Putting Scrooge to Bed!

That relieved look on my face means that our run of A Christmas Carol has come to a successful end. In the end it did turn out to be fun and satisfying. I enjoyed being back on the stage and rediscovering that I'm not only a singer, but also a decent actress. I recieved the best compliment a narrator can get from a complete stranger who said he could listen to me tell stories all night. Much of the audience, I am told, had no idea that I was an American, so my accent must not have been too awful!

(Above) Michael is all smiles for once...after the show!

Backstage...those crazy Fezziwig Misses are at it again!! Our feather-bedecked mother (Nikki) looks on in disgust. Oh, where did she go wrong in training us up to be nice ladies!

The Turkey Day Blues

Today I am feeling so far away. George has gone off to work and the kids are at school. It is just an ordinary day here, but I know you're all gathered around turkeys and sweet potato pies and cranberry sauces which still retain the shape of the cans they came from. This morning when the clock went off at 7:30 a.m., it just felt so wrong. I remember grumbling to my husband, "If we were home today, we'd all have the day off." Since I am performing in A Christmas Carol all this week , we won't even have a proper sit-down family meal tonight. Well, now I have thoroughly depressed myself. I may have even eaten half a bag of Doritos while sitting here fretting about what we're missing.

My husband George would say, "Think about all of the cool holidays our kids are getting to experience here that they would never have if we lived at home." Yeah yeah yeah.
I want some pie and a four day weekend!! If I were Sophie Carson, I would stomp up the stairs and pitch a temper fit in my bedroom over it right now. I realize that none of this is in the spirit of Thanksgiving, and I know my blessings are bountiful, but surely I am allowed to feel a little homesick, jealous and stroppy on Thanksgiving. No?

Seriously now, don't worry about me. As Tim Long would most certainly say: I "will be ah-ight!" Happy Thanksgiving one and all, and eat an extra piece of pie for me...that's an order!

Christmas a Humbug?

Last night's dress rehearsal for A Christmas Carol turned out to be good fun with only a few mistakes. Michael (pictured above) enjoyed all of his costume changes entirely too much. In the above photo we are dressed and ready for Fezziwig's Christmas party.

Here I am admiring Martin's hot chestnuts...as usual.

The Fezziwig slappers...I mean, girls

The Owl Jammies

When we were home over the summer each of us girls got a few new pairs of pajamas or night gowns. This is all very exciting. I am a firm believer in sleeping comfortably while preferably also wearing some sort of interesting pattern such as tutu-clad, dancing sock monkeys. The photo to the right shows a pair of gorgeous Nick and Nora pajamas I bought for Sophie.

Lately, however, I keep finding this particular pair hidden in various places around her room. They've been shoved beneath the stack of sheets in the closet, in the toy box, and under the bed. Finally it occured to me to ask, "Sophie, why do you keep hiding these owl pajamas??"
The answer was, "Because I don't like them."
Without really thinking, I said, "Oh, Sophie, but these are great! They are my favorite!"
Of course, the cheeky little devil replied, "Then you should have bought them in YOUR size!"
How grand to have a daughter who isn't afraid to speak her mind. That's my girl!

On another note, as grouchy as I've been about the play I'm in, now that we've gotten down to the dress rehearsals, I must admit that I'm enjoying it. Something happens when we all put on our costumes. It is quite good fun to throw on a cape and a bonnet and assume a different accent. I'm sure it will be even more exciting tomorrow night when we actually have a real audience. I will try to take some photos if possible... maybe I can sneak my digital camera on stage. That wouldn't detract at all from the Dickensian atmosphere of the show, right?

When I'm Worried and I Can't Sleep, I Count My Blessings Instead of Sheep...

Neither sheep nor blessings are hard to come by here...nor was sleep last night after our feast of turkey and love.

Last night we shared Thanksgiving with the Collins family, whom we have just about decided to adopt as our very own. We had a lovely night with lots of good food; then we rounded out the evening with some good old fashioned Christmas Karaoke...just like mom used to make!

Today we are digging ourselves out of a pile of dirty dishes and pots and pans, and we now remember why we only do a Thanksgiving-style meal once a year... but boy, was it good... and worth all of the post meal clean-up.

Thank you, God for pumpkin pies,

For excited kids with twinkling eyes,

For husbands who can cook and clean.

Thank you, God, for everything!

Amen.

We Need a Little Christmas...and Thanksgiving

Thanks largely to the show choir I was a part of in high school and all of the fun and high jinks that seemed to ensue at Christmas time, Christmas remains one of my favorite times of year. Apart from the crowds out shopping, I am a big fan of most everything having to do with Christmas, and since we are celebrating Thanksgiving early today, I will probably be kicking off the Christmas season early this year. (The kids and I have already been listening to some Christmas music in the car.) Since there is no such thing as Thanksgiving in the UK (although I have heard some Brits refer to the 4th of July as their Thanksgiving--cheeky!), Christmas seems to kick off earlier here anyway.

This morning I took Emma and Sophie to a Christmas Fayre at Christ Church in Radyr. We had a really lovely time. There was a lovely Christmas concert performed by the choir, mulled wine, mince pies and turkey rolls, and fun activities for the kids...including, as you can see, face painting. Sophie and Emma had unique face painting requests. Sophie wanted to be Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and Emma wanted to be an angel. Caroline, the face painter, did a nice job!

George is busy in the kitchen with turkey and pumpkin pie, and I will be joining him soon to round out the meal. After reading my friend Molly's blog post the other day, I may have to make, "Chocolate Heaven" (also known as Doo Doo Balls to those of us with no social graces).

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

• If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart
  
• Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. ~Robert Caspar Lintner


• Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet. Believe in man. Soberly and with clear eyes, believe in your own time and place. There is not, and there never has been a better time, or a better place to live in. ~Phillips Brooks


• Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart. ~Seneca


• Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser


• We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. ~Author Unknown


• Thanksgiving, man! Not a good day to be my pants. ~Kevin James


• I thank God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. ~ Philippians 1:3-4

Gratitude and Contentment

Hello All!

Obviously I have decided that I've had it up to here (pointing to my eyebrows) with freewebs and all of its slowness and faults, so I have moved here to blogspot. The web address isn't too different from my other one, and this already appears to be much more user friendly. I am, therefore, likely to blog more frequently.... we shall see.

It is always at this time of year that I feel like patting myself (and George) on the back for whatever we have done to raise such content children for it is at this time of year that all of our relatives start asking, "What do the kids want for Christmas?" I can honestly say, they seem to want nothing. Neither of them has asked for anything. In fact I was talking to Emma about it the other day and she said she thought she'd ask Father Christmas (yes, she's totally British now) to just bring her something that he thinks she would like.

I'm sure life won't always be this simple and easy. One day they will be asking for ipods and blackberries and Ugg boots or whatever the "thing" is, but for now, I am savouring it. We will be having our Thanksgiving dinner this weekend since I am performing in A Christmas Carol in Radyr all next week. So when we pause to think about the things we are grateful for, two little girls who have learned to embrace the magic of the season without all of the materialism will top my list. God bless us, every one! :)