Kelli Traaseth

Thanks for sharing this Dar. Coming from a Mom with two budding actresses.
<g> My dds are ages 9 and 6. I'm going to share Rain's story with them.

I also appreciate hearing the story because I'm now relating it to our
situation. We're moving.

Leaving an area that I love, Bemidji, MN. Northern Minnesota-- pine trees,
lakes, rivers. Lots of woods. We live on a 2 1/2 acre wooded lot close to
a lake, miles and miles of trails for either hiking, biking or cross country
skiing. All of which I love to do. :(

Ok, so you get the picture.

We're moving to Moorhead, MN, right across the river from Fargo, ND. Yes,
Fargo. Not quite like the movie, but close. That area of MN/ND is very
different from Bemidji. Its on the prairie and has lots of open spaces.
We'll probably be moving into town, hardly no yard, but pretty good sized
house. Another interesting detail will be that both sets of grandparents
live there and my 2 sister in-laws and 1 brother in-law. Which could be
good and bad. 2 of the 3 in-laws are teachers and don't get unschooling at
all. Two grandparents really get unschooling pretty well, the other 2
don't but are at least trying. So that won't be too bad.

So,,, when I first hear that my husband has been offered this job I'm
wondering,, what are thinking??

But then I start thinking, bigger city. Maybe there can be more
opportunities for the kids. Through all of this we have been talking with
the kids about it all. At first they aren't very happy, leaving their
friends and all. But we're doing this because my dh is really unhappy in
his job now and its an opportunity for him. They are excited to see their
grandparents and counsins more. I'm also hoping that with more people
there might be some unschoolers there!

Back to Dar's story, well, with Fargo/Moorhead being a bigger community
the girls will have more opportunities for acting, singing, dancing.
Bemidji only has about 15,000, F-M has about 150,000. There's more people,
hence, more shows and things like that! So, there is becoming this
silver lining. :)

I also have a son (10) who is a big gamer and trading card player. I
believe a bigger city will have lots more going on for him too.

So I'm trying to see this as maybe a transitional time where the kids are
going to have more opportunities and maybe I can get my bits of woods and
such on weekends or on vacations.

The kids are now getting pretty excited, they don't like the woods and
outdoors quite as much as me. I'm remembering back, my husband and I both
grew up in Moorhead, that there are some trails by the Red River. Its
amidst city, but there are some trees there. Also, we are moving farther
west, so we can get to Montana/ Yellowstone and all of that quicker!

We're going to be OK, I'll try and find my peace in pockets of nature and
in the fact that the kids and my dh will be happy.

Kelli~ trying to be optimistic about it all


----- Original Message -----
From: <freeform@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 10:28 PM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] First job


>
> Rain will be working as an actress, playing one of the stepsisters in a
> dinner theatre production of Cinderella. She had so much fun at the
> audition that she was still walking on clouds an hour later, and the
> stepsister is just a dream role for her. She would have done it for
> free... but they're paying her for all rehearsals and shows, starting
> from call time. The show rehearses for 4 weeks and then runs for 12
> weeks, with two shows for school groups on Wednesdays and a show open to
> the public on Saturdays.
>
> I may be biased, as her mother, but I thought she really stood out at the
> audition. She was thinking, she was innovating, she was creating. She
> remembered the basics - project, speak slowly and enunciate, stay in
> character,don't block other actors - while adding appropriate and funny
> physical movements and hilarious expressions, interacting with the other
> characters on stage, and saying her lines so they sounded fresh even
> after 5 groups had run the same scene. I was and am very, very proud.
>
> Dar
>
>