Thursday, February 3, 2022

Thursday, February 3, 2022

 

    My left foot hurt when I got up in the middle of the night and walked to the bathroom. In the morning, I couldn't find my chiropractor's appointment on my computer calendar. The calendar on my phone said it was on Thursday. I remembered it to be on Friday. I called early, hoping the receptionist could get back to me. She didn't. I left at 8:30 to make a 9 am appointment. If worse came to worst, it would be the wrong day. If I didn't go, I would miss an appointment, have to pay for it and lose hope of getting help for my sore foot for another week.  

    There are two doctors in this chiropractic practice. They alternate days. As I entered, I saw there was no receptionist on duty. Ah, that's why I didn't get a call. I could hear voices in one of the rooms. I got as close as possible to see if I could recognize Kim's voice. I could hear two women talking, but I couldn't make out if one was Kim's. She often laughs. She has a great laugh. Today, I heard it at the end of her appointment with the preceding client. That was my confirmation that my appointment was for today. Kim came out shortly after and greeted me as if she was expecting me.

   She spent half an hour unjamming my foot. If that pain continued, I would develop a neuroma. I've had that before. It's horrible. It's like having a pebble in your shoe you can't get rid of. It hurts. Kim recommended that I get a metatarsal pad to support the metatarsal arch. I thought I could get one at Long's. I stopped off there on my way home. They were out of the ones that you can glue into your shoe. They did have the type you can hook onto your foot, slinging a loop over one of the toes. Problem: I can't reach my foot. I ordered the ones Kim recommended when I got home from Amazon.

      I was exhausted when I got home and needed a nap. I set my alarm for 11:45. I would have to leave by 12:15 to make my service appointment with Kia. I dawdled, thinking I had time. My alarm went off when I got out of the shower, sopping wet. It was time to leave immediately. Boy, my head is out to lunch. I am suffering from temporal disorientation. 

    Scott stopped by this morning to help Yvette make her yoga videos. He told me he found a FaceBook positing that skin lesions in dogs respond to probiotics. It's worth a try. I ordered what was considered the A+ rated one. Who knows? It may have been looking at an ad placed by that company.

    Because I had given the Kia clerk all my information yesterday, I only had to drop off my key today. They remembered I needed a ride to get to my luncheon appointment with Zola. I got into a white van whose outside had seen better days. Where it wasn't scratched, it was dirty. The young man who drove me had no idea where St. Michael's was. Yes, he lived in Hawaii (My money was born here.), but he wasn't from this area. Zola and I were meeting at a restaurant across the street from the church, Papa Kona. My driver pulled into the church parking lot, turned around, and dropped me at the exit. I walked across the street to the building where I thought the restaurant was. I couldn't see a sign and asked. It was in my favorite location, where Daylight Mind used to be. Zola had made a reservation for 1:15. I got seated and settled down to wait.

   I had my Kindle and could read. Instead, I enjoyed my favorite view from where I sat from a wraparound porch area to the side of the restaurant. A bay was to my left. I could watch the waves roll in and crash on the shore from that seat. The sun was bright and sparkling on the rolling water. 

   Zola arrived, and we ordered. I got panko-coated avocado fries covered with sambai aioli, a spicy sauce with a side order of ahi poke, and a lemonade. I didn't expect to eat it all. I finished off the fries. They were delicious. I took the poke home for dinner. I had a wonderful time with Zola. She is extroverted as I am. We can say whatever comes to mind to each other. What a pleasure.  

   Zola has lost two out of five children, and I've lost Mike. We talked about grief for a few moments. Zola heard about someone who made a distinction between grief and mourning. Grief is the feeling; mourning is the behavior that expresses that feeling. I'm not that good at mourning. I think of the cultures that build in wailing, chanting, or ululation, particularly as part of a group. Your grief is carried with the others. The others are expressing their grief and supporting yours. I have nothing like that. All I do is alone, except when someone listens to me. That's better than nothing.

    Kia called to tell me my car was ready. Our luncheon was about over. Zola offered to drive me to Kia. She was heading to the bank. 

    The car checkup was free. However, I had them check the car's underside for damage from when I drove over a small bolder. There was no damage to my hybrid car's battery. No, this was not my fault. A child had rolled it into their driveway. I tried to pull into it in the dark and didn't see it. I was doing less than 5 mph. There was damage to the plastic battery cover, but that was it. They would call me with an estimate. It is not covered under my ten-year service contract.

   I got home by 3 pm and called to speak to Mama K's crew to make up for yesterday. Again, there was no answer. It may have been they weren't home yet. I was too tired to pursue a meeting with the three kids. There are many distractions when I call, and I always have to pull a story out of them. It would be lovely if they had an idea of what they wanted to write about before getting on the phone. It is frustrating working with the kids. 

    I lay down for a nap. I was exhausted. Grief is exhausting. I feel like I'm shaking inside all the time. Is this just heightened awareness of what is? Is this how we all are all the time? Is it just now that I'm relaxed enough to feel it? I don't like it.  

   Adolescent D texted me to ask if we could meet at 5 instead of 4:30. I reset my alarm later and worked on the updates. I had forgotten to send out January 31's update to my email readers yesterday. I discovered I had already processed it through Grammarly. I had to copy the edited version into my updates file and then post it.

   I had Adolescent D at 5. I continued working on Phase III of The Phonics Discovery System. Today's sentence was, "Soon, the newspapers were all given out." There were enough odd spellings. I offered to be the one who would remember the sentence for him. Before I had him dictate the spelling to me, I went over the oo in soon, and the ew in new. He couldn't remember the spelling of oo in soon for two minutes. It was a frustrating session. I even told him we could switch activities if he felt overwhelmed. Knowing when you need a break because the misses exceed the hits is a critical study and learning skill. He said to continue. I worried about him at the end.  

   I finished watching Tick, Tick . . . Boom, the video Isaac recommended. It was good, just upsetting. I didn't watch it straight through. I watched as much as I could tolerate. I had to deal with Jonathan Larson's frustrations and disappointments and his egocentricity, focusing on his work and ignoring the needs of others. I had only a bit left of that video to watch tonight. When that was over, I looked for something else to watch. I came across, "If anything happens, I love you." It was an animated short video about the lives of a couple after their daughter was killed in a school shooting, leaving the message above on her cell phone. I didn't know what it was when I clicked on it. It just started showing an alienated couple. The reason they were in such despair was only revealed as the video progressed. It was a fantastic concept.