What I'm up to....

What have I been doing? Well, obviously not blogging. And if you saw my house, you'd know I haven't been concentrating on housecleaning, either. But I haven't been completely worthless, either. Here is what's been going on in my life:

• My oldest son (18) was involved in a drama camp last week. They take a full length play (in this case You Can't Take It With You) and put it together in one week. They only accept the exact number of people needed for the parts and it's a first come- first served basis. That means you don't weed through hundreds of people to get "the best." They assign roles the first day and then the actors spend the week memorizing lines and blocking scenes. They go from 9 to 4 daily, with the performance on Friday evening. While the play didn't have a completely polished look, it was absolutely amazing! The lead characters had hundreds of lines and did them flawlessly. The timing was great and the audience was roaring with laughter. I can't believe they can do this in five days. this production company is run by two 18 year olds and they've been doing it for three years! For this play they had an adult with theater experience help, but they've put on some amazing plays with just their own experience to go on, including the student version of Les Mis and The Diary of Anne Frank. The fee for participating is $90.
  
• My 10 year old daughter is in the drama camp this week. She has a small part in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She's a little disappointed not to have a larger role (she is only in one scene), but she's handling it well. This play has almost all younger kids, so they only go from 10-4 daily. The performance is Friday evening. I forgot the camera for my son's play, but I'll try to post some pictures of my dd's.
• I've finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. Don't worry- no spoilers here. I stood in line to buy it at midnight, but I'm afraid I didn't enjoy the experience much. I didn't end up at one of those fun parties I keep seeing pictures of. I ended up with over 1000 people standing in line outside of a B&N for over an hour. I was chained to this line of people, not able to move or I'd lose my place, listening to some of the most insipid and, at times, vulgar conversations. I would not do it again. However, the book is great.
• Last week I had a real life encounter with friends. It was wonderful! Several lady friends of mine ended up at the pool with their kids, and without their husbands, all at the same time one evening. Several of us had brought some dinner, and all five of us, with our 16 of our children (there would be 24 children between us if they'd all been there), ate together. The five ladies talked and laughed for hours until the pool closed. The kids (ages 4-16) swam, played games, ate snacks, and had a great time. Later that evening I told Will that this is what I'm craving. An "in real life" group of friends who love and accept each other. We were not a homogeneous group, and a couple of the ladies hadn't really spent much time together before that night, but the atmosphere was one of acceptance and caring. I guess you can say we "clicked." Everyone else must have felt it, too, because they ahve all said something to me about how "renewing" that evening was and how they want to do it again real soon.
• I'm still reading Blink and finishing Mediated. I took the weekend off to read and reread Harry Potter, though. I've also started My Life With the Saints by James Martin, SJ.
  
• I've been watching movies more recently. I'll post my list at the end of the month.
  

Well, that's only a partial look at my life right now. I am still thinking thoughts, just not able to put them into words right now. thanks for reading. ;-)