Happy New Year! We finished out our Christmas feasting and festivities with Carl’s side of the family. Music was made, games were played, and we completed one of the hardest jigsaw puzzles we have ever done. The girls rang in the new year with Grandma and Grandpa, although to be more specific, Amy and our cat were the only ones to herald the actual stroke of midnight. My initial inclination for New Year’s Eve always is to be cozy and quiet inside, even if I might stay up until midnight. That said, I have enjoyed many festive midnights, such as this one, by following Carl’s inclination to do something new and fun. Carl and I went to a 70s themed party in downtown Pittsburgh with Sonia and her partner. I loved wearing my striped bell-bottom pants and blue suede shoes (don’t step on ‘em), although the pants did drag in the cold rain water when we walked to see the Pittsburgh ball rise (that’s what it does). To remedy the situation I pegged my jeans, thus looking extra fashionable!
As we look ahead to the start of school, I think all of us will experience the equivalent of jet lag as we try to turn our personal clocks back to their usual early morning settings. Sarah has been sleeping in until 6:30 or 7:30, while Amy has been sleeping in until 10:30. Monday morning will be a sharp adjustment, unless the weather grants them snow days. If that happens you may hear Sarah’s dismay because she is extremely eager to see her bus driver and does not want any precipitation to interfere.
Amy has valiantly worked on her application to CAPA despite it being the very last thing she wanted to do. I sat with her as her bodyguard while she drafted her essay. Sometimes a person just needs someone else to be in the room to help keep the gremlins at bay.
Carl and I are enjoying a weekend away in New York City while Sonia and her partner take care of the kids. Due to the plane needing to be de-iced in Pittsburgh, we made it just in time to check our bags at the theater venue Friday to see Life and Trust. It was a thought-provoking weird experience of a ballet, set in the basement of a huge building, about various people in the financial district in the 1920s. The audience followed the various characters around through many dim, hazy rooms, watching the performers do incredible dance moves while we tried to make sense of what we were seeing. You got to choose who you followed, so you could probably see the show five times and not see the same thing twice. There was a level of background noise throughout. I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to be emulating some sort of opium haze or Dante’s levels of hell. It was all a bit confusing, but I’m still glad we experienced it (though I wasn’t always feeling that way in the moment).
After checking in at our hotel, we walked to see the posters at the Longacre Theatre where Swept Away was most recently performed on Broadway with our friend and past Sarah-Rise volunteer Adrian Enscoe playing the role of Little Brother. Unfortunately, the show closed early despite rave reviews, so we didn’t get to see it on this trip. I’m so glad we got to see it in Washington, DC. It was still exciting to see the posters. On Saturday we went to a matinee performance of Suffs. I would tell you to go see it, but this is the last weekend for it. It was so good though! So if it comes to your town, go see it. The lead character went to Swarthmore College so we felt an extra affinity for her, though we were humbled to realize how much we didn’t know about Alice Paul before seeing the musical.
Back to the girls… when Sarah and I were going to pick up some prescriptions at CVS, I told her we wouldn’t be getting snacks like we usually do, because our larder is so full with our Christmas bounty. She replied, “What about getting some goldfish so Amy will be pleased?” Carl, Amy, and I cracked up laughing so I changed my mind and we did come home with goldfish crackers. I like to reward comedic timing and kind sisterly thinking.
Amy is getting ready for Sarah’s birthday at the end of the month. Sometimes in past years I asked one of our past volunteers to do face painting. Now, Amy is becoming quite the accomplished face painter, decorating her own face and mine. I got her a new face paint kit, and she has already created her choice board for the people at Sarah’s party to be able to select what design they want her to recreate.
Lots of love to all of you. May you be pleased.
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