They say that household cats do three things, eat, play and sleep. And the sleep part makes up from 20-22 hours of every day.
Today, I took a cue from my furball pet and lived like a cat.
Oh, I got up at my usual time, 4:30. Checked my email and then caught up with news from my early bird friend who also likes to get up early. We IM each other practically every day, just to stay in touch. And I started out with high ideas of what could be accomplished now that my house is cleaned and the dishes from Thanksgiving are put away (well almost put away--at least all washed!), and the next play is about one month away.
I could sew something besides costumes. I could decorate my front lawn with the new nativity set I bought last January in anticipation of Christmas this year. I could shop. Or, I could take a nap.
Well, other than doing a couple of loads of wash, no sewing has gotten done, no statues are out in front, and no shopping has happened.
I ate (turkey shards, a semi-Thanksgiving meal about 10:30), then the triptophan kicked in and the naps took over my body. 10:30-2, one long one. Up for about 30 minutes then another from 3:30 to 4:30.
Now it is 5:15 and my eyelids are growing heavy again! I need to get going on something constructive to try to chase the sleepies away.
But, maybe my body is trying to tell me something--Hey, you've been on a merry-go-round of activities for months, give me a break, and let me rest!
Oh, OK, I'll give in. Just one more trip to the refrig for more turkey and I'll be back with the blanket and pillow for some more ZZZZZ's. It will probably mean I'll wake up at 2:00 a.m. tomorrow, but....zzzzzz...zzz..zzz....zz....z...z...
Friday, November 27, 2009
Pictures from "Doubt: A Parable"
I finally got a chance to show you my costumes on actual actors and actresses from Doubt: A Parable. which was presented by Clayton Community Theatre. I am rather proud of these, I tried to make them as authentic as possible.
Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius have sharp words for each other, but Sister wins! Hooray for the nun!
Fr. Flynn and Sister James confer in the garden
Mrs. Muller meets Principal Sister Aloysius in the tense meeting in the principal's office, where Sister lays out her concerns
Father Flynn as he speaks to his congregation about having doubts
Father Flynn teaches the boys basketball, and afterwards invites them to the rectory to have a bull session
My challenges in this project: researching and executing the construction of the bonnets. These are not as deep as the actual ones that the nuns wore, the director didn't want them deep because this theatre is lit mostly from above, and their faces wouldn't have shown as well. I actually made one prototype, which took me hours to make, then made two more which took me 20 minutes each to make! I used heavy buckram for the crown and brim, covering it with black broadcloth.
Getting my computerized embroidery machine to embroider the center logo for the chasuble, it was plagued with thread breaks all through the process. I think it happened because I was using a stiff backing. I'll use a softer one in the future, and hopefully things will work out better.
Finding just the right purse for Mrs. Muller. Never did find what I wanted.
Find just the right hat for Mrs. Muller. I finally found a rather beat up navy blue hat, she loved it and wanted to keep it. It only cost $4 at a thrift store, so I let her keep it. Once she put on the crunched up hat, it fit her perfectly, it was darling on her, and she loved it. Unfortunately, I found it after they took these pictures!
Making the rosaries for the nuns. My daughter, Monkeygirl, agreed to take on this task, and she did a great job. I had to shop at MANY, MANY craft stores to find the crosses, finally found them at my 3rd Michaels. The nuns wanted to keep their rosaries as mementos, one girl is Jewish and the other is episcopalian or something like that, don't know what a Jewish girl will do with a rosary, but it is a nice memento.
Fr. Flynn got no memento.
Fr. Flynn's cassock had 24 buttons down the front. Finding 24 buttons alike at any fabric store is an ultimate challenge! These were not all alike, but were similar enough not to scream out that they were different!
It was fun to do this show, thanks to my friend the director to ask me to work with this group, I enjoyed it a lot! Unfortunately, we had woefully small houses for each performance, and these people put their hearts and souls into each performance. I wish it had been seen by more people, they missed a very good show!
Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius have sharp words for each other, but Sister wins! Hooray for the nun!
Fr. Flynn and Sister James confer in the garden
Mrs. Muller meets Principal Sister Aloysius in the tense meeting in the principal's office, where Sister lays out her concerns
Father Flynn as he speaks to his congregation about having doubts
Father Flynn teaches the boys basketball, and afterwards invites them to the rectory to have a bull session
My challenges in this project: researching and executing the construction of the bonnets. These are not as deep as the actual ones that the nuns wore, the director didn't want them deep because this theatre is lit mostly from above, and their faces wouldn't have shown as well. I actually made one prototype, which took me hours to make, then made two more which took me 20 minutes each to make! I used heavy buckram for the crown and brim, covering it with black broadcloth.
Getting my computerized embroidery machine to embroider the center logo for the chasuble, it was plagued with thread breaks all through the process. I think it happened because I was using a stiff backing. I'll use a softer one in the future, and hopefully things will work out better.
Finding just the right purse for Mrs. Muller. Never did find what I wanted.
Find just the right hat for Mrs. Muller. I finally found a rather beat up navy blue hat, she loved it and wanted to keep it. It only cost $4 at a thrift store, so I let her keep it. Once she put on the crunched up hat, it fit her perfectly, it was darling on her, and she loved it. Unfortunately, I found it after they took these pictures!
Making the rosaries for the nuns. My daughter, Monkeygirl, agreed to take on this task, and she did a great job. I had to shop at MANY, MANY craft stores to find the crosses, finally found them at my 3rd Michaels. The nuns wanted to keep their rosaries as mementos, one girl is Jewish and the other is episcopalian or something like that, don't know what a Jewish girl will do with a rosary, but it is a nice memento.
Fr. Flynn got no memento.
Fr. Flynn's cassock had 24 buttons down the front. Finding 24 buttons alike at any fabric store is an ultimate challenge! These were not all alike, but were similar enough not to scream out that they were different!
It was fun to do this show, thanks to my friend the director to ask me to work with this group, I enjoyed it a lot! Unfortunately, we had woefully small houses for each performance, and these people put their hearts and souls into each performance. I wish it had been seen by more people, they missed a very good show!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The lo-o-o-o-ong vacation
Thanksgiving holiday is finally here! Both students and teachers are glad that the time has finally come for us to kick back, relax and not think about school for a few days.
Reflections on Thanksgiving Day..
Mom used to make the best turkey gravy--I have yet to duplicate it! I'm going to give it a try one more time, I think I may have come upon a way to make it taste good, nice and thick and brown and carmelized in flavor--nothing like it!
Mother-in-law was always afraid that she wouldn't cook the turkey enough. She always used her Nesco roaster to cook the turkey. The tantilizing smells came from her basement, where she used the roaster, because there was no other place in their cozy little cottage home to set it up. When Ed and I went down to retrieve the turkey, it was so done we didn't have to carve it! It fell apart into a million pieces right there in the roaster. Mighty good tasting shards, as I remember!
Somehow, my mother let me carve the turkey. The bad part is that is was messy, the good part is you got to taste the bird before serving it! Those little pieces that were too small to put on the platter were just right for a quick before dinner snack! I still get to carve the bird, as often as not! And I get to snag the first tastes, too!
Snowy Thanksgivings--somehow, I remember a lot of these days. Either T-day itself was snowy, or the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was snowy. I do remember the T-day of '75, I was pregnant with child #3, and we had to mush through about 8" of snow to get to church. Luckily, church was only 2 blocks away, but it ws an adventure getting there!
T-day at Aunt Margie's house, I guess it was about '59. I ate and ate, she was a fabulous cook. I still remember how miserable I was after that meal because I was too stuffed full! But it was all worth it, very delicious! New mantra, only take one helping of everything, no matter how good it tastes, then you won't suffer all night from being too full! Memories of miseries seemm to last a long time! Let's see, that was 50 years ago!
Turkey sandwiches as a bed-time snack. After the whole kitchen is cleaned up, and we've napped through a couple of boring tv shows after dinner, we awoke with a hunger pang or two, which meant, we needed to go back to the fridge for leftover turkey sandwiches, on white bread and covered with Miracle Whip.
We never played football, took hikes, or did anything that active after dinner on Thanksgiving day. But my brother, who is the family archivist, usually entertains us with a photographic show of some sort or another! Sometimes the tryptophan from the turkey kicks in and snoozing takes place, but we do appreciate his efforts and he is really a great keeper of family memories. He has many sets of photos, some are his, some are family members who have passed on, but he manages to group them togther to make an interesting show. When I was hosting a Korean student last spring, he had some pictures from Korea where he was stationed in the Army in the early 70's. She was able to identify some places that she recognized that were still there. Very interesting! She appreciated that a lot!
My first turkey as a married woman--1964. It wasn't like mom's but it was edible. I didn't forget and cook the giblets in with the turkey, I had helped my mom enough to know not to do that. It was a little bit pale, first time in an electric oven. But we enjoyed it. WE were just about to move into our first home from an apartment, and I was 8 months pregnant, so we weren't traveling to visit (we lived 400 miles from our families that year.) It was just Mr. and me and a soon to be born kid, there in our little apartment, enjoying the first turkey I cooked on my own.
Ok, there are a lot of memories from past Thanksgivings. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving day, enjoy your meal, and most of all, enjoy those you celebrate with!
P.S. Happy Black Friday, have fun out there in the cold at 4 a.m. in the morning, not me, I'll be thinking of you as I turn over and catch another couple of hours between the sheets, while you spend all your money on stuff you don't need!
Reflections on Thanksgiving Day..
Mom used to make the best turkey gravy--I have yet to duplicate it! I'm going to give it a try one more time, I think I may have come upon a way to make it taste good, nice and thick and brown and carmelized in flavor--nothing like it!
Mother-in-law was always afraid that she wouldn't cook the turkey enough. She always used her Nesco roaster to cook the turkey. The tantilizing smells came from her basement, where she used the roaster, because there was no other place in their cozy little cottage home to set it up. When Ed and I went down to retrieve the turkey, it was so done we didn't have to carve it! It fell apart into a million pieces right there in the roaster. Mighty good tasting shards, as I remember!
Somehow, my mother let me carve the turkey. The bad part is that is was messy, the good part is you got to taste the bird before serving it! Those little pieces that were too small to put on the platter were just right for a quick before dinner snack! I still get to carve the bird, as often as not! And I get to snag the first tastes, too!
Snowy Thanksgivings--somehow, I remember a lot of these days. Either T-day itself was snowy, or the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was snowy. I do remember the T-day of '75, I was pregnant with child #3, and we had to mush through about 8" of snow to get to church. Luckily, church was only 2 blocks away, but it ws an adventure getting there!
T-day at Aunt Margie's house, I guess it was about '59. I ate and ate, she was a fabulous cook. I still remember how miserable I was after that meal because I was too stuffed full! But it was all worth it, very delicious! New mantra, only take one helping of everything, no matter how good it tastes, then you won't suffer all night from being too full! Memories of miseries seemm to last a long time! Let's see, that was 50 years ago!
Turkey sandwiches as a bed-time snack. After the whole kitchen is cleaned up, and we've napped through a couple of boring tv shows after dinner, we awoke with a hunger pang or two, which meant, we needed to go back to the fridge for leftover turkey sandwiches, on white bread and covered with Miracle Whip.
We never played football, took hikes, or did anything that active after dinner on Thanksgiving day. But my brother, who is the family archivist, usually entertains us with a photographic show of some sort or another! Sometimes the tryptophan from the turkey kicks in and snoozing takes place, but we do appreciate his efforts and he is really a great keeper of family memories. He has many sets of photos, some are his, some are family members who have passed on, but he manages to group them togther to make an interesting show. When I was hosting a Korean student last spring, he had some pictures from Korea where he was stationed in the Army in the early 70's. She was able to identify some places that she recognized that were still there. Very interesting! She appreciated that a lot!
My first turkey as a married woman--1964. It wasn't like mom's but it was edible. I didn't forget and cook the giblets in with the turkey, I had helped my mom enough to know not to do that. It was a little bit pale, first time in an electric oven. But we enjoyed it. WE were just about to move into our first home from an apartment, and I was 8 months pregnant, so we weren't traveling to visit (we lived 400 miles from our families that year.) It was just Mr. and me and a soon to be born kid, there in our little apartment, enjoying the first turkey I cooked on my own.
Ok, there are a lot of memories from past Thanksgivings. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving day, enjoy your meal, and most of all, enjoy those you celebrate with!
P.S. Happy Black Friday, have fun out there in the cold at 4 a.m. in the morning, not me, I'll be thinking of you as I turn over and catch another couple of hours between the sheets, while you spend all your money on stuff you don't need!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Preparing for the "really big MEAL"
The groceries are in the kitchen, the turkey is defrosting in the refrigerator, the menu has been divied out to various entities to prepare, and we're all looking forward to turkey leftovers.
The only thing left to do is...... CLEAN HOUSE!
Yuck!
The only thing left to do is...... CLEAN HOUSE!
Yuck!
Preparing for the "really big show"
No, this show isn't one that is going to be on stage, but it may be bigger than that, it may hit the college webpage, and hopefully millions of people can see it.
My international students have been studying pronunciation of English for the past 3-1/2 months. At first, the progress was really slow-going, because they were really starting from scratch in learning English vocabulary and grammar. But, they've progressed quite a bit since they first came her in August.
Today, they practiced for their upcoming videotape session done by the college AV department. I got three other teachers to help me listen to them as they practiced their speeches. We focused on clear pronunciation, not so much on content. We went over words that they were struggling with. At this point in time, they are pronouncing things using the wrong syllable stress, which makes it hard to understand. And they want to go too fast. But when they slow down, and get help with the syllables, they sound very good.
This is their third oral presentation of the semester. For presentations #2, they were to tell about their countries. Well, there was so much they wanted to share, they forgot about clear pronunciation. So, we simplified things, and now each is telling one aspect of their country's history, culture or symbols. Each only has a minute to tell their part of the story, so they can concentrate on correct pronunciation more easily, because it isn't so long.
So, they have a week to practice, and next week on Tuesday will be their time to be videotaped giving their presentation. I wish them luck, and thank my fellow teachers for helping us today.
You go, SEED students!
My international students have been studying pronunciation of English for the past 3-1/2 months. At first, the progress was really slow-going, because they were really starting from scratch in learning English vocabulary and grammar. But, they've progressed quite a bit since they first came her in August.
Today, they practiced for their upcoming videotape session done by the college AV department. I got three other teachers to help me listen to them as they practiced their speeches. We focused on clear pronunciation, not so much on content. We went over words that they were struggling with. At this point in time, they are pronouncing things using the wrong syllable stress, which makes it hard to understand. And they want to go too fast. But when they slow down, and get help with the syllables, they sound very good.
This is their third oral presentation of the semester. For presentations #2, they were to tell about their countries. Well, there was so much they wanted to share, they forgot about clear pronunciation. So, we simplified things, and now each is telling one aspect of their country's history, culture or symbols. Each only has a minute to tell their part of the story, so they can concentrate on correct pronunciation more easily, because it isn't so long.
So, they have a week to practice, and next week on Tuesday will be their time to be videotaped giving their presentation. I wish them luck, and thank my fellow teachers for helping us today.
You go, SEED students!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Antique Hat meets Modern Head
That beautiful antique top hat I found at the antique mall would have been just perfect for Scrooge for the photo shoot today, EXCEPT THAT......
it is about 5 sizes too small!
Scrooge looked like he was wearing a birthday cake on his head, or he was posing as the mad hatter and or the chimney sweep, about to clean chimneys. Come to think of it, the Mad Hatter's hat is way too big, so that image doesn't work.
We had a hard time finding one hat in our collection that did fit Scrooge! It's back to the drawing board on this one.
I should have known, the antique hat fits me. I have a pin head, so naturally, it was going to be too small for a man.
It was too good to be true!
it is about 5 sizes too small!
Scrooge looked like he was wearing a birthday cake on his head, or he was posing as the mad hatter and or the chimney sweep, about to clean chimneys. Come to think of it, the Mad Hatter's hat is way too big, so that image doesn't work.
We had a hard time finding one hat in our collection that did fit Scrooge! It's back to the drawing board on this one.
I should have known, the antique hat fits me. I have a pin head, so naturally, it was going to be too small for a man.
It was too good to be true!
Family Time of the Year
This time of the year, we all focus on family. The Thanksgiving holiday gives us a time to reflect on those we love, as we gather together to celebrate. It also gives us time to think of the empty seats at the table, those who are no longer with us to celebrate the family holiday.
At this time of the year, I think of some special marriages that took place during the month of November. My dear parents-in-law were married on Nov. 3, 1938. He was handsome, she was beautiful, and a year and a half later, they were blessed with their only child, a baby boy, who was destined to become my husband, father of three wonderful children, and grandpa to 6.
Then there was my own parent's marriage--which took place on a rainy Nov. 21, 1942. The time was WWII, when the young men were marching off to war, and my father was among them. She was resplendent in her handmade lace wedding dress, he, a handsome chap in his Army Greens. Very soon after the wedding, a child was on the way! Shortly after their marriage, he did leave for basic training, then on to Africa, the staging area for the 1943 invasion of Sicily and Italy. This was the turning point of the war, when the Allies finally got Hitler's army on the run. Father developed a serious medical condition while serving, and was not in the war for a long time, but he was away long enough to miss the birth of his first-born child, me, in Sept. 1943.
My mother had two sisters, and one did not marry until "later in life". She was in her 40's when she met the man of her dreams. Because she was unattached for a long time, and had no children of her own, she doted on me, dressing me up, taking me to tea rooms, and we had a very close relationship. She was married on Nov. 22, 1951??? (I need my brother's help, he is the family historian on these things!) My aunt and uncle met with a tragic accident in 1961, they were hit by a car while crossing the street one night, she died very shortly after being taken to the hospital, and he died 2 days later.
Then, Nov. 23, 1963 was a day many of my age remember, the day President John F. Kennedy was assasinated. That day will certainly live on in our minds.
So this time is a time of rememberance for me, for personal reasons. I recall the ones who went before me, who shaped my life, and a national hero who left the earth at all too young an age.
Anyway, I hope your day of thanksgiving is filled with good smells, good eats, happy memories of those who went before you, a table of diners who you love surrounding the feast you have prepared. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
At this time of the year, I think of some special marriages that took place during the month of November. My dear parents-in-law were married on Nov. 3, 1938. He was handsome, she was beautiful, and a year and a half later, they were blessed with their only child, a baby boy, who was destined to become my husband, father of three wonderful children, and grandpa to 6.
Then there was my own parent's marriage--which took place on a rainy Nov. 21, 1942. The time was WWII, when the young men were marching off to war, and my father was among them. She was resplendent in her handmade lace wedding dress, he, a handsome chap in his Army Greens. Very soon after the wedding, a child was on the way! Shortly after their marriage, he did leave for basic training, then on to Africa, the staging area for the 1943 invasion of Sicily and Italy. This was the turning point of the war, when the Allies finally got Hitler's army on the run. Father developed a serious medical condition while serving, and was not in the war for a long time, but he was away long enough to miss the birth of his first-born child, me, in Sept. 1943.
My mother had two sisters, and one did not marry until "later in life". She was in her 40's when she met the man of her dreams. Because she was unattached for a long time, and had no children of her own, she doted on me, dressing me up, taking me to tea rooms, and we had a very close relationship. She was married on Nov. 22, 1951??? (I need my brother's help, he is the family historian on these things!) My aunt and uncle met with a tragic accident in 1961, they were hit by a car while crossing the street one night, she died very shortly after being taken to the hospital, and he died 2 days later.
Then, Nov. 23, 1963 was a day many of my age remember, the day President John F. Kennedy was assasinated. That day will certainly live on in our minds.
So this time is a time of rememberance for me, for personal reasons. I recall the ones who went before me, who shaped my life, and a national hero who left the earth at all too young an age.
Anyway, I hope your day of thanksgiving is filled with good smells, good eats, happy memories of those who went before you, a table of diners who you love surrounding the feast you have prepared. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
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