So I was in the mall (see last Friday's post), and while we were eating lunch, I noticed an empty store. And there was a sign on it about leasing it for a pop-up store. And it got me thinking...
What if there were craft fair-type shops in the mall? What if someone rented one of those spaces and got their fellow crafters together to sell handcrafted goods to mall shoppers?
The octopus has been my go-to project for a while now. (My only project, actually.) But it's gotten so big, it doesn't fit into my project bag real well any longer:
Although, tentacles coming out of a TARDIS seems rather fitting, don't you think?
*Insert joke about being bigger on the inside here*
It's still not quite done:
The curled tentacles are finished. The one on the right is half done. And then there are the three remaining.
Decent progress. It's getting there.
One of the goals of the adult transition center is to make the students more independent. They try to teach them things that they'll need to take care of themselves in the future. Like, they teach them how to go into stores and make purchases.
In practice that means that last Friday we went to the mall.
The class of nine was broken up into three groups of three (a group each for me and the two instructional assistants). The students chose where they wanted to go. I got the group going to the farther mall.
Why that mall? Sydney wanted to go to Steak Escape for lunch.
I was warned by one of the IAs that the last time she took them there, the group didn't go into any stores. So, I was prepared to do a lot of walking and perhaps some of my own shopping.
Surprisingly, as soon as we got into the mall, Eddy found a store he wanted to look in. And then another. And then another.
Cool. We got there at nearly 11 AM, and we weren't due back to school until 2 PM. We had oodles of time. And neither Syd nor Flash had any desire to shop.
(Flash is so nicknamed here because all he wanted to do was walk as fast as possible wherever he was going. I told him he could walk up and back outside the store while Eddy was inside.)
And then Eddy found another store that he wanted to go in. And I just...
It was Amazon Books.
Of course, I went in with him. I had to see this place.
It's a bookstore. I gaped at it, looking at books and games and journals and Amazon devices.
After we left, I vented to Syd. It was hard to express what I was feeling. I was feeling all sorts of feelings. Part of me thought it was cool. Part of me was amazed at the chutzpah of Amazon. Part of me felt like things had come full circle.
There are other emotions. I haven't unpacked them all.
Amazon Books. Am I the only one who's just *shakes head*?
Pretty much the first thing in the morning, the class exercises. One day is yoga. Another is weights. And a third day they can choose to dance. (Walking is the other option on these days.)
So, it was dancing day, and half the class chose to go walking instead. The IAs both preferred walking, so I got to stay with the students who wanted to dance.
Oh, they were excited. They logged into YouTube and had the speakers and projector on before I had a chance to blink.
I let them each pick a song. (Well, I picked a couple, too.) I had to. Pizza was just so excited about this one song that he had to share with me and the class.
I was dubious. Pizza has some interesting taste. It turns out I needn't have worried. Well, I didn't need to worry the song was school-appropriate.
I did need to worry about one thing, though. I really couldn't laugh at Pizza's song. Luckily, masks hide all sorts of facial expressions at the right times.
The song:
The other students' choices were ordinary by comparison.
On Friday of the prior week, I emailed the sub caller about assignments for the coming week. She offered me the class next door... as a long-term assignment. Sigh.
Ms. S just retired. (If you're wondering about the timing, the district now requires all staff to either be vaccinated or to test once a week. Ms. S chose option number three.) So, while they're looking to hire someone for the position, they need someone to cover the class.
This group is much easier than the class next door.
I'm continuing Ms. S's schedule (why would I start from scratch?), and the class keeps pretty busy. I fear I won't have very many blog-worthy stories to share.
It'll take me some time to catch onto all the intricacies of the group, but one thing I have figured out pretty quickly. Two students have a call and response game going.
Student 1 (out of nowhere): Pizza.
Student 2 (in reply): Sushi.
On my day two in class, we went out bowling and then to pizza after. So, I was puzzled by student 1's repeated "pizza". I mean, we were having pizza. He didn't need to go on and on about it. And then student 2 chimed in with "sushi". Somehow, I got clued in. Now it's just a game I get to watch.
We'll see how long it takes to drive me up a wall.
Because I rarely use real names on the blog, I am going to accept the gift they gave me. From now on, their names here are Pizza and Sushi.
What if you (an ordinary, everyday individual) found out that the "big bad" (someone important and not very nice) knows who you are?
Last week:
I imagined that I would have completed octopus #3 by today. Back when I started the whole project, the first week of November was my goal completion date.
I failed to meet that deadline.
Where I am at the moment:
Last week I was on the fourth tentacle with suckers. This week I'm on the eighth.
I mean, it's not bad. And since these are Christmas presents, my very early self-deadline passing isn't terrible.
I'm just a little disappointed in my myself. A very little.
(I was not expecting that long-term gig I fell into in September, nor the one I just fell into. Things have just been taking longer than expected. Sigh. It happens.)
This is why I make very early self-deadlines. So I can fail at them without actually failing to have things complete when they need to be. (It's a strategy I've used much of my adult life.)
Hopefully things will go more quickly this week. We'll see.
