Geography Guessing Game

Any of you who claim to know me well are very aware of my, ahem, shall we say... less-than-stellar knowledge in the area of geography. I’m great with directions and finding addresses, but I’m talking about the actual location of the states on a map. I remember when I used to cut hair being terrified when clients would bring up geographically related items such as, "I used to live in [insert name of state here]." I would quickly change the subject because I had no IDEA where that state was (east, west, north, or south) so I had nothing to say or ask. Or whenever I play Pictionary I (and my teammates if they know of my "challenge") PRAY that I don't have to draw a state. It has always been a really touchy (and embarassing) subject for me. I take that back. Not always. In school I did well with geography. I loved learning all about maps and always passed my tests, but somehow over the years I have forgotten where things are. Well – thanks to a 12-step program (kidding) and the help of my friend Ginger (who happens to also teach 4th grade), I just may be on the road to recovery for good. Ginger had Rylan and me over to her home last week to show us her “technique” for learning the states. It took us about an hour and a half to go through her story of “MIMAL,” the man in the map and his adventures. We used markers to draw pictures within the states, and she gave us devices to help us remember shapes, etc. Rylan and I have since been quizzing each other in the car or whenever we’ve had a few minutes. Last night I wanted to see how many states I could correctly label on a blank map without the help of my cheat sheet. I thought for sure I would miss several of them, but I was able to label all 50! Rylan was right there watching me without saying a word, so I have an eye witness for those of you who can’t believe it. (Not that I blame you. I couldn’t either!) I did it! I did it!