Ha ha (again)

Thank you Mystery. I accidentally scheduled painting classes on the anniversary of my dad's death. This has happened before and unfortunately, it seemed like it was going to happen again. This time, however, I also seemed to miss the fact that it was Veteran's Day as well. (Smaller holidays seem to elude me.) Anyway, my marching band babysitter cancelled because she is preforming in the parade. Then we ended up rescheduling everyone. Even though it was painting and there is nothing I love more than painting (especially with these kids) I'm glad to have the tomorrow mostly to myself.

But today has been good, besides the crying in the shower at the gym, and a little crying on the couch while addie took a nap, I feel ok.

More review. I played basketball again today at the gym and am loving it. I've played 3 times in the last week and all sorts of memories come flooding in every time I play. My childhood, the victories, the rivalries, the falling short, reading about myself in the papers, the running, the shooting, the endless drills, the pre-game warmup, my parents screaming from the bleachers, wearing my uniform to school on game days. As I shoot around, I imagine myself playing again with others. What would that be like? I love playing sports so much, but I am deeply afraid of injury. It makes me hesitate to get involved because I am naturally "aggressive"(as my dad would say) and tend to jump right in, head first (Aries). For now, I'll continue my strength training, running, and shooting-around but I'm seriously considering putting "The Final Countdown" (by Europe) on my ipod. That 80s gem, with that long-ass intro, plays in my head every time I touch a basketball. When the singing finally starts, all I want to do is a Lay-up. In the present tense, I am thrilled when "Let's get it started" by the Black Eyed Peas plays. That's my current PUMP ME UP song.

Finally, the painting. This was done by a 7 year old boy who is both a family friend and one of my painting student. He loves to paint. His whole being lights up when he holds a paint brush. The day he painted this was a big day in the studio, with extra kids dropping in to check it out. On that day, the ongoing students just went straight to painting while I introduced the painting table to the new kids. At one point, I looked over at this fella and he was smiling from ear to ear. For whatever reason, he was so delighted with what he had just painted. Who knows what it was, but it was something. We caught eyes, we smiled knowingly at each other and then we went back to work. That is why I teach painting the way that I do - for pleasure, self-discover and joy.