I May Not Be Very Good at this Posting-Every-Day Thing Right Now, but just wait until April...

El Fin Yesterday was the end of a long, fun period of creativity for me, leading up to several "performances" (in quotes because of the amateur-ness of them and because they were all at my church). It started with planning meetings for the intergenerational service at church, which was last weekend and which I narrated (beautifully, of course). At some point I got recruited to do the coffeehouse, which was this past Saturday, and also a little something during my church's Carnival service, which is an over-the-top silly service held at or around the start of Mardi Gras and which inspired our minister to comment he is always afraid we will get visitors on that day (we did have visitors yesterday, and they all seemed to have a blast). I wore my red plaid pajamas and fuzzy red slippers to church and no one sneered.

Successes Everything went well. I am 100% positive that everyone at my church knows that they can call on me to do creative things, silly or not. And I was told, "You're fun to play with." Not in a suggestive way...

UP I don't realize how consuming impending performances (little or big) are for me until they are finished. Apparently I'm all worked up inside pre-performance or something because I was soooooo sleepy yesterday after lunch when it was all over. In a way that I hadn't been sleepy in several months. A good relieved sleepy. But also I felt a little lost. What's next?

What's Next? Seriously. Well, um... Next weekend we have our first Follies-writing meeting, but the show isn't until October... April, you may recall, is a poem-a-day month for me, since it's National Poetry Month... I'm looking forward to both of those things, but somehow they don't seem quite enough...

S'Okay I'll find something.

Our "Watch" Dog

I was busy practicing my music for the coffeehouse on Saturday and didn't notice that it was time for me to leave to get Lulu from school until Abby put her paws on the piano bench, clearly wanting something from me. I didn't realize until I had shuffled her into her room and was driving away that she was telling me that the time had come for her to be put away so I could leave and bring home that other human.

Even Lulu Was Alarmed

It was so windy here yesterday that even the birds had trouble landing on the powerlines. I know! I witnessed it!!

LL Says:

I tried on the fishnet stockings I am planning on wearing to church this coming Sunday. Lulu was curious. After carefully inspecting my right thigh, she announced:

"I like them. They have holes in them. And I can touch you through them!"

Can You Say 'Support'?

So, I'm signed up to sing at the coffeehouse at my church next Saturday. The theme is love (for obvious reasons), and I'm going to sing, "It's Only a Paper Moon." Should be cool, I think.

So, coffeehouses aren't really Husbandguy's scene. In college (the first time - before I knew him) his friends all called him Metalhead [HG]. His appearance is a bit more conservative now, but the name still fits his taste in music. I can't imagine that a bunch of strangers singing melodiously and whatnot would be an interesting evening for him. I know for certain that he wouldn't go with me if I was just going to listen.

So, I said to HG, "You don't want to come to the coffeehouse do you?" and he said, "I wasn't invited," all fake-hurt and stuff so I said, "I didn't think you'd want to go," and he just shrugged like maybe he would so I said, "Will you come listen to me sing at the coffeehouse?" in an invitational way and he said...

Get this...

He said, "I don't know." In a tone that clearly implied PARAGRAPH 2 above.

And I have to say that I don't really want him to come if he's just going to be bored, and if he does come, we'll be taking separate cars (very un-green of us but relationship-necessary) so he can leave whenever and I can stay until the end.

But at the same time, I want him to want to come because it's what I'm interested in and I'm performing. I went to 3 KISS farewell concerts (3 separate farewell tours - they say goodbye a lot - and they're touring again now) with him, forpetessake, because it is what he's interested in, and he wasn't even in the shows!

Frustrating Things

AAARRGGH! Pete has something wrong with her feet or something. She'll try on a pair of shoes in the store and we'll buy them and then when we get home and she puts them on to wear them to school or someplace, suddenly they're so unbelievably uncomfortable that she melts down and then puts her old shoes on instead. That's why a person really shouldn't buy shoes for Pete unless Pete is with you, but even then it won't matter.

Saturday I am on the hunt for a short and slutty jean skirt to wear to church next weekend (my church rocks! more about this later, probably), and I recalled seeing jean skirts at that store with the talking mannequins. The skirts were too conservative and cost too much to buy one and alter it, but Pete found these really awesome canvas sneakers with peace signs on them on sale. Even though she actually needs some sneakers, I resisted buying them because I believed they would be an excuse for a school-morning, pre-bus meltdown. She tried them on, though, and promised that she would wear them and not freak out, and I bought them. Dummy.

Monday Pete put on her butterfly dress and tie-dye leggings and some socks while I cut the tags off her shoes. Her new, super-cool shoes. That she had promised she would wear if, "Please Mommy? Can [she] have them?" Really it was just downhill from there. I don't want to tell the rest of the story...

Quick Summary Pete got on the bus with tear-stained cheeks and her old beat up boots on. Husbandguy left for work with a bag with the shoes and a receipt in it. I considered telling Pete that "Daddy took the shoes back on his lunchhour," which will be true, but being Bel, I will probably actually say, "I asked Daddy to..." Then I will be in trouble for 30 minutes. But we won't have to fight about those shoes again.

I really don't know what to do about this. She can't wear her boots everywhere!

Use This Word Today

Pete came up with cross between confused and puzzled, and I'm going to try to use it a lot...

CONFUZZLED!

Bel Wonders...

What is the opposite of a Hippie?

BAZINGA!

Pete's comedy gene is kicking in, I think. She has said several clever and original things recently that made me laugh. Let's see if they translate well secondhand...

Last night at dinner, Pete shared one of her sweet potato fries with Lulu, who hadn't liked them the last time she'd tried them. This time, though, she took a bite, chewed, and then triumphantly declared, "I swallowed it!" Being silly people, Husbandguy and I said alarming things like, "Oh no! Why would you do that?!" and "Now what are we going to do?!" and "You're not supposed to swallow them!" (haha - we're funny - haha) But Pete had the best one. She said, "I'm not swallowing them. I just chew on them for flavor and then hide them under my tongue..." :D

Then this morning, Pete was interviewing the dog (we really are very silly here sometimes), and when she asked her what her name was I said things like, "Norbit" and "Luther," and Pete commented each time to Abby saying things like, "Norbit? That's an unusual name," and stuff. Then I noticed it was almost time for the bus to come so I said, "Ten minutes..." and Pete said to Abby, "Your name is Ten Minutes? You must be a watch dog!" :D

There was one more clever thing just recently, but I can't remember it right now. I'll post it later if I think of it.

Her great-granddad (after whom she is named) would be proud, I think...

Pete Says:

Yesterday I did something a little different when I cleaned the toilets.

Later in the evening, Pete came up to me, clearly concerned, and said, "Mom? My pee is blue..."

(On the plus side, I know that she knows that she can talk to me about anything!)