When Stanley arrived here, he was complaining about the rough treatment that he had received by his flight attendants. His luggage was lost, and all that remained was the clothes on his back. I felt sorry for the old chap and assured him that I would try my hardest to rectify the situation. However, he needed to realize that this would be a week of working hard and playing hard. There would be no time for football, but that if he was a good boy, I would not force him to leave here naked.
He actually arrived the day before a dreaded vocabulary test. I was feeling nice that day, though, so I did not make him take the test. I did, however, make him study the words. He definitely became immersed in his vocabulary studies. He was there for quite some time unnoticed by all and a small joke for me to think about.
Because I let him slide when it came to actually taking the test, I thought it was only fair to have Stanley help with my grading. He was very nice about it. He agreed that I was far too kind to allow him to visit for the day with my lovely ninth grade students and not require him to work even half as hard as they did.
He did an excellent job of grading. Poor Stanley was shocked to see how few of my students knew the name of the Vice President of the United States. Being born a Brit but quickly transplanted here, he learned those details quite some time ago. However, it is important to point out that my Man Stan was only born a few weeks ago, and he still knows that our Vice President has a name other than "Some old guy" or "Hilary Clinton."
The weekend brought some relaxation for Stanley. He spent some times with the cats. Chloe afforded him endless entertainment. They played a rousing game of rodeo. Stanley said that he hopes that throughout his travels he can actually see a rodeo. I told him the closest thing that we have to a rodeo in Tioga County is the ever-exciting tractor pull. I know that they are incredibly dissimilar, but both are far too country for the average human being. We do not have even tractor pulls in the winter, so alas, the best I could give him was a nice ride on the cat who was not thrilled with me offering up her back.
When Monday rolled around, it was back to the grindstone. This time, Stanley became an active participant. He sat in the front row. It took quite some time for me to find a book small enough for Stanley to use practically, but once I did, he realized that
To Kill a Mockingbird is the best book he has ever read. He could not put it down. Now, granted, this novel is the only book that Stanley has ever read, but he really enjoyed some of the symbolism and motifs. In this picture, he is seen answering a question about one of the major themes in the novel: Courage. He was definitely top of the class that day. I am sorry that he will not be able to participate in further discussions of such a wonderful novel.
On Tuesday, it snowed. On Wednesday, we got an inch an a half of ice. Late in the day on Wednesday, however, Stanley and I went out to enjoy the bounty of white that Nature had granted us. There was no school, so we were bored. First, Stanley made a snow angel. He was very proud of his snow angel. He had to break through a layer of ice, which was not easy for someone with very little body weight. I helped him as best as I could, but he was a stubborn little fellow. Once he had finally created one, though, he was so proud that I just had to snap a picture.
After that, he, Nate and I made a snowman. It was a lot of work. When we were almost finished, the neighbor came outside and handed us a snowman making kit--Just Add Snow--so our snowman turned out quite adorable. Stanley was again proud of himself for contributing to making the "biggest snowman ever created." I did not have the heart to tell him that the snowman that we made only seemed so large to him because he was so small. He is quite sensitive about his size and that would have been the second time in one day that I pointed it out to him.
Finally, it was Thursday and Stanley and I were preparing to say goodbye. As promised, I would not let him leave naked. I put back on his Packers jersey, and we went shopping through my office supplies for a pair of pants. Armed with his book and his new duds, Stanley hit the road onward to his new adventure!
Stanley took an intrest in history after helping me read for my Crusades class. I don't think he'll make a good historian, however, because he got bored and decided to take a nap on my papers instead. Maybe it was jet lag. 
Stanley also helped bake chocolate chip cookies for the history club bake sale. He especially liked licking the bowl and eating fresh cookies with milk.
