25 Random Facts About Me

I shared this on Facebook, but thought it would be fun to post on my blog as well.

1. I LOVE being on the stage. I sometimes have dreams about performing again. My husband says it is like putting a fish back in water.
2. I HATE auditioning for shows. I become a nervous wreck and can hardly make it through an audition. Sometimes my hands shake like crazy!
3. I was paid to be an extra in Halloween 4 when I was eight years old. I have never yet watched the full movie myself.
4. I love being around people and old friends but never manage to get out of my little rut to get together with others or be in contact with others.
5. As a child I was often depressed and sad.
6. Now that I am an adult I am a very big Optimist! I think I got the sadness out of my life early!
7. I love the library! I know it is dorky, but I do.
8. I have two girls who are 5 years apart which has made life interesting!
9. I love being a mom to my two girls. It is the most challenging but most rewarding job!
10. I work at a health insurance company and probably know more about health insurance then you will ever want to know.
11. I judge people for a living. I am a customer service auditor and score others on their customer service skills. Sometimes I feel bad when I fail people, but at times I think they deserve it.
12. I rarely read modern novels anymore unless they are in the Juvenile section or it has been recommended by a friend I trust.
13. My favorite channels on TV are the PBS stations, and no I don't have cable.
14. I enjoy exercising and try to do it regularly.
15. I often overdo things and wear myself out whether it comes to trying to fit too much into one day or cleaning the house too much.
16. I am getting better at slowing down and making my family clean the house with me :)
17. I hate confrontation! It makes being married to a Lawyer interesting!
18. I love my husband and we have been married for 6.5 years.
19. We eloped in Seattle, Washington. It is one of our favorite memories! I walked around most of the day in my Wedding Dress. Places I went: My job to pick up my paycheck, the bank to deposit my paycheck (hey I'd just bought a wedding dress earlier in the week), a small bakery, the courthouse, Pike's Place Market, the Seattle Piers, and a small harbor boat. Every one thought we were models on a photo shoot which we found hilarious because neither of us are THAT good looking. The public buses were honking at us and a homeless man gave us a huge thumbs up!
20. I ended up with 3 inch blisters on the back of both of my heels because I forgot to buy nylons the day before.
21. I enjoy family time more than anything else in my life and I find that the most spontaneous things are usually the most fun!
22. I moved 15 times in 5 years which caused me to have a superstition that every time I got pictures on the wall I would had to move.
23. I have overcome that superstition and love my little home with my family, but I still don't have many pictures on the wall.
24. I rarely buy clothes or shoes because I figure that what I have is good enough and if it isn't that is just too bad. Who is really looking anyways?
25. I am very silly at times and will break out into song at odd times at home. My daughters now do the same. We had to create a rule that there is no singing at the dinner table.

Performance Dates

We now know when Lydia will be performing in Cinderella at the Jr. High. The dates are March 24, 25, and 26, which oddly is a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. She will in fact be playing a mouse. I am sure it will be a smaller role, but she is very excited. This is her first play performance on her own. As a family we all participated in Fiddler on the Roof, Lydia and I performed in Midsummer Night's Dream , and then the whole family performed in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Lydia is really hoping to audition this summer for Alice in Wonderland at the Empress. She was imagining the other day what it would be like to be Alice and have a lot of lines to learn. Her eyes were practically sparkling with excitement as she talked about it. The stage appears to be her new passion. Thank heavens there are a lot of local opportunities for my girl.

Wes may be helping with costuming for the show so we may be hearing the hum of the sewing machine soon. He may be making hoop skirts. That's right folks, hoop skirts. He learned how to make hoop skirts when making my civil war dress. It involved several trips to Home Depot to figure out what would work best for the hoop part that would still be inexpensive. Did you know that flat PVC parts work wonderfully?

She made it!

We got a call from the director of Cinderella on Friday night. She let us know that Lydia made the show!!! After the call was over Lydia asked me what part she got. I forgot to ask. We aren't sure what exactly she will be doing in the show. The teacher did inform my mother-in-law at try outs that the kids parts were mice. We don't know if she will have any sort of speaking part or not. I would guess not since the play is going to be put on by the Junior High kids and they need speaking roles. No matter how she participates Lydia is super excited. We have a parent meeting on Tuesday night where we will be receiving information about the show. Wish us luck!

My Little Actress

Lydia heard from one of her friends that a local Jr. High was holding auditions for Cinderella. They want grade school kids (grades 4-6) to play the mice. We found out about all of this pretty last minute, so while Wes had a client meeting and while I was at work, Grandma took Lydia to audition. She sang a simple song without any accompaniment. The teacher remarked after Lydia was done singing that she has a beautiful voice. We should be hearing this weekend or Monday if she has made it. I'll have to keep you posted. She really wants to be in this show. It is interesting to me that she is already developing a desire to be on the stage. Poor girl!

Following the Changes.

I hope each of you had an opportunity to watch part of the inauguration ceremonies for the new President this Tuesday. I was fortunate to be working at home that day which allowed me to have the television on while working. It was a day which I spent mainly doing reports which allowed me to listen to everything going on. Isn't it amazing that the United States of America can transition so peacefully from leader to leader? So many countries can't do that. I loved every moment of the day and am excited to see how the next four years will go.

Did you know that the current administration has set up a website complete with a blog?? They have and I have been hopping over to the site often to see what is going on. You can find it at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ . I have taken a very active interest in the changes that are happening with the new President and will be watching him and his administration closely.

My girls have been very interested in Sasha and Malia especially since they are close to my girls ages (well Adelle is a few years younger then Sasha). Lydia told me she had a dream about a month ago. In this dream we visited the White House. Lydia made an appointment to see President Obama. She sat down with him and asked if she could play with Malia (Obama's oldest daughter). Obama heartily consented and Lydia and Malia fast became best friends. From there the Obama's invited us to live in the White House with them. Lydia also remarked in her dream that they had wonderfully delicious chocolates in the White House! I love my girl!! Can you imagine our family living in the White House?

Inspired by all of the events these past few days I thought how wonderful it would be for our family to spend our next family vacation in Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to go there when I was younger and loved it. There are so many things to see from monuments, war memorials and amazing museums. That said, did you know that it would cost our family about $1600 just for the airfare? I decided to map quest directions from our front door to the White House. It would take us about 31 hours of driving and would be over 2000 miles. I actually ran across the new website mentioned above because I was searching for the address to the White House. Isn't it sad that I didn't know it already? My husband seemed to think it was. In case you wanted to know it is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW. Anyway, all of that said, it is not looking very likely that we will be heading to Washington D.C. anytime soon. Perhaps it will have to be a future hope!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Last night the girls and I finished "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. Did you know this novel was written in 1865? I have a pretty old copy (I'm sure it isn't from 1865) that has wonderful illustrations in it by John Tenniel (same illustrations in this post). Lydia has quite enjoyed me reading it to her. Whenever I had to put it away in the evenings Lydia was so disappointed. She always wanted me to read just a little bit more. Adelle has listened to most of the novel as well. Adelle remarked at times how it was different than the movie. At first she thought I was getting it wrong, but then I explained that the book was made before the Disney movie.

Most everyone is familiar with the classic tale of the English girl falling down the rabbit hole to a land of wonder and often complete nonsense. Reading through the book as an adult I wondered why the story was so silly at times. I was intrigued by the ugly duchess who sings a strange song about how she beats her baby. It goes "Speak roughly to your little boy, And beat him when he sneezes; He only does it to annoy, Because he knows it teases". Alice of course is appalled by the women and tries to save this baby, which actually ends up turning into a pig and runs off into the forest for a much happier life.
The story is full of imaginative images and reminds me of how as a child I would imagine falling into my own strange worlds filled with wonder, and yes even some darkness. As a child I didn't want my worlds to be all joy and happy endings. I enjoyed the struggles against the evil things of the world and the struggle to try and conquer the darkness!

I hadn't remembered the last part of the book, which seemed to be speaking to the adults reading the novel. Alice's sister is sitting on the river bank pondering on the strange dream that her sister has woken from. The book closes with this "Lastly, she pictured to herself how this sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long-ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child - life, and the happy summer days".

Doesn't that just say it all? I thought so. We can make our children's lives so much more the magical and wonderful. I love books!

The only question now is what to read next. I am leaning towards "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett, or perhaps we will read "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. I haven't read the later one myself.

Do you have any suggestions?

When dad goes shopping....

this is what we get!

That's right. A whole box of Krispie Kreme Doughnuts! I come in the house and they are the first thing I see adorning my kitchen counter. I walk into the living room and advise my husband he is in trouble. Adelle of course gets this panicked look wondering if they are all in trouble. Of course they aren't and I manage to ease her mind.

I remind my husband how I am trying to eat healthy. In fact I had discussed with the family a few days earlier that we should have less desserts. My girls have come to rely on dessert night every night. Granted, it usually is just a small piece of candy or something else small, but I thought it would be better if we didn't have dessert every night of the week.

He just says "Well don't eat one then". Sure, don't eat one when they are looking at me with all their yummy, gooey goodness. I checked out the label and did you know that a glazed doughnut will run you about 190 calories and 10 grams of fat. The cream filled doughnut will run you 350 calories and 20 grams of fat (these of course look the best to me). Sigh. I won't even get into the grams of sugar.

What is a girl to do? Hopefully they will be gone soon so they won't tempt me to over indulge too much. The question is how many days do you think it will take for a dozen doughnuts to be consumed by 2 adults and 2 children. I give it two days. Just watch!