Happy Sunday! It has been quite an interesting two weeks here in the Shannon household. Connor has been fighting a cold, and I seem to be struggling with a reemergence of the virus that felled me back in January, one I never quite was able to shake. We have had a busy two weeks – busier than normal anyway – and sadly that is just a taste of things to come. These are the days for which we prepare all year long, if you can actually prepare for them.

Connor has been busy with school, band, and Forensics. He has had three Forensics meets in two weeks. He also performed two different pieces in the regional Solo and Ensemble contest. Pep band keeps him busy at various times throughout the week, and he is anxiously preparing to take the ACT this upcoming week. Plus, he is valiantly trying to have us squeeze in some drive time to go towards his 30 hours he needs in order to get his license. Track starts soon as well.

Holly has been busy with dance, as usual. However, rehearsals have taken on an air of urgency as the very first competition of the year starts this upcoming Friday. Last weekend, she had an all-day rehearsal on Saturday, another four-hour rehearsal Sunday morning, and a Showcase performance Sunday afternoon. This was just a local fundraiser for the studio and a chance for the girls to perform their dances in front of a live and much more forgiving audience before they face the judges. She had more rehearsal time yesterday as they worked through some of the issues from the Showcase performance and one last runthrough of all the dances today. She is tired but excited and nervous to finally be at this stage.

I have been a busy bee as well through all of this. There was parent/teacher conferences for Holly. I attended an interesting seminar regarding international tax issues that kept me out way past my bedtime during the work week. While the girls were at their all-day rehearsal, I was helping sew costumes, attaching buttons, altering straps, and the like. In addition, I have been helping with the set creation for this year’s ballet. (I can now paint an abstract brick with shadowing in case anyone needs that skill set.) We usually meet while the girls have dance class which means my times in the evenings are even more limited. I have also taken on the role of babysitter whenever one of the team choreographers is needed backstage or has to go direct her dances and needs someone to watch her five-month-old. That is what I did all day last Sunday, and I will admit that while it was fun, I had forgotten how exhausting it is to take care of an infant!

Surprisingly, Jim is the one who has had the most free time during the past two weeks. He has not had to travel and has been taking some of his comp time earned for all that travel in January to leave work early. I am envious but, at the same time, I do love helping at the studio and laughing with my friends while we paint or sew or babysit. All he is doing is watch TV and run a lot.

I had the most unusual comment left for me the other day. It was left on an old review from Stephen King’s IT. Since it was left anonymously, it got hung up in spam. After thinking about it for a day or so, I opted to delete it but I did want to share what this person wrote. Here is the comment in its entirety:

“I read IT when first published, and am currently listening to Steven Weber’s masterful audio book rendering.”

“To the author of this review, I would suggest Stephen King’s ON WRITING. A down to earth look at grammar, content, and writing without too many adverbs.”

I honestly do not know what to make of that last sentence. I am interpreting it to me that the anonymous author of this comment is critiquing my use of adverbs. The obliqueness of his critique makes me laugh and cringe because here’s the thing. I know I use too many adverbs. I like adverbs. I like the additional emphasis they place on verbs. So what? I am not a writer by profession, nor do I have plans to be one. The last time I checked, this little old website is just a hobby, so why do I need to read a book about a “down to earth look at grammar, content, and writing without too many adverbs?” Who are these people who feel the need to critique and criticize some stranger on the Internet? Seriously, back off, people. There are so many worse things happening in the world that require attention rather than your desire to improve the grammatical content of the Internet, one website at a time. Am I overreacting here? How would you interpret the comment?

Since I did not post last week – thanks to being in a theater for eight hours – there are a lot of posts you might have missed. There are my What Are You Reading? from week one and week two. There are my Fabulous Friday posts from week one and week two. There are also my What’s For Dinner? posts from week one and week two. Since it is the end of the month, I shared another list of My Favorite Things. As for reviews, there were reviews for The Blue Hour, The Widow, All the Winters After, Flight of Dreams, and Hidden Bodies.

As for this week, Holly and I will be heading out to the first competition weekend early Friday morning. The first dance for the team starts at 1 PM. This weekend will be filled with twenty different team dances as well as two mornings of classes held by the judges. It is one of the most intense weekends of the entire season. As you can imagine, I won’t have time to post anything. I will try to take pictures throughout the weekend and post them onto IG or Snapchat. If not, you will hear all about how the team does in two weeks. Until then, have a great day and a wonderful two weeks!