Sunday, January 9, 2022

 Sunday, January 9, 2022

 

   My ankle felt good during the night, even when I had to get up and pee. It felt fine for a good part of the morning walk. I even poked the spot right in front of my outside left ankle bone, and it didn’t feel sore. After walking, 2000 steps this morning, it started throbbing again. I felt it mainly on the bottom of my foot. I don’t know if it’s on the mend or if the problem is caused by something higher up the chain. Only time will tell.

  Damon and Jean, my friend, called this morning to answer my calls last night.

   The Germans have completely disappeared from my blog site today- nary a one. I consider this proof that this was a class assignment, and it’s over. However, Turkey has picked up the slack. I don’t know if this is one teacher who wanders from country-to-country teaching English or several teachers. It is weird.

   I was so busy with phone calls I forgot I had a 9 am appointment. I looked at the clock to find it was already 9:09. I called M & W’s mom. I apologized for running late and asked if we could start at 9:30. Sure. I finished posting today’s blog entry before signing on for the Zoom session. 

   I started with third grade M. This is the third day her performance has been poor, back to when I started with her. She even had trouble hearing the individual phonemes. I called mom after I was through with fifth grade W. I told her what I saw with M. She said she thought M wanted control. I understood that to mean she wanted everything her way. I’m not sure I ever had the right interpretation, given what mom said later. Mom said she saw a regression in other aspects of her life. It was her job to put away the silverware. She usually is meticulous about putting everything in the correct place. Now, she is just throwing them randomly into the drawer. I saw all this as an indication that M had lost control over herself. Mom asked if I knew what could cause this mental regression. I asked if she had had a head injury. The cause could be psychological or physical. I didn’t know. Mom said they were thinking of getting her a therapist. I don’t think that’s a bad idea. Hopefully, child therapists are better than many of the adult ones I’ve had to deal with. I don’t know if I can help.

    Mom told me that M’s teacher had assessed her reading. The results showed no improvement. This was weird because both mom and I have seen improvement. She said M thought she did well. She had no idea. Mom also thought the testing might have triggered this change. That’s good news in a sense; we have a diagnosis. However, I did comment to M about being afraid. She insisted she wasn’t. I’ve never dealt with so many closeted people in my life.   I wondered why God was doing this to me, surrounding me with introverts. Thank God I have others that are nothing like that.

    I did some good work on the Phase III video today. I’m getting a better idea of how to organize it. On the other hand, my Phase I and Phase II videos have been reloading on Facebook.  

   Jean, my friend, recommended the movie The Tender Bar. It was as wonderful as she said it was. Ben Affleck is amazing in it. It’s a coming-of-age story. Affleck plays the uncle of the young man. If I didn’t know who Affleck was, I’d have a crush on him.