Another Memorable Adventure

I'm home from UIL OAP in Austin.  You don't know what that is?  Well...it's University Interscholastic League One Act Play competition.  (I certainly hope that I, Miss Smarty Pants, got all that right!)

For anyone out there who might have been able to miss hearing the details of this event from me, here they are.  For the second year in a row Martin High School has advanced to the state finals with their one act play.  Both years Madeline has had a leading role.  Both years the groupie grannies (Shirley and I) have traveled to Austin to share in the excitement.  It was especially exciting to us that we had "fan" shirts this year.  Here I am waiting outside Bass Hall on the University of Texas campus:

All of us thought they would win last year.  They didn't.  This year we all KNEW they were going to win.  Each and every member of the cast was spot on perfect.  Best performance EVER.  I wasn't even nervous because they were hands down so much better than the other 7 schools.

They were the lst runners up.  I don't know what to say,  except that the majority of the audience appeared to agree with me.  They got probably 10 times more audience response than any other play.  The place seemed mesmerized for 40 minutes as our kids enacted a script that was heavy, emotional, physically demanding, complicated (but clear), and sometimes very funny.  They received tremendous laughs, and one huge "Ohhhh," when it was announced that "Little Charles is Ivy's brother, not her first cousin."  (You would just have to have been there!)

Now this event lasts for HOURS.  The first play started at 4:00, and there were eight!  Each lasts 40 minutes--not one second over or it is disqualified. Then there's the presentation of awards, with many behind-the-scenes categories presented first.  There are signs up which say "No food or drink allowed in auditorium," but of necessity we packed pounds of snacks in our bags!  On the walk from the parking garage to the auditorium, Susannah insisted that Nanny and I give her our bags to carry.  Actually at the time I was grousing about mine and wishing I had brought wheels for it (the biggest one), cause it weighed A LOT.  Hers, the one on her right shoulder, had 3 bottles of water in it!  She's in her matching shirt but has her jacket and Nanny's over her shoulders.  So here she is, our little pack mule:

Madeline (Barbara) won a place in the All Star cast (one of 8), as did  Taylor Whitworth (Violet.)  Courtney Balke (Mattie Fae) won a place in the honorable mention All Star cast.  I'm giving you their names because their play, August Osage County, is being released in movie form.  Julia Robers will be Barbara, and Meryl Streep will be Violet. 

We got to stay at Hardin House, where Madeline is going to live.  A portion of the rooms are converted into "bed and breakfast" type accommodations in the summer.  It was lovely.  We even had eggs benedict for breakfast this morning.  Hardin House is Madeline's kind of place.  She loves vintage everything.  This place is vintage.  It was built in the same year I was born!

It is also Madeline's parents' type of place.  The sign is hard to read, but it says, "No male visitors

beyond this point!" 

Shirley and I got to tag along with Rob, Susan, and Susannah.  It was so nice not to have to drive and park.  From my comfy back seat I pulled out my sunglasses this morning and put them on.  Imagine my surprise at the view they provided:

Yes, a lid to my water bottle from yesterday was stuck in one lens.  Couldn't have done that on purpose for a million dollars.

Off to get ready for the senior awards program.  I may have an empty nest, but I still have a full schedule!  And I love it!