All Is Well

Man. What a December.

First it was Babydoll and me in the play, Peter Pan. Tons of fun, and we're going to do Cinderella in February. We're all (as in all 6 of us, excluding Hunk O Man only), are in the chorus and I'm going to help with costumes.




Then Christmas hit. As in, hit me upside the head! I've done virtually all of my shopping online and had it shipped up to my Mom's house (where I currently am until Friday, the 26th). I'm still short one Santa gift, but doing pretty well on the rest. I was able to save quite a bit this year by utilising my Visa card reward points. I'm telling you what, it's not a bad deal and you can spend it like free money.

Then I got on Ebay and found a couple of things, and made sure I went through Upromise and SwapBucks, etc for other stuff. So the money savings has been good this year.

We had a trip to Monticello last week -- just Babydoll and two of her friends, EB and CG. We played CatchPhrase virtually all the 2 1/2 hours there -- and I got them all headbands with springy disco ball thingys on them, so it was me and the three also-homeschooled aliens. The weather was terrible, but we had a good time anyway. That place is amazing -- Thomas Jefferson is amazing! We'll definitely be going back in the spring. I am determined that my kids are going to see some of the history that surrounds us within a 3-hour drive of the NC/VA border where we live.

We also had a look at downtown Charlottesville, which was your typical college town -- wonderful in its history and creativity. I recommend a visit if you get the chance.

I make Christmas dresses every year -- except not this year. It just didn't happen. Sometimes we must let things go. Instead, I'm doing a little gift project for the girls for everyday. I think it will all turn out fine in the end.

We did get our Christmas tree, finally. Hunk O Man ended up going over to the tree farm, and the guy was the former art teacher's husband, and the art teacher loves Bug, and they got to talking -- in the end the guy gave him the tree for free. So there you go. I married an amazing man who is not only stingy and frugal, but is able to make the most beautiful Christmas tree materialize out of thin air. Waiting a little longer just makes it prettier -- and I am determined to leave it up until mid-January and thoroughly enjoy it!

Merry Christmas!

Peter Pan is Consuming My Life

"Greetings Boys! I'm back!" (Peter Pan to the Lost Boys, when he comes home from the Darling house to Neverland.)

"I wish I weren't going out to dinner tonight." (Mrs. Darling, worrying about the safety of her children). Yeah, right! I'd love to stay home and cook some more! No, it really has been a wonderful ten days or so. Making aprons. Doing alterations. Cleaning the house. Painting my bathroom and helping JB install new faucets. Making my bedroom the ultimate retreat for my parents while they were here. Staying up late and cooking. Feeling as if I'm going to fall down because I'm so tired. Running to Super WalMart for more eggs.

"Conceited? Not me! I gotta crow! I'm just the cleverest fellow 'twas ever my fortune to
know . . . " (Peter Pan, upon having his shadow reattached). Once in awhile I have a brilliant decorating idea THAT WORKS! I have been trying to work with the late 70's-early 80's dark oak wood that was in my bedroom. I gave up in the bedroom and painted it all white. But in the bathroom, I used the "oil-rubbed bronze" look to try and harmonize it all.
Well, last week I gave up trying to harmonize the dated wood. I tried something new and it is just two words: GORE-GEOUS!
I already had new lights and mirrors; I got new faucets and JB installed those for me. I painted all the trim white, like the bedroom. But what to do with the dark oak vanity?
I painted the darkest color of espresso I could find. It is SO pretty! I am very pleased. I'd take a photo but I haven't gotten the cabinet doors back on yet.

"Back, you puling spawn!" (Captain Hook) Puling means whining. I looked it up.
Six aprons and four to go before December 1. NOT GOING TO MAKE IT. Dang. Yet another goal dashed. However, I have virtually all of the Christmas shopping done! We visited the Raleigh Flea Market on Friday after the holiday, and then shopped our way back home. We found just about everything, my mother and I and Barbie, and had a wonderful time. Barbie even said Mom and I were "Hello, ADD, table for two."

"Wendy Lady, will you be our Mother?" (The Lost Boys). I am more a lost boy than a Mrs. Darling. If only I were shorter. One Winter Dance dress to alter, which according to Ms. CDO (which is OCD but the letter are in the proper alphabetical order, as they should be), ROSE, it should have been done two weeks ago. Bug was MUCH easier. We found hers at the craft fair at the Raleigh Flea Market. It's a genuine Vietnamese gown and pants, in black and gold. Very different, and very Bug. And I have to say, that was the pushiest Vietnamese saleswoman with the most perfect teeth that I have ever encountered. No wonder she sells so much!

"What are you doing in my old hat?" (Mrs. Darling to Wendy, who is playing dress-up).
One Mrs. Darling costume over which to obsess. This is a relatively minor character in the play. And yet I'm looking up drawings of Edwardian women and worrying that I need a hat in the first scene. OK, I may not have a big part, but Mr. and Mrs. Darling are the only two people in the entire play who have costume changes. A little obsessing is not altogether undue. I'm thinking of ordering one of those body shaper thingys where they send you the top and the bottom and in black and white and so on. It certainly couldn't hurt.

"Ub-bble, wub-ble, when we get in trouble, ugh-a-woo, there's just one thing to do: I'll just send for Tiger Lily!" (Peter Pan singing the Ugh-A-Wug song)
Well, the conversation went something like this:
JB: "Grandma wants to know if you want them to stop at the grocery to get anything on their way here."
Me: "Nope, I think we've got it all."

And later, during the actual cooking:
My Mom: "Ok, do you have enough eggs?"
Me: "I dunno."
My Mom: "What about potatoes?"
Me: "I have potatoes."
My Mom: "We'll need onions and celery for the turkey."
Me: "Let me check here. Oops, no onions!"
My Mom: "What about eggs? I need at least four for the noodles. OK, Rose, make a list. See, now that's why I asked if you needed anything we could have gotten on our way down here."
Me: "Well, you asked if I had everything. I have turkey. What about this being my first time to host Thanksgiving have you forgotten?"

My family thinks I'm a great cook until my mother arrives. Then I am a sorry excuse for a cook, which suits me fine, because I have always contended that I am far better at cleaning it all up than I am at cooking it.

"Oh, mother, it was such a wonderful dinner. Strawberry shortcake, vanilla ice cream, chocolate pudding, lemon meringue pie, and fudge for dessert." (Tootles, a Lost Boy, to Wendy).

But I did make a second batch of noodles, and all the piecrust, and the entire pecan pie. And I did have the forethought to get two cans of whipped cream. Plus a couple of tubs of whipped topping. And cinnamon rolls.

"By-carbonate of soda, no!" (Captain Hook).
I forgot to add the yeast to the roll dough. So much for homemade rolls. They were rocks. Oh well!

Mom and Dad went back home on Sunday. Terrible weather, but they were driving the rocket ship with the invisible phone, and Mom's mission on the trip was to scour the owner's manual until she found the way to get the weather. Sirius Satellite radio and GPS and talking climate control and rear seat warmers and all that.

I prayed for them to be safe and they got home just fine. Church and laundry and many hours of Peter Pan rehearsal later . . . "just think of lovely things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever."

Happy Thanksgiving
xox

Comedians Live for these Moments

Last night, watching Peter Pan rehearsal was a bit like watching Wally the Director trying to keep several ping-pong balls underwater at the same time. They were going over some scenes with the Lost Boys-- all of whom are an average age of about nine.

I sat reading my new book, "The Shack," and trying not to laugh out loud.

I nearly failed at one point when the Lost Boys were asking Wendy to tell them the "end of the story" of several fairy tales. And then, one asks:

"Tell us the end of Ham-a-lette."

Ham-a-lette?

Oh, the things going thru my mind.

"I'd like a western hamalette, please."
"No, I don't want a big ham steak, just a hamalette please."
"It's not a big ham. It's a little bitty hamalette."
"That's not a boy ham, stupid. It's a girl. She's a Ham-a-lette!"

I successfully refrained from laughing, but I still didn't get much book reading done. Wally corrected the pronounciation by the child, and all the while I'm wondering why?

As I said goodbye to Wally, he likened the entire evening to "herding cats."

I came home to find a couple of girls nestled in my bed, eating dinner and bowls of ice cream and watching my tv.

(And the answer would be no, truly nothing really is sacred these days)

So I plopped down in the chair and Barbie started talking about something -- can't remember what -- and JB was texting on the phone, and Barbie decided to change positions. So she arranged herself on her stomach, with her head at the end of the bed facing me, and kept talking.

JB decided to do the same. And then Barbie wanted the phone.

And their heads collided. It was a funny moment, and I went into a laughing/coughing fit truly appropriate for a critical condition intensive care TB ward.

They also laughed. Barbie exclaimed that JB's head was "So hard!" I agreed. JB has a round head, like her daddy. Like Charlie Brown.

Now Barbie has a narrow head, and a skinny body. So JB called her "Pinhead!"

To which Barbie replied "Brick Brains!"

This didn't help me at all with the laughing fit. And they continued laughing at each other, holding their heads and trying not to fall off the bed.

All this prompted an exploration for the correct term for each girl to use in describing the other girl's head. "Tootsie Pop," "Dum-Dum," and finally "Rosebud" were offered for Barbie, since she is basically a stick with a round thing on top.

The obvious ones for JB were offered as well -- "Pumpkin Head," "Concrete Skull," etc.

In the end, everyone had a good laugh because these two particular sisters get along extraordinarily well.

"Stupidhead" used to be the big bad name-calling name around here. For years it was the most condemning, horrible term you could use when referring to a sister.

Now, they just say "Genius." As in,

"Right, Genius, we're going skip church on Sunday morning and sleep in. While Daddy preaches."

Or "No, Genius, I want the phone so I can bang my head with it. Why do you THINK I want the phone?"

Or "No, Genius, I can't take a shower because YOU used all the hot water, thank YOU very much!"

I could go on and on. But I will say this: calling someone a genius is far better than calling them an overtly derogatory name. Even if you say it just dripping with sarcasm.

As in,

"No, Genius, I wasn't texting my friend, I was herding cats with the phone. You just keep all those ping pong balls underwater while I have me a Ham-a-lette."

xox

The Thursday Lineup

1. On the Migraine front: it's pretty well gone although it took until yesterday to be gone completely. A migraine is like a runaway train -- I had it on the tracks by Monday, but it was a struggle keeping it there until yesterday. Lots of ibuprofen and sudafed and caffeine. Surprising, a combination that usually works for me. Ah, the lack of a migraine . . .


2. On the Tennis Front: Rose won! She beat the conference champ in a nail-biting tiebreaker by just 2 points. We had conference matches all day yesterday. I watched until I had to leave for play practice -- with my first sunburn of the year! Rose will probably meet this same girl, Niechelle, in regionals next weekend. Hunk O Man came in and said "This was the best match IN THE WORLD!" Both are excellent players and regionals should be very interesting. Our local sports guy even interviewed the "3 Sisters of Tennis." We'll probably see that footage tonight. What is it with kids that they're not impressed about being on tv anymore? Ah, the video age . . .


3. On the Broken Camcorder Front: and we will have video footage of regionals because -- hooray! -- our camcorder is fixed! It broke late last year when Barbie knocked it off the tripod and it fell, damaging something inside. Turns out that thing that was damaged was going bad in all the cameras of that type, so all you had to do was send it in and get it fixed. I did that, and got it back yesterday -- too late for conference tennis, but in time for Babydoll's birthday tomorrow and regionals next weekend. Ah, free is always so good . . .


3. On the Play Practice for Peter Pan Front: All is going well and Babydoll is an excellent Wendy -- who got measured for her "flying" harness last night. We had choreography and we learned to waltz. Ah, dancing with an 8-year old, a thing not to be missed in one's lifetime . . .


4. On the Saving Money front -- I gave the dog a haircut last weekend -- he kind of looks as if I used a lawnmower to do it. Oh well! It saved us $35 for grooming, and I also cleaned out his ears and de-flea-ed him. He was very patient. Ah, good dog . . .

5. On the Project Front: I also got this done --





I'm not sure if I'm going to post it for sale on Etsy or just keep it for the upcoming craft show sponsored by our local Arts Council -- but I'm working on another, and have to get a wedding gown hemmed and a halloween costume done for a one-year old. Ah, the sewing I have to do . . .



6. On the PR Dishing Front: Ok, so here's the scoop -- Kenley's in -- with this strange and wonderful fairytale wedding gown -- Barbie's comment was "OMG, it's the swan dress reincarnated!" I think she meant the one that Bjork wore to the Oscars one year --







and Jerrell is out! The top three competing for the big prize are Kenley, LeAnn, and Korto. LeAnn has already won in my mind -- her pieces are just gorgeous.



And just so we're clear -- what goes around comes around. Jerrell and Korto, the two responsible for the most sniping at Kenley last week, were both on the chopping block. Ah, the justice that comes when you least expect it . . .

7. On the Wistfully Sad but Good Front: The big birthday bash is tomorrow -- my baby turns 13! As of tomorrow I will no longer have anything but teenagers for children -- Ah, how times flies. Sniff sniff. . .

The Big News

There is never any lack of drama at our house. It is Drama Central most of the time.



Nonetheless, Babydoll wants to be an actress when she's grown up. And she's been involved in a couple of local theatre productions -- "Oliver," and "The Wizard of Oz." In both plays she was cast as an extra, and had a small singing part in Oliver as a milkmaid.



So for a year now, she's had her eye on the upcoming production, "Peter Pan." She wanted the part of Wendy.



On Monday night, I drove her to the theatre and she auditioned. And so did I. My thinking was that if I had to drive her to rehearsal all the time, I might as well have something to do myself. I thought they'd cast her as one of the Lost Boys and me as some pirate standing in the back holding some pirate thing.



Not so!

Babydoll sang her heart out, and did her best british accent. And she was cast as Wendy!

I did not sing my heart out, but I did do a pretty good british accent. And I was cast as Mrs. Darling!

So we'll be ferrying ourselves back and forth to our local theatre, which is 30 minutes away, all of October and November. We open December 4 and run weekend through the 14th.

Babydoll is beside herself. And it's nice to have a happy girl around!