To ATEG folks-
      I have joined this listserve at the suggestion of NCTE in order to seek advice about the following grammar issue.  As a brash newcomer, I will dive right in.  I beg the indulgence of veterans for any lapses of local culture or etiquette.

Here are 3 model sentences:
#1.  I spent the morning smiling.
#2.  I have trouble dancing in the dark.
#3.  I spent the weekend building a shed.

      What are those "ing" words?  They're not gerunds used as direct objects; "morning," "trouble," and "weekend" seem to be the direct objects.
-Possible explanation  A:  Participles that are oddly placed?  (smiling I, dancing I, building I)
-Possible explanation B:  Are they gerunds in understood prepositional phrases that serve as adverbs to modify the verb?               
            I spent the morning [in] smiling
            I have trouble [with] dancing in the dark.
            I spent the weekend [in] building a shed.    

-Possible explanation C:  Some sort of obscure direct object?  (Doesn't really fit the definition or word order - IO before DO).
-Possible explanation D;   A Latinate structure.  For example, ablative absolute in Latin becomes a nominative absolute in English.  Although the Latin specifications for an ablative absolute seem to fit, the English versions provided on the web don't fit the model.

    With sincere thanks for any light you can shine on this mystery,
    Maureen

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