2007. going, going, gone...it was a big year.
for us, every year is a big year. this year we brought Poppy Eponine, who turned one in may, along for the ride. Poppy says of turning one, "well, it was a pretty special birthday really, considering my last was my actual Birth Day. I feel much older than my one year, having met a lot of people already and experiencing the theatre, the beach, the park, our own little street and more recently, daycare and mummy's school environment. of course, daddy's comical antics and mummy's pretty songs and shoes have helped to keep me young at heart. I feel that there's a lot more to be done; there are people to meet, places to go and I guess I just want to have fun doing it all."
before may of this year, nothing much happened. no, really. it was our only down time. that is to say, if you include in said downtime: walking, running, swimming, dancing, climbing, playing, posing, discovering, creating, communicationg (signing, babbling) and eating (Poppy); cooking, cleaning, reading, rehearsing, writing, walking, running, swimming, shopping, signing, singing, photographing, dancing, breastfeeding, rapley-ing, and trying to pay as much attention to husband as pre-Poppy days (Xanthe); working, bill-paying, beach volleyball-ing, singing, some cleaning, some cooking, playing, rapley-ing, rehearsing and demanding as much attention as pre-Poppy days (Sam)!!!
author's note: please refer to previous posts for further details on most of the above. and much of what follows...
Poppy, prior to her first birthday, had seen several shows and during april could be found at Lind Lane Theatre for the rehearsal period of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. along with our friends, Russell Morgan (who also directed and designed the show) and Naomi Clasohm, Sam and I played multiple roles in what turned out to be quite a showcase for the four of us. we all agree that the production itself and the experience of staging it the way we did, with the people involved, has been our best to date. before closing night, Sam and I were asked to audition for the theatre's next production, Baby the musical.
at first glance it seemed to be a similiar show, however, it quickly became apparent that it was going to be a very different experience after all. Sam and I were cast as a couple in their thirties, desperate to have a child and struggling with the whole IVF process, a story that so many couples can relate to. challenging roles for both, in terms of finding the characters and fleshing them out to be believable but not caricatured. also, because neither of us have ever learnt to read music, we had some testing rehearsals as we worked with the md and a 33 piece orchestra to perfect our notoriously difficult (and repetitious) "romance"numbers! the show didn't attract the previous production's record crowds and we had experienced greater difficulty getting babysitters for Poppy, at the much more stressful end of the year. thanks again to the family and friends who helped out during april-may and october-november for the two shows that required the two of us!
Sam also managed to fit in a production of CATS, playing Old Deuteronomy, which was a bit of a favour to the director. in his carpet coat and full cat makeup, Poppy only recognised him when she heard her daddy's voice!
in august, an opportunity for the mama to return to work until the end of the year came up at suncoast christian college. the original offer was a 12 month maternity contract, however, I wanted to be sure I was in the right place and offered to teach secondary drama until the end of the year. returning to work meant dropping day feeds for the breast-fed (and recently rapleyed child) and starting Poppy at daycare...what a dilemma for this sophisticated earth mother! but seeing as my old school (st andrew's anglican college in peregian springs) wouldn't hear of me returning from mat leave to leap up the middle-senior school ladder, I had to take the opportunity! so we happily settled Poppy into milford lodge, which is in our opinion, just like staying home with mama....without mama. as was to be expected, it took a little while for us all to get used to the idea (and the new early morning routine) but Poppy started to look forward to her two days a week there in no time at all. Lyn and/or Geoff enjoyed having her each wednesday and thursday and I have had fridays off, to continue swimming lessons and visiting and shopping and playing at home. when mum and dad went to NYC Poppy came with me to work and enjoyed watching year 11 directing and acting and drinking up the lavish attention, as you can imagine, from students and staff.
our little family was sick with a virus for some time before Baby opened, the cough and fatigue lingering and Poppy going back on the boob until she recovered. she has, since seven or eight mths, been communicating and comprehending far beyond (other peoples') expectations and by signing and talking with her, she now understands directions and explanations like, "Poppy, no, you can't have mama's milky now. that's for sleep (sign sleep), after dinner (sign hungry/eat) and a story (sign story). right now you can have a cup of milk (sign milk) or tea (sign tea). would you like milk or tea?" perhaps it sounds silly or excessive or unecessary to cynics with grown children or to those of you without children but I'm tellin' you now, TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO SIGN, PEOPLE!
just a month ago, Poppy had her first huggies'shoot, for the new pull-ups (loading ie packaging, posters etc) so Sam and I took her to Sydney for a casting and then a four hour call the following day. see previous posts for details. hopefully, as long as she continues to enjoy it, more work will come her way. hopefully, the work will come to her, in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast, to avoid spending her early income on the trip itself!
Sam finished up with CADET around the same time and started with Australian Medical Centres (AMC) as Corporate Liason Officer, meeting doctors and arranging their passage to the country and their registration here, etc, etc. he is enjoying the coast version of the corporate world (and a change of car) as he was well and truly ready for a challenge and a change of scene.
I will be starting the new school year at Nambour Christian College, as secondary drama teacher and assistant to the HOD. the department is known fondly as CAPA (creative and performing arts) and it is a creative force to be reckoned with, with a formidable reputation! needless to say, I am also looking forward to new challenges. I will contiue to have fridays off and Poppy will go to her beautiful daycare, with acres of garden, adoring carers and organic food prepared on the premises four days a week.
in 2008 we may manage to fit in one show only. that's a new year's resolution. so it will have to be a special one. we'll keep you posted.
all our love and best wishes at Christmas time and happy new year!
Xanthe, Sam and Poppy Eponine.
No comments:
Post a Comment