Nice Weekend, Though I'm Still Tired

Hi Mom and family,

I'm writing this Monday morning, it's almost six, pale dawn outside and the birds are chirping.

Saturday I was really tired all day, from that nine-mile walk Friday. I'd been unusually tired all week, so much so that I was beginning to suspect I had some sort of low-grade virus. But maybe I was just still tired from the go-go-go all of March.

 So Saturday  was pretty much a wasted day, except that I had a great chat with my friend Laure at Starbuck's in the late afternoon. She brought me a lovely pair of earrings she had made from Czech glass beads and silver filigree, and she had lots of news.

She has been interning for hours after work every week-day, and some of the weekend also, at the Jewish Family and Children Services in Phoenix. Most of her clients are more comfortable being counseled in Spanish (she's fluent). The agency has offered her a full-time counseling position there starting immediately. But in order to take it, Laure faced possible penalties for breaking her contract with Apache Junction Unified School District #43.

She was able to reduce the damages by pointing out, in a letter to the school board, that as the school district is facing staff cuts (budget reasons)  her leaving would save another teacher's job. One of my favorite former bosses, Dottie Hunt, who is now working in our local district administration offices, helped her write the letter.

Laure had to go to a school board meeting, plead her case, and wait outside in the hall while the school board consulted "in executive session". What a relief to her that their decision was to be as lenient with her as the rules allow. She will of course get less retirement money in the end, than if she had finished out her career at the local school district.

She wants us to give a party, on an evening in mid-June, in honor of her graduation from her counseling program. (Dale Sr. said "yes, of course.") She and I will sing some songs, her son Xander will sing a duet with her and also do a short comedy bit (he's been doing some stand-up comedy at local comedy club jams).

Laure was the one who encouraged me to give our first large party, about a decade ago.  I'd always thought would be cool to be the sort of person who gives parties, but feared I did not have the personality for it. But because she said we should give a party together, I said I'd give it a try. We set the date a few months away to give us time to practice some songs to perform  at it. That was when we built the little stage in the back yard.

Then, the party still several months away (I'm still describing ten years ago) Laure had a severe bout of depression. Because she was going through stress, her psychiatrist had suggested she take leave from work for a while. Not a good call, because not working, for Laure, was the worst thing possible. She would sit in the dark all day and cry, and our weekly singing practices were one of her few social outlets.

But she pulled herself together for the party, which turned out great. Shortly after that her sick leave money ran out, and she went back to work, which lifted her out of the depression! She's a gifted teacher; it's what keeps her going. (She also thinks that her psychiatrist got the medication wrong for that black period of her life; medication is crucial for her because she is manic-depressive without it.)

That was all many years ago. Since then, Dale Sr. and I have given quite a few large parties, and they've really added to our lives. Dale Sr. wasn't sure about them at first, but when he found out how much his friends appreciated his cooking and hospitality, he started really enjoying them. A wonderful thing that happens at our parties is that Dale Jr. and Jerry usually play a few songs.

Back to the present, and our Saturday chat. We talked about her taking photos of me (as soon as I lose this blasted ten pounds I put back on in March) in dance costume, to use for my dance meetup page photo. (She's a great photographer.) Some of the "meetups"I have started have gone well, but I haven't had hardly any response to my meetup for older women who are interested in getting back into middle eastern dance. A nice photo up at the top, of me in dance costume, might help.

 I also told her, with some hesitation, because it's an admittedly frivolous idea, that I am also interested in starting a meetup about "fashion and fitness for the woman over fifty". To my surprise, Laure, who is 55, expressed interest in being part of such a group. She suggested the name, "Silver Style" which I thought was really good. And it is so much easier to start a meetup if a friend is doing it with you.

After our chat, we went to the huge, newly-opened "Arizona Gifts" store a few blocks away. I had heard that it was a great source for beads, but had never stopped in there. It's quite a place. The owner is a middle-aged Asian man.

 
Yesterday morning, Sunday, I still felt very tired. But I had to pull it together and work on the house a bit, because I had a music meetup in the afternoon. I also made some bean soup and went to Safeway for some wine and bread and cheese.

The music jam "meetup" turned out to be really fun. Only Laure and I and one other guy had rsvp'd, but two other regulars, quite good musicians and enthusiastic and fun, also showed up. We started strong from the "git-go" and played and sung for three hours.

 
Love,
Lennie