red hair and black leather

T'was fun, even with all the dramatical happenings.

Wednesday, worked, teched, and then went to the Market for karaoke. Many people were there, some that I hadn't seen in a while. Good times, even if I only got to sing once ("Slide").

Thursday, got up early and Zach and I cleaned the entire apartment, top to bottom. There was an amusing moment when Z didn't have anything to do (he was waiting for me to finish sweeping so he could start mopping), and nowhere to rest. 3 minutes later, I realized that I couldn't hear him and went looking for him, eventually finding him hiding in a closet. With the cat. I damn near died from the cuteness.

After cleaning and (completely gratuitous) food shopping had been accomplished, we went over to his aunt's house for their family celebration. That was.... interesting. It was the first Real big gathering since Rob died. Easter was only 5 days after Rob's death, and everyone was still sort of in shock. Zach doesn't remember a thing about Easter. So, Thursday was a little hard for the family, especially since Rob's birthday was only 6 days earlier. I'm sad to say that I didn't quite realize how badly it was affecting Zach until we were driving home. The gathering was good, of course. Just difficult.

Got home, got prepped, and our guests started arriving. We officially had Too Much Food by the second arrival, and the food just kept coming. Sally made the turkey and wonderful green beans as well as a double challah, RPK & Carl brought frozen veggies because they are boys through and through, Bob brought an amazing wine, Glenn brought a gorgeous array of cheeses, David brought pumpkin cheesecake, Matt brought 2 pumpkin pies, Kelly arrive late and brought another pumpkin cheesecake and a layered spinach torta thing. Zach brought spinach dip & Hawaiian bread, and I made mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, and banana-cranberry bread. We were stuffed little monkeys. After eating, we played games and watched Eddie Izzard and just generally enjoyed each other's company.

I did not go to work on Friday. Too tired. I did run, and then discovered Zach's truck had gone kerflooey again. So, I went to tech, had dinner with Carl, and opened A Tuna Christmas. It's a fine show, if a completely whoring one. :) The guys in it, Michael and Jim, are two very lovely human beings, and are very patient, all things considered. It's their third year doing the show, and the producer was very slow to get them dressers (2 of which are absolutely needed), deck crew, and board ops. I would have been screaming in frustration long before they even let on anything was wrong. So. The downside to the darn show is that I have Christmas carols in my head, and the country versions at that. Gah. At least I'm not working retail, though.

Saturday was a two-show day, and I didn't go home between shows. Just stayed at the showboat, slept and read scripts. After the second show, Michael dropped me off at Zach's, and Zach and I stayed up for a while, talking and looking at house listings. Eeeep.

Sunday, exercised, did the show, ran 9 miles, picked up Zach from his closing show and went to a party at his director's house. That was quite fun, as it was the cast of The Foreigner, which Peter directed, and Othello, which Peter is in. The annoying part was the presence of Norm Coleman and the producer of The Foreigner and of Tuna Christmas sucking up to him the entire time. Gah. However, Peter's wife Karen owns 4 horses and needs people to help ride them. We got into a huge discussion of riding styles and favorite breeds and whatnot, and she might let me go ride her horses. Eeeeeeee! It's not even residual 12-year-old reaction that makes me so excited about this. This summer, when I went riding with Carl, I remembered how much I enjoyed it, and how natural it feels for me to be in the saddle. I'd love it if that worked out.

Um, what else was there? Well, Zach is sick with a nasty non-productive cough and a sinus infection, so naturally he has a show opening on Friday. Sigh. My marathon training continues apace. I had to reschedule a play reading because I took the tech gig. I felt a little wistful last night when talking to Angie and Brian, who are getting married this month. She's very excited and having fun with the planning and her mom and family's helping and yaddayaddayadda. I guess it's partially that I don't have a very cohesive family. We all love each other, of course (I may be excluding the Baptist Missourians from this, as I never talk to them), but we're all very independent and well, rather lazy when it comes to communication. I didn't even know that my aunt Karen was going blind until a year or so after she told my grandparents. Yipes. And hearing Angie's tales and watching Zach's aunts flock around his mom is wonderful and heart-warming, but it makes me a little wistful for something I've never had. Which is silly, because I'm incredibly grateful for my chosen family. Even though I have a very hard time keeping in touch with them, too. Le sigh.

So, over this Thanksgiving weekend, what did I remind myself that I'm grateful for?

- My family, both blood and chosen.
- My health.
- The Buffistas. You all have held my hand, smacked me when I needed a clue, given great advice, and just generally been there.
- The amazing human capacity for love.
- Champagne.

Thanks.