"I Dreamed A Dream" (LES MISERABLES)

Well, Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. I started the weekend as I do most of the time with Friday open play. Hello--have you met me?

It had been over two weeks since I had played because I was in Louisiana last weekend for my former roommate's little sister's wedding. Her little sisters are like my own, would do anything for them. My former roommate, Ngoc, has experienced the last seven years of this city right along with me. We struggled together as roommates the first three years in New York and still work together. We actually met each other on an email list for the musical production of MISS SAIGON. Strange as that sounds, it's true. We actually started corresponding because of a former MISS SAIGON actor, Matt Bogart, who was in a premiere production of THE CIVIL WAR in Houston (this is 1998). We had both seen the production and loved his character and offered the email list our input about him and the show. After a few weeks of emails, we were going to meet at the closing of THE CIVIL WAR in Houston which we just both happened to be attending. We met for lunch before seeing the show twice that closing day, and a friendship developed. We had met other fans of the show that day and they thought that we were longtime friends. They were shocked to learn we had just met that day. Special friendships like that are life's treasures.

Okay let me get back on track. I tend not to play volleyball too much these days, just at Brandeis open play. I need to work on becoming an actual referee instead of just being a certified one, but I'm looking at my schedule and the high school games are going to be a problem. The scheduler doesn't pick you too much if you are limited with days availability. NYUrban is pretty limited with their options this and next season. I could possibly get on the schedule for fall but no guarantees. I might need to call Big City.

As for the weekend, I might have stayed in the city and not played anymore volleyball, but it was spent with the volleyball group in an array of activities. From volunteering with the USO mobile unit for Fleet Week (that was a lot of fun on the big ship), karaoking and completely pushing my voice to its scratchy sound now (I knew I shouldn't have done my signature song, "And I'm Telling You I Ain't Going," on a weak body), a little shopping, catching the latest movies (Shrek 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3--don't ask opinion), laying in the sun at Long Beach, trying Korean BBQ for the first time (like my friends know--if I can't say it then I ain't eatin' it), and finally getting back on the tennis court with Ngoc. I also tried to clean up my room and prepare stuff for going home this week for a little break and family time. We have our annual pow-wow this weekend and I always go home for that but I also have cousins in state playoff games in baseball that I hope to catch, a high school graduation, parents moving into a new house, catching up with high school friends, and just helping take care of my grandmothers. So basically I'll have two more weeks of no volleyball, maybe, big maybe I'll get a chance to at least play tennis.