Ribbit

Thank goodness the teaching week is over. As you probably know, I love my job, but I'm still fighting this allergy thing. The worst part has gone away, but what I'm left with is a condition I call "bullfrog throat." It's not quite as bad as laryngitis (though that's how I sounded a few days ago), but it basically just makes me sound scratchy and allows only the lowest register of my voice to work.

What I really need, besides the usual rest and fluids, is a day without talking (those who know me well will go "yeah right, Kev, like you can do that!"). It is, of course, impossible to do that while teaching--not like I can just grunt and point. It also makes it difficult to sing in lessons; I can't sing anyway, and now I can't sing even worse, and it's about an octave below where it should be.

If I don't go anywhere tonight, that'll help a bit, as all my talking can be reserved for AIM, which won't tax my throat any further. Tomorrow I'm headed up to UNT for Homecoming, so there'll be a lot of talking as I run into lots of old college friends, and hopefully the game won't cause me to yell too much. Maybe on Sunday, after this 30-minute gig I'm playing in McKinney, I can rest the ol' vox-box some more.

Oh, and talk about cures gone awry: On Wednesday, I decided to bust out the scratchy-throat remedy I got from a vocalist friend in college: hot tea and honey. Unfortunately, I had neither of those things in the house, so I had to go get a little plastic bear full of honey (honey simply must be purchased in little plastic bears--no exceptions) and a box of tea bags. But stupid me--I forgot to buy the decaf tea! *slaps forehead* While you may know that I'm an admitted coffee addict in the morning, I try not to over-caffeinate myself the rest of the day. So imagine my frustration as I went to bed, after having four HT&H's since 3:00 that afternoon, and found myself so wired I couldn't sleep. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Needless to say, it hasn't been a great "change of seasons" on the allergy front; I think it's time to gripe at the allergy doc and trade in the $80 nasal spray for something that works. And hopefully the froggy thing will go (hop?) away soon...

QUOTE OF THE DAY (actually yesterday, but who's counting?): "If worship is a cake, then I'm the chocolate sprinkles."--Me, in an email to my worship leader about not being able to play this Sunday due to an earlier-than-expected gig. That really is my place as the saxophonist in a worship band--you could certainly do without it, but you might miss it if it's not there.