The photos: Tartuffe

Boy 16 is in the tan knickers, purple vest, somewhat in the center. See below, Tartuffe with dear Elmire.



Thanks to my parents for the pictures. We didn't get any and I definitely wanted to have some for the scrapbook.

Sunday

What an icky, wet day. I will say that we took in a lot of theater this weekend. Saw a college production of Miss Saigon. It was hard to buy into when the Vietnamese and Americans all looked the same. There was the cutest 3 year old boy who played the child of the American G.I. in Vietnam and Kim, the local girl. Pat had some difficulty sitting through it, but he has really gotten better. No sighing, head rolling, or loud criticizing.

That was Friday night. Saturday we went to Tartuffe at the high school in which Boy16 played the lead, Tarfuffe, a pious scoundrel. I will tell you, this 17th Century French play in rhymed translation did not draw a crowd. It was disappointing because they worked very hard to memorize and act out this ancient material. Why the director chose this play, no one can figure out. He was obviously amused by it, and I do think the kids who were in it thought it was funny and learned a good bit of culture from putting it on. Wish I had a picture because the costumes were top notch. Boy15 and Nephew10 went to their 'happy place' and rejoiced when it was over. Nephew10 said in his best french accent, "and after a million years, it was finally over."

Today was only good for laundry, nappy and a bit of weightlifting. I have to get back on track after a mild but lingering flu and accompanying binge eating.

For those who asked, Uncle Cal seems to be adjusting to Macomb. The aides at Bickford seem to think he is a real hoot. He does have a unique sense of humor. Someone he managed to pass his driver's test in IL (drivers beware) and signed out of the building Friday for "nonsense reasons." He drove his van around for two hours looking at crops and finding his way around town. I found out he is not on morphine anymore, so at least he's not driving heavily drugged. The Parkinson's is bad sometimes, and we prefer to drive him ourselves when he is going with us.

BTW- menopause blows.

I love quotes

You may be only one person in the world,
but to one person you may be the world.

I saw this on a mirror in the beauty salon of a nursing home yesterday. There were all kinds of different inspirational messages in this small space. The colors were maroon and gray and I thought it was just very pretty and nice, especially for a nursing home. I thought the quote above was extremely meaningful for this setting as the beautician is probably one of the highlights of the resident's existence. It really touched me that someone had invested such thought and care in making this a pleasant environment for our elderly who are more than likely in their last resort, no pun intended.

My great uncle is soon to move to my town in Illinois from North Dakota to live in an assisted living facility. He will feel like he's moved to Florida after that climate. He's lived all his life on a farm (The Farm) in ND and recently had to move into a nursing home. My mom is his closest relative, he having no offspring nor did his siblings (except my grandmother who only had one child, my mother). Well, this will make it easier to conduct his business and manage his affairs, including trying to keep him off the road since he has no driver's license, and soothe his desire to hire Dr. Kevorkian to pay him a visit. It should be interesting...

Tuesday

I am back to work and it was kind of a boring day. I am sorry to say I didn't save the world. I hope I was understanding and supportive to the people I encountered; young children subjected to adult stupidity, adults living with unanswerable questions, my own family going in a hundred directions and managing nicely.

Next week I am looking forward to a reunion of sorts. At a statewide conference for school social work, I will get to see my former professors (at least two of them I like very much), my former classmates and work mate, Miss Perfect, and the new Miss Perfect (social work students I consider my rivals for teacher's pet/suck up/brown noser). We will be staying in a nice hotel in suburban Chicago (I will be rooming with my new co-workers, the real school social workers), eating too much food, soaking up the workshops, keynote speakers, and each other's company. Maybe running out for some early Christmas shopping. You know if you know me, I will be all about the free food. It will be fun to get out of Dodge for a few days.

I am experimenting (on doctor's advice) with Vitamin D to treat mild depression. So far, I don't think it is doing anything, but I'm not getting worse. Just something I go through each fall.

Cutest Thing

Okay, I got this from my friend Madz. I haven't been keeping up with my blogs lately, but since today is a school day off, and I'm in the school system now, yippee! I can read blogs all day. And wonder why Christopher Columbus is honored with a school holiday (here)? Didn't he really bump into South America or something?

Faith and Fear

I was thinking along the same lines as my blogger friend, Ginnie, this morning. I felt I should write something for my dad to use in his monthly Family News. He is always complaining that he doesn't have enough material. Then there is the problem of getting into a format that he can use on his computer without having to re-type the whole thing. His computer (and mine), "Hal", tries to foil him at every step.

Adventures seem a fitting topic for me today. I left my job of 13 years in July to pursue a new career in school social work. I am finishing my Master's with a year long internship with a special education cooperative (serving five counties). The decision to veer off from mental health into school social work was made last October when I had to select the specialization classes for my degree. I decided upon school social work, because with that certification, I could always return to mental health or another aspect of social work, but without that certification I could not work in the school system. I thought it would be best to have the option.

I knew I would be required to complete a fulltime internship for the full school year, and wouldn't be able to work my regular job along with it. As it turned out it was a good time to change careers because the funding for mental health has been cut significantly and the subsequent changes are not a system I was comfortable working in anymore. That is the PC version.

As I began my internship I saw the following statement on a wall hanging:

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase"

I wrote that in my notebook for work and look at it frequently. I also decided to audition for the play my dad was directing this fall and that was huge leap of faith. I decided the timing was right as I would not be required to work or be on call evenings and weekends for the first time in many years. The kids are also pretty self sufficient, with Boy16 driving now. This might be the only opportunity I would have to work with my dad, age 78, as director and actor. Never mind, I only acted once in my life in 8th grade, and I only had one speaking line.

So, far both scary propositions have been working out. The play is done and got great reviews, even my character. I can't believe it is already over and I didn't die or have a stroke on stage. It was fun, but I probably didn't have as much fun as I could have, as I was too nervous about the outcome. Nonetheless, I did my best, mentally and physically.

The internship is going well. In a way it is not that much different than my previous work (the problems are the same only the clients are younger). In many ways it is quite different. The education system is it's own ball game, with internal and external politics driving everything that happens. I am just trying to focus on what I can do each day to help someone, be a support and put in a good effort. I could always do more, and feel I should but that is just my personality. Acceptance goes a long way in new adventures.

The Odd Couple: Female Version

Top picture: cast of Macomb Community Theater Odd Couple (Female Version) 2009. The two giants are the stage manager and the director (my dad). The two short guys are the Spanish brothers who live upstairs.

Second photo: the girls playing their weekly game of Trivial Pursuit. They keep saying, "We should get together and just play it." But there never seems to be enough time.

Opening weekend went well, particularly Friday was a great audience. Laughed a lot. I was surprised at some of the things I think are really dumb, including my own lines.

My brother arrives from NH tomorrow and my sister arrives Friday for my debut performance. I have friends coming from my past work on Friday to the play. It is going to be another really busy weekend. Last two weeks I had rehearsal or performance every night, 3 plus hours. It was exhausting. This week has been nice to relax as we don't have practice until Thursday.