"Bitch of Living" (SPRING AWAKENING)

Well, it was a great weekend. But let me go back a week or so to mention the somewhat packed weekend I had. Last Saturday was my friends' Zach and Anna's wedding in Upstate NY. It was a beautiful event and the two are just a joy to see together. A believer in love is what you would call me after that wedding. It was special and a lot of fun just like the two of them. The best man's (Zach's childhood friend) speech had me wanting to cry, his words were so moving. And his father had so much energy at the reception dancing all over the place that I was totally jealous. I drove up there by myself and for the four hour trek, I played full CDs of my favorite shows. The car stereo had an amazing sound so I just cranked up the volume and belted away. You would be amazed at how that makes the trip go faster. The drive up there had Hairspray, Rent, Dreamgirls, and on the way back it was Les Miz, Miss Saigon, and Legally Blonde. I got back really late and had to get up super early for our annual Flea Market and Grand Auction. I probably got about 3 hours of sleep so I was trying not to show my tiredness when I made my call time. This was my 9th time (8th year as an employee) working this event and I think we've done it enough times that it runs like a machine. Even being on my feet for 14 hours, I was trying to show no pain, well maybe a little. We are always ready to handle any problem or situation as it comes with level-heads and a lot of patience. We are a non-profit that prides itself on working with the theatre community to give back to it while assisting others because without their help we couldn't raise funds for those in need. From the photo booth with people like Frankie Valli and the acting clain, The Redgraves (Corin, Lynn, and Vanessa) to the live auction with walk-on roles to the tables where shows sold related items, we were able to raise $560,000. This was the last event of our fiscal year, and as we go over the figures we hope to make it another record-breaking year.

I wasn't able to rest the next day because the new Urban season started and our first game was that Monday at 9:15pm. I almost missed it because I took a nap at the office after work and overslept. I ran into the gym just as the team was warming up. We moved up a few divisions and we started off nervous but we adjusted fine to do a good first game showing (2-1). Then on Tuesday, I finally hit the wall and just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. I did exactly that and talked to different cousins all night. It was great.

Wednesday had me cheering on friends at their games and somehow by Thursday ended up on a Big City team. One of the guys on our Urban team is on a team in Big City and needed a few extra players. So three of us joined him and we joined him and some other guys from Water Taxi Beach to create this team. We played a ranking scrimmage on Thursday and let me just say and I've said this many times, that beach volleyball is different than indoor volleyball and adjustments have to be made. These guys play at Water Taxi Beach which has very lax rules and not really played indoors before but they are very raw with the basic skills. It is like a molding project where we have to sculpt them to a level of competitive play. First off, one of them got confused when doing a rotation with substitution. Second, they needed help in positioning. And third, they have to learn to talk, listen, and trust their teammates. At first, I was really concerned with what I had gotten myself into but the team is a lot of fun and there is a lot of potential. We met up on Saturday to practice at the Chinatown YMCA where one of the guys knew there was an open play session. We were able to demonstrate, walk through, and put into play things we had taught them. I tried not to get frustrated because I was in their place at one time. I learned by watching and wish someone had explained positioning early on to me.

The rest of Saturday was a mixture of friends and unexpected plans which is always great. We rejoiced in upcoming birthdays (Mary Z, the encourager behind this blog), the approaching fall chilliness, and a lot of gossiping. It's hard to find a fault in friendships, but even the best friendships has at some point, a rift. I don't want to go into details but it's nice to know that more openness is taking place and hopefully we can reach a resolution. At the end of the night when we hugged and said goodbye at 4:00am, I eventually found myself walking on the street to my apartment as the early morning light was breaking at 5:30am, I had thankfulness in my mind and heart to know great people.

Then on Sunday, after a nice sleeping in period I got up and tended to some errands for the apartment. My only agenda for the day was to meet Mary to go watch Claire's Zogsports soccer game on Roosevelt Island in the evening. With a little time to kill before meeting Mary, I got in some karaoke time. Yes, I'm crazy but it had been a few weeks and I was urging for a karaoke shout. Later on, Mary and I made it over to Roosevelt Island and I had never been there and it's a little scary. It's a creepy planned community where we felt encased in a bubble in that we could see the city but not be affected by it. It just gave us a weird feeling. Anyway, Claire played a great game while they were a man short, but her team lost. Mary did most of the cheering while I clapped loudly. And yes, Mary, "someday your prince will come--and be at least 6'3"." We ended up at Claire's apartment for some Sunday night ABC drama (better to see something other than our own) because we got some great conversation and cookies.

Well that was my previous week in a quasi-nutshell. We don't have any games this week so we're already scheduling to watch friends' games. Tonight I took hip-hop class with Bev to prepare for tomorrow because I finally talked some volleyball people to come take class with me. Get ready Broadway Dance Center for some volleyball crazies. Report to come next time.