This post is for my friend Susan, who absolutely loves this story.
When the kids were little, I used to take them in to those photography places for their free 8×10. They would send the coupons around their birthdays so you would go in, have their pictures taken, and then see HOW adorable they looked and buy lots and lots. Well, yes, I got suckered into buying the package one or two times. I folded under the pressure. Then one day I got smart.
The sales lady was showing me the proofs and exclaiming about how wonderful they looked and how cute my kids were (true, that!), and asked me which package I would like to purchase today.
“I’ll just take this one in the 8X10, please,” I said, determined to stick to my guns this time.
“Oh, SUUURRELY you must need more than just the one print. These are wonderful for the grandparents.” She went on in her best sales voice.
That’s it. I was tired of being pushed around by these salespeople just because I only wanted to get the “free” print. “We’ve only got one grandmother,” I said, “and she’s blind.”
So ring it up.
I can’t remember what slick Miss Saleslady said to me, then, but there was no pressure.
Genius! Why hadn’t I thought of that before!? I haven’t used that little lie again (although I might have to), but I have gotten a chuckle every time I tell that story, or just think about it. Feel free to drop that one the next time some photo salesperson is pressuring you to buy.
Well, today I had to exaggerate the truth again.
Someone called me from one of those travel places. I swear I do NOT fill out those forms all the time, but I must have entered a contest at the Highland Fling, which is our town’s summer celebration. This is not the first call I’ve gotten about the “FREE” vacation offers, where all you have to do is drag your spouse to some “short” “no-pressure” presentation, and claim your FREE vacation. I have in fact gotten my spouse to attend one or two of these things, and I know enough to not ask him to do that again. So, when I got the call today about the FREE vacation and could my spouse and I come to the presentation, blah, blah, it just slipped out.
“My spouse and I are separated, so I don’t think that is going to work,” I said.
(We are in fact currently ‘separated’. He is in Las Vegas on a business trip. Of course, if he were just at work for the day, I could still say that. We aren’t together in the same room, are we?)
“You are your spouse are separated?” I could hear her voice deflate, “Oh, I’m sorry about that.” And she couldn’t get off the phone fast enough.
Ha! Take that Miss Telemarketer!
So, no, I don’t set out with the intention to lie, but they just make it so darn easy! So, if my nose looks bigger to you today, you’ll know why.
I have a ton of stuff I should be doing.
I need to finish cleaning my kitchen, as I’m hosting a big brunch here on Sunday.
I need to flippin clean up my office. It’s a disaster.
I need to wrap some presents, because I have a huge pile of shipping boxes and shopping bags not so skillfully hidden in my bedroom.
I need to make my treat to take to the Relief Society party tonight.
I need to go out and check on my chickens and see if they’ve left me a very cold egg.
I need to hem those pants for my daughter, that she left hanging on my sewing chair.
I need to finish arranging my furniture in the front room that got rearranged by the Christmas tree.
I need to haul about 60 pounds of crap from the basement to the garbage.
I need to take a shower and get ready for the day. I get to teach 1/2 day at the Jr High today (woo-hoo).
I need to start a load of laundry.
And yet, here I sit, writing Tillamook Cheese Christmas carols for a contest.
The 1st prize is FREE Cheese, people. Free Cheese!
So far I’ve got this little jingle, to the tune of “Have yourself a merry little Christmas”
Have yourself a merry slice of cheddar,
Tillamook’s so light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight.
Have yourself a chunk atop a cracker,
make it Tillamook.
It’s so nice
for snacking, won’t you take a look.
Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful cheeses are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.
Through the years
We all will have our favorites,
Colby, swiss, or jack
All the greatest dairy products from the cow.
So have yourself A slice of Tillamook right now.
I can do better, though.
FREE CHEESE!
How about this one?
Santa Baby,
Just slip a cheddar under the tree
For me
Been an awful good girl
Santa Baby, make sure that it’s Tillamook cheese
Santa baby, chocolate peanut butter ice cream
A dream
I’ll wait up for you, dear
Santa baby, make sure it comes from Tillamook
Sour cream is oh so smooth
How about a package of Till-a-moos
Next year I could be just as good
If you’ll bring along a block of swiss.
Santa Baby, Colby Jack and Pepper Jack sliced
So Nice
Been an angel all year
Santa Baby, so bring me something Tillamook tonight.
Santa honey, a bag of shredded Mexican blend
Makes our tacos so fine
Santa Baby, make sure it comes from Tillamook
Santa cutie, and fill my stocking baby Swiss
Oh, Bliss
Provalone is so fine
Santa cutie, make sure it comes from Tillamook.
Come and trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations that are Chees-y
I really do believe in you
Lets see if you believe in me
Santa Baby, forgot to mention yogurt so sweet
A treat!
Santa Baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry…tonight
Have THREE precious weeks of summer vacation already passed us by? ACK!!! Where is the time going?
This week we didn’t do quite as much as the past weeks. We actually tried all week to get ourselves to Seven Peaks Water park, but things like piano lessons and swimming lessons and other things kept getting in the way. We finally made it there by Friday. It worked out nicely because our friends the Hilmos were there, so Jenna had a friend, and more importantly, I had a friend. Cole brought a friend with him, and Natalie met a friend there. Megan and John did not have friends, but things worked out. Each of the kids and I took turns watching out for John, while everyone else was pretty much happy on their own. Tess and I had a place in the shade to call home base, and I’m VERY glad it was in the shade. Even with liberal use of sunscreen, we all got burned. Even I got burned, and I was really only out in the sun about half the time the kids were. Cole burned his shins and feet VERY BAD. In fact, it’s been two days, and he’s still red as a lobster. Ouch. As we were watching the slides, I thought, “that boomerang ride looks like fun. I think I’ll get Megan to go on it with me. As we climbed the three story tower, I began to wonder what I was thinking. The heavier person goes in the FRONT of the tube, so there I was, facing death. There was screaming. Plenty of screaming.
This is not actually us on this ride, but you get the idea, right? Just with more screaming. Later, my friend said, “You sure were screaming. Everybody had to look up and see who was doing all the screaming.” Right. Other people scream, too. It’s not just me. It was actually kind of fun. So much fun that I decided to ride it again later in the day with Natalie. Funny how it was much scarier the second time! When Natalie and I rode it, we flipped around a lot and the whole thing made me MUCH more queasy the second time. I was done. No more slides for me. And nothing that goes around in a circle, thank you very much.
It wasn’t until the next day that I felt the full effect of my careless abandon of all that is rational. Oh, my neck! I honestly think I wrenched something on that slide. We won’t be going back there anytime soon. At least not this week.
And since we are talking about water, let me just mention that John is having tons of fun with his swimming lessons. We did one week of our two week lessons, and even though he wasn’t thrilled about having to have swimming lessons, he’s enjoyed it (that’s why taking lessons with a friend is such a great idea).
Ryan’s family did a tour of the Crandall Historic Printing Museum on Monday night. It’s a wonderful place, and if you’ve never been on a tour there, you REALLY need to do so. Where else can you learn about Guttenberg, Ben Franklin and Joseph Smith and how the printing press changed their history?
We also went and saw the movie Rio. Cute movie!
Ryan took the kids to a picnic in Provo. Natalie and I had rehearsal, so we couldn’t go, but I was glad he was willing to take them. John also had his post baseball party with his team. The coach’s family sure knows how to throw a party!
Saturday night Ryan and I invited another couple to go and see Singing in the Rain at the Scera theater. It was fun show, and very well done. And I knew two people in the cast! Small world.
Still enjoying the summer. Hope you are doing the same!
I asked my dear husband out on a date for Friday. Yes, a DATE. I figured we hadn’t been out together just the two of us on a date since we went to a quick dinner on my birthday. We really should be able to squeeze in at least ONE date a month, you would think, but sometimes even that is difficult.
So, after my harried afternoon of ultrasounds and baking bread with the activity day girls (no, it’s not my new calling, I was just helping out), I made a quick dinner for the kids and the two of us snuck out. Thanks to my friend Lisa, I had won tickets to a concert/comedy night by the very funny and talented Jason Hewlett.
First we went to dinner at Cafe Rio and I got my fav, the Cafe Rio chicken salad. Yum.
Then we went over to the Waterford School for this fun benefit concert.
Even though I didn’t know Dan Sloane, by the end of the night we felt like we knew him and we hope for the best for him. And Jason Hewlett was AMAZING! So funny! If you ever get a chance to see him live, go for it.
The music was fun, the comedy was great, and I was glad to have been there. Such a great date night with my hubby! Does that count for our Valentine’s Day date?
I haven’t written much here about our upcoming ROADSHOW, but it’s time to enlighten you. Some of the younger generation might not even know what a roadshow is, but Brigham Young is probably the man responsible for roadshows (or you might have called them “trail shows†back then). At least he set a precedent when he instructed the Saints traveling across the vast prairie expanses to gather together in the evenings to sing, dance, and entertain each other. He knew that such celebrations could raise the spirits of his people.
Today’s Saints are still carrying on the tradition, according to Pat Davis, cultural arts specialist for the General Activities Committee. “I sometimes think we don’t realize what we have in roadshows,†said Sister Davis. “Roadshows are a unique LDS art form, and an exciting showcase for talents. Every would-be composer, choreographer, director, singer, playwright, and dancer has the opportunity to hone skills and try them before the public.” Originally the roadshow would actually go ‘on the road’ and be performed at several different churches through the stake. Now, not every building has a stage or place to perform, so our roadshow is limited to one night at our Stake Center.
And who would be in charge of the ward’s road show, you ask? Well, me, of course. Because apparently having a time consuming calling with the Bells on Temple square and another time consuming calling in the primary presidency and, well, you know, my life weren’t enough to keep me busy. Ahem.
In December, right in the middle of my crazy hectic schedule where I spent about half of my month at the conference center in Salt Lake City, I was informed that the young men and young women had scheduled every week in January to work on this roadshow of mine, so would I mind getting off my butt and coming up with a plan? Ok, they didn’t exactly put it like that, but on the day after Christmas, I called together my committee for an emergency planning meeting to figure out what the heck we wanted to do.
I am honestly so IMPRESSED with what we have come up with. Our theme was basically the 13th article of faith, which in case you need a reminder states: We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
We decided to go with a top 40 countdown show, showcasing the songs that are important to our Highland 9th ward youth. We thought of popular, current songs, and we had our youth change the words. For example, instead of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” we have changed it to “All the Missionaries”. I was explaining to this my parents, and telling them how great it was to see all our young men actually learning this dance (toned down just a little bit. And they do wear pants) and having fun. They said, ‘Who is Beyonce?’ and “What is this Single ladies song?” What? I thought everyone in Northern America had pretty much seen at least one version of this song, but I guess I was mistaken. So, for my parents, here’s the original song.
I won’t post all the lyrics to our awesome song just yet, because there may be other road show writers out there just lurking here to find out our secrets. –What? It could happen!– But just know that it’s awesome.
The kids have been working on choreographing dances and blocking to these songs, and I’ve found that a lot of my job is organizational. When are we going to rehearse each thing, and how are we going to make such and such work. Not theatrical at all. Basically, I’ve been stuck doing all the boring grunt work, with not so much of the creative work. Oh, well. Maybe I’m getting better at the organizational stuff.
We’ve got one song, “Don’t Stop Believing” which is kind of my song. When we chose our songs, and figured out how we wanted to change them, we assigned one or two young people to come up with the actual lyrics. Except when I asked one of the youth to help me rewrite the words (since she WAS on the writing committee) she pretty much blew me off with the excuse that she was too busy. Seriously? Too busy? I may never get over that one, chick. So… I wrote it. It took me about a half and hour. (Too busy? Humph!) As we are trying to teach the youth the lyrics and dance to the song, we found it’s harder to learn when all we have to rehearse are either the original lyrics or the karaoke version with no words. Fine. I’ll sing the song and record the changed words so we can all learn it at our Tuesday night rehearsal this week. It won’t be our performance cut or anything, but it will do.
So I went over to our tech guy’s house, where he’s got the whole ‘garage band’ thing all set up on his computer. He plugs in a mic, gives me a set of headphones and off we go. Now, just for the record, “Don’t Stop Believing” is not the easiest song to sing. It’s high, but it’s right in between my “belt it out” range and my “head voice” range. Never mind. I sang it through once, and then we listened to it. Or rather, he listened to it, and I sat there cringing. Flat note there, not a good entrance there, too loud and a bit screechy there. I sound dumb singing the boy’s part there. And gosh, do I really sound like that? It was painful.
“Do you want to do it again?” he asked. And while I would have liked to do it right and do it again and again until I was satisfied with the sound, I realized that this is called a “scratch recording” for a reason. We’re just going to play it for the kids to sing to so that they can get the words. It’s not for performance.
I cringed and said, “No, it’s good enough. Just don’t tell anyone who did the vocals. Tell them it was your wife or some homeless person off the street who had a ‘will sing for food’ sign.”
He laughed and said, “Right. Let me just download this as my new ringtone, then we’ll be done.”
“You will do NO such thing!” I said a little too loudly.
Now I’m hoping that tonight I can survive hearing myself singing that song over and over and over while trying to teach it to our youth. If I develop a slight facial tick or have a stroke, I’ll let you know.
I should probably prepare by stashing some chocolate and ear plugs in my purse, don’t you think?
Before the holiday is Completely past and we are halfway to Christmas, I must post some pictures of our Halloweening.
I had bought a pair of scrubs at a garage sale earlier this year. I think I paid 50 cents or something great like that. I was so excited. Instant costume! And it’s comfy!
So when the kids and I went to our ward Halloween party on Tuesday night, I was set. Instant costume! John decided to be a parrot and Jenna is all sweet in her Hershey bar costume.
On Thursday evening we took our exchange student, Kazuki, to Gardner Village to see the witches, and to have dinner.
So, now Halloween is over and I need to pack everything away. I’ve discovered I either need to get ride of some of those costumes, or I need more boxes!
In one shop, all the Halloween stuff was 50% off. I saw the Medusa hat that I had coveted when I saw it in Cedar City.
But this time it was ON SALE!! I had to have it. I had wanted that hat, but didn’t want to plunk down $30 for it, so when I could get it for $14, I jumped at the chance! See, it looks good on everyone!
When we came home, we had to do some finishing touches on Megan’s costume. She designed her own digs this year, and wanted to be a Control 4 remote control. Check it out. Here’s her design for the costume. She made all the buttons.
I sewed the costume part, after we figured out the details of the top and all that. Here she is trying it on.
Well, Friday was the day of celebrations at school. I woke up and put on my scrubs, then drove my carpool of Japanese boys to BYU. But when I got home, I realized I couldn’t just NOT wear that awesome Medusa hat to John’s school party. So I threw together a costume.
John had decided to be Harry Potter for his school celebrations. (This is the problem with having a great big box of costumes. The kids tend to change their minds at the last minute)
Blonde Harry Potter? Sure. Whatever.
Jenna stuck with her original Hershey Bar costume, and Natalie was a french maid.
After school, we went to dad’s work to trick-or-treat through the cubicles. This is one of our favorite activities. The kids like it because they can get a lot of candy in a short amount of time. I like it because we don’t have to deal with the weather, and I usually end up seeing my friend Kimberly, whose husband works with Ryan (and decided to be Rick Astley).
John decided for this event he was going to be a dolphin.
Megan was the big hit of the event, there at Contol 4. She had many people want to take her picture in her remote costume.
The actual trick-or-treating at night was a little bit of a let down. It was cold and POURING rain when we were all set to go out. I mean SHEETS of rain. But we braved it and made our way around the neighborhood for a little while at least. Notice that John wore yet another costume, his ninja outfit that I thought he was planning on wearing all along. Kazuki was a good sport and threw on a cape and came with us. Cole did not don a single costume this year. He went to a party. Costumeless. He’s such a disappointment to his costume loving mother. Sigh. I guess he takes after his dad.
We may have been dressed like this, but in reality, we looked more like this.
I did actually make it to Georgia, and I’ve been having a nice time. While Ryan works and schmoozes and talks and explains endless at the trade show, I’ve been having a nice time. On Thursday, one of my former BYU roommates met me at my hotel and we went adventuring together. We got our map and set out on foot to find the CNN building. We had an interesting tour. Did you know that the CNN building is home to the world’s largest freestanding elevator? The Building once housed an indoor amusement park built around the theme of the old H.R. Puffenstuff cartoon show. It was called the World of Sid and Marty Croft. When the Amusement park went out of business, Ted Turner soon bought the entire complex and renamed it CNN Center. Who knew?
Unfortunately, they did not allow us to take any pictures while on the tour. One of my favorite parts of the tour was when they let us sit at a mock anchor desk and read “the news”. Their photographer took a picture of the two of us at the news desk which we could purchase for a mere $20. Cough. No, thanks.
We walked through the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Park, and then looked for someplace to have lunch. Honestly, it was SO hot that all this walking was making me so hot and sweaty and tired, I just wanted to sit ANYWHERE that was inside and air conditioned. We chose the Hard Rock Cafe. We had a super fun waiter who was sweet and charming, even though he called me “Mama”. I’m not used to THAT. He said he wanted to be a motivational speaker. Laurie and I had a fun time catching up and discussing our lives, our kids, and all that has been going on.
After lunch, we walked and walked and actually got a little bit lost trying to find my huge hotel. Once I looked up, there it was. We just adjusted our course and found our way back. It was so much fun to visit with her, and I’m so glad she braved the traffic to come and visit with me.
I then called Ryan and asked how his day was going at the show. I told him where I had been, and he said, “The convention center is a block away from the CNN. You should have just taken the shuttle to the show and then walked a block down hill.” Well, then. So, I put on more deoderant, powdered my sweaty face and took the shuttle bus to the show to say hi to Ryan. I finally found the Control 4 booth and found him. He was busy talking to everyone, so I just set out on my own to peruse the show floor and look for cool “stuff” for my kids. I walked around for two hours until I could take no more. My feet were killing me. I found a place to sit down, drank from my water bottle and called the kids.
When Ryan was done, we came back to the hotel, dumped our stuff, and then met some of Ryan’s work buddies to go to dinner. We had a fabulous dinner at Ted’s Montana grill. It was fun to get to know some of the people Ryan works with, and hear their praise for his knowledge and abilities. And the food was GREAT, too.
The next day Ryan went off to the convention center, and I slept in a bit. I had a meeting planned with another of my BYU roommates who also lives near Atlanta. Lisa picked me up at my hotel and took me to the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum. It was FASCINATING! This HUGE painting depicting the battle of Atlanta has been made into a diorama.
*The circumference of the painting is 358 ft.
*The painting covers 15,030 sq. ft.
*The depth of the display is 30 ft.
*The painting alone weighs more than 10,000 lbs.
While the history of the battle was interesting, I really was drawn in by the history of the painting! It was commissioned in 1885, traveled with the circus, and eventually was donated to the city of Atlanta. You should read about it. Amazing!
I loved looking at the old lovely houses as we drove. I would love to spend a few more days exploring. We decided to go to “the Underground” for lunch.
We laughed as we walked, turned around, asked for directions, and walked some more. We found the underground, and I felt conspicuously white. I was glad I was with Lisa, because she’s used to being a minority, but we were seriously the only white people there. We had fun, though, eating, laughing, and looking around the shops. We both tried on some INSANELY high shoes that I can only classify as “hooker heels”. We didn’t walk in them, we could barely just stand there without falling.
Lisa dropped me off at the convention center, where I met up with Ryan and managed to pull him away from work a little bit early. Even though it was hot and we were sweating, we walked the long few blocks over to the world of Coke museum.
It was fun! We saw all the coke memorabilia, there was a 4-d movie experience that was hokey. Our favorite was tasting all the flavors of soft drinks from around the world. “Beverly” and “Stoney” were both NaSTY!! Who would drink those? And so many of the flavors were SO sweet and fruity.
After all those weird flavors, when we sampled the regular coke flavors that we know, it tasted weird. It was a fun tour, and something I wanted to see (Ryan joked that it was the “mother land” for me), and I’m glad Ryan could get away to see it with me.
That night we went to a private party for Control 4 at some trendy club. It was loud, but the food was good and even though I didn’t know anyone, it was fun. We were both exhausted by 9, so we decided to bow out. We took a taxi back to the hotel and pretty much fell into bed.
Saturday Ryan went to work and I decided to take the day off. I stayed in bed until I felt like getting up. After showering, I decided to explore the hotel, and found there’s a connecting “mall”. It’s really just a glorified food court with a few stores, but they call it a mall. And you can go through the skywalk from this hotel. After lunch I found the hotel pool. I spent the afternoon reading my book by the pool. When I got too hot, I would swim for a bit, then get out and read some more.
There was no work to do, no emails to answer, no PTA stuff to worry about, no kids to take care of, nothing. It was wonderful.
Except that I didn’t bring any sunscreen (who thinks about sunscreen at the end of September?) and my shoulders and chest seem to be quite burned.
When we get home, I’ll post more pictures and tell you about the rest of our adventure! Bye for now.
Last weekend was our town celebration, the Highland Fling. It’s one of our favorite activities as a family. Last year, however, we missed it because we were taking a family trip to Yellowstone, and several family members complained about missing the fling. Seriously? It was a vacation, guys. You are not allowed to complain about what you missed while on vacation.
On Friday night, we went to a “so you think you can dance” type competition. It was a blast to see so much good and great dancing. After the competition, one of the judges, Gev Manoukian, came up and did his own performance. It was amazing!
And then they had a “Moms and Dads’ dance off”. They invited all the parents to come up and compete. I am not a dancer, nor do I pretend to be one, so I didn’t go up, but our good friend Sherry was not afraid to get up there and shake her stuff. That’s her there in the jeans, white dress and green jacket.
She danced her heart out and even did “the worm” up there. She ended up winning a Cricut from Provo craft. It was a fun activity!
Saturday morning we got the gang up and out of the house for the wonderful pancake breakfast. Our Chinese girls must think that we have a big outdoor pancake breakfast EVERY week, since two out of three Saturdays that they were here, we had our only two big breakfasts of the year. We even sat by and talked to the mayor! (he’s in our ward, so it’s not so rare to see or talk to him.)
After breakfast, the kids went exploring before the parade started. Megan came and told me that they were giving away free Webkinzes for the first 200 people in line. So we got the kids together, and went to stand in line. We had to wait about 40 minutes, and were hoping that they really were giving away Webkins animals, but we had nothing better to do, really, so it wasn’t a bad wait.
They were indeed giving them away, and we were in the right place at the right time. Every one of the kids, even the Chinese girls and the boys, got a free little animal.
Then we settled in to watch our favorite small town parade.
We went back to the park later to check out the shops and booths set up, and also for Cole and Megan to compete in the burrito eating contest. When I signed them both up for the eating contest, the guys at Barbacoa didn’t actually laugh at us, but they kind of smirked in a “really?” kind of way. But when we got to the contest, there were only 5 people total at the table. I thought their odds were looking up.
I mean, they should be able to beat out a little girl and her grandma, right? There were a few last minute recruits, so the eating pool looked more like this when they started.
They gave it their best. Trying to hork down those three pound burritos.
But this guy had them beat from the start.
In about three minutes, this guy finished his. Cole made it about 1/2 way through his burrito, and Megan ate maybe 1/4 of hers. We took their leftovers home and Ryan and I split Megan’s burrito and ate them for lunch the next day. They had fun, and got free food out of it. I’m proud of them for actually entering the contest, and giving it their best shot.
We also introduced our Chinese girls to cotton candy. I didn’t think they would like it, but they did. They each bought a bag of cotton candy.
Later that night we went back to the park for our favorite fireworks program. It’s not a long show, but we sit with friends, it close to our house, and we love it. We could actually watch the fireworks from home if we didn’t feel like going to the park, but we love actually being there.
Oh, things are busy around here. Very busy. Hubby did indeed come home from his long business trip, but he’s spend the last 5 days dead dog tired trying to recover. I’ve had rehearsals every night that go quite late, so I’ve also been pretty tired. But all the rehearsals have finally come to an end. For last night was OPENING NIGHT!
I have SO many pictures, but I’ll try not to totally bore you with ALL of them.
Here are the munchkins. Can you spot my Natalie? This is actually only 1/2 of the munchkins, as they have double cast a lot of the roles to let more kids be in the show.
And here we are, the apple trees.
I’ve had so much fun with these ladies. I know them both from previous shows, but they are truly a TON of fun, and I’ve had a blast with them.
as you can see.
And see all those people?
They’re having fun, too. Well, most of them are. The kids find it really long to have to sit around and do nothing the whole second act just to come on for the curtain call at the end. (There are no munchkins after about the first 1/4 of the show).
We’ve had many laughs as we’ve rehearsed. I guess that’s one reason I just love to do these shows. It’s so much fun. The other night, they brought me a mic, but there was no clip on it or mike belt. I’ll just stuff the mic pack (which is about the size of a think deck of cards, but heavier) here in my shorts that I wear under my costume, I thought. But by the end of the show, the mic had slipped down through my shorts and was just dangling there, hanging by the cord. Not good. So, the next night I asked if there was an extra mic belt I could use. Nope. My fellow apple tree Felecia said to just stick it in my bra. Hmmm, that works. So, although I’m pretty sure that everyone who looks at me can see this big LUMP at the side of my bra (maybe I should get that checked, you think?) they’ve assured me that it’s not noticeable, and it’s actually a pretty secure place to keep a mic. But it makes me laugh, that’s for sure.
Oh, and here’s a shot for your vampire fans.
The family came last night for opening night. They enjoyed the show, too!
Notice that we have a real dog playing Toto, which is a bit of a challenge. Last night he (she–her real name is Daisy) ran off the stage to her owner in the wings. She also whined a barked a lot when she was tied to the post by the scarecrow. I guess those crows forgot to give her the bone they had hiding there. But she really adds to the show, and the kids all love her.
After opening night, it’s customary to go out to eat. We were invited out to Chili’s, and I invited the family. I wasn’t the ONLY person who brought family along, but almost.
Jenna, John and Natalie came with Ryan and I, and the kids were super tired.
That witch even came in full makeup and costume. Some kids at Chili’s thought THAT was pretty weird. She even had some parents and a little boy come backstage and seek her out during intermission just so that he could be reassured that she really wasn’t that scary. I promise;
I’ve met her and she’s quite nice.
We got home well after midnight, and Natalie slept in until almost noon this morning. How heavenly does that sound?
So, it’s one show down, and 7 more to do. We have a show tonight, but Natalie won’t be in it. She only gets to do four of the 8 shows, but that’s about right for her. Then she can still do some fun things and not be tied to the show every night.
I wish you could ALL come see the show. It’s fabulous, if I do say so myself. There are really cool special effect, incredible scenery, and extremely talented actors. There’s an article about the show here and here. It’s so much fun.
We’re off to see the the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz.
Last week I got a call from the piano teacher. She assured me that her call had nothing to do with the attitude of my piano students (thank goodness!). She knew that we had birds, and proceeded to tell me all about her sad little cockatiel. It was her daughter’s, but she went off to college and no one has played with him, and now he’s just a sad and lonely little bird. She wondered if we perhaps wanted another bird; if we would love and play with him more than her family did.
Of course I said we would take him. Never mind that we have 4 birds at home who rule the roost (literally). Because I just can’t live with the idea that the poor little bird is sad and lonely. SAD and LONELY, people. He’s with a family who doesn’t LOVE him, doesn’t play with him. He doesn’t have any friends. Well, as a certified foster home for birds, it is my duty and privilege to take him in. Ok, I’m not really a certified foster home for birds–you caught me.
(this is not a picture of my house, by the way, just one I found showing many birds)
So, yes, call me the crazy bird lady if you must, and when you come to visit, would you mind bringing some millet or bird seed?
We should hang a sign by the birds that says “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. …” But all little birds should have friends, right? If not a bird friend, then at least a human friend.
Anyway, we picked up this little bird on Saturday, cage and all. The kids were VERY excited.
But the first order of business was to give him a new name. He had been called “Katie”, but then when they discovered that he was a boy, they just kept on calling him Katie. Well, I can’t in good consciousness call a male bird Katie, so we started taking suggestions for a new name. “How about something sort of close to Katie,” I suggested, “like Petey”. Nobody liked that one. Clayton? Clyde?
When Ryan’s flight to Japan was canceled for the day and he ended up coming back home (surprise!), he first got on my case for taking in YET ANOTHER homeless bird, (he tells me that they AREN’T sad and lonely and that I’m just giving them human qualities, but I know they do get sad and lonely. So there.) and then gave his suggested name, “Guido”. We liked that one, so Guido it is.
So now we have evened things out…5 kids and 5 birds (not counting those silly little parakeets upstairs, but coincidentally, there are 5 of them, too). The problem, though, is that everyone keeps giving us normal greys, so we have 4 of these birds who look VERY similar, and it’s not until you get closer that you can tell them apart. Why can’t people give us their whitefaced, or their lutino cockatiels? I guess they are more expensive and less common. Oh, well. (I actually have one sitting on my shoulder and one on my leg as I’m typing this. Too bad you can’t see how cute they are).
See, it looks good on everyone!
She made all the buttons.
There were a few last minute recruits, so the eating pool looked more like this when they started.
She only gets to do four of the 8 shows, but that’s about right for her. Then she can still do some fun things and not be tied to the show every night.
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