Choir & Christmas Carol

I've been working with the elementary choir the last few months - just once a week after school and then when it got closer to the performance a few days a week. It's been fun to kind of have a group again. Turns out I went into music for a reason. 

The night of the show I got semi-dressed-up. Had to admit it felt somewhat weird. But good news: my work shoes still fit. And they look pretty nice too. I guess when you put something away for 11 years they stay in relatively good condition. 

The night of the first performance I took this one right the show was over. Such good kids. They did really well too. The main problem was keeping them from singing faster than the audio track, but they followed me pretty well. 

The second night Don was there to take this video of Rebekah singing her solo. So proud of her. That's not an easy thing to sing in front of so many people. She did well! 

 

I forced a picture with dad before he had to run to the church to help out with charitable deliveries. 

Afterwards Rebekah found her friend and introduced me to her friend's mom. We exchanged numbers and everything. 

Then I got home and realized I didn't have a picture with me in it! Since I was actually involved in some manner I decided I needed one. 

December - the first part

That moment when Rebekah was so mad at me she gave new meaning to social distancing. Pretty sure if she had the keys she would have left without me. 

 

Rebekah got a Harry Potter advent calendar this Christmas. When she got Voldemort she decided he looked grumpy so she gave him Moaning Myrtle's hair to help him feel better. 

Family zoom is still a highlight of my week. 

Got the tree set up. Not bad for a pre-lit. And it's lasted 10 years - and going strong. 

We've been given a few nativities over the year. I want to own one but never really decide on what I want, not to mention the price, so we use the ones we've been given. Kind of a tradition now. 

I added some sheep to this handmade one. 

The Season Begins

I had plans to get a professional-ish picture done this year. My good friend from Columbus was passing by our house and wanted to drop by to see us. Since she's a photographer I thought I'd have her take a couple pictures with our camera. She happily agreed. However I ended up being pretty sick so we missed out. A few weeks later when I was feeling better I forced a family picture; basically I stood my phone up, reversed the camera, and set the timer. End result:  

Then I realized I didn't get any pictures of Rebekah setting up the tree. Apparently all extra stuff stops when one is sick. So I asked Rebekah to play make-believe. 

Then one day on the way home from drama / choir practice I saw a sign on the model home saying Santa was there. I asked Rebekah if she'd like to go. She said she was getting too old for that type of stuff but in the end decided that she'll stop when she's officially a teen (13) which gives her two more times. So we grabbed daddy and.... 

 

Rebekah solo:

Then she ended up talking to Santa. For a very long time. 

I'm only mildly okay with that - I mean who is this guy anyway? (I seriously have a hard time with strangers who conceal their faces in some manner. But it's Santa so it's okay....?) 

After talking with Santa Rebekah and Don decorated cookies. Again only mildly okay with that considering the cold / flu / covid mania we've been going through. But tis the season.

Mrs. Clause came over to decorate with them at the end. 

Then Rebekah ended the night by talking to the employees that run the model home about all the fun, interactive, get to know you things they could do to unite the neighborhood. 

November

November was not my favorite month. It started out fine and dandy. 

I early voted, and got a fascinating book at the library.  

 

Rebekah remains such a cutie as she grows and matures. 

I cleaned the big pumpkin and prepared it for better things to come. 

I love my food processor. 

But right at the last quarter of the pumpkin the machine stalled and the I heard a pop and saw smoke. After emptying the machine I found the blade got uncentered and tried to process the plastic bowl. 

Pretty impressive the power of the motor. 

This was the "pop" I heard. 

I was very distraught but my mom suggested I call the number on the back of the manual, which I did, and it was a Thanksgiving miracle: the nice lady said it would be considered a safety issue and therefor sent me an entire new machine as well as a prepaid mailing label for me to return the old one for further inspection. 

While I waited for the new processor I was still able to make pumpkin bread. 

We finished Rebekah's birthday lego space academy set. 

I sent this to my brother - one of the reason I like legos so much. 

It snowed and Rebekah made pictures in said snow. 

Then I started to get sick. I set the vacuum to run in the bedroom without entirely checking the floor. Trouble ensued. 

Don's poor headphones. But it turned out okay. Still works and everything. 

While I was convalescing, with Don's help I finished the red tape work for my teacher license renewal. Then I had to get fingerprints. Turns out those who work with teacher have a sense of humor. This fingerprint card was apparently filled out by Darth Vader.  

Still under the weather, but Thanksgiving came and there was pie to be made. Luckily Rebekah and Don did most of the work. 

It turned out one of the best. 

I had a small piece and enjoyed every taste. 

November Books

 

Highly recommendable fiction about a female African American nurse in the south. It addresses poverty, racism, and so forth. I loved the author's writing. She addressed such a hard subject and came out with a job well done. 

I've read several books on codes and code breakers during the WWII time period; this was one of the best. It's straight history and yet reads like fiction. Highly recommendable. 

I should have known better but reviews said it was a solid 4 star book with lots of early 1900's period history as well as covering the Titanic. It was okay. If I cared more about fashion, liked Chic Lit - aka kissing books - or cared less about history I would have been okay. 

This "historical" fiction started out good; two Italian girls leave their home for a better life. The author describes the class system of the boats heading towards America, Ellis Island, and so forth. I like the description of life in New York during the early 1900's, complete with racism (Italian, German, etc) and gang violence, and even work regulations - author even mentions Roosevelt. All good. However, there's lots of father abuse, sexual abuse, and so forth. And the plot ended up being more Chic Lit than I desired. 

I'm re-reading the series with Rebekah. She had such a desire to read them and I finally decided it may be less of a problem then I imagine since her mind isn't quite ready to imagine all the crazy awful stuff that it could be. Yes, I'm banking on her innocence. And she told me if it gets too scary she'll stop. She said she didn't like the part at the end when someone gets injured but other than that she was good. Book 3 next - which just happens to be my favorite. 

Historical fiction about India after the British leave and the power vacuum the follows. It's pretty dark. But it's also good to know that not every place is as safe and wonderful as most are use too. 

I love this lecturer. Many of the topics are fascinating. One lecture discusses penicillin, another the printing press; it also includes the moon landing, harnessing the atom, the Japanese / Russo war, and so on. Highly recommendable for history fans. 

Good lecture on the history Jazz in all its forms. I think the non-musician would learn as much from these lectures as the musician. Well done. 

Listed under historical fiction - more fiction, less historical (except for the fact that the place and time period existed) - this was pretty engaging. Kind of a murder mystery as you follow the main character throughout her drama. I'd recommend it. 

I've been looking for a history of Queen Elizabeth since before her passing. This one came out right after. It's a good overall history of who she was and who she became. I don't know much about the author or his credibility but nothing seemed extremely amiss. 

I've read The Great Divorce, an analogy about death and sin and the great divide between people after this life is over. Many of his ideas resonate with the church's views so I greatly appreciated it. The Abolition of Man was slightly over my head. I believe his main point was that as man evolves, man tends to take away the essence of what makes him man. I'll have to listen to that one again. 

Rebekah is reading this one in her class; actually the teacher is reading this one out loud to the class. Several times Rebekah has mentioned her concern about the book. About a week or so ago she emotionally restated her concern about the book. At that point I asked her if she would like to talk to the teacher or if she would like me to talk to the teacher, and she suggested I do it - that she didn't feel strong enough. So I emailed the teacher her concern. The teacher emailed me back with what I can only describe as a "deal with it" response. She did suggest I read it so I could prepare Rebekah with what's going to happen. 

Basically it's everything Rebekah could be worried about slammed into one book. Boy, parents died, lives with an abusive foster family, locked in a barn, gets attacked by hundreds of hornets, runs away... etc and so on. There's guns, thoughts of revenge, strange characters, and so forth and so on. But it turns out okay because he finds his long lost grandpa...? So not one I'd recommend. 

Fascinating historical account of a woman during the mid to late 1800's who disagreed with her husband and therefore was put by her husband into an insane asylum. The woman finds a way out and continues to fight the battle politically to get the laws changed so women could not be put away for insanity without a fair trial. This is my 2nd from this author and I enjoyed this one as much as the first; that is until the author put in an afterwards that was entirely too politically skewed in my point of view. It didn't need to be there. I read so I can gain opinions from what I read; I do not read so the author can tell me what I should think.  

Swim

Here's a bunch of videos of Rebekah swimming. I think it ranges from October to now. Honestly not sure what's in each video - assume it ranges from flip turns to dives. To sum up, I'm very proud of what she's doing and how much she is learning. 

Birthday Friends

We had a small get-together with a few friends for Rebekah's birthday. It's not a party year. It's not suppose to be a party year. And yet, I got sucked in and before I knew it - BAM: a sort of party. 

First, Rebekah decorated the cupcakes for her birthday. 

 

A close up of a few:

Rebekah kept asking for a Hollywood theme complete with glamour and a red carpet. 

Glamour oozing forth.

I wanted to do a photo booth for them using my old computer's backdrops. We tried almost everywhere in the house but kept getting shadows. From the following picture I thought we had it fixed but turned out not so much. However I think the girls still had fun.

This was one of my favorite moments: the girls getting out of frame so the background could project on the screen. 

Here's a few of their photo shoot:

They made their own pizzas and then had cupcakes. 

I tried to get one more of Rebekah but my understanding of lighting stinks. Ah well. 

Happy birthday to my glamorous red carpet girl!