Christmakwanzaahannukah Pics

For the past four years I have thrown what has come to be known as my annual 'Christmakwanzaahannukah' party. I have friends of every faith, hence the name. This year's party fell on Christmas Eve, and the fourth night of Hannukah. All told, I got to see over forty of my friends and students over the course of the night. Sadly, I didn't remember to bring out my camera until three hours into the party! But I got a few shots of the younger crowd....most of the over forty crowd had already left!

Anyway, here is a group of my students, past and present. I love these girls! Darcy, in the black dress, first became my student over fifteen years ago. Now she's a great friend, and a wonderfully successful playwright in NYC. In fact, her play "The Bird and the Two-Ton Weight" is being made into a movie as we speak! She just got back from a month of filming in London. Can you tell I'm proud? Plus, today is her birthday...Happy Birthday Darcy!


My friend Chris has a great blog you can check out. She is listed at the left under my non-RAD blogs. She always has camera in hand. She is a brilliant web designer, writer, and mom. We went to college together and then rediscovered our kindred-ness a few years ago. I love this girl.....
Below is Chesky (Francesca to everyone else.) She is my first daughter. I was a live-in nanny for her family before she was born, and lived with her from her birth until I graduated from college. She was great practice for being mom to a spirited and opinionated girl! There is nothing I wouldn't do for her...she holds half of my heart. She is going to be twenty next year (gulp), but she'll always be a little girl to me! This 'little girl' is now an honors college student who also teaches physics as a teacher's assistant. If you live in the Boston area, you may have seen her in several local commercials as well :)

Here I am with Amy, now 27, whom I haven't seen in almost a decade. She was one of my first Shakespeare students. I was younger than she is now when I was her teacher! She lives in California now and was kind enough to stop by while home visiting her parents. It was amazing to see her.

PS: I know I look exhausted..I was! I had pulled an all-nighter to take care of the kitten, then all day prepping for the party! I'm wearing the scarf that Anastasia knit me for Christmas.

Despite her typical pre-party protestations , Anastasia had a great time, too. She entertained guests, poured cider and wine (for the adults), and showed off her new kitten to all interested parties. She konked out at about 11:30pm, which is early for her, but the kitten has given us both a run for our money the past two nights. We're exhausted! Here she is last night with one of her favorite people (and mine), our friend Josh. Anastasia had to hold Matilda most of the evning to keep her from harassing the guests and stealing food from off of the coffee table...

I adore the guys in this picture. I've had a very close, family-like relationship with all three of them. Alex, on the left, is a professional actor in NYC now. Josh, in the hat, is in college studying theatre education and is an AMAZING teacher, and Andrew, on the end, just graduated Wesleyan and is looking at a job in the Obama administration - I kid you not! They all came thru my programs starting at ages 9, 10, and 8, respectively. I am so incredibly proud of them.

Wish I had more to share, but I was stupid and forgot my camera till the end! At least you get a little taste of my wonderful world. Happy Christmakwanzaahannukah everyone!