Into The Woods

We have a talented theater group at my parish that has done a summer production for the past several years.  This year was Into The Woods.  I've never heard fairy tales told quite that way before, with consequences of wishing & wishes granted, and the "ever-after" not so happy.  Mom & I really enjoyed this - neither of us had seen it before

Our music director is also a music & drama teacher, and she brings all this together.  We are very fortunate to have something like this.  Some of the other plays they've done were:

Nunsense II
Godspell
Sound of Music
Murder Mystery Dinner Theater
Nuncrackers
Seussical the Musical
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Storytelling

I am taking a class titled "Healing, Growth & Transformation through Story" as part of my required annual addictions counselor training.  I signed up for this course because it sounded like fun.  In addictions, a client's recovery often involves telling their own story.  I may not be able to use it in doing assessments, but I'm sure I can use it in life.  I never thought of myself as a storyteller, but have been an avid reader since childhood.  Stories have been a way for me to get outside my limited existence, and into strange new worlds. 

Swimming Pool

I always wanted a swimming pool.  When I was a kid, my neighbors had a 3 foot pool, then later a 4 foot pool.  We belonged to a community pool for a few years, but never got one for the yard.  I bought small pools for the kids, and got a 3 foot pool one year, but it didn't hold up over the winter.  We tried a few more times with the small quick set pools, but they did not have filters and were hard to keep clean.  A few years ago, I started seeing these pools that looked like a big blue inner tube - quick set pools with filter included.  My daughter got one and set it up in the yard.  It's not on a completely level spot, but it's good enough for the grandkids - at least the older ones - to splash around & cool off.  Now we have to get replacement filters, a pool cover and pool chemicals.  I probably won't get in it much, and I'd still like to have a built in pool like the one my dad had in FL.

A Scouting Family

There has been a long tradition of Scouting in my family.  My sisters & I were Girl Scouts, though I didn't stay with it long as a kid.  My brothers were in Cub Scouts for a few years, and one was in Boy Scouts.  When my neice & nephew were young, my sister was a Girl Scout leader and other sister & brother-in-law were involved with Cub Packs and Boy Scout troops for many years.  My son was in from Tiger Cub to Life Scout - through his Senior year in high school. My daughter was in Girl Scouts from Daisy to Cadette - she lost interest in middle school.  I held many leadership positions with both Scouting groups.  Now 2 of my grandsons will be old enough to join Cub Scouts in the fall.