The Hound of the Baskervilles

We had a giggle watching Josie don her heavy winter clothes: hat, gloves, coat, just to rake leaves in the backyard. She entertained herself for a good hour raking leaves for herself and the dogs. She admitted it was way too warm for winter gear but going to rake leaves in short sleeves would ruin the mood. She added to the leaf pile throughout the week until Justin mowed it up. The dogs were secretly using her precious leaf pile for a dookie spot. She was also reduced to tears because the dogs somehow found her most favorite pair of thrifted boots for her Halloween costume, the utterly destroyed the boots. All that was left were to soles and some chunks of fibers. 

We are thoroughly entertained with the alligator claws Amelia got the boys. The antics are numerous, the applications endless for deformed alligator claws. Josie is thrilled to have a complete set of Warrior Cats keychains for her school backpack. She and Mrs Harp are totally giddy about their growing collection. 

Phillip and Evelyn had their well-child visits with Dr Aldous this week. Phillip and I met at the clinic early Monday morning. Dr Aldous did not arrive to said room until 8:15, that meant I had to leave moments after the visit started. Phillip managed the visit himself with glowing stars. Dr Aldous said Phillip’s ear canals were plugged with impressive wax plugs. Later that night Phillip scraped out the impressive wax plugs with an ear wax scooper tool. He failed to show off his prize, I feel great disappointment over the loss of cringing at the sight. He is now enjoying an electric ear canal cleaner, gotta keep those canals clear. Funny thing, he said there is no change in his hearing levels…that is strange considering how much his ear canals were plugged. Maybe he was hearing through bone connectivity? Evelyn and I went Wednesday after school. She is also healthy and fine. No issues. 

EVMS Choir gave an impressive performance. They sound so good! Mrs Sene sent some dresses back with Phillip that needed further hemming over the weekend. I realized she needed the dresses by Wednesday morning for a Con Brio concert at NNU. I hemmed dresses instead of making dinner, brought the dresses to the concert because I knew Mrs Sene would be there. 

Phillip survived his first solo drive to MCO without supervision! The girls survived the trip without losing their minds. I stayed at home to edit some photos sessions. Everett also stayed home from MCO because he had theater all week. 

Wednesday afterschool Mandy (the VP) sent out an email mandating the entire school be at a training from 9-11 on Friday. I was not a happy camper because this Friday was only the second prep day I’ve had since school started. I had a list a mile long of items to print and lessons to prepare, instead it was off to meeting about school community. That’s ironic, let’s communicate…yes! Let’s communicate! Leadership told all the teachers at the beginning of the year what trainings were required. Wait? Maybe we want everyone there?! Yes, the hourly employees don’t have stuff to do, they need to come as well. Whoopity Doo. Bonus, let’s have a potluck chili contest! I was up at 7:30 making chili before I had to get myself to the dentist for a cleaning at 9:00 am. I planned to flex my hours a little to accommodate the dentist. I got reminder texts saying the appointments started at 9 am, my calendar said 8 am. I called the dentist on Thursday just to clarify the time. I was about to cut into an onion when the dentist office called at 8 am asking if we were on our way for our 8 am appointments. Gah! They verified it was at 9 am…but really it was at 8 am. So frustrating. I channeled Elsa…let it just go. Good thing I missed part of the meeting making chili because only 2 people brought chili, 4 people brought dessert. The lack of community is astounding. Maybe another meeting will help?

Friday evening Phillip and Evelyn went to the football game together. EVMS had their join the HS band night. Evelyn enjoyed playing the cymbals with Phillip and goofing off. I stayed home to edit photos. Josie went bored out of her little mind with Justin and I working on stuff. 

Everett has talent. That is an understatement. He’s worked long hours for 3 weeks, right after Thunder ended, for his part in Hound of the Baskervilles. The lack of communication (is there a theme?) was also astounding. The students turn in their phones during practices. The problem is the teacher does not communicate with parents. The only information I had from Everett is that theater practice would end around 7:30. Monday it ended around 9 pm. Tuesday practice ended at 10:10 pm. Phillip and Evelyn waited at the school for 2 hours then gave up and came back home. All the doors were locked and no one was answering their phones. I frustrated-texted Mr Haycock requesting updates for practices so we wouldn’t have to wait for hours. He responded but did not send updates for the rest of this week. Yet, I’m expected to promptly pick up Everett at the teacher’s convenience…whenever that is. I completely understand rehearsals with our years at MCO, being a creative teacher at a HS should not be an exception. Grrrrr. Alrighty…rant aside. Justin, Evelyn, Josie, and I went to see the play on closing night. Hands down, that was the most hilarious theater production I’ve ever attended. There are 3 main characters, Sam, Kourtney, and Everett. These 3 played all the various parts in the play. Everett’s main character was Sir Henry Baskerville. His other personas were:  Mortimer, cabbie, yokel, and Charles Baskerville. Sam was Sherlock and like 10 other characters (hilarious). Kourtney was Watson and the other yokel for a hot moment. You know a play is going to be good when you’re handed animal puppets and expected to participate. Justin was stoked. Somehow these 3 students memorized the parts for a 2h 15m show. It was like watching my son morph into this human I was not aware existed. He literally stunned me. So proud. I think the best part was the review after the first act. Sam had a cell phone and asked who wrote the review…I raised my hand as tribute. Problem was the phone in Sam’s hand was clutched by a bloody fake hand. I had two hands but they did not seem to notice nor care that I had both appendages. Josie noticed! Ha ha. Justin picked up the Scooby Doo reference and blurted out “Rugh ro raggy.” Kourtney was astute enough to pick it up and respond on stage quick as a whip. 

Justin, Everett, and the girls went to support Phillip at the TVFOB competition. I went to take HS Senior photos of Andrew Beck and his many instruments. We had a lovely time skipping about in the leaves and muttering “pickle farts.” The CHS Marching Band won First Place Overall!! First time since 2015 that they won overall! He is very excited about their success. I can’t wait to watch them next week at the Boise State DIII competition. 

It was my week to teach RS. A few weeks ago Sara said I could choose which talk to discuss. The thought popped into my head to talk about the music at conference. October's conference had a few firsts: the most speakers at 37 speakers, 16 different countries were also represented at this conference, seven new songs were sung from the new hymn selection, and 4 of the songs were brand new! I found a website that tracked all the songs sung at conference since 1971! The list was intriguing to see what hymns were sung the most. The top of the list was "We Thank Thee of God for a Prophet." Testimony through song!