Everything is Unfinished

…that I’m neglecting this blog while continuing to write on the Other Blog, but that’s not true. I simply haven’t been doing anything exciting. And the goal of having the Other Blog is to keep general pregnancy stuff off of this blog, and also to make you all add another site to your daily reading. Heh.

But seriously, I really haven’t been doing much of anything besides sleeping a lot. Scrapping some, but just working on swaps and finishing some things up. I really need to finish the gift album soon, so Johnny can take it to the appropriate people when he sees them. After they get it I’ll post pictures, but I think they may read this blog so I don’t want to give anything away. I need to get a bunch of pages finished up soon though, so I don’t have a whole lot of unfinished stuff to do after the babies get here. I’m sure I’ll only want to scrap pictures of them after that! I have about 300 pictures to get developed though, so I’ll have to do that in stages so as not to break the bank.

Well that’s it for this pointless update. I’m sure we’ll do something fun or I’ll have an opinion about something soon, then I can make a real post. :)

Last night Johnny and I went to see a touring company production of The Phantom of the Opera. I’ve seen the show twice before, once in Toledo and once in Toronto the summer after I graduated high school. I used to be much more into musical theatre since I was involved heavily in music in high school and college and so were all my friends, but after leaving school in disgust I kind of fell out of that world. Recently I’ve been getting back into it - going to concerts and such - and dragging Johnny with me. So when I heard that Phantom was going to be in town, I figured it would be a good show to get him started on. Well, we did see Chicago, but that was a movie so it doesn’t really count. Anyway, I described it to him as the McDonald’s of musical theatre, because it’s not that great but everyone loves it because it’s accessible and easy to digest. Don’t get me wrong, I like the show and I enjoyed this production too, but I recognize that it’s not the best thing out there.

We headed to the wonderfully ornate Ohio Theatre last night after dinner and climbed about 1,000 steps up to the top balcony to our seats. We got to see people wearing everything from shorts and polo shirts to a young girl (maybe 11 or 12) wearing a formal dress and a tiara. A very pregnant woman sat next to me and I wondered if I’d even be able to climb all those steps when I’m that pregnant. There was a water vendor walking around selling bottled water for $2 each. It’s pretty sad that even at this professional level, the arts have to be funded like that.

As the lights went down, I tried to lose myself in the music. It didn’t entirely work because I kept trying to remember what came next - I’d forgotten parts of the story. Plus, it was really hard to understand a lot of the songs. The woman playing Carlotta, though she looked the part and had a great voice, was the worst - I don’t think I caught more than 10 words from her all night. On the opposite end of the spectrum, however, Raoul and the Phantom both had wonderful voices. The Phantom in particular was excellent. My favorite scene, Masquerade, was done really well with very ornate costumes. Overall I enjoyed everything, but was left feeling a bit unsatisfied.

When I asked Johnny what he thought, he replied that he didn’t hate it. I know he doesn’t really “get” musicals - you have to just suspend disbelief when you walk in to accept people walking around singing everything. But I think it was a good first big theatre experience, and hopefully we’ll get to see something else soon.

Johnny came to pick me up after work yesterday armed with a ladder, my tennis shoes and the camera. (You know you’re a scrapbooker when…) We went over to the dumpster, I changed my shoes, and set up the ladder. Now, the way this particular bin is laid out is that it has about 7 foot tall sides, but the front has about an 18″ slot in it, about 5 feet up. I set the ladder up in front of the slot, climb up to the top step (it’s just a household step ladder, so the top step really IS a step), and swing my leg over the side of the slot. Straddling the edge, with one foot on the ladder and the other barely touching the top of the pile of newspapers, I made a realization: if I made it into this dumpster, I was not going to make it out. So I wisely decided to let my mail go. There were no checks or bills, so I washed my hands of the situation. Then we went and got dinner and I washed my hands for real.

As for the state of recycling in this city, it is very sad. Residents can pay for service from Rumpke for $1 a week, which we used to do. I would still gladly pay it if our apartment complex would allow the trucks in, but they don’t. No big deal, I don’t mind taking the stuff over myself. I’ll just have to remind myself not to be so stupid next time!

We recycle at home and I keep a box under my desk at work for recycling as well. This morning, I brought the full bag from home. At lunch, I grabbed the full box from under my desk and carried it and some mail out to the car. I drive to the recycling center, dump everything in, and head to the post office. I pick up my stuff to go inside but…no mail to be found. I look through my purse, under my seats, everywhere, when it dawns on me: I PUT THE MAIL ON TOP OF THE BOX OF RECYCLING!!! Dread settles in the pit of my stomach as I tear ass back to the recycling place. I look in the dumpster and, sure enough, there’s my mail. I’m prepared to climb in the side of this thing except there’s no opening on the side! So after work tonight I have to go home, get a ladder and go dumpster diving!

Frankly, I blame the city of Columbus for not having curbside recycling pickup.

On Saturday, Amanda and I went to the Dublin Irish Fest. It was a great day: slightly overcast, low 80’s, nice breeze. We walked all around the festival and looked at all the shops, buying some real Cadbury chocolate, fresh scones and I picked up an embroidered knot pattern. We also sat for an hour and caught the tail end of some local Irish step dancers and the beginning of Leahy. I was very impressed with their music, and with them in general: the band is comprised of 7 brothers and sisters. At one point there were 9 of them in the band, and I think there are even more of them in the family. That’s quite a feat in and of itself, let alone the fact that they write their own music.

Now for the wierd parts of the day. There was the guy in the camouflage utility kilt. And the two teeny boppers wearing their cloaks in the middle of summer. (I’m sure they felt very Celtic and mysterious.) There was the woman doing interpretive dance during the Leahy concert. No, she wasn’t with the band and no, she wasn’t step dancing. She was off to the side of the crowd, showing us some very fluid moves. Everyone who noticed her was very entertained, and even more so when a drunk guy started imitating her by doing the Russian dance. But the best was Mullet Man in Pagan Land. Amanda and I were at a booth looking at jewelry when a guy next to us asks the proprieter about one of the pieces. His words were, “Can you tell me what the meaning of this symbol is that you have out for children to see?” I thought he was talking about a stepping stone with a pentacle on it, but he was pointing at a necklace with a 1″ fertility symbol hanging from it. It depicted a woman sitting butterfly style, holding herself open. Hard to miss the symbolism. The woman working the booth told him what it was, and he replied back with something about how he couldn’t believe that it was right there for any kid to see. Now, I’m not a parent, but I really hope that I’m a little more tolerant than that when I become one. Just because genitalia is taboo in this country at this particular time in history doesn’t mean it always was or always will be. Besides, like I said, the thing was only about 1″ in diameter and it took me a few seconds of looking at it to even realize what it was, after she explained it. I’m sure it wasn’t going to scar any children. Anyway, after the woman at the booth decided not to talk to the guy anymore, he muttered something about how he didn’t know how “places like this” could stay in business. I chuckled and told him to grow up. He told me to mind my own business. Fair enough. Go back to your SUV with the Bush sticker on it and watch some more Nascar.

Neatly stolen from Kathryn’s blog. Go to Google and type “yourname is” in the search box, then pick your favorite 10 results. Obviously, replace the yourname with your actual name.

Amy Is:

Now you try it!

I firmly believe in celebrating birthdays for at least a few days, if not a whole week. I got to celebrate my 30th for 4 days! On Thursday, I got flowers and a balloon at work from Johnny, in addition to all the well wishes on my blog and his. That evening we went to dinner at the Columbus Fish Market which was delicious as usual.

Friday evening we went to a Pops concert with the Columbus Symphony and the OSU Marching Band. It was a great show - the first half was just the symphony, then after an intermission the band marched out and played all the standards. After that the symphony and band joined forces for some songs. It was thoroughly enjoyable and there were even fireworks afterward, making the whole thing even better.

Saturday evening we went to Gameworks where Johnny had set up a party for me. About 20 people showed up - Amanda, Natalie, Moe, Bryan, Gretchen, Jessica, Eric, Woody, Wendie & family and Kim & family, plus my parents and brothers - and we ate pizza and had 1 hour gamecards to play with. I liked having the time-limit card rather than a card with credits on it, because I played a lot of games I wouldn’t have otherwise looked at: water-skiing, hang-gliding, jet-skiing, downhill skiing. And that’s the closest I’ll get to ever really doing any of those things because boy do I suck at them!

On Sunday I really got lucky though. After meeting Johnny for lunch where he squirted french onion soup all over himself, I took my birthday money and went shopping at Kohl’s (home of the Grandpa Shorts) and actually found some clothes that I like and that fit! Two pairs of capris and 6 shirts, to be exact. I didn’t realize I needed clothes so badly, but recently I’ve had to move a lot of shirts out of my normal rotation due to stains and general fading and wearing out. I was also lucky because, since it’s August, all the fall clothes are out so anything that I’ll actually be wearing in the next 3 months was on sale.

Now unfortunately it’s back to the daily grind. 30 doesn’t feel any different to me than any other age in recent memory, so I suppose that’s a good thing. Age is a state of mind anyway, right?