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14 Nov 85
Dear Diane, It was nice to get your letter. It had been a while since I had heard from you. I just got back from a conference with Angelique's teacher, Miss Angelo. Report cards came home last week. She had one "Outstanding" in reading fluency & 44 "Satisfactories." She had a few "Needs Improvements" in completing tasks and self-discipline. It seems she just isn't inspired to do all this 1st grade work. Neither her teacher nor I can find any thing to motivate her to do these mundane tasks. She has been accepted into the Gifted and Talented program. Maybe she will find some motivation there. She will go to that for an hour a week. I'm not sure how much that will help, but it sounds nice so we will give it a try. The reading supervisor for the school, Mrs. Prather, can't sing Angelique's praises loud enough. Her teacher, Miss Angelo, can find very little to praise in Angelique. It is very confusing to me. Mrs. Prather said she would talk to Miss Angelo about Angelique not fitting into the normal mold and perhaps changing approaches with her will help. Who knows? Mrs. Prather warned us we may have this problem with teachers understanding & wanting to work with Angelique until she gets up into higher grades or until Angelique finds some motivation to do all this trivial work. (And I thought I was taking the easy road by having an intelligent child.) Guess what was on our SEB TV last Saturday night - the Arkansas/Baylor game from Little Rock! I stayed up till almost 1:00 AM watching that great game! It was such a morale booster to see that game. I kept looking for Woollys, but didn't see any. I'm glad the bedspreads & carts came through OK. I was so worried about the green one I sent you. I'm glad you like it. I haven't heard if Mom got hers and liked it or not. I'm mailing the last of the Christmas presents tomorrow. I hope they get there by Christmas. Keep a look-out for one at your house. 16 Nov, Saturday Michael found a 1979 Ford Fiesta to replace his Volkswagen. He just had it tuned up this week and thinks it is doing just fine. It doesn't have an air conditioner, tho, so we may not keep it long once we get back to the States. How convenient that you have so many sick days accumulated. I hope you don't need them all before the baby is born. When are you planning to take off? Spring break? Will you go back to work the next year? I know how you'd like to answer that question. What are you doing about maternity clothes? Have you found any hand-me-downs? Did you still have some saved? Do you have anything left besides the baby bed? Have I told you we won't be back by April? June seems to be the date now. I'm sick that we're gonna miss the big event - do you think you could hold it in a few extra months? (Just kidding.) How is your energy level? I was exhausted my second time around. We are beginning to get ready for our 2-week trip to Germany the day after Thanksgiving. We'll be in Berchtesgaden, near Salzburg, Saturday-Thursday for a Church of Christ retreat. We'll have lectures/classes in the morning and evenings. Afternoons are for touring the area. I assume that will include Eagle's Nest, salt mines and Salzburg. If necessary, we'll hang around that area for another day or two, then go on to Munich to the Kris Kringle market held there every December. We hope to see one of the concentration camps nearby also. Of course, we'll have to hit McDonald's, too. We might also see the Cinderella castle. There is a Swarovski crystal factory by the autostrada in Innsbruck. I hope we can stop there also. Then we'll go on to Venice. The kids are eager to ride in a gondola. We should be off for more than 2 weeks - that is, if they don't call Michael back early. I wish we had time to go to Vienna, Austria. But that is a long way out of the way. Steven is sure wanting to see his Johns grandparents. He asks about them 2-3 times a week. I sent them some information about Aces Military Charter Flights. Immediate family members of military members and their spouses are eligible. Aces flies from New York to Munich for $169. I haven't heard from them since I sent that. I guess I shouldn't hold my breath, but I sure would like for them to come - maybe during their Spring Break - or any time. Should I lay off the prodding? Gotta run. Love, Jeannie Cole |
