Abigail got up early with me this morning to clear out the driveway so that she, her sisters, and Susan could get to church at 7:30 A.M. for choir rehearsals, Sunday school, and church. I stayed behind and finished the snowblowing and shoveling, which turned out to be a two-hour job. Fun. Then I did some school work, knowing that I'd have no time to finish it this afternoon or evening due to our jam-packed schedule of three main events:
First, we had an early-afternoon senior vocal recital to attend at the university. The soprano, Abby, has been my student; she sometimes goes with her sister's family to our church (they're members, but she isn't); and she knows our daughters from church and from interactions on campus (e.g., she played in the pit band for the university musical that our daughters were in two years ago). Abby was happy that we attended, and her sister told us that it meant a lot to Abby that we all came. Afterward we had to rush out to make our next appointment, meaning skipping the reception of punch and homemade cookies outside the recital hall. However, Abby's mom (who had helped to bake all the goodies) wouldn't let the girls leave empty-handed and sent them on their way with cups of punch and napkins full of brownies to eat in the vehicle.
Second, we had the monthly meeting of our Sons of Norway lodge to attend. The business meeting always ends with music provided by the lodge's Musician, who happens to be Suzanna. Today she and her sisters led the group in singing "På Låven Sitter Nissen" ["The Elf Sitting in the Barn"], a Christmas tune. She couldn't find any Thanksgiving-ish songs in Norwegian, but we have quite a collection of Scandinavian Christmas-y songs; so she decided to teach one to the group today and select another Christmas song for our December meeting. Then we moved to the dining area for a delicious Thanksgiving meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, corn, buns, crudités, and pumpkin pie. Afterward Suzanna had the winning bids on two troll pieces up for sale in a silent auction (following Abigail's troll purchase at the October meeting and Hillary's at the September meeting):
First, we had an early-afternoon senior vocal recital to attend at the university. The soprano, Abby, has been my student; she sometimes goes with her sister's family to our church (they're members, but she isn't); and she knows our daughters from church and from interactions on campus (e.g., she played in the pit band for the university musical that our daughters were in two years ago). Abby was happy that we attended, and her sister told us that it meant a lot to Abby that we all came. Afterward we had to rush out to make our next appointment, meaning skipping the reception of punch and homemade cookies outside the recital hall. However, Abby's mom (who had helped to bake all the goodies) wouldn't let the girls leave empty-handed and sent them on their way with cups of punch and napkins full of brownies to eat in the vehicle.
Second, we had the monthly meeting of our Sons of Norway lodge to attend. The business meeting always ends with music provided by the lodge's Musician, who happens to be Suzanna. Today she and her sisters led the group in singing "På Låven Sitter Nissen" ["The Elf Sitting in the Barn"], a Christmas tune. She couldn't find any Thanksgiving-ish songs in Norwegian, but we have quite a collection of Scandinavian Christmas-y songs; so she decided to teach one to the group today and select another Christmas song for our December meeting. Then we moved to the dining area for a delicious Thanksgiving meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, corn, buns, crudités, and pumpkin pie. Afterward Suzanna had the winning bids on two troll pieces up for sale in a silent auction (following Abigail's troll purchase at the October meeting and Hillary's at the September meeting):
a Fosse Trolls wall hanging and a Nyform Trolls sculpture
Third, we attended the public high school's theatre production of East of the Sun, a play version of the Norse tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." Susan had already been familiar with the story when she saw an illustrated children's book version in Missoula, MT this past summer during the Sons of Norway convention. She bought the book, and the girls read it, and they all knew more or less what to expect from tonight's play. I, however, did not and thoroughly enjoyed having the unfamiliar plot unfold for me. The director did some clever things with set pieces to establish the exotic locales within the tale and with costumes and makeup for the exotic characters (e.g., an ice witch/queen, hags, people portraying The North Wind). And the actors were pretty good, making for a humorous and overall entertaining evening.
P.S. Susan even made it into the program for the play! The director had asked her to teach the cast some Norwegian folk dances for a scene in which the characters dance together in their home. Having learned some folk dances at Norwegian camp the past couple summers, she was able to do that for him and them!
P.P.S. Here's Billie Holiday singing a song called "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" (related to the Norwegian tale in title only but fun nevertheless):
Another quiet day at the Moberg house huh...do you have to set your alarms just to make sure you don't forget the next meeting/event?
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