Finding myself

I haven't blogged in quite a while. Life was too overwhelming even for blogging. Things may be turning around a little though. We've moved back to our old house which has much more space. The kids are happier because they aren't in each other's laps anymore. I'm happier because I have purged a lot of junk and clutter that I really didn't need.

I've been busy running kids all over town, to dance, football, cheerleading, play practice...everything was all for them. Then things changed.

In October, a friend of mine had a cast member drop out of the play she was directing. I happened to be standing there when it happened and she turned to me in desperation and said, "You wouldn't do it, would you?" Something came over me and I said yes. For the first time in 7 years, I was going back onstage. She assured me that although it wasn't a huge part, it was really cool and had a solo, too -- the evil queen in Snow White.

I was a little nervous going in, but quickly discovered that I hadn't forgotten how to be in a show or how to rehearse. What I had forgotten was the joy it brought me. I felt like I had a huge piece of myself that had been missing for years and it was suddenly returned to me.

I'm out of time now. More later.

What do I remember?

When I was little, probably about 9 or 10, I was at the local department store with my mother. We were on the elevator and another kid and his mom got on. My mother nudged me and said quietly, "Isn't that Greg?" I just nodded and looked straight ahead. "Well, aren't you going to speak?" I shrugged and kept looking. On the other side of the elevator, this little boy is also looking straight ahead and not speaking.

We rode up several floors like this. Now keep in mind that this boy had been in my class every year since the first grade and our moms knew each other. While we were busy not looking at each other, they exchanged looks -- you know the one, the "what are they doing?" look.

The doors opened and they got off. As soon as they closed again, my mother said, "Why didn't you say hello?" I never could give her a good answer. "People will think you're stuck up if you keep that up," was her final comment.

I still don't know why I couldn't say hello. I know some people will say we had a crush on each other, but that wasn't it. I had very little use for boys until junior high. lol But this boy was well-liked at school and had lots of friends. I think I thought he should be the one to speak first. That if I merited notice he'd let me know.

Not a great attitude for a future feminist!

I still have trouble initiating conversation with people I don't know well, especially in a crowd.

I don't know why I thought of that this morning, but I remember it like it was last week. Funny how things just pop into your head.

Hanging my head...

I just viewed my actual blog for the first time in a couple of weeks instead of just going to the post screen, and I realized that I have been lax in responding to comments. Shame on me!! As explanation, may I say that blogger wasn't sending them to my email as it was supposed to for about a week or so? Sorry, guys! I love getting comments and don't want anyone to think I was ignoring them!

After being gone all last week, I have so many blogs to catch up on! I haven't had a chance to just sit down and read b/c I've had kids hovering over me the whole time. Well, that and I've been reading Harry Potter instead...I finished it yesterday afternoon, and it has some real shockers in it! I won't post them here cuz I hate spoilers, but I really didn't see it coming! I'm already looking forward to the 7th book anxiously.

A few posts ago, I mentioned working on making a new outfit for Olivia. What a fiasco! Turns out she is soooo far from wearing a size 7 pattern and this particular one doesn't come any smaller. I thought I'd just cut it down, no big deal, right? Wrong! The top is finished except for final touches and just hangs off her, even after cutting it down by 2 inches. I finally just threw up my hands and said we'd save it until next year.
This is the pattern. I was making the one in the middle. It was going to be so cute -- the top is black across the top with a leopard print swing across the bottom. The capris are stretch khaki with a little bit of glitter in them. A 6-year-old dream, huh?

Ah, well. I did get some other cute patterns that I'm going to make before school starts back. I'll post them as I make them.

Drive-ins

Last night I took Ian and Olivia to the drive-in to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Bewitched. We went with several of their dance friends. Charlie was fantastic -- I think I laughed more than the kids. Johnny Depp was brilliant; very different from Gene Wilder, but he had to be. I will definitely be buying the DVD when it comes out.

Bewitched was okay. It seemed more like the level of a tv movie though. I was glad we saw it as a double-feature at the drive-in instead of paying full price at a first-run theatre. Amusing thoug, especially if you were a fan of the original series.

I love going to the drive-in. I had never been to one until I was in college, because all the local ones closed before I was old enough to date (lol). The last remaining one is about 30 minutes out of town. It still has playground equipment down front and the concession stand still serves hamburgers and hot dogs. Pretty cool, huh? The kids love it because it's different and they don't have to sit still all the time. I love it cuz it's cheap and really fun with a group. Anybody else still have drive-ins?

Home again

We got back from dance camp in Nashville last night. I signed on for a while but my brain was too pooped to write anything!

Olivia had a blast and made lots of new friends. I was really proud of her and her two friends from here that came along. All of them made efforts to talk to new people instead of just hanging out together. (The fact that all three of them are 6 makes that even more amazing!)

Ian came up on Wednesday with M's parents and did camp on Thursday. He had a good time too. I hated that he didn't get to take class on Wed. since Nick Bass taught hip-hop on Wednesday and he would have loved it! Oh, well, at least he finally came for a day. He got to meet another guy who is one of their senior dancers and he's gonna do the choreography for Ian's solo this year. (Now I just have to figure out where to find the money!)

I spent all 4 days sitting in the lobby at the studio because Olivia didn't want me to leave. Z and C went to every mall in Nashville while the girls were in class. I think C was a little worried that I would be mad that they left, but I wasn't. I didn't have any money to spend so I wasn't that excited about going to the mall. Unfortunately, they were more interested in going to the mall at night too, even if it meant the kids were up later than they should be. I got a little aggravated at that, especially the second night it happened.

I enjoyed watching the classes on the monitors and got to know several other moms from other places, which was nice.

Believe it or not, when we rolled into town, Olivia insisted that she wanted to go to her regular classes at our studio, so we went there instead of home. I wish I had that much energy!!

Blogging topics

Why is it that when I am not online I can think of fabulous topics to blog about -- profound insights into the world around me, observations of common humanity, thought-provoking questions...then when I sign-on the best I come up with is a laundry list of my boring life?? Oh, well, one day when I have DSL I'll sign on more quickly and more often so I'm more likely to catch those fleeting thoughts.

Funny, funny site!

This is the funniest website! Especially since I'm not so far from the process of naming my own children.

Links, etc.

I just joined a webring for women bloggers. Interesting, huh? The link is down at the bottom of my sidebar if you wanna check it out.

I've also added a bunch of links to other blogs I like. Some of them I check all the time, some of them I just look at occasionally. Check them out too! And if you want me to link to your blog, let me know! I'll check it out and try to get it listed. Also, if you link to my site, I'll try to return the favor if you'll let me know!

Nick gets home from Kentucky tomorrow. My sister said he's been having a really good time up there -- on the go constantly and actually sleeping! I'm glad he's had the opportunity to have some good times this summer. He's likely to have a hard year ahead of him.

Yard sale this weekend. I dread trying to get everything over to my friend's house and set up tomorrow. If I could even sell half of what I've got, I'd do pretty well. Maybe it will help me pay the bills this month!

London explosions

I just got up and signed online to discover that London had been hit by terrorist explosions. I turned on my television to see what had happened. It makes you almost scared to move around. This is once that I'm glad my city doesn't have any mass transit systems!

I'm really surprised that none of the networks are doing continuous coverage of these events. The news channels, of course, are covering it, but the rest (CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC) are showing their normal programming. How is it that normally, if something relatively minor happens here, they are so willing to interrupt programming (esp. in the daytime), but a terrorist attack in London doesn't rate it???

Attacks like this make me so mad. I refuse to live my life in fear, because that is exactly what terrorists want.