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• It might seem strange that a pedagogical video clip could bring tears to my eyes, but this one did.
• This week’s mission from Brandi.  I love being a kid at every chance I get. Yesterday I put on my striped socks and striped shirt and magic decoder ring and went with Sylvain to see How to Train Your Dragon on cheap movie night.
• I already get in for free when Sylvain shows his Access2 Entertainment card, and Tuesdays we get an additional discount. Frugal date!
• The movie was really cute, and we didn’t even get annoyed at all the little kids around us forgetting to use their library voices when they needed to ask mum and dad questions about what was happening on the screen.
• Tonight was class #2 of my patient care training for hospice. Tonight’s first segment was called Sitting by the Bedside and was presented by a chaplain who is director of spiritual care. After that we went over policies and procedures. I enjoy the classes so much and learn so much!

What I learned today: I raised my hand to ask why the blue volunteer smocks used to be required at the residence home and now are optional. I learned that even though the decision had been made by a committee which included volunteers and everyone had been in agreement over the benefits of wearing the smocks, as soon as they were implemented, the director of volunteer services began receiving complaints about them from volunteers: they are too hot, the side ties get caught on the beds, etc.  I learned that ours is the only hospice in Ontario where volunteers wear them. And I learned that some feel any uniform for non-medical personnel goes against the goal of cultivating a homey (read: not hospital-like)  environment for the residents and their families. After a year of further discussion, it was decided to make wearing the smock optional.  Wearing the photo ID badge is, of course, mandatory.

What I shared or showed:  I raised my hand only twice during the three-hour class, trying to keep quiet unless I had something to share that would add a lot of value for others in the class. Since the majority of people in the course have not yet begun volunteering, I spoke up to share a couple of details regarding what it is like working in the residence.

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• A beautiful Red-bellied Woodpecker at Sylvain’s peanut feeder. You don’t see those around these parts all that often.
• Fresh, clean laundry all folded and put away.
• Helping Sylvain clean and organize his den/office. We are beginning to be able to see surfaces! The best part is that Sylvain is going to adopt new processes so that the same mess doesn’t keep reforming after each purge/clean.
• Fresh, free range eggs from a local source.
• A big, fat 99% full moon in the night sky.

What I learned today: I spent a lot of time today on Olenka Bilash’s site learning about second language teaching principles. I learned, for example, what is meant by a Language Ladder. I also learned a bit more about inductive and deductive teaching approaches than I had gotten from my TESL course.

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• I attended the AGM and a workshop put on by the local affiliate of the organization that certifies L____ teachers in Ontario. It was a great chance to get my face seen and meet the board members, not to mention getting great teaching resources at the workshop. The GRACE part of this is that although I should have been added to their email list when I joined the provincial level of the organization last fall, I had not received notice of this annual event. I only stumbled onto the announcement two weeks ago because I happened to be snooping around on related websites. What a happy accident! I almost missed it.
• A good shift at the hospice. One resident really enjoyed the lasagna, one asked for scrambled eggs for supper and ate them right up.
• I like it when I go around to the rooms at 4:00 to see if people feel up to eating what is on the menu for that evening. Then I list some alternatives for things I can prepare as sides. It’s neat when someone perks up and says something like, “Tomatoes? You have fresh tomatoes? Yes, please slice one on the side for me,” or whatever. I enjoy catering to individual tastes and preferences.
• Getting the soup off and steam trays clean in time to leave right at 8:00 so that I made it home in time for Earth Hour. Sylvain and I lit candles and spent an hour just talking by candlelight.
• The peacefulness of Sundays.

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• Seeing the gorgeous sunrise this morning.  Ok, I’ll admit I didn’t stay awake after I saw it, …but I saw it!
• A friend of mine–after a crazy series of events that led to their divorcing and each marrying other people for a while–is getting back together with his first love…after about 25 years. Isn’t that sweet? I wish them the best.
• My watercolour dragonflies have flown bzzzz bzzzzz bzzzzzz all the way to the Muskokas! Thank you, Nancy, for blogging about that!
• Working a sudoku puzzle with Sylvain. We make a great team.
• A nice email exchange with my mom. I’m so glad she has learned to use a computer.

What I learned today: I learned the term grey eminence.

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• That I am only 40 posts away from the end of 365 days of participating in Grace in Small Things. What a transforming journey. Thank you, Schmutzie Pickles!
• Waking early without an alarm feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.
• Being able to stay with Sylvain and Pa when Ma needs to go to the dentist or grocery store. It’s nice to be of some use while unemployed.
• That Ma feeds the feral old orange tomcat who prowls the neighbourhood. She has a soft heart.
• A frugal but very fun date night watching Jeopardy and then pre-recorded shows over at Sylvain’s house.

What I learned today:

from Big Bang Theory, I learned a cute joke! Why did the chicken cross the möbius strip?

Give up?

To get to the same side.

What I shared or showed:

When Sylvain asked what a möbius strip was, I grabbed some scrap paper, scissors and tape and made one for him.

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• Thank you, Yoko (via Elspeth), for this.
• Blink. Blink blink. Blink blink blink.
• This toolkit. Thank you again, Elspeth.
• Tonight was the first of ten 3-hour classes in my patient care training for hopsice volunteering. After this training, I will be able to work in capacities other than just residential home kitchen, housekeeping or reception. I will be able to do “Share the Care” work, such as respite sitting. Tonight’s class was very good. We learned about the social worker’s role and about good listening skills. I met L and M and M. I like all of them.
• I am grateful for the tears that flowed down my face while I did a guided Sufi remembrance exercise. (See bullet point three above.)

What I learned today:

1. I learned about the Adventures in Caring organization.
2. I learned that Hotel-Dieu Grace hospital has a community crisis centre.
3. I learned that there is an agency in this town called Citizen Advocacy. They can help people deal with paperwork and other things during a stressful or critical situation.

What I shared or showed:

1. I showed my classmate L warmth and genuine interest in her situation.
2. I told M about how Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now led me to mindfulness practice, which has changed my life.
3. I shared with L some little stories about working in the hospice kitchen to help her feel more at ease and less nervous about her first encounter with someone with a life-threatening illness.

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Today’s small graces all come in the form of items of good news that have come to my attention over the past 24 hours.

• So often acts of violence against non-human animals goes unpunished or too lightly punished. I was heartened to learn of the sentencing of two Kentucky men who beat and stomped to death over 100 hibernating endangered bats.
• Curly-headed women are once again beginning to give themselves permission to let their hair do what it wants to do. Thank you, Michaëlle Jean and Malia Obama for being role models in this movement. Oh, and Chris Rock is helping, too.
• It’s no longer all or nothing if you want to help save the planet by not eating meat. There’s a growing trend in reducing the amount of meat we eat rather than going completely vegan or vegetarian, a palatable option for those who don’t feel ready to give up meat-eating altogether. Evidence of the trend include birth of the term flexitarian and the Paul McCartney-championed Meat Free Monday movement–which is being adopted in some schools and other institutions. (March 29 2010 issue of Maclean’s)
• Validity of the notion that meat production isn’t an efficient use of the earth’s resources is being bolstered by UN and World Bank reports. Would you believe you can reduce carbon emissions far more drastically by not eating meat than by giving up your car?
• The health care bill passed.

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• Having a credit balance on Bookmooch. I gave away several books over a year ago even though there was nothing I wanted in return at the time, and so my account is sitting there with a credit balance. It’s nice to be able to go “shopping” for free books now.
• Hearing these words from a former instructor re the database I’m building: “Wow! Good luck with that. It’s a great use of your time and a worthwhile project.” It’s so nice to occasionally get validation. It gives me a big boost of energy and encouragement to keep going.
• Making great progress today on the database. I have a routine now of spending from 9:00 to 5:00 on pursuits related to finding a job or becoming more prepared for my next teaching or TA-ing interview. I allow myself to play on weekends or after 5:00.
• Being in a good mood all day in spite of the overcast skies, rain and near-freezing temps.
• Nancy Pelosi.

What I learned today: I learned a lot about the similarities and differences between Non-verbal Learning Disorder Syndrome and Asperger’s Syndrome, as can be found in this list of papers and articles on the subject.

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• Another strong female role model for me. And she is only 18 years old.
• That Sylvain and I work well together in the kitchen. It’s a happy feeling to be chopping fresh rosemary while he is quartering small, red potatoes.
• Laughing. I cannot abide most sitcoms, but Sylvain found one that makes me laugh. Of course, I’ll watch anything with a character who is Aspergerish.
• Putting the leftover rosemary in water in little vases around the house. My bedroom is much more welcoming and homey now.
• Being able to stream live video from the U.S. House of Representatives tonight to watch history in the making.

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• I woke up in a blah mood and had trouble shaking it off. Maybe it was the cold front that moved in overnight. But by the time I left the hospice tonight at 8:00 after my supper shift, I was feeling good and full of energy. Isn’t it odd that I am so uplifted by a place where people go to die?
• There’s a new resident in room X and I’m in love already. This person offered me a piece of celery and a piece of apple from the  requested fruit/cheese/veggie plate we made up, and would not take no for an answer. Maybe I was being used as a royal taster?
• Everyone who ate said that dinner was so delicious (chicken thighs in orange sauce).
• I pulled out that mental “strong woman role model” notebook that I scribbled in the other day at the blood clinic. Those notes came in handy tonight as I dealt with advice/suggestions from some strong personalities among the staff and other volunteers.
• There was a big turnout today for Broken City Lab’s “Sing to the Streets” project. I couldn’t be there for the French folk songs in the streets, as it was too close to time for my shift, but I’m so happy for them that they got a good turnout!

What I learned today: from this site, which I got to via Space and Stars and Singer, I learned a lot more than I knew before about plastic. I already do many of the things on her list of plastic-free changes, but learned of a few more I can incorporate into my lifestyle starting today.  NB – our local Metro grocery store has started carrying re-usable mesh produce bags with little drawstrings.

Happy Norooz!

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• Passing both iron tests–my doc’s ferritin labs (iron stores) AND the finger prick test for hemoglobin–so that I was able to give blood again today.
• The technician who took my donation–she looked a little like Anne Lamott.
• The conversation we had about positive energy, mainstream media and independent thought/questioning authority.
• The way she stood firmly and comfortably in her own skin as an eccentric, smart, strong woman–without the slightest air of apology. And yes, I was taking notes in my mental “Strong Female Role Models” notebook.
• That she stopped what she was doing with my arm to take an insect outside…and wasn’t teased about it by her coworkers.

What I learned today: that older eggs are easier to peel than really fresh ones.

What I shared or showed: my appreciation for the insect-saving mission.

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What I learned today:

I learned that House Sparrows like to nest in colonies of 10 to 40 birds.

I also learned a lot more about people and children in the autistic spectrum.

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• One of the two new birdhouses is already rented. I wondered if I was hanging them too close to one another, then Googled it and found out that House Sparrows are colonial nesters.
• Date night! We tried the new Persian Paradise and attended the screening of The Horse Boy, which was delightful and made me want to kiss a reindeer. I recommend the book and film to anyone interested in autism.
• I am thankful for the way Sylvain looks after me. I can’t say that enough. Thank GOODNESS I finally got over my phase of liking only bad boys.
• I happened to be there today when a hospice resident I particularly liked passed away.
• The family of another resident brought the whole hospital bed out onto the patio so she could spend her last hours on this earth with the sun on her face and a light breeze caressing her skin.

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• Congratulations, Pine Bluff! And good luck!
• There’s a new Persian restaurant in Windsor. It’s about TIME!!! Here we come, Persian Paradise!
• More sunshine than I know what to do with.
• Being asked to cover an extra shift at the hospice this week.
• Starting to feel a little less freaked out by the idea of teaching. It’s true that the program I completed (along with most of them out there) doesn’t give new teachers nearly enough classroom experience and mentoring, but the things I’ve been immersed in on my own are helping me feel a lot better prepared.

What I learned today: I learned SO much about second language teaching from my new guru, Olenka Bilash. She has hours and hours of stuff on this website free for the taking/viewing. I won’t be coming up for air for a long time!

What I taught today: I haven’t taught it yet, but I’m about to. It’s been years and years since I was obnoxious enough to correct another person’s grammar (except for my darling, who suffers it regularly with great aplomb), but I can’t hold this one inside any longer.

I know English is crazy. I know apostrophe S usually represents possessive (Mike’s car), though it also is used to represent a missing letter in contractions (This song’s for you). But in the case of possessive pronouns (hers, his, its) there is never an apostrophe.  If you see it’s, that is always a contraction for IT IS.

I have seen it’s used as the possessive five times in two days–once in the mass media, twice in teaching materials for English teachers and twice in a scholarly article whose audience is teachers. Ack!

So, to repeat: The cat lost its collar is correct. No apostrophe needed. Got it?

Is there any grammatical error that makes you batty?

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• My tummy is feeling better today than yesterday.
• African Violet has half a dozen or more deep pink blooms. Yes, again.
• Sylvain took me out to Ojibway Nature Centre for a stroll through the woods and by the pond.
• I cooked a healthful, frugal meal from scratch.
• It was warm enough out to go without a sweater or anything!

What I learned today: that the Blandings Turtle can breathe through its butt. “Many [turtle] species have a pair of sacs (bursae) opening off the cloaca (combined digestive and urogenital chamber). These are heavily vascularized to facilitate the uptake of oxygen.”

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• Watching little islands of ice slowly drifting downstream.
• The little black squirrel who races over to Sylvain’s van every time he visits me. He knows where the bag of peanuts is; he’s no dumb squirrel.
• My brother’s birthday. Happy birthday, Bro!
• Getting a tummy rub for my achy belly.
• How loved and cared about I feel when my sweetie checks on me, asks if I need anything from the grocery store, and just generally takes good care of me.

What I learned today: how to make potato chips in the microwave. I don’t recommend this if you are hoping to save money. A bag of chips costs less than I paid for one russet potato. It was fun, though.

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I had delicious dreams this morning after I hit snooze and fell back to sleep. It was only about the third or fourth time I have had a lucid dream in my life. I was standing in the foyer of a cinema while people around me filed inside to see the movie. I did not have a ticket or money. Then I realized it was a dream and it was MY dream. I decided to test out my power over the other people in the dream, so I asked the ticket taker, “Can I go in without a ticket?” She motioned me past without any fuss at all. I was thinking, “Hey, this is cool!” One inside I confided in others that I was dreaming. I said to one woman, whose appearance was so detailed and lifelike that it was causing me to marvel at the photorealism of my own dreamscape, that while she might think I was standing before her, I was actually sleeping in on a Saturday [sic] morning. I asked her if she was also dreaming and she said no. In another scene I was attacked by a thin, pale crone and said to her as I wrestled with her, “I guess I should either kill you or make love to you.” She said coldly that she did not have time for either, she had things to do.

I had fun working on my TESL lesson plan database.

Sylvain and I spent time together working in the newly organized workshop. I put together some shelves while he put the hanging mechanisms on two birdhouses he just finished building. It was very gratifying to be able to find the exact type of screws we needed, put our hands right on a mallet when that was needed, a metal washer when we needed one of those.

Then I hung up the new birdhouses in the birdhouse tree. I hope we are not too late to attract more breeding sparrows.

His Ma had baked brownies and let us taste them.

What I learned today: that you can join two links of chain with a nut and bolt. (Sylvain taught me that.)

What I shared or showed: I forwarded an interesting TESL listserv thread to my former TESL teacher and also thanked her for the delightful experience that her class was for me.

Here is a picture of one side of the workshop (there is another peg board on the perpendicular wall not within view of this shot.)  See all the little white labels on containers? I made those.

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• Another good shift at the hospice tonight. I managed to put together a decent supper for the one person eating.
• Delicious maple pecan danishes that a visitor baked and brought in.
• Finding an old issue of the Shambhala Sun in a drawer and having time to sit quietly with an article by Ani Pema. Some of these teachers have a knack for knowing exactly where I’m at. It feels as if I know them personally, almost as if they are my family.
• A whole day of not taking things to seriously…a day peppered by many moments where I was able to gap the mind and experience empty awareness. Ah!
• Rain.

What I learned today: I learned from Vicky of the existence of well.ca, which offers free shipping in Canada.

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• Watching the sparrows starting nests in the bottoms of the Ss and in side the A in SHOPPERS DRUG MART (the spikes installed atop the letters prevent them from nesting up there this year). I watched one sparrow go back and forth between letters, borrowing grass and other material from last year’s nest in final S to build this year’s nest in the initial S.
• Having a phrase come to my mind, one that helped keep me floating through the petty setbacks of the day: “Ride the mystery.”
• Heading out to Canadian Tire to look for shelving for the workshop so we can get all those containers of things up off the counters, freeing up work space. I love fun errands with my sweetheart.
• Fog.
• That someone I have never met responded to my plea for help within an hour of receiving my email. She faxed a letter to Toronto and thereby smoothed a kink in my application for teacher certification…a kink caused by some muscle-flexing by a petty bureaucrat erecting a new hoop for me to jump through.  Fortunately, there are people like Dr. Jeanette Clausen in the world. I will be sending her a thank you note this week.

What I learned today: what the SPDT in SPDT switch stands for. It stands for single-pole, double throw.

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I had a ridiculous amount of fun today finishing the cleaning and organizing of Pa’s workshop with Sylvain. The last job we tackled was pulling every drawer out of the multi-drawer organizer to dump out contents and sort it all out before putting things back again. Now the contents are alphabetized. Anchors come before bulbs (as in teeny appliance light bulbs), nails before screws, and screws – metal before screws – wood.

The most fun of all was designating certain mystery items as future robot parts; one drawer now contains robot feet and robot eyes.  When I said I wanted to build a robot, Sylvain said, “you’re the coolest girlfriend EVER.”

When I left their house tonight, I could smell wood smoke coming from their neighbour’s stove pipe.

And rain. Don’t you love the smell of rain…especially when you haven’t smelled it for a while?

The best blessing of all today is that Pa made it through the second cataract surgery just fine.

What I learned over the past 24 hours:

1. that if you hover your mouse over one of the day’s photo at Sam Javanrouh’s Toronto blog Daily Dose of Imagery, you can see the camera used, settings and film speed.

2. that Burt’s Bees is owned by Clorox. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?