What a Marshmallow!

This is day 3 of me being back on the exercise wagon. I lost 16 pounds and saw 3 of it creep back on ironically when I gave up eating cheese for Lent (40 days). It would seem, that I overcompensated with chocolate during the cheese drought.

I started with some power walking and then walked the dog and of course my old friend the elliptical. But tonight I tackled Paula Abdul's Cardio Dance. For a musical theater actress such as myself, it is very similar to an audition. She teaches you a combination slowly and then gradually increases the tempo. Then she strings the combinations together to form one total combination.

I completed all of the cardio portion and started the toning portion, but had already done thirty minutes so I stopped. I went into the bathroom, used my inhaler, drank some water and splashed cold water on my very flush face.

To look at me, you'd never know that I performed in "42nd Street," tap dancing my little heart out, five days a week for three months. I thought I was going to collapse.

With that in mind there is a show coming up later this summer that I will want to audition for ("Chicago"). But I would never survive the auditions or callbacks in this condition. So I will continue to do this dvd until it is easy and then move on to another one. I think this is going to be a good way to train for this audition AND continue with my weight loss/healthy lifestyle endeavors.

That's Gonna Cost You a Dollar

It's a rainy Monday at the car wash. The perfect day to be in the office getting paperwork done. I had just called my mom to see how she was doing and she was surprised to hear I was at work because it was raining. She had no sooner asked the question, "Who washes their car in the rain?" when the office phone rang.

A customer put a dollar in one of the vaccuums and it didn't start and it took her dollar. I said I would be righht out. I came out with another dollar and fed it into the machine. I sucked it in and spit it back out and then began to click. So I suggested that she pull over to one of the other machines and I would start it for her.

Then the customer says, "Well actually I think I'm going to go somewhere else. You see I didn't realize the hose was all wet and I don't want to drag it into my car and get it all wet and stuff."

So without and audible word I extended the lady the dollar. However, in my head I said, "Ok you can go some place else. But the fee for being stupid is a dollar. And believe me, you're getting off cheap!"

How could she NOT realize the hose would be wet? Hello?? You're about to vaccuum your car in the RAIN!!! Definately should have kept her dollar.

It's True What They Say...

You can squeeze in exercise in all sorts of places. It doesn't matter where you are. It doesn't HAVE to be 30 plus minutes of solid exercise to "count." And there is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you know you have just accomplished SOMETHING to contribute to your own healthy lifestyle and short and long term goals.

That's exactly what I did. I am at work today and it is painfully slow. So I put on my jacket and did laps around the car wash. I think I averaged 1 lap for each minute and a half. I walked for 20 minutes. Then I rewarded myself with 10 minutes of "Heavy Cleaning" to the inside of my OWN vehicle.

So now I've accomplished 30 minutes of cardio AND have a clean car. Now I will be able to go home this afternoon and nap "guilt free."

Not to mention, Sugar and I attended a fabulous wedding last night. ANd despite the "open bar" we did not indulge in anything but Pepsi and water with lemon, except for the sip of champagne for the toast. But we DID get in about 45 minutes of dancing. There is nothing like Lady Gaga, "Boogie Shoes," and some "Footloose" to get you up out of your chair and gettin' down on the dance floor with your heart rate thumping. I know I for one worked up a heck of a sweat!

Been Reading My Bible Again...

Sugar told me to start with the New Testament so that's where I have begun. But I would be remiss if I didn't share some of my thoughts or transalations with you.

I know Jesus likes to speak in parables but there is no denying that when you get right down to it He sounds a bit like a fancy fortune cookie. Which may be the reason His deciples had a tough time understanding Him.

I was also thinking about the whole "Love is patient" thing. Now it's obvious Jesus loved his deciples. But I tell you, those passages that say He left them and went up to the mountain to pray, He was praying to God for patience and asking Him, "Why on earth He sent Him THESE 12 chuckleheads that can't seem to get what I'm saying?"

There is another example of this when He sends them on ahead in the boat. He obviously needed to take a break from them so badly, that He gave them the only boat and decided it would be "easier" to walk on water than to be trapped in a boat with them and their inane questions.

Now keep in mind, this is just one theory. But the last chapter I read was "Beware the yeast of the Pharasies" and the deciples decided that what Jesus meant by that was that they had crossed the lake and not brought any bread. But He then corrects them and reminds them about the 4 loaves and the 4,000 people and the 7 loaves and the 5,000 people and all the leftovers and I almost feel as if that chapter, after Jesus corrects them, should end with Him saying "Duh!"

Why Would You Answer the Phone?

I am making courtesy calls today, and I am often baffled by the situations people tell me they are in when I reach them. Perhaps it's just a rouse to get me off the phone. But if you really are, "In an emergency room getting a cast put on your ankle," then why would you answer your cell phone... especially if you didn't recognize the number?

And my second thought is, if you just don't want to talk to me, why give me such an elaborate story?

RUDE!

Today was a beautiful, sun shiny day at the car wash. But despite all the sun and warmth there were a lot of crabby folks out. People my Sugar likes to refer to as "crab trees." It wasn't JUST that they were crabby, some of them were just down right rude.

Now I know I live in the south now, but I don't think I should ever have to say, "Didnjour mama teach you no better?" (At least not outloud or in public)

A big part of my job is to greet people at the car wash and present the "ongoing promotion" which is an unlimited monthly wash program. Now, most people just take the brochure, stare at it blankly and listen to my short but sensible shpeel. I actually had some guy (with a little boy in the backseat of his pick up truck) thrust it back at me and say, "Nah I won't be interested in that," and roll up his window.

As I waved and walked past his truck to the next car in line, I did notice that his plates were from Texas, but that's really no excuse.

One customer was having trouble getting his sticker to read at the terminal and called me on the phone in the office to help him. I heard someone else actually yelling at him, like he was doing something wrong. Something about he had a crying baby in the car. My thoughts are, "Then now probably isn't the best time for a carwash doofus! But don't harass the poor guy in front of you who was having troubles of his own." It's not like yelling at him was going to help the guy get through the wash any faster.

Why can't we all just be a little bit kinder to one another? How hard is that really? We don't know what you're going through personally today anymore than you know what we are experiencing today. But instead of just letting stress control us and lashing out at perfect strangers, wouldn't it stand to reason that if you exercised some patience or demonstrated some help or kindness to another human being that it might elevate your own spirits?

Perhaps I am just THAT naive, or maybe those Burberry sunglasses I wear outside are just too rose tinted. But I chose to smile at the rude man and wish him a good afternoon. I chose to upgrade the ding dong who did NOT follow my instructions and wait for me to tell him it was now okay to enter the wash after I reset it and consequently got stuck and I had to reset it AGAIN. I chose to help out my boss in little ways like doing an extra load of towels and setting up paperwork for tomorrow even though he seemed short with me and had a little attitude throughout the day.

And now I'm home, and this day is over and truthfully, right now, I just feel sad for the people who think they are too good, or too important, or can't be bothered with listening to me. After all, they are waiting in line at the carwash... did they have something better to do? But as someone in the sales/service industry I would never treat anyone else like that. It really doesn't matter who you are. Once upon a time your mother told you to be polite to other people. So listen and then say "No thank you."

That's all. It's really that simple. But there is really no reason to not show kindness. When last I checked kindness doesn't cost you anything.

Not From the Car Wash

Remember when you were a teenager? It doesn't feel that long ago does it? Do you remember the first time you thought you were in love? Were those times melodramatic and filled with angst?

I ask, because I am a mere bystander at the moment watching some teenage drama up close and too personal. He's grounded. No phone. No Ipod. No computer. No one allowed over. Completely cut off from the world and his "love" (girlfriend) completely.

So he "runs away" and rides his bike to her house. But he's not allowed in. So he sits in the driveway outside her house while they both pine away.

The teen I live with hears that he's been reported as a runaway, is going to get arrested, thrown out of his home and wind up in juvenille hall. (None of which turns out to be true) Later many of these people wind up in our home to sooth out the drama for the evening, only to have more of it surface today.

The boy shows up here to have his friend walk with him to get a haircut at the same time coincidentally the girlfriend shows up. He's not supposed to see her. She's not supposed be here and our teen is screaming at HIS mother.

It's all very Romeo and Juliet. I'm just waiting for the daggers and poison. The girlfriend is already crying suicide. But my point is, I don't remember this kind of drama as a young teenager in love. Maybe then it did seem like the end of the world if I was denied access to my boyfriend or friends. But I was never one to sneak around and break rules after being punished, it only prolonged the agony.

It wasn't that long ago... and yet this type of drama seems light years away. Today, relationships are far more complicated and worth so much more. We have bills, jobs, politics, religion and so much more. Some day, hopefully, they will look back and realize what is really important. In the meantime, I wish it was possible to enjoy the view from the cheap seats. But as an actor, I prefer to leave the drama for the stage.

The First Beautiful Day...

and I'm home sick from "food poisoning." The irony is not lost on me. But I will go in to work for one hour today to relieve my p.i.c. so that he can attend his son's scout ceremony. But why is it after 4-5 days of rain and hardly ANY activity at work, the sun comes out and my body decides to rebel? It just seems wrong. In the meantime, I am really tired again all of a sudden so I'm going to see if one of them that "power naps" I've heard tell of will actually work for me. Then with any luck I will have far more interesting things to say again.

3 Lack Luster Movies

Thanks to the two week free trial of Netflix I have seen a couple of movies. The first was The Stepfather. Not a bad suspense/thriller. However, after recently discovering the tv show Criminal Minds (hopelessly addictive by the way) I found that the movie was lacking any sort of back story on the main character.

Yes, at the beginning of the movie he has obviously murdered his family and changed his look and identity... but why? Was this the first time? Is the story he tells to pick up a new family the truth? What was the stressor that caused him to kill the previous family on Christmas morning? I just really found myself wanting to know more about his profile.

The second movie was Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley and directed by Martin Scorsese. It was a good movie, with lot's of twists and turns but the previews had giving the feel that there were supernatural elements to this film, which there were not. That didn't make it "bad" just not what we were expecting. Again, it was suspenseful and had some good twists but in the end, Sugar and I were thinking we would have written the ending to be different.

Lastly, we watched Motherhood with Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards and Minnie Driver. If you are a mom you will probably relate to the stress and pressure that her character feels. You will empathize with her massive "to do" list, with her seemingly absent husband and her overwhelming sense of losing her sense of self. However, you will probably feel an enormous sense of relief that you are NOT a mother of two, living in two walk up, rent stabilized apartments in Greenwich Village dealing not only with the everyday stresses of motherhood, but with the unpleasantly portrayed personalities of her fellow New Yorkers. The woman standing behind her in line at the party store who, every time the line moved a little would snap, "The line's moving, move up! Move up!" made me so anxious I thought I might need a Klonopin to finish the movie. As if moving up those 18 inches was going to make all the difference in the world.

I will say that the husband did say all the right things and do the right thing at the right time. But once again, I'm not sure I would have ended the way it did.

Nothing has wowed me yet...

Random Thought

Why are the pages of the Bible thinner than tissue paper? I dislike it when I am trying to look something up and I feel like I could rip the pages if I'm not careful. I wonder if it's done that way so that you almost HAVE to be slow, gentle and thoughtful with it at all times. I think I'd be incredibly disappointed to find out the reason was something stupid like, that flimsy paper is cheaper to print it on.

You'd Be Surprised

at just how many people DON'T know how to USE a car wash. At least once a day (when the car wash is busy) a car will pull up to the office, completely covered in rainbow soap. The driver will emerge, shrug their shoulders and in a squeaky, sheepish voice say, "I don't know what I did?"

Typically this means the customer never stopped to actually let the car get washed. No way were they going to allow blinking red lights, stop signs or pressure pads slow them down. No indeed. I'm often surprised as people "Nascar" through the wash and then appear before me to tell me that our machine didn't wash their car.

Thankfully my mental "filter" is usually in place so I don't say to them, "You never gave it a chance! Now why don't we try this again and slow it down to the speed of light and see if we can't get your car clean this time."

Location, Location, Location...

While some of my musings may not actually take place here, I find on less busy days that I have far too much time to be left alone with my thoughts. And truth be told, I have more thoughts than you'd think. Song lyrics that murmur in the background suddenly penetrate the conciousness and take on new meaning. But that's not to say that everything I think or feel is "deep." I mean just how deep can I find a song called "Blah Blah Blah ?" But what I mean to do is get these thoughts OUT. ("If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me, threatening the life it belongs to") -Breathe (2AM) by Anna Nalick.

That being said, I'm sure many of my rantings will be amusing, as once the moment has passed and I am looking back they can be quite funy. But at least now, they have a place to go instead of just rattling around in my over taxed brain.