Friday, October 25, 2024

 Friday,  October 25, 2024

   It was Hula day.  I was up and out of bed before 4:30. I wrote instead of doing my morning exercises. My arms would get enough of a workout while dancing.  Before I left for the class, I carefully checked the schedule. I managed to read the class would be at the community center across from the church. 

   The church parking lot was jammed at 10 am on a Friday. What was that about?  I noticed a large group in the cemetery.  All the participants wore something white.  I didn’t know any of the people. I guessed it was an interment.  I parked at the back of the church. As I walked to the entrance to go to the community center, I saw two vested priests, walking back to the church, more evidence that it was an interment..  

    Across the street from the church, I spotted the Ironman village, a temporary tent city serving the Ironman participants. I wondered how we would hear Sweetie’s dance instructions over the noise. Naturally, the community center was closed. I walked back to the car and drove over to Old A. Sure enough that’s where the class was, and I was half an hour late. Sadly, I missed my favorite part of the class, the review of some traditional dance steps.  I don’t care as much for the part of the class where we learn choreographed dances. They all require me to hold my arms up high.  My left arm, the one I shattered  a year and a half ago with the reverse shoulder replacement, hurts when I hold it up. Also, I am usually too tired to do the whole class.  

    I stopped at Target on my way home to pick up the frozen sale items I noticed the other day. Haagen Das was still on sale. I picked up a pint of Vanilla Bean and one of Chocolate, and three frozen meals. 

   When I spoke to Judy, she told me Paulette’s profound pain was diagnosed as a pinched nerve. Judy and Paulette thought it was a kidney stone.  She went to the Emergency Room and Kona Community Hospital. They told her it wasn’t her kidneys but didn’t give her  medication for her pain. She went to her personal doctor who confirmed the  original diagnosis.  Then, she went back to the ER at Kona Community. They prescribed heavy doses of Advil, Aleve and Ibuprofen.  Paulette got relief from the extreme pain and got some sleep.  I remembered I had a TENS machine.  I bought it after my elbow and shoulder surgery. I didn’t use it much. I charged it and drove it up to Paulette. It was up to her to figure out how to use it.  I knew you place the pads on two parts of your body, but I didn’t know where Paulette should place them for her problem.

    My next stop was at the community center to vote before I went to Ulu Wini. There was no line. I chose to vote in person because there was some confusion about my signature.  When I registered to vote in Hawaii, I signed my name as Elizabeth S. David-Ross, my full legal name.  My mother taught me the importance of signing the same name as was on the form. Who wants to write out Elizabeth S. David-Ross?   One of the election workers made sure the signature was now Betty David-Ross, with the last name illegible, not because I wanted to obscure it but because my handwriting has degenerated. 

    When I showed my driver’s license as proof of identity, I asked what would prevent me from using Mike’s driver’s license, which I saved, to vote in his name. She checked the voting roll. Mike’s name was there as deceased, and he did  not receive an absentee ballot. Not thinking clearly, I asked what would happen if I were to use his driver’s license to vote in person. She pointed out they would suspect I wasn’t Mike when I handed her his driver’s license because I was a woman. Also, they would check his name against their list.

       I drove up the hill to Ulu Wini.  Shauntel had a craft activity planned.  She buys craft kits from  Amazon.  She is perfect for this job. She is organized, completely focused on her objective and calm. She is such a gift to the program.

   I asked second grade NV to work with me for a moment before she participated in the planned activity.  I  wanted to check her sight words. When I worked with her the first time, the only word she could recognize was the word THE.  She read all words as THE, with the exception of CAT.  When I checked the sight word list, she recognized a number of other words.  When I asked her if she could use the screen at her forehead. She said yes.  She could not hold it steady when I worked with her last week and was very uncomfortable doing a spin release. There was nothing I could do but admit my helplessness and pray. She made this change independently. This isn’t the first time a student has made a change on their own. Once I’ve introduced the idea that they have  choice how they use their brain, they resolve it on their own. I just worked with her for a few minutes.

   I spent time working  on the updates.  A boy I had never worked with before wander over to my table. Did he want to work with me? Yes. On math. Counting by twos. First-grade KP demonstrated his knowledge. He needed a bit of assistance as he left numbers out. He had the same problem when it came to counting by hundreds.  then he wrote the numbers up to 33, not missing any. When he was done, I continued writing,  waiting for the middle school bus arrived.

   Three middle school students came over and sat down. Two asked, “Where is RM?,” and walked away.  I worked with sixth-grade ML on Under the Mesquite, a story told in blank verse. She recognized it from  last year. I had a great time working with her on following the action, the vocabulary, and the imagery.  ML is a wonderful student. I also asked her if she wanted to improve her reading speed. She said no; she was good.

    Darby was exhausted from a busy day at work and passed on a walk.