Loss

The sixteen year old daughter of John's justice passed away suddenly this past Saturday. The magnitude of this loss for their family is almost incomprehensible. Our thoughts are with them.

Beauty and the Beast :)

I was eying the Beauty and the Beast DVD/Blue-Ray disc. I decided to skip it... not really something I "needed"... but then I came home tonight and John got it for me. It was there on my chair!! Woo hoo :) What a lovely surprise!! We're watching it and singing along.

Church Bulletin Funnies

These were sent to me today... they're just silly, but sometimes real life (of course someone might have made this up, but let's pretend no) is at least as funny as fiction...

Church Bulletins! These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:
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The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.'
The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
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Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale.
It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house.
Bring your husbands.
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Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
Smile at someone who is hard to love.
Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you..
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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?'
Come early and listen to our choir practice
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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled.
Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind.
They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
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This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
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Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM.
Please use the back door.
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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM.
The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
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Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church Please use large double door at the side entrance.
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The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours

Settlers of Catan

My news isn't quite is big as John's, BUT... tonight we played Settlers of Catan with Steve and Tammy... and I WON!!! I've never won this game!!! HOORAY!!! I like winning!!

Scared Scriptless Cast Member Bunking Down with Us

Well, more accurately, the Scared Scriptless Cast Member is now half of us... but John is bunking down at our house ;) That's right... John is the newest member of Scared Scriptless!! That's our local improv group that you might remember me talking about in my post from the summer.

On Thursday John saw a sign for Scared Scriptless' open audition. He attended the first audition on Saturday. They called late last night while we were at the movie (we saw RED--very funny)... John wouldn't leave to take the call because he figured it was bad news (or maybe he just didn't want to miss the movie). I, of course, couldn't think straight until I knew the outcome. They'd left a message and invited him to a call back today. He went to the call back... John found out tonight that he's been invited to be a 3 month cast member... after that time, they'll reevaluate. SOOO exciting!

We're going to watch this weekend's show and he'll start practice on Sunday. Hooray! Congratulations, John!!

Coming to a theater near you...

The Sound of Music Sing Along Event!! How cool is that?? I know Erin is going to be all over this :) Plus, it's national... so you too can sing along for 3+ hours on a weeknight!! Honestly, though, John and I and some of the clerks are all going to the event on the 26th... We're preparing to Lonely Goat it up ;)

Updates--Mama Mia and Postcards

Mama Mia was a blast. The singing (and acting) wasn't as good as the Vegas performance, but the choreography was better. And the audience was *CRAZY*... must have been a lot of original ABBA fans reliving their youth... women doing the wave and wearing VERY short skirts and singing and clapping. It was fun to see people enjoying themselves :)

The performance did make me sad remembering hanging out with my own friends (and signing Fernando with Erin--even though it's not part of the show) and with my mom. Amanda, whose mom recently moved to Texas, and I both blubbered through "Slipping through my Fingers"... ugh... don't listen to it! Other than that, we really did enjoy ourselves.

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Postcards-- If you emailed me your address, I sent your postcard early this week. But, I don't think anyone's received them yet. Let me know if yours arrived. URgggH!

Alaska Native Heritage Center

Today my students and I went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. It was lots of fun... though it was off to a rocky start with slightly delayed chaperones and a permission slip drama. We got to see the different housing types of all 7 Alaskan tribal groups. The kids danced native dances. They also created bead and "ivory" and "claw" necklaces. Here's the face obscured picture I can share. Two thumbs up though!!

Happy Birthday Kyle

Okay... the last of my birthday tributes goes to my brother...



Happy Birthday Kyle!! We hope you have a wonderful day and many wonderful years to come. May all the best in life be yours.

With lots of love, Lindsey and John

Mamma Mia!

This Friday John and I are going to see it... Mamma Mia (the musical, obviously--not ABBA). We saw it in Las Vegas 2 years ago. I, of course, love ABBA and can't wait to see the play (and sing quietly along) this FRIDAY... awesomeness. Plus, John and I are going with a coworker of mine and her husband--so it should be a fun double date. Really looking forward to a fun evening!

Happy First Birthday Qiu Qiu!

Last year our friend Jue and her husband, Chunpeng, had their first child-- Isabelle. Her nickname is Qiu Qiu (pronounced a bit like the train sound Choo-Choo, but prettier).

Tracy, Jue, and Chunpeng are all from the same home"town" (of like 4 million people) and they became fast friends.

Tracy and I were lucky enough to, with help from Mom, throw Jue a baby shower. (See picture at left where Jue is picking the best play-dough baby.) Tracy and I were even at the hospital with them during labor and waiting just outside when Qiu Qiu was delivered. I've hardly seen this bundle, but am tickled by her easy laughter. (The picture is of her at 4 months old.)

At any rate...

Happy First Birthday Qiu Qiu! May it be the start of many wonderful birthdays to come. We love you, Izzy-Bee!

Tracy has seen Qiu Qiu much more recently than I have and had these pictures and stories to share--She was most interested in the stairs in our place, and with Jue’s help, she can go up and down one stair each step. Pretty impressive. (You can see in one of the pictures)

Her second favorite item is Taro, but Taro was too scared to play. Qiuqiu poked Taro’s face, which taro took pretty well; and then she tried to put her tiny finger into Taro’s mouth (very brave idea), but was stopped in the process. Qiuqiu loves animals, and there is a story where she friendlily “kicked” Jue’s friend’s cat. Given the chance, I think she’ll dominate Taro too.

The third item that she enjoyed a lot was the combination of “Kyle + Kyle’s cell phone”. Smarter than Taro, when Kyle hid his cell phone behind his back, Qiuqiu was able to tell where it was and insisted on getting it from Kyle. Inexperienced with this situation (usually Taro needs further instructions to find something hidden behind our backs), Kyle let Qiuqiu play with his cell. She actually started to text something and would only take a break when the cartoon on TV has more intriguing moments.

Before obtaining the cell phone, Qiuqiu actually climbed on top of Mount. Kyle. (Kyle was lying on the floor, I guess it was at least a Hill. Kyle to her) Kyle was a little surprised but cooperated through the 30 second climbing process.

Qiuqiu crawls very fast, and when having something in her hands (Jue says it may be a balance thing), she can actually walk 7 or 8 steps. So if not being watched, she can move to the other side of our living room really fast. Oh, another funny thing, she doesn’t speak much yet but masters a magic word “Mama”, especially when she wants something, despite the specific items she wants.

She is also a very smart girl. She has a lot of tricks, such as mimicking the motorcycle, “welcoming” dance and fake sneezing. You’ll have to see it for yourself during thanksgiving.

Apartment Pics

We had to take some apartment pictures for the listing of our house. I thought you all might like to see some of where we live :)

Moose Sightings Gallery

You don't get this in Arizona...

The Anchorage Daily News, our local newspaper, has a gallery of patrons' pictures of moose.

Perhaps the Arizona Republic wants to have a scorpion sightings gallery??

Your Address

Except for Mom and Kerry, Dad and Margo, and Mina and Dodd, I don't have anyone's address up here with me in the great white north. (I think my Rolodex is in a box at home.)

However, I have some postcards that I'd really like to send. So, if you could email me your address, I'd really appreciate it and will return the favor with a cool postcard made with a picture either John, my mom, or I took.

Concertante

Justice Fabe had extra tickets for a performance by the chamber music group Concertante. John and I went and really enjoyed ourselves. Before intermission they played 3 movements by Elgar and then 3 ragtime movements. We quite enjoyed that, but the post-intermission Chopin was a bit bland and, frankly, soporific.