A Childhood Cancer Survivor Blogging about the World of Childhood Cancer

Posts tagged ‘The Nutcracker’

Nutcracker 2010 Memories

All week-long, the music from The Nutcracker has been playing in my head. After five performances last weekend, it is still with me! I wish that all of you could see how talented the people are who I dance with. Not only are they talented, but I love each of them like they are my sister. It’s an exceptional group of girls who all support one another and never compete with one another. What an amazing environment for growth, and I realize how blessed I am to be surrounded with this kind of support and love.

Rag Doll Oksana and Soldier Melinda

Last year, one of my parts was a Rag Doll, like Oksana here with me in this photo. This year, as part of our soldier dance, we went down on the floor on our rear ends and got back up again. Tricky huh?! I enjoyed being a Soldier:)
 
Next in the performance came my part in Snow. Mom has a tough time making it through Snow ever since three years ago when she sat watching me dance as a Snowflake two days after my biopsy. We had no idea at the time what the Big Blob was inside my chest. I think that song will always make her cry, and watching me dance along with it– well, she is “Toast”! Gotta love moms:) She did tell me that she began dripping tears even before I appeared onstage because Jane and Harmony, the Snow Queens, were dancing from their souls. I loved being a part of Snow– it is always epic with the incredibly beautiful music and of course…
 
 
The Snow!!!!!!!!
 

Nutcracker Snow with Callie and Teagan

 
 
 
 
 
Callie was an incredible Flower Queen and Teagan and I were both Soldiers:) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And one more dance… Ribbon… ahhh yes, the dance that took every ounce of strength and breath I could gather up!
 

Nutcracker Ribbon Dance with Sarah

 
Bye-Bye Nutcracker 2010. It was great fun!

Category:

1, About the Author, Posts from the Author

Tagged with:

Gobble Gobble!

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday! It makes me feel happy, warm, thankful, and full of wonderful goodness. As you already know, I don’t have to search far for a gagillion reasons to be thankful. My gratitude list begins at the very basics– breathing, walking– you get idea. I know, for sure, that this will never leave me. Having come so close to losing my life, I will forever be aware that we forget to be thankful. We just plain forget.

One of the things I am most grateful for this Thanksgiving is also what I am most excited about. Nicholas and Dean will be home from college. I can’t wait to laugh with them, play Mario, sing “Under the Sea,” pick apples at the apple farm (gonna have to drag them here, but I know they’ll have fun,) walk out on the Avila Pier, go to the Avila Barn and play in the hay maze, take Larry on long walks, and explore the great outdoors in as many places as we possibly can!

On Thanksgiving Day, my family and I are going to my Gramma and Poppy’s house. They prepare the most delicious Thanksgiving Feasts, and even better than their Thanksgiving Feasts are their warm, kind, and loving hearts. It always feels like I am wrapped in a great big blanket of love when I am at Gramma and Poppy’s. Gram will be making her traditional Steamed Date Pudding with hard sauce. She needs to make threee times the sauce, and I have been trained since I was a wee one on how to dip the spoon in the sauce and turn it around just right so that all the sauce ends up on the pudding and not on Grams’ fancy tablecloth:) The bowl with the sauce gets passed around and the entire family will comment on the skills of each “Twirlee.”

Speaking of food, I love cooking and baking. Today, I created my infamous “Buns.” Nicholas gave me a breadmaker a couple of years ago (when I was in my mad, mad world of gourmet food preparation frenzy,) and I make these amazing Buns. While the Buns were rising, I whipped up three pie crusts with intricate leaves I made out of the dough all around the ridge of the pie plate. Mom finished up, putting two pumpkin pies in the oven. Tomorrow will be apple pie day:)

Are you licking your lips and dreaming of stuffing and turkey and pies??????????

Now that I have you in the Holiday Spirit, I will close with this video my mom took when I performed as a soldier at a community event promoting  the Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo’s Nutcracker.

Nutcracker Soldiers Perform at Apple Farm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5nqvIchtlk

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thank you God for each and every one of my tremendous blessings. Help me to always be thankful and to always give from my heart.

Category:

1, About the Author, Posts from the Author

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud

%d bloggers like this: