Ready or not

My bed is full of laundry to be folded, my sink full of dishes to wash, my living room scattered with toys, and my car in desperate need of a cleaning. My baby is in bed taking her nap and I am reluctantly opening up my new syllabi for this semester that starts today while taking a few moments to post to my blog.

Ready or not, my 4th and 2nd to last semester for the MSIDT program starts today. I have "senioritis" pretty bad. Having successfully survived the semester this summer, I keep asking myself - Is this worth it? Are the late nights of homework and weekends spent glued to my laptop while my husband and daughter spend time together really worth it? Do I really want to continue? Attending park days, smocking dresses for Elisabeth, baking cookies, planting a garden and scrapbooking sounds so much more appealing.

However, I only have two semesters left. I can do this. I can finish my masters. Besides, I made a promise to Lance to finish AND I would hate the thousands of tuition dollars and hard work over the last few years to go to waste. And despite the stress associated with being a fulltime student, mother and wife, I secretly love what I am studying and enjoy being in school at times.

So, ready or not, here I come. I guess the laundry will have to wait.

Tradition!

Lance took me to see Topol in Fiddler on the Roof yesterday. Despite having to sit in our $50 nose bleed seats, the performance was absolutely amazing. I wish we had a set of opera glasses as we missed so much of the facial expressions that made the play as engaging as it was. Despite this, we laughed, cried, clapped, and sang with everyone else there. We are in the process of teaching Elisabeth some of the songs. "The Dream" is a great splashing, bathtime song. She will love show tunes before we know it!

I adore musicals and wish we could afford to attend the theater on a regular basis. After singing "Tradition" on the way to get frozen yogurt, we decided we need to make theater a part of our own family's traditions. We decided we will attend at least one musical or play every year. When Elisabeth is old enough - Maybe 8 or 9, she will start attending musicals with us.

Here is a record of what we have seen as a family so far:

• Fiddler on the Roof - 2009
  
• Wicked - 2008
• The Pagaent of the Masters - 2008
  
• Les Miserables - 2006
  
• Holes - 2005
• Walter Wonka and the Lawyer Factory - 2004 (A musical put on by the law students at the U of MN Law School).
  
• A handful of musical and theater performances done at BYU in 2002. Unfortunately, neither one of us remembers what we saw but Lance got free tickets while we were undergrads so we know we saw quite a few!

We are thinking we may get tickets to see The Lion King in 2010. Do you have suggestions of what would be a good play to add to our wish list?

Spontaneity

There is nothing more exhilarating than having a two week break between graduate school semesters. Breaks allow me to catch up on housework, spend more time playing with Elisabeth, watch movies I missed during the semester and break out of my routine and be spontaneous. Spontaneous. Now that is an understatement.

I feel like a giddy college freshman who has a new sense of freedom after finishing my last final. For example, when I heard about "Fiddler on the Roof" playing in town, I purchased two tickets for the last showing on a whim. Lance and I have plans to take at least three evenings to go to Disneyland while a babysitter watches Elisabeth. I took Elisabeth and Sofi to the dog park and we watched Sofi frolic with the other dogs for at least an hour.

I dread opening up my box of text books to prepare for next semester. I cross my fingers in hopes that these last two semesters are not as painful as I fear and that my next two week break will arrive quickly.

Bilingual Baby

Lance: Do you want me to help you brush your teeth, Elisabeth?
Elisabeth: Apua (Finnish for "help")

Amazing how a 14 month old girl can learn another language in six short weeks. Especially since she barely knows English!