And It Was Still Hot

I totally wish that I was going to see Where The Wild Things Are tonight but i have been following the various blogs over the past few months and it is making me feel a little better. This was the first book that I bought for Olivia (along with the famous Olivia series) and Olivia had it memorized before she was nine months old. She would wave goodbye to Max along with the wild things and it is the one moment that i never got on video and that makes me sad. Luckily it is one of those memories that I can play back in my mind like it was yesterday. I think it was then that i knew that I had kid who was going to love stories and reading forever. I hopeful that Spike Jonze is going to bring to life what I consider to be a true masterpiece in 20 pages.

So when my spare kids are gone Olivia and i will go see it and maybe I will find out then that I have a movie lover for life too.

In Too Deep

Before I continue with the Nutcracker saga I wanted to post this photo of us canoeing a few weeks ago. I was a little nervous that the three of us trapped in a canoe together for an extended period of time was going to end in either a murder-suicide pact or in the three of us being fished out of the water by some good Samaritan. It turns out that Olivia was able to find endless entertainment attempting to catch fish with nothing other than a small lacrosse net and loving (screaming at) ducks. And because it is Chad and I's assertion that if your child is screaming in the middle of the lake and no one is close enough to hear it, then it is not really happening.

Prima Ballerina

For those of you who are not my Facebook friends have missed out on the drama that has been the Nutcracker audition. Olivia and I went to the Nutcracker here last year. It is a big to-do here in Madison that is put on by our professional ballet with additional cast members from professional companies in the surrounding cities, Milwaukee, Chicago, etc. There are are also several small parts that they cast from local dance schools. Olivia was absolutely convinced after one act that she MUST DO THIS. So I waited for her to forget about the whole thing all together so I would never have to be any part of this. Unfortunately, the School of Madison Ballet, I believe, hates me personally because they started doing free performances around town, clinics in the libraries, etc to raise awareness that all kids were eligible to audition. A totally unnecessary concern, since Olivia MUST AUDITION.

So after months of impatiently waiting the audition requirements and dates were released and that is when the nightmare that is The Nutcracker was unleashed upon my unsuspecting household. Technically, auditions are done by height, not age, but they did list an age preference and Olivia was too young. But damn if that kid isn't tall, so off we tromped to arrive 45 minutes early to pay for the privilege of auditioning for The Nutcracker. I thought surely she would never get in, since, well, she has no formal ballet training, she is too young and there were approximately ten thousand kids at this audition.

When i say ten thousand i mean that we walk into the studio and it is literally a sea of pink. Pink bags, pink leg warmers, pink sweaters, and the gemstones, oh the gemstones. It was like Bedazzler gone wild. It didn't help that every ten seconds we were being handed a new form, whisked in line to be numbered, photographed, and measured. For one small second I was worried that they would not be returning my daughter to me but making her into some kind of pink tulled sausage.

The girls are then arranged by height, Olivia, sadly, not being nearly the smallest, and I am thinking, really? You want your four year-old in evening performances, come on. Anyway, we then literally herded into a room where we are given the lecture about what a serious commitment this is and how if you don't get in your parents will buy you ice cream (thanks a lot jackass). All the while two instructors are pacing looking at the children, what they were looking for I can only guess. The child who never blinks, fatties, who knows? Parents leave. We return one hour later, during which Chad nearly pees himself he is so excited. Did I mention that Chad thinks this is a terrific idea? Oh yes, showdaddy has reared its ugly head and he is currently reliving his own child performer days. I was waiting for him to bust out "It's A Hardknock Life" right there in the lobby.

You want to know when I knew I was doomed? When she told me part of the audition was performing donkey kicks. A) This is possibly the most obscure dance move ever B) Olivia loves donkey kicks so much it was all she did in her dance performance last year. Because her school is so awesome that ten minutes of donkey kicks is a totally acceptable and applauded performance.

I will continue this story tomorrow because there is so much more.

Back To Cool

Thanks to everyone for being patient while I took a little break from blogging this summer, but it was my last summer with the kid to myself and I wanted to enjoy it. It really flew by, but we crammed a lot in and made the most of it. Your e-mails tell me that you are all apparently desperate to know what is going on and hear about how things have changed now that the kid is off to school. The truth is that they haven't really. I am at Olivia's school volunteering at least once a week, I do Girl Scouts, Olivia was cast in Madison Ballet's The Nutcracker so that is a lot of craziness that i will get to in a another post, I have gone back to cooking which is a relief and the rest of the time is doing all the cooking, cleaning, shopping that it takes to run our household.

We are also still trying to find a good match for us in the foster care system which sometimes means taking respite placements, meeting with our social worker, etc. I have been helping out some friends and taking on small jobs for some extra cash, and like everyone else I have been watching every penny that we spend, which takes up more time than anything I think. Chad's job is going well and we are thankful for that just about every second of every day, but like most businesses they are seeing a downturn and we are trying to be extra careful in case things take a real turn for the worse.

My biggest project has been helping Olivia adjust to all day kindergarten, which has been really exhausting for her. She still comes home at least once a week in tears because she is so tired, and so we are just trying to come up with new strategies to help her make it to dinner without falling asleep in her food. She has been going through a lot of testing at school and I think once we can get over this hump it will get better.

So there is a small update to start off with and starting tomorrow the hilarious misadventures of me cursing out teachers, avoiding parents and inciting coups at the Girl Scout meetings can begin. i know, I've missed you too.

DC Photos

 
 
 


So I haven't blogged in awhile, blah, blah just look at your damn photos and be happy.

Olivia's Weekend Adventures

 
 

I know that one of the pictures is blurry but i can never resist Olivia's ensembles. Olivia had quite the weekend that started with a trip to the botanical gardens to blow kisses to koi, a night at Stomp where we blantantly ignored age restrictions, then an overnight at her Aunt Kat's where i hear rumors of M&M pancakes. For those of you curious about how Olivia did at Stomp a hour and forty-five minute show with no intermission, let's just say that she spent 24 straight hours randomly clapping and hitting inappropriate objects together. Did not think that one through.

Month of Living Dangerously

This week starts five weeks of Chad being at trial in Green Bay. We have spent the last two weeks gearing up, Chad has been working later, i have been scrambling to get some projects done and mentally preparing myself for some single-parenting. I might be in denial, but overall I am looking forward to a little alone time. I get the whole bed, to sleep in, eat salads, turn off the tv,etc. I am a little bummed that Chad will be gone for our 10th anniversary, Mother's Day, my sister's high-school graduation and Memorial Day, and let's face it, May is one of our few nice months.

I figure the way to get through it is to make a goal for myself, like teaching myself to lay ceramic tile, or to start drinking. I think the red meat is going to go again, maybe even pork? Poor Chad has to spend a month in a hotel room and he might return home to people he doesn't recognize.