For Dignity's Sake....Close the Door!

Merry Christmas Friends and Enemies!

There's nothing quite like waking up Christmas morning to the sound of one of your house guests 'chaking' in the toilet! Ah...to be twenty years old again....I think I'll pass!

It seems that after Grandma slipped off to bed last night, around 1am....Uncle Bruce and Little Cousin Will got into the spiced Rum. Challenges were issued, gauntlets were thrown down and the drinking contest was ON. Now - although I was not witness to this seasonal festivity I feel it's safe to declare Will the LOSER since he barfed last night BEFORE he went to bed...and then again first thing this morning! In fact he was in such a state this morning that he neglected to close the bathroom door before he went in to let go of last night's fun and games. Fortunately Uncle Derek was there to exclaim, "For dignity's sake, close the door!".....while I lunged at the stereo to get some Christmas Swing music playing to drown out the dry heaving.

There's nothing like Xmas with friends.....

Poor, poor Jack (the cat) lost his mind when DJ (Rottweiler) showed up last night. I didn't know that short-haired cats were capable of puffing up to such a massive size! Jack spent most of the night on top of a garment bag in the closet. The poor thing didn't eat, drink or use his litter box all night. Somehow he made it into the bedroom...and out of sheer guilt we let him sleep on the end of the bed. Merry Christmas Jack - your night of terror paid off.

Dinner last night was delightful....though I will NEVER buy an 18 pound turkey ever again! Not matter what any butcher may tell you in the future - 2 LBS of turkey per person is a GROSS over-estimate! Our version of "grace" was listening to two voice mails from Albert Howell over speaker phone. In the first message Al is drunk and delayed at the Toronto airport, cursing Air Canada and drinking beer to pass the time. In the second message he replays the details of passing out on the flight to Calgary, going home to his folk's place with a stomach ache, being taken to the clinic, then sent to hospital and having emergency surgery to have his appendix out! The moral? NEVER complain about Air Canada!

There's was no playing of "One Thing I Hate About You".....it's perhaps a game better suited to Thanksgiving?

So....we have yet to open gifts...I think we're waiting for Quiche and Coffee....We're not children anymore. There's way more nursing of hang-overs going on than excitement about prezzies!

I hope each of you had the Christmas you were hoping for!

See you in 2006!

R

Three Cats and a Rottweiler!

Well Friends,

It's Christmas Eve! One of my favourite nights of the year. In my family it was always the night that the whole extended family came over - including any good friends that my brother and I wanted to invite. We would also open ALL of our gifts on Christmas Eve so that Christmas morning was a time of sleeping in and doing NOTHING - other than taking off to the Blackfoot Truck Stop around 2pm for brunch with the truckers. Delightfully it became known amoungst our friends as an open house night and it was always a surprise who might turn up!

As traditions are want to do....they get altered over time, and partially by the person you choose to settle down with. I'm not allowed to open all my gifts on Xmas Eve anymore - leaving me more work than I'm used to on Christmas morn....We are, however, openning our doors to The Friends again this year, as in so many years before. I'm THRILLED! I have been blessed with a "Chosen Family" ( a term some New Ager taught me) that kicks ASS! Tonight we will be ELEVEN for dinner...Most of whom are Loose Moose/ Calgary orphans, plus a few Toronto friends as well. Added to that number of Merry Makers....THREE CATS AND A ROTTWEILER!!!

I'm a little nervous....

First of all, I have terrible allergies - but I was caught up in the "spirit of Christmas" when Albert Howell's sister, Kathleen, asked if we would cat sit "Jack". I love cats, and Bruce loves them MORE....so, I thought it would be fun, so long as I remember to wash my hands every twenty minutes. Secondly....Five of our eleven guests are SLEEPING OVER tonight so we can do Christmas morning together. Fun stuff!!! This, howeve,r translated into a few phone calls that went something like, "Well, I CAN'T leave my BABY at home for Christmas, that would be SO sad."

So....here I sit, enjoying the calm before the storm. Poor Jack has already been traumatised by:
a) being dropped off at a stranger's house,
b) not being allowed to sleep in the bed with us,
c) being forced to interact with two other cats who are WAY more relaxed and at ease than he is
( the other cats( Lester and Dinah Hazelton*) made quite a show of pissing in Jack's litter box when they arrived...when he did nothing to retaliate we knew he was bound to be last man on the totem pole!)

Jack has been M.I.A. for the last hour. Considering that we are living in an open-spaced loft with few places to hide, this is an admirable feat! I can only IMAGINE what will be going through his tiny cat mind when DJ (aka Donna Jo the Rottweiler who LOVES cats and likes to lick them and take them in her mouth to show her affections) finally arrives with "Uncle Derek Flores"!!!

Until then....I'm off for a cup of SoyNog!

Merry Christmas everyone!

* I have been chastised for NOT having mentioned Lester and Dinah by name in my first draft of this Blog entry. SORRY Terra! yes...your cats are the MOST beautiful of ALL cat-babies in the whole world. Truth be told, they are pretty cool cats, but I'm trying not to play favourites. Jack seems overly sensitive. I also forgot to mention that the gang coming for dinner was also the same gang who played a heated round of "One Thing I Hate About You" at Thanksgiving dinner two years ago. Once the wine gets flowing....it could prove to be an interesting Holiday!...but I don't want to jinx it!

Sneak Peak....

Here's a link where you can take a look at an E-Talk interview on set at Alice, I Think. Prepare to see me in my bra and panties...mercifully from afar! (you may have to cut and paste...)

www.thecomedynetwork.ca/servlet/an/comedy/2/
20051004/TCN_Show_Alice/?hub=ComedyAllPrograms#rightColumn

(Yeah....you have to cut and paste and make sure that it's all on ONE line....Sorry.)

What have I done? Most actors stay in great shape in the event that they book a TV job. Me? No. The opposite. I'm THINKING of getting in shape based on what I've seen of myself on television. A painful, public inscentive. ;-(

Also check out Susan Juby's website. Funny lady.

www.susanjuby.com

Cheers!

Coming Soon.....

Just a quick post to share:

www.aliceithink.tv

Crazy!!! It all seems like some delightful dream I had. Being back in Toronto, dodging junkies on Yonge Street, has made me wonder at times if I really did spend two and a half glorious months on the West Coast falling in love with my TV family...Spending time with Connor and his Mom once a week since I've been back has helped.

Thai Yoga massage is still in the "trying out my new moves" phase. Bruce let me practise on him the other day. I think it went well - as soon as I finished he got up, went into the bedroom and napped for 25 minutes!

I spent 12 hours yesterday (5:30pm - 5:30am) shooting a commercial for Maple Leaf Chicken. If you're still a meat eater (which I am...I'm from Alberta after all!).....you will be interested to know what I learned from the kind folks at Maple Leaf. In Canada it is LEGAL to say that a chicken is "grain fed" so long as it has met the minimal requirement of having consumed only ONE GRAM of grain in it's lifetime! It may very well have eaten other things...but it can still be called "grain fed". Where Maple Leaf is different is that their chicken is "VEGETABLE GRAIN FED"....which means NO animal proteins have been ingested by their chicken - and it makes a big difference in the taste. It also means their chicken costs more than other chicken.....I suggested that THAT is the sort of info that I want to know as a consumer and I'm more than willing to spend the extra money to know that my chicken hasn't consumed other chicken, or cow, or pig..or God knows what else! Anyhow - chances are good that you won't recognise me in the spot as I'm blind-folded so my face is half hidden.

Not much else to report. Gearing up for a Christmas in Toronto....and getting ready to hit the road again in January when I go out to Guleph to do Anton Chekov's "The Bear" and "The Yalta Game".....which I'm REALLY looking forward to!

Happy Holidays to all!

R