Well, Sunday, I heard back.  Sam, Grace, Rebekah, Isa and I all were cast in the ensemble.  Grace, Rebekah and Isa also have bit parts as some of the Snow children, and I got my own bit part as the school principal with just a few lines at the end.  The singing and acting are right up my alley and will be a lot of fun, but the dancing required of members of the ensemble will prove, I fear, to be a lot of work.  I have never learned to dance, but I think I can do it with enough practice.  I'll certainly keep you all updated as practices begin in a few weeks.  I can only imagine there will be lots of laughter at my expense, since the kids will be there to witness my education.

I am constantly reminding people to look at the world with the eyes of a child, as if they had never seen it before, so recently I have tried my hand at taking some pictures of  vultures.  We have several groups of them living nearby, and they have proven to be beautiful, if difficult to photograph.  They are lowly birds that seldom get noticed, though they provide a much needed service, cleaning up the corpses of animals who have somehow met their demise, and so I seek to find their beauty.  I'm sure I'll get there, but for now, here are a few shots I got this morning after dropping the kids off to school.

I like the pictures I got, I'm just not satisfied they are the best I can do, so there will be more, I'm sure, when I have time to try again and tax my creativity a bit.

In other news, I signed up today and began doing coursework for an online business class offered by the University of Maryland.  I know I've put a lot on my plate, but I have to start learning somewhere, and this seems to be a decent place to start. I will take four courses in a block, and when I'm done, if I pass all the work, they'll give me a certificate of completion.  It's not actually considered college work, but employers are starting to look favorably on completion of these types of classes.  I'm just happy to be starting to once again be required to use my brain a bit.

As for now, it's off to bed, so I can head off to work early tomorrow.

As I mentioned previously, the kids auditioned for parts in the musical Carousel, at our community theater.   I didn't mention, because it was a last minute decision, that I ended up auditioning as well.  After Sunday's auditions, the word went out that they had several roles for men over 40, but none had auditioned, so the kids begged me to try, and I did.  Wow, I certainly felt foolish, but it was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast laughing at me trying to learn the dance.  I sang an excerpt of Seventy Six Trombones, from the Music Man, then I read lines from several scenes and had to get up with the rest of the hopeful cast members and learn one of the dances.  I really don't have the time to put into a show like this, but I made them aware of my schedule and told them I had auditioned because they had been there for my kids over the years, and now it was my turn to give back... if they have absolutely no other options...as an absolute last resort.  A few other guys showed, but I'm not sure how many parts they have to fill.  I suppose I'll learn when everyone else does, when the calls come out this afternoon.  For now, I'm off to work in this beautiful spring weather, even if it is a bit chilly. Have a good weekend.

I just thought I'd pass along a little "proud Daddy" note.  Most of you know that several years ago, I got a bonus I wasn't expecting and spent a large chunk of it on some camera gear and a photography class for me and the kids.  I'm pleased to report that my kids are easily surpassing my ability as a photographer, though not for a lack of trying on my part.  I have, lately, been riding the kids to grab the camera and take pictures every night when we're home and not busy as the sun sets.  Grace, yesterday, told me she had an idea for a window lit shoot, so as the sun dropped, I reminded her, and she sat four of us down at the window, in quick succession.  I think this is one of the best pictures anyone has ever taken of me.  Even my wife agreed, and she, in no uncertain terms, hates "that thing on your face".

She also got pics of Rebekah...

...and of one of my son's friends, who was over visiting at the time.

If you come into our house, you risk having your picture made, it just goes with the territory.

Sensitivity, from Once Upon a Mattress; Castle on a Cloud, from Les Mis; Far From the Home I Love, from Fiddler on the Roof; - over and over and over.

The week before auditions for the next musical at Church Hill Theater, and my house is full of Broadway music. One day I was at the hospital welcoming a new baby into the world, then another, then another, then I blinked and went out to haul some loads on the truck and all of a sudden my oldest are grown and my youngest are singing these beautiful ballads about grand and difficult and inconvenient moments, the exaggerated happy and sad and shameful ones upon which a successful Broadway show capitalizes to take us away from reality to the roller coaster of emotional turmoil with which we can identify because of our own less than perfect lives.

Now I sit, listening to my youngest girls, old enough to sing these songs, yet too young to understand them, but as a father, recently young, but quickly aging, seeing their lives stretched out before them, awaiting their own adventures of good and bad choices. Lives wonderful and hard and unknown.

Once the young adventurer, now with Reb Tevye, I see change coming as the world and my family, a world and family that once seemed manageable, grow in directions that are grand and exciting yet seem to be crumbling around us, realizing that only the little, but important things are in my grasp and the rest was always beyond my control.

"Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older..."

I'm sitting in the dining room on a Monday morning, watching birds at the feeder in a quiet house and enjoying the last day of a long weekend.  Yep, that's right!  For the first time in four years, I have a weekend off without using vacation to buy it.  One of our older drivers got in some trouble that had apparently been a long time coming, and his route was offered to me, so I've given up the beautiful weekend route along Virginia's Shenandoah Valley in exchange for a route in the beautiful, but much colder, mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Here's a statue in memory of the soldiers who fought for the Confederacy.  This stands in Luray, VA, in front of one of the stores on my old route. (iPhone cameras are not good tools for low light photography, but they stand in fairly well, when they are all you have.)

The best part of the switch is I'll be working Tuesdays and Fridays with an extra day thrown in, more than likely, every other Wednesday, so I'll have weekends off for the foreseeable future.

Here's a mural in honoring the hard working, blue collar men from the Pennsylvania mountains.

Many of these towns are situated on large rivers and supported flourishing coal mining and steel mill operations in years gone by.

Our trailer broke on this past Friday's route, so my first weekend didn't start 'til about noon on Saturday, but it was a nice relaxing weekend with the family, anyway, and we actually were able to attend church together again.  It was nice to simply be around when my wife and the kids were around.  For the last several years, that had been a luxury reserved for the summer and holidays.  All in all, it was a nice, quiet weekend, a perfect way to start my reintegration into my family's world.

Somehow, Thanksgiving came and went, and I haven't sat down and posted.

Here's a pic I took with my iPhone Thanksgiving day.  This was in the Shenandoah Valley, where you can find the largest portion of my route.

I managed to wrangle an early dispatch time for my load on Wednesday, the day prior to the holiday.  My truck would be ready at 1am for a 2 am dispatch, so I could get my load out early, miss traffic, and be home midday Thanksgiving.  Tina  and the kids would cook , and we would have our dinner that evening.  All was working to plan.  I called in at 6 pm Tuesday for my update to find that they had deleted a route, so I would have extra stops, and my load would be much heavier than expected.   I ended up sleeping in a bit, so I didn't make it to the job 'til 1:45 am.

I got to work, walked in and checked the screen to find out which trailer was mine and at which door I could find it.  The square beside my load was red. Uh-oh!  That meant they either hadn't started loading my trailer, or  more likely, the loader had started loading but not checked into the computer properly.  I searched out the shift leader, and when he saw me, and his face fell, I knew the news was bad, "We're waiting for another guy to get back so we can use his trailer to start loading you."

"WHAT?"   There was no sense getting angry at him.  All the decisions that led to the problem had been made by the previous Sunday by people who were now home, sleeping soundly in their beds.  I went to the driver's room and did all my pretrip paperwork, then went out to the car and slept.  Around 8 am, someone banged on my window to tell me my load was almost ready.  I counted the load to make sure everything was there, loaded all my stuff into the cab, checked tires, brakes and lights and was off a little before 10.  Traffic around Washington DC added another hour and a half to my morning.   I knew by this point, the sun would have long set before I got home Thursday night.  Needless to say, my wife was not very happy when she heard the news.  We decided to just have our dinner Friday evening.

Thurday night around 10, I finally made it home.

Next morning, bright and early, Tina was off to work.  She would work 'til 5, which meant dinner preparation was on me and the kids.

Isa and Sandra made a blueberry pie.  Isa was a bit surprised at exactly how sour the lime turned out to be.

Grace may not have been perfectly happy to have been photographed unexpectedly, while making her key lime pie.

The pie didn't  seem to mind, so I photographed it again.

Of course Bella was ever present, waiting for some crumbs to fall on the floor.

We had a new visitor to the bird feeder that afternoon.  I think it was a white breasted nuthatch.

Then Grace decided it was her turn to take pictures while their pies cooked and insisted I sit still for her to try shooting in window light, which I had told her is one of the most flattering light sources.   I guess she thought I was the person in most need of a flattering light source.

Sam decided to get in on the fun and told us all to make big eyes, like Jonathan from Dancing With the Stars. I don't think there's any amount of facial contortion that will cause my eyes to be big, and you can see, I tried.

When we heard Tina was going to be coming home early (Her boss was nervous that we might burn the house down with just me and the kids cooking) we fixed the last of the dishes and put them in the oven.

Rebekah set the table.

We finished some last minute cleaning and vacuuming, and when Tina got home, we put the rolls in the oven and dinner was served.  We had no guests this year, but it was a really pleasant evening anyway and I'm thankful we were all able to be in one place at the same time to celebrate it together.  As fast as the kids are growing up, that could soon become a thing of the past, as they start going off to college and starting careers.

So despite life conspiring to rob us of our holiday, we enjoyed it just the same, only a day late.  I think it may have even been better for Tina, because she came home to a clean house, all the preparation dishes cleaned and put away and dinner  almost ready to be set out on the table. We had dinner, then relaxed for a while and set up and decorated our tree before calling it an evening.

Just a short post to update you on another ex-Xangan you might have known.   Sean, who you may have better known as hilaw is having a real tough time as her daughter died this past June.  She blogs sporadically now at http://axiomatiqa.com/

My wife says she wonders sometimes if I'm allergic to her, because I only get my really bad headaches on the days when I'm not working.  My headaches are normally related to my sinuses, and since my job is very physically demanding and done, at least in part, in a refrigerated trailer, the cold and effort get my nose running and I think that's what prevents me getting them on the job.  That said, I started getting one on the way home from work last night, and this morning it turned into a real big one.  I'm just getting over it now,as the sky begins to darken after a decongestant, Aleve, acetominophen, a good nap and running a massage tool on my neck to ease the stress, and on my cheekbone to stimulate sneezing and clear out my sinuses.  She was hoping we could go out tonight, on a date, so I'm hoping it's going away for good.

Danny (15) and Samantha (17) finished their last show of the play "Twelve Angry Men", at the high school this weekend.  It was done on a simple set, but it was an excellent production, as interesting as some of the more complicated shows they've done.  I was a very proud dad to have two of my kids have significant speaking parts in such a small play.

This is Danny, standing.

Samantha is the girl in black and white.

...and the whole jury panel.

Don't know if I've mentioned my physical therapy.  I'm in therapy for plantar fasciitis, pain caused by inflammation of the tendons that run across the bottom of the foot from the heel to the toes. I've been in a lot of pain at work, lately, an awful lot of pain, for almost a year, now.  That translates into my routes taking a lot longer, which means I'm gone from home several hours longer, every time I go to work.  Since I get paid by weight and miles, I get no extra pay for the extra time, and it has been really tough to keep a good attitude.  This week, after a couple weeks of therapy, I finished one of my routes five hours faster than what has been normal.  Also, I finished my route Sunday  and my feet weren't hurting at all. I'm excited that the pain is diminishing, and I'm learning what to do to keep it at bay.

Life's not always easy, but my life is good.  Maybe I'd like some things to change or be easier, but I would be ungrateful to ask for anything more than what I have.  I truly have a better life than I could have imagined.  I think sometimes I wouldn't appreciate what I have as much if it had come without a lot of pain and hard work.  I hope you all are having a good week, and I look forward to reading about how it's going.

Isabel had a bit of a rash Thursday morning, from her ear down to her shoulder but no fever, so my wife rubbed some benadryl (diphenhydramine) ointment on it and sent her off to school with instructions to go to the nurse if it got worse.  Of course, a couple hours later, while my wife was in her own college class, she got a call from the nurse.  It was really bothering her.  Tina picked her up at school and took her to the doctor, just in case.  Turns out it was a reaction to a poisonous plant.  If it were summertime, we would have thought of that, but it's November for Pete's sake!  Where would she have come in contact with what we assumed would be poison ivy?  The doctor showed her a picture of the three most common plants in our area that can cause that reaction.  Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.  Immediately her eyes lit up and she pointed to the picture of poison sumac, "I picked some seeds from one of those plants.  We were walking through the cemetery and I saw the plant and thought it was pretty, so I picked some seeds and put them in my pocket, so I could plant them when I got home."   Luckily for us, she forgot, and they were still in the pocket of the jeans she had been wearing that day. After three years, I've finally (I hope) gotten rid of the poison ivy on our property.  I don't need a new pestilent plant to fight!

If, like me, you'v never seen poison sumac (toxicodendron vernix), here are a couple examples so you can say you learned something today.

I'll try to catch up a little, each time I get a few precious minutes on the computer. My wife is taking college classes, so I only get computer time when she's off at work or busy.  Her communications class is a huge headache, with more homework than any college course I ever took.

Here is the boat I got in trade for my motorcycle. I made the trade in June, and as yet, we still haven't come up with a name.

Here's Isa, my youngest, taking her turn with the sander.

My oldest, Sandra got her Associates degree last spring and is studying computer programming, now.

My wife's boss gave us tickets to a cruise out into the Chesapeake Bay, near Annapolis, to watch the Blue Angels perform for the Naval Academy graduation.

I'm still trying to better my photography skills, and every now and then I get a lucky shot.  The clouds were low this day, but the sun was bright, so the bird was lit like he was in  a studio.

My muscodines came in with a bumper crop this year.  Too bad just my son and I and the dog, Bella, like them.  Most of them just went to waste, but they were pretty, and they smelled wonderful, so all was not lost.  They came in well, even though I pruned them wrong.  I'm guessing it'll be an even bigger crop next year, if they're pruned properly.

There's a start at recalling our family's summer.  How was yours?