So..yeah. Been kind of out of it recently. Realized that I haven’t really posted anything of significance since announcing the birth of the baby. On that note, I sincerely appreciate all the well wishes and have passed them along to Kim. She also reads this on occasion, so know that she probably saw them as well. I will be getting pictures from her as soon as possible and will post them on my site for all to see. I went down to see her and the new baby on Friday night. Madison is TINY. I held her for about 20 minutes while she slept. It was really cool to hold a baby again, but when I left and started thinking about everything that they are going to go through for the next few years I was glad the baby wasn’t mine. Diapers. Potty training. Projectile baby vomiting. Sleepless nights. No way. Not again. I’ve got my hands much too full with the kids I’m helping to raise now, thanks.

Rehearsals have started for The Boys Next Door. Apparently, though, this process is an incredibly short one. I didn’t realize how very short it was until the director said the other night that we only have 12 rehearsals left until we open. Eep! That’s when I started looking at the calendar.

The show opens on Feburary 17th.

That’s three weeks from tomorrow.

Gah.

Maxwell was pretty rushed (especially for an original musical), but I think we had more time than that. I’m honestly kind of freaked out about this. I’m sure we’ll pull it all together in time, but I’m generally used to three weeks out being a fairly solid place. Or am I crazy? Have I just not noticed how fast the process goes on in the past?

I’m going to try to nail my lines down this weekend so I can get that little worry behind me. Again, this is a bit different from how I’m accustomed to working. Normally I’ve had several rehearsals where we’ve gotten the blocking and gone over it with scripts and I learn both at the same time.

Ah well, I’ll adapt.

One thing is for sure. The cast is awesome. As always, I am honored to be on the stage with such talented people and associated with such a kick ass company.

I had to buy a new dishwasher this week. Yes, the gods of debt looked down and said “Oh, look…Mike is getting his finances together. Time to break something.” It’s a really nice Maytag unit that is being installed tomorrow. I have now replaced every major appliance in the kitchen with the exception of the stove, and with my luck in that department that should go soon.

I get to go to a 3 day conference in Orlando a few weeks after Boys closes, which is cool. Cooler still is the fact that I may be going to Dallas for some training in May. If it gets approved, I’ll be there from the evening of the 1st until Friday the 6th or possibly Saturday the 7th. It all depends on if the higher ups think it’s worth me only having two hours to get on the plane after leaving the training facility on Friday night. What do you Texas folks think? 14 miles on a Friday afternoon at 5PM. Is it doable? If my proposed trip is approved as is I will be staying here. I have two definite goals in mind for my “after hours” in town. I want to try this Pizza place that my friend Brooks constantly raves about, and I want some authentic Tex-Mex. I do miss that about my brief time in Texas.

Back on track with the weight loss again. Dropped six pounds last week and have been having a great week so far. K. has been amazingly supportive and I’m trying to be the same for her. It’s much easier when you are doing it with someone else, ya know? Mom went back to meetings as well, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to join her until after Boys opens.

R. is…sick. What else is there to say? He’s horribly depressed because the shots he is getting every day are so painful. He told Mom that it’s like going to school every day and knowing for a fact that the bully was going to kick your ass at the bike racks afterward. He’s into a “you can’t take it with you” mindset and is buying lots of stuff for the house so that Mom doesn’t have to worry about it when he is gone.

Which, obviously, we as her children really appreciate. But we’d much rather have him around.

Guess that isn’t really an option at this point.

And this post just got much more serious and depressing than I wanted it to, so I’m going to go kill a few things before I have to shuffle off to bed.