16 September - Hooray - it's Friday - I am so glad we're done for two weeks - phew!
Just thought I would give you a laugh for today. Last night, the lamp on my side of the bedroom blew out and I tried to get the bulb out, but I twisted and twisted and it wouldn't come out, so I gave up and moved to your side of the bed. When I woke up this morning at 6:20am, I turned over to see what time it was, and I fell out of bed.
Hope the rest of my day is a bit better.
16 September - Well, I am finally on holidays - yippee! Today was okay, but the kids were so off - and so were all the other kids in the school. I thought that I might have had fewer children than usual, but nope, I had 21 of them there. I told some of the parents today that there was no way we were doing any work today - that the kids were spent - and the parents thought it was a good idea to just let them play. So, our day started off with going out to the fort (playground) to play which the kids loved - the whole fort to themselves. After fruit break, we went outside to the Prep/grade one eating area where Paula, our indigenous TA, taught the kids an indigenous dance which the kids enjoyed. After lunch break, we were going to have activity time in the classroom, but earlier in the day, the music teacher came to me and told me that she was going to take my kids for an hour for my non-contact (planning) time - what a lovely surprise that was and very much appreciated. While they were at music, I spent time talking with Sam about what I want to do next term and we also reorganized the classroom so that all the tables are in one area rather than being split by the carts. After music, we went to science and then down to the great hall to judge the things which had been built by the students with recyclable materials. Some of them were really good - the kids were very excited that there were many tickets inside the box beside our 'recycle man' (every student got to vote on which one they thought was the best by putting a ticket in the box in front of the item). After last break, it was off to the computer lab and that ended our day. I spent about ten minutes in the classroom doing some final tidying up and then I was out the door.
and........... guess what? ................. I drove all by myself into town. That's right - you read it right - and I am so pleased! I first went to Coles and parked way far back by the road. I didn't buy much to actually eat - well healthy stuff anyway. I did buy milk and eggs and meat pies and fries and sausage rolls for food - most of that will do me until next week when I might have to buy some more milk. Then, I went to the library, but it was past 4pm, so I didn't get to get any more books out, but I did return two books. I might go down to the library later this week to get a book or two or three to read over the holidays - I really do want to take some time to relax over the holidays. After the library, I drove to the post office. I was just a little startled when I got to the roundabout at Beach St. and Boat Harbour and there were two lanes - I didn't know which lane to go in, so I crossed over the first one and went to the second one - I was hoping I was doing it right - I made it to the post office, picked up the package with no problem and then drove home via Nissen St. I was so happy once I got onto Nissen - I even cheered out loud! I have been relaxing since I got home, although I do wish that I had a movie to watch as there isn't anything on tv tonight other than 'The Glee Project'.
I was going to clean the house yesterday, but I just didn't have the energy to do it. I will do it tomorrow in spurts, though - it really needs a good vacuum and the toilets need cleaning desperately! I also want to do some laundry - and just for the record, that reminds me, I have made the bed every day except for the day I had to wash the sheets.
17 September - I was so happy to be able to talk with you today via Skype. I look forward to being able to do the same thing in the middle of this coming week.
Thanks for that info about the roundabouts - now I know what the right thing to do is - I will make sure to follow those rules when I have to go through that one this coming week when I go to the library. I want to go and get some books to read while I am on holidays. I checked out some more book club lists and found a really good site (goodreads.com) which has reviews by actual readers - I found a dozen books I think I will like and so I have put a couple on hold and will go and check out some of the others when I go to the library; I am going to also get some dvds out for when there is nothing on tv.
It was really nice being lazy today, but I really do need to get doing some house cleaning next week. You might not be here to mess it up, but it's getting dirty anyway. It really needs a good vacuum and a good clean off the bathrooms. I do the dishes every night, so the kitchen is clean and I make the bed every day, so the bedroom looks neat, but there is dust on the furniture, so I will have to do that, too. My daily plan for my holidays is this: biking to the store to get a newspaper, then eating breakfast and watching 'Touched By An Angel', reading outside on my chaise lounge, having lunch, having a nap, reading some more, doing some cleaning, having supper, watching tv, reading some more, going to sleep. Doesn't that sounds like a lovely plan for a vacation?
It was interesting Skyping with Terri-Ann - Colin was his usual goofy self taking over the computer screen with poor Caleb in the background. Benjamin just wanted to touch the computer and so I didn't get a chance to really talk with Terri-Ann. I figured that she was there to visit with Mom anyway, so I told her that I would talk with her next week. Terri-Ann and Colin told me that Colin and Caleb made an instrument at home this week and then took them to school to be part of a marching band there. Colin sang 'Clang, clang rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day' over and over (that's from a Robert Munsch book). Benjamin actually said 'hello' which sounded more like 'hewo' - it's weird to hear him actually saying words.
It was good to get caught up with Jennifer. She is in a grade four classroom with one other TA and they are looking after three children that Jennifer has worked with before at this school. Would you believe that she has been working for five years now as a TA - the time sure flies fast, eh? Everything is going fine with the baby - she showed me her belly - it's all out in front, though, like when I was pregnant with Terri-Ann. She and Derek have started going to pre-natal classes and they are doing it at the Bolton Library complex - where Jennifer found out they have an 'Early Years Centre' as well which she is looking forward to going to when her baby is older.
Oh yeah, here's some more news: Elders Johnson and Karee have been transferred and we now have two Samoan sister missionaries. What a surprise that was! I will meet them on Sunday.
18 September - As soon as Primary was over and I cleaned up the room, I drove home, got changed and went over to Rosalea and Rob's for lunch. I had a lovely time over there just eating and chatting and chatting and chatting. Rob and Rosalea and I talked about various and sundry 'til Rob got a call from a friend and then Rosalea and I got to have a nice long chat on our own. I left their home around 5:30pm, so that I could get home before dark. I managed to drive there and back with no problem (well, one little one when I didn't realize I had to make a left and was in the right lane so I made a left turn from that lane - oops!
When I got home, I was just relaxing a bit and deciding when to have dinner - I was watching a couple of episodes of 'Raymond' when someone knocked on the door. I wasn't expecting anyone, so I gingerly went to the front door and turned on the outside and hallway light. It turned out to be the Chris and Christine Vakas. We hadn't gotten a chance to chat at church, so they decided to come and see how I was doing - and they just left about half an hour ago, so I just finished dinner and it's 10pm. So, I didn't have to worry about there being nothing on tv tonight. We had a really nice chat, actually and it was nice to have someone to talk with - it gets really lonely not having anyone around. That reminds me: I talked with Alistair Gilbert and he invited me to come to their FHE; Diana Brown asked if I was okay for meals; many others asked when you were coming home and if I was managing okay on my own. It was very nice of so many people to be worrying after me.
19 September - I was able to sleep in until 9am - isn't that good? So, I didn't get a chance to bike down to the Foodworks to get a paper, but I did have brekkie while I watched 'Touched By An Angel', put a load of laundry in, had my shower and drove downtown. Yep, you read it right.......*I* drove *downtown*. I went to the library (I had printed out a list of the books I wanted to look for, but forgot it at home - sheesh) and borrowed three books and 4 dvds My next stop was to Aldi's, but not to shop there. I was talking with Christine and Chris last night and telling them that I wanted to go to Terry White's (drug store), but that I didn't want to go through the roundabout at Main and Boat Harbour and Christine told me that she parks at Aldi and then walks to Centro. So, I did that and got some Vitamin C tablets and some throat lozenges. I then stopped at the chapel again to talk with Denise (who was busy with patrons, so we arranged to meet up on Friday at 3pm as she will be at the FHC that day as well).
I was so pleased with myself at driving all that way by myself. And I felt really comfortable doing it, too. Rosalea said that I will be so comfortable with driving around HB by the time you get back that I will be telling you to move over and let me drive. :-) I did make a few boo-boos in my directions. I wasn't sure where to turn (which street Coles was on) so that I could go to the library that way and I ended up going down Taylor and so I went down to Torquay and up Hunter and to the library that way. Then, when I was driving to Aldi, I wasn't sure which street to turn on to get there on my way from the library, so I had to pull over and check things out in our little map book (I was right about which way I thought I should go) and so I am starting to learn the lay of the land in HB.
After lunch, I took my book outside, lay on my chaise lounge (in 26C temps) and started reading one of the books which I got out of the library. I must have been out there for over three hours and it was lovely. I can't wait to do the same tomorrow! It was so relaxing and the weather was so beautiful - it was a great way to spend the day and to do nothing, but fun things.
20 September - It's been another relaxing day today, but a bit boring, so I went for a bike ride, but more first...........I woke up at 7am and decided to run a bath and I read 'til 9am. It was glorious! I am reading a book called 'The Deep End of the Ocean' - it's a really good read so far. At 9am, I had breakfast and watched 'Touched By An Angel'. By then, I was bored and decided to go for a bike ride. It took me ages to get the bike out since you had really tucked it away behind the freezer. Today was a beautiful sunny day and it was perfect for taking a bike ride. I decided to ride to 'Foodworks' to buy a newspaper. It felt a lot longer from our place to Doolong Road when I was riding my bike, but I was able to make it all the way to the store, no problem. After picking up a paper (I decided on the 'Courier Mail'), I rode to the Vakas' house. I was so hot from riding and figured that I wouldn't make it home without a drink of water or two. After my drinks of water, I rode home - however, it was harder riding home than it was getting to the store. I had to stop a couple of times (just for a few seconds) to give my backside a rest. I spent the afternoon laying outside in the sun reading and napping. I just finished cleaning the toilets and main bathroom (I did the vacuuming yesterday) and now I am just sitting in my chair watching tv while a pizza cooks in the oven. How's that for a fabulous restful day, eh?
I emailed Krystal today to let her know when I could Skype with her and she emailed me back and we are going to do it on Thursday at 9am my time which is 7pm Wednesday her time - she said that evenings are best and that way I can see the boys before they go to bed. I don't think I have seen Dominic since we were there in January which means I haven't seen Alexander in ages, either. It will be good to see all of them and see how Alexander talks now and I can't wait to see Dominic's hair via Skype.
So, that's what has been happening here with me. I'm afraid that the rest of the days this week will be filled with the same as today - nice for me, though, eh? :-) Dad says that things are going well at Grandma's - they are getting tons done between Dad, Jackie and Grandma. Dad says that for every thing they cross off the list of things to do, though, Jackie puts two more on. :-) Since this entry is so long already, I will write more on Thursday about how Dad is doing in Vancouver.
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