Trouble With A Capital T

… that rhymes with P, and that stands for Parent!

Bill Cosby once shared in his comedy act from the late 70s/early 80s that his mother cursed him with the following mantra:  “When you grow up and have your own family, I hope your children act exactly the same way that you act!”  He quickly chased that relay of information with the confirmation that the mother’s curse works. 

I am here to assure all readers that it does indeed, and my oldest isn’t even 4 yet.

I think Willis has all the makings of being a very awesome, adventurous, wackadoo little boy.  But he also has the necessary components to give me a veritable run for my money and even perform some rather accurate snow jobs on his dear mommy.

About a week ago, I was getting ready for the day at my vanity desk.  Willis was playing nearby and decided to crawl through my legs and under the table.  Once there, he made a noise which sounded like he had hurt himself, and even looked up at me with a huge wince on his face and the makings of a sob.  I dropped what I was doing and bent down to pull him out and see what the damage was… at which time his face transformed into a mixture of glee and mischief, and he laughed right in the face of my concern.  “Oh dear Lord,” I thought to myself.  “I am in major trouble.”

Don’t get me wrong – I am adoring the ongoing discovery of this little guy’s personality, likes/dislikes, and general tendencies.  His conversations are positively riveting just to hear what turn of phrase he might elect to use.  But with each shining new revelation of his development comes an accompanying realization that he’s learning all too quickly the ways and wiles of the human persona.  Any time a kid can snow me like that, or make me laugh like that, or even join me in the downright silliness of singing an impromptu song about filling a pitcher with water… that spells Trouble, my friends.  As old Professor Harold Hill sang so convincingly, “Weeeeeeelllll, you got Trouble my friend.  Right here in River City!”

Wiley.  Wacky.  Winning.  With a capital W that spells Willis.  Weeeeeeee!

Is She Being Spiteful?

Why, oh why, you dear little love, are you so spiteful to me?  I love you so much, and yet I believe you are wilfully acting out of spite by refusing to do something you are fully capable of doing.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to come around a corner and find you in the throes of doing the very thing I wish you would do for me to witness… I’m quite sure you practice when I’m not around.  You do so many other things that are so indicative of your ability to do this one thing I’d love to see… why won’t you just cave and admit you can do it?  Are you secretly laughing at me, and yes, even the others, behind our backs?  Are you just toying with us until we are fully within your power, or possibly just to make the biggest dramatic exhibition possible?  Perhaps.  I just find it hard to believe I could have any part in the life of such a diabolical creature.

So, Georgia, my daughter, if you were able to read this, please start walking for Momma.  For Daddy too.  Hell, even Willis would get a kick out of it, and would probably enjoy running laps with you around the house.  With the slew of other fully-upright actions you are able to execute, including climbing, alternating between squatting and standing without your booty touching the floor, and climbing from one booster chair to the other (while they’re on the ground), I find it impossible to believe you can’t actually WALK.  In fact, you just might be able to read already too… and might be waiting to spring that one on me as well.

Any day now, kid.  Any day.

Eau de Flamboya

On my way hence to yon theatre audition, I needed to refuel the Moore-mobile to ensure I’d arrive at all, let alone on time.  There I am, standing in the mild January weather monitoring the rise of the numbers on the pump, and as I take a small step back toward the truck, my foot slips precariously on the ice.  In my haste and automatic reaction, my hand lashes out to grab the only thing closest to me:  the gas pump handle.

Damn, that stuff comes out fast!  (insert your metaphor of choice here)  It splashed all over the side of the truck and doused me in fuel – all over the front of my pants and front of my faux leather jacket (which was thankfully zipped shut). 

Aside from the smell now emitting from my clothing, I was now a trifle worried about my safety… I took great care in handling anything metal from that point forward to avoid any random sparks that might ignite my human torch.  I gingerly climbed back into the truck and headed home to change pants.  The jacket is a lost cause and is now relegated to the back of the truck until we can safely dispose of it. 

Talk about lighting a fire under my ass to get to the audition – thankfully, it wasn’t quite literal, but definitely figurative as I had to haul my buns to get there in time after the gasoline debaucle.  Here’s hoping the audition judges took more note of my singing voice than of a trace smell of vehicle fuel that lingered in the room upon my departure.

The Theater Bug: I Call It Humphrey

Humphrey has bitten me again.  He bit me last year and got me to try out for a Littleton production of Oliver!, but alas I didn’t make it beyond the 2nd round of auditions (might have something to do with me wearing big cloddy tennis shoes and jerking up the dance portion of the audition, but that’s pure speculation).  I think Humphrey is being goaded by my husband, because I just remembered to check in on Denver-area auditions a few weeks ago and lo-and-behold, they are having auditions for the musical Nine at the Arvada Center.  I’ve never even seen the show, but I figure it never hurts to try out anyway.  I had also never seen A Little Night Music nor The Taffetas, and I was able to land lead roles in both productions… although that was in the podunk theater scene of Appleton, Wisconsin.  That’s one small kettle o’ fish, whereas Denver and the surrounding ‘burbs are more like a reservoir.

So, Humphrey, I had dear hubby take some head shots of yours truly today and will print that off tomorrow.  I have my theater resume on my PC at work.  Since tomorrow is a work day and my audition is during lunch, I should be looking professional and dressed to impress.  And, dear Humphrey, should I somehow make the callbacks for the 2nd round, would you mind terribly helping me select some shoes that are a bit more stage/movement/dance friendly?  Or at least bite my toe if I start going for those damn sneakers again.

Oh, and Humphrey… I’ll be blaming you if I don’t get a part.  No major hard feelings, but just saying.  And that’ll make your next bite tougher for me to heed.

I’m Such A Kid Today

We received The Jungle Book on Netflix today, and am I embarrassed at how excited I am to watch it with my son?  NOPE.  Of all of the old Disney flicks, The Jungle Book is my end-all be-all favorite.  I love the story, but the music is what just makes me smile with nostalgia.  I remember having the soundtrack on a big vinyl record, and when I was too little to turn it on or turn it over on the record player, my dad would switch it for me.  I adore the songs sung by Baloo and King Louie, and the best part of all is the Beatles-esque performance of the vultures!

Willis is getting a kick out of it for all of the jungle (aka ZOO) animals he is seeing, and I think he’s digging the music too.  Even Georgia sits on my lap and occasionally says (or so I think), “Wow!!!” It’s making for some giddy times here in the Moore household!

And, on that note… “We’re your friends… we’re your friends… we’re your friends to the bitter end! (The – bitter – eeeeeennnnd!)”

Car Windows Aren’t Opaque

So here’s a confession:  I sing in the car.  And I’m not talking about just softly singing along with the radio… I am talking about full-blown Red-Rocks-volume facial-expressions singing.  I usually will pop on an iTunes playlist through my phone for the sole purpose of blasting out the interior of the vehicle with my vocal cord exploits.  Lately the soundtrack of Wicked has been my background of choice, and it gets even scarier when showtunes are involved because, naturally, you have to add more theatrical aspect to it. :p

Why do I engage in this potentially embarrassing practice, you may ask?  Well, I love to sing.  And I’m pretty decent at it (used to be better, but I haven’t been practicing as I should to keep it up to par.  And goodness knows I don’t have time nor space to pop on the tunes at home, crank the volume to blasting, and belt it out to my heart’s content… not when little baby might be napping or toddler son is covering his ears because “It’s too loud, Mommy!”  Thus I must resort to car-singing. 

Some people pick their nose while driving… I sing really, REALLY loud whilst being totally oblivious to who might be watching/pointing/laughing.  Don’t judge.

New Year, New Stuff

I am such a loser for letting this go dormant for so long!  Or perhaps I just have too much going on to make time for typing my stream of consciousness out?  Either way, here’s an update.

Work = great!  I’ve taken on more responsibilities in the PR department, have initiated and managed our company’s social networking presence, and have taken more steps to improve our overall procedures at work (at least, so sayeth the feedback).  I am so thankful & blessed to work for amazing people, to be able to take a 1.5 block jaunt from my front door to my office, and to be able to have my husband bring the kids by once in a while to visit “Momma” at work!  Willis always takes one of my business cards home with him; it’s so cute!

Health = good!  Miah & I are both doing pretty well physically, other than the typical getting-older-and-falling-apart symptoms. 🙂  We’ve both got your garden variety lower back issues, bad knees, etc., which sometimes make it tough to keep up with the Willis and a turbo-crawler of a daughter.  But other than that, we’re doing well.  Miah is getting all buffed out in his pectorals/upper arms with the push-ups and cycling he does, and I’m kicking in the exercise and better diet with the start of the new year.  The kids are doing great too; Willis only needs his nebulizer treatment about once or twice a month at max, and Georgia (aside from insane teething) is doing dandy.

Finances = ok.  My job is a great stable source of income, but Miah & I both have some other ventures in the works that will help break the finances to a more even keel.  It’s been so great for all of us to have him staying home with the kids, and while it has made things tight for us financially, it just takes a bit more time and tweaking on some ideas before we can straighten it all out.  Patience, my young padawans! 

Socially = awesome!  I have to say that I am blown away by the difference a year can make.  I think this time last year I was taking a sabbatical from pretty much any kind of outer interaction (aside from family and work) due to intense discouragement with my past friendships.  They were just falling to the wayside, and not much I could do about any of them.  But in the recent months I’ve been able to work on building some new friendships that are, quite frankly, awesome.  It’s so nice to have girlfriends again – people to shop with, take in a movie with, play poker with, and even support during tough times.  Truly some great developments that I’m excited for going forward.

Church = great!  Miah & I finally got our membership classes at Living Savior completed, so we became members in June (or July?) of 2009.  It just feels nice to have a church home that is filled with such nice people, many of whom are similar in age and situation to us (30’s with multiple kids, same ages).  It’s also awesome to be able to go to a get-together at the pastor’s house where the guys can enjoy a cold beer together – the pastor even has a collection of beer bottles from every kind of microbrew out there.   (The men folk were getting a kick out of that.)

Well, that’s about it… I didn’t mean for this to become one of those Christmas-letter-type of updates, but it kind of did anyway. 🙂  I will try to be better about posting interesting/random/poignant (or not) observations here.  Besides, considering one of the endeavors I have going, I need to up the anty on my online exposure.  (Don’t read too much into THAT – pictures will not be involved.)

Carry on!