Wednesday

So, I've been pretty busy the last few weeks, as you may have guessed, since I didn't update much. The primary reason is the spring musical at school. We had three deaf kids in the cast this year, the first time I think we've ever had deaf kids in the cast, and I was doing most of the interpreting for them. For much of the rehearsal time, I was only doing two days a week, but the last two weeks, I was there EVERY DAY after school. This is because I had to learn when the kids needed to be onstage and when they needed to come off, about costume changes, etc.

I didn't need to know all that so I could tell them- they all knew what they needed to do. I needed to be there because one of them, B, has Usher Syndrome. US is a genetic disorder in which one is deaf and eventually goes blind. It's never predictable as to how much vision one will lose, either. B has lost much of his peripheral vision already, and his night vision is very poor; this means he's legally blind, and will never be permitted to get a driver's license. B wanted me with them during all performances so I could serve as his sight guide getting him on and offstage- when the house lights go down, he can't see anything.

All around, it was an incredibly positive experience for them and for me. The theater kids proved very open to the idea of having deaf kids in the cast (B even had one line- he signed it while another boy onstage voiced it.) and to the idea of learning to sign. It's one of the few times I've interpreted an activity where the deaf kids didn't cluster together in a corner- they totally integrated themselves with the hearing kids! It was wonderful.

The performances went great as well; the Sunday matinee, the final performance, was SOLD OUT. It became standing room only because more and more people just kept showing up!

In a way, I'm kind of sad it's all over, but at the same time, I'm quite happy to have my life back. Darrel was picking up Frank at daycare every day, which meant he was there until 5:30pm most nights, as opposed to when I pick him up, when he's usually out of there by around 3pm. I got home most nights well after Frank was in bed, so I saw him for maybe a half hour in the morning.

I calculated how much OT pay I'll be getting, and I'll have plenty to get the powder room redone! Yay! :)

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I'm home today because Frank gave me pink eye. I am waiting for my doctor's office to open at 9am so I can call and get an appointment. I have been sick kind of the last several days, trying to fight off a cold, and I think it's bordering on a sinus infection, so I probably would have tried to get an appointment before the end of the week, anyway, but it annoys me that I have to take a sick day for stupid pink eye.

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We have an Army base about two miles from my house. Every once in a while, we hear a BOOM from that direction; I don't know what they set off, but it's pretty loud. We also have blasting going on out on route 80, for construction. So I get the BOOMs from both directions. Anyway, I don't know which I just heard, but it scared the crap out of me, and it shook the house!

Hm, maybe it was another earthquake...some people said the first two felt simply like an explosion...