15 weeks of summer

I just counted and there are 15 weeks until Labor Day. Lots of potential, what will I do with it? Here are some thoughts (don't hold me to all of them):

• {Super Secret} with my friends Katie and Dee. More to come on that later. It will be exciting!
  
• Tap dance lessons at the Barn. Can't wait. I need to brush up before the first class.
  
• My brother's wedding in Hawaii. I can't believe I get to go back AGAIN
  
• Paint my TV room
  
• Finalize Europe trip dates
  
• Get ready for VBS at church
  
• Get out of town for a weekend. Hopefully to NY, but we'll see what happens.
  
• Audition for Hamlet
  
• Grow herbs and tomatoes.
  
• Seriously take stock of my clothes and make some good investments.
  
• Blog more often

What else? This list just sounds like I'm treading water. What should I do to move ahead?

What else?

It's a new day

It's a brand new time in Detroit, Dearborn, Auburn Hills, anywhere you find an American automaker. I grew up in Detroit and they have been in trouble before, but this is new. There are lots of stories out there, and opinions. Like everything else, time will tell. Change is usually good in the long run. There will be some rough roads ahead, but God is good, all the time. And he is bigger than General Motors and even the U.S. Government.

I've got a new play going on, at SRO. I am the assistant director this time, for The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of Murder at Checkmate Manor. It's got to be the longest play title ever. We open on May 1st, get your tickets now. I've never been behind the director's table. It's a different experience.

Also planning some travel. I thought I knew where I was going, but not I'm not so sure. Good thing Europe isn't going anywhere.

Wall Street Journal - Best of the Web

This column/blog/whatever from the Wall Street Journal is my new favorite thing to read. It's snarky and biased, but I get at least one good laugh every day.

It's sad and amazing, all the finger-pointing between Wall Street and Washington. I suspect there are a lot of back room conversations along the lines of "I got you elected" and "I cleared that legislation for you." I'm just saying, this isn't the first time the bankers and the congressmen have met each other, I don't think.

This year's home improvement project

Hi all,

Last year about this time I started ripping up the carpet in my house.

I had hardwood floors underneath that I wanted to refinish. I fully intended to hire professionals to do it for me, but one step at a time, I ended up doing them myself.

This year, I'm going to add insulation to my attic. I started last Saturday. I read some books and some blogs, went to Home Depot, quizzed the insulation guy, bought three rolls and put them in.

These are the rolls of insulation. They are really packed tight. When you open them the expand to a foot or more.

This is the attic before I started. You wouldn't believe the trash I found up there.

This is after two rolls went in. Look how much they expand!

Three rolls was about all I wanted to do at one time. So this will take me a few weekends to complete, but I like doing this stuff myself.

Freaky Friday, Great Weekend

My 40 hours ran out at noon on Friday, so I left and met friends for lunch. One of them said she was going to Costco and I invited myself to go along. I needed some snacks for opening night of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at The Farmington Players. I got the snacks and started to head home. I was halfway there when I realized I had left my wallet in the Costco parking lot. I sped back, but it wasn't in the cart stall where I left my cart. I left my name and my mom's number at the membership desk (since my phone was in the wallet) and left. God is good, all the time, because as soon as I got to my mom's the phone rang and it was Costco telling me they had my things. I am so blessed, and the Costco staff rocks.

MCM had a great opening weekend. It's so fun to work with hard-working, fun people. We had a great time. Frank Markus is part of the cast and has to dye his hair for performances. Looks great Frank!

I spent most of the snowy Saturday inside making Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. These are my favorites. Sunday I put this in the slow cooker. So good.

Really good weekend.

Blueberry Catastrophe

I made two blueberry coffee cakes this weekend. One was for Sunday School and one for the weekly snack at work. Yesterday when I was getting out of the car I had the cake in my hand in a 9x13 Pyrex bake pan. When I closed the car door the pan flipped out of my hand and shattered on the ground. The cake was actually still in one piece, but covered in glass shards. It was very sad.

I also did some other baking. These are some homemade pita chips before they went in the oven.

They turned out pretty good, but not as crisp as I wanted. I need to work on oven temp I think. I also made this and this. They were both fabulous. The strata is a lot of bread, but I guess you know that going in.

Let me know if anyone tries them!

Where Does the Time Go?

The good news is I now have the Internet at my house. The bad news is I'm never there. Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 opens a week from tonight. It's a great show, and tickets are going fast. Go to The Farmington Players Web site to order tickets.

I've got more auditions lined up in the next couple of weeks. I need to practice my monologues. Who knows what will happen, but it's exciting to think of "performing" for the directors at the audition.

Still baking too. I've made five of the cupcakes in this month's Martha Stewart magazine. They were all yummy but I liked the peanut butter ones the best. They were the least sweet.

Still keeping hope alive here in Detroit. Hope all is well with youl.