Bears, Mice and Church Vans, Oh My!

I have been trying to wait until I have the energy and mental capability to write in a coherent, well organized manner. Well, I'm giving up on that. I've come to the conclusion that it may be mid January before I have energy or a structured thought. So, instead I will just ramble, post pictures and try to update you on WASSUP! Can you already tell this is going to be bad?

Mostly what is up is lots of activity. Lots and lots of activity. Monday night at work Barbie told me she wanted me to come up with some Christmas dances for my classes to perform at an event the first Sat. in Dec. I knew we would be doing Christmas dances, I just didn't realize it would be so early in the month. With next week off for Thanksgiving that gave me this last Thursday and the Thursday after Thanksgiving to teach the dances (that I hadn't yet choreographed as of Monday night).  YIKES! That sent my brain into overload. 

Tuesday and Wednesday we had theater practice. Wednesday I looked up and saw this on stage.

In case you are wondering, that is, in fact, a bear. And no, there is no bear character in our play. Our "Scrooge" just decided he felt like dressing as a bear. I don't know y'all. I can't explain it. I just roll with it. And thank God that I have a job where sometimes people come in costume. It's fun. And hard to take anything seriously. And sometimes I take things too seriously.

I started feeling a cold coming on at some point between Tuesday and Wednesday and wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. I just felt bad. Not real bad. Just the "I want to lay on the couch with a blanket, fuzzy socks and a good movie" kind of bad. And I knew that wasn't going to happen. So I pressed on. And found excitement in my newfound favorite cleaning products. Baking soda and vinegar y'all. Do you use it? It's so great. It's like a chemistry experiment everytime you use it. My excitement over cleaning products can only be matched by the fact that we just got a new Dollar General Marketplace right by our house. It has bananas y'all!  Very exciting stuff.

As hard as it is to top that kind of excitement, Wednesday night was even more exciting as my class at church packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We've been collecting money for several months now and I was very pleased we were able to do boxes for  5 boys and 5 girls.

We have been waiting on my new tires to be delivered and they are taking their sweet little time. That means I've been driving the church van. Fun times. My favorite part is that the driver side door is broken so I have to get out and in of the passenger side. You should see the looks I get. :)   The biggest bummer is that the radio doesn't work. It was a long 45 minute drive on Friday to drop these boxes off in Panama City. Especially after I spent all week listening to a most random collection of songs to dance to for Christmas and the end of the year recital. If anyone saw me, yes I was the girl in the church van singing "Bugle Boy", "Let It Snow", and a song called "Absent Minded Mice".  Oh my, I have to tell y'all about that.

No one can appreciate this the way my blog readers can. So, a couple of weeks ago I was telling Barbie I was trying to figure out a song for my Tiny Tots to dance to at a community event we were having. Barbie, having no idea about my history tells me she has the perfect song. It's called "The Absent Minded Mice"!!!! So for the last few weeks I've been singing "We're always hungry cuz we can't find the cheese, can't find the cheese, can't find the cheese."  Today I dressed my child as a mouse wondered if I will ever be free of mice. It's ok. I like this one. :)

I didn't think I was ever going to convince Kate to put those ears and tail on. Or dance. She wasn't having it. I had bribed her with Barbies and threatened her with naps. Then, we got to the event and there was a big inflatable slide. That was it. The bribe she would accept. We even got a video of her dancing. I'm in the back doing the music and acting a fool because one of the girls kept looking back at me, despite the fact that  there were 2 assistants dancing in front of the girls. It was so funny. If I did the dance she would do it too, but she was facing the wrong way! It is also a jerky video because Josh was being attacked by a yellow jacket while he recorded it. Oh well. The point is, Kate danced and we have proof. 

Thursday was a day full of Christmas dances. I was feeling really stressed out because I wasn't feeling good and coming up with dances is one of those hit or miss things. Thankfully, they came to me that day and my girls worked super hard to learn them. Yesterday I finally got my hair cut.  I feel like I'm acceptable for public viewing now. I just love my hair lady. She totally knows that when I say, "I'm kind of bored and want to do something different" what I really mean is "Please just trim my split ends and leave it exactly the way it is because I don't have time to go through the emotional transition of new hair".  She's good like that. 

I left the hair salon and made my way to the school for an extra rehearsal I had scheduled for the theater kids since we will miss next week. I called it a "prop party" because I figure people can't resist a party, right? It was really a day I wanted them to bring in things they had that they thought would work for their costumes or scenes so I could see what we have and what we still need. I was so exhausted and could barely talk by the time that practice started so I just sat back, watched them come out in blue wigs and the craziest outfits you've ever seen and just laughed. I am pretty sure I will be crying come the week after Thanksgiving when we are officially in practice everyday, stay up all night building sets, nobody knows their lines mode. But for now, I'll laugh. 

All week I have willed myself to get better because tonight was a big night. The first official Fidler girl's night out. Josh and Eli were invited to the FSU game so I decided that me and the girls needed a fun night, too. I let Sarah set the agenda because that's what she does. She's my planner. She chose Olive Garden, pedicures, shopping, and milkshakes from Chick-Fil-A.  Pretty good, right? I have to be honest, I wasn't crazy about the pedicure. You will know how weird I am when I tell you this- pedicures stress me out. I don't know what my deal is. I'm just really ticklish, and I always feel like I need to help the lady working on my feet, and I HATE massage chairs. I know! I don't know what's wrong with me. I have sensory issues for real. But, once I was in the chair and my feet were in the hot water, I calmed down. 

And, no matter what it was worth it to watch my girls. They were born for the beauty shop.

                                              They picked a blue and a gold color.

                                                 These girls know how to do a girl's night out!

Sarah told me twice that this was the greatest night ever. So that makes it the greatest night ever for me. :)

I'm just feeling so thankful for the gifts I've been given-the jobs, opportunities, responsibilities, and the cool church van to do it all in. :) I'm especially thankful for the people this season has brought into my life. Even the ones in bear costumes and mouse tails.