I needed to accomplish SOMETHING

I was getting to the point where I was behind on scheduling, and other things, for school. Today, I talked to John about how I was feeling overwhelmed again.

Overwhelmed by my newest medical "condition". Overwhelmed with school, because of a lack of time to prepare. Overwhelmed by so many things. He saw I was anxious. He also knew I was taking the girls to a birthday party today. He suggested I take what I needed to work on out of the house and get some things done. After the party, I took my books to the library. I needed to pick-up a book anyway.

I finished four chapters in the history book! I feel better now. Now, I just need to grade some papers.

A note for my Dad:
We did some school work today. Chloe was working on math, a word problem. The problem had two parts. You had to complete the first part to do the second part. Well, she asked me if the first part was right. When she handed me the book, so I could check it I was shocked. The numbers for the word problems were all decimals. Do you see where I'm going here Dad? No, you don't. Trust me. I was shocked. Not only did she NOT write them with the decimals lined up she didn't put in the decimals at all. In fact, she did not even write the entire number down. And still she had the correct answer! She has Grandpa's math skills! I admit, I didn't see that one coming.

Wow!

So rehearsal was interesting. First, I found out while waiting to sign the girls in, they are going to be taking head shots on Monday. I assume for posters. Then, while I was waiting to volunteer, some props were knocked over behind me (on the other side of a chalkboard). I heard one of the actors inform Ms. Sadie "they were fighting". I thought surely it couldn't be the same girl from last week. Surely, I was wrong! Then Jesse told me on the way home she kept asking a boy (same one she was punching last week), do you want me to punch you again? GEEZ. I am beginning to wonder about her home life.

Anyway, I believe rehearsal, otherwise, went well. They went through half of the play tonight and added in the indian/pirate dancers. I, sadly, saw none of it. They asked all parents to leave. :( I sat out in the mall on a park bench doing history. At least I am now caught up on history.

I did get volunteered, though it took me forty minutes to do it. Other people's schedules were more important than mine obviously, because they continued to cut in front of me. Like I was going to go anywhere anyway. No biggie. I will be a green room monitor for two rehearsals and one show. You are wondering what that is? I was too. I will be a "child wrangler". At least I know which kid to watch!! LOL

A moment to type

I have a moment while Jesse and Chloe finish math, so I thought I would type a bit.

School is going well. (Just as I said that Chloe dropped her pencil behind her, no stretching allowed :) ). Anyway, school is going well these days. I was going to use a science book from a friend for last semester but science didn't get done much last semester. I now have them on the schedule they were suppose to do originally (I'll get your book to you soon Julia). I think Chloe is going to have a blast doing science. She really was looking forward to studying the solar system this semester. We aren't there yet but we will be. We are going to make a few days of school on John's working weekends. Those days will be filled with just science and math. So, one day they will be happy, the other miserable. :) Math is no longer Jesse's favorite subject.

I have to say her math is really getting harder. I am amazed what they put in a fifth grade math book these days: beginning algebra, multiplying and dividing with fractions. I don't remember doing those in fifth grade, especially the algebra!

Rehearsals are going well. I missed Tuesday's, but I was told it went well. Tonight, they both have to be there. I believe they are going to do a run through of the first half of the play. It will be the first time we will "see" Tink #2. It should be fun! I am going to sign-up to help during the shows. I think I am going to try to be a "child wrangler", as Mr. Jerry calls it. I believe I am better suited for that job than others I could choose from.

Many of you (most probably) do not know I spent some time of my own in the theatre during my college years. I have loved the theatre since I was Chloe's age when I saw my first production at our local high school. I was fascinated! While I longed to do something in high school, I did not have the personality for it. Wait. You have to understand (for those who did not know me then) I was a completely different person then. I was hiding. I was hiding for many reasons, that took me a long time to deal with. Anyway. I loved the theatre...until they fired our director. He has replaced by a poop head. Yep, I said! So, reluctantly I left the theatre shortly after John G. And I have not been back, until now.

I'll get back to my point now. Tuesday night I went back to TKD to teach. I was completely myself there. I love being there. I love that I was missed by "my kids". I love talking to the parents. I am comfortable there. I told John later that night it was funny, twenty years ago I would have been more comfortable in a theatre than a dojo. Now, it is just the opposite. I don't feel myself when I am at the theatre now, though myself does come out when it needs to correct the behavior of a child.

All-in-all, I think this theatre experience has been good for the girls. It took them out of their comfort zone (TKD) and put them into something brand spankin new for them. And they are enjoying it. I believe they are going to take a homeschool theatre class in March/April. They are still thinking about and discussing it with John, but it is looking probable.

One thing leads to another

Today was going to be a crazy day. I knew that Friday when I found out I was going to have to teach tonight. However, I did not expect all of this.

First, I was not prepared for school today. I had not worked out the school schedule beyond yesterday. Therefore, we were figuring out what needed to be done as we were working. I really hate that! While doing school work, I was also checking my emails. I received an email regarding rehearsals and noticed the pirate dancers were not listed.

I emailed the stage manager to inquire if it was correct. She assured me it was.

Then I we had lunch. I was also going to fix dinner at the same time. I started mixing my batter for waffles and plugged in the waffle maker to get hot. Crazy day, with all of us going in different directions at different times, required something simple. I checked by waffle maker to see if it was hot. I don't normally check it, but when I saw after ten minutes the light was not still lit something didn't feel right. It wasn't. The waffle iron was still cold. After checking a few things, it came down to the waffle maker is no longer working. Great! What's for dinner?

While asking myself this and fighting back tears, my phone rings. It is Master Mike. I also need to stay and help teach the second class because one of the instructors will not be there. Which also means if another one does not show up (Brady), I'll have to stay for all three classes. Please let Brady be there!

While still reeling over that one and hoping I remember the form, I get another email about rehearsal. I was not the only one with that question. ;) We now have a new schedule for this week and Jesse's and Chloe's schedules have changed. Good thing she let me know that one today. That could have gotten messy considering we are not suppose to miss ANY!!

Today has not been a good day. I hope tomorrow goes better.

The 24th already?

Things have been quiet here. It is funny how quickly one adjusts to missing an activity. We had to drop TKD this month due to rehearsals. In many ways, I have missed it. In others, I have not. I believe both the girls and myself have enjoyed this hiatus from the "norm", for a new adventure. However, with all that said, I go back to TKD tomorrow night. Master Mike is unable to be at class tomorrow, so I am filling in. That is what I do. :) Not sure how many more new students we have. When we left we had one, so I'll find out tomorrow if there are more. Should be interesting.

Dance Captain!

Tonight was Jesse's second rehearsal. I have to admit it went, mostly, better than last week. They started working on their dance and Mr. Jerry (co-director) forgot the steps he taught last week. He was very happy to find out Jesse wrote it all down last week after she left. He started calling her "Dance Captain". All the moms standing around asked if she could teach their kids. A very proud moment for me, considering I did not suggest she do it. It was all her. By the end of rehearsal, Mr. Jerry had already changed some of the dance and deleted half of it. They are now all getting "pirate names", that they got to choose. I won't spoil it for those who are coming by telling you Jesse's, but it is a good one.

So rehearsal went "mostly" well. Last week we had some problem children. Tonight, I figured out which child was the problem. One little girl kept kicking and punching a boy. The mother of the boy just told him not to let anyone hit him. Mr. Jerry said nothing. So. {sigh} I could not watch that another night of rehearsal. I stood up walked between the chairs straight over the little girl and bent down to where we were face to face. I explained that there would be no hitting or punching and that playground rules would apply. I also informed her she did not want me to go back over there. I also told the boy no more name calling and made each one say, "yes, ma'am". Walking back to my seat, Mr. Jerry thanked me. I did tell him last Thursday was a good "child wrangler". ;)

In case you were wondering, the little girl was perfectly behaved the remainder of rehearsal.

Chloe's first rehearsal

Well, Chloe finally had her first rehearsal tonight. She enjoyed it, but I think she was a bit confused. They didn't start until late (thirty minutes) and they were going rather fast through their entire section of the play. They only had time to go through it once. She told me a couple of the things she was confused on. I told her what I heard, being in the back, and hopefully she can go through her part this week. She will not be pulling ears or tweaking noses, but she gets to kick and smack. I think she'll still enjoy it once she really gets to do her part next week.

BTW, Columbia's Children Theatre posted today on Facebook that the tickets for Peter Pan are selling quickly. The website is very easy to use. Go to order tickets then choose the play Peter Pan. Then choose the show you want tickets for. At the end of the process you will print a ticket. (Mom, I have your tickets so you don't have to do this.)

Things that do not go together

I wanted to catch you up on a couple of things:

First, John no longer has his cell phone from work. He went in last Wednesday (first day back after the snow/ice) and he was asked that morning to turn in his phone. Oh, don't get me wrong they had talked to him about it early last year. But they had not mentioned it in awhile, so when they came to ask for it he was a bit shocked. As for me, I did the HAPPY DANCE. I grew to despise that phone the first night he came home with it and it rang twice during dinner. Yep, I'm happy it is gone. John, however, is going to blackberry withdrawal. I'm sure he'll be fine. ;)

Today was my revisit to the doctor to finish what we started in December. Yes, insurance companies do care if it has been a year or not. So, I'm sitting in the chair waiting for him to come back in. He grabs my chart from the door and just turns the first page to me with a flourish. Yes, Dr. G, I did see that blood report and your two exclamation points next to my cholesterol levels. He decided to give me six months to bring down those numbers and only three to check my weight again. So after a lengthy discussion of what he wanted me to do I left the clinic to get my lunch (I had fasted again, just in case): a McDouble and small fry. Hmm, maybe not the best choice considering the conversation. :)

Catch up

So this morning I actually had the chance to go out for breakfast with a couple of friends. I know! Miracles do happen. :) Anyway. Wendy asked me how the new recipes were going for January. I thought if she was curious, then maybe others were too but did not want to ask.

Just to remind you, we were going to spend the entire month making new recipes for dinner. However, those conversations occurred before auditions. So...we have fallen off the wagon, already. We have taken recipes we have had before and changed them up. I am hoping February (starting the second week) we can adopt this idea. I do like the idea, this was just not the month to try it. :)

Chloe has been working on memorizing her lines. Last night I called out her cues to see if she knew what she was to do. She knew all of them but one. I believe she is prepared for Tuesday night.

I still need to print a script for Jesse since they forgot to give them out Wednesday. She has the dance down and some of her lines. Did I say all of this before? Hmm, my memory needs a jump start.

I go back to the doctor on Monday for the yearly stuff. I did go in December and gave them some blood. I didn't like the results. I am a bit worried he may put me on cholesterol medicine. I am also taking all three of my diets I am suppose to be on: hypoglycemia, acid reflux from hernia and cholesterol, so I may ask him what I am suppose to eat. John was trying to help me on this by suggesting something then saying "oh, you can't have that because of your hypoglycemia (or reflux)." I really need some serious quiet time to figure all this out. To bad I just don't have time for that. However, with that said, I am going to have to make time.

First rehearsal down...finally!

We finally had our first rehearsal last night, for Jesse. They started learning their pirate dance. Unfortunately, they did not get through the entire dance. I do not know how much they did not get to; I am hoping not much because they don't have too many more days to practice everything.

Jesse spent all day yesterday worrying about the dancing. After an hour of rehearsal, she was thrilled with the dancing and so excited about doing it. She spent the day today practicing her dance and looking through Chloe's script (she didn't get one last night) to study her cues (when to enter and speak) and learning her lines. Yep, she actually has lines. She is relieved the lines are for the entire group of pirates so hopefully they all won't forget them.

Tinker Bell revised

Though we have yet to have a rehearsal, due to the weather, we finally received a schedule and script. However, when I read the schedule Chloe's part had been altered. I emailed the co-director to make sure it was correct and it is. Chloe is no longer Tink #2; she is now Tink #1, meaning she will be opening the play.

I glanced through the script last night telling her everything she will be doing and she was even more excited. I didn't believe that was possible!

Jesse's part is a bit more confusing to us. There are pirate dancers and pirates, so I am waiting for another email so we know when we need to have Jesse at rehearsal. I read through the entire play, after Jesse went to sleep last night, I think she is going to be happy too. Today, they will sit down with the script and read through it. Hopefully, tonight we will actually have rehearsal, depending on when Jesse needs to be there. :)

Snowbound Day II

The Morgan clan enjoyed seeing the snow yesterday; though I have to admit we did not let the girls go play outside yesterday. John was very worried about the power going out (it flickered a few times) then they would stay cold, then get sick. Don't get me wrong they had a great day...even though they had school. (I know Julia, I am so bad!) We played Foosball, they had Nerf Wars, we ate nibbled on food most of the day, and we watched the new Karate Kid. No snow, but definitely a full day!

I think Day II will not go as smoothly. You see, as much as he does not like to admit it, John likes to keep busy. He is happiest when he is doing something. Now, on day two of being snowbound, he is beginning to get antsy. And an antsy John is not necessarily a fun John (I say that with love, John). And yes the girls have school today, too. I would let them out of it but we took most of December off and now we need to focus so we will not be in school all summer.

I took a good hard look at our school calendar over the weekend. I figured out if we have school on some extra days (meaning days Daddy is home) and Drill weekends then we will be done by Memorial Day weekend. All three of us agreed this was a great course of action. Therefore, I am insisting on school. We are suppose to start our Nature classes again tomorrow, but I'm thinking that may not happen due to the weather.

Our Nature class is at Clemson Extension. For those who do not know it, this is where many science type classes are taught for schools and businesses. Our Nature class meets all the way in the back. Meaning we have to travel down a long dirt road that winds all around the grounds then goes to the woods. First, I am not sure we can make it up the hill at our house. Secondly, I'm not sure about the condition of Clemson Extension. Hopefully, we can make it.

"Peter Pan"

For those who are interested in seeing the play "Peter Pan", I wanted to give out the dates and times of the performances. We have been informed, by the director, this is the show that usually has all sell out performances. It is an "all kid" production, therefore, there are many relatives who come to see it. Hence, sell out.

Performances:
Friday, February 4th at 7pm
Saturday, February 5th at 10:30am
Saturday, February 5th at 7pm
Sunday, February 6th at 3pm

Tickets are $6 each.

If you go to the Columbia Children's Theater website (http://www.columbiachildrenstheatre.com/), you can order tickets from there (on the top left of the main page). If you have other questions, I'll try to answer or ask someone to get an answer.

Oh, my!!

Well, we have the casting list. I have to say I was a bit surprised.

Jesse will be one the pirates (non-speaking role). She is psyched! All of you know Chloe and you will be able to figure this one out; she is Tink #2!! There are three characters (if I remember correctly) that are being played by four different actors. Tink is one of them. So, Chloe is not the alternate but actually #2. Talk about excited; she jumped up and down for five minutes screaming her head off!

The hardest part is going to be rehearsals; they are four nights a week for four weeks. I am not sure if we will have to be there every night. I believe it will depend on the scheduling, which we should get on Monday. Yep, rehearsals start Monday. Wow!!

I am so proud of them!

A new adventure...maybe

The girls waited for three months for last night to come. Now, it has come and gone and they are driving me a bit crazy this morning. Last night both girls auditioned for "Peter Pan" at the Columbia Children's Theatre. Neither one (including us) had a clue what to expect. Both of them were excited and a bit nervous.

They were split up for the auditons: girls K-3rd, girls 4-12th; boys K-3rd and boys 4-12. I just have to say I have no clue what the K-3rd girls were eating but half of them were taller than Jesse...by a foot!

Jesse was squished between two 11th or 12th graders. She was third in her group. My last advice to her was "kihap" (it means yell in Korean). I think in her nervousness she forgot that one. She said her line, but not very loud. I could hear her but not understand (we were just past half way back in the room). She was asked to do it louder. She screamed it. :) She is worried she was not good enough for even a non-speaking roll, but I think she has a shot.

Chloe. What to say about Chloe? Jesse and I have discussed this and we both think Chloe has a great chance at a speaking roll. Imagine our Chloe surrounded by girls four to twelve inches taller than her. She looked down at her feet quite a bit while she was on stage waiting for it to start (they were the first group). But when they started going down the line, she started watching everyone. She was fourth in her group. She was the smallest one on stage. I wish you could have been in that theatre when she spoke her line the first time. She was loud and clear and the audience all gasped. She was then asked to do the line like she was about to cry. She did okay with that one. Then she was asked to do the line like she angry. Boy, did she rock that one!

The casting list will be sent out tomorrow afternoon. Until then, I am sure they both will continue to talk about anything but acting.

First class taught with my black jacket

I have to say the first class went well. Really, no different from any other class with one exception. We have one new student, so far, this session. It was my job to teach him how to do high blocks and front kicks. He did very well and he seems to be so excited about the class. He told me he saw me when I got my jacket. He thought it was cool.

As I was, literally, walking out the door to leave the Rec. Center I heard, "Miss Marsha. Miss Marsha." There was our Ronit standing behind me. Ronit has been in class for nearly two-and-a-half-years. He just received his first degree black belt a few months ago. He has always been very quiet in class and seemed rather unsure of himself. I have to say since he has been in the black belt class he has opened up. He laughs now and talks. Boy, can he talk! lol

So there behind me was Ronit. I bent down a bit, "Yes."

"Congratulations on your black jacket," he said with a giant smile. Well, I had to hug him. It was just so sweet and unexpected. Yeah, I did get a lot of that the night of graduation. And I even had a few adults tell me the same thing last night, but somehow it just comes across different when you are looking into the eyes of a seven-year-old.

Beginnings

The new year is beginning very well in our little school. Chloe has finished all of her schoolwork for today and is currently working on her math homework (any problem she did incorrectly that day) and Jesse has a couple more subjects left. I am thankful today as gone well.

John wanted our dinners in January to be ALL brand new recipes. {eye roll; yes, I know you will read this John} I started this week with Jesse's two cookbooks. She has been wanting to try (cook and eat) some things in both, so this week we are using her books. She was very excited when she learned this the other day. While not everything this week will be new, or cooked in our kitchen (we already failed that aspect; Chinese food last night), I hope most will be good. Tonight will be Turkish Meatballs made with lamb. I have not had a meal of lamb before; I did taste John's lamb dish he had in Morocco (EPCOT) last year. I hope tonight's dish will be good. Fingers crossed!

I have another beginning I will be working on this year. My cholesterol went up a bit a year ago. I promise you I did read the diet they sent me then quite a few times. I have been conscience of what I've been eating (I have thought about it before I swallowed the doughnut), but I admit I have done little to change things. Until yesterday. Yesterday, I was confronted again with my blood test results and found my cholesterol unchanged. (At least it didn't go up!?) So, I pulled the diet back out and started reading again. Now to make this harder, last summer I found out I have a Hiatal Hernia so that limits the fruits I can have. The cholesterol diet recommends
three (!) fresh fruits a day and one to be citrus. Well, you can imagine with that kind of hernia I have been told to avoid citrus and tomatoes. This weeks menu/grocery list was already prepared before I received the results, so I will not be following it this week. However, I have to find a way to find something to eat, between my hypoglycemia, Hiatal Hernia and cholesterol. There is not much left besides salads (without dressing). I cannot see myself doing that for a lifetime. At least John is coming along on the ride with me...willingly. :)

I am not ready yet

School, for us, starts back on Tuesday. I finally have the new schedule ready, but I am not. The classroom table is a wreck. We started rearranging the house just after Christmas and some things found their way to the table for me to go through. Therefore, sometime in the next twenty-four hours I need to get upstairs and do some work.

The Nerf Wars have dropped drastically in the last couple of days. I am very glad, seeing as I do not have one so I get hit a lot. John and I have had a couple of good rounds (when I "borrow" a gun from one of the girls). Foosball still reins as champ in the house. John likes to settle all disputes with Foosball matches. Last night he just wanted to do one for "fun". If I won, I would get a twenty minute foot rub. If he won, he would get a twenty back rub. He won. Of course.

The girls have been practicing more on their roller blades. They are now to a point where they can go by themselves. They still fall, but they get right back up and go more. So proud!