I'm at the precipice.

I suppose I should write a new post. It's been awhile.

In my directing class, I'm directing a scene called Precipice. It's about a boy and a girl hiking on a mountain. It is getting to be the end of the day and a storm is on its way. They need to hurry down the mountain because storms on this mountain are deadly. They come to a precipice and need to jump across to the other side in order to proceed down the rest of the mountain. When they were hiking up the mountain earlier that day, they jumped across a precipice and the girl is convinced that this is the same precipice that they jumped across that morning. The boy is not convinced. It's a simple jump; only a couple of feet. The problem is that the storm has brought with it some terrible fog, therefore the boy and the girl can't see across the precipice. They can't see where to jump.

The girl has faith. She has been hiking on this trail all of her life and "knows in her heart" that she can jump across and be fine. Plus, she's willing to jump because after all, there is a terrible storm on the way and doesn't want to get caught in it.

The boy needs proof. He repeatedly asks her for proof that they can jump across and that this is the same precipice. He asks her how she knows that the other side is really only a couple of feet away. She says she "just knows." She then throws a rock to the other side and it hits stone, thus proving that the other side is there and it's not very far away. She then gets ready to jump across.

He: Unbelievable.
She: What?
He: You're really going to run and leap into the fog not knowing what's over there?
She: I know what's over there.
He: You don't know. You believe. You hope. You wish. You pray. You don't know the difference between what you know and what you hope.
She: You heard the stone land on that ledge.
He: Stone hit stone. Period. That's a typical you-ism. You hope a ledge is there, therefore a ledge's over there. No! There's rock over there. It may be flat. Or it may be round. It may be vertical. It may be horizontal. It's not a fact because you said it. It's only a fact when I can see it.

At the end of the scene, the girl decides that it is too much risk to try to jump where she can't see and that it may not be the same precipice they jumped over that morning. They decide to build a fire and take refuge in a fallen tree.

Before I began working on this scene with my actors, it was important for us to decide if this was really the precipice they jumped over that morning. We had to decide if the girl was right or if the boy was right.

We decided that the boy was right.

There is a popular TV series called Lost that my roommates LOVE. They watch it every Wednesday. I don't watch it so I'm not entirely sure what the plot is or the characters involved. But, a number of times, I've heard it said that Lost is about "men of science" and "men of faith." I've totally taken that theme and applied it to my directing scene, because, well, that's what it's about.

I think it's interesting that I decided to choose for the boy to be right.

I can't jump where I can't see.

Are you the boy or the girl?

The Hills Are Alive! ...with the sound of crying babies, Barney the Dinosaur, Tonka trucks, and "stop hitting your brother!"

Hello.

Today is Saturday but I think I left my brain back in Thursday.

Let me explain.

I work in the Kids Club at 24hour fitness. I'm the Supervisor actually, which has me making the schedule, interviewing and hiring new staff, cleaning, buying supplies, and much more. I also happen to be really good with kids, or at least, I can tolerate them better than some of the other kids club attendants. The Kids Club is a place in the gym where parents can drop off the kids to be watched (by me or the four other girls that work there) for up to two hours while they go work out. In the Kids Club, we have movies galore, a huge jungle gym, 2 X-boxes, coloring books and crayons, and toys toys toys. Fun stuff, eh?

Well, sometimes moms ask me to babysit their kids on a Friday or Saturday night. Date night. Which is fine with me because that's some quick, easy cash.

I have gotten really close to a couple of families that come to the gym and so I babysit their kids a lot. So, one day Mrs. Flight Attendant mother asks me if I would be willing to watch her two boys, Big Brother C (age 3) and Little Brother G (age 1) from Thursday to Sunday. Mrs. Flight Attendant explains that she has to be at work all weekend and that Mr. Flight Attendant is also going to be on a business trip. So she needs someone who would be willing to spend all night and day with her children. Cooking, cleaning, running errands, taking the boys to the playground, grocery shopping, etc. So I say "Of course I will!" (for a nice $300)

Boy. Little did I know.

Thursday finally comes and I head over to their house at 9am. It is now 1pm on Saturday and I'm not sure how I have made it this far. I had no idea that taking care of children would be this overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, Big Brother C and Little Brother G are quite possibly the best kids ever. As far as children go, they are well-behaved and follow directions without me having to fuss at them too much.

But kids are difficult.

They eat a lot. And they poop a lot. And they cry a lot.

Mom being gone is hard on C and G. This is the first time mom has been back to work since G was born. Everyone is out of their element here. The kids are all freaked out because they think mom is going to be gone forever. I am freaked out because, holy crap! I'm in charge of these little kids! And Mrs. Flight Attendant calls about every 5 hours or so to check on us. I guess it's hard to be away from your babies for so long.

So I'm doing my best to have fun with Big Brother C and Little Brother G. It's nap time right now and later we are going to McDonald's. My motherly instincts have seriously kicked in and I try to love on these little kids as much as possible so they don't get too upset. I have kissed, tickled, laughed, played in the dirt, watched Wow!Wow! Wubzy!, cared for boo boo's, washed and bathed, scrubbed behind ears, wiped down hands and face (hands and face! hands and face!), sang sing-a-longs, picked up toys, picked up toys, picked up toys, and told bedtime stories more in the last three days than I ever have in my life thus far. I have also scared away my fair share of monsters under the bed.



Mothers- I don't know how you do it.