The ENT was fabulous - didn’t charge me for being a “new” patient (I saw him when he was in another group of otolaryngologists - sp?), nor did I need to be scoped, so I only paid for the office visit, and not the $400+ I had expected. Yay! Turns out I have something that is in the same family of viruses as mono. Am now on Zithromax, salt water gargle, no talking, and bed rest! No lesson till next week, and then, no arias or MT/job related stuff - I need to bring in “Come Ready and See Me”. Anything else of that level that you all like to sing are welcome suggestions!

The medical end of things: on hearing me, my teacher said not to even hum until about Wednesday, and the doctor referred me to the ENT - I now have an appointment on Friday to get scoped. Expensive, but worth it. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

I agree with whomever said that it gets harder the higher you move up the ladder in the business. I guess that’s why I love the educational programs I’m doing so much - the immediate contact with a very enthusiastic audience (even if they are telling the Giant where Jack is hiding in the house)! Nursing homes and senior centers are always a soul satisfying place to sing - and you don’t just need to sing “the oldies”. The seniors I usually sing for love it when I throw in something they haven’t heard before, as they tell me: “It keeps my mind growing!” I find these types of performances really keep me grounded.

My personal check in:

I’ve been felled by illness this week - probably not doing NATS, which I’m bummed about. I really feel/felt pretty good about it this time. (I usually freak out about competitions, but really felt like I was ready to move beyond my comfort zone this time!). AW has fallen by the wayside, and I have no excuse other than dealing with massive amounts of post-nasal drip (that’s what I get for not using the neti pot lately!) I’m determined to get back on track. With everything. I’ve been using my down time to catch up on the business end of things - thanks to all for the resume tips!.

My week - all is going well with AW. My big bonus was this morning - well, afternoon. I had a mini Artist’s Date when after church at noon today I walked outside to beautiful blue skies, birds chirping, a fresh breeze caressing the trees and turned around to see ***62 degrees*** on the digital clock perched atop MONY Towers. HeeHee!! I giggled all the way through my after church chores (bank and groceries) and drove to the nursing home the long way with the windows rolled down and the wind whipping through the car - I took the blasted wool coat off too. And for the first time in forever, I just enjoyed the music of the wind and didn’t pop in a tape or turn on the radio. Would that count as sound deprivation? Yippee!!!!!!!!!! As Sunday is my afternoon to spend with my grandfather, unless I have an audition or a performance, I grabbed his coat and hat and took him outside for a long walk and an early mini picnic underneath the trees out in front of the home. It actually got up to 66 degrees today!!!!! Yay!!!!

I still can't believe I finally have one of the leads in a production with an opera company!!! Well, not *the* lead, but a major role. I'll be playing Anne Ergeman in A Little Night Music with Oswego Opera!! The same director as Magic Flute, and some wonderful people to be on stage with. I've been told that I'm perfect for the part - I've kicked the weight loss into high gear - no way will I be going onstage at this weight wearing all white!! I'll look like an elephant. I need to lose the weight for my health, anyways. At least it's coming off in a healthy manner this time.

It seems so silly to be focused on this, though, when the whole world is falling apart. I'm grateful for every chance I have to be onstage, practicing my craft, but what does it mean in the grand scheme of things? I had an interesting conversation with an exchange student that stayed with our family. I believe it's important to get different perspectives and not just buy into everything we get through the media. Sometimes lately I wish we could take an isolationist stance. I'm tired of hearing that help is needed from the US and then hearing that we are too imperialistic a country. I agree that American brands should stay out of things - part of what makes this world a special place is all the differences you find - I'd hate to see any culture or language disappear due to the influx of another culture. That's just plain wrong. I think it suprised my friend when I made that statement. I believe we should all be there for each other - we need to help the starving and poor of the world - share knowledge, but not force our way of life on each other. But how does that fit in with removing dirtbags like Hitler, Hussein and bin Laden. People like that don't deserve to be in power. I get mad seeing pictures of all the palaces - what is it - 6? - that Hussein has and then the conditions of the poor in his country. Stop whining about how the US is keeping 'your' people oppressed and take care of them, for pete's sake! You're willing to destroy the people of Iraq and say that we are at fault? I don't think so. Take a look in the mirror.

I don't know. I'm beginning to blather - need sleep.

The biggest thing I’ve found to be helpful is the concept of portion control a la Weight Watchers - a serving of meat should be the size of a deck of cards, an apple (for instance) should be the size of your fist (which means all the gigunda ones from Cornell Orchards are worth at least 3 servings - possibly 4! Yikes!). I’ll have to go back and review them all. Since focusing on that, I actually notice when I’m hungry, rather than just eating because of the clock.

Here’s some 0 point soup recipies (WW works on a point system for each food or foods that you eat), including the WW 0 point all veggie soup that I absolutely love! My mom and I both discovered that we like adding more broth (I use veggie stock) to it, however.

http://members.shaw.ca/srees/Zero%20Point%20Soups.htm

I’m also working through Yoga and Pilates videos, as well as dragging out the exercise cycle. I picked up a new video the other week - one of my treats from paycheck for the 2 week outreach gig.

Oh - and one of FlyLady’s mottos is “You can do anything for 15 minutes.”, and has an exercise section on the web site. One of the cool tricks is to set a timer for 7 minutes, start walking and when it goes off, turn around and come home. Scroll down to the green box at the bottom of the main page and click on “FlyLady FLYers”.

http://flylady.net/

Just one major thing to check in with this week: I just found out I got the role!!!!!!!!!!!! November 1 and 2, I’ll be playing Anne in A Little Night Music. Thanks to everyone for all their support. It’s a step up within the role hierarchy for me. Needless to say, for those that know the show, my weight loss endeavors are being move to the front burner - she wears all white for the entire show! I love having something in “future engagements!!”

MacBeth starts up this week - I’m hoping to be off book for the first choral rehearsal. I think I’ll make it!!

Everything else is going as per usual. Successful Jack and the Beanstalk, successful Evensong today.

Goals:

1. MacBeth choral parts
2. brush up the Erie Canal outreach show for Thursday
3. NATS music
4. work new vocalises in practice routine
5. aria lecture recital
6. reorganize audition business “stuff”
7. keep up with new foods experimentation
8. try a new exercise video