Two Shows and a Craft Fair!

I've had a rather delightful weekend!

It started with "Christmas at the Orpheum" Friday night. The Orpheum is a historic theater in downtown Sioux City, built in 1927, renovated and re-opened in 2001. It is absolutely gorgeous! "Elegant" was the fitting word that Eastin kept repeating as we toured the place. And one of the nicest things in my book: the women's restroom. It was huge. Stall after stall after stall -- stretched most of the width of the building, I believe -- and you could enter and exit from either end. That may seem like a silly thing to get excited about, but if you're a woman and have tried to get into and out of the restroom during a brief intermission, you understand my appreciation.

The show was sponsored (I think) by the Briar Cliff University music department. It featured the Briar Cliff choir and University Singers, the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, a guest solo soprano and guest feature pianist, plus choirs from two local churches (including the Methodist church I mentioned in an earlier blog). For anyone who doesn't appreciate classical and/or choral music, it might well have been a bore. But my girls enjoyed it, tired as they were. And I actually got goosebumps when every voice and instrument joined for the finale, "Joy to the World". Glorious! Great way to start the holiday season.

Then yesterday, after art class, library and lunch, the girls and I stopped at the Craft Fair in the Convention Center downtown. Fun to look at, but a bit overwhelming. Two floors full of crafts is a bit much. But it was good for stirring up the creative juices again. Got a few piles of craft supplies I've unpacked in the basement that I need to either do something with or put out on the garage sale.

THEN, last night, Leslie and I went to the Sioux City Community Theater to see their Youth Theater production of "Holes". I'd never read the book or seen the movie, so I was curious about it. Interesting show. Well-done for a youth theater production. An interesting theater building -- a nice, wide open stage with no kind of curtain and very little backstage that I could imagine. They did a good job of creating the image of these holes they were digging at various depths.

But even more interesting . . the "snack bar" area was almost as large as the theater seating area. They apparently do some "dinner theater" things sometimes. I'm anxious to get involved in a production there now. The girls may beat me to it, though. They have auditions in December for the next youth theater production, "Mulan Jr.". Leslie's still deciding . . she's not crazy about Mulan. But, next summer they're doing "High School Musical 2". I'm guessing that's a done deal -- I expect to spend the spring and summer driving the girls back and forth to rehearsals for that. I can't imagine them giving up the opportunity to be in HSM2.

The best part of the "Holes" evening, though, was just spending some time alone with Leslie. We had some good talks, a lot of laughs . . we really needed some time away alone. Everyday life and school is so full of the bickering and childish moments that I really need to have nights like this to remember what a fine young lady she's growing up to be.