Sophie's Choice

Holy Crap. Okay, I just watched Sophie's Choice for the first time, although I have read the book at least 5 times. This is an absolutely amazing film. Not only is it the best adaptation of a book into a movie that I have ever seen, the casting is incredible, the acting impeccable, the story frighteningly believable and yet incredibly poetic. I used incredibly twice. Oops. If you haven't seen this movie, rent it now. But watch it within reach of tissues and the possibly the hotline to a counselor. I am moved beyond belief. And I already knew the story!
All right. I'm done. Go watch the movie.

I feel like I'm finally getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas/travel/sickness blur that has been the last month or so. We had a wonderful visit to Mass., and a great Christmas, but once again illness struck and knocked out Scooby, then my sister, then my Mom...one by one it attacked almost everyone. Tarzan seems to have escaped. Then after we returned, the stomach bug attacked...me, then Don, then Scooby, then Cinderella...once again, Tarzan escaped. I guess it's karma after being the only one to get sick over Thanksgiving.
Things are just about back to normal here, which means that I'm ramping up to be incredibly busy again. The mystery shows are happening pretty frequently, which is really fun, and I'll be doing a little bit of choreography for the high school. They're doing Little Shop of Horrors, which doesn't have a lot of dance, so hopefully it won't take up too much time. I'm also going to try to co-direct and be a part of a production of Quilters at our church - I'm trying to stack the cast with all my great friends who are also incredibly talented performers. I'm praying it can work out for everyone. We're also getting ready for baseball signups for Scooby, and kindergarten roundup for Tarzan, and preschool registration for Cinderella. I don't know why people feel you have to sign away the rest of your year in January, but it seems to be the way it is.
Later...

New Year!

It's a new year, and this is my new toy!!! It was actually given to us by some friends from church, and so far, works great. I've been walk/running about 2 miles per day, hope to up it to 3 miles next week. Skinny jeans, here I come!

Ho ho ho

Update:
The play is over! The play is over! Hooray, hooray! This past weekend we performed a musical version of It's a Wonderful Life at my church, and it near killed me in the process. It was a behemoth that almost got away from me, but I conquered in the end. Bwah, ha ha ha! (Sound of crazed laughter) And now I have resurfaced, and looked around my house and said, egads, this place is a sty. So, as I said when Don asked me what I planned to do today, I'm trying to "make headway." Little by little, I'm trying to cross off the ridiculously long list of Christmassy things to do, and also take advantage of this silly 60 degree weather we've had yesterday and today. Big Wheels in December! Yippee!
I've also made the quasi-dangerous leap into Ebay sales this past couple of weeks. I've managed to sell about 20 things out of the attic, and make a total of perhaps, $40. I say quasi-dangerous because I'm a little addicted to the thrill of watching things get bid on. (Sorry about that grammer.) But throughout the process I've learned, if nothing else valuable, that the Post Office will sell postage online, you can print the label on regular paper on your own printer, and then you can schedule them to COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND PICK IT UP FOR YOU!!!! I think I'm never going to the post office again. Why did I not know this before? If only they'd install a drive through window at the grocery store, I'd be in 7th heaven.
The heathen are melting down in the kitchen, so that's all for now!

Giving Thanks

I am thankful for:
The health of my children - that Cinderella didn't suffer a much worse eye injury when hit in the eye with a hanger - that I have two jobs that I love, most of the time - that Don has a job - for our nice big house - for the view of the Ohio river from my bathroom window - for my family - for my friends - for my health - for chocolate - that the Christmas show seems to be coming together well - for the support of my husband in all my crazy endeavors - for the hugs of my children - for warmth and safety - for sunshine - for my children's inquisitive minds - for the glimpses of the adults that they will someday be - for visiting family - for good shopping deals - for my computer - for Christmas coming - for music - for the grace to let go - for God's sustaining peace - for pizza - for the look in my children's eyes when I snuggle them at bedtime - for so many things.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So I'm going to count on a new week starting Wednesday

This past week has been one of major crapitude around here.
Wait, before I even get into it, let me just acknowledge that the kids are all relatively healthy, since the strep and the pinkeye technically occurred last week, a week which I'm now considering to be a good week. Everything truly is relative, or, in the words of the Churkendoose, "It depends on how you look at things."
Wednesday last, I found out that some good friends of ours, John and Sandy, and their two kids who are the same ages as our own, are moving to Ohio. (Browns territory, of all places!) John is the youth minister at our church, although he's always hated that term. He prefers leader of student ministry. He is one of the wisest, most well-adjusted, yet totally crazy and spontaneous people I know. He was a college football player, a parole officer, and a counselor before coming to our church ten years ago. He's the kind of person who can go from a serious discussion about the direction of your life goals to covering a co-worker's office with post-it notes. COVERING it. Every surface. One of his most infamous activities was showing up at a kid's house at 3:00 am in a Darth Vader suit and dragging them out of bed while videotaping their reactions. This happened frequently. He's had a tremendous influence on both Don and myself, our kids are friends, and I'm going to miss him enormously. I am very sad about it, and find myself tearing up at random times throughout the day.
Also on Wednesday, my friend Deb's dad had heart surgery. He's doing fine, recovering at home, thank God.
On Thursday, I found out that we are not allowed to perform the show that I've been rehearsing for three weeks. I began rehearsals on the assumption that it would be no problem acquiring the rights, and I just got smacked in the face for assuming. It was a bad judgment call, and a lot of people are being very inconvenienced by it. I found another version of the show and we are getting the new scripts and license next Thursday. It will all work out, hopefully, but it's been a pretty major cause of stress over the last couple of days.
Friday, a man from our church who's been struggling with colon cancer for several months passed away. I didn't know him very well, but many families in our church were close with him, and there was a lot of heaviness in the congregation over the weekend.
Also, the glasses I ordered on eBay for my murder mystery Christmas show came in and they're the wrong color.
Today, I found out that they may not be hiring me at the high school for the musical this spring, since they've decided to do Little Shop of Horrors, and there's really no choreography in it. I've made myself available to help, but that's a pretty big source of income that may not be coming in this spring.
Finally, a little girl of about 13 that I knew from Rhema school died of leukemia this weekend. She had been in remission for a couple of years, and then it just reared up again and took her in a couple of months.
I'm sad, and I'm tired.
I'm looking forward to the holidays coming up, and seeing family, and having some time away. Sorry for the downer post, but I'm hoping for an upswing soon. Surely, this week will end and we will begin again.

Trick or Treat

Are these not the three cutest trick or treaters you've ever seen? Even though by the end of the night, Cinderella's crown was drooping and her ponytails were dripping wet, she marched like a trooper the whole time and enjoyed every minute. The boys, who are old pros by now, had trouble keeping up with her! Hope it was drier where you all are. Now, how to get rid of all this leftover candy???

Tonight's project

No, they're not really naked, it just looks that way. It started off as shirts being removed to keep the pumpkin off them, then it just went crazy. Thanks to Uncle S. and Aunt H. for the Halloween stuff! It was very well received. We were supposed to go to the town parade tomorrow am, but with 40 degrees and rain, my new plan is to stay home, snuggle under blankets, and watch the Princess Bride.
Don hit a deer with the old van yesterday. Busted out the front passenger lights and put a pretty good dent in the door. Took out the deer too. But at least Don's okay! Stupid Bambi.

For Melissa

Dorrie the Little Witch is a whole series of books by Patricia Coombs
There are about 20 in all, published from 1962-1992
I've read a couple to Scooby, and they're still great!

I remember that plastic-y mask smell too. You had a princess one, and Steve had a devil. (No irony there, huh?)

Laundry and Halloween

They were actually sleeping! And to think I was wasting that potential nap time by surfing the computer! Oh, well.

Today is catch-up on housework day. Change the sheets, do multiple loads of laundry, sort, fold, and put away, vacuum the stairs (somehow they catch as many dust balls as Don's bellybutton! Sorry, probably too much information...), encourage Scooby to finish his book report book...

And then I have a show tonight. Thursday's went well - Don's friends were late because of traffic, so that stressed him out a little, but I think he enjoyed the show, and it went well. On the way to tonight's show, I'm going to try to stop at Red White and Blue Thrift store and find a white button-up shirt for Scooby's magician costume (the only one he has is the one he wore to Steve and Heather's wedding, so it's a little small!) and a pair of "pedal-pushers" and a gray 1950's suit for myself, for the Christmas show. It's supposed to be a 1950's variety show, and I play the wry, side-kick writer. Kind of like a 50's Tina Fey. I'll also be looking for cats'eye glasses. Mom, you don't still have yours, do you?

So Halloween's coming up fast. As I mentioned, Scooby wants to be a magician, so sometime this week I need get out to Party City and get him a black hat. We've got the cape, pants, bow tie, gloves, and wand already. Even some tricks that he wants to carry around with him and do at EVERY HOUSE. I'm trying to figure out how to discourage that idea, without discouraging HIM. Tarzan wants to be a skeleton, wearing the same skeleton PJ's that Scooby did a couple of years ago. The bones are pretty worn by this time, but he says it looks like someone hit them with a hammer and they crumpled, so he likes them that way. Cinderella wants to be Tinkerbell, and I think I can get her to wear one of the many ballerina type dresses we already have. I told Tarzan I'll paint his face like a skeleton, and Cinderella that I'll paint fairy designs on hers. She wanted to try it out today, but I think we'll wait. We have a neighborhood parade on the 28th, in the morning, then Granny's going to take them to a costume pumpkin patch at her church that afternoon. On the 31st, Scooby has a costume parade at school, and then there's trick-or-treating that night.

What are some of your favorite Halloween costumes/memories? My three most memorable were the years I dressed up as a Dutch doll, and wore the authentic wooden shoes trick-or-treating. (Ouch!) The year I made a "Missing Link" costume out of a cardboard box...not the genetic missing link, the puzzle that was popular the same time as the Rubik's Cube, with the colored links that you'd have to slide into place. While making the costume, I cut out the head hole first, and then tried it on, without thinking to cut the arm-holes first. Of course, I fell flat on my face. And finally, the year I was Snoopy chasing the Red Baron, wearing a ten pound airplane on my shoulders that my Dad made out of an old barrel, and a paper mache mask on my face with limited visibility. I'm lucky I survived the night. I have to say, I was kind of relieved when I grew too old to trick or treat. So how about you all? Any fun memories?

Life update

I'm an Aunt again! Don's sister delivered a baby girl last night, 3 weeks early. She's tiny - 5 lbs. 7 oz., but healthy and cute as a bug. It's always good to pass on good news, I believe.

I have a show at Rock Bottom tonight and Don and a couple of his friends are coming. I hope I don't mess up in front of them! I'm going over right from teaching the 4-7 year olds, so I also hope traffic isn't too bad.

We started rehearsals for It's a Wonderful Life - the musical. They're going really well - although it's a big cast so there will always be people missing from rehearsals up until the show, probably. But the leads are fabulous, and I'm having fun so far.

We discovered during the deluge on Tuesday that our windshield has started leaking again. I got to sit in a wet spot all day. We need to take care of that before it gets too much colder. But it's so hard to be without a car and have to cart around 3 little ones!!

It's suspiciously quiet upstairs right now - either Tarzan and Cinderella are sleeping, or there will be some sort of mess up there when I go check. I've managed to waste the past 20 minutes or so flipping around to different web pages and accomplishing nothing. I'm almost afraid to go look, but I'd better...

Zoos and stuff

Everyone (except Don) had Monday off for Columbus Day, and it was a gorgeous day here, so we decided to go to the zoo! It's been a couple of years since we've gone - I think Scooby way 5 and Tarzan was 2 - Cinderella was just a wee babe in the stroller. Tarzan and Cinderella were apprehensive about seeing lions and tigers before we went. I tried to explain the whole concept of them being in cages, but it didn't seem to be getting through. After we got there, though, they liked it just fine. The tiger came right up to the glass and laid down with his back to us. The daddy lion roared REALLY LOUDLY right before we got up to their enclosure. I thought it was a recording. Shows how dumb and jaded we are! I had no idea a real lion roar was so loud! Tarzan enjoyed the monkey house, although since lots of other people had the idea to go to the zoo on their day off too, it was pretty crowded. And smelly. The bat cave was a big hit, and so was the meerkat tunnel. It was pretty funny - the kids crawl underneath the cage and there's a plastic tube where they can stand up and look at the meerkats right up close. From the parent standpoint, the kids popping up looks just like the meerkats popping up! Then we went to the naked mole-rat crawling tubes and played for awhile (just like the ones in McDonald land, really) Then we ate some hotdogs, and Tarzan and Cinderella went into the 2-5 year old play area while Scooby finished up. About 3 minutes later, I go over to check on them, and Tarzan is gone. I retrace our steps back to the naked mole-rat tubes, and try to find him there. Nothing. Well, lots of other kids, but not him. I get Scooby and ask him to go into the tubes to look for him. It's been about three more minutes now. Not long, really, but long enough for all the news horror stories to flash through my head. But then I turned around and he was at the food counter, talking to two zoo employees. When I ran over to them, he was telling them his brother's name, and that he was 7. After giving me a few dirty looks, the zoo ladies released him to me. I hugged him and asked him where he'd been. He said he'd gone back to the tubes and then couldn't find me, so he found someone that worked there and said he couldn't find his mom. I was so proud of him!!! I hugged him and told him he'd done exactly the right thing. I then told Scooby what he'd done, and as the big brother, he congratulated him too. Scary for a few moments, but nice to know that the lessons have sunk in.
We've been keeping pretty busy here. I've been doing one or two shows per week with the murder mystery group, and preparing a message which I'll be speaking at church this weekend. We've also been trying to locate and destroy a bees nest somewhere outside the attic windows. That involved moving many boxes and vacuuming up lots of dead bees. We then had to bring up all the air conditioners, and Don decided to seal the attic windows with plastic for the winter. That involved moving more boxes, and discussing thoroughly the contents of each one, and did we really need to save all those baby clothes? Don also replaced our kitchen sink faucet, which had rusted completely through and squirted water in every direction when turned on, and the handle to our dishwasher, which broke off the other morning. He's been quite the mister fixit!
We're working on night training with Cinderella. Not a whole lot of success so far. Scooby made a chart for her though, with rewards listed for each level of success. He's getting frustrated that he can't check off boxes on the chart, but no more frustrated than I am with the changing of the sheets every night! Oh well, we're almost there.
Oh, and totally random - one of my new favorite shows is Studio 60. Check it out, if you haven't already. It's funny, smart (although sometimes a little too self-consciously smart) and it deals in a really healthy way with some tension between a Christian character and the rest of the characters. I recommend it. (The show, not necessarily the tension!)
Peace out!

(*&#&$#*)(@ Snack Day

I can handle learning lines for seven murder mysteries and being asked to perform any one of them on a moment's notice. I can handle directing a show with a cast of 20 people and coordinating all their schedules and trying to create something of artistic integrity with very little to work with. I can handle picking up sick kids at school and keeping my car running and folding five loads of laundry and signing permission slips. But SNACK DAY kicks my butt. Every time. I always forget until the last minute when it's someone's turn to bring in the snack and end up either buying something at midnight the night before or throwing something together. Today, Tarzan brought in a gallon sized zip-lock bag filled Cheerios, Kix, pretzels, goldfish and raisins. He glared at me and said, "Well, I'm only going to eat the Cheerios. Everything else is yucky." Who's the Mom of the Year? That's right...ME!!!

Emotional Therapy

(found on another blog)
List ten things you want to say to people you know but you never will, for whatever reason. Don’t say who they are. Use each person only once.


1. Stop whining so much.
2. You are the smartest person I know; now figure out a way to enjoy it.
3. I envy your happiness.
4. Yes, I do think you talk too much.
5. You're allowed to not be funny all the time.
6. You're not as smart as you think you are.
7. Appreciate him, because he won't be around forever.
8. Get over it...the world doesn't revolve around you.
9. I'm disappointed in who you've become.
10. I hope you realize how lucky you are to have her.

Landslide

landslide video

I'm not used to posting links; so see if this works. Click on the video link above and find the video called "Workers try to remove debris on Rt. 65". Then press play and wait patiently through the commercial.

This is about 2 miles from our house, on the road that passes directly in front of us, just on the other side of the railroad tracks. This particular section of the road doesn't affect our travel that much - I only go that way a couple of times per week, not every day. But as of tonight the traintracks are shut down!!! Blessed silence. Hey, you've got to look for silver linings, right? Of course, after they reopen, it will probably be all trains, all day long, 24/7, to clear up the backlog. But, I shall sleep well tonight.

Stupid Primetime

The whole reason I don't usually watch Primetime, Dateline, or those other "pseudo-news" shows, especially when they have stories about children, is because they always make me walk away hating the world in which I'm bringing up my babies. Last night's Primetime was about Mean Girls on the Internet...how they write horrible things to each other in chat-rooms and on message boards; how they doctor others girl's messages to make them seem crueler; how they post slutty pictures of themselves and their friends. And the clincher was a story about a middle school boy who was incredibly sweet and gentle, and also a little developmentally delayed, so of course he was called gay, and a loser, and bullied mercilessly by girls who used to be his friends. He hanged himself when he was 14. Now does this kind of programming make me want to send my little ones proudly out the door to the schoolbus? No, it does not. Already my kids are frighteningly computer savvy - although their usage is currently limited to PCGames on CD or websites like NickJr and PBSkids.org. But who knows what they'll discover next? They will not be allowed to have computers in their rooms, and I will totally be expecting Don to hack into any email accounts or online journals or blogs that they have. It's just one more thing to worry about, and who really needs that???? I'm so concerned about raising healthy kids, and smart kids, and responsible kids, and active kids...but what I really care about most is raising NICE kids, GOOD kids, CARING kids. I want them to love themselves and their friends, and to stick up for the kids who are being picked on. I want them to be secure enough in themselves to step away from the crowd when they need to and to reach out to those who are outcasts. Now, how do I do that?

Just stuff

Oh, yes. We're definitely back in school. Cinderella's had strep, and the boys both have runny noses and fevers. They haven't complained of sore throats, so I haven't had them strep tested yet. I hope I'm not being that "carrier" mom who spreads it throughout the whole school! Unfortunately, I have to go in for a staff meeting today, so I have to drag Tarzan in with me, even though he feels like crap. If the Tylenol kicks in, I'll send him to preschool (which is at church anyway), and if not, he'll have to sit through staff with Cinderella and me. The staff loves me, let me tell you!
I went to the Halloween store yesterday and bought a Cleopatra type headdress for one of my murder mystery characters. I also bought some face paint crayons, because those are hard to find other times of the year. And you never know when you might need to paint someone's face! With the amount of money I've spent on costume pieces, this acting gig hasn't earned me a whole lot of money yet, but I'm sure having fun! I also just agree to teach a class on Thursday afternoons for the next six weeks. It's for ages 4-8 (so yes, they'll all be coming with me) and it's something about dramatizing poetry. I have no idea what the curriculum will be yet, I don't even know if they have something for me, or if I have to create it. Should be interesting!

Back To School

Only brief comments today, and then some pictures. There is no turning back now...never again will my babies be not-yet in school. They have boarded the education train, and she's rolling down the tracks. Also, Cinderella is already feeling better - I love pink drugs.

Off to the Doctor

Well, I'm taking Cinderella in to the Doctor this afternoon. She's still acting weird - really lethargic and crabby, and it's been almost a week, so she's going in. Hopefully it won't be too traumatic. She started preschool yesterday with a 50 minute "phase-in" session (don't get me started on the phase-in process...so stupid!) and did fine, so she'll probably act completely fine in the Dr.'s office too and start complaining again as soon as we hit the parking lot. Tarzan starts his phase-in today - he's very excited! First day of school pictures coming soon!


Later...well, she tested positive for strep. So it's not some kind of weird brain injury, which is good, and I should have taken her in sooner. Bad mommy. And no preschool tomorrow. Bummer. But, on the plus side, the amoxycillin (sp?) is PINK! Her favorite color! And apparantly doesn't taste too bad either. Tarzan had a great time in school and was reportedly very kind to a new little boy who was nervous and missed his mom.

Time to Grow

Our pastor this weekend gave a message on it being "Time to Grow". The summer was our time of abiding, he said, and that it was now time to grow. (The scripture reference was "I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me will bear much fruit, but apart from Me you can do nothing" That's a loose translation)
He said our lives need to be approached with intentionality, and that it was time to refocus our the areas where we need to improve and develop. Now, I completely agree that we need to live our lives intentionally, and one of my personal areas of focus is currently trying to identify those times when I'm letting my life slip by me while I'm making other plans (or zoning out in front of the TV, or mindlessly surfing the net...) and to refocus on the life before me. To pay attention, in other words. And I also believe in identifying areas of our lives where we need to cultivate change. Right now, one of those areas for me is being more disciplined in my writing...Not to say that the writing will always be cogent or worth the time it takes to read, but that the act of writing itself is good for my brain. It helps me to focus, and to be present in my own life. However, I took issue with being told that it was "Time to Grow." Surely growth is a natural outcome - something which occurs when the conditions are ripe, and cannot be forced to occur simply because of someone else's wishes or desires. It's like the story in Frog and Toad, where Toad tries to grow a garden, and every day goes out to the patch of dirt and shouts "Grow, seeds! Grow!" When they don't immediately shoot up, Frog tells him that he may have scared the seeds out of growing. I can't grow simply because I'm being told it's time. What I can do is make sure that I'm being nurtured - back to exploring what those things are that bring me life. That I'm being cared for, by myself and others. That I'm being challenged and inspired. Then, hopefully, growth will happen.