Taxes

I learned something new in that if you withhold over $100,000 in federal taxes in any given pay period you must file with the IRS the next day... as opposed to filing within a 4-5 day period based on your pay day or as based on your filing status.

A Fast for My Mom

My mom has been sick for some time now. The doctors have not been able to successfully diagnose her issues. She has had a localized pain in her back and her blood work is all over the place. She had a bone marrow biopsy yesterday and the doctor told her that he was testing her because he thought she might have what is called multiple myeloma which is a cancer of the blood and bone basically. My mom is scared and so are we. I believe in the power of prayer and fasting as God listens to us and blesses us according to our faith. If any of my friends wants to join our family in a fast for my mom on Sunday (Fast Sunday) we will be asking the Lord to answer our prayers:
-That the doctor can diagnose her quickly
-The doctor will be able to come up with an effective treatment plan
-She will start to feel better
-She will feel comfort and have understanding
-Her family will feel comfort
And of course this is all according to God's will.

Andrea Martin Rocks

Last year I went with my parents and my best friend on an Alaskan cruise (if you have not gone one on and are not sea sick, please do this!!) And we were lucky enough to go see Young Frankenstein the Musical. So funny. After Candice and I stayed after for a very long time (too long if you ask Hutch and Liz) to see if we could get some autographs. The photo above is with Andrea Martin from the show. She played Frau Blucher (did I hear a neigh?) Good times. Why am I posting about this now? Well I could tell you, but my reasoning is anonymous.

Guys like girls with skills

Thanks to my dear, dear friend I have a new skill. I now can link web addresses right in my post. See, mad skills!! It is fun to have a friend with the same name as me, although it is confusing from time to time to our cast. Stephanie is my choreographer (to the stars) for Birdie. So there is Stephanie the director and Stephanie the choreographer. I tried for a long time just to be known as Steph and have her be Stephanie but even that is not working for everyone. Kate calls me Starbuck but not everyone knows who Starbuck is (side bar on Katee Sackhoff... how much do I love Battlestar Galactica? That is right, BG is not just for the geek...)

In light of my new skills I fully intend I will win a man despite what Phyllis Lapin Vance says: Remember guys don't make passes and girls who wear glasses.

Hello I'm a Mac and I'm a PC

I bought a Mac G4, the older version, for $250. Not too shabby. I set up my Mac and that was the easy part. I have been a PC girl my whole life and have little knowledge of the Mac. (I need to name my computers more than just 'the Mac' and 'the PC'... suggestions?) I added the Microsoft programs for Mac and even wrote a paper on the Mac last night. My problem is thus: I can not get the internet to work on it. We have a wireless network upstairs and my laptop connects just fine. I can not find a wireless card for the Mac at all.

BUT the Mac looks good and plays DVDs, so I think I will keep him for a while. (I decided the Mac is a 'he' because I need a good reliable male in my life... but that is a subject for another blog!)

Busy ... so busy

Raise your hand if you need a long 3 day weekend

raises hand... sheepishly

Look what I can do...

I just learned fun new tricks with this blog thing... photos and links!! Oh the fun I am going to have!! Next stop... fonts!

Birdie

So those who know me well know I do NOT like old musicals. They are not as fun to me as the new ones. But I have the chance to direct By Bye Birdie for Taylorsville City in Utah. I jumped at the chance to work with a new set of people than Midvale for more experience and exposure. Midvale has been great to me a let me do 4 shows, but it is nice to have a new experience.

My cast is awesome. I can not even tell how great they are. I have 61 people who are in the show and the best crew ever. My music director is my best friend and my choreographer was one of my best friends in high school. All three of us have done Birdie before. I was Mrs. Merkle, Candice was Ursula Merkle, and Stephanie was Gloria Rasputin. So we all have a special place in our hearts for the show.

Let me talk a minute of my leads... how great are they? I was so worried at first we would not have enough people come. I had a Rosie, no problem; I had my MacAfee family, no problem; I had a Mamma, no problem; but what I did not have was a Conrad or Albert, problem. But we sent out notice that we needed more people for call backs and I could not have asked for better people to come and audition!! We have the best cast ever and they work so hard.

More on Birdie as we get closer... 4 weeks to go!!

Tied up

I tried to post a new blog the other day but my blog had been locked down by Blogger. I guess it is good that we are being protected.

This week has been 8 different kinds of crazy. I have been working full time, going to school full time, directing Birdie, and have a cold. Not that I am complaining at all... okay who am I kidding of course I am complaining. I am tired!! I think I probably should have listened to my mom when she told me I was too busy. It is true, I am too busy.

A funny thing did happen this week, though. My neighbor and good friend is out of town her for 15th wedding anniversary. She and her family are in Hawaii so I am watching her place for her while they are all gone. The left Tuesday morning and I went home briefly after an appointment with my hair lady. There was a For Sale sign on their lawn; not one of the small ones either, it was the big cross you pound in the ground. I stopped surprised because we are REALLY good friends and she did not mention she was putting her house on the market.
So I went to the neighbor on the other side and asked what was going on. She was mad! She said the sign went up an hour after they left. Like they had planned for it to go up while they were in the air on the way to Hawaii. I did not think this sounded right so I called Carrie's sister and asked what was going on with it. She thought it was obviously a joke on the family or the neighborhood. Another neighbor had called the agent listed to see what was going on and the agent told her that he had been talking to the family for a month.

Something was not sitting right. No one talks to an agent to sell their house and not tell neighbors, best friends, and family; and then flies to Hawaii to avoid the onslaught of phone calls. That just does not happen. So I called the agent and told him I thought it was a mistake. He assured me it was not so I said, “You are selling a house on Coolidge Street in Midvale?” He said no. So I said “Then you have the wrong house.” He assured me he would not make a mistake like that. So then I asked the name of the home owner which he refused to give me. I gave him the name of the owner and he said he had never talked to them. (He is really bright, this one!!) So I again told him he had the wrong house. I told him the sign was up in the wrong yard and assured him that he wanted the house 4 south from us.

I then told him he had to have the sign out of the yard before I got home. Then I realized that I had the number of the people who actually put the sign up so I called it around 7 and told them what had happened. The realtor had not called them to tell them to take it out. So I told them the same thing I had told the agent that they needed to remove the sign before I got home that night. It was gone. I am a very scary person! Who knew?

So this is a blog

Raise your hand if you are the last person in the world to sign up for a blog... or so it seems. hand raised. Hello my name is Stephanie and now I am a blogger.

I am excited to start living in a digital age... learning how to do fun things on Google chat AND a blog in one week. Look out world, here I come!