Busy working on a middle school musical

I am in the final week of preparing costumes for Seussical the Musical for a local middle school.

That is literally all I have time to type.

Love and caring in the midst (It's GA Gives Day)

Y'all know I'm salty, and sad, and just plain petty these days.  That's ok though, my mood has its justifications, and it's purpose. The fire lit in my soul will go to good use.

In the midst of what I feel like is madness have been beautiful moments though. People being extra kind so as to say, "I see you hurting, but I will stand in the gap".

Last night as I was going to a theatre event at the local Taco Mac, I made it to the door before a man, and hesitated as I always do as I tend to stop and judge the next person's distance to decide if I should hold the door open or if it would be weird (cuz I'm awkward like that).  As I determined he was at 'holdable distance' he spoke up.  "allow me", he said.  As I thanked him and reached for the inner door he said, "and again".  (Sniff... sniff.... so sweet) So I allowed him to grab the second door and thanked him again... and my mood was lifted for the rest of the evening.

Did I mention, or did It even matter that he was a white male?  Nope.
Does it matter that we live in the South, and the chances of him voting for the other guy is probably 70%? Nope.

What mattered is that he showed love and kindness and made my day better.  Yay for that.

Meanwhile, can I ask my readers to show love and kindness today.

It is GA Gives day and I need a little help.  Here's what I wrote on my facebook page.

Here's the link: https://www.gagivesday.org/c/…/a/liveartstheatre/p/ahermitt/

Please consider donating or sharing.  Thank you!

How I got on the board of a Community Theatre

So after I decompressed from homeschooling (vegetated for about a year), I gave a though to what I had liked and what I did not like about the activities I'd participated in as the kids grew up.  What I loved the most, was working on costumes, so I volunteered for a few local theatre and eventually, found one that would allow me to costume and learn at the same time.  That was just what I needed.

A year later, and a few hundred costumes later, I was asked to join the board.  Hmmm... Ok.  Not easy, but important.  Cool.

So that is where we are right now.  I love this place.  I love the people.  I love how we entertain, encourage, and include the community.  I want to help raise money for our little theatre, so we can be a big theatre and we can get more kids engaged, we can get more community members creating.  We can make more people like me more involved in the community.

With that said, here is the link to my fundraising page.

https://www.gagivesday.org/c/GGD/a/liveartstheatre/p/ahermitt

This is just one of several fundraising pages for Live arts.  Today is GA Gives Day (Nov 12).  Please give if you are moved at all.  I thank you and Live arts thanks you.

Ps. If you want to visit the main GA Gives Day page for Live Arts, please note that I worked on most of the costumes show.

Thanks.

(main page: https://www.gagivesday.org/c/GGD/a/liveartstheatre/)

The Diva has graduated!

Here is a photo from her Sr project/ performance and entire graduation class.

Keep those programs!

If you have a talented child, who is planning on a future in the theater or visual arts, you need to be keeping all of the programs from all of the shows, performances, and contests they were in.

I am using these programs right now to help us compile a resume, but when put together in a book, they are also a portfolio.  Make sure you put a couple of still shots from each show in the portfolio as well.

Here is my simple method:

1.  Purchase sheet protectors
2.  Open program to your child's bio (or where they are mentioned if they did tech or other work) and highlight their name.


3.  Put open program in sheet protector so

Last Christmas Chorus Concert

Photo generously provided by another parent

My daughter (and some years my son too), has been in chorus for 6 years.  Last night was my daughter's last Christmas concert  performance as a high school student.  The concert was amazing.  I hope to be able to follow up with this some video... which I myself did not take, but several other parents did.

They started out with sacred music, much of which was performed last month at competition, and as they evening progressed, the music got more jolly, and ended on a positively hilarious note.  And after all was said and done, a few kids got back on the stage and performed "fruitcake", a song they had done in previous years but was not on their program this year.

Here's a list of some of the songs, just to give you an idea of the depth and breadth of the concert:

Bethlehem Procession
Thanks Giving Prayer
Silver Swan
Gloria
Swing Down Sweet Chariot
Dance at the Manger
Tollite Hostias
Feliz Navidad
All I Want for Christmas is You
O Little Town of Hackensack
Good King Kong Looked Out
Jing-a-ling

There were 29 songs in all, and one dance, from 7 Choirs and Ensembles 4 of which my daughter is in.    I asked how she learned all those songs as I was astounded... Her answer...  I don't.  I get familiar with them, then I read them as I sing.

Ohhhh... is that the reason for the binders!


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

Girl gets noticed

My daughter is currently in her homeschool group's production of A Christmas Carol.  She is playing The Landlady (and is in a couple other scenes as party guests).  She always plays the meanest, sassiest character in the play.  I personally was starting to get a complex about this, but even with the smaller role she had in this play, she got noticed.  The co-coordinator of the community theater organization (whose building we were using) asked me a few questions about her, and was shocked to realize that she was so young.. only 16.  He then gave me his business card and said that she should audition for their upcoming plays.  He said she was talented and seasoned beyond her years.

Add this to the comments I got last week at the college competition, and I know that she is walking down the right path.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

OH my gosh! A series of Lasts is about to start

My son is about the tech the last run of his last high school play. 
Next week he takes his last standardized test. 
Before I know it we will take his last drive on his learners permit.
(my mind is literally going blank... I am freaking out)

sigh, this boy is growing up too fast.

Off to watch my kids homeschool Drama Club do their last performance of Much Ado About Nothing. 

Elections and homeschool stuff

I've been a bit preoccupied with elections and other stuff lately.   Besides running a polling location this coming tuesday, which by the way has been a pain this time and we haven't even gotten to election day yet, I am chairing the costume committee for Much Ado about Nothing, 1960s' version, and am knee high in pre-college stuff.  So please excuse my sparseness.

I've got a few things on my mind that I will share with you soon. 

By the way.... either vote, or stop complaining.

That's how I feel about politics.

White Christmas is Over ...Boo!

So the musical that my daughter's homeschool group did, White Christmas, is over.  She did a run of 5 shows last weekend, plus spent over week before that in non-stop dress rehearsals, not to mention that 8 or so hours a week in rehearsals since August.  I get tired just thinking about it.

In all, the whole process was AWESOME.  I was far more involved that I probably should have been with both costuming and concessions... next time I will stick to just costumes.  It was all quite a challenge, but