Chilly Willy

It has been a very chilly week! There is even talk of... gasp... snow. I will believe it when I see... definitely not counting any snowflakes before they crystallize. Snow here is such a novelty - we had a beautiful display of it last year, the very first of March. The several years before that we had no snow at all. The problem we often see here is ice... and boy does ice stop everyone cold (hehe) in his or her proverbial tracks 'round here. Snow, and even ice, sure can be a pretty thing to see in the early morning darkness - that's what excites me the most about the prospect of wintry weather. I look forward to the possibility of seeing that again.

We finally finished Rebecca's application for the summer dance program she wants to attend. She's been hesitant about it some... worried she won't be accepted, worried about the audition, worried about being away from home for five weeks this summer. I think it will be good for her and I think she's excited about opportunity to study dance - specifically ballet/pointe/modern - in an atmosphere that's all about the art, and where students are as serious as she is about learning more. Of course, like anything unknown, she's a bit scared. I've not forced her to do this but I have lovingly encouraged her to... I think she worried about "leaving" me for weeks at a time. LOL - I've assured her I will be just fine.

I hope this will be a positive experience for her. Gee, I worry she'll do all this and then not get accepted. I'm nervous for her but trying not to sound it. Her dance teacher, Allyson, is so supportive of her and will be attending the audition with us. It will be best. I know she'll be anxious and I, alone with her, would make it worse. Rebecca has such a wonderful rapport with her dance teacher. It's been a very sweet relationship from the very beginning. Rebecca didn't start dance until she was eight. That's old, really, in the world of girls and dance. She was eight, as I said, and I started her in ballet, tap, and jazz. A few weeks into the dance

year Allyson and her other teacher, Ashley, asked me how long she'd been taking dance. I told them she'd never taken dance before and they looked at each other, with surprise and a tad bit of shock, and told me they couldn't believe that. They said she was so good they thought she' been taking since she was tiny. She has natural talent... I've been fostering it and now it's time to "kick it up a notch" so to speak. If this is what she'd like to do in college, for a career, it's in her best interest to participate in this prestigious program. Prayers and crossed fingers would be appreciated.

The above picture is Rebecca with Allyson - and to the left is the picture we settled on to go with the application. She doesn't look too old in it, not overly made up... just her sweet smiley self!