January's sliding by

Finally I'm sitting down to write.  15 minutes 'til bedtime... oh boy.

Well, the boys still crack me up with their vocabulary.  Weston says, "Well Mom, if I was in that predicament..."  Or then there's Donovan drawing some of the most articulate cartoons I've ever seen him do -- shading and all!

 Davey is finally finding his feet with catching up on teaching preparation and already finding some success directing his show.  I got to come in and do some physical work with the chorus.  It was exciting and they worked fast.  I think I may have strained my back a bit demonstrating though: here's hoping I can strengthen my core over the next while.  I just need to get up earlier and not worry about being so sleepy.  It's tough because now Weston can play pretty well on his own, and I have been known to slip back under the covers after Donovan trots off to the bus and enjoy some sweet rest.  Alas.  Those days need to stop so I can accomplish what's in front of me.  I think I was still looking for little shreds of indulgence like one expects from a holiday!

The drama ministry class is doing very well with one Sunday, and one chapel service under their belt.  Today we did a chapel on grief and dying, and how different cultures look at death.  It was great because we had some true stories from students from Africa, Nova Scotia (Kitchen parties...) and a young woman who just lost her mom last April who spoke of the "casserole" stage of grieving.  We (the class and I) purposely looked for humor and childlikeness in the midst of some pretty sobering images.  We did a good old fashioned "sword drill" where the congregation had to locate a few uplifting verses "fast as they could" in the Bible.  We also had a hymn story with "Be Still My Soul" and then looked at all 11 verses of the hymn "Abide with Me"while Shauna played variations on the piano.

Shauna Murphy was so taken with Nathan embodying the role of Father Damien, the leper priest of Molakai last fall, that she contacted all of us and encouraged us to pool together a gift to send Nate to Hawaii to visit the sites.  Today she gave him the gift.  He was blown away.  A bit wrecked, actually.  But, get this... then the cert class and I come in with "Aloha oi" and a hula dance, and we pull back the divider curtain to the fellowship hall to reveal a Hawaiian luau with pineapple, kiwi, grapes, and homemade cookies!!  The music was going and everything got cozy, casual and festive.  I was proud of my students.  Many of them gave above and beyond preparing for this day.   I would have taken pictures if I hadn't been so focused on the order of the service, and Weston pulling my arm to come play with him in the upper room. (Poor kid.  I tried, but my responsibilities got the better of me and I started cleaning and adult conversation.  Thankfully we snuggled in for family story time on the couch later. ) With the service, I had included so many different ideas, it took a lot of concentration to just keep up, let alone work the powerpoint.

I miss the boys, and I'll miss them even more as David and I go away this weekend to lead a workshop in Edmonton.   Sigh.  Well.  I gotta let go some times.

I had a costume fitting today already for Lettice and Loveage and it dawned on me how close the next rehearsal process is coming.  Thank God I get to go to Cambridge first.

That's right, I'm going to look into the Craigie House and the Houghton library at Harvard University to learn more about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his children to possibly write a play.  Well, really it's an excuse to go on an adventure for my 40th birthday.  This is new for me.  I mentioned it for prayer on Sunday and as I went to sit down I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.  I have a kind of glee about it.  OK, it's tempered with a bit of fear, but overall, it feels like a special opportunity I'm sneaking in during a week that I don't have teaching responsibilities.  The only daunting thing is the sheer amount of research one could do on America's most famous poet.  My head is already getting full.

I can't believe how this term is already passing...

I wish I wanted to get up early.