July flew by

July was a funny month. I did a lot of stuff... but I couldn't really tell you what I did. Anyone who does a play can tell you that after the show ends, you spend a LOT of time catching up with people and activities you neglected in favor of rehearsing and performing. The first couple of weeks after the show ends tend to crazy busy and exhausting and fun!

Meanwhile I am still waiting for my ankle to fully heal. In some ways, it gets better every day... I also seem to find new ways that I have to stretch/strengthen every day. Stairs are still a challenge (especially going UP stairs). I think I'm going to try wearing short heels this week. No pain = no gain, right? At least I'm getting better!

Now I'm just rambling. Sorry.

The upshot is, I went to a LOT of movies this month. Sadly for you, I also didn't take very many photos (maybe you aren't sad; maybe these monthly recaps are not your favorite of my posts). Here are a few I took, or were taken for me, illustrating what went down in July:

Celebrated my grandma's birthday (and Independence Day) with a family barbecue:

Pretty (awesome) people

Proud to be Americans!

Opened and closed Robin Hood:

Robin (center) and the Merry Men
(I am crouching on the floor on the right)

Alan A-Dale and his singing band narrate a montage acted out by puppets

Maid Marian (on the right) and her ladies-in-waiting

Chaos ensues at the Tournament

Saw Back to the Future during a special screening:

The movie was even better than I remembered!
I got really caught up in George and Lorraine's storyline this time. George spent the whole movie in disbelief that Lorraine could like him; anytime Marty tried to get them together, and Lorraine ignored him, George just slunk away... he did that a lot actually ("I've never been good at confrontation" "I can't handle that kind of rejection"). He lays out Biff to save her, but when the second guy steals her at the dance, it looks like that first time was a fluke. For all we know, the second guy has no idea what happened with Biff -- he thinks George is the same slacker he's always been. Then George makes the choice not to be a victim, he's not going to let someone decide "his destiny." Meanwhile... Lorraine is kind of hot-to-trot for any sad-sack that comes along. In the first past, she falls for George because her dad hits him with the car, then ends up miserably married to someone she doesn't even like. In the rewritten past, she falls in love because she sees George will fight for her -- he isn't a wimp. The kiss is symbolic that not only will they be OK in the future, they'll be OK because THEY made it happen in spite of all of the odds. Lorraine would respect him (and hopefully not be an alcoholic), and George would respect himself and realize "when you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."

Free 8oz. Slurpee for 7-11 (July 11):

My dad had a birthday, and we kids gave him a tetherball setup:

The G-child thought he'd try using a bat...
it did not make the game easier ;)

That's it!

Oh, wait, I finally opened this; I had been saving it since December.

Christmas in July!
It was delicious :-D

August can only be more exciting than July was. For one thing, I am MUCH more mobile. For another, due to a happy coincidence, August is the month of "Shakespeare Saturdays", meaning that I have something Shakespeare-related going on each weekend! May not sound cool to you, but it is to me!

Life is good :-D