I am knee deep in the kids' performances! It's made for a busy time this summer. But they are doing awesome. I'm quite surprised at DD. She can be shy, which is fine with me. She's not immediately trusting like DS can be. So I don't push too much when she pulls a shy routine at people she doesn't know. Safer that way! But put this girl in a performance and dang, she can belt it out! Barbara, the girl who organizes all of this, introduces herself and then has the kids introduce themselves to the audience. DD has been told that these people are old, they don't hear so well. So I'll be damned if she doesn't get up there and proudly and loudly declare her name, that she is 6 years old and going into 1st grade. Then her solo part in "So Long, Farewell" she belts that one out too. It's shocked me every time!
Today is #5 of 6 performances. Last weekend while my grandma was still visiting I had my parents bring her down to one of the retirement homes to watch the kids. DS did amazing during "Who's on First?" He gets it, which is so funny and he really gets into doing his roll of Abbott. My dad liked it so much he wants to come back and see them again so he's coming today, so is my MIL. Initially, Barbara's mom said they would do a "Friends & Family" performance but I just think there's no time. Barbara is literally running from one performance to another with all she has going on.
That leads me to what I've been working on.... there's still a journalist in me somewhere and a girl who knows how to put together a tv package. I emailed my old college friend who is now a big-time anchor on our local CBS station. I told her about Barbara and all that she's doing with the kids and setting up the performances at the nursing & retirement homes. She also performs in our area's Young Shakespeare troupe and next week leaves for Ashland Oregon (Or-eh-gun, not Ore-ahh-gone for those of you in the East). She was selected as one of 20 kids from across the country to attend a Shakespeare workshop. Pretty impressive for a 17 year old! Anyway, I have our big camera that I'm taking to the performance today in case the news camera can't get there. The reporter/co-anchor of my friend emailed me back and said she definitely wanted to do a story on Barbara and was hoping to send a camera to today's performance. I am taping it for our own use and just happen to have the quality camera we do. I told her I can provide her some footage if she needs it and it is broadcast quality. Producing a TV show has it benefits in personal life sometimes in that my kids home videos will ROCK! hee hee hee.
I am sure Barbara will go on to do impressive things in life. She is a terrible babysitter - we did that ONCE last summer and it was awful. The artistic do not always make great housekeepers. (My house was disgusting when I got home. Thank goodness I had a few glasses of wine in me so I didn't freak out about all the food left on my kitchen counters or the paint splattered all over the chairs, table & floor.) I can't wait to see the news story on her. She definitely deserves some regcognition!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Balance
I can see why year-round or multi-track school could be appealing.
I had a panic attack yesterday. I couldn't breathe and I was alone and freaking out. I don't know why exactly. Nothing specific triggered it. Just maybe looking at my calendar of stuff to do, crap going on with the business, FG and I kicking around the idea of moving out of state (very very pre-mature but just the thought, the inkling of it makes me nervous) was enough to set me off. I have to cut myself some slack but it's hard. I look at other people and wonder how the heck they get it all done in a day! Then I realized that different people have different levels of abilities to balance things in their lives. I'm sure the stressful things right now outweigh other things which can make even small things seem insurmountable.
I want to write a post about my DD and how she's 6 now. But I don't have the time to devote to it. And since I have somewhere to be or someone to see at all times for the next several days, I don't want anyone to see my puffy eyes and runny make-up after I write it out. But yeah, my little hell-fire is 6 now. Sweet one minute and will give you the iciest stare the next.
I will admit I am a lucky girl that today, at the age of 39, my grandma is going to teach me to make a family recipe. It's one of my dad's favorites (he has so many!) and one that my mother has attempted for years and years and never managed to get right. So my grandma is visiting and she is coming to my house today & tomorrow to teach me how to make these rolls. She has shown me how to make many things in my life that her mother taught her to make. There are no real recipes for many of them, which is why a personal lesson is necessary. Sure my great-grandma wrote things down but really, how do you truly interpret a "dash" a "dollop" "mix it until it looks right" if you aren't shown? My grandma is proud of me that I make so many of her recipes and her mother's recipes. I cook and bake a lot by feel. Which she does too. I guess it's just in my genes. I made dinner for everyone the other night. My dad's sister and her husband were visiting too. I got so many compliments. When they asked me what I did to marinate the meat, I couldn't really answer. When they asked how I made the potatoes, I sounded like I was repeating a page of my great-grandma's cookbook, "I just put in enough of this & that until it seemed right and I tasted it along the way." My grandmother beamed. She said softly, "You cook by feel don't you?" Yep. Sometimes it doesn't turn out, most of the time it does.
Now I'm waiting for two kids to arrive that I promised a friend I would watch for her today. I've got crafts ready to go. I kept them the other day too. It's nice to help friends and I am actually paying her back for taking mine recently for a couple of hours. But eye yi yi.... why do I get myself into these things?! As soon as these performances and rehearsals are DONE for the kids, I will be able to breathe a bit. I looked at my schedule for August and was happy to see nothing but birthday reminders and days on the boat scheduled (besides some work here & there). I am hoping to do some sleepovers and days at Tahoe with the kids. I'm in denial that school starts back up at the end of August.
I really got off point here didn't I? What I started out saying is right now I'm 24/7 kid stuff with zero time to myself. I'm either with my kids or at work (yeah, hello!, toystore - OPK!). I told FG that while I don't want the kids to go back to school, a few minutes to myself, a trip to the grocery store alone, a chance to browse books at the library alone would be wonderful. But with school comes homework, volunteering, papers to sign (and I am considering getting my sub teacher license this year) and less fun time with the kid - no lazy mornings of blueberry pancakes and cartoons in jammies. So I can totally see how breaking it up could be appealing. Make the most of the few weeks off school but then send them back and have a good routine (with some free time!) established for a few weeks too. Then again, I don't know if I would like having them home for 4 weeks in November when I can't send them outside for hours or go to the pool. Aren't we always struggling to find balance no matter what our situation is?
I had a panic attack yesterday. I couldn't breathe and I was alone and freaking out. I don't know why exactly. Nothing specific triggered it. Just maybe looking at my calendar of stuff to do, crap going on with the business, FG and I kicking around the idea of moving out of state (very very pre-mature but just the thought, the inkling of it makes me nervous) was enough to set me off. I have to cut myself some slack but it's hard. I look at other people and wonder how the heck they get it all done in a day! Then I realized that different people have different levels of abilities to balance things in their lives. I'm sure the stressful things right now outweigh other things which can make even small things seem insurmountable.
I want to write a post about my DD and how she's 6 now. But I don't have the time to devote to it. And since I have somewhere to be or someone to see at all times for the next several days, I don't want anyone to see my puffy eyes and runny make-up after I write it out. But yeah, my little hell-fire is 6 now. Sweet one minute and will give you the iciest stare the next.
I will admit I am a lucky girl that today, at the age of 39, my grandma is going to teach me to make a family recipe. It's one of my dad's favorites (he has so many!) and one that my mother has attempted for years and years and never managed to get right. So my grandma is visiting and she is coming to my house today & tomorrow to teach me how to make these rolls. She has shown me how to make many things in my life that her mother taught her to make. There are no real recipes for many of them, which is why a personal lesson is necessary. Sure my great-grandma wrote things down but really, how do you truly interpret a "dash" a "dollop" "mix it until it looks right" if you aren't shown? My grandma is proud of me that I make so many of her recipes and her mother's recipes. I cook and bake a lot by feel. Which she does too. I guess it's just in my genes. I made dinner for everyone the other night. My dad's sister and her husband were visiting too. I got so many compliments. When they asked me what I did to marinate the meat, I couldn't really answer. When they asked how I made the potatoes, I sounded like I was repeating a page of my great-grandma's cookbook, "I just put in enough of this & that until it seemed right and I tasted it along the way." My grandmother beamed. She said softly, "You cook by feel don't you?" Yep. Sometimes it doesn't turn out, most of the time it does.
Now I'm waiting for two kids to arrive that I promised a friend I would watch for her today. I've got crafts ready to go. I kept them the other day too. It's nice to help friends and I am actually paying her back for taking mine recently for a couple of hours. But eye yi yi.... why do I get myself into these things?! As soon as these performances and rehearsals are DONE for the kids, I will be able to breathe a bit. I looked at my schedule for August and was happy to see nothing but birthday reminders and days on the boat scheduled (besides some work here & there). I am hoping to do some sleepovers and days at Tahoe with the kids. I'm in denial that school starts back up at the end of August.
I really got off point here didn't I? What I started out saying is right now I'm 24/7 kid stuff with zero time to myself. I'm either with my kids or at work (yeah, hello!, toystore - OPK!). I told FG that while I don't want the kids to go back to school, a few minutes to myself, a trip to the grocery store alone, a chance to browse books at the library alone would be wonderful. But with school comes homework, volunteering, papers to sign (and I am considering getting my sub teacher license this year) and less fun time with the kid - no lazy mornings of blueberry pancakes and cartoons in jammies. So I can totally see how breaking it up could be appealing. Make the most of the few weeks off school but then send them back and have a good routine (with some free time!) established for a few weeks too. Then again, I don't know if I would like having them home for 4 weeks in November when I can't send them outside for hours or go to the pool. Aren't we always struggling to find balance no matter what our situation is?
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Update.
We're tired.
Worn out.
Sleepy.
We had a heck of a weekend and are not trying to reign in this week. Two days in a row we've happily cancelled plans to stay home and not be so on the go. That's unusual but that's how worn out we are!
Last week was fun. We swam with friends on Tuesday. DS had his golf lesson & played 9 holes with the kids in his class. They have been practicing for their upcoming performance. It's a community theater thing that DD decided to participate in this year too. They go to retirement homes & nursing homes and the old people just adore seeing the little kids do just about anything. So I'm not pushing it too hard as far as being perfect. I just want them to have fun.
Thursday DS had a real audition. For an actual paid job for a toy company commercial. He did well. He's excited at the prospect. I'm happy that there was finally an audition. I was going to let the contract laspe with the talent agent because they just seem to harp on wanting him to take this $$$ class and that $$$ training. I get that they need to practice and keep up with training but the $$$ just isn't there for us to do it right now. We'll see what comes of the audition. I was very pleased with his performance though!
Friday we took the boat to the lake. We met up with friends who have a cabin there. FG had the funniest line of the weekend.... while nervously watching two of his children get on our boat, the BIL of my friend asked FG a ? about the kids going on the tube or something. FG, completely normally says, "Yeah we've got it. We've been doing this for 2 weeks now." O.M.G. I about died seeing the guy's face! Poor guy!!! Needless to say, he hoped onto our boat fast because his kids were already on there. We finally put him out of his misery when we explained that we've had the boat for several years and we knew what we were doing. His kids, who had never been on a boat and certainly not a tube behind the boat, LOVED it! They asked to go again and wanted to go faster. Another highlight of the trip, DS fell off the tube going over some bumps. Now, this could have gone two ways. He could have come up swearing his little head off at us, because naturally, it would have been our fault (as a parent, isn't it always?) or he could have come up and realized that was kinda fun. THANK GOD the latter happened and he came up shouting "That was AWESOME!" whew! My little fearful guy who does not like cold water enjoyed it! And he's the only kid who fell off the tube the whole day so that was a bonus. I always get nervous we're gonna make our friends pissed off at us because their kid gets dumped in the lake. I have got to remember to take a camera sometime too. We have so few pictures of our boat time!
Saturday I had to work. Slowest. Day. Ever. I cleaned shelves. I hate cleaning shelves. Next time you are in a toystore or even Target, look at the shelves of toys and imagine having to take the product off and clean everything. ugh. I'd rather be super busy with customers. The only people we did have in the store were super-needy too. So I was either cleaning shelves or trying to find the exact right thing for someone who shot down the first 300 things I suggested. I don't mind helping people but a little info from them is nice, like what age they are looking for, if they don't like puzzles/messy things/art kits.... how much they want to spend so I don't recommend the $40 toy when they want to spend $15.
Bonus part of Saturday... two actually... my mom wanted the kids so FG took them out there to swim, watch a movie and enjoy time with their grandparents. FG and I did a lot of driving in two different directions that afternoon. One to pick up new chairs for our on-location shoots and two to visit friends camping. We crashed their dinner (I made & brought some dessert so we weren't empty handed) and enjoyed a nice kid-free evening with friends.
Sunday I had a killer migraine. We're talking dark room, pillow over the head, didn't care what the kids were doing migraine. I managed to kick it and just deal with the "migraine hangover" just in time to leave to visit OTHER friends at the lake where we watch the fireworks. We picked up our bucket of chicken and piled everyone and everything into the Mini (easy to find a parking spot!). On the way home, I think FG was about to have a breakdown. All the driving we had done, the little sleep we had gotten... all of it just hit him and he was DONE.
Monday we planned to take the boat out again and I woke up at 8 and told FG, nope, don't wanna go! He, who normally is up & going well before me on "Boat Days", rolled over and said, "Uh humph guh." which I think meant, "me either". No one in the house got out of bed until after 10 am.
Today I nixed taking DS for golf and DD swimming. I have to work, they are happy making a mess in their rooms and hanging at home for awhile. My wonderful friend offered to take them for the afternoon & take them (with her boys) to play rehearsal and drop them back home so FG can come home at his normal time.
This week, this little princess turns 6. Wow.
Worn out.
Sleepy.
We had a heck of a weekend and are not trying to reign in this week. Two days in a row we've happily cancelled plans to stay home and not be so on the go. That's unusual but that's how worn out we are!
Last week was fun. We swam with friends on Tuesday. DS had his golf lesson & played 9 holes with the kids in his class. They have been practicing for their upcoming performance. It's a community theater thing that DD decided to participate in this year too. They go to retirement homes & nursing homes and the old people just adore seeing the little kids do just about anything. So I'm not pushing it too hard as far as being perfect. I just want them to have fun.
Thursday DS had a real audition. For an actual paid job for a toy company commercial. He did well. He's excited at the prospect. I'm happy that there was finally an audition. I was going to let the contract laspe with the talent agent because they just seem to harp on wanting him to take this $$$ class and that $$$ training. I get that they need to practice and keep up with training but the $$$ just isn't there for us to do it right now. We'll see what comes of the audition. I was very pleased with his performance though!
Friday we took the boat to the lake. We met up with friends who have a cabin there. FG had the funniest line of the weekend.... while nervously watching two of his children get on our boat, the BIL of my friend asked FG a ? about the kids going on the tube or something. FG, completely normally says, "Yeah we've got it. We've been doing this for 2 weeks now." O.M.G. I about died seeing the guy's face! Poor guy!!! Needless to say, he hoped onto our boat fast because his kids were already on there. We finally put him out of his misery when we explained that we've had the boat for several years and we knew what we were doing. His kids, who had never been on a boat and certainly not a tube behind the boat, LOVED it! They asked to go again and wanted to go faster. Another highlight of the trip, DS fell off the tube going over some bumps. Now, this could have gone two ways. He could have come up swearing his little head off at us, because naturally, it would have been our fault (as a parent, isn't it always?) or he could have come up and realized that was kinda fun. THANK GOD the latter happened and he came up shouting "That was AWESOME!" whew! My little fearful guy who does not like cold water enjoyed it! And he's the only kid who fell off the tube the whole day so that was a bonus. I always get nervous we're gonna make our friends pissed off at us because their kid gets dumped in the lake. I have got to remember to take a camera sometime too. We have so few pictures of our boat time!
Saturday I had to work. Slowest. Day. Ever. I cleaned shelves. I hate cleaning shelves. Next time you are in a toystore or even Target, look at the shelves of toys and imagine having to take the product off and clean everything. ugh. I'd rather be super busy with customers. The only people we did have in the store were super-needy too. So I was either cleaning shelves or trying to find the exact right thing for someone who shot down the first 300 things I suggested. I don't mind helping people but a little info from them is nice, like what age they are looking for, if they don't like puzzles/messy things/art kits.... how much they want to spend so I don't recommend the $40 toy when they want to spend $15.
Bonus part of Saturday... two actually... my mom wanted the kids so FG took them out there to swim, watch a movie and enjoy time with their grandparents. FG and I did a lot of driving in two different directions that afternoon. One to pick up new chairs for our on-location shoots and two to visit friends camping. We crashed their dinner (I made & brought some dessert so we weren't empty handed) and enjoyed a nice kid-free evening with friends.
Sunday I had a killer migraine. We're talking dark room, pillow over the head, didn't care what the kids were doing migraine. I managed to kick it and just deal with the "migraine hangover" just in time to leave to visit OTHER friends at the lake where we watch the fireworks. We picked up our bucket of chicken and piled everyone and everything into the Mini (easy to find a parking spot!). On the way home, I think FG was about to have a breakdown. All the driving we had done, the little sleep we had gotten... all of it just hit him and he was DONE.
Monday we planned to take the boat out again and I woke up at 8 and told FG, nope, don't wanna go! He, who normally is up & going well before me on "Boat Days", rolled over and said, "Uh humph guh." which I think meant, "me either". No one in the house got out of bed until after 10 am.
Today I nixed taking DS for golf and DD swimming. I have to work, they are happy making a mess in their rooms and hanging at home for awhile. My wonderful friend offered to take them for the afternoon & take them (with her boys) to play rehearsal and drop them back home so FG can come home at his normal time.
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