Went to see Grease last night at the Olney Theater.  It’s Kristiana’s last show she’s doing there and last night was their pay-what-you-can performance before opening night this weekend.

There were a couple audio glitches, but overall it was an absolutely amazing show.  Some of my friends I met from previous shows at Olney were in the cast and as amazing as ever.  Alan was hilarious as Doody.  My friend Abby looked like she had an absolute blast playing Patty.  And Caroline was perfect as Rizzo.  All of them seemed to have so much fun.  Even my friends that were in the ensemble, Casey and Jamiestole the show when they were on stage.  They had so much fun up there, and a full house to play off of.  The theater was filled so densely that people were turned away.  The show completely sold out.

Everyone had so much fun.  Kristiana was smiling when I saw her afterwards, and it’s just so happy to be somewhere that makes you smile.  As hard as these cast members and staff have been working, it’s reminding me why I’m striving so hard.  I’m still figuring out if I want to go to school, but after seeing this show I know I can’t give up on Determination.  I need to keep working on that and getting this new book done because I want to make people smile the way others have made me smile and inspired me to continue striving.  Simply enjoying what you do makes everything worth doing.  That’s what I’m remembering and that is the intention I need to continue with.  It’s not supposed to be easy; it’s supposed to be meaningful.  I just need to make sure that each day I’m getting at least one step closer towards that end.

Progress is the most fulfilling motivator to continue.

I got accepted into grad school last week!

Pat Benatar, for the first time ever at 9:30 Club, was amazing.  She started off a little soft with her voice, but man did she ever ramp it up.  She charges a few hundred dollars for a meet and greet, but by the time the show was halfway through, I fully wanted to pay it, haha.  That woman has spunk, confidence and the ability to inspire.

Pat Benatar was one of the first CDs I was ever exposed to, that I remember buying.  I ran to Shadows of the Night and Invincible during my first Boston Marathon run, I work out to the songs frequently.  Hearing her belt them out gave me that surge of determination all over and reminded me why I have been fighting so hard.  They were even selling these plastic bracelets, and there was a green one that said Invincible on it that I totally bought.

During the show, she had everyone wave their cell phones and light them up during We Belong.  Since mine shines purple it stands out.  It caught Pat’s eye and she looked right at me.  I got the peace sign and about 6 more glances from her that night.  I was standing in the prime spot and I guess that kinda makes me a “heartbreaker” huh?  Hahaha.

Great night and, even though I’m a little tired today, I’m ready to keep pushing and getting a step closer.  It’s worth it because I know how it will impact others.  Each time I get impacted, I’m reminded about these strides and what they are going to do.

In the whole list of things bad for your health, caffeine was listed just below smoking in my packet I studied for personal training.  I don’t know if that is factual or intentional, but man does caffeine do a number on you.

Two nights ago, I mistakenly had a Diet Sunkist, thinking that it was a Fanta Zero, which has no caffeine.  Less than an hour later, just before bed, I had a glass of this diet blackberry tea, which of course also had caffeine.  I was tossing and turning in bed until after midnight.  It was miserable.

So not only does caffeine wire your body, but it depletes it as well.  You can’t fall asleep until you crash and then you aren’t given enough time to recover and get proper rest for your next day.  I felt so absolutely drained trying to wake up at my usual time yesterday.  I wound up sleeping in and *gasp* missing the gym.

I avoid caffeine when I can, and anytime I consume it after 7 pm, I am wide awake until midnight.  At least when I was struggling to wake up I knew that I was going to have a late night tonight—going to see Pat Benatar in DC—and I could compromise by skipping the gym on Monday since I probably will only make it in 3 days this week, which balances my workouts for the week.  I hate to skip a day, but at least my workout week will be balanced.

I’m sure I’ll be exhausted tomorrow.  Maybe I’ll get to the gym, but if I don’t I will have heard at least three songs that I have on my workout playlist at the concert tonight.  I won’t be working out, but I’ll still be sweating at the show probably.

I went to an executive board meeting for the DC Phi Beta Kappa group.  It’s my first year on the board and there are some other new faces part of the group as well.  Going into the meeting, I knew that a few positions were available and was thinking about organizing the Young Professional events.  At the start of the meeting, I found out that they needed help with the website.  I haven’t used my HTML and design skills as frequently as of late as I would like to use them.

So, I wind up getting the best of both worlds.  I offer to assist the Young Professionals coordinator organize or promote events and now I’m the webmaster for the website.  Diving back in and working with my HTML and layout skills will be great experience, and it appears as though I will have more than enough to work with for this organization.  Once I get back on track with writing this book, I bet I will have another whole depth of refined skills to market and promote this new book as well!