Blondechick At College

Well, she's all moved in.  With a little help from her fam!

There actually was enough room in the closet for her all her clothes. We were surprised.

Since this picture was taken, she and her roommate have bought matching shower curtains to cover their closets, so all the clothes aren't exposed to view.  I forgot to ask what color.

She took a page from "Legally Blonde" with her room decor--all hot pink!

And here's how she feels about college so far....

And how is Mom?  Everyone keeps asking me that, and honestly, I'm just so happy for her, that I haven't even begun to really feel much sadness.  I think it will sink in eventually.  But considering how close she came to going a completely different route and missing out on this entirely, I am just so relieved and thrilled and happy to be back to Plan A!  As we left her on Saturday, I barely had room for any emotion other than overwhelming thankfulness for this opportunity for her.

And God is doing a work in her heart.  I wish I could share some of the things she's learned from going through all the heartbreak, pain, anger and confusion, and finally moved on to acceptance and thankfulness.  We've had so many good conversations, and she's continuing, even in these first whirlwind days of orientation and activities, to lean into God and to rediscover her self.

Her Facebook status today is "God is so GOOD."  For an 18-year-old girl who's had to change her Facebook profile from "engaged" to "in a relationship" to "single" in the last two months, that's a pretty huge statement.

I am so proud of her.  And so thankful!

Happy Birthday to My Favorite Man!

I was so happy that my brother-in-law grabbed the camera and took these shots!  PR takes so many fabulous photos, but he's never in them.  I loved this shot of him with our two youngest and my niece (in the orange goggles).

This photo captures something special about my husband, one of the big reasons I married him--he has a gentle soul.

May the Lord bless you this day...this year...my love...as you bless so many others with your care, your love, your compassion and your prayers.  You are a good man, and I am blessed to be yours.

***

In honor of your birthday, apparently, I had a dream last night.  This dream incorporates a Latin expression which you made up in high school.  My subconscious seems to think that you have been just itching to include it in a liturgical service!

We were at church, and you and our deacon and the altar boys were processing in.  But what was this?  In the procession, there was also a young man in his 20's, dressed in a robe of some sort, but underneath it was an inflatable suit that was inflated, lifting the robe above the young man's knees and revealing silky gym shorts.  He definitely needed a longer robe and different footwear than gym shoes, to pull this off.  Who was he? I wondered.  Why the inflatable suit under the robe?

Ahhh, then I knew.  It was the magnum saccum ventorum, the "big bag of wind." A little-known liturgical element you were trying out this week.

You and our deacon conferred afterward and decided that it just hadn't worked.  It looked a little silly and it made the young man uncomfortable.  (It may have been his first time at our church, since I didn't recognize him.  Talk about "seeker-friendly"!)

And that was it.  You were matter-of-fact, and you moved on to another topic.

You big bag of wind. I love you!

Fall Educational Plans...and a Sabbatical

Is it time to be blogging about our back-to-school plans?

Feels like it's time...and yet, there's not as much to say as usual.  I'm taking a sabbatical from homeschooling.

I've homeschooled for 14 years straight, and since we moved here three years ago, I've been stretched thinner than I ever have before.  It was a lot easier to homeschool when all my kids were at home and on the same schedule.  But our move came just as our three oldest were embracing teenager-hood with a vengeance and without the safety net of Christian friends and friendships that we had in our old community.  The three of them--especially #2 and #3--seemed to require a lot more time and attention than they had previously, with enrollment in a public high school and then the Christian school...and all that came with it:  rides to school, help with homework, sports, a social schedule, a social life (a.k.a "drama"), driver's ed, driving, jobs, college visits, graduation, and transitioning to college.  So much new stuff in three years.

Not to mention homeschooling the younger three, planting a church, starting a Christian youth theater group in Kenosha, staying on top of laundry and errands, and keeping groceries in the house!

No wonder I am out of steam.

So the plan is for Bantam6 and Chicklet8 to go to the local elementary school for first and third grades next year.  I have a good feeling about that school and the adults that I met there during the half-year that Chicklet attended, two years ago.  I think they will do well there.

Bantams12 and 16 will both be at home, but enrolled in iQ Academy, a virtual charter school here in WI.  I may have to do some nagging, but they will receive instruction, deadlines and grades from iQ Academy teachers, not me.  I'm sure they both can handle the workload and the curriculum pretty independently, and I'm looking forward to playing a supportive role, rather than a directive one, with them.

Blondechick18 leaves for TIU (Trinity International University) on Saturday.  I expect she'll be high-maintenance for her first few weeks away, but then she'll settle in.  She's been so appreciative of her family, lately, especially with the breaking off of her engagement and subsequent complete break-up.  She senses God working all things together for good in her life, though, and she is super-excited for college!

B20 will be living at home and hopefully working.  He's had two interviews recently, which was encouraging--finally.  One didn't work out, and he is hoping to be called back for a second interview at the other place.  Prayers appreciated!

So those are the educational plans...which shouldn't be too stressful or demanding on me.  It's the extra-curricular activities that are going to fill my time, I suspect.  But there are enough of them to fill a separate post!

Ode to the Best County Fair in the Midwest

My brothers and I grew up taking our Ohio hometown county fair for granted, but no more.  Between the six of us--us three siblings and our spouses, who live in different states, have all moved at least once, and have seen plenty of other county fairs now--we all agree that no other fair comes close!

For starters, we're surprised at how many fairgrounds are set up on asphalt, without a shade tree in sight.  And it's so disappointing when there's really not much to interest kids besides rides, games and food. Our fair has barns and barns of animals, with kids hanging around those barns eager to show off their 4-H projects and let you hold or touch their beasts.  There are auctions and judging going on all the time.  At night there is harness racing, pig and calf scrambles, tractor pulls and a demolition derby.  It's such a great little fair!  For many summers now, we've all timed our visits to see my parents so that they coincide with fair week.

The rides are fun for young and middle-aged alike!

Pilot Brother with his wife and oldest daughter (5)

Papa Rooster took SO many great shots this year, it took me forever to pick just a few.  I love Blondechick's hair in this one!

B16 and Blondechick18, with B20 and me in the background

Fair photos are so colorful!

Chicklet8 and her cousin, Professor Brother's middle daughter (9)

Every ride presents its challenges.

Professor Brother's oldest (13) with B12

We always run into someone we know.  It's a small town, after all.

Me with Mom (L) and Dad (R) with a longtime family friend (center L)

Strollers provide a good rallying point.

Prof Bro's middle daughter talks to Pilot Bro's 4 y.o., while Grandpa and Pilot Bro kneel.  Prof Bro and wife stand behind; B12 and B16 on R.

Though this "ride" doesn't move, the farm implement sales lot has been a perennial favorite for as long as I can remember!

Four cousins try out lawnmowers.  Notice grass, trees and shade!

As many years of combined fair experience as we had, we were all mystified by this sign.  Translucent pig tubes?  Safari hog tubes?  I could google, but it's more amusing to speculate.

I love the whole fair experience, but I think the animal barns are my favorite part.  It reminds me of my days hanging around the barns with my own show projects.

Checking out the fancy chickens.

Who can resist the charm of ever-friendly goats?

The kids were encouraged to feed the llamas!  Fortunately, they only spit at each other.

Horses were always my favorite.  This little filly, Fancy, was just three months old, and her owner showed us her trick:  If you scratched her back, she'd scratch yours!

Now for a short rant.  What has happened to 4-H, anyway?  In IL and here in WI, we've been invited to join generic 4-H clubs where everybody worked on whatever project they wanted to and the advisor was just an administrative leader, not an expert in their field; the burden is on the parent to find their child the help they need to complete whatever project they choose.  Where I grew up, you joined a club with an advisor who had some expertise, and everyone in the club worked on the same type of project.  I was in a sewing club of beginners through advanced, and my advisor was an expert seamstress.  I joined a rabbit club, a horse club, a dog club--not all in the same year!--and a cooking club.  Each club was led by an advisor with specific knowledge or interest, whether on an animal or on electricity, woodworking, model rockets or planes, quilting, or dozens of other projects.  They still run it that way in my hometown--why not elsewhere?  I really want to know!

Every year I appreciate the fair in a new way, and feel so thankful for the opportunities I had growing up.  I'm so happy to make memories there with my kids and my brother's families too!  I can only imagine how my dad must feel.  He remembers being a kid there himself, showing dairy cattle and staying overnight in the 4-H barn, showering in the cement block bathroom that's still there and not much improved from his day.

And he's still makin' memories at the fair!

Grandpa with B20

Lessons from Joseph

You saw the photos.

I had a blast being in that show. I felt so light, so filled with joy and leftover adrenaline walking into church on Sunday morning…that I just started crying. And couldn’t stop for the rest of the service. Makes no sense, right? Really, I’m not an emotional gal.

What comes next is intensely personal. I promise it’s all good, though, and I share it in the spirit of praise to God for unexpected work in my life.

So I’m crying in church and asking God to show me what’s going on, and I see myself like a hollow chocolate Easter bunny, with a shell made of something more like flint. And God’s hammer comes down and breaks the shell, and inside, there I am--living, breathing, moving…and dancing.

And I knew instantly what that shell was about. It was constructed of labels that started piling up in junior high: stiff, clumsy, awkward, ugly, clutzy, uncoordinated, unlikeable, locked up, ungraceful, unattractive, can’t fit in…and the big one: fear of looking stupid.

That fear controlled me all through high school, I think. It made me stick to safe areas, like academics and music, which I excelled in. It was a HUGE thing for me to leave the pit orchestra and try out for the school musical my senior year. But my main memory of that show--The Wiz--is thinking “I probably look stupid. And stiff.” Which I honestly probably did, with those thoughts in my mind all the time.

The cool thing is that during rehearsals for Joseph, I somehow was having such a good time, or have matured enough to ignore those voices, that I really wasn’t aware of them—even in front of an audience. I didn’t feel nervous, I didn’t feel worried…I think part of me accepted that I was probably going to look like one of the few old ladies on stage, and that was okay! To me, it was only about having fun.

But I got more out of it than that, and that’s where I praise God. It’s as if, without even being aware of it until it was all over, I had faced down my inner demons and proved them wrong. “Mom!” Blondechick18, always direct, exclaimed after the show, “I thought you said you couldn’t dance!”

Not clutzy—pretty coordinated. Not stiff--relatively graceful. It may have taken me longer to learn the dances, but I did learn them and perform them--with a smile. And I fit in fine, even though I was older than most of the cast. And I didn’t look stupid….

Even when dancing on top of a tiny stage above the heads of the rest of the cast! When I saw the pictures my husband took at the last dress rehearsal, I couldn’t believe how conspicuous and yes, stupid, I thought I looked. Why me, twenty years older than all these graceful young girls, some of them trained dancers? At first I thought it was the height that bothered me; then I practiced and practiced alone on that podium to overcome that, and I realized it was more about the restricted space. Harder to be graceful in the small area, where I had less room to turn; more chance that I would bobble and look stupid. But each time I had to get up on that dumb box, I just swallowed hard and did my dance with a smile on my face and as much grace as I could muster, and I survived. And now I think it wasn’t the height or the small area, it was a God-thing, a growth opportunity, to face down that fear—of looking stupid--and literally dance on its grave.

So I am thankful. Even though I did hate every minute up there.

On Sunday morning, I became simultaneously aware of all those yucky feelings from junior high and high school, and of the fact that those lies had been smashed and replaced with truth. What joy! It’s not often that you get to go back and re-write your script. (Ooo, the perfect metaphor.) But this time the story had a happy ending, and I just couldn’t contain the emotion.

When I decided to audition, I felt I was following a leading from God. But I never expected healing to come from being in a community theater production. I am so grateful to God, and also to the other women in the cast who accepted me…and helped me learn to dance!

From The Message, Psalm 51:

What you’re after is truth from the inside out…
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
Set these once-broken bones to dancing!

Amazing Joseph

So our production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ended up exceeding everyone's expectations. We knew we had a great cast, and great directors, but how much can you really pull off in just six 4-hour rehearsals?  That's all we had before production week!  But somehow, with God's help, it came together in an amazing way, and our audiences were wowed every time!

There is so much I could say about the talent of our leads and the strength of the whole ensemble, but for the sake of my relatives and friends, and my own time, I better focus on my own experience and Chicklet8's and Bantam6's.

Chicklet was in her element.  She loves the stage.  People stopped her after every show to say, "I couldn't stop watching you!  You were always smiling, always so expressive!"

Chicklet and B6 played school children that the Narrator tells the story of Joseph to.  They helped sing some of the songs, and they sat on the sides during the numbers they weren't in, and joined in with hand motions and general enthusiasm for the story.

When Chicklet was complimented by one of the directors for her consistent smile during the dress rehearsal, I told her later on that I was proud of her.  Her secret? "At first my cheeks were bored," she confided.  "But then they got excited!"


B6, on the other hand, was clueless in the cutest sort of way.  This shot is jumping ahead to the final number, but it captures how he rolled.  (He was the youngest in the cast--but he didn't act like the youngest, Chicklet told me proudly!)

So here was my entrance, during the number "Jacob & Sons."  Joseph's brothers are all facing the back wall, and as they are introduced, they go greet Jacob, then meet up with their wife, then get out of the way.  Just as "Reuben was the eldest of the children of Israel," as the lyrics go, so was the actor playing Reuben the oldest of the actors playing brothers, and I was the oldest woman playing the Wife of a brother.  (As in, we were well over 20 years older than any of the other couples!)

At the end of the number, we posed for a "family picture." That's Jacob in the center, with his arm around Joseph.  You can just see the Narrator's head, as she takes a picture with a Polaroid camera.

In the next number, Jacob gives Joseph the coat of many colors.  Here he is showing off.  And yes, that's me up on top.  When we blocked this dance, I was happy to be in back.  At the first dress rehearsal, when I found out how high and how conspicuous and how limited on space I was (I'm on a box that's less than 4X4 feet), I was not one bit comfortable up there.  But God used it.  (Will save for another post!)

At least my husband joined me up there toward the end!

My next scene was his big solo, when the brothers push him forward to break the news to Jacob that "There's one more angel in heaven, one more star in the sky...Joseph, we'll never forget you...."

After much melodramatic weeping and mourning, we all breathe a huge sigh of relief after Jacob leaves the stage...then break out into a hoedown to the same tune, sped up.

"It's tough, but we're gonna get by!"

The first act ends with Joseph in prison, and the cast dressed in 70's/80's costumes singing the encouraging "Go, Go, Go Joseph...you know what they say; Come on now, Joseph, you'll make it someday; Sha la la Joseph, you're doin' fine--you and your dreamcoat, ahead of your time."  Profound, I know.

Check out my hot pink skinny pants.  You'll see them again.

The second act begins in Egypt, in Pharaoh's court--complete with mummies and dancing golden statues.

Pharaoh sure looked and sounded an awful lot like Elvis, "This dream has got me all shook up; Hey Joseph, what does it mean?"  Our dance was an eclectic combination of 50's "bop bop shoo wada wah" moves, and poses imported from Michael Jackson's Thriller dance.

Oh, and I need a shot to show you my sparkly golden pumps!  I'm over on the right...

When I was a college student in the 80's, my fiance's landlord bought me a gown and those shoes to wear to a formal event.  They are beautiful shoes, and I hung onto them.  Blondechick wore them when she was the Sour Kangaroo in Seussical, and it was fun to have an excuse to wear them in this show!

Jumping on ahead, here we are during the Benjamin Calypso, as Judah assures Joseph, "I hear de steel drums sing their song, they're singing mon you know you got it wrong..."

"Oh no.  Not he!  How you can accuse him is a mystery.  Save him.  Take me.  Benjamin is straighter than de tall palm tree."

"Joseph, Joseph, is it really true?  Joseph, Joseph, is it really you?"

I'm leaving out the slower numbers and their reprises, but the show ends with everybody's favorite--the Megamix!  It's a recap of all the big group numbers, set to a heavy dance beat that gets the whole audience clapping as various people and groups take their bows.  Here I am--in Blondechick's hot pink skinny pants and Chicklet's one-size-fits-all "popcorn" top!--with the other wives after we've taken our bows.

And Chicklet had a big moment during the Megamix.  When we're singing, "Could be famous, could be a big success...could become a star," she got to become a star!

Did we have fun, or what??