May has been nuts! And it isn’t even over yet. Talent shows, strings concerts, awards ceremonies, parties, concerts, and of course RECITAL. My mom, Granma Wilma, came in to town for the week of recital and I could not have done it without her. I loved having her here and so did the girls. We had a great time and believe me I dragged her all over town with the million things I had to do and she didn’t mind a bit. She jumped in when I needed her and I will be forever grateful. My only regret for the whole trip was that we didn’t take ONE photo. Not one! I suck I know. There was not time to take photos. I swear. I did attempt one night to take photos, but of course I did not check to see if my wonderful 20D had batteries from the heavy picture taking weekend for the show. That was dumb. I promise pictures from recital are coming…and so it the dvd. promise promise promise. (that is a lot of promises, I better come through.)
Overview-
So I posted Emma’s talent show- so cute, and I cried at the end.
Tori had two strings concerts I believe and I actually got to go to one of them- She is so great. I could watch her play the viola all day. The way her body moves when playing that instrument is so beautifully organic. I cried through the whole thing.
Tori had her 7th grade awards ceremony, but I didn’t get to go (teaching). She was one of 30 kids in the whole 7th grade to get the 4.0 GPA award! Wow. I am so proud of her. She also got a merit award for performance and creative writing, social studies, and for the 3.5 GPA and above…( I didn’t understand that one, but that’s ok.) I mean this kid does not slow down…I think she might possibly get that from me…..dance, soccer, viola, school, homework and time to be a kid…and doing it all with straight As…..sounds like someone I knew once…..a long time ago…..
There has been so many parties, I just can’t keep up. Emma and Tori both had a soccer party to mark the end of the season (which I couldn’t attend, but Nick went). Emma had her 1000s breakfast at school b/c she was one of 10 kids in her class who was able to write to 1000. Let me just take a moment to talk about Emma and first grade….
The teachers Emma had this year were/are amazing. They are the type of teachers who embrace the differences in children and make it a positive thing. Emma was nurtured when she needed it, reprimanded when she needed it , but most important, she was given freedom and independence when she needed it. I know Emma is not the easiest of the children in the room, but my god she is smart, and funny, and caring, and inquisitive, and is a learning sponge. We just have to work on the fact that she thinks she already knows more than you. So Miss L and Mrs. Aber…. I am sure I will be thanking you for a long time.
What’s next….oh yes concerts! You know how much Nick and I love concerts. At the end of April we went to see the Raconteurs, but we just got back from Omaha where we saw my favorite band in the whole world…Rilo Kiley. I will do a whole post on this show later. Utterly amazing.
So now the big one…Recital 2008. The show was fabulous. No problems, happy parents, happier students, perfect costumes, perfect lighting, and I did it in an hour and half as promised! The dress rehearsal was nerve racking. Trying to get all the photos done and have good runs of each dance, all in 3 hours was a little hard. But…. we did it. Now the two weeks before that ….. the most nervous I have ever been. I am really hoping that next year is better (meaning my stomach and sleeping patterns) and I hope I was so nervous b/c this was my first year going solo. ie- if something bad happens… there is NO ONE TO BLAME EXCEPT YOU. awesome. I did only have one minor panic attack that I thought I was not going to recover from.
It is 6:45pm, I am backstage going over my crappy speech for the start on the show. Julie is back there to make sure I have all that need. All the kids are backstage, all the parents are in the audience, we are all ready to go… so Charles, big scary black guy in charge of all the custodial staff comes backstage with another big black scary guy named Steve. He has a scary look on his face. He asks me who I am. I proceed to tell him I am the owner of the dance studio about to perform. He says there is no paperwork for any show here tonight. My stomach falls on my toes.
I say, “… well (nervous laugh) you should.” He says for me to show him my pink copy of the paperwork…. now. I am fumbling through my binder where I have all my other reciepts, but I KNOW that this particular sheet of pink paper is tucked neatly away in my file box, probably in a file folder labeled, “really important stuff.” So I ask him, what happens if I don’t have it HERE. He says matter of factly, “Then you are gonna have to get out.” The blood drains from my face. I think I might faint.
I must have been the whitest white girl he has ever seen. Julie shoots out her hand in a hand shake and starts to see if he remembers her and the fact that we have been doing recital here for many years now. I proceed to tell him that we were here this morning from 9-12 and the building was open for us then, and that Loren Bridge came to set up the lights and the sound…so SOMEONE knew we were coming….. inside my head….pleeeease god don’t let this be happening……seriously. Charles smiles at me and says, I’m just playin’. I say, “dude, that was not funny.” He said, “you couldn’t tell I was playin’?” I looked at Julie and said, “Did you think he was playin’?” She shook her head…b/c she knew I was about to crack. It was the worst - the WORST- possible thing anyone has ever done to me…. And this is the story of how close I have ever come to strangling someone….seriously.
So the show was great, my dance was ok, I felt better about it later when multiple parents told me how great it was to know and see for themselves that I can actually DANCE. That’s a relief. I know…I KNOW…that this show could not have gone so well without all the help I received from all the parents backstage, from nick and from my mom. I absolutely expect the same thing for next year….thanks.
(when you see the dvd of the show and you start to make fun of that look I have on my face or how I am fumbling through my speech…you know what happened 5 minutes before I walked out there…so be nice.)
I will post photos as soon I get my hands on them. This post will have to continue b/c…oh my… May is not done yet. Wish me luck.
This is my first card….
