If Victor Hugo could see the state of our world now.

My youngest daughter has stars in her eyes, she is a drama student and Shakespeare is a love of hers. This year her school put on a production of her favorite among the Shakespearean Victor Hugo's works. Les Miserables.

Try-outs were held in November and although she didn't get one of the few speaking parts, She was ecstatic to be a part of the ensemble groups. And she shone!

Although the play runs for nearly two weeks, the shows have consistently sold out. The school paid a large royalty fee in order to even show this play at the school. Add costumes, sets, and the price goes up. Hopefully they will recoup enough of the costs in order to continue with great plays in the future.

We live in a very conservative area. Les Miserables is set in France in the 1860s. It deals with war, love, prostitution, prison, and poverty. There was some foul language that to most would roll by as pure realism. Giggles and gasps in the crowd reminded me where I was. There is a scene of prostitution and my daughter stood near her latest love interest. I am not sure if I should be worried at just how well she played this particular part.

There were a few younger actors in this play and they nearly upstaged the senior school students. - Nearly.

In her ensemble scenes, My daughter had four costume changes. So much going on.

The sets, the acting, the music, the talent were all amazing. It was hard to believe that this was a group of high school kids.

The two months of set building, practices before and after school and many weekends has really paid off.

I was so proud of my daughter.

Oh! And she can dance too!

I nearly used 4 gig taking pictures. I am so proud of the school, I am so proud of my girl!

What a great performance.

Sometimes I think that the local talents adds a whole element you don't get in Broadway and Hollywood. An element of real vs beautiful.

When we stepped outside, there was a blizzard of beautiful white snow. Beautiful to look at that is. Not as beautiful to drive in, with a very packed parking lot and most of the other cars driven by 16-18 yr olds. But we made it home safely, I canceled plans for a night out, took some cough medicine and called it a night.

I slept in until 9am this morning, I cannot remember the last time I did that. I suppose I needed it. And woke up to the beautiful snow and clean clear blue skies.

 

No Miserables here.

The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. - Patrick Young

Old Mother Earth is wrecking all sorts of havoc this month it seems. With The earthquakes and aftershocks in Haiti,

Heavy rains and flooding in Southern California, Extreme High Surf in Northern California, and heavy snow and low temperatures over the northeast.

And here, as in my last post we have been living under a heavy thick cloud of our own pollution held down like a veil over our heads making it so difficult to breathe that most schools have kept the children in at recess.

But yesterday, snow fell. Rain moved in from the storms on the west coast.. the clouds opened and the sky cleared.

Have you ever made the statement 'I spoke too soon'? Well, I have spoken too soon. I made a comment just the other day, how with all the bad luck the past few months, at least I haven't been sick. Last year at this same time, I had bronchitis more times that I wish to recall.

Last Saturday my best friend and I decided to hit a club for some long overdue girlfriend time. I had felt a little stir crazy after so many nights in out of the bad air. When I met her I was having a hard time breathing and figured it was the outside air that night.
Recently the law changed and smoking is no longer allowed inside bars. Great news for me, bad for her. I mentioned that I would not be going out on the patio with her, my lungs wouldn't take it. And it is not the place I choose to be anyway.
There were a couple times I was left alone at our table when she went out for a smoke. And only one obnoxious, pushy, sweaty, overweight man with bad breath who didnt get the not so subtle hints bothered me.
When she came back in, we got up to dance, for the most part to avoid the aforementioned creep man.
While we were dancing, I began to really have a hard time breathing.
Now- we have not been out in a while and with this horrible weather I have not left the house as much as usual the past few weeks, but I was really heaving.
We sat for a while and had some more to drink as I caught my breath. The rest of the evening went along pretty uneventful. Until we walked to the car.
I had to pull out my inhaler. Really scary stuff.
I was diagnosed about 6 years ago with very slight asthma. Very slight. I take a pill every night and sometimes I nearly forget I am asthmatic at all. I occasionally use the inhaler when at high elevations or when I am hiking or exercising strenuously. But it is only on rare occasions that I need it.
I caught my breath enough to get us home and made it to work on Monday morning.

The entire day I felt as though there was an elephant lying on my chest.

After a doctors diagnosis, ruling out pneumonia, I left with an arsenal of medication and no real understanding of what it is I am fighting. Here I am on day 2- home from work, day 2- on antibiotics, day 2- inhalers twice a day, and day two sleeping 4 hours straight.

TMI moment: The antibiotics are causing bladder infection... the cough medicine makes me sick to my stomach and instantly puts me into such a deep slumber that I am among the dead. And Ironically, the inhalers throw me into a coughing fit until my ribs ache. - Good times

And I still cannot breathe normally.
All because I spoke too soon.
Tomorrow I will get myself to work and hope that the meds start to kick in. I wouldn't dare take the cough medicine. Codine has that effect on me.
Please let this chest cold / Asthma pass as the inversion and bring on the sunshine and blue skies.