I woke up pretty early this morning – around 6:30 am – rarin’ to get out of bed and ready to go to work. It’s Friday, last day at work, and I just want to get this day done and over with as soon as possible. Can’t wait to get to the weekend!
After a few minutes, Aya got out of bed and looked for me. I thought it was unusual for her to wake up so early in the morning – usually, I have to create a grand ruckus in our bedroom just to wake her up. But today was different. She spoke hoarsely. Then when my hand touched her skin – yikes! She felt so hot. I knew instantly that she has fever. I measured her body temperature, and the thermometer gave a reading of 38.0 C.
Sigh. So much for my Friday. I sent emails to our group telling them that I won’t be coming in for work. 🙁 Hey, work will always be there. Right now, my daughter needs me more than my work does. But I guess, I could also view it this way: I got my weekend earlier than I thought. 🙂
And so here I am, stuck in the house, caring for a sick daughter, and what do you know, finally getting to do some of the things that I’ve been postponing for a long time. Like cleaning our kitchen (the oil deposits are getting thicker by the day, and it’s been months since I cleaned the area!), tinkering with our new PC’s media center (thanks to Baggy who has been patiently setting up our new PC; Windows Vista has been a real pain in the ass, but now we can just sit back and enjoy) and uploading some pics and videos. Anyway, I realized that I have yet to blog about Aya’s first stage performance. I had been meaning to do this since last month!
And so, without further ado, here is a video clip taken during the musical performance by Aya’s group at the music school. The title of their performance is “Syamu Neko Kyodai.” In the performance, two different classes were actually joined together, although this was the one and only time that they saw each other and performed together. In Aya’s class, the kids had to practice singing and doing the actions for several weeks prior to the performance.
The tail that Aya wore for the performance was made out of one of her long socks, which was stuffed with soft yarn, sewn at top and fitted with a garter so she can wear it on her waist. I made it, of course. 🙂 Anyone interested in custom-made cat tails for kids? 😉
The stage was awesome – I didn’t expect it be so huge. And there was even a professional emcee – wow! Much to my delight, Aya didn’t show any signs of stage fright, unlike the other kid who held on to her mom for dear life (look for the girl at the leftmost side). Wow, I’m feeling like a stage mom already. 🙂 We stayed a bit longer to watch the older kids perform, just to get an idea of what Aya would be doing when she moves on to the higher class. We learned that the older kids get to play on the piano by themselves, cool!
This was the song they sang in Japanese:
シャム猫兄弟
全部で五匹
シロ、クロ、ミケ、ブチ、最後にトラ
チーズケーキを見つけると
仲良し兄弟
喧嘩しちゃう
シロ（シロ）、クロ（クロ）、ミケ、ブチ（ミケ、ブチ）、トラ（トラ）
シロ、クロ、ミケ、ブチ、トラ
シャム猫兄弟
お昼寝してる
シロ、クロ、ミケ、ブチ、最後にトラ
みんなくっついて寝てるから
ふわふわの毛布みたい
シロ（シロ）、クロ（クロ）、ミケ、ブチ（ミケ、ブチ）、トラ（トラ）
シロ、クロ、ミケ、ブチ、トラ
シャムは一匹もいないけど
シロ、クロ、ミケ、ブチ、トラ
And here is my rather clumsy attempt at translating it into English:
Siamese cat siblings
All in all five of them
Shiro, Kuro, Mike, Buchi and lastly Tora
When they chance upon a cheesecake
Chummy siblings will go on a fight
Shiro (shiro), Kuro (Kuro), Mike Buchi (Mike Buchi), Tora (Tora)
Shiro, Kuro, Mike, Buchi, Tora
Siamese cat siblings
Taking an afternoon nap
Shiro, Kuro, Mike, Buchi and lastly Tora
All of them sleeping close together
They look like soft blankets
Shiro (shiro), Kuro (Kuro), Mike Buchi (Mike Buchi), Tora (Tora)
Shiro, Kuro, Mike, Buchi, Tora
None of them became a Siamese
Shiro, Kuro, Mike, Buchi, Tora