Got a note from fellow blogger Rachel - her computer died and she's having trouble with her new system, so she asked me to let people know that she'll be back soon!

I've had a headache for the last couple of days - I'm not sure if it is due to my head and neck issues from this week, too much sugar the last few days, or PMS-related. Whatever the case, I WANT IT TO GO AWAY!

Friday was a crazy day. Had SBUX (caffeine-free tea) with my friend SF and her BF, and then went home to nap for a few hours so that I would be reasonably fresh for my dinner/theater evening with Mike. I tossed and turned for three hours, and never did get a wink of sleep. So much for being fresh.

Had a phone meeting with my new life coach, and we talked about a bunch of stuff, including how life sometimes intervenes and can derail the best-laid plans, which my little accident last week did a little bit. I certainly wasn't my usual perky self all week to celebrate my birthday, though I think I did pretty well considering.

Friday evening with Mike was really fun. We had a lovely dinner at Café Bizou, one of my favorite restaurants, and I had the carrot rosemary soup, rack of lamb with mint sauce, and flourless chocolate cake. Fabulous birthday dinner. Mike had the carrot rosemary soup, sesame encrusted salmon, and crème brulée. I had a bite of the crème brulée, and it was delicious, but I was very happy with my cake, and enjoyed every bite.

As we were leaving the restaurant he pulled out his directions and said "Temple Street". Now, I don't know very many theaters in LA, but I do know the three that are in one complex off of Temple Street. So I said we were either going to the Taper or the Ahmanson.... Anne used to stage manage at The Mark Taper Forum, and then there is the Ahmanson Theatre, and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (I think it's called the pavilion....). The Dorothy Chandler only has musical stuff - opera, ballet, etc., so I knew it wasn't that. And I couldn't remember what was playing at either the Taper or the Ahmanson, but I'd been to the Ahmanson for La Bohème so I was racking my brain. Mike said that we were going to the Ahmanson, but wouldn't tell me anything else. I came up with "Thoroughly Modern Millie" as one thing that I knew would be playing there, and some title that had something to do with a family, but that was as far as I got....

So we arrived at the Ahmanson, and the title was on the side of the building "The Royal Family". Cool! Don't know a thing about it, but cool! So we parked the car, walked around a bit in the gorgeous evening air, and went inside just before the show started.

The set was elaborate - a living room with a grand, curving staircase going upstairs to three different bedrooms. Beautifully decorated in turn of the 20th century style.... The audience applauded for the set ALONE, even before the actors came onstage.

The play was delightful - a comedy, and a 'satirical valentine to the theater'. All through the first and second acts I marvelled at the woman who played the grandmother, and the woman who played her daughter. They were both phenomenal, and the grandmother in particular had an amazing presence about her. The second she walked onstage, she commanded attention. Wow. And the woman who played the daughter had THE most AMAZING VOICE. I knew I'd heard it before, but just could NOT place it for the life of me. During the intermission I looked at the biographies to find her, and realized EXACTLY why I knew her voice. She's Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Janeway on Star Trek Voyager. I hadn't recognized her at all in this role, nor had I ever seen her play anything other than Captain Janeway, but I knew her VOICE. So I marvelled at her the rest of the evening, and I'm in love with her VOICE! Gives me more inspiration to develop my own voice more than I have.

Anyway, the entire evening was wonderful, in spite of my fatigue, and Mike and I had a really good time. The only thing that might have made the evening better were if I had spent it with someone I was romantically involved with. In due time, I suppose.

We got back to the apartment building and said good night right around 11:30, and I was in my new bed with the lights off by 11:34, and I think I was asleep by 11:35. Slept like a log until 8:30 Saturday morning, snoozed until 9:30, and then went to ActorFest for a couple hours. Mike was there, so I dragged him over to my acting coach to introduce them to each other, and then I headed home to take a nap before my date. I didn't feel too great, and wanted to rest before I went out last night. Got home around 2pm, and attempted to nap from 2:30 to 6pm. I think I fell asleep around 4. So I got up, showered, and dressed for my date. Still didn't feel great, but didn't feel bad, either.

This is a new guy, who I had brunch with last Sunday. I met him through eharmony.com, which I signed up for about a month ago. He seems VERY nice, but I can't tell yet if there is anything there - but I've been in some form of pain both times I've seen him, so we'll see. Anyway, I met him over at a Greek restaurant nearby for dinner at 7:30, and we had a nice dinner, but that restaurant is SO noisy! This is the same place that Mike took me for Valentine's Day, and it was noisy then, but I had chalked it up to it being so packed that night - nope, it's just a noisy restaurant! It was also FREEZING where we were sitting, so we ate and left and went to another place for dessert, called Café Cordiale, which is across the street from Café Bizou! Had chocolate mousse for dessert, and then we went to the movies to see "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I'd seen it before, but really wanted to see it again, so that was fine. It was extremely loud in the theater, though, and I don't know if it was the noise, my injury, the dessert, PMS, or what, but somewhere in the middle of the movie I got a bad headache. My date dropped me at my car around 12:30, and I was snug in my bed asleep by 1am.

This morning I got up around 9, made some eggs with spinach, soy cream cheese, and herbs from provence, and then headed in to the office. I've got to make up some time from being out earlier this week with my injury. It's deathly boring in here on the weekends, though. I hope I don't have to make up time often! I haven't had a single call yet!

Anyway, I'm here until 4:30 today, then I'll go home and see Anne for a few minutes, call my mother and grandmother, and nap as long as I can before getting up and coming back in here for my usual midnight to 8:30 shift and the start of another week.