Monday, August 21

Up at 7:30, and after breakfast, Hubbie and I went for a bike ride. It was a beautiful, cool morning to be outdoor. After yesterday's rain, there was actually dew on the grass, and even one small puddle on the road.

Before we left on our bike ride, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and she peeled and cut up tomatoes for the freezer. After we got back, I simmered a batch of cherry tomatoes, and then Mother and I pulled the skins off and added the tomatoes to one of the freezer bags.

Now, except for two that were included in a gift basket, there are no more garden tomatoes. Guess for the rest of the season, we'll be visiting the farmers market to buy more, unless the vines Hubbie planted near the garage begin producing.

Got a call from Daughter this morning, alerting me to a potential crisis at the elementary school. On this first day of school, word spread that there were gunshots near the school, prompting a lockdown.

Authorities later said that there were no gunshots, and the school was never in any danger. Granddaughter is convinced, though, that something happened there that prompted a contingent of parents to flock to the school to check on their kids.

School officials assured parents that the kids were safe, and there was no need to pull their children out of school. Maybe more information will be forthcoming soon.

At another school in the same county, a suspicious backpack prompted the principal to alert authorities. Four hundred students were evacuated. But again, there turned out to be no danger. Better safe than sorry, though.

What a first day of school!

Finally showered and dressed around 11:30. For lunch, Mother had her usual Ramen Noodle soup, Hubbie had a ham sandwich, and I decided on wheat bread and butter, and a slice of deli turkey for myself.

After lunch, Mother headed to the couch for a nap, Hubbie ran errands, and I reviewed the lesson plan for my student.

I met my student at 2:30. Today, we spent a lot of time in conversation. Seems the cable box on the TV that the student's elderly in-laws watch quit working last Friday for some reason.

The student's husband is out of town, so she called cable services and was told that a repairman would be sent either on Friday on today. The student demanded that it be Friday, since it's the only entertainment her mother-in-law, who has Alzheimer's Disease, has, and she would become agitated without it. The repairman arrived, bringing a new box, around 5 p.m. on Friday.

She also noted that she spent several hours on Sunday talking by Skype to her family in Venezuela. To do this, she buys international minutes through a program available at Mexican stores here in town. By this method, she is able to speak with her family every weekend. Her mother, she said, is in charge of oraganizing family in Venezuela to gather at a central point for these conversations.

In talking about family, we somehow got on a topic of children, and methods of discipline. She is disappointed that her seven-year-old grandson is prone to misbehaving, mainly our of jealousy at the birth of a little sister about six months ago.

The student is very non-confrontational, and avoids conflict at all costs. She opts for calm, rational discussions, and refuses to be goaded into arguments. But she says she is also a firm disciplinarian, who never uses physical force on children.

She probably learned her discipline style from living with a very loving, but strict, father, who had been a military general.

I learned today that the student has a sister, thirteen years her junior, who married an American at age 18, and moved to America. She speaks fluent English, and attended an American university. She has three children, each born exactly five years apart, and her husband is an engineer and land owner, so the family is obviously well off.

At one point in the lesson, when movies were mentioned, she commented that 90% of movies in Venezuela are American. I guess they must be subtitled or dubbed. She also said that folks in Venezuela love American blue jeans. I think this is true of most countries.

I complimented her on a pair of really comfy looking leather shoes she was wearing today, and she commented that Venezuela is noted for quality leather footwear.

You'd think after all this conversation, there would have been no time for a lesson. But we did manage to cover a few things, like using expressions with "Oh." "Oh, good. I have a letter from my sister." "Oh, no! I have a parking ticket." "Joe isn't home. Oh, well, I'll call him later."

She also learned vocabulary about public employees: "Police officers work for the police departmen. They carry guns." "Mail carriers bring mail to our homes."

She also learned the use of "both." "Two police officers arrived quickly. Both of them had guns." "Ann and I are going to the movies. Both of us like to go to the movies."

Then we worked with past participles of irregular verbs: break, broke, broken; choose, chose, chosen, etc. "Ed broke a glass yesterday. He has broken many glasses." "Gail chose pink paint. Gail has chosen many paints."

Back home, Hubbie had oven-heated leftovers from yesterday's meal of ham and sweet potatoes, to which I had added dishes of leftover steamed and mashed potatoes, and a can of cream-style corn. Slices of homemade whole wheat bread completed the meal.

I accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then Hubbie and I watched TV, including the movie "Avalanche: Nature Unleashed," starring no one we know. It was a typical disaster movie.