Young Fives

view from top of fancy paper weight by the artist Karg

sideview. Camera doesn't know where to focus and you can't see the dichromatic glass

Maya showing off her ring ability

in her school's library

Young Fives is a relatively new program which turns kindergarten into a two year program especially for those who are born late in the cycle. Both Maya and Daniel have birthdays making them eligible for the program though they went to it for entirely different reasons. I saw a list for about twenty things Maya should master by the end of the month. Among them:

1. Count to 35 (she more or less can count to 15)
2. Count backwards from 10
3. Recognize both capitals and lower case letters of the alphabet (about halfway there)
4. sort coins by color, size and thickness
5. make up a repeating pattern
6. draw correctly the 6 major shapes

Can one flunk prekindergarten? Again, when I was in kindergarten, we were doing good to know the alphabet and being able to count. Making things worse, they think she has ADHD. I think they are right. The school had an Open House the other night in which the classroom teacher discussed the classroom's goals. When I was a parent, kids were invited to these but apparently, this was for parents only. So I entertained Maya while Naomi stayed in the classroom. I tried to read her a book. The other 4 grandkids listen attentively (though now Oliver thinks he is too old for this) when they are read to but Maya's eyes dart all over the place looking for something else to do. So I took her to the playground. She has therapists for her speech and fine motor skills, but her large motor skills are quite good. She proudly swang from ring to ring. She loves her teacher and quickly makes friends.

We have a week of Indian Summer consisting of cool nights and evenings and pleasant, sunny dry days. If only the weather could be like this all the time.

Sunday my friend and I sat on my porch until the sun went down in a blaze, sipping our wine before finishing Orange is the New Black. Very unsatisfying ending.

Yesterday I brought my friend who had been in the hospital for over 3 weeks home. I tried to convince her to come to my house where I could watch her more closely. Plus my house is easy to walk around and has easy access showers. She was denied rehab and is very weak from numerous complications. She does get a couple of weeks of daily nurse visits. They will only go to one address. Most of her friends today are observing Yom Kippur so they will not look after her. I hope she is not fasting as she is much too weak. Checkout took forever (more than 2 hours) between waiting for staff to give her last minute instructions and then the pharmacy messing up her prescription, which took forever to fix. She was totally beat. In her absence, her street was ripped apart. I narrowly missed being crushed by an earth mover by a man who thought I had no business on that street (only way to get to her house). Her nosy neighbor of course popped up (she had been a housemate of both of us 40 years ago and we really didn't get along)to tell me that if I was looking for my friend, I am out of luck as she has been gone for a month. I reminded her that I rarely visit without an invitation and that I have my friend in my car. If she were a normal, responsible person, I would have asked her to look in on my friend who definitely needs tending but past experience indicated she is much too self involved to be bothered by that. Besides she has to water her plants one by one with a little cup (hasn't she heard of hoses or at least a big watering can?) and has her own health issues which she will share but I beat a hasty retreat.

Last night, a trip to a Southwestern restaurant with former colleagues. I was disappointed that we didn't sit outside but some of us didn't have warmer clothes for when the sun went down (earlier and earlier). This was the restaurant I had a fainting spell while dining outside with my California college friend which I still don't understand other than when I am in pain, I faint. No thanks to nerve damage due to cancer treatment, occasionally I will feel like my rib is broken and then the pain just goes away. This happens very infrequently now and the pain isn't as bad as some of my earlier attacks. But that night, I couldn't finish my dinner as I thought I was one moment from collapsing onto the ground. I also have fond memories of that restaurant. More than eight years ago, I was having brunch with Shanna who informed me that Ramy was much more than a friend. I had chicken poblano chile rellenos and a mojito that seemed to lack rum. Tasty food. The drink? Not so much. It was fun and nice not to be stuck in a house by myself so much of the time.

My friend who received a stem cell transplant last week is now back to texting me. Although the transplant went well, she is suffering from mucositis from the chemo totally destroying the lining of her digestive tract. Apparently it is very painful. I had a mild case of it from the Red Devil, mainly mouth sores. She is in total isolation and will be in the hospital at least a month.

And my childhood friend's sister who was missing a primary breast tumor for her presumed metastatic breast cancer still does not have a diagnosis except of metastatic cancer, unknown origin. They tried 3 times with tumors in her bones and spine to get a positive ID . Now they are going to biopsy one of her lung tumors (they are suspecting now that she has lung cancer, not breast cancer) and hopefully get a cell type so they can appropriately treat her.