Driving up to the Security Check-Point this morning, the reader board flashed, “September 1, 2009.” Wow. It really is astounding how fast this summer has come to an end.

Someone asked me the other night at hockey what I’d been up to all summer. Of course, the only thing I really did do most of the summer was “Godspell.” As I told everyone at the cast party, that show and the friends I made were a Godsend.

Thinking back on the whole experience, I can’t imagine anything going more perfectly.

Number one, how in the WORLD did I forget that I am a Theatre Person? Being surrounded by people who are like-minded in political beliefs, taste in the arts and with SO much talent, it’s hard to believe I’ve lived the past few years without people walking into my apartment, sitting down and starting to play random things on the piano – things that they’ve written, Beatles songs or Showtunes we all sing along with, or just random sounds. People singing Happy Birthday in 3-part-harmony (in tune!), suggesting new Indie artists I may like and accepting people no matter what their differences may be has awakened a part of my heart that I had forgotten about.

Number two, with the events taking place right before (and during) the show, I could have gone into a tailspin, but knowing I had a cast and crew depending on me kept me going.

Number 3, the amount of talent in our cast was astonishing. Every night people were asking if we were touring from New York or LA. There was one little lady from Yonkers who found it VERY hard to believe I hadn’t grown up around there as well. (I guess my “Abraham” was convincing.)

Number four, the whole cast was perfectly selected for their individual roles and brought something special and unique to the experience for cast, crew and audience. There were a few people, however, who I felt a special connection with.

Let’s start with Ellicia, our director-extraordinaire, one of my best friends and someone who has ALWAYS been there for me, no matter what, for all of the 11 years I’ve known her. Whenever I get down on myself, my life, my love-life, I can look at her and see that she has overcome these same obstacles in her life and ended up with a wonderful partner, a job she is passionate about, a beautiful home and two wonderful kittehs. While she’s really not that much older than I am, I do want to be her when I grow up.

Sue Schick… What a magnificent woman! Our Producer and my confidant, always exactly where I needed her with the exact words I needed to hear… Or even just a hug. SUCH a blessing. And Miss Emily… such a sweet, sweet soul.

I made fast friends with Anna at auditions, commenting on how Melissa was so adorable that I wanted to shrink her and carry her around in my pocket everywhere. Melissa and I still laugh about that being the first thing I ever said to her and how she wasn’t sure if I was talking to her or not. Anna’s dry wit and level head kept me sane during some tense rehearsals. Miss Banana Blueberry and I didn’t need many words to tell each other how we were feeling about certain situations – somehow we just understand each other. Thank you for accepting the roll that we are both usually type-cast in so I could try something different. ;)

Speaking of Melissa, I do believe she is my long-lost very-much younger, taller, skinnier and Jewish twin. Her style and heart are equally spectacular to me. She genuinely cares about people, their feelings and well-being. Like most, if not all, of the cast, wise and mature beyond her years. My favorite thing about her is when she is excited about something, her face lights up like a menorah on the eighth night of Hanukkah. (“YAY HANUKKAH!”)

Then there’s Scott. What can be said about him other than he is the “Jack” to my “Grace”? My court jester when I’m about to crack. I can’t count how many times he listened to me vent, told me to do something with my hair and knew exactly what my facial expression meant from across the stage. When I need a little pick-me-up, I watch this on my phone. There’s no one I would’ve rather looked at for the “frozen” monologues of “By My Side.”

Lauren (aka Lolo). How I wish we would’ve bonded earlier in the rehearsal process! Sitting at Shari’s Restaurant trying to help silence the 8 other (LOUD) people at the table, she turned to me and said, “We are the only adults here.” It was true, and it began. I thank the “Super Chill” (Albertson’s generic brand of soda - 10 for $10) and “puppy chow” for cementing the friendship in silliness and practicality. Her free spirit and love of all things… well, that I love, makes me feel as though I’m not so alone in the world in my desires. I’m so much looking forward to October 26, when we will be seeing MIKA in Seattle! (MIKA!!!! SQUEEE!!!!) Whenever we hang out, no matter how mellow the situation or how sick one of us might be, there are always good times had. No one in Tri has been more supportive of my new choices in life and direction I want it to go into. I am so jealous she is moving to Seattle. My tweet from last week, “Alas, the economy keeps me stationary,” rings in my head when I think of how wonderful it would be to pick up and move at the same time so we could share in the adventure of being the new girls in the City.

Yes, I’ve saved my IndyAndy Jones for last. When we started the rehearsal process, we joked around a few times, but I was still stuck in the mind-set that all young, good-looking guys were inevitably jerks and wouldn’t want to hang out with me or be my friend. Wrong. WAY wrong. After he laughed at me for almost blowing a gasket during a particularly aggravating rehearsal and hanging out at DQ, he has been one of the people I talk to the most about the widest range of topics. Without going into much sappy detail, I have never been complimented so highly with such a frequency as I have from Andy. Without any kind of expectation of anything but friendship - after being with him, I leave with the affirmation that someone (besides family members) believes I am a beautiful, intelligent, humorous woman with much to offer the world. The first thing he said to me after walking into Starbucks last night was, “You have a halo of beauty and grace!” What woman in their right mind wouldn’t love to hear that from someone you know isn’t trying to get into your pants?

Being in this show about love, life and community and surrounding myself with these wonderful individuals, my passion for life has been renewed. Peace, Love, Joy, Happiness, Live and Let live. Those are things all people should have in their lives. It’s my new goal in life to help whoever I can have those things by what ever means I can. When people look at me, I hope they see compassion, tolerance, grace and friendship. The only person I can control is me and I am the one who decides whether or not to have a good out-look on life.

So, there it is; the new me. I don’t know where this will lead me. And where that normally would scare the living snot out of me, I am now incredibly excited to see where my life goes.

I’m leaving you with a quote from one of my characters in ‘Godspell’,

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.” - Marianne Williamson

What if I WANT to go into the water, hmmm?

It’s already the end of July. My birthday has come and gone, which can mean only one thing – IT’S ALMOST TIME FOR HOCKEY!!!!!!

I took a small break from almost all things hockey after HM and I split – after all, it’s how we met. Now that my heart is mended and the season is sneaking up on me, I decided to jump back into my RSS/Google Reader and find out some dish on my fine, finned team. There’s a lot going on for nothing going on… if you know what I mean.

Draft… We got a couple kids. Let’s face it – the past couple years, draft day has been a let-down for Sharks fans. Nothing until round 2? BOOORING. Which is why I sang at a baseball game instead (you can read about the shenanigans Schultzie and I got ourselves into HERE).

Team news. Well, well, well…. What a tangled web we weave, Sharkies. If you know me at all, you know I’m a goalie-lover. Also, you know I’m not a lover of Nabokov. He is a fine goalie – if you like that feeling of your heart dropping into your butt when you can see he’s WAY too far out of position, but he makes the save by the hairs on his chinny-chin-chin. While doing research for this post, I decided to catch up on some Photoshop Expos at Fear the Fin and stumbled across this:
The first thing that popped into my head as I chuckled was the line by ‘Jack O’Callahan’ in Miracle, “They’re Russian. They get shot if they smile.” BUT, I digress…
He has said that if asked to by the Sharks, he would wave his NTC because he doesn’t want to be with a team who doesn’t want him. How sad is that?! As much as I complain about him, no one WANTS to be with someone they know doesn’t want them. I’m not sure how I feel about this news. Now that Boucher is gone (I still don’t want to talk about it), who IS going to be in net? Let us go over a few options:

· Thomas Greiss – Logically, Thomas is the first choice. He’s spent some time up in the Show and is already listed on the roster behind Nabby Barring any large trade deal, we need a back-up.
· Stalock – Played with Griess in Worster. Stats aren’t bad, but as a Gopher, he’s got to prove himself to me since he went to UMD.
· Dakers – Thinking back to when he played for Kootenay, I remember him not sucking? I think? Possibly there were jokes about him? Any of the Mafia remember that? I’m drawing a blank.
· Sexsmith – Don’t EVEN get me started on this one. I feel the same way about him as I do about Dustin-flipping-Tokarski. Both are goalies who won the Memorial Cup not FOR their team, but WITH their team. Actually, I think Sexsmith is quite possibly even more than Tik. GREAT teams in front of them made them look SO much better than they actually are. HM never failed to rub salt in the open wound that he was a Sharks draft pick whenever the Giants would come to town. Mother of pearl, if he’s in a Sharks jersey this year, he’d better damn well step up his game or I’ll have to slap a bitch.

Let’s move away from goalie news… I’m getting my feathers all ruffled.

Apparently there were talks of sending Cheechoo and Erhoff to Ottawa for Heatley… Hmm… I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m not emotionally attached to Cheech, but I do tend to love my big Dman from Deutschland. And I don’t have anything against Heatley ON the ice, it’s his Diva “I’m outta here” attitude that makes me a little gun-shy on the whole situation. Though, I guess I don’t have to sweat it since apparently Brian Murray schaid the Schensch wouldn’t acschept schusch nonschensche (for those of you who don’t read/speak Brian Murray/Sid the Sloth, here’s a translation: said the Sens wouldn’t accept such nonsense.)

Marleau… At the end of the post-season, all the haters were calling for him to be shipped to Abu-Dhabi in a crate like Nermal. I’m not hater. In fact, heart Cap’n Patty! And how could you not – especially since he has said he’s willing to do anything to put a winning team on the ice, even if it means giving up his captaincy. Je t’aime, Marleau! And NO, it’s not because I’m a closet Seattle fan… ok, so not COMPLETELY because I’m a closet Seattle fan.

Another player near and dear to my heart is my Old man, Jeremy Roenick. Rumor has it that he’s going to hang up his skates, at 39, he thinks his body just can’t handle it anymore. I was hoping for one more year (and hopefully a cup) for the big ham, but if he’s retiring, I wish him all the best and am REALLY glad he went out with my team.

Finally… I guess I have to face it… Big Joe is… Married. There. I said it. Happy? Le sigh. *pouts*

No matter who the team ends up being, let’s make it a good season, boys

See you in September...

The dust has settled, the tears have subsided and the profanities have been replaced with words appropriate for McNephew to repeat like the tiny parrot he is.

Monday was a bad day. Mama had surgery, McMan announced his trip to Calgary (sans McP) and my Sharkies were ousted from the playoffs by Finny's QuackQuack Ducks. She phoned me after the game amidst the celebration at Honda Center to hear me having an emotional breakdown. I know, I know, it sounds like I'm way too invested in my team - but let's face it, everything compounded, I deserved a good cry (not to mention a stiff drink and some sort of refrigerated baked-good dough).

My opinion of the season:
WOW. What a team. There was a reason they won the President's Trophy. They had great communication on the ice, the team was playing cohesively, and the scoring came from every line. Nabby and Bouche were great in net and made the big saves when they needed to.

My opinion of the post-season:
Brief, yes, but filled with passion (shitting the bed in game 4 aside). The Getzlaf line did exactly what they needed to shut down Big Joe, Cap'n Patty and the Guch. The fight between Getzlaf and Thornton was a BEAUTY (even though i only got to see it in higlights - effing Versus...) - Just when I think I can't possibly love that big man any more, he goes and feeds lefts to Getzy like he's asking, "Please, sir, may I have some mo'?"

Anyone who knows my love of goalies is perplexed when they are with me while watching a Sharks game. I realize that Nabokov is a good goalie, but I lack confidence in him for some reason. My cries of "I LOVE MY GOALIE!!!!" at WHL games turn into "I love my goalie?" watching Nabby. It's a love/hate relationship. I think after the two losses at home, and especially during game 4, Boucher should've been in net - if for nothing else than to send a message to the team. When that man is hot in net, the thing becomes inpenetrable. Would it have made a difference in the series? Maybe, maybe not. Jonas Hiller took on the role of the Jaws-killing "Brody" like Johnny Depp took on the role of Jack Sparrow - it was scary.

My thoughts on changes to be made within the team:
The cry all around, "Trade Joe Thornton because he doesn't produce during playoffs!"
I call bullshit on that. Like I said earlier, Game 4 aside, this was a battle against Hiller and the team in front of him knew exactly who to shut down to help their goalie on his superstar streak.
Sure some off-season changes will be made, that's going to happen anywhere, but I don't think trading Thornton is the answer. He's the assist-king. He's a passer that shoots when he has the opportunity (and those are usually in the back of the net).

To tell you the truth, I'm not a coach or a gm (don't look so shocked! lol) and I don't know what's going on inside the locker room, but it seems to me that with a season like this one, those HUGE trades would only break the chemistry down.

My inner-struggle with who to root for now:
I'm torn. While I don't want to root for the team who made mine look like their red-headed step-child (i can say that - i am one), one of the fibers woven into my being is the one that is Coach Carr from Mean Girls repeating in my ear "If you cheer for the Red Wings, you will get pregnant and die". (Seriously, it was almost a deal-breaker when first dating McMan)
Advantage: Quacks
Plus, if they win the whole thing, it makes the sting of losing to them in the first round not quite as bad.

My parting words for the Sharks 2008-2009 Season:
After the home-and-home to end the regular season, I was afraid of meeting the Ducks in the first round. They're a good team and they fought hard to win in the Shark Tank and got the job done. Had it been any other team, I'm fairly certain I'd still be rocking my Roenick jersey, rushing to the car to turn on my XM on my way home to plop myself in front of the HD feed, cheering my team on. It wasn't the Sharks' year, yet again. Maybe being an Ams fan through the good, the bad, and now back to the good has prepared me for this.

I ♥ my team. See you next season, Sharkies.

Damnit, Uncle Wayne, Help a sister out!!!

Ok, for reals? Just when we get our hopes all up that the jolly green giants in Everett might not be the US Division "Champs" yet again, Uncle Wayne has to go and dash my hopes and dreams. Then again, there's always hopes that with Constantine gone to coach in Houston that they might not be the trap-playing bore that they have been the past 4(?) years. Hopefully they're still the WHL Diving Team, though.... they could win gold at the next summer games...

Peter Mueller --
The eighth-overall pick in 2006 has come a long way in a short time. That’s saying something considering that he was the Western Hockey League rookie of the year prior to being drafted and had a strong camp with the Coyotes last summer.

“We had a chance to watch Peter at our development camp recently, and we were very impressed by the amount of development he’s had between last summer and this summer,” says Treliving. “He knows what to expect a little more, and has a better sense now of exactly what it takes to be a pro. There was already a good foundation, and he’s building on it very nicely.”

This past season, the 6-foot-2, 205 pound Mueller posted 78 points, including 57 assists, for the Everett Silvertips in 51 WHL regular-season games. In the postseason, he had 16 points in 12 games. He sees the ice very well, and has worked hard to improve both his skating and his two-way approach.

“We really like the package of skills that Peter brings and we think he’s got the chance to be a special talent. Now, having said that, we’re not going to rush him,” says Treliving.

Mueller, who turned 19 in April, will come to camp with the big club. While there’s a chance that he could make Wayne Gretzky’s opening night lineup, another year of junior development and a potential shot at playing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships certainly wouldn’t hurt. He was invited to the Team USA camp taking place in Lake Placid, but was unable to attend due to a minor injury.

End of the Season...

As I sit in my office, listening to my iPod, Justin, Chris, Joey, Lance(ten) and JC are reminding me that the hockey season is, in fact, "Gone."

While I'm trying my best to "be a man and be strong, the truth remains" that I'm totally bummed.

Jordi has asked us all at HLOG to do a little analysis of our teams' season and the UFA's... I don't know if I can do that yet - that makes it official that it's *gulp* the off-season.

I hung out with my little buddy LilRed#1 at the Volunteer Picnic last night. She applied for a job with the Ams Office. She said that her mom had suggested that if she got the job she'd be able to ask one of the players to Homecoming if it wasn't on a game night and that she replied, "From what I've heard and what Boogie said to LilRed#2, that's not something I want to even consider." I felt like a proud Mama! She said she'd learned from my mistakes... GOOD! I'm glad all the preaching I did in Sunday School and on the concourse actually sank in. Stay a fan, babygirl, stay a fan.

On the LilRed topic, #1 said #2 was dealing with MattyGate pretty well... Poor thing... I remember The Great Trade of 2002 and the ickiness I felt for weeks. Maybe I'll send her a sympathy card or bring her cupcakes and a mix cd or something. Rainbow Chip Frosting and peppy pop songs cure EVERYTHING.

Hammer posted an article from canada.com today over at the Maple Leaf Mafia blog about the asshat #1 mentioned. It still baffles me that with how he played this season that he got a contract. He's got great speed and has flashes of brilliance with the puck, but those flashes were few and far-between. Maybe now that he's actually going to have to fight for a place on the roster (instead of being handed the roll of the enforcer on a silver platter) he'll be more consistant. If he hadn't have been completely inappropriate with one of my students, I might've wished him the best.

Wow... already 1340... day is going fast... that's good times - unless my body doesn't stop being angry with me about my latté splurge before I need to hit the road...