On the Seventh Day of Christmas....

ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME...TRIUMPHS  (OR REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST YEAR)!

Every New Year’s Eve I, as many of us are wont to do, reflect upon the past year.  This generally involves revisiting my previous list of resolutions and creating a new one.  As with the end of 2017, however, I feel like my resolutions are ONCE AGAIN virtually the same ones I have every year.  I don’t know if that denotes that I haven’t done all of the work or that I need to change my resolutions...or, maybe, that I just keep doing the same thing in hopes of a different outcome?  I mean, I still find myself broke, single and living in a messy apartment.   What else is new?

So let’s take a look back at some of the triumphs of 2018, shall we?  After all, amidst the clutter and chaos there is still buried treasure. 

THEATER

Ever my bliss, theater has proven to be pretty rewarding this year.  My production partner and I created a beautiful and poignant show comprised of original and published works entitled The Human Perspective as a fundraiser for a local charity.  We have also begun pre-production on two other shows (both musicals!) and production on a series of musical revues for a local theater (opening next year).  Additionally, I have also been cast in not one, but three shows which I am not producing (yes, that is a good thing...a luxury, even)—two of which open next year!

WORK

In July of 2018, I switched to a different salon.  Although there were many benefits to working at the first one, I knew it wasn’t the place for me—a fact which was exhibited by poor health, increased anxiety and decreased performance.  I am grateful for what I learned there, but also for the opportunity to have found a new place where I feel more at ease.  I am still working on building my clientele and continuing education (OMG I took the most AWESOME color class in Los Angeles!), but I am hopeful that I can take more ownership of my career in 2019. 

HOME

My thirteen-year-old continues to be…well, really good at being thirteen.  Lol.  She is intelligent, stubborn, witty, poised, determined, stubborn, delightful, feisty, kooky…did I mention stubborn?  In the past she was always very much a “daddy’s girl”, but I really feel that we’ve been forging much more of a bond lately.  I wish that extended to her cleaning the house more, but, ah well.  Baby steps.

Besides, the cat doesn’t do anything either. 

PERSONAL

I keep working toward just being the best person I can.  That, after all, is the only all-encompassing resolution this work-in-progress gal seems capable of handling sometimes.  I still feel things intensely, but I am always working to communicate in a level-headed, intelligent way.  Sometimes that means writing more.  Sometimes that means just letting shit go.  Sometimes that means being very honest and open with my thoughts—or just showing my crazy once in a while.  You’re welcome.  Ha ha.

FRIENDSHIP

I wish I had spent more time with my friends in 2018, but I am appreciative for the ones with whom I was able to get together.  I will have to work on that for 2019!  Yes, it probably seems funny to think that someone as seemingly extroverted as I am would need to work on socialization, but I do.  It never really does me any good to hole up at home.  Sometimes a little social interaction is all I need.  I do like my Netflix time, though. 

I have also met/become better friends with some REALLY awesome people this year.  I look forward to being around them more too. 

So there you go, Lovelies, some of the highlights of my year.  I hope that you are able to look back at your year and find some triumphs of your own…and that you are able to build upon them for 2019!

Until next year, Lovelies...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas....

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME...AN APOLOGY

I’ve recently been dealing with the potential loss of a close friend.  The details of our row are not important, but suffice it to say he had not acted in accordance to what I consider the number one rule of human interaction of “Don’t be a Dick.”  I felt like my patience and resources had been used and abused.  Although he claimed to love (platonically) and respect me, I felt neither of those things.  Better to rid oneself of the head and heart ache by severing ties with a “friend” like that.  I was absolutely prepared to walk away from the friendship.  

And so I began, unbeknownst to him, of course, the process of dealing with the emotional wreckage.  I distanced myself from him, unfollowing him on Facebook and maintaining radio silence.  I only succumbed to the occasional sobbing-in-the-shower jag.  I was doing fine.

I really only "had my mad on" for a few days, when, lo and behold, he sought me out, wanting to allegedly apologize and to make amends.  At first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet with him and was, in fact, even cautioned against it by some of my other friends.  I do try, however, to give people the benefit of the doubt...and, hell yeah, I felt I did deserve an apology.  I acquiesced and we met for coffee.

In the tearful, exhausting hour and a half that followed, he did indeed apologize.  Not just the casual, reactionary  and innocuous maybe-not-really sorry type of apology either (Oh, you know the ones I mean…like, “I’m sorry you’re mad” or “I’m sorry we’re fighting” or, worse, “I’m sorry for the outcome of my actions, but not really the actions themselves.”).  No, this was a genuine, heartfelt apology with an actual, coherent grasp both of the situation and my feelings.  Honestly, it was the only thing that would have worked to repair.  OK, maybe a little John Cusack with a boombox action would have too...although I don't know of any songs for healing a friendship that wouldn't come off as too romantic.  Ha ha. 

And while it is the ensuing actions that will determine the course of our friendship in the future, for now, I can only hope that we are on the mend—and that our friendship will indeed be stronger for it.  I will try, therefore, to keep both my heart and mind open enough to allow the healing to continue.  A girl needs all the friends she can get sometimes. 

Until next time, Lovelies…. 

On the Fifth Day of Christmas....

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME...A CLEAN REFRIGERATOR

A couple of days before Christmas I asked my daughter to clean out the refrigerator.  More specifically, because there were only two of us for our After Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner (a tradition for whenever we are asked elsewhere on the day of Thanksgiving), we still had massive leftovers.  I can never cook for just one or two, but more for at least 4, 6 or even 8 people.  Pounds of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies, turkey…it’s always way too much, even when I purposely purchase the smaller quantities.  Yes, I hate wasting, but after 2-3 weeks of leftovers (and making plates for almost everybody I know), enough is enough.  I therefore asked her to remove the leftover food from the fridge and clean out the containers. 

What I didn’t know was that she would also devoid our refrigerator of practically everything else.  I mean, we’re talking condiments, salad dressings, everything.  I didn’t realize this of course until I opened the refrigerator door and there were EMPTY shelves.  As in, I don’t think my fridge has been that empty since I got it!

OK, now I know it seems weird to complain about my 13-year-old completing—hell, even exceeding the expectations of completion—any chore that she’s been given, but Oh. My. God.  I don’t even have Ketchup.  I mean, really, the Ketchup was bad?  Is that even possible???  And the cheese was moldy?  Cheese by its very nature is moldy!  The girl couldn’t even spare my fricking Colby Jack. 

So I’m in a weird parental dilemma.  Yes, I get that it is best not to eat food past the expiration date, and yes, she did a REALLY surprisingly thorough job.  How then to explain to her the time and money to replace the items required that were really not that perishable?  Especially in a refrigerator that runs at almost freezing level.  I mean, I am not making her consume curdled milk or rancid vegetables or maggotty meat (because eeeeewwww).  We’re talking items that admittedly probably have so many preservatives (she didn’t even save the preserves!) they’d outlast my lifetime at least.  Maybe even hers too! 

Well at least the stone ground mustard and the La Croix were spared.  And no diets were harmed in the writing of this blog.  That’s something at least. 

Good grief.  Be careful what you wish for indeed.  Ha ha. 

Until next time, Lovelies….