Since I’ve had so much going on, I really haven’t blogged much lately. I’m here to apologize and to say, “I’m back!” *waves at people in the back*
Christmas was eventfully uneventful, by which I mean it was full of family and friends and love and laughter but not much drama (which was great!) I was able to see my two best friends once again and start to catch up on things we haven’t had time to discuss much. I saw two little people who quickly became two of my favorite little people and my one semi-big person (my nieces and my friend’s son, in case you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about) and was filled with gratitude that I’m able to visit with them but also a little sad I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like.
Our new (to us) car made the trip wonderfully, and we couldn’t have been more excited that we had a car we didn’t have to worry about breaking down somewhere along the way. (In fact, I held my breath a little in Altoona, where Neal’s car once broke down when we met there when we were still just dating. Toby, our new car, did just fine (although he didn’t get named until we were almost back home — and he was dangerously close to being called Misty. My friend Misty seemed okay with that, but one of the two of us didn’t like the idea. 
), and he didn’t leave us stranded in Altoona or anywhere else.
Neal obviously got another part-time contract for this semester, so we are blessed to have that right now. He just put in for a summer class, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it will actually happen this summer. I had some great news at work, but I don’t think I can blog about it, unfortunately. Suffice it to say that I really feel I am being recognized for my hard work and the number of things I’ve taken on in the past year that I’ve worked there. I am constantly looking for new ways to streamline and improve the way my job is done, and I’m never satisfied. I want things to be efficient and easy: I’ve come a long way, but I still have quite a long way to go.
We’ve also been able to take in some theatre lately. I was asked to chaperone the 7th graders on their trip to a theatre down in the metro area, and I’ve never been more impressed with our students. We went to watch “Romeo and Juliet” and these 7th graders showed more insight and understanding of the play, the characters, and the characters’ motivation than the high schoolers who were also there from other schools. These kids are amazingly astute and are good at asking tough but interesting questions of those around them.
Neal and I also saw “Macbeth” at the same theatre, although I wasn’t as enthused about that one. I’ll give them a bye, however, since it was the very first preview performance. They do a preview week where they are still fixing things and figuring out staging, etc. but in front of an audience. I’m hoping that was the reason it fell so flat and was so uninteresting to both of us. Heck, the Sisters managed to completely BORE me, which should never happen in Macbeth!
Now we’re back at home, back to the grind, back to everything normal for a while. Work is work and life is life. I can live with normal for a bit, especially after the past two months of new things every other day, or so it seemed.
It usually takes me a little bit to get in to sync with a Shakespeare play. It is basically a “slang” version of English that you have to adjust to. But I never got in sync with this play, nothing really drew me in. I have seen two versions of Macbeth on the stage (and acted scenes from it myself), as well as several film versions. This was the first where I did not find a fair amount of things to draw my interest and get me involved with the drama.
Which is hard to do, as it’s Macbeth! There are so many things to draw you in, so I don’t know what happened.
you and neal are some of keagan’s favorite big people. btw, i will have you know that if you ask him where you guys live his response is “far, far away.” Oh, and chris and i live in different towns too.
Awwww, this made both of us smile! We talk about our visit with Keagan still, too, and (I should email this part) really need to get a picture of him from you to put up in the living room. I’ll let Neal make his own comment on the “far, far away” part, since he said something pretty funny about that.
What towns do you and Chris happen to live in?
If you ask him where he lives he will tell you “Burlington.” If you ask him where Mommy lives he will either say “Burlington” or “Danville”. When you ask him where Daddy lives he says, “Iowa City”. We try to get him to say the right place and will if prompted but then just goes back to the old places. Yeah, you guys live far, far away and great grandma Dorothy just lives far away since its closer than you guys. Next time I order pics of Keagan, I will think to order a 5 by 7 for you guys. I took a few pics of him hoping they would suffice as “2 year pics”.
Well, since Neal hasn’t said anything, his comment was that we lived in a galaxy far, far away and then all the jokes that go with that.
At least he knows of surrounding towns, right? You’ll have to bring him up and then maybe we’ll live by the big lake or something like that.