I left off at Wed… I went to Bodyflow with our prior karate teacher. She said she enjoyed it. We had a sub because Susannah is off learning great new things to teach the class. New flows all month.

Thurs night was karate. We worked on forms. I’ll be working on the same form for quite some time because I’m a green belt who knows blue belt level forms.

Fri night we had social with all the 7th grade parents. They had yummy cajun food (jambalaya!), hurricanes to drink, gelato for dessert, and a large yard on the water to hang out it. It was quite nice.

Saturday was nuts. Wendy was working on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at school, and I volunteered to chaperone the Sat. rehearsal. It ran from 10:30am-3:15pm, and I had to be on the beach at 4 to help set up the BoOo0bie Ball. The BoOo0bie Ball was a Halloween party / fundraiser /  concert on Treasure Island to raise money for My Hope Chest - supporting breast reconstruction for breast cancer survivors without health insurance. I was on the set-up crew, and I was also the Tarot card reader at the party. I got their a bit late after Beauty and the Beast rehearsal, but I was still the first one there so I took my sweet time doing my makeup.

Tarot Card Reading

Then we set up auction items, tshirts for sale, hung banners and pink bras around the pool deck – and meanwhile the band was setting up. They were the kick-ass disco tribute band called The Boogie Wonder Band.

Tarot card reading went well. Brian showed up late with some friends. His running buddy Richie and his wife were dressed as Pauly D. and Snooki. They were hysterical. Little did we know there would be a costume contest, and they won $100 tab to the bar – so drinks were flowing.

When we left we hit a local cafe that plays nightclub music at night, and danced a while until their midnight costume contest. Then Pauly and Snooki pulled it out again and won 3rd place – a $25 tab and a little cash. All of the contests are judged by noise level of applause, so Brian said next year we should have them dress up as something awesome and get a big group of friends together to clap for them at contests and win all night long!

Sunday I felt hungover from lack of sleep. I probably drank 5 sips the whole night, so it wasn’t booze. But of course it was Halloween, and the real Halloween is for the kids. Wendy had one friend come at 4, Alice had 1 friend come at 6. My friend came with her daughter and our costumes at 6, and then we met up with more friends at 7:30. In the end we had a small group of 7th graders, a small group of 8th graders, and 2 moms.

One house we went to was all decked out like Wonderland – with large lanterns, mushrooms, red paper roses, and twisty arrow signs. The mom was dressed like the Queen of Hearts in a dress she made herself. We happened to have one girl dressed like the cheshire cat, and one like Alice in Wonderland, so they got a cute group photo. Wendy was a bumblebee and Alice was a flower child. We took a silk flower and pulled the petals off, and then used eyelash glue to adhere them around her eye in a semi circle. It was a great added affect – beyond the psychedelic dress, peace sign necklace and boots.

Brian – as usual – changed his costume at the last minute. We’re always buying him Halloween makeup on the morning of Halloween. He was going to be Dr. Brain – and wear a lab coat, and I was going to take lipliner and draw brains on his bald head. But he decided to be a demented clown. He did scary clown makeup, striped pants, polka dot tie – it was pretty creepy.

I was the smart mom who had all the other moms meet me at 9:30 at my house to get their kids – thus I was forced to be home at 9:30 and the kids could go to bed on time. That worked like a charm.

Wendy on left in green

Monday I had to skip the gym to sell Beauty and the Beast tickets at school.

Tuesday I usually run 3 miles at the park with B, but she woke up with a sore throat. I did 2.5 miles on my own, then saw a friend and walked 1/2 mile with her, then ran another quarter mile back to the car.

Wed. I did 22 mins on the Stairmaster and an upper body workout at the gym. The lady who teaches Fri core class saw me and said I should join her athletic conditioning class – but it starts at 9 and I leave the gym at 9 to get to work around 10. Oh well.

Tues and Wed night were the play. On Tues I helped backstage with costumes, makeup, etc. On Wed I sat in the audience and enjoyed the show. The kids were very impressive! Especially considering they pulled the whole thing off in under 2 months! The singing was great, the costumes and set were cool, and they were all 5th-8th grade and ROCKED it.

Which brings me to today, Thurs… We had karate and I did one-step sparring with Hector, who is 12 years old but taller than me. We took turns knocking each other to the ground. It was fun but not very aerobic. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s core class!

Helping out at Beauty and the Beast made me miss the stage. I was in “Really Rosie” in college and we went to Manhattan elementary schools to perform for little ones. I played Pierre and had to wrap my boobs. A few years ago I was in Miracle on 34th St. with my daughters. It was fun being in a show together, and I plan to watch the DVD this year during Thanksgiving break to see how it went now that it’s been a while.

Were you ever in a large theatrical production?