Day: April 30, 2007

Ear Infection again…

Alice had a fever yesterday, and as I was loading her up in the car this morning to take her to preschool, it was back. So I cancelled all of my morning and early afternoon tutoring, and took her to the doctor.

She has an infection in her right ear, which has always been the Problem Ear. He couldn’t tell if the tube was out or not because there was too much gook in there, but the ear was definitely infected. Her left ear was clear, and he pulled out a glob of wax and there was the tube!

So. We’ll put her on this course of antibiotics and see how it goes… If she gets another ear infection immediately after finishing her antibiotics (as she always has in the past), we’ll go straight to the ENT and skip the pediatrician. I hope she can get through the summer without getting tubes again, though — it would be way cool to be able to teach her how to swim and not have to worry about earplugs or whatever. 🙂

Once again, Alice is completely asymptomatic except for the fever. And that’s only apparent because she’s a little muted and her eyes are a bit watery. But that just means she’s acting like any OTHER almost-three-year-old, instead of being the typical Hell On Wheels that she usually is. Ha!

Yesterday, I did something I have never done before…

I turned down a part in a play.

Another group in town is doing “The Secret Garden” again, and I absolutely love that show. I haven’t been on stage since 2001 (and I haven’t auditioned for anything since last time I did “The Secret Garden”), so I’m a little rusty. Having children has made my voice a little higher, so I decided to try for Lily, the lead female, knowing full well that I don’t have the breath support to sing that high because being a soprano is so new to me.

When I filled out the form, I indicated that I would only accept Martha or Lily

If I had auditioned with an alto piece, I would have gotten a callback, but I didn’t. I sang one of Lily’s songs and shook like a leaf the entire time — totally terrified even though I knew everyone on the casting committee. I did the dance fine, but didn’t get invited to callbacks, which were last night. Jerry’s boss also tried out, and he was surprised I didn’t get a callback, but I wasn’t: as I said to him, I’m not strong enough for Lily and I’m too old to play Martha now.

Last night, after callbacks were over, I got a phone call from the director, asking me to be one of the chorus parts. She said, “I know you said just Martha or Lily, but I’d love to see you back onstage again, and this would get you in the swing of things again. Your voice is so good — just underused.”

I turned her down, saying that because I tutor at night, it would be too much of a financial burden to shift my schedule for rehearsals, especially right before final exams. I’d do it for a big part, but I couldn’t justify it for a small one — I’d lose about $200 in income a week.

Not to mention I’m scheduled for surgery on May 21, and I’d have to move that, too.

And the rehearsal schedule is BRUTAL — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday nights and all day every Saturday. Yeah. Jerry would so love THAT.

Took me a long time to calm down to go to sleep last night, even though I was exhausted from Paducah Day (which was awesome — I’ll talk more about that later)… I went to bed early, but probably didn’t go to sleep until just before I normally go to sleep anyway. It really bothers me to have turned down a part, even though I absolutely know without a doubt that it was The Right Thing To Do.

Sometimes responsibilities suck, you know?