Just venting. So far, 2014 seems to be a year that is absolutely determined to take the p*ss out of me....

Four weeks ago yesterday: I had an afternoon dental appointment to get two crowns. So that morning, as I am sitting in the BF's condo, working on some stuff, and out of the clear blue, his furnace starts making squealing sounds. Loud squealing sounds. Let me add that this was the coldest day we had seen in Atlanta this winter (prior to last week's Snowpocalypse). In the midst of communicating with him, I got another disaster call - my theatre group just started production for a show we are staging in May - and the venue was sold - leaving a lot of performing groups stranded. (This was the start of a week of contacting assorted theatres, and nobody returning calls or email, which leaves me scratching my head and wondering why people claim to want your business, and then don't reply).

The cherry on top of this purgatorial ice cream sundae was a very emo stage mom, who wants us to re-write the script and plan the rehearsal schedule around her kid, who, like every other kid in the show, is onstage a lot, but doesn't have many spoken lines. She wants a bigger role for her kid, and less rehearsals. Argh.

All of this in one day.

So after that fateful Tuesday in early January - which I list on my "Top 20 Worst Days Ever" - the BF, my theatre partner and I all plowed through various roadblocks. And here we are.... at the start of this week.

Monday morning at 9am: the furnace has been replaced, and we have reliable heat again (yay!). My partner and I are about to sign a contract for a better, larger venue, that came in about $1k less. (yay!) Acting and choreography rehearsals are on schedule (yay!) Costumes are almost done. (yay!) And everyone in the cast and on the production team is on the same page about their role in this show, about rehearsals, being prepared, etc. (yay!). It took a month to get to this point, but I was feeling pretty good, having gotten all of my ducks are in a row. And then.....

Monday morning at 10am: I got a call that there was water coming into the condo downstairs. MY condo had a leak in the refrigerator water line. The long and short of it is that most of the rooms are sheeted off with plastic, and this morning, they ripped out a bunch of carpet and linoleum. There are industrial dehumidifiers and fans everywhere.

Right now: I am working out of my bedroom. My master bath is my kitchen sink for the time being. LOL. They are coming back tomorrow and Friday to check the humidity and moisture in the floor, before they decide whether the sublayer has to be ripped up and cleaned out and rebuilt. I am trying to be optimistic. But I am also prepared for a long and lengthy renovation here.

I have to say, this leak could have been a lot worse. A friend was out of her house for 30 minutes, and a pipe burst and decimated her kitchen. So I am grateful right now that things here are as they are.

I feel like 2014 is going to be a good year, but I'm going to have to fight tooth and claw and nail to make it so.

In short, I am still on the forums, and I am still cheering everyone on - in spirit! But I have less time these days to post on these forums, so I am going to have to be more of a lurker. But I am here in spirit! And reading and enjoying all of your creativity and inspiration