Tonight was the annual banquet/awards for the Village Players.  Someone once thought that the awards were known as the Hickies.  Personally, I would change the name right away (“I got a Hickie…where’s yours?”).  Presently, they are known as the Villies. I must say that I believe my table of family of 8 thoroughly enjoyed the entire event.  It was very relaxed, informal, and just plain fun.  Kudos to Mary and her helpers.  Poor thing was frantic because of little things, but it came off nicely.

I really wanted a table large enough to sit my group of originally 7.  Late last night, while not being able to sleep after the events of the past week,  I really wanted my oldest brother there so I sent him a message on his facebook wall..  He was instrumental in my getting the role of Grandpa Prophater in Meet in in St. Louis last January.  By a happy occurrence, the table was right by the food so we got to go first.

The evening began with a recap of last year’s shows… 3 of which I was pleased to be a part of and the fourth show I thought was great.  Then came a preview of the upcoming shows:  The Curious Savage, Miracles, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and an, as of yet, undetermined holiday show… but the ones being looked into sound GREAT.  Director’s Awards were also presented.  I am pleased to say that Chris was recognized for his contribution to the theatre’s website (and this would not be the end of the table’s night).

Later, came the excitement of the award presentations.  First up… Best Cameo by an Actor presented to…. ME! for his role as Harnell Chesterton in You Have the Right to Remain Dead.  Later, the award for Best Supporting Male Actor presented to…. ME! for his role as Henry F. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life.  I swear I only voted for myself once.  I don’t know if it is fortunate or not but I guess we were not expected to give a speech; however, I did come prepared.  I should have taken the initiative and gave it anyway (but, I will save them for my next post).

Honestly, I don’t know who was prouder of my night: me or my “wingman.”  Chris was absolutely ecstatic.  His motivation, compliments, and just plain being there are just so great.

The rest of the awards from what I can remember are

• Zuzu Bailey (Best Cameo by an Actress, It’s a Wonderful Life)
• Katie, the maid (Best Supporting Actress, Meet Me in St. Louis)
• Esther Smith (Best Lead Actress, Meet Me in St. Louis)
• George Bailey (Best Lead Actor, It’s a Wonderful Life)
• Travis (Best Director, It’s a Wonderful Life)
• Mary (Best Producer, It’s a Wonderful Life)
• Best Set (Meet Me in St. Louis)
• Best Costumes (Meet Me in St. Louis)
• Best Tech (It’s a Wonderful Life)
• Best Show (It’s a Wonderful Life)

Ok… next post: my speeches.  A fabulous time organized by Mary and her help.

Today was Aunt Carol’s memorial service.  It was really difficult but a very nice way for friends and family to gather to celebrate fond memories and the long, hard fought battle she waged for a remarkable 7 years (even more remarkable knowing that her original diagnosis was 5).

We arrived at the funeral home around 2.  After consoling Alicia and Stacy, Mom decided to sit in the most comfortable seat she could find which happened to be in the back corner.  By the time the service began at 4.30, the section we sat in turned into a Swary gathering with some very old friends in the mix.  I was getting tired of sitting in the rather uncomfortable chairs and Mom and I both decided that it would be nice if I went up front and sat with Diane (one of Carol’s close friends and my boss) since she was all alone as her husband had to work.  Good chance to pick on her.

Behind us was a woman who has seemingly completely channeled Emily or knows her just as well as I do… or more likely, both.  A few weeks ago, Aunt LuAnn commented on my facebook post wishing everyone a Happy New Year by posting “What Would Mrs. Curtis Say?” (kind of like the old bracelets people would wear asking “What Would Jesus Do?”).  Today, I was reminded of an escapade I undertook that ended after I exited the Ohio turnpike and came back home.  How those two told me to take three months and see where I ended up.  Work at McDonald’s or some other job and see what happened.  I told her that I am not dead yet.   Let’s see if this brings out some lurkers and you know who you are 😉 !  It was just scary… I swore I heard Emily talking to me in Lu’s body.

Back to the service.  Just like Emily, Carol had the entire thing planned.  Except for a letter written by Alicia that was so heartwarming that I lost it.  Carol fought tooth and nail until her work on Earth was complete.  I think the time really came to her final breath when she said she was ready to “go home.”

After the service, I had to quickly pull it together as I had to song lead at mass.  I was really amazed how well I did.  More help from above?  It was the end of the Christmas season as the Baptism of the Lord was celebrated.  Thus, I sang “Joy to the World,” “What Child is This?” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”  Tomorrow following 10.30AM mass, the decorations will be taken down for another year.

So… something to consider while remembering someone who was loved so greatly.  Alicia and Stacy both commented how much they loved my previous post.  Maybe I can get a few more comments 😉

As you might have read in an earlier blog post, I received a pet store gift certificate for Christmas from my husband.  Today I spent it – I picked out the newest member of our family – JJ the parakeet!

When you adopt a pet parakeet from a pet store, the workers have to barge into the cage full of parakeets with a towel on their hand to grab your bird, and then they put it in a cardboard box for the ride home.  This might sound like a mean thing to do, but in my experience (this is my fifth pet parakeet), the bird recovers very quickly; I wouldn’t even use the word recover really; they always seem just fine.  And JJ handled his transition like a pro!  He actually seemed immediately happy in his cage!  I put my finger in there, and he let me almost touch him, just a few hours after he got home!  He didn’t back away or anything!  I am so excited to become friends with this little guy; he is so cute!  It’s been about 15 years since I’ve had a pet parakeet, and I’ve forgotten about how they just exude happiness!  Already JJ moves his beak like he’s trying to talk and responds to my voice.  Hopefully I will make the time to train this little guy to be the little buddy I’ve always wanted in a bird – I get jealous of my husband’s relationship with his parrot.  Wait, that doesn’t sound quite how I meant to say it…

There’s a fine line between training a bird, earning trust, and scaring him off for good.  JJ seems very patient and ready to learn, and so am I – but getting to spend time with him while there is a trouble-prone toddler toddling around will be my greatest challenge, I think.

Many people have fun parakeet stories; they really are pleasant little birds.  My dad and my uncle had a parakeet when  they were kids named Tippy who would walk on their kitchen table.  They would hold a hand of playing cards, and Tippy would walk up, choose a card, and then carry it in his beak to the edge of the table, let it go and watch  it float down  to the floor.  I’ve heard that many (male) parakeets can talk, and of course they will sit on your shoulder and be your best friend.  So yeah, I’m excited about this bird, and it’s a nice feeling – can’t say there’s been a lot of that lately.  Even if he isn’t easily trained (defying all early indications), I’ve already tremendously enjoyed just looking at him and absorbing his pleasantness, something I look forward to doing in days to come…  feeling a contentment that I haven’t felt for awhile…

Just for the heck of it, here is a timeline of my other pet parakeets.  I was a kid when I had them, so I don’t remember dates or ages – each one lived for around 5-8 years, the usual parakeet lifespan.  But it bugs the heck out of me that I can’t remember which of my birds liked to ring his toy bell –   Tippy, I think?  I named him for my dad and uncle’s childhood pet…  The memories of the bell ringing bird have been replaced in my brain by the obscenely loud parrot we currently own who jangles his bell-shaped toy whenever he starts to get rowdy.  Parakeets are actually in the same biological family as parrots and are in fact classified as parrots.  So technically, we’ve gotten ourselves another parrot for our house, just what we needed, right?  But Squawky, the scarlet macaw (loud a**hole) parrot belongs to my husband (or my husband belongs to Squawky, depends upon who you ask), and JJ is mine – this is important since birds “mate” for life – I’m so happy to have MY bird!

So here’s that rundown of parakeets past:

Spunky – he was blue and fiesty, but we were really surprised when he she began to lay eggs!

Tweety – the only parakeet I had who was of the green /  gold variety.

Tippy – named after my dad’s childhood bird; he was light blue.

Goat –  my sister found him flying loose outside around her work.  They took him in, and when no one claimed him, I named him “Goat” in honor of my dream pet at that time.  He was pretty tame for a “wild bird”!

J.J. – dark blue, almost a gray to violet hue.  And why is he named J.J.?  It’s short for Jungle Jack Hanna, of course 😉

Another tangents’ blogger made comments on reading the Harry Potter series. I am currently reading a series by a different author. I’m reading “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” again. While I know that some people don’t like reading a long series in succession, that is usually my goal. I like to finish the story. I really don’t like waiting for the next book in the series.

Anyway I’ve had these books for years and they are finally wearing out. They are paperbacks, and they have been read repeatedly. The covers are starting to come off and the pages now have some tears. So I looked them up on the web to see how much it would cost to replace my series. Since I like them a lot, I was hoping to find them in hardback. What I found was that the series was continued. I really didn’t realize this. I will have to do some research, but it looks like there are two additional books with two more on the way. I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I will have to get the books to see if I want to continue the series.

There is my problem. I like to finish a series if I start it and like it. I don’t know how long I will have to wait for the additional books of the series. On one hand I hope the new books are good, on the other hand, I hope I don’t have to wait for the additional two books. A puzzlement.

It took two nights, but we finally made it through the sci-fi 80’s thriller, The Abyss.  What is with me and all the science fiction lately?  Not usually my cup of tea; I guess I’ve just been enjoying a change of scenery.  One reason for wanting to watch the Abyss is that I was very impressed by director / writer James Cameron’s latest movie, Avatar.  I enjoyed the movie in a little theater with old fashioned sound equipment, and I also got to catch  it at a larger theater with awesome sound and in 3D – I REALLY enjoyed it!  That doesn’t mean I’m a James Cameron fan, however, and you couldn’t pay me to sit through Titanic, whose concept I always thought sold out the disaster itself.  I mean, for characters in the movie, there were over 2200 real Titanic passengers from which to choose – why spend millions of dollars to bring to life fictionalized accounts of such a horrible tragedy?

But back to The Abyss, another James Cameron water movie…  Overall, this winner of the 1990 Oscar for visual effects was enjoyable, but I don’t even  know if I can say this is a watch-again-er for me.  Reading the trivia on imdb.com about how the movie was filmed was almost more interesting than the movie itself, which tells the story of a group of oil workers who are hired to go on a dive search for a missing nuclear sub.  Enter some Navy SEALS and a mysterious alien species,  and you have enough action for a 138 minute movie.  All of the diving and talk of the oceanic pressure kinda got to me after awhile; I don’t think scuba diving is something I’m ever interested in doing.  But I enjoyed the story and especially the visual effects, and without risking spoiling anything, let’s just say that in typical 80’s fashion, the plot was predictable.  If you do happen to check this one out, or if it happens to be one of your old favorites, I highly recommend reading the trivia section on imdb.com to further your enjoyment.

I think I’m in the final stages of some illness. I lost most of my voice for a day and 1/2. On top of that I had a headache that would not go away for long. It was there, and then it got better. But then it came back again. The headache is gone, the sore throat is better. I can talk without pain now, so that is good.

But today I had to go out and split some wood. It is supposed to get cold this weekend, so I wanted to make sure I had enough wood. I really didn’t want to go out to get wood in single digit temps. It looks like I will have to go out in the cold. I couldn’t spend more than 1/2 hour splitting wood. I know I’m just getting over something, but I didn’t feel like my energy was that drained.

Now none of this is indication of getting older. No, it is just an indication that I was sick. The older part is the wood I brought up to the house. I’ve been cutting wood since I was 15 when I helped my Dad. I’ve spent a good 35 years knowing what wood was good to burn and what wasn’t. All the wood I split today, and the stuff I brought up to the house before I was sick was from trees that don’t give off good heat. Hmmm. Now I forgot all about wood that was good to burn. I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, because of the large variety of wood I was cutting. The cut pieces were all mixed in together. Tomorrow I need to some good wood up to the house. I hope I can determine what is good to burn.

I did it.  I’ve finished reading the first book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  And I really enjoyed it; I think I can officially call myself a Harry Potter fan!  The book was very fast-moving, and because it’s kind of a kids’ fantasy book (but don’t get the wrong idea – MANY adults like it too!), I was able to finish the entire 300 pages on my limited reading schedule without even having to renew it at the library once!

Tonight, I’m going to start the second book in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and if I can convince my husband, we’ll be watching the movie of the first book this weekend.  And now I am REALLY excited to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando.  They are being kinda secretive about the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey attraction, but it promises to use “entirely new technology” to bring the Harry Potter series to life “in a way never before experienced”!  Maybe something like The Mummy ride or The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman 3D?  How cool would that be for Harry Potter!!  And the shops and restaurants are all going to keep in the tradition of the boy wizard’s world.  Chocolate frogs, anyone?  The world doesn’t open until spring, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get to Florida before the fall or next winter anyway, so if that becomes a reality, we will have to make sure we get to Universal – I really liked Islands of Adventure anyway, and now it’s going to be even better!  I just have to make sure I read all the Potter books by then.  And I almost don’t want to read too much about the new world on the internet for fear that it would be spoilers about things I haven’t discovered yet.

As much as I’m enjoying the Harry Potter series, I’m not usually one to stick to one type of book.  If I need a break from Hogwart’s before I get through all 7 stories, I might try The Zookeeper’s Wife, a story about a zoo in Poland in the 1930’s and how it’s destroyed during the holocaust – as long as it’s not too depressing of a read.

I got an email tonight that has lifted my spirits quite a bit!.  There is a new theatre group just starting to get on its feet in the area.  I was invited to be a member of the cast for its second show coming Valentine’s weekend.  What little I know about it (don’t even have a title) is that it is another Murder Mystery with a twist… full of improv.  Kind of a scary word that, but when was the last time I turned down a challenge?  This will also stretch my acting chops even further by seeing how well I act under pressure.  Could be fun and yet another venue to conquer.  Three rehearsals only… whoo whee!  Sounds fun.

THANKS –  to the one who got us the 300 piece puzzle for Christmas.  Granted, 300 pieces are not too many for a puzzle.  But normal puzzles usually have the person putting together a broken portrait, like a picture of a landscape or a scene. But the puzzle given to my 10-year-old back in December was a depiction of a collection of small toys clustered together on some shelves – what seemed like 300 toys broken into 300 pieces which we were supposed to piece together…

I wanted to do  this puzzle together as a family days after it was given to us, but since that was one of the worst weekends of my life, we didn’t get around to it.  Tonight, my 10-year-old was having trouble sleeping after her little sisters had gone to bed, so we hauled it out and went to work.  Thank goodness the little ones were asleep.  There was no way that they would have felt anything but frustration when trying to do this puzzle – it was too daunting for even my husband to try, but then again, he is not a puzzle person in the slightest.  As a matter of fact, when he saw our completed triumph, he asked, “How do we preserve this?”  I answered, “Why bother, we’d probably like to do it again; it was fun.”  He gave me the strangest look and said, “I guess our definitions of fun in this case are completely different.”

I’m proud to say that together, my daughter and I finished the “impossible” puzzle about 15 minutes under our two-hour goal.  Here are some pics:

Despite my clever blog post title and in all seriousness, I am thankful for the time that we spent together doing the puzzle, and we will look forward to doing it again.  The thanks I would like to expend to the puzzle-giver is not at all sarcastic; we actually had a lot of fun.  But that same puzzle-giver should keep a watchful eye…  there are now two of us looking to challenge you to an equal payback 😉

I am glad to be home.  I’ve got a nice warm cup of coffee next to me as I sit at my computer…  but don’t let my facade of relaxation fool you.  I’ve already changed 3 dirty diapers and broken up 4 squabbles in the past hour since I’ve been home, with more of both sure to come.  But my errands today went even worse – one of those days where most things, even the littlest things, are going wrong – too many things to list, and I’m exhausted.

And it’s snowing, which made everything I did today more difficult.  It depends upon the news outlet of choice; the radio says we are to get 2-4″ of snow today with another possible inch tomorrow.  I am also a fan of weather.com, who says my area is due for a possible 3-5″ today, and another 1-3″ at night.  Basically the same forecast, but I know they weren’t exaggerating this time – there are already at least 3″ of snow on the ground.  I know because I had to trudge through it, both on foot and in the car.  The roads are terrible, but walking is a breeze thanks to the boots I got a few months ago.  Well, it would be a breeze if it weren’t for all the little ones I have to bundle and re-bundle and lift out of the car at every stop.  I had so many stops to make and was so sick of the snow today that I decided to not go to the library and pick up the second Harry Potter book.  I know, it sounds great to be snowed in with a good book, especially because hubby is working all night, but it’s difficult to imagine that I will achieve any kid-less time.  I just couldn’t bring myself to make that extra stop, especially when the day’s other errands had already gone so awry.  Some of it was just plain bad luck and some had to do with the fact that all 4 kids – well, ok, 3 of them, but I’m not mentioning any names –  have been terribly behaved lately.

In what has turned into a ranting blog post of complaints, where was I?
My husband had a major issue with his work in December, so he needs to work basically whenever he’s awake to get our family back on track.  I lost my other best friend in this house in December, and it feels kind of lonely when the people you hang out with all day do nothing but poop, cry, or argue, sometimes all doing all 3 things at once.  And I started today on such a good note; where on earth would I be right now if I hadn’t?  I stayed positive this morning while I cleaned the poop out of the bathtub, and I even smiled when my son pooped again on the floor and slid on it like it was a banana peel – disgusting, that’s obvious, but you have to admit that it makes for a humorous mental picture (no one was hurt, unless you count my bathroom floor).

The trip to Walmart today went surprisingly well, even though I didn’t leave myself enough time for lunch.  But then the kids lost it as I was loading the groceries into the car, and between the yelling and the snow, I realized I was not really IN the drive-thru at McDonald’s – I was kind of taking up the drive-thru lane AND the drive-past lane simultaneously.  It was too late for me to move over, at least not until the car in front of me moved, and sure enough, there came someone squeezing past me…  I turned my head, ready for the dirty look I knew I was about to receive, and the driver did not disappoint.  He glared at me, and that’s when I saw it was a county sheriff, and I sank low in my seat – how embarrassing.  And great – I feel sorry for the other red vans that get pulled over if this guy is looking to get revenge on me; he looked awfully perturbed at my ignorance.

So then I get home, and my little boy has fallen asleep (only took 15 minutes of crying in the car), so I put him in his crib and venture back out into the snowstorm because I  forgot milk – a morning requirement in this house o’ kids.  But because it was today, and because anything that could go wrong was going wrong (remember that I’ve left out still most of the gory details), the first store I check is completely out of milk.  So I go to another place, and they do have milk, but there I run into an acquaintance with whom I am forced to make chit-chat.  Normally, I’d be ok because I like most people I meet, but there are a select few (usually those afflicted with P.A.S.) who really get on my nerves.   Enter this guy, today, one of “those days”.  But I’m nice, I’m still in a positive mood, I’ve got my milk, and I’m on my way home.  When I slide into my driveway (reminding me it has to be shoveled later), I want to sit at my computer with my cup of coffee and relax, but I decide instead to play a game of Dora Candyland with my 3-year-old because it’s something we can’t do when her brother is around and wreaking havoc.  No sooner do we get out the Candyland than her brother wakes up – great, so all I accomplished during his nap today was getting milk!  No “me” time and worse yet, no quality one-on-one time with my daughter – just errands, UGH!

Well enough ranting for now, let’s just say that I did end up with my cup of coffee and my quiet time.  But if you think the kids relented and gave me this on their own, you should read more of my blog posts because that is SO not the case.  My husband had to take a break from work and spend it with the kids.  So now it’s my turn, and my quiet time is over.  But let it snow – we don’t have anywhere to be because Girl Scouts was canceled this evening due to snow.  Maybe we can counteract some of today’s unpleasantness by spending some quality family time together tonight while we’re snowed in….  but please, not another day off school for the kids – after today, I don’t think I could handle a snow day!