MuttCracker

Friday night we got to see the Nutcracker. Sharing the stage at the very beginning were three dogs. This is the first time for my daughter to see the Nutcracker and she was delighted. I will forever think of it as the Muttcracker from now on. Adopt a mutt from the shelter if you're thinking of getting a furry companion.

The music of course, is wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, marvelling at the pirouettes, the jumps and the beauty of the dance form, and remembering my own days taking dance classes during graduate school. Nope, it wasn't part of the biochemistry curriculum and I even had to have a talk with the head of the department to okay it, but it was great fun.

The last time I'd gone to see a ballet was nearly twelve years ago. My neighbor had an extra ticket because her husband was travelling out of town. My son was just a few months old and I was still nursing him every 2-3 hours. I thought I'd be fine. I'd pumped milk beforehand for the baby. I was excited to go out without a diaper bag. However, after intermission, the top of my dress began to strain to the point I feared the buttons would pop. And to my horror, I was leaking milk. My neighbor wanted to take me out to eat since I didn't get out much, but after seeing the state of my dress, we came home. I don't think I ever went to any ballet after that.

Until now ...

Methinks we'll have to do this again sometime.

Here's a video of our sweet mutt (thanks to my son).

The video gives me a taste of what I missed. My husband took the kids to the beach on Saturday so that I could finish up a work-for-hire project. And as my friend Marcia would completely understand, to reward myself for finishing, I'm going to spend some more time writing! And baking, cleaning house, and putting up more pictures on the wall. And let's not forget singing Christmas carols.

So tell me, what are you doing this last week right before Christmas?
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