Drama and Music and Plays (Oh My)

Much drama - and not the adolescent kind, except as below - this week.

First of all, this was our week for our annual play with me, my dad, and my sibling. My brother was sick, so my stepmother came instead, and my sister felt ill by intermission, so it was... odd. Not bad, of course, but different from how it's meant to be. And as the play we saw was Carousel, I had to keep reminding myself of the time in which it was set (about a hundred years ago) and the time in which it was written (about sixty years ago). These combined to cause some values dissonance, and I had a bit of trouble with that.

We discussed it a bit during intermission, and I realized that the reason that kind of sexism and abuse doesn't bother me as much in other offerings from Broadway is because those are set in a culture that is not my own (I'm thinking things like Fiddler on the Roof or The King and I or even Kiss Me Kate). The gist of all this is that I had to keep reminding myself that these days, Carousel is a period piece.

It felt weird.

It is also a little weird that Abby is playing Lady MacB- in The Scottish Play. Well, in a preadolescent-friendly fifteen-minute version of the play in any case. Which means that - as a child who loves her some NuWho, and whose mother has explained that Alex Kingston (River Song in Who) has played Lady MacB- professionally - Abby is channeling her inner River Song into the role. It's both cute and scary, and it was probably not helped much by my suggestion that we listen to March of Cambreadth in the car... just to get into the Angry Scotswoman mindset, you understand.

She is also the Gatekeeper in The Ozzard of Wiz. The performance is this afternoon and I'll check  back in then.

Sometimes You Just Have to Have Fun

And today that's exactly what Lizzy (7) and I did.

You see, it's midwinter break in our school district, and Leanna's at her mom's and Abby is in a day camp for drama (at this cool place, where she immediately made a favorable impression on the instructor by wearing a Doctor Who T-shirt).

So Lizzy and I have some alone time, which is nice, because that's usually limited to a half hour or so before bed.

It's 2:30 PM as I write this, and so far we have:

• dropped Abby off at camp 
• bought four books at Barnes & Noble; she really likes the Ivy + Bean books, which were recommended by a children's librarian for her last week. Abby liked them in a vague sort of way when she was eight or nine, but not well enough to buy them. Lizzy enjoyed the first one we got at the library so much that we had to go out and get them. Half Price Books next time though.
• went to the LEGO store and made three minifigs we made to look as much like the cast of The
  
  Magic Tree House books as possible, given that they had neither "Camelot clothes" for Kathleen (we put her in a breastplate and equipped her with a shield), nor blonde pigtails for Annie (one long brown one was available) Jack has overalls and a pair of binoculars, which we think is appropriate to his character. We also bought a bucket of LEGO pieces with which - together with the ones we already own - we should be able to design and build a passable Tree and Tree House. We'll do that on Wednesday.
• gotten the oil changed in my car.
• had our nails done.
• had lunch - Lizzy chose Mexican food.
• gotten groceries delivered.
• emptied, loaded, and run the dishwasher.

Next we plan to:

• run to Grandma's to drop off a gift (it's her birthday)
• pick Abby up
• make dinner
• do some laundry
• pack a bag for the girls for tomorrow night, which they will spend at Grandma's (because there is the opportunity for much overtime with a call center down on the east coast? Something like that, and she wanted them to spend one night this week).

Tuesday I work. Wednesday I'll grab the girls from Grandma, take Abby to camp, and Lizzy & I shall veg all day and play with LEGO. Thursday I get to meet a dear friend I haven't seen in ages, and Thursday night is the annual musical theatre night with Dad and sibs. Friday there will be a performance at Abby's drama camp and then I take her to her dad's place.

Even vacation weeks are crazy busy; it's just kind of a slower pace.