Friday, March 17, 2006
Just before leaving for work I remembered it is St. Patrick’s Day and I found a blouse with some green in it and wore it. I don’t know why it was so important – it’s not like one of those brilliant and wonderful chain e-mails that promise good luck if I follow orders. No, it’s just green clothing.
Used to be the best place to find green was my refrigerator. That has changed since moving in with Mother. Now after every meal we carefully scrape the leftover food into little plastic containers and put it in the fridge, so it’s not wasted. About 3-6 days later I poke it down the disposal in the sink so we will have room in the fridge to put more food we won’t finish. My brother used to say about his fridge, while married to his crazy wife, “It’s where vegetables go to die.”
I cried all the way to work. It was very difficult to get anything done. I have so many fears about Alesia’s school situation, and a possible FAE diagnosis [fetal alcohol exposure]. I did contact a clinic at Emory that can test her to determine if she has FAE. We have an appointment in June for a day of testing. A month before that I have to go in for an interview with a social worker. They are thorough. I hope and pray I’m totally wrong and she is perfectly normal.
I also talked to a lady at the Lullwater School, a private school very close
to our house that specializes in learning disabled kids. They are less
expensive than Howard, and closer, but they are tiny – 30 kids in the whole
school. The student teacher ratio is 5:1. I’m sure that’s good, but this is a
bare bones school – they rent space in a Methodist church. I can go talk to
them, at least. Couldn’t hurt.
I talked to my real estate agent about dropping the price on the condo so it will sell. It’s been on the market over a year. I can’t drop it too much, though, or I won’t be able to pay off the second mortgage. I am thinking of running an ad in the paper before I drop the price. I hate the thought of not making any profit on it.
I had lunch with my friend Tina at a tiny Venezualan restaurant. Food was very tasty; reminded me a bit of Cuban food. I had black beans, rice, a pork slice, friend plantains, and something called a “reyhado”? or something. It was the Venezualan version of cornbread, but shaped like a pancake. Tina and I talked nonstop the whole time. She was good therapy for me. Her baby came from Russia 3 months ago and he is adorable. I was telling her about my fears for Alesia and FAE and she recommended the doctor at Emory with the clinic where Alesia will be tested.
I have had a lot to absorb today. I came home and watched “L.A. Story” and old Steve Martin movie that’s silly and cute. Good therapy.
Mom said Alesia was skating up a storm after getting home from school. I will post a photo of her I took last weekend. [See photo album]
