A Future American Idol? And Other Stuff . . .

I am trying very hard to get rid of the headache that has been with me since I woke up - an hour later than usual. That's all it takes for me to wake up with a headache - sleeping in for an hour. Of course, going to bed very late probably didn't help. But I rarely have one last more than a few minutes.

I was trying to finish my book - Echoes by Maeve Binchy. I hadn't read one of her books in quite awhile, so checked out two recently. But in the meantime, the latest Marcia Muller mystery came in - I always place my order for books I want to read at my library by computer, they hunt them up (or order them), put them on a shelf for me, send me an e-mail that it's in, and I run in and check them out at the do-it-yourself computer - neat and tidy. That's how I get all of my books - some I have to wait for quite awhile, because they are being ordered by many others. And you only get to keep them for 3 weeks and can't renew. So I had to hurry and read that new book before I could get back to Echoes. In the meantime, I thought I could easily renew Echoes - who would ever guess that someone else, at the very same time, would decide they want to read a 1985 book and put it on hold?? So now I'm scrambling to finish this book and get it in before the fine gets too big.

So back to the headache - it is also not helped by the fact that last Sunday when we walked to the park with the girls, I put my glasses in my pocket in a soft case, then ended up holding one of the babes on that hip, thereby bending my glasses. I have not successfully bent them back, and need to get to an optician for help. I am not seeing correctly. I am feeling a bit better now that we went to our favorite Chinese place for lunch - maybe it's the MSG (ha!), or maybe it's the hot tea. We took two trips out to the recycle lot with our dead leaves, and here's another bit of HOPE showing up in the newly cleaned out flower beds.






EDIT: I just spent the last 3 hours sleeping off the headache that returned - it's still not completely gone - go figure! Well, onward and forward!

If you have grandkids in school, you know that you get to go to many events involving the kiddoes. I would never miss one, if at all possible. But sometimes it's a bit excruciating. Like last night - it was "Talent Show Night" at Care Bear's school. It began with a soup and salad dinner for $3.50. It was really good - the rolls were to die for. They had brought the goods from a great little restaurant in town. You couldn't eat anywhere that well for that price. It was fun watching Care Bear on her turf. She is quite the social butterfly. She was really working the crowd. That's her cousin that I've cropped out, for family dynamics purposes. Too bad, because she looked adorable. Care Bear is dressed in a gorgeous gown borrowed from said cousin. And Auntie did her hair. She was in the show - thus, my presence. More about that later.











Care Bear and her cousin decided at a bit of the last minute that they were going to do a routine of some sort in the show. Cousin decided, probably wisely, that they didn't have time to do it well, so she dropped out. Care Bear is the kind of kid that once she gets something in her head, she does not let it drop easily, no matter how logically you argue for commonsense or necessity. So Kristen suggested that she do something with her artistic ability, which meant Grandpa took a trip to the Dollar Store for some poster board, then out to their house.

The big moment arrived. The principal stood there until everyone settled down. There were about 25 "acts" to come - Care Bear was #19. No chance of escaping early! There were about 3 that were really creative and enjoyable - I missed the most popular one, based on the sound of the applause I heard while I was taking a bathroom break - a little guy doing a hula hoop routine. The 4th or 5th grade girl who sang the national anthem was pretty amazing - once she got the right key going. She started out a bit high on the first phrase, then corrected herself - she did it acappella and I was impressed. She later did another song, this one with accompaniment, and if she keeps it up, she could be a future AI contender. Then there were the two probably 5th grade boys whose performance was less than stellar, but their idea was at least unique - one jumped with a pogo stick and the other used an upside down crutch to hop around. There were a couple of quick piano renditions. Here are the suggestions I would make for next year, if they would appreciate input from a grandma whose been around:

1. Require try-outs, not just sign-ups. They wouldn't have to eliminate anyone, but at least they'd know what to expect.
2. Strictly stick to the two-minute requirement. The first 5 acts took 30 minutes - not a good sign for a tired bunch of parents, grandparents, and babies!
3. Introduce them by name AND grade level.
4. Have a portable stage made by some dad or grandpa, so that the audience can see what's going on.
5. Require them to sing age-appropriate songs. Surprisingly, nobody did Hannah Montana, but Brittney's "Circus" was one of the choices.
   
6. Don't let them sing WITH the star - we'd like to hear their own voices. I appreciated the two little girls who sang a duet acappella. And the boy and girl who sang together with an accompaniment tape.
   
   

Finally it was Care Bear's turn. She had rehearsed what she was going to say. It was a surprise for her cousin - a portrait in her honor. The principal announced her name and that she was sharing some of her art work; she trooped up there, took the rubber band off the poster board, and flipped it open. We had hoped he'd give her the microphone so that she could describe it. But it didn't happen. What did happen was adorable, and I didn't get a picture - her cousin jumped off the floor, ran up, and gave her a big hug. I have scratched out her name - for the above mentioned reason. I wish I was more savvy in figuring out how to blot it out, but I'm not.

It wasn't a contest, but meant for fun for the kids and the parents. She came out of there with all sorts of ideas for next year.








Well, I'm happy to say that the ibuprofen has kicked in and I finally feel better. I should have brought out the big guns from the start!

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