Unfortunately...

...I did not make it into the Shakespeare workshop for the summer. Oh, well - time to figure out something else to do with my time. There's always the idea of starting up my own Shakespeare camp...

Quote of the Week

I think Sundays will now be Quote of the Week Days. Just gives you something to think about for the week ahead.

Today's Quote:

"If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want." ~Oscar Wilde

And note that since I like quotes so much, there will likely be more than one on many weeks - but I'll try to keep them related to each other, at the very least!

Featured Book # 15

Most people are surprised to learn that this, and not a Harry Potter book, is my favorite. It's The Dive from Clausen's Pier, by Ann Packer, and it's been my favorite book for a while now. I can't really describe it. I think I just read it at the right time - I was the same age as the main character at the time. I loved all the characters and I loved the story. The best word to describe the book would probably be bittersweet.

Happy Birthday, James!

Today is James' birthday. Here he is back


Here's James with Carol and the kids in May 2005, for Robert's First Communion.

My Latest Project

I figured since I was making all these dresses for the Music Man, I should have something new to wear to the evening performance on April 11. So I hunted around a bit. I already had this fabric, that I got too late to do anything with for Easter (though mine is pink, not green):


So I hunted until I found just the right pattern:


I'm using View B.

This is the first item I made for myself in a long time. I also just got some jersey fabric at only $1.95 a yard to make myself another dress, probably a day dress for work.

Picture of the Week

This picture of Popops on the beach was taken in August 2007 when the whole family headed down to North Carolina for the second time.

Happy Birthday, Jordan!

Today is Jordan's 23rd birthday!


Jordan as a baby - I think it's Christmas in either 1985 or 1986.


Jordan in 1989, at age 4.


Jordan in North Carolina in 1997, age 12.


With Emily and Kara on Christmas 2007, with an unfortunate rash.

Research

Some hairstyles to do for the Music Man! Just wanted to save them somewhere.


I can definitely see some of these... perhaps on Zaneeta Shinn and Mrs. Paroo.

More Photography

More pictures from yesterday! I like the one with the marbles - if you look close enough (click on it to make it big), you can see me taking the picture reflecting in two of the marbles!

Images of Easter

As we oddly did not actually take any family pictures, here are some Easter-y images from the day! I took these all today, at some point or another.

Happy Easter!

We're spending the day at Pam's with the Easter cake! (I'm pretty sure there's an egg hunt planned too...)

Now I'm off to find a good Easter dress!

Preparing for Easter... in 2001!

Since I haven't colored Easter eggs probably SINCE these pictures are taken, these will have to do as far as Easter prep pictures go. Here are Thomas and Robert in 2001, at ages almost 6 and 4 respectively, dying Easter eggs with me.

The Easter Cake!

Here's the cake for tomorrow's Easter festivities at Pam's:


I spent the morning preparing it - well, really about an hour because it's really easy to make. Here are some photos of the process.







Are you drooling yet?

Featured Book # 14

A few years ago I really enjoyed Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld.


Here's the synopsis, from Barnesandnoble.com:

"Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel, Prep, is an insightful, achingly funny coming-of-age story as well as a brilliant dissection of class, race, and gender in a hothouse of adolescent angst and ambition.

Lee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old when her father drops her off in front of her dorm at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts. She leaves her animated, affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, at least in part because of the boarding school’s glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old brick buildings, girls in kilts hold lacrosse sticks on pristinely mown athletic fields, and everyone sings hymns in chapel.

As Lee soon learns, Ault is a cloistered world of jaded, attractive teenagers who spend summers on Nantucket and speak in their own clever shorthand. Both intimidated and fascinated by her classmates, Lee becomes a shrewd observer of–and, ultimately, a participant in–their rituals and mores. As a scholarship student, she constantly feels like an outsider and is both drawn to and repelled by other loners. By the time she’s a senior, Lee has created a hard-won place for herself at Ault. But when her behavior takes a self-destructive and highly public turn, her carefully crafted identity within the community is shattered.

Ultimately, Lee’s experiences–complicated relationships with teachers; intense friendships with other girls; an all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush; conflicts with her parents, from whom Lee feels increasingly distant, coalesce into a singular portrait of the painful and thrilling adolescence universal to usall."

Presenting... A Reversible Jacket!

Well, I did it! I made a reversible jacket for Harold Hill for the Music Man! I was mighty proud of myself last night when I finished it off. It's not embellished yet, though I found some fantastic gold fringe this morning in the drama department stores to use!

Here it is:







It just makes you want to say, "Please observe me if you will; I'm Professor Harold Hill."

Twelve Days...

...until I find out if I've been accepted to the Shakespeare Institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library. I've spent so much time being freaked about the possibility of spending four weeks in Washington D.C. I haven't even considered the possibility that I might not even get accepted! I realized that I'll be pretty disappointed if I don't, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

I've gotten used to the thought of going and am even looking forward to it. Maybe I should dread it again, then I'll DEFINITELY get in! Once I was assured that it was perfectly normal to be scared of it, all of a sudden it didn't seem so scary anymore. And it's not so far away - I've got people who want to visit me on weekends. If I go, I know the first couple days'll be the hardest ones, but I'm sure the workshop'll keep me so busy, I'll barely notice!

I will miss the cat though, sad as that sounds...

Picture of the Week

It's Dawnie! Anyone who knows Dawn probably knows that it's actually pretty hard to get a good picture of her, despite the fact that she practically lives in my lap (when doing ANYTHING - it can be very annoying sometimes!). Anyway, I managed this shot on Christmas Eve this past year.

Only Two More Days This Week!

I am welcoming my tiny little vacation this week, having Friday off! I'm so tired from all the work I've been doing and the extra things after work. I just need some time to myself!

This has been my schedule the last couple of weeks:

Work: 8-3

Monday: Music Man Rehearsal 3-5
Tuesday: Curriculm Planning Meeting 3-5
Wednesday: Curriculum Planning 3-5
Thursday: Music Man Rehearsal 3-5
Saturday: Music Man Rehearsal 8:30-11:30

Music Man Rehearsals go from 8:30-1:00 starting NEXT Saturday (not this coming - I actually get to sleep!) and last just two weeks! The end product will be SO worth it, but right now it's So tiring!

The saga of the reversible jacket for Harold Hill has begun. I'm steadily working on it, and I think it'll be really cool when it's done.

The Ladies of River City

Here they are - every dress was made by me, at least partially (the green one was made by a student!):


Another reminder that The Music Man is on April 11th at 7 p.m. and April 12th at 1 p.m. Family members should all clear their schedules and let me know if they want tickets as soon as possible. As you can see, it's going to LOOK really good!

Wishing I Was...

Here


Hawaii

Or Here:


Germany

Or Here:


Paris

Or even here:

Cayman Islands

Been a little stir crazy lately, itching for travel and having no one to go with! Been all these places before, but I'd gladly see them again - and more.

My current top ten favorite potential travel destinations: 1.) Italy, 2.) Greece, 3.) Spain, 4.) Scotland, 5.) Ireland, 6.) India, 7.) Iceland, 8.)Montreal, 9.) Australia, 10.) a Safari (I don't really think there's a particular country necessarily)

Coming Soon...

...home movies! Dad got me a great birthday present - a DVD recorder, which means I can now transfer our old VHS home movies to DVD and make my own little movies out of them. Of course I am starting with Camp Hymelick, which is recording behind me as I type this out. I'll try to get some footage up later today, particularly a very entertaining video of Kara at about seven or eight years old pretending to ride a horse on her back porch!

Featuerd Book # 13

I keep telling everyone to read this, but no one has so far:

Picture of the Week

Forgot to do this yesterday!



Popops, Dad and Kevin, sporting some awesome wigs... sometime in the late 80's.

Happy Birthday to... Me!

Well, I say it for everyone else in the family so I might as well say it to myself! It's my birthday! Yay! (Though in all reality, it's really not THAT exciting... it pretty much feels like every other day, except for the fact that a lot of people will be saying "Happy Birthday" to me today.)

Some old pictures, just for fun:





That's all I have time for now, but the fact that the second picture was taken about 20 years ago (and the first one more like 25 years ago) really freaks me out. I don't like that I can subtract 20 from my age and get a valid number!

A New Spin on Things...

My new obsession, Across the Universe, uses Beatles songs to tell the story of the plot. Now some may say you shouldn't mess with the original classics, but some of them are really good.

This is just sound:

"I Want to Hold Your Hand"



"All My Lovin"



"It Won't Be Long"

This was NOT a good month...

...to talk about nutrition! Tomorrow, in honor of my birthday, it sounds like I will be receiving MULTIPLE boxes of chocolate from my adoring fans - my students, that is! I told them that they did NOT have to purchase me things for my birthday, but just making a card or simply saying "Happy Birthday" (and perhaps being good students and being nice and quiet for the day would be nice too!), but I think a surprise is in the works. My non-subtle ones have been hinting at things and acting VERY strange indeed today... seriously, how many times do they need to ask me if I'm allergic to anything!! (Though, in retrospect, I HOPE that means chocolate and not a weird perfume - but it is, after all, the thought that counts in the end!)

And YES, I WILL be posting a Happy Birthday to Me tomorrow! (It is family news, after all!)

I've Been Thinking...

... that I kind of, sort of, maybe might want to try acting. I wonder if there's a community theater out there for me (or, better yet, perhaps MY community needs a community theater!). Just another project for me to tackle, but I've enjoyed my involvement with The Music Man SO much that I think it would be fun to actually be IN a show... but of course my ambitious self would want the lead, even if it would scare me to death to actually do it...

Someone told me I would make an excellent Ophelia...

Jack's Competition

Mom got this email from her friend Timo today, entitled Jack's competition (because Jack enjoys Beatles songs).

A Day of Sewing...

More sewing away for the Music Man. This is much harder than I thought it would be, and I could always resort to premade clothes, but I think the effect will be nicer this way, in the end. I have just over a month to go and I intend to finish this off and see this through!

Here's the craft of the day for everyone! I modified a pattern to make this dress:



I also made this. It needs a lot of work:

Craftiness Update

As I have been neglecting craft month horribly with no projects this week (and just completely throwing nutrition out the window, as you can see in the below post), I thought I'd update on the crafts of the week. They are all sewing related and pictures will be up soon.

They're all for the Music Man:

1.) A dress and blouse for the Zaneeta Shinn character.
2.) A jacket, shirt, and skirt for the Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn character.
3.) A skirt for another one of the characters (it's red, but we don't know who it's for).
4.) An apron for the Mrs. Paroo character.

And much more to come... we have only FOUR Saturdays left. There's lots of work to do!

Throwing Nutrition Out the Window...

...should not really be a post for Nutrition Month but the fact is, tomorrow I'm throwing a little impromptu birthday party for myself and we're eating New Orlean's style! Shrimp po boys, chicken and sausage gumbo and king cake are all on the menu. I found the little plastic baby recently (he has sentimental value, as he was the little baby in our very first king cake our first day in New Orleans!).



I think the kids are planning something for the real deal on Wednesday. One of my students said to me yesterday, "Ms. Roberts, next Wednesday could you leave your classroom door open and, like, not be there?"

Featured Book # 12

The new Jodi Picoult book is out! I just got it! Come on, read Change of Heart with me!

Picture of the Week

Only Kara knows the true evil that is this peacock (though the picture is pretty awesome!). See this post for the story!