Despite have departed from home a bit late, we managed to arrive at NOVA pretty much on time at 5pm. I was quickly called into action and spent literally the next two hours ironing costumes (soldiers, Bon Bons, Chinese corps, etc.). I kept peeking through the racks of costumes to make sure Claire was okay. She did GREAT with all the waiting around. She and her friends were making these intricately folded paper designs and it kept them occupied for hours. She did a lot of waiting, with a big rush in the middle to get dressed and get onstage. Then they came off, got undressed, and went back to waiting.
I was pretty busy the entire time - which is definitely my preference and the time went quickly enough. Once again, most of the moms are great to work with and just pitch in with whatever needs to be done. (Except for one mom who was sitting on the floor the entire time and whining about how tired she was and how she was going to sleep until noon.) Before I knew it, it was after 10:30 and time to get out of Dodge. Claire had a snack on the way home, but about 20 minutes from home the back seat got VERY quiet. I turned to look and she was sacked out, head thrown back.
When I got home, I managed to get her completely unbuckled and picked her up and she didn't even BEGIN to wake up. I carried her up to her room (not an easy task anymore - she's about 47 pounds and it was just dead weight). Tony heard me and came in and helped me get her into her pjs. She was still 95% asleep. Had to laugh at the sight of her under her covers with most of her lipstick still in place and her hair crazy from an all-night bun with too much gel and hairspray.
After getting Claire settled, I quickly checked my email and found one message from the Chairperson of the Ballet School's theatre group. I had volunteered, back in September, to do their newsletter, but hadn't heard back. She emailed me last night to say that if I was still willing, they would like my help in designing and sustaining their newsletter, beginning in the New Year. Although the timing was not great (exhausted, back and feet killing me), I think it will be a fun project. My work on the HHS newsletter will be wrapping up in May, so I guess I'm replacing one volunteer job with another. I said yes, but kept hearing the refrain in my head, "no good deed goes unpunished."
I was hoping Claire would sleep in this morning and she did - a little - until about 7:30. But I can tell she's tired (she cried that I left for work without saying goodbye) so it's best that she just chill today.
Tonight is the first real-live performance and all the girls are atwitter with excitement. I'm not "working" this evening, but still have to get her to Annandale in Friday rush hour traffic and then find some way to lurk about for the three hours until she's finished. If it was a little warmer out, I would give serious consideration to a nap in my car. With luck, we'll be home by 10 tonight.
For now, I just have the long work day looming ahead of me. I would have loved to take the day off, but we're a bit short staffed today - I'm the only one in the office at the moment. I will rely on my dear friend, Diet Pepsi to see me through.
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