The Gifts

My last post got me thinking - as proud as I am of my daughter, I am equally proud of my son. Brian struggled through school, he was very bright, but just couldn't get the knowledge transferred to paper. He struggled but he graduated! Give him a clock or anything mechanical and he could take it apart and put it back together with no problem at all. Welding, shop classes - he excelled.

I have to admit that I worried about his being impulsive at times - how about being involved in setting a fire in a U.S. Post Office collection box, climbing a TALL, old fashioned TV antenna at age two (ending up on top of the two story farm house we lived in) or pulling out of a parking lot in front of a truck (he was on a bicycle) and ending up with a broken arm. The list goes on!

He would tease his little sister with no mercy. She could not walk past him without getting poked, pinched or tickled. But, he finally grew up!

He still takes things apart and puts them back together. Assembling sky-climbers and and other large construction equipment. One example was the equipment that hung the Chase sign on the "old Bank One" building. He is in a stable marriage (since 1994) to a great gal and is the proud Papa of an adorable two-year old. It has been a great joy to watch him become a husband and Daddy!

Again, a gift identified, encouraged, supported and appreciated.

I am so proud of my kids!

Rant & Rave

Rant & rave? Well no. The rant has been done, and I agree with much of it, but I am not going to rave either. I will just tell my blog a little about a success story. My daughter attended pre-K and Kindergarten at Hines and Franklin. The applications came out for the first classes to be held under the banner of Roosevelt Magnet School. The application was quickly filled out and returned. Leah was lucky. She was one of 47 "minority" students selected from outside the Roosevelt attendance area. She started first grade there the first year that the magnet program opened. They put a violin in that little first graders hands and the rest is history. She had always enjoyed her dance classes, but making music entered her soul - band (clarinet), orchestra and string ensemble (viola), jazz band (keyboard) and Treble Choir. She sang a solo for 8th grade graduation. Right after graduation, the Treble Choir went on a European tour! We got donations and I borrowed money, but music took her to Europe!!!

High school started and off to Woodruff she went. Again, band, orchestra, chorus and Jazz All-Stars. A trip to New Orleans for a band performance, a trip to the White House for a choral performance, strutted her stuff in plays and speech team and a second trip to Europe with the Jazz All-Stars. Heck, I have been as far as Windsor, Ontario Canada when it comes to being outside the U.S.A.

Off to Roosevelt University (Chicago College of Music) after high school. Darned if the orchestra didn't get the chance to go to Japan to perform! Graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree. She stayed in Chicago for another year before finding the teacher she wanted to study with. Only thing was, she had to pack up and move to Santa Barbara, CA to do it!! So she did. She worked for a year in order to establish residency, then started at Univ. of CA, Santa Barbara. Leah completed her Master of Music, Viola performance there. She stayed in California and worked at the university for a year until she decided to move to Detroit (for matters of the heart).

She is still doing music!

Moral of the story - my version. Every child has a gift. It is the responsibility of the parent (most of this time, I was a single parent) and the education system to find and nurture that gift. Whether it is music or math, engineering or plumbing, art or ditch digging, it is important to encourage, support and nurture "the Gift". I spent a lot of time being part of an audience and many District #150 educators and administrators encouraged and supported her efforts. It has not been that long since she graduated from District #150, many, if not most, of the problems that exist today were there then. Was it easy? No! Can it be done? Yes! It is up to the parent(s) to do their part - too many don't.

Me, Myself and I

Me, Myself and I have been holding a discussion, should I say argument? Retire - don't retire - retire - don't retire. The discussion has gone from one extreme to another. I think we have reached a decision (at least for now). The question has gone from "if" to "when". It has to be no later than December 31st. If I wait until January 1st, it severely impacts the number of vacation days that I would get a pay-out for. The discussion now is, do I want the pay-out in 2008 or 2009? I am starting to lean toward a 2008 pay-out. That way, I can pay my taxes and have it over with and it will not impact the amount I can earn in 2009 without losing part of the Social Security. Either way, they take taxes out of it, but it is a nice chunk of change!

Can't retire before November 1st, since I have to wait until the first month after my birthday so the cut in Social Security is not as bad (13 1/2% vs. 20%). I plan to live long enough to more than make up for the cut. There is risk involved. I will be without insurance for several months until Medicare kicks in and COBRA is too darned expensive. I will have to explore a private insurance for catastrophic illness, even though I have been very healthy for the last 11 years or so and take very only two prescriptions and one of them is $4.00 at Kroger's and the other one I can live without until it goes generic.

I will also be looking for part-time employment (something easy and with little or no stress). I can make it on Social Security and pension, but I like to "play" now and then!

Seven months! The countdown is on!

Meet Number 9

One of my older cats died on December 13th. I missed her and could not get accustomed to saying that I had eight cats. I had said nine for so long. I started making weekly trips to PAWS to find another feline that would say, "Take me home, please!" Patience paid off! A beautiful, long haired cat (previously named Moocow) had been surrendered by his owner. Sad for her, great for me. Not sure about his new name, but a friend suggested Zorro - with the mask and cape, that name may just stick. Since most names around here get shortened to something that end in "ie or ey". Zorrey sounds pretty good. I think I like it. He is estimated to be eight months old. He is going to be a big boy.

Right now he is in isolation in my daughter's bedroom until he mends from having been neutered and we are rid of the ear mites that came with him. This evening was the first time I have seen ear mites under the microscope. Ugly critters! I have had an ear mite infestation with the cats before, and with my brood, it takes a spread sheet to make sure all of them get their treatment every other day. I do not want to have to do it again. If I have to, of course I will.

I will have to renew my promise to family members that I will not become the Crazy Cat Lady of the East Bluff! Or will I?

Middle Class and Bitter

Since it is just me, I am middle class, at least I think I am. If I had a kid or two at home, I wouldn't be. Heck yes, I am bitter. I am bitter that funding has not allowed for proper testing of toys and children have been placed at risk of additional lead poisoning. I am bitter that funding has not allowed for proper inspection of meat & other food products and people have become ill and died. I am bitter that so many people are losing their homes to forclosure and thereby decreasing the value of my home. I am bitter that people I care about are facing their companies going out of business or moving out of country. I am bitter when I watch my meager retirement nest egg shrink. I am bitter that I may very well have to continue working long beyond retirement age.

I proudly admit that I am liberal. Not a bleeding heart, but liberal. I believe that marriage is a religious ritual with legal implications and that a religious group has the right to say who it will and will not preform the religious ritual for. I also believe that same-sex couples have the right to have the legal aspects of their relationship recognized through a civil union ceremony. I strongly favor abstinence and adoption, but also believe I do not have the right to stop other women from being able to make a very difficult decision for themself. I do not own a gun, never have and don't plan to, but I have no problem with someone else legally owning a gun.

I am angry and bitter that so many jobs have left the U.S. I am angry, frustrated and bitter that the educational system in our country is lagging behind in math and science. I am angry and bitter that the fine arts and even driver's training are being dropped from school curriculums.

To deny being bitter that my children, grand-children, great-grand-children and probably more generations will be paying off the current national debt would be is impossible. It is time that we take the veil of secrecy (denial) off and deal with the anger, furstration and bitterness that many of us deal with on a daily basis. Recognizing the bitterness is not elitist, it is realist. Catherine Crier pegged it pretty well.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catherine-crier/punished-for-the-truth_b_96358.html

Yes, I am middle class and I am bitter!

Frustration

My Field of Dreams

It has not been a bad week at work, nor has it been a good week. As most weeks are, it has been frustrating. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I just wish the funding was there to do my job! We are in the cross-hairs of disaster. For the last several years, we have been funded at 85% of what it actually takes to run the place and top that off with the wisdom of Congress that tells us we must operate as if we were a private business. We will not know our actual funding level for 2008 until probably October. Again, how many private businesses could function?

On one hand, running as a private business, is an excellent idea. More control (not enough, but more) of the budget, more freedom to experiment with cost-cutting measures, more control of inventory and cost are some of the advantages. I also like the accountability that goes with it. The big disadvantage is starting out in the hole. How many "private businesses" could function; let alone survive, if they started off with 15% less funding than what the realistic budget called for.

Maintenance staff has been cut all the way to the bone marrow! I frequently say that we are holding it together with bubble gum and Band Aids. Furnaces and water heaters need to be replaced. Wood trim needs to be painted. And that is just the beginning of the laundry list of repairs and maintenance I want to do. I would love to replace playground equipment equipment. Thank goodness, the Dream Center and Mission Peoria painted our old equipment last summer. It looks better, but it is about played out!! Their painting of the fence was a great help, too.

I look out one of our office windows at the open space and beautiful view of the Illinois River and dream of what could be. I will be retired long before those dreams become any kind of reality. I know all the comments that are made about Taft Homes and public housing in general. Let me assure you that the view from the inside is quite different from the perceptions. Of course, there are problems, but there are also many hard working families. Just like in other neighborhoods. I look at the development at RiverWest. That development began with the HOPE VI grant in 1997. It is still beautiful and well maintained, despite the calamity that was predicted. I look at the new development at Harrison Homes with envy. Again, the naysayers will make their predictions. I have real hope for that redevelopment; the new school and other growth (improvements) that may very well come as the city develops south of downtown. Time, investment and dedication can accomplish a great deal.

I love my job, I really do.

Opening Gala

What an evening! I just returned home from the Opening Gala of a wonderful art exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center on Water Street. The artists? Three, four and five year olds from Riverview Gardens, the preschool located at Taft Homes, created the wonderful pieces of art.

Early in the school year, the children took a field trip (walking all the way) to Hardin's exhibit at WTVP. Their amazement was so great, that oil painting has been incorporated into all forms of learning this year - the colors of nature, making letters, telling stories, exploring emotions. From the blank page of one young artist to his final portrait of his mother, the journey has been amazing.

The children and their parents were there. The parents full of pride in their children and in the gala event they had helped plan and set-up for. There was a nice crowd when I left and there was still an hour to go. The exhibit moves to WTVP where it will be on display for a month.

Believe it or not, I find many joys working at Taft Homes, but this was one of the best.