Sunday, October 21, 2012

I know that I talked about General Conference last week, but I'm not sure if I talked about the talk given which was about how you spend your time.  It 'spoke to me' in that I started to think about how much time Dad and I spend watching tv - and often it's watching shows we are not that interested in.  So, I talked with Dad and we decided that we would only watch tv shows we really liked this past week.  When the tv wasn't on, we put on a variety of cds.  It was amazing how much other stuff we were able to get done - we were both pleased with what we accomplished and plan on continuing on with this goal.

I finished my contract at Kawungan this week - it was a sad day on Friday in that I don't get to go back to school on Tuesday (Monday is a 'Pupil Free (PD) Day).  Some teachers came to say goodbye to me which I thought was really nice - they said that they want to get me teaching at the school which I really appreciated.  They also told me that they would call me to supply teach this term which will be great - both the grade two team and the grade one team like me subbing for them which gives me a total of twelve teachers who could possibly call me.  I will have to tell them to each take one day off a month - that would give me 12 days in a month and that would be good for me.

Bronwyn (the teacher I was doing the contract for) got back from her US trip on Wednesday and came into the school on Thursday after school to see where I was in relation to the curriculum.  She said that she was glad that I had been able to take the contract as she knew that I would keep to her schedule  and do my best to get things done.  She told me that when she had told me that the kids that I was going  to be taking over for her, they cheered - that made me smile. :-)  I told her that when I told them that she was coming back on Tuesday, they cheered. :-)  I received gifts from three children which I thought was really nice.  I received two boxes of chocolate and one craft item (it's hard to explain).  One of the moms came in and told me that her daughter had said that she wished that I was her teacher and that Bronwyn was the supply teacher - I was glad that she enjoyed having me for the four weeks I was there. 

On Wednesday, Dad and I began or eating/exercise plan - we are forming an eating plan based on recipes from sparkpeople.com.  We went for a walk on Wednesday and Friday in our neighbourhood and on Saturday, we went for a walk on the beach.  We didn't get one in together on Thursday as by the time I got home from talking with Bronwyn, it was time to have supper and then Dad had to get off to SES.  At SES that night, Dad and the other members did a 5km walk as they were working on GPS skills - so Dad got to count that for his exercise.  We have done really well with the eating part of the program, too - we are trying new recipes and you will never believe it, but I actually ate cabbage rolls tonight. :-) 

On Saturday, after our beach walk, we went to Robyn and Geoff's for dinner - they had also invited some friends from church - and as usual we had a very enjoyable evening.  Dad and I tried to eat smaller portions (bbq meat and salads) and of the dessert (trifle) - we ate more than we would have at home, but we didn't do too bad.  We enjoyed chatting with everyone after dinner, too - it's great getting to know people better in a relaxed setting.  We are going to have Robyn and Geoff and two other friends from church over next week - my plan is to try to get to know everyone from the ward in this way - we might have to have a few luncheons in order to do this as some of the older people do not like driving at night.

Today it was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation at church - I had written up the script based on ones posted on the net and gearing it towards the number of children we have in our Primary - and we had been practicing for three weeks.  We only have ten active children in our ward and only four of them can read.  I wanted the presentation to be about the children, so none of the leaders/teachers said anything during the presentation, except for one teacher who had to help the children from her class participate (she said the words in small phrases and they repeated what she said).  One of my councillors conducted the music as our music leader is in the UK right now and I told the children near me when to go up to do their part.  We had a lot of positive comments afterwards and I was so proud of the kids - they did such a good job.  They were a small group and they sang quietly, but they sounded like angels from where I was sitting.  We had a little celebration just before the end of our meetings (cupcakes and juice) which the children really enjoyed - it was a nice way for us to show them our appreciation for a job well done.

what we saw on the sand when we were walking on the beach - Geoff told us it's called a Blue Blubber Jellyfish - we saw seven of them on the sand in the short part we walked along (all dead) - they can give a mean sting, but they are not a risk to humans - Robyn told us that the turtles like to eat these jellyfish - apparently they are common here at this time of year - they come down from the north in the warm current

Sunday, October 14, 2012

This past week at school has been quite good - it started off a bit rocky with the kids having had two weeks off school - but by Wednesday, they had settled nicely back into a routine.  By Friday, I was really tired and weary, but when I was on my way to meet up with my friend, I thought to myself that although I am so tired and worn out from the kids, I can't think of anything else I would rather do as a career.  I absolutely love teaching and helping children learn.  It's amazing to me that both Dad and I have been able to/ and continue to work in careers that we love so much.  We feel very blessed. 

On Thursday, I had another appointment with my doctor - here, you have to get a doctor's appointment to get the results of your tests - seems like a waste of time to me (and of course you have to pay for the appointment), but I did get all good news.  I have to go and get a breast ultrasound tomorrow and then the results from that and the mammogram I had will be sent to my doctor - so that will mean that there will be another trip to the doctor to get the results of those two tests.  I also made an appointment for the 23rd of October to have him check out the bump on my head.  He wants to cut one open and take out what's inside and have it checked out (he's pretty sure it's just fatty tissue like Dr. Nixon thought) - I'm not looking forward to it, but the one on top of my head is getting quite big now, so it's probably a good idea to have it taken out.

On Friday, I met with my friend, Chantelle, after school for an iced chocolate and a chat.  Chantelle is the young teacher who I taught with last year in Kindergarten and who stayed in our house while we were gone.  We had a lovely talk - she is being transferred next year to a place nine hours away from HB.  It will be good for her to get her 'country teaching' done (every new teacher is supposed to do some teaching in a country town for three years during their career).  We will certainly miss our house-minder. :-)

On Saturday, after General Conference (they download the videos of General Conference here which was actually last weekend, and we watch them the following weekend), we met up with Robyn and Geoff at a local restaurant called 'Hogsbreath Cafe' to celebrate Dad's and Geoff's birthdays and our anniversary.  Dad and I wanted to see if they had a good prime rib like 'The Keg' - there really isn't much of a selection of nice restaurants here in HB.  When we went in, the music was really loud - we asked our server if she could lower the volume and we were told that she couldn't as it was part of the contract of being a franchise.  None of us like to have loud music playing when we are trying to talk with each other and I did ask Robyn and Geoff if they wanted to leave and find another place to eat, but they decided that they would stay.  Dad had a lobster/prime rib dinner and mine was a ribs/prime rib dinner.  Although the food tasted good, I thought mine tasted more like a steak than a prime rib - and I love prime ribs, but steaks are only so-so.  Dad thought his meal was delicious.  I don't think that we will go back there, though - the music was too loud and the food is quite expensive.  We decided that we will go out as a foursome for a really nice dinner three times a year: in March to celebrate Robyn's and my birthdays, in June to celebrate their annniversary and then in October like we did this year.  We are going to have to do some research to find a really nice quiet restaurant in HB - Robyn and Geoff only go out as much as we do and usually they go to the 'Boat Club' or something like that (similar to a cafeteria style restaurant) and that's similar to what Dad and I have gone to in the past.

Dad got  his contract in the mail from 'Queensland Aerospace College' (his new employers) this past week - it was a large package, but Dad said it seemed like a pretty standard contract.  It took him a couple of days to get it all read and then signed and sent it back to them on Friday.  His official starting date of his contract will be November 1st.  He's really looking forward to going on the course to Melbourne at the end of November.  I was going to go with him, but when he asked his boss if I could go, he said that they have no issue with wives going with the instructors at any time (which the wife of the instructor of this course will do), but that since this instructor will be bringing his wife and they and Dad will be staying at the company condo, the boss thought that it might be too crowded for me to stay the whole three weeks.  He said that he thought that it would be fine for me to stay there for a few days, but  not longer than that.  I decided that I didn't want to spend the money for the flights for just a few days, so I will be on my own for those three weeks.  Thank goodness for technology - we can Skype/phone during the time Dad is in Melbourne.

We went to both sessions of General Conference on Sunday - the way they do it here is that they play the first session from 9am - 11am, take a half hour break to eat lunch and then watch the second two hour session.  I loved the talks which were given (on Saturday as well).  I love our Prophet - he was telling a story about how the jumbotron at a youth conference wasn't working and it needed to work for the presentation which was going  to be given that day.  After many tries to get it working, someone decided to ask the youth to pray that those who were trying to fix it would be able to figure out what was wrong and fix it.  He said that 3,000 youth got down on their knees and prayed sincerely for assistance.  It was such a spiritual experience, President Monson said.  The problem was solved and the person fixing it said that they were so lucky to find the problem.  President Monson made a sound like 'hmph' - it was such a funny sound and look as if to say 'yeah, right - luck - NOT'. :-)   I love being spiritually fed at Conference.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

It's been a great week for my second week of holidays.  We started our week off going over to our friends, Robyn and Geoff's for dinner on Monday.  They had been away for a couple of weeks and so they wanted to catch up with us - it's so nice having such good friends that both Dad and I get along so well with.  We borrowed their trailer and brought it back home. 

On Tuesday, we headed off to Brisbane - we were so excited to be able to get away and to go to the temple.  We stayed at a 'Big 4' campground which is very much like a KOA campground.  This campground had a number of cabins and semi-permanent trailers along with spaces for tents and camping trailers.  The one we borrowed from Robyn and Geoff is like a big tent with a bed which is raised.  The campground had a pool, a games room, a playground and a camp kitchen.  We did all of our cooking in that kitchen which was really nice - two fridges, barbecue, stovetop and microwave.  It was so relaxing at the campground - we read, we did crossword puzzles, we swam, we ate and we played games - it was so nice after being so busy teaching for those two weeks and Dad doing his four day course the week before that.  The weather was perfect, too - beautiful blue sky and the sun shining down - ahhh - life is good. :-)  One thing we noticed is that it was still cool at night and so we need to remember to bring our track suits next time we go camping for after the sun goes down.

We loved going to the temple - we were able to go on Wednesday morning and evening and Thursday morning.  There were a lot of people there and they ended up having to bring in extra chairs each time we were there.  It is such a wonderful place to be and it's so peaceful and gives one time for contemplating and being apart from 'the world'.  Dad and I loved it so much that we have decided to make it a monthly trip.

When we arrived home, Dad had an email from the company who has hired him.  The fellow said that he was just waiting for the head of the company to come back from teaching in New Zealand so that he could sign Dad's contract and send it on.  So, Dad should have the contract in his hands later this week - he is really looking forward to seeing it, getting in the training later on this year and to begin working for the company next year.

We had the missionaries to dinner on Friday and then on Saturday (after spending the afternoon relaxing outside reading), we had Robyn and Geoff over for dinner along with another couple, Lyn and Dan.  They had been to Canada for a month in July and had gone on the 'Rocky Mountaineer', to the 'Calgary Stampede' and on an Alaskan cruise.  All four of us (Dad, me, Robyn and Geoff) all want to do this trip and so we had asked Lyn and Dan to come over for dinner and to bring their photos and videos of the trip.  It was great getting to know Lyn and Dan better and to also see/hear about their trip.  We all are really keen to go on that trip even more now.  The scenery was incredible!

It's hard to believe that my two weeks of holidays are up and that I am going back to work tomorrow.  The madness begins again! :-)

Below are pics from where we were sitting on our patio enjoying the blue sky and warm sun. :-)