I am so proud of both my babies today.
Alesia’s grades are 3 A’s, 4 B’s. Pretty impressive, huh?! Last semester she made 2
A’s, 3 B’s, and 2 C’s. I know she has worked hard
this year and has really developed better study habits. Most importantly she is
starting to really understand the importance of doing well in school. I have
seen a lot of growth and maturity in her. I told her that the other night.
Sometimes I tell her in Russian, “You are SO smart. I am SO proud of you!” I think she likes hearing it in
Russian.
She has to take the graduation test at
school next year, so I am going to get her to do some studying for that this
summer. I am not really worried about math and science, but English and History
are hard for her. I don’t know why they start the kids taking that test in
junior year - maybe just to practice?
Michael graduated from the 5th
grade this morning. I cried throughout the whole thing. Heck, I got teary in
the car on the way to school. I didn’t blubber loudly, but I had to keep a Kleenex in my
hand. Michael won an academic achievement award. He also got an award for
running the mile in just over 8 minutes. I told him how proud I was of what he
has achieved. It’s
remarkable, when you consider where he was just two years ago.
He seems like a big kid to me, until I see
him with his peers. He was among the smaller kids in the 5th grade.
About half the girls were bigger than him. Some of the boys were taller than
me. It was an extremely diverse group, too. I only counted a handful of Caucasian
kids, which is fine. A lot of the kids were Hispanic. Several are Asian or Indian.
I could not get him to wear dress pants. I
tried. All the kids looked so nice, some even wearing suits and ties. Mike wore
blue jeans that were too big. I did get him to put on a white dress shirt and
his new tennis shoes.
After the ceremony, I was talking to some
other parents and somebody slapped Michael on the back, which provoked an
outraged "OW!" from him. His back is still tender, despite repeated applications
of Lidocaine with aloe. So as soon as he got that back slap Michael looked at
me in alarm and said “Let’s get OUT of here!” We exited. Not even cookies and punch could keep him
in the room with backslappers.
Mike played his T-2 match today with the
sunburn still bothering him, despite another liberal application of lanacaine.
It also started raining towards the end and he was worried about getting his
prosthetic wet. Poor kid. He lost. Maybe getting back into lessons in June will
help. He is not as cocky as he was just a few months ago. He is starting to see
that to really excel at tennis he’s going to have to work. That’s OK. It’s good discipline.
He always complains when he loses that “the net was too high” or “the balls bounced weird” or “The color of the court was
distracting” – a million excuses. I just
listen and say nothing. When he gets a little more mature he’s going to have to own his
performance and not blame externals.
To play any sport well you have to have not
just good muscles but a good brain. Champions are not made from brute strength
or agility, but from being able to focus on the game to the exclusion of all
else. I am not a sports person but if I can teach the kids that,
then I will be happy.
I need to take a photo of my raised garden
bed. There are cucumbers, beans, and corn plants poking up! YAY!! I am
ridiculously excited.
I came home tonight in horrible
traffic. Took me an hour. Usually takes about 30-40 minutes. Holiday weekend
traffic, grrrr….
I had to take the car to get washed
and detailed. I had to run to Publix. I took Alesia by the mall to run in to
GNC and get more vitamins.
Michael hates his sunburn even more now because Granny told him it’s probably going to peel. He has never
peeled before. Mother’s remark, “Don’t worry if you scratch that place and end
up with skin peelings in your hands” officially freaked him out. Of course, we
don’t think it’s any big deal. He thinks it’s horrifying. I told him would be more a-peeling [get
it?!] but he didn’t see the humor there. He has never faced this before because I always slather him with sunscreen repeatedly before he hits the pool or beach.
Dinner was fallout. I needed to
clean out the fridge, so I unloaded all the leftovers on the counter, and that
was dinner. Mother had tuna salad. Michael had vegetable soup. Alesia had beef
leftover from the philly cheesesteaks the other night and a huge bowl of green
beans. She loves green beans. I had a ham sandwich and some Fritos. I was
whipped.
Tomorrow will be insanely busy,
before I get in the car and try not to fall asleep. Alesia will load the car with a precision not unlike her great-grandfather Hasty, who could load a 1952 Pontiac to hold 500 suitcases and 200 assorted bags and packages. Mother will tell me how to
drive periodically. She will ask me at least 6 times where her purse is located. The kids will watch DVD’s. We will stop at truck stops where Michael
will want to buy every doodad and I will say no. I will hear “He’s touching
me!” periodically. I can't wait.
So vacation will last from tomorrow until the 31st. I will try to find an internet café
and post a couple of times next week. Check back with me.
