Secondhand, Snoring, Sobbing

 This Fall has been the perfect blend of rainy days and sunny days. I love being able to stay cozy in my pj's at home while hanging out with my mom when it's rainy and stormy outside. Yet, the mornings when you wake up to hints of blue sky amidst the fog, foreshadowing a gloriously blue sky, sunny day ahead!

I love rainy days but also love waking up to Fall days like this.

Last weekend I was so thankful again for my wonderful aunt who comes out so I can have a break. A friend and I went down for a double musical day (which we have decided to make a more frequent tradition). And on that note, I have decided to amend my list of 35 by 35. I don't know if it's allowed, but I make the rules, so I think it's a great idea. Instead of going to an underwater hotel (maybe that will make the 40 by 40 list instead), my goal is to attend 100 different musicals (update: I'm at 83.. so for the next 17 new ones I see, I will post reviews. And then maybe I will list the 100...).

Rabbit trail over. Anyway, the two musicals we saw were Secondhand Lions and Xanadu.  Secondhand Lions is based on a movie that came out in 2003 that I absolutely loved. As the program for the musical said, either people claim it as a favourite or have never heard of it. It was full of bright colours, dramatic scenes, moments for laughter and a few tears and was just fun all around to watch (hoping it goes to broadway in new york!). 

The story is about a little boy who gets dropped off at his great uncles' farm in order to try and get all their money. The boy has been lied to a lot of his life and through hearing antics and stories of his uncles' lives, he comes to a place where he realizes he needs something to believe in and chooses to believe the stories and builds a really meaningful relationship with his uncles. It struck me as they were dancing around on stage that we all need something to believe in. In Proverbs 29:18a, it says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." As the old and wonderful hymn says, "Be thou my vision". God, who is love and is faithful and gracious beyond measure is where I need to place my full belief. The God who does not sleep or slumber is where my vision needs to be fixed. And I know that as a result of my belief and pursuit of God, transformation and growth will occur. Not sure if you follow my thought process from a musical to that, but those are my muddled thoughts. 

Xanadu at Village Theatre in Issaquah

 In the evening, we went to see Xanadu at the Village Theatre and it was great. Very different from the one we saw in the afternoon. Set in the 80's, it's about a bunch of Greek muses that try to inspire an artist (there may have even been some roller skating involved). In the musical (spoiler alert), the meaning of xanadu is true love and the ability to create and share art. The one muse is struck by the fact that humans die and yet they strive to create even though they are mortals. It struck me that creativity is such a beautiful thing because it speaks of life and looks beyond the present to an eternal life.

My niece truly does love me, but I absolutely love this picture and realize the only thing that would make it better is if we had matching hair... (and when I came back to this post a couple days later, I wondered why part of the title was 'Sobbing' and then I looked at this photo and remembered)

Secondhand Lions, world premiere at 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle!

So, there you have it. Two new musicals and a great weekend (and a very delayed blog post since I started this days ago...)