Confessional Friday: Pet Peeves

I rarely do link-ups to other blogs (not really for any reason, but whatever), but this particular link up from the Blonde Ambition blog involved discussing pet peeves. Any time I can vent about pet peeves, I relish the opportunity. So here goes.

1. People who like to wear their birthday suits rather liberally in the gym locker room. (I could probably devote a post specifically to "gym pet peeves," but for now, I'll refrain.)

2. People who angrily express political views on Facebook.

3. Drivers who don't follow the carpool rules. (I can get really upset about this one.)

4. Media worship of The Kardashians (can't stand them!) and Brangelina.

5. Justin Bieber. And his pants.

6. Rude customer service. (Honestly, I hate to rat out my current town, but this is a HUGE problem in Baton Rouge. Seriously, checkout lady, are you really not going to even say "hello" to me??)

7. Women who complain about how fat they are when they are obviously smaller than I am. That's pretty much saying, "And I think you are fat, too!"

Edited to add one more:
8. I hate when people post on Facebook or forward through email internet "hoaxes." Ever heard of Snopes? Check out its truth before you post it / send it, people. (There is a post going viral on FB right now about how this country is "run by idiots," and Jeff Foxworthy is being attributed as the author. Um, he didn't write it.)

Whew. I feel better!!

An Evening With Audra McDonald

Because I took a bit of an unplanned, long blog break, I want to write about a few of the goings on in our lives over the past few months. These are going to be a bit random, but I'm just going to go with it.

About a month ago, FIVE-TIME Tony winner Audra McDonald came to Baton Rouge and performed with the BR Symphony Orchestra. I went by myself, but I didn't care. (I think some of my friends thought that was weird, but if Darryl had gone with me -- and it wasn't really his cup of tea -- we would have had to get a sitter. None of my friends here knew who she was, so I didn't want to ask them to fork out money for someone they didn't know...so I went alone.) I had a seat on the fourth row. FOURTH ROW. Several times throughout the concert, I had moments of, "Holy cow! I'm twenty feet from Broadway great Audra McDonald! Holy cow!"

That photo looks farther away than twenty feet, but it was taken with my phone. Trust me. Audra and I were tight. :-)

I took the photo above as a joke for one of my friends -- but I was excited!!

So if you are wondering who Audra McDonald is...Many people know who as Naomi from Private Practice (a show I didn't really watch unless it just happened to be on in the background). However, I first became acquainted with her from Rosie O'Donnell's old talk show. (I know Rosie is a divisive personality -- love her or hate her -- but I loved how she featured Broadway performances on her show. It gave people like me, who aren't frequent visitors to New York, a glimpse of Broadway greatness.) At the time, Audra (because we are on a first-name basis, of course) was starring in Ragtime, for which she later won a Tony. And thus began my fascination with her.

Here's a clip I found on YouTube of her singing one of my favorites. She opened with this in Baton Rouge, and y'all...I might have teared up. I don't know if was the song, or just the whole experience, or everything, but dadgum. The girl can SING. (She's also funny!) So enjoy this greatness for yourself...

I'M BACK!!! (I think...)

So.

I've been asked by one of my three or four readers if I have given up the blog. Of course, it looked that way, didn't it? In fact, I entertained the idea. I let two months go by without posting ANYTHING. No promises to be back, no photos, nothing.

I was living in a stressful limbo, and when I live in limbo, I tend to be in an overall type of "funk" that makes me not want to do anything I don't "have" to do. It's a lovely time to live with me, I assure you.

No sarcasm whatsoever.

Here's the deal that we've been living with since early this year:

As far back as January, we thought we were moving back to Atlanta this summer. Some things had changed at Darryl's job, where it seemed that it would be better if he were back in the office instead of working from home. I started applying for jobs in Georgia. I even went to Atlanta and interviewed for one. (More about that later...maybe.) I even turned in my resignation at LSU. But by the time mid-May rolled around, things just weren't shaping up for us to make a move. I had heard nothing about a job. Darryl was having a hard time finding a house for us to rent (and we really didn't know what budget we had for finding a house--would I be working? would I not?). Darryl was assigned to a project in a different location that would require more travel there than to Atlanta.

So we decided to stay in Baton Rouge for another year. My supervisor was extremely gracious about my situation and was able to stop the paperwork process for my resignation. Amelia's school had an opening for kindergarten (!) this school year. We found another house to rent. (That was the kicker...we still had to MOVE because our last house had sold, so we had find a different place to live.) Basically, everything fell in to place for us to stay one more year.

But another kicker??? As were were moving our things from one house to another, I had not one, but two people in Georgia express interest in hiring me. Oh, timing. You make me laugh. Not really.

We like Baton Rouge, though. We're happy to be here another year. I'm glad to have some continuity in our life. Amelia LOVES her school (so do we!), and I'm thrilled she will be there for kindergarten. I like my job, and I'm happy to have it another year.

And of course, we have another year of beignets and kolaches. (Y'all. I have discovered the bacon and cheese kolache and my life might never bet the same.)

But I'm now surrounded by boxes that need to be unpacked. Good times. We've been chipping away pretty steadily at that.

So that, really, is my excuse for the lack of blogging. All this moving stuff was was rolling around in my head, so I just wasn't in the mood, you know?

But now? I think I'm back. :-)