Late Nights & The Nutcracker

I stayed up too late last night and, apparently, I was grouchy this morning. I don't remember being grouchy .. I don't remember Pookie waking me up, but obviously she did. I woke up to find this stuck to me.




I didn't write it, so I'm guessing that Pookie woke me up and I was less than nice when she did. I'm just wondering if this was to remind her not to wake me up again .. or if it was a warning to the itteh bitteh kitteh not to knead her sharp little claws into my forehead. I'm pretty sure the evil demon parrot kitteh can't read ... but, whatever the case .. there it was.

Pookie attended her first Nutcracker today .. well the first that she remembers anyway. My mom, sisters and I used to go every year to see it, but for some reason we haven't been able to get it together the last few years, so my daughter has missed out. The local dance theater puts on this performance every year, along with guest appearances from a few of the members of one of New York's dance troupes.







Teacher called me this morning to remind me what time the performance was ... 3 p.m., she said. So, I bummed around all morning, thinking I had plenty of time to get myself and Pookie ready, 'cause I am the procrastination queen. Around 12:45 when I was getting in gear to get us both showered and gone .. Teacher called back to say it's not 3, it's 2 .. and would we go 30 minutes early to save some seats. Neither of us had showered, neither of us were dressed, sure, we can both get dressed, venture out on the iced over roads and be there 45 minutes.

Right.

We ran through the house like crazy people to find clothes (which were still in the laundry baskets), and ventured into the artic circle. I swear it was like 172 degrees below zero. Holy mackerel it was COLD. So anyway .. we got there, without any major catastrophes, which is amazing in itself because the roads are still pretty much covered in ice, and slowly made our way into the high school ... slowly because the lot was covered in ice, and well .. me and ice don't get along really well. It's a bit trickier still when there's a 10 year old walking beside me, who is oblivious to the ice, the cars coming through the lot, and pretty much everything outside her own little world, while she is playing a game on her phone and wandering diagonally down the sidewalk ... pushing me off the side. I did manage to get in (and out) without any slippery mishaps .. this time.

Mom and the sisters were waiting, 'cause they got there before we did, which is probably a good thing. I don't know how they thought we were going to get in to hold the seats ... since THEY had the tickets.

I found it odd that my grandfather hadn't come with, so I asked mom why that was.

Kay: Hey, where's grandpa?

Mom: I didn't buy him a ticket.

Kay: Wasn't that a bit .. rude? Merry Christmas, Grandpa, You get to stay home alone!

Teacher: Yeah, TooTall was supposed to come too ... but ...

Mom: It was supposed to be a fun girls day out!

Teacher: She didn't tell us that until right before we left. Hey maybe we can go out to lunch.

Mom: No, we don't have time for THAT much fun.

Kay: Yeah, Teacher .. it's structured fun .. from 2:00 to 3:30 ... that's all you get. Ha!

I snapped a pic of Teacher having fun before the snooty announcer voice said that video and flash photography were strictly prohibited ... but it magically got deleted somehow .. too bad, it was the best picture, she had this big goofy grin .. teehee.

Anyway, we had a good time. Pookie said it was pretty good, "Even though it was speechless." She didn't realize that ballets don't have speaking parts lol. There was a little boy a couple rows in front of us that must have been only about 2 years old who was completely underwhelmed by the whole thing. He had a rather animated conversation with the wall the entire time we were there .. he was hysterical. Once again .. wish I coulda taken pictures lol

The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies has always been my favorite, so of course I was all sniffly and teary watching that part. I have no idea why it makes me cry .. but it does. It was beautifully done this year. The costumes are amazing, the dancers were wonderful. I especially like the fact that most of the dancers were -not- stick thin. Several of the local girls actually have some meat on their bones ... I think it's great that they don't force these girls to be skeletal to be in these performances. It's good for them to know that they can be graceful and beautiful without looking like they are going to faint at any second from malnutrition.