EAT DESSERT FIRST

It's really gonna fly after tonight.

Talkin' about what is left of Daniel's senior year.

Tonight is his last Dessert Theatre.  An evening of chocolate, music, speech, laughter and tears.

Not even gonna bother wearing mascara.

And then, after tonight, April will zoom past with track meets and May will bring Daniel's final spring music concert --  always a tear jerker -- and then, BOOM!  G Day.

Graduation.

Gulp.

Must not get ahead of myself, though.

First, CRB Dessert Theatre 2011.

A most wonderful night where first we will all eat yummy homemade desserts in the gym-turned-fancy- bistro,  and then we will settle into our seats in the auditorium to watch our kids sing and dance and give their winning speech performances.

Yet it is so much more than a night of dining on sugar and watching our kids perform.

Dessert Theatre is a great lesson in life.

Reminds me of that old adage -- one of my faves -- "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

Which one, which one...

With Dessert Theater, as in life, you are faced with decisions, you never really know what to expect, and it's always wise to carry a Kleenex.

Dozens of different mouth-watering desserts -- which one (or ones) to choose?

A plethora of stellar performances laden with happiness and tears.

I've always joked, albeit darkly, that our Dessert Theatre is really an evening designed for the manic depressive, which is probably why I love it so.

One minute I'm gorging on sugar, then smiling, laughing, and tapping my swollen feet to a jaunty musical number.  The next minute -- when the sugar high subsides and the sugar low hits -- I am weeping and gnashing my teeth to a particularly heart-wrenching speech.  Or a melancholy song brings tears to my eyes moments after a lighthearted monologue.

Yes, the CRB Dessert Theatre is always an AWESOME three-hour emotional roller coaster.

And I haven't missed one in all the years we've lived here.

A Dessert Theatre natural

My sister-in-law, Deb, is the vocal music director, and she brings out the singing talent in all our kids. I remember going to Dessert Theatre with my mother-in-law back in like '96, thinking I sure hoped Dessert Theater would still be going on by the time Daniel was in high school.

Still going on, indeed.

Little did I know then that not only would he do well in music, but  he would shine in large group speech, too. And he would have a passion for film making, and his short film, "All Was Silent" would get perfect marks at the state high school speech contest his senior year.

And now, here it is.

Daniel's last Dessert Theatre.

Oy.

Hoping there is plenty of Better Than Sex Cake to go around.

Praying no one sings Danny Boy.

Dear God, it is so hard to let go.