Why Not Just Memorize the Entire Script

              When Jenna was seven years old I had signed her up for an acting class.  The show to be preformed was “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown”.  A few hours before taking her to the “audition” she painted red dots all over her face and told me she couldn’t possibly go because she had the measles.  I don’t know what she had against Charlie Brown at the time, but I know the entire “Peanuts” gang were not high on her list of shows to watch.  Pretending she was one of them seemed against her nature.

          That first night of class the script was passed out.  Three boys and four girls read the script according to how the instructor had assigned them before she changed what parts to read for.  Lucy and Linus were cast that night but she was still getting a feel for who the other children would play and who would be double cast (as there are just six characters).  Jenna had memorized everybody’s part except for Charlie Browns.  She was hoping to get cast as either Schroeder or Snoopy.

          The following week the children went over the script again.  Neither the instructor nor I could see either of the boys playing Charlie Brown as one seemed highly unfocused to play a main part.  The other spoke Spanish as his native tongue and did not read English well enough to pull off Charlie Brown.  Thus the instructor had asked if Jenna would be okay playing Charlie Brown.  She wasn’t, but we made Charlie Brown a girl instead of a boy. 

          Long before the final performance Jenna had memorized the entire script.  She has continued this for years.  She has never taken drama at school until this year.  Script was written and parts passed out – more students than characters.  Thus to include Jenna additional supporting characters were written in so that, if nothing else, she would at least be seen milling in the background.  People who say “there are no small parts just small actors” are full of it.  There are parts or even characters that are insignificant enough that they can be written out. 

          To her credit, Jenna has learned others’ parts as she has practiced going over lines with some other students.  During the course of time she has been asked to substitute for various students who would not/will not make it to the final performance (or sometime during the week of performance)  She has done that before – playing multiple characters or saying multiple lines when she is on stage with the one she is saying lines for (for example, there were three aunts in "Madness, Murder and Matrimony -or-Have Some Madeira, M'Dear?" who appeared on the stage at the same time, but when  another aunt was unavailable to perform one night, Jenna said both of their lines. 

 I am such a proud parent that I just feel the need to boast.  Here  are some of her accomplishments here and more on her Charlie Brown experience here.

Perhaps Not Perfect, But Close

             I had asked a friend if she would drive me to the airport yesterday.  I had changed the time of her flight and would have been able to drive myself but my friend was still willing – in fact looking forward to it – perhaps more than I.  Before the pandemic she had received a gift card to Red Lobster but has not used it in all of this time.  So after we went to the airport and picked up Jenna, our friend drove us to Red Lobster and used her gift card on overpriced food that really didn’t seem worth what we would have paid.  Jenna and I do love the cheese rolls – which she enjoyed more than I.  It probably isn’t the fault of Red Lobster but rather my taste buds (or lack thereof) that are to blame. 

Currently Jenna is in Cottage Grove attending the high school football game – not that she knows anything about football or any other sport.  She has school spirit as many of those from the class of 2022.  They have always been so supportive of one another – unlike the class of 2023 who had somewhat of a mischievous reputation.  I don’t know how much of that has changed since the pandemic.  I know 2022 continues to be strong.  They are definitely an awesome bunch of kids.

 

On Monday I took her to the high school for parent teacher conference.  Though she currently has eight classes, she has only five instructors.  Seeing them all took only 15-20 minutes plus a few minutes of visits with those who are not her instructors.  Everybody loves Jenna and the feedback is always positive.  I knew that already. 

She needs only two classes to graduate but has decided to take six electives to contribute making her senior year a wonderful experience – though the two required classes are a Lot of work.  She is and always has been a great student academically as she is supportive of her peers.  She’s a gem.

A Dog Goes To Church

 

            There are several times when we are leaving the house that Jenna and I will slip out the back door to avoid taking Bonnie with us.  It’s nothing against the dog – it’s usually just an inconvenience to take her when we’re just going to the store or the church.  I have taken Bonnie with me a few times when I picked Jenna up from seminary.  This morning I allowed Bonnie to come with me.

            Oh, that was a fun ride (not) as Bonnie whined for the most part.  Believing she had to relieve herself, I opened the back door as soon as I parked in the church parking lot.  She ran out and towards the building.  I could see her looking through the door.  Class was out and everyone was waiting for their rides.  I figured at least one of them would see Bonnie and Jaime would come out – which she did.  Only when she opened the door and came outside, Bonnie went inside.

            “People!  People!  I like people! Let me climb on top of you and lick your face.”

            Jenna rescued her seminary instructor whom Bonnie had decided to befriend.  We then took Bonnie to the dog part for just a few minutes so she could get whatever wildness inside of her out of the car – which I guess she did.  The return ride was so much better.

            We took Bonnie for a walk later on – or rather, Bonnie took Jenna and I followed – our usual routine.  Bonnie is still a sweet dog.

Walking Bonnie on a Scavenger Hunt

 

Jenna asked me if I would go on a walk with her and Bonnie.  She asked if I could look up a scavenger hunt list that we could do at the park.  I pulled up a list and sent it to her phone.  The rules were that we could not take something that we brought ourselves and no repeats.  At least one of us had to be in the picture with said item (as we would not be bringing any of it home) My rule was that we did not have to capture things in order – otherwise we would still be at the park with an empty list.

Twenty items were on the list. The list goes as follows:

Something covered in feathers

Something inflated by air

Something made of wood

Something purple

Something rectangle

Something round

Something shorter than you

Something square

Something striped

Something taller than you

Something that flies

Something that displays a rule(s)

Something that smells pretty

Something with wheels

Something yellow

Something you can sit in

Something you use to play sports

The letter “S”

Something covered in fur

Something with a date on it

The first thing we captured was number 12 – the park rules.  I think it is the only time Jenna wore the mask.

The second Jenna took of me and Bonnie.  #3 something wood

Jenna had mentioned that we would need something with wheels.  There is a large saw mill that we could take a picture of.  Only she thought I meant the mason stone which I thought she took, but found this instead.

4 something with wheels

Jenna spotted second Ave and thus we crossed the street and took a picture of #18 something that starts with S

point of interest: Top of street that leads to the park where
Jenna is standing is where the Christmas tree is placed
each year – thus second Ave is closed off for a month.

We did get a picture of the saw – not for S, not for wheel, but for #20 something with a date

perhaps not so much a full date as just the year

Jenna spotted the wheelchair marking on the ground and decided to lay next to it.  #8 something square

For number 17 “Something you use to play sports” Jenna and I decided that the baseball field would serve as the background as it is something that many do use to play sports

Jenna saw a group of people looking towards the sky and finally spotted the drone they were all looking at.  I suggested she take it for #11 something that flies.  It is the only picture that neither one of us were in.  She has circled the drone as it didn’t come out so obvious in the photo

I grabbed a couple of plastic bags from the park dispenser just in case we needed to clean up after Bonnie – who did take a dump but proceeded to bury it before I could pull the sack apart.

I then posed with a stump #7 something shorter than me.

I asked if the book drop could be used as one of list items.  She went down to investigate and there are some purple paperbacks

Bonnie followed her and tangled them both in her leash.  I wish I would have had a picture of that.  When Jenna tried to get them both untangled, Bonnie decided to chew on her leash

Though we had passed yellow speed bumps, Jenna decided the Oregon Duck rock had a more exciting yellow and thus posed with the rock # 15 something yellow

Jenna went into the restroom to take her picture sitting “in” something.  I didn’t realize she was going to choose the sink #16 something you sit in.

There were four small flags displayed behind a very small fence.  I asked Jenna if that would work – I liked the display.  She was not comfortable taking the picture however as there was a group of people nearby.  She found another flag and used it for #9 something with stripes. We could have also used it as either #10 something taller or #5 something rectangle – but stripes seemed the best choice.

Jenna then found a tree barely taller than herself and decided we’d pose with it though I thought we could have found a more exciting background with a different (and taller) tree

She took a picture of a squirrel – or attempted to rather.  I had Bonnie on the leash.  She dashed toward the squirrels and so it moved out of frame.

Jenna thought we could get another dog with other walkers but they went in another direction.  Further up we got our #5 something rectangle and #6 something round

It wasn’t until we had almost completed full circle when Jenna spotted another dog walker and asked if she could pose with their dogs but got only one that has a similar coloring to Bonnie.

Bonnie of course wanted to follow the dogs as she continued to bark at them and knocked Jenna over.

As we had not used the bags for Bonnie’s bowels and still had three things on the list Jenna decided to inflate one of the bags so that we could mark off #2 from our list.

something inflated by air

She approached two women and asked if they had any perfume or something that smelled pretty – though I had suggested plants that bloom in the spring time and might be fragrant, but I don’t know.  I can’t smell.  Jenna settled on a bottle of Pepsi.  I don’t know that I’d say Pepsi has a “pretty” smell – but that was our number 13.

And thus we left the park having marked off each item but the first – something covered in feathers.  We had heard birds in the trees but could not see them – nor did we find ducks in the water.  I told Jenna to take a picture of her skinned knee that she received when Bonnie pushed her over.  

Jenna, still determined to get her feather covered fowl took one from our front porch (no longer in the park – rather seven miles away) and almost as easy to spot as the drone.  The orange above her head is one of many fowl that come into our yard.

Overall it was a fun little adventure.  

A Winning Smile

When Jenna was a tot, all she had to do was flash her smile and a member of an older generation would whip out a quarter and hand it to her.  She hasn’t outgrown her charm and charisma, but I’m happy to say no one financially pays her for it anymore (I think with the age she is now that I’d be worried) 

One time we had gone to Big Lots and some guy on his way in had asked if I wouldn’t mind hanging on to his enormous Great Danes while he went inside.  I was hoping to get Biff’s attention so that he could get a picture of me hanging onto the leashes of these gigantic animals.  The owner had called them “Scooby Doo” dogs.  So now everytime I hear the name "Scooby Doo" I think of that time with Jenna.

 

                                    https://saveadane.org/2012/03/great-dane-ranking/

When he had finished his business, he came out of the store and presented Jenna with a five (maybe it was a one?)  dollar bill for watching his dogs.  Are you kidding me?  I think I did all the work.  I think she may have sung “You Are My Sunshine” to him for she had just learned the song and loved singing it for others.

Love For Music

           I’m guessing that before Jenna was born

she had learned the words and notes to music

of many authors and artists and carried it

with her when she came to earth.

When she was inside of me I would

put headphones over my belly and play

songs for her, mostly classical or

primary songs. She seemed to enjoy them.

And after she was born, I would sing to her. 

I would sing songs about whatever toy she was holding

or whatever picture we were looking at. 

For example, I would sing “You’re a Grand Old Flag”

whenever I caught her looking at the flag on my tee shirt. 

Or I would point to the animals on her teething ring and

sing songs about each animal if I could think of one.

I don’t know why it surprises me whenever

Jenna sings along with a song that is decades

older than she is. 

I caught her singing along with Sam Cooke

last night and asked, “How do you know this?” 

She hadn’t been aware that she had

even been singing along.  She shrugged.

I think Jenna has an entire stash of

music genre within her and she can’t

help it whenever it comes out. 

She is just a happy positive upbeat personality

and music is just one way she lets it shine through. 

I love listening to Jenna sing.

Vegetables, Ventriloquist and Perfect Weather

         

          We had lived in Douglas County less than two months the first time we had gone to the DC fair.  I know we overspent.  It was worth the smile on Jenna’s face.  It seems like there was more distance to cover that first year than this year.

          Though the fair is held every year, we have not gone to it each year.  I think it was just a matter of lack of funds in 2016.  Jenna and Roland went for a few hours in 2017.  The elements that surrounded that year were hot and smoky and I chose not to go.  They  had dressed vegetables and were gone for just a few hours.

          I don’t know that Jenna had even considered last year as she and Roland were performing in Robin Hood.  This year she decided she wanted to go and we would take Marie.  But then again, Marie drives and her old fogie parents would most likely wish to leave before they did and so we drove in separate cars.

          On Thursdays before a certain time, patrons may dress a vegetable in order to get free admission to the fair.  I guess it’s an annual event, but as the page was dated 2018 we weren’t sure.

          Roland had started the one in the middle and Jenna added the body.  She also added a potato to her own and made the one on the  right.  Mine is the one to the left.

          Since Marie was coming with us, they decided on a new approach for another vegetable – replacing a doll’s body with a potato.  Looked a bit like one of Sid (from Toy Story)’s creations. 

I liked the baby looking one (joined creation) the best but it was also the heaviest.  I had added a sock to mine.

          Jenna and Marie left about twenty minutes before we did and made it into the fair with their two potatoes.  Roland and I had to pay to get in as the two pumpkins had been left in Marie’s car.

          I took pictures of some of the creatively “dressed” vegetables that were on display.  Though I saw Jenna’s final creation, I did not see her other which Marie had entered as her own.

          We caught up with the girls who were watching ventriloquist, Steve Chaney.  Of course, Jenna volunteered to go on stage to be a human puppet.

          The weather was perfect – well, maybe not for the fairgrounds, but for me -  I don’t recall ever having gone to the fairgrounds before when the skies showed signs that it might rain.

          The fair somehow seemed smaller in size than it had five summers ago – but perhaps it was because we weren’t packed in like sardines.  Sadly, a lot of vendors did look bored.  Enjoy it while you can.  I suspect tomorrow will be a madhouse.

Dash #786 Jenna's Beloved Dog

This is Ernie in the middle. 

I purchased him when I had worked for Snelgroves ice cream store in Salt Lake City.  He has a music box inside of him.  When wound up, he will play the tune "Teddy Bear's Picnic".  I brought Ernie into my marriage.  I think he sat on a shelf until after Jenna was born.  I would play the song for her.  She loved putting her hand on Ernie's belly when the music played.  She loved feeling the music play.

This is how Hi-Five may have appeared at one time.

strange name, I know.  I will explain how we got his name, but first allow me to back up to the day when Hi-Five joined our family.  Jenna and I had been visiting with Aunt Gertrude who often purchased items just because they were on sale.  It was rare that any family member would ever visit  and not be offered to walk away with some material object be it a sweatshirt, stuffed animal, collectible doll or rocks (see this post) 

We had Ernie with us, and Aunt Trudy went and got Hi-Five because she thought they both had cute faces and Ernie's face had reminded her of Hi-Five - although we hadn't picked out a name for him until much later. 

Aunt Trudy wanted Jenna to have the dog.  He had a lot more fluff at that time.  Often it was hard to see his eyes because of the fluff.  At first, Jenna didn't want anything to do with it.

This is what Jenna was wearing
the day she received Hi-Five

It was several months before she warmed up to him and then couldn't bear to live without him.  Hi-Five went EVERWHERE that she went.

Hi-Five wasn't given his name until after Jenna had learned to walk.  She has always been smart and would retrieve things from her bedroom if we mentioned them - or else she would lead me to what she couldn't retrieve (like the growth chart on her door)

I had taught her how to give a high five sign

and one day I said to her,  "Give me a high five!"

She disappeared without attempting to slap my hand. When she returned, she was carrying her beloved dog that Aunt Gertrude had given her.  She gave it to me.

"Oh, is 'High Five" the name of your dog?"

She said a few words at the time, but was really not much of a talker then.  But with a few more questions, I decided that she was in favor of calling the dog Hi-Five.  I am the one who chose the spelling.

Jenna loved that thing ragged.  I made sure it stayed clean, but it didn't always look it.  Aunt Trudy tried replacing him with another stuffed dog whom Jenna's oldest sister, Francine,  had named Graham Crackers because of his color.  Jenna called him "Crackers".  She dragged both Hi-Five and Crackers with her for a while, but did not ever love Crackers (or any other stuffed animal) as much as she loved Hi-Five.

Crackers came with a kerchief around his neck

I would allow her to take it into most stores that we would go to - except for second hand stores though many might have rejected him if he had ever been mistakenly donated.  I tried to cover up his mishaps with clothes. 

I even gave him a haircut and told Jenna that his fur would not be growing back.

You know how some mothers have to wean their children from favorite blankets? I was determined not to have that problem and had given Jenna a different blanket every day - sometimes several times during the day.  It never dawned on me that a stuffed animal would become her "security blanket"  and I don't know why.  He was never soft in my opinion.  Over the years he felt more coarse.  I would have thought he would feel scratchy to Jenna, but she really did love it very much.  Maybe even more than balls or rocks.  We had reached a point where she just couldn't sleep without him.

  

When we moved from Kearns to West Valley, Hi-Five ended up living in the shed.  I told Jenna he could not live in her room unless she took care of it.  He moved with us to Oregon.  Currently he resided in Jenna's room. Throughout the years, he has gotten more shabby.  He's been restuffed twice.  Roland had even purchased a heart to go inside along with the stuffing the last time.  As I told Jenna, his hair did not grow back. 

Hi-Five today January 2019