All together now...

Every day, 4 to 5 times a day, Celeste goes for a walk or run with either my husband or me. We may hit the bike path or go to the park, or just walk and walk and walk with her. She is learning basic manners: sit, stay, heel, down. But Celeste is Siberian, and has her own thoughts and her own agenda. When we come to an intersection, she knows that the thing to do is to sit and wait until we are able to cross the street with no cars coming. Sometimes, when traffic is heavy or there are lots of people on the sidewalk, she gets busy checking out the people and the sounds and forgets that she is to sit and wait for the word to go. Then I remind her with a "Celeste, SIT". Several times there has been so much noise that she couldn't hear me, so I bend closer to her ear to tell her...loudly. And several times, there came a break in the noise, just as I yelled "Celeste, SIT!" So now, at the corner, if there are people who are familiar with us, they join in and everyone says, "Celeste, SIT!"

When we go to the yarn store, the same drill applies. Celeste knows that she is to sit quietly in the store and wait until I've made my purchases. She gets to go inside the stores with me, as long as she behaves herself. So the people behind the counter all join in with me and we say in stereo, "Celeste, SIT!" At the corner pop stand, the old lady and her son, who keep it, join me in saying, "Celeste, SIT!" On the bike path, with pooper scooper in hand, I often yell over the sound of traffic, "Celeste, do your business!", but sometimes the traffic noise fades unexpectedly, and so now many people have learned "Celeste, DO YOUR BUSINESS!"

I'm so proud that, as an English teacher, I have been able to contribute to the continuing education of the community and teach everyone within earshot a few basic phrases in English, heh. Just doing my part for the betterment of the world.