- by Joanie!
Last week I performed with Peach State Opera in the Atlanta Metro area in their production of Donizetti’s Elixir of Love. It was a great performance, and a fun show and company to work with. We missed a post because between performing, teaching, and traveling, there simply wasn’t enough time. Hey, I’m not going to stay up late to finish posts unless readers start paying me (hint, hint…notice our shiny new Paypal donation button…).
While rehearsing for and performing the gig, I stayed in Kennesaw, GA, with my aunt and uncle and their three children. First, let me say, it was incredible of them to offer their home to me while I was working there—they have school and work and football and soccer and all sorts of things going on in their lives, and they opened their home to me like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Of course, I did put dishes away while I was there, though not always in the correct place.
My uncle is the youngest of my dad’s brothers, and his job took him further away from the family than any other aunt and uncle. We didn’t get to spend as much time with them growing up, and their three awesome kids haven’t had nearly as much time with cousins as I did when I was a kid.
I’m happy that I’m close enough to get to know my cousins, with all their quirks, like making fun of the oldest, Taylor for using short hand grammar on Facebook, and seeing a normally “tough” girl squeal when my husband picks her up and throws her around like a rag doll. She’s sporty and thoughtful, and has more potential than she knows.
My cousin David finished all his homework early just so that he could watch a football game with my husband, and spent a good chunk of time Saturday night losing in Monopoly to Michael. He’s got a grin that means trouble, and took great pains (despite a recent injury that requires him to wear a boot and complain about ice packs) to make sure that this singing snowman that reminds you to shut the refrigerator door every time you open it was ON AND SINGING every morning that Michael and I were in town.
Then there’s my cousin Kendall, who is definitely a Brittingham. By that, I mean that she talks constantly. She’s lived her whole life in the south, and has picked up that sweet-but-sneaky way of getting you to answer a question with the answer she wants: asking over and over again. In the car on the way to church, she asked me about six times if I’d be coming back to perform again, and to visit her—it wasn’t until I said, “yes, definitely!” that she was satisfied.
My aunt Cynthia handles all of this, including out of town guests, with an organized calendar, a ton of spread sheets, a minivan, and the best sausage gravy EVER.
My Krazy Kousins will be coming to visit me in February, which means they will be here for Mardi Gras, and I’m sure that will yield hilarious misadventures that will be more blog fodder, mwahahaha.
In the meantime, it’s good to have had a weekend with the family—and all the crazy that comes with it!