suddenly i find myself with free time

so it's been awhile. since april, to be exact. and before that, it was even longer. the whirl of life caught up with me back in the fall, and i found that the last thing i wanted to do was to be blogging. between rehearsals for shows and performing shows and worrying about work between and after and through various productions, i found that my daily desire to express myself on a blog had dried up.

fast forward to this morning...where the clock reads 541am, eastern time, and i'm standing at my newest job...the overnight front desk clerk at a beautiful 4 diamond hotel here in washington dc. that's right - for the past 3 weeks, i've been pulling the 11pm to 730am shift - completely by choice - and this morning i suddenly realized that i've got nothing BUT time...so i might as well reconnect to the blogosphere....to see if anyone is still out there...and to pass the time here at the desk.

i'm sure through it all, if the past three weeks are any indicator, there will be stories to delight.

take for instance one of my more recent late-night crazies...whom i will refer to here as 'silly sally'...who came to the desk, would't make eye contact, played with her fingernails the whole time, and asked if there was anywhere close she could get take out.

after explaining to her that everything in this neighborhood was closed, but there was pizza delivery until 4am that i could refer her to, she looked at me and said, "so...like...they would just deliver it here?" upon explaining yes, that was the idea, she rolled her eyes, and said, "never mind....that won't do. is there room service?"

smiling, i explained yes, indeed, room service in the hotel is available 24 hours day, 'silly sally' wrinkled her noses, finally looked me dead in the eye and asked, "are they going to bring it on a big tray? because i don't really want them to. i mean, i don't need a big ol' tray just hanging out in my room. i'm trying to pack. do they have to bring the tray?"

surprised, and secretly delighted, i said, "i'm sure you can request to not have it brought on a tray when you call...or you can take it directly off the tray when it arrives." a moment of thought-processing silence and a quick nod of the head brought 'silly sally' to say, "i guess that will do", and she turned to walk away.

Ten steps away from the desk, she stopped, turned around, looked frustrated, and said, "actually...can i have them deliver it somewhere else in the hotel? i don't think i want it coming to my room at all. like i can i have them deliver it down here? somewhere?" i smiled, told her to ask when she called room service, and directed her to the house phone across the lobby. 'silly sally' thanked me, turned around, and walked out of my life.

but the rest of the morning, and all day today, i've wondered if she asked them not to deliver it on a big tray. that's a converastion i'm sorry to have missed.....