Al and I agreed to be part of this year's Nutcracker cast.

Why?

Al got the theatre bug.

Friday night we had our first practice. It was funny and fun. Most of us are a bunch of out-of-shape adults, but we laughed hysterically and got some exercise.

I'm not nervous about doing it, but I'm embarrassed. I don't like to be in front of a large group of people in general so this will be interesting. And I'm definitely out of my element as far as the acting thing goes. When the instructor started talking about quarter stage and I just stood there with a blank stare pretending I knew what she was talking about.

I can handle the dancing part. It's fun, but pretending for the audience is going to be challenging for me.

The main thing is that our kids are excited that we're taking part and get to be on stage with both of them.