Well, Evie has had a week of disappointments, starting with her sheep debut being canceled. She was supposed to join the cast of vignette performers on Sunday at the Botanic Gardens, but it was raining and cold, so they moved it to Monday. Then on Monday we got a message that the grounds were too wet and that the event was being canceled. She was incredibly upset. "I worked so hard to get to be a sheep," she said, which was very true. She had taken the initiative to learn the sheep dance when the Lower Level Twos were on break during the Level Two whole group classes, and so she had impressed the teacher enough that she was made an understudy. Then she was going to be allowed to join the sheep in their vignette sequence because she was so reliable. I was so sad to see her disappointed about not getting to perform. I'm sure she'll be a sheep next year if she's allowed to move to Upper Level Two, but that doesn't take the sting out of it for this year, I suppose.
Then, we learned this week that Ryan and Aimee, Addie and Will are not going to be coming for Christmas. This is probably the right decision, given their work at the hospital and our state's abysmal COVID situation, but, as Evie said, she doesn't remember a Christmas where Addie and Will weren't here. She was upset about this for hours, and then here and there on other days this week. She said, "But it's a tradition!" I told her it would make next Christmas all the sweeter, when they get to come, but I feel for her because Christmas takes forever to come around when you're a kid.
I have to share a language funny: Evie plays a game called Wolf Quest where you go around as a wolf trying to get... Well honestly, I don't know the point of the game. But part of the mechanism is that you have to take down elk, and Evie said to me the other day, "Mama, you know how some people when they are surprised say, 'Holy cow!'? Well, when I play Wolf Quest, I always say, 'Holy cow elk!', cause, you know, female elk are called cow elk."
Friday was her tap performance. I goofed and thought she was supposed to be there only at her show time at 5:15, but she was supposed to be there at the usual 4:30 time to rehearse. But even without getting a run through, I think she did pretty well.
The update on Siouxsie is that her xrays are looking much better, though still some scarring that she may have the rest of her life. Her CBC showed her white blood cell count higher than it was last week, so she has to go back on Monday for what will hopefully be her last test. Evie said one morning while she was petting Sioux, "Me and Siouxsie have a really strong relationship, so it would have been really sad if we lost her." I'm so glad she pulled through.
We got some, but not all, of Evie's Christmas pictures back this week. She is so darling.
Evie, your tap skills are great! Even without a rehearsal you had the routine down pat. 2020 is a year of disappointments, isn't it? I am sorry about the break in the traditions of Christmas, especially when I think about no grandchildren sleeping upstairs at my house in the next few days. I always look forward to tucking you all in or reading to you or now it's more often that one of you read to the others. I didn't even set up the Magic Wand for the tree, the penguin race, the train, or the cloth nativity scene because they would remind me that all of you were not going to be here. This year, we will be grateful for Siouxsie getting well and that we can celebrate together on Zoom at least. BUT next year, we will celebrate RIGHT!
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