Passing Understanding

June recap

2011-06-14T08:13:00.001-04:00

I thought it was time for a redesign. Here are some pictures from the recent adventures we've had.

This is from the cubscout camping trip we did in May. It was at North Landing State Park and was really a nice site. I'd go there again - no jets, just roosters in the morning. (They sound kind of freaky when you don't know what they are!) The sunsets were spectacular.

The kids made and flew kites. I love this picture.

Sitting at the campfire.

Watching the sunset, which somehow didn't show in this picture.

W had a really bad windstorm one night and this was the house across the street. There were trees and branches down everwhere. Amazingly, we only lost our one shutter that keeps falling off every time there's any wind at all. I was definately scoping out the safest place to hide in our house (the downstairs bathroom. It would have been cozy!)

Cinderella was named citizen of the month for June, for the quality of "trustworthiness".

The kids on Tarzan's team got tough guy facepaint for their last game. Tarzan has struggled at bat, but this game he had two great hits. The second one was his best of the season...unfortunately, it was also the one where the other team's second baseman scooped up the ball and tagged out the runner - ending the game 4-3.

Cinderella went to the zoo with her class. This is an empty cage where the kids can pretend to be monkeys. We had a fun time together, although it was very hot.

Scooby tested for his purple belt in TaeKwonDo - here he is doing some punches. The ceremony is on Saturday. After this he only has blue, high blue, red, high red, brown, high brown and jr. black to go!

Tarzan crossed over to Webelo scout. After Webelo comes Webelo 2, then boy scout.

Tarzan turned 9! He had a video game themed party, with Angry Birds water balloon games, a Wii tournament and a PacMan cake. The ghosts are frosted marshmallows, the maze is blue licorice and the dots are chopped up Reeses Pieces.

Blowing out the candles. I can't believe he's 9! He got a couple new DS games which he loves, a big-kid sized Hippity Hop, new swim goggles, a skim board, a swimsuit, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cheese-Touch game, a Lego set, and several gift cards. He's a pretty happy kid this week.

Don and Monkey recovering from the festivities. One more birthday party to go, then we'll be hitting the road. Pittsburgh from June 19 - July 1, Norwood from July 2 - July 10, Westford from July 11 - July 21st or so. Don will be with us for the second week in Pittsburgh and the first half of the Norwood trip. Can't wait to see everybody!

In case you're wondering

2011-05-24T13:56:00.000-04:00

This is what I'm doing this weekend

Awesome News of Awesomeness

2011-05-17T00:03:00.002-04:00

Forgive my negligent blogging, I've been seeing fast I can make "free time" disappear now that I'm out of classes and the kids aren't! So far, pretty darn fast. I've started trying to run...again...and have done several four-mile stretches in the past week and a half. Sadly, I think it's time for new shoes. Do I dare try ebay, or do you really have to try running shoes on?

I am very pleased with how my second year of grad school ended (although it's not COMPLETELY ended yet, as I'm in a production of Romeo and Juliet that's being directed by one of my professors. I'm playing Lady Capulet. It's going to be an interesting production...we're using four different locations in and around the Communications building, and the audience will travel with us as we move. As we move to the different locals, the costumes will gradually become more and more modern. This story is every place, every time, etc. The production goes up Memorial Day weekend.) But the OFFICIAL school year ended nicely.

I'm still maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Yay, me! This year's classes included Vocal Production 1 (Linklater Technique), Vocal Production 2 (Dialects), Screen Acting 1 and 2, Playwriting, Meisner 2 (acting technique) and two modular (week-long) classes in Cecily Berry technique and Voice-over acting. I performed in two shows and crewed for two more, which completed my backstage requirements.

Part of my GA job at the theatre is maintaining a blog about the theatre community. One of my blog articles was picked up and reprinted in The Cutting Edge, which is an online newsletter for the Society of American Fight Directors. It's in the issue for May/June 2011. Volume XXII, Issue 3... So that was fun.

At the end of the year we auditioned for thesis roles. I was called back for three of the four "thesis" shows, and ended up being cast in the first show of the season, Beau Jest. Rehearsals start August 15, and the show opens Sept. 16. The following synopsis is from the website about the author, James Sherman.

BEAU JEST is the hilarious, heartwarming story about Sarah Goldman, a beautiful young school teacher from Chicago who is involved with Chris, a great guy with just one apparent flaw, he's not Jewish. Sarah tells her parents that she is no longer seeing Chris, but continues to date him in secret.
To keep her mother from trying to fix her up with "nice Jewish boys," Sarah invents the perfect boyfriend and regales her parents with stories of the man of her mother’s dreams. Eventually they insist on meeting the man, and in desperation, Sarah hires Bob, an actor, to play the part of her new beau. Unaware of the scope of the role he has taken on, Bob accompanies Sarah to dinner with her parents and her brother Joel. He quickly realizes that what he has gotten himself into is much more than he bargained for. It will take all of his charm, wit and improvisational skills to pull off the charade. But Bob rises to the occasion, and the antics that follow is only the beginning of a side-splitting tale that will have you rolling in the aisles, and wiping tears from your eyes at the same time

I've been cast in the role of Miriam, the Jewish mother. Yes, it's true, I just finished playing a Jewish mother in Bye Bye Birdie, but hopefully, even though Beau Jest is a comedy, Miriam has a little more depth. The first three chapters of my thesis document need to be completed before rehearsals begin in August. Basically, the first three chapters cover what I think the main challenges will be in performing this role and how I plan to address them, any historical research I deem necessary for the role, a structural analysis of the play, and character background and research. Since Miriam is a practicing Jew, and partakes in a Passover Seder onstage during the play, and speaks in Yiddish to her husband several times, I've decided that part of my historical/character research needs to be learning about Judaism and learning Yiddish pronounciations. I went to the library today and got several books to get me started.

In other news, I received approval from the faculty to mount a production of a one-act play that I'm writing about two women in the late 1800's who walk across America to try to win a $10,000 wager. It's based on a true story, which I stumbled across accidentally and found fascinating. Another girl in my cohort, Whitney, is going to direct. It's a two woman and one man show, and we'll start rehearsals mid-November and mount the show in early December. I'm pretty excited about it, but I have a lot of rewriting to do over the summer

We're trying to firm up some travel plans for the summer. It looks like the kids and I will be heading to Pittsburgh from June 18 - 30. The kids will go to Kidz Kamp at St. Philip's for the first week, and Don will fly up and join us for the second week. After that, we plan to drive to Norwood for the golf tournament. Then, somehow, we'll get Don back here and I'll drive the kids to Westford for a couple of weeks. Hope my laptop holds up, because I have lots of writing to do during this journey! Maybe on the way back here we can hit eastern PA and DC.

So I'm doing a lot of work this summer, but not earning any money. So if anyone knows of any short term theater work in Pittsburgh at the end of June, or Norwood in the beginning of July, or Westford in the middle of July, please let me know!

Monday

2011-05-02T21:38:00.000-04:00

First weekend of Birdie went well, and juries went well today. I looked good in my "new" $5.00 Salvation Army dress, and felt good about my monologues. Got some good positive reinforcement, and some good constructive criticism. Anxiously awaiting callback lists now for thesis roles, and my exit interview tomorrow afternoon. I hear things were eventful elsewhere in the world this weekend too!

Here I am

2011-04-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

Bye Bye Birdie opens tonight! I've completed all my classwork, and am preparing for juries next week. Auditions for thesis shows and exit interviews are also next week, and the second weekend of Birdie. After that, all I have on my plate is the production of Romeo and Juliet we're doing at the end of May. I'm playing Lady Capulet. If Don and the kids can hang on one more week, life should settle down a bit. Granny leaves tomorrow, which will be very sad. It's been great having her here. We're considering our summer travel plans and trying to work out getting everywhere we want to go as cost effectively as possible. As of now, I have no summer work lined up, which means no summer income. I keep praying some commercial work will come through, but nothing so far.

2011-04-20T09:43:00.001-04:00

Sheesh! Okay!
It was tech for Birdie this past weekend. It's finals week. I'm writing a play and trying to finish a rough draft before the May first deadline for fall lab proposals. We have juries coming up, auditions for thesis roles, and I'm beginning rehearsals for a production of Romeo and Juliet in two weeks. I've recently had two auditions for movie roles, but haven't heard about either of them. Granny is here for two weeks, Scooby got his green belt...it's been a little busy!!!

EDIT: Tonight's extra bonus...dead van!

Bullet Points

2011-04-08T13:37:00.000-04:00

Good news: Don has accepted a job offer with HP starting April 18th. It's in the same location, doing the same job, but it's a "full-time" vs. a "contractor" position, and there's a small bump in pay. Cinderella has starting cheerleading/pom-pom classes on Friday evenings. She's over the moon. Scooby has his Tae Kwo Do green belt test this afternoon, and my rehearsal starts late enough that I'll be able to stay for the whole thing. He also really enjoyed his Chesapeake Bay Foundation field trip (3 days/2 nights in a tent with other middle school boys) and they only got rained on once.

Bad news: Scooby forgot his toothbrush during the trip. Ew. He also has a plantar's wart that we've been working on getting rid of for about three weeks now. He also has a rodent infestation in his school. Double Ew. Cinderella has what we believe to be ringworm on her chest. Which, in case you don't know, is NOT a worm, but a fungus. However, the definitive test results won't be in for 28 days. It can take up to two months to go away, and is contagious in the meantime. Triple Ew.

Huzzah.

2011-03-27T23:28:00.000-04:00

"An SAFD Actor Combatant is a member in good standing who has demonstrated a high degree of skills proficiency in the art of staged combat. Actor Combatants have undergone intensive training in the compulsory techniques required for unarmed, rapier & dagger and broadsword, spending over thirty hours learning to safely perform choreography in each of these three “fight” disciplines, as well as additional classes in other weapon styles."

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is me. Tested and passed Skills Proficiency Tests in Broadsword, Quarterstaff, Rapier and Dagger, and (last year) Unarmed. This weekend I took classes in Fight Choreography for Film, Scrappy Unarmed Fighting, Bond vs. Bourne Unarmed, Acting Combat Verbs, saw a screening of "Solomon Kane" and had a Q and A with Richard Ryan, the fight director (also fight director of Troy and Sherlock Holmes) had classes in Knife Fighting and Combat Dance (the Cell Block Tango). I have bruises in places I didn't know existed, and am really, really glad it's done. I'm so proud of myself! These were not easy tests to pass, and I've worked very, very hard to achieve this status. Not that it will really do me any practical good, but still. It's a pretty cool accomplishment.

.

Friday

2011-03-25T10:13:00.000-04:00

Testing today for Skills Proficiency Tests in Rapier and Dagger, Broadsword and Quarterstaff!
Calling on my inner Xena to get me through the day!
(and hoping that leaving for 1/2 an hour to go pick up the kids doesn't jinx my mojo)

Another day

2011-03-24T07:03:00.000-04:00

6:15 - 8:15 Get kids ready for school
8:15 - 9:00 Homework
9:00 - 9:30 Get me ready for school
9:45 - 10:30 Rehearse scene
10:30 - 12:00 Class
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch Break!
1:00 - 3:00 Class
3:00 - 4:30 Help kids with homework
4:30 - 5:00 Drive Scooby to meeting
5:00 - 5:30 Drive back to school
5:30 - 7:30 Rehearse fight scenes
7:30 - 10:30 Rehearse Bye Bye Birdie

This is not so much for your edification as it is for my own organization!

I wonder why I'm so tired

2011-03-23T10:08:00.000-04:00

Today's agenda: Class from 10:30 - 12:00
Work from 12:00 - 3:00
3:00 - 4:00 Pick up kids at various schools and drive to counseling appt. Do homework in the car.
4:00 - 5:00 Counseling appt.
5:00 - 5:30 Drive to baseball. Eat in the car. Change clothes in the car.
5:30 Meet Don and drop off Tarzan and Cinderella at baseball. Drive Scooby to Tae Kwon Do.
6:00 Drop off Scooby at Tae Kwon Do and drive to school
6:00 - 7:00 Rapier and Dagger practice for fight testing on Friday
7:00 - 7:30 Pick up Scooby and drive him home.
8:00 - 10:00 Drive back to school and rehearse Bye Bye Birdie
10:00 - 12:00 Homework

Don't you wish you were me?

Friday Update

2011-03-18T15:45:00.000-04:00

Made it back from the audition in one piece. Even got some lines memorized on the trip. Long way to drive to smile and hold up a Pennzoil container, though.
Auditioned for the May production of Romeo and Juliet today (same director and group of students that did MacBeth last summer) I'm hoping for the Nurse - it would be a fun challenge!
Here are a couple of recent pictures.

Science Fair

Little man

Explaining his experiment

Three monkeys in a tree

Pretty!

More pretty!

Tomorrow's agenda

2011-03-16T22:19:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I'm going to Wilmington, NC for a commercial audition for Penzoil. It's far away. I'm carpooling with two other people and splitting gas money. I hope I don't get carsick. I don't know what to wear. I don't know if this was a good idea. But, how often do I get to do this kind of thing??

Spring!

2011-03-13T16:47:00.000-04:00

Gorgeous 70 degrees and sunny today -
The trees are all in bloom and daffodils are everywhere. Happy sigh.
Yesterday Scooby and I spent the entire day at the Tidewater Science Fair, where around 300 students from 6th through 12th grade were displaying their projects at Old Dominion University. At the end of the day, over $3,000 in cash prizes as well as medallions and certificates were given away. Scooby didn't win anything, and was pretty disappointed. But, he got a T-shirt from the event, and he thought the college cafeteria was pretty cool. I hope he had a good time, considering the amount of work we put into it. He did get an A on the final project though, and his teacher asked if she could use his final report as an example for future classes.
Tarzan spent the afternoon at the District Pinewood Derby, where he came in 12th. He won three out of four heats, so I guess the final results were based on the actual times rather than winning statistics.
Cinderella need some special event of her own - working on that for her. She's been good about being dragged around to the boys' stuff.
Counseling is going pretty well, I guess. We continue to struggle with some control issues, but we haven't had the crazy intense meltdowns for awhile. Still not sure we're making any progress on finding the root of the issues, but she seems to think the change in behavior will lead to new habits, so let's hope that's true.
Trying to catch up on some homework today, but the weather is making it hard! We went for a family scavenger hunt/walk a little bit ago, so that helped, but Scooby and I are still finding it hard to concentrate!
Hope everyone out there is enjoying a taste of Spring!

2011-03-04T08:18:00.000-05:00

So things are toddling along over here - coming to the end of my "spring break" which has gone by remarkably fast and been a fairly decent mixture of rest and accomplishment. I read two books for pleasure (a mindless murder mystery and a collection of Stephen King novellas), read two plays, bought another book of plays that I hope to get to today, finished our taxes, caught up on six episodes of Parenthood, went back to bed three days this week, rehearsed scenes and fights for two different classes, and did all the usual kiddo homework/TaeKwonDo/cub scout related activity. Tonight I'm going to a birthday party for two friends from school. Although there were *many* more things on the list that I wanted to accomplish this week, I'm reasonable satisfied.

I'm getting used to the shows for next season too. I actually think it looks like a pretty fun season, my own personal feelings about Joseph and the Amazing blah blah blah aside. It will be a fun show, and lots of people will come to see it. And, I probably won't be in it. I think it's actually good that there isn't a thesis show that I'm DYING to do, because I'd be really disappointed if there were a role that I was in love with and didn't get it. This way, I'll be ready to jump in and tackle whatever I get, and bring a fresh eye to it that might not be there if I already knew and loved the show.

Scooby and I had our third counseling session this week. We actually had a really good week, with no meltdowns and only a couple of close calls. He said he feels like he has a better idea when he's about to get upset, and was able to stop himself before it happened. I think it was just a light homework week, and he was feeling less stressed. I can't imagine that with only two counseling sessions, one of which was spent on ADD testing for half the time, that we've already turned a corner. The testing came back fine, and he'll do another round of it next week. He's normal on attention issues so far, which is what I expected. The test also showed he responds better to visual than auditory clues, which is also not surprising.

One of the things I meant to do this week was run more consistently, but the going back to bed kind of put the kibosh on that. I only made it out once this week. But my intentions are good! Hoping that warmer weather will stir me to better committment.

Next week will take me into full-swing rehearsals for Bye Bye Birdie, and the rounding up of my second year. Time to start thinking about what comes next...gathering info about job hunting, putting together a CV, all that fun stuff. I like this school cocoon, and I'm not ready to leave it yet!

Next Year's Season

2011-02-28T18:45:00.001-05:00

So, next year's shows at Regent are....

Beau Jest (a Jewish romantic comedy...much like Last Night of Ballyhoo, which was this year's Jewish romantic comedy)

The Three Musketeers (swashbuckling ho!)

As It Is In Heaven (a rebel Shaker shakes up the Shaker community)

Tartuffe (Moliere - tights and facepaint. Religious hypocrisy. Fun for the whole family)

Doubt (now, this one's cool. But too late in the season to be a thesis show. Boo.)

and...
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. If you've never seen it, check out the youtube version for Donnie Osmond in a long wig, a diaper, and no shirt. Put down the snack food first.

Yeah, sorry about that.

I need alone time

2011-02-16T14:44:00.000-05:00

So.  Two Mondays ago Tarzan had a fever and stayed home from school - meaning he came to school with me. Last Thursday was a snow day and all the kids came to school with me. Friday, Scooby got the crud and came to school with me. He was sick all weekend and I sent him to school Monday hacking up a lung. I'm sure the teachers love me. Yesterday and today, I've got Cinderella with me. And, I don't feel so hot.

Also on Monday, we found out Scooby got into the Tidewater Science Fair. Pretty big deal, all day event, cash prizes available. Yay! Oyster land not over yet.

Also on Monday, Scooby had his first counseling session. Not really sure what is supposed to happen, but I guess it went okay. She was circling around ADHD - I guess they hear that a lot - but I think I convinced her that's not what's going on.  We left with homework strategies that we've tried a billion times before, and an appointment for next week.

Yesterday, Tarzan, Scooby and Don went to the Planetarium with cubscouts.  Cinderella and I stayed home.

That's about it. School, fevers, stuff.

"The Runner Stumbles" reminds me why I love theater

2011-01-29T16:26:00.001-05:00

This weekend and next weekend I am running lights for Regent's production of The Runner Stumbles, by Milan Stitt. It's not a glamorous job. I'm dressed in black, sitting in a dusty booth, hidden behind a giant light board, pressing a "go" button for two and a half hours. Tech jobs are kind of a drag. (but this is my last required one! Yay!) I actually chose running lights because I anticipated that this production would be good, and I wanted a crew position where I'd be able to watch the show (as opposed to running costumes or props, which I've done for the past three crew positions I've had.) Unfortunately, with the way the booth is situated, I can only watch the show if I run lights standing up. Which I've done several times, because yes, the show is good. Very, very good.

First of all, the play itself is pretty amazing. It's about a priest and a nun...and yes, there've been jokes. My favorite? A priest and a nun have dinner together. Afterwards, the priest asks the nun if he can give her a kiss goodnight. She thinks for a moment, then says, "I suppose so. As long as you don't get into the habit."

Buh-dum chick.

Anyway. It's about a priest and a nun, and the tension that ensues as they wrestle with the love they have for God and the developing feelings between the two of them. There's fire, violence, scandal, and in the end...murder. And yet, there's hope. Redemption. A sense that God is in our midst, only waiting for us to pivot towards Him so that He can receive us with open arms. The play is well-written, funny, clever, and throbbing with pain and grief.

Secondly, the director, one of my professors (who also directed The Elephant Man) is a meticulous, detail-oriented master of storytelling. There is not a nuance of the script that's left unexplored. Characters are drawn in precise detail, and the choices he's made at the end of each act with the lights, sound, staging, music, tell a clear and compelling story of despair and redemption, respectively. And the design work is delicious. From the smallest detail of the crosses built into the furniture, to the sepia painting of Christ on the cross subtly woven into the floorboards, to the ghostly draping of the material across the backdrop...yummy.

And then, there's the acting. This is a demanding play. The characters explore extreme heights and depths of emotion. The actors are required to be intelligent, witty, impulse-driven, and extremely emotionally vulnerable. And, for the most part, they succeed brilliantly. There are many LOVELY performances, but if I had to single some out, I'd choose the performances of Father Rivard, Sister Rita and Mrs. Shandig. The actor playing Rivard has the daunting task of moving through time...from the present time when he's on trial for the murder of Sister Rita and the past, where he's reliving his relationship with her from the moment of first meeting, through the crisis of faith, until the climactic night of the fire in the village when he's forced to make a life-changing decision. The actor handles all these changes with ease, charm, and grace. Charm and grace are kind of trademarks of his, so that's not terrifically surprising. However, he has also discovered within himself a complexity of emotion which I've never seen from him in any previous roles. The actress playing Mrs. Shandig, the priest's Polish housekeeper, manages to bring many moments of much-needed humor into the story, but maintains a groundedness and total believability in her role which enables the unexpected revelation her character brings (no spoilers!) at the end to happen in a shockingly organic fashion. This is the role that I would have loved to play, but she does it magnificently. Finally, there's the first-year MFA playing Sister Rita. This girl is one to watch. Every moment she's onstage, she's alive and responsive. Each gesture, each facial expression, each reaction and every word out of her mouth seem to spring to life right at that moment. It's a beautiful, captivating performance and I can't wait to be in a show with her to get the chance to work off of her.

Now, is it a perfect show? No, of course not. It's still a student performance. There are occasionally misspoken lines, late cues, a moment of text which hasn't been fully explored. This is to be expected. Not accepted, these things must continue to be worked on, but it is, as all live theater is, a work in progress. There are actors who make choices I don't agree with, things I would have directed differently. Even lines in the script I would have written differently.

But this show, this show is lovely. It's a privilege to be a part of it, even in my small unglamorous way.

And the beat goes on...

2011-01-22T15:20:00.000-05:00

I've been doing a lot of reading, and some researching of counseling options. I appreciate all the feedback from everyone, and I hope you'll feel free to keep giving input - it really helps me clarify my thinking. I don't necessarily feel any need to hang a label on Scooby, because I don't think they're particularly helpful. What was helpful, however, is recognizing that kids who behave in ways similar to this sometimes need help coping with things. That it's not necessarily bad parenting on our part, but that there are certainly areas we need to work on in our parenting skills. That getting him help has moved up a number of notches on the to do list.

In the meantime...

The pinewood derby for CubScouts was last night, and once again I wasn't able to go because of school stuff. Scooby got 2nd place for the Sibling category and Tarzan took 3rd place for his Den! Apparently there was a judge error and he thinks he actually should have placed higher, but still I think they were pleased overall. Thanks Grandpa! next year, Cinderella wants to make a car too and have it shaped like a heart, "not just a plain old car."

I currently in a tech rehearsal for a show called The Runner Stumbles. I'm running lights (for the first time in many many years) and it's my last required Crew Practicum. After this, I only have to be at tech for shows if I'm in them. Classes are going well. I'm learning IPA (Phoenetic spelling) in Vocal production, working on emotional preparation in Meisner 2, and doing sit-com scenes in Screen Acting. This week I worked on this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMuhSKP9Hco
I didn't really want to spend a bunch of money on a turkey, but I ended up getting a large whole chicken. There was just no way to properly do justice to the scene without real raw meat. And yes, I brought lots of hand sanitizer and clorox wipes for the floor and lined the counter and oven with aluminum foil. It was suprisingly disgusting to throw around a raw chicken, but the scene turned out really well and there was lots of laughter!

We're working on the (final?) phase of the Oyster project. He got A pluses on the Results and Conclusions portions though! He's applying for the Tidewater Science Fair (although he "forgot" to turn the paperwork in yesterday, which was the deadline. He emailed his teacher and got special permission to bring it in on Monday. Grrrr.) It's a big deal if he gets accepted - it takes place on Old Dominion college campus and there are cash prizes available.

Anyone else ready for Spring?

Oyster Update and other stuff

2011-01-12T13:49:00.028-05:00

The title indicates my intention to post some of Scooby's oyster project stuff on here, but the formatting got all wonky and after trying to fix it for about an hour I gave up. Plus, I just discovered there are two more large components to this project and one more medium sized one, and I got quite discouraged. I thought we were done. But there's still a "Final" (which is mostly a compliation of all the steps done so far, plus the inclusion of a weekly journal. Which I knew nothing about, and doesn't exist. Sigh) and a presentation board with oral report. And before those, an abstract. Really, this project is GREAT but holy moley is it huge.

Facebook followers may have noticed a recent posting that said I was researching Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Gifted Children. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If it doesn't, you haven't spent much time around Scooby lately.

"Children who have ODD are often disobedient. They are easily angered and may seem to be angry much of the time. Very young children with the disorder will throw temper tantrums that last for 30 minutes or longer, over seemingly trivial matters. In addition, the child with ODD often starts arguments and will not give up. Winning the argument seems to be very important to a child with this disorder. Even if the youth knows that he or she will lose a privilege or otherwise be punished for continuing the tantrum or argument, he or she is unable to stop. Attempting to reason with such a child often backfires because the child perceives rational discussion as a continuation of the argument. Most children with ODD, however, do not perceive themselves as being argumentative or difficult. It is usual for such children to blame all their problems on others. Such children can also be perfectionists and have a strong sense of justice regarding violations of what they consider correct behavior. They are impatient and intolerant of others. They are more likely to argue verbally with other children than to get into physical fights. Older children or adolescents with ODD may try to provoke others by being deliberately annoying or critical. For example, a teenager may criticize an adult's way or speaking or dressing. This oppositional behavior is usually directed at an authority figure such as a parent, coach, or teacher."

Several articles I read said that gifted children are often "mis-diagnosed" with ODD or other conditions such as ADD, ADHD, Bi-polar disorder, and depression. The earmarks of their "gifted-ness" are often confused with the symptoms of these other disorders.

ODD also is kind of a catch-all diagnosis for behavior that doesn't quite fit any other classification. It also has very little recommended "treatment" or suggestions, other than certain behavioral "therapy" which I'm still looking into.

We had a couple of episodes this week that were completely horrible. At school, he's fine. But at home a tiny little event seems to set him off and it spirals into something truly unrecognizable. I don't feel like going into details about it now, but it was enough to prompt a search for help.

In other news, I had a conference with Cinderella's teacher because her grades, particularly in writing and "Work Habits" have dropped dramatically this quarter. Her teacher says she's rocking in her chair, and that is preventing her from getting her work done. No idea WHY she's rocking in her chair, and she doesn't do it at home. At home, she's the most focused one during homework time, and has no trouble with the material. Her teacher has given her permission to stand up, move around, lie on the floor, whatever it takes for her to get her work done. I've discussed it with Cinderella, but she can't give me any reasons for it and just says she'll try to sit still. We'll see what happens.

Tarzan seems fine. I'm sure his turn is coming.

Procrastination

2010-12-22T08:21:00.002-05:00

Yeah, see, I keep meaning to upload the pictures of the oyster experiment and chronicle it on the blog, and then I can't find the camera, and then I find the camera but the memory card is missing, and then two weeks have gone by and I've been extremely busy catching up on episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Parenthood on Hulu and...what? That's not a good excuse? Huh. So, yeah. Christmas is almost here!

Non-writing

2010-12-02T23:12:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't been writing much here, but I"m writing a little at that 29 days thing over there, and I'm writing an abstract on a 300 page book, and I've written a 105 page play. So I am writing, just not much that might be interesting enough to post here!
Lots of stuff coming up in the next week or so - orchestra concert, another belt testing, oyster experiments, finals, Christmas tree getting, decorating...I'm tired just thinking about it. Think I'll go to bed.

oh yeah...the blog

2010-11-12T17:56:00.000-05:00

I've been incredibly busy lately, between school and home and...okay that's it. School and home.
At school: We had auditions for the spring season. They're doing The Runner Stumbles, Medea and Bye Bye Birdie. I got called back for the Nurse and Medea in Medea, and Rose and Mae Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie. I was suprised to be called back for Rose - I never thought I'd have a shot at it. I think the auditions went well, too. But both Medea and Rose went to girls who are graduating this year, and they're both very good. Can't complain about those decisions. I was a little disappointed not to snag another lead, but I was cast as Mae Peterson, the obnoxious, overbearing mother in Birdie. It's a featured part, and a comedic one, which I haven't had a chance to do here yet, so it should be fun. Today I signed up to do my final crew assignment on Runner Stumbles, so I'll be done with that in early February. Yay! Right now, I'm just starting my third one - Prop Crew Chief for The Last Night of Ballyhoo. We have tech today and tomorrow, then dress rehearsals Mon - Thurs, and the show opens Friday. We're off Thanksgiving weekend, then have another run of shows the first weekend in Dec. Midterms went well, and I've registered for Spring classes. It seems almost impossible to believe, but I'm just about half-way through! Our next auditions will be for our thesis roles. Crazy.

At home: Scooby has continued to struggle with the amount of homework he's getting. He's got all A's, except for a B- in Social Studies, so he's keeping up, but the amount of time he's been putting into assignments is outrageous. We've tried to give him a quiet, consistent place to work, (although quiet is relative around here) and I've tried to be supportive and helpful while still allowing him to work through things on his own. But it was getting extremely frustrating for all of us. So I scheduled a conference with his teachers (four of them - math, science, English, and Social Studies) and the guidance counselor. We talked about his perfectionistic tendencies - how he'll get stuck on something and be absolutely UNABLE to move past it to something else, and his inability to start working on something until he has it completely worked out in his head. They told me they expect 20 - 30 minutes per subject, max. After that, whatever he didn't get done stays undone. If he doesn't get something, he's to circle it and ask his teacher about it the next day. Anticipating major freakouts when this policy was implemented...but it hasn't been that bad. We've stretched the 20 - 30 minutes several times, but he is spending less time than before. And he seems a little more relaxed about stuff. He likes me to make him a schedule, and he tries to stick to it the best he can. I think it's progress.

Tarzan and Cinderella are doing well. I finally had a conference with Tarzan's teacher, and he's getting all A's...they're working on trying to find ways to continue to stretch him. We also talked about his "sensitive heart" and how he takes to heart some of the admonishments given to a whole class or lunch table. We also called him over and asked him to talk about anything else that was bothering him in class, and he mentioned a boy who sits next to him and uses inappropriate language. He got all teary-eyed when the teacher asked him to repeat what he said, so she let him spell it. It was B-I-T-C-H (he spelled it right) and F-U...something. Kind of like fudge. Yikes. So the teacher's going to call the other kid's mom. Tarzan also has a yucky cough right now, but at least the mystery rash seems to be gone.

Cinderella is doing fine in school too. Math is excellent, she struggles with writing. Don't know where these kids came from. There's a girl down the street that has been coming over to play, and we're all struggling with whether this is a friendship we want to encourage. Cinderella doesn't really like this girl all that much, and the family situation is not good. Theyr'e really pretty stereotypical "trashy" family...smoke in the home, two pit-bulls, shirtless Dad, mullet-sporting kids...but the girl seems okay, and probably needs a friend. And I want them to develop friendships and play with kids other than each other...but. Why can't a nice, well-adjusted family live nearby? Oh, that's right, they did. Then they moved away.

Well, my dinner break is almost over and I have to make sure I pee before tech starts back up, so I'll sign off for now. Hope to see much of the family over Thanksgiving break in DC! I'm ready for a break!!!

Halloween, and a couple of other random pictures

2010-10-31T21:17:00.000-04:00

This year's pumpkin

All three trick-or-treaters

Scooby's Phoenix costume - jacket made by Aunt Lisa a long time ago (inside of Fireman's suit) and the rest created by Scooby for his Latin class assignment "Mythical Creature" costume. For class, it had 20 body parts labeled in Latin.

Tarzan's toothbrush costume - idea by Tarzan, execution by Mom

Cinderella's Reese's cup costume. Her thought, "Maybe if I'm dressed like my favorite candy, I'll get my favorite candy!" It worked.

Scooby's TaeKwonDo instructors

Scooby acheives yellow belt

Men at work in Norfolk

Hmmmmm

Children's Festival in Norfolk

Happy Halloween!

Show, Con't

2010-10-15T10:12:00.002-04:00

Press release about Our Town

My Show

2010-10-14T12:47:00.002-04:00

Timmy's Paper

2010-10-12T23:03:00.000-04:00

Assignment: Write a "How To" Paper
Brainstorming page - What I do well
1. Feed cat
2. Give attention to cat
3. Anoyy Mom/Dad
4. Anoyy bro/sis
5. Fechting bones
6. swiming
7. Ignore someone
8. ride a bus
9. video games
10. TV
11. computer
12. eat
13. counting
14. math
15. blow nose
16. drawing
17. Brainstorming
18. writeing
19. skiping
20. takeing a test

How to Feed your Cat
This is how to feed your cat. First you need to get your materials. Your materials are a cat, cat food, and a bowl. Next let your cat smell your finger. Then put the food in the bowl. Finally watch your cat until your cat is done eating. Now if your mom asks you if you fed your cat; you can say that you did!

If you haven't seen this yet, you're missing out.

2010-10-09T21:34:00.000-04:00

Smells like a Monster

Brrr!

2010-10-06T08:21:00.001-04:00

48 degrees this morning. All the fall/winter clothes still in storage. Brr!
As you may have surmised, it's been a little busy here lately! Rehearsals for Our Town are chugging right along. It's really tiring being onstage for three acts every night with very short breaks at intermission. The fatigue is making it hard to keep the lines in my head. I can paraphrase the night away, but I'm trying to be a stickler for word perfect memorization and there are many similar sounding lines that are kicking my butt right now. The show's going okay - there are some strange idiosynchrasies that some of the actors have that drive me nuts, but in the interests of not knowing who's going to read this, I'll not elaborate further!
Scooby is belt-testing for Taekwondo next week. More money, yay! If he passes he'll be up to yellow belt (the first step up from white belt.) It's a pain in the a$$ getting him there three times a week, but I think it was the right call. He likes it, it's exercise, it gets him out from in front of the computer for an hour. Good deal all around.
Tarzan ran for Student Council Secretary, but didn't win. He had cute posters and a great speech, but the political machine spit him back out. He did, however, win "Citizen of the Month" for September, so we get to have a sign in our yard for another month. I swear, we've only gone about two months since we've been here that the sign wasn't in our yard. Not complaining, it's kind of fun...although Don doesn't like mowing around it.
Cinderella's doing fine too - I'd love to get her into a class or something, but it's going to have to wait awhile, unfortunately. She seems to be doing well in school - math is better than writing for her, and she's still struggling with telling time (but honestly, I still struggle with it sometimes myself!) and her reading is getting much better.
Oh, and I had a birthday yesterday.

More Pictures!

2010-09-29T16:05:00.002-04:00

Don't know what that white car is in the first picture, or how it snuck in there! The pictures go in reverse order, due to my amazing organizational skills. Yes, time is actually flowing backwards. You'll see Cinderella's outfit today, followed by the Sandcastle competition at the Neptune Festival this past weekend, then Cinderella's birthday, Fourth of July, Visiting Grandma and Grandpa's, Scooby's birthday and Tarzan's birthday. Grab yourself a beverage and settle in for awhile.

Some old pictures

2010-09-29T11:46:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to get some pictures up...these are from the summer - beach days, Scooby's birthday party in Sewickley, Tarzan's cubscout camping trip. More to come, soon!

The Hugging Incident

2010-09-15T11:14:00.001-04:00

So Tarzan and Cinderella are having their after-school snack the other day (we have almost an hour before Scooby gets home from school - it's ridiculously quiet) and Tarzan says, out of the blue, "Your teacher is mean."
Cinderella - "Well, a little."
Me - "Why is she mean?"
Tarzan - "She said, 'You better not do that, or else -' and I didn't hear what else she said."
Me - "Do what?"
Cinderella - "Hug him."
Me - "Wait a minute. She told you not to hug each other?"
Tarzan - "Yeah."
Me - "Did she know you were brother and sister?"
Cinderella - "Yes, she knew."
Me - "What exactly did she say?"
Cinderella - "I don't remember."
Tarzan - "She said, 'You better not do that, or else -' something."
Me - "Huh."

Later: I write an email..."Ms. ______, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you at the Open House, I was at the middle school with my older son. Perhaps there's a morning I could come in and help out for an hour or so before school sometime. I was concerned to hear about an incident the other day. E. said she got in trouble for hugging her brother in the hallway. T. was kind of upset about it. He's a pretty sensitive kid and was worried that he'd gotten her in trouble. He's also been missing his big brother since he went to middle school, and was probably happy to see E. I'm confused as to why they were not allowed to hug each other hello? Please advise me on this when you get a chance."

The next morning, I get an email in return. (I'm paraphrasing) "E. did not get in trouble for hugging her brother. She lifted him up off the floor and I asked her not to do that in case she dropped him or another child in line ran in to her if they weren't looking. I told her my preference would be a silent wave. I'm sorry if this caused (crap, I can't remember the word she used...friction, maybe?EDIT: It was "ill feelings.") I don't need any help in the mornings at this time. Thank you for letting me know."

I posted something on Facebook and got a huge response of outrage and indignation over the kids not being allowed to hug.

Now, part of me understands somewhat. Cinderella can give rather...exuberant...hugs. I can see how that might be disruptive in the middle of a crowded hallway. On the other hand, why shouldn't siblings who actually care about each other and are happy to see each other be allowed to express that? Isn't it better than the alternative? I don't really want to make a big deal out of it, and I probably won't say anything else to the teacher about it. But I have to say, this has raised some warning flags with me. I don't want a repeat of last year, where I waited too long to intervene it what was not a great classroom situation for Cinderella. I was hoping she'd have a better year. And she seems pretty happy with her classroom and her teacher. I'm just...frustrated that this is even an issue.

People commented on FB that this is why our schools are so bad, this is why I homeschool my kids, etc. Well, homeschooling is not an option. Even if I weren't in school and working, I don't have the temperment to homeschool, and besides, they're smarter than me. I have to work within this imperfect system. And I'm trying to make it a positive lesson for them. I said, "Those are the rules in school. You're not allowed to hug each other. I think it's a dumb rule. But, it's the rule, and you need to follow it. However, please give each other extra hugs right before school and right afterwards to make up for it."

Sometimes there are rules we don't agree with. Even for grownups. And sometimes it's good to have to discipline yourself to follow a rule that you don't agree with.

But really, it's a dumb rule. Talk about legislating affection! There's a difference between high schoolers making out in the halls, and a second and third grade sibling giving each other a hug. Somewhere in the tangled system of burocracy, human reason should play a part and make some distinctions.

When you see your loved ones today, give them a hug.

Rules be damned.

2010-09-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

Well, the kids started school on Tuesday, and so far so good! I promise to post pictures as soon as I find a working card reader. Scooby catches the bus at 7:15 and gets home around 4:15. It's a LONG day. But so far, he hasn't complained about any of it...the waking up at 6:15, the longer walk to the bus stop, any of it. I am very aware that it's only just begun, and I'm sure there will be more complaining as the weather gets colder and he starts carrying his violin back and forth every day. On the plus side, they actually have music stands at school and he won't have to carry that. On the minus side, he needs two new music books, a better chin rest, and a metronome is highly recommended. Anyone have an extra metronome laying around? So far his favorite subject is Latin - he thinks discovering the etomology of words is cool. Tarzan misses Scooby on the bus, and there have been a few moments of tears and some organizational frustration, but he's learning to cope with it much better. However, the binder I bought is not up to snuff, and he needs a new zippered one instead. I tried passing down Scooby's from last year, but it's falling apart too much, so I guess he'll get a new one. He'll have to wait until Monday, though. Cinderella likes her teacher, and has a couple of friends in her class from last year, although none of the ones that came to the sleepover. She's enjoying wearing all her new outfits. This morning she wore the sparkly black one from Grandma with the sparkly pink scarf and matching ponytails. She spent some time before the bus dancing in front of the mirror and singing, "You! Yeah, You! You are a rock star!" and then she informed me her rockstar name is Madame Medusa.
I've been super busy myself. I'm working at my Theatre Administration GA job 13 hours per week, mostly from 10 - 1. It's kept me busy up until right now, when I have to wait for a professor to get out of class and approve something before I can send it along. Hence, the blogging. At least I look like I'm still working! I have lots of reading to catch up on, but if I do that, it's a little more obvious that I'm doing school work instead of work work. Rehearsals started for Our Town on Monday, and I have to work on stamina! I never leave the stage, and I rarely sit down. By the end of the rehearsal, my back is killing me. I'm trying to apply the "spine" work we've been doing in Vocal Production class and release extra tension so I'm not so stiff, but I'm not succeeding so far. I really like the director they've brought in for the show, and I think I'm going to learn a lot from her. She's doing the rest of the characters in the show as they're written (1901 - 1915 period) but I am a modern character (and I'm female) dressed in sort of Eddie Bauer with a feminine twist. Let's see...my other classes. Playwriting is very time intensive and I'm pretty behind right now on all the required reading/discussion board participation. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up some on Saturday. Broadsword is...heavy. But actually a lot easier than Rapier and Dagger, particularly because most of the footwork is the same, and many of the attacks and parries are very similar. Screen Acting is kind of lame so far. We're working with one-liners and short scenes from 90210 and Babylon 5, because those are shows that the professor worked on and cast. He knows what he's talking about, and I'm learning a lot, but the material is dreadful. Today we are Telepaths being destroyed by Aliens. The line is "Help! Somebody please help me!" I preferred the dialogue in Macbeth.
So I'm busy. My day looks like this: 6:15 - wake up, get Scooby ready for school, walk him to the bus stop. 7:30 - get Tarzan and Cinderella ready for school, walk them to the bus stop. 8:15 - 9:00 - Run 9:45 - go to work. 10 - 1, work in my chilly cubicle. 1:00 to either 3:00 or 5:00 - class. either 3:00 or 5:00 until 6:30 - kid homework, reconnect, and dinner time. 7:00 - 11:00pm - rehearsal for Our Town. 11:00 - 1:00, homework. Except sometimes I fall asleep before 1:00.
Good thing I love what I'm doing.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-04T12:39:00.003-04:00

Our exciting plans? NOTHING! I have nowhere to be today, tomorrow, or most of Monday. I do start rehearsals for Our Town on Monday night, and we took Granny to the airport at 4:30 this morning, but apart from that, the weekend is free, free, free!
In case anybody's interested, here's some of what I do for my job at school. The two most recent articles are mine.
http://www.regentbackstage.blogspot.com/

Home again, home again

2010-08-29T21:23:00.001-04:00

It's been a whirlwind of traveling, first week of classes, auditioning, preparing for Cinderella's 7th birthday party, traveling again, traveling some more. Good, but super tiring. Tomorrow starts week two of classes, and Tuesday night is a sleepover party for at least 5 girls. Next week starts rehearsals for Our Town, and school for the kids. It's going to be a good semester, as soon as I can blink without feeling like my eyes won't open again for eight hours. I catch up when I can, but for now...we are here! we are here! we are here!

The Wiz is over

2010-08-15T21:03:00.001-04:00

And I'm going home.

For an upcoming audition workshop

2010-08-04T14:23:00.001-04:00

If you were to cast me in a TV or movie part, what would it be? (ie: Patricia Heaton in Everybody Loves Raymond, or Kathy Bates in Misery) What "type" do you see me as?

Wednesday

2010-07-28T09:52:00.002-04:00

Monday, while on the phone with Mom and Dad, the kids told me they smelled something burning. After about 5 minutes and a gradual intensification of the smell, I discovered a plastic water bottle had flipped out of the dishwasher rack onto the bottom of the dishwasher and lodged itself under the heater coil. It was proceeding to melt at a rapid rate, and filling the kitchen with the smell of burning plastic. Mmmm. I retrieved it with a pair of tongs and tossed it in the sink. When we came home from rehearsal hours later, the house still reeked. Two days later, everything that was washed in that load, even though we ran them through again, still smells like melted plastic. Tasty.

MacBeth opens in two days. We're doing a condensed version, with 6 actors. I play Lady MacBeth, a Witch, a murderer, and a soldier. I die twice, once onstage and once off. I fight with quarterstaff, make sound effects with a wet finger on a wine glass, and scream bloody murder at least twice. We're performing in the library auditorium, which is tiny, and has no lights and a miniscule stage. So, we're seating audience in the last three rows, and in folding chairs set up in front of the stage, and using the middle part of the room, seats and all, as our performance space. Scenes are lit with camping lanterns, garage worklights, flashlights, and electric candles. It's got a very low-tech but creepy, Blair-witch kind of feeling to it. It's been challenging, exciting, and lots of fun to work on, and I'm really, really glad I agreed to do it. I'll miss it when we're done on Saturday.

Kids are doing fine, although Scooby came down with a little cold last night. Hopefully it will stay little! They've been troopers about coming to rehearsals with me, and a kind member of my cohort has invited them over to use their apartment complex's pool a couple times per week. Cinderella's water bravery is improving by leaps and bounds, and I guess that she'll be swimming by the end of our visit to MA in August.

Even quicker update

2010-07-17T20:40:00.000-04:00

Survived week one of Wiz camp. Teaching dance four hours per night is tiring!! I don't remember it being this hard...
I want to run, but the only time I have now is 6:00am so I'm back before Don has to go to work...and when I get home from teaching at 11:00pm, that's very difficult. The sweat equity I'm putting in is about the same as running, but I miss the training schedule I had going. Maybe next week I'll try to get back to it.
School before school still primarily a success, although Cinderella rebells against the writing assignments. The reading is going full speed though - they've all almost completed their first log-sheet for the library program - 15 hours!
Two more weeks of MacBeth rehearsals, and no sitters lined up as of now. Should be interesting...

Quick update

2010-07-12T10:56:00.002-04:00

My wonderfully geeky children have started "school before school" this week. This is where Scooby puts together a lesson plan for several different subjects (spelling, science, social studies, math, and "specials" (art, music, etc.) for each day of the week, and Tarzan and Cinderella actually sit down and do the lessons! They're on day one of a full three week plan. We'll see how long it lasts! So far they actually all sound like they're having fun, and learning something!
Last night was closing night and strike for Mulan, Jr., so I've actually survived phase one of my stupidly busy summer. The show was quite good for jr. high, and I think all the kids had fun. Today, we start the five week camp for the Wiz. I don't really feel prepared, but I'm praying that it all comes together. We've had a week of rehearsals for MacBeth, and all has gone well...I have lots of memorizing still to do, though, and not much time to do it. It should be a really interesting production when all's said and done. The kids signed up for the summer reading program at the library. Scooby's reading the "39 clues" series of books, Tarzan just started the "Series of Unfortunate Events" and Cinderella's re-reading all the Junie B. Jones books. My reading level has dropped significantly, but I found a copy of Noel Streatfield's "Skating Shoes" which was out-of-print for a long time, and I'd never read it before. "Ballet Shoes" "Dancing Shoes" "Theater Shoes" and "Movie Shoes" are all favorites of mine, so it was great to add another to the list! Frankly, it's not as good as the others, but still, it's fun to round out the series. I think there's still "Party Shoes" out there somewhere, but I'm not breaking my neck to try to find it.

Happy July

2010-07-02T18:44:00.001-04:00

Sorry I haven't been posting more. I have been ridiculously busy with summer theater camp at Regent, choreographing and teaching dance classes. It's going well, but I am WIPED OUT at the end of the day. My time of solitude, quiet house and not doing laundry every day is coming to an end, as I'm off to Pittsburgh tomorrow to pick up the kids from Super-Granny's house. I'm planning on driving straight through on Sunday to come back, as I start rehearsals for MacBeth and have tech week for summer camp starting Monday night. At least Don doesn't have to work, so I have one more day kid-free to get my bearings. Also getting a cold, so driving all day should be fun. Happy fourth, wishing we could be in Norwood!

Scooby's birthday

2010-06-17T22:50:00.010-04:00

Happy birthday, Scooby!
(Celebrated two days early, since he'll be in transit on the actual day)

First, we went to the beach...

Then pizza and presents at Doughboys

Miniature Golf at Jungle Golf

Scooby got a hole-in-one!

Lion tamers!

Fun day with Daddy

And Mom

Tarzan's Birthday

2010-06-17T22:41:00.010-04:00

Happy 8th birthday, Tarzan!!!

Tarzan's reaction to Grandma's IOU of Wii Lego Harry Potter

Cinderella explains her homemade present to Tarzan

My homemade cake - Hogwarts Castle

And the cupcakes - Golden Snitches

Poster I drew for "Pin the Scar on Harry"

Tarzan and his new "Silly bands" (If you have to ask, you don't have elementary aged kids)

The poster Scooby made for the front door

Tarzan and his newest Webkinz

NYC pictures

2010-06-17T22:35:00.007-04:00

Steve and Sue's Brooklyn Apt.

Steve and Sue in their Brooklyn Apt.

Melissa and Taylor getting coffee

Walking in the park

Melissa and J

Cubscout pictures

2010-06-15T20:15:00.008-04:00

Cubscout Camping Trip pictures...birthday party pictures to follow soon!

Timmy as a Wolf - receiving his latest beltloops

Emily and David at the campfire

Cubscout Campsite...looks serene doesn't it? That's because the JETS HAVEN'T STARTED FLYING OVER YET!!!!

This is David's "I got into Kemps Landing!" face

Crossing over to Bear

Timmy as a Bear

Apparently, I beat hard enough that the wall caved

2010-06-07T21:37:00.002-04:00

We got a phone call today offering Scooby a spot at the gifted school! No mention of whether my letters had anything to do with it...possibly they didn't even get it yet. Scooby's over the moon about it, and so am I. More details to follow. In other good news, Tarzan crossed over from "Wolf" to "Bear" in cubscouts this weekend, and I was cast as Lady MacBeth in the summer six-person version of MacBeth at Regent. Yippee!

Beating my head against the wall is so much fun

2010-06-03T16:50:00.002-04:00

Dear (Unnamed Gifted School) Staff;
I am once again writing on behalf of my son, Scooby Dunlap, who is currently placed on the waiting list for Unnamed Gifted School. As the school year draws to a close, I felt the need to contact you once again and ask you to keep Scooby’s application fresh in your minds, should an opening be found for next year’s sixth grade class.
Scooby has continued to excel academically, achieving Principal’s List for the second and third quarters of the school year. He is on track to reach this level again for the end of the year, and he is very proud of his accomplishments. He has recently begun taking Tae Kwon Do lessons, which are giving him an excellent opportunity to strengthen his confidence, self-discipline, and physical coordination.
I remain convinced that a placement at Unnamed Gifted School would absolutely be in Scooby’s best interest. After speaking further with the Gifted Program coordinator at Current Elementary School, Mrs. So and So, we are both in agreement that Scooby’s social and emotional developmental needs, as well as his academic needs, will be better met at Unnamed Gifted School than at Regular Middle. In the event that a spot does not open, I would ask that you make an exception and create a new spot for a student who will ultimately be an asset to your school, as much as your school will be a benefit to him. I have never before been so persistent in the pursuit of a placement for my child, but such is the strength of my conviction in this matter that I felt it necessary to contact you again. I have sent a copy both of this letter and my previous letter to Dr. Head of all Gifted Programs in VA Beach as well.
Once again, I thank you for your patience and consideration in this matter.

It's on days when I do stuff like this that he drives me completely up the wall with his behavior. Grrr....

I thought about going to the beach, but instead...

2010-05-27T22:41:00.003-04:00

Finally finished the seasonal clothing switch today...summmer clothes in the drawers, winter clothes folded, boxed, and moved into the garage. Vacuumed the house. Straightened out my new prescription with my new insurance. Returned some stuff to Walmart, and bought two lemons. (Why? Keep reading!)Read some of Wally Lamb's "The Hour I First Believed." Read more of it. Read so much I ran out of time to work out. Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and ate dinner outside for the first time this year. Went to the cubscout Talent Show. Tarzan was great...juggled lemons (see?), did a magic trick, and told a joke. He had a wig, two different hats, a crazy coat and a blue tutu. He was a big hit. Second best was the kid who played "Row Your Boat" on the electric ukelele. Tomorrow I need to pack Cinderella a lunch for her field trip, get my run in, go to a planning meeting for "The Wiz" (the second theater camp I'm teaching at this summer) then come home and pack for the weekend. My plane to NYC leaves at 5:45pm. I have no idea what to pack! But I'm looking forward to it!

Summer plans

2010-05-24T21:32:00.002-04:00

Scooby's had two Tae Kwon Do lessons so far, and I think it's a hit! He seems to be really enjoying himself, and he looks really cute in his little outfit! (Sorry, that probably wasn't very respectful to the outfit...I'm sure it has a special name and everything.) There are two female masters that teach the class, and they seem to be really good with the kids. I have a feeling he'll want to continue when the free trial is over...perhaps an idea for a birthday present? Thought I'd fill everyone in on our travel plans, in case anyone cares. Friday night I'll be flying in to LGA (and hey, do I get to get picked up in the cute new convertible, or am I still stuck with the smelly, puke-inducing taxi?) Sometime Sunday afternoon, I'm planning on driving our shiny new (to us) Saturn to DC and maybe getting there in time for dinner with Mom, Dad, and Lisa. Monday I'll drive the rest of the way home. The weekend of June 4th and 5th, we'll be camping out with the cubscouts here in VA beach. Timmy's birthday party will be either on Friday the 11th or Saturday the 12th. David's will probably be Thursday the 17th. Don and the kids will be driving to Pittsburgh either right after school on the 18th, and stopping in DC (if you're home, Lisa)or driving straight through on the 19th. (Happy Anniversary to us!) The four of them will be in Pittsburgh that whole week, and Don will fly back to VA on Sun. the 27th. I'll be flying in to Pittsburgh on Saturday, July 3rd, and driving the kids back on Sunday, the 4th. Possibly staying at Lisa's, even though she's not home? And coming back early enough on Monday that I can go to work at 6:00pm. Then we're here through Aug. 15th, since I'm working camps. Then, hopefully, we'll be driving up to MA. I'll fly back here for the first week of classes, starting the 23rd, then fly back, pick up the kids and drive back here. Sounds fun for everyone except me! While in Pittsburgh, I'm hoping to have a little get-together for David and some of his friends at Pizza Hut, to celebrate his birthday again, hopefully making up for the fact that he has to sit in a car all day on his birthday. Don and I will have a whole week here without kids to celebrate our anniversary! I'm tired just looking at all of this.

Hello again!

2010-05-21T11:33:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's been awhile since I've written, and the longer I wait the more there is to write and I get all overwhelmed and don't want to write anything. I've had very little motivation to write anything since school ended and I guess I've just been taking a little vacation from it! But life has been trucking right along. Our memory card broke, and now the computer won't read the new one, but as soon as I can I'll post some pictures of Tarzan's new haircut and Scooby's new glasses. Tarzan's enjoying cubscouts and baseball, Scooby starts a free month of Tae Kwon Do lessons this afternoon, and Cinderella is staging elaborate Barbie shows in her room. I've been trying to take advantage of my "vacation" days - while the kids are still in school, but before I begin teaching summer camps - to work out a lot. I'm currently doing two training schedules. I'm following a 10K training program, which would theoretically have me able to run a 10K by the end of July, not that I have plans to actually do one. I'm running three days per week, crosstraining for two, and either doing yoga for one and resting for one, or resting for two, depending my weekend schedule. So far, I'm on week two. On the crosstraining days, I'm using some P90x videos that someone gave to Don. I've only done two so far, and they are tough. The first was "Chest and Back" and requires the use of a pull-up bar, which I don't have, and wouldn't be able to do even if I had it, so I modified the exercises quite a bit, but still got a good upper body workout. The second way "Plyometrics" which is lots of jumping, lunging, squats, etc. I was actually able to do most of this one, with very few modifications, thanks to all the Rapier and Dagger lunging, probably. My knees are complaining a little today, but I was able to complete today's run without any trouble. I'm running 4 miles, interpersing one minute walk breaks for every five minutes of running. The running stretches get longer in week four. So there's my exciting entry for today! Was it worth waiting for?

One of the things I've been up to

2010-04-27T14:50:00.003-04:00

This is our last practice session before our fight final tomorrow. Please excuse my professor's terrible camera technique.
Rapier and Dagger fight practice

Holla

2010-04-17T15:42:00.002-04:00

I got the link to view the new set of headshots I had taken...from the professional, this time. Please click on the link, http://www.wcgreen.net/viewing find my name, and type in password AmyD1909 to view. Opinions, please!

Went to Tarzan's ballgame this afternoon - first one I've been able to go to. They lost, but he did great! Got two hits - both times the first pitch, although he hit both of them right down the first base line and didn't make it to base. But still, those were his first hits in a game! He also tagged a man out to close out an inning while playing third. I was so proud!

Don and I went OUT last night!!!!! Alone! To a movie! Actually we went to CinemaCafe, where you can eat and drink beer (or wine) and watch a movie at the same time. We saw Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carrel, and it was really good. Well written (mostly), funny, and a very accurate portrayal of marriage, I thought! Then we went to Chick's Beach, for the first time, and sat for awhile. It's right on the Chesapeake Bay, and somehow for me, the lights of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge extending off into the darkness kind of ruined the view for me. Don liked it, though. He thought they looked like party lanterns.

No news about the school yet. Report cards came home yesterday, though, and Scooby got all A's again and was very proud. As was his mommy.

It's already sent...so I hope it wasn't a mistake

2010-04-08T21:43:00.002-04:00

Some names have been changed for the protection of, well, me, really. I mailed this letter today. Was it a mistake?

Dear Gifted School that will remain unnamed here Staff;
I am writing to thank you on behalf of my son, Scooby, for considering his application to attend Unnamed Gifted School next year. He is currently placed on the waiting list, and we are holding out great hopes that a spot will be found for Scooby before the school year begins. We are aware that you receive many more applications than you have available spots for students, but I felt I must take the opportunity to ask you to consider Scooby’s application again.
Scooby has always been an excellent student, with an exceptional facility with language and an aptitude for grasping mathematics. Since he was a small child, Scooby has gravitated towards older children and adults, as they were more able to converse on his level. He demonstrates highly creative thinking both in academic assignments and in his time at home. Of course, all of this information can be found in his original application.
What I would ask the committee to consider is the benefit that I feel Scooby will receive from attending a full-time gifted school such as Unnamed Gifted School. We are very impressed with the values and mission statement of Unnamed Gifted School. Honesty, responsibility, self-control, and respect are not only the honor code of your school, but priorities in our household as well. In addition to being an excellent student, Scooby is also a well-mannered and trustworthy young man who enjoys being encouraged to take risks in an environment that feels safe and respectful. Scooby is somewhat small for his age and a little slower in physical development and ability than other children his age. I am greatly concerned that the intimidating physical environment of a regular middle school could be extremely difficult for Scooby, whereas a school populated by like-minded academically focused students would relieve some of the pressure in this area. In addition, we are still new to this area, having moved to Virginia Beach last August for me to pursue my master’s degree at Regent University. Since the move, Scooby has had difficulty in making new friends. The beginning of the year, before Scooby tested into the gifted program, was very challenging for him, as he was not only adjusting to the move, but dealing with some behavior issues of other students in the class. Again, we feel that being in an environment where he is surrounded by like-minded students will allow Scooby to focus on his school work, and hopefully develop some solid friendships.
Thank you again for your consideration of Scooby’s application. We know that the decision process is very difficult, and I wanted to try to give you a more complete picture of Scooby in the hopes of helping the decision process. Meanwhile, we will be waiting anxiously in the hopes that a spot will become available for Scooby at your excellent school.

Sunny, at least

2010-04-01T20:13:00.002-04:00

Had another run up "stomach-bug" hill this week, and managed to again avoid catching it myself, knock wood! Cinderella was sick Monday evening into Tuesday, which meant I had to miss class on Tuesday. I did get a fair amount of work done, but somehow didn't manage to save it on my laptop (although I swear I hit the Save button) and had to do it all over again on Wednesday. School is intensifying up a bit as we head down the home stretch - I can't believe my first year is over in about six weeks! Truly, where has the time gone? I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to continue my part-time job - oops, I mean my volunteering -- at the elementary school. Yet, I'm afraid to not be there. Next week is Spring break for the kids, so it's a break for me too - at least from their school, though not from mine. And thankfully, Granny is coming to visit! Yay!! Hopefully the nice weather will stick around for her. I'm still feeling angsty about Scooby's school situation for next year. Nothing to do but wait, which I HATE! Last year at this time, it was my own school fate I was waiting to hear about. So much can change in a year. Hope the drowned rats in RI are starting to dry out. Sounds pretty crazy up there! Can you drive anywhere yet? I managed to run over to Barnes and Noble today and pick up a few books from the Easter Bunny. (Pinkerella sticker book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself book, and The Toilet Paper Tigers - all specifically pointed out as desirable by each respective kiddo.) And, Scooby finally lost a dangling molar tonight (thanks for the gum, Grandma!) so our house will be host to several mythical visitors this weekend.

Busy

2010-03-29T21:34:00.002-04:00

You may have noticed some weird comments popping up lately, so I've added comment moderation as an option on the blog.

I spent the past weekend fighting, falling, and recovering. On Friday, I took and passed my Unarmed Combat skills proficiency test - a big deal! On Saturday, I took a class on fight techniques for film, Swashbuckling with small sword, left and attended Scooby's All-City orchestra concert, returned and took a class on Apache Knife fighting, attended a screening of a new film called "Eyeborgs" and then attended a student written and directed original musical called "Disorientation of Butterflies." On Sunday I took a class on Falls and Rolls, a "Dangerous Rapier and Dagger" class, and an Unrehearsed Shakespeare class.

I survived. I'm tired.

Oh, and Mom and Dad were here, I think. Didn't see much of them!

Besides Scooby's orchestra concert, Cinderella had a Chuckie Cheese birthday party and Tarzan had a ballgame.

Thankfully, it rained today and my Little League concession stand duty was cancelled!

It's awfully quiet out there...what's going on??

Laser Lemon

2010-03-24T08:17:00.003-04:00

That's the color of crayon sitting on the desk in front of me. What does that even mean - "Laser Lemon"? The lemon part I suppose I understand, but what a laser has to do with describing a color is beyond me.

Sunday morning we had our first experience with x-rays. Of course, it was Tarzan. Sometime on Saturday, while I was at You Can't Take it With You and Don was working in the front yard, Tarzan figured out how to get from the top of the swingset/fort onto a tree branch and swing down onto the grass. That was so fun he decided to do it again, but the second time his foot caught on the slide and tipped him sideways, landing him on top of his arm. But he didn't want to tell Don he'd hurt himself, because he was afraid Don would be mad he was swinging on the branch. So we didn't find out until the next morning, getting ready for church. He was complaining about the arm hurting, he couldn't lift or straighten it, and it hurt to the touch. So off we went to Patient First. They did x-rays, but fortunately it's not broken. Just a "contusion." So they gave him a split and a sling to wear for a couple of days. After one day of not being able to write in school, he decided to ditch the splint. He's still got it in the sling, and we're skipping a couple days of baseball practice, but he's already almost back to full mobility.

No news on the waiting lists.

I've accepted the summer camp position, so now just have to work out all the details.

Cinderella is doing a Reader's Theater piece in school tomorrow. She's playing Pinky the Pig in an adaptation of how the three little pigs explain to the big bad wolf the difference between solids, liquids, and gases. And who says there's no more good theater out there?

Busy weekend coming up. Scooby's got All-City orchestra, and I've got the Virginia Beach Bash, and my SAFD testing for Unarmed Combat.

It's flowering tree and daffodil season - my favorite time of year! Now if I could only get outside and enjoy it!

Short stories

2010-03-18T23:20:00.003-04:00

Okay. In no particular order...

First of all, remember me bitching about the process to apply to alternative middle school programs for Scooby? I'm pretty sure I did that on here. Yesterday we got letters from both that he'd been wait-listed for both programs. Because apparently, yes, they are THAT exclusive. Whatever. The one program I'm not 100% sold on anyway - not really sure why, just a gut thing, kind of. The other, though, I was kind of hoping that would pan out. And it still may, we'll see. Did I mention I HATE wating and seeing? Wait-lists are evil and should not be allowed. I'll be calling the school tomorrow (on the elementary gifted teacher's advice) to find out where he is on the list and how much hope there actually may be that he'll get in. I've tried to talk to Scooby about all this and see how he's thinking and feeling, but all I get is "I dunno." Of course I don't even know how I think and feel about all this, so how can I expect him to? Still waiting on the gifted elem. school application for Tarzan, and I won't know about gifted status for Cinderella until May. WAIT AND SEE. Blah.

Second...there was an attempted carjacking near Regent on Tuesday night, and the emergency alert system went haywire. From 11:43pm until 3:14am (although I shut my phone off at 2:00) I received 20 text messages alerting me about the attempt and the fact that the police were looking for the suspect and not to be alarmed. Also, 4 voicemail messages, and 4 emails. Thank you for the alerts. It's nice to know you're on the job, now shut the heck up!!!

Third...Tarzan started baseball this week. He has two 1 1/2 hour practices and one game every week. It's a league requirement that all players wear a cup to practices and games. Seeing his eyes when he learned what a cup was, was priceless. Me trying to find a cup small enough...also priceless. (ps: there aren't any small enough. The kid looks like he's walking around with a grapefruit down the front of his shorts.) Parents also have requirements, although they fortunately don't involve unfortunate crotch bulges. At least, not yet. Instead, I've been signed up to a. sell concessions, b. volunteer manpower at the Bingo Hall, c. provide snacks,and d. sell Pampered Chef and Virginia Peanut products for a fundraiser. And that was all at the first practice. Remember when I said I sold my soul to the Little League? I WAS RIGHT!!!

Fourth...I was offered a position with the Regent Summer Camps for the junior camp (ages 10 - 14) which runs June 21 - July 11. I was hoping for the Sr. camp which is July/Aug, but that didn't pan out. It's for the Dance Teacher/Choreographer position. They're doing Mulan, Jr. I'll probably take it, but Don's stressing to try to figure out how much it breaks down to per hour. I'd have to figure out what to do with the munchkins for the first two weeks, as the camp runs 8:45 - 5:15 Mon through Fri. I was thinking maybe I'd try to send them to Pittsburgh - St. Philip's KidzKamp runs that first week,and maybe Don could take them up and stay for at least one week. I want to try to get up to Mass. for a couple of weeks too - maybe the end of July?

Fifth...I've been spending at least two hours a day in Cinderella's classroom for the past two weeks, helping out her teacher. I was going to vent a lot about this, but I don't think I will. Suffice it to say, I'm glad I'm there, and even though it's eating up a lot of my homework time, I'll continue as long as I can.

Finally, we needed to get the brakes fixed on the green car this week - it was kind of an emergency situation so we dropped the car off at Meinke that evening, and were told it should be ready by 9:00am the next day. Well, we've had enough experience to know that probably wouldn't happen, so we made plans for me to borrow someone else's car for the day, and give Don the van, just in case. We drove over in the morning, around 8:30, and the car hadn't been touched yet. Then Don realized he'd forgotten his ID at home and I left him there while I went back to get it. By the time I got back, around 9:20, the car was up on the...what do you call that thing? The lift? Anyway, it was being worked on, supposedly. But when I went into the office to give Don the ID and see if he was going to wait for the car or drop me off at school, he and the other two people in the waiting room were sitting with stunned expressions on their faces, listening to the employees and the manager screaming at each other behind the (very thin) closed door. This wasn't just a little argument, there was major profanity, breaking glass, threats of "I'm going to f&$&#ing kill you!" and it went on, and on, and on. It was unbelievable. If the car hadn't been up on the whatchamacalit, we would have left and gone somewhere else. I plan on writing a shocked and appalled letter to the company. Don elected to stay, partially to make sure they weren't going to bust out the windows in the car, and got to work very late, since the car wasn't done until 11:30. But, the brakes seem to work.

And that's all the news I'm awake enough to print.

Next time...on Passing Understanding

2010-03-17T20:45:00.003-04:00

I'm way too tired to post right now. Things to post about later:
Demands on the parents of baseball players
Wait list letters
Summer job
Crazy emergency texts in the middle of the night
Volunteering in Cinderella's classroom
Crazy people at Meinke brake center

I need sleep.

Grrr.

2010-03-12T23:18:00.002-05:00

Good day at school, bad day at home. Don't really feel like going into it right now, but I had some MAJOR fail moments as a parent today. I'm mad at myself for dropping some balls, and yes, I am juggling quite a lot, and as fast as I can, but it's still not acceptable. Totally lost it on Scooby this afternoon. I was actually crying in frustration at not being able to deal with his behavior. And he's a good kid - he really is. I know it could be a lot worse. And I can't even deal with this small amount of bad behavior and attitude. I commented on Facebook that I couldn't WAIT for the teenage years...totally sarcastically, and somehow people thought I meant that sincerely. NO! Not at all. I don't know how I'll be able to handle it when I can't even handle him at 10. I know, cut myself a break, I'm really busy, blah, blah. Tomorrow's another day. But right now, I'm feeling really defeated and directionless.

James Madison

2010-03-11T11:31:00.002-05:00

The play itself was about what you would have expected from a 5th grade play staged in the cafeteria and written by students at James Madison College. But Scooby was really good! Except for a couple of moments where he looked like he was taking a little snooze during a particularly slow moving scene, he was loud, clear, energetic, and knew what he was saying! Plus, he looked so darn cute.

In other news, Tarzan is playing for the Yankees this year! Sorry, Grandma and Grandpa!

Tired of looking at myself

2010-03-08T23:20:00.002-05:00

I'm pooped. This week is going to be nuts. Today I had an interview for Regent Summer Camps, then class, then helped the first grade teacher, then class, then wardrobe crew, then homework. Tomorrow, Scooby's play, then class, then helping the first grade teacher, then Walmart, then wardrobe crew. Wednesday, class, helping the first grade teacher, pick up Scooby from cast party, class, take Tarzan to first baseball team meeting/practice, wardrobe crew. Thursday, take Scooby to school at 7:15 for field trip, class, help first grade teacher, class, pick up Scooby from field trip, parents night and meeting for baseball, wardrobe crew. Friday, help fifth grade teacher, class, wardrobe crew. Saturday, baseball field cleanup, drive Tarzan to birthday party, combat workshop, wardrobe crew for two shows. Yes, for some of these I may have to be in two places at once. I'm pooped.

New cropping - my favorite so far

2010-03-03T16:52:00.002-05:00

Headshots

2010-03-02T20:17:00.009-05:00

I've been informed that I need a new headshot. (Which, if look on the Regent website and compare the quality of mine to others, I definitely agree. Those were taken with our crappy camera and they just don't reproduce well.)A friend of mine, an undergrad theater student, is also a photography buff and has a nice new camera, with which she's offering to take shots of people on campus for practice. She took some of me yesterday, and I've posted some of them on Facebook. For those of you not on FB (Lisa) I'll put the top six up here too...please vote! The department is also having a professional photographer come in April to do shots - $225 for a total package, $35 for a mini-session (one outfit, five minutes). Since I'll be here for two more years and may look different when I graduate, I'm opting for the mini-session. So, I'll end up either using one of these, or one of the five minute mini-session shots. Even if you voted on Facebook, feel free to vote again here!

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5th grade homework.

2010-02-27T13:01:00.002-05:00

Writing about states of matter, chemical changes, physical changes. Did you know that florescent lights are a plasma? "We" are having a grand time. If we both survive this paper, it will be a miracle.

Edit:Here's the paper!
Matter By: David Dunlap
Matter is everything you can see and touch. It is all around us. Matter changes both physically and chemically. Many of these changes can be seen in everyday life, but some can only be observed by scientists. The rest of this paper will explain what matter is, and what physical and chemical changes are.
Matter has many unique qualities. All matter is made of atoms. All atoms are made of protons neutrons and electrons. Matter is any substance that has mass, takes up space, and exists as a solid, liquid, gas, or plasma. All matter is made of elements. Matter can be measured by mass (the amount of space in an object), density (the measure of how tightly packed an object is), and weight (the force of gravity between earth and an object). These are just some of matter’s unique qualities.
There are many ways matter changes chemically. A chemical change is when there is a temperature change, odor change, a color change, or when heat, light or a new substance is produced. A compound is two or more elements chemically combined. An example of a compound is a molecule. An example of a chemical change is when you mix baking soda and vinegar. A new substance, a gas, is produced. These are some examples of how matter changes chemically.
There are many ways that matter changes physically. A physical change is when matter changes from one form to another. An example of a physical change is when a solid turns to a liquid, a liquid turns to a gas, and a gas turns to plasma. The changes are caused by energy in the form of heat. As the temperature changes, the state of matter changes. For example, as the temperature of ice rises, it becomes water. As the temperature of water rises, it becomes vapor. Water’s boiling point is 212°F, or 100°C, freezing point is just below 32°F or 0°C, and melting point is just above32°F or 0°C. This can be measured with a thermometer. The changes that occur in mixtures and solutions are also physical changes. These are a few ways that matter changes physically.
Learning about matter helps scientists understand the world around us. By understanding the world, they can help people in their lives. For example, florescent lights are plasma made by running electricity through a gas. Without scientists’ understanding of plasma, this invention, and many others like it, could have never been invented.

Grades and taxes and poop. Oh my.

2010-02-23T22:57:00.002-05:00

Yeah, not much going on here either. I had my Rapier and Dagger midterm yesterday. I think I did okay. Actually, I think I did well on the written part, so-so on the actual fight. I blanked and did a parry 2 instead of a parry 3 right at the end. I know, right?? What was I thinking! I got my first three grades for Text Analysis and they're all good. And I got an A on my first scene in scene study class. So all is well. Spent this afternoon wrestling the kids about their homework. Scooby has a paper to write about chemical and physical changes in matter...I had to look up a lot of stuff before I understood the assignment. Cinderella is struggling to get through chapter books for her reading assignments - her attention span poops out pretty quick and then we have to fight to push through to the end of the chapter. Tarzan...still doesn't have enough homework. Scooby's been playing around with the animation program Dad linked to me...it seems a bit clunky to me, but he's having fun with it. Spent the weekend doing taxes. I used HRBlock online, and then Don insisted we do them again with Turbotax. HRBlock is giving us $1000 more of a refund than turbotax,so I think we'll go with them. We can't quite figure out how they're figuring everything, so I'm not sure why the difference. It's something about the Lifetime Learning Credit, or the tuition and fees deduction, but I'm not sure exactly what. Then I filled out the FAFSA and started applying for some scholarships for next year. Fun, huh? And the cat smelled really poopy tonight so I gave him another mini-bath. Don't you wish you had my life? : )

Next Season

2010-02-19T22:38:00.002-05:00

We got an email today letting us know what the 2010-2011 Season will be here at Regent. This is big news for several reasons: The shows we're cast in play a big part in coloring our experiences here at the school. Both for whom you'll be spending a large chunk of your time with and for what kind of material you'll be immersed in. Also, it informs what kinds of material we should be working on for the May Juries, which serve not only as a final grade/audition technique workshop but also as an actual audition for first couple of shows of the season. The second years are even more invested in these choices, because their Thesis roles will be selected from among these plays. Out of the six shows, I'm only familiar with three of them, which just means I'm more ignorant of the theater scene than I should be! Right now, I don't have a huge reaction to this season either way, positive or negative. I will be trying to track down the three shows that I'm unfamiliar with, along with most of the other MFA's, I'm sure, and then I'll have a better sense for what I might be up for.
They are:
September: Leaving Iowa, by Tim Clue and Spike Manton
October: Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
Nov/Dec: The Last Night of Ballyhoo, by Alfred Uhry
Jan/Feb: The Runner Stumbles, by Milan Stitt
March: Medea, by Euripides
Apr/May: Fiddler on the Roof, by Joseph Stein, Jerry Block, and Sheldon Harnick

In a week and a half I start my production hours for You Can't Take it With You, and after the run of that show I have about two weeks before the production hours begin for Godspell. I put in an application to work at the Summer Theater Camps here in July and August. I'm immensely qualified, but apparently the competition for jobs is pretty tough. Hopefully that will work out, although I don't know what the pay is like yet!

Outside Perspective is a Good Thing

2010-02-16T21:50:00.002-05:00

So he's not going to play. He wants to play baseball, but not on a team. He still likes the game, but doesn't want to join Little League. (insert sad face here)
I went and signed Tarzan up, and sold my soul to the Green Run Little League in exchange for a discount on registration. They WILL be calling me to volunteer. Grr. Thank you all for your insight.

Parenting Dilemma

2010-02-15T21:21:00.002-05:00

So...
tomorrow is the last day to register for Little League baseball. Assuming we can swing a deal with the league to help us lower the cost of the registration fees, it's our last chance to sign the boys up for the season. Tarzan is excited, and definitely wants to do it. Scooby is extremely ambivalent. He got pretty upset when I asked him if he wanted to play, but seems unable to articulate why. He "kind of likes it and kind of doesn't." He "kind of wants to play and kind of doesn't." He's kind of driving me crazy. Of course, my best guess is he still likes baseball, but doesn't feel very good about himself when he's playing, since he's not actually that good at it. (Shhh) So, do I encourage him to do it, let him take the easy way out, or what??? My inclination is to strongly encourage him to do it, but I'm afraid I'd be setting myself up for months of struggle and fighting. Or, he could love it. Thoughts? Advice? Help!!!

Speaking of creativity

2010-02-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

http://regentbackstage.blogspot.com/2010/02/reflections-from-cast-of-elephant-man.html

Creativity

2010-02-12T10:56:00.003-05:00

We are required to keep a journal in my Scene Study class, and every week we are given a topic to write about. This week's was creativity - how did we express it as a child, and how to we continue to feed the creative well today. I will probably add more to this entry in my class journal over the weekend, but I thought I'd compy some of the initial thoughts over to this blog as well.

When I was little, I used to put on records and dance. Particularly vivid in my mind is one record (yes, record...made of vinyl and everything) called "Gypsy Melodies" which had a photo of a very exotic dark-haired woman on the cover, with lots of eye makeup, hoop earrings, and a red tank top with one shoulder strap drooping off the side. The appropriate attire for dancing to this record was an ankle-length chiffon purple circle skirt that had been my Mom's in high school, bare feet, and a sheer white curtain which could be used as a veil, a scarf, a belt, or whatever else the movement required. I would entertain myself for hours, dancing to this record, and many others. Sometimes I would create a storyline, sometimes just move free form to the music.
Other times, I would recruit my brother and sisters and the neighbor children to act out stories with me, using the big metal drum full of dress-up clothes we had in the basement. Hansel and Gretel was one of our favorites, and Cinderella, and Annie. I always loved dressing up.
We also used to play outside a lot, and most of our games consisted of "play-acting" stories. I was never much for organized sports games, and I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 12. Instead, I tromped through the woods acting out Robin Hood adventures, or building fairy houses with moss and twigs, or searching for the wicked witch's house amongst the gone-to-seed apple trees. I had raging cases of poison ivy as a kid. The large rocks deposited on each piece of property in our town (built on a granite quarry) were host to many imaginary scenes as well - picnics, and tea parties, and anguished last stands.

Creativity today. Every time I'm confronted with this question, I'm flooded with a feeling of guilt and dissatisfaction. In a way, I'm engaging my creativity every day, through the simple fact that I'm pursuing an MFA in theater. Much of my creative energy is poured into my classes, my homework, and of course, the work that I do on productions here. I have seen and been a part of more theater in the past four months than in the previous five years combined. But I think in order for the creative soul to be fed, the critical mind needs to be silenced. At least temporarily. And that is quite difficult to do.
When I was a child, I played creatively because I loved it. It was fun. And that was all. It wasn't for a grade, for recognition, or least of all for a paycheck. And once all those things are added on to the creative process, it changes it somehow. The answer seems simple - be creative in ways that you love, and do it just for you! Simple, but not easy. There's the time factor, there's the guilt factor (if it 's not earning me money it's not worth pursuing) and there's the fatigue factor. Pursuing creativity takes energy - yes, it feeds energy as well, but it is certainly more taxing than kicking back and watching American Idol.
So, I try to be deliberate about it. Reading plays for enjoyment, rather than for class. Playing the piano. Writing in my personal blog. It's an effort, to be sure, but I recognize the importance of it, and I hope that by being mindful and pursuing it deliberately will eventually reap the fruit of the joyful involvement of doing it for the sheer pleasure of doing it.

What about you? Is creativity important to your life now? How did you express it as a child? How do you feed your creative well now?

Thursday

2010-02-11T08:10:00.003-05:00

I had every intention of updating last night, but I fell asleep in a chair at 8:45pm. Moved upstairs around midnight. Guess I was tired!
Took Scooby to the new pediatrician yesterday for a well-child check-in. They couldn't do all three on the same day, for some reason, so I had Scooby yesterday, Tarzan today and Cinderella tomorrow.
Everything's on a pretty even keel right now - classes are going well, the kids are doing okay in school, Don's work is chugging along.
We may have an interesting situation with our landlords. They want to break their contract with the Property Management company, and rent directly to us. If that happens, they're willing to cut us a break on rent if we re-sign with them for two more years. They'd drop our rent by $80/month. Since I can't really see anything forcing us to move out of this place before Regent is done, I think that might be a pretty good deal. We'd been contemplating (well, Don more than me) looking around for someplace cheaper, but the thought of having to pack everything up and move it again this soon was making me physically nauseous. So we'll see how that works out.
Who's ready for spring???

Life goes on

2010-02-04T22:35:00.002-05:00

Okay. They don't hate me. I can't leave that up anymore.
We're okay.
I don't have the ambition to write much tonight, though. They had haircuts today, and bought some Valentine supplies from Michael's Craft store. We gave the cat a bath last night because his belly was all caked with mud. He did very well and we all survived. I gave Scooby Lisa's suggestions for practicing violin - he really liked the last part about no commentary from the other room. I told him I'd promise to do that if he'd promise to do the rest.
We'll see.

They hate me! They really hate me!

2010-02-02T11:00:00.005-05:00

Just in case you were wondering, I am the meanest Mom in the world. Yes, that's right, the contest is over, and I've won. Get ready for a recital of my crimes.
1. I made my son practice violin. (Actually, that battle is still being engaged - he's sitting with the violin on his lap, but hasn't actually made any sounds come out of it yet. He's too busy weeping over my cruelty)
2. I made my other son stop screaming at his sister because she kept shooting his guy on Wii Lego Star Wars. In fact, I made him stop playing altogether and go to his room. That's right, his ROOM. Filled to overflowing with toys, books, and stuffed animals of every shape and size. *Shudder*.
3. I wasn't pleased when my daughter spilled red food coloring-dyed water out of the ziplock bag onto the rug. Granted, I didn't scream that time - Don did, so I got a few mean-ness points deducted for that. But still, I wasn't pleased.
4. I may have cursed slightly at my phone when I got the alert that school was cancelled again today. I don't think I did it so the kids could hear, but still, I wasn't filled to the brim with the joy of the prospect of another day housebound with my darling angels, and that makes me a bad mother.
You see, it snowed. On Saturday. A whole seven inches. And since then, (gasp!), it has continued to be cold outside and so, mysteriously, the snow is still there. Therefore, the roads are a deathtrap, people, BLACK ICE!!!!!, and no-one in their right mind is allowed out of doors. School must be cancelled. Businesses are shut down. Families are quarantined inside their houses and left scrounge the cupboards for the last can of spaghettios and scratch each other's eyes out. I really need to go grocery shopping, but I have 20 dollars in my purse, and oh yeah - DEATH TRAP!!! BLACK ICE!!! So I guess we'll just have to suffer.
Other mean things I have done: Forced them all to watch movies and play video games. Enforced book reading time. Required the oldest child to make chocolate chip cookies. Sent them out in the snow to (eek!) PLAY.
It's true, people. WORST MOTHER EVER. I'm expecting the statuette and the big giant check any minute now. As soon as it comes, I'm going to the grocery store, BLACK ICE be damned.

Elephant Man update

2010-01-30T00:10:00.006-05:00

Here are some photos of my character in Elephant Man. The shows are going amazingly well. In fact, I've been nominated for an Irene Ryan Acting award (from the KCACTF adjudicator) The process of pursuing winning the actual award is kind of intensive, so I may not pursue it, but it's a huge honor to be nominated, and I'm pretty psyched about it!
On more of a bummer note, both our shows tomorrow have been cancelled due to the forecast of a possible foot of snow for tomorrow. They've added a show on Sunday evening to try to accomodate the audience, but it's really sad not to be able to do the shows. I'm really going to miss this work.

New Apple Product

2010-01-28T12:24:00.000-05:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!

One weekend down...

2010-01-24T21:56:00.004-05:00

Opening weekend has gone extremely well. We've gotten great feedback and I feel really good about how the show is going. We had an adjudicator from KCACTF (Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival - Whew - almost as bad as SPEBSQSA!)come to the show last night and she had lots of good feedback both about the show and for me in particular! (Other actors too, not JUST me, but she did have some for me) I have lots of homework backlogged, and the kids are really missing me, but I have to say again...I love what I'm doing. There should be some pictures coming soon, I hope.
Wish you all could see it!

Still coughcough*** here

2010-01-21T23:59:00.000-05:00

Opening night tomorrow!

Tech - Tock

2010-01-16T21:46:00.002-05:00

Tech rehearsals aren't much fun. Today was "dry tech", which means the lighting, sound and slides guys figure out how to make what the director envisions come into reality. We crew and actors sit around and sigh a lot, and stand onstage if they need a body on which to focus the lights. Tomorrow is "wet tech" where, in theory, we run through the show moving from cue to cue and working transitions. I say in theory, because at the rate we were moving today, we'll finish the "dry tech" process sometime after opening night on Friday. Seriously, we were averaging two hours per scene. There are 21 scenes in the show. By the end of this evening, I'm estimating they'll be finished with scene 6. The good news is, the actors were only called in four hour blocks instead of the whole rehearsal. Tomorrow we have to be there the whole day - 1:30pm until around midnight. Yippee.

The Pinewood Derby was fun, although I didn't get to stay for the whole thing. The boys didn't win anything, but they liked seeing all the other cars and getting a chance to race theirs. Cinderella got to go to a birthday party today, so she had a good weekend too.

What's going on outside the theater walls?

Stolen, but lovely

2010-01-08T11:34:00.002-05:00

This is from one of the blogs I follow called Notes to Self. You can find the blog at www.notestoself.us This post could completely be about Scooby. It's perfect and makes me cry.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Cusp
He stands in the music section of Barnes and Noble, the twenty dollar gift card burning a hole in his pocket, indecision burning a hole in his heart. In one hand, he clutches yet another definitive field guide to Pokemon, the cartoon characters that have been his obsession since first grade. In the other, an object of recent desire, a newly remastered Beatles cd. He is ten years old for only seven more days. He is moving into the in-between place. Moving out of childhood.

One night, several weeks ago, I peeked into his bedroom, and saw the baby in his sleeping face. The glimpses of that are so rare now. I gazed from the doorway a long moment, not knowing if I would ever catch that sweet sight again.

I wonder how aware he is of where he stands poised, how much consciousness undergirds the angst he feels as he weighs the little boy's book against the young man's music. I remember being his age, holding my favorite doll and stuffed animal to my breast at night, weeping quietly with the knowledge that I was passing from their world into another, one where I wouldn't be able to hear them speak.

Sometimes I look at my own weathered, sun-spotted hand, and am amazed to think it is the very same hand that once closed around my mother's finger, and grabbed at my father's beard. It feels like we move on as we go through life, but we never leave our own skin. I wonder if my baby self ever visits my face at night.

He chooses the Beatles album, and in spite of--or through--my own poignant projections, I'm pleased. I discovered their music the summer I was eleven, and listened to nothing else until I got through junior high. It's a good map.

We get home and rip the cd to his new MP3 player. Not many "pretend" toys in his pile this year. I toss it to him over the back of the couch, and he catches it. "Thanks, Mom!" He can rest his chin on my shoulder easily. It's time for braces, and middle school, and talks that I am nowhere near ready to deliver.

He puts on the headphones, and jumps to his feet, bigger than mine. My little boy is gone, I think. Into a world where he won't hear me speak.

Then he skips across the family room like a runaway shadow, and I smile and think, not yet.

First Day of Rapier and Dagger Class

2010-01-06T23:04:00.002-05:00

Advance.
Retreat.
Advance.
Advance.
Pass Forward.
Pass Backward.
Retreat.
Hop Forward.
Extend.
Lunge.
Recover.

Smile.

ps: When one is being sincerely thanked and appreciated, it is impolite to correct the grammar of the thanker.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T23:09:00.002-05:00

We are back in Virginia, after a wonderful - if germ filled- Christmas at home Mass. So great to have all the family there! Played cards (too) late into the night, drank wine and ate lots of cookies. Yeah, so everybody was sick and hacking all over each other. What's Christmas without a little communal Mucinex abuse?
But we're back, and already full into the swing of things. I have four classes this semester - Text Analysis, Scene Study, Rapier and Dagger, and "Surviving the Dance Call" which is basically a Dance class focusing of a different style every three weeks or so. Started up rehearsals for Elephant Man again tonight - show opens in two and a half weeks!
Scooby was cast in his school play about James Madison. He's playing...James Madison! "The part was so big, they split it between two people!" He's pretty excited.
Don is feeling overwhelmed at work. But he still likes this base better than the other one.
So in between classes this week I need to finish unpacking and take down all the Christmas decorations. Blech.
Thanks to everyone who made this Christmas so great for the kids and for Don and I. We are very grateful and love you all!!!

Some Christmas Stories

2009-12-22T19:50:00.005-05:00

By the kids

The first is Cinderella's (age 6)

The titull is the list of caldr days itill Christmas

The star oh the star
it is so beautiful!

the angel oh the angel
her wings is so beautiful.

the camel oh the camel
his bumps are so beautiful.

Babby Jesus oh babby Jesus
he is so handsome.

the sheep of the sheep
her wool is so soft

the cow oh the cow
she shared her manger.

the donkey oh the donkey
she carried Mary to the stable.

the wisman oh the wisman
they brot prasits to Baby Jeus
the prasits are beautiful.

An Acrostic Christmas Poem by Tarzan (age 7)
(minus the "R")

C hrist the lord was sleeping in his manger when men three of them were right there.

"H abdaba!" said the lord.

I (wich is a litte sheperd.) tryed to calm him down.

S o I took him to Mary and Josef.

T wo of the men walked by. The lord scremed agin.

M ary said "Go away!" to the men.

"A present we bring." said the men

S o the men gave the present but Mary said "My son is not a king." "Yes he is" said the men. "The star lead us to you." "Relly?" said Mary "Yes" said the men

Travel plans

2009-12-20T22:36:00.002-05:00

For those who don't already know, and want to...
All 5 of us are driving up on the 23rd. We can't leave till Don gets back from work, but he's only working a 1/2 day. The plan is to drive the whole way. We'll see. At any rate, we'll be getting in really late. Don is flying out on Sunday, the 27th. His flight goes out of Boston at 6:00pm. Maybe if the weather cooperates, we could spend the day in Boston first? The kids and I are staying until Jan. 2nd, then we'll head back. Maybe all the way, maybe as far as Lisa's. (If she's okay with us crashing there again, even if she's not there!) Apparently I'm teaching choreo on the 29th. Don and I would love to go out to a movie, sans kids, sometime while he's there. So maybe on Saturday?
That's the plan!

Advent - Day 17

2009-12-17T20:58:00.002-05:00

Not really much to write, just trying to get ready for Christmas on a zero budget/zero time system. In some ways, it really simplifies things. I did drive to the beach and get some sand shovels for the kids - big ones, better for digging and stuff. Boy, those kitchy beach crap stores have really lonely and desperate employees in December. Also got the Christmas letters written, printed and mailed. Elephant Man rehearsals are going well. I think the show's going to be pretty intense - in a good way. My three main concerns right now are 1. Intelligibility of the Elephant Man. The actor is Chinese, playing a lower class British accent, of a character with severe speech impediments. He's doing an amazing job, but I'm afraid we may lose some of our core audience (those over 70). 2. The stage. It's raked (ie. slanted) at a severe angle, and it's a reverse rake, which means the highest part is in the front and the lowest in the back. I have to admit, it's very visually interesting, but creates HUGE sightline problems. 3. Wearing Victorian garb on the aforementioned rake. Heels, petticoats, corsets, long skirts, gloves, hat, etc. It's going to be very challenging.
Kids all brought home great progress reports today. I haven't received my final grades yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm headed for all A's. Yay me!
Can't wait to see everybody!!!

Advent - Day 14

2009-12-14T18:25:00.007-05:00

(Yeah, I skipped a few days. It was a show week.)

Little Women complete, first full day of Elephant Man today. Yay!

Kids are all healthy except for some residual coughing from Scooby.

Lots to catch up on this week!!!

Marmee

Marmee and the girls

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy

Beth (actually Kenna) Sweet girl!!!

"Father sent all sorts of loving messages to his Little Women."

Advent Day 6

2009-12-06T20:54:00.005-05:00

Cinderella seems fine.
Scooby has a fever.
All 3 are scheduled for H1N1 shots at school tomorrow. Do they get them even if they're sick?
The Christmas tree is up - the stand broke a little, so hopefully it will stay up.
Kids all got haircuts today - Cinderella's is chin-length! She's been asking for two years now, and she even paid for it herself, so I finally gave in. It is VERY cute, but too grown up looking. Edit: Pictures posted!
PRAYING that all are well enough to go to school tomorrow and that I don't get sick. My stomach's been mildly protesting all week, but hasn't gotten any worse, so I'm determinately ignoring it. This is finals week/production week for Little Women - I CAN'T GET SICK!!!!!

Decorating the tree - all three new haircuts - Amahl and the Night Visitors on TV in background

Advent Day 5

2009-12-05T23:33:00.003-05:00

Cinderella seems to be okay today. No more incidents. Hooray. (Celebrating cautiously, just in case it's premature...)
Today's agenda - return library books, homework, Tech rehearsal for Little Women, homework.
Tomorrow's agenda - church, Christmas tree shopping, haircuts for the boys.

Advent Day 4

2009-12-04T21:22:00.002-05:00

Yeah, so, I got every parent's favorite phone call today. "Mrs. Dunlap? This is the school nurse. Your daughter threw up on the bus, so we need you to come get her."
Fortunately, I didn't have anywhere I HAD to be during the day today and was able to pick her up and hang out all day. She seemed to feel much better once I got there, and didn't get sick again today. The new coat she was wearing for the first time got quite a dosing, but it cleaned up okay. She really didn't tell me she wasn't feeling well, and frankly, if she had I probably would have ignored it, considering all the "stomach aches" they've had before school.
The school nurse is very nice. She changed her into clean clothes and bagged up the dirty ones for me.

The checks were for the PTA sponsored Holiday shop at school. They have an assortment of gifts the kids can buy for family and friends, ranging from about 50 cents to 15 dollars each. The kids are supposed to decide who they're buying for and how much to spend on each one, but we didn't have a chance to do that before they went to school. So, I just gave them all 15 dollars and sent them off. THey all came back with a baggie of presents, and they all said they had enough for what they wanted to get, but I haven't seen the results yet!

Here's praying I stay healthy for the next several weeks!!!

Advent, Day Two

2009-12-02T22:54:00.002-05:00

Had kind of a rough day today. Started off in a flurry and a rush, as I overslept and Tarzan woke me up 5 minutes before the bus came. Didn't have time to go over holiday shop budgets with the kids, just slapped a check in their envelopes. Should be interesting to see what they came home with. Cinderella was trying to tell me her tummy hurt, and I guess it did, since she came home wearing a "nurse's office" pair of pants and had her poopy ones in a baggy. No phone call, and I guess she felt better after that.
Found out in the middle of rehearsal today that one of my cohort's wife had a miscarriage tonight. He was very upset and had to leave rehearsal. So sad.
So, I've had better days, but mine wasn't as bad as some other people's.
Don's still having a very unpleasant time at the new base. Hopefully he'll get transferred back soon. Or, this contract will end and they'll find him another one somewhere else.

Advent, Day One

2009-12-01T22:34:00.003-05:00

Yeah, no promises to keep up with every day, but I'll try.
Long day today. Got kids on the bus, went running, movement class at 10:00. Worked on RP or Standdard British pronounciation over lunch, Acting class. Came home, got kids off the bus, pottied and packed with their homework into the car. Drove Carol to the airport. Got kids home, finished up homework, fixed dinner, and off to Little Women rehearsal. Did a full run-through of the show for the designers, then went to Elephant Man rehearsal to work on British again. We also have finals coming up next week. Oh, and the kids need money tomorrow for the Holiday shop and school and I put my only $20 into the gas tank today. Hope the school takes checks.
Through all this, I'm still loving school. I love almost everything about it. The only things that really drive me crazy are the lack of sleep, the lack of money, and when other people in the program aren't as serious about the work as I am. I am paying too much money and investing too much time to have to work with slackers. Seriously. I know, preaching to the choir here.

Thirty

2009-11-30T23:27:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-29T22:14:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-28T22:24:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-27T22:46:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-26T22:03:00.003-05:00

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

My Thanksgiving blog entry is thus....

Muppets sing Bohemian Rhapsody

Twenty Five

2009-11-25T23:35:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-24T23:13:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-23T22:31:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-22T21:54:00.004-05:00

Who knew?
Slug Eating Cat Food

Twenty One

2009-11-21T20:03:00.002-05:00

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.