It's the most wonderful time of the year. For me, anyway. I had such a good day today. Extremely tiring, but still good. For almost a year, I have had an idea for my costume. I wanted to be Stitch (from "Lilo and Stitch"). I convinced Randa Mortenson, a sixth grade teacher at my school and a dear friend, to dress up as Lilo.
We spent the entire Halloween parade at school with me growling and sniffing at the students while she tried to calm me down, all the while quoting the movie as often as possible. Whenever she felt Stitch was getting too riled up, she inspired me to hula with her. It was just so much fun. I even tried to attack a few sixth graders and parents (only the ones I knew would have fun with it).
The bad side (as I confided in my colleagues today at work) is that this years costume is possibly the least guy attracting I've ever worn. Even the pumpkin costume from when I was seven got me a boyfriend or two. Ahh, the glory days . . .But the kids sure got a kick out of it. I had "Hi Stitch" spoken to me by dozens of kids whom I have no idea who they are. It was fun. Though I now have lost my voice from excessive growling. Sometimes I love being a teacher.
I turned 28 today. I know, big move from 27. I felt that the best way to commemorate this event was to create a top ten list of movie quotes that I feel best represent this stage in my life. And, if you can identify every quote, it probably means we're best friends.Top Ten Quotes to Represent Being 2810. "Do you understand the words that are comin' out of my mouth?"9. "I'm not Josie Grossy anymore!" (dedicated to anyone who knew me in Junior High)8. "Attitude reflect leadership, captain."7. "Ugh, I've been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get some hot water, get some iodine!"6. "You'll have to forgive me, my brain has gone to pieces."5."Eating a steady diet of government cheese while I'm living in a van down by the river."4. "Sexy American Girlfriend!!!"3. "I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite." 2. "I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way."1. "I love it all! I love it, I love it, I love it! Every second of it, every second of it!"
We had a Relief Society Retreat this weekend. Not just any run-of-the-mill retreat, this was the whole enchilada. It was more like the entire tex-mex buffet. We started out on Friday night at the Aspen Lodge (which I think is extremely over priced for the size of the facilities, as a side note). For Friday, it was a ward activity and everyone was invited (hence the whole ward activity-ness of the situation). I had spent the majority of the day shopping for food to feed the entire ward (well, actually I was planning dinner for 40. Based on past attendance at ward functions, I was feeling this was a generous estimate). And let me take this opportunity to tell everyone about Allison's Pantry, which is this fantastic place that sells delicious food, grants wishes, and pretty much fulfills dreams. . . all for a reduced price.My car was packed to the gills when Mallory and I drove up the canyon to set everything up and get dinner going. After getting lost only a handful of times, we arrived and began the monumental task of preparing for the evening (of which I will not give you step by step details . . . this is where you thank me for being so considerate).I had taken up my Dance Dance Revolution and Kristina's Guitar Hero, along with several board games. There also happened to be a pool table, ping pong table, and foosball tables at the lodge. Needless to say, there were a myriad of activities to choose from. Dinner was served and it became a case of loaves and fishes. I had purchased exactly 40 bread bowls, and we had 41 people for dinner, but that didn't matter because I didn't need to have a bread bowl, so it was perfect. We did have a little bit of soup left over, but not enough to save. I've never planned a large dinner so perfectly. Ha!Now, I will take this moment to tell you that I wasn't in a very social mood. I've been feeling a bit sick and sluggish lately, so I spent dinner time making sure everyone was fed, and I spent after dinner time washing dishes (seriously, hundreds of dollars to use the place, and it doesn't even have a dishwasher!)After clean up was over, I had just enough time to get in a few DDR's and one GH (Dance dance revolution and Guitar Hero respectively) before it was time for the guys to leave. See, the girls were spending the night, but the guys had to leave at around 10, or at least that's when we told them to leave.The whole point of this blog entry is actually dealing with what happened after the men left. All of a sudden, I felt so much more free. We started out in polite conversation with the Bishop and his wife (our chaperones), but this soon grew tiring and I put on some music, causing a spontaneous dance party for the gals. The interesting thing for me was, not only the feeling of abandon that accompanied our "lacking guys" situation, but the amount of girls that would prefer to watch another group of uncoordinated white girls dance. I thought that was something only guys like to do, but apparently it must be a fun past-time because there were probably half a dozen girls just observing. I hope they learned a little something from my "power shimmy" (which is a move that is only allowed when in the presence of solely females).We then went outside to watch the stars. What I did really was convince a couple of other relief society sisters to sing camp songs with me (which, they did an excellent job of "Three Chartreuse Buzzards," though I did have to do some convincing that the title was NOT "Three Sharp-toothed Buzzards." Apparently, Jenni Carlquist didn't listen in Biology that day when they discussed how Buzzards have beaks and NOT sharp teeth.) Then, somehow I was nominated to tell a scary story. Luckily I had one prepared from last year's camping expedition with the 5th graders. The story was pretty good. I know this because whenever the girls started to feel a little creeped out, someone blurted out a sarcastic remark. Now, some people might find that annoying. Not I. I'm fully versed in defense mechanisms (have you read this blog at all?!) I understand the idea of using humor to deflect fear. We also got to see the climbing stylings of Dr. Melissa Clark, Jenni Carlquist, and Julieanne Smith. We then went back inside, got ready for bed, and I told everyone who their soulmates were based on an extremely scientific process (something akin to MASH for those familiar with that). Moral of the story, I was silly. Very silly. So was everyone else (or at least quite a few of us). I've decided that there is a sense of freedom and abandon when we're not feeling like we have to impress anyone of the opposite gender. Do I wish that guys could see us how we actually are? Sometimes. But then again, sometimes it's nice just to be a girl among girls, saying jokes and laughing at things only we would find amusing.I enjoy being a girl.
Well, it turns out that my acting/singing prowess must be less than I thought. I was asked back for callbacks (second auditions), but was cut from the final cast list. I'm actually quite disappointed. It's probably only irony working against me: I put on my blog that I'm auditioning for a part, making it very public, and now I have to let everyone know that I was not successful. I guess I'll have to keep taking singing lessons or something. Just feeling a little blue.
It was Jenny Morrise's brain child. She told us one evening that she was thinking about holding an "Anne of Green Gables" party. Well, the people who were around immediately started brainstorming what sorts of things could be done at a party like that. Since Jenny was open to ideas, we contributed them. I immediately called dibs on coming as Marilla. Christina wanted to be Anne (which is extra appropriate because of the red hair), Julianne decided to go as Katherine Brooks, and then Mallory, Jenni, and Jenny came as "friends of Anne," though we did assign them identities over the course of the evening. We started out at Julianne's house and walked a couple blocks (in costume) to Jenni Morrise's house to pick up a canoe (literally). We wanted to reenact the scene from the movie when Anne floats down the river reciting the "Lady of Shalott." 
Trouble was, we had to carry the canoe to the river. Which wasn't so bad, but it meant we had to carry it about four blocks, walking along Geneva road for a big chunk of that. By the end of our little walk, there were three girls who had their entire top halves inside the canoe, with me on the outside, steering. 
Once we found a little place along the Provo River Trail to put the canoe in, we found that the water was much too shallow to actually float anywhere, but we did take advantage and have a few photos.
And you can see my awesome Marilla costume:
You won't be able to notice my face, but I put faint age lines to help me look a bit older. I must not have done a very good job, however, because Julianne originally thought it was war paint.When we returned to Julianne's house, we ate dinner, watched a little "Anne," had some poetry read/recited by Julianne and Jenni, and then a few of us were ready for the puffed sleeve competition. 
Which wasn't really a competition, but in the end we all decided that Jenni won, because she had incorporated cute ribbons onto her sleeves.The first set of sleeves I made were disappointingly non-puffy. The second set I made were so puffy, the material could not hold itself up and I looked like I had really saggy arms. However, if I got my hands on some fiberfill, those would have been pre
tty amazing.The last activity of the evening was the making of graham cracker houses. They were supposed to look like Green Gables, and I felt like mine was a decent representation.
Moral of the story: I'm a relatively silly person, and I'm glad I have friends who feel they are relatively silly people as well, who can get together and do relatively silly things in an organized fashion. Huzzah!
Augh! I'm sitting in between parent conferences right now, anticipating my first audition for the Hale Center Theater in Orem. Those of you familiar with the Provo-Orem area are aware that Hale is quite a step up from the Scera (where I've done a few shows-- all minor roles). However, one of my favorite directors (Jerry Elison) who directed me in "Oliver!" and "Pride and Prejudice" is directing "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale. Last year, after auditions were over, I ran into Jerry at another show I was in. He asked me why I hadn't auditioned for his show. I informed him of how I considered the Hale to be more of a pipe dream. His reply? "If I'm directing, you should try out."
So, I really shouldn't be nervous, right? Unfortunately, my nerves rarely listen to my logic (they do listen to classic rock occasionally, however.) This morning, I was running out my door being slightly late for work, when I realized I'd forgotten my song book (which contained the song I would be singing for the audition). This wouldn't normally be a problem except that I'm going straight from parent teacher conferences to the audition (and I'll be auditioning in my new gray pant suit also, thanks to the afore mentioned situation.)
Anyway, I ran back inside, grabbed one of my song books and stumbled out the door. Come to find five minutes later, I grabbed the wrong book. No worries, I just have to make sure one of these other songs is perfected. No stress. . .
Now that I've informed everyone I know about auditions, I'll be sure to tell you all of my shame when I find out that I'm not cast in the show. Not to be a pessimist or anything, but have you seen the shows I'm in normally (when I'm in a starring role???)? 'Nough said.
Well folks, as co-chair of the Activities Committee in my ward, and avid "do- anything" sort of person, I had the opportunity to help out at our stake carnival this last Monday. Each Ward was responsible for putting up two carnival booths. We had originally decided to do a cotton candy booth and a dart throwing booth. However, with the advice, encouragement, and sometimes censure of friends and co-workers we traded the dart throwing for a fortune teller. And if you haven't guessed from the picture, yours truly played that role.The experience was truly a fun one. My close friends know how excited I get about acting and dressing up as someone other than myself. "Madame Rosmira" as I was called for the evening, gave me the opportunity to put together a fabulous gypsy costume (and yes, I am being completely modest. I'm wearing a skin colored leotard, which you are unable to readily detect due to my strategically placed hair.)I set up my booth at 5:30 at Rock Canyon Park and started telling fortunes at 6:00. An acquaintance brought me some food, but other than that and the occasional sip of water, I told fortunes to friends and strangers for over three hours. Sometimes I read palms, other times I consulted my crystal ball or even "the cards" (which consisted of a deck of Old Maid cards, though apparently I offended some people who thought I was using actual tarot cards for a church function, but they're all going to hell anyway, as I foresaw using my non-tarot cards).I finally had to stop when they turned off the outside lights. I will admit, I was pretty proud of myself. No two fortunes were the same, and I maintained an appropriate amount of intensity and stayed in my character for almost the entire night. I'll post some more photos once my friends send them to me. Out of the three times that I've told fortunes at an event, this was my favorite.
