One things for sure: I never want to be a truck driver. Big old trucks, small mirrors, surrounded by crazy regular drivers and on the road Forever. I imagine trucking companies wouldn't be too thrilled to hire me, either. Anxious truck drivers need not apply.
I don't care for driving around them myself. But I felt like I was on the road forever with them this week. My sciatic nerve wasn't happy; my back grumbled all the way, and my shoulders and neck were constant reminders of how cramped the driving position really is. Even with Cruise Control. And I LOVE my Cruise Control!
Wednesday, I had to drive to Midwest City (a northern part of OKC) about an hour or so away from home to go to an all-day Dyslexia seminar. (Oh joy. But I felt I ought to because I am supposed to tutor a dyslexic young man this fall). Never been there before. I also accidentally scheduled an English class right up to the time I needed to leave, giving me no wiggle room. Probably, I was going to be late.
No probably's about it...I WAS late. There was honest-to-goodness almost-Los-Angeles type traffic as I made my way through the city. There were accidents, police, all the "familiar" sights. And I guess Oklahomans can be looky-loos, too!
The college where the seminar was to be held was on the far side of town. I found it without much trouble, but finding where the seminar was turned out to be different. The address listed was actually at an EPIC school facility, but no one except a construction crew was there. They had no idea about the seminar. I drove and drove until the body screamed for a break. During said break I wondered what to do. I know! Meet up with my daughter, her friend and friend's mother in Norman to hang out and shop. (I'd had another invitation to go to the temple as well, but I wasn't dressed, nor had my recommend)
The "hanging out" didn't last too long; my son called to tell me that the car had a flat tire. No. He does not know how to change a flat. SIGH. I said he'd have to tell work he'd be late and I would drive back to take him. Forty-five minute drive (in the rain, of course). Then I carefully drove the car to Walmart and had the tire replaced.
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| Very flat |
Thursday, I went back to Norman, another 45-minute drive, with Analiese in tow so that she could attend Driving School. For FIVE hours. They'd feed her lunch. But what to do with myself? I killed two hours with a movie (Aladdin - you don't want my review - it wasn't bad, just not great), wandered a small mall, toured Hobby Lobby for as long as I could and wished for a napping spot.
Friday, same thing...back to Norman for day two of Driving Class. No movie. I checked out Target (this one had a big grocery section), had lunch, visited Pier 1 (haven't been in one in years...), meandered through a bookstore, and sat in the local library. Then, I went to Sam's Club, did a little shopping, picked up my daughter, took her to an Anime store, got her a Chick-Fil-A peach milkshake (me, too! YUM!) and headed home. And refused to leave or get into a car until I had to go to church on Sunday. Enough was enough!
VIP Oops!
I didn't have quite as many classes this week as I did last, but Saturday was Children's Day in China and that is a big deal. I learned about it from my Regular: it is a day where teachers celebrate the children they teach. They have games, cake, and gifts. My regular was going to an amusement park (this was amusing in itself, because our last unit was all about amusement parks...she could tell me all about it!). I got emotional trying to tell her in a way she'd understand how much THIS American teacher cherishes her student. I think I got it across. We've come quite a ways together. She refuses to have any other teacher and I look forward to spending time with her 2-3 times a week!
VIPKid, earlier in the week, send a message out: they were updating their servers on May 31st. Also, they were switching classes entirely away from the website to the app on June 1st. Busy time for the company. Though, like Ken expressed later, maybe they should have planned this back in February, when everyone was gone for Chinese New Year. Because...well...CHAOS.
My classes Saturday morning were just fine. I started seeing notices on all of my FB VIPKid groups (I just added a new one this weekend) about people having problems. Rumor had it that the whole shebang was down on both sides of the world! Finally, the official word came in...
I had an 8, 8:30, and 9 o'clock class. I kept checking, refreshing and trying every 20 minutes to make sure. I was able to teach the 9:00 class, but only in safe mode. No stars to give kids; no feedback to give parents. As it was, in the middle of the class, the slides went off. The mom, with a great command of English, communicated that to me. I refreshed the page a couple of times and got it back with no more issues.
When I awoke this morning, I had a notice posted at 1:00 a.m.: Back in business. So, Sunday or not, I had to post the stars and feedback from the class the evening prior or not get paid. And open up booking slots for the next two weeks. My electronic ox in the mire!
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| Our sense of humor keeps us teachers moving on... |
Weather Update
Whoever said that thing about April showers and May flowers never lived in Oklahoma. It's May showers, wind, pollen, etc. here. I told Ken that, as a kid, I never made mud pies because we never really had an abundance of mud in California. Here, mud pies are the norm. The ground is a bit squishy for walking on.
Thursday and Friday were nice, giving us a couple days respite from the rain. Saturday, though, the skies said, "It may be June, now, but I'm not done yet!" My phone alarms gave off watches and warning and, working at the computer in the afternoon, the sun that once shown through the window beside me went suddenly dark. A fast, spooky squall came through. Ken & I went out on the porch to look at it. You could see several layers of clouds going in all directions...definitely the predecessors of tornadoes. The wind would blow warm air over you one minute, only to switch to cold the next. We got a little hail, but not so big that it couldn't be hid, for the most part, in the growing grass of the lawn. And the rain sheeted down, literally, for about 20-30 minutes, then left, bringing sunshine and birdsong again. So very eerie.
Etcetera
I subbed in Sunday School today; I started out by saying, "Welcome to Seminary!" They laughed. Hey, it could have been worse. I could have started with my VIPKid schtick: "Hello, my name it Teacher Michele!"
A returned missionary who served in the branch came to visit with her family from Arizona. It was great to see her. I told her parents that we did our best to help take care of her while she served in Chickasha. Especially, now as Ken's the Branch mission leader, we feel very proprietorial about them!
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| Sister Cummings is being transferred out of our area! |
Oh! And my seminary graduate who leaves in two weeks for HIS mission came to church in a brand new suit! He looked so slender, young, and missionary like! Ay! They grow so fast!
By the way, my "adorable" bun BIT me yesterday! She wasn't happy with what I was doing and her quickest way to get me to stop was to nip at my arm. It left a mark! Analiese figures this means I will no longer think of her as the sweet innocent, but I knew I was being annoying. She was only communicating her displeasure!
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| Talented: I can pet two rabbits at once! |
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| Look how the goslings have grown! |
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