No Time for Resting

Not when you are 17 years old with a determination to kick cancer's butt.

See, she had her chemo last Thursday, early in the morning. (She did find a little girl to share another stuffed animal with.) The reason she had it early in the morning was because we reasoned that all she had going on with CCSD Honor Choir and school functions, this would provide her with some time to rest before doing all that.

Was there, perhaps, some flaw in that thinking?

Well, she still was in a lot of pain the next day, but she was determined to do the things she had going on the next day, even if she was completely doped up on narcotics. It's not like she would be the only kid in school that day high on drugs, right?

What did she have going on?

This week was kind of "College Week" for choir. On Wednesday, she had the opportunity, with the choir to work with a Dr. Shankman (no, not Venkman) from NYU.

I didn't put a picture with Peter...I mean Ira - because this is Matti's blog, not his.

For Friday, to start, she had the Choir Senior Showcase. It's a day when many schools that like to recruit from LVA come to see who is graduating this year and watch them perform a little. This year there were 14 schools. If they like what they hear and see, the kids are invited to "call backs" later in the day, where they meet one-on-one with the representative from that school. Yeah, it's an audition - for college acceptance and head starts on scholarships.

And Matti was called back for 5 of the colleges represented - by 2 she really wanted to be, in particular. Would you like to know why? Watch these: (I had to make two files for each performance due to Blogger's file size limits)

Yes, by the way, it made me very nervous watching the video with her standing right on the edge of that 4 inch step.

One of her call backs.

Whether or not you recognize it, she is clearly affected by the chemo and the rest of the drugs. But she was still able to bring an outstanding performance. If you enjoyed those performances, imagine if she was not weakened from months of chemotherapy and narcotics and other crap in her system.

One would think she would be done, but, no. It's Friday, for crying out loud. And she only has 2 chemo sessions left. And it's Halloween season.

So that means...Halloween Party! With the Academy Singers!!

Ever since we saw "Inside Out" this summer, she wanted to be Joy for Halloween. And, thankfully, she had a friend in the choir who wanted to be a fellow character - Disgust. Check out these precious gems:

She is so intent on being her character, even through all she is currently feeling. (And, perhaps, the narcotics help.) But let's face it, she pretty much exudes the character she dressed as.

She crashed all day Saturday and Sunday.

But alas, on Monday, school beckoned, as did Honor Choir that night. Earlier last week, she had auditioned for the opportunity to audition for a solo in the concert. (Read that again, yes it says what it says.) I wish I had video of that, but she did awesome, of course. She was one of the five selected to be able to audition for the guest director (Dr. Copley from NAU). So, last night, she auditioned for Dr. Copley. I have the video for that, but because Matti doesn't love it, I am not posting it here. She was satisfied with what she was able to give, but she didn't love it.

Just a still of the line-up as she is getting ready to sing.

However, I will tell you, having watched the video and being the tough critic for such things that many know me to be, she did a great job. And while I didn't see the other 4 girls, I understand Dr. Copley's position in selecting the person for the solo. I don't think we look at it as cancer taking away the solo from Matti, because even with all that, she was still one of the top five selected for the opportunity.

Also, she completed the 1st quarter with a decent GPA, to boot. Because...Matti.

Two more. As in one more than one. In other words - 2.