Heidi Anne and BodyVox

As you have guessed (or already know) we live in a small, college town with roughly 48,000 people spread out in our county (which is 17 square miles). As you would imagine  there are few opportunities to be exposed to different cultures, traditions, various arts, or just memorable experiences in general.
 Thankfully, this college town draws in a variety of artists and their media or performances.

Now that Heidi Anne has been going to ballet class, she loves to go to watch dance performances. There was a show coming that I thought she would love, It was BodyVox's Reverie.   However, 1 ticket x 3 people = More than I could pay for-(even with the discount Conservice employees receive)  But I won some tickets from work. That totally made my day. 

The show was Bodyvox's Reverie. I won't lie there were some moments where I was lost on what they were doing. It would look like Cir De Solie mixed with interpretive dance and hints of humor. 

Heidi Anne loved the show. Sometimes they looked like dancing flowers. 

One of those Interpretive Dance 

They had a few videos they would play, too. Maybe for them to have a water break? But the video ones made Heidi Anne laughed so hard. The one she like the most was a video of a guy DANCING with a bulldozer. say dancing, I really mean dancing. They would do spins, moving back and forth, just down right funny. 

Nothing Dances  Like a Deere

See-Told You-Twirling with Bulldozer 

This is where the Ci Du Soleil comes in. Those two guys spent at least 10 minutes on this scene  The guys were upside down, going in circles upside down, holding one guy with his legs and hanging upside down while haning onto the bar with his own legs.

I Sense a Killer Headache Coming....

The favorite had of been the one where the dancers were "alseep". The other one of my favorites was a video about sleep disorders. Hard to explain it-but hilarious when you see it for yourself.

I love working for a company that not only supports the local arts but provides avenues for the employees to either attend a performance or actively take classes. 

Life Gone On-Even When You Want to Rewind

My Last Visit with Granddad

On Sunday Morning at 2:00 am my Granddad passed away. He wasn't alone, which helped me a lot to know someone was with him. I had my cousins, sister, other family try to call and text me. They tried contacting me via facebook. I had lost my cell phone it wasn't until 8:00 pm-ish Sunday night I found out. I was hit with so many feelings. 

First, mad at myself for not knowing where my cell phone was and thus being inaccessible to everyone else. I was grateful that my sister kept calling and texting, not giving up. (I learned a very important lesson-ALWAYS know where your phone is and make sure it's charged.) 

Next, I was upset with myself. I had planned on going to visit him but I decided to put it off until next week. I was so mad that I had missed a chance to see him because of a lack of gas money, getting a little cold, so I didn't want to give it to him. Char just held me and told me hindsight is 20/20.

I thought there weren't any more family gatherings or such for maybe a few days. Again, miscommunication. There was everything set to go on Monday. I was brokenhearted again. When my sister called and asked "Where are you guys at? Do you know when you're getting here?" I then found that she was at the funeral home- I missed the WHOLE ceremony. I was a heap of sobs on the sofa. I somehow called Char to let him know and somehow sent a few texts to my sister. 

Lucky for me, Char was able to think. He got information from my sister saying how there was going to be a family gathering. Back to heartbreak-gas was too much. Bless my sister, she helped us so we could at least make it there an back. Thanks to her, we could go. We went and got Heidi from daycare at 3:45 and made the drive down. We stopped at my sisters house. Basically, waiting for marching orders and let the kids visit and for Heidi Anne to get all those wiggles out of her.

We did a family round up/ gathering at Grandma Lori's house. We were one of the first ones to the house (apart from Grandma Lori and Oakley). It was nice to just be in the kitchen helping out. Slowly more and more of the family trickled in. We were told how the last 36 hours had been crazy. In 36 hours we lost granddad, had his service, had cleaned up his apartment, got things in order, and were now finally getting to rest, eat, a talk at Grandma Lori's. 

It was wonderful to be surrounded by family. I think one of the best things that came out of all this were the kids. I think they know "Gee, mom and dad aren't smiling-lets make them". So we had 5 kids aged 3, 4,5,6 and 9 dressing up in silly ways to make us laugh. It worked. I am so grateful I was able to go. Grieving alone is no fun at all. 

We left Grandma Lori's around 9:30, just after the last few family members( Aunt Deb and Ted) came in. Oddly, we were the first ones to leave-but we didn't get back home until WELL past midnight. We were joking how this is one of the latest times we've been out since Heidi Anne was born. But after an emotional rollercoaster and many Monsters-The stupidest knock knock joke would have been hilarious. 

Sewing on Her Own-Mostly

I have been sewing and quilting for a while now. Whenever I start sewing Heidi Anne is right by my side either asking what I am doing or just standing there watching. I think it's the oddest thing that my little bundle of energy will stop everything and just watch me so for almost an hour.
This weekend she was once again by my side at the sewing machine, narrating to me what I was doing. "Check the bobbin and the tension. Make sure everything is nice and clean. Now you reverse stitch to make sure the pieces stay together. Don't go to fast or you can sew your fingers (insert "Momma, you're so silly" giggles)."
After a bit she pipes up "Can I have a turn? I want to show you what you do!" I got her on my lap while she helped me guide the fabric. After a few times, I let her take over (mostly). She thought it was the coolest thing ever. Right after I finished sewing she jumped off my lap, grabbed some pins and fabric, then starting piecing together different fabrics together. I always forget how much a little kid can pick up just by watching. Sometimes she would be coloring while I told her what steps I was on-or telling her those little funny things I would tell her seemed to make the biggest impression. Example, "If you're not looking you can sew your fingers together."