... and breathe!

These past 3 weeks have been, without a doubt, amongst the busiest of my life. I am EXHAUSTED! So many things to do, that it is only today that I have had a chance for a breather... and a few minutes to update my poor, neglected blog, while my hubby is watching some men in shorts kick a ball around a large pitch.

Maaaaa... how busy I've been! My life is hectic even when it isn't hectic (if you know what I mean!) But when I add 'extra' events, it really gets mad! It all started off with the Vocal Aid concert on the 27th and 28th May - what a great event to be part of! Honestly, watching circa 300 kids on stage singing in pretty perfect harmony is a wondrous sight to behold. Whenever I take part in Stagecoach concerts, I always feel priveleged to be part of the whole experience.

However, I must admit that I was most looking forward to hearing Maltagirl and her fiance sing their song - 'Love can build a Bridge'. I heard them for the first time at our first rehearsal... and they made me cry (in a good way!) because they were so cute - and they can sing! And then at the end of the song, they had a little kiss - awwww! When I watched the real thing at the side of the stage, I still had tears in my eyes. Insomma, a big prosit to them!

As soon as the Sunday performance was over, I rushed to the Manoel Theatre for a rehearsal of 'Don Giovanni' (the play version of the opera) where I was due to play Donna Elvira the following weekend. Of course, that led to a week of rehearsals every day with me grabbing a sandwich (if Iwas lucky) in between driving from work to another place of work to rehearsals. The play, which was in aid of the Malta Hospice Movement went well, in spite of a couple of mishaps in the costume department (totally my fault! And no, it wasn't a 'wardrobe malfunction' kind of thing hehehe!).

On the Saturday, after the performance, I had a coffee with a couple of theatre friends and then met Sha, the Pea and the Blonde plus other friends including Gedudu for a bite to eat and some good company at Labyrinth in Valletta, since Sha was here for a couple of days. Much fun was had by all, and the food (I had a mango chicken wrap) was yummy and very good value-for-money too! On the Sunday, we had a cast party at Buko which, while yummy, was not good value-for-money at all (i.e. horrendously expensive for what we got).

Then came rehearsals and performances of the Summer Soiree of the school where I teach. The Grade 8's and 9's were performing for family and friends at St James Cavalier theatre-in-the-round and, after months of ranting (by me), they gave a more than creditable 2 performances. Actually, some of my students exceeded my expectations! They were so good - in both drama and dance (someone else teaches them dance of course!) - that I was impressed. All in all, it wasn't like watching the usual school performance - these kids really entertained their audience! Even I enjoyed it (when I wasn't having kittens/growing more white hairs/starting up an ulcer every time they missed a cue - quite a rare occurence thank goodness!)

In the midst of all this genn, of course there was the Sting concert. I was working onsite so had to endure 2 and 1/2 hours of showing people to their seats (rather painful on the feet although, this year, I said: "to hell with fashion" and wore my tennis shoes!) But it was all worth it to watch Sting up close and I really, really enjoyed it! At one point during the concert, I realised that for the past 2 days, all I had eaten were 2 sandwiches and 2 yoghurts. So I had half a packet of Pringles and promised to eat some proper food later. But when I got home after the concert, I was too tired to eat and went straight to bed.

Wednesday was a holiday for most people but not me since I still teach on public holidays. Got home after work and wrote on the p.c. for a while. Then in the afternoon, I had my first real rehearsal for the upcoming MADC Shakesperian offering of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' which I thoroughly enjoyed, except I'm not sure if I know how to act any more - we'll soon find out hehehe!

I woke up on Thursday feeling absolutely terrible. My head throbbed like mad, my sinuses were blocked, I couldn't see or talk properly, I had swollen throat glands and a horrible sore throat; I even had a bit of fever. My hubby decided exhaustion and lack of food were to blame. So I had an extra hour's rest (thank goodness, we both weren't working in the morning) while he prepared the biggest meal - full of protein and vitamins - I had ever seen. I got out of bed, gobbled it all up and felt miles better.

Today, Sunday, the headache is still somewhere at the back of my head and my sinuses are still blocked but it's all so much better thanks to lots of TLC. So the moral of the story is: no matter how busy you are, do take some time out and, most importantly - eat! Off I go for some coffee and biscuits - yum!