New attempt at blogging

New Project Alert!!!!

Because I love reading so much and want everyone to feel the same I started a girls group.  It consists of (now) six 6^th graders.  Using the books donated by Calvary Christian Schools, we start out with reading.  The girls pick a new book or one they were reading last time.  They have loved them.  After some reading time we do one of several things: crotchet, learn English, or have a health charla.  I started out meeting on Tuesdays with them but this week we’ve already met twice and plan to meet again tomorrow.  I figure that if they want to meet so often, I have the time to invest.

Today we played the game “Ow, doctor, it hurts” to learn the parts of the body.  They loved going up to their friend and trying to say “Doctor, my ______ hurts.”  The “doctors” had the job of healing the patient’s problem area.  It was hilarious to watch them tickle, “give shots” with a crotchet hook, and use a bouncy ball to represent a pill.  They may not have learned a lot, but they certainly had fun just being girls.  Tomorrow we are going to review by drawing stick figures and labeling the parts.  Then we’ll continue with the crotchet classes.  I’ve been letting them choose what they want to do in each session.  This gives them a sense of ownership over the time.

Natural Phenomenon Alert!!!!

This morning I felt my second earthquake.  At about 8:45 I was folding clothes after a late shower, but hadn’t yet gotten dressed.  My house started moving, and I thought someone had jumped up on my deck as it has the same house moving effect.  However, when the house continued shaking and I saw that no one was on the deck I realized what was going on.  I quickly ducked under my hammock (like that would really protect me), but then I remembered that if my deck falls the whole house will go with it.  I decided that despite the embarrassment of only being in a towel I needed to go outside.  As I left my house, my neighbors were doing the same.  Thankfully, they didn’t seem to notice the towel.  I could literally see the ground shake.  It lasted for a few more seconds then stopped.  When I went back inside only a few things had fallen off a shelf, but nothing damaged.

After quickly getting dressed and finishing the folding I was online and looking at a report of a 7.9 quake in Costa Rica.  There wasn’t much other information, but I was told that it was already all over the news.  It could be felt as far north as Managua!  I couldn’t spend too much time looking because my girl’s group had come over, but after I contacted my Emergency Action Plan coordinator, Natalie in San Carlos, texts from the PC office also started pouring in to make sure we were all safe and alerted.  I was kind of hoping for a consolidation to San Carlos, but that would actually take me closer to the coast.  I think I just love the thrill.

I continued the group just thankful that we were all safe and could continue learning despite the event.  The girls asked me if I had been scared and I said, “of course.”  My neighbor girls said, “Me too!”  Through things like this, I am constantly reminded that deep inside us, despite age, race, and socioeconomic background, we are all the same.

Upcoming post:  Crotchet projects!

Currently Reading:

Anna Karenina

Irresistible Revolution

Plato: Five Dialogues

Books read over “the summer”:

The Jungle

The Four Agreements

A Wrinkle in Time

The Tombs of Atuan