WICKED!!!

Landmark Theatre, Richmond, VA.

I think this building was built in like 1744 when people's legs were about 3 feet shorter, because my knee caps were firmly jammed against the seat in front of me, and I had to remain perfectly still (i.e., no stretching, no turning, no readjusting, no breathing) for fear of whacking the person next to me in the eye. Also, the woman behind me had the equivalent of Santa's sleigh bells strapped to her arm, and was constantly jingling all the way even after I told her that Christmas was not for another 9 months.
And last but not least, it was about 7 billion degrees inside the theatre. Which means that chances are, at least of few of the 3500+ audience members would probably realize they had forgotten to put deodorant on that morning.

But!

It was UH-MAY-ZING.
I was overwhelmed by the experience from start to finish (I was even able to tune out the sleigh bells after awhile and stopped noticing that my legs had gone to sleep.) The music was spectacular, the costumes were incredible, and set was striking. We had a FANTASTIC time!

Some movin' and shakin'

Parker's big performance at Matoaca High School with his music class!

He's the sassy-lookin' dude in the orange shirt,
second row, singing his heart out.

They are on actually on YouTube here
and here
and and here, too.

What's for Dinner?

We've tried to teach Parker how to cook
some simple meals, and he volunteered
to make dinner one night last week.

It was his first solo culinary experience with
grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup,
and it wasn't half bad. (I later learned that
the first sandwich was a bit, um, on the
blackened side- he had the burner on high.)

Hopefully this whole Parker making dinner
thing becomes a regular experience!

February Fury

We've had FOUR major snow storms this winter.
It's just incredible.
This is a picture of VIRGINIA BEACH.
A BEACH, people. With SNOW on it.

I got these pictures from a local news site
where people have posted their wintry photos.

It's been snowing like snow bunny's business!

Someone left the water running....
fountain at the Governor's Mansion.

What it must have felt like for
all those people that lost power....like Adam!

Maybe this is why it's taking so long for my mail to get anywhere.

The River Lofts downtown

And I LOVE this one!

Snow is Coming! (Again)

A hilarious article on Richmond.com sums it up pretty well- the entirely ridiculous way that Richmonders behave when it comes to "that white stuff."

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch and every meteorologist in town, Richmond is going to get a nice snowfall this weekend … up to a foot, some people say. The snow is supposed to start as early as Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday.

In case you're new to Richmond, let me tell you how we do it here.

Someone somewhere says snow is coming to Central Virginia.

We Richmonders start paying attention.

Someone says it's coming to Richmond.

We Richmonders really start paying attention.

Someone brandishes the word "accumulation."

Done. Finished. Over. We who call Richmond home all-out lose our minds. In the case of this snow, it happens like this:

Tuesday morning: The word "accumulation" is used.

Tuesday afternoon: Accumulation confirmed. All weekend plans put on stand-by or out-right canceled.

Tuesday evening: First trip to supermarket for bread, milk, wine, beer and cookie dough.

Wednesday morning / afternoon: Calls around town for sleds begin (for the record, Richmond.com is one step ahead. No one has them; Pleasant's is expecting a shipment on Friday).

Wednesday evening: Local news does a story about the run on supermarkets for bread and milk. Second trip to supermarket for extra bread and milk, plus frozen pizzas and non-perishables, because you never know.

Thursday morning / afternoon: Spend workday obsessively checking the forecast. More calls for sleds. Search online for sleds, but decide against them because you can't believe how much sleds actually cost.

Thursday evening: Meet friends out for drinks or dinner because you never know when you'll get out again. Realize you forgot to buy bagels. How could you forget bagels? Third trip to supermarket.

Friday morning: Alternate staring out window for snow and consulting forecast for exact snow start time. Cancel the rest of weekend plans.

Friday afternoon: Weather.com reports that it is snowing in your area. Run to window. Spend at least one hour yelling at weather.com because it is clearly not snowing. Ask boss about company inclement weather policy. Complain about said policy. Wait an hour; ask boss if company is closing early.

Friday evening: Fourth trip to supermarket on the way home for last-minute necessities, like chocolate and fancy hot cocoa. Alternate staring out window and watching local news for exact snow start time. Watch the Closings scroll across Channel 12 to see if your work is closed on Monday, because you never know.

Friday night: Snow finally begins. Call/text all of your friends and family to see if it's snowing in their area and to make sure they're OK in the storm. Update Facebook status to reflect snowfall in case you missed anyone. Order pizza so you don't have to break into rations too soon.

Saturday morning: Marvel at snowfall. Fling pets / children into the snow so they can marvel and so you have pictures for your Facebook page.

Saturday afternoon: Drive or trudge to nearest hill and attempt to sled on a cookie sheet/shower curtain/trashcan lid/pool float.

Saturday evening: Meet friends for out for drinks or dinner to celebrate snow.

Sunday: Eat leftover pizza and stare out window, watching snow melt. Obsessively watch Closings list. Feel happy when the county you once lived in announces closing and then sad because you never became a teacher and now you have to go out, clean off the car and then go to work tomorrow. Plus you've got all that bread and milk to eat.

This writer is dead on. Now you know how we Richmonders do it!

Adding Insult to Injury

Normally I don't blog about my various
bumps and bruises, because frankly there
would be an insane number of posts that
would baffle and horrify you all.
But this one, dear readers, is especially heinous,
AND IT'S A WEEK OLD.
What an interesting shade
of greenish-yellow!
(And no, the wall behind me is
not that color in real life, it just
looks weird in the picture.)

Well this is how it happened.
The ill-appearing water heater
pictured above sprang a leak
sometime in the wee hours of the morning.

You can't really blame it, seeing as
how it's been doing its water heater thing
for the last THIRTY YEARS!

When water heaters die, they weep
for joy at the idea of retirement.
It's hard work to keep
that water constantly hot, day in
and day out, week after week,
year after year.

This weeping resulted in a tidal wave
on the tile floor, which
I happened upon that morning in the DARK,
and I fell, in what I am sure
was the most undignified way,
banging my arm on the
knob, bruising my arm pretty much from
the wrist to the elbow,
and getting a nice slice on the skin for good measure.

There shall be no more weeping in our house.

Cinnamon rolls and sweet cheeks

Crystal baked up a storm during her visit.
Best. Cinnamon. Rolls. Ever.

Cassia was totally into Parker's Nintendo DS.
She was also into the viewing screen on my camera, too.
Guess it's 'cuz her mean mom doesn't let
her watch TV yet, ha ha. Just kidding, Crystal :)

Caught snuggling again by the paparazzi!

Check out the sweet cheeks at that baby!
Looks like she took this picture herself.