Yard Work and A Performance: Part 2

So, if you know me, you know that currently one of the coolest parts of my life is my drama class that I attend with a homeschool co-op called JOY Christian Academy (JOY stands for "Jesus; Others; Yourself").

The drama is fun, the teachers are awesome, and the kids are fabulous -- I have so many real, genuine friends that it's almost a shock. We are currently working on a production entitled "The Music Man, Jr.", a play that's almost exactly the same as the original "The Music Man", but with some of the more complicated parts taken out. I'm playing a fussy, gossipy old lady named Alma Hicks, and believe me, I'm having the time of my life.

Today was an incredibly hectic one, and even though it was great (even better than usual, and that's saying a lot), I'm really kind of glad it's over, just because I can sit at home in my recently cleaned room, read, watch a movie, blog, do some laundry. But still, today has been one of my best.

So I got up this morning pretty early and did some math, then got ready to leave as quickly as I could. We managed to leave the house on time, even though I still left my script sitting on the counter (it's alright, don't panic; I'm off-book). First, we had to stop at the orthodontist so that Anna and I could get our braces tightened. But as soon as we were done, we headed off for the Decatur branch of the Lions Club to show off some of the musical highlights from our play. They gave us some wonderful food, and I ate a truly delicious brownie twice the size of my fist; YUM!!!

I have to admit, I had a pretty embarassing moment while I was there. The president of the club stood at the podium and welcomed everyone, and while the members of JOY replied "hello" back, the members of the club responded with "ROAR!". Taken by surprise and wondering if we'd responded wrong, I blurted out "What?!" just as the echoes of the roar died away, and the whole room heard it. Hardly polite, and I don't think it helped to better the image of homeschoolers in the club's eyes. Oops! :/

Well, then we got up and performed. We did the songs "Iowa Stubborn", "Trouble!", and "Shipoopi". The last one is a dance, the only real dance number of the whole play. And, for the first time ever, I got it exactly right, and didn't mess up once! (Thanks to Jameson Taylor for helping me out on that one!) I was super proud of myself. Actually I still am, but the performer's high has pretty much worn off.

Then we ran around the square of the town we were in and taped our musical's posters in store windows -- that was really fun. I got to go into some really cool stores that sold antiques and vintage stuff, and my friend Morgan and I (see her blog HERE) went into the cutest little bakery with gorgeous cakes and little Easter-bunny-style decorations.

And then we all piled into Mrs Roberts car and prayed that we hadn't left anyone behind (we hadn't) and headed off to rehearsal.

It was awesome. We ran through the entire play. We were all kind of hyper and had a hard time focusing, but we managed to get all the way through, and I even had time to pick an enormous be-feathered hat for my costume. And of course I had a fantastic time with my JOY buddies Maddie, Morgan, Rebecca (her blog HERE), Brooke, Julie, Wil, Jameson, Matthew, Tony, and a bunch of others (I think it would be fairly boring to read through the entire list of all the people I love at JOY -- it would take forever). We laughed, we talked, we giggled, we got off-topic, we got way into character, and we had a great time. It was amazing. And when it was all over, I was sad to leave, but glad to go home.

Next week is gonna be pretty insane -- imagine today, only longer without as many breaks, every day, for an entire week. That is called TECH week, my friends, and it is coming next week starting on Monday, our last week before we really start to perform. If you're interested in attending our play, go check out this link. You can get ticket information, as well as the dates for the different performances.

I'm pretty tired, but in a good way. It's like the kind of tired you get after you spend a day at Six Flags, only better; because while Six Flags gets your adrenaline pumping (and I love things like that -- I'm a bit of a daredevil), it isn't anything like spending a day getting exhausted with a whole bunch of amazing friends. That's probably the biggest reason why I love JOY.