The state lottery starts tomorrow, after a lot of (mostly stupid) controversy, so Mark is down at the home paper covering in-town stuff. That means I'm on my own for the next two days. Among other things--continual laundry processing, cleaning the kitchen (which is Mark's job but he ran out of time), home pedicure--I have a two-DVD set of Die Walkuere that we got from NetFlix two weeks ago that I just haven't been able to bring myself to watch. Tonight's the night! Six o'clock will find me settling in with frozen pizza, snacks and tea to watch the marathon. I'm not quite sure how long it is--certainly over three hours. As if I have to be tortured to watch a Wagner opera...

In other news, we are almost definitely going up to DC on Easter/Anniversary weekend. More details to follow.

sI just realized how ungrateful I sounded in that last post. Um, hello, I get to perform, and people pay to see me... But I was just gettting really frustrated. The show actually went okay--whether that's because things actually did turn the corner, or because I just got really Zen about it, is anybody's guess. I did have a blast going out after the opening performance--gay bar, drag show, IHOP, coming home at three in the morning reeking of smoke. It was a nice way to blow off some steam.

Last week my beloved car broke down--it was a really minor issue (and luckily cheap to fix), but she was out of commission for three days so I had to take the bus home from work and depend on Mark for transportation. And now the driver's side door handle has completely broken off, so I have to open the door from the inside while sitting in the back seat. We're planning to visit my parents this weekend, partly to get the handle replaced and partly so I can use my mother's sewing machine. :) She is doing well, apparently, but I haven't seen her since the surgery so it will be good to go down there.

So things are slowing down a bit, but there are piles of laundry to do (this afternoon, promise!) and I'm working on some new music. We also just found out that Mark's brother and his wife are expecting their second baby in October, so I worked up this adorable hooded baby sweater. I wish I had thought to make it for Suli! Anyway, the craftiness rolls on. Mark has been thinking about getting into model ship building, in fact. Apparently I am rubbing off on him...

sSo the show goes up on Friday (with a high-school audience for tomorrow’s dress rehearsal), and I will be happy when it’s over. This production has been nothing but aggravation for me. To fill in: I’m understudying the female lead in this short opera, and I promised the heads of the company that I would sing in the chorus because the music’s crazy hard and I’d performed it in Florida last year. After the first chorus rehearsal I decided the music was just too high for me (it was a year ago, too, but I was getting paid to sing it-big difference), and I called the artistic director to let him know I couldn’t do it. Well, two chorus rehearsals later it became clear that they needed me, for the sake of the show. So I said I would do it, as long as I could take it easy with the high stuff during rehearsals. It has been a painful experience. Most of the chorus is new to the company (apparently new to opera as well) and they’re not the best musicians or too quick at learning music. Even as of last night the musical entrances are still not there. I feel like I’m carrying the whole thing--not leastly because everybody keeps telling me that I’m carrying the whole thing. It’s quite stressful.

Add to that the frustration of being an understudy. I’ve never actually done it before now, and I’m really just doing it to put on my resume and because I really like the show (my voice is a little big for it, though I could certainly perform it). So day in and day out, during musical and staging rehearsals, I’ve been on the sidelines, taking copious notes and doing what I can to help. Both of the leads are nice girls, but (a) I doubt they’ll be heard over the small orchestra in the small auditorium, and (b) they both have some technical problems. Oh, and the one girl still doesn’t know all her words, let alone what they actually mean. Yeah, that makes me feel great about being the understudy. Even when I knew I’d have almost no chance of singing the role, I made sure I knew all the music by the first rehearsal. This is just something you do as a professional. You really need to be off book by the first rehearsal-and if not, then certainly by the time you do any staging. How are you supposed to learn staging if you’re still carrying around your score and don’t know what you’re singing about?!

And I do know that I’m appreciated, it’s not that. At a marathon chorus rehearsal this Saturday, I got to sing the end of the opera-this cool, dramatic screaming part--about seven times for the chorus to learn their parts there. Everyone liked it-the director especially (who I know well from Figaro last fall). So at least I’m respected...

Anyway, I’m getting off my little soapbox. Friday night after opening the director and the costume designer and I are going out for a few drinks. I need it!

And the winner is (drumroll): Lexapro! The doctor prescribed the tiniest amount (half a pill a day), which is half the amount used in the studies I've read about. And people on the singer forum seem to think it's a good option as well. I have a followup in April to see how things are working. I hope this is the solution, but I know how hard it is to work out the meds...

My mother's birthday was yesterday--she's doing rather well, and even got to her church activities on Monday. No driving, of course, since she's on Oxycontin or something. Everybody break into my parents' house! You can even score some Flexeril! ;p

How many brand-name medications can I bring up in one post??