Monday, July 2

Today is Great-Grandson's birthday. Happy Birthday, Great-Grandson!

Up at 6:30 this morning, to get ready to go to water aerobics. While I was walking to the gym, a lady caught up to me to introduce herself and tell me this was her first day to attend aerobics.

She was very chatty, telling me she had been one in a group of people downsized from their jobs at the end of May. She had worked there for 33 years, just two years short of retirement, which means she is now not eligible for retirement pay. There ought to be a law against companies shafting folks out of their retirement.

The lady is only 58 years old, but there are limited employment opportunities for folks her age. So, in looking for other things to do, she decided getting healthier is a good place to start.

There was a fair-sized group at the pool today. Our leader wore a royal blue swimsuit, with a visor hat covered in American flags and red and blue feathers, in honor of the upcoming July 4 holiday.

Back home later, once I was ready for the day, I talked with Daughter for quite a while on the phone. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house while Daughter and I chatted.

I didn't accomplish much after that except fix lunch for us. Shortly after lunch, I persuaded Mother to go to the couch for a nap.

At 2:30, I went to the college library to meet my ESL student. I was surprised when she was fifteen minutes late, but then was amused when she said she had been talking with her daughter on the phone and lost track of time.

While I waited for her, I browsed a rack of discarded library books that included one titled, "A Long Fatal Love Chase," by Louisa May Alcott. The novel was written around the same time as "Little Women," in 1868, but because, in those Victorian times, it was considered too sensational for publication, it lay untouched for more than a century before being published in 1995. It's only 171 pages long, so it'll be a quick read.

The student's and my conversation, of course, centered around how hot and dry it has been. She commented about the number of homes that have burned, including one next door to her brother and sister-in-law's home.

She said home fires are very rare in Venezuela, and we deduced that it's because homes in that country are constructed mainly of bricks and adobe, whereas here, many homes are built of wood.

The ESL lesson today included short answer sentences: "Is Ann in class?" "No, she isn't." "Will you help me?" "Yes, I will."

The lesson also included vocabulary about church services: "Mike and Fran go to church on Sundays." "They pray together." "They listen to the minister in the church."

And a vocabulary lesson on expressions of sympathy: "I lost all my money." "That's a shame." "She broke her leg." "What a pity." Shame and pity were both new words for her.

We practiced conversation skills with an exchange about going fixing, and I asked her if she likes to fish. She said yes, and wondered if I do. I told her I like to trout fish. She looked that word up and found that it's close to the Spanish word "la trucha." She likes to fish for both trout and bass, though she has only been fishing here one time.

The lesson ended with listening comprehension: I read a paragraph and she paraphrased it back to me. Then she read a story from her reader and answered the questions related to it. The questions included a section that instructed her to drop the -d and add -ing, in words such as "like" and "bike." She looked very puzzled, so I demonstrated what "drop the -d" meant by slashing through that letter, and then adding -ing to the word. She immediately understood.

Back home, Mother awakened when I came in the door. Hubbie had put leftover veggies in the oven for supper, which we had with slices of cold pork roast, cornbread, and biscuits, left from a meal earlier this week.

Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, and then played on my laptop, caught up on reading newspapers, and watched TV. Hubbie worked in the yard for a while, before joining me for TV.