Seven Quick Takes

1.  I got cold last night.  Really cold, so cold I had to get up and dig in my closet for a sweater to put on so I could sleep.  It was glorious.  We are having some wonderful weather right now in the mornings and evenings.  It's still pretty hot midday but it's tolerable.  I love fall mostly because it finally brings an end to a very long, hot summer.  I love to decorate for fall in the house and in my car knowing those decorations will stay up until it's time to put Christmas decorations up.  October ushers in a few months of celebrating all of the fun holidays.

2.  Grace and Joe both got into "A Christmas Story," on the Main Stage at the theatre and they are very excited!  This is the stage version of the famous movie about Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun.  Joe will play the whiny little brother, Randy.  He doesn't have a lot of lines (4 of them are "I've got to go wee-wee.") but has a lot of scenes that he is in.  That's just perfect because there is less to practice and learn line-wise but still a "big" part to play.  Grace will be playing Esther Jane, one of Ralphie's classmates who also has a crush on him.  They start rehearsals on Saturday and are super excited.  The show opens November 15 and runs for 4 weekends.  It's a big commitment but should be a great experience.  There are 10 kids in the show (I think) and they have all been in theatre together for years so they should have a really good time together.  Hannah has offered to work backstage as well but couldn't audition due to Florida Theatre Conference the same weekend as opening weekend.

3.  In other theatre news...our life revolves around school, church, and theatre...Fall-lies Spooktacular is this weekend.  Hannah has her leading role tonight and Grace and Joe have the same role(s) both nights of the show.  There are some bugs going around here so I'm hoping and praying we are spared completely but especially for tonight.  Show weekends end up being show WEEKS around here as I bake lemon bars, organize ushers, make candy grams, send tons of e-mails and make sure that all of the scholarship parents fulfill their scholarship obligations.  In addition to that, this week the kids have had long rehearsals which has lead to one long babysitting job and one short one.  Thankfully I took a Fall Break from school this week so that I could get everything done as well as catch up on some other things--like cleaning my house!!  I struggle to juggle school, tutoring, meals, taxiing, AND cleaning.  Anyway, I have cleaned and decorated for fall and prepped for the show.

4.  It hasn't been a full week off of school for the girls though, they have been doing virtual school and just so happened to both have big projects and assignments this week so it turned out to be a great week to take off of other school so they could focus on virtual school.  Grace had a paper to write about jellyfish and was feeling really stressed about it and didn't know where to start.  Ollie is always willing to help but he couldn't help until about 8 last night because the kids were at theatre until then.  So, yesterday morning a friend posted on FB that there would be free tutoring at her church (which is right up the street) that afternoon and she would be there to tutor English.  I took Grace and in the hour we were there she got her whole paper written and had a good time doing it.  That was a huge relief for both of us!  I had said I could be available to do math tutoring but no other students showed up.  I had brought a book just in case I had time to read but didn't get a chance to read.  Instead I sat at a table with two older people (late 60s, early 70s) and chatted.  At first, I was bummed that I couldn't just read, didn't want to sit and talk to people I didn't know, and all that but I chose to settle in and listen and relax and ended up having a really great time.  They had so many stories and our talk ranged from abused kids, teaching, parenting and teeth, to WWII and Hiroshima and radiation poisoning and concentration camps.  All in about 45 minutes.  We didn't talk at all about theatre or homeschooling or how busy and stressed we were and it was very refreshing.

5.  I have hardly had any time to read this week but I have started a new book and I am enjoying it.  It's The Sanctuary by Ted Dekker.  I have read everything Ted Dekker has written and always enjoy his books.  He is a christian author so his books are always clean and have a good message.  But, they are also really good, gripping stories as well and I love them.

6.  Hannah and her friend, Madi went to homecoming at the local high school this past weekend.  They stayed about an hour and a half and sort of had fun.  They were both pretty nervous about going but were determined to have this high school experience.  They know a lot of kids there so they had people to talk to and saw plenty of familiar faces.  They didn't dance much and when they did they didn't move to much.  According to Hannah, if you moved too much you were at risk of a boy "coming up on you."  I guess dirty dancing is the dance of the day.  Thankfully, she didn't want any part of that.  So, she and Madi walked around, danced a little, went to the bathroom a lot, and the photo booth twice.  I'm glad they went and glad that it was at least sort of fun for them.  I'll have some pictures in my next post.

7.  About a day or two after I did my big "Trim Healthy Mama" post I pretty much quit THM.  Not forever, just until I can get it back together.  I just all of a sudden found myself too busy to think so much about food and what I would eat next.  I haven't gained back any of the weight I lost so that's good.  I'm hoping to get myself back on the wagon next week.  It's really not hard at all, just requires some planning.