Hello again, folks. So, it's about the time of year that I, as you probably have noticed, drop off the face of the earth. And that's because it's time for the spring show at the high school! Yes, we all remember the spring show because it's the biggest show of the year that I am completely in charge of! Yay, responsibility!

You may remember such crazy-large musicals such as Little Shop Of Horrors and Hair causing lots of "drama" over the past two springs. Now don't get me wrong, I always end up having a great time running gigantic musicals, but I recently realized that I probably am not going to be capable of doing it forever. I mean, I am getting older (as proven by me throwing out my shoulder this morning making my bed!). So, I decided to give myself (and my kids!) a break this year and suggest a less-technical spring show: a non-musical comedy called "Museum". Oh, and it's just a, uh, coincidence that I was in it in high school myself!

Even though it's technically been an "easier" show than a large musical, there's still been a ton of work to do, and hence my absence from here (and email and my phone!). But, as opposed to other springs that are full of stress and hair-pulling and begging the kids to do work and then finally realizing it's worth it like the week we open, we've actually had a lot of laughs all along the process. Because it's a ridiculous comedy. A ridiculous comedy with a cast full of the funniest actors. A ridiculous comedy with an easy set. And a ridiculous comedy about modern art (which is a little ridiculous in itself!).

Along those lines, I have heard some pretty bizarre quotes in the scene shop over the past few weeks... quotes like...

"Oh, crap!! I lost Ciara's upper lip!!"

"Ciara, I am sorry that I ruined your face with wood glue"

"Don't worry, Ciara, we got rid of your Hitler mustache"

"Ciara, I need you to supervise me trimming your face on the panel saw"

"I imagine Ciara's face will get screwed to a wall at some point"

"Your face is going to be around for generations"

"I don't want to sacrifice Ciara's face"

"You can store that behind Ciara's face for now"

"Don't you want your face to be in the show, Ciara?"

"Ciara's face has all sorts of deep meaning associated with it!"

Needless to say, I got to the bottom of it as quickly as I could! As it turned out, two of my kids, Jaren and Josh, were making a modern art masterpiece of my face! And they cut it out of wood with a jigsaw because that's how we teach them to make things. :) I must say, it is pretty impressive, complete with all sorts of 3-dimensional coolness:

Sorry, Jaren, for posting the picture without the frame you're building!

I was also really flattered that Jaren chose me as a model for the anime picture, considering it was a lot of work, until we had this conversation:

Ciara: "Jaren made a picture of my face!"
Christine: "I know"
Ciara: "I wonder what it will be called"
Christine: "It's 'The Birth Of Evil', right, Jaren?"
Jaren: "Yeah”
Ciara: "WHAT?? That is unacceptable!"
Jaren: "It's a good title!"
Ciara: "How could you even THINK of calling it that? What have I ever done to you??"
Jaren: "Alright, the truth is that I picked that name way before I decided the picture was of you"
Ciara: "Then call it something else!!"
Jaren: "Fine... uh... how about 'The Face Of Androgyny'?"

As the technical director, I have decided that the picture won't be allowed in the show unless I approve of the title. Sometimes responsibility is actually nice. :) So the status of the picture is still unset, but I still appreciated the effort. And Jaren has a little under 48 hours to think of something better!

Anyway, the show opens this weekend, so I should (should) actually re-emerge back into my real life soon thereafter. In the meantime, I have about a billion things to check off my long to-do list and hopefully there will be a lot more laughs (and confusion) during and leading up to the show!