First week of summer

This is my first week of summer. Besides the fact that summer officially started last week, I haven't been on my summer schedule until... well, until today. I don't know how long the current summer schedule will work.

The week after school let out was the Shakespeare class and we were really busy, so it didn't count as summer. Last week, I got some stuff done, but the priorities were resting and relaxing and hanging out with friends. So it was my vacation week.

Now, since I missed school so much (and because it is a good summer job), I am tutoring the summer school students. Right now I have two with a possibility (still not confirmed) of two more.

My neck has been bothering me this past weekend. It hurts most when I look to the right or left, or roll it around. Sometimes it hurts at night, and laying in bed in the morning really isn't very comfortable. But there doesn't seem to be anything else wrong with me. I am getting it checked tomorrow.

In other news, I got new nail polish and mascara and need to get some new lipstick. I am working on some medieval looking shirts for Thomas. I am reading some Francine Rivers books. The house is still an unorganized mess. My toenails are a dark maroon color, due to nail polish, but not the new stuff I just got. I cannot wait until we go to GA. We had roast beef yesterday for lunch and roast beef sandwiches for lunch today. We are going to pick up my family on July 5 when they come back from Zambia! YAY!

That's all and see you next week.

My Garden

This picture was taken standing on the landing of the steps up to our apartment. This is my garden. Those tulips, my tulips; those daffodils, my daffodils.

I planted seven daffodils, but two got dug up by an unknown creature. After we sprayed the plants with a cayenne pepper mixture, we didn't have any more problems. Unfortunately, it was too late for the other daffodils.

This guy came up backwards. All the others faced the street, but he looked persistently at the wall. There's always one that just doesn't do what he's supposed to.

My personal favorite picture. All the tulips opened, but at different times. While the yellow and purple ones were in full bloom, these red ones were just beginning to bud.

Acting Shakespeare

The Shakespeare class is over, so now I can talk about it.

Let me see... it was great.
I learned fun games, fun warm-ups, fun exercises.
I got to play fun parts, difficult parts, and not direct anything.
I saw good teachers in action and was able to learn about teaching from them.
We spoke the words of Shakespeare, which is beautiful.

My favorite game was "Go" because it established a rhythm. One person stood in the middle of a circle created by all the other people. The center person would throw a ball to a person in the circle and they would throw it back. Then, the center person would go to the next person around the circle, and repeat. Once a rhythm was established, anyone in the circle could say "go" and switch with the person in the center. The goal was to switch without breaking the rhythm.

We also learned "Four Minutes" which is an incredible physical warm up. It is a complete body warm-up/exercise done in approximately four minutes. I can't explain it more than that, but if you visit Kindergarten at the end of next year, hopefully we will be doing it.

I love the language of Shakespeare. I love the way it feels in my mouth. We used "Oh for a Muse of Fire" for some warm ups, and it was just fun to say the same thing in different ways, responding to the way others said it. Each student got to prepare a monologue, and we all worked on a scene together. The scene we did was when Prospero introduces Miranda and Ferdinand in "The Tempest." I will say more about the monologue in a minute because it made the class make sense.

The teachers were really good too. They were fun to "play" with and learn from. They didn't allow negative self-critique. When I wanted to say bad things about how I did, they kept pointing me to what I did well, and helped me build from that. When they wanted to point out a way to make it better it was always worded as a discovery: "What would happen if we tried..." or "If your character is thinking... don't you think they would..." and so on.

We talked about centering, vocal registers, bringing the voice to the front of the mouth, blocking actions, but not blocking emotions, placing ourselves in the action, as well as so much more.

It all fell into place when I said my monologue the final time. My monologue was one of Hermione's defense speeches from Act I of A Winter's Tale. I was very frustrating because I didn't get it. I didn't understand what the character was thinking and I was having difficulty putting myself in her place. I felt a complete block when I worked on it. On the final night, they took us to an outdoor stage/band shell. I was able to block it out on my own, then perform it. Just as they taught us, I blocked where I was going to move, but I didn't focus on what I was going to be feeling. I still didn't expect much, but when I got up to present it, I saw the other characters. I saw the king, my husband, condemning me and the lords and ladies looking on with compassion; I knew who I was and what I was thinking it. I felt as Hermione felt, because for a moment I was Hermione. I loved it. And my audience saw her too. They didn't just see me in my Chuck Taylors reciting Shakespeare. They really saw her.

I can't wait till I get to do it again.

Praise

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ
If any comfort from his love
If any tenderness and compassion

Then make my joy complete by:
being like-minded
having the same love
being one in spirit and purpose.

Many of you, dear readers, have done that this past week. You have shown me your unity with Christ, reminding me of my unity with Him. You have shown me how He has comforted you, and reminded me of His comfort. You have shown me His tenderness and compassion, by being tender and compassionate to me. You have made me laugh, brought me to happy tears, and through your words, given me a great big hug. Thank you so much for all of you who have encouraged me.

I am rested now, rested in Christ, and physically rested. I slept so much over the past weekend! Thomas and I have been taking an acting class, and that, in some crazy way, has really help with feeling rested. I will write more about it when we have finished all the classes. Church yesterday, and the day at my parents was also very restful. God is so good! Thanks for the reminders.

School's Out

I am free as a lark, happy as a jay bird, and tired as a cucumber.

I don't know my summer schedule yet, but I hope to post regularly. In fact I would like to talk about a acting class that I am taking. However now is not the time. I am rather tired out. Tomorrow I will be delighted. Monday I will be bummed without my kids. Oh well, I think it is a small price for the wonderful year I have had.

Monday Post

This is the last Monday of the school year. I don't know what my summer schedule will be, but I will try to blog regularly. I have goals for the summer. I don't want to tell anyone them because then maybe people will ask if I have attained any goals. That would mean I would have to focus on accomplishing things.

I am tired. I am tired of thinking, working, squeezing by, correcting, guarding my heart, dealing with people, dealing with myself. I would love to take a break. Sundays are supposed to be the day of rest. And this past Sunday was really good. The sermons were wonderful, the worship was inspiring, I had fun with my sister. But my heart is still tired. I know I need to find rest in God, but I don't know exactly how to do that. I have told God all that I am struggling with and thinking and tired of, but now what. Keep pushing through? Keep struggling? Take more time out to pray and read my Bible? Find someone to encourage me? Take a nap? Do something profitable?

Perhaps I feel tired because I haven't done anything that I can see results from. Perhaps I feel tired because I have been sick. Perhaps I am tired because loving kids is lots of work, especially when they are just as excited to be done with school as I am, but they don't have the pressure to finish the work. Perhaps I just didn't get enough sleep last night. But will finding the reason for tiredness really help me know how to find rest?

If I just stop, just decide that I am not going to do anything, I feel like a bum, like I should be doing something else. That feeling bugs me until I get up and do whatever I should be doing. When I am not feeling like a bum, and enjoying doing nothing, I feel guilty for not delighting in doing my work. Guilty isn't quite the right word, but it is close enough. The exception is Sundays. On Sundays I don't feel guilty for not doing things, but I do always wonder if there are better ways to be filling my Sabbath time.

So now I am tired of thinking, of analyzing, of critiquing, of wondering. My soul should find rest in God alone. But I don't know how.

Rest.