It's not quite 8:00 and I'm awake. I'm getting ready to start dress rehearsals for Sweeney Todd on Monday, and this week has been chock full of 12-hour work days. Today, however, I have a callback at 11:00, and Alan and I are going to see "The Importance of Being Ernest" this evening. On the way, we are stopping at a restaurant for my very favorite Lavender Martini. The drink is nice, but the best part is licking the sugar off the glass.

The sun is shining this morning. Crocus are blooming in our yard. Daffodils were waiving from the median on my way to work yesterday. Our backyard birds are more plentiful than usual. (They should be. We purchase them the expensive seed. Pure Thistle Seed. Attracts finches. There is frequently a lineup of birds on our terrace waiting for their turn at the feeder. Our back porch is a little birdie crack den.) I saw two out of three hummingbirds at our feeder yesterday - which normally they won't do. Nevermind that there are four little plastic flowers on that thing to drink from. They will chase each other away. You would think the makers of hummingbird feeders would know this about them.

I love our bird feeders. Now, granted, it does make me feel a little elderly to get enjoyment from watching them with a cup of tea from my window seat. But in a hectic life, it's nice to take a break for a moment and watch another creature that is entirely focused on the moment. And it's cheap entertainment. Finches can't eat the seeds without cracking open the shell. So they have to hold the seed in their feet, peck it open, and gobble out the meat in the middle. They don't do this gracefully.

It's cheaper than a movie...