It is unfortunate that I have been neglecting my semi-consistent blogger updating schedule. A million and one things have been hurled at me in every direction and I'm a tad embarrassed that I haven't had the time to write a proper blog post. Let's see, what all has happened since my wisdom teeth removal?
Well, for one thing, my mother recently accepted a teaching position (Spanish) at Williamston Elementary. About a month ago she received a call from the Principle, asking for her to consider the position. They needed someone qualified for the position, someone with experience who came highly recommended. At the time of the call, my mom wasn't sure what to think regarding this teaching opportunity. She had taught Spanish for half a year as a substitute at Dansville last year, but that was no comparrison to what Williamston was offering. She didn't like being away from the rest of us, but we needed the money at the time.
Long story short, same scenerio in this case. The economy is downright rotten at the moment, and my dad is having some difficulties paying the bills, so my mom decided to drop her position as a tutor at Teenworks. This came as a shock to many students and their families I am sure... It was challenging to keep the information that my mom might be accepting a different teaching position to myself for a whole month. If anyone heard that my mom might be dropping her job at TW before she accepted the job at Williamston, there would have been a lot of confusion (to say the very least...).
Anyway, today was her second day on the job, and from what I can tell, she's enjoying herself. When she gets home, she's completely bushed, but she always has time to discuss the days happenings with Justin, Nathan, Rebekah, and myself. Similarly to when she taught at Dansville, she dislikes being away from us kids during the day, despite the fact that she loves teaching. I find this very touching... I might note that the money she makes doesn't go towards personal pleasure for our family. A majority of it is going towards paying off the debt on my dad's truck, paying off the mortgage on our home, and paying for TW and HPA. She might buy a new laptop for herself because her old one died out, but that's really about all the money she's spending on herself.
I have a lot of respect and admiration for my mother.
That's one big thing that's taken place as of recently. Another stimulating topic which has motivated many of us lately is quarterly exams! I think I speak for everyone when I say that quarterly exams are of the devil. No matter how hard you kick up your heals at the abominations, we can never escape them... Tragedy.
In the past day and a half I have been busily studying for my quarterly exams, which took place today. Gov/Econ, followed by British Literature, and concluding with Precalculus. An epic and tiresome 4 and 1/2 hours of exams. I think I deserve a round of applause, a week off, and a glass of lemonade (shout out to BTA who I know is reading this!). Thankfully, I have amazing friends with enough enthusiasm and cheeriness to carry me through a full day of exhausting work. I should get a job at a Circus... People from miles around would come to see, "RABBIT, the BRAIN-DEAD WONDER." All the while I would sit on a chair in a room-size cage, staring into nothingness. Not sure why people would pay money to see me sit, stare, and probably drool on myself in an after-exam stupor... But hey, it's nice to know that I'd be worth something after feeling somewhat dead. ;)
I still have my Precalculus exam to finish up at home. Joy.
After TW today, I came home, showered, ate, and RELAXED. Too much work as of lately... This is the first chance I've gotten (truthfully!) to site down and write a thoughtful blog post. It's been nice. However, I feel as though it wouldn't be right to discuss all the happenings of today, without discussing the happenings of yesterday... The day before... And the day before that... AND maybe Friday as well.
Why not start back on Friday of last week? Sounds good!
Note: At this point, you (Reader), may feel free to quit reading this post because the rest of "Keeping Up With Yesterday" will include irrelevant details of my life which may not necessarily pertain to yours. I shall attempt to provide full accounts of the most recent happenings between Friday the 29th of October - Tuesday the 2nd of November. By all means, read the following paragraphs, but you may now feel under no obligation to continue banging your head against the computer screen, all the while wondering when in the world I'm going to end the post. That is all.
Friday the 29th of October:
On Friday, Mrs. Witzke and the Asian Brothers picked us up around Noon so I could be to South Church by 12:30 P.M. for HPA rehearsal. Once there I was greeted by all of my Lansing HPA friends. From 12:30 to 1:45 (I think... ?), Andrew, Nathan, Christian, Christine, Anna, Zach, Libby, Katherine, Caleb, Michael, and myself, all went through the first bit of Act I together. After several rehearsals without scripts, this was exciting! I can finally say that I'm getting excited for Brigadoon... The characters are witty, charming, social, and relatable. Everyone fits with their character very well! From 2:00 (ish) to 4:00, Rachel, Sarah, Hannah, and Austin taught us some new choreography. I very much enjoyed the new dance... Up until the part where Sarah told the guys that we originally learned it backwards. Hahaha...
Anyway, that was essentially the entire day summed up in a paragraph. :)
On Saturday was my follow up Eagle Project work day. My dad and I got to Eve's House at 11:30 A.M. and set up our materials. At Noon, the Witzke family showed up and helped sand AND stain the structure from the time they arrived, until the end time at 4:30! My Scoutmaster stopped by for a few minutes to see how everything was coming, but other then that, no one from my Troop was able to make an appearance. Saturday afternoons in the Fall, who would've figured people would be busy? ;)
After the Witzke family left, there was still some work to be done. My dad and I left at 5:30 and made our way home. We ate dinner at 6:00 and left for the Dolman's Bonfire party by 6:20. Aside from the completion of my project, the Dolman's bonfire party was the highlight of my day. Many families whom I am close with or acquainted with attended the party. We played capture the flag, munched on munchies, and did some dancing, led by our fabulous director, Mr. Cole. I also met a few new people from the Cast of Brigadoon that I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting until that point. I was also informed that Austin E. had an additional seat in his vehicle to transport someone to Mr. Cole's "Sunday Night Dancing" the following night. I was somehow able to persuade my parents into letting me go, as long as I finished a good chunk of my homework. To this we agreed. All in all, a very enjoyable evening.
Sunday morning and afternoon was spent completing homework for the week (previous week I should say) and studying in preparation for Tuesday's (Today's) exams. By 3:00 I was successful in meeting my parents requirements in order to attend the Sunday Night Dancing. My dad dropped me off at Mt. Hope to meet up with Austin at 4:00. From there, we drove over to his house and picked up Aimee C. and his younger sister Juliana. The four of us made the hour long trek out to Mr. Cole's home in good time! Once there, we were greeted by the Cole's, the Doerrs, Jackie, the Martin's, Kristina K., Rose K., Elizabeth D., and the Dolman's. I recognized many other people from various HPA productions in different locations as well as numerous friends of friends.
Clay G. and I put a short delay on the dancing for a while to instead sharpen each other's gymnastics skills on the trampolines (yes, that was plural. :)) out back. After that we entered the Groot barn for the dancing portion of the evening! To be quite frank, when I first heard, "Sunday Night Dancing at the Groot's Barn..." the initial thought that popped into my head was "red barn made of wood with random hay barrels inside." I WAS NOT suspecting a house-like structure complete with siding. A very modern barn if I ever saw one. Not a bad thing of course! I was just surprised by the barn being something other then the stereotypical "barn."
Mr. Cole taught several dances I hadn't learned before in addition to a handful of one's I'd already learned. He also had us experiment with swing dancing for a little while. On the second floor of the barn was the nest from Seussical (a prop which many of us become very fond of during performance week), as well as furniture and refreshments. Every few dances, we needed a break to catch our breath. Dancing the night away is not an easy accomplishment, mind you! Easily said, a little more challenging a task to carry out. :)
As the evening came to a close, I concluded that I needed to put "Sunday Night Dancing" on my calender for the last Sunday of every month and make it a priority to attend. It completely set the tone for this entire week. I had a TON of fun.
All too soon... Monday crept in. Like a thief in the night, Monday stole my time away. Homework and studying soon became my focus again, tentatively taking the place of freedom in theater and dancing with friends. Blech.
Ah well, that's been my life since wisdom teeth removal. This week my family and some friends of ours are going to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. It should be a lot of fun! I haven't seen a production at the Wharton since Phantom way back in (*thinks*) December, I think. Finally, this weekend will be devoted to Rebekah's performance in HPA Kids Aristocats! She's super excited. I have no idea what to expect... I might just be as excited as she is. Well... Haha, close, but her excitement probably outweighs mine. ;)
Thank you for reading!
~Jacob
