Any Other Rachel: June 2023

At the end of April I had an appointment with my tattoo artist. I added on two flowers for my grandparents. A magnolia blossom and Queen Anne's lace. Both of which make me nostalgic for my childhood summers on their farm.

In May there was a carnival at Bert's school. I think Bron enjoyed it more than Bert did. But they both had enough fun. Bert was hoping the snow cone truck would come, but it didn't. There was a churro truck, which was a good consolation.

The next day was Scout-o-Rama. Bron got over-stimulated. Bert had a good time.

The kids participated in some online research for eye-tracking related to autism. They both got a gift card for amazon. They both like participating in research projects (the gift cards help). But I always sign up for various research studies too, something my mom instilled in me.

We went to the Makers' Fair the weekend after Scout-o-Rama. It's where local people sell local-made goods. We went to one before Christmas as well. I really enjoy them, and the kids get bored. Next time I think we'll leave them with the grandparents. It's hard to look at lots of things with them. They both do pretty well when we go shopping, but I guess this is different.

Bronwyn's school had young author's fair. She, originally didn't participate. The teacher worked, and worked with her. She even offered to write, if Bron would dictate. No dice. So I wasn't going to go to the presentation, because she had nothing to present. Aaron took her to school that day, and told me I needed to come and be with her, she was starting to freak out. So I came to school to be with her. And she was starting to melt down. But I found out, that she did write the book, in her speech class, so she had something to present. She was worried that so-and-so was in her group and he'd be mean to her. It turns out so-and-so wasn't in her group, so she calmed down. She read her book to the group of bigger kids without issue. I was so so proud of her and told her as much. Writing is the hardest thing for her.

Around this time, my older sister came for her annual visit. She and my dad went to Vegas, and a few other more local places.

Kids finished up the school year.

Bron had a field trip to the park with her class. I volunteered to go along, mostly to keep an eye on her, because situations that are different are hard for her. She did fine. Until we got back, then she was melting down a little. Hitting, and being mean. But she rallied. At the end of the year, the whole class got awards for various things. Bron got the Reset Award for being able to reset her emotions when she gets upset. That is a well-earned, hard-worked for award. I think she was able to finish up the school year without getting send home.
We were originally hoping that Bron could switch to Bert's school after kindergarten. But her school is a better fit for her, and she in able to get more services there. So she'll stay. It's rough having two kids at two schools. But we do what we have to do.

Bert did a presentation on How to do Scratch. I went and recorded it. He did a great job. The kids really liked it, and were very interested. He did pretty well at the end. His report card only had a couple of 2s and Ns.

We went to the tide pools with the scout troop. I think the kids really enjoyed it. And I like the anemones. I hadn't been to the tide pools in a long time. We stayed at the beach for a bit after. But Bronwyn got run over by a wave, which was our cue to head home.

I had 2 unsuccessful blood/platelet donations in a row. The first time, they couldn't get a good vein (and they're only allowed to stick you once). I think my draw-er was new. I went back a couple weeks later to donate platelets, but my red loss was too high, so I wasn't able to donate.

Bronwyn started Summer school. It's just 8-11am, short days, which are nice. The first day was a little rough, but she found her groove after that.

On June 1st, Nanny passed away. She had been ready for a long time, well over a year. I got to see her in January, which was good, but she didn't remember me. I bought last minute plane tickets for her memorial (June 17th). I flew on Breeze for the first time. It was a long flight, but having a direct flight was really nice. I had to leave from SFO, but that wasn't a huge deal. I got to spend a lot of time with my mom, which was awesome. I got to see my sister and nephew a bit too. Little Eddie isn't so little anymore. He's not a huge fan of me. My sister and I got mani/pedis. The only time I ever do that is when she takes me. I enjoy it, I should do it more. But I have hard time doing those things for myself. The memorial was kind of weird. Like really Jesus-y. And very focused on being saved. Which is fine for some, but she wasn't really like that when she was a live. She was a devoted Christian and "knew" Jesus. But, aside from meal-time prayer I do not remember Jesus ever being mentioned. My sister enjoyed catching up with the cousins at the luncheon. She was like, you can talk to them too. But I don't really have a relationship with any of them. She does. I think a lot of that is the fact that she lives there, and I don't. But my social anxiety was on high.

For my 40th birthday, Aaron did a Rachel day. I got a nap, we went to Target and bought things I want. We got what I wanted for lunch. And we had a fancy (expensive) dinner. Aaron ordered me a piece of jewelry, but it wasn't delivered until the 12th, actually the 15th. So I got it when I got back from my trip.