why me? why _now_??

So... five days before I need to be able to sing in the Winter Solstice celebration, I've got a raging case of bronchitis and it brought it's little friend laryngitis to the party too.

*sigh*

Such lovely timing. I managed to squeak (in some cases, literally) my way through rehearsal this afternoon, and was pleased to discover that if I don't sing _much_ I can still get through the small group number "Kore Evohe" (which is lovely, and which has been done by the Women's Chorus small ensemble for the last two years... this is the first year we've had enough strong voices to do it without bringing in "ringers" :-) ).

So tomorrow I go to work and put a sign on my door and a tag on my shirt saying "Don't make me talk to you" and I cross my fingers and hope that I can salvage enough voice to sing for an hour on Friday.

(For those readers in the Indy area... the Winter Solstice celebration will be at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis, 43rd & Sunset. Arrive early... armbands will be given out and only 300 people can get into the sanctuary per fire code. Feasting, bonfire and other fun will take place afterwards, including a procession to the bonfire with the Yule Log. It's a beautiful ritual... highly recommended!)

so not ready for Christmas...

So... how're everybody else's holiday plans and shopping coming along?

I need to hear success stories, 'cause I'm soooooo behind.

At current, I have everything for one (of the four) members of my family. One more is on its way and should (Amazon Prime willing) be here on Tuesday. One thing isn't available and I'll have to actually physically Go Shopping (eek!!) in order to find a replacement. At least one thing, and possibly two, both for the same person, have the potential to be late. Oh joy. *sigh*

Of the things that are here, everything is under the tree but nothing is actually wrapped. For most of the gifts, I don't have boxes of appropriate sizes, so I may have to go buy gift boxes before I can proceed w/ wrapping.

I have things for some of my bandmates but not for all. Must remedy that at some point too.

The family is supposed to be converging on a cabin in the mountains in West Virginia on Saturday, but my sister's on the injured-reserve list and may not be able to make the trip, which would be a serious bummer. I'm supposed to be taking things to contribute towards various meals... I suppose I should find that spreadsheet and remind myself of what I need to pick up at the store!

On the plus side, I have a tree this year, with decorations and lights and everything. It's small, but so far the cats haven't pulled it over so I'm counting that as a success! And I'm going to have a canine passenger for most of the trip east, as A&B English Setter Rescue has a female Setter who needs to move east from Cincinnati, so she's going to join Chase and I for the ride... so I get to be useful and festive. :-)

Now I'm going to go stare at the presents and see if I can come up with ways to wrap some of them. I'm almost afraid to... they're going to be much more tempting "toys" for the cats once they have paper and ribbons and stuff...