I think this song is so fun and catchy. The kids really like it, too. (Un)fortunately, they want to sing along, so Zach asked,
"Mama, is it 'against the well' or 'teach you well'?"
Shame on me. I told him, "Teach you well."
Hopefully he won't remember that when I understands the words on his own. White lies.
October 29, 2009
8:30am Thursday, Day 2
Scott is supposed to fly home tonight. Will he make it? The weather forecast calls for 3-6" more in the metro area, 4-8" more in the foothills. We're usually somewhere in the middle of those. And 40mph winds picking up "potentially creating blizzard-like conditions."
Shooey!
Better get that drive shoveled. Zach wants to go sledding. It's only getting to the mid to upper 20s today. I'm not sure I want to go sledding.
6:00pm
Scully: "Oh, my." (sigh)
Don't worry. That wine is swiftly removed from the cold, after measuring the snow. It (and I) is much happier inside.
A couple of inches above the bottle, and that's not even at the middle of the table.
Don't worry. That wine is swiftly removed from the cold, after measuring the snow. It (and I) is much happier inside.
A couple of inches above the bottle, and that's not even at the middle of the table.
October 28, 2009
3:30 pm
Some of this is a result of drifting, but it's still a LOT of snow.
Poor Scully.
View through the kitchen window.
Poor Scully.
View through the kitchen window.
First 1/2
As I'm wont to do, impulsively, I signed up for the Denver 1/2 Marathon about 10 weeks before the event.
In preparation, I:
- spent some time researching training plans,
- created a training spreadsheet,
- learned I was *surprise!* late on beginning,
- developed a 4-week cough that sent me to the doc: bronchitis,
- took antibiotics that wreaked havoc on my GI tract, freaking me out on my "long" run, pre-race,
- remembered it was probably the antibiotics not just the running that necessitated proximity to the trees,
- felt accomplished at surviving that 90-minute run,
- tried to get a few more 5-mile runs in, hoping my body would remember it should expect a serious pounding soon,
- purchased a new "you-look-like-a-pro" running shirt and socks, and borrowed some capris to complete "the look",
- made crock-pot spaghetti, since we were without a few appliances (though the fridge was conveniently located next to the LaZBoy (sp?) in the living room, making it all-too-easy to reach for that training-mandated, extra (insert sweet treat)),
- assisted Scott with kid-wrangling, floorboard glueing, appliance moving, moulding-painting, wall touch-up, and assorted other bent-at-the-back tasks (all essential parts of race training, according to RunnersWorld),
- rocked out with the girls at Wicked on race-eve (ditto on the parenthetical above, especially if it can limit your pre-race sleep to about 8-10 hours in two days...oh, but if you throw in a coupla days of carbo-loading, it's even better),
- created several race-day prep lists, laid out all race paraphernalia in one spot, moved it to another spot, set the alarm for o-dark-thirty, and actually managed to sleep through to the alarm with only one "Did-I-Over-Sleep?!" waking,
- met up with Alayna at the park-n-ride to head downtown,
- may/not have earned a ticket at 6:00am at the intersection of 6th and Lincoln, as we wound our way over to the start area, looking for parking,
- marveled at how the weather cleared for race weekend (previous and post-weekends had/have been mis.er.able),
- visited the bank of portapotties, solicited help from fellow runners on how to attach our race chips, threw goodie bags into the stashing area, and cued up the Shuffle, and joined the throng of runners hitting the pavement.
Whew! It was an amazing experience! Part of me dreaded it, and part was super-excited and actually a little Zen. Huh? I think all my excuses led me to be able to just take it easy, and not get all anal and competitive about the whole thing. Of course now I think I could have done better, but that's for next year...
October 17, 2009
Witchy Women
Such fun hanging with these Wicked-Great ladies. We sorely missed those of you who could not make it, and who missed the paparazzi above.
I kept the program and will keep the "Witchy Women" article inside my copy of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. A few passages stood out to me, and I thought I'd share them with you all:
"'The idea behind Wicked is that things are not as they seem,' notes book-writer Winnie Holzman. 'What you think you know, you don't really know. It is the premise of the novel that you know certain things, but you don't know the deeper story.'
"The same notion drew composer Stephen Schwartz to the project: "I'm often attracted to an idea that takes and familiar story and spins it, looking at it from another direction, like Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I like when I see things like that, and I like to write them. For me, if you take a familiar story...and you come at it from another point of view, the tension between the audience's preconception and the approach you're taking to the stry adds an extra level of response, plus it helps to clarify the points you're trying to make."
'The idea of taking what is one of the icnic villains of American culture, the Wicked Witch of the West - so much 'the villain' that we don't even know her name - and looking at it from her point of view, that seemed to me a brilliant concept. It was clear [that] a show about her could explore some of my favorite themes: the difference between surface appearances and what's really going on underneath, how life is more complex and has more ambiguity than we tend to be comfortable with and, certainly, that our public discourse admits to.'"
"Garrison [actor who played the Wizard] wisely suggested: 'There's a green-eyed girl inall of us...Everyone has felt like the outcast at one time or another. It's part of the show's appeal. It's not a children's show, but kids enjoy the fantasy of it, adolescents get the love story and adults see the political alegory.'"
I am confused by one thing, however. The show's program lists the "Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz" and then "Book by Winnie Holzman," who is listed as a "librettist" in the article mentioned above. First, I need to look up what a "librettist" is, and then I'm wondering what book they're talking about.
Librettist: (n) writer of a libretto
Libretto: (n) 1. the text of a work (as an opera) for the musical theater, 2. the book containing a libretto
So... ?? I wonder if there's a Wicked (without the ": The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West") book, as well? I would have guessed that Holzman may have written the lyrics of the show, but Schwartz did.
Thoughts?
I kept the program and will keep the "Witchy Women" article inside my copy of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. A few passages stood out to me, and I thought I'd share them with you all:
"'The idea behind Wicked is that things are not as they seem,' notes book-writer Winnie Holzman. 'What you think you know, you don't really know. It is the premise of the novel that you know certain things, but you don't know the deeper story.'
"The same notion drew composer Stephen Schwartz to the project: "I'm often attracted to an idea that takes and familiar story and spins it, looking at it from another direction, like Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I like when I see things like that, and I like to write them. For me, if you take a familiar story...and you come at it from another point of view, the tension between the audience's preconception and the approach you're taking to the stry adds an extra level of response, plus it helps to clarify the points you're trying to make."
'The idea of taking what is one of the icnic villains of American culture, the Wicked Witch of the West - so much 'the villain' that we don't even know her name - and looking at it from her point of view, that seemed to me a brilliant concept. It was clear [that] a show about her could explore some of my favorite themes: the difference between surface appearances and what's really going on underneath, how life is more complex and has more ambiguity than we tend to be comfortable with and, certainly, that our public discourse admits to.'"
"Garrison [actor who played the Wizard] wisely suggested: 'There's a green-eyed girl inall of us...Everyone has felt like the outcast at one time or another. It's part of the show's appeal. It's not a children's show, but kids enjoy the fantasy of it, adolescents get the love story and adults see the political alegory.'"
I am confused by one thing, however. The show's program lists the "Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz" and then "Book by Winnie Holzman," who is listed as a "librettist" in the article mentioned above. First, I need to look up what a "librettist" is, and then I'm wondering what book they're talking about.
Librettist: (n) writer of a libretto
Libretto: (n) 1. the text of a work (as an opera) for the musical theater, 2. the book containing a libretto
So... ?? I wonder if there's a Wicked (without the ": The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West") book, as well? I would have guessed that Holzman may have written the lyrics of the show, but Schwartz did.
Thoughts?
October 09, 2009
The Park Before the Storm
I can't recall the specific meteorological conditions (as I'm adding this post several weeks later), but the title of the photo album indicates we were expecting some colder weather soon.
What a beautiful, fall day! The kids had a blast, even though the paparazzi was freezing. Didn't spoil their fun. And I'm glad I toughed it out because the kids were darn cute.
October 06, 2009
Home-Made Play Dough
Because it's hard to volunteer in Zach's class what-with his little sister-monster who'd wreak havoc in the room, I signed up to help with outside of the class prep. My first assignment of the year was to make play dough for the week. It was fun!
Preschool Play Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
4 Tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups water
1 package Kool-aid, unsweetened
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
In medium saucepan mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, and Kool-aid. Stir in water and oil. Stir over medium heat 3- 5 minutes or until mixture forms a ball in the center of the pan. Mine took about 7 minutes to form a ball.
Remove to floured surface and knead one minute.
Store in air tight container (Ziplock) in refrigerator.
* Still need to find out how long this "keeps." And if it should be kept in the fridge for the duration of its "playlife."
* Another friend suggested adding glitter to the dough! Fun!
ALSO a friend shared a recipe for EDIBLE Play Dough. (Edible as long as you're not allergic to PB):
1 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. honey
1/2 c. powdered milk
Mix together to make a playdough.
Optional: Wheat germ, coconut, decorations: raisins, nuts.
Use as regular playdough, then eat!
Preschool Play Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
4 Tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups water
1 package Kool-aid, unsweetened
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
In medium saucepan mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, and Kool-aid. Stir in water and oil. Stir over medium heat 3- 5 minutes or until mixture forms a ball in the center of the pan. Mine took about 7 minutes to form a ball.
Remove to floured surface and knead one minute.
Store in air tight container (Ziplock) in refrigerator.
* Still need to find out how long this "keeps." And if it should be kept in the fridge for the duration of its "playlife."
* Another friend suggested adding glitter to the dough! Fun!
ALSO a friend shared a recipe for EDIBLE Play Dough. (Edible as long as you're not allergic to PB):
1 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. honey
1/2 c. powdered milk
Mix together to make a playdough.
Optional: Wheat germ, coconut, decorations: raisins, nuts.
Use as regular playdough, then eat!
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