Monday, Jan. 28

Something is not right...too warm today.

We were up at 6:30, so I could get ready for water aerobics. Certainly didn't need a coat for my walk to the gym. It was nearly 60 degrees outside, and soon would be in the low 70s.

Eight of us showed up for aerobics today, though our leader was not one of them. She is still running a fever with her sinus infection. So one of the other ladies decided to lead the exercises, but soon, three others were calling out instructions too.

Hm-m-m...too many chiefs and not enough indians, but we muddled through, anyway. One of the ladies, who goes to water aerobics at the city pool in the summer, showed us how to use water noodles to do leg exercises, which I enjoyed, because the noodle provided resistance. She also showed us how to use it to exercise arm muscles.

Back home, once I was ready for the day, I spent quite a bit of time reviewing today's ESL lesson on adjectives and abstract nouns. I printed lists of these for the student, and mulled over in my mind the best way to explain the difference to my student.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning, and then ran a couple of errands. Mother set up another jigsaw puzzle.

After lunch, I did this and that until time to meet my student. Besides working with adjectives and abstract nouns, we also covered vocabulary centered on Civil Rights, protests, boycott, Nobel Prize, and cities and capitals. All of this, of course, relates to the Martin Luther King, Jr., story.

We ended the lesson with a workbook lesson, which included appropriately using prepositions in sentences. I discovered that she had some difficulty with this, so we'll need more practice.

Next week, we'll begin an evaluation session, to assess where more work is needed.

Back home, Hubbie had heated leftover lasagna, and Mother had prepared salad and garlic bread for our supper.

After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother back to her house, and then we watched TV, including an episode of "Downton Abbey," from the PBS channel. While I watched, I sent a list of prepositions, as practice exercises, to my student.

Later, we watched a 1979 movie we borrowed from the library..."The China Syndrome," starring Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas. A reporter (Fonda) visits a nuclear power plant to do a story when an accident occurs that could cause a reactor meltdown. I'm surprised by how many people (including actors) mispronounce nuclear as "nucular."