Sunday, April 27, 2008

Another show, any takers?

Okay, here's the story on this one. This is a really funny show and I just happen to have tickets for this show too. My mom and I bought tickets for the Peoria Players season, and since she saw this with me at Corn Stalk a couple years ago, she gave me her ticket. I have one extra free ticket for Urinetown. I'd be pleased as punch if you wanted to go with me to this show and/or Chicago. Please let me know ASAP because I have to call to reserve seats.

One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, URINETOWN is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. URINETOWN catapults the “comedic romp” into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit, and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter.

Show Dates & Times:

May 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 @ 7:30 pm
May 4 & 11 @ 2:30 pm

Join me for an evening?

So, I bought tickets last year for Chicago when they went on sale. I think my seats are for the first row in the second balcony. I'm still able to go, but am looking for someone to go with me. It'd be nice to get a little money for the ticket, but more important to me is finding someone to join me. The details for the show and date are below.

May 10, 2008, 8 p.m.
Theater - Broadway Theater
“Chicago” is the story of seductive nightclub dancer Roxie Hart who finds the road to fame can be a trial of blood. Throw in a cunning lawyer and a bit of razzle dazzle and Roxie goes from cold hearted killer to the toast of the town. Murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery are the cornerstones of this sultry and alluring Broadway musical hit.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

My car window is fixed?

This is what my car door looked like after Dad disassembled it to fix the window. I was leaving the dealership after an oil change earlier in the week, and I heard a clunk, thud when I closed the door. Dad was kind enough to take a stab at fixing it, and there were no leftover parts when he was done. The window goes up and down as smooth as _______ (fill in the blank, my mind just went blank.)

Note: All people that were crazy enough to sell their house prior to buying one have now bought a house. Phew, nobody will have to be homeless for long!

I saw Pod People!

You never know what will happen on your day off. I helped Laura pack most of the day... and we even had to call Grandpa for some specialty help. Wowsers, do retired people ever have a high hourly rate... and I thought it would be a lower hourly wage since it wasn't the weekend. Nah, I'm just kidding. It was a fun day of assisting Grandpa with the gas project at Tom and Laura's. The other excitement of the day was the delivery and packing of the POD!
As you can see, the truck was just as wide as the driveway. All things considering, him taking out 3 landscaping bricks wasn't too bad.This photo shows the truck at the far side, then the hydraulic frame on wheels that unloaded and moved the POD, and of course the 16 foot POD. As Sandra mentioned, the guy that delivered the POD was probably that guy in school that won all the stuffed animals out of the claw/crane machine at the arcade. It was insane to see how he got the POD placed on Tom and Laura's "half" of the shared driveway.

Can't find a cat?

When I can't find Velma, I've learned to look up because she has at least a 4 foot vertical.

Monday, April 21, 2008

What I should have done more of...

Not only did I pull the already tweaked quad in my left leg, but I tweaked the quad in my right leg. Before the game, I did the stretch above and a couple others I was hoping would help. No such luck. I looked online and they also suggest squats or biking. I can do that.

As for the game... I pitched well tonight, and just like last week, we went into extra innings but couldn't come out on top. I hit like puke. Runners on, bottom of the 7th with two outs, tied score and a dribble one to the pitcher. Argh! I think I was over swinging. Oh yeah, and earlier in the game when I was playing first, I let one go right through the wickets. Coach is gonna run me tomorrow! :-)

Saturday, April 19, 2008

How could I not mention the Earthquake?


I've been having fun following the earthquake status on www.usgs.gov. The map above shows that there have been 12 earthquakes in the West Salem, IL area since Friday. It looks like they've ranged from 2.2 to the large 5.2 we had early Friday morning. I would love to say by bed moved to the other side of the room and the cats started to go spazzy, but I can't. I do believe it woke me up, but I didn't know what caused me to wake up, so I just went back to sleep.

Can you imagine being in West Salem, IL and feeling all the aftershocks???

A Blur of a Week!

I'm not quite sure where this week went. Tuesday I went to a really cool percussion concert at Bradley University. For a while I thought I was in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and then the Looney Tunes... I've never heard that much xylophone at one time. This photo was when they brought some wind instruments out to play a piece from Pirates of the Caribbean. Their pirate hats were a nice touch.I'm definitely going to have to keep my eyes open for them to perform again next fall. Wednesday was Girl's Night at the Iadipaolo's. Sandra, Sofia, and I watched America's Top Model and worked on a few puzzles. Thursday was my pukey feeling night, so curled up on the couch and watched a very exciting episode of Survivor. You gotta love it when someone gets blindsided.

Last night I did some shopping after a day of making balloons at work. We celebrated Gina's birthday. I was lucky I didn't pass out early in the morning. I seem to be the only one that has the lung capacity to blow up balloons. During my shopping trip, I bought a couple new albums, so I will be prepared to go see Sheryl Crow in concert during June. I like to know the opening act a bit, so I bought Brandi Carlile with my Best Buy gift card. Today was the search for Springy clothes and finding good sales. Then I did some organization inside the house. I finally got a few more things up on the wall in the computer room. I had to choose light items to hang on this wall because it's just plywood and very thin. For those who saw the screws busting through the wall, like how I covered it up?I do believe the organization will continue tomorrow, but if it's nice out then I'll work in the yard.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Spring is Officially Here!

Had the first softball game of the season tonight. It was AWESOME! You'll all have to come out and watch sometime this season, assuming you're not on the team already. Next game is 6:00 next Monday at Peoria Stadium. Should be diamond #1 unless they didn't get the hole in the field fixed, then it's #3.

Anyway, we went into extra innings, but couldn't pull it out. We lost 13 to 12. I didn't walk a single batter and I went 2 for 3 with 2 singles. Would you believe one was an infield single? Just call me Speedy Gonzales! I think everyone had a good time, and our high spirits started to get on the nerves of the other team a bit. Sorry Sandra, but I don't think the shirts intimidated them at all. Other highlights of the game... Tom had a homerun, Laura got a single, both Iadipaolos reached base, and the new guy we nicknamed A-Rod hit a grand salami.

Oh yeah, we could see our breath during the game... pretty cool... literally. Below is a picture of me in uniform after the game. You should see the pants, they're completely dirty. Flyballs just stuck in the outfield grass and they'd come back to the mound with hunks of mud stuck on them... eewwwww.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Finally stocking up.

Tom asks, "Do you still have the bucket of softballs?"
I answer, "No, I have a bucket and some softballs."

I finally decided to do my grocery shopping and went last night after work. My total bill was about $97, then they scanned my Kroger card bringing it down to around $67, and then with my coupons I got it down to $58! I actually bought enough groceries to use my Save $5 on $50 of groceries! Oh the excitement of saving 40% on my order. Here's my haul.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Free cookies.

My path on the way home from work tonight lead me to free cookies. I was welcomed at the Iadipaolo's house with a very yummy Girl Scout Cookie. I'm guessing shortbread dipped in chocolate, with gracias molded on the top. Then I stopped by Tom and Laura's to see how they're holding up (they sold their house this week, but still have to find one to buy). Tom opened the front door and I caught a big waft of home baked cookies. It was so pleasant!

After chatting with him for a bit, I was headed out the door with his Cubs lamp and he offered me a snickerdoodle. You can't pass up a cookie with doodle in the name. No, I wasn't stealing the Cubs lamp, just giving it a safe home until they move. It would look quite nice in my computer room, but knowing my cats, I'd have to superglue it to the desk for it to stay in one piece.

I feel that I am on the verge of a never-ending rambling fest. The only thing to do now is to go to bed, and hopefully I'll wake up in the morning with a clear head. This week has been so jumbled, I can't wait for the weekend to get here.

Later, Jane

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Look what Jane's cookin'!

So I had a conversation at work today about how the only things in my refrigerator right now are milk and condiments. However, I did not say the freezer was empty or the cupboards bare. I had a delightful dinner of Alaskan Salmon Patties with a drizzle of Dill Musturd, a side of Green Beans, and freshly Baked Biscuits.Maybe it's not the ideal dish for some, but it tasted just great to me.
:-)
Stephanie, thanks for the inspiration... or should I say challenge. Sorry to disappoint, but I have no ketchup in the house.

Monday, April 7, 2008

The perfect number...

...of layers! From bottom to top I had a pair of shorts, jeans, long sleeve Chiefs t-shirt, Cubs shirt #1, Cubs shirt #2, Cubs sweatshirt, jacket, Chiefs hat, and a hood. According to the scoreboard, the temp got down to 50, but the wind was blowing out to right. It was a bit chillier out there, waiting for the homerun ball that never came.

Before the game, Sandberg had an interview on the field and at a glance, I thought they were joking and interviewing a bat boy. It took me a second to remember that all coaches on the field would be wearing the hard helmets this year.

Despite this photo showing the Chiefs on the field, they really didn't show up for the game. I should have left after 4 errors but I had high hopes that they could come back. The game just got ugly towards the end. We had too many errors, and the relief pitching started to look like the Cubs.

For April, it was a beautiful night, and even with a loss, I had an enjoyable evening. Maybe next time, someone will be able to join me. Cheering "Dog Show" just isn't the same by yourself.

Now I'm at home, blogging it up while I listen to the NCAA basketball game. If Kansas wins tonight, then I win my office pool by one point. Who'd a thunk! Goooooo, KU!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Lack of entries.

This has been quite the week! My evenings have involved following Bradley games, working, or going out to dinner with Grandpa. I haven't left myself much time to let the brain unwind. It's been more than busy work week. Between our sales rep being in town for team meetings and trying to launch the biggest website Mcomm has ever worked on, my head has been spinning. Spinning head equals tired Jane, and tired Jane equals no blog entries. It's hard to go there when no creative juices are flowing.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Tomorrow night I will follow the Bradley Championship CBI tournament game somehow. Saturday I'm going to a charity hockey game with Laura, Doctors vs. Firemen. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough this weekend to do some work outside in the dirt. I also have to figure out how to get my wreath back up. The crazy winds over the last week broke the plastic hanger on it. Maybe I should just use some ducktape. I'm sure my neighbors would love that.

Apparently, you can actually make flowers out of ducktape.