Weekend Happenings

It has been such a nice weekend, knowing that Session #9 is finished! I refused to work full-time next session and had a small showdown with the administration. When looking at the proposed schedule for next week, I noticed that I had been given 3 hours in the mornings of very low level students. I can handle 2, but that 3rd hour ----well, forget it!! Our director told me that I had been given those hours because I was the only one that could get results and had never received any complaints in evaluations. I was flattered, but told him that he would lose me completely if that schedule stood. Teaching students fresh off of the plane is very stressful. It has been worked out for me to teach low level reading and writing, but teach upper level verbal skills the first hour. Whew! Now, I'm looking forward to going back to school next week.

Friday evening, I made stir fry and rice. Knowing that dish is one of Mom's all-time favorites, we invited her to join us and we played Mexican Train. I bought a sugar-free apple pie for dessert. During the game, Chinami told us about her lunch date with Jin. He had given her a bracelet which she was wearing. Life is so beautiful when you are 19 years old!! She will remember Jin forever.

This morning, Bill took Chinami to the Indian Cultural Heritage Center while I made a trip to the mall. Chinami had purchased a Bible on her last shopping trip, and didn't realize that the King James Version was not in her best interest. Waldon's Bookstore was very gracious, and helped me find a NIV with a nice leather cover. From there, I went to the Bath and Body Shop. I bought several replacement liquid soaps for my kitchen and bathroom. I also bought some Cherry Blossom lotions for Chinami and myself. I learned that they are the number one selling fragrance at Bath and Body Shops in America.

After a quick lunch, we picked up Mom again, and we all visted Uncle Johnny's ranch. It is so peaceful and beautiful! His four horses came running to the paddock when they saw us. I will be posting pictures of his Missouri Fox Trotters. My uncle is 91 years old and was still able to saddle a horse, and mount. After training the horse for about 10 minutes, Chinami was invited to climb on. It was her first time to be on a horse. We wandered around the property awhile and checked out his pear trees which will be ripe in another month. In the distance, we could see cows grazing and one of his llamas. It was fun to see my mother enjoy the horses so much!! She told us how to rub them under their necks and told stories about her days of herding cows on her horse named Pet when she was a child. I'm very glad that she can spend her final days in Oklahoma. Mom enjoyed California and traveling the world, but this is her home!