Ian actually got to perform twice yesterday. Once with the third graders (when did he get so big?) and once with his school chorus for which he is finally old enough for (when did he get so big?). He was, by far, the most gorgeous and talented kid up there. Of course.
Ian goes to Hamlin Street Elementary School. He is very lucky because his local public school is providing him everything he needs to be successfully educated.
That's ironic because Los Angeles Unified School District is well known for not administrating their schools well and it's a system of haves and have-nots. In the well-to-do and politically affluent neighborhoods, the public schools have all the bells and whistles. In the others, the schools are left to languish. Adele has been highly involved over the years in Hamlin's fund raising efforts. Unfortunately, it caters to the less-than-monied crowd and it has been struggling along. The families who's kids attend there are all working people, solidly middle class. Many ethnicities and cultures. A lot of the kids are newly arrived from other countries and learn to speak english in school.
The school is poor. I remember last year how Adele told me they had to steal money from the general education fund (for books and educational supplies) because they did not have enough money is the maintenance fund to even keep the bathrooms clean and stocked with toilet paper. Where I've been generally supportive of Richard Simmons Ask America PE in Schools campaign, I also understand Adele's point. She does not want PE in their school because the playground has not been refurbished since 1950 when the school was built and consists of a lot of antiquated and suspect equipment on a blacktop surface which has baked in the sun for almost 60 years. Lots of bad scrapes, cuts & bruises, and even broken bones happen on that playground every month. Who would want their kids to be put into such a dangerous environment?
Yet, if you look at the faces on the stage, you don't see anything suspect. All of the kids are happy and good. All of the kids were well taught and were doing their best. Look around the auditorium and you see an audience well-packed with excited and supportive parents who want their kids to do well. Look at the staff and you see the pride of teachers who are doing their jobs well.
border=0> Makes you kind of think. Of course I would like to see more resources poured into Ian's school and every school in America. In the world, even. But based on what I see in Ian and at the Holiday performance, an education can be had even in less than the best of circumstances when the attitudes are right.
I finished another different kind of project. A leather medicine bag on which I affixed a beaded bezel cabechon before stitching it together. Ironically, the best thread to sew these things together - per my teacher Shelly - is waxed dental floss. I used minty fresh floss. No, you could not smell the mint once the bag was sewn.
I seem to becomming very forgetful as of late. I'm not sure whether it's because of health issues, not sleeping well, or maybe it's that old middle-aged thing creeping in. But I know that on a couple of occasions over the past few weeks, I've put my laundry out in the machines, put my money in, and then walked away without starting them. And then there was the keys thing. I have a place in my condo where my keys always go. On a hook where I also hang my purse over the coat closet door in the living room. I haven't lost a set of keys in 15 years because of this system. Until the day before yesterday.
When I realized they were missing (fortunately, I have an extra set, albeit without the button that allows me access to my car without - gasp - having to insert the key into the lock on the door to open it) I figured they had to be around the condo somewhere. So I systematically looked and did not find them. 24 hours later, I still had not located 'em, so I did the unthinkable. I started cleaning up. First the living room, then the studio, and finally the bedroom. I went through all of my pants and jacket pockets, thinking that maybe I left them in there. I remade my bed, hoping that perhaps I had tossed them there and they were mixed in the covers. Nothing.
I thought really long and hard. When, exactly, was the last time I saw them? I knew I had them when I took Sunny for his walk up Ventura Blvd. I used them to get into my mailbox on the way back in. I must have had them for Cosmos's walk (immediately following Sunny) too, although I didn't remember them specifically there. Worried that - in my forgetfulness - that I might have left them suspended in the box or in the laundry room, I walked outside of my unit. Nothing.
I considered calling the management office of my condo to see if they had been turned in, but decided to wait out of embarassment. And ended up being glad that I did. It had occured to me that perhaps I had tossed them into the basket where I keep the dogs toys and leashes when I took it off of Cosmos. And there they were.
Whew! What a relief. But it still leaves me worried. Why am I suddenly so forgetful? Is it something to be concerned about? Or is this normal?
1 comment:
I think we all have those forgetful momments and what's worse is what you are looking for is staring you right in the face for the last hour while you about go into meltdown. It's almost as if it's taunting you, challenging you. Hang in there girl
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