She Is In A Place Of Light...

So, this has been a most crazy, very full week. Last Thursday (9/29) I got home from work and my mother tells me that my aunt died (my father's older sister) so we had to plan a trip up to Williamsport, PA (the home of Little League) to pay our respects to my family up there and say goodbye to my aunt. She was my sister’s godmother, and I assumed that at least one of my siblings would be coming on the trip but alas I was the only one accompanying my parents to PA. I'm sure that this sounds horribly snide, but I'm not at all. I love my family dearly, but having to spend 4 hours in a car (each way) with one's parent's is *very* *very* difficult.

Well, we got up there Sunday night and then went to my cousin's house. It was good and healing in a way. I hadn't seen my cousin's children in at least 2 years so it was good to connect with family. And we also spent the next few hours that evening going through my aunt's old photo albums and seeing my namesake uncle who died when he was very young and seeing myself visiting my aunt and uncle 19 years ago before I went to college (OY VEY), stuff like that. The next day was the viewing and elegy (eulogy?) with a lunch reception following (we Americans LOVE to eat) before my parents and I hit the road back. Unfortunately, the neighbors providing the food made a typical Cuban meal- black beans and rice, which I loathe- so I had myself a salad.

Arriving late Monday night was tough because the next morning was a typical workday *and* it was my birthday, to boot. I had a pretty melancholy birthday, actually. I have a feeling it was a combination of my aunt's passing and me hitting the "older" demographic (35-49), although I like to think I'm not that much of a drama queen. The upside to the day was having lunch with my best friend Bill (Vietnamese) and knowing that my co-worker Monkey (*NOT* her real name) was arriving for a few days from her homestead of Eugene, OR.

I like Monkey. She is as weird as I am and as geeky (only in the best way). We talk everyday so it was good to actually interact physically for 3 workdays. I had evening events planned for her- she loves theatre so I got her tickets to URINETOWN at Signature Theatre, where I House Manage, and taking her out on the town to sight-see since she's never been to the East Coast before (well, at least the DC area). I know that being away from her new husband was hard, but I'm so glad that she came out. I ended up coming out to her as well. Like I expected, she was fine with it- she also said that she knew, which made me think, "is it *that* obvious?"

Well, regardless, the week went by in a flurry of activity, with work being twice as busy since my other co-worker left for his long-delayed honeymoon and taking Monkey out, I was pretty happy to hit the weekend Friday night. I took my brother's kids out to see Wallace & Gromit Saturday afternoon, which they loved, even though there was a fire alarm/drill right in the middle of the movie. We only missed about 3 minutes, but I totally asked for my 3 passes for a future time anyways. You know, I'm totally fine with young children in a movie theatre, especially when it's a G-rated film, but who are those mentally challenged people bringing NOISY INFANTS?!? Honestly, instead of getting popcorn for your other rugrats, please use that money for a babysitter. Jeesh!

Anyways, the movie was just as good the second time. This time I actually got to see the advertised short featuring the Madagascar Penguins that wasn't attached to the sneak preview. It was cute, although still kinda early for Christmas themes, but I digress. Then I went out last night because my friend Jackal and her husband Euan, were in town celebrating a birthday. I found out that Boy George was arrested for Cocaine possession and they were using my friend Euan's photo- I guess it's a small price to pay when you play Boy George in his musical, eh? I also had some great quality time with my friend and co-worker from Signature, Munsen. She cracks me up and we get plain silly sometimes and I love it. I'm so excited that she's moving so much closer to me, so we can actually hang out and foster our relationship further.

Then today I finally went over to Arena Stage to see the new play "Passion Play, A Cycle" by Sarah Ruhl, a wonderful new voice among playwrights. My good friend Lisa, who works there, arranged a comp for myself and I got ready for a (almost) 4-hour play about Religion, Politics, and the role of the Passion through the ages. It was quite wonderful and challenging. Truly epic in scope, especially coming from someone in her mid-30s. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for whatever she writes next.

And now, I'm finally enjoying the wi-fi age. After a long time of owning computers, I went out yesterday and got a wi-fi card to be able to take advantage of locales with free internet access. This is coming to you from our good friends at Panera Bread, lord love 'em. :o)