My Antisocial Way of Being Social

Now that things have started to calm down a bit, it's time to get back to blogging. Last weekend, my niece, Ashley, was married. It was a beautiful day, if somewhat cold (it happens in late November sometimes). The bride was beautiful, and the reception was definitely the nicest I've seen in a church building. Not that I've been to many receptions. But this one was nice.

One of my favorite parts of the wedding weekend was that sis-in-law Monica flew out from California to come to the wedding. I know the trip wasn't for me, but I really enjoyed seeing and visiting with her. Monica was like a life-line when we lived in California when the girls were little. She has the very special talent of making everyone feel comfortable and loved.

All right, back to the purpose of this blog--my antisocial way of being social. I never know how to act or what to say in big crowds, so I've taken to bringing something to do during parties and other big events. Sometimes I'm the lady with the yarn (usually at church). And sometimes I bring my trusty sketchbook. That way I'm busy, and I get to record these moments with the people I love in my own special way. It's not as accurate as a photograph, but it's personal. And, as a bonus, it gives me a built-in topic of conversation when people come and ask to see what I'm working on. So here it is, my record of Ashley and Ben's wedding reception:

The Littlest Pilgrim

Today was the kindergartener's Thanksgiving play. Linda was a Pilgrim. Her line: "There is cranberry sauce and big turkey stuffed with dressing." She said her part clearly and stood for a moment--posing to give me a chance to get a picture in. Unfortunately, the camera I was using was too slow to take many pics during the show, and there were too many parents and grandparents in front of me for a good view (what were they thinking?). But no worries, I got a few in, and she was just as cute a pilgrim immediately after the show as during.

Here is Linda singing and signing "God Bless America". All the kindergarteners did such a good job on that. I was most impressed.

Here's what she should have looked like while saying her line, though she (like almost all the others) forgot to bring up her prop. See, after can be better. Revisionist photography. Ha!

The play was interspersed with cute Thanksgiving songs among the short lines each child had.

First was God Bless America.

Then there was a song about fat turkeys, gobble, gobble, gobble (words following, since Linda's here to sing it to me now. It was very cute).

There was 10 little Pilgrims and 10 little Native Americans and 10 little children.

Gobble, gobble, gobble, Fat turkeys, fat turkeys.

Gobble, gobble, gobble, Fat turkeys are we.

We're not for Thanksgiving

We're just for the living

Gobble, gobble, gobble Fat turkeys are we.

After the main part of the play, each child stood up and said one thing they were thankful for. Almost everyone said they were thankful for their family, with a few "thankful for chocolates" tossed in there. Linda's friend Brilee said "I'm thankful for all the people who came to our play", which drew many "awww's" from the crowd. My little Linda stood up, smiled sweetly, and batted her eyes at me as she said "I'm thankful for my Mama!"

Yes! I love having a child who still loves me almost all the time! This picture is from the play. I very rudely stood up in front of everybody to get it. I wasn't going to miss this shot.




After the play, there was a craft to do. Here's a pic of my very hardworking little Pilgrim working on her Tree of Thanks. Each leaf had something she was thankful for written on it. Included are: home, church, sisters, grandparents, pets, friends. I'm sure she could have kept on going, but they ran out of leaves and time. No worries. There was still enough time for her to pose for a picture with her mama and her mostly complete, but not quite colored Tree of Thanks.
I am thankful for my sweet Linda.

The Importance of a Name

OK, so I decided about a month ago that I wanted to create a Blog. I know, I'm a big follower. Jump on the bandwagon. But I didn't do it. And why? Because I wanted to find the perfect name. The most obvious choice "The Wach Family" was already taken by my sister-in-law. But I have a great name for play on words--Wach, sounds like "wok" or "walk". So I considered several options: Wach This Way, Wach the Walk, Walk the Wach, even Wach the Wok (whatever that would mean...). Instead I settled on the first that came to mind and the first that I had discounted--Wach on the Wild Side.

I didn't want to give the wrong impression. This is the internet, after all. I am far from a wild one. But I do love the name. I came up with it (and a logo) over ten years ago when, newly married and a college student, I dreamed of the design studio I would start. That never happened, but I still liked the name. So here we are, ten years older and much tamer than even then, and I finally get to be "Wach on the Wild Side".

It does fit, though, since I often feel like I'm a zookeeper with all the crazy little monkeys in the house. That was before we added on the dog, a cat (or two--one is technically my mother's), and two bunnies. Here's my most recent pic of me and my monkeys--celebrating my 29th birthday last month.

Thus begins my life on the Wild Side.