The Life I Was Meant to Live

This is the life I was meant to live. Now that my work schedule has back off slightly (or at least stopped demanding such crazy hours), I can actually do things at normal "after work" hours like regular people. My first week of freedom is including 3 Broadway shows in the span of a week.

This is why I moved to New York.

It is invigorating. Sometimes when we have a dinner with this person, and a work event on that night, and we're supposed to meet up from drinks with friend X,Y, and Z, plus go to the movies for a "quiet night", it just gets exhausting. When I have something going on all the time, I feel like time passes me by too quickly. This statement, of course, has exceptions. Theatre is always one of them.

I've seen a lot of shows. But somehow it never gets lost on me. The opposite, actually: the more I see, the more I crave it. And especially lately, the more I feel the need to be back in it. Recently, I had a chance to talk to someone who was telling me how almost everyone in her office was involved in some kind of outside art - they all belonged to theater groups, improv troupes, dance classes, something.

It's missing. All of it. From my life. I read scripts for shows that I know I am not a part of, watch rehearsals for dances I am never going to do, sing along to songs in the car that will not be performed anywhere, and haven't even had time to entertain the idea of designing anything in ages.

At least going to see shows brings me back into the mix - it gets me close to what I love and where I want to be. Not quite there, but close enough to feel it and make me contented for a while.

For now.

::insert sigh here::

I just wrote a very long blog entry. Decided against it. Erased and tried a different route that I've been thinking of. Erased that too.

Now this is all I'm saying. Got nothing else for right now.

Going a little stir-crazy...

THERE IS ALWAYS SO MUCH TO DO! AHHH!

Here are a few facts and figures for you...
87 - The number of days until the wedding
26 - The number of days until the Gala at work
$229,900 - The amount of money I still have to RAISE for that Gala (No pressure, Maureen)
44 - the number of things on my To-Do list right now that need to be taken care of immediately
150 - the number of times I say "I'm tired" throughout the day (estimated)
0 - the amount of patience I have with some of the vendors I have been working with
0 - the number of times I have been running this week because I just don't have enough time
100% - the amount I am excited to be getting married soon!

I feel like I am going crazy all the time cause there is just so much to do and there never seems to be enough time to do it! Between the craziness at work and the amount that needs to be done for the wedding, I feel like I am losing out on sleep, amping up my stress level, and totally neglecting other things. I was doing sooo well with running, but I just don't have the time. Yes, the die-hard runners out there say you can always MAKE time. Well, you know what? Not when everything else is so damn time consuming! I realize it is my own fault cause I wanted to write out all of the wedding invitations by hand with my pretty little calligraphy pens so that I could be totally "traditional", but now that I am half way done, I need to finish! It takes a LONG time! But I am happy with my choice - this wedding is going to be everything I want it to be, damn it! :o)


I feel like I have a lot on my plate right now, but I have a lot on the horizon as well, which is very exciting to me. I knew going into this that I always get a little crazy (and lose a little sleep) around Gala time. Without fail for the last few years, I start running on autopilot 24-hours a day to make sure that this thing gets cranked out, and everything else sort of takes a back seat to my work. Fact of life. But there has never been a WEDDING to compete with before. Normally the things I am ignoring are drinks with friends, lunch at normal hours and (God bless him) Andy. Things get different when you throw your own wedding into the mix. And when you throw a list of goals in there as well. How am I supposed to get any of that stuff done?

I'll find a way. Somehow. Until then, I will just keep my fingers crossed that something comes along to magically give me a new opportunity to make my life a little easier. Fingers crossed.

DOUBLE BLOG!

Part one will be an explanation of where I've been (for those of you who have asked me why you are now "blocked" from this blog. Part two will be an update as to what I have been up to with my 101 list. Aren't you excited?

Part One: Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Moesying through life is an open blog (normally). I am happy to have my friends follow along as I post my progress through my 101 Things in 1001 Days list, or ramble on about my everyday life. I don't even mind if some bored bloggers out there are using the "next blog" function and happen to run across my blog. I can't imagine they would be terribly interested, but I don't care if they read it! I even included a link to my blog in my email signatures so that friends and family could follow along! Unfortunately, I forgot about this on a few occasions and sent out emails to a bunch of people that do not fall into the "friend" or "family" categories without deleting the signature. Not that it would be the end of the world if wedding vendors or people I was contacting for work read my blog, but I would just be more comfortable with them NOT reading that I want to ride a mechanical bull in a filthy bar. Just saying. So I temporarily made the blog private until I think enough time has passed that those folks will no longer be referring to my emails. Lesson learned.

AND, there was a problem with one of my widgets (what?) and I tried to fix the HTML code for my blog myself. I ended up permanently screwing with the formatting and had to recreate the blog back to its nearly original form. Way to go, Maureen.

(You will all see this when I unblock the blog again).


Part Two: 101 Things in 1001 Days
So much progress to tell you about! First off, I have been running for OVER A MONTH now, three times a week! Task #24, check! And I continue to eat breakfast before work every morning. #48, I'm kicking your ass! Yesterday, Andy and I spent the day cleaning the apartment. Really cleaning it - as in moving furniture, loading trash bags full of junk we don't need, and generally de-cluttering our tiny space. In the process, I managed to re-organize my drawers (and include the new set of drawers that I built all by myself... ok, from a kit, but whatever), and find over 50 items that I could donate to the Salvation Army. Since I have already gone through the clothes left in my closets and dressers back at my parent's house, I am crossing #45 off my list! It is a good feeling! Also, through our de-cluttering, we were able to turn our 2nd bedroom into a den. We have the desk all set up, the futon set as a couch again (it's been laid out in bed position for MONTHS), a TV is now set up in that room, and the pièce de résistance, we have a Total Gym set up in that room. Hello, healthy living! And goodbye #52 from the list!

It looks like I have some money to transfer now, according to #27!

I am feeling pretty good about my progress. I even have a few things that I have done over the past few weeks that ALMOST count, but not quite. I visited someone that I have never visited before in another state!! (#6). But they weren't a friend or family member. I was going with a friend of mine to visit HIS family. Awesome trip, but I don't think it counts. While I was there, I had my first lesson in Jump Stilting! The spring-loaded metal stilts that let you jump like you're tigger and run up to 20 miles per hour! I don't know if they count as an extreme sport or not, but my cautious walking on the with two men by my side in case I fell takes away any "extreme" factor there might have been. For now, I won't count them as #86 on the list, but I might reevaluate if I ever go back for more "training". We also just starting using Skype as an Instant Messenger program at work, so I talk to people on skype all day long, but it is all in text, not video skyping. Plus, it is for work, and I only talk to colleagues, so it doesn't count toward #60.

And even though I have not had the chance to adventure with my Daddy yet (#2), he is off having quite the adventure himself now with his Geezer pal (and my Godfather), Al. If you don't already, you should follow his journey at www.geezersgosouth.blogspot.com!!


HAPPY BLOGGING!

#48: Most important meal of the day!

Well, not only was I able to eat breakfast before work every day for two weeks, but I kept it up for the entire month of February! Fine, this is not the most groundbreaking accomplishment, but it is another thing checked off my list! It is less about completing a goal than it is about creating a healthier lifestyle. Go me!

In other news, I am only a few days away from being able to say that I have completed # 24 on the list, because I have been running 3-4 times each week since early February! Woot woot! And for the first time this week, I ran two miles! Once again, this is nothing stunning in the great land of monumental goals, but it was a big deal to me! I was a sweaty, nasty mess who could barely walk afterward, but I was a PROUD disaster. That's what counts.

AND.... my wedding dress came in this week! YAY!

More news to come, so stay tuned!