wicked

So I went on a great date last night to the lovely Academy of Music to see the touring broadway show of Wicked. An when I say date, I mean, my dad and I went together. Somewhere along the line we have fallen into the tradition of seeing musicals together, just the two of us (sorry mom). We met up in KOP and then drove into the city together and had a nice dinner before hand. My dad works such long hours I rarely see him, so it was fun to catch up, just the two of us.
I am on the Kimmel Center's preferred person e-mail list, so I bought the tickets before they went on sale to the general public. We were in the fifth row and it was pretty much amazing. This was especially nice because the last time I was at that particular venue we had snatched up discounted tickets to see White Christmas and we were in the absolute last row of the highest balcony and we were basically watching the show between our knees. Anyways, the Academy of Music is such a beautiful venue and everything from the set and stage and costuming was so incredible.

I had ganked the soundtrack from a friend in preparation and pieced together bits and pieces of the plot based on the music. But there were so many little details that were pulled from the Wizard of Oz that we learned the back story too: the ruby slippers, her hat, the broomstick, how Dorothy got to Oz, the winged monkeys, etc. Although I wasn't a huge fan of the music before hand (none of it is terrifically catchy, compared to, say Les Mis) in the climax of the first act when Elphaba is souring above the stage as pictured left, the energy the whole performance was so amazing that I had to bite my lip to keep from belting out "Defying Gravity" with her.

My favorite part of the play was how it made you challenge your own definitions of what was good and what was "wicked". How often do we try to force people into boxes of being 100% good or 100% bad and how everyone is really a shade of grey? "Are people born wicked or is wickedness thrust upon them?" is one of the opening lines of the play. At what cost does popularity come? There is a really great lesson about making assumptions about a person when you don't likely have the whole story.

Anyone else out there check it out?

So here I am

Week without Internet I didn't survive seven days. I decided a work week was good enough. I discovered I really, really miss Blogger and Google, but Facebook wasn't too hard to live without. I was surprised though at how often a random (and trivial) thought would pop into my head and I would find myself with the urge to log into facebook and share it or make it into a quick blog post. It's weird how social networking makes us feel the need to broadcast mundane aspects of our lives. Anyways, I have been inspired to try to keep my Facebooking time to a minimum from here on out because it really wasn't that hard. Isaac Is pretty much the most hilarious kid on the planet and I am in denial that we have about a month left in the year of being four. Four has definitely been my favorite age to date. Three was very volatile but four is just independence and personality. We will see what five brings. =) Today he and I were laying on my bed and he picked up a hairbrush and started reinacting this scene... Clearly he was Glenda and I was Elphaba. I guess I have had the soundtrack on heavier rotation than I realized in preparation for next weekend. Oh yeah I guess I should come clean on my blog about the fact that I am dating someone now. :-) I don't plan on making him a regular topic on the blog but I'll address what I anticipate are the FAQ's... * How did you meet him? E-harmony. Way better than LDS dating websites. Yeah, I said it. * Tell us about him? He's 31. from central PA, went to PSU (oh the horror for a Pitt alum such as myself!), lives in North Wales. He works in a retirement home overseeing all of their foodservice stuff. I don't understand the details really, but he wears a shirt and tie to work and is not a lunchlady. We have pretty much nothing in common, but we get along very well. * Is he Mormon? Nope. Lapsed Catholic. * Are you okay with that? Yup. I live in the middle of no where on the East Coast, I attend a family ward, and have probably met every single LDS guy in the tri-state area. I'm unwilling to relocate to Utah or some other Mormon Mecca. I'm a ripe old 28 which we all know is Mormon old-maid-menace-to-society-territory and throw in the fact that I am an (unmarried!) mom to a mixed race child and it's not like LDS guys are lining up to date me. I'm fine with dating someone who is not LDS. * When did you meet him? E-mailed back and forth all summer, met for the first time in August. Started dating "for real" in like, mid-September. * Do you have any pictures of him? Not ones where he doesn't look terrifying. But he looks sort of like the guy from Hitch, Kevin James. * Can we get a name? How about initials? PDH. New Years Goals Update: Ride my bike to work at least once Organize office, craft, sewing and scrapbook supplies and start using the office as a functional craft space Finish painting the rest of the house ------>my brother is coming Monday to repaint the Barney purple bathroom and hopefully the living room. Make a loaf of bread from scratch Go one week without the internet I'm counting it. --->Completed 1/15 Take at least one mural tour in Philly Fly a kite Scrapbook 3 pages a month Work out twice a week ---->Yeah... ummm... Start composting Take Isaac camping Drink 8 glasses of water a day ------>Doing pretty well with this one actually Take a class on something hobby related Make progress towards getting my elementary certification (right now I am highly qualified in elementary ed, but it is more desirable to be dually certified) Floss daily I have yet to floss in 2010. Read three books before I head to the beach ----->I did finish the Time Traveler's Wife today. Although I started it last year, so I dunno if it should count. Eat more homemade meals and less frozen stuff and fast food Grow something edible and eat it Write a blog post when each of these is completed What's new in your world??

One of my resolutions is to go a week without using the internet. I find myself endless sucked into facebook and surfing blogs and... it eats up a lot of my time. I used to be such a huge reader and I have found that I am still working on my beach book from August (The Time Traveler's Wife-- which, in my defense is over 500 pages long). Anyways, I thought a computer hiatus might free up time to get a jump start on some of my other goals and if nothing else will give me some momentum by having one thing crossed off the list before the end of January.

So it will be a while until the blog is updated. Keep strong loyal readers (all three of you!)

The rules:

• Internet free week starts tomorrow, January 11, whenever I wake up and ends January 18th when I wake up.
• I am allowed to use the internet at work. I can check work e-mail (if you need it, lemme know) and go on other work related websites (IEPWriter, Edhelper, whatever).
• I'm also allowed to check my bank website.
• No chatting, no Facebook, no Blogger, no Hotmail, no yahoo maps, no youtube, no googling recipes, addresses, phone numbers, etc.

I'll be back in a week to report. Wish me luck! I'm not terribly disciplined when it comes to denying myself anything I enjoy but I am excited to see what I can get done this week if I am cutting down on my screen time.

Movie Reviews

Avatar

• Visually stunning. 3d effects were really cool. But the storyline was cliche (white man goes native) and full of holes, the dialogue was cheesey and the whole thing (pushing three hours) was unbearably long. I took a 40 minute nap in the middle of it and didn't really miss anything.

Sherlock Holmes

• Saw this with my sister and parents and I wasn't really sure what to expect. There was lots of action which wasn't really how Holmes was in the books but also a lot of witty dialogue which kept me engaged (I have a very low tolerance for action). RDJ played him just right and Jude Law kept me salivating.

Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Squeak-quel

• I thought it this very cute. Isaac loved it and I'm sure sooner or later I'm sure we will add this one to our DVD collection. I predict a third Chipmunks movie.

Almost Famous

• Yeah, I know I'm pretty late on this one. I just saw this recently and really liked it. My friend recommended it as his "all time favorite movie". I don't know if I would take it that far. It did have a fanastic soundtrack and it did sort of make me want to travel the country in a big tour bus.

sickens me

The following write up was in the paper this morning. The seven year old was one of my students. The school is the one that called Children and Youth based on reports my assistants and I gave my principal and school nurse. I did remove her name from the article because I still feel pretty uncomfortable blogging about my work and students, but I mean, this is in the paper. I still can't even process it all. Somedays it's just too hard to wrap your head around how children could be mistreated so badly. POTTSTOWN — Her home allegedly infested by flies and bed bugs and littered with dirty diapers, feces and rotting food, a Pottstown woman faces charges she endangered her four children. NAME REMOVED, 27, of East Second Street, waived her preliminary hearing before District Court Judge Thomas Palladino on charges of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering other persons in connection with a December incident that authorities described as a serious case of child neglect. "It was a real-life horror to see what the kids were living in. It was horrific. It was a self-imposed squalor by NAME REMOVED. No child should have to live like that," said Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Nathan Schadler. "To call the conditions deplorable would be giving them an upgrade. I've never seen a case of such squalor and disgust," Schadler added. Thompson remains free on bail pending her formal arraignment on the charges in county court later this year. An investigation of NAME REMOVED began in December when borough police received a report of alleged child neglect occurring at the home. Police, accompanied by officials of Montgomery County Children and Youth Services, went to the home on Dec. 3 for a check of the house and to remove four children, ages 1 to 7, from the home, according to court papers. "The house was infested with flies that were in every room of the house. There was also what appeared to be human feces on the doorway," alleged Pottstown Detective Rebecca Moletzsky, adding an open bag of tobacco was on a table within reach of children. Police also found a bucket of dirty water that posed a danger to the children on the kitchen floor and an overflowing bag of garbage. "There were bowls, plates and containers with old food with flies in them or flies going in and out of the food. There was no edible food in the refrigerator, and it was completely filthy. Also there were dead flies in the refrigerator," Moletzsky alleged. Beer bottles, trash, old food and dirty diapers were scattered throughout the house and dirty mattresses were discovered in the children's rooms, authorities alleged. "The mattresses were flipped up because they were infested with bed bugs. The children have bites all over them. A pile of feces was in a corner of the room. One of the walls had the drywall ripped off and there were pieces of drywall and dust all over the floor," Moletzsky wrote in the arrest affidavit. In the bathroom, authorities found mold forming on a bathtub that did not appear to be used for a while, a dirty toilet and a sink filled with junk, including a stereo and electrical wiring, according to the criminal complaint. "No child should think that's the norm growing up living like that. It should be human conditions. These conditions were inhuman. Anytime children are forced to live under such conditions we must protect them," Schadler said. If she is convicted of the charges at trial, NAME REMOVED faces a possible maximum sentence of 4½ - to-nine-years in prison.

never argue with a woman who reads

This is my friend Britney Although she is currently Sister Boyd serving a Mission in San Antonio Texas. When she was living in PA as a nanny we would often trade book recommendations. I was cleaning out my inbox and came across this forward she sent me a while back. Never Argue with a Woman. One morning, a husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book. Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, 'Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?' 'Reading a book,' she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?') 'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her. 'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading' 'Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.' 'For reading a book?' she replies, 'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area!' he yells. 'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading!' 'Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.' 'If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault,' says the woman. 'But I haven't even touched you,' says the game warden. 'That's true, but you have all the equipment.. For all I know you could start at any moment.' 'Have a nice day ma'am,' and he left. MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Great news!!!!

Coventry Soccer does an under six league in the spring!

I won't have to wait till September to get my fix of clueless preschoolers running in a herd around the ball!!!

(I think I might be more excited than Isaac)