Officially Summer

I think summer has officially started. Here are some sure signs:

1) The pool is open at my apartment. Or it will be by the end of this week. I'm so excited to be able to lay in the sun this summer; last year I worked all the time so I never got outside, and I was so sadly pale. Not this year!

2) West Lafayette's co-ed softball league is in full swing. Pun! In! Tended!!! Yes, we had our first game last night, and we won! When I initially signed up to play, I had fully expected to keep the bench warm, cheer everyone on, and look as cute as possible to make up for my extreme lack of athleticism. But last night I actually got to play, and I'm glad I did! I caught for a couple innings, and I even got to bat and I hit the ball! Barely. It seriously went about a foot from the plate, but it totally counted! And I didn't have any strikes! So I was super-excited about that.

3) It's Tony Time. The Tony Awards season always sneaks up on me. And I'm pretty sure I'm one of maybe like five people in Indiana who even care about the Tonys. But I love them. And I love trying to predict the winners! Today they are announcing the nominees, so I'll have to do my homework and find out about all the musicals I've never heard of so I know what the heck is going on on awards night. The great part is that CBS carries the Tonys, so I'll have access to video clips of the show and I can force a little Broadway culture into people's mornings!

On a related note, I picked up The Little Mermaid Broadway soundtrack, and it is fantastic. I always worry when they take a beloved Disney movie and turn it into a Broadway show because everyone loves those songs so much that if and when they get changed, it sometimes kind of ruins it. And the Little Mermaid carries a lot of weight--this was the film that pretty much saved Disney and especially its animation department back in the late 80s/early 90s. This was the first of the Alan Menken-Howard Ashman golden nuggets that my generation thinks of when we think "Disney." So I think there is a lot of importance riding on turning the Broadway version into something people would love instead of resent for "ruining" the movie. It's awesome. All the original songs are done with great integrity, and the new songs are so great and fit so well with the original score. And Sierra Boggess, who plays Ariel, is amazing! She definitely embodies the character we've all known, loved, and memorized for almost 20 years.

OK, I'm off that rant.

4) There are so many movies I want to see! What a great year for summer blockbusters! I personally am not into Iron Man or Speed Racer, but I can't wait to see Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones! I will probably also go see Sex in the City with my best girls, as we once spent an entire summer watching every season episode by episode. My co-workers will really give me a hard time about it, but whatever.

OK, gotta go! They are about to announce the Tony nominees on the Early Show! It's summer, and I'm so glad! It's my favorite time of year!

why am i still UP????

As I start writing this, it's ten after seven in the morning. This is what happens on Friday nights; I sleep my normal hours Friday after work, so then I wake up Friday evening still on my work schedule. If this were a work day, I'd have just finished my show and be writing cut-ins for the Early Show. But since it's Saturday, I'm laying in bed watching Arrested Development and seeing the sunlight increase through my bedroom window blinds.

I have a lot to accomplish today. At 10 this morning we have our station's first softball practice (although it may not be much of a practice; I guess there's a chance we won't even be able to get on the field). Still, I'm excited and yes, a little nervous, because I am not very athletic. And although I know no one is expecting anything out of me, I also know I'm going to have to play a lot since we have to have 4 girls play in every game and not very many girls are signed up. So I might try to find some sort of "Softball for Dummies" reference...I know, what kind of nerd does research on a sport she's about to play? Me, that's what kind.

Also, I have an audition coming up (Monday) for Civic Theater's summer season, and I am waaaay under-prepared. I need to find a monologue and a song. I've been looking through all my music here and I feel like I need to find something different. And I have absolutely NO monologues, so I'm going to go to the library today to find some. I think there is a good one from "Our Town" that I might try. It only has to be a minute long, so it shouldn't be too hard to work it up in the next couple of days.

Then the Glee Club's End of Season show is tonight. It should be fun; this will be my first time seeing the Glee Club without Brian Breed as the director, believe it or not, so I'm sure it will be interesting. Also, we just got the press release yesterday that PMO hired a new director, and apparently he'll be at the show, so it might be possible to meet him. I am sure a lot of Glee Club moms will be swarming him, so I doubt I'll actually get to speak with him, but it might be nice to meet his wife and kids, if the chance arises. Or not. To tell the truth, I'm just glad everything was still normal around there when I graduated, so I don't have to be as concerned with all the changes anymore.

And then tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I'm planning to go to my aunt's to have dinner with the rest of the family. Aunt Julie called and invited me, which made me feel really good (not that I wouldn't have been welcome, but it's just nice to get an invitation by phone...kind of makes me feel grown-up in a way, as silly as that may sound!) I would kind of like to do flowers for Mom, Jules, and Mamaw, but I need to figure out if I should do that today or what. I also want to find some really great cards...one of the bookshops near campus has greeting cards that make me wanna wet myself. So luckily, all of these errands are on the same side of town and hopefully I will accomplish them in decent time today! I just wish places were open earlier so I could get started now.

I wonder what time the library opens...