Oh the Musical it Never Ends...or...wait.

It went on and on and on and on...until January 2nd. Sadly (for me, anyway, not for others) Rock of Ages closed on Sunday night. I watched it a total of 64 times, which is nothing compared to my coworkers who have watched it since April for a total of 256 times. Whew. I am sad though, as it is a fun, energetic show with good music for those who have to watch it over and over and over and over and over....

So now I am laid off until the beginning of February when the next show comes in, which will be The Secret Garden (the musical version). Blah. boring. Dry. Not that I won't enjoy it at all, I'm just not looking forward to watching that one over and over. It's only for 6 weeks, but stiiiilll. wah. Hmm, I guess I have to start coming up with other titles for my blog posts? We shall see.

So Sunday night after the last show we had a little staff/cast gathering afterwards with free beer and wine and it was quite lovely. The cast is (for the most part) a really nice group of people and I'm sad I wasn't around to get to know them more.

Sorry I haven't been posting very much, it has been crazy here cramming shows in between holidays, the holidays, and getting sick, and loads of other fun activities...all on which I shall update you...now.

So Christmas and Hanukah and the winter solstice and New Year's have all passed so I guess the "holiday season" is officially over. Also very sad. My first holiday season away from home was...err...not quite what I expected. Christmas Eve was just lovely, as two friends from work invited me over for a home cooked meal after I went to see the National Ballet Canada's version of the Nutcracker. (Side note: last year was the first time I had ever seen the Nutcracker. I went to the little York County Ballet performance, partially because they conveniently performed at Winthrop. It was mostly little girls and teens and recorded music and quite adorable. Sadly, one of the girls slipped in the snow scene and knocked into another girl and it was kind of funny. However, one of the dancers in the National Ballet Canada professional company also slipped and fell during the same snow scene. So either the snow is very slippery and this is common or I am cursed! eek!)

ANYWAY that night we had some kind of roast with rosemary potatoes and carrots (all in a toaster oven - impressive!) and I contributed the traditional Juraschek-Dykes Christmas Icebox Cake. I chose this specifically because I figured it was fool-proof, knowing I'm not much of a cook, and it is soo good but should really only be consumed once a year.

I've made the thing many times and there is no baking required. So I found the wafers and the cream and set to work. I even found a decorative Christmas tray to set it on. Well after about 10 minutes the whipping cream hadn't whipped at all, and I realized I was using the "wrong" attachments to the electric mixer. Once I found the "right" ones it whipped right up and I continued. I piled the cream on the cookies and once finished I marveled at my domestic skills. I decided to protect my creation with a little tin foil. As I lifted the tray to put the last piece of foil on top, I dropped the damn thing on the floor. Most of it landed on the foil and I wouldn't consider it spoiled, but instead of a presentable cake with neat little rows covered with cream, I now had a mess of cream and cookies. Proof I have no domestic skills. Now, of course I handled it really maturely and counted my blessings despite the mess, and by that I mean I and sat on the floor and cried. Good times.

The cake! I was so excited for about 5 seconds...

In the end we ate the cake anyway and it was rather delicious, even though it was less than presentable. Afterwards we watched Scott Pilgrm vs. The World. I had been wanting to see it, as lots of people have raved about it. I actually had no idea that it took place in dear old Toronto, so that was great, aaand a girl in our little dinner party was actually an extra in the movie, and she provided lots of insight so that was really fun. Then of course we chatted for a bit and drank too much wine and generally had a fine time.

Where I saw Ze Nutcracker

Wine, Scott Pilgrim, good friends, good times.

Then Christmas I woke up really late by myself and opened some packages from family. I made eggs and cinnamon rolls and laid around for a while watching cheesy Christmas movies. Later my roomie decided to make homemade hard lemonade (like, squeezed fresh lemons, added sugar and other, um ingredients, etc). This was also delicious. Too lazy to cook or leave the house, we ordered pizza for Christmas dinner. Later (a couple of glasses of aforementioned lemonade later) roomie decided to make brownies from scratch. Roomie turns on the burner which does not have a pan on it, but the burner where a paper bag containing pills and a roll of paper towels was resting. Naturally they set on fire and filled the house with smoke and the smell of burned plastic. So that was fun. I also skyped with the family for a long time which was very nice, including my 91-year-old grandfather. Oh, technology!

The next day I got up early and worked a double at the theater, despite Boxing Day (Dec 26th) being a holiday for most Canadians to go buy more crap. Boxing Day is our Black Friday, and everyone rushes out for big sales. I don't think I missed much.

Fast-forward to mid-week, a couple of days before New Year's Eve. On Wednesday, a couple of friends and I went for sushi between shows. I felt fine afterwards during the last show, but started feeling queasy towards the end. Instead of respecting my body, I went out afterwards to our favorite bar. I figured the queasiness was just dehydration and I didn't think much of it.

I could only stomach a couple of sips of my g&t before the nausea kicked in full-force. Luckily a friend drove me home and I made it home before I started actually vomiting. Really not sure if I would have made it on the TTC...all in all I thought the nausea was very strange. I rarely feel queasy and I like to think I have a stomach of steel. Eating food that has been sitting out or eating raw cookie dough doesn't really phase me, as I have never gotten sick...until now.

Anywho, that was close to midnight and thus began probably the worst night of my life. So, I will spare you the dirty details, but I didn't just throw up a couple of times then go to bed. For the next six hours my body cleaned out my entire digestive system: stomach, colon, everything. In the end I was extremely weak, dehydrated and in ideal shape for a colonoskopy. I was so freaked out by all of this madness I called my poor parents at 3 AM contemplating going to the emergency room. I didn't end up going and I survived, but it was painful.

Interestingly, the two people I ate dinner with didn't get sick, but I am pretty sure it was food poisoning from the sushi. My uncle threw up for 6 hours and did have to go to the emergency room after eating some bad sushi as well, and a couple of other people I know reported getting food poisoning as well from sushi. Actually, now that I remember, Earth Fare near my house in SC stopped serving pre-made sushi because they had so many complaints about illness, so there you go. Careful with that stuff! After my uncle's incident, his doctor mentioned it isn't necessarily he raw fish, but probably some old rice? Anyway, super NOT fun. Afterwards I was really weak and my stomach still upset and I slept a ton. I didn't have much of an appetite or consume anything but fruit and gatorade for about three whole days - whew.

Well, good thing New Year's Eve was less than three days later. I was still feeling off, so I didn't want to upset my body even more with tons of alcohol. So I went out with people from work and the cast from Rock of Ages for a nice, sober night of out with the old in with the new year with people I hardly know.

Happy New Year!

So that was a blast. Kind of...but just for fun here are my interpretations of my holiday week:

Glass half-empty:

Spent Christmas without family clearing smoke from the apartment and eating Domino's. Then had food poisoning which made me violently ill and miss an entire day of pay at work, followed by a quiet New Year's with people I hardly know, and without alcohol to take the edge off and really party. Good times?

Glass half-full:

Had an interesting first Christmas away from home that is actually pretty funny and will make for good stories for my grandchildren as I tell them about my first holiday away from home. Followed next by a thorough digestive cleanse where I shed most of my water weight and had the inability to eat for three whole days, causing my jeans to be loose. Also spent New Year's sober to avoid any stupid drunk texting and the like, partying with the cast of Rock of Ages. Good times!

At any rate I am happy to report that I am feeling much much better and back to normal. Last night was the Royal Alex Christmas Party at the very haunted Keg Mansion. It is an old Toronto mansion with a tragic history, now turned into a large restaurant with lots of ghost stories. We had a delicious three-course meal, some delicious shiraz, and delicious conversation. It was a very fun night and I'm grateful that I recovered for the festivities, though sadly I did not encounter any ghosts :(

The very haunted Keg Mansion

Also, I have become addicted to Ikea and thus have put some finishing touches on my room. I am excited to present to you my humble abode....before:

And after!

I have a bed, yay!

And other stuff, yay!

Lastly I'm headed home in a couple of weeks for my dear sister's wedding, and I must say I am seriously ready for some family time. Can't wait!

xoxoxoxo,

E