Skip to main content

There's no place like home . . .

As many of you know, I am the overly-involved mother of three and wife of one. When my children are involved in something, I tend to become a little involved as well - as much as they'll let me. And trust me, they haven't always wanted me there and so I have for the most part quietly receded away. And then there are times, when it seems I go overboard!! 


I have spent the last three weeks of my life totally consumed with Oz - Wizard of Oz at Holland High School. While I wasn't in the play - I am experiencing a little of the actors' let down at final curtain. The sense of, "now what"? 


It was an incredible experience. I operated as a kind of volunteer coordinator for my fellow parents and then as a sort of box office/house manager for the performances. I really got to know the cast and, to a person, love those Ozzians and Munchkins!! A bonus for me, as a school of choice parent, was getting to know so many of the Holland school parents. An awesome group if there ever was one! 


The best part was watching all but two of the 8 performances and seeing the changes and improvements in each performance. An amazing production for a high school! And watching Delaney blossom as Glinda was certainly the icing on the cake! I cherished each moment she was on the stage - and fervently prayed that her voice would be okay for the last two performances when her cold settled in her throat and chest and made her sound like a three-pack-a-day smoker! She battled through and am told that her acted like a true professional when met with this challenge.


Now, I have to get my head out of Oz and back to home. After all, there is no place like home and Christmas is just 13 days away and I haven't even begun to put a dent in my Christmas shopping list, I haven't even purchased Christmas cards, the only cookies I've baked are the ones I baked last week to appease John's nighttime sweet tooth and I have put up only the most minimal Christmas decorations! I know it will all get done, but is sure seems to be a monumental task at this point. And the best place to start is the very beginning, finding my Christmas spirit. I know it's here someplace!

Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Friday Night Lights

Friday night lights were blazing last week - when for the first time in the history of our little town, the Saugatuck Indians clinched the district title! You can see the sheer joy on Matthew's face and the pride in his father's eyes in the picture above. Leading up to and during the game, there were several things that made the victory even more sweet. The first being that the sports writers in the area, to a person, all predicted the opponents, Climax-Scotts, to win. They'd had a perfect season - until Friday. The second was that we had to travel quite a distance (nearly 90 minutes) to get to the game. And the weather was frigid and snow was blowing - thankfully it was blowing towards the Climax-Scotts stands and was at our backs. And then our quarterback injured his shoulder and had to sit out for a good portion of the game. Thankfully, the replacement quarterback (a sophomore called up for the playoffs from the junior varsity team) did not let the stress effect his ...
3 comments
Read more

Vulnerability hangover

I recently blogged about my own #MeToo experiences and then went silent. (At least on the blog). Those posts have been read by over 1000 people, and that's a lot for this tiny little blog about living a life with MS and God and with a sense of humor. Suddenly, I felt like I was living in a world where people that read my blog had x-ray vision and could see my nakedness - but I didn't know who they were. It wasn't a good feeling. And then I heard someone discuss Brene Brown, in particular what she describes as a 'vulnerability hangover'. It's essentially the feeling of regret, like after a night of binge drinking, when you think "What did I do/say?" and then "I think I'll just hide out from the world." If you've never had that experience, kudos to you. It's shame, pure and simple, ugly and raw. So, now I'm on a Brene Brown binge, including all of her TED talks. Including this one on shame:  Brene, listening to shame ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Time

I have been reading through the blog entries for John's caringbridge site and am marveling that it was only a year ago we were on that awful cancer journey. In a way it seems like so much longer - especially when I look at the Patient Patient and see just how wonderfully handsome and healthy he looks! John still has periodic visits with the docs in A2 and prior to each we are both a little nervous that the docs might find something. He calls after each visit and we breathe a sigh of relief when the docs declare that all is clear! We know patients that went through treatment at the same time haven't received the same news; our concerns are grounded in reality and our sense of relief immense. In the past year, we have heard of far too many people that have received a diagnosis of cancer - prostrate, breast, throat, etc. While the type of cancer may be very different, the family's reaction and the ultimate course of treatment may vary greatly. The family and loved ones g...
Post a Comment
Read more