALL OF DOWNTOWN AUSTIN was closed. Not the businesses, restaurants, and venues, just the streets. ALL OF THEM. I was the luckiest girl alive to find a parking spot within a mile of the venue, and I did it by following people to their car. 

We held the house for a half an hour because downtown was so ridiculous, and there were still a ton of people who had bought tickets online who didn't make it. Sucks for them. 

The shows were good - one fantastic and one decent. 

Girls Girls Girls, billed as "Austin's only all-female improv troupe," specializes in improvised musicals. I wanted very badly to love the show. 

I did not. 

There were some moments of genius, but there were also a lot of moments of less-than-genius. Improvised songs are really hard, I hate doing them, and the thought of doing an entire show terrifies the crap out of me, but I have seen it done so much better than GGG's musical about beauty pageants. 

Perhaps I have been spoiled, seeing so many tight, well-performed musicals at Jet City, but this show seemed lacking in so many ways: Plot, for one. It was there, but not well-formed. Also, for a musical show, there was not a lot of songs. There was quite a bit of "speaking rhythmically while music plays," though. Cop-out. If you bill yourselves as a troupe that does improvised musicals, then do a musical. Sing some songs, sing different kinds of songs, don't bore me. I think they needed more structure than "we're going to do a musical based on a suggestion." There are so many kinds of musical, I think they should have picked a theme beforehand.

(They are going to find this someday and hate me. Oh well.)

The second troupe to perform was a troupe from The Groundlings, out of LA. The Groundlings have a great reputation, and for good reason. Yep. It was apparent that most of the improvisors spend a great deal of time onstage. 

Sitting in the audience tonight, I realized it must be terrifying to perform for a large group of improvisors. Way scarier than performing for the general public.

Now I'm sitting here, debating putting on my PJs. By last night's standards, it's still early. 

*I am absolutely horrified just at the thought of running a 10k. Now add 90 degree weather. These people are out of their minds.