Jr. Drama Summer Play and Missing Newhall

Chance decided to join the Jr. Drama summer production at our local park, which we call Rec. Park.  Last summer, Ike was in the Jr. Drama production, Sleeping Beauty.  Marina and Chance decided to join him for the winter production.  The age minimum for Jr. Drama is 7; and the maximum is 12 years old.  Chance turned 7 last August and Marina is turning 13 this July, so last winter was the only opportunity for all three kids to be in a Jr. Drama play together. I'm glad they did it.  It was Hansel and Gretel; and it was adorable. They were some of the only kids who didn't audition, so they had very small ensemble roles, maybe one or two lines each.

This year, we weren't planning on doing the play because the rehearsal schedules last summer and winter were challenging to work with. The rehearsals were all summer long, sporadically here and there; and it seemed a big, confusing mess for the organizers, while wrecking havoc on our schedule. Other kids were always missing rehearsals because they were on vacation.  This year the park made it a 3 week all day program; and it works much better.  We didn't know about this year's schedule change until the last minute.  Marina and Ike already had other commitments by the time Chance was invited by his friend Spencer to join the play.  Chance wasn't committed to anything because I was waiting to get vacation dates from his dad, so it actually worked out, in theory, until he quit, anyway.

Without Marina and Ike, Chance lasted one week out of a 3 week program. Ike was in soccer camp that first week and Marina was at Interlochen.  Ike's camp hours were almost the same as Chance's rehearsal hours, so Chance didn't mind going somewhere without Ike. Besides, Chance was happy to hang out with Spencer.

The second week of Jr. Drama started with the 4th of July, and Ike was staying home all week. He had plans for camp, but it was canceled due to low enrollment.  Chance didn't want to go anywhere as long as Ike was home, so that was the end of Jr. Drama.  Initially, he said he didn't want to do it because they made him dance.  Eventually, he came around and said that he wanted to stay home and play Wii with Ike instead.  They played video games, went swimming at the pool here, and went to the beach.  Then the boring weekend....see the last post.  

This week Ike has another commitment and Chance can't go with him because I am out of money, or whatever one stage past out of money would be considered.  I really overdid it with the kids' activities last summer and this summer.  I let them live outside of our means.  Robin makes it all possible, but he is tapped out and stressed out, so next summer will be scaled back for sure.  That is, unless I go back to work, which is in the planning stages.

Chance is all mopey faced because I couldn't send him with Ike this week.  I'm sure in his 7 year old world it seems unfair, although he would never say anything like that. I pointed out...Robin paid for him to be in drama this week, it's not like Chance was getting left out in the cold for a week.  Of course, secretly speaking, if I could, I would pay for two things and send Chance with Ike; and so would Robin.  We discussed it, looked at the numbers, but couldn't make it happen.  I do recognize that paying for one thing is ample, (still a luxury); and paying for two things is indulgent. Maybe being broke this week is good for everybody.  

We've established that this week Chance wishes he had something to do during the day, preferably with Ike. OK....today is the first day of the week.  It's only Monday.  I told him he could jump back into the play because he only had a small ensemble part, and so what if he missed a week, but he doesn't think he can learn the dances in time.  So he says.  So we were together all day, which is cool for me because I'm partial to the little guy, but, ohhhhh, the horror of being an only child for 5 hours.

Anyway, it was a beautiful Monday today, perfect beach weather, but I needed to go to Newhall to check on the dogs and rabbit because Robin is on a 3 day trip to Washington D.C.  Besides, I wanted to drop off a shipment of Simple Green products that I just received. (I have everything delivered to my mom's house because the Newhall house is in a rural neighborhood and getting packages is always a problem.)  Chance went with me; and I was glad to have an errand to keep his mind off of Ike.

I was happy to see that Robin had picked up two pieces of artwork that I had ordered months ago.  One large piece looks perfect with a smaller piece that we already own.  The colors in the art work with an old couch that my former sister-in-law Lorie gave me. We need to get the couch reupholstered and Robin and I already picked out the fabric, but now I think I should look for fabrics closer to the color of the couch.

I don't miss commuting from Newhall, but walking through the house, all sunlit, and seeing our dogs happy faces, I did feel a tinge homesick.  Adding the artwork makes the house feel a little more like home, more complete. I just loved that Robin had picked it up for me. It's the little things that make a person feel so special.  I have a surprise for him, too. I bought Simple Green stone cleaner and stone polish, LOL!! We've been using Windex on the countertops, but keep talking about how we need to find something that makes it shine.  I cleaned part of the countertop, but not all of it.  I want Robin to be able to tell the difference when he walks in; and to know we are thinking about him and Newhall even when we can't be there.

The house caught on fire in February 2010; and it was in need of repairs anyway. It has been a long, slow, stressful process; and we still aren't finished.  Robin just recently got some light fixtures installed. By recently, I mean two weeks ago, and we were living in a dark cave for the last year.  We had a light bulb, as in one. Then we had one light bulb and 4 recessed bulbs in the kitchen, so we had to stand in the kitchen for everything we did.  Today, Chance and I walked through the house and turned on, then off, every light that we have so far, thoroughly enjoying the beauty of each fixture and each light switch.  I was sad to say good bye to the dogs.  Sad to say good bye to my new light switches and fixtures; and my new artwork.

We had several other errands to run after that, including another trip to the library.  Chance is leading the summer reading program with 3 books. Ike has zero. I have zero.  Then the boys played Wii and ate pizza until they fell asleep. Cute cute.

Pics of Hansel and Gretel February 2011. Pic of Chance in the Newhall house. Pic of Ike and Chance's bedroom in El Segundo.