Showtime!

Today my chorus, Pride of Portland, is performing twice -- once at a matinee and then again at night. It's part of the men's international convention, which is here in Portland over the July 4th holiday. Rachel got the chance to see me get ready this morning; our call for a 2 p.m. performance was at 11 a.m. and I started getting ready around 9:30 (the venue, an auditorium at the University of Portland, is about 20 minutes away). Since we're under stage lights, our makeup is quite heavy -- Drew says it looks like I've used a trowel to apply it, and he's right. When I finished, Rachel and Drew were getting ready to head to a haircut appointment for her. She looked at my face and said, "Wow, you're wearing A LOT of makeup!" I gave her a little bit of colored lip gloss to make her feel like she's a part of the team, and then they left.

The performance went really well, and the best part was having Drew and Rachel in the audience. When we finished we walked up into the seating area and Rachel immediately ran over to me and sat in my lap. She had gotten her face painted at the Tigard farmer's market and the face painter did a really good job; Rachel's forehead had a unicorn on it, with hearts and flowers curling near the sides of her eyes, which were covered in purple eyeshadow. Everyone remarked how cute she looked and how big she was getting, and one of the chorus members, Annie Hardt, reminded Rachel that she had seen her just after she was born (it's true, Annie came to visit me in the hospital a few hours after my C-section).

Rachel, by the way, LOVED our performance. "Maybe Ryan will let me sing on the stage with you," she said wistfully, and tried to find him when it was over. "You're the goodest chorus in the whole WORLD!" she said, and everyone was delighted to hear the compliment. Now I'm home for a short break and then I'll head back to UP at 7:30. We're going to sing at around 8:15 or so, the show should be over by 9 and then I'll come home and probably clean the house for two hours before collapsing into bed. What a weekend!!

Today's Rachelisms:

"In Rachel Land, there are no school days," Rachel announced while I was making the bed this morning (we've developed a game where she'll throw me the stuffed animals we keep on the bed and I'll voice the animals, which Rachel finds hilarious). She was lying on the pillows while I changed the sheets and bed covers (it finally appears to be getting warm here!).

"None?" I asked. "What do you do all day?"

"We go shopping," Rachel said. "And everyone buys things for ME."

Oh, wouldn't that be anyone's fondest wish?

***

"Daddy, you can't mess things up," Rachel told Drew at breakfast. "No knocking down castles that Mommy and I build."

Literally or figuratively? I didn't ask.