no time to say hello, goodbye!

well, kevin was home for a total of 33 hours. now, he's back on the path that leads to kansas. oh, the excitement. at least he fixed our duct while he was here. . . with duct, obviously.

while he was in florida, the lock on our door also broke, but brendan credit-card-ed his way in, called the maintenance guys, and saved the day. now we have a shiny new handle, and brendan isn't stuck outside in the frozen ice world. . . the tears are from the cold, cold memories.

they plague him.

i have a couple of auditions coming up, a new dresser, and a soup idea that will keep me company while he's away. and, of course, the two lovely guys i sleep with any time kevin is away:

bad bianco.

i was filling up the fish sticks in the frozen aisle when this tall guy that looked suprisingly like u of i grad student, anthony bianco:

came up to me.

"Where is the olive oil."

i laughed right in his face.

"What's so funny?"

"Sorry, you just seemed so hopeless-like you've been looking for hours. Sorry, it's right over here."

we headed toward the grocery aisle. the layout in trader joe's makes a lot of sense if you just think about it for a second. i mean, we only have 5 aisles. cereals/nuts, grocery, frozen/crackers/cookies, health&beauty/pet food, and beer/chips. i don't understand how people get lost.

"Oh, I look down this aisle! Yeah, I looked over here-"

I then pointed to the right, at our 15 kinds of olive oil

"Oh, I only looked to the left"

"Oh! Well, you have to look both ways . . . before you cross the street, you know?" (this is how you talk when you work at trader joe's. you talk like an idiot.)

"Well, I'm a Liberal"

at this, i laughed again. because it was clever and unexpected.

"Touché"

then i walked away, back to my fish sticks.
working in the frozen aisle consists of grabbing a "lug" (our fancy name for a crate-thing full of food) from one end, walking it down the aisle whilst emptying it, and making a new empty stack at the other end. it's very exciting. and cold. so, while working frozen, most people wear gloves.

"Since you were so helpful the first time, I thought maybe you would be able to help me with something else"

my faux-anthony had returned.

"Oh! Sure!" (this is the false sense of excitement and importance with which we speak to all of our customers)

"Are you single?"

. . .

and i started laughing again. "Um, I'm married."

"You're married?!?" (as if i wasn't allowed to be. or, more likely, i was too young to be)

"Yeah, married. (as i whipped off my glove to show him my sparkles. like, proof, or something.) Um. . . yeah. Ugh, now I'm blushing" (cold frozen gloves feel nice on a red-hot face, by the way)

"Yeah, you are. . . um, well."

"Yeah, sorry. . ."

and the awkward departure ensued.

Will Smith is Right

Miami is the city where the heat is on. Everything he said about it was right.

Also, Miami Vice is a lot cooler of a concept now.

Today: We arrived at 3pm after driving all night. Ate some awesome Guacamole. We are staying with Chris' Uncle Dan's cousin Lynn. We went to the beach and did some metal detecting. Then Chris and I attempted to climb a palm tree to get a coconut. I scraped my inner thigh. Chris eventually felled a coconut. Lynn made some awesome spaghetti. We ate Key Lime pie. Played some Arabian (?) Rummy. It is some kind of rummy that is like phase 10, but still rummy.

Tomorrow: Everglades

Monday: Beach

Then: Key West

Then: Holiday (the town) to visit my grandparents.

Amanda...I love you. And I miss you.

F-F-F-F-F-FLORIDA!

Shh....I can't be too excited.

I love my wife.

I hate the cold.

I love my grandparents.

I hate the cold.

I love the warmth.

I hate the cold.

Did I mention that I love my wife?

Plus, I'm going to bring presents home. I mean, come on...PRESENTS. Not like it wasn't just someone's birthmas or anything.

on again, off again

this is what happened on my birthmas.

cookies & wizards

running & screaming

family time















feeding starving animals

snow drifts











tunnels















playmates












giggles














new tricks












tomorrow morning, kevin is going to florida.

um . . . what? you might ask.
i figure you'll ask that.
because i did.

his friend chris wants to go see some family down there and--seeing how kevin's grandparents are down there as well and there is snow everywhere which makes it impossible for kevin to do any work up here--kevin decided to go along. i will hold down the freezing fort with brendan. making the dough and baking the bread and whatnot.

he will be gone for 9 days. home for 5-6, then off to kansas again after that for another week or so. i, of course, will be at 2426 N. Janssen Apt 2FR Chicago, IL 60614 for the entirety of those three weeks.

feel free to send gifts, cards of encouragement, or cash monies to ease the pain of being alone for 9 negative farenheit days of chicago turmoil, whilst my husband frolics in upper sixties under the shade of palm trees and senior citizens. with sunblock on his nose.

Merry Birthmas!

saturday is my birthday.
saturday is also Christmas.
this means my gift count will either be doubled or cut in half.
regardless, jenny's making cupcakes, so i will be happy.

allyson is also going to take new headshots for me. which i am exceedingly excited about because they will say Amanda Reader on them, instead of Drinkall. good.

i am not working until next wednesday, (i don't really know how that happened, but i'm not asking any questions) which is great, seeing as there is a Chicago Shakes audition on monday. at which, i hope to audition. after waiting most of the day, i'm sure. sadly, i will have to take an old headshot with me. drinkall. blech.

i'm looking forward to Christmas. and cupcakes.

mufnuts & aprons

i made blueberry muffins.














but they looked like donuts.














and we got aprons.


















and we liked them.