Saturday, May 21, 2022

 Saturday, May 21, 2022

   

      In agony again this morning. Annoying. I thought it was a psychological problem, but it could be physical with nothing to do with my hip. We'll see. I know I feel better at night when I go to bed.  

      I texted the parents of the M &W sisters for a time for this morning's tutoring session. The mom had answered, but I didn't see the text. She called to ask if I could do it now. I set up shortly after 8:30. The girls were hardly awake.    

     Whereas their computer was usually set up in their bedroom, it was in the kitchen today. First-grade M constantly glanced over to the side. I asked her if she was looking at her mom. Yep. I felt she was afraid of her mom. M was less focused in our sessions. Did Mom discover that I allowed her to move about? We got the same work done with enforced behavior as when she's allowed more freedom. We lost time today because she was glancing over. I would rather have her relaxed. Learning goes better that way. If there are concerns about her behavior in the classroom, I could work on that separately.  

      Today we got involved in math concepts as introduced by the story. The question was," Are four minutes a little or a lot of an hour?" She had no idea. For her, four minutes was a long time. The concept we worked on is that more and less always requires context. Four is a lot out of five but a small amount out of 60. 

      Fifth-grade W had to choose between spelling, reading comprehension, and writing a new story. She didn't know. I made the choice and chose the spelling activity.  

    I continued spraying my yard with vinegar. My leg was finally good enough for me to do this. It was better than it had been in the last seventeen years. I texted my primary to ask if I could get an X-ray to check if the stem cell treatment had a positive effect. My surgeon assured me it didn't. She commented without seeing a current X-ray.  

    When I walked Elsa in the morning, I checked the mailbox. There was a package and mail in Yvette and Josh's box. The mail was for me. I assumed the package was too because Amazon said one would be delivered by 8 pm the night before. On one of my short walks, I opened my mailbox to discover the package was gone. I know there are problems with people stealing packages left outside. So far, we haven't had this problem. It was a disturbing turn of events. I called Josh to tell him what had happened. He said Yvette had gone to the mailbox to pick up a package. "Was it in a white plastic bag?" He didn't know, but he knew she had opened it already. Ah, I was glad to hear it was my mistake rather than a new development in my neighborhood. Josh suggested I track the package on Amazon to see what happened.

  When I checked Amazon, I saw the postal worker had returned it because no one was there to receive it. I thought it said it was the UPS. That would make sense. It is UPS I use when I return an Amazon package. I was expecting new bathing suits. I last brought a new one in at least ten years ago. Once, I couldn't look good in two-piece bathing suits, I gave up all effort to find the most complimentary one. I put together shorts with a top. I wore mid-thigh shorts with a bleached-out purple sports bra when Damon was here. My friend Jean bought a new bathing suit and sent me the connection. She didn't have her thirty-year-old body either; I thought she looked great in her bathing suit. I was anxious to try it on.           

    I jumped in the car and drove to town to the UPS store. No, they didn't have a package in my name. It should be delivered to their store on Monday. Make sure I have the tracking number. They told me to call the UPS service to get more information. When I called and gave the tracking number, they said, "Sorry, that's not one of ours. It was delivered by USPS, the United States Postal Service." It was perhaps some newbie postal worker who played it safe. I made plans to stop at the post office on Monday. Then, there it was in the evening mail. I tried on the bathing suit. The large fits. I ordered a medium too. If the large fit, I couldn't imagine that the medium would. I didn't look as good as Jean did in her suits. She no longer has her girlish figure, but she always looks sexy.   

     Damon called. He left Wednesday a week ago. It is always good to speak to him. I loved the visit, even if it was too short. He explained that his wife and son couldn't stand to be away from home base for more than four days. When he blames his behavior, Cylin says, "Don't blame me for your needs." It's probably his need, too. He has strict rules that no one can stay in his home for more than four nights. If you're still in town, you have to go somewhere else.  

    I spoke to Damon about the housecleaning. I assured him if something needed to be cleaner than he needed it to be, I was perfectly comfortable taking care of it. He could even ask me to do something. He just couldn't be contemptuous. I can't handle contempt. I like it when people feel they can make themselves at home. 

   We also talked about his film. It was doing very well, given the effect of Covid on the industry.