Thirty

Well, I did it! Posted something every day. A lot of it was schlock, but hey, it's up there. Had my first Elephant Man rehearsal tonight. It's going to be a great show to work on, I think. Little Women opens (gulp!) next week.
Granny goes home tomorrow. Boo hoo.

Twenty Nine

Don looked all through the van. I looked all through the van. I looked through every jacket and pants pocket he owns. I looked through the dresser, mail shelf, cubby shelf, and desk. We drove up to the base and Don retraced his steps. No ID card.

We came home. Carol went out to the van with a screwdriver and took apart part of the dashboard.

She found the ID card.

I really don't want her to go home.

Twenty Eight

My Christmas lights are up! Everything but the tree. Need to scope out where the cheapest trees are around here. It's weird trying to fit your old lights to a new house, where the layout is all different. I ended up using our "net" lights to decorate the chained-up hot tub out back, as a backdrop to the scarecrow with the jack-o-lantern head and the Santa hat. It's unique. The front is a little more traditional. I'm using the candles in the windows for the first time in a long time, as they never fit on the windowsills in Sewickley. It's nice. The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and Thanksgiving dinner tasted just as good the third time around.

Don somehow lost his ID to the base today. So tomorrow will be spent retracing steps and turning the van upside down to try to find it.

Carol put a patch on the tear in the footstool tonight. It looks better now, but I don't think it will hold for long. One good grab by Monkey or one good bounce from Tarzan and it's gone again.

It was actually quite brisk this morning, with wind chills in the lower 30's, but by mid-afternoon it was mid-50's and sunny. Perfect for a slow jog through the fallen leaves.

Twenty Seven

Had a relaxing day today. I convinced Scooby to snuggle with me a bit this morning and watch TV, thereby avoiding the daily fight over the computer. Went for a run. Finished my paper on The Lion in Winter. Played a multiplication matching game with Scooby and Tarzan. Played Chinese Checkers. Watched Amahl and the Night Visitors. Make Chocolate Chip cookies. Ate homemade turkey soup for dinner. Went to Holiday Lights on the beach. Read stories. Surfed the internet for Christmas gift ideas.

Tomorrow I plan to take down Thanksgiving decorations and start putting up Christmas ones. Also, do some research for Elephant Man, and review lines for Little Women.

Good day.

Twenty Six

With love and sentiment of true Thanksgiving for all....

My Thanksgiving blog entry is thus....

Muppets sing Bohemian Rhapsody

Twenty Five

I've been trying to catch up tonight on some academic work that has been slipping behind, so that I don't have to worry about it over the weekend. However, I don't think I'm going to quite finish. My final paper for my Research and Aesthetics class, my "mock thesis" is almost done, but I'm still struggling through the stupid MLA formatting stuff and I need to give it another round of proofreading when I'm not so bleary-eyed.

I've also been participating in an online discussion group that was set up in lieu of having face-to-face class today. We're discussing modern examples of Gothic storytelling utilizing the presence of "self" vs. "other" and the symbolism in Tennessee William's "Suddenly Last Summer." It's interesting, but I'm spending way more time checking the discussion board than it would have taken me to just go to class.

Feeling a little melancholy not to be seeing Mom and Dad and sibs this Thanksgiving, but it is wonderful to have Granny here. I'm being totally spoiled once again. It's amazing how much pressure it takes off me when I don't have to worry about meals for everybody. I really don't like to cook. I do like to eat, however.

The running has been going pretty well, though. I'm down 9 pounds now - my goal is 11 more.

Hope everyone is traveling safely and giving lots of hugs to loved ones!

Twenty Four

Don's job didn't go much better today. The boss at this base is a real piece of work. He was warned ahead of time, but still got to experience it for himself today. The poor guy. He's really trying to have a good attitude about it.

Not much to say today. Good classes, good rehearsal. Now to maintain what we've done until next Monday!

Twenty Three

Caught up on Grey's Anatomy on Hulu.com. I basically enjoyed the (apparently) last episode of 2009, but was a little peeved they crammed all three holidays into one show. The music was good, though. I think I recognized a new Ingrid Michaelson song. I like her.

Good run today - 35 minutes without stopping. And then a little more after that, but that was only because I had to go to the bathroom!

Kids brought home great report cards today. I'm so proud of them! Scooby made honor roll and got about 5 free meal cards to various restaurants. The grades were from their previous teachers, since that's where they spent the whole first quarter. Tarzan is still having a little trouble adjusting the another change, but he's hanging in there.

One of my cohorts got punched in the face accidentally in Combat class today. Not fun.

Little Women rehearsals are going pretty well. We got some walls on our set today, and a bookcase and fireplace. I can't wait for our props and costumes! I actually like wearing a corset.

Don didn't enjoy his first day at the new base. He said everyone is unfriendly and the girl he's working with is psycho. Hopefully it gets better tomorrow.

Twenty Two

Who knew?
Slug Eating Cat Food

Twenty One

Twenty One? Really? Boy, this month is flying by. Went to the beach this morning to try to get some Christmas card pictures done - boy what goofy looking kids I have!!! It was sunny but pretty brisk - in the mid 50's. Cinderella looks frozen and tortured in almost every picture, and the boys aren't much better. Definately some "Calvin" faces. I'll see if I can cobble something together, though. I wanted to try to get them out fairly early so I could let folks know about our change of address. I think I'm past the mark for early, though!

We ran a couple of errands and then I went to a short rehearsal for Little Women. "Jo"'s grandfather died on Friday, so she had to fly home for the weekend, which limited what we were able to rehearse. Back here, Granny and I relaxed with the kids while Don got the check-engine light on the car diagnosed and test-drove the distance to the new base he's starting at on Monday. It's going to be another fun commute for him, I'm afraid. On the good news side of things, the check engine light was the "loose gas cap" signal that I love to hear! If you've got to have a check engine light on, that's a good reason to have.

Tonight I"m going to try to catch up on some reading for school. Tomorrow is church, then Don and I are ushering As You LIke It, (so we can get in free) and then maybe going to dinner. A date! Who would have thought it possible?????

Good to talk to Steve and Lisa this weekend. Melissa and J - how are you guys? What's new in RI? J, it's been way too long since you've updated.

Twenty

Okay. Don is booked on a one way ticket from Boston to Norfolk on the 27th. Granny Carol is helping out with the cost. Steve, you weren't home when I tried to call, I guess. He's planning on driving up with us on the 23rd. The kids and I will drive back here on the 2nd.

So, done, and done.

Saw Regent's dress rehearsal for As You Like It last night - kind of an uneven performance, but some really fun moments. Still rehearsing Little Women, around the As You Like It schedule,which is frustrating, but it's coming along.

Carol and I also went Christmas shopping for the kids today. Found some cute clothes, but need to make one more round for a toy or two.

It's going to be a lean Christmas, all around. If I can just be with family, and have everyone healthy, I'm good.

Nineteen

Copout post!!!!
I'm tired. I stayed and watched As You Like It at school tonight. I'm so tired!!!!
Still not feeling 100%.
Hopefully better update tomorrow.

Eighteen

Really tired tonight, and feel like I'm starting to fight off a cold. Fell asleep in my car in the parking lot between classes - that was NOT my plan! So super short post today. Tomorrow's going to be a LONG day for me and the kids, so think positive thoughts our way.

Post Seventeen

Granny Carol is here! Hooray!

Good day today. Good run in the morning - 31 minutes running, 5 walking on either side. Good classes - felt like I'm larnin' things. Bible study with the Dean at lunch, then another good class in the afternoon. Homework with the kids, then rehearsal for Little Women. Then home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Boys started their new classes yesterday. Tarzan's having adjustment issues again, but not quite as bad as before. He said today went better than yesterday. Scooby's doing fine, so far.

Nothing deep and introspective today.

Post Sixteen

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/12/steven.curtis.chapman/index.html

My acting professor sent me this article today and asked us to discuss it as a class. Here are my thoughts below. Any thoughts from you guys?

I remember reading about this story when it happened, and praying that God would somehow shine through the incredible pain this family has experienced. (Imagine what the son who was driving must have felt)

I believe that God has given artists an exquisite gift in the ability to use their art to heal themselves and others through the expression of pain and grief. Chapman himself discusses this in the article and how God allowed him to grieve and heal through the music he was writing. He was not, however, able to do it immediately. There was a time of separation from the art for awhile, before the pain was ready to be processed. I think this is where grace and wisdom need to enter in. If a situation is too raw within us to allow any distance, it probably isn't ready to be fuel for our art. In such instances, the use of emotions can turn into therapy instead of art, and isn't a proper or effective expression. However, once some time has passed, and the healing process has begun, it is not only appropriate but necessary for us to use ALL of ourselves in our art. Not only including, but ESPECIALLY the deeply painful areas, because those are the places out of which our most powerful communication can arise.

For Chapman to be able to sacrificially give himself over to his music, and consequently give that gift to the world, is a powerful testimony to God's transformational power in our lives.

There's a fairly famous C.S. Lewis quote about pain being "God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." The point being, sometimes God allows pain in our lives in order to rouse us from our complacency. As humans, we resist being roused, we resist pain. And as artists, I think we resist the thought of "using" our pain in our art, as somehow disrespectful or dishonoring of the pain. I disagree, however. I think by allowing God access to the pain in our lives allows Him to transform it into something beautiful and possibly helpful to others in their own walks through grief. Being the instrument of this transformation is the most respectful and honoring thing we can do for ourselves and those we have lost.

Post Fifteen

Random Thoughts:

Burning candles in the fireplace really is surprisingly cozy. However, one of them has kind of a funky smell. However again, they're too pretty to blow out.

Tonight has signalled the parade of the slugs through the wall by the front door. Four and counting. Where did they come from? What do they want? Is what we've told Scooby true - that they are afraid of heights and would NEVER climb up to his top bunk while he's sleeping?

The November Nor'easter has significantly messed up my running schedule. I feel fat.

My kids RAKED THE YARD today without being asked!!!! No, they didn't rake the whole yard, and yes, they did a crappy job, but who cares!!! Major kid-points accumulated today.

Visited another church today...probably not a keeper, but very nice people. I'm beginning to feel like Goldilocks. Too hot, too cold. I don't want to keep floating around, but I don't want to settle just because I'm tired of floating around. When is it time to say, "this one is good enough?"

Don is mopping the kitchen floor. But, he has a really bad attitude about it, so the points only count for half.

Tomorrow the kids go back to school. Huzzah!

Post Fourteen

Yeah, so. It's still raining.

I had rehearsal again today. It's coming along. One of our major challenges is taking a mediocre script of a beloved story and finding the active character choices within it. How to make "Marmee" a living breathing person instead of an iconic "perfect" mother, like Carol Brady or Caroline Ingalls; and also not the melodramatic, sighing version written in this particular version of the script.
Kids are still enjoying their impromtu vacation. They've watched "Up" and "Monsters vs. Aliens", brushed up on their Wii skills, and finished all their required reading for the month of November. Cinderella's reading is coming along, but she still gets fatigued quickly, and slides onto the floor, gasping dramatically.
I've been working on my latest paper assignment, which is a "practice" Thesis - not the whole thing, just the Introduction and the Works Cited page for the first Chapter. In preparation, I've been reading couple of Theses from the past years in the Regent library. Interesting reading, but kind of daunting when I think of the magnitude of the task ahead. The play I've chosen for my practice Thesis is A Lion in Winter, which is one of my favorite plays. (You may know the film version with Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn.) In retrospect, I probably should have chosen Elephant Man, and saved myself some work! Oh well.

Post Number Thirteen

Happy Friday the 13th!
Again, no school, no work for Don. Still flooded in...but I had rehearsal tonight anyway. I had to plow through some pretty deep water on our street to get there, but I made it, and our street was the worst one I had to go through. It was good to get out for awhile! Played Dora Chutes and Ladders, Pirate Treasure Hunt, watched more movies. Tried to make travel plans for Christmas. Pleh. Looks like we are staying here for Thanksgiving, especially since Don will only be getting paid for two days work this week. Not sure how we're going to swing Christmas, but right now I'm trying to find a flight for Don to come back here on the 27th. I'll plan on driving at least partway on the 23rd, and starting back here on the 2nd. There's some tension about going at all, but I'm being pretty stubborn about it. Fun times.
I miss school.

Post Number Twelve

Oh, dear Lord. No school for anyone today, no work for Don. No school for anyone tomorrow. I may strangle someone before the day is over. Feeling a little claustrophobic for some reason...

Here are a couple of pictures I took today - Scooby probably took more, but I don't know where his camera is. I didn't take that many because, frankly, it was really wet out there.

Thanking God that we no longer live near a river and that the roof on this place seems pretty solid so far.

Post Eleven

It's a blustery day, Pooh bear!!
Remnants of Ida are causing quite a monsoon-like situation today, which is supposed to continue until Saturday. Lots of rain, lots of wind...so far we haven't lost power, but our TV antennae isn't working very well!!! I actually went running this morning, although it felt more like swimming at times. Surprisingly, it was a good run. Apparently my lungs like 100% humidity. Who knew? I came home on my break today and snuggled with the kids and watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. It was awesome. Then I had to go back to school.
Boy, that wind is loud.
Tarzan seems a little better today. No fever, but still lots of congestion and coughing. I think he'll be able to go back to school tomorrow, though, unless something changes overnight.
Oh, and Don's friends Dave and Tammi (Tarzan's godparents) had their baby...a little boy named Jay David.

Post Number Ten

Yeah, well, nothing brings you back down to earth quicker than a sick kid.
Kept Tarzan home today with a fever and a barky cough. Kid actually slept for two hours in the afternoon, so I KNOW he wasn't feeling good. Luckily Don has tomorrow off, so I won't have to juggle like I did today. He perked up a bit in the evening, but has been coughing a lot in bed. We'll see how he's doing tomorrow, I guess.
Tarzan and Scooby both start in new classrooms on Monday. Such a wonky system. They have the "gifted" kids divided into two classrooms, about 4-6 kids per room. Then they have the special-ed kids in another room. Then, they take everybody else and divide them between the four rooms (making sure there's an ethnic balance - yes, they actually said that.) So there are two rooms of gifted kids + regular kids, one room of special ed kids + regular kids, and one room of just plain kids, which is where they've been up until now, I think. So now they move into one of the gifted + regular kids classrooms, where they'll receive small group instruction and enrichment projects on occasion, and the rest of the time do the regular curriculum with the regular kids. It's very bizarre. And if they'd listened to me at the beginning of the year, maybe they could have STARTED as a regular kid in one of the gifted + regular classrooms and they wouldn't have to start AGAIN with new teachers and new classmates. It's a good thing, but a WEIRD system.
Just rewatched Little Women with Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon. And Claire Danes. I can't stand Claire Danes. Watching her cry makes me want to slap her and I find myself quite happy when Beth dies. Not what they were going for, I don't think.

Post Number Nine

If I could fly...
I'd leave the doubts and debts and darkness down on earth/
I'd soar over ocean and shadow the dolphins stitching their bodies through waves/

Fleeing the fear and freeing the child me inside/

Release and free and expand eluding no longer/

I'd circle the tree tops seeking most glorious leaves/

Opening, unblocking, turning old patterns inside out/

I'd race the clouds across the star studded sky/
I'd cradle the kids and listen to them laugh as the wind raked their hair/
Touching down, but never getting stuck/
Always, always, returning to flight/
If I could fly.

Post Number 8

Cutting it a little close to the wire tonight, but I had two assignments that needed to be turned in by midnight, so I did those first.
It was, indeed, a beautiful day outside. Cinderella woke me up by bouncing the whole bed with full-body hiccups and announcing that she was REALLY hungry. After breakfast we went to church - we're enjoying this church, but still not 100% sold. It's very big, and we're feeling like it's going to take forever to connect with people. Plus the parking lot is a nightmare. So we're debating going to check out a few more places, but today fell into the trap of inertia and ended up going back again.
After church we headed to the back yard where the kids played and I tried to read some school stuff. I was a little distracted by the balls bouncing off my laptop, though. I put away the Halloween decorations that have been piled up in the study, and put out a couple of Thanksgiving ones...actually managed to do that this year instead of discovering them when I went to get the Christmas ones out in December! Read with Cinderella, bathed the kids, read to them all, did my school assignments. Did not run. Did not have rehearsal. Did not collect $200.

Post Number Seven

All right, I feel somewhat vindicated now. I received letters today that both Tarzan and Scooby have been evaluated and deemed worthy to receive gifted education resources. It's quite an involved process, and I had to be pretty pushy at the beginning of the school year in order to make sure they were tested, but now I feel that my pushiness was justified. I'm not sure, but I think this means they'll be pulled out of their current classes and placed into a "cluster" classroom on a full-time basis with different teachers and peers. Not sure how that's going to go, but I'm pretty sure it's a good thing to get them into the "gifted" system.

All first graders are tested at the end of the year, so Cinderella has a couple of months to redeem herself.

Also, I made it up to 30 minutes of straight running today. My back isn't happy about it, but I did it!

For anyone who may not have seen them, I'm posting some Halloween pictures below.

Post Number Six

Happy birthday to my big sister today! I left you some messages, Lisa, but if you didn't get them, hope you had a great day.

Soooooo,

I went in for Cinderella's teacher conference today, and the poor teacher had to meet me at the door with, "Usually I would say things are going very well, but we had an incident today at lunch." Apparently, somewhere along the way, Cinderella has picked up the fact that giving people the middle finger means something and gets a reaction from people. She apparently showed it to another kid at lunch, who showed it to another kid, and the three of them managed to make the whole lunch table get involved. Apparently, when the principal (!) showed up, the whole table of first graders gave him the finger. And the instigator was my little princess. I asked her if she knew what that means, and she said no, she was just trying to be funny. She had to apologize to the principal (who told her he was "shocked") and to the lunch ladies (one of whom lives down the street from us) and has to have "silent lunch" on Monday with the other two kids who corrupted the rest of the table. We had a discussion about behavior with all three kids when they got home from school and hopefully that will be the end of it.

The rest of the conference went well.

Post Number 5

Ten things I'm liking right now:
Soup
Sunny mornings
Little Women rehearsals
My self-discipline
Listening to Cinderella read
Grey's Anatomy
Learning new stuff
Healthy family
Shuffle setting on the ipod
Getting email/facebook messages/blog comments

Ten things I'm not liking:
Scrounging in my backpack for enough coins to buy coffee from the vending machine
Dieting
Feeling tired every day at 5:00pm
Struggling with Scooby about homework
Cooking meals from an empty fridge
Back fat
Stress about travel plans/money/lack of time
Talkers who dominate class time
Stiff neck
Slackers

Ten things I accomplished this week:
Combat quiz on fight phrase 3
Combat quiz on self-choreographed fight
Made it up to 24 minutes straight running
20 action classical Movement barre
Discovered and developed new activity for Meisner class
Vacuumed floors
Meisner book Abstract
Submitted movement journal
The shortest teacher conference in the history of the world
Started daily blogging

Early to bed tonight, I hope.

Post Number Four

Another full day today. Got the kids on the bus, went running, and headed off to class. Today was discussion day in Research and Aesthetics and we talked about modern day examples of Romanticism and Melodrama. We pretty much decided that all super-hero movies (Spiderman, Batman, Hulk, etc.) are Romantic (in the sense of the genre, not necessarily lovey dovey) and Melodramatic. Lots of other films too - Titanic, Gone With the Wind, Independence Day...the list is long! Then I had scene practice for acting class. After that, I went to the post office and mailed Lisa her popcorn (enjoy!), ate some soup, and worked on my assignment for Movement tomorrow. (I thought about trying to explain it, but decided it would be too difficult without having a shared vocabulary about what we're working on.) I went back to school and got the paperwork for the Independent Study proposal, then met with my combat partner to review stuff because she was sick on Monday. In combat class we learned moves like the eye poke, the eye gouge, three different ways to break someone's neck, and the traveling side-kick. Then my partner and I performed and were graded on our mini-fight that we self-choreographed, (which was due Monday, but again, she was sick) and all of us were tested on the third phrase of our long fight. Next week we need to bring in a scene and add text to the fight. After that I had 25 minutes for dinner, and went into Little Women rehearsal. Because the show is completely sold out and the waiting list has been growing huge, we've been authorized to add another show on Sunday evening! It's pretty exciting. I can't wait to start wearing my petticoats and crinolines!!! Got out of rehearsal a little early, so I got home in time to read the kids stories, then started homework. It's now 11:25, and I have about another hour's worth to go. So, full day.

Post Number Three

And...we're out of the potty references for the posting numbers. Hooray. So glad that my brother has joined me in attempting to post every day. I enjoy company in my delusions.

The kids had no school today and came in to school with me. Except for the 50 pound duffel bag of entertainment (books, legos, board games, snacks) I lugged in with me, it was pretty painless. There were two very sweet undergrads who split the responsibility of watching them for two hours each while I was in class, and the day turned out to be beautiful and sunny so they went outside and chased each other around for awhile. We got to have lunch together and even squeezed in a game of Spongebob Life between classes. The day started off a little rough, as I'd tried to have one of the kid's teacher conferences this morning before class, but, of course, the teacher was running about 15 minutes behind. That left me time for about a 5 minute conference, which was pretty uninformative. I may try to reschedule another one, or we'll just wait and see what the results are of the "gifted" testing, and go from there.

I'm thinking of proposing and independent study for next semester about Grotowski, Artaud, Peter Brook and the "holy actor". If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't feel bad. It's a topic I didn't know anything about until I started studying for the entrance exam to Regent, and it's very intriguing to me. I'll see if I can put together a decent proposal in time for registration.

Post Number Two

I think I've licked this whole snazzy title thing. I'm going for "it's so boring, it's chic." I'm posting early today as I know I'm going to be whupped by the time I get home tonight. Just got back from my run, and I'm sitting here sweating all over Don's nice leather chair. I'd like to say I feel virtuous for running, but I'm still deep in the hole of guilt from all the Halloween candy I snarfed yesterday and I've got a lot of climbing to do before I get back to virtuous. One of the (many) things I like about where we live now is that I can plan out running routes that a) don't involve perpendicular hills and b) don't involve major highways or train tracks. True, there are many little water spots - creeks, ponds, lakes, that create strange byways and very circular routes, but I'm starting to get to know my way around them a little better. We live right next to a really nice neighborhood, and my current route fills me with nostalgia as I run past all the Colonial homes on streets like Natick, Tewksbury, Shrewsbury, and Revere. Especially now that it's November and the leaves have STARTED to turn colors (!!) I can almost pretend I'm home in New England. I actually ran for 20 minutes straight today. Walked for 5, ran for 20, walked for 5, ran for 6, and walked 6 back home. My goal is to be able to run at least 30 minutes straight. I still don't enjoy it. I'm waiting for those runner's endorphins to find me, but they are elusive indeed. It's still more slogging and grunting, but I'm getting out there, at least. I'm afraid I'm going to miss tomorrow, as the kids have no school and I'm taking them all to a teacher conference, then to school with me. I've got some people lined up to watch them while I'm in class. We'll see how that goes!
Off to start the day...

Post Number One

So that weird random rectangle on the top left of my page is a sign that I am, indeed, certifiably crazy. I have decided to challenge myself to posting every day for the entire month of November, and that emblem is the proof that I've entered into similar community of crazy people. Now, it says nowhere that the entries need to be of any particular length, or quality, so I'm promising nothing other than volume. And I'm making this commitment when? On the eve of what is going to be my busiest three months in the entire first year of grad school. I'm starting rehearsals for Little Women tomorrow night. Rehearsals will continue through the opening of the show, the week of Dec. 11th (with the exception of Thanksgiving weekend - yay!) and Elephant Man rehearsals start Nov. 30 and run until the opening of the show, the week of Jan. 21. (with the exception of Christmas - yay!) How I'm going to be at rehearsals for two shows at once, I'm not really sure.
We're starting to have an actual babysitter this week - someone coming on a semi-regular basis that we're going to pay for her services. Not sure how we're going to pay her yet, but we'll take it one step at a time.
Halloween was different this year... it was 80 degrees and we went to the beach for the day! It was gorgeous, but I think we wore out the kids too much and they dragged their feet all through trick-or-treating. Theirs were by far the cutest costumes..I'll post pictures on here as soon as I can get it together.
I have SO much homework to do tonight, but I spent 2 hours at a cubscout popcorn sale this afternoon instead of working. At least that's the last one of those for the year.
Feel free to drop frequent comments here, so I know my efforts at rambling are at least being viewed! Come back soon, y'all!