Hi Mom and family,
Monday I felt tired all over again. Except for doing a little pruning, weeding and watering on the far side of the lot across the street, I didn't feel up to much.
Working with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club usually revives me, but instead we had the worst rehearsal in recent memory.
It seems that sometime during the spring season of the drama club, there is one rehearsal when everything goes wrong, and this was it. The kids were all bored with their parts. Two of the eight member cast were picked up early by their parents (although all the parents received a letter when their kid joins which says when rehearsals are, and that attendance is important). The two six-year olds in the group had gotten in trouble earlier and been denied their usual afternoon snack, and they pronounced themselves so exhausted that they lay down on the floor and said their lines that way!
Then, half-way through my alloted hour, another parent came to pick up her daughter early, marching purposefully across the huge room to where we were rehearsing on the stage area.
I asked her if she could wait until we'd finished rehearsing.
"Well," she said in a cutting tone, "Last Monday I waited until 6:30 to pick her up, and you weren't even here!"
(As you remember, I was flying home from California last Monday.)
"I only get to have her four days a week," the girl's mother said, "so I don't get that much time with her."
"Mrs. Clark was in California," several girls said in my defense. The lady rolled her eyes, as if to say, "Well, some people can afford to go to California."
"Sure, totally understand, go ahead, take her," I said. But somehow the encounter took the wind out of my sails. I sat down and tears started coming to my eyes.
"I think I'm going to cry," I said, and the kids all immediately rushed to get into their places!
Almost of them were genuinely sympathetic, now that they could see how frustrated I really was, except one girl. (I've had to talk to this girl in the past about laughing when other kids make mistakes.) She was eyeing me with a speculative gleam in her eye, as if she were thinking, "Is our drama coach really going to cry, what fun!"
(I didn't give her the satisfaction.)
When we practiced the little dance number they are doing, they all revived, including, miraculously, the "starving" six-year-olds!
Tuesday morning I had an appointment for my annual physical. (As you remember, I had my bloodwork done last week.) I dreaded going to this physical, because I haven't been feeling any energy, and I've gained weight since the last time I went, and I've only been taking my prescriptions an average of four days a week.
I was really surprised when he begain showering me with praise! "Everything looks better," he said. "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!"
"It must be all the walking," I said. I was quite jubilant, but thought to myself, 'Well, no matter what you say, I don't want to keep eating like a garbage can.'
I really do still want to lose the weight I've put on. The stomach really gets in the way when you've gotten used to not having it. And my face looks more....matronly would be the word, I guess. When I'm this much heavier and there's an extra half-inch of flesh around the chin line. Pretty weird to be 68 and not want to look "matronly".
"You are the first doctor here I really like," I told him, truthfully. "I got so attached to Mary Quihuis, the nurse-practitioner, and was upset when Medicare dictated that I must go to one of the doctors instead of her. But it's all right, because I really like you."
"That's very nice of you to say," he said, as though he really meant it.
"They're all good doctors, it's just a personality thing, but still, it's nice," I said.
(One of those other doctors had told me, when I returned from Egypt with a broken ankle, that he couldn't see why anyone would ever go to Egypt.)
At my computer tutoring session, my tutor helped me get one of my song lyrics successfully copyrighted. (I copyrighted it as a "poem", so I wouldn't have to get into the issue of the fact that I sing it to a melody which someone else wrote) The process took the whole hour because the government form is so exacting. The other lyrics will take less time because they let him save the form on a template.
The melody I sing it to is an instrumental, ao the lyrics are totally original. Perfectly kosher to copyright them as a poem.
It will be more difficult to copyright the song translations I've done, and perhaps it won't be possible at all. Yes, I did compose the translation, but no, the ideas behind the lyrics came from the person who composed those original Spanish lyrics. I imagine that it would take hiring a lawyer, asking permission of the lyricist, etc.
It's too bad, because my two English verses to the famous Spanish song "Besame" are quite singable, and quite good, I think. Perhaps I'm glorifying myself, but I can see the possibility of someone having a huge hit with that song in English sopeaking countries, using my English verse and chorus, combined with the Spanish verse and chorus. And if someone were to have a huge hit singing the English verses I wrote, I should get some royalties. Nancy, maybe you could ask Wendell about this issue?
I'd decided that I was worried enough about the drama club's lack of progress that I'd go up to the Boys & Girls Club around 5:00 PM, every evening for the rest of this month. On the days we don't have rehearsals, I'll just help with homework and try to sneak a little memorization practice with the individual kids who had had to leave early when we'd had rehearsal. That way, I could at least feel that I'd done all I could to save our early-May performance.
Luckily for me, this year most of my drama club members were not participating in the club's soccer team, which practices on the days when I don't have rehearsals.
It was difficult to even go up to the club after my depressing experience the day before. But I left there feeling wonderful, because not only did we get some practice in, but I'd been able to do some crucial help with their homework. A couple of them really do have trouble doing it by themselves, and when their mom picks them up at 7PM, there can't be much time for her to help them with it at home.
One girl had to write a math word problem. I had her pick her favorite actress and write, "Selena Gomez had 293 lines to learn for her movie. She has learned 84 of them, how many does she still have to learn?"
"See," I told them, "Your favorite movie stars have to memorize lines, just like you are having to do."
Yesterday, Wednesday, I still felt really tired. It seemed to take all of my energy to drive into Tempe for my Arabic lesson. I left the lesson early so that I could stop by the house and let Ziggy out for a bit in the yard, before going up to the drama club rehearsal. (Dale Sr. having gone fishing with Cam and Jerry.)
The good thing about Wednesday was I finally started eating the kind of meal which will allow me to lose weight, because it occurred to me that poor eating habits could be causing my lack of energy. My "go-to" weight-loss meal is a potato and vegetables boiled in broth, with 200 calories of protein added. Filling, and it tasted really good to me! I made enough for two meals, and ate half of it before going into town and half of it when I stopped by the house between Tempe and the Boys & Girls Club.
Here's a photo of the Boys & Girls Club:
And one of kids playing a raucous game of "Dodge-Ball"
I was so tired when I got out of there that I could hardly summon the energy to stop by Safeway to get the coffee I needed for the following morning. I sure hope I get my energy back soon.
I remember that Daddy had a virus once for which the only symptom was a great deal of fatigue. I've had such periods of fatigue three or four times in the past....one of them lasted an entire month.
Love,
Lennie
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