SING, SING A SONG...

where can you be silverware (a spoon to be exact), a chili pepper, a postal worker, annie oakley, a disco dancer, a mermaid (who turns into a human complete with legs), AND a blind mouse? SING SONG of course. (what is sing song you ask? click here for a quick summary)




i loved EACH and EVERY performance i got to be apart of during my time at a.c.u. i EAGERLY performed all four years in the class division and all three years i could in the club division. my senior year in addition to being in the class and club acts, i also GLADLY took on the responsibility of corralling freshman ushers (along with abbe, jennifer, and jon) and hoping those students would develop a love for sing song too. i guess you could say i was officially a SING SONG ADDICT.
but let me back up a bit, my love for sing song didn't start when i was in college, i think i might have just been BORN loving it. it's always felt special to me that it occurs annually in february, my birthday month. going to the show is like an early PRESENT each year. as long as i can remember i've gone to this performance. the only years i can remember missing were '85, '86, and '03.
in '85 and '86 we lived in oregon and believe it or not we didn't fly home to abilene for the show. i did have two cassette tapes of those year's performances though. my uncle mark was the director of a winning act and made sure that i was able to hear it. although i couldn't actually watch the motions, i could imagine them in my 5-year-old head. each night that year i fell asleep to my sing song cassettes playing that wonderful MUSIC to my ears.
in '87 we were back in abilene and i was right back in the cozy seats of moody coliseum where i belonged, watching with WIDE eyes. each year i couldn't wait to see signs advertising the overall theme for the show and eagerly waited for the hosts and hostesses names to be REVEALED. i looked forward to hearing what themes the different clubs would be performing. i was THRILLED when my dad would bring home copies of the optimist (the campus newspaper) leading up to the event. i would read each article, then reread them again in anticipation of the BIG show.
in '03 i was in oxford falling in love with evan and making other fun MEMORIES too. although i was enjoying that adventure of being abroad, at the end-of-february i still found myself wishing i was seated in that familiar abilene coliseum CHEERING for fabulous acts and CRITIQUING their hard work. i found myself wishing i had programs from shows gone by so i could thumb throw them and read each and every name as i had done so many times.
and now that my performing days at sing song are done, i am happy to return to being an audience member. although, at the top of my "bucket list" is to someday be a sing song JUDGE, so hopefully that will be another sing song role i get to experience. after all, i feel i have spent a lifetime preparing my background knowledge for that. i know what sharp motions are supposed to look like, i understand the full meaning of "sing song face," i know an original, well-developed theme when i see one, and i know when that good ol' harmony is right on pitch (and when it isn't).
so since this was the 3rd weekend in february, you can probably guess where we were... ABILENE. last february we traveled there with a 1 month old. she was going to come to the show with us, but at the last minute we decided leaving the newborn at home with family babysitting would actually allow us to enjoy the acts much more. i went back and forth many times about that decision, worrying that she might be scarred someday because i made her miss a sing song performance (even if she was too young to even know) but in the end i chose selfishly and was able to watch the show without interruptions.
this year there were no excuses, it was high time for adelaide to be exposed to the GREATNESS known as sing song. and so we went. and i couldn't be PROUDER to report, my first-born who gets jumpy at each and every buzzer, did not get startled by the bright lights and loud melodic noises of sing song. of course she didn't. she sat PERFECTLY still in my lap for almost three hours with wide-eyes taking it all in as if it was the coolest thing she had ever seen. on days where i wonder if i'm teaching her all she needs to know, i will REMEMBER this. i must be doing something right. after all, i've already instilled a love and RESPECT for sing song. i'd say she's off to a good start in life!


the week before sing song we went to the mall play area for the first time. i think it was the perfect place for adelaide to practice her sing song arm movements and perfect her expressive sing song face (see above). then the night before her first show her grandma and aunt fed her a fudgesicle. they obviously knew she would needed to store up extra sugar to last through the next day's show.

and finally it was 8pm on saturday night and the show was about to start. here's a glimpse of adelaide enjoying her first of many shows. next to that you can see me with my favorite sister, the one that could possibly be in sing song herself in just 2 short years.
(also you should check out my aunt cheri's blog for a glance at some retro sing song pictures from the 80's!)

and in other exciting news, february holds some other special birthdays too. here are two of the birthday kids we have been able to celebrate so far, grandbud and chloe-girl. and on sunday i started my birth week off right with birthday dessert. please notice the 7 1/4 candles (instead of 29, my leap year age seems to fit better on a brownie). it's obviously a very BIG year for me!