Happiness is....organized sheet music!

Every time I clean my room, I find various pieces of music scattered with no hint of order throughout my stuff. So I'll stick it in a folder, label it "sheet music" and toss it back where I found it. Soon, as you can probably guess, I no longer found pieces of scattered sheet music but scattered folders of sheet music. Alas..
*cue dramatic background music*
I now have compiled all of the little folders of music, I also...ready for this?....organized them all by what type of music they are.
I know. My jaw dropped, too.

First, we have the green folder that contains Christmas music. Before this process, I did not realize that our family owned about 7 identical copies of "Carol of the Bells"...so if anyone wants to sing it sometime...
Next, the purple folder, full of choir music, various beginning piano pieces from a million years ago, and a couple solo vocal things.

Next, we have - my favorite - the black folder. In here is music from past shows, useful for cast parties and possibly audition pieces. It also contains the libretto for Pirates.
It's the biggest one.

Finally, the white folder, which I use for music that I'm currently working on. It's pretty empty now, because I took out all my Pirates music and the libretto and moved them to the black folder...kind of sad:(

Ah, organization. It's a beautiful thing.

Confession of the Day

Confession time, confession time, confession tiiiiiiime! *jazz hands* yeah!

So...here goes.

I am deathly afraid of giving blood. Never mind that I've never actually tried giving blood...I'm very afraid of it. Needles, passing out...ug!

I know, I know..."save up to three lives!!" Can't I just donate money, and save three lives that way?

To make matters worse:
1) My blood type is O. That means that the blood drive people will stalk me and send me postcards and leave recorded messages on my answering machine asking for blood. Imagine how creepy that is..."Hello, Jenna....give us your lovely type O blood, please..."

2) In a few years, my best friend will be, like, a phlobotomist! Look it up, I didn't know what it was either...Anyway. She'll be certified to draw blood!! Actually, she's going to be a nurse, but she'll be able to take blood, too. She has said in the past that as soon as she's certified she's "coming to get me," which is kind of weird and scary. I should move to Slovenia.

David Cook

On Monday night, Dad surprised us with tickets to see David Cook! DAVID COOK! If you have no idea who he is, don't feel bad. I only know who he is because last year we had cable...he won American Idol. He's from Missouri (Blue Springs, near KC) and I just knew that he was going to win.

And we (Clarissa, Becca, Mom and I) got to see him at Leach!There he is!

Cool lights.
More cool lights.
They posted signs outside the door that said, "No Cameras, Bags WILL be checked!" So Mom took the camera back to the car.

There was no bag check. Therefore, all of these pictures were taken from my phone zoomed in as far as it would go.

We had a great time. Thanks, Daddy!

My Dearest Sisters! I miss you so!

By all that's marvelous! A bevy of beautiful maidens! We we should all go mermaid-watching together sometime.

"Your DU-ty!"

One of Meredith's favorite parts of the show was after Paradox when Amanda says, "Your DU-ty!" and Joel repeats her for emphasis, "Your DU-ty!" So Meredith demonstrated this scene to us a time or two, then Matthew got in on the fun.

It's over?

I can't believe that I cried that much. I guess I expected to cry a little, but I was sobbing my eyes out. I'm such a baby

It's over. I know that I should be sleeping right now, but I just got back from Steak and Shake and I'm all sugared up, thanks to ice cream....so!

My throat is very very sore...I think it's due to the combined effects of sobbing, laughing, singing the show and then singing that weird high-pitched "presto agitato" version of Foeman after meet and greet.

I'm going to miss you all so much....why do we act this way? It's not like the world ends after the final curtain call...but I will miss those brilliant lyrics and the clever ways everyone interpreted their characters. I'll also miss dressing up as my dear purple frilly Edith, and...yes...I'll miss putting in those annoying rollers, although I think I'm getting my hair cut now that the show is over.

I can't believe that I broke parasols on both opening and closing nights, and that out of all the daughters on stage with parasols and all of the shows we did, I was the only one that broke anything. It's a gift...but one that I don't like. I felt absolutely horrible whenever it broke on Opening, but at least on Closing they might not be used for a while, so it can be repaired...maybe. I do feel bad, especially after we were told to be really careful with them. I won't dwell on this any longer, I'll talk about something more positive.

Sleep! I'll go to bed!
Goodnight!
Love you all!

I finally uploaded pictures from the REAL camera!

So.... Rebecca and Bingley...hopefully this is a better picture than the ones I posted before. Bingley is quite the character. He's very friendly and energetic and spaztic...he fits right in the family!

And here's Leia...this was the very first day we had her, and she was VERY VERY shy. Bingley's outgoing personality has been good for her, though. She's very sweet and likes to stay in the garage where it's cool and quiet. She likes to take bones from Bingley because she's almost twice as big as him. In her free time she likes long walks on the beach and volunteering at soup kitchens...

Oh, my dear Papas! On opening night I was given roses from both my real Papa and Papa Stanley. I love my papas:)

So...more to come later. I want to get a picture with every member of the cast tonight. I'll have to post some of my favorites.

Chasing cows...

Our neighbors calves get out from time to time. This was the first time they've actually come across the road onto our property, though.

We were getting the mail and kind of scared it.

Then it started walking away from the car (which is understandable).

Then it started down the road...

Mom called Mr. Floyd and started chasing after it...

To no avail. Eventually, when she had gone pretty far down the road, Mom turned around to come back and the calf followed her. I ended up cutting my way with a machete and flip flops (err, not good) through the jungle (visible on the left side of the above picture) we call our "property". I went down far enough that I could come out onto the road behind the calf and push it up towards it's house. What fun...:)

Easter stuff

These are semi-boring, but I wanted to post of of my egg!!
This is the egg I dyed. It's amazingly beautiful in real life. We discovered that brown eggs are harder and weirder to dye...

Random picture I took of myself at Grandma's house. You can't see my dress, though...I wanted to frolic outside like Elizabeth Bennet, but it was really muddy...ew.

The Annoyance that which most of the Stanley daughters are too familiar with:)

Ahh, yes....rollers.Clarissa has been my faithfull hairdresser through it all. She owed me anyway; I did her hot rollers for Music Man.

The pain begins....if only they weren't so hot.

We had the radio on and were listening to the ballgame. This is my reaction to the Cubs winning....

Don't you just love my new lip piercing?

Almost done....

And here's the result! Pretty neat, huh? It's amazing what a little blush can do...lol;)

*Last picture courtesy of being stolen from Nathan Hickle's facebook...but Mark took the picture, so I think he gets the photo credit.

News and such

So....

Matthew started telling knock knock jokes today. His favorite one to tell is "knock knock! who's there? cow! cow who? Moooo!!" The kid's a comic genius.

Clarissa got a dog. She's been begging for one for quite some time, and now that spring is somewhat here, she finally got her puppy. It's a female border collie mix, and her name is Leia...no, I didn't suggest this. Clarissa came up with it on her own. Leia is really shy, but someone told Dad that border collies generally are shy, but she's kind of loosening up. Bingley is good for her, I think. He's such a spazz. It's funny, because even though Leia is a couple weeks younger than Bingley, she's a good deal bigger than him. I'll have to post pictures of them both, if Bingley will only hold still.

I have my first ever real job interview today. I'm applying to work at the Centre/Parks and Rec this summer, keeping score for volleyball games, maybe working concessions at the ballpark, and various other odd jobs. Yay....I think:) The interview shouldn't be too hard, though, because I know the lady I'm interviewing...she goes to our church.

We're taking pictures for dance today at class. I have to wear a sparkly blue dress for ballet (the dance we're doing is "lyrical", though). This may totally surprise you, but I'm not really "into" wearing sparkly blue dresses....I might have to post pictures later....or maybe I'll save myself the humiliation;)

News flash! I know, like, every single person on blogs/facebook has said this already, but....I miss my Pirates.

I need to post pictures. I'm just too busy....or too lazy. And I'm not sure where my camera is, but I also want to take a picture with every cast member of Pirates. I did (or tried) during It's a Wonderful Life.

I also need to finish reading The Count of Monte Cristo. The library sent me an overdue notice, but as I've said before, I like getting mail so I never return books unless the library sends me a letter...lol. It's such a long book, and I'm only about halfway through, and I haven't read it in such a long time that I'll have to go back and refresh my memory concerning where I am in the story.

anyway...that's kind of what's going on.
jl

Let's talk about the weather!

I have been missing my bike rides because of weather and/or Pirates, but I am determined to ride today after lunch. I think the weather is finally taking a warm turn....in fact, we're opening the pool in a few weeks!

How lovely...

I woke up this morning with an Edith-Afro. An Edith-Afro is a combination of mousse, hairspray, curls-that-are-falling-out-anyway and bedhead. It was quite...um, er...lovely. Needless to say, I will not be posting any pictures and I am taking a shower to wash it all out.

The Edith-Afro looked especially odd on me considering that I was too tired and forgot to take my make-up off last night. So....I woke up looking like an emo kid; my eyeliner and mascara smeared all around my eyes. I wonder if I look "effective, yet alarming"? Probably more "alarming"...

Jl

This video made my day

This is amazing! I cried the second time I watched it....guess I'm a softy:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Another example of not judging a book by it's cover:)

Tomorrow's Easter!

LTC is over. My puppet team got a gold. The puppet team I directed got a gold. Yay:)
I'm just glad that it's over! No more rehearsal after church, no more stress...until next year.

We haven't even started performances for Pirates yet (soon, though!!) and I am already sad, knowing that eventually it will be over and I won't get to see all my new beloved sisters as often as I have been. I love all of those girls....they all have such beautiful personalities, and I've greatly enjoyed getting to know them all better. Love you, dingbats!

Easter is tomorrow. I believe that I'll be assisting the "easter bunny" and hide eggs for Meredith and Matthew. We're going to Grandma Gillett's for dinner (lunch, actually...but it's always called dinner on Sundays and holidays). We dyed eggs a few days ago (again, for Meredith and Matthew mostly:D) and I dyed a totally awesome one that was a dark teal blue color.... absolutly fantastic! I'll have to take a picture of it before it's squished and/or someone eats it.


Clarissa and I just finished watching Mansfield Park. I haven't read the book, but Clarissa has and she liked it a lot. I like Jane Austen, but sometimes, in her writing, it's a bit confusing to figure out what she's trying to say. Back to the movie: it was good, but there was some poor acting and some costumes didn't look exactly Regency period. The carriage scenes made me laugh. They were filmed by someone holding the camera while sitting directly across from the actors; so the actors were shaking back and forth and back and forth again, and some dialog was lost underneath the noise of the horses. They didn't have a camera meant for that sort of scene, and it nearly made me seasick.

I'm very tired. Goodnight.

Pirates!!! They're everywhere!

They're invading us!!!

1st, and perhaps the most obvious example: The Pirates of Penzance.

2nd example: The really, truly, actual pirates off the coast of Somalia that have been in the news so much these past couple days.

3rd example: The Pittsburg Pirates, who are finishing a series with the Cards today.

Arrg, Matey! Come and see us!

Mentally chaotic week....

This week is just one of those weeks where it's hard to focus on something (ahem...schoolwork and such) because you have so much other stuff that needs to get done...examples:

-I have to turn in my art for LTC (Leadership Training for Christ) this Wed, and....well, I've started on it. I know what I'm going to do, but I just need to finish it.

-LTC is this weekend. Easter is this weekend.....and oh, yeah, Pirates dress rehearsal....you guessed it.....this weekend......arrrrrg!!!! (that was a growl of frustertion, not a pirate scowl)

-So, we are driving to Kansas City on Friday morning. All Friday evening is events and stuff. Saturday morning early we have puppets. Then Mom, Clarissa and I drive as fast as is safely and legally possible back to Rolla for dress rehearsal.....Clarissa will be putting my hot rollers in while we're driving back...how thrilling!

What fun. Oh, and I need to finish knitting my shawl before LTC so that I can wear it with my dress...and I need to go buy a frame for my art...oooo I'm getting contacts today!!! yeah.

Meet the puppy!

The Light family has acquired a new puppy. We actually "acquired" him on Saturday, but he was finally named last night, and I couldn't post this announcement until he had been named. He's "officially" Rebecca's dog, and she couldn't decide what she wanted to name him....all Saturday night and all Sunday we threw around about fifteen hundred different names,but Rebecca wouldn't choose one because she "didn't want to regret it later" or something. We finally convinced her to choose........

*drumroll*

Meet Bingley, our **NEW** rat terrier puppy!

He's really little; see the comparison with the stuffed toy bunny.

Again, excuse the quality....cell phone pictures.

For now, he sleeps in a cage in the garage, but we let him in the house for short periods of time.

Bingley, like most dogs, is very hard to photograph. He doesn't sit still. I'll have to post some better pictures later....

At lunch this afternoon, Meredith informed us that she could not eat her chicken because she is addicted to it.....(?????) We asked her if she meant allergic; of course, she did.

She then reiterated, "I'm allergic to it." Clarissa assured her that being allergic to it meant she couldn't eat chicken nuggets anymore.....

We have now come to the conclusion that Meredith is allergic...to chicken cooked in a crock pot. Four year olds are so entertaining:)

so....

I have a mental list of pictures I need to post. Sorry...

Oooo, I'm driving! It's thrilling:)

Well, I'm not driving at the moment....but I have been driving.

Mom won't let me drive on the highway, and I don't want to. I drive too slow.

Yet, as my mother, she freaks out when I'm "speeding" down the gravel road at a whopping 25 mph.

I love my mother!!! haha!:)

silly little kittens

This is where the kittens have been hanging out recently. I've nearly stepped on them a couple times...notice the door behind them...but they are so cute, it's easy to forgive their inconvenient napping spot.

Edelweiss is definitely the more active of the pair. Stormy kept lounging on the step, while Edelweiss jumped up and investigated my glass of water.