Not a shit or fuck to be had

I did it! And it's over, with me basking in the afterglow.

I didn't mess up and cuss one time. I guess Luke is having some success in that arena.

I was ready early with the set up, never nervous, just a little sweaty palms. I do wish people had RSVP'd; I had it set up for 60 and had to call the custodian to do more chairs. There were over 100 in attendance. It was an exaggeration in my last post - not quite 3000 medals and certificates. There were close to 100 each instead. When you consider the varieties involved with the medals (4 ribbon colors, 3 medal colors, 6 enamel disc types on the medals, and about a dozen different messages printed on the ribbons - with all of these variations all jumbled up mix and match, so very specific - oy!) and certificates, it taxed my little ADHD brain's ability for attention.

I remember once I gave a speech to a women's business club just over a decade ago - I was so nervous I had this quivery, squeaky voice eking out of my tight throat - quite lame and distracting, despite great content and a very good speech. That snafu was ever so present in my fears for yesterday.

Instead, I had bronchitis voice, which was kinda hearty yet squeaky and cute; I didn't cough and pointed out my bottle of liquid hand sanitizer and desire to not shake hands. My talk was well prepared, I was charming and witty, people laughed, it was loose and fun. It was the most entertaining awards ceremonies one could ask for. The time sped by and it lasted well under 90 minutes. Almost all the food was gone, too, so that was perfect as well.

During the ceremony, I wanted to showcase some form of the Arts, so part of the night was to show an amazingly complex five minute video put together (concept, script, scenes, fades, characters, stop action, props, music, etc) by a fifth grader from another school nearby. Luke actually served as a judge for her piece, because he worked in film production in the past. I am sure the audience kind of rolled their eyes at the thought of viewing it, figuring they'd patronizingly and politely clap at the end, but this girl's view of Dis.ney through dolls, toys, humor, piped in music and the voice talent singing songs, with a tight script, well, as I told her mom "Academy Awards!" Everyone laughed and enjoyed it and this little girl felt so celebrated. Her whole family was there; I think she has three older siblings who probably pick on her all the time. She's showing the world.

Luke, the over achiever, did a judge's statement, which wasn't necessary, but I had it to read to introduce the piece. At the end of the paragraph after I read it, I saw her mother clasp her hands together in delight. It was sweet.

Outstanding use of story and cinematic arts. Direction of talent and use of props were only second to the demonstrated high quality and tightly timed video production skills. Great use of edits to control storyline development. Camera perspective and angle effectively moved among characters enhancing action sequences and participation of the audience. Original sound track and inventive use of sound and video effects make this production the best observed to date. Recommend this presentation be used a sample and standard for all future submittals in this category for this age group.

What an endorsement. I think she'll win nationally. I asked them to let me know how far she goes.

Because nothing is really perfect, I did forget one boy's certificate and I really regret that. It was obvious how chagrined I was; I blamed it on the cold medicine and a rough week, which was not exaggerating. I had a few medals out of order, but that was easy to rectify; the principal was putting those on the kids as I handed out certificates. A couple people came up to me at the end about items that were missing, but I didn't receive them and I can't account for them. It is an imperfect system, turning in artwork at school. To those kids and parents alike, those will always be the fish that got away.

Ex was there; he'd thought he would be going out of town, but stayed back. I was glad, because I wanted someone for J to sit with - I had Luke waiting in the wings if need be. Ex helped a bit with the set up and it was good he occupied J beforehand and took him to dinner. I asked him to pick me up a hamburger, meaning $.75 at McD's, but he got me a bacon cheeseburger platter to go from the restaurant they ate at. Of course, there was no way I could get to that, but it was quite thoughtful. I had given him a hard time beforehand that I asked J to be the photographer, not him, because J takes better pictures. I was very surprised when ex took a picture of each kid on the stage. He did wonderfully, but I haven't looked at the pictures yet. heh

At the end, he came up to the front edge of the stage, smiling, and mouthed emphatically, "That was very good." I was glad for his input.

There were a few mistakes, but I got a whole lot more right than wrong and it felt very good. Who knows? I'll probably do it again next year.