The Inevitable....

Why, oh why does it always seem to happen this way?

Tonight is the big Christmas production being put on by the Pine Valley Players, a division of the Mountain Empire Creative Arts Council. My parents and my brother and his two kiddos are coming up the mountain from the coast to meet us for dinner at Major's, a fun 1950's diner and one of the two restaurants in our town (if one doesn't count the drive-thru Frosty Burger). E and J are in the play, with J providing music with the Free Teen Guitar Class for half an hour before curtain. T helped make props (especially the Christmas goose) and he and B are slated to be ushers. I'm the House Manager, in charge of the ushers, the doors, making the obligatory cell phone announcement, etc.

So of course, two things have occurred to damper the day. The first is rain. The hall at the Pine Valley Christian Conference Center does not have a green room, so the actors have to huddle around heaters outside between scenes. We're attempting to put up canopies at the front and rear of the hall for the actors. The temperatures by curtain time are supposed to be in the high 30's. We're praying that the rain, scheduled as a 50% chance during the hours of the play, will wait until AFTER the play has ended. The actors also have to enter from different doors so could get quite wet and have to ramp through mud. Not good.

Then T felt quite ill last night, and by bedtime had been sick. And he has been sick a total of nine times overnight. So much for his seeing the play, being the usher, and I've had to call my brother and tell him not to bring his kids over early to play with our kids. Keith will videotape the play so T can watch it later. But I'm sad for him and am praying that no one else gets sick, especially my two actors. At least until after the play tonight,,,,

So somehow when we have big family plans, something always happens -- especially illness. Sigh. It almost always happens to one of us or another....