It’s going to be a funny day.
I woke up this morning and became gradually aware that my voice was starting to go – a very unnerving realization for a girl preparing for a solo vocal competition overseas in less than four weeks. The last time this happened, I ignored it, and my voice was gone for weeks. This time, I don’t think I need to impress upon you how desperately that must not happen. Ha!
I haven’t talked for a few hours now. (I forgot once, immediately shushed myself and used IM instead.) Marty ran to the store and got me chamomile tea and fresh lemons – neither of which I have really used in the past, but am totally willing to experiment with now. I squeezed half a lemon into very hot water, then sunk the rest of the lemon to the bottom of the cup, just in case. For a few minutes, the tiny air bubbles in the lemon spat up to the surface of the water, making little squirts of lemon juice, squirt squirt! It was neat.
So the chamomile is steeping and the water is too hot to drink yet, anyway. And I have my personal steamer sitting in front of me while I type, lots of good steam, yay. And then Marty called Heather and cancelled our plans for tonight, because with Wales at the end of the month, it would be obscene to try to go out and maybe make this worse. So I feel crappy and glum, because I was really, really, really looking forward to hanging out with Heather and Shanta, because they are so fucking cool. Raincheck, please. Wilt. I hate cancelling fun plans. Muh.
So I’m trying to tell myself that I’m being a good girl by taking care of my voice, and doing my best to avoid circumstances that will keep me from rehearsing properly this month and doing very well in Swansea. I set my timer for ten minutes and breathe in steam, then I set it for half an hour and make sure not to talk, letting everything rest and soak in moisture. I need this to work. It’s going to work.
The only thing that’s bugging me is that I don’t have a book to read. I think Kit was telling us about something that sounded incredible. Maybe I should order it?
Okay. Back to more steam. Wish me luck!
