Short and sweet

I am headed to bed so this will be short and sweet. I spent most of tonight learning the remainder of my script, seeing rehearsals start in one week. I am so excited to be back in Atlanta and do the show. For those of you not knowing, I am doing "Spitfire Grille" at the Legacy Theatre in Newnan, Georgia. Mark and Bethany Smith ( she was the fantastically wicked Wicked Witch in WOOz at Jenny Wiley) own it, and I worked there December of 2006. Their website is www.thelegacytheatre.org Feel free to come see the show. It is going to be lots of fun.

Ohio is still cold and grey. It has been cold and grey since October. I am ranking it up there with Iceland. My friend Robbin Sharp was here last week, but we got no pics seeing that she had a crises and had to leave early. Thanks for the short visit. She did get me hooked to a horrible habit -- Dancing with the Stars. I own no television, but I found out I can watch the previous night's episode online. That was my dinner companion tonight. I am rooting for the ice skater and the NFL star. Other than that, I am trying to get all lined up here since I will be gone for quite a long time. I hope all of you all are well and congratulations to Neila for the new baby on the way!

Blizzard of '08

Mom and I have decided we should not plan any March trips from now on. We met in Cincinnati this weekend for a shopping trip and "girl's weekend." Friday started out great despite some snow. We started our day at the Aveda Frederick's Institute where we both had a haircut, and I had my "streaky" hair fixed back to a basic brown. We then went to a nice shopping center closely located to Aveda where did some shopping. A nice lunch at Whole Foods ended that shopping session. The snow was coming down heavily at this point so we headed for the closest mall. What better place to be stuck during a snow storm? Unfortunately, Kenwood Mall closed early that evening -- 6 p.m. so mom and I were stuck at our hotel in downtown Cincy the rest of the night. Much to our surprise, the Blizzard of '08 hit Cincy, and we were right in the middle of it. Pizza was the dinner option Friday night due to the fact that everything else was closed. We braved the blizzard on Saturday, despite Level 3 warnings, and headed back to the mall. We decided to do a nice lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and then on to shopping. Our plans quickly changed when the mall authorities decided to close the mall for the day. We ended up getting my car, covered in inches of snow, and heading to another hotel for the night. We woke up today and decided to head back to the mall one more time before we headed back. Fortunately, it was open so we got to do a tiny bit of shopping, plus I got a Smoothie King! (Meg tell Maggie I got a big Angel Food) The funny thing about all this is when mom came to visit me in NYC last year during March, there was a huge snowstorm there -- it was so bad that they shut down JFK airport. Next year our trip will be in April! We had a great time despite the weather. Mom, I absolutely love being with you! Next time, let's plan a trip in Atlanta.

My "fixed" hair!!!!

I made it!

A goal for 30 was learning to ski. Well, I made it one month shy of the goal. I went skiing this weekend and had an absolute blast. It is definitely something I could make a hobby. We spent nine straight hours skiing, and I am definitely feeling it today. David went with me and had a blast too. We caught on pretty quickly for our first time. By mid-day, we had advanced from the bunny slopes to more intermediate. I must say I only fell one time during skiing, but I was pretty cautious and never allowed myself to go too fast. Control issue? :) The beginner snowboarders made me a nervous wreck so I was always glancing behind me to see if one of those daredevils was going to whip past. David, on the other hand, loved the speed and was a bit more wreckless than I. Needless to say, I always had him go ahead of me. Being a sun worshiper, I wasn't sure I would enjoy the sport. I was convinced my teeth would be chattering the entire time. On the contrary, I spent most of the day sweating and not even thinking about the cold weather. My least favorite part was getting off the ski lift. I got nervous every time for that part, probably because I was too short and had to jump off it every time instead of standing. Pics above are of me learning to snow plow, David headed up the tow line, an anxious Amanda as we head up the ski lift, and a pic of one of the hills. No, Durell and Joe, it is not out West, but I have a feeling I could be ready for that by next year, at least for their beginner hills. I say we plan a family ski trip -- for the non-skiiers, there is tubing too. It would be a blast and what better place to do it than wild and wonderful WV!

ute

Indian Night

My friend Dane and I had an Indian night on Thursday night -- curry, curry, curry. I was a little nervous because I haven't had much Indian food. Most of the food I have tasted in the ship mess hall made by the cooks from India. I decided to give it a try and was surprisingly pleased. Dane, having much experience with many ethnic foods, said the flavor was right on! We had a great time eating pitas, hummus, tabouleh, and curried chicken and peppers on couscous. He brought his Middle Eastern drum over and played it for awhile. I even took a shot at belting out some quarter tone melodies. Yes, Meghan, I know that sounds like a weird night to you :) We did have some normal activities as well -- Uno and jazz music. Dane is an amazing pianist so I always look forward to singing with him. We are suppose to put on a guest artist concert at Wright State University in the spring or fall which should be fun. We are headed to a Greek night next week. No, not fraternities -- a real Greek dancing troup is putting on a concert. Fun, huh? I need to brush up on the Greek I learned so I can fit in. (I included a picture at the top of the ricotta cheese which was delicious.) MOre pics from this weekend are on the way.