lisamoe | Entries tagged with theatre

I got both kids haircuts today. Jesse about went off the deep end when he asked the stylist for a shampoo and she turned to me to ask if that was ok, because it costs extra. He announced that he would pay for the whole haircut, shampoo and all so don't ask anyone but him and anyway he DIDN'T need PARENTS INTERFERING in his LIFE! It was kind of comical. Dingo hates getting his hair cut, but got through it without too much fuss. They both look good now. Dingo's hair was completely out of control. I also got Jesse some sheet music for his audition on Saturday. He knows the song (Honestly Sincere from Bye Bye Birdie) but needed sheet music for the accompanist. Saied Music rocks, btw. They have everything and apparently they take it with good humor when a 9 year old feels he must sing them the entire song they're finding for him. I told him to stop singing, but they told me they were loving it and he was going to do GREAT. Very encouraging.

R and I took Jesse to see the Broadway touring production of Man of La Mancha tonight. I'm ashamed to say that I've never read Don Quixote or in fact seen any movie version of it, although I did see the documentary Lost in La Mancha, which was quite good. Anyway, I hadn't been in a mood to go to a play, but we had bought tickets to the whole Broadway season and they were expensive, so we weren't staying home and wasting that money. But I was pleasantly surprised. It was a good production, a great set, and I found the story, which I had previously only had a vague idea of, very appealing. I was afraid it would be too grown up for Jesse, or at least too boring, but he seemed to like it and didn't get fidgety until very close to the end. I asked him about it afterward and he seemed to have a good concept of what had happened in the story, which was a very complex story to follow for a kid his age who had no idea of what it would be about to begin with. The next two shows are Mamma Mia and Spamalot and I expect those to be really fun for all of us. Jesse begged his Daddy to get season tickets for the 2008 season and of course he caved, yay!, so I guess we're going to musicals for some time to come.

Current Mood: sleepy

It seems like there was a lot going on this week that I never put in here, but I can't remember half of it now. On Tuesday though, R and Jesse and I went to see I Can't Stop Loving You: The Music of Ray Charles at the PAC and it was very good. Great dancing and catchy music, what more could you want? Last night the kids went with my folks to see the Centennial fireworks in Jenks. Today Jesse's gone to Edmond for a geography bee practice and to eat at Fazoli's, which is this Italian fast food he really loves. Wow, that doesn't seem like much, does it? But I swear we've been really busy.

Since Jesse has taken such an interest in theatre this last year, R bought us all tickets to the upcoming Broadway touring season the Performing Arts Center. I'm excited! By getting our tickets for Tuesday nights we were able to get great seats (thank you nice guy at the PAC box office for working with me!) There are 5 shows, plus we'll probably get the additional tickets for Blue Man Group. I'm looking forward to it a lot, though the second show of the season, On Golden Pond, isn't really our cup of tea, so we're giving our tickets for that night to my Mom, who loves that kind of thing. The last show of the season is Spamalot, which I just can't wait to see. The other shows are I can't Stop Loving You, Man of La Mancha, and Mamma Mia!

Today at work has been uneventful, though I have had a headache since the middle of the night. I have a new client today, which always makes my boss happy, so that's good. Honestly, I really just feel like coasting through this week as smoothly as possible, as my nerves are still just a little raw from the last couple of weeks of stress and non-stop activity. The next week isn't looking any better as I have things to do with family tonight and tomorrow night and then Friday and Saturday R and I are taking the kids to Six Flags. Next week though, I am going to insist on some down time!

Mom called me to say that Jesse and Dingo had good morning. They went on a tour of the EMSA facilities, got to go in an ambulance with the siren on, play with the EMSA dog (who's named Lansing) and got to take the Friends and Family CPR class. They even got CPR cards for completing the class and are very excited about that. They have Campfire this afternoon and get to do pirate stuff there for Talk Like a Pirate Day. Plus they're making paper monarch butterflies to send to Minnesota which will then be sent to kids in Mexico and then next spring they'll get butterflies back from kids in Mexico, to simulate the annual Monarch migration. Way cool.

Ok, off to lunch and my Tuesday staffings...

Well, the funeral was very long. And sad. There were a lot of people there, lots of flowers. There was one weird thing, when the pastor was preaching on heaven and said "Heaven is a real place. Just like Sand Springs." and I thought, "Heaven is like Sand Springs? ! Um, don't sign me up, 'k?" I think he was just trying to say that it's a physical location rather than an abstract concept, but still the thought of spending all eternity in Sand Springs sent a chill up my spine.

The youngest girl was home from the hospital last night and attended the funeral, but you could see how tired she was and how difficult walking was for her. I'm glad she was well enough to be home with her family though. The family is pretty religious and that seems to be getting them by. I'm sure they could still use any good wishes anyone would care to send their way.

My other friend in the hospital got to go home last night. I talked to her daughter this afternoon and she says her mom is doing well and has been up and around a little. I hope they'll call R or I if they need anything while she's recovering. My Mom took food last night but I think I'm going to offer to bring a crockpot of something on Saturday if they'd like.

Tonight is Jesse's last musical production of the summer season, so if you've missed out, be at the BA community playhouse tonight at 6 pm. The show is only about half an hour and I can't say enough for the amusment value of watching small children perform an underrehearsed dance routine while they try to sing as well.

Just back from taking the kids to see Oklahoma. It was great, we were in the shade til the sun went down anyway and there was a breeze, so it turned out very nice. There was a dinner, Indian dancing, pony rides and a western musical revue beforehand. Fun evening! I've always had a soft spot for this musical as I'm a lifelong Oklahoman. I must say we have a great state song on account of it being a hit Broadway tune, lol. Tonight however, I'll leave you with my favorite song from the show...

( All or Nuthin' )

Well, today at lunch, per

bills_anita's suggestion, I took a big basket of fruit, granola bars and muffins up to that family whose daughter is in the hospital and the other one was killed. I really didn't know what else to do. I wasn't brave enough to go barging in where they were since I hardly know them, so I left it with their nurse, who seemed to think it would be useful and promised to take it to them.

I visited my other friend on a different floor and she seemed in pretty good spirits for being stuck in a hospital room. I think she'll get to go home tomorrow, yay. She showed me her very impressive stitches, and you know I love weird medical stuff, lol.

Work today has been busier than yesterday, thankfully. The guy who hired me came up and told me that he'd gotten "rave reviews" about me from other staff here and at the Community Service Council. Honestly, I've only been here two weeks and I haven't done enough yet to deserve any kind of reviews, but I guess I've been showing up on time, being polite and not getting in anyone's way. Maybe they just have really low standards.

Tonight R and I and Mom and the kids are going to Discoveryland. It's going to be beastly hot, no doubt. As soon as I get off work I'm going to go home and ditch this suit and heels and put on shorts and sandals. Tomorrow night I have errands and Thursday night my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary dinner. Friday is Jesse's last theater performance of the summer, Saturday is more 50th anniversary festivities (and I use the word festivities advisedly) and then Sunday my kids are leaving on vacation without me, which I am anticipatinng but also a little sad about.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, we're going out to Discoveryland to have their ranch dinner and see Oklahoma. I had promised Jesse we'd go this summer and we're running out of summer shortly, given that he's going to be gone for a week and a half soon, so I thought we'd best get on that. If anyone would like to join us, the link for tickets is http://www.discoverylandusa.com.

Last night R and I took Jesse to South Pacific down at the Performing Arts Center. He's enjoying musicals a lot and they had discount tickets last night, so it seemed like a good thing to do. He enjoyed it, but it was a little long for him, particularly the romantic parts. The fun ensemble songs went down well though. Of course the plotline about the girl not wanting to marry the guy because he had Polynesian children just mystified him and I had to explain it at the intermission. Even then he said "That's just STUPID!" Dingo was upset at not getting to go so I had to promise to find a children's play soon to take him to.

I am kind of excited about sending the boys to summer camp this year. I didn't go to sleepaway camps when I was a kid, but I did go to day camp at various places and I always had a good time. There are so many camps now. I don't think there were that many choices when I was little. I always went to the Westside YMCA camp where they had swimming, canoeing, arts and crafts, horseback riding, hiking, traditional camp stuff. I also went to the art camp at Johnson Atelier (now Waterworks) a few years and that was just the highlight of my summers. We did printmaking, papermaking, masks and drama, raku pottery, pottery wheel, drawing and painting. I used to love art, clear up til I married my first husband. He was an artist himself and was very lukewarm about my talent, so I pretty much dropped it, thinking he must know, though when I look back now, my work looks pretty good to me. ANYWAY, I digress, as usual.

So the kids and I went through the list of camps in Tulsa Kids today and picked out some that they want to go to. Dingo wants to go to CampFire camp at Okiwanee, which is your traditional arts and crafts and hiking sort of thing, and he wants to go to soccer camp. Good choices for Dingo, I think and he'll be able to do both as the weeks don't conflict. Jesse wants to go to musical theatre camp at TheatreArts. They get to learn voice, movement and acting, and get to be in productions like The Lion King and Annie. He and I are both really excited about this. I tried at first to interest him in art camp like I went to but he just wasn't excited, and you know I want him to do what he loves, not what I love. He just LIT UP when I mentioned the theatre camp. I even called and talked to the lady there about it and she was very helpful. Jesse's been in a couple of short comedic plays that his Dad wrote and really enjoyed that. I think this is going to be a great experience for him.

Tonight we went to the PAC to see Hairspray. Most have you have likely seen the movie if not the play, but if you haven't, in a nutshell it's a comedy about a fat but talented girl who manages to get on to 60s dance show and wants to integrate it with her black friends, while also getting the cute guy and having the best hair. It was fabulous by the way, and Jesse pronounced getting to see a Broadway musical "the very best night of my life" so I guess it was worth the $50 to get him a ticket, though now I may have to get him acting lessons too, but that's another story.

Anyway, in the car on the way over, I reminded Jesse about the civil rights struggles of the 50s and 60s and how it used to be before that, to make sure he would understand that theme in the show. In the course of that, I told him that he could ask my Mom what it was like back then when she was a kid and about any protests she remembered from the 60s or anything since she lived through those days. He then asked me, in all seriousness, "So back then, was Grandma a black kid or a white kid?" Speechless for a moment, I answered, trying not to laugh, that Grandma was a white kid. THEN he asked me if he knows any black kids. So I told him which kids at his Campfire (who he has known for four years!) are black and he looked at me like I was nutty. You know, other people don't register on him the way numbers and facts do, but that was a little weird even for him. Gotta love that kid though. :-)