Andrea spent about two hours each evening in her room, reviewing her notes and the text book chapter. She decided to skip this week's phone call to her mother. We had talked about her chores and I let her decide when to do them. I did suggest that Saturday morning we could make cookies, so she would have something to take home to her brothers.

I was pleasantly surprised on Wednesday, when the students knew all about muscles. They practiced on each other to name the muscles used when they flexed or relaxed. Now the next day, joints presented a bit of a problem. It was difficult for some of them to try to visualize a joint and how it worked.

I guess I could say I was blessed but at the time I felt stressed; when a dear friend, whom I had worked with for many, many years died and willed me his collection. The said collection included plastic desk top sized working replicas of various parts of the anatomy. And they all had parts that could be disassembled. I had lined them all up on the top shelf of my walk-in closet. It was time to take them to school to help the students learn. He had actually used them, when he was doing patient consulting and teaching. It allowed the patient to better understand what was going on. The other thing I admired about how he worked was that he never talked down to a patient and always spoke in every day language that he knew they understood. Questions were encouraged.

I asked Andrea if she would like a ride to school on Thursday or did she prefer to take the transit. She eagerly accepted. I did tell her that I wanted to do some shopping on the way home, since I had the car out and she was delighted and receptive to the plan.

As a class, we talked about the various joints in the body, the parts that generally made up a joint and then I sat the shoulder and arm replica on the desk. They were all engrossed as I explained each part of the joint, muscle and bone which made up the arm. They learned about tendons and ligaments, synovial fluids and movements.

Lunch time approached before they were even aware, of course Stan's stomach was making announcements and we laughed.

After lunch we discussed some of the disease process related to mostly bones and joints but included a few regarding muscles. Arthritis and its variations was vastly covered, and we touched on bone cancer. Three of the students had relatives who were suffering from this and about three-quarters of the class had family or friends with arthritis.

It was the end of the day. I placed 'George' in one of the empty cupboards and locked the door. I called him that out of respect for the friend who had left him to me and because I thought it sounded cute.

Andrea and I were off to the shopping plaza, she wanted to get a few things in the plaza, so off she went. We had agreed to meet back at the car and if I wasn't there, for her to look for me in the grocery store. I had casually fielded out her likes and dislikes over the week and planned on having some choices on hand. She really wasn't a picky eater.

I really didn't have a long list, so of course, I was done and back at the car before she was. Although I normally avoided Starbucks because of their prices, I indulged in a Chia tea, which I sipped while I waited. I saw her burst out of the doors with a frantic look on her face. She ran to the car.

"I am so sorry," she gasped, "I saw a couple of friends and we got talking and I forgot all about you waiting. I promise I won't do that again. I am sorry."

"It's alright, Andrea. And I want you to remember that you are not obligated to spend every waking minute with me at home. Now, I do think going out during the week might present a problem because you are supposed to be babysitting, but you could come up with a white lie, once in a while as to why you are out and not at your new home. I want you to be happy and not stressed. And I would never, ever leave you stranded, okay?"

She smiled, and I could see her relax and we were potentially on our way home.

"Since we are out already, how do you feel about supper out? My treat!"

"Sure, that sounds good, it's been a while since we all went out to a restaurant. But what about the groceries that need the refrigerator or freezer?"

"Got it covered. Many years ago, I found insulated bags to keep groceries cold for up to five hours and if we take that long, we will need a wheelbarrow. Any preferences? Anything that you would like?"

She replied with things like Pizza Hut, Burger King, Wendy's; all the typical fast food places.

"How about we try Cracker Barrel? It has a wide variety of food choices, even breakfast all day long if you wish. I like your ideas, but I think of them more as a quick lunch. This way we can sit enjoy a meal and not have to worry about dishes. You will still have time to study."

"Okay, then, that's the plan. Cracker Barrel here we come. Hey, is there one on the way home? You know, I have never been to a Cracker Barrel, I have seen them from the buses, but never been in one. I am guessing if you suggested it then it is a pretty decent place. I do like all those rocking chairs out front, they look comfy and relaxing."

"Yep, there is one about ten minutes from here. Those chairs are so comfy, I have three on the balcony, but they are covered now because of the cold weather. It is nice when it is warmer to have the music on, the sliding door partly open and just sitting out there with some tea and listen to the sounds of nature with the music in the background. I can spend hours out there."

We chatted about nothing specific as I drove, and then we were there. She was delighted and surprised when we walked into the gift shop area. For the first timers this was indeed a surprise, having to go through the gift shop to get to the restaurant. We browsed the area for about twenty minutes before going over to register for supper. The decor was also amusing and created several questions about what items were used for. Although many were way before my time, I did know what they were for and of course I was familiar from items from my childhood. We probably took longer than most customers to decide on our meal choice, because she wanted to review the entire menu. We enjoyed our salad and our meal but skipped desserts. She wanted to buy a couple of candy sticks on the way out-more treats for her brothers. So I just added them to the bill.

When we got home I declined her offer to help put groceries away and suggested she read or study for the test tomorrow.