JULY.

July is typically the month when things slow down and we languish in the heat of the summer.
Not this year.
Where do I start. Well, Natalie is in Alpine Community Theater’s production of Peter Pan. Tonight is Opening Night! I wish I was in that play with her, but we will go see it tomorrow.

So, for the past two weeks, she’s had a rehearsal every night, with the last three going past 10:00. It’s actually a relief when the show opens because then you just do the show, and you go home. That show runs until June 22.

This week, we pick up two Chinese exchange students. We’ve had fun with this program in the past, and the family was excited to host again, even though I am seriously so busy in July, I don’t know when we’ll do anything fun with them. They will be here from the 18th of July until Aug 5. They have to be to their program in Orem every weekday. We drop them off at 8 and pick them up around 5. Thankfully, I got a call yesterday from another lady in Alpine who wanted to carpool, and we’ve worked it out so that we can take 6 kids from 3 families. Of course, that interferes just a little bit with my three girls who are doing a buddy program with them. They are buddies, and they go 5 different days with the Chinese students. (These aren’t this year’s students, but Vivian and Coco from two years ago)
They get to go to a ropes course, 7 peaks, and also help with a talent show. There’s also a family barbeque closing social that we all can go to. Luckily, Megan could drive the three of them to Orem on buddy days if we can’t squeeze them into the carpool. The last time we did this, I just about went crazy. The girls were nice and sweet, but the DRIVING back and forth to Provo, through the construction EVERY SINGLE day, (sometimes twice a day) was killing me. I didn’t have a good carpool, and that makes SUCH a big difference.
Hopefully we can squeeze in some fun with them.

Meanwhile, I am in full swing rehearsal mode for the Scarlett Pimpernel. That show opens August 2, which is just a couple of weeks away, and I have NO idea how we will be ready in time. But guess where I’ll be every night? Yep, at rehearsal.

To add to that, I have a lesson to teach this Sunday for a class I’m subbing, and then a RS lesson NEXT Sunday. I think if people know you are in cub scouts (my new calling), that means “please call this person to sub for you because they don’t have a Sunday job”. Oh, and cub scout day camp is this week. hooray (said in a dead pan, very small voice).

Oh, and yes, I’m still playing bells. Every Wednesday, although I have to miss one for a dress rehearsal. Thankfully, at the Scera, they don’t do shows on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, so that means I can stil go to bells through the month of August, even though I’m doing a play. Except, did I mention that after we do the show at the Shell, we are also performing it at BYU every night for education week? Yes, we’ll get to do the show in the deJong Theater, so if you are attending education week, COME see the show! I’ll have to miss bells for that week, too.

I heard that we’re performing some song for a Music and the Spoken Word broadcast sometime in August, but since I can’t be there on the Thursday night rehearsal, I think I’ll let someone else take my spot and step aside for one broadcast.

My mother was kind of chastising me for being so busy, and she doesn’t understand WHY in the world I would want to fill up my whole summer with a play. I guess if you don’t do theater, you don’t understand the draw. It is a ton of work, and many times I ask myself WHY I do this, but it really is fun. Talk to me when it’s over and we’ll see if I think it was worth it or not.

So, we are going to hang on for the next month and just hope I can schedule everything just right so that we fit it all in, with no screaming panic attacks and no stress eating. Wish me luck.