Well, Holy Week has come and gone. I'm afraid I was a bit of an underachiever when it came to attending the various church services. There's Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and at least two Easter services most years... and of those, I went to exactly one: I was scheduled to do sound (run microphones, attend to volume levels, etc), so I went to that service as I normally would.
Naturally, it was fancier than usual. More instruments, more people, and more complicated music. My church has a habit of doing a rendition of the Hallelujah chorus each year, complete with timpanis (kettle drums), trumpets, and such. They also invite the congregation, many of whom are musically literate, to sing along. They provide music scores and everything.
However, I'm almost invariably at the sound board at Easter, for one reason or another. So this year, like many years before it, I took my copy of the music and sang the tenor part by my lonesome, from the back. I'm sure it sounds kind of strange, a low but not-as-well-supported-as-a-man's-voice singing along with the men. But the tenor part is kind of high, honestly, and there never seem to be enough men to sing the part. So that was how I was allowed to learn it, years ago when I took part in a community choir for a year.
Beyond the church service, there were a couple family events that I was invited to. There was a Sunday brunch that went fairly well, save that I was low on energy and emotionally upset for reasons unrelated to the brunch. It was a semiformal affair, which meant fancy clothes, which normally means discomfort. And admittedly, my shoes were uncomfortable. But thankfully, the rest of my outfit wasn't. Back a year and a half ago, I needed a fancyish outfit that wasn't a dress, and one of Chris' aunts was kind enough to help me shop for one. I have then proceeded to wear it pretty often, because it's nice-looking and formal but I don't hate it. The other event was another dinner, so kind of similar, but with more people.
Other than those two things, Easter was pretty unremarkable. There was no Easter egg hunt. Nobody got me chocolate. I didn't prank anyone's stuff by hiding Easter candy in it. I used to do that last thing every year when I was in college. I thought it was boring that I didn't get to have Easter egg hunts in college, so I made my own. It had triple upsides: it was simple and low effort to do, it made the person happy, and it continued to make them happy as the year went on, because they invariably never found all the candy the first time. So they'd keep finding pieces of chocolate the rest of the year, especially after finals when it was time to pack their things up. I kind of miss doing that, but it's not like I could sneak into some college student's room just to hide candy everywhere. That would be all kinds of creepy.
Anyway, in lieu of being given candy, I proceeded to buy my own after the holiday, when it was 50% off. There's never as much selection that way, but on the bright side, I did get several pounds of candy for less than $15, so as long as I can ration it, I'll be good for a while.
On a less comforting note, I had some x-rays done at my chiropractic place after I was told a particular type of adjustment isn't supposed to hurt... and it turns out my hips are crooked. One is higher than the other on the x-ray, and twisted around a bit, too. The doctor seems to think this isn't a huge problem, but he does think it explains the pain. So now I have stretches to do, and I have to learn to stop sleeping on my side. I wasn't clear if the stretching was every day, or just after exercises... but either way I'll be doing it at least 5 days a week, so surely that will help. I hope.
Other than the hip oddity, my lower back seems well spaced and lined up, though, so that's something to be thankful for. I'm not sure how well I'm going to manage only sleeping on my back. I managed it last night, but it was only with great effort. It feels like my back gets "flat" or something, and it's much more comfortable to flip between sleeping on my side and sleeping on my back. But it's probably a doable change... I used to sleep on my front and had to break myself of that habit because of the bad things it was doing to my neck.
Naturally, it was fancier than usual. More instruments, more people, and more complicated music. My church has a habit of doing a rendition of the Hallelujah chorus each year, complete with timpanis (kettle drums), trumpets, and such. They also invite the congregation, many of whom are musically literate, to sing along. They provide music scores and everything.
However, I'm almost invariably at the sound board at Easter, for one reason or another. So this year, like many years before it, I took my copy of the music and sang the tenor part by my lonesome, from the back. I'm sure it sounds kind of strange, a low but not-as-well-supported-as-a-man's-voice singing along with the men. But the tenor part is kind of high, honestly, and there never seem to be enough men to sing the part. So that was how I was allowed to learn it, years ago when I took part in a community choir for a year.
Beyond the church service, there were a couple family events that I was invited to. There was a Sunday brunch that went fairly well, save that I was low on energy and emotionally upset for reasons unrelated to the brunch. It was a semiformal affair, which meant fancy clothes, which normally means discomfort. And admittedly, my shoes were uncomfortable. But thankfully, the rest of my outfit wasn't. Back a year and a half ago, I needed a fancyish outfit that wasn't a dress, and one of Chris' aunts was kind enough to help me shop for one. I have then proceeded to wear it pretty often, because it's nice-looking and formal but I don't hate it. The other event was another dinner, so kind of similar, but with more people.
Other than those two things, Easter was pretty unremarkable. There was no Easter egg hunt. Nobody got me chocolate. I didn't prank anyone's stuff by hiding Easter candy in it. I used to do that last thing every year when I was in college. I thought it was boring that I didn't get to have Easter egg hunts in college, so I made my own. It had triple upsides: it was simple and low effort to do, it made the person happy, and it continued to make them happy as the year went on, because they invariably never found all the candy the first time. So they'd keep finding pieces of chocolate the rest of the year, especially after finals when it was time to pack their things up. I kind of miss doing that, but it's not like I could sneak into some college student's room just to hide candy everywhere. That would be all kinds of creepy.
Anyway, in lieu of being given candy, I proceeded to buy my own after the holiday, when it was 50% off. There's never as much selection that way, but on the bright side, I did get several pounds of candy for less than $15, so as long as I can ration it, I'll be good for a while.
On a less comforting note, I had some x-rays done at my chiropractic place after I was told a particular type of adjustment isn't supposed to hurt... and it turns out my hips are crooked. One is higher than the other on the x-ray, and twisted around a bit, too. The doctor seems to think this isn't a huge problem, but he does think it explains the pain. So now I have stretches to do, and I have to learn to stop sleeping on my side. I wasn't clear if the stretching was every day, or just after exercises... but either way I'll be doing it at least 5 days a week, so surely that will help. I hope.
Other than the hip oddity, my lower back seems well spaced and lined up, though, so that's something to be thankful for. I'm not sure how well I'm going to manage only sleeping on my back. I managed it last night, but it was only with great effort. It feels like my back gets "flat" or something, and it's much more comfortable to flip between sleeping on my side and sleeping on my back. But it's probably a doable change... I used to sleep on my front and had to break myself of that habit because of the bad things it was doing to my neck.
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