The other day when I packed up the board shorts for the homeless, I came across one or two, I remembered Mike wearing a lot. I pulled those out and put them on his pillow. When I hug them to my chest and night, I feel much calmer. It was something he wore that still has his energy, or at least that's how it feels to me. Either way, it's comforting.
I also found some board shorts I never saw him wear. There was one pair with pictures of a Yeti surfboarding. Really?
I overslept this morning. I must have slept right through the alarm. I needed a bathroom break at some point. When I turned over, I saw the minute hand at the half-hour mark. I assume it was 5:30 am, and I had more time to sleep. I got up 'before 6 am', by my understanding, and causally took Elsa for a walk. When I was heading back to the house, I noticed the Ford SUV was missing. I thought there might be a problem. Why wasn't it parked where it should be? Did Adam have an accident last night while he was Ubering? I didn't see the car in his driveway, neither did I have a text letting me know there was a problem. I rushed home to text Josh to tell him there was a problem, hoping he had already left for work. It was when I got my phone in my hand, prepared to text josh, that I learned that it was past 7 already. While it was good to learn that all was good with the car, I realized that I was not going to make it to Bikram today. My first reaction was sadness. My yoga time is invaluable to me. It's good for my body and my soul. The yoga is a moving meditation for me, and the community affirms me. Well, I'll be there tomorrow. I can assume that I must have needed the sleep if I slept through the alarm. Yes, I immediately checked to see if the alarm was still working. It was.
Background information: Mike's car was the Ford SUV hybrid; my car is a Toyota Prius. While Mike was in the hospital, Adam's new car was totaled while he was parked with the car turned off. Someone backed into this at 40 mph. The driver had panicked. He was Ubering at the time and now had no car he could use. When Judy told me of the problem, I told her he could use the Ford until his car was fixed. As it turned out, the gas mileage difference is substantial between his car and the hybrid. I allowed him to continue using it for the price of the insurance coverage.
While I was away, Josh started using my Prius to get to work. He doesn't drive much, just to work and back or to do some chores in town. He had been using a motorcycle he bought. Driving the car reminded him of how much he preferred that form of travel. It was also rainy season. We worked out a deal where Josh drove the car during the day, and Adam had it at night. They split the insurance costs.
I keep meaning to post the name of the amazing stain remover, which Sandor recommended. It puracy: natural baby Stain Remover. I know you can buy it at Target in the baby department. It got stains out of my clothes that I hadn't been able to remove any other way, including a stain that had been in a silk scarf for something like twenty years. Sandor had the same experience. However, it didn't do that much for the antique linens until I put them in the sunshine with the stain remover on them. That combination was a winner.
I used my time today to do chores I might normally be too tired to do because of my effort at Bikram. I loaded the car with donations for Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill and washed the rest of the windows in the guest room. Where I was all the other windows from the inside, I washed the remaining windows from the outside, climbing on the low roof. I get up there using a step ladder. My balance is still good enough for me to feel safe doing this.
I also finally washed sweet Elsa, who just loves to get bathes, particularly since she has to sit there with the medicinal soap on for five minutes before it gets rinsed off. While we were waiting, I clipped off some dreads she had licked into existence. Boy, is she ever happy when this experience is over. She races around the house for several minutes after shaking the excess water off.
I showered and headed off to school. I found a parking spot in the top lot, signed in, and went to the class. I am trying to get the kids to listen to the audio file, modeling phonemic analysis more. Mrs. D. can't remember to do it, and Mrs. B. has set it up and told the kids to listen, but they don't. There was an indication that someone had listened to the file but only to the tracks read in a regular voice and not with the phonemic breakdown.
Today I took the three kids I work with in Mrs. D's class out at the same time. I put N. and B. on the audio file on bandcamp. I had no ends of trouble getting it to work. I couldn't get the program to go through all the tracks consequently. I had to download each one individually once the previous one was finished. Very annoying.
While N. and B. listened to the audio file, I worked with R. I offered her a choice of reading the Carpenter material, which I have transcribed phonemically or a book of her choice. She clearly rejected the transcribed material for the book. She is now reading at a mid-first grade level, which is a fantastic improvement. When I started working with her all, she only knew three sight words; that was it. She was able to read the story with a little help. We started on decoding longer words. I suspect she doesn't want to read the transcribed stories because they represent her nonreading phase. I hope I can convince her to read one a day. Exposure to the transcribed material teaches phonics; it just slips it in, with a little bit of coaching on the side.
N. didn't want to do any work today. Good enough. He is already doing much better. While I worked with B., I put R. on her computer to listen to the audio file. I reviewed the patterns in the spelling lesson with him. He was able to remember them, but then when he was actually spelling the words he forgot to apply them. He really can't remember. I still have no idea how to help him. All I do know is that he has gotten somewhat, a great deal, better with what we are doing. This means the words he spells have some resemblance to the actual word and the sequence of letters are often accurate. His spelling test scores has gone from a consistent 10-20% up to a 55-60%. Although, neither Mrs. D. nor I am expecting a good score on this week's test with the pattern being au, aw, and al.
Before I worked with the kids, I asked Mrs. D. about D.s behavior for the day. She said he gave her some trouble first thing in the morning, but she was able to squash that. So far, he had been pretty good. While I was out there working with B., she marched D. out, saying he was in full-blown acting out. He was making funny noises. He may have been doing it so he was guaranteed time with me. I think he desperately wants help. He is not in control of himself. He has no idea why he behaves as he does.
Next, I went to Mrs. B's room. Both D. and I. brought their computers out. I put I. on the audio file while I worked with D. D. missed identifying more words he didn't know today than yesterday, but he is trying. He is such a good kid.
As I thought, it was I. who had listened to the stories read in a regular voice. I asked him if he hated the way it sounded when broken down into the phonemic units. He said yes, he hated it. I knew what to do- slow the process down. I have found that students who hate the way the tape sounds have audio processing problems. The solution is to present the sounds m-u-ch more slowly, much more slowly. I sustain each sound and leave a short silence between each one. That changes the brain somehow, and afterward, they are comfortable with the audio file. I. asked to work with the StoryJigSaw puzzle. He had taken it out when the kindergarten class arrived for partnered reading with his third-grade class. He wanted to participate. I let him go inside.
I went over to Mrs. L's class to work with D. I was planning to start working with him on math, the subject he has the most trouble with. I was excited about figuring out where his breakdown was and finding a way to solve it. The guidance counselor was teaching his class. She was preparing the students for a test in her subject. She actually asked me if I minded if she kept him. Here I am an outsider, a volunteer, and I am treated with respect. How lucky am I?
After school, I dropped off donations to Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill. I have tons more for all the charities in town. Sometime in the future, I will run out. That means all of Mike's stuff will be gone, except for the few items I kept, which I hug to my heart at night. It helps somewhat.
It is getting so much harder. I miss him so much. Dorothy assures me that losing a mate is one of the most traumatic events in one's life. I feel so alone.
I watched more of Schitt's Creek. It is a fantastic show; it is another comedy based on m morality, and there is character development. People change in response to their circumstances.
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