Christmas is Coming

We had a nice, relaxing weekend, with absolutely nothing on the calendar. I played Super Mario Kart with the kids, and they also taught me how to play Rock Band guitar.

Now the holiday madness begins. This month, the family calendar shows 14 performances that we're participating in. In addition, we're going to see The Hard Nut, and B is going to her best friend L's Nutcracker.

Here's a look at our calendar for this week, excluding school & work (I'm pink, B is purple, and M is green):

Both B and I need to clone ourselves, so we can attend overlapping events. M doesn't have that problem, but we're still trying to figure out how to get him to the school dance on Friday evening.

Turkey Day 2009

Dishes are washed (thanks, DH!), and guests have left. Now I'm waiting in line for the shower so I can get the smell of turkey out of my hair.

Tonight, in addition to my family (mom, dad, & sister), we had two postdocs from France, a professor and his wife from Canada, and a grad student originally from Germany, currently attending school in Sweden. Interesting conversation, too much dessert, too much food in general. A good Thanksgiving for all :-)

How Fast Do Weeds Grow?

I knew M was going to be taller than my mom, but was surprised to see he is also taller than my Dad (formerly 5'9", now a bit shorter). Maybe it's time to measure M again?

Nutcracker & Turkey Day 2009

A collection of unrelated November thoughts:

B is moving up in the ballet world: today she has to stay for the entire six-hour Nutcracker rehearsal, because she dances in both acts. They are running Act I from 12:00-3:00 (3 times), and Act II from 3:00-6:00 (2 times). This year she's a green soldier (featured as one of the two "Milk & Cookies Soldiers" in two shows), and a Russian licorice corps member. They have four casts for eight shows, and B is in Cast A and Cast C this year.

My parents arrived safely yesterday, only a few minutes late. There was some heavy rain which delayed us: B and I barely made it to the airport in time, despite leaving a hour before the flight was supposed to arrive.

The turkey is defrosting in the garage fridge, about half the supplies for dinner have been purchased, and today I bought two extra folding chairs, since we're having some extra guests on Thursday.

And Straight On Till Morning

A crazy week here, and it's not even December yet!

Today was First Thanksgiving, an annual tradition in the elementary
schools. At the beginning of the school year, we weren't even certain
it was going to happen this year, as the district's long-time
naturalist was let go in the last round of budget cuts. Fortunately
for B and her classmates, the now-retired naturalist volunteered to
help run it this year, along with a large group of parents.

So, I spent 5.5 hours outside at the nature area today, helping with
Native Americam and Pilgrim crafts (other classes were in charge if
games and food prep). We had a feast at lunch: venison, trout, turkey,
quail, green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, corn bread, baked potatoes,
baked apples, freshly churned butter, and a wonderful stew made with
boar, venison, duck, and pheasant.

After a 30 minute stop at home (changed my clothes, straightened out
with the pediatrician's office which flu shot B & M got two weeks ago
and which one they're getting next week, packed a snack and a Diet
Coke), I am now at the middle school, waiting for the opening show of
Peter Pan to start in 20 minutes. The first show for each cast (today
and Thursday) is billed as a "preview" show: cheap tickets with no
reserved seating.

Six total shows this week, then an all-day Voci workshop with members
of Anonymous 4 on Sunday. I'm really glad tomorrow's a holiday!

(First try at emailing a post from my iPhone--I apologize in advance
for typos/formatting errors.)

Second Star on the Right

The middle school production of Peter Pan opens on Tuesday afternoon. M is on tech crew again, running the light board for the "Hook" cast. Although they're not doing the musical version, I'm spending next week at the keyboard as the voice of Tinkerbell. It's fun--a lot different from the usual accompaniment.

The producer loaned me a DVD of the previous production (from four years ago), and I thought Tinkerbell's voice was pretty boring. It was mostly the same tinkle, no matter what she was saying. I've put a little more thought into it, tailoring the bells to her mood, and what I imagine she's saying. The Tinkerbell from the "Tink" cast seems to appreciate it--she's come up to me after both the rehearsals I've been to with them and thanked me for the great job I'm doing.

The final dress is on Monday, then the two preview shows are after school on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday I play two shows each, then we'll be done until spring musical season.