We’re slowly accepting that the summer weather is gone, but even though we’ve transitioned into a more serious work schedule, we are far from hibernating.  Changing up the setting during the day seems to revive us so we can be a little more productive.  We had a small crew on Monday as it was Columbus Day.  We started off the morning talking about some important manners related to table etiquette, personal boundaries and space, social situations, and more.  We finished up our discussion by playing some manners bingo.  In the afternoon, we headed over to the Eastern Promenade.  We took a long walk along the water to a park and enjoyed a chilly but pleasant afternoon there. 

Tuesday morning we worked very hard at the Root Cellar and then did our regular stop at the library.  In the afternoon, Nate and Patrick spent some time with Bill while our volunteer Britany to write and practice his speech for the auction (which I’ll be posting a video of soon!).  Rory, Evan and Jackie spent some time at Panera discussing idioms and figures of speech, why we use them and how to recognize them.  Later we practiced with the whole group on the smartboard.  Kristine picked up some new calculators for us so we put them to use Wednesday morning, setting meal budgets for ourselves and looking at restaurant menus to plan lunches and dinners within our budget.  We worked on adding up the costs on our calculators, calculating a tip, and then figuring if we’d gone over or had leftover money.  We shared our meals and math with each other on the smartboard.  In the afternoon we started a drawing and weaving art project that we will be working on into next week.  A small group of the MWF crew took a trip to the library.

 Thursday Nextsteppers went through a variety of social situations and discussed appropriate reactions (ie. You receive a gift someone worked hard on but you don’t really like it).  Bill showed a video and led a discussion about why people work and what employers are looking for.  In the afternoon, we broke into small groups.  A few guys looked through a Gluten-Free, Dairy-free cook-book (on loan to us from Sophie) to get some ideas that all of us can eat together.  Another group worked on appropriate conversation starters and ways to join a conversation.  We went through various scenarios and practiced thinking of what we might say.  This morning (Friday) we’ll be working on a combination of things.  We’ll have a few extra visitors from the PSL day program and will probably continue working with our calculators, art work, and social skills.  This afternoon will be our Friday movie.