Wednesday, May 24, 2023

 Wednesday, May 24, 2023

  I weighed 145.5 lbs today. Yesterday, I ate a huge fruit salad—absolutely delicious. Homegrown mango, store-bought bananas, frozen mixed berries, coconut yogurt, and granola on top—is what got my weight up there in the first place.  

    Paulette was free for a visit today. I picked up the blue bottles for the Kangen water refill. Elsa went wild. She knows what that means. That dog was out the door and by the car faster than me. She was hiccupping; she was so excited. I let her out close to the bottom of the driveway but not right near the road. I didn't have to worry. Her focus is on getting up to Auntie P's house. Watching her tear up that driveway at full speed gives me a kick.

  It started pouring shortly after I arrived. Carol came down and walked to the lanai while Paulette filled my bottles and loaded them in my car. By the time I headed to the outdoor lanai, it was coming down in buckets. I put a cardboard box over my head and made a run for it. They have a solid-roof pergola that protects us from the rain.       

     The three of us worked on a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a landscape scene. I got four pieces. Paulette said Carol and she sometimes don't find a single matching piece. I left because I was hungry. Paulette and I shared a hug as I got in the car. We're both affection junkies. It's terrific to have someone as huggie as I am in my life.  

   It was a good thing I left when I did. I made it home just in time to make myself a cream cheese and celery snack before I had to sign on for a session with Adolescent D.  

   Our last session was fantastic. So much progress! This session was a step back. It's frustrating because he doesn't or can't apply what I teach. He can't remember when a vowel is long or short. He doesn't remember or just doesn't follow the directions I give him over and over again. I don't know how many times I've told him to decode each syllable separately to make sure he has a pronunciation for each syllable before he tries to blend any of them. He doesn't remember, and/or he hates doing it. Anything that requires effort is an ego assault. He shouldn't have to try. Oh, boy! What do you do with someone like that?

 

 

 

 

Thursday, May 25, 2023

  

I got up early today. My first alarm is always at five-thirty. On Thursday, I set a second for six am to make sure I get my walk in before we have driveway yoga. I was out of the house before six. Walking down the mountain as I returned home, I caught the most amazing rainbow I had ever seen. I captured it in a photo before the rising sun erased it from the sky. The colors were brilliant. The shape was one I had never seen before. It was almost entirely vertical. It came out of a dark cloud and pierced the water below.   

   I saw David, a neighbor from a parallel street, coming up the hill. I yelled for him to turn around. He did, casually looking over his shoulder. I yelled to him to turn further. He finally caught the rainbow. It would have been too late if I had waited until we were abreast. The sun was rising rapidly, fading the rainbow.  

    In anticipation of my July 13 THR surgery, I picked up a raised toilet seat today. You can no longer rent medical equipment that makes contact with water-forget someone’s body. I called the church last year to ask if anyone knew someone who provided this service. They gave me the name of a woman who offered medical equipment for free. Even though I called close to the surgery date, she still had what I needed available. I got the message; I was lucky. I should have contacted her much sooner. That’s why I called her now, to get my name on her calendar for July. She told me she was selling her house and had already gotten rid of all her equipment but had a raised toilet seat without handles. Was that good enough for me? Yep. After the last surgery, I had no trouble getting on and off the seat. She said she wouldn’t be home and would leave it in her carport.  

     I stopped at the bank before I went home. I had a check from first-grade M’s parents for April. There was no line to speak of, and I was in and out quickly. I stopped at the transfer station to drop off a container of glass bottles. I love the transfer station. Mike made it a must-see site for our visitors to Kona.

  Judy found an article in the newspaper about a tutoring agency specifically for Hawaiian students, Hawaiikidscan, Air Tutors. I found it online and started the application process. I’m not sure if they do it for free or charge. I’m not interested in working for an agency that charges for several reasons. It’s not that I don’t like to make money; I do. I don’t care to work for an agency that charges poor people, rips off the tutors who work through the online service, and then calls themselves a non-profit.  

    The tutoring agency advertises highly qualified tutors. For their preliminary scan, they ask if you have a high school diploma. How highly qualified can someone be if all they have is that? We’ll see.  

      It took me a while to figure out how to apply. The article and the Hawaiikidscan site didn’t make it clear. As far as I can figure out, I must apply through Air Tutors. I started the preliminary application. They wanted a resume. I had to find an old one on the computer. I found one I wrote in 2014 when I first moved here. No one was impressed enough to allow me to volunteer.  

  It was my last night with the Firefly Lane girls. Their relationship had a quality I loved; it felt real to me. I missed them.