Monday, May 30, 2022

 Monday, May 30, 2022

 

  Oh, boy, I worked myself into a state worrying about a document I hadn't completed yet that I had to get done before June 2. I had to request something from someone who was not easy to negotiate with; they were into agreement or concession but not negotiation. They thought that anything that involved cooperation was negotiation. Oh, boy. I have to be careful about choosing my words with them. Everything can lead to high conflict, silent but deadly.

  I heard my phone announce a text at two am. It was John Zim from the east coast with a joke. "According to a recent survey, replacing words with the names of musical instruments in a sentence often goes undetected." I responded, "Got it!" He replied, "You should be sleeping!" I finally got up and took care of that document. I was still vibrating with anxiety. I tried to meditate. Meditation is not just to calm down in the minute. Its real purpose is transformation. I didn't care. I wanted immediate relief. I went back to bed and tried to sleep. I woke around 6 am.

  John's wife Carol wrote to make sure someone contacted her to say I was okay after the surgery. I just assumed I would. I assumed I would just come home without contacting anyone. It was not supposed to be a big deal. I was expecting to come through the surgery just fine; I worried that my muscle problems would cause pain the doctor had not anticipated, but all my body workers had. I was worried about that. All three warned me I wouldn't be happy. That's a scary statistic.

   I felt cold this morning. I wore two sweatshirts over a polo shirt and pulled on my hood. I checked the weather, "Now 64 degrees." Holy cow! That sixty-four was at the airport at sea level. I was at 1000 feet, a good four to five degrees cooler, and the sun was already rising. Oh, boy. This was a Hawaiian summer day. It was overcast every day. That's how it was staying cool.

   There wasn't any evidence of Shivani and Sid when I came home. I wasn't expecting anything from Shivani, but I was expecting to see Sid running around. I could hear some noise in the bedroom around 7:30. I knocked and asked if anything was wrong. Sid not being up and active was not a good sign. He didn't have a fever, but he was tired. It may be a hangover from his sick day. 

  I had sessions with the M & W sisters at 8 am. With first grade M, I was doing some very sophisticated work. Yesterday, we read the words, "Many hands make light work." When I asked her the meaning of light, she said the type you turn on. I didn't get how that made sense. She said, "Many hands make the light work." Oh, she had added a word to have it make sense. If you added the before light, it did mean the kind of light you turn, and it illuminates a space. But that wasn't the use of the word. See how one word can completely change the meaning of a sentence. All the words are essential. I went over the definition of light in the context of the sentence, 

   Today I reviewed several examples of light, meaning not heavy, instead of not dark. We discussed light versus heavy in terms of weight, light versus heavy audiences, light versus heavy homework, and light versus heavy housework. They all have similarities, but they all generate different images and different concrete examples. Language is tricky.

  I worked on comprehension again with fifth-grade W, as per her choice. We are working with sixth-grade material. There was a tough one today. She wanted to refer to her knowledge and intuition rather than the words on the page at one point. I pushed for an accurate reading.

  I did a quick walk and had Mama K's crew at 9:30. We had problems connecting. I got their image and sound through Zoom, but they couldn't hear me. They had to use their phone as well as their computer so they could hear me. Twin A went first. I continued working with her on the second story in the Carpenter materials. She was halting but made it through the whole story. I was still working with Twin E in the first story. Today, she said, "I've never seen that word before." This is the third or fourth time we have read it. Both girls have problems with memory. I had several students with serious memory problems, both these girls and adolescent D. I can sometimes remedy the problem when it's just bad routing. When the problem is more serious, I don't seem to be able to do anything to help them.

  I spoke to Mama K about the girls' memory problems. I said I didn't know what to do. Their dad was home. From the background, he called out, "Spend the summer living with you."

  At 11, I had my Reading/Writing Office Hours. I had two tutors who were just starting with their students; both had problems with phonics. One student was a little delayed; the other sounded more serious. That student had a student aide. She said the child was sweet; she didn't think it was a serious behavioral problem. I went over The Phonics Discovery System Phase I, also instructing them to watch the video. Both tutors were very responsive. I did a five-minute presentation and said, "That's all there is to the process. The rest is practice." One of the tutors had terrible problems pronouncing the phonemes correctly. From what I saw, this process would be life-changing for him. Both got it. The woman was thrilled with the respectful attitude toward the student built into the program. The man understood that this method taught foundational concepts. I looked forward to seeing what they would do with it. I wish I could observe these folks tutoring. Everyone does something slightly differently. I can imagine myself wanting to say, "No, not that way," and then having to reconsider it afterward. It should all be good if the tutor respects the student's knowledge and self-concept.

  I got a text from Josh saying he tested positive for Covid. I offered Yvette a bed upstairs so she could avoid contact with him. She had been visiting a friend in Hilo and decided to stay there till Friday. She reminded me she couldn't drive me to the airport Thursday morning. I called Judy to ask her. She was willing, but why not call an Uber? I called Julie to see if her sister would pick me up at 5 am. Julie argued she could drive me. She was almost over her cold. Vince objected. He was afraid she was still contagious. He said he would contact his sister-in-law to see if she could do it. It was early. Shivani said she could do it if worst came to worst. If worst came to worst, I could drive myself, park the car, and Shivani could pick it up later in the day.

  My niece Karin, her newborn, and his grandmother could go home today. This would be the first time the three-year-old saw his new brother. Oh, boy. I got a video of the three-year-old in the park with his mom and grandma. He needed some time with them without his baby brother.

   Yesterday there had been some additional drama preventing them from going home. The mom was running 104 degrees. Her tests for Covid and influenza came up negative. She had a killer case of mastitis. Ow! The doctor gave her a second different dose of antibiotics. That finally provided relief. That's why they were able to go home today.

  I finally gave Elsa her much-needed bath. I am supposed to do one at least once a week. It had been two weeks by now. If I bathe her regularly, it controls her skin lesions. She wasn't shaking today; I used warmer water than usual. That may have helped. Sid wanted to help wash her. He got a ladder and stood next to me. I noticed his nose was running. Oh, dear. I had to be clear of him. I needed to stay healthy until after the operation. Then I could get sick. Shivani came and took my place by the sink and massaged Elsa's back for the remaining ten minutes; the medicinal soap had to be on. Then I took over, rinsed her, applied the conditioner, and did the final thorough rinse. I found several raw lesions on her back. Damn! I have to bathe her more and apply the medical cream—both help.

  As I went through my emails, I saw a weather alert. Severe weather from 6 pm tonight to 6 am Thursday. That's the time of my scheduled flight. Are there going to be flight cancellations? Will I miss my surgery because of this? There are so many opportunities for trouble. I am still waiting to hear if the doctor and surgical team are okay. We will all get rapid Covid tests tomorrow morning and see what happens. I may be home on the next flight of the day and have to start this process all over again, 

  Shivani wanted to go to the beach in the late afternoon. By that time, Sid was his usual upbeat, playful self. He had asked to go to the beach. Now he decided he wasn't ready. Shivani applied some pressure, and off they went. She wasn't in the mood to cook and asked if Thai food would do. It would always do. She would order it and pick it up after she went to the beach.