Hooray for SPRING from the Shooks 

S - Samuel  is currently doing better.  He is more alert, Less depressed.  Fewer (to none) voices.  Visits friends, Plays in his band. Occasionally talks to us:)

P - pictures of spring in the neighborhood.

R - Recital will be happening at church on April 26.  The three organists and the organ installer will be playing the new organ at church.  I'm not sure how it happened that I avoided recitals in my youth and have one now!:(

I - Interesting is what Erik's classes have been this semester.  He has an ecology, microbiology and an art class where he made a mold of his face.  Hopefully he will post a picture when it is his turn. 

N - Nami classes.  National alliance for Mental Illness.  Tim and I are taking a 12 week class for family members of someone with mental illness.  The class has been great.  We have learned about lots of the different mental illnesses, about the brain, and about the emotions we as family members go through, Next week is on medications.  One of the later ones will have two people come and talk that are successfully living their lives with their mental illness.  There is also a group that meets twice a month where you can go and hear people's stories and get ideas and hear how others have handled problems.  One week a month, a resident med student from KU comes and people can ask questions about medications.  There are several of us who started about the same time and we feel like we are good friends when we see each other now and we can speak without crying so feel like we have come a long way!  Hannah went with us last week since she was home visiting for spring break.

G is for Good, better. best which is what we wish for everyone's spring and Easter.

Some notes on being late...

Well, I let the time slip away on a reminder email and here I am posting nearly two weeks late.  But beyond the regular definition of late which would apply here (after the usual or proper time, or after delay), I'm going to use this post as an opportunity to jump off into another definition of late (continued until after the usual time or hour; protracted). 

Most of you know that my hours tend to be off of the regular 9 am to 5 pm work day.  In fact, it is a rare day that I get done before 9:30 pm when I am in production.  And right around the time I was to post on the blog, I started diving in head first to the next production I am helming at the Hutchinson Theatre Guild I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.  This is a great musical comedy revue that has been super popular around the music theatre circuit for sometime, particularly by regional and smaller professional theatres.  I knew the musical because I saw it at the Manhattan Arts Center in Manhattan (in fact I was asked to do the lights but promptly turned it down due to the horrible condition of their lighting system).  This is a fun show with some great tunes in it.  And it is all about dating, relationships and marriage. 

As with relationships, dating and marriage, there has been a lot of drama with this show.  I often like to say "Save the Drama for your Mama" when working in the theatre because, honestly, there is really no place for all of the wild and crazy stuff that happens when people bring their personal drama into the theatre.  Unfortunately, people have not been as good about making sure this doesn't happen.  Usually, I have this problem in the cast.  In this particular instance, it has been from my music director (who I have subsequently let go) and my stage manager (who confessed two nights ago that he is an alcoholic).  It has made for some very trying circumstances.  This is complicated by the fact that I have some people with very complex schedules so I don't have a lot of tolerance for crazy in my rehearsals.

But, I would be telling you a lie if I were to say that I'm not loving every second of rehearsals.  The cast (especially my women) are crazy talented which is making the show so much fun.  The dates for ILYYPNC are April 23 to 26 and April 30 to May 3.  Performances are Thursday - Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm. I would make sure to get tickets in advance on this one.  You can do so now online at hutchtheatre.com or at Apron Strings beginning April 2nd. 

Outside of the theatre, I continue to enjoy getting together with Grandma and Grandpa about every week (sometimes twice if I can swing it) and hanging out with other family members in town.  Grandpa and I went to the NJCAA tournament games on Tuesday afternoon and Grandma and I had our hands full yesterday babysitting Kinley and Olivia.  I don't get quite as much time as I would like during productions with Mom and Dad.  But Mom and I should have a day next week during her Spring Break when we can do something fun.  And Dad and I are going to the NJCAA tournament games on Saturday night.

So all in all, things continue to progress and live moves forward.  Much love to all.  And enjoy spring as it arrives over the next couple of weeks.

Chicago Shooks' Update

There is much to come in the near future for the Chicago Shooks but little that has changed in the recent past.  The biggest news that has past might be that Andrew has moved to day shifts two times a week.  Those shifts run from 6:30 in the morning to just after routing finishes at 4 pm (he works 4 10-hour shifts a week).  That has allowed us to spend more time together in the evenings which is a plus.  Andrew's evening shifts plus Katie's regular shifts meant we were seeing each other for a few minutes each day for several day stretches.  He still has at least one evening shift, usually a weekend day, a week, but the improvement is a welcome change!

As far as travels, we have gone on two quick trips since visiting everyone in Kansas at Christmas.  We had a Cornell friend who was married in January.  At first a winter wedding seemed like a questionable proposition, until we were informed it was a January wedding in San Diego!  Then it became a can't miss event!  We traveled with two close friends who also live in Chicago and made a long weekend out of it.  Then in February, we traveled to North Carolina to visit Katie's grandparents in Winston-Salem.  We even made a trip one day to Raleigh for lunch with Andrew's friend Ian and his wife Elizabeth.  They are moving to Twentynine Palms, California where Ian will remain in the Marines as a trainer.  On top of that, they're expecting their first baby in June!  Katie's grandparents are have settled into a new single-family house on the campus of a retirement facility and are awaiting the sale of their house.

Back in Chicago, we survived winter's biggest punch at the beginning of February when a blizzard dropped over 1 1/2 feet of snow.  It has warmed recently and topped 70 yesterday but now we return to lower 40s/upper 30s for a while.

We're looking forward at an exciting spring.  First on our calendar is a trip to the Dominican Republic as chaperones for our youth group at Church.  We will be spending a week in Gaspar Hernandez and surrounding villages helping to construct a community center, work with children, and hopefully spend some time on a beach.  It's an annual trip that the church's high school youth group takes so some of the high schoolers go multiple times.  We're excited to have been asked to join as chaperones and it will be great to see the impact on the community up close even though we hear about it each year.

Additionally, our lease is up at our current townhouse at the end of July and we're ready to stop moving every year or two.  Therefore, we're looking to buy a house in the next few months and have started working with an agent on that process.  We're focusing on inner ring suburbs that are close to Katie's family but also close to the city.  Obviously this is a new experience for each of us but we're excited about the process!

That just about brings everyone up to date on our lives.  Hope everything is going well for everyone near and far!

A couple recent pictures:

The Blizzard!

January trip to Southern California

Dinner in Winston-Salem

Austin Articulations

Hello from Austin!

Work is keeping us busy as usual. James has entered his busiest season (post admission decision release) and will be working extra hours through spring break as he leads his team in two big events and spring break (aka prime time to visit a college campus), all while two positions are unfilled in the office. Hannah is prepping for Orchestra UIL Concert and Sight-reading Contest. Then on to solo and ensemble and spring concert repertoire.

The Murchison Philharmonic Orchestra at Pre-UIL. We performed at the newly completed
Austin ISD Performing Arts Center, finished in January 2015

For New Years we hosted James' best man, Josh, visiting from China. He played the UT Carillon when he was a student, so he made arrangements to play again while he was here and invited us to each be guest baseline performers! Very cool experience! As we walked up to the top of the UT tower, it almost seemed like we were in the movie Hugo :).

Sitting on the bench of the UT Carillon; at the top of the UT Tower,
right underneath the bells

Duncan napping on top of James' tuba :-)

And of course, our kitties our keeping us entertained. James' tuba case has become Duncan's new favorite napping spot. Rimsky seems perfectly happy ruling over his kingdom from the back of the couch.

When there is time to sit and open a book, James is reading Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and Hannah is reading Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card.

We wish you all warmth and health at the close of this winter season!

Many Blessings,

James and Hannah