They Made Me Stop

Week one - done!
We've spent the week working on the music for the show. "Seussical" is close to an operetta in the amount of singing, so we (Janelle and I) decided to dedicate the first month of rehearsals just to learning the songs. Unfortunately, this makes things a little boring for the kids (one hour of the same task!). I think it'll improve as they learn more of the music and find the fun in it.
Today (Friday) was a student non-attendance day, which I look forward to. It's amazing how much I can accomplish in a virtually empty school. To my dismay, though, I found out that the custodians would be locking up the school four hours earlier than I had planned. There goes my plans to finish the rehearsal calendar and costume designs in time to hand out on Tuesday!

I called my parents as I drove away from school at 2:00, having been escorted from my classroom to the door by the janitors in their efforts to get rid of me. As I complained about my principal's lack of consideration for teachers who need days like today to get things done, my dad pointed out that I was complaining about getting off work early.
So I made the best of it. I spent an hour browsing at Borders, then went to a matinee of "A Very Long Engagement".
:)

(Quick review of "A Very Long Engagement": I do like Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Audrey Tautou's film-making, but Amelie is better. This was too much of a war movie for my taste. There are some lovely shots, though. It was particularly fun to play the "Hey, I've been there!" game. For example, see the photos attached below....)