Feb 20 – Feb 26, 2011

This week went by so quickly and yet it took forever.  It was just one of those weeks.  On Sunday, I spent time with my parents looking for a sofa to purchase.  Since I received a nice tax refund, I decided to buy my very first, brand new sofa.  I did find a nice one but it was out of my price range so as much as it pained me to walk away, I did just that – walk away.  After test sitting in many sofas and not purchasing one, we went to dinner at Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  I find the burgers better than In-and-Out but prefer In-and-Out fries.  Five Guys also carries caffeine free Diet Coke so I can actually enjoy a cola beverage. 

This week at work I was “trained” on the Entertainment 1 position, AM and PM.  As I’d been previous trained on Entertainment 2, it was more a refresh and introduction to the Disneyland side (as opposed to Disney California Adventure).  I very much enjoy the position when things go well – I get out and visit all the various entertainment venues and cast, especially those I don’t get to see very often.  At work, I was also assigned to a couple upcoming projects and events.  It’s going to be a busy spring!

The Osgan family and I were supposed to spend an evening at elecTRONica on Friday but the rain postponed the adventure.  The boys haven’t gotten to really play at elecTRONica so we promised them an evening of just TRON – alas, it will have to wait for another night.  Thankfully the event has been extended through Labor Day so we’ll have plenty of other nights from which to choose.  I can’t believe how much rain we’ve had recently.  It’s like Southern California is actually experiencing a true winter season, cold and all!  Yesterday’s high temperature was 50 degrees – that’s cold for us!  Brrrr!

My new computer was also delivered this week.  For my birthday I’d decided to indulge and purchase a new Dell desktop.  I thought about waiting for a Mac but I just didn’t want to wait that long and I’m just fine with a new PC.  I’m currently learning all about Windows 7 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 – in fact yesterday I figured out how to eliminate blemishes from my photos – happy day!  I’m all about “airbrushing” if it helps me look better! 

A guy also came back into my life this week.  I spent every night with him this week.  Harry Potter, boy wizard.  In preparation for the final movie installment this summer, I decided to begin at the beginning; I picked up the first book and began re-reading his adventures.  I completed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone last night.  Year 2  begins today. 

Feb 13 - Feb 19, 2011

I began this week by celebrating my birthday with friends at the local mini-golf location.  Well, really, I began the week by picking up and tinkering around my apartment.  I got the kitchen clean, hung a few remaining frames on the wall, etc.  In the afternoon, I met up with Leilani & Holly for some mini-golf!  I hadn't played in years!  It was a blast.  We had a fantastic time - beautiful weather, good conversation, and silly shots on the course. 

This is one of the 4 hole in one's I made throughout the course! :)  Really 3 of the 4 were just making it onto the right ramp - not actually getting the ball into the hole skillfully with one stroke. 

This is me taking a shot towards the cup on a relatively easy hole.  We never did find the course par but we think we were close - it seems I always took about 3 strokes to sink the ball regardless of the obstacle. 

Here's Leilani with the dragons!  On the hole previous, she found her nemesis - the windmill.  She could not get the ball into the windmill for the life of her.  The first stroke she launched onto the lower course.  The next was too soft and so on and so on.  She much preferred this dragon!

Holly managed to somehow launch her ball over and out of the course area.  Thankfully it was still within reach and she didn't have to climb the rail to fetch the ball.

There was no standing room for my right handed shot on this particular hole so I just hopped up on the wall.  Surprisingly, I sank the ball on this shot!  Nobody - least of all me - was expecting that outcome!

Holly became the queen of the rim shot - her ball would look like it was going in but then roll along the rim and off the other side.  I love her expression in this particular photo as it shows her utter frustration at this phenomenon.  Seriously, this happened to her too many times to count.  Seriously. 

This photo, on a different hole, shows the rim shot the best - the ball did not go in - it just rolled off the rim and back out onto the course. 

Of course, she did eventually get a hole in one, and on one of the harder holes.  It had a water element that if you weren't careful, your ball would easily veer into the pond.  She was so focused on staying out of the water that she didn't realize she sank the ball in the cup at the other end.





After mini-golf Leilani had a previous engagement and had to jet, but Holly and I headed over to a local pizza joint to meet up with a few others for dinner.  Neither of us had been to Oggi's before even though it was fairly close to both of us.  Our service was awful but since we weren't in a hurry it wasn't so bad.  Sandy, Gemma, Marcie & Sammy, and Kate eventually joined us.  The pizza was actually quite tasty.  And we got a bonus in a round about way - remember that bad service... well, our server brought out a pizza that looked similar to what we ordered but wasn't quite it.  We, of course, didn't figure it out until we'd already had a slice.  Turns out that pizza was one that had been built incorrectly and was going to no one.  A few minutes later the manager came out with our correctly ordered pizza and apologized for the mix up.  So we got 2 pizzas for the price on 1!  Not too shabby since the incorrect pizza was pretty close to our order.  All in all, I had a lovely birthday celebration with my friends.

The next day was Valentine's Day - not too awesome for this singleton.  So I took the opportunity to run some errands.  I stopped by Company D for some last minute V-day shopping, picked up my completed taxes (refund - woo hoo!), supported my friend's daughter's Girl Scout troop by buying some cookies, and dropped by and gave my nephews some Star Wars toys for the holiday.  Then I headed to the local dollar theater (actually $2) to see Harry Potter 7 part 1 again.  It was quite enjoyable the second time!  In fact, I think I'm going to start reading the books again from the beginning in preparation for the final movie later this year.  After the movie, I met Chris and Sandy for dinner at Alcatraz in Orange.  It was a lovely dinner and good to chat with my friends again.

The rest of the week I focused on work.  It was a busy week dealing with possible rain, high winds, and more rain.  I ended up cancelling the big show (Remember) on Fri/Sat but got the MMY show in every night!  Thursday afternoon, I had a work lunch with some fellow stage managers at El Torito (boy I sure ate out a lot this week!).  They are proposing some possible changes and wanted to get our opinions - more to come on that later. 

It was a very full week.  The coming week may be just as full.  I guess I need to be careful of what I wish for - I wanted more social time, I got more social time :)  It's all about balance - I'll find it eventually =D 

12 on 12 February

I was afraid this 12 on 12 would be quite similar to January in that I was scheduled for the exact same shift.  A few things, however, were different; and I tried to get photos of different points of interest. 

Like most days, I began my waking up process by sitting down at the computer and catching up on my email & social applications.  FarmVille recently introduced the greenhouse where you can create hybrid seeds.  I am currently combining jalepeno and peppers to create fire peppers!  :) 

Then it was time for breakfast - turkey bacon and an egg rolled into a flour tortilla.  Yum!

 This is my "lost kitchen" - when I moved back to CA from UT in 1996, I packed all these kitchen supplies.  Since I moving back in my the folks, I didn't need them right away.  However, when I did move back out I could not find these to save my life.  Now that my parents are putting the house on the market, I needed to move all my storage totes to my own place.  And wa-la... kitchen found!  Of course I'd replaced most of this already so now I have lots of extras!

 This is another of the childhood totes.  As you can see, a loved Cabbage Patch doll along with some Young Women crafts are stored here.  This is also where I found my ACT scores from 1992.  English - 26, Math - 28, Reading (Soc Science/Arts/Lit) - 29, Science - 29; for a Composite of 28 (out of 36).  I was in the 94% range.

This is work - well, where my office space is located anyway.  As you are driving I-5 through Anaheim you see a big green building - it's yellow on the other side! :)  This is the view from the parking structure 4th floor where I parked.  It's a really long building, probably at least 2 football field lengths from end to end. 

This is the entrance to the row of cubicles where I am temporarily assigned - 326A.  I share with a friend of mine - he's permanent at one end of the cube; I'm at the other.  This is the beginning of the Entertainment Dept - we continue on for at least a football field length on one side of the building. 

One of the six elevators in the building - heading to the 3rd floor.  On a night where I'm scheduled for MMY/Remember, I will go up and down the elevator, to and from my desk, 4-5 times to attend to several meetings and pre-show checks.  Sometimes I will fore-go the elevator and use the stairs. 

Dinner - leftover Hamburger Helper and a Diet Coke.  I had already finished my left over enchildas from my birthday dinner :( so this is what I could scrounge together that day.  Nothing very exciting.  

The book I was planning on starting during my dinner break.  Unfortunately that night we were having some technical difficulties so my break was cut short & I didn't actually get past the first chapter.  

Once again, the view from where I sit for fireworks.  I thought my actual camera would produce a better shot but since I didn't want to draw attention to myself (we're not supposed to take pics while backstage) and since I was so far away anyway that a flash wouldn't help... well, it's not so much better than my phone camera.  But it's still one of the coolest places to see the show!


This is Richard - he's a pyro guy!  We call him Skittles - long story!  He's one of several pyro personnel on the show - great guy and great to work with!  I am so very lucky to be privileged to work with such talented and amazing people.

This is Pete - he's a FSO (Fire Safety Officer) with the Disneyland Fire Department.  Pete's great - always good to have around.  This is where we stand for the MMY portion of the evening after fireworks.  But he's also up on the roof with me as well.  The FSO can make or break your show - if he says "stop" we gotta stop :) 





So that's my 12 on 12 for February.  It's a little tricky taking pictures of my work life as "they" are quite strict in their policy of no backstage pictures.  I try to 'sneak' in shots that don't give away anything.  I think I did a pretty decent job.  No secrets to reveal here, just a day in the life of me!

Feb 6 - Feb 12, 2011

I started this week with two days off - Super Bowl Sunday & my birthday!  Can't go wrong with that... not one bit.  Even though I was spending Super Bowl Sunday by myself (on purpose) I still had all the lovely fixins - homemade Chex mix, finger foods, and caffeine free beverages.  I settled in my favorite chair and very much enjoyed the game between Green Bay & Pittsburgh.  That is until about halfway through the 2nd quarter - all of sudden I got restless and seeing some of my still unpacked Christmas decorations, I got to work putting it all away while continuing to watch the game.  I was packed and totes put away by halftime :)  The halftime show was so-so... not my favorite but by no means the worst I've ever seen.  Technically they needed to fire whoever was running audio but the performance wasn't half bad.  Green Bay won and the commercials kept me entertained - again not the best but not the worst I've ever seen.  Not a bad way to start my "weekend".   

The next day, I celebrated my 36th birthday.  I never imagined being this age and where I am in life.  But that's a topic for another blog at another time.  The day began with me turning back the clock in regards to my hair color - I was overdue to cover up the gray.  Afterward, I was off for my day's activities.  First stop - Segerstrom Center for the Arts (formerly OCPAC - I still don't want to let go of this acronym - much better than SCFTA... you can't even pronounce that one!) to pick up tickets for Mom and I - Rock of Ages in a couple of weeks.  Can't wait - it's going to be our stand in for the Styx concerts that have gotten too pricey for us these days.  Next stop was No Strings Attached at the Tustin AMC theater - I enjoyed the 'chick flick'.  It didn't try to be anything more than it was and I like Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman - their chemistry seemed to work most of the time ;)

After the movie, I headed down to the family house where dinner and cake awaited me!  I got my first present from Shane when I walked in the door - a hug!  Best first gift!  

While we waited for Mom/Grandma to finish up dinner, Brandon suggested we play Cootie.  He's finally at the age where he'll play by the rules and still have fun; Shane still tries to get the dice to fall the way he wants.  Karen, Brandon, and I started playing first - Shane joined a bit into the game.  Brandon won!  I barely stayed in the game - even Shane, who joined the game late, was doing better than me.

 

This is as far I got in the game - I finally got most of the pieces, just missing 5 legs.  But at least the one leg I had was equipped with a rollerblade!

Mom made her fantastic enchiladas with extra sauce with sides of corn and chips!  Yum... delicious - I even got to take some leftovers with me to enjoy throughout the week.  Karen made & decorated the cake - chocolate with vanilla icing.  However, it cracked and she wouldn't let me take a picture.  Dinner/dessert conversation was enjoyable - it's always nice to talk with the family.  All in all, it was a great day. 

The rest of the week was pretty standard - work, work work.  

Because I worked an extra day last week, I got an extra day off on Friday.  I went down to the family house and picked up a bunch of my childhood storage totes.  Since the folks are selling the childhood home, it's time for me to store my own stuff.  :)  I think I probably got at least 1/3 to 1/2 of my stuff moved up to my place.  What a trip to go through all my old things.  I even found my 'lost kitchen' (from my move from UT back to CA) that I knew I had but couldn't find for the life of me - silverware, tupperware and a few other things.  Also found my official ACT scores - discovered I was better in math and science than I was in English - I totally remembered differently.  I still have much to go through and downsize again but it's fun to remember the past. 

Saturday was the 12th so I did the 12 for 12 project.  I'll post that blog tomorrow as this one is getting quite long and is taking longer than anticipated and I have to get ready for my birthday celebration with my friends in a couple of hours.   

Jan 30 - Feb 5, 2011

Looking back on my week, it was all about work again.  I really need to get a life.  Alas, it turned into another 6 day work week.  The proverbial "they" called me in to help cover for someone who called in sick yesterday.  Thankfully it was a pretty easy work week.  We were still working out bugs in the operational flow of the new show but overall I was pleased with everything.  I have such a great team that makes even the issues seem not as bad.  

I'm still on a late night schedule but am slowly working back to a "normal" schedule.  In the meantime, I am also adapting to this night schedule.  I do all my at home chores late after I get home from work.  The only trick is getting to the grocery store during operating hours.  Thankfully, my mid-week work schedule gets me off a bit earlier and can race over just before it closes (if I don't have to write a long, issue filled report at the end of the night!).  

My highlight of the week was the 2nd show of our season subscription to the recently renamed Segerstrom Center for the Arts (formerly Orange County Performing Arts Center) - Hair!  My sister Karen, her best friend Jamie, my friend Sarah, and I bought the season last summer but it didn't really get going until this show (we saw South Pacific last fall).  The next 4 shows fall within the next 5 months!  Karen, Jamie, and I went to dinner at Chili's before the show.  We love that place (2nd blog reference in 5 weeks kind of love though usually don't go that often).  Karen had a coupon for free chips and queso - can't go wrong there!  Other than a super slow waiter, we had a great time.  

At dinner before the show!  Jamie & Karen - BFFs!

The super slow waiter caused us to have less time to get to the theater than planned.  We hurried over (following all traffic rules!), parked, and had just crossed the street when a car drove by with the window down and a girl hollering out the window at us.  Turns out it was Karen & Jamie's other best friend Marissa!  She lives near the theater and was out and about.  Apparently she thought the girl on the corner looked like me and the girl next to me Karen and so on and then realized - wait - that can't be coincidence - it's got to be them.  Conveniently there was a bus turn out just ahead of her where she could pull over and we chatted for a bit.  Small world indeed.  

Before the show (L-R): Sarah, Me, Jamie, Karen

Of course, the brief conversation delayed us again so we very quickly hurried over to where Sarah was waiting for us just outside the theater.  Then the small world run-ins continued - Sarah and I ran into some co-workers as we were in line to go inside.  They had decided just that week to buy tickets.  After all that we made inside with a few minutes to spare - just enough time to use the restroom before the 80 minute first act.  Hair is not my favorite musical but this company and production was quite good and well done.  There were some annoying lighting choices (bright l.e.d.'s at the back of the house - a very large house, really?) and a really annoying family in front of us, both causing us to move forward a few rows at intermission.  So even though it wasn't our favorite show - it was a great time out with the ladies.  And our next show in the season is Wicked - the day before Karen's birthday!  What a fun way to celebrate her birthday!  We're going to get an extra ticket for Mom to join us as well.  I'm so looking forward to it!