I got up and watered outside, and it wasn’t at all hot. In fact, it was kind of overcast, and I was briefly hoping for rain, but none came.
We spent a rather leisurely morning, and then went to Sports Authority. For some unknown reason, Alesia was in a mood. She needs a new bike helmet, but got upset when I told her I wouldn’t pay more than $30 for one. This is like her third one in 4 years. They aren’t cheap.
Mike’s tennis coach said he should start using a grownup racket, so I found a good Wilson on sale for $54, which was a bargain. I now have two nice, barely used junior rackets which we can’t use any more. [Email me if you want to buy them…]
We get out to the car and I told Alesia to put the bag in the trunk, which she does, and then she SLAMS down the trunk lid, missing Michael’s fingers by a hair. She didn’t even look before slamming it shut. We’ve warned her about slamming things in cars and doing damage. So, I tried to control my temper in the car, but I scolded her. She immediately reverted to “I don’t care” mode, further ticking me off. I canceled a planned trip to Target, and we went home.
Mother and I tried to talk to her about her behavior but she barely cooperated. She acted completely unapologetic. I pointed out if she had slammed the trunk on Mike’s fingers she would have cut them off, thus ruining the one good hand he has. She acted like “No big deal.” It’s the inability to admit she does something wrong, or to say she’s sorry, that just ticks me off every time.
It really stung when Alesia said she wished I would spend LESS time with her and Michael. She doesn’t want me to pay attention to her or spend time with her. She wants to be left ALONE, she stated. I pointed out that since I work full-time, I reserve my weekends and evenings to spend with my children. That doesn’t mean she can’t see her friends.
A short time later, we were in the car getting sandwiches at Jersey Mike’s, and I suggested she call Elena about spending some time at the pool. So Alesia spent all afternoon with Elena at the pool. She was in a much better mood later.
Alesia still has no idea how to handle her emotions, and there are a lot of frayed nerves, I see. Feeling and expressing anger or sadness, not bottling everything up, is new for her, and I'm sure it's scary.
Michael and I relaxed for part of the afternoon, then ran errands. We hit the fish market and produce stand, then came home and unloaded, then went back to Kroger.
Michael was complaining about the heat at the produce stand, and the guy who sold me our fruits and veggies offered him an orange or an apple, out of the blue. Nice young man. I think he was impressed that I was driving my brother’s big, loud truck. Looks pretty cool until you see this fat, sweaty, grey-haired woman practically fall out, then have to heave herself back in. It’s not a pretty sight.
Mike got the free piece of fruit due entirely to the power of his cuteness, I am convinced.
After we got home from Kroger and unloaded the groceries, I was too tired to cook. So dinner was “fallout.” That means, everyone opens the fridge to see what will fall out, that they can eat. Mother had leftover beef stew. I had a hot dog and sun chips.
Michael and Alesia fixed their favorite wraps. This was comical to watch. They take large tortillas, spread them with mayonnaise, add ham or other lunch meat, plus diced tomatoes, and cabbage and pickles. Yep, cabbage. They love it. It’s a Russian thing, I think. Pretty nutritious sandwich, though. Michael’s wrap was more like a foldover and watching him eat was comical. His wrap kept dripping.
Alesia’s wrap was perfectly done, and any excess tortilla pieces were carefully trimmed and fed to Coco. Coco will bite like a piranha for tortilla scraps, I learned.
Our movie tonight was an old thriller, The Jackal, with Bruce Willis playing an international assassin. Alesia and Michael kept being amused by his many disguises and changed hairstyles and colors. Alesia would exclaim “Look, now he looks like Steve Martin!” then “Now he looks like Uncle Bruce!” and “Now he looks like and old guy!”
Michael spotted a booby trap in one scene and solemnly informed us he had found the “granite.” We had no idea what that meant. We played back the DVD and he pointed to a grenade. The two words are close...
