Belgian Beer Tour

A few weeks ago (yes I know I have been woefully neglecting my blog) Kyle went on a tour of Belgian breweries.

The tour was full but Kyle got up early on Saturday morning in case someone didn't show up and he could take their seat.  He managed to get a seat on the bus and thus went on a tour of three monasteries and their beer brewing facilities.  If he was writing this blog entry, he could tell you the names and locations of said breweries.

The most popular part of the tour seemed to be the opportunity to taste the beer brewed by the Belgian monks.  Go figure!

As you can see I sent Hat Stanley along for the tour.  For this outing he wore his jesters hat.

If you are a beer lover and come visit us, Kyle can take you to these breweries as they are not too far away.  I'd even let you take Hat Stanley and his jesters hat if you promise to bring him back.

Publicity Poster

Last week amongst many other activities we shot photos to create the publicity poster for Tartuffe.  At the time I didn't think much of it.  The photos were crammed into a short time slot when the guy playing Tartuffe, the photographer, the director and myself had concurrently open schedules.  The fact that we found 45 minutes was quite remarkable.

Within that short frame of time, we had to find a costume that fit me and the time period of the play (the one I'll wear in the play is being made), get into costume, find an OK background, light the setting, pose and shoot the photos.  During the photo shoot I didn't really focus on anything other that the fact that we needed to get the photos done.

Afterwards a number of other thoughts occurred to me.  The first was prideful/vain - I'm over 40 and my neck, shoulders and decolletage still look good.  I enjoyed this thought for a day or so and then I realized...

The photos were going to be on the publicity poster.  The publicity posters are going to be displayed everywhere in the community - public bathrooms, the post office, the library, the gym, chapel, cafeteria, etc.   This could get a bit odd, especially if this is the image they are using for the large roadside banners.

At Home with Allen

As I mentioned yesterday when Allen is feeling well he has many things that occupy his time.  He is also a typical teenager preferring connection with his peers over connection with his family, thus he spends a fair amount of his time at his computer on Skype and/or Facebook.

Conversations with Allen tend to be short and usually involve an exchange of information about schedules or homework.  Unless...

Unless Allen is on drugs.  When he broke his arm last spring I noticed that when Allen was flying high he was quite talkative.  He didn't make a whole lot of sense on morphine but he was quite talkative.

Steroids also make Allen talkative.  So while Allen was home from school I spent a good amount of time with him and heard his voice more than I ever do.  He told me all about his favorite youtube shows, about his plans for up-grading his computer, about car repair and many other topics that are of no interest to me.

I had to keep reminding myself that I should seize this opportunity to be with Allen.  I may not care at all about the plot line of "The Guild" but I do care about Allen.  I watched youtube videos he wanted to share with me.  I listened and listened and listened.

The steroids have now come to an end.  Allen is feeling better (hooray!) and is gradually returning to his lair.  But I now know what interests him and what topics of conversation will draw him out.

I also know that if he initiates extended conversations with me that I need to be checking out what substances are entering his body.