Thursday, March 7, 2024

 Thursday, March 7, 2024

   When I ran into Dean and Nina this morning, I asked if he wanted the tree parts Dan was going to cut down. He protested that I shouldn’t do that for him. I assured him it was not just for him. It would save me money. $200 for dumpster and disposal fees. He wanted to be there when Dan came over to cut down the tree.

    This morning, I was blocked out of my Apple Mac laptop. It was the same demand for a password I had on my iPad last night. When I tried to sign it, it refused me entrance, saying I had tried too many times. I called the local tech guy, Bailey, at Jack Be Click. He said I had to wait 24 hours. Since I was blocked around 9:30 tonight. I won’t have access until 9:30 tonight. I will bring it to Bailey after my haircut at nine-thirty tomorrow morning. I could also stop at Target and get bread. I knew I needed something else but couldn’t remember what.

   My session with twenty-six-year-old S. was cut short. A few minutes after she joined the Zoom session, Mama K called to say she was about to start the IEP sessions for her Twins. I only had a few minutes with S before I had to leave her. I could not get the Sped team to acknowledge Twin E had a memory problem. I assume they think memory problems mean a lack of intelligence. They wouldn’t think so if they worked with Adolescent D. The principal attended both sessions. I picked up antagonism to my point of view. I believe intelligence is taught. I still expect it to be possible for both girls to be outstanding students. Twin E is reading at the first-grade level; Twin A is at a mid-second-grade level. However, when she selects a book for herself, she reads books at a pre-primer level. I still believe the girls can be outstanding students. It ain’t over till it’s over.

   I watched a Pema Chodron speech on video on the relationship between self-compassion and self-control. It’s the Buddhist position: just sit with the lousy feeling. I lose self-control if I get frightened enough. It drives me nuts. I have always hated it in myself. It reminded me of my mother. It is why I initially decided not to have children. I swore the abuse would stop here with me. I would not pass it on. Today, for the first time, it seemed possible to stay calm in the face of an upset. Until now, even in the confines of my mind, I found myself snapping at someone. Now, I could imagine working on containing the fear and the subsequent response and thinking of a calm response. It will take practice.

      I wondered if I had been as stubborn as Dash about changing and adopting this strategy. Later, I thought the pain level would have been too high to even consider such an option. However, the work I’ve been doing with Shelly on my underlying terror is making it possible now.

   I treated the rubber plant and the Ficus tree roots in the lawn area by drilling holes and spraying Round-Up into the holes. Later, I learned they make a stump killer. You apply a powder and pour boiling water over it. I’m good with boiling water.

   Dean arrived before Dan. I invited him in and offered him a glass of water. Ice? No. His gums were too sensitive for cold water. Just lukewarm tap water would be best.

  I offered him a seat on the lanai. It was a mess. There’s one vacuum cleaner in the kitchen, the new one I haven’t had a chance to use yet. Another vacuum, my Rainbow, is on the lanai. I’ve been using it to clean up Elsa’s stains on the rug. If I pour down enough water, it actually works. The Rainbow is incredible.

  Dan arrived promptly. I allowed Elsa to come down with us. She promptly ran into Yvette and Josh’s house. She usually pees or poops promptly. I got her out and looked around. I couldn’t find anything. Brooklyn was just outside the door. I gently picked him up, put him inside, and closed the door. It was the first time I had my hands on him. He has mats all over his body. He hasn’t been able to clean himself in quite a while. He’s not howling in pain. He gets himself outside to do his business. He keeps on trucking.

    We decided to take one of the two Royal Poinciana trees. Dan would drive the limbs to Dean’s and drop them off there. I called B to tell him. He made a laughing sound, which meant something was wrong. I asked him what. He said he thought the problem was from the tree on the other side of the driveway. I went down to look. A Schefferaire tree was on that side. I’ve been told those trees can crack cement. I think B was referring to a tree just up the hill from the crack in the driveway. It looked like the Schefferlaire could be the problem. I called Dan. He said they both could be a problem. I decided they both had to come out. B laughed again. I asked him to tell me what the problem was so I could at least make a decision. He said with both trees out, his roof would have no shade. That would be a problem. 

 I called B later in the day to check on his information about the trees and the crack in the driveway. I met with him after he came home and before my evening walk. I decided B was right. The Schefferlaire was the problem. The crack in the driveway was old, there before we planted the Royal Poincianas. I would call Dan and have just the Schefflera tree taken out.

   Darby called. She spotted a particular weed in the driveway and wanted to alert me. 

      When I met with Adolescent D, I had him continue reading the article we had worked on yesterday. He did remember the word phase, which he had to decode every time he saw it in a single paragraph. When he registered that the word occurred over and over, he finally remembered it. How can I get him to do that on his own? While his decoding is much better, he still makes gross errors.

   Mama K contacted me to let me know the girls were available. I had Twin A read Story #23 at a first-grade level. She read with reasonable accuracy but very slowly. The IEP reported that she had passed the sight word list up to grade level. That was my experience, too. She still needed help with decoding skills. She had trouble with digraphs.

   In Twin E’s IEP meeting I understood the teacher to say she had bad handwriting. It inspired me to combine handwriting instruction with work on the sight word list. I wrote each letter slowly. She could guess as we went along, but she had to account for all the letters. She recognized each word I wrote. Their iPad ran out of juice. She responded well to the activity. Who knew a multisensory approach might be beneficial? That’s me being sarcastic.

    Carol joined Lutz and me on our walk. Carol was having problems with the solar company not honoring the warranty. Lutz gave her legal advice. The man is a wealth of information.