Our weeks are becoming very predictable - busy and restful - and I quite like this routine. :-) I didn't teach on Monday again and I could easily get used to that. I did teach for three days this week - Tuesday and Wednesday I taught in a Prep class at Torquay - I was teaching with Sam who was my TA last year - she could easily run the class on her own - sometimes when I am in there, I almost feel like she should be the teacher - she has 26 years of experience as a TA. There are a few challenging children in that class which makes for a tiring day - I wish that I could just teach those other 20 lovely children who want to listen and learn.
On Thursday, I did my regular contract day at Torquay, but it was different that day as Pam asked me to take over the whole class while she did parent/teacher interviews. I was very surprised that it would be okay for her to do this, but I don't know if the admin knew what she was doing or not. Chantelle was fit to be tied when she heard what Pam was doing - she couldn't believe that Pam would have the nerve to use me to teach her class while she did parent/teacher interviews during the school day while all the other teachers at the school had to stay after school to do their interviews. I was miffed that she didn't leave me a plan for 90 minutes of math she wanted me to do with her class. Her class is challenging and so I didn't want to try and do 90 minutes of math with the whole class, so I planned out five activities which they could rotate through and that worked really well. A couple of teachers made comments to me again about how well behaved the children were with me teaching compared to when Pam has them - it made me feel good to be recognized for having good classroom management skills - that's the hardest thing about being a teacher, I think.
On Wednesday evening, I went to a local restaurant to meet up with some people who were interested in being part of a book club. Two british women decided that they wanted to start one up in order to have a bit of an adult social life and read and discuss books. There were twelve women and one man who showed up and I think it's going to be a really good book club. The two women who are leading the club came with a synopsis of six books which we could choose from to be the book for the next meeting. The choice ended up being a book by an Australian author called 'Traitor'. I talked with the group about how the book club ran in Bolton and they are sad that I will not be there to share my experience in our first book club discussion. I did tell them how it used to work and when I got home, Dad looked up on the net to see if he could find some questions that the club could use at the next meeting - I sent them off and the women were really pleased to have a way to begin the discussion next month. I'm looking forward to being able to attend the September meeting.
I took Friday off work and Dad and I spent the day getting things organized around the house so that we would be ready to leave on Monday. However, after speaking to the HR woman about the job which Dad applied for (and really wants), we decided to wait another week before we come back to Canada. It was a bit disappointing as I was really looking forward to getting back there and getting some cuddles in with my lovely grandchildren (oh, and hanging out with my girls, too, of course :-) and also to going to Paris with Krystal on the following Saturday. But, Dad really wants this job - he will find out this coming Friday or the following Monday if he has been successful in acquiring an interview or not. We are keeping an eye on the flight loads between here and Sydney - if they get busy, I might fly out to Sydney on the morning flight on Monday - if Dad hasn't heard by then, he will stay behind until the 6pm flight (if he doesn't get an interview).
This job would be perfect for Dad, he thinks, so we'll hope for the best - but, on the other hand, if he gets the job, he won't be able to come back to Canada and that will be sad for him and for you guys.
On Friday, we met up with our friends, Robyn and Geoff, for lunch at 'Hogsbreath Cafe' - it's kind of like 'Kelsey's' - Dad and I both ordered a wrap (chicken for me and beef for Dad) with curly fries. While we were there, the sister missionaries called us to see if we were still going to be in town on Saturday and if we were still planning on coming to the baptism on Saturday. When Dad hung up and told us what they had said, Geoff said that I was doing a talk on faith and repentance and I said that no, they had asked me (last Sunday) to welcome the boys to Primary after their baptism. After both of us going back and forth a bit, I began to wonder if what Geoff was saying was true. On the way home, I called the sister missionaries to check out if they were thinking that I was giving a talk - sure enough, they were. It's a good thing I listened to Geoff!
On Saturday at 1pm, we went to the baptism of Jeremy and Douglas (8 and 9 years old) - there were about 20 people there and it was so nice to see the smiles on the boys' faces as they were baptized. It took me back to my own baptism day (many years ago :-) I can't remember a lot about that day, but I still remember the feeling I had when I came up out of the water - it was like a heavy load had been lifted off my shoulders - I will never forget that wonderful feeling. The talk went well - Dad and I both searched for articles about faith and repentance on the internet and Dad found two great articles which had been in The Friend magazine. I spoke right to both boys and made sure that my talk was at their level - they both watched me the whole time I talked so I guess it was interesting enough for them. :-)
That evening, we went to Robyn and Geoff's for dinner - they also invited another couple from church, Fiona and Randall. We had a lovely meal (roast chicken with veggies and mini pavlovas for dessert - sorry Nana :-) and we had a really nice time chatting with everyone. Having these dinners really gives us a chance to get to know members of our ward better and I am looking forward to having more dinners like these when we get back from Canada.
Dad and I both handed over the reigns re: our callings at church today. I gave all my stuff to my first counsellor in Primary - she was great last time we left at keeping things rolling in Primary and it's great to have someone who I know will run things smoothly while I am away. I had organized things for the months of June and July and she will just have to sort things out for August (although I did do have a tentative schedule for that month as well). Dad teaches his priesthood group every Sunday and those lessons will now be taught on a rotation basis by all members of the group. People were sad to see us leaving for such a long time and they were all saying good-bye to us and wishing us a safe trip and a happy time with everyone in Canada. It's so nice to be so loved in our ward. :-)
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