SPLASHMAN!!!

Today, the Y was able to double the number of swimmers in the lap pool, bringing the number of slots available up to eight.  When I got there this morning, we had three lanes with one swimmer each and a fourth lane with two water joggers.  I knew whoever number four was, that swimmer was going to swim with me.  Just a real feeling of doom, you know?  That, and I am the best swimmer AT.THAT.TIME.  Pretty sure I'm only going to hit you if you're the one swimming crooked.

Sure enough.  Big burly guy arrives.  Looks the scene over.  Chooses to swim with me.  Big burly guy can NOT swim well.  I could have given him a lot of pointers (i.e. "Don't slap the water", "Try to keep your feet under water when you kick", etc.), but at that point, I was just trying not to drown every time he passed me.  

Margaret dubbed him "Splashman" because that was truly all he did well, said he was making her nauseous, and I should take over her lane because she was leaving.

Can't wait until Wednesday!  Think I'll swim by the windows if that lane is open.  It's a little bit more challenging to swim with two in it if one is a big burly guy!  

Another One Bites the Dust!

 We discovered at lunch today that closing a school in our district for Covid is NOT based on the number of students who have Covid, but on the number of staff who are out with Covid.  We lost our third classroom in the last seven days, but we have all of our (mostly vaccinated) staff so we remain open.  Only three more days until spring break!

Emmanoel

 

For Elodie and Maurice, hope can be found in their son’s smile.

A tumor in Emmanoel's mouth cut off his airway to the point that he was passing out. At first, doctors thought their son just had malaria. But, as Emmanoel grew, so did the tumor and his breathing worsened. Eventually, Emmanoel's parents took him to the capital city in hopes of finding medical treatment. There, doctors found a tumor growing on his palate that was slowly suffocating him. He needed surgery, but it was not a procedure that they could perform.​​​​​

Maurice and Elodie were out of options and resources, and their son was almost out of time. Now losing consciousness several times a day, they feared that, eventually, Emmanoel would pass out and not wake up again.

Between sleepless nights at home, Maurice worked in a shipping port. One day, he noticed a ship arrive that was unlike any he’d ever seen before — one with a hospital onboard. Emmanoel’s parents rushed the young boy to the Mercy Ships medical screening as soon as they were able. They waited in a line of more than 7,000 other people also waiting to be seen But before they reached the front of the line, Emmanoel passed out and required the attention of the Mercy Ships Emergency Medical Team.   With a life-threatening condition casting a shadow over his life, Emmanoel was quickly scheduled for surgery onboard the Africa Mercy.

“I don’t know how he survived this long; I really don’t,” volunteer Dr. Mark Shrime, Emmanoel’s surgeon, said during the operation. After a successful operation, young Emmanoel could finally breathe with ease, as well as laugh, and now has hope for a bright future!

Thankful Thursday!

 Disclaimer:  This post will not give you all the information you want to know.

Today I am so thankful that I have found a new way to do some cardio exercise, in addition to my standard swimming, biking and walking.  I'm not quite ready to share what it is as I've only done it twice so far.  But both times, I was breathing heavy and sweating!  Sweating is what I've missed most about running (that and the weight loss!).  So today I am thankful for a new cardio challenge!  

In the event . . .

. . . You were losing sleep over the third component of core literacy, they are:

Reading

Writing

Word Study

We're smarter already!

Absolutely worse than herding cats . . .

 

. . . was trying to control a group of kindergartners at recess today who were bound and determined to find "leprechaun footprints".

One of the adults "in there" (as they pointed to the school), said they could find "leprechaun footprints" at recess, if only they looked!

I am absolutely positive we covered every inch of our quadrant, including the breaking up of two giant snowballs in our quest, but to no avail.

We found dog prints.  We found cat prints.  We found shoe prints of all sizes, but we did not find any leprechaun footprints.

May your St. Patty's Day be more fruitful than mine!

Not quite . . .

Mrs. Bakke asked our fifth graders today, "What are the three components of core literacy?"

The response:  "Reading, writing and highlighting!"

Hmmm . . . not quite, but it sure gave us a chuckle as Mrs. Bakke is always saying, "Use your writing tools.   Get out a pencil and a highlighter."