Killer Music

Yesterday the crud snuck up and bit me on the butt, putting me down for the count. After everyone else got off to school and work, I had a bit of a stomach ache, which I chalked up to wine and hummus too close to bedtime. I realized there was no reaso not to go back to bed for a while, so I did. I dragged myself back out at 9:45, to dig out my car and head to Thing 4's headstart party. I realized then that I was feeling decidedly ill. I soldiered on and got through school, which was shortened class periods followed by a streamed movie for the kids. It was fun, but I packed out of the building as soon as humanly possible, and went straight to bed, from which I did not crawl out until about 7pm, to bathe and force down a couple of dry pancakes. I went back to bed and slept through the night, feeling much better this morning. As with the rest of the family, this particular bug seems to be relatively short-lived and easily slept off.
However, in my sleepy state I was unable to relate the tale of the Christmas concert. The choir and band have taken to having their Christmas concerts together, which on the surface would be a good timesaver. However, teardown and setup between the groups are longer than the actual concert. This year the band director attempted to rectify this a little: having the bands switch over during a percussion feature, segueing his groups together, etc. It helped. However, the instruments were really suffering from dry air and cold, and he and the junior high director performed some speedy, between song instrument surgeries. Then came the choirs. First, a young man nearly passed out. The director stopped him and headed him offstage to a waiting nurse. The kids finished the songs as two more left before they dropped, then one fell off the back of the risers. Soon, someone tapped me to come help in the lobby. One of the kids who walked off was having some serious pain, and they sent me for her parents, our friends from last weekend's post. As I got her stepmom, she told me, "It's the world's most dangerous concert! They're dropping like flies!" One to remember, that's for sure.
We'll have a quiet night at home together for Christmas Eve, doing some baking and playing with the Wii, I'm sure. Tomorrow we'll spend the day with iPastor's family, the I will head down to my hometown for a coffee gathering with friends from high school. When I get back, we'll turn around and head to the cities to spend a day with our friends like family there. Next week will be kicked back and quiet; I have papers to correct and some projects to keep me busy. Looking forward to that.