As you can tell, I've got some news- warning: this'll be a looong blog!

First of all, I've just returned from Disney World- hurrah! It was mucho fun- I love MGM to pieces (though, in hindsight, it was way more fun to go to MGM with my friends- my school music  club went three years ago. I love my family, but they just don't appreciate good movies. There was this awesome ride-driver exchange skit thing, and I really enjoyed it, but all I heard on the way out was them grumbling about how stupid it was.)  One of the things I liked most was the weather. I'm back in Pennsylvania right now. and it is collllld. Though one day there was about 40 degess, the rest were really nice. We had this cool meal plan where you could get pretty much whatever you wanted whereever you wanted, so we tried out a lot of the foreign restaurants in Epcot. We went to a pub in England, where I had the BEST soup I have ever tasted- potato and leek YUMMMM and a Chinese restuarant (not a good choice... their soup smalled funny and the service was... weird. But they have good watercress), an Italian place (Italian- always a good choice. And their sorbet is fantastic, though very sweet), and a French place on our last night (I am in love with creme brulee)! It was pretty cool, and it was nice to be stress-free for a few days.

When we finally got to the airport in Baltimore, my dad picked up the car and we headed home. I had a feeling something not-so-good was going to happen, and I was right. On a highway, a tractor trailer decided to switch lanes and almost side-swiped the little car in front of us. She, understandably, slammed on her brakes, and we hit her. My sister and I were watching The Holiday in the back, and my headphones flew off of my head!

The fact that we'd had an accident at all was scary enough, but I was just in one not two weeks ago (by myself, though). So I was extremely freaked out... I'm pretty sure we were all crying, even my dad. I don't know how many accidents my parents have been in, but I'm pretty sure this was my sister's first. I've been lucky in that my accidents have happened about five minutes from my house (and on the same road, too) and no one was hurt. But this was on a major highway and invovled a huge tractor trailer!

Since it was no one's fault but the truck guy's (who, of course, sped away), my dad and the other dirver deicded that there wasn't enough damage to call anyone and we all headed home again. Not a fun end to our vacation, though.

But ANYWAY. Last Tuesday, I auditioned for The Secret School, a play based on the book by Avi. My mom didn't want me to go- the theatre's pretty far from my house (about 45 minutes) and it's winter. But she was at work that night and so couldn't stop me. I wanted to stop at home, fix my hair and make-up, put on a skirt (at least), and grab my headshot and resume before I went to the audition. But I had an after-school rehearsal for our mid-year show. My dad called me and was like, "if you're still going to that audition, just go straight there- you'll never make it in time if you come home." (The rehearsal was about half an hour away from my house.) I really wanted to look better than I did for the audition- I had on jeans and a black t-shirt, no make-up on (I don't usually worry about it, but I have some zits I'd love to cover up), and my hair was all frizzy because I had to walk a long way to my car in the drizzling rain. But I figured if I wanted to get a good number, I'd better get there early.

So I drove to the theatre and was number nine. I'm going to keep headshots and resumes in my car in case this happens again, because I can never remember all the stuff I've been in. I had to write a makeshift one on the back of my audition form. I wanted to be in this pretty badly because, though I hadn't read this particular book, I'd read almost every other Avi book when I was in sixth grade. This theatre normally caters to homeschool kids, so their rehearsals are sometimes during the school day, which, obviously, I can't make. But this one way different- only a few of their performances are during the day! I still had many conflicts- Tommy rehearsals and dance class were the main things.

I thought my audition went pretty well- I got to read for the main character a few times, then for some other students, and then, finally, a teacher. Of course, I was told I was talking too fast. But I was in the first group, which was good, and I was one of the best readers in the group (some people weren't very fluent- though, in their defense, the script was oddly set up and hard to follow).

So I knew they were going to call on the 18th, and that I would be in Disney. Sure enough, on the 18th, there was a message on my cell. The lady said that it was about The Secret School, but that's all she said. I figured I'd gotten a role because she said to call and tell her if I was interested. It took a couple of rounds of phone tag for us to talk to each other, but finally, she got ahold of me and said that she wanted me to come to callbacks that night. "Erm..." I said, lookling out our hotel window at the palm tress swaying in the breeze. "I'm kinda in, um... Florida right now?" "Oh!" She said she had already cast people, but she just wanted to make sure she had everyone in the right place. So, obviously, I could not make the callback (though I told her I'd do it over the phone ), but I was happy that I'd gotten one (even though they never said anything about callbacks). So our first rehearsal is Jnauary... 3rd, I think, and I'm excited. Chances are, I'll be one of the adult characters, since most of the auditionees were around nine. But the role I really want is Ida. Either way, I think it'll be a fun production, and at a new theatre, too!

Tommy, on the other hand, I can't wait to end. I am not having any fun at all. Make it stop, please... Most of the cast doesn't think the show will go well, and I agree. Our director had surgery a few days ago, and a lot of our rehearsals have been cancelled, and he won't be back for awhile. The general opinion is that people will be good in the show- Tommy, the Acid Queen, etc.- but the show itself won't be good.

Good news here, though- today I got acceptance letters from Arcadia and DeSales! I've only been accepted academically- my theatrical acceptance/rejection letter haven't come yet- but I'm still really happy, because I was afriad I'd be rejected by everyone. I hope I get into DeSales for theatre- it seems a good second to UArts.