Ch-Ch-Ch-Charleston

I'm here to blog about a recent weekend trip to Charleston and Isle of Palms, South Carolina. RA had a meeting in Isle of Palms, so we spent a long weekend out of town. It was glorious! I am backdating this post because I can!

We left town on a Thursday morning, hoping to get to Charleston around lunchtime. As we pulled into Charleston, I got out my phone to text a friend who lives there. As I texted "Welcome to Charleston," we got rear-ended. It was jarring. We were trying to avoid blocking an intersection, and the person behind us didn't realize we were stopping rather than going through the intersection. The car that hit us was only going 10 mph, I'd guess, but it was shocking. I was certain our car had significant damage. However, much to our surprise, it didn't look too bad at all. The guys that hit us were so friendly (Anybody named "Shands" has to be nice, right?) that we didn't call the cops or anything. We just went about our merry, fender-cracked way.

On Thursday night, we stayed at an amazing hotel, Harbourview Inn, right on the water. I absolutely loved the place, and you're about the learn why. Most people know that food is a focus of mine, and this hotel made sure we were well-fed. There were complimentary snacks from a local company, including chocolate-covered pretzels, trail mix, etc. I love snacks! There was also an hour-long wine reception, complete with cheese trays and fruit. The lobby also had a candy dispenser. Ahh! At night, they serve warm cookies and not-warm milk in the lobby. Although the hotel was small and did not have its own kitchen, we were able to make a breakfast selection, and a local bakery delivered the breakfast at whatever time we specified. Awesome! It was truly a top-notch place...one of my all-time favorites.

Pardon that tangent. When we got into town, we ate lunch at a nearby place called Fleet Landing. I got a crab cake sandwich (Yummy!), and we also had some fried green tomatoes. As we finished eating lunch, we learned that a long-time friend who lives in Charleston (MJ) was about to get off work. We walked and met her, then headed to Mellow Mushroom to sit on the patio. We got to spend some time catching up while we waited for her boyfriend (JA) to get off of work. We headed to the wine hour at the hotel before we went to dinner at a place called Pearlz, which was delicious! Of course I was focused on making it back to the hotel in time for cookies, and I enjoyed a late-night snack of white chocolate chip cookies!

Friday morning, after devouring our delicious breakfast, we packed up to head to the Wild Dunes Resort at Isle of Palms. We made it to Isle of Palms in the afternoon and suited up to go to the beach/pool. The beach was pretty darn crowded, so we only lasted a few minutes before we headed to the pool instead. There were several pools, all of which were gorgeous. We enjoyed some tasty food at the poolside restaurant and stayed out for quite a while. Some folks were heading into Charleston for the night, but RA and I were quite exhausted from the previous day's activities. We went to dinner at the restaurant at the resort golf course. I had an amazing salad with spinach, goat cheese and strawberries. We also ordered a side of macaroni and cheese, which was phenomenal!

RA had his meeting on Saturday morning, so I slept in sort of late. He finished up earlier than expected, and we went for a quick jog. We then headed to pick up MJ, who was going to be able to join us at the pool for the day. After picking her up, we stopped and grabbed lunch at R.B.'s, which was recommended to us. I got a crab cake sandwich (again!), and it was great. When we returned to the hotel, we immediately headed to the pool. It was sweltering hot, and we enjoyed catching up and lounging around. MJ's boyfriend headed to meet us after he got off work, so we enjoyed a few hours of pool time with him as well.

There was a nighttime cocktail reception for RA's group, so we tagged along for that. There were delicious little appetizers, including chicken tenders, crab cakes and cheese cubes. After the cocktail reception wrapped up, the four of us headed to the poolside restaurant to sit and eat an official dinner. I ordered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I don't care if it's child-like!), and it was incredible! After we finished eating dinner and listening to some live music, we headed back to our room to play some cards. It was a fun-filled day. I sure wish MJ and JA lived closer!

We headed back to town on Sunday morning. One would think I wouldn't have an appetite after all of that eating, but we stopped and got Mexican food on the way home. It hit the spot! The drive home was easy and accident-free. I really loved Charleston and Isle of Palms, and I would love to go back at some point. What a great trip!

LKAJSLKDFJALKEJA!

It's Saturday morning!

Well, this week had a heavy water-on-the-floor focus. The workers came and picked up all of the dehumidifying equipment on Tuesday. Then, by the end of the day on Tuesday, I noticed water was back. Hoping it was simply residual, I tried to give it until Wednesday morning to panic. The water remained pretty steady on Wednesday and into Thursday, so I was convinced that there was something new happening. I realize it sounds like I was taking my sweet time, but I kept unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with my claim representative.

It turns out that my neighbor's water heater started leaking. Yes, for real. The worker who came back on Thursday said, and I quote, "I've never seen anything like this before." When my neighbor got home from work, she and I looked around her place to confirm, and there was a continuous stream of water coming from her heater. She had it replaced yesterday and GUESS WHAT! THE WATER HAS STOPPED! Knock on wood (which is easy considering it's exposed all over my place!).

Given all of the shenanigans and the fact that I was stressed out, I made exercising a big priority over the past week. I ran three miles every day and, MAN, I feel good. It's hilarious that I hadn't exercised consistently in a while and then I went and ran 20+ miles. I'm actually going to exercise after I finish this blog.

One of my best friends (AM) moved to Atlanta yesterday. I have to say that it's all kind of surreal to me because I haven't seen her yet, but I will today. Ahhh! We have been reunited!

Man, I want some cheddar cheese.

I feel like I have more to say, but it's tough when I wait so stinkin' long between blogs lately. The festival shows on Sunday were a lot of fun despite the 95-degree weather. It was easier than last time because the tent was smaller and wasn't positioned next to anything too loud. LOVED IT!

Well, I better channel this hyperactivity into my workout.

HAPPY JUNE!

Eye can't take it anymore

I've never really known what commercials meant when they talked about dry or itchy eyes from allergies...until today. My eyeballs physically hurt. I'm not even joking. It hurts to have them open. Although eye drops have always been a fear of mine, I broke down and bought some tonight because I had no idea what else to do. The weird thing is that I put drops in a little bit ago, and it's like my eyeballs already feel like sponges. RIDICULOUS! I'm about to use the drops again. I could easily see this fear becoming an obsession. NEED. DROPS.

I go to the ENT tomorrow. Let's get excited! I'm actually not at all excited because it means getting up early on a telecommute day. I have no idea what I was thinking when I scheduled such an early appointment. It will be interesting to see what my nose is doing. Other than being a punk.

Umm, I guess I probably haven't announced the three kidney stones in here yet. I have three kidney stones. There. I said it. The CT scan said it first.

Onto non-bodily topics...Work is stressful. I'm not even gonna pretend it isn't.

Tonight I met a friend (MV) at Starbucks. That was most definitely the highlight of the day. I sure needed a refreshing beverage and a listening ear. DORKY!

I don't feel like saying anything else because all I can think about is going to get my eye drops.

yawn

There are about 18 billion thoughts going through my head right now, but the most important one is that I should go to sleep.

AM left town today, so I'm readjusting to life. I think everyone is, though, given that it's post-holidays and what not. I've always thought saying 'and what not' was pretty funny. Can you tell I'm sleepy? I'm starting to feel hungry, too.

Well, I just wanted to say that I have a good feeling about 2011. I hope you do, too.

Good night, noseroid.

P.S. I played the lottery for the first time last night. And no, I didn't win. The funny thing is that someone today was talking about people who play the lottery and are truly surprised when they don't win. I actually did feel kind of shocked that they didn't pick my numbers. Does that make me a narcissist or an optimist? Or just plain AWESOME?!

:-)

Yen

Hi!

Well, I am all Cortisoned up since the last time I wrote. The injection went well; it was much easier than last time. It was the exact same procedure, but last time I had no idea what was going to happen. This time, though, I was mentally prepared to feel like my chest was collapsing, so I wasn't concerned when it happened. The soreness seems to be better this time, too, or maybe it's just that I was expecting it... Hopefully it will stop hurting in about 24 hours!

Umm, my friend AM is in town. Awesome! We have kept it pretty low-key, but we did go out to Willy's for lunch and had sushi for dinner with JM. It was like a Dominican Republic reunion. I love dinners with friends!

I'm exhausted because we stayed up really late after her arrival last night (or I guess technically today). We have agreed to sleep in tomorrow... big time!

My new phone is still making me really happy. I learn new tricks all day long!

We haven't figured out yet what we'll do tomorrow night, but I'm sure it will be fun. Cheers to a wonderful 2011, y'all! It's resolution time!

That's all they really waaaaaaaant

It's Tuuuuueeeeeesday.

Well, I had my eye doctor appointment yesterday and it went pretty well. My prescription was unchanged from last year, so that's good news, even though it doesn't answer any headache questions. I did get scheduled for a visual field exam test and a follow-up appointment with the eye doctor, so we'll see if that provides any answers what-so-ever. Yesterday was really rough headache-wise, so I pretty much had to sleep for the entire afternoon.

I met up with a friend (AP) for dinner yesterday, too. We used to work together at Wolf Camera, so it was fun to catch up.

Today was surprisingly good, though! I got up and noticed my head wasn't hurting, so I went to the gym. I did about 30 minutes on the elliptical, and my head didn't bother me at all. AWESOME! The rest of the day was pretty much pain-free, so I'm knocking on wood here... I did get unusually tired today, so I did some napping.

Anything else? I met MV and her son for lunch at Chick-fil-A, so that was fun. He is almost a year old and is absolutely precious. I'm usually not a baby person, but he makes it easy to make an exception.

I've got kind of a long day tomorrow, so I better get a good night's sleep to make it through the day. I can't wait to sleep!!!

Dinosaurs are my favorite

I have no idea why I am up late looking at dinosaurs online. I am thinking of purchasing a dinosaur t-shirt. Can you tell that maybe I've been removed from the real world for too long?

Well, I had a productive weekend! I ran four miles last night and four again tonight. I haven't done strenuous exercise in a while, so I am definitely feeling it. The fact that I don't believe in stretching also contributes to that, but I don't mind it; it's a constant reminder that I did something worthwhile. I might need to take tomorrow off of exercising if I'm walking like this...

Today my mom came out to see me and we ran some errands. I got a new pair of skinny jeans and some boots. We also got air in my tires and washed my car! Then we went to Starbucks and I got a vanilla latte. It felt like I hadn't been in forever!

Yesterday a longtime friend (SW) came to see me and we went out to lunch. We had such a great time catching up with each other and talking about all sorts of things. It's funny how I can still have so much in common with someone I met 15(ish) years ago. I loved our visit!

I guess I better try to make myself go to sleep.

Y'all wanna see my bruise???

How redneck is that title?! Anyway, the nurse came by to change my PICC line dressing, and look at that craziness! Perhaps if the nurses saw this, they would understand why I said I was in pain. I am honestly fascinated by this bruise... Let me take another moment of silence to reflect on it.

Today was a really great day. I got up to do my early IV, and then I went back to sleep for a few more hours. I got up and did my breathing treatments, and then my brother and Turk arrived here. We watched Major League, which I really enjoyed. About halfway through the movie, the nurse came by, so it held things up a bit. I really loved the company, and the movie was funny, too! Kevin brought me several movies, so I'll probably watch another one tomorrow.

After the boys left, I decided to go for a walk. It was way too nice to walk on the treadmill, so I walked around in my complex for a while. On my walk, my friend (JM) texted when I was right outside her condo, so we visited for a while. After my walk, my uncle came by with Coldstone (raspberry sorbet with gummy bears). Then the roomie and I hung out for a bit, so I had a great day. Plus, I think the Yankees are about to lose!

Well, I guess I'm about to sign off for the night. I'm going to write for a little while before I go to sleep. Good night, world!

Wiffle ball

Hello!

Well, today started out a bit differently than usual. I did sleep in until about 10:00 a.m. Anyway, shortly after I woke up, my friend (PM) from a previous workplace texted me to ask if I could play on his wiffle ball team. They were short some girls and he knew that I lived nearby the field -- and he and I were on the same kickball team once, so he knows I like sports. It sounded intriguing, so I threw on some clothes and made it to the field shortly after the game started.

My first at-bat was a total embarrassment, but I felt pretty solid after that. The first time I hit the ball and started to run, I immediately felt pain in my left hip flexor ... primarily because I didn't stretch, didn't warm-up, and haven't sprinted in quite some time. Then, the second time, I got on base and had major pain in my right hip flexor -- like thought-I-was-gonna-have-to-leave-the-game bad. I ended up scoring that inning and, thankfully, it was the end of the game. I have been in pain ever since, but only on the right side. It mainly hurts when I walk and when I lift my leg for any reason, such as going up the stairs, repositioning myself on the bed/couch. I honestly think that a wiffle ball injury is more humiliating than my infamous cornhole injury. We'll see how it feels in the morning. Oh, it also hurts when I laugh or cough. LAUGH 'TIL YOU COUGH! Needless to say, the wiffle ball incident impeded my exercise goal, but at least I did something active.

The rest of the day has been pretty relaxing. I came home, worked on some mass emails, then watched some college football with my roommate. My friend (JM) and I went out to eat at MiMi's Cafe, and I got meatballs and ravioli. It was good!

Tomorrow is a big day for me! Not only is it my last day before the hospitalization, but I am going to my parents' house for a cookout and then the BRAVES GAME! I am really, really looking forward to it all, which is why I'm getting an early night's sleep.

I've got my Braves pajama shirt on. GO TEAM!

If I could turn back time

Don't you wish I would stop quoting songs in my post titles?

I just got home from working my last crew shift of September. Now, that's technically a slight fabrication because I think I'll be helping out at a [repeat] graduation show on the 21st. Either way, it feels good to have that out of the way early in the month. That means I have some full-fledged weekends ahead of me! And, when I say "weekends," I mean "one weekend" because I have to work at homecoming on the weekend of the 24th. I trained someone on lights tonight. I'm not sure how successful I was at training because there was only one show and he didn't really get to practice, but he seemed to get it - the light bulb seemed to go off for him. HAAAAA!

Last night's show (I guess two nights ago now) was a lot of fun! The piano guy was sick, so we had to do it musicianless! That was a first. I played Repeat Scene Direction (masculine, nerdy ninja, schizophrenic), Foreign-Dubbed Soap Opera, Remote Control Styles, ABC Buzzer Cooking Show, and Helping Hands Oscar. It was so much fun! The crowd wasn't gigantic by any means, but they were really supportive and it seemed like everyone in the cast had a blast. It was such a great end to a somewhat stressful [mass-emailing] day. For the first time ever, a patron told me she laughed so hard she cried. SUCCESS!

Today I swam some laps during lunch. I've been soooo horrible at exercising lately and decided I'd give it a whirl today. It was enjoyable, even though I didn't swim all that much. Tomorrow I plan to run for a while. I'm kind of in that chicken-versus-egg-not-working-out-because-I'm-too-tired-but-tired-because-I'm-not-working-out scenario. Time to correct that JUNK!

Tomorrow I have a friend leading a team (SW) at the Great Strides walk at the University of West Georgia. I am so thankful to have an extension of Drew's Crew -- Drew's Crew Two -- representing at the walk tomorrow. I was hoping to make it, but should have requested off from the theatre in advance. I feel loved even though I am supporting from a distance.

Bedtime for me. I'm exhausted. Even though this week was short, it was JAM-PACKED! I got my CT scan done Thursday, but haven't heard back from the doctor. I'm eager to get that sinus surgery on the books.

Good night, world!

Every little step I take

First off - The title of this blog is a lyric to a song. I actually wanted to title my last blog this lyric, but I didn't because a friend had just titled a blog about "steps" and I didn't want to overSTEP my boundaries. HA! Anyway, I chose to title the last blog the NEXT line of the song just so I didn't seem like a copycat. However, each time I've seen that title, I've been like, "What? 'You will be there?'" because it's not as obvious and takes me a minute to figure out, even though I wrote it. So, in summary, the last two blogs have been inspired by Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step I Take," which was actually inspired by ANOTHER friend's Facebook status.

Now, if you know me, you know that I can go off on unnecessary tangents like the one above. (BTW: Now I'm listening to Bobby Brown.) However, you probably also notice that it's after 3:00 a.m. and I don't have the day off work or anything. Both of these mysteries can be explained by one simple fact, and it's that I'm pretty sure another kidney stone is rearing its ugly head.

I got my first twinge of back pain last Saturday before the show, but it was gone before I began performing. This pain is FOR REAL, though. So, to explain the unnecessary tangent, I'm actually on Vicodin right now. I tried ibuprofen and didn't keep it down, so I upgraded to bigger guns. I think I'm about to add another half of a Vicodin to the mix to try to get the pain below a 3 or 4.

Well, yesterday (Wednesday) during lunch, I went to exercise. I wore my bathing suit under my gym clothes, planning to take a dip in the pool after I finished running. Shortly after getting on the treadmill, I decided I'd rather swim laps. I ended up getting off the treadmill and heading out to the pool, even though I was goggleless. The result: I swam 30 laps! Now, the pool at my complex isn't Olympic-sized or anything, but it's between 15 and 20 yards. So, that was a big accomplishment. It felt good to do the butterfly for the first time in what felt like forever. It was a great workout! Now I want to get a membership at some kind of indoor pool so that it can become a habit.

When I woke up with the back pain, I was hopeful that it was swimming induced. As I learned with the last stone, though, when there is not a single physical position I can contort myself into to feel better, that's bad news. Ugh. I am nauseous.

Well, I've got a big few days ahead of me, so I guess we'll see where I stand after another bout of sleep.

Double-decker

Well, I failed at exercising yet again today. I had every intention of getting up and knocking it out this morning, but I'd also taken a nighttime sinus medicine that apparently had different plans. Then, I decided that I could squeeze in a quick workout between finishing up work and heading to rehearsal. However, I ended up getting a call from a colleague-in-a-frenzy about nametags (we are so vital to this world!), so I helped her and then realized I couldn't even pretend to get the workout done in time to get downtown. However, halfway through the commute to the theatre, I realized that I was heading down there as if I had to be there at 7:00 p.m. versus 7:15 p.m., so I had plenty of time to kill. In which case I headed to Starbucks and paid a ridiculous amount for some orange juice. No workout + expensive orange juice = whatever.

Umm, so today I went to this nursing luncheon at the Cobb Energy Center. I nominated my good friend WB for the award because it is such a joy to be his patient. If being in the hospital is joyous. Although he was not one of the top ten honorees, we had a really great time. Most of the winners had been in the profession for a long, long time compared to my friend, but I know that he will accomplish similar things - he already does. The day was very inspiring and made me think a lot about life and what I hope to have accomplished when all is said and done.

What else? Sold some more tickets for the benefit show! I'm also excited because we've finalized the cast and it should be a great time. I am just so appreciative to have the support of everyone at the theatre, whether through ticket donations, offering to help, performing, etc. I am lucky.

I'm in the show tomorrow night, so of course I'm excited about that. I could stand to have gotten more sleep this week, but sometimes we get carried away. I think part of the lack of sleep has been because I've felt more energetic than usual. So, even though missing sleep is a negative, it's partly a positive because I think it's been fueled by excitement for different things.

Today a creepy slug was on my windshield. He was whitish/clearish, had many legs, was two stories tall, and had a red head. As gross as it was, it was kind of amusing, too, because, as the car got faster, he stood much like I do on MARTA. He spread his legs like he was surfing or something. Then he probably lost his life, so it was a sad day for that double-decker.

I wear my sunglizzles at night

I keep forgetting to mention this new shirt I got at Target last week(ish). It's fresh on my mind because I might wear it in tomorrow's show. I got it for $4! It has sunglasses on it, hence the title of this post. It has six or eight pairs of sunglasses on it, and it's kinda cute-like. I love me some cheap junk.

So, let me tell you more about being a terrorist for the last 24 hours. I'm surprised at how well I slept last night. Now, I keep forgetting that I took an AdvilPM, which could have been a big contributor, but man, I slept like a log! I am also relieved by how nonchokered I felt. It was pretty awesome! That brings me to my next breaking news topic...

I have come up with a new invention. I am going to post it out for the world to see, and then sue you when you take my idea. It's a pillow that dangles from your body. Now, give me a minute to explain. I think the strap will velcro across your torso right underneath your arms to prevent any strain from being on one area in particular. The pillow will then dangle down to one side, with the top of the pillow hitting waist height. Are you with me?

That's basically how I was all day. I wore the bomber vest, but instead of putting the machine back into the fanny pack, I left it inside its pillow. It brought a whole new perspective to life. Everywhere I went, I was comfortable because there was a pillow attached to me. As I walked, I naturally held on to the pillow and felt so comfy and safe, like a child. The pillow also acted as a portable lap desk for my laptop, which was really convenient. I know this is probably sounding crazy, but I bet someone said that about the Snuggie years ago. I'm still thinking of a name, but I promise it was awesome. I'm not being facetious at all; I felt so protected and at-ease all day.

My friend brought me Moe's today! Guess what I had?! STEAK NACHOS! We had a nice visit over lunch, and it was so awesome to have some human interaction AND some delicious food during a period in which I wasn't going to have any of that. It was good to catch up and talk life!

Umm, what else? I made some revelations today when I met my friend at Starbucks. I'm excited about them, so I hope I don't forget them. Maybe then I can have re-revelations.

Well, I gotta get to bed. I have a big morning ahead of me. I plan to get up and exercise for a bit first thing. Then, on the way to Emory, I have to stop at the grocery store to get a few items for a colleague's bridal shower tomorrow. However, I have a study appointment at 8:30 a.m., so I'll head straight there. I am fasting right now. I'm not sure how long all of tomorrow will take, but then I'll go into work until I have to head down to the SHOW! I am excited to be in the show! Even though it hasn't been very long, it sure feels like it. Adddddddiction.

Drew's Crew: $13,350!

I got a neat present tonight, too. The birthday that keeps on giving! It is a dream journal and a book to interpret my dreams. I am going to start documenting my dreams on paper using the journal. I remember when I was younger I'd keep a pad by my bed and would often be able to catch my dreams before they escaped me in the morning. It was hilarious going back and looking what I wrote later in the day when I had completely forgotten that I'd logged the dream. I hope I get a good one tonight! Oh, the pressure!

Goldilocks

Mmmm, I am more tired than I should be at 9:10 p.m. on a Saturday. Oh well.

This morning I got up a little after 8:00 a.m. because there was a lot of loud banging outside. It sounded like someone was knocking on our door, but that wasn't the case. I'm still not sure what it was, but it was obnoxious enough to prevent me from going back to sleep. That wasn't too completely horrible, though, because I wanted to get up and exercise before I went to get my hair did.

I went to the fitness center and got in a pretty good workout this morning. I did a combination of jogging, stairing, and sprinting. I think my workout totaled almost 40 minutes, so that felt worthwhile. I forgot to mention (I think) that I got up and worked out before work on Wednesday. So, this was the best week I've had fitness-wise in quite some time. I think it helped me maintain my sanity despite the week's activities.

Then I headed to get my new hairdo. I ended up getting....drumroll....goldenish highlights and about an inch cut off. The color is pretty. I don't know that other people will notice it as much as I do, but it feels pretty drastic to me; I think because that was the longest I'd gone in quite some time without having done anything color-wise. I'm trying to get used to it. The cut looks super-cute with a lot of body, though. I wish the hairstyler could fix it for me every morning because I don't know that I'll be able to replicate it. Anyway, I think the color makes me look a bit warmer.

After my hair appointment, I met my friend at IHOP! Yes, I sound like an IHOP fanatic, but in all actuality, last weekend was the first time I'd gone since I went with this same friend last year. I got the pancake platter with bacon, as I did last weekend, and it was just as good. We talked about a variety of topics, and she gave me some much-needed reassurance on my book.

I had every intention of working on my book tonight, but it seems like it just wasn't in the cards. Ha! I've actually been trying to keep my eyes open for several hours, so I haven't had quite the energy I'd like in order to write. I wish I had a drill sergeant here making me get things accomplished. Oh well. This blog is an accomplishment, even though it's a bit worthless and uneventful.

The Super Bowl is tomorrow. It's funny because I just really haven't followed football much this year. Ever since the Falcons decided to lose all of their games, I kind of lost interest. Plus, my schedule has gotten significantly busier lately, so I quit spending my Sundays watching football. Anyway, I don't know if I'll watch the game or not. It's pretty late on a Sunday night considering how long Monday will be (We have late rehearsal again). So, we'll see what happens tomorrow... Man, I've gotten old.

Well, maybe I'll force myself to contribute something to my book before I go to sleep.

Close your eyes, make a wish

BED. TIME. FOR. DREWDLE.

So, I've probably mentioned before how funny it is when I get called Mr. Dotson in waiting rooms and things like that. If I haven't mentioned it, it's funny. I agree that I, too, would assume someone named Drew was male, but it can be pretty entertaining. For example, today I checked my mail and had an envelope from the American Diabetes Association. I guess they gave me a gift for making a donation to them. I got address labels that say "Mr. Drew E. Dotson." Now, I've gotten misprinted address labels like this all the time. However, this time is funnier than usual because the labels have motorcycles and cars on them. It's just hilarious because I bet the labels for women have make-up or something on them. I can't wait to use these to send things to people. They are straight-up MAN labels.

I have had a weekend of good eats. I had IHOP yesterday morning and it was pretty incredible. Then, last night, I went and ate Mexican food with my friend from the neighborhood. We were feeling a little like some dessert afterwards, so we went to Seasons 52 and I had a keylime pie shooter. Deeelicious!

Tonight I went to dinner with a good friend (Hi!) from high school. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and it was delicious. I have a tough time with their menu since it's like 53 pages, but I found a gem! I got orange chicken, which was very similar to sweet and sour chicken and oh, so delicious. I am excited to eat the rest for lunch tomorrow! We also shared a caramel turtle cheesecake and it was good, too! Mmmm, CALORIES! Anyway, it was great to catch up; it was one of those friends I don't see nearly enough.

I'm assuming improv rehearsal is late tomorrow since this week's emcee teaches class from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. rehearsals are kind of exhausting because Mondays are hard anyway, but oh well. I'll survive. It just means it's not possible to get eight hours of sleep on Monday nights. I took an Ambien to ensure that I get a good night's sleep tonight. It's funny how obsessed with sleep I am now because it used to be of no concern to me... until I realized that sleeping helps keep me healthy. Oh, the things we learn when we become geriatric.

Well, I worked out both days this weekend and my goal is to get up and run before work tomorrow. I bet the exercise could give me some extra energy for what is shaping up to be a long day. Plus, exercising just makes me feel good and I'd like to start off the week on a positive note. Goooooo, me! I already have my gym clothes on so I should have no excuses when the alarm goes off. Happy sleeping to all!

Good night, Monday

I am tired right now, but I figured I'd write in my delirium.

Improv was a lot of fun tonight. I actually felt 'on' for the first time in what seems like forever, although it doesn't help that I had a break with the holidays and what not. It's probably a good thing I'm feeling 'on' this week because I'm in the show on Thursday night. My first show as an apprentice....Woohoo! It's giving me something to look forward to in this week back to reality. I hope some people can come see my debut!

Tomorrow night I get to watch Georgia Tech play in the Orange Bowl from the comfort of my own home. I hope they win. I really want to wear my Georgia Tech hoodie to work tomorrow, but I don't know if I will since it's Tuesday, which means it's staff meeting day. If it weren't Tuesday, there's a 100 percent chance I would wear it, but it's the one day of the week that everyone sees me. Sooooo, perhaps I'll have to put it on at the end of the workday. Frankly I think people in behind-the-scenes positions (like myself) should be able to wear absolutely anything to work as long as it isn't vulgar. Wearing sweats to work would boost my morale.

Today I had Willy's, which was a good first lunch hour of 2010. Tomorrow I'm supposed to meet a friend who's in town for lunch. She's not in town for lunch, but I mean, I'm supposed to meet her for lunch. I hope it works out, even if we eat at an odd hour for the sake of coordinating our schedules.

I did the elliptical today at work. While I exercised, I read several pages of my book (the one written be me) and made notes on them for organizational purposes. I am reworking the silly out of that thing because the revelation I recently had changes so much about it...including the title. Am I being vague? Are you intrigued? Are you going to read it when it comes out?

It's definitely time to sleep. While it seems to be all that folks can talk about right now, it is extremely cold outside. It truly doesn't get much colder than this in Atlanta. Rumors are that it might snow on Thursday, but I'll believe it when I see it. I've never been a big snow person, but if it's going to be this cold, I prefer it yield some kind of result that couldn't happen otherwise. It makes shivering feel more worthwhile.

Quesoooooooooooo

Today was a pretty uneventful day, but so was the entire weekend. I have still been setting sleeping records. I wonder if I'm sleeping so much because I'm seriously tired, or if I'm tired because I've been sleeping so much. Oh, chicken vs. egg.

I got up and was supposed to meet a friend for brunch, but something came up and she had to cancel. It broke my heart a little because I wanted to see her and eat some good food. Instead, I ended up conning my sister into meeting me at El Toro for a late lunch. I had a Speedy Gonzalez, which is always a crowd favorite. I wish I was eating queso in bed right now.

I went to the fitness center today and walked 3 miles on the treadmill. Not very strenuous, I know, but better than nothing. I haven't been in a good exercise routine lately, but I think I can rectify that since improv has come to an end. Exercise has kind of taken the back burner to everything else lately, but I don't mind all that much. I used to get really weird when I wasn't exercising regularly, but lately I'm okay with it.

I watched the Falcons lose today. It was actually very ugly and I couldn't even make it all the way to the end of the game. Something was just off with those boys today. It's okay, though. They have done very well so far, and I don't anticipate that ending.

Tomorrow night we watch our improv show DVD. I can't wait to see some of the things I did. I pretty much have show amnesia. I can remember parts here and there, but a lot of it is a blur. That was such an interesting night in every sense of the word. Anyway, I hope I walk out of the theatre tomorrow feeling satisfied.

Time to go to sleep. Mondays are... well, Mondays.