ESL: Making Mistakes

I have often had students that will be talking to me in English, and then stop in mid-sentence and just stand there with their mouth open, thinking of what to say. It gets frustrating for me because I can’t help them with a word, or thought , if they don’t complete the sentence. Some students are so scared of making a mistake they would rather do nothing than taking the risk of making a mistake. Making mistakes, in fact, is how you learn. Think of it, when you learned Math you did something repetitively until you were able to make no more mistakes. The most important thing is learning from your mistakes and trying to avoid them in the future. When I lived in Korea I had to ride the subway often. I was surprised when I sat down and the people next to me would get up and sit on the other side of the car. I first thought that they were rude, but realized that it was Korea and most people in Korea are very polite and helpful. Then I had wondered why they were not wanting to sit next to me, I had taken a bath, I did brush my teeth, I had no idea what they were hesitant to sit next to me. After talking to some of my friends I realized that people didn’t want to sit next to me because they were scared they might have to speak English. What if I said, “hi”, and they had to answer me. They were so used to being graded on their English, they thought if they made a mistake they would be embarrassed and I would ridicule them, like their teachers had. That is why an ESL classroom has to be like a cocoon and risks had to be taken and students can’t make fun of other students. What if mistakes weren’t made, wouldn’t that mean that people didn’t try unless they were 100% sure they would never make a mistake. Mistakes are necessary to learn. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when learning English. The most important thing is to continually trying to improve your English ability.

ESL: What Should I do to Learn English

How did you learn your first language? First you learned simple words to ask for things, then in school you learned a little grammar and then they had you learn to read and had you read simple books. Then discuss more difficult books. And, so on. If you are learning English, maybe the best way is to start slowly, even if you are an adult, think of your English as infant. Some people like to watch movies, and since the listening is difficult, they have the subtitles (the writing at the bottom of the screen) on. The problem is you end up reading rather than listening. If you want to turn the subtitle on, then watch the show 3 times, first time no subtitles, watch the action. Second time turn on the subtitles so you can understand what is being said, third time watch it without the subtitles, and you will be surprised at how much you understand. Remember you have to study listening just like you study reading, actually work at it and don’t think it will just happen. I used to manage a language school in San Jose, CA. All the students left early, so I wanted to make a change to the program. I got the first season of Smallville and downloaded all the scripts (what they say) and then made a book of the scripts. We had a class where the students would watch 5 minutes of the show, then read the script, then practice the script with their classmates, then watch the 5 minutes again. Next class we would watch that 5 minutes then work on the next 5 minutes. We did that through the whole show. They learned and had fun, you can’t learn if you don’t laugh! The best thing you can do is read books written for 3^rd or 4^th grade. The reason you want to read books for young children is because you will understand most of the vocabulary, the book is smaller, and the writing is bigger. It is best to be able to finish reading an entire book!! After finishing one or two books, try another. I used to have a friend from Taiwan, that was at a level 1 (beginning), she and I spent much time together, we spent evenings doing things like going to movies or going to libraries or just watching tv. On the weekends we would go on trips and go to cities near my city. After she spent so much time around me for 3 months she went to a different language school and they tested her for her level and she was a level 5 (advanced). She didn’t study English, she just used it. She didn’t study grammar, but her English improved 4 levels. Wouldn’t it be nice if every ESL student could spend all their time with me, or with anyone that is a native speaker, but it isn’t always practical. So, find something to do in English, not just sit and study. When I taught at night school I told my students they had homework, their homework was to go shopping! They didn’t understand until I told them to just sit on a bench in the mall and someone will come sit next to them. Americans are very open to others, someone would come sit next to them and talk, say hello and then tell them all of their problems. Maybe tell them about a fight they had with their girlfriend or their wife/husband. Maybe tell about the fight they had with had with their wife about their girlfriend. Then the person sitting next to them will get up and walk away. I think the most important thing about learning English is to do something, not just sit at a desk and study.

ESL: Reading Without Your Dictionary

I have been teaching ESL for almost 20 years and it is interesting how many students read with a dictionary next to them. I think about how often I have read with a dictionary. Even when I was learning German in high school and when I lived in Germany, I didn’t rely on a dictionary as often as some ESL students. It takes a long time to read anything if you try looking up every word you don’t know in a dictionary. I think of the times I read books and if I don’t know what a word means, if I ever use a dictionary to look that word up. Maybe once or twice a year I might do that. The best way for a person learning English to read is to read it straight through, underlining (or highlighting) the words that might be looked up in a dictionary. Then after finishing the paragraph, page, or essay if you feel the need to look up a word in a dictionary look up the words underlined (highlighted).  If you do look up a word, then keep a list of those words. Make your own list of vocabulary words. Often you will realize there is no reason to look up every word, you can still understand what you read, even if you don’t understand every word. Isn’t that what the real reason you are reading? Think about the times you watch tv and multi-task. With the tv on you are on the phone, on the computer, running in and out of the room while cooking, or maybe doing homework. Think about not seeing everything on the show, but you still understand what the show is about. Reading is the same thing, you don’t understand every word, but you understand what the essay was about. I had a student a few years ago that came to class all excited. She was so happy she was able to read and ENTIRE book. She read the book HOLES, and it only took her six months. I was happy for her. She was really happy to read complete something. The book was written for middle school students, I know that she didn’t understand over 25% of the vocabulary when she started the book and probably understood over 80% when she finished. She understood the book, maybe not every word! So, when you read don’t read with a dictionary you are going to finish the reading more quickly, and gain more confidence.

You're FIRED!

Yesterday at 3 o'clock in the afternoon I got called by my company and was told that I was not going to be needed after February 10th. I was a little surprised since I have been getting a lot of people lately telling me what a great job I have been doing, and people are often asking me for my help. I work for a company that has a contract with the government and I work directly for the California National Guard. My company gives me a paycheck, but the National Guard tells me what I do on a daily basis. After I was given this devastating news I tried to call my immediate supervisor, Major Williams. The Major was in a class and couldn't talk to me at that minute. I sent him a text message to tell him what I was told, and he sent me a text telling me he would look into it. He contacted his boss and found out that California was going to have their own contractor rather than the national contractor. I was thinking that it would have been nicer to know that information before the phone call from my company. The man that called me was very upset and sad for me when he called me. It is hard to tell someone they don't have a job any more when they didn't do anything wrong. To tell you the truth I sort of knew this was going to happen, but the way it happened wasn't very comfortable to me. It has happened before, it usually happens when I have my boss from 2000 miles away come to visit my office unexpectedly and tells me I must pack up a box with my stuff and escorts me off the premises. I once was called by my boss and told to go to another office in California to fire the manager, since he was on the east coast. I don't know who felt worse, me or the person that was being fired. I will be okay, I just have to wait for another company to be contracted with. (In fact while I was writing this my bosses' boss called to let me know that I would keep my job). When I was in high school I had a job as a dishwasher. I once got a paycheck for $53,440 for 2 weeks of work. I didn't understand why is was so much, then I realized I was doing a very good job and they really liked me. I enjoyed my job, and liked getting big paychecks. I showed it to a coworker and they told me it was supposed to be for $534.40. I walked back in the door and the coworker asked me why I was going to take it back, they told me I should just quit my job, because I would never make that much money if I kept my job. I walked in the door and couldn't believe someone would even think of that. When I owned a bookstore I had to hire and fire people depending on the success of the bookstore or the productivity of employee. I have 3 daughters that will have jobs in the future, I hope that they don't have to go through the kind of phone call I got yesterday!

Motion Sickness

This morning I drove to an Indian Reservation and worked at Hoopa Valley High School, which is 1 hour inland in the mountains, then drove 4 hours and worked on the coastal city of Fort Bragg at Fort Bragg High School. I spent an hour driving 18 miles because I stopped so often to take pictures. I enjoyed the beautiful morning views and the fantastic views from the road. It was also interesting to see a reservation and how people lived. I was a little depressed because man of the roads weren't paved and most people lived in mobile homes. The one funny thing I saw was a drive through coffee place that had a long line. It seemed so much like a big city. Why can't these people get a cup of coffee at home before they leave the house? I was very impressed with the high school and the teachers and students. I had a nice experience there. After I finished I had four hours to do a four hour drive. I left the school quickly and got in my car and drove to the coast. On my way my GPS quit working. With my job the GPS is really a requirement. Luckily I had my computer so I stopped and went to www.mapquest.com and found the direction to Fort Bragg High School. I went down 101 and then took a small road, 271, over the hills to the coast. I was amazed at how beautiful it was. Two lane road that wove through the forest and up and down hills, one lane in each direction, so I couldn't go faster than the speed limit. I stated to feel car sick. My stomach was really upset and I wanted to stop and throw up. There was no area to do that. I was late. My head started to swim. I decided to call the school and tell them I couldn't come. There was no phone reception, so I couldn't do that. There was one turn that I took and all of a sudden I was at the ocean. There was no warning, no peek before I knew I was on the coast. It was spectacular and very beautiful. I will go do that drive sometime when I am not working! I want to share that drive with someone! I can't say enough about it. When I saw the ocean I stopped the car and took some pictures. I was still late, but wasn't sick any more. I got to Fort Bragg High School and there were three students waiting for me. I enjoyed giving them my presentation and slowly started my 4 hour drive home! I finally got home at 8:30 pm. Tomorrow is another school! As I was sick I was thinking about all the times I have gotten motion sickness in the past. When I was in my initial training for the Army I was on the East Coast, near my sister, Sue. One fun weekend she took me with her family to Williamsburg. I enjoyed being with her and Erik, her son. Erik was in the back seat behind me and I was in the front seat next to Sue. I really got car sick and needed to throw up. I told Sue, and she said we would just go a little further. I finally couldn't hold it any more and leaned out the window and threw up out the window. What I didn't think about was the back window was open so  the vomit went out my window and into the back window right on Erik. When we did stop I felt so bad! Many years later when Erik graduated from college he came and stayed with me for a week. When he was visiting me we decided to go deep sea fishing. I go about once every five or six years because I always get sea sick. I wanted to do something fun for Erik, so we went fishing. When we go fishing we usually take the boat out about 2 hours, fish for 2 hours, then take the boat back for 2 hours. After the first hour I was throwing up. Erik had a great time and caught a lot of fish, I spent the whole time throwing up! Justice?

Bigfoot Motel

I drove 7 and a half hours today. I am staying the night at the Bigfoot Motel. I didn't even know this was "bigfoot country". There is a museum and everything. Tomorrow I will be going to the high school on the indian reservation. I am very interested in it. I talked to the lady in the restaurant tonight about the local area. She said she grew up here and has lived here all her life. The town I am in is called Willow Creek, it used to be China Lake, I wonder if the lake dried up to a creek size. She says there are K-8 schools in many communities in the area, and then they all go to the same high school. The high school draws people from a 100 mile radius, can you imagine! It is cold and rainy, or I would go hike in the woods tonight to see if I could see big foot. I'm sure he isn't stupid enough to be out in this freezing rain. I had fun on my drive. Went through a lot of places I have driven before, and then north an hour and then east an hour. This area is beautiful, but not many people live here. I almost ran out of gas on my way up here. I didn't really pay attention very well, and then my low gas light went on and the warning bell rang. I tried to find the closest gas station, but the GPS said 31 miles. I prayed a lot on the way and got there ok. I use a government credit card for gas, and I hoped they would accept it. Everything turned out ok.The experience today reminded me of many years ago when my oldest daughter was about one. I had her and her mother in the car and ran out of gas on the freeway. I felt so bad and my wife yelled at me for an hour as we walked to the gas station. All turned out ok that time, I was just glad I didn't have anyone else in the car today.

On the road again...

Tomorrow I'm driving 6 hours north to Hoopa, CA. Hoopa Valley High school is 81% Native American and 9% white. This should be a fun place to visit. I am leaving at 8am so I can get their early and take lots of pictures on my way and when I get there. I will leave Hoopa at 10:30 and have a 4 hour drive south to get to Fort Bragg, CA by 2:30. I have notified the school in Fort Bragg I might be 5 minutes late, I guess I won't be taking pictures on that drive, but I always wanted to go to Fort Bragg. I will get home on Wednesday late in the evening. On Thursday the drive isn't so far, it is only one and a half hours away. Friday I get a day to do my paperwork and then a three day weekend. I guess it is good that I enjoy driving. While I drive I have audio books playing, so I can listen to a book and concentrate on that instead of thinking how long I am driving. I also have the capability to have my computer on line while I drive and when I get an email I will stop and answer it. When I drive it is just like I am sitting in my living room. I use my GPS so I don't get lost and it also has bluetooth on it and a speaker so I can speak on my phone when necessary. When I drive I sometimes think about when I was young and we drove across the USA from Illinois to California. We have five children in my family. So, seven people in the car and luggage tied to the top we set across the country and drove through the desert. Our car didn't have air conditioning so my parents bought a portable car air conditioner and we put it in the window in the back seat. I remember that air conditioner used water that went over the coils. It had a string you pulled to turn it on, and when it was on water kind of sprayed and dripped inside the car. Think about driving across the desert for 4 or 5 hours with 5 kids complaining about the heat and the wet air conditioner. Makes me want to scream just thinking about it!!
Diet update ... I am on day 8, I started at 197 and now at 191. I will try to get to 175.

Exchange students work both ways!

Last night I was at a casino, Indian Casinos work in weird ways, and I met a Korean college student that was studying in the USA for a year. It was interesting because my daughter is planning on studying in a Korean school, Yonsei, next summer and fall quarters. University of California, all campuses, has an exchange agreement with Yonesi, one of the top schools in Korea, that the students can study at the partnership school, qualifying automatically. Both of my oldest daughters have talked about it, but the second one will actually do it this year. My kids are fluent in Korean, which is not common for Americans, and she will take classes presented in the native language as well as the usual classes given to Americans in English. I was familiar with the program that had kids from the States that went to Korea, and I'm very familiar with Koreans coming her for graduate school. But, this is the first time I found a Korean exchange student that came here for a year to study at the UC. He was a very nice guy and a good representative of Korea, I hope my the same can be said about my daughter when she goes over there. Best of luck Jayne!

Oh, I need to comment about Sarah's grades. Sarah is a great student, and just a nice kid. She is very helpful in her classes and in 5th grade her school started a new award, and she was the first recipient. It was a little funny when she got the award at the awards ceremony. Every student knew the top award and when it was announced we thought Sarah would receive it. The principal had personally called her Mom and I and asked that we attend the ceremony. We waited all through the ceremony and Sarah received the same awards she always did, for all the students that got top scholastic honors, and all the students that got special recognition for other things. I had presumed that Sarah would receive a special award because it was the first time I was called to attend this schools awards ceremony. When the "last" award for the top student in 5th grade was awarded they called up "Sarah", but a different last name. I had my video camera going and panned to my daughter, and her face kind of fell because it wasn't her name that was called. Sarah W. went up and received the award and we were all happy for her, she is a family friend. Then everyone started to shuffle around, getting ready to go home, and the principal came on the microphone and announced one new award for the school. It was an award they had started for the top student in the school, not just the fifth grade. OK, here we go, is what I was thinking. I had the video going and was listening as they were talking about Sarah. I was proud when they said "every teacher wishes they had 30 Sarahs in their class, she is that good". It was a very important moment in my life. The next year I was talking to Sarah's English teacher and was amazed that she used the exact same phrase about my daughter, "Sarah is such a good student that I wish I had 30 of her in the class". All through middle school Sarah got straight As. She almost had a B in her first quarter of her sixth grade in band, then she went to go talk to him and he changed it to an A. Middle school was good, but not as important as high school. The quarter grades came out and Sarah had a B+ in Honors Geometry. She wasn't worried about it because she was sure that she could bring it up. As the quarter progressed she was happy to keep the B+. Semester grades are what is officially posted and when those came out she had an 87%, B+. She was upset during the Winter break because she had gotten a B in only that class, in Honors English she had a 100%, but that didn't help with the B+ in Honor Geometry. Then the second day after school started in January I was looking at her grade and she had an 87%, A-. I was excited about it and called her, I asked her if she had talked to the teacher, like she had her Band teacher in 6th grade. She hadn't seen her new grade, and the looked at in on line and was very excited herself. She had no idea that teacher had changed her grade to an A. Sarah is back on track and I personally think Stanford should reserve a slot for her right now. (in the video notice the lady on the other side of the students from me, in the green sweater, that is my kid's mom (I don't often refer to her as my ex-wife)

Funeral Detail

Last night when I went to bed I didn't have any plans for today, I decided I would just stay home. When I woke up I had 2 messages on my phone and a few emails that helped direct my day. I ended up going to get my work car, at my office which is in the National Guard armory. When I got to the armory there were some soldiers rehearsing for a military funeral. It was nice that they treated the ceremony rehearsal with reverence. I am sure that soldiers often joke around and not be serious. These soldiers were very serious about what they were doing. The practiced folding the flag from the casket many times, they practiced marching with the rifles and flags back and forth, until they smoothly were able to do everything. These are part time soldiers, National Guard soldiers. They came in on their own time and prepared for their extra duty. I was impressed by these people. After I got my car I went to the VA Hospital, I had to get some blood drawn for some tests. I was thinking about how many veterans die in war, versus die of natural causes. Walking through the VA Hospital I see many men and women that served their country, that are getting old or have sicknesses or injuries. I'm also very happy about the quality of care at a VA Hospital. The one I go to is located in Palo Alto, near Stanford. Many of the doctors in the VA Hospital are Stanford graduates. The facility is outstanding and the personal attention that everyone gets, no matter what their rank was can't be beat. Eventually everyone dies, and I am proud that every military person can get a military funeral ceremony if they desire. I am proud to work with the National Guard and hope everyone understands the sacrifices these citizen soldiers make for their country! God Bless America!

My Mom is Coming to Visit

Today I picked up a military computer. What that really means is it is a Dell computer that takes an access card to log onto it and it won't allow you to download anything from a USB drive or off a CD. It really limits you on what you can do on it, but it allows you to keep things secure. So, now when I go to work I carry the military computer, my company computer, and my personal computer. I don't like doing personal things on a work computer, so I do most of my work on my personal computer, then when I need to do slide presentations I use the company computer, and when I check my military email I will use the military computer. Ok, this is getting crazy!! Especially when you think that I drive my car to my office, then pick up my government car to go visit schools and everything I leave home with has to go to the new car and then back again when I go home.

Diet update ... 193 today, 4 pounds in 4 days. I totally cheated last night, I went to a Thai restaurant. Oh well, I fell off the wagon yesterday, but got back on today.

When I got home today I realized my house is really getting messy. Every room has "stuff" everywhere. So, I decided to unclutter one room a day. I just decided that sometime my mother may actually come visit me. She has been here a total of 5 times in the 8 years I have lived here. So, if I imagine her coming, it means that I must have the house presentable. So, today I uncluttered the kitchen, well, really half of it. My mom won't be here until June at the earliest, so I have some time. I have had the same liquor bottles on my kitchen counter for about 6 of 7 years. People have commented that I must drink a lot, since I have 6 different bottles out. They ask me how I can drink so much when my kids come over often. I tell them the same bottles have been there so long it has just become part of the decoration. I took down the "decoration" today. There were 2 bottles of Soju there that Korean friends gave me as housewarming gifts when I moved in, each bottle had about 3 glasses out of them from when they were given  to me I had a glass of it with the person that gave me the bottle. Both those bottles got dumped down the drain. (then I remembered the homeless shelter is only a few blocks away and I should have taken it to them) There was a bottle of expensive sake from a Japanese lady that visited me. That bottle has sake, and flakes of gold. I think it is cool, the gold is for good health and fortune, that bottle got put away. There was a cheap bottle of sake also, and that hadn't been opened, so that got put away. I put the Malibu rum in the fridge since I knew I would never remember where I had put it if I put it away. Then I threw away the loaf of bread I bought for Thanksgiving and the potatoes that were growing mold on the roots. I wiped down all the counters and now it looks good. Ok, now my mom can come if she just sees the one side of the kitchen. Tomorrow the other side of the kitchen. (is this spring cleaning in the winter?)

Long time student

Yesterday I went to Antioch High School. It was a great experience, the students really were well behaved and excited about their futures. The National Guard and Navy recruiters were there. The Navy recruiter said he still is supposed to put in one applicant a month, but since the Navy isn't accepting anyone it is hard for him to make mission. Can you imagine that his job is to get people excited about joining the Navy, get them all prepared, have them take tests and physicals, then after working with them for a couple of months telling them that he is sorry but there are not jobs in the Navy right now! Not the best of circumstances. I also helped some students with Math. During the afternoon I got a call from a girl that had been a student of mine about 8 years ago. I remembered her and it was nice talking on the phone. She suggested we get together and have dinner and I said ok. She wanted to talk about things that were going on in her life. She had been married when she was in my class, and was now filing for divorce. The kicker, though, is five years ago she had a child ... well, not A child ... she had triplets! This woman is from Vietnam and about 4'8" and weighs about 90 pounds. Can you imagine when she was pregnant, I'm sure she double her weight and was shaped like a cube. She is going through some rough times and it was good for both of us to sit and talk for a few hours. Good luck to her! Oh, the picture is of Anderson's Pea Soup on I5 where I take Jayne to meet her ride to San Diego!

Bad Influences are not bad

Today was my first day back to work after 2 weeks of vacation! I made a bunch of appointments for the rest of the month, tomorrow I will be on the road again. Tomorrow the driving starts, Antioch High at 9am, so I need to leave around 6:30. It will be hard since I haven't gotten up before 10am for the past 2 weeks. I look forward to Friday when I will work at my daughter's school. I will be working with students that I substituted for 3 years ago, I wonder if they will remember me. Next week is Hollister, 1 hour drive, Tuesday is back north to Hoopa, California, 6 hours north. I work there Wednesday, but I look forward to visiting the Indian Reservation there ... I can't wait till the pictures. I will also be working in Arcata while I'm up there, and maybe go back the following week to McKinleyville and then Eureka. I like driving that far north, and hope the sun is out so the pictures turn out better. After my six hour drive north, the next day I will drive 3 hours south, and then the month continues to be "on the road". I'm listening to some good books these days so I don't even know the time goes by, with the interesting scenery and the intriguing stories. I love my job! Yesterday my middle daughter went back to school in San Diego. I drove her an hour away to rendezvous with the girls that she was going to go the rest of the way with. As we got there we noticed a electronic sign over the freeway that there was snow on the route she planning on going, so she went a different way. It still took her over 12 hours to drive the seven hour drive. As I was driving back I was thinking about Jayne growing up. I thought about the sports teams she was on. When we came back from Korea, Jayne was in third grade. She started playing sports when she was in fourth grade. First soccer, she had never played before and all the other girls on the team had played since Kindergarten. Jayne did ok, she picked it up fast. I went to every game and her team did great. The coach yelled at the girls like a high school football coach. Foul language, yelling at the refs, and telling the girls how bad they were. The team won some close games, the coach got the girls to play their hardest. I wasn't happy with the way the coach brought out the best in the girls. In softball Jayne's teams were pretty good, I was happy with the coaches and the way they encouraged the girls. Jayne played soccer until she got to high school, and softball too. I never forgot that original coach and his way of treating the team. Jayne used to talk to me about him and asked why he yelled like that. She thought he acted like that because he didn't think the team would do very well, but she told me that the girls played worse than they were able to, because they resented him yelling like that. Some parents may be upset when their kids encounter people that can't control their emotions and their language around their kids. I learned that the kids know what is right and wrong, and if they never work with people that are "foul" then they don't know what to expect in the future. All three of my daughters played sports from the time we came back to the States until they started high school. The oldest played softball in high school, the middle was in drama and track and field, and the youngest will be in volleyball and softball in high school. She quit playing soccer when she was in middle school. Her softball coaches were wonderful. She got on a new team in middle school, and they didn't win a game. She learned a lot about softball and sportsmanship from her coaches. I was so happy that there was a woman that was one of the coaches. It is surprising how few women coach girls sports teams. Debbie was wonderful, not only as a coach, but as a person. She truly taught my daughter how to gracefully loose, which they did a lot that first year... and how to gracefully win,which that same team did a lot their last year. Kids get good and bad influences throughout their "kid life" and you just need to just hope that they learn from everyone!

Do what you're going to do, Don't do what you won't!

Today when I got up I went to the gym. I have been going for the past 3 days, since I decided to start my diet. I am serious about this diet. I have only eaten fresh fruit and my soup (oh, and I cheated with ice cream) in those 3 days. I also take vitamins. I thought I was starting at 190, but on the gym scale it was 197 :(. Today I weighed myself and it was 194! I'm on my way! When I dieted before I had a receptionist, Nancy, who was a body builder. I was the only office that had a receptionist that was able to be a bouncer. She often wore sleeveless blouses and had shoulders that any man would envy! I asked her what the best way to diet was, she said to forget all the fad diets, the most important thing was to limit you caloric intake, and increase your exercise. I asked her what was the best exercise. She replied with something that was very profound, and she would be surprised to know that I still think about it. She said the best exercise is something I will do, not that I won't do. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone, but I use this philosophy in many things I do now. I know that I will go to the gym and go on the elliptical for 20 - 30 minutes. I know that I will lift some weights for 10 or 15 minutes. Anything more than that I am not sure I will do. I will play sports if I can find someone to play with. I'm not sure what else I will do, but I know I won't run 2 miles every day, but I might sometime. I know what I will eat, I like my soup, so I eat that, usually one container of soup either for lunch or dinner, or both. I will eat a small steak sometimes, since i have a few in my freezer. I will eat apples and bananas, but not usually oranges. So, when I diet I do what I will do, and don't do what I won't! I have applied this to other things in my life. I teach ESL. When my students ask me what the best way to study English I say do what you will do and don't do what you won't. If you will listen to music, then do it. If it doesn't fit your life style, then don't. I always suggest that my students read books to improve their English. When they ask what kind of books I tell them to read children's books, usually written for 4th or 5th graders. They ask why. I tell them because I know they might actually read a children's book, but an adult book would be too hard to finish. I tell them to read what they will read, but don't force themselves to try to read something they won't read. I also use this with personal relationships, if I like someone I will try to do things for them, but I know that eventually I will do what I will do, and won't do what I won't do. It is hard to change my routine, and sometimes I can successfully, but usually whatever new comes into my life will fit into my routine. When I got my 2 cats I knew I had to fit them into my routine, I had to feed them the way I would, and not the way I wouldn't. So, I got one of those water bowls that I didn't have to refill often, and I got a food bowl that I could fill with food and keep that filled. The cats are happy, I am happy to have the company, and I found out things I will do, and don't have to do anything I won't do.

Soup Chef!

New Years Eve was supposed to be memorable. To keep this short, it wasn't. I was thinking about memorable New Years Eves. The one I remember the fondest was 2000. For many months people were forecasting terrible things happening. Planes were supposed to fall out of the air, trains were supposed to get misdirected and ram into each other, and stop lights were supposed to malfunction and then cars would get in pileups. Y2K was going to be the end of the earth since computers were not going to tell if it was 2000 or 1900. I was with my entire family in the living room watching tv. The three girls, my wife and I watched the new year unfold in Australia, nothing happened; China, nothing happened; Britain, nothing happened. We no longer feared that Y2K was going to be the end of the world, not that we really feared anything would happen really. It was fun. We had sparkling cider at midnight and then went to bed. That was the last new years eve I spent with the whole family, not another new year's eve was spent with any of the kids since then. During the day I did something I didn't do all year last year, I made soup. I haven't made soup for a long time, but since I started my diet I need to. My soup is the secret to the diet. My soup is wonderful! My daughter always asks me to make it, she likes it so much. I had a female friend visit me last night and she was hungry, so I gave her a little. This lady is VERY picky, but she loved my soup. It always makes me happy when people ask me the recipe, and they always get upset when I tell them I just put in all the spices next to my stove. It's true, I just put a little of this and a little of that. I take 4 hours to cook my soup, and it is cheap, and it lasts me for a week, and I cook it again the next Sunday. The background of my soup is kind of interesting. I have a very good friend that is a general manager of a hotel. She is one of a wonderful lady and runs a very very nice hotel. I used to teach in her hotel for a while. I taught the housekeeping staff English enough to be able to greet the guests and answer their questions. I also taught the maintenance staff. The maintenance staff was the most important, did you know they were the ones that manned the walkie talkies during emergencies? So, it is important for them to speak English! This manager was talking to me a few days before Thanksgiving. She asked me what I was going to have, and I told her I always cook turkey, even though there is only one person eating it. She said I should make soup with the carcass. I laughed and told her I was a single man and don't do much in the kitchen. She said she was a single woman and she didn't understand why just because I was a man I didn't do much in the kitchen. She explained to me that one reason that she was such a good hotel manager was because she had a background in working in the kitchen. She made sense, it was true that her hotel kitchen was marvelous. The manager then told me how to make soup, boil the turkey for 2 hours, until the meat fell off the bones. Then put in potatoes, onions, garlic, and carrots (Sarah doesn't like cooked carrots so I don't do that any more) and some spices. I had some spices next to my stove that someone used once and put those in. My soup was GREAT!! I learned how to do the same thing with chicken, I take off the skin first. If you are lucky, maybe I will offer YOU some of my famous soup! Happy New Year!!

Diet

Yesterday Sarah came over so my friend could fix her computer. He spent 3 hours doing what would have taken me all day to have done, at least that is what Sarah said. While we were waiting Sarah asked me for some ice cream. She knows I ALWAYS have ice cream. I guess I am kind of addicted! She asked if I had any "good" ice cream. She looked at what kind I had and she didn't like chocolate cluster ice cream. I asked her what "good" ice cream. She said she wanted Neapolitan. I said ok, if she could pronounce it right! She ended up pronouncing it correctly, so I drove to Safeway to buy ice cream. As I walked in I was struck with an idea, remember I'm random, I decided that I was going to start on my diet again. I think I know how to diet, I have done it before. In fact, I once lost 40 pounds, from 210 to 170. Now that I think back on it I was a little amusing, I went in for my annual medical check up and I seriously asked the doctor how to stop loosing weight. I was like a weight loss machine. I found the secret to loosing weight was to eat. Not a lot, but eat every 2 hours. I at something every 2 hours, so I was never really hungry. I tried to limit what I ate to 200 calories each time I ate. I found that to diet was a way of life. I bought exactly what I would eat each week. I didn't snack, and I didn't go places I would be tempted to eat out of my diet. I did cheat, sometimes. I remember the time I went to McDonald's and had a Big Mac. It was that big of a deal that 7 years later I remember that exact feeling. I guess I will do that again. I liked when I went in the gym and they asked me to take another picture because the picture they had taken when I signed up didn't look like me any more. I will try to post those to pictures on here when I post this blog. I just weight myself and I am 192, my doctor called me obese a few months ago! I will go to a party tonight, so I will start tomorrow. I will try to keep the readers up to date by posting my date every month. Wish me luck!