Nutcracker, Mice, and Damask

Yes you read the title correctly. Those three lovely things have kept this little Miss Penny Wenny extremely busy this past week, hence no posts. Believe me, there has been plenty to blog about but no time. This one will be short and sweet...

1) Nutcracker. The studio where I teach is putting on a production of The Nutcracker this weekend. We have been preparing for this for several months and I am going to be sooo excited when it is over. It has been a lot of work. I choreographed the Russian and Arabian dances, as well as 3 jazz/lyrical numbers for the "pre-show". I am not one of those on the spot choreographers who can come up with brilliant improv work. I take my sweet time for the "inspiration" to come. Needless to say, I was a bit stressed choreographing 5 numbers at once. We had our first dress rehearsal on Saturday, and suddenly all of that hard work paid off. My students did so great! I can't wait to see the full thing this Sat. If you live near SLC and would like to come, please email me for details.

2) MICE! Ugh. I get chills just writing the word, let alone having one climb out of my toaster. Yes, that's right. To make a long and very disgusting story short, we have had several furry little friends join us in our abode over the past few weeks, and I have been continually catching them with traps at night but still freaking out any time I saw them scurry across the floor. I lost it when I heard noise coming from my toaster and after slowly approaching it (hoping that what I thought would be there wouldn't really be there) two little beady eyes peeped out at me and we both freaked out. The mouse ran out across my counter tops and jumped onto the floor behind the fridge. I caught him with a trap that night. His friend who made the same cameo the next night however (in the toaster again) has not been caught.

I called our builder over tonight and we discovered a very large (a sq. foot maybe?) hole underneath our stairs in the garage exposing our basement. I am sure that's how the nasty critters have been coming in to our free Bed and Breakfast. I was less than thrilled with our builder for missing such a small little error (ahem...) but was impressed that the foreman stayed to fix the hole. He was really embarrassed. The only good thing I have taken away from this experience is that my kitchen got a DEEEEP clean today- we're talking stove out, fridge out, all pots and pans out, pantry emptied, etc. etc, clean. Spent 3 hours finding traces of the mouse droppings. It was so revolting but so gratifying knowing that I was getting rid of it all. Please keep your fingers crossed for us that the patched up hole will prevent any more friends from coming in and that toaster boy #2 is toast tonight...

3) Damask. My gorgeous French Wingback Chair is being transformed as we speak. I know it spoils the surprise to show pics in the process, but I just have to! I actually wanted to start crying when the first piece of fabric was stapled in place because it just looks so perfect. It is exactly what I had envisioned. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I can do it (post Nutcracker).

Mice, anyone?