JR’s List Item #28 – (August report) Listen to at least three audio books a month until my 60th birthday.

August listening selections:

Lian Hearn's the Otori Trilogy was my choice for this month.  These books have been in my audio library for several years, so I decided to make them this month's book selections.  The Otori trilogy is a saga set in a mythical, medieval Japan centering around the hero and heroine, Takeo and Kaede.  I liked the way the books are written through the perspectives and voices of these two characters.  The audios used two narrators, Kevin Gray and Aiko Nakasone, which enhances the author's storytelling approach.  Imaginative and engrossing.  Great!

• Across the Nightingale Floor:  Tales of the Otori, Book 1
• Grass for His Pillow:  Tales of the Otori, Book 2
• Brilliance of the Moon:  Tales of the Otori, Book 3

I am now listening to the Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, his second book in his three book series.  I am really enjoying this one as much as the first one.  While each book seems to have its own murder mystery, there is also the personal story of Lizbeth Salander that weaves its way through all the mysteries and the books.  I understand why these books have been so popular.

NOTE:  Officially, my 60th birthday has come and gone, but I have decided to continue sharing my audio selections through CEA's birth month.

JR’s List Item #20 – (done) Create a workshop on early childhood games and present it on August 18th.

While working at the regional service center as an education specialist, I met and worked with many, many teachers and administrators.  Some have become dear friends, who I may not see very often but who I am always willing to help if I can.

One of those dear friends called me about a month ago and asked me to do a training for her paraprofessional staff on August 18th.  The training would be part of the inservice programs held prior the the start of school on August 23rd.  This friend asked me to do a training on games to use with early childhood students (prekinder, kinder, and first graders); specifically, games that would develop reading and math skills.  I said yes, hung up the phone, and immediately asked myself, "What was I thinking?"

So what was I thinking?  Well, it would be a chance to create and present a training; something I had not done in at least two years, but loved to do.  I would be helping my friend out.  I would be working with educators.  And, yes, I would be making a little money.  "But hold on a minute," I thought, "this is 4, 5, and 6 year-old babies.  This was physical fitness with reading and math thrown into the mix."

With the exception of math, none of this was anywhere near "my wheelhouse," much less "in my wheelhouse" (to borrow a well-used phrase from "Glee").  Granted, I had taught PE in the early 80s to third, fourth, and fifth graders; but this was not the same thing.  At times like this I did what I always do.  I went to Amazon.com, ordered some books, and put together a workshop for para-professionals using games to teach reading and math skills to early childhood students.

The ladies and one gentleman that I worked with were true professionals.  Each one of these educators was knowledgeable about their students, their needs, and meeting the students' educational goals.  They brought up some very important issues and posed relevant questions.  They were willing participants, who also had fun with the games and with each other.  It was a true honor working with them.  I really had a great time.  Above all, I am so glad I had said yes. 

Thank you to the participants for their dedication to their students and for a truly wonderful day.  All my best to each of them for a wonderful and active school year.  A special thank you to my dear friend for asking me to come and spend a day with her staff. 

Finally note:  The books I purchased were Jump into Literacy:  Active Learning for PreSchool Children,  Jump into Math:  Active Learning for PreSchool Children, Wiggle, Giggle, and Shake:  Over 200 Ways to Move and Learn, and Great Games for Young Children: Over 100 Games to Develop Self-Confidence, Problem-Solving Skills, and Cooperation, all by Rae Pica.  They were great resources for developing the training and I think must-haves for any school wanting to use active learning with their early childhood students.

CEA's update #21

Item #31. Cook from a "found" recipe once a week.
I've been better about cooking new dishes than I have been about posting a report on them!  During this past week I baked two recipes from Rebecca Rather's Pastry Queen cookbook:  Texas Pecan Pie Bars and Emergency Fruit Crostata.  The pecan pie bars were rich and gooey.  It's a recipe I'll make again for party occasions.  The crostata lives up to its promise:  a quick, easy-to-make free-form tart.  I've been trying to find the perfect rustic tart, and this may be it.  You can make the tart with just about any fruit except for bananas and strawberries.  I used blackberries and blueberries, but since these are not always available in our local grocery store, I'm planning on keeping frozen fruits on hand.  The tart warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream was delicious and perfect for a dinner party finish.  The tart cold from the refrigerator the next morning with a pot of hot tea was sublime. 

JR’s List Item #21 – (done) Neuter/spay 14 abandoned kittens and find homes for all of them.

For as long as I have lived in this neighborhood there have been feral cats. I started putting food out for them to keep the dogs from going wild every time they saw one them.  It just made our walks more enjoyable.

Most of the cats are around for one or two years before they disappear. There have always been kittens to replace the ones lost.  Even a  couple of these cats have adopted me, inviting themselves into the house.  One of these cats was a Siamese-looking cat, Alley.  This past winter she delivered five kittens in my cup towel draw (long story); not the prepared space I had provided her.  When the kittens were about five or six weeks old, Alley came up missing.  She was found on a neighbor's porch dead with a sever head wound.  Because a large number of cats had started disappearing from the neighborhood, I assume that Alley became a victim of whoever was eliminating them.

Alley's Kittens

 

Luckily, the kittens were old enough to start eating solid food.  They did fine, but I was now feeding kittens several times a day.  About two weeks later, I came home from a errand to find a box on my porch with two kittens inside.  Later that evening, two more kittens were in the road.  I figured out that their mother was a calico that visited regularly especially around feeding time.  She had been pregnant, but I knew she had delivered her litter.  I hadn't seen her for a couple of days, so I assumed she was also a victim of the cat elimination the was going on in the neighborhood.

The Calico Cat's Kittens

Again, I lucked out.  I was able to start feeding them with the others and they thrived.  So now there were nine kittens.  On May first, I came home from a meeting only to be greeted by a neighbor who had five kittens in a box.  He insisted I had to take them so his two dachshunds wouldn't kill them.  He couldn't find the mother, so I was their only hope.  They had some kind of bacterial infection which they passed to the other kittens.  The vet treated the sickest kitten from the litter, and sent antibiotics with me for the other thirteen.  The kitten at the vet's died, but the others survived and thrived.

I did discover the mother for these last kittens, so I reconnected them.  She was a cat I called Silver, who had been around for several years.  She took care of them until she was ready to wean them.  By then they were eating with the other orphans.  Sadly, she came up missing shortly after her kittens were completely weaned.

 Silver's Kittens

Number fourteen joined the group when the boy next door brought her to me one evening.  He was sure his dog would kill the kitten, if I didn't take her.  I took her.


So now there were officially fourteen kittens alive, well, and growing fast.  I was able to have them spayed/neutered and vaccinated for rabies free through the SA Animal Control Services Capture and Release Program.

I know my item task also says find them homes, but I am having a hard time letting them go.  I just can't give them to anybody.  Timmy and Tiny have been the first to leave having found a new home with friends from the trail ride.  Terry wants a couple, but beyond that they may just end up joining the feral population who hang out at my house.  That's not a bad thing.  It means no mice, no snakes, no bugs, and I can keep watching them grow and evolve.  And if a friend needs a cat, well we'll see.  What a sucker!

(I consider this item done because even if they stay with me, they have a home.)