Showing posts with label things I learned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label things I learned. Show all posts

Bebeh 

Monday, December 20, 2010 - Posted by Amanda Bast
On Thursday I spent the whole day running errands with my mother. After I narrowly escaped being married off to a radio DJ from Owen Sound, lugged chicken and vegetables and talked with Mennonites with unibrows in the market, we ended up at the grocery store. Somewhere between a sweet chat with a senior and me bothering my mother to buy candy, Christmas became real. More so than ever before.

I received a text from my dear friend Annie, announcing the birth of her baby, Sylvan William. Her husband Luke then texted a picture of their sweet little boy (well, 8lbs 11oz...not that little!). Then bam.

The reality of Christmas came bowling down the cleaning product aisle and hit me like a ton of bricks.

At first my brain and heart were so overwhelmed, my thought process went something like this: Mary...pregnant...baby...Jesus...Christmas...Jesus...baby....Saviour. Excuse me, WHAT? Then my head was flooded with questions.

How long was Mary in labour for? Did her water break on the donkey? Did the donkey get wet? How close together were her contractions? Was she squeezing Joseph's hand the whole time? Was he woozy just thinking about it? Or did he handle that birth like a champ? Was Jesus breech? What would happen if babies were breech back then? Did he come out with a cone head? Or was he like my brother, with veins sticking out of his head thus making it look square? Did Joseph catch Jesus, or did he kind of just plop out onto some straw and cloth? What did they use to get all the goo off of Jesus? Did Mary cry? Did Joseph cry?  Did Jesus scream bloody murder when he came out? How did they cut the cord? Did he feed properly right away? Did he have messed up sleep patterns? When he was hungry did he cry? Did he ever cry? Or was he just a quiet perfect little baby with perfect sleep patterns? How old was he when he started to crawl? What about walk? What was his first word? Did he ever say no? Did he go through the terrible twos? Did he cry when he fell down? Did he know he was going to save the world? Isn't there a cheesy song about this?

These questions and more keep running through my brain. I think it has esploded (yes Lucy, esploded) several times over. I want to know the answers to these questions and it sometimes drives me batty that I won't figure it all out. At the same time I know that I'm not supposed to figure it all out (right away, at least). The beauty of Jesus and what he has done for us is that we won't ever truly "get" it. There is always something to be learned and big things to realize. And for that, I am very excited.

Merry Christmas!

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What Community Theatre Taught Me 

Monday, November 29, 2010 - Posted by Amanda Bast
From November 18th-20th I was in a play called "Altar Egos: The "I Do's" and "Don'ts" of an American Wedding. Besides the grammatically correct yet still awkward subtitle, the play was quite good. I played Colleen McMasters, a bride-to-be in her early 20s. Colleen is moody, bossy, spoiled and most definitely wears the pants in the relationship. She's nearly the opposite of the kind of bride I would want to be. This means it was an exceptionally fun character to play. I have never been on stage in this sort of capacity at all. Yes, we've done a bunch of improv shows but this was different.

This...this my friends, was community theatre. Not just any community theatre, this was Wellesley community theatre. You can read all about Wellesley here. The article is not very big but it mentioned Apple Butter, cheese and Noah Martin Summer Sausage, so all the bases were pretty much covered.

The first time I climbed the stairs in the historic library building, I never expected that Theatre Wellesley would turn into a blog-worthy event. But my goodness, did it ever. Here is a list of things that community theatre has taught me (with pictures!):

* Even though it may not be a high caliber show, it is still loads of work. I may not be a professional, but I still had to memorize a whack of lines.
* People will come to see your show based solely on a well written article in a small newspaper.
* Teenagers have an unbelievable amount of energy.

my co-lead and his adoring fans

* Teenagers consider 23 old. I'm no longer hip or with it.

See, totally cool!

* Old historical library buildings make me sneeze.
* You can find some really weird crap in old historical library buildings.

He was the understudy for my fiance

* Stage families are never believable.

I get my size from my Papa

* At first stage kisses are the most awkward thing on the planet. Then somehow they aren't significant.

This was the G-rated picture of this moment

* Yelling from my diaphragm does not wreck my voice and results in impressive decibel levels from such a little person.

I screamed in the poor boy's ear a lot

* Channeling my "inner Colleen" helps with substitute teaching in a rowdy class.

I don't think I ever smiled in this scene. In any scene.

* Things that you as a cast laugh about may not make an audience laugh, and things you never laughed about in rehearsal may cause an audience to bust a gut.

Her company will give you a FULL INCH MORE BALL

* It is much easier to act in front of a large/easily entertained crowd.
* Celery and Popeye Sticks is the perfect pre-show snack combo.
* Accidental comedic moments can never be recreated for the next show.

Gun. Being inserted into his pants. Not in script.

* Stage makeup can make anyone look trashy.


* You can get very attached to people you see twice a week for 2 1/2 months.

The sign mentioned in my last post

 * I love meeting people I wouldn't normally get the chance to meet. When else do you get to hang out with a chaplain, farmers' kids, an artist, a priest and a mental health worker all in one afternoon?

Family on the couch!

* I need to be involved in theatre in some capacity in the future.
* All of the hard work was worth it. This was one of the best experiences, and I can't wait to do it again!

Thanks for all the fun! See you next year!

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Bean Day 

Friday, October 22, 2010 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Today I had the absolute pleasure of taking care of my one and only (until April!) super awesome, beautiful, hilarious baby niece, The Bean.

Our day started at around 7:00am. She ate some prunes (mistake!) and peaches, played, pooped, giggled and then had a nap at 9:00am. After sleeping for two hours, we took a trip to my new place of employment (!) to drop off some more documents. This new place of employment which shall not be named due to confidentiality and such is under renovations and therefore all elevators are not working. We had to go through two sets of sliding doors, around the corner, up two flights of stairs, through the cafeteria and down the hall to HR where we arrived out of breath but still looking oh so cute.

First thing I learned today: BABIES ARE HEAVY. Also, I need to start working out.

The secretary thought Bean was my child. I corrected her, but she told me that I look like a "good Mommy". So is this because my hair was a mess? Or was I wearing mom jeans? Or did I just look exhausted? DO I LOOK FRUMPY?

Second thing I learned today: Other people think this kid looks like me, too.

We went home, she ate lunch, pooped, harassed the dog, cried because I wouldn't let her harass the dog, then went to have a nap. I watched cooking shows.

Third thing I learned today: I could sit for hours and watch people cook. I get sucked in really quickly. The house could be on fire and I would still be glued to the TV anxious to see if that man's beef wellington turned out.

So remember how I said earlier that prunes were a mistake? Yep. Let's just say...she had been busy, and I had a rather big mess to clean up. I wasn't grossed out? I shrugged and thanked her for the present? Two summers plus a few months at daycare have desensitized me to the grossness (but not necessarily the smell. That is never ok). The biggest challenge was trying to figure out where to put her after she was partly cleaned while I filled the bathtub (yes, that bad). I set her on the bathroom floor where she clapped and babbled.

Fourth thing I learned today: Babies pee when they aren't wearing diapers. And they think it's especially funny to do so on the bathroom floor.

After unplanned bathtime, we went to the dollar store to pick up a candle for her birthday cake. The dollar store was busy.

Fifth thing I learned today: Old people don't think I look old enough to be responsible for a child. They will flat out do an elevator look, scoff and shake their heads. Seriously.

We arrived at Grammie's exhausted but still smiling. Bean and Sassie (the dog) played together (Bean would steal a toy, Sassie would drop the one in her mouth and take the one Bean had, then Bean would steal another...and you get the idea) while I laid on the kitchen floor.

Sixth thing I learned today: Momsie tells me that when you have a tiny baby, as it grows gradually, you get used to carrying it and it doesn't feel so heavy. "They don't come out weighing 20 pounds!"

After dinner, another huge leaky dump, another bath, more giggles, lots of cuddles, a story and a bottle, it was bedtime.

Seventh and biggest thing I learned today: I want a baby. Several, actually. Except I don't want them for a while yet and I would also like someone in my life to raise said babies with. Babies and children in general are more work than I can even comprehend, and right now I couldn't do it. I am nowhere near ready. Today, although brief and not representative in every way, gave me perspective and raised more questions. How do you juggle more than one? Where do you find time to do anything other than be a mom? Are all babies this cute? How can I ensure my baby is this cute? Why don't mothers have giant biceps? Why is no one immune to that SMELL? How oh HOW do single mothers cope? I don't know. I just don't. I don't think I am meant to figure out all these things now. Right now, it's my job to be a wonderful aunt and by golly, I take this job seriously.

To conclude, I will say the following: I love you Mom. I love you Heather. You are both amazing mothers. Also, can we stop feeding her prunes? Please?

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