Of Munchkins and Ozians

I've been MIA.

Big time.

Back in April, I decided to audition for the local Art Council's fall musical,

 because they were doing The Wizard of Oz.

I took Catelyn and Landon with me, and we became Munchkins.  I was one of two adults in Munchkin Land! 

And I also got a part as an Ozian. 

Summer flew by.

And then in August, we began rehearsals.
I November, we fell off the recognizable face of Home.

 

 

But NOW?

its over.
the makeup. the dresses. the massive hair bows. the hoop slips. the shoes. the singing. the dancing. the green hair. the snowflake umbrellas. the bush umbrellas. the spooks. the jitterbugs. the face paint. the glitter. the fake eyelashes. the costumes changes. even the backstage buzz. and let's not forget the food. BUT......

the friendships?
NEVER.

the memories?
No way. 

As I look back at where November went, 

I realize about half of it when to The Wizard of Oz!

Starting on Thursday, November 1, until Tuesday, November 13- Catelyn, Landon and I spent roughly 36-40 hours working on and practicing and performing the show.  In the span of 13 days, we were gone 10 of those nights.

The little girls wanted their mother back in a bad way.

Catelyn and Landon got to sleep in until 10 every morning of the show, making them late for school a few times.  All three of us were sick with something at some point during the first 13 days of November.  We healed quickly with the help of good doctors and medicines.  So I had to mix in three trips to the doctor in between all the hustle and bustle of the show.

I made food every day for the cast. Had a few  recipes requested from fellow Ozians, which I managed to blog in the wee hours of the night, which made me feel good on top of the fun I was having.

Plus I fed my family before we left for the night.

Will I do it again?  HECK YES.

But not until the little girls are old enough to come with me.  I didn't enjoy leaving them behind.  

And I'm going to make Kyle do it with us.

Was it the funnest?  ABSOLUTELY.

Do I miss it? NO.

I DO miss the cute teenagers and fun adults like crazy.  Take some of the most silly, talented, extroverted, wild people you know and put them in a room together and you have the cast of the WOZ.  With the exception of maybe one or two people, who I STILL am wondering about- 

how did they ever get into this show? They were so quiet!-

Some of the closest friends I made during include: 

Klurisa, McKell, Molly, Cabe, Alayna and Paula, Chance and Easton, Dayia, Lisa, Megan, Bryon and Dustin, Kennidee, Savannah, Samantha and Bailey, Sharee, Lauren, and Joy .

Catelyn and Landon made new friends too.  Which was half the point for them

 in my including them in the madness.

I felt a closeness to Catelyn and Landon that I don't think I would have experienced without the show. And now that it's over, I'm grateful that it worked into our lives, even with the strain it put on Kyle and the little girls. Which is why I would absolutely do this again.  That kind bonding -over songs and the silliness of the show- is something I don't think one can get from any basketball game, TV show, dance recital, or board game. I was filled with heart wrenching pride, I admit it, when I watched Landon as part of the Lollipop guild- 

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

My heart and smile grew every time I was able to catch Catelyn's eyes from her place in the aisle.  And her smile grew too. And she had to try hard not to wave at me.

Yeah, it was epic for us.
Here's a few photos:

Awesome hair pieces by Serene!

 

Dress Rehearsal?  Who knows.  I lost track of it all.

Snowflake or Snow Angel?  I'm still not sure.

 Jack Sparrow

That about wraps it up for photos.  I had to steal a few off Facebook, so they're not great quality, but oh well.

I do not know how I didn't get downstairs to photograph my munchkins. And how I didn't shots of everyone!  It makes me ill.

I'm trying to find a hole to crawl into about not having any other photos of Landon and Cate then the TWO you see on here.  I'm dying. EPIC FAIL as a MOTHER. I've put out a plea if anyone has a photo or two of them, to please share them with me.  But I may never have anything more than these two shots as proof that my oldest two children were in the Wizard of Oz as kids.

It's really eating my insides up.

It's been more than a week and the songs have yet to die off.

The little girls know them all by heart too now, and this is a 'status update' I posted on facebook yesterday:

IN THE FRONT ROOM:
Brooklyn, 3 years old: "Dingdongthewitchesdeaaaaaaaaaaaaad. Witch o witch? Which o' witch? Dingdongthewichessdeeeeead!"

Jocelyn, 5 years old: "No! Brooklyn's that's not right!" Proceeds to sing it correctly...

IN THE KITCHEN:
Me, to Kyle: "How much longer do you think they're gunna be singing these songs?"

Kyle: "Oh, I give it another two days."

Me, seriously confused and sarcastic: "That's all? Yeah, right."

Kyle: "Well, when do you plan to turn the Christmas music on, then? The sooner you do, the faster their tunes will change to the obnoxious rounds of "Batman Smells" and "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", and (our favorite) .....................

"Dashing through the trees,
with a pair of broken skis,
the snow is turning red,
I think I'm nearly dead!
Ooooooh 9-1-1!
9-1-1!
Help is on the waaaaayyyyy!"

DON'T WORRY.  I'm still writing EDITING.  I had a few kids in the show help me with some ideas for easy editing stuff- But the best part about trying to edit while doing a this show? The 15 year old boy who kept reading the MS, and his confession that he LIKED it!!!  Along with the few other fans I collected! 

I've gotta be one of the extroverted writers, huh?

The Blurb

UPDATE: April 17, 2013.  This is no longer my blurb at all. But I won't delete the post just because my first version of my blurb doesn't work.  Oh no, we'll let it ride the internet wave forever, I guess.

The Blurb.  Also known as the "Book's Description" or "Book Summary" can be found on the back of the book's jacket or on the flap on the inside.

Mine is a work in progress.  

And when people ask me, "What's your book about?" my mind craves to recite the blurb, but instead my mouth goes dry, my heart races and I feel a tightness in my chest, while I stare back at them in silence.

I am not good at condensing my thoughts down or narrowing out what's most important on the spot like that. So being able to quickly recite the "Blurb" or "Book's Description" from the back of the jacket would be ideal, in my opinion, but I haven't really had one.

The following is part of what I first wrote when I designed my website, and the book's page.  It still rings 98% accurate and true to my story's plot, so it must be the best description thus far, as it's etched in my heart as such.

So this is it.  The few words that I've penned and re-thought and edited about as many times as I've been asked about my novel. 

Maybe I should work at memorizing them.... 


Most people either don't know or ignore the truth about Cupid. Vindictive, cruel and jealous, he has been leading humanity down the path of meager infatuation and lust.  Lacking power to truly match lovers, Cupid, also known as Eros, enjoys destroying love at any cost.

His human lover, Psyche, becomes an unforeseen catalyst, when she  gives birth to his son, who has the power to truly match lovers. The war between Love and Lust erupts when Eros discovers his son's gift.
 
Hundreds of years later, with society saturated in sexuality, Lenox Landon discovers his family tie to the Greek god Eros, and is thrusted into the war between Love and Lust. Determination to reclaim his fallen brother will test his own convictions and may cost him the heart of the only girl to see past his good looks.