Handel's Messiah

Last night, my sister and I were able to attend a performance of Handel's Messiah. (For those of you unfamiliar, this is where the "Alleluia" chorus comes from). I had fun, although it was a bit long for me, especially coming off a night of little sleep after a FABULOUS Christmas party. After our experience, I thought I would post a little guide with some tips for those of you wanting to go and see this for yourselves.

Tip 1: Take a shower. You may want to do your hair, and maybe put on some make-up. Perhaps, dress up a little bit.

Tip 2: If you are in the chorus, it is even more important for you to shower and put on some make-up.

Tip 3: Do NOT listen to the ushers. They have no idea what they are talking about.

Tip 4: Having the words printed in the program is NOT an invitation for audience members to sing. (There were at least 2 audience members singing, and one of them could not carry a tune).

Tip 5: If you are going to dedicate the performance to someone, make sure you know their name beforehand. Maybe practice it a few times.

Tip 6: Tune your instruments BEFORE the performance. Violins especially!

Tip 7: If you are a soloist, and are sitting up front where the whole audience can see, you may want to think about controlling your facial expressions. Now matter how much the music moves you, it is distracting if you are bopping away with random changing faces.

Tip 8: At the end of the performance, please do not think that the aisle is the best place to chat. Some of us are ready to go home.

It was a good performance, just a little long for me. I think I was still too tired. Lori and I really couldn't stop laughing at the Tenor and his facial expressions. I wish I had a video camera to record some of them.

10 Days Left

This has been a crazy couple of weeks. Rocky has been gone for 11 days, and we have 10 more to go. The first five days he was in Las Vegas, and for the past 6 days he has been in Pennsylvania working with his new job. It seems to be going well, however we really miss him at home!

The Christmas season is officially here, which means parties, parties and more parties. Which I get to go to all alone. Great. It hasn't been to bad, thanks to all my friends and family who have been keeping me entertained. Then, in the middle of this holiday season, Rocky's grandpa died. This wasn't very unexpected. He has been suffering from Alzheimer's for the past 5 years or so, and has very recently declined very quickly. It is just hard because Rocky is gone, and is not able to come home for the funeral. I get to be our family representative. I feel kind of bad because I have had to find babysitters for the kids for so many other things, and now I get to pawn them off again.

I also think that all the changes have started to get to Ciara. She has been acting like the devil for the past week. She threw a big fit before school on Friday, which made her miss the bus and be a little late for school. We have had a pretty good couple of days, so hopefully this means she is starting to adjust a little bit.

I had my annual Christmas party with my friends last night. It was so fun, although I am so tired today. My throat still hurts from all the laughing. I have looked at some of the pictures already, and they crack me up! I can't post a lot of them, so let's just say a wonderful time was had by all. Some of the highlights of the evening were:

"I am going to be a Rockette."

"That snowman has been talking smack about you all night. You need to tackle him."