Scrooge

I am so excited that the Christmas season is in full swing and that was apparent here in Birmingham last weekend.  As I have said in earlier posts, Ben was starring in Scrooge the musical as young Ebenezer.  The show opened last Thursday.  But of course, young Ebenezer had to catch all the crud that's been going around the week of the show.  After 3 days of taking Sudafed and Lord knows what else, he decided to go see a doctor Thursday morning, yes opening day.  The doctor thought it was walking pneumonia but thankfully it was only sinusitis.  He got a shot of antibiotics and steroids along with 4 prescriptions and the show went on!


Opening night was completely sold out and we later learned why.  A local Christian non-profit, AMBUCS, had purchased all the tickets.  AMBUCS is a group that helps families with children who are paralyzed from the waist down buy these motorized tricycle gadgets that help them move around.  The tickets were given to the parents of these amazing kids so they could enjoy a night out while a local church babysat the children.  The non-profit also invited some of its donors to share the experience.  From this one night, AMBUCS was able to raise enough money to purchase 70 of these little tricycles! Amazing stories like this one help me remember that the world is still full of generous, kind-hearted people.

They weren't the only ones to enjoy the show.  Ben's dad, oldest sister Natalie, aunt and uncle, Bob and Arenda, along with my parents, sister, Kinsley, and Nana all made the trip from Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi to see Ben perform.  Ben's dad got here earlier than everyone else so we took him to one of our favorite sandwich places, Diplomat Deli.  Their sandwiches are phenomenol and the best part is it is in the middle of a wine & high gravity beer store.  After lunch, we took him by our apartment to see our massive tree.  He couldn't believe that the 2 of us were able to cart it up 2 flights of stairs by ourselves, much less get it in the tree stand.  Even with its' massiveness, he loved it and took several pictures to share with others.  We then ran over to the Embassy Suites to greet Natalie.  The greeting didn't last too long because shortly after Natalie's arrival my sister was calling to let me know they were already at our apartment.  We rushed home to let them in.  Ben took a nap and Nana and I entertained Kinsley while Heather got all gussied up and mom and dad went to check into their hotel room.  My family are big Italian food lovers, and whats not to love? So I took them to a local place, Lovoy's in Homewood.  After dinner, we went back home so Kinsley could get settled in with her babysitters for the night, our dear friends Patrick and Megan.  They were so nice for keeping her so that we could enjoy the musical without a toddler.  Megan is a 1st grade teacher and babysits quite often so I knew Kinsley would be in great hands.  It didn't take long after their arrival to see that Kinsley had developed little gah-gah eyes for Patrick.  We left with little fuss from Kinsley and made our way to the show.  I was very excited since I had never seen Ben act.  Although I knew he was very talented, I was still so shocked and impressed by how well he did.  I am a little biased being the Mrs. but he did perfect at everything: the singing, danching, and acting, even with a stinkin' sinus infection!  He has a beautiful voice and it was wonderful hearing it amplified since I usually hear it when he's singing beside me at church.  I must say one of the best parts of the show was watching my Nana watch the show.  She got tickled at the littliest things, so much so at times that she would even snort a little.  Watching her and the rest of my family enjoy it so much made it that much more enjoyable for me.  After the show, I drove them through one of the beautiful old neighborhoods here.  Every house has a real tree that is full of lights in their front yard, along with all the other pizzazz of lights garrland, and wreaths. None of the cheesy stuff.  Sunday morning we took them to a late breakfast at a yummy little diner before they had to head back to Mississippi. 

Tonight we are having a mini Christmas party at Patrick and Megan's.  We are going to watch the best Christmas movie EVER and eat party foods. Can you believe there are some people who have never seen Christmas Vacation in its entirety?  I sure couldn't!  Their lives will be forever changed tonight.  We plan on having a few more mini-Christmas parties to enjoy our other favorite Christmas flicks before we all part ways for the holidays.  This weekend, I am heading home (Ben has his 2nd round of performances) to celebrate Miss Kinsley's 2nd birthday!  Can't believe that girl has been here for almost 2 years.  What a blessing she has been to our family! Friday night, I am getting together with my closest group of friends so we can do our annual ornament exchange.  We draw names in November to know whom we are buying for and then we each bring a yummy dish or 2.  There is also usually a bottle of wine or 2 invovled.  This year makes it really excited since Anna is expecting Lucy Kate in just 2 months!  She is the first one in our little group to procreate so it is extra exciting this year!  I should have some funny stories & pictures to share next week!