Another year!

Happy not-birthday to me! Yesterday was my birthday, and it was a simple yet wonderful day. I took the day off of work, which has become a tradition of mine. I got up relatively early so that the day would feel as long as humanly possible. I fixed breakfast, drank coffee and caught up on some pointless TV shows.

I met a friend (KZ-turned-KB) for lunch. We had Mexican, of course, which was delightful. After lunch, I went for a birthday run outside.

RA left work early so that we could go get massages. It was honestly one of the best massages I’ve ever had. (I feel like I say that every time.) The massage therapist asked when I last had a massage, and I told him it was about a month ago. He responded, “Wow, you must be under a lot of stress.” Ahem. We then hurried to freshen up before dinner.

For dinner, we went to an amazing restaurant called TOP FLR. I had never heard of it, but I have been spreading the word ever since. It was absolutely amazing! A cheese tray was involved, which is the way to my heart. I also had some of the best macaroni and cheese ever created. Oh man! I am salivating just thinking about it again.

 

After dinner, we headed to Marlee’s Coffee. Every other Friday, there is one of those BYOB painting things, which I had always wanted to do. It was so much fun! We had a bit of a competition going on with our paintings. I’ll let you judge for yourself, but please make sure to look closely at the leaves. (Disregard the “Terri” painted on the left one. That was a pseudonym.)

I also set a fundraising goal for my birthday, and my team blew it out of the water. Drew’s Crew is amazing!

Thank you to everyone who made my day special!

Sparkling

Hello! It's time for my occasional post. I'm pretty sure the last time I posted was around the time of my birthday. I've been going pretty much nonstop ever since, but does that surprise anyone?

First and foremost, my sister got MARRIED this past weekend. It was so much fun, but I am wiped out. I spoke at the rehearsal dinner, and that was a lot of fun. I was told my speech was "epic." I also got my first pedicure on Friday. My toes are lookin' good!

The wedding day itself reminded me of prom. We got up super early to start getting our hair done. I loved mine! The photographer arrived at 10:30 a.m., and it was pretty much paparazzi fest for the remainder of the day. I can't wait to see some of the photos, especially where we reenacted the cover of the Bridesmaids DVD. The ceremony itself was pretty short. I felt like I might tip over at a few points, but I think that part of that was due to my lack of spectacles.

The reception was a blast. We did the Wobble. Claire also dedicated Montell Jordan's "This is How We Do it" to my brother and me. There were some awesome mashed potatoes with all kinds of toppings. By the end of it, I was so worn out that I fell asleep around 10:30. I had so much fun! I am so happy for Claire and Billy. Claire was gorgeous, Billy was handsome, and they both looked so happy. Happy ever after!

The improv benefit show (Laugh 'Til You Cough) was a huge hit. My team is still short of our Great Strides goal, but I am pleased. The walk is on Saturday! I wish we had raised more money at this point in time, but I know some years are tougher than others. I'm also missing several walkers from last year, and I didn't factor that in when setting my goal.

(I know this post is dragging on! I should break it into several to look like I've been blogging more frequently!)

I had a doctor's appointment today, and it didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I'm not surprised, though, given how busy I've been. I got put on two oral antibiotics and have to go back in two weeks. I think that, if I can increase my sleep and decrease my running-around-like-a-crazy-person, I ought to be just fine.

I've been exercising like a champion! I've met my minimum of three hours every week except one. (I started probably two months ago.) I feel a lot better when I'm in a good workout routine.

I was planning to get to bed at 9:30, and I just realized it's a few minutes after. I better go ahead and post this so that I can get up and exercise before work.

Go Drew's Crew!

Vortex

Good grief! You're killing me, Blogger.

First and foremost, happy Easter to all Easter celebrators out there! I went to a family gathering at Gran's house today, where I ate some delicious food and spent some time visiting. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful. Spring has sprung! My eyes are still itching a bit, though. I wouldn't mind a nice April shower!

So, I was really impressed with myself because I thought I'd written last week. However, I re-read my last post and realized that I last wrote two weeks and one day ago. I couldn't decide whether to be more disappointed that I didn't accomplish the two-posts-in-two-weeks feat or that I have lost all sense of time.

That being said, a lot of good things have happened since I last blogged, especially as it relates to fundraising. My team is above the $6,200 mark, and I can only hope that the momentum continues. I am so grateful for all of the donations I have received thus far. I am continually amazed by strangers' generosity. (Shameless plug: If you are a stranger that happened upon this page, here's what I'm yapping about: www.cff.org/great_strides/drew). People are wonderful!

I have been doing a pretty good job of exercising recently. I feel like I mentioned this in my last post, but I'm too lazy to check, so you can hear it again! I've set a goal to work out three hours a week, and I have been quite successful. This is a time when my stubbornness comes in handy. I did 30 minutes today; I'm one-sixth of the way there. (I love semicolons!)

My eyes and I are both (all three of us!) super excited by the prospect of sleeping. Sweet dreams, world!

Droo's Croo

Hi!

Well, today was the big day -- the day of the CF walk. All of Drew's Crew's hard work paid off to the tune of $32,322. And money is still posting! My team has literally left me speechless. The walk was a lot of fun! It was sweltering outside, but we had a good time! My team was very energetic, and I think everyone really enjoyed our presence. We definitely would have won the Most Entertaining Team award with all of our shenanigans.

This week was pretty interesting. More or less. The only super-weird thing that happened was that I received a psychotic email from an apparent nutcase that I've never met. There were so many gems in the email, but I'd have to say this was my favorite line: "I AM A CIVILIZED BEING WHO KNOWS HOW TO CONDUCT MYSELF IN A DIGNIFIED AND RESPECTFUL MANNER." Really? Because I beg to differ. In the words of KW, "Anyone who sends a complete stranger entire paragraphs in caps is worrisome." TRUE STORY. I probably shouldn't be talking about this here.

Well, I think I'm gonna roll out and get some sushi. GET IT?!?!?!

Have a stellar Saturday!

That's heavy

Today I had one of those moments when I looked at the calendar and wondered where the last several months have gone. Although this year has had its share of inconveniences, there's a lot that makes me happy, too.

I really want to rant about the things that are stressing me out, but instead I'll list some things that made me smile today:
-Drew's Crew is going to hit the $30K fundraising mark by Saturday's event, and I'm absolutely amazed. I'm less than $500 shy of my personal goal, so if you'd like to contribute, click here.
-I ate Willy's today and they fixed my order without me uttering a word.
-I ran 3+ miles today, and it was a breeze.
-Hines Ward is still on Dancing with the Stars.
-The Braves came from behind to win in extra innings thanks to two home runs by Brian McCann.

It's probably best that I go to sleep. Sleep well, world!

WHY AM I AWAKE?!

To answer my question, I'm upgrading the software on my phone and it is taking forever. I'm pretty annoyed because I started to doze off as the software was updating and, when I flinched, I hit a button and inadvertently canceled it. Now I'm having to repeat steps. Argh!

Well, it's been a pretty crazy week. Tuesday's CFF benefit show was amazing. I was so pleased with the turnout, but I was also so relieved for it to be over. There were probably about 80 or 90 people there, and we raised a pretty big chunk of change. AWESOME! I played Sit Stand Lean Oscar, Musical Styles, Emo Spot, and ABC Buzzer. I had so much fun and felt so supported!

Wednesday was eventful because I got promoted from the apprentice cast to the main stage cast. I have to say that I was pretty stinkin' shocked; I'm not sure that I've really digested the information yet, but Thursday night was my final apprentice hurrah! I played Emo Spot, Phones, Musical Styles, ABC Buzzer Beatnik Poetry, and Helping Hands Oscar. It was a really fun show! Tonight I performed, too, and I played Blind Scene, Meet the Experts, Conducted Rap, and Confessions. In the past, I've been naming games thinking that it would give me an idea of who casts me in what games, what my specialties appear to be, etc. Now, though, I can probably put the analyzing to rest. CRAZY!

I'm perturbed right now because this download is taking forever and I wish I hadn't jumped and hit a button. It's almost back to the halfway point, which is about where I was before the incident.

Gosh, I have nothing valuable to say because I am so tired that it's unreal. Come on, phone/computer. Get your acts together.

I'm just going to publish this post because I can't possibly pretend to focus right now.

Onions have layers

It appears to be bedtime. Yes, it's about 9:37 on a Friday night and I'm calling it quits. My tiredness from the week has finally caught up to me.

So, as I suggested in the tiny post on Tuesday, I had an amazing birthday. I have just felt so supported over the recent weeks, and my birthday took the cake. HAAA! Birthday pun. Anyway, as I believe I'd mentioned, I set a goal to raise $2,500 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on my birthday. Well, Drew's Crew ended up raising about $4,000 in a 24-hour period instead. I can't even begin to explain how incredible that felt.

I ended up treating myself to a massage on my birthday. I don't ever do anything like that, so it was awesome to do something pamper-esque. It's funny because my massage therapist said that my back was like a brick wall. She said she usually tells people to drink a bottle of water after the massage, but she recommended I drink a gallon. It's hard to believe, but I'm still extremely sore from it; I feel good, though! I felt like I was on another planet for a few hours after the massage. I guess I'm quite the toxin machine.

Me, AH, KW, and my mom went to El Azteca for my birthday dinner and the lady brought me a tequila shot. I took a sip and poured the rest into my margarita while the fire in my mouth died down. After dinner we headed down to the Fox to see Shrek the Musical. It was so much fun! I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone. I love Donkey!

I am about to doze off, so I will do a brief summary of the rest of the week...
Wednesday: Cortisone and tornadoes (sending thoughts to everyone affected)
Thursday: Termite chemicals and margaritas
Friday: Target and Oreo cheesecake

I finally had my white powdered donuts for breakfast this morning. I feel intense satisfaction after having had that craving for a few months.

Feelin' lucky

This weekend has me feeling very fortunate. I'm lucky to know the people that I know and to have the support that I have. Drew's Crew is about to hit $10,000 online, which is well beyond where I expected to be at this time. It's especially surprising because the team is still forming and I haven't put a heavy emphasis on fundraising yet. It's really refreshing to see so many people standing behind me and my cause. Let's cure CF! http://www.cff.org/great_strides/drewdotson5267

Now, for the insane part... As I mentioned in yesterday's post, it was my friend BB's birthday. After I finished working my crew shift at the theatre, a group of us went out to celebrate. We went to a bar in Midtown and did some people watching and things of that nature. When we called it a night, my roommate and I got in my car so I could drive us home since I was the DD (double meaning!).

We were chatting and driving on 400 when I saw a car weaving in my rearview mirror. I was in the center lane of the three-lane highway. It looked like it was about to barrel into the back of my car, and it startled me to the point of yelling. Before I could even realize what was happening, I saw the headlights jerk to the left and I started to brake. The SUV then looked to have lost control and headed toward the cement wall that acts as a median. When the car was literally feet from crashing into the wall, the driver must have spun the wheel to the right, and the SUV crossed directly in front of us (perpendicular to the way of traffic). Thankfully, I was shocked into braking, but a car in the far right lane didn't see this happening and we watched the SUV barrel right into the driver's side door of a truck.

Debris went flying like rain onto our car, and both the truck and the SUV started spinning. I slammed on the brakes so hard that we started to fishtail and head straight for the cement wall/SUV that was bouncing off of the wall. How we made it between the two spinning cars without getting hit is beyond me. It was truly like our lives flashed before our eyes. Both scared speechless and shaking like crazy, I tried to make my way to the side of the road as AH called 911. As AH was fielding questions from the 911 dispatcher, I saw the SUV start to reverse (it ended up facing the wrong direction after bouncing off the wall and back toward the shoulder).

The SUV then started riding up the shoulder behind us and I was hopeful that they were turning around to move the car out of the way and wait for the cops. However, given my experience two months ago, I knew better than to trust that someone would do the right thing. I started yelling that the car was leaving and tried to remember how to put my car in drive. As the SUV went by, I yelled out the first three letters of the license plate, but we were both so shocked that neither of us were functioning to the best of our abilities. When I got the car going, I started trying to follow the SUV. The car got off at the first exit so I started to follow, but I'm positive that they could tell that's what I was doing. The person started (or continued) driving like a maniac. For example, we started to get in a left turn lane right behind them at a red light, and they instinctively got out of the turn lane so they could have a green light and cut across three more lanes of traffic to make a quick right-hand turn. At this point, we realized that catching them was hopeless (and probably dangerous), so we decided to head back down the highway to turn around and get back on heading toward the accident.

When we got back to the scene, people were standing outside of their cars and the truck looked even worse than I'd envisioned. There were items from the bed of the truck on the highway and the whole right side of the truck was practically touching the ground. The tailgate was on the other side of the totaled guard rail, and the metal sound barrier past the guard rail was torn up, too. I was relieved to see that the driver's door was opened and that everyone was standing. We then realized who the driver must have been because there was a lady who was clearly in shock and very emotional.

The cop finally arrived a few minutes after we made it back and, once again, I became the witness to a hit and run. The cop said I would be the primary witness since I was in the middle of it and had seen everything happen. He said that I could expect to hear from the detective regarding the case. I wonder if it will be my same detective friend; I'm quite the magnet! As the cop was getting my number, another group of witnesses started trying to make a love connection, but the cop wasn't having any of that.

I couldn't sleep when we finally got home (after 3:30 a.m.) because it was one of those moments that makes you think about how your life can change in a split second. As my roommate and I walked through the grocery store today, all we (mainly I) could talk about was how that could have played out differently. It's times like these when I think about some angels I know who are breathing easy and looking after me. It was such a frightening experience, and I really can't even put into words how grateful we both feel today.

It makes me think about life and, despite the health battles that I face, I'm not exempt from anything. That was one of the scariest things I've ever seen, and I'm amazed that we were so lucky. It's just a reminder that you can do everything right, but you can't control the crazy things that other people might do. There's obviously no need to live a life of fear, but there's a need to live a life that makes you proud.

Love you all.

Little Miss

Here I am... I'm once again surprised at how much time has elapsed since I last wrote. It makes me a little concerned that I'm not stopping to smell the roses, but perhaps instead I should embrace that I'm packing my days to the brim.

The ENT went pretty well. He said that my sinuses looked pretty good, and he attributed it to the antibiotic that I've been taking. He also recommended allergy testing to help treat my absurd allergies, but we're not doing that until summer because he said the testing (and the lack of allergy meds leading up to the testing) could make for a real miserable time. So, more on that in June...

I didn't do anything for St. Patrick's Day other than send a ton of mass emails and wear a very gray shade of green. I needed a relaxing night in, and that's exactly what happened.

Friday afternoon I went to lunch with an old friend (BS), so that was a lot of fun. We got to catch up and ate some swell food! Friday night I had a crew shift and got Yogli Mogli with KW beforehand. That was awesome! I'd been craving it for some time...

On Saturday I performed some improv. I played Buzzer Talk Show, Sit Stand Lean, Narration Switch, and Musical Styles. It was a relatively small crowd for a Saturday, but it was still fun!

Sunday was a kind of lazy day. I did make some progress on my fundraising video for the year. Then I went to El Azteca AND Yogli Mogli (again) with ES. I fell asleep surprisingly early for having been up until 3:00 a.m. the previous night (or morning... WHATEVER!).

I totally feel like I'm just going in order of days, but deal with it. You know my brain likes some organization. Yesterday and today were pretty largely uneventful, with the exception of getting Yogli Mogli today. Is anyone noticing a trend? I also worked out both days, so that's been a big improvement. I'd been feeling way too drained to exercise for the last several weeks. I'm thinking I should have forced myself because it's helping increase my energy level, but oh well. Another day, another dollar. That phrase was pretty irrelevant here.

That's about it. Drew's Crew is about to get silly up in this fundraising arena. To give the first update of the year, the team currently stands at a total of $5,604. That's pretty awesome considering we have barely started. We are going to raise more than $30,000 this year, and I mean it...

Night!

You will be there

Yo! It's Tuesday night.

The Braves won big tonight and it made me proud. They've been scoring a lot of runs lately, so that makes me smile! I was kinda hoping to go to the game tonight since my theatre schedule isn't exactly conducive to seeing games. Buuuut, I wasn't feeling all that great and already had plans to meet my friend (MV) at Starbucks (AGAIN!), so I didn't go. It would have been fun, but perhaps I'll be able to go to some more games in the coming weeks... Before we head to the play-offs. UNNNH!

Well, let me go ahead and say that this Cipro oral antibiotic is not making my body happy. Lung-wise I'm doing fine. Stomach-wise... NO. "Food" sounds like a curse word. That didn't stop me from eating Willy's today, which may or may not have been a bad idea.

I got blood drawn yesterday! It only took two tries, so I was very pleased. I sat there using a space heater for about 20 or 30 minutes before we even attempted. I don't know if that actually helps, but it comforts me from a mental standpoint.

I'm telecommuting tomorrow. I need to go to the gym either before work or during lunch. I went for a hot second this morning, but I felt too sick to my stomach to continue. So, it's time to kick it back into gear. I feel a little lazy lately.

Tomorrow will probably be a late(ish) night at the theatre. Our annual fundraiser is on Thursday, so tomorrow will likely include a lot of last-minute prep. Friday is the only night I don't have to be at the theatre until next Tuesday. Sometimes I understand why my body doesn't like me so much anymore.

Enough yapping. Life is a cool thing.

If I knew what I was doin'...

I'd be doin' it right now. GEEZ! I love that song. It's called "I'm In" by Keith Urban.

Today was a surprisingly good day! After yesterday's shenanigans and weirdness, I didn't expect to have such a good day. The telecommuting helped in a major way. It's nice to escape from human interaction every now and then.

Here's the big news of the day, though... At lunchtime, I decided I'd take a stab at exercising. I didn't feel up to it, but I forced myself to do it anyway. Well, guess what I did?! I ran 3.2 miles without ever stopping at all. Not a foot on the side of the treadmill or anything! It really surprised me because, with the breathing issues I've been having, I didn't know I could accomplish that. However, no matter what my body was telling me, I told myself to keep trucking along. I consider this a big accomplishment; it reset my mind to where it needed to be. I'm hoping these are the first steps on my road to recovery.

I had an orange mango smoothie from Starbucks for semi-dinner. Thank you, favor-doer!

We had rehearsal tonight. I had to go downtown early to handle some fundraiser-related stuff for the event at the theatre next week. Rehearsal was neat because it was different than usual. We did some stuff I'd never seen/done before, so that kept it interesting.

Tomorrow is THURSDAY! And I'm off work FRIDAY! I am pretty stinkin' stoked!

Bump in the road

Today was a pretty good day, all things considered. I think I'm getting pretty desensitized to life's shenanigans.

I received an email at work from a colleague who was doing a fundraiser, so I went to double-check the balance in my online account before I made a donation. When I logged into my account, I noticed a lot of money was missing. It turns out some rotten fool has apparently stolen my card number and was spending my money in Conyers. I put an end to that nonsense ASAP, and hope that all of yesterday's charges (and today's declined ones, SUCKER) land that clown in jail. I truly have no sympathy for anyone who does anything like that. I almost feel like I shouldn't even be talking about it - like it's off-limits or something - but I do hope the investigation lands someone in a lot of trouble. One mo' thing to take care of. Less money, mo' problems.

I had sushi for lunch today, and it was OH. SO. GOOD.

My bloodwork was such a breeze today! It literally took all of ten minutes from sign-in to completion. I wrote my name down. I gave a urine sample. I got stuck with a needle. Lots of blood filled up lots of tubes. I got my jar to collect urine at home. I walked out. DONE! I'm not sure when I'll hear results, but I guess the endocrinologist should receive the results from the lab once they've done whatever they need to do.

What else? I came home and chilled out a little bit before rehearsal. I went to the gym and got in a solid workout. Even though I felt really lethargic, I forced myself to exercise and I'm glad I did; I felt much more energized afterwards. We had late rehearsal tonight, so I only got to watch about 25 minutes of the Bachelorette before I headed to the theatre.

I watched the rest when I got home, and tonight's episode was remarkably uneventful... probably because I was too busy judging Frank and comparing him to people I know in my day-to-day life. Anyway, she has two good guys left and I like them for different reasons. If I was looking for a husband, I'd totally go with Chris. Kinda dorky, I know. Judge your little heart out.

Tomorrow equals Tuesday.

It was 1980-something

Well, I am tired and really shouldn't be writing this. I am up way later than planned. I had every intention of getting in bed before 10:00 p.m., but I was up trying to finalize some roommate stuff. Now I don't even feel sleepy...

Today was a pretty good day. It's kind of weird not having Drew's Crew to talk about anymore. I remember last year that I experienced some post-walk funk because of the rush I get raising money for the CF Foundation. Well, I guess I can still talk about Drew's Crew because I got two $100 donations today, as well as an envelope with $358 from a good friend who couldn't make it to the walk. If I'm adding things up correctly, this will all total to be more than $21,300. I can't wait to see the total continue to rise! I mean, it's over, but donations can still come in and I won't refuse them when they do! Logistically I couldn't refuse them if I wanted to, but I was being expressive.

I exercised today, and it felt GOOD! I ran on the treadmill for about a mile. Then I hopped on the elliptical for a little while, and ended with another bout on the treadmill. It totaled to be more than 40 minutes of exercise (about 44), so I'm glad. The whole being-up-late thing is sort of interfering with the plan I had to exercise tomorrow morning. However, I think I'm still going to do it because tomorrow's a big day and I could use the good start...

RANDOMIZATION THURSDAY!!!! I have to be at Emory by 8:00 a.m., so that's pretty stinkin' early. However, I'm just looking forward to it. The photographer is going to come and it should be a good time! I'm interested to see what my PFTs are. I have been feeling a tiny bit funky for the last two weeks(ish), so I have no idea what to expect PFT-wise. Only time will tell...

Speaking of, 'only time will tell' is probably a good thing for me to remember right now. Of the things in my life that aren't quite what I would like, they really are all things that ought to be corrected with time. Sometimes I wish time could be sped up so that change wasn't so difficult and life lessons didn't take so long, but oh well... How ironic. Lately I have been so focused on there not being enough time, yet today I'm proposing the idea of fast-forwarding time. This is one of life's many complexities that I love!

Today I was thinking about my book, mainly because of an inspiring message I received. I need to quit talking/thinking and start doing/writing. The darn thing isn't going to write itself.

I've got a show to do tomorrow. Good night!

Un un un un undo it

Hi!!!!!!!!! I am CRAZY!

Let me tell you why I'm worn down... Literally since last Wednesday I haven't had ANY TIME TO CHILL! Show last Thursday, work Friday day and night, work Saturday day, show Saturday night, work Sunday day and night, work Monday from 5:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., work Tuesday day, benefit show Tuesday night, work Wednesday, retirement party late afternoon, rehearsal Wednesday night, work Thursday day, show Thursday night. I am exhausted from simply typing that.

I pretty much had a breakdown at work due to sleep and hunger deprivation. I am feeling better right now. I am about to work for a bit (yes, it's midnight) with aspirations of not working AT ALL tomorrow. I planned all week to take some comp time on Friday and then today was one of those putting-out-fires-left-and-right kinda days, making it next to impossible to get that break on which I hung my hopes. DRAMATIC!

Tonight's show was fun. It was my first five-person show. I was in Conducted Orchestra, Buzzer, Meet the Experts (Magic - Barbara Buchanan), Foreign-Dubbed Soap Opera (on stage), Remote Control Styles, and Musical Styles (Country Ballad, 90s Boy Band, R&B, Opera, Rap). Tonight was a lot of fun and the crowd was great, too! I think being very sleepy (yet energized) helps with improv because it makes it next to impossible to overthink anything. Barbara was so absurd tonight. I need to come up with a new character.

GUESS WHAT!!!!!! Drew's Crew is my favorite. Online we are sitting at $18,596. However, I recently got a $50 donation that isn't in the total yet, AND one of my friends had a charity trivia night tonight and raised $340! Add that all together and I think we're sitting pretty at $18,986. Can you even believe it? I said CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! I will raise that $1,014 by the walk time and nobody will stop me. I'm not sure how I plan to do it, but it will be done.

I had an exciting morning! I turned in some money at the CF Foundation. While I was there I finagled my way into a coffee run in exchange for a donation. It was a great deal! Everyone was a winner! Then, when I got to work, I was blown away by a BIG OL' $500 DONATION. Holy heavens! The world is great!

What else? I wish I had a dog. When I see little dogs on the street and dangling their heads out of cars, I want one so badly.

Umm, tomorrow is going to be a great day of relaxation and donation.

I keep getting into a good workout routine and then dropping it like a bad habit. Tomorrow I think I will do some evaluating of a way to make my life a bit more balanced in general. I need my friend back from Israel so we can have a LIFE session. Perhaps I will have to do it as an individual.

Night, y'all.

Laugh 'til you Cizzy

What can I say?! Today I am feeling better about the benefit show! So far it has raised $490, and I know there are plenty of other folks that plan to get tickets. Get 'em while they're hot! I hope to get some backing from some of the doctors and what not...

Well, I got up and did the early-to-work thing again today. However, I didn't exercise after work today. I just took it easy, which is good. I definitely could have used my free time more effectively, but oh well. I feel like the night lasted forever, which is a perk of being unaccomplished. I am going into work tomorrow morning even though it's one of my telecommute days. I am meeting the show emcee to check out the space for the benefit. Then I am going to a luncheon for one of my friends at the Cobb Energy Center. I nominated him for a nursing award, and the nominees are getting recognized at a luncheon. It should be fun!

I plan to exercise in the morning, so I hope that works out well. Tomorrow will be a long and adventurous day, but it should be fun. I have got a long weekend of working commencement ahead of me. I work Friday night, most of the day Saturday and Sunday, followed by being there super-early on commencement morning (Monday). I'm kind of thankful I got spared the night responsibilities this year, but it's gonna be a busy weekend nonetheless.

Well, I went to Willy's today. I know it doesn't exactly fit my nutritional goals, but I did have a big variety of color on there, so I must have gotten some kind of value from it... or so I hope! Man, those nachos were good and it was fun to get to visit with work friends! I ran into half of our staff there - a bunch of addicts.

Drew's Crew is at $14,270.83, which makes me very happy! I really, really, really hope we can hit our goal of $20K. I know it gets tough in the middle of the campaign, but things tend to pick up near the end, so I am hopeful! And thankful.

It's bedtime for sure. Tomorrow might be a Starbucks morning. I haven't gone yet this week, which is surprising given my early mornings. Mmm, latte.

Big wheels keep on turnin'

Well, I still want to blabber about what I mentioned earlier - TIME.

I am kind of stressed out lately. Actually, saying 'kind of' is an understatement. I am extremely stressed out. I was thinking through the upcoming weekends today and realized that I don't have a free weekend until at least the end of June, but more likely July. That's a long time. This weekend is Emory's commencement, next weekend is the walk/a concert, the next weekend is a wedding/a concert, and the list goes on and on... I'm just really trying to think of when I might catch a break.

Now, don't get me wrong - I am enjoying myself - but I am just feeling so burnt out. It's difficult for me to keep up with this busy pace and maintain my health at the same time. I should gain back some time when the upcoming improv benefit for the CF Foundation and the walk pass, but I'm still going to be pretty busy.

My plan for tomorrow is to get to work by 7:00 or 7:30 a.m., then possibly arrive home by 5:00 p.m. or maybe a little later. We have late rehearsal tomorrow night, so I'd like to get to come home and relax for a bit, even though it will involve a lot of driving. Then I'll head to rehearsal at 9:00 p.m. and get home just before 11:30 p.m. What a day!

I am really just using this to think through the day, so pardon the boredom of it.

Snoozer

At what point does a nap no longer classify as a nap? Does it depend on what time it starts or its duration? Either way, I basically slept from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. this afternoon, with the exception of one or two little stints of waking up for 30 minutes. I mean, that's incredible. I'm afraid it could be difficult to sleep tonight, which is why I'm going to be quick-like. Gotta keep this napping momentum going!

Today I got up and hit the gym first thing. I experienced the worst cast of gym ADD that I've ever had. I would get on one machine for a few minutes, feel like changing to something else, then repeat that again. All in all, I did a little over 30 minutes of stuff, but it was really hard to stay focused. I have no idea why!

Then, I got picked up to go eat an early lunch at El Azteca (Peachtree). I was graced by my two female apprenti, which was fun. We chit-chatted and had a few margaritas before heading to WWIT for the monthly teen performance. It was a lot of fun to watch! I was also excited because I knew that a fellow CFer was in the show (small world, I know), so I got to talk to his mom. CFers just have this inherent bond.

That reminds me that I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I'm not exactly worried about it, but I'm definitely feeling some hesitance. I just don't know if it will go well. I haven't felt GREAT in a while.

Speaking of not feeling great, the Braves are kinda sucking. I mean, they could be doing worse, but they have 3 wins and 3 losses right now. I'm kinda thankful that I fell asleep for most of today's game. I started off with a feeling that this season was gonna be different, and it's starting to dwindle. COME ON!

Well, there's more I could drone on about, but I really didn't have a productive weekend. It was just kinda there. I tried to write and had no success. I just kind of piddled around, but I guess I'm entitled to that considering how busy I've been lately.

I'm hoping for a good week of fundraising. Drew's Crew is at $8592. I hope we can pick up some momentum this week and hit maybe $11 or $12K. We'll hit the one-month-out mark on Wednesday, so we've gotta get it going!

Good night, y'aaaaallllllllllllll!

GREAT DAY!

Today was an amazing day. I haven't felt as loved as I have in a long time as I felt today... As you all know, I've really kicked off the fundraising for the Great Strides Walk over the last few days. With the finalization of my awesome video, I felt geared up to tackle this thing, but even more so than in years past because I thought people might be more inspired than before. As a team, our total jumped nearly $1,500 today, which is incredible.

I garnered four new walkers that I'm really excited about, and just had such an outpouring of support from people - some being people I interact with regularly, others being folks I haven't seen in years. It feels really great to watch people come to the forefront to help a cause so important to me. A team that went into last weekend with about $1,300 now has at least $3,760, assuming that there's no money that hasn't yet been posted. What an awesome feeling!!! I have also appreciated everyone so much who has offered to spread the word. There is no humility in fundraising, so start your spreading! www.cff.org/great_strides/drewdotson5267

In other news (but similar, nonetheless), I was short of breath for most of the day. Today has been crazy in that, when I left for work, it was snowing. The high was seriously near 70 on Saturday, and today it's snowing? Crazy talk. I'm not sure what's up, but I woke up coughing a lot last night. It made for a difficult night's sleep, but I was able to stay energized all day anyway because each donation is like a new adrenaline rush. Kinda dorky, I know, but I love it!

Today was also great because I found out I was approved for a second telecommute day each week, so starting NOW, I'll be working from home on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week. I really think this will make a world of difference to me. As I make pretty evident, there's so much I want to do, but maintaining my health is very important as well, so this enables me to spend some more time focusing on my health, which in turns buys time back into the day. Woooooo!

Finally, I'll just end on rehearsal, which was fun. I was glad to have the early rehearsal or I'd still be there now. I was a little concerned going into it because I haven't been facing the short-of-breath issue much in my improv career, and it makes it very difficult to stay out of your head when you're conscious of your breathing. Amazingly, though, I was able to forget about it for the duration of rehearsal.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand, on that note, I'll go to sleep. I may pull an early shift tomorrow at work so that I can get home and get a lot of rest to help with this...issue.

Run, Dora, Ruuuun

Right now my sister should be finishing the ING half-marathon on Team 65 Roses. She raised over $1,000! I haven't been awake for long, but it looks like the rain might have held off so far, so my fingers are crossed. Claire's going to text me when she knows what time they'll be at breakfast because I'm going to meet them. I tried to find the place's menu online like the dork that I am, but I can't find it. I guess I'll have to be surprised and select from the menu like normal people do.

Yesterday was a pretty nice and relaxing day. The weather was beautiful, but unfortunately for me that means to stay inside at this time of year. My allergies have been killing me this weekend - keeping me short of breath more often than not. I'm hoping that this rain that starts AFTER the half-marathon will wash some of it away.

I met my old boss (most recent one!) at Starbucks yesterday, and it was great to catch up with her. She's moving to Philly on Thursday, so we wanted one last rendezvous before she left. I'm sure we'll keep in touch as much as we have here, but it's weird knowing she'll be so far away.

Well, yesterday was an awesome day fundraising-wise. My aunt and one of my cousins signed up to join Drew's Crew, so that makes me happy. We raised about $400 yesterday. I just calculated that, to make my $20,000 goal, we need to raise about $327 every day up until the day of the walk. When I look at it that way, it's a little scary, but WE WILL DO OUR BEST! Actually, when I divide that between the team members, it's not that much. Goooooo Drew's Crew! For those of you walking in late, visit www.drewdotson.com/p/walk-for-cf.html.

Yesterday evening I went to Publix in my reindeer pajama pants because I was feeling very thirsty. I mean, I didn't wear the reindeer pants because I was thirsty; I went because I was thirsty. I got an 8-pack of Gatorade and a gallon of milk. I know I looked like a nut, but hopefully people thought I must not be feeling well or something.

It's been quite a while since I accomplished anything bookwise, but I think about it often. It's the thought that counts... Maybe that will be my goal for the day when I return from eating my yet-to-be-determined breakfast.

Revolution's not easy

Man, I know I should be sleeping, but I am feeling so energized right now. I spent the last several hours dictating (ha!) changes to my fundraising video, and I am really excited to share it with everyone. There are still a few things to make it absolutely perfect, but I am rowdy! Gosh, it is awesome! I sure hope the anticipation is building...

So, I am really excited about reading Eat, Pray, Love, but I haven't gotten around to it today. I'll definitely spend some time reading this weekend. Last night I started reading it to help wind down for bed, but I ended up feeling rejuvenated instead. When I turned off the lights, I kept thinking about how I wanted to read some more. That being said, I can't wait to have some free time to read this weekend.

Well, I finally talked to the nurse today... at about 4:30 p.m., so I was getting pretty impatient. The doctor decided to put me on a 21-day course of Bactrim (oral antibiotic) two times a day. That's definitely better than being in the hospital, but I will stand by my case that we are overreacting. However, if this potentially gets me into the study sooner when I get my lung function numbers back up, then that's what I'll do. I popped my first pill this evening and nothing too weird happened, so hopefully I'll be side effect free! I think the recent onslaught of rain has also helped alleviate some of my sinus issues.

I did awesome at the dentist this morning, but I've always been pretty good at getting good reports at the dentist. The guy wasn't playing around with those pokey things, but I got nothing short of compliments on my grill. I'm going back September 16. I am writing it here for when I start wondering when my next appointment is...

What else? I emailed more than 52,000 people at work today, so I hope somebody found something useful. If not, oh well. I feel accomplished.

Tomorrow evening I am meeting my most recent boss to catch up before she moves to Philadelphia. Sad day, but I'm happy for her.

Saturday night I am pulling a DOUBLE at the theatre. As much as I've enjoyed having some time off this week, I'm definitely eager to get back there.

It's probably time for bed. I really want to read some, but I don't want to get even more hyper than I already am.