no sleep for YOU

so here is the tale.....I went to bed on Thursday night at midnight and woke up at 2 with a bloody nose that bled and bled...It finally stopped and I tried to get back to sleep, as I knew I had a busy weekend ahead and would be staying up all night on Friday to write an overnight play.  No such luck...no sleep for YOU.  So, I got up and worked til 8am, went to Pilates (I almost feel asleep on Double Leg Kick), then had breakfast with my classmates - no coffee, as i thought I might take a nap. 

No Nap for you!!  The phone rang...and after I turned it off and tried to close my eyes, my cell phone rang, and i couldn't turn it off as it was my alarm clock.  So, by the time I left the house, I was tired and cranky. I went to the Play in a Day presentation show on Friday night, where I was randomly assigned to another writer to write a 10 minute play, to be turned in by 6am.  So, I bought some diet Dr Pepper and headed to Nancy's for a war of the wills on writing a play with someone you don't know. 

Now, I am not much of a team player in the first place. I work from home, my sports are pilates and walking, I like working alone, which is funny considering my life in theatre...BUT I was ready to be a collaborator - apparently SHE wasn't...long story short, we went with my idea and turned in a play at 5:30am that I was actually quite proud of, and as a director, thought I could do a good job with it.  So, I laid down in her guest room to try and grab a couple hours sleep before I had to go to the JDRF walkathon (I raised over $2,000 thanks to my friends and family!! Click Here to see my progress chart and hear the cheers and whistles!!)...and my fucking cell phone rang at 6:30 - a friend calling to make sure I had turned in my play, and then at 745, I got a text from the girl I was walking with....so I gave up....

I took a shower and went to the walkathon, which we finished in an hour, and then I went to check in to the Doubletree.  Felt all my hard work deserved a nice relaxing night in a hotel, and I laid down to try to sleep.  My cell phone AGAIN, rang, and it was my mother. We talked until my phone starting dying and I thought GREAT - now I can sleep...and as I drifted off, the GOD DAMN FRONT DESK called to make sure my room was ok!!!  AGHHHHHHHHHHHH

So, I got up, and figured I would go get some dinner or something before I had to pick up my friend who was coming to see the performance of all the 10 minute plays that had been created the night before, and I could charge my phone in the car...but the CHARGER was broken...something about keeping it on the floor under my feet probably had something to do with it getting bent, I assume...So, I drove all the way home to get my phone charger.  I charged it a while and then left to get Kevin. I backed the car out of the garage, and as I shifted into Drive, it DIED.  It sounded like it WANTED to turn over, but just couldn't.  I am PANICKED!  I could miss the play, but all my stuff was at the hotel, and I had a thing to do down down on Sunday...

My neighbor said maybe it was the battery, but I didn't think so, cuz the lights and everything were fine and it was TRYING to turn over...(and as this post attests, I KNOW battery issues). I was pretty sure it was the alternator for some reason.  They helped me push it back up in the driveway, and my neighbor drove me to the theatre.

Once there, I had a whole slew of friends there to support my awesome play...and folks, the director and actors SUCKED big loads of CRAP and missed everything we had written, including the very blatant stage directions we had included to make sure certain bits were clear, and funny...I WAS so embarrassed, and when it was over, I leaned over to my friends and said, "you do not need to vote for mine to win."  The other plays were not really much better, but at least the acting was not so poor and you could understand what was going on.  At the end, yeah, mine did not win.  As a director, I have won 4 of the previous 6 times I participated, and if I had directed this script, it would have won....sigh. so, NO prize for YOU

My friend K drove me back to the hotel from the theatre, stopping at the store so I could pick up snacks for my Sunday event, then he came up and we talked until 2am - yes I would have preferred to either sleep or jump his bones, but since he's not that into me, and I know it, I took what I could get, and that was talk.  I confirmed breakfast with the front desk, since I had gotten a coupon for the awesome breakfast...11am - and YES, the hotel shuttle could take me to campus for my event! COOL...I could sleep til 10 (almost 8 hours), have a great breakfast and leisurely make it to the University with no trauma.....

watch the news and catch up on email.  Around 930, I called down to see if there was a crowd at breakfast and they said, no, it was really thinning out SINCE IT ENDED AT 10!

Fuck

So I showered and dressed and ran down to gulp in some eggs and bacon. They were out of fruit and yogurt, and the french toast was "limp" and they only had cheese danish...bleah.....

I was in too poor a mood to go sit in the hot tub, so I took the shuttle to campus, lugging my computer, my over night bag, 2 giant bags of chips, and a milk crate full of juice boxes, and my purse and water bottles.  I had a class with 35 unruly 8 - 12 year olds, and then took the lot of them to the planetarium, where I had hoped for a nice relaxing cool place where I could drop into a short nap...NO, they had a LASER show going....loud music, pulsing lasers...NO SLEEP FOR YOU!!!!

After everyone left. I kinda sat there...and then I realized I had no way to get home.....and not even any cash for a cab, and finally I burst into tears.......I sucked it up and called C, the guy who dumped me, saying he just wanted to be friends. And he said he would come get me...he lives 10 minutes away.  FIFTY minutes later he shows up and when we get to my house we take a look at my car.  It actually turned over the second try but before my elation could hit, he is screaming turn it off, as I notice black smoke rising from the hood.  The burning smell he figures is the serpentine, and I say, I still think it is the alternator causes all this, but he insists a pulley is out of alignment or something, so he takes the serpentine off...and all the pulleys spin fine...except  (guess!) the ALTERNATOR!.  He figures something has happened to the bearings in there.  We move the car to the garage, since now it starts like a 2010 model. He hangs out for a while, and then he left, I ate dinner and went to bed at 9am...And yes, I took a sleeping aid and left my cell phone in the other room.  I slept til 8....and now I am trying to get prices on getting this thing fixed.....

So here is my silver lining......at least it died at home...at least I drove up here to get my phone charger, otherwise I would have been stranded at the hotel, or worse, downtown at 10pm Saturday night, with NO PHONE.....