Tuesday, March 8, 2022

 Tuesday, March 8, 2022

 

    I woke up around three. I was upset. I had taken a risk confronting a friend. I feared it didn't go well. Taking risks with people is scary, particularly when they're important to me. If it goes badly, it hurts. But if clears, it enhances the relationship. It's so rewarding. Taking risks is called gambling for a reason.

   Mike, the sprinkler guy, stopped by. Josh found a broken sprinkler valve. I bought a replacement and asked Scott if he could fix it. He thought it was too complicated and told me to call a pro. Mike couldn't get any water to flow to find the leak. There are two faucets next to each other. He turned on the wrong one. Right now, the water gets turned on when we use the sprinkler system and then turned off. Not even B gets water. I was sure Mike turned the wrong one. After he struggled for a while, he left. He was in a hurry and didn't have time to fuss with the system. He plans to come tomorrow when Josh is home.

   I had an appointment with my PT, Terry. She worked on my abdominals, notably my TA, trans abs, which control the position of my hips. Terry was impressed by my progress. 

   I napped when I got home. When I got up, I managed to get a little gardening done. It had been weighing on me, and I'd dreaded doing it. When I finally got around to it, it wasn't so bad. I actually enjoyed it.

   I had an appointment with the M & W sisters. First-grade M is moving along at a good clip. Fifth grade W finished the story we'd been working on.

   I spoke to M & W's mom later in the day. She told me she would have a complete educational evaluation of her girls for dyslexia. I asked her to give my number to the woman. I thought their mom thought I was asking so the woman could contact me about her children. That would be good too, but I asked her to refer me for tutoring. I don't think that occurred to her. I could do that when I speak to the diagnostician. I also asked mom if she had any information from the first-grade M's teacher. Yes, she was working above grade level. Huh? Last I heard, she had made no progress from the beginning of the year. It amazes me that parents don't share that information with me. They have no problems telling me how their children are still not where they should be. They usually tell me in an annoyed tone of voice, communicating some failure on my part. 

   I also learned fifth grade W had been accepted at Hawaii Preparatory Academy. I wrote her a recommendation, but it never occurred to mom that I might have liked to know the outcome. However, mom assured me I would continue working with both girls next year. This means that she thinks I do good work.

    I had a session with adolescent D later in the day. I set up a system with him to help him remember to play The Phonics Discovery System audio file. No, he had not listened to it. He had set his alarm as I suggested and hit the snooze button if it was before bedtime. However, the snooze button disturbed his family when they watched TV together. He turned it off. What time did he set it for? 9 pm. What time did he go to bed? 10pm. How about setting the alarm for a later time? Okay. But he never figures out how to solve a problem, at least with school, on his own. Drives me nuts! His passivity stands in the way of his progress.

      Isaac called to ask how I was. He was on his way to the gym. He and I love to talk the way Judy and I do. He sat there in his car as we continued talking. There was an incredible cloud display. I told him to get out of his car and look. He said you see skies like that frequently in Indiana, where his family lives. We finally ended the conversation as I do with Judy, "One, two, three," and I hung up.

   Isaac told me that he tried to access my blog, With Mike; Without Mike, and couldn't. I Googled it by its name. Nothing. I Googled it with Blogger.com. Nothing. I have no idea how all the visitors I have found the site. I wrote Tommy, my techie, about the problem.

   I still had the remains of the roasted chicken Colleen bought one night. I took the meat off the carcass. I sliced off as much as I could and ripped off the rest. I thought of Mike watching me and wincing. Oh, well. I do the best I can. I was surely not starving to death.   

    B stopped by with my mail and food prepared at a friend's house. It was a small container with pork, fish, and something else. The pig was from one of the wild boars on the island, and the fish caught fresh in our waters.  

   My left wrist hurt from all the typing and/or all the FreeCell I play. I took the infrared table lamp off the floor, where it served my lower leg and foot, and set it on the end table by my chair. As I watched TV, I moved my arm under the lamp, away, and under it again. Before I went to bed, I checked my arm. Hmmm! It was red. I had a slight burn. I applied MNCs (known formerly as Intrasound). That usually fixes problems like that.