I'm Feeling Kind of Hip Today

What's the funniest thing you've heard a child say?

This prompt is stolen from Plinky.

Oh my good gosh, I do NOT even know where to begin with this. Since I teach Irish dance to young children on a near-daily basis, I hear funny things all the time. Just today, Elle, a lanky 10-year old diva who is both fabulous and strange, asked someone if she could "blow on their ear." Elle, of course, meant this completely innocently. Which makes it all the more adorable.

Other musings from Elle include:

"I'm feeling kind of hip today!"

"Can I feel your calf muscle?"
And then, after feeling it:
"Oooh, nice. Now will you flex it for me?"

"Please show me a leap. And then break it down precisely."
(A leap, for your information, consists of a SINGLE jump in the air. Not much to break down.)

I could go ON and on about Elle. Another favorite child of mine is Aidan, a true star who is far more mature than her mere 6 years of age. Aidan says lots of hilarious things, but my favorite by far is:

"STOP TALKING! I NEED MY QUIET TIME!"

I should mention that at this time, Aidan was only 4 and a half. What kindergartener is so stressed that she needs "quiet time"?

Ah, to be a child.

the last two weekends.

...have been SO great and fun-filled and busy I simply MUST blog about them.


Two weekends ago:
Friday- We had the Buzz Cuts for Cancer Assembly for the MACC fund and raised over $17,000 which is INCREDIBLE. Jenny got a boy cut that looked so fierce, I can't even tell you. Then, we went to Noodles and ate in honestly 15 minutes because we had to go to the fashion show! Later that night, I went to the Samudra Fashion Show hosted by Alex and Annika and it was honestly amazing! They did such a great job putting it together and it was so fabulous-fresh-fierce-whatever-you-want-to-call-it, I can't even describe it. Then, after, we went to Jenny's house to celebrate her birthday and her hair and it was just splendiforous.

Saturday- Lisa and I woke up at 4:00 so that we could take pictures of the sunrise at 5:30. Unfortunately, we could not see the sun, but there was this really great fog/mist on the lake that worked for my pictures anyway! Here are some pictures from the shoot:



Then, we went out to breakfast at Brueggers and saw Chloe Kara-something-wicz. Ha. After I dropped Lisa off, I went to teach my very first private lesson with a little girl at Kinsella, but she never showed so Caitlin and I chatted for half an hour. Then, I speeded home so I could work on my Calc project with Emily and Jenny, who was 30 minutes late and forced me and Emily into awkward small talk until her arrival. When Jenny FINALLY came, we were basically done, so Jenny and I went out to lunch at Cosi. Cosi, I might add, has the BEST bread in the WORLD. Ohhhh god, so good. Then Jenny dropped me off and I sped off to Isabel's house to work on our Psych project with Shirley and Anastasia. (Please keep in mind, all of this was before 2:00 in the afternoon). We then paraded around Bayshore for an hour with a decibel meter taking sound measurements and badgering shoppers about their buying habits. After getting kicked out of American Eagle, we called it quits and I went home and fell asleep until the next day.

Sunday- I worked on Psych with the gang.


Last weekend:
Friday- ...I have no recollection of this night.

Saturday- I don't really know what I did during the day, but Jenny and I went to Sara Hoeffler's birthday party at Pizza Shuttle and felt semi-awkward because we're not really friends with her friends. It was nice.

Sunday- Jenny and I woke up at 7:15 am to do Pilates. GREAT way to wake up. I realized I need to work out more. Then we made breakfast and I peeled a potato for the first time in my life. We then made grand plans for a dessert party, but I fell asleep for the rest of the day after that. WIN.

Monday- Memorial Day! This was the day of the Gaelic Park feis which we took Emma to, who was the reason I got free registration! It was pouring BUCKETS down outside, so much so that they had to cancel the outdoor section. Luckily, Emma and I are champs and were inside. Sophie danced P.C. for the first time. Emma did her new steps for the first time. Lots of firsts. I danced after Maggie Eileen Doyle. Which was so unbelievably scary. But as the competition went on, watching her actually inspired me and my set round turned out to be my best round. I smiled on stage, which I haven't really done in actual competition since I was 9. And I beat 3 people. WHAT. Then, alas, the feis was over and we drove home, which entailed a scavenger hunt for a popsicle and me laughing so hard I threw up. Priceless. Upon arriving at the Nelsons, Gwen invited us to stay for their Memorial Day cookout. I met some of Emma's friends and played kickball with them, Emma, Everett, and Colm! After an hour, the good ole dad and I drove home. Then, I met up with Jenny and we visited Lisa at her new job at Big Dog. I ordered a chocolate shake, which Saskia made because she works there too! Then we bothered them for awhile and went home.

...WHEW. These have probably been the busiest weekends I've EVER had, but they were so much fun. So. Much. Fun.

picnik.

....is wonderful:

blast from the past.

i found my old blog from middle school today...i forgot it even existed!

http://supersteph107.xanga.com/

my favorite entry:

Friday, 09 September 2005

"that school assembly thingy was soooo boringggggg it was waaay funner in 6th grade...

I HATE MRS. KRUGER SHE'S A BIG FAT PIECE OF LARDDDDDDDDDDDDDD OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG ALYSSA KNOWS WHAT I MEANNNNNN AHHHHHHHHHHHH I HATE HATE HATE HERRRRRRRR DUUUUUDE LIKE SERIOUSLYYYYYY

^yeah...spazzy moment but GOD i shouldn't be a VILLAGER!!!! ugghhhh omg last year i was ok with being a munchkin cuz i was only a little 7th grader and all the 8th graders got the good loser roles anyway...but this year i AM an 8th grader and I didn't get a good role and i'm reallyyyyyyyyyyy pissed likeee seriouslyyyyyy i'm not doing the play anymore....i QUIT...it's soooo not worth it because i'd just sit there and do nothing while everyone else got special attention...i guess the only good thing is that lisa got shprintze or however u say it...ugh not a good day today "

articulate, intelligent child, was i not?

13.

during my daily procrastinations, i finally found something worth procrastinating over: a gem of a musical called 13.

13 is a broadway musical about, well, being 13 years old. it has an all-teenage cast and band, and is about a kid named evan goldman who finds his world turned upside-down when he turns 13. with his parent's divorce, his family moves from new york to indiana, and he is demoted from "cool-new-york-kid" to "reject-in-appleton, indiana." to top it off, no one wants to come to his bar mitzvah. in order to become the cool-new-york-kid again, he tries to force his way into the popular kids group, abandoning his only real friends: his new next-door-neighbor, patrice, and archie, a crippled boy with a terminal illness.

amidst evan's strife are the classic middle school/high school plots: 2 girls fighting over a boy, a boy trying to get "sheezy" with a girl, mean girls starting nasty rumors that ruin people's lives, and just good ole' drama!

it sounds corny. and it is. it's filled with cheesy jokes, not-so-flashy choreography, and screechy pubescent voices.

but i loved it. mixed in with the awkwardness were some truly genius moments, like this one (the climax of the entire thing, in my opinion):

evan has just been kicked out of the cool crowd, at rock-bottom, when archie and patrice assure him that it really isn't rock-bottom. people will always knock you down, but you have to rise above them, and "put one foot in front of the other...and just keep walking on."

and evan, listening to them, just has this great aha! moment:

"...I'm becoming a man
Maybe all that it means is
I face the world for what it is
And not what I wish it could be
I'm becoming a man
Wanting everything to fall into place
I swing, I miss
I'll get through this
I almost guarantee

One day I'll be thirty
One day I'll be fine
One day I'll make fun of this dramatic life of mine..."

he finallyfinallyfinallyFINALLY gets it! the whole musical, he's been pushing and pushing and pushing for the cool kids to come to his party so that he'll be cool, and missing what truly matters and what has been in front of him the whole time: life isn't about being 'cool.' life is about learning how to be yourself. life is about learning from your mistakes. life is knowing that - no matter what you do or how badly you screw up - it goes on.

i really, really, really enjoyed this musical. despite its fluff, it was a poignant portrait of what it means to be a 13-year-old growing up and discovering life for the first time. it reminds us that, whether we're 13 or 35, we all mess up sometimes. and that's ok.

musings of a procrastinator.

thingsIshouldbedoingrightnowbutamnot:

1) calculus homework. it is unbelievable how much i despise this class, and ms. lucas. it literally is her goal in life to humiliate me every chance she gets. literally.

for example (you can click on it to make it bigger):

anyway.

2) studying for AP Psych. I don't remember anything I've learned. Ironically, this chapter is entitled Memory.

3) writing my supplementary essays for Macalester and Northwestern.

...

this has to be the most upsetting, disappointing item on my list. its december 14. really, stephanie? really? pathetic. simply pathetic.

4) practicing irish dance. i'm going to ireland in 2 months. need I say more?

5) writing my reflection paper that was assigned 3 weeks ago and is due in 4 days.



to top this sorry-excuse-of-a-to-do-list off, i skipped school today, with the intention of completing all of this. F. M. L. in the worst way possible.

on the plus side, i updated my blog layout. the pictures are all from my trip to peru during spring break this year. gorgeous, are they not? i must return someday. after i finish my to-do list.

...i'll miss you, south america.

i miss my childhood.

well, i should be writing my write-up on the news hour with jim lehrer for goverment, but i think i'm going to sit here and blog instead.


while creeping on facebook, i saw a girls status that she had just gotten her "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" script in the mail and she was excited about it. i was in that play at the First Stage Children's Theater in 2000 AND 2003, and it has huge sentimental value for me. as a child, i loved going to first stage every summer, and i was so excited to make it into one of the season plays (people PAID to go to these plays!). i loved acting. i loved this funny, heartwarming play. but mostly, i loved the experience i had. i loved going to rehearsals for three hours every night, after school from 5-8 and having dinner with the cast. i LOVED it. it didn't matter to me that i had no lines. when i was an 8-year old baby angel, i just thought it was so cool to have a costume and dressing room and makeup and props and sets and backstage glory. plays are cool, man. and also, at this time, i was juggling irish dance, preparing for the oireachtas. 2000 was a big year for me; my first oireachtas AND my first play.

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i started this post back in october and didn't post it for whatever reason. but since this, i received in the mail....


AN INVITATION TO "THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER" REUNION PARTY!


ha, this is soooooo weird. its like the gods above were listening to my thoughts and answered them. except that i'm an atheist. but that's another story entirely.

so...despite the fact that i really don't remember anyone from the cast at all and i HIGHLY doubt that anyone will remember me...

i'm going. and if it turns out to be awk. and uncomft., i'll just leave. but at least i'll have my old memories.