Wednesday, November 12, 2008

That time of the year.


Black holes are where
God divided by zero.
My life is a black hole; everything is being sucked into original chaos. I think I've said it before but I truly hate this time of the year. Bah, humbug!
Yes well, Ditz's ensemble, guest artists for the Christmas in Concert special [ to be televised on the ABC] is going down to the wire & I am going with it. I do not have enough time, or enough hands, to do all that needs doing over the next little while.
Yesterday I took Dearest to his doctor's appointment on the mainland leaving Ditz, who had a very ditzy moment, to get herself to the boat & then to her flute lesson. She misread her phone clock & left 2 hours too early!!!! Only my child. *sigh* She has come home with important information about accompanists & rehearsals that I still don't have. Hello, Ditz. Time is running out. Neither of us are happy. Ditz doesn't want to do her exam; I don't want to drive to the other side of town at 5am on a Friday morning so she can sit her exam! We do not do well at this level but if Ditz can get this first exam under her belt & do ok then the next one will be so much easier.
Ditz so doesn't want to do this she was talking about giving up all her extras ~ flute, violin, piano, singing. I said, 'Goodie, we'll sell everything & I'll be rich', but no. She wants to keep all her instruments & potter. Nothing was ever achieved through pottering but no, she isn't nervous AT ALL. She just doesn't want to do exams. I'll believe you Ditz; thousands wouldn't but...yeah right.
So I get home & am 1/2 way through a much needed cup of coffee when Ditz rings to say she is at the jetty again, will I come & get her? Detour with Ditz to check the animals Liddy is sitting at the moment but Liddy had a 6 am start so Ditz & I have been doing her job & as Liddy can't drive unsupervised yet...that's right. Mummy gets to help out. *sigh* Actually I don't really mind. The dog has a licking problem & I'm not mad keen on doggy slobber dribbling between my toes but the cat is gorgeous; totally psychotic but gorgeous. Iss is barely speaking to any of us because we keep coming home smelling of foreign animals.
Home. I sent Ditz into the kitchen to eat & learnt she had not organised her choir stuff prior to leaving this morning as I had asked because she misread her clock... Aaaargh! With 20 minutes before our boat she couldn't find anything & I am telling you, with a big important concert happening you do NOT arrive unprepared at ensemble rehearsals. Even Ditz is not prepared to court death quite so openly.
Just as well everything was found. The ensemble was read the riot act. OK, they're kids & they behave like kids but Alison is very clear. You say you want to work in this industry? No~one is going to hand you celebrity on a silver platter. You are going to have to work & work jolly hard & you are going to have to work like professionals & no~one cares that you're only 10, or 12 or 16... people are paying their hard earned cash for this so you need to deliver & ho~hum is just not good enough ~which is exactly why her ensemble is being offered guest status at concerts like Christmas in Concert. At one point, catching my eye, Alison mouthed, 'Please, don't make me laugh.' She convinced the kids though. The kids walked out of rehearsal two hours latter looking like shell~shocked trauma victims.
Do I think this overly harsh? No. Those kids will be walking singing Adeste onto the QPAC stage to form a single line at the front of the stage with the massed choir behind them & every child will be individually miked!!! They need to know what they are doing. Rather Ditz than me.
It was midnight before I crawled into bed. I can not do midnight any more & function well the next day. Ditz has never been able to do it. Her attention span [never very good] is depleting at a rapid rate of knots. Any school work requiring applied effort & concentration is causing meltdowns. She wants to ditch science. She can not ditch science, not yet anyway. With music causing so much pressure for the next few weeks I am trying to keep the pressure off in other areas. Ditz under pressure is not a pretty sight! However I mentioned it is that time of the year again. Everyone wants something. Our umbrella school wants proof we do actually [occasionally] do some actual schoolwork. Now history & English is no problem. Ditz can always read on the boats & during the long dragging waits of rehearsals & performances. Keeping up with her dictation & grammar is perfectly possible. We are strong in these areas. Science is slightly more problematic requiring more academic application than Ditz normally wants to exert. No~one wants to do math. I have got it on hold & if Ditz can't get a grip on it before term finishes we will be doing it over the summer; just her math. I think we need to anyway. I swear that child puts all her math in her short term memory bank & it too disappears into the black hole.
Did I mention I hate this time of the year?

3 comments:

The HoJo's said...

oh my, you just wore me out, what a rush!
xc

Mrs. Darling said...

Your life is so busy and so hilarious to read! LOL You poor woman.

Ganeida said...

Hojos, I wore me out too:)

MrsD, I haven't a patch on you & I know it when it comes to busyness. I'd rather laugh than cry though.