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.