I'm Back!
So, I've been gone from livejournal for a very long time...like all summer. For those of you who have missed me,
- June 5thish, April (our 16-now-17-year-old summer tenant) moved in. She has been a wonderful burst of energy in our lives. She is fun and complicated and seems to appreciate our parenting...err...mentorship...err...friendship...I don't know. We've learned a lot about the kind of parents we would like to be someday, though I doubt that we will be as permissive with our own kids as we've been with her. The nice thing about that sort of permissiveness, though, is that she TALKS to us. Yes, sometimes she tells us things that we might prefer not knowing, but it is nice that she trusts us and we can be frank with her. I don't know...it's been really good.
- Throughout late June and early July, I taught a few College for Kids drama/acting classes at Parkland College. April was my assistant, which was fun. The class sizes were about 11-16 and the kids were all 3rd-8th graders. It was REALLY great. These classes reminded me just how much I LOVE teaching people who would like to learn something. I got out of teaching as a profession, because having to be a police officer all day just eats my soul, but when I can actually get down to the business of teaching without all of that BS, it's SO GREAT. And I think that I'm pretty good at it if I do say so myself.
- All the while, I was also directing the Summer Youth Theatre Production of Starmites for the Urbana Park District. As most of you know, this program is my pride and joy. Despite the fact that it is a HUGE amount of work for very little money, it is the thing that I look forward to all year. Every summer for the past 5 summers I have directed a full-length musical for this no-cut program that incorporates kids between the ages of 6 & 18. Whee! This summer was the toughest one yet. We had two choruses: one girls chorus of ~60 people and one boys chorus of ~12 people. Guess which one made me CRAZY. I could go without seeing a boy under the age of 10 or a parent screaming at me for awhile. But the show went REALLY well. We had a good turnout and people seemed to enjoy it. The kids had a great time and I was ultimately very proud of them. Plus, some of the parents pooled their resources to buy me a deluxe super-long professional massage. Yay! I can't wait to make my appointment. If you've never had a professional massage, you should really treat yourself sometime. That's a fact, Jack.
- My dad came to see the show and it is SO great to get to hang out with him. He and I were not super duper close for a long time, but over the past 6 years or so, he has become one of my very best friends. I only get to see him live and in person a couple times a year, so this has been fun.
- Dad and April both leave to return to their own far ends of the lands tomorrow. Sad clown face. We will miss them a bunch.
- Dan dyed his hair blue this summer. It was pretty hot, truth be told. Then, he shaved it into a blue mohawk, which was a little less appealing, but still sort of punk rock cute. Wednesday, he turned 30 and shaved it all off. Now, he is bald like Mr. Clean. Hopefully, it will grow back relatively quickly. I'm married to a 30-year-old. Hee Hee...
- Dan and I have been furiously scurrying to get the house ready for Elizabeth, our new upstairs tenant, who will be moving in on Wednesday. Despite the fact that we are sad to lose our house guests, it will be good to get settled in to our new living arrangement.
- Kira (my kitty) is missing. We noticed last night that we hadn't seen her in awhile, but she hides a lot, so I didn't really think anything of it. This morning, we started looking for her and we cannot find her ANYWHERE. All four of us (plus the dogs who we finally brought into the search) have looked ALL over the house, including the basement and the (unattached) garage. She's an indoor cat who has never really expressed an interest in going outside, so I really can't imagine that she got out, but we have looked everywhere. We've called Animal Control and talked to our neighbors. This makes me REALLY sad. She is my girl. Boo. I hope that she's okay.
Well, that pretty much brings everyone up to date. Sorry that I've been gone for so long.
- June 5thish, April (our 16-now-17-year-old summer tenant) moved in. She has been a wonderful burst of energy in our lives. She is fun and complicated and seems to appreciate our parenting...err...mentorship...err...friendship...I don't know. We've learned a lot about the kind of parents we would like to be someday, though I doubt that we will be as permissive with our own kids as we've been with her. The nice thing about that sort of permissiveness, though, is that she TALKS to us. Yes, sometimes she tells us things that we might prefer not knowing, but it is nice that she trusts us and we can be frank with her. I don't know...it's been really good.
- Throughout late June and early July, I taught a few College for Kids drama/acting classes at Parkland College. April was my assistant, which was fun. The class sizes were about 11-16 and the kids were all 3rd-8th graders. It was REALLY great. These classes reminded me just how much I LOVE teaching people who would like to learn something. I got out of teaching as a profession, because having to be a police officer all day just eats my soul, but when I can actually get down to the business of teaching without all of that BS, it's SO GREAT. And I think that I'm pretty good at it if I do say so myself.
- All the while, I was also directing the Summer Youth Theatre Production of Starmites for the Urbana Park District. As most of you know, this program is my pride and joy. Despite the fact that it is a HUGE amount of work for very little money, it is the thing that I look forward to all year. Every summer for the past 5 summers I have directed a full-length musical for this no-cut program that incorporates kids between the ages of 6 & 18. Whee! This summer was the toughest one yet. We had two choruses: one girls chorus of ~60 people and one boys chorus of ~12 people. Guess which one made me CRAZY. I could go without seeing a boy under the age of 10 or a parent screaming at me for awhile. But the show went REALLY well. We had a good turnout and people seemed to enjoy it. The kids had a great time and I was ultimately very proud of them. Plus, some of the parents pooled their resources to buy me a deluxe super-long professional massage. Yay! I can't wait to make my appointment. If you've never had a professional massage, you should really treat yourself sometime. That's a fact, Jack.
- My dad came to see the show and it is SO great to get to hang out with him. He and I were not super duper close for a long time, but over the past 6 years or so, he has become one of my very best friends. I only get to see him live and in person a couple times a year, so this has been fun.
- Dad and April both leave to return to their own far ends of the lands tomorrow. Sad clown face. We will miss them a bunch.
- Dan dyed his hair blue this summer. It was pretty hot, truth be told. Then, he shaved it into a blue mohawk, which was a little less appealing, but still sort of punk rock cute. Wednesday, he turned 30 and shaved it all off. Now, he is bald like Mr. Clean. Hopefully, it will grow back relatively quickly. I'm married to a 30-year-old. Hee Hee...
- Dan and I have been furiously scurrying to get the house ready for Elizabeth, our new upstairs tenant, who will be moving in on Wednesday. Despite the fact that we are sad to lose our house guests, it will be good to get settled in to our new living arrangement.
- Kira (my kitty) is missing. We noticed last night that we hadn't seen her in awhile, but she hides a lot, so I didn't really think anything of it. This morning, we started looking for her and we cannot find her ANYWHERE. All four of us (plus the dogs who we finally brought into the search) have looked ALL over the house, including the basement and the (unattached) garage. She's an indoor cat who has never really expressed an interest in going outside, so I really can't imagine that she got out, but we have looked everywhere. We've called Animal Control and talked to our neighbors. This makes me REALLY sad. She is my girl. Boo. I hope that she's okay.
Well, that pretty much brings everyone up to date. Sorry that I've been gone for so long.