Bits and Pieces

*  Last night Paul took me to the INB Performing Arts Center to see The Phantom of the Opera on its national Broadway tour.  It was wonderful!  We’ve been fans of the musical for a long time, and (aside from a Raoul who sounded distractingly like Snidely Whiplash) this production did not disappoint.  Plus, it was an honest-to-goodness dress-up date, complete with coat check and high heels and adult conversation.  And the good night kiss?  Perfection.

*  I’ve been a little absent lately, but there’s a very good reason for it.  We’re moving!  After nearly seven years in our cozy little apartment, we’re madly packing boxes in anticipation of a November 1 relocation to new digs.  Our friends Matt and April moved earlier this year but haven’t been able to sell their house yet, so we’re going to rent it from them.  That will buy us some time to save up a down payment for our own home search while Matt and April wait for the housing market to bounce back.  Everybody wins, including the kids, who will finally have their own bedrooms (although after sharing a bunk bed with Katie for most of his young life, Caleb’s not altogether sure about facing the imaginary monsters in the closet all by himself yet.)

*  With everything that is going on–the move, the upcoming trip to a teacher’s conference in Seattle, the approaching parent teacher conferences, and the ongoing struggle to find balance on the working/homemaking scales–I would be have to be crazy to consider doing NaBloPoMo again this year, right?

Yep.  Crazy.

Four on the Floor

Just as I sat down to blog today, my brain ground to a halt, unwilling to take one more step down the path of coherent thought after a long day of blending phonemes for frenzied five year olds.  Enter my friend Becky.  She thoughtfully tagged me with the Four Meme on her blog, eliminating the need for me to come up with my own brilliant idea for a post.  Here it is:

Four things I did today:

1. Sang The Vowel Song nine times.

2. Read the book Big Chickens out loud to my class, giving each chicken her own unique voice.

3. Met Paul for a romantic lunch at Taco Bell (well, it would have been romantic, if Caleb hadn’t been there squirting Capri-Sun all over the table.)

4. Ran a couple loads of laundry that will never make it out of the clean laundry basket.

Four things on my to-do list:

1.  Print out the photos from Ladies Fall Fellowship to put in the scrapbook.

2.  Schedule the October Marriage Support group meeting.

3.  Finish next week’s lesson plans.

4.  Write a psalm for Wednesday night.

Four of my guilty pleasures:

1.  Science fiction and fantasy genre films, shows, and books  (Smallville, Roswell, Chronicles of Narnia, X-Files, Lord of the Rings, Firefly, etc.)

2.  Diet Coke

3.  Long walks with my favorite Christian rock bands turned up loud on my iPod

4.  Girlfriends getaway weekends

Four random facts about me:

1.  Our daughter Katie, the origami master, just taught me to make an origami rabbit.  It took me a while to get it, but she was a surprisingly patient teacher, and kept saying encouraging things like, “Now you’ve got it, Mom!” and “That one’s kind of a hard fold; good job!”  It’s ridiculous how proud I was of that bunny when I finished it.  And of my daughter.

2.  I’m not as organized as I thought I was.

3.  Whenever the world seems crazy and overwhelming, Paul and I take it in turns to remind each other that God is on the throne, and we are His.  The rest doesn’t matter so much.

4. I know it’s not the eighties anymore, but I sort of miss electric blue mascara.

I’m supposed to tag four others, but I’m terrible at that, so consider this an open invitation to anyone else who is suffering from blogger’s block.  Drop me a link if you do, so I can pop in and check it out!

*unrelated factoid*  “Four on the Floor” is not only the title of this post and a type of dance music, but a constant refrain in my classroom, where the temptation to tip their chairs up on two legs seizes my little daredevils on a regular basis.  No injuries so far.