Counting On One's Hands

My four-year-old daughter, Kitty (names have been changed), made an amazing discovery last week.  The discovery came as she inspected her right hand.

"Dad, I only have five fingers!"

Holding up her right hand, she counted in order to verify, "one, two, three, four, five.  I only have five fingers!" 

She seemed concerned, panicked even, as if all of the work she needed to do could not possibly be done with only five fingers.  

Not satisfied, she counted again.  This time starting with her left hand, "one, two, three, four, five," moving back to the right hand she continued, "six, seven, eight, nine, twelve."

"Dad!  I have twelve fingers!"  This was even more concerning to her than when she only had five.  

She turned to six-year-old Mimi, "I have twelve fingers!"

"Count them again," Mimi calmly counseled.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.  Oh, okay."

Catastrophe averted.

Savior of the World

I have been blessed to be a part of the LDS Church's production of Savior of the World several times now. This year Buffy, Ike, and Mimi are also in the show. We perform three times per week at the LDS Conference Center Theater.

The first act portrays the Christmas story starting with Zacharias and Elizabeth and ending at the stable with a lovely manger scene.

The second act picks up at Jesus' tomb as the stone is rolled into place. The show was designed to combine Christmas and Easter.

This year I play Thomas--the apostle. His story is one that I relate to, it's also quite touching. You'll remember that Thomas was the only member of the twelve (with the notable exception of Judas) to miss out on the initial upper room experience where Jesus appeared to and ate with the apostles.

In this production, Thomas is distraught that he cannot be a witness, having missed his opportunity to see. Peter teaches him that seeing is not enough, and that some who saw Jesus were among those who condemned him to the cross. In spiritual matters what we feel, genuinely, makes us more of a witness than what we see. Eventually Thomas does see the Savior, but only after he has fastened himself to hope without making demands.

The following video was made a few days ago and features the other cast (the one that Buffy, Ike, Mimi, and I are not in). But, what these cast members say and feel certainly applies to us. If you'd like to see the show go to lds.org/events. Tickets may be gone, but stand-by tickets are available every night. Our cast performs Wednesday nights, Friday nights, and Saturday matinees until New Year's Eve.

Um...

This post is past due.  I like to post at least twice per month; at this rate, I might not meet my goal for November.  The problem is that I have nothing that I care to talk about.  Nothing at all.  So, I guess I am posting just to post right now.

So... uh...

...how's things?

Snowed the other day.   Not sure what that'll mean for getting the Christmas lights up.

...yup...

Have you noticed how I have three "followers" on this blog?  One of them is me.  That's kind of funny.  The other two are from the same family and are just being nice.

...I guess...heh...

Ike (age 8) taught me two "manly dance moves" yesterday.  The first was that thing that Russian dancers do, where they fold their arms and kick out.  The other involved swinging your left arm stiffly in front while jump-sliding backwards.  I had to admit that he was right--they were manly moves.

...so...you know...

VoiceMale did a performance at the state prison last week...

...I don't want to say it...

...we had a captive audience.

Actually, it was a great experience.  It really seemed to help lift the inmates' spirits.  I know they're all in there for a reason, but we met some good men and had a great time with them.

...mmm hmmm...

Looking forward to Thanksgiving.  I like being with my family--it's my family's year. 

...yep...

My friend from college is in Sister Act on Broadway and will perform on the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. 

...So that's cool.... 

...We called him Elvis (that's not his name).  He got me my first collegiate acting role.  A musical called The Hired Man.  I played 3 characters: Pennington, the Vicar, and the foreman.  The foreman  wore wool pants that chaffed the heck out of my knee pits. I can still feel it 17 years later.

...17 is one of those forgotten numbers, right between milestones 16 and 18.  Poor 17, she just wanted to dance. 

...This post just got a little weird.

So...yeah...

...bye.