Archives for December 2010

Today

– Opening night for The Christmas Post was last night.  It went really, really well.  I’m not going to lie – I was a little concerned.  As of Saturday we had never made it all the way through the play.  There was so much work to be done, so many little details to be fine tuned that it seemed we might never get it all pulled together.

But God is good and we did it and it was a lot of fun!  There are still tickets available for the rest of the week – please come if you can!  We have spent countless hours over the last few weeks pulling this together and we would love to see a packed house every single night.

– Today, mercifully, we have the day off.  And I am thankful.  The muscles in the left side of my body have decided to have a party and have all bunched up so that turning from side to side, leaning for forward, picking anything up or moving in general has become a bit of a task.  I need a day to unwind, go to bed early and be with my family.

– Speaking of my family, my husband rocks.  Seriously.  He’s doing this parenting thing alone every night this week.  That’s a lot of work.  But he’s been great about it and I couldn’t appreciate it more.

– While this musical is great fun, it’s also a sacrifice.  I’m sacrificing my own time and, while I’m having fun, I’m also working really hard.  My husband is serving me and through his service, I am able to serve others along with all of the other members of the cast.  Service is hard – even when it’s fun.  It requires that we step outside what’s comfortable and easy and we sacrifice – we sacrifice our time, our resources, our sleep and more.

– I’ll be honest.  Service has never been really natural for me.  I’m very selfish, especially with my time and my gifts.  But I don’t think service is ever easy.  It really goes against our human nature.  I’m grateful for the chance to serve others this week.  It’s hard, but it’s fun and it’s rewarding!

– Switching gears…

– Sometimes this blogging thing stresses me out.  Particularly in weeks like this one.  I’m wiped, both physically and emotionally.  I don’t have a lot to offer my readers.  Yet I feel pressure to offer something quippy and funny.  I have to remind myself that I don’t have to do this.  It’s okay to take some time off.  The world as we know it won’t cease to revolve if I don’t write a post or two.

Will it?

– I’ve had this little issue with my shoulder for awhile now.  Like eight years.  Ever since I coached gymnastics a lifetime ago.  All that overhand spotting caused all sorts of craziness to take root.  And instead of having it looked at, I ignored it.  Until a few weeks ago when I realized I was having a hard time pushing elevator buttons without wincing in pain.  I headed in to see a physical therapist and since that time I’ve been wondering what took me so long to do something about my shoulder.  I have severe tendonitis, perhaps a bit of bursitis and who knows what else.

At some point I may see an orthopedic to get an MRI, but for now I’m sticking with my PT because he rocks and he’s nice and he has a great southern accent that makes me happy.

– Christmas is coming up in a couple of weeks.  I’m not sure if you heard.  It falls on the 25th this year.  Someone I know is not ready…she hasn’t even finished her shopping.  I’ll give you one guess as to who that is…

– Okay, this is the part of the post where I wrap it up.

Let’s all breathe a sigh of relief together.

I’ll be back next week with real content. 🙂

He gets it all

Lee-Kelli 10 (2)-21

He came to me yesterday as I prepared myself for dress rehearsal.  The musical is set in 1947 so I had on dark eyeliner, a skirt, lips so red they glow in the dark and hair so curly that I vaguely resembled Simba.

He looked up at me with big eyes, then a slow smile spread across his face.

“You bootiful, Mom,” he said.

“Thank you, buddy,” I replied.  My heart sort of melted at that point.

Then he grabbed my hand and gave it a tug.  “Come down here,” he said, pulling me to my knees.  “I wanna give you a hug ‘tause you bootiful.”

We hugged. 

Then I promised everything he ever wanted and more.  Money.  Cars.  His brother and sister’s inheritance. 

He gets it all…

Photo courtesy of Lulu Photography

Friday Links

– Shaun Groves wrote this post yesterday that made me laugh out loud.  If you’re not reading Shaun you really should be.  He’s a great writer – genuine and funny.  Plus, who doesn’t love a guy in his thirties with a mohawk, right?  Or is it a faux hawk?  Anyway, read the post.

– Another blogger I love is C-Jane.  Her perspective on faith and God are very different from my own, but I love reading her thoughts, learning more about what she believes and laughing at her posts.  She’s an amazing writer and is very engaging.  She’s a daily read for me.  I particularly enjoyed this post.  (A few Cliff’s Notes: She calls her husband Chup or Chupa, her son is the Chief and her daughter’s name is Ever Jane.  This will help when you’re reading the post.)

– Nicole has an awesome advent plan for her boys.  If I were crafty, I’d be all over this.  But I’m not.  So I just look on in envy…

– A few years ago I had the privilege to work alongside the awesome Dana Loesch.  While doing this I got acquianted with her husband who is a wickedly talented musician and producer.  Recently Chris and his team at Shock City Music filmed this music video to go along with a song that he co-wrote.  Becky Kelly is the singer.  The song is really beautiful as is the video.  It’s a great reminder of what the season is about.  Enjoy.

 
Happy Friday everyone.  I’m headed into a week of insanity.  Taking deep breaths today. 🙂

The Brawl

BASED UPON A TRUE STORY

The Scene

Three kids, all blonde, varying heights, clearly in posession of shared DNA.  They are heading downstairs to play a game together with the largest of the three rallying his troops to action.

The Setting

A Basement.  Vibrant colors, pathetically filthy, scattered with disregarded toys and costumes.

The Protagonist

Lee-Kelli 10 (2)

The largest of the three blondes.  Male.  A smattering of freckles and deep blue eyes.  Sweet natured but easily frustrated.  Possesses a strong desire to be in control and a swift and thorough sense of justice.  A natural leader who inspires others to action when he’s not using his leadership for personal gain.  

 The Antagonist

IMGP6414

 The middle blonde.  Female.  Dangerously cute.  Freakishly strong.  Possesses the rare trait of being able to push others to the very brink of their sanity then backing off as they self destruct.  Can widen her eyes abnormally giving her the appearance of a lost puppy and making her nearly irresistible.  Cannot say her ‘R,’ ‘TH,’ or ‘L’ sounds.  A master of psychological warfare.

The Tagalong

Lee-Kelli 10 (2)-3

The smallest of the three blondes.  Male.  Bright blue eyes.  A mischevious grin.  A natural born sidekick with the ability to alternate partners seamlessly throughout the course of an altercation, sometimes more than once.  Has a seemingly unbreakable love for the word “stupid” and the phrase “I hit your butt,” despite repeated admonishments.  Also unable to say the letters ‘R,’ ‘TH,’ or ‘L’ as he spends much time listening to, and mimicing, blonde number two.  A free spirit, The Tagalong is prone to fits of bouncing and can rarely focus on any one activity for more than 60 seconds at a time.

The Conflict

The Protagonist orders all blondes into the filthy basement for covert operations and a mad game of tag.  Naturally, The Protagonist  begins laying out rules and restrictions upon the game that directly violate The Antagonist’s awareness of what is fair.  In addition, The Antagonist has spent much of the afternoon being nice to The Protagonist and is simply in the mood to ruffle his feathers.

The Tagalong is just glad he was invited.

The Antagonist agrees to play the game as laid out by The Protagonist.  She waits until the opportune moment and then, mid-stride, stops, turns and declares, “I don’t wanna pway anymore.”  She throws a look at The Tagalong that lets him know he should take her side for a good time.  He quickly chimes in, “Yeah, I not pway anymore too.”

They wait.  But not long.  The Protagonist falls into a fit of frustrated rage.  He stomps.  He begs.  He pleads.  “Please play with me, guys.”  But they hold their ground.  It’s just too much fun to stop.  To really set The Protagonist over the edge, The Antagonist throws in, “We don’t wike to pway your games.”

The Protagonist responds, “Fine!  Then I don’t like either of you.  You’re not my friends!”  This is declared at the top of his lungs at a decible that reverberates off every window in the house.  The younger two blondes stomp upstairs indignantly.

“He’s mean,” they declare as they move to the couch, The Tagalong’s arms crossed over his chest in a mini protest.  Minutes later The Protagonist runs up the stairs.

In two leaps he lands on The Antagonist, digging his nails into her arm.  She lets loose a dramatic scream and brings forth a few tears for added effect.  Then the smaller, freakishly strong Antagonist flies at the larger blonde, her hand finding contact with his face with a crack.  Her finger somehow burys itself in his eye.

The Judge steps in, seperating the two brawlers.  The Tagalong looks on with wide eyes as The Protagonist is  taken to another room.

“Yeah!” The Tagalong says to The Antagonist.  “You dot him, Tia.  You beat ‘im up.  Ha. Ha.”  They give each other five.  The Judge’s wife stifles giggles.

The Resolution

The three blondes are sitting at the dinner table.  Little has been said about the earlier altercation until The Protagonist pipes up.  “Why did you poke my eye?” he asks, pure offense dripping from every word.

“Because you hit me and you was bossing me,” The Antagonist answers. 

“Yeah,” The Tagalong interjects.

“Don’t start again, guys,” The Judge says and shoots his dagger eyes in their direction.

“Hey!  I have an idea!” The Protagonist says, throwing his hands up in the air.

“What?!” The Tagalong asks, clearly excited.

“Let’s all be best friends.”

“Yeah!” The Antagonist and The Tagalong  reply in unison.

“Let’s all say it together,” The Protagonist says, relishing the fact that, once again, he is in full control.  “Ready?  One, Two Three…”

“WE’RE ALL BEST FRIENDS.”

And they all lived happily ever after.

Or at least for the next few hours…

The End.