See What Carole Mikita Liked

Come see what Carole Mikita liked Friday, Saturday or Monday night!
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=14506197

Video

Funny video- I know Lincoln from BYU.

Miracle

So this week, my production of The Miracle Worker opens on Thursday night. I always feel bad for the actors in the play because our auditorium holds 1313 people. You can have a 100 people there, but it only fills out the first 7 rows so it feels empty.

This year, we have a new ASL teacher and because The Miracle Worker is the true story of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan, she thought having her advanced students interpret the play for the deaf community would be cool.

So, this Friday night, they are going to interpret- and if the word going around is correct, we will have a lot of the deaf community at our show- which is awesome.

KSL TV is also coming out on Tuesday to film our dress rehearsal and interview kids. I have to say, our Helen and Annie are amazing- as is the rest of the cast. I love my lighting and set as well. So, if you're looking for something to do, and you want to cry a little (from happiness- because the ending of this play will get you every time), come on Thursday, Friday, Sat. or Monday night to Riverton High School at 7:00pm and see The Miracle Worker.

Roomba

Well, it took a couple of months, but now the girls no longer shriek when the Roomba gets turned on. For a while, the quickest way to a: get the girls to run screaming to their mother and b: pick everything off the floor really quick, was for me to make a grand entrance (preferably Saturday morning) and annouce that I was turning Roomba on in their rooms.

First Ellis would cry that Roomba would vacuum up her dolls. Millie would cry that everything she loved is under her bed and that's where Roomba likes to go.

We reached a turning point last Saturday when Roomba was cleaning Ellis's room and Ellis came up and said that she would like an apple to eat while she sat on her bed to watch Roomba clean her room. And she did- for 45 minutes. Millie was slightly traumatized when Roomba began beeping and announcing "Error, change brushes" really loudly in her room. It turns out it had sucked up her jelly ring- but it was ok and Millie wore it proudly.

So, in short, the Roomba is awesome. It goes all around and under the dining room table (like a dog!), under the beds, and doesn't fall down the stairs. It got stuck once downstairs under our entertainment center and once under Ellis's bed on her matresss lining- but it figures it out if it gets a rug, magazine or drapes and reverses and lets it go. Since Jackie likes detail cleaning things with toothpicks (not being sarcastic), she even loves cleaning out its brushes when it's done with it's cycle (about 25 minutes per room). It's the pet we will never have.

A Conundrum

So Millie's elementary school has a Chinese immersion program. If you sign your student up, from grades 1-6th they will be with the same students each year in a program that is 50/50 Chinese and English. By immersion, it means the every day of school, for 3.5 hours, they hear NOTHING but Mandarin Chinese (and this starts the first day of 1st grade)- the rest of the day is in English. The goal with the program is to have the students fluent by 6th and continue the program through middle school so that in 9th grade, they can take the Chinese AP exam. I guess studies have shown that if students learn a 2nd language before puberty, they make connections in the way they think that make learning a 3rd or 4th language very easy.

The problem is that, since Millie is in year-round school (and because the program is popular and students are only admitted by lottery), the Chinese immersion program is only available C Track. C Track is the "not so popular track" or, the "crap track" because of when they take their breaks. If Millie were to do it, she would be on it the next 6 years year. Ellis would also get priority to be in the program because they want siblings to learn to communicate with each other. Millie would only get 3 weeks off in July for summer break- and I teach at Hale Center Theatre for 2 of those weeks (and the rest of times she is off-track, they don't coincide with ANY of my breaks at the high school). She would be in school the entire month of June (which I get off) and all of August (she would get off right as I start back up with high school). Then if Ellis gets in, it means that for the next 8 years, no doing anything as a family over the summer, except for 1 week in July- but maybe that's ok. Is it worth it? Thoughts?

Also, Jackie and I are became addicted to Downton Abby on Masterpiece Theatre. We can't wait for the next season.