The New Year

   Sorry I haven't written in a while, the craziness of the last week of the year has finally hit us. We're trying to balance the new play rehearsals that are going on, the last minute babysitting jobs that pop up when people realize we don't do anything or go anywhere for Christmas and the constant visits to the car shop for all our cars during this lovely icy snowy month.  Vincents "Baby" has had to go in for a headlight replacement, because when you aim your car towards a tree and you don't stop the car, that tree will... and wont be very nice about it. Vincent came home bothered with the fact that in the first week of having something big, he usually has to replace it or fix it. Poor Bub. The same thing happened with his Droid Evo, where he cracked the screen, well actually more like smashed it.
 My sister Rachel and I have gotten a lot of babysitting jobs too, running here and there, at the last minute. I mean like 2 minutes notice. Well we live in the middle of everything and almost everybody, we're homeschooled, we have 3 little sisters and we LOVE kids. By the way, this is NOT an advertisement!
 And the Rehearsals... they are going... ahem, pretty well. For those of you who know my dad probably can read this without shock. You see, he's in a musical and he wont DANCE!! Wont is too soft of a word. He REFUSES to dance in a musical!! I tried to convince him that Dancing goes with music and musicals. He didn't want to believe me. I feel so sorry for the choreographer (Stacey if your reading this, I feel for you!!) who has to deal with my Dad! The other day he hurt his back during work and of course used it for an excuse out of dancing. Ahhh Dad the wonders of Musicals!!

Vincent's New Baby... ahem... I Mean, Car.

As your probably guess by the title, Vince has finally bought himself a car, and at long last I can have my bike back that he had to use all year to get to work since he crashed his. He simply adores his little car and you cant help feeling the excitement he shows when hes about to take it out for a spin. You wouldn't believe all the different reasons and excuses he tries on the parents to go somewhere. And the rules!! I mean right when I step in the car, he informs me that we don't move anywhere until we're buckled, no one is to touch the radio without permission and no leaning your head on the windows because of the greasy forehead marks. Oh! And no eating chocolate because it make the car smell, "like chocolate."  Yeah, he's having fun!

Toyota Camry '96

The Big Winter Storm

We were supposed to be getting up to 2 feet of snow yesterday, complete with black ice, blizzard and below freezing temperatures. We were all getting ready for it with shovels and sand.  Looking at the weather forecast we saw a huge storm cloud headed our way. But through the hours, nothing happened. It was boring. No snow. Well I kinda liked that part. But there was just wind. Our church was cancelled though. We stayed home and had family time. It was great.

Cuties

Drew Barrymore

Freddie Highmore

Dakota Fanning

Abigail Breslin

Mary Kate and Ashly Olsen

Lindsy Lohan

Haley Joel Osment

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kirk Camron   

hayley mills

Josh Hutcherson 

Elijah Wood

Macaulay Culkin

Robert Downey Jr.

     

    Trying to figure out which one of these kids are the cutest. What do you think?? Come on, I know you want to comment!!!

Macbeth and the "Curse"

While I was finishing up one of my interviews I thought of one more question that had had me wondering for a while. Without thinking about where I was I blurted out the question, “Why is every one so crazy about the word Macbeth?” Thru-out my short experience with the theatre I was told that Macbeth is the last thing you want to say in the playhouse. In fact my friends had gone so far as to make me run and knock on the nearest piece of real wood in the back stage. I thought that asking my interviewee who had been in theatre for a while would be a good idea to see what he thought about the crazy superstition. I couldn't tell if he agreed with it, but he seemed adamant. When I asked him his eyes lit up like he was up to something.  
  “Ahh.” He said “ Macbeth. Your not supposed to say that word in the theatre house unless your performing it.” When I asked why he shrugged. “Its just become a tradition. It is a suspicion that people have held onto.”
Right then my brother walked into the theatres auditorium that we were talking in. “Did I just hear someone say the "M" word?!.” He said his eyes wide in fained terror.
My friend and I looked at each other and laughed, automatically getting ready to blame it on the other person. “ Oh yeah," I said, "I was asking him about it.”
He jumped in and tried to help me out, “No, I was telling her about it.” We ended the conversation about Macbeth there, but I walked away with an unsatisfying answer . When I got home I decided to look it up and find out what people had to say about it. It turns out there’s a lot of things that went wrong in the first performance of Macbeth, but not only then, all of the performances after it. There were so many instances reported about people either getting hurt, committing suicide, falling of theatre balconies, stabbing each other with actual swords, getting into car crashes and many more that people liked to blame the curse. Some like to believe the play was cursed by three witches in Shakespeare's time who were not happy with the theatrical display of the three witches in the show. Less superstitious people try to explain that the play itself has a lot of sword play, fighting and murders all done at night (or dimmed lights), and thus the likelihood of getting hurt in some way  was greater then your regular show.
 In 1611 when Macbeth was supposedly first performed, the actor going to play Lady Macbeth got sick and died before he could go on stage, causing Shakespeare himself to go and play the part. Shakespeare was hoping to impress King James the 1 and so he included witches (something that the King found great interest in), a family member of the King and also made it a short play, knowing that the King did not like long ones. Unfortunately it was not a hit, and it would be another 50 years before it was done again. The ways that people go around the “curse” is by calling the play something different, The Scottish Play is the most used and popular. Other names include, The Scottish King, Mackers and the Scottish Lord. If and when you say it you are told to run and do one of the many things to counter act the curse. Just a taste of them are, knocking on real wood, running out side the theatre spinning three times and spitting, cursing or quoting some lines from Hamlet.
So now I’m satisfied because I found out what its all about. I don’t think there really is a curse on the play and I’m not going to run around outside after I’ve said it, but I am going to keep in mind that it is a dangerous play because of its stage combat. I think I’ll stay away from that one unless the director is going to use foam swords.
-Sara Furmato

Read more at:
http://home.flash.net/~manniac/macb.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scottish_Play
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/column.php?id=160421

Haircut

   Rachel my sister is good at many things, cooking, sewing, cleaning, math. But recently I got to benefit even more from her knowledge and know how. Rachel cuts hair. She practices a lot on the guys in the family, but this was the first time shes styled my hair. I wasn't too scared, I mean my hair is pretty forgiving, but I made sure I grabbed a mirror before I sat down. She kept saying that I was her Guinea pig and that didn't help with the stress.  I didn't need to worry though. Rachel is awesome!!! She gave me an Amy Adams haircut that I absolutely adore. I'm so happy with it but the best part was that it was totally and completely free. Heehee, I like free stuff. 

Snow Insulation and Tabitha's Indefatigability

  Every winter my mom sends us out to the back yard to pack snow up against the back of the house. It's supposed to keep the house a little warmer than it already is. So yesterday my sisters and I crammed ourselves into our snow-pants, shoved our heads in hats and headed out to the back to start our igloo building.  Now the snow was up to my knees so it was a good 1 1/2 feet, so I decided I would walk ahead of all the girls and make a path. Tabitha however thought that she could do it all by her self and ran ahead. Well actually more like waddled. The snow was above her waist and there she was pushing through the snow acting like it was the easiest thing in the world. She is such a good sport. I kept asking if she was cold but the answer was always, "No." After I was done pounding the snow into blocks all around the backside of the house I had to practically drag her in. All the way to the house I kept telling her to follow Rachel who was walking in the already made path, but either she was totally blind or she didn't think she needed the help. Of course.

Glasses of Water

 Ok, so I want you to try something. Its really very easy. Just place a glass of water on the window sill for each child, sibling or family member in your house. Now look at them, realizing that each of those glasses represent a human being, a life, a soul. Take in the fact that every one of those lives are different. That each one gives something and takes something from you. That each one breathes and thinks. Visualize life without one of those glasses of water. One less. Two less. Now thank God for every single one of those cups. For every single life that hes allowed you to grow with, live with, learn with and enjoy. 

"Working" on Another Play

My brother and Dad just got into another musical at our local civic theatre called "Working". I'm happy for them. I am gearing up for the next 3 months of sending them off to rehearsals while I sit and wish that somehow I could cram my self into the back of the trunk and go with them. I hate that I cant go. Its like some one holding a nice steaming chocolate cookie in front of your face and not giving it to you. I love being involved in shows, and this is the first one that I'm not directly in. I'm the one stuck with writing up reports and reviews of all the rehearsals. Well I guess something is better than nothing. I'll just hang tight until next summer when I force the Director to allow me to be the Stage Manager again. Ok, well maybe not force, but I will beg you can be sure of that. Its fun trying to control about 25 teens your age. Seriously. There is something that makes you feel really good when you finally get that someone to listen to you. You know the one that wont stop clicking the pen during notes or the one that keeps insisting that his parents did give him permission to run all the way down town in the middle a performance. Yeah, I cant wait for next summers Musical.

Favorite Quotes

"We can always try to do better. To be better. To right a wrong. Even when it feels irreversible. Of course, I'm sorry doesn't always cut it. Maybe because we use it so many different ways. As a weapon. As an excuse. But, when we are really sorry, when we use it right. When we mean it. When our actions say what words never can. When we get it right "I'm sorry" is perfect. When we get it right, "I'm sorry" is redemption." - Dr.Meredith Grey

"The human life is made up of choices. Yes or no. In or out. Up or down. And then there are the choices that matter. Love or hate. To be a hero or to be a coward. To fight or to give in. To live. Or die. Live or die. That's the important choice. And it's not always in our hands." - Dr. Derek Shepherd

"When doctors say 'I'm sorry' it either means 'You're dying and there's nothing I can do' or 'This is really going to hurt." - Meredith Grey

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”-  Dr. Meredith Grey

Bad Roads

Wow! We are literally buried in snow! There is up to 4 feet now. Because we live next to the lake we get whats called Lake Effect snow that likes to blow over us and make us non-existent. Somehow we persevere though. With our strong snowploughs, quick road sanders and tiny but effective sidewalk ploughs, we people here in West Michigan I'm proud to say have figured these crazy winters out. You know you dont leave the house without a coat, boots, sand, salt, gloves, blankets and shovel. You know to drive no faster than 30 mph and how to control an unwelcome doughnut spin. We've also mastered the art of shoveling drives and reattaching the mail box to the pole every morning. Yes. I think we've been through this enough times to know that We are all in this together. Every one needs to do their job because if not, well We are all gonna have a snow day.

Clutz

We were all sitting around the table in the kitchen eating dinner when Dad told Rachel to run in the other room and put a sweater on because she looked so cold sitting there. So Rachel obediently got up and walked into the other room. We heard a thump and then silence but we didnt think anything of it assuming that she had walked into a door or wall like usual. She was only gone for a few seconds but when she got back she was slightly limping. When I asked her if she had bumped into something she shook her head. "No." She said. "I slipped on a  blanket and fell on the ground." She slipped back into her chair while the whole family started to laugh. Not long after that I dug my fork into my salad and yelped in pain as the balsamic vinegar in the homemade dressing shot up into my eyeball. Do you know how much that HURTS!! The vinegar was tangy and painful in your mouth let a lone in your eye. Every one was laughing even more now, but more than anyone, my Mom. Whenever you get hurt you can count on my mom laughing her head off. Really. She thinks its the funniest thing ever when some one gets hurt. And the more pained face you can pull off the harder she laughs. Its become a game in our family, trying to get my mom to laugh at our pain.  Its kinda funny actually.

Sunrise in December

 I woke up to this gorgeous sunrise yesterday. Sadly I couldn't get the best part of it because by the time I found the camera it was nearly all finished. I will try to keep the camera on hand next time.

Snow

Ok. I guess I should have been ready for it. I mean its December already! But I think I was hoping that maybe it just wouldn't come this year. Or the next, or the next... What exactly does snow do for us? Really. We have to wake up at 5 in the morning to shovel the drive, take a full half hour to get dressed warm enough not to freeze our ears off and run out to the car an hour before you have to actually go somewhere to start it up only to find that its just as cold as when you started. But I guess theres some good stuff about it. I mean, imagine the world without hot chocolate. Or the warmth of the fire when you come in from a long cold wintry walk. Maybe the Lord gave us the snow so that we would better appreciate the warmth of a fully insulated house or the fuzzy slippers that we slip on in the morning. Hmmm. Its a thought.

Oh yeah!!!

I have this totally awesome bestie who helped me make my blog greater than I ever could have!!! Yay! Enjoy the new look cause if not... well yeah, just enjoy it! LOL Im so happy I have such a great friend. She can like do EVERYTHING on the computer. She loves to call me the blond. Haha! memories!