Me and my big mouth

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post.  Sorry about that folks.  It's not that I've been doing anything overly exciting really, just very, very, very, busy. 

But let's start at the beginning shall we.  Not long after we arrived, and I started this blog, I think I mentioned that I had attended a SAALED (South African Association for Learning and Educational Differences)  congress.  I had the great fortune to meet the music teacher at the kids school that day and we spent a long time talking about kids and the arts.  I should have stopped at that point, but when she said that the kids school was doing a musical this year I just had to open up my big mouth. I told her about how I had done musical theatre all through high school, university (varsity in SA) and a couple of years beyond.

Fast forward to the beginning of August.  Said teacher calls and says, "Do you remember how you told me all about your love of musical theatre?  Well I need some help." 

If you know me, you know that I have one weakness.  No, not chocolate or alcohol.  My one big weakness is my inability to say no to someone in need.  When she told me "There are 2 other mothers who are really on board with this, but they don't have your background in the theatre and we need sets" I caved and said yes.

What I didn't recall at the time of accepting the job was that dh was going to be out of town on business for 2 weeks.  What I couldn't have known, was that I was also to be the set designer, as nothing had been planned beyond some "visions" in the directors head.  Add to it that we had 2 1/2 weeks to get it done and almost zero budget and we 3 gals had our work cut out for us.

As part of dh's job he has always had to travel.  Not such a big deal when you live less than a kilometer away from the one school that all your kids attend and both sets of grandparents are close enough to lend a hand.  That was Canada.  Ah, the good old days.

Dh did go away in July for 1 or 2 nights to Joburg, but neither dd nor ds#1 were in school at that point, or maybe it was during school holidays I can't remember, but it wasn't a big deal.  This time he was off to Detroit, Michigan for 3 days and then Brussels, Belgium for 7.  Add 4 days worth of flying time and he was going to be gone for 2 weeks.

I couldn't back out of the musical.  So, I soldiered on and here is how day one went.

0530              Wake up, grumble, shower, grumble, dry hair, grumble, get dressed, grumble some more
0600              Make large pot of strong coffee
0605              Wake up children
0610              Finish children's lunches, empty dishwasher, put away dinner dishes
0620              Wake up children
0625              Make breakfast for children
0630              Loudly, but politely suggest to children that it is time to wake up
0635              Quietly thank children for coming down to eat and suggest that they should eat faster
0645              Tell children breakfast is over, time to get dressed
0650              Give children 5 minutes to shoes warning
0651              Give children 4 minutes to shoes warning
0652              Finish packing backpacks and putting them in the car
0654              Give children 1 minute to shoes warning
0655              Realize that 2 of 3 children don't even have their underwear on yet
0656              Dress children
0700              Help children put on shoes
0705              Pile in the van for school
0710              Realize that my thermal travel mug of coffee is keeping the kitchen counter warm
0735              Drop ds #1 at school. 
0750              Drive halfway back home to drop ds #2 at school
0755              Peel dd off my leg and leave her in the capable hands of the teachers at school
0800              Arrive at the hall of ds #2 school to make sets for the musical
0900              Receive call from the front gate of the housing complex that someone has shown up
0905              Race back home to let in said trades person who never told me they were coming
0910              Drink cold morning coffee
1000              Drive back to the school to build, paint, hang sets
1230              Pick up dd at school, drive to ds #2 school and sit in car until...
1250              Pick up ds #2 at school, drive to ds #1 school and sit in car until....
1400              Pick up ds #1 at school
1430              Arrive at home
1500              Homework
1530              Make dinner
1600              Eat dinner
1630              Drive back to school for evening rehearsal, wait listening to sibling sighs of boredom
1815              Return home
1830              Clean up kitchen and finish homework
1900              Bathe 3 children and set out next days uniforms
1905              Realize that uniforms are dirty and start a load of laundry
1930              Bed time snack
2000              Put 3 children to bed
2030              Make lunches, set out clothes, put laundry in dryer, clean up snack
2100              Realize that I forgot to feed the poor dog and myself all day
2105              Feed ravenous dog, eat the kids leftover supper
2115              Fall exhausted into bed thinking how my poor blog was being sorely negleczzzzzzzzzz.

Repeat x 13.  Thankfully, day one was the worst.  The kids got used to waking a little earlier and getting ready a little faster.  I remembered to take my coffee mug after day 4 or so, which helped immensly.  The trades people didn't come everyday, but most days. 

It was a crazy 2 weeks.  Needless to say I was very happy when dh got home.  Within 24 hours, my two weeks caught up with me and I had a chest and head cold.  So much for the welcome home party.

After dh got home there was still a week of performances.  Daytime performances for local schools and evening ones for the families.  The musical was amazing.  Hopefully, I didn't  ruined it for anyone else with all my coughing.   Our little team of 3, with some help from 5 or 6 other parents got it "done and dusted" as they would say here in SA.  We were pretty proud of what we managed.

1 of the 6 sets that we built was this Italian villiage scene. 

Ds #1 had his last performance today at school.  Because all of the children in the school participate onstage, in one role or another, they do one last performance for themselves.   They sit in the audience until it is their time to be on stage, they do their part and return to the audience to watch the rest.  It gives them a chance to see the show as a whole instead of just the act that they weren't in. 

Busy as I was, and sick as I am, I am glad I made the time to do this.  It gave me a chance to get to know some more of the moms and to truly become a part of the school community.   I have my photo on the school webpage to prove it.   I wouldn't change a thing, but I am glad they only do this every other year :)