Soon it will be the weekend every day

Because I skipped the Zumba last Thursday to cut the grass, I decided to make it a step filled day by going for one of the long walks of a few summers ago. Except I forgot to pay attention to the sun and found myself near heat exhaustion climbing up a 45* hill at noon on this sunny day. The neighbor's grown daughter spotted my distress and drove me the last 500 steps home. Note to self, check the sun.

Other than the rescue car, this was my favorite thing on the walk-

 

I can never remember the name (much like I always forget the word tortilla and Christopher Walken's name) and the guy getting in his car in front of the house eyed me suspiciously as I photographed it. I'm going to guess that the only thing I could look potentially guilty of was sneaking into the house and collapsing in exhaustion. Step total was 7,000+ , so there's that.

When you order your meal and cocktail in Spanish, somethimes they bring you an extra house tequila at the end of the meal. And it is delicious. And they realized your Spanish wasn't completely rehearsed when you say "duermo ahora."

The student teacher with no classroom management skills has finished her placement. Every now and then it's good for those kids to experience a little less than the best. Then they are grateful when I return and we all like each other a little more.

 

Healthy choices - not so much

So we spent a lot of running around time making ourselves eligible for a $10 discount/mo at the local gym. When it came time to sign our portion we were asked to promise to go an hour a day three days a week, keep a food journal, talk on the phone with a nutritionist. All good things but not the autonomy we wanted to give up. Had I thought of drawing the food for the food journal then, it would have been hard to resist not doing it just to turn in pictures instead of words.

Greathusbandbob bought some Ben and jerry's and it called my name. On the other hand I didn't eat the Twix bar in my drawer because I didn't want to have to confess to it.

 

 

One thing I've come to realize about drawing is that you can't judge the quality accurately when you're close ( both in time and distance). So far many of the things did not end up looking as bad as they felt.

 

As promised.

Yesterday's food-

 

Today's inspiration- lots of dog portraits. though the instructor says use still lifes not already drawn images-

 

My view from the inside-

 

 

Not yet.

Spanish- added the podcast Spanish in one month to modes of instruction. A mnemonic bee named Joel teaches connecting words prior to verbs and teaches all tenses for one verb (and then more) rather than one tense for all verbs. Also got a collection of fairy tales retold in Spanish and have been listening to get an ear for the language trying to hear the words I recognize and how they're put together. So many words, all vaguely familiar but too fast to connect. Slow and steady.

I used to say that I believed that one day Spanish words would come out of my mouth and I would understand all magically. Magic=intensive study. Not yet discouraged.

Drawing- I'm going slow on the lessons. There needs to be lots of drawing in between lessons. I've taken to drawing what I've eaten for the day and then naming it en espagnol. Clever, eh? The idea came from this artist (and surprisingly enough-not really-she started as a knitter). She kept track of purchases. I have mostly come out from under the yoke of consumerism however I am happy to be compulsive about food. It's more fun than the official Food Journal.

 

There are 25 teaching days left. This week has been so easy I really can't speak of it. It's testing week. That usually means that I am either monitoring tests or covering a rearranged schedule that I have written. This year the principal said- hey we're not turning the school on it's head just for testing so if kids are testing when I have them, I don't have them. In addition it's the student teachers last week and she's doing the rest.

There will be drawings of food tomorrow. In a "hey I'm not a weirdo" moment the bus driver, preacher, dad of former students friend asked me to help him learn the piano. He knows a little bit. Just needs some guidance. I'm not the only one looking to know more stuff.

 

Play it out until it's done

Spanish- apparently the learning curve gets steep after you become 3% proficient. I'm still maintaining my daily practice. I'm just not as awesome as I was last week.

Knitting- bestnieceeverCharlotte (and my favorite member of greathusbandbob's family- we don't need words- just eye contact) is expecting a baby. I am double knitting squares for a toddler blanket. To go where no one has gone before.

 

I have completed two squares. I need thirty. Some will be blue/black others gold/black. Baby is due in October. I'll likely have just enough time.

Studying drawing and following instruction looked like this tonight-I'm pleased with the book and the jar- the coffee cup not so much.

 

Following no instruction and just drawing quickly and relentlessly with ink looked like this tonight.

 

 

Cough drop 1, cough drop 2, shekere, small woven basket, treasure box, knitted pig, broken shell, wooden rose. It's my hope that I won't have to regularly identify what has been drawn but today I felt compelled. And even though I don't love the way it looks, I did learn and think about the pig's shadow so it was not a complete waste of time. I also think cough drop 1 might pass the contour drawing test.

I'm reading some books that say here are some ideas. Just draw. Don't be afraid of art. Decide to make it Might Ugly. The last one was written by a knitter so it has to be useful.

Wouldn't it be nice if I kept up with all of this (and walking) for the whole summer.

5 weeks until summer

Summer plans are

-learn Spanish

-take a drawing class

-draw a lot

-look at Japanese art

I got a head start during this short break,

Yo hablo un pequito. Gracias, Duolingo.

In fact I know enough that the next time I go to the Mexican restaurant I can say cuando yo soy aqui con mi Esposo yo no bebo cerveza o tequila. Nosotros no bebemos. Pero, cuando yo soy con mi prima, yo quiero dos tequilas en un vaso. Yo no quiero mi esposo sabre. Look it up.

From the Craftsy/University of Washington course-

 

 

 

From the don't be afraid and draw all the stuff book-

 

 

Here comes summer!

 

knock knock, who's there, oh... wait

It's that time of year again.

I have five favorite kindergarten elephant jokes.  Each year when we sing about elephants, I tell them. It usually takes about three hearings before any six year olds "get" the punch line.  It takes 2-3 more hearings before they can tell them.  They are-

How does the baby elephant call his mama?  On the Elephone.
What does the baby elephant do once he finishes his homework?  Watch Elevision.
What weighs 500 lbs and wears glass slippers?  Cinderelephant.
What did the cat say to the elephant?  meow.
What did the grape say to the elephant?  Nothing.  Grapes can't talk.

Once they master the art of telling the elephant jokes I've given them, they are allowed to make up and share their own elephant jokes.  If you haven't seen a kindergartener make up a joke, you should really just ask the next one you see to tell you one.    The thing is, when you are 5, you believe you can do everything an adult says you can do so you think of the question part of the joke before an answer occurs to you, confident in the knowledge that something funny will magically appear.

I have had three favorite moments this year so far in the retelling and making up of jokes.

The most common mistake in the retelling is in the cat joke.  They say "what did the elephant say to the cat?" instead of the other way around.  Usually they ignore their error and finish with "meow."  Last Wednesday, J.C. reversed the animals, paused to have her brain explode and then put her arm up to her nose and made elephant sounds.  Ah the element (elephant) of surprise!

The second one- Why did the elephant sit on the couch?  He was tired.

And the third- Why did the elephant get a cat?  Because he didn't want a dog.

I got a million of 'em folks....