Language Practice (The Stretch!)

Shane's chores include 30 minutes of Japanese practice a day. Mostly, he logs onto Busuu and does a couple of lessons. Is it the best way to learn? No. Is it easy to monitor? Yes. It'd be better if Shane was more motivated/interested, but I believe establishing a routine will be good for him in the long run.

And to be a good example, I've been doing my own language studies. 

I mentioned back in my Summer Goals that I was doing a weekly iTalki lesson and doing my daily Bible reading in Spanish. Currently, I'm on track to finish reading the Nueva Versión Internacional in a year (Day 222 out of 365). I'm not going to claim I understand everything, but I'm better than when I started.

In the beginning, I read and compared verses to the English version. I remembered it bothered me in the chapters about the design of the temple when the colors in the English and Spanish versions didn't match 

Example: 

"Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen,..." Exodus 26:31 NIV

"Haz una cortina de púrpura, carmesí, escarlata y lino fino,.. " Éxodo 26:31 NVI

The Spanish words translate to purple, crimson, and scarlet with crimson replacing blue in the English translation. 

This sent me on an Internet research journey. In today's world, we've codified definitions and measurements of colors by name, but the color spectrums aren't carved up exactly the same between languages and cultures. Go back thousands of years when people were much more limited in what colors they could physically create, factor in how language can change over time, and I came to peace with the Spanish and English versions not being exactly the same. There is a lot I don't know about the history of colors and while I thought translating the names of colors was basic there are academics who know much more than me arguing over how to do it correctly even now!

Eventually, I started playing the audio of verses as I read. I wanted to push myself to read faster rather than worrying about the translation of every word. Sometime later, maybe in October, I started trying to read aloud with the audio to focus more on my pronunciation and rate of speech (with the hoped for effect that Shane would see and hear that I have to work and practice, too).

Lately, I've been trying to watch TV shows in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. I normally don't watch much of anything by myself, but since watching counts as 'working' I've been doing it more frequently.  I'm getting better, but I'm not at the audiobook level yet. I tried listening to a couple, but I don't have the vocabulary or fluency yet to keep up without visuals. 

My iTalki lessons have fallen to once every week or two. In the beginning of the year, I'd have a lesson during a planning period, but I've been busy or tired as of late. There's a homebound student who I sometimes have a zoom call with, or I was pulling one lazy slug during his Freshman Seminar to work with for a while, etc.

Shane's been better about being regular with Sunny. Her schedule stays busy! They don't do Daylight Savings Time in Japan, so our meeting times shifted. It's first thing in the morning for her whenever Shane logs on in the evening here.

I've mentioned to Carrie that she should practice some, as well, but that's gone nowhere! She can imitate a ton of different English accents, but has trouble dealing with English spoken in foreign accents. Shane or I will have to be the translators if we travel abroad somewhere we need to use Spanish or Japanese!

Math! (The Backlog!)

 I love a good math joke.

I showed a lot more pictures my first year at Monticello. I'd throw up pictures of the horses after the warm-up or of some other odd happenings. I used to show pictures during Virtual School, too. It was one way I tried to connect with kids. 

Maybe I should up my picture game again. 

Shane told me that he's not good at math.....which is laughable. He's in a condensed math course that moves quickly. After not having to expend much effort at Scottsville, he's finding the new material and rate at which it's covered to be actual work. 

And based on his ability to sit still, I'm sure he's not an ideal student!

I told Shane that's he's great at math and that's why he's in the course he's in. They wouldn't have allowed him into the class if he was terrible at it! It'll take effort, but Shane's capable of it.

This year is a paradigm shift for Shane. He's incredibly bright, but not used to working. Lately, he's been talking about how he liked elementary school better, but that was NOT always the case while he was in it! Now that he's shifted schools, he's looking back through rose tinted glasses.

All of Shane's grades are great except for Math. There was a test while he was out of school for a week with Carrie (more on that soon!). He says he's made up the test, but the teacher hasn't graded it yet. I've seen him signing up for WIN time with her (basically a makeup period), so I've been letting him handle it. If his semester grades aren't up to par, I'll step in, but I wanted to give him the chance to handle it first. Frankly, a kid's grades in 6th grade don't mean much. 

I did step in after Shane got back from his break to help him catch up. He normally never asks me for help, but he needed motivation and structure to pace himself appropriately. I helped him a little bit with proportions.....and I could've stolen the worksheet to use with my students. There were similar triangles aplenty which we were set to learn a few weeks after I helped Shane with them!

I'm not 100% fond of the County's push to have students in Algebra in 7th grade. It's largely driven by college crazy parents, and I feel it'd be more beneficial to start Algebra in 8th grade. 

So why's Shane on track to take Algebra in 7th then? Shane's capable. Having a difficult class for once should be good for him. Our biggest reason for putting Shane on the fast track was we wanted to expose him to new social circles he might fit into better. He never found his group at Scottsville Elementary, and I'm sure saying things like "This is so easy!" while other kids struggled didn't help! 

The end of the semester is a week away as I write this. I'll post something about Shane's grades when I make it to January on the blog.

Pokemon League (The Backlog!)

Sunday was church as usual. The advent calendar came out, so that was new. We're in the Christmas season now!

Shane and I went out to Noodles and Company for lunch. That was unusual. We were biding our time.

The Pokemon League at The End Games didn't start until 1 PM! We met Samuel and Ed there.

I let Shane blow through a chunk of his birthday money from Nana. It was a little early, but he had a lot of fun picking out what he should buy with Samuel.

Samuel is semi pro. He was ranked on the tournament circuit at one point! I'd been trying to make sure Shane had realistic expectations before they played ("Don't expect to win. You're smart, but you haven't played in forever and you don't have any of the new cards." I said. "We're here to have fun with a friend.")

Still, Shane got frustrated when Samuel blew him out of the water! "You can have FOUR EXs!?" Shane said.

Pokémon is a well constructed game, but the downside of most CCGs/TCGs is that the cards aren't all equal. Having the best cards costs. Shane abandoned playing when we moved(and his cards got soaked). Samuel never stopped. He and his dad have played in tournaments, acquired a collection, and only increased their skill levels! Samuel was using proxies to save cash until he decided how to finalize his deck and make it tournament ready.

It was eye opening for Shane! Shane's smart enough that if he put in the time and energy he'd be able to compete with anyone. However, he's not fond of losing! Shane's interest pings around, so he's more likely to bounce to new things than buckle down and try to excel in one. 

Which he gets from me. I had more of a chip on my shoulder/need to prove myself than Shane does, but I've always tended to obsess over one thing for a short while before moving on to the next thing (and the next, and the next...). 

I hope we'll go again. I guess I could force him, but I only really want to go myself if Samuel and Ed are there! Playing would be a good way to get closer to Samuel. I've encouraged Shane to play the game online to practice, but he said "It's only fun in person." I've offered to play with him, too, but the usual reply is "Nah!" 

And that's as far as I've pushed it. Taking an interest in the interests of others is great way to get to know them better, but Shane's got to decide to do it  himself. I can't be friends with other people for him. I've told him its value. I played all sorts of things my friends liked more than I did to stay part of the group. Basketball is the biggest example that comes to mind. I played a ton of it in Beaumont due to Jesse and Nate! I was on several teams, collected trading cards, and even attended a skills camp! The moment we moved to Virginia I stopped save for PE and the rarest of the rare occasions (All that experience has come in handy talking to students who like basketball. God uses everything in His time!). 

Oh, Lilly....(The Backlog!)

It's gotten cold.

Cold weather means more work around the barn. The fields are still open, but with the chance of the water lines freezing we've switched to using the portable water heater. We have to wheel it into the tack room each night and wheel it out to use in the morning. 

It takes a little longer for us to gear up to tolerate the cold ourselves, too!

Wednesday morning was bad news. Lilly managed to slip her muzzle at some point. We had no idea ho long she'd been grazing to her stomach's content, but she has a very large stomach and doesn't know when to stop (hence the need for a muzzle). Carrie ran to pull her in and kept her in a stall after breakfast to observe.

By midday, Carrie could tell Lilly's feet were heating up. That's a sign of founder. 

The vet came out and confirmed Carrie's fears. The good news is that Carrie caught it immediately. Lilly was put on stall rest.

Lilly pooped up a storm in her stall for a couple of days before Carrie let her switch the double stall in the baby lot. 

Lilly has not been a happy camper. She doesn't understand why her feet hurt and why she can't go back out to pasture to eat all her worries away. She throws her head and makes her displeasure at being locked up clear every time we check on her!

With Lilly on medical leave, Carrie doesn't have a horse to fox hunt with for a while. The only horses on the property that are currently rideable are Indy and Maddy. Indy is tiny and Jessica's ride when she's not off planning her wedding in Colombia or Chicago or traveling for work. Maddy is Barbara's ride and too injury prone to foxhunt with.

What about Eowyn? Well, she's been sold. We'd hoped to get $5k, but after a month of paying training board at Sarah G's there were no offers. Sarah knew a friend who had a horse died unexpectedly, but they couldn't afford to pay up front. Sarah waived her commission and Carrie sold Eowyn to Sarah's friend for $3600 to be paid off $300/mo (which hopefully come in consistently!).

So Carrie's going to be taking a short break from riding. She'd need to take a break anyway with one of her surprises on the horizon....., but that's another post!

Travel Day (The Backlog!)

Shane and I managed one road trip over Thanksgiving Break. We headed up to NoVA for Black Friday to see the Jeffers.

Bill, Jill, Ben, and Maeve were in town.

As were Dan and Shar!

We didn't see Marcus or Ashley this time around, but we still got into some shenanigans. Jerry trimmed the lower branches from the climbing tree out front, so it's much harder to get into than when we were kids.

Dan was the first up. I was the second! Shane wanted to get up, but couldn't.

Dan teased Bill enough that he climbed up, too (albeit while muttering Jill was going to kill him if he fell and needed surgery).

Shar watched the idiocy and held Ben back at first. She's not the bone-setting type of doctor, but I believe she'd call 911 if we'd needed it.

Ben wanted to hop up in the tree, too, but he had less luck than Shane!

The next trick for the adults was to get down safely!

Shane kept running off around the house while Ben tried to find them. They hid together in the shed at one point before Bill and I took the boys inside to play in Marcus' old room.

We managed to avoid electronics for a while, but the begging for them got to us eventually!

Diane and Jerry had a Law and Order marathon on in the background for much of the time we were there.

Diane was happy to hold baby Maeve to give Jill a break whenever she could!

I reached out to Jama and John, but the Jeffers ended up our one and only stop. Shane and I stayed about 3 and a half hours. The drive was around 5 hours so it wasn't 1:1, but I thought it was worth it to get out of the house. I would've gone stir crazy if we hadn't gone somewhere! Dan and Shar live in Las Vegas, so it's rare to see them in person, too. I was too tired to arrange any other road trips, so I pushed it off until Winter Break.

Thanksgiving 2022 (The Backlog!)

 It's turned cold. It was 21°F for the low this week. Kila doesn't mind.

Loki doesn't like getting his paws wet. It doesn't matter if it's frost or rain (The wimp...).

Thanksgiving started off like any other day off. We got up and moved slow until we had to take care of all the animals. 

The first sign it would be a special day was when Carrie told Shane to throw some eggs.

And yes, I do mean "throw!"

Shane protested.

"What do you mean, 'No?' Carrie asked. "It's something you'd like!"

Shane didn't believe her, but they went out together and he quickly he changed his mind. Throwing old eggs into the woods and hearing them crack was music to his ears.

Clearing out the fridge was the prelude to Carrie cooking. On the menu: Japanese Purple Sweet Potato Pie! 

There was no food coloring involved! Wegmans had "Purple Japanese Sweet Potatoes." I don't know why they're purple, but Carrie loved how wild they looked.

We took it easy for most of the day. I was happy we got some puzzle time in! 

The animals like it when we're all home. With Pop immunocompromised and Grandma getting hip surgery, we didn't go anywhere this year.

Carrie made turkey curry for dinner at Shane's request.

We watched Disenchanted as we ate.

The reviews were fairly accurate. Enchanted was a marvelous movie. Disenchanted was 'meh' by comparison. Shane kept cringing and getting embarrassed by the emotional drama. He claimed he couldn't take it anymore! We eventually paused the movie. Carrie went back and finished it without Shane and I later. I'd have watched it with her, but I felt no compulsion to finish it on my own so don't ask me how it ends.

There was a lot of electronics, warm blankets, and taking it slow. I was extra thankful for the break from school! It's been going full speed and with wrestling season underway I've been 'go-go-going!'

Breakfast the next day: Pie with ice cream!

It gave me the calories I needed to scoop all of Lilly's poop. She's in 'lock-up' while she heals from foundering, but that will be a different post.

Copper the Corgi (The Backlog!)

Brian brought his puppy, Copper, over for a quick play date! Dropping off a shirt for wrestling was ostensibly the purpose, but the dogs are clearly more fun.

Copper is a corgi. He's a couple months younger than Kila. I was surprised by how big his paws were. Copper was like a dog/teddy-bear hybrid.

And Loki wanted none of it. He let Copper run around near him for a little bit before he decided to take a "I'll watch from way over here" stance.

Kila wasn't so sure either. She wanted to be near her humans, but who was this dog?

Copper was all about making friends. Brian's taken him to play with other dogs before and he was all "Oh boy! Oh boy!"

Kila spent more time running from Copper than she spent running with him!

It was odd that she didn't run farther, though.

She kept ducking in next to a human. I wasn't sure if she was tired or cowering at first. Copper's not as fast with his broad but stubby little legs and would bob over through the grass to wherever she was.

Maybe Copper will be less scary on a second play date. There wasn't an ounce of aggression I could detect. My dogs are just anti-social chickens when it comes to non-family members! At least, I got some cute pictures of them moving aroud.

The Backlog Update (The Backlog!)

Redundant titles are redundant. 

I got through three months. My first Backlog! post was August 18th. The last one I finished before going back to work was November 18th. 

I was hoping to get all the way through November, but I'm happy with what I got done. I drafted out ideas for the rest of the month and uploaded the pictures.

Here's the updated pic of my planning from here. 

This post gets to take the place of the question mark on the 29th.

I plan to keep writing, but at a slower pace. If I can manage to do a few posts a week, I won't lose as much ground before my next break. After wrestling ends, I hope I'll have the spare time and energy to fully catch up. 

I'm going to keep "(The Backlog!)" as a subtitle for the posts I already uploaded all the pics for. After that, I'll switch to "(The Stretch!)" since it's a different stretch of life for me.

Today, is Sunday, January 8th. I already wrote the post for Nov 23rd, so that leaves 6 posts to finish out the month. If Shane doesn't keep running up to me, I should get a couple more done before D&D!

Puzzling It Out (The Backlog!)

On Sunday, Shane and I went to Marshall's after church. I don't remember why, but it turned out to be a fun trip.

I picked up some specialty coffees for Carrie, a pair of thermal socks, and Shane and I got to make faces into the security camera.

I picked up a new puzzle on a whim. It was only $8! There had been a sale at Barnes and Nobles one weekend I took Shane out book shopping, but none of those were a theme at a price that interested me. This one was Avatar: The Last Airbender. I figured I could get Carrie and Shane to solve it with me!

Though neither of them likes the initial phase. It's not my favorite either, but I got to sorting out everything I could.

In retrospect, the puzzle was too big for the amount of space half the table provided! It made things more difficult to sort and assemble.

The puzzle process continued over the next week.

Carrier started to help on the border pieces I sorted out.

Carrie's help naturally brought a cat to help, too.

I pushed for puzzle time over Thanksgiving Break!

I enjoy the cooperative solving. I took pictures to chart our progress.

Technically, I have time stamps on everything. I could make a timeline, but I'm in catch-up mode.

Shane helped some, but it was mainly Carrie and I. At least he got to see us doing stuff as a happily married couple.

I replaced the table top whenever we weren't working. However, to make room to work I'd assembled similar pieces into piles inside the box lids and stored them on top. It's a miracle that we didn't lose any pieces. I found Tsuki playing with one all the way across the kitchen!

I took care of some the morning Shane and I went to NoVA (more on that later). Carrie was off foxhunting. I was in the mood, and wanted to surprise her. Carrie initiated a counter-surprise by working finishing most of Zuko while we were out!

Shane interest always spiked whenever big progress was being or about to be made.

He doesn't like the nitty gritty parts, but Carrie was into it so he was into it! I would have liked to have been into it, but there wasn't room!

So I stood back and took pictures while Carrie and Shane had some fun.

Learning how to solve a puzzle is an enriching experience. All puzzles are solvable. Even if you just try each piece against every other piece. Skills help you solve a puzzle faster, but victory is assured as long as you don't give up. Every kid should solve at least a small puzzle or two, before they're grown!

That said, the last pieces were a pain in the butt. Shane wandered off for video games while Carrie and I ground out the final victory! Grandpa Vern had the patience to handle much larger puzzles than I can. I like the 500-1000 piece range, but I think he went much higher than that! I remember there was frequently a puzzle being assembled on the table at the bar in his basement whenever we visited.

I didn't leave the puzzle assembled for too long after we finished. I think I left it a couple of days to bask in the victory. I'm still shocked we didn't lose any pieces with Shane and the cats helping (Kila loves the taste of cardboard and paper products).

I haven't been able to get Carrie or Shane to play any board games lately, so the puzzle counts as a huge success! Eight bucks for hours of entertainment? That's a massive return on investment! There were some odd shaped pieces that made this one harder than some, but if you like puzzles and there's a Marshall's nearby you may want to take a look.