Yesterday I had another day of supplying in Terry's grade two class at Kawungan and it went pretty well. There were a couple of annoying kids (boys, of course :-), but I was able to work with them so we all survived the day. :-) I had gone in on Thursday after school to talk with Terry about what I was going to teach the kids on Friday - she was very happy to see me - she had been looking for me earlier in the day. Since I have been in Bronwyn's class for a while, I knew what they were up to so there wasn't a lot of explaining to do which is nice. That's the benefit of working in the same school. I spoke with another supply teacher who used to be a full-time teacher here in Hervey Bay and she told me (which I have been told by the VP) that getting a full-time job at Kawungan is virtually impossible. It seems that there are now a number of mature students going through the teaching program who think that they will be able to get full-time in Hervey Bay and they are apparently in for a rude awakening. This supply teacher couldn't understand why these mature students would even go into the teaching program knowing that their chances of getting a job here were very minimal and that the only other option was to uproot the family and move to an area where teachers were needed.
Dad and I have been quite diligent in getting our exercise in every day. Unfortunately, on Thursday, we did not get to do that as it was pouring all day. Yesterday, we did a 6km bike ride and today we did two forms of exercise: we did a 10km bike ride and about a half hour walk. When we got back from the bike ride (well, actually, on the way back) our backsides were really hurting us - they are just not toughened up enough as yet. :-) We decided to ride down to the chapel and back to see how long it would take us to bike there - it took us about 30 minutes to get there - it took us a bit longer on the way back because the hills are harder to ride up and also we put in an extra .7km going past our place and back so that we could say that we had ridden a total of 10km. Although it was a 'pain in the butt' :-), we felt good being able to say that we had ridden that total number of kms. :-)
We were able to talk with Terri-Ann and the boys today if only for a short while. They had just returned home from a missionary fireside and the boys were all tired. We got to see Benjamin for about 30 seconds and then he was whisked off upstairs by James. Caleb followed Daddy soon after (he is really good about taking himself to bed when he is tired) and then we got to talk with Colin just a little bit more before we could tell that he was very tired and said good-bye to him and Terri-Ann. We are excited to be able to come back and see our 'boys' (and our girls :-) in twelve days, but we are not excited to come back to the wintry weather of Ontario. Colin told us today that it was snowing in Orangeville - today in Hervey Bay, the temperature was 27C (yes, Celcius, NOT Fahrenheit! :-)
November 4, 2010
Wow, four days gone by again before entering another blog - well, three days I guess since it's just 8:20am right now. Dad and I were going to go to the beach today, but when we woke up, we heard the familiar sound of rain outside. With the metal roof on our house, the rain sounds like an airconditioner is on. So, with the rain pouring down and showing no signs of stopping, we will be staying inside today and, at least in my case, doing absolutely nothing - it will be lovely to just relax and 'piddle' around. :-)
On Monday, I was supply teaching for most of the day for Jane, a grade two teacher at Kawungan. She had warned me ahead of time about three 'challenge' children in her class and so I was geared up for a bit of a stressful day. Fortunately for me, two out of three of those children were absent on Monday, and the one who was there sat right in front of me - I praised him like crazy, made him my 'carpet example' (told others that if they were sitting like him, they were doing great) and asked him to hand out the work to the other students. He responded really well to all of this and I had a great day in Jane's class - I told them that I hoped their teacher would be away again so that I could come in again to teach them. It was so nice to have a great supply day. I am going to supply in another grade two class tomorrow - I am hoping it will be another positive experience.
On Tuesday, the 'termite' guy came to inspect the outside and inside of the house for any evidence of termite activity. Dad said that he (the guy) was totally worth the money this time as Dad learned a lot. For instance, the importance of making sure that there is no dripping water going onto the ground which would keep the ground consistently moist - termites are attracted to a water source when it's dry out. The guy also told Dad about an insect powder which he can 'shoot' in the holes on the outside of the house (they are called cavity vents: they are used to keep the cavity between the inside wall and the outside wall from building up any moisture) to prevent any insects from deciding to build a home in between the outside and inside walls. He also gave Dad some hints about insect control in the yard. The guy showed Dad what signs to look for inside the house to determine if termites are present there. He also went up into the attic to inspect that area and again told Dad what to keep an eye out for there. This guy will come once a year as part of the termite protection warranty we have. It is strongly recommended that every house in Australia have some type of termite protection - if you don't do this and the termites find their way into your house, they can cause a lot of damage to any wooden structure of your house.
Yesterday, Dad and I did our 'Meals on Wheels' run, but we did Route #4 this time. Dad had been on that route with someone else when I wasn't able to go, but I had never been on the route before. It took us a longer to do it than the other route we are familiar with and we ended up having to go back to one person's place twice since they weren't home (although their house was wide open) and we had to return the meal of another person as their house was locked up and, although we knocked and knocked and yelled out that we were there, there was no response. We had some nice short conversations with these new people and one guy even guessed correctly that we were from Canada. :-)
Later on in the day, Dad and I went down to the beach - we decided that we wanted to do our exercise walking along the edge of the water. It is actually harder walking in the water or on the wet sand beside the water than it is on the street/footpath. We chose two piers to walk between and figured out later that we had walked 3 1/2 km - it took us an hour to do that as we weren't walking at a fast pace. It was lovely to walk in the water and enjoy the sounds of the beach. The water was actually quite warm - I guess the sun had warmed it up during the day (it was about 4:30pm when we started our walk). There were a number of people swimming in the water and we even saw some people rowing these long boats and a couple of kayakers.
Dad and I have decided that we want to buy a couple of kayaks when we get back from Canada. We even talked with a friend about the kind of roof rack we could get to hold two kayaks on our small car - the kayaks would go back to back so they would be sitting on their sides on the rack. This is going to be a costly adventure with kayaks costing around $500. each and the rack costing about $500. or so. But, it is something that we can use year round and it's great exercise and something which we both enjoy doing.
On Monday, I was supply teaching for most of the day for Jane, a grade two teacher at Kawungan. She had warned me ahead of time about three 'challenge' children in her class and so I was geared up for a bit of a stressful day. Fortunately for me, two out of three of those children were absent on Monday, and the one who was there sat right in front of me - I praised him like crazy, made him my 'carpet example' (told others that if they were sitting like him, they were doing great) and asked him to hand out the work to the other students. He responded really well to all of this and I had a great day in Jane's class - I told them that I hoped their teacher would be away again so that I could come in again to teach them. It was so nice to have a great supply day. I am going to supply in another grade two class tomorrow - I am hoping it will be another positive experience.
On Tuesday, the 'termite' guy came to inspect the outside and inside of the house for any evidence of termite activity. Dad said that he (the guy) was totally worth the money this time as Dad learned a lot. For instance, the importance of making sure that there is no dripping water going onto the ground which would keep the ground consistently moist - termites are attracted to a water source when it's dry out. The guy also told Dad about an insect powder which he can 'shoot' in the holes on the outside of the house (they are called cavity vents: they are used to keep the cavity between the inside wall and the outside wall from building up any moisture) to prevent any insects from deciding to build a home in between the outside and inside walls. He also gave Dad some hints about insect control in the yard. The guy showed Dad what signs to look for inside the house to determine if termites are present there. He also went up into the attic to inspect that area and again told Dad what to keep an eye out for there. This guy will come once a year as part of the termite protection warranty we have. It is strongly recommended that every house in Australia have some type of termite protection - if you don't do this and the termites find their way into your house, they can cause a lot of damage to any wooden structure of your house.
Yesterday, Dad and I did our 'Meals on Wheels' run, but we did Route #4 this time. Dad had been on that route with someone else when I wasn't able to go, but I had never been on the route before. It took us a longer to do it than the other route we are familiar with and we ended up having to go back to one person's place twice since they weren't home (although their house was wide open) and we had to return the meal of another person as their house was locked up and, although we knocked and knocked and yelled out that we were there, there was no response. We had some nice short conversations with these new people and one guy even guessed correctly that we were from Canada. :-)
Later on in the day, Dad and I went down to the beach - we decided that we wanted to do our exercise walking along the edge of the water. It is actually harder walking in the water or on the wet sand beside the water than it is on the street/footpath. We chose two piers to walk between and figured out later that we had walked 3 1/2 km - it took us an hour to do that as we weren't walking at a fast pace. It was lovely to walk in the water and enjoy the sounds of the beach. The water was actually quite warm - I guess the sun had warmed it up during the day (it was about 4:30pm when we started our walk). There were a number of people swimming in the water and we even saw some people rowing these long boats and a couple of kayakers.
Dad and I have decided that we want to buy a couple of kayaks when we get back from Canada. We even talked with a friend about the kind of roof rack we could get to hold two kayaks on our small car - the kayaks would go back to back so they would be sitting on their sides on the rack. This is going to be a costly adventure with kayaks costing around $500. each and the rack costing about $500. or so. But, it is something that we can use year round and it's great exercise and something which we both enjoy doing.
October 31, 2010
Happy Hallowe'en! We actually had kids come to our house tonight - we were really surprised. Only one student at school mentioned he was going out for Hallowe'en and none of the teachers mentioned it at all. We were under the impression that it wasn't really done here. There were costumes for sale in the stores and some candy for sale, too, but it wasn't really talked about and no ads on tv, either. It turned out that only six kids came to our house. We don't know if that has to do more with the fact that we live out of town or that it really isn't done much period. I will ask the teachers at school tomorrow how much it is done here.
Yesterday we had a really lovely relaxing day here in Hervey Bay. We started out by sleeping in 'til 9:16am - what a great way to start the day since we are usually up by 6am when I am teaching. We Skyped with Terri-Ann for about 90 minutes (the boys were already in bed) which was really nice (the talking bit, not the boys in bed bit). We love Skype and look forward to doing it with the rest of you at some point, too! After lunch, we went down to the beach and spent the afternoon there. We set up our chairs under a tree - some backpackers had the NERVE to sit under OUR tree, so we had to make do with another one. :-) As soon as we had set up, we went into the water and boy, was it refreshing - actually, it was COLD! :-) We stayed in for about five minutes and then decided we would rather be sitting in the warm air. Dad bought some camp stools for us to use at the beach so we were very comfortable with our feet up on them as we enjoyed the sun and the books we were reading. We did take another short dip in the water part way through our time at the beach - very refreshing! :-) Dad and I both agreed that we have to stop taking the beach for granted and get down there more often.
Today at church, I had a meeting with our Branch President and he has called me to be the Primary President. I thought it might be coming since our current Primary President is burned out (she's been in the calling for six years), but I thought that since we travelled so much, they might call someone else as President and leave me as the first counsellor. So, I will be sustained next week and then have just one more week after that before we head back to Canada for two months. Also, today, we found out that our branch is going to become a ward which is very exciting to everyone here. We will also, along with Bundaberg, become part of a stake. The stake centre is in a city called Nambour which is about 2 1/2 hours away and stake conference will be transmitted via satellite into our chapel. The first one will be on the third Sunday of November so we won't be here for that, but when they have the next one which I'm guessing will be in six months, Dad and I would like to travel to Nambour to see what a stake conference is like here in Australia.
Just a note about our 'getting healthy' plan - it's going really well to date. I have lost 21 pounds so far and Dad has lost the same. We are finding that exercising is really making the difference and we are making sure that we get out and get some every day (well, not on our 'day of rest' - Sunday :-) We either go for a walk or a bike ride. This week, we are also going to start doing some strength training exercises. We hope that we will be able to continue on this plan while we are in Canada, so please don't offer us any fatty foods or desserts when we are there. :-) Actually, we don't eat any fast foods anymore because our tummies just can't handle it. We rarely have any desserts, but if we do, we try to make it low fat and try to fit it into our eating plan. We are looking better and more importantly, we are feeling better. :-)
Yesterday we had a really lovely relaxing day here in Hervey Bay. We started out by sleeping in 'til 9:16am - what a great way to start the day since we are usually up by 6am when I am teaching. We Skyped with Terri-Ann for about 90 minutes (the boys were already in bed) which was really nice (the talking bit, not the boys in bed bit
Today at church, I had a meeting with our Branch President and he has called me to be the Primary President. I thought it might be coming since our current Primary President is burned out (she's been in the calling for six years), but I thought that since we travelled so much, they might call someone else as President and leave me as the first counsellor. So, I will be sustained next week and then have just one more week after that before we head back to Canada for two months. Also, today, we found out that our branch is going to become a ward which is very exciting to everyone here. We will also, along with Bundaberg, become part of a stake. The stake centre is in a city called Nambour which is about 2 1/2 hours away and stake conference will be transmitted via satellite into our chapel. The first one will be on the third Sunday of November so we won't be here for that, but when they have the next one which I'm guessing will be in six months, Dad and I would like to travel to Nambour to see what a stake conference is like here in Australia.
Just a note about our 'getting healthy' plan - it's going really well to date. I have lost 21 pounds so far and Dad has lost the same. We are finding that exercising is really making the difference and we are making sure that we get out and get some every day (well, not on our 'day of rest' - Sunday :-) We either go for a walk or a bike ride. This week, we are also going to start doing some strength training exercises. We hope that we will be able to continue on this plan while we are in Canada, so please don't offer us any fatty foods or desserts when we are there. :-) Actually, we don't eat any fast foods anymore because our tummies just can't handle it. We rarely have any desserts, but if we do, we try to make it low fat and try to fit it into our eating plan. We are looking better and more importantly, we are feeling better. :-)
October 29, 2010
We're going swimming tomorrow! :-) Just thought I would put that in since I got an email from Uncle Kenny telling me that it had snowed in Barrie last week. :-)
Nana will be pleased to hear that we have FINALLY had our wills written up - well, they are in the process of being done. We went to the lawyer's yesterday and spoke with the girl there. We had a lot of questions for her especially since we are in Australia and you girls are in Canada, but we were assured that with the way technology is today, there were no issues at all.
We went to see a woman at H & R Block today to find out how to do our taxes since Dad is earning money in Canada and I am earning money here in Australia. We were with her for almost two hours talking about how to file our taxes here. It turns out that it's a lot easier than we thought it would be. The cost of her services was covered by the money we are receiving back from the government here, so that was good, too. We will likely use her services next year as well, just to make sure that we have understood all the ins and outs of the income tax system here. Hopefully, after that, we will be able to do the returns on our own.
We didn't get our exercise in last night because we still had three movies to watch (they had to be back today) - Dad and I watched one and I watched one while Dad was out at his weekly SES meeting. We watched 'The Kite Runner' together - it's about a young boy growing up in Afghanistan who then moves to the U.S. when war breaks out in Afghanistan - he then returns to Afghanistan as an adult when a close friend dies. It is a very good movie, but it is very emotional - it was hard to watch some of it as I have a hard time watching movies which show how badly some people treat others - I won't be reading the book as I think it would take too much out of me. I really prefer to watch movies which entertain me rather than ones like 'The Kite Runner'. While Dad was at SES, I watched 'My Sister's Keeper' - another really good movie, but also very emotionally draining. So, I was wiped out by the time I went to bed last night (emotionally speaking).
I was called this morning by TRACER, the company which calls supply teachers to fill in for absent teachers. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the job since we had the appointment with the woman at the tax office (and that HAD to be done today), but at least I now know that Tracer has my phone number. Since I hadn't received any calls up to that point, I wasn't even sure if I was in their system to be called. Hopefully, I will receive a call or two next week. I was asked today (at Kawungan) if I would take over Jane's class (another grade two class) on Monday, so that's great as the kids in that class know me a little bit. I also have Terry's class on Friday, so one more day of supply teaching this coming week would be good. I would like to aim for two to three days of supplying each week when we come back from Canada (and the new school year starts).
Nana will be pleased to hear that we have FINALLY had our wills written up - well, they are in the process of being done. We went to the lawyer's yesterday and spoke with the girl there. We had a lot of questions for her especially since we are in Australia and you girls are in Canada, but we were assured that with the way technology is today, there were no issues at all.
We went to see a woman at H & R Block today to find out how to do our taxes since Dad is earning money in Canada and I am earning money here in Australia. We were with her for almost two hours talking about how to file our taxes here. It turns out that it's a lot easier than we thought it would be. The cost of her services was covered by the money we are receiving back from the government here, so that was good, too. We will likely use her services next year as well, just to make sure that we have understood all the ins and outs of the income tax system here. Hopefully, after that, we will be able to do the returns on our own.
We didn't get our exercise in last night because we still had three movies to watch (they had to be back today) - Dad and I watched one and I watched one while Dad was out at his weekly SES meeting. We watched 'The Kite Runner' together - it's about a young boy growing up in Afghanistan who then moves to the U.S. when war breaks out in Afghanistan - he then returns to Afghanistan as an adult when a close friend dies. It is a very good movie, but it is very emotional - it was hard to watch some of it as I have a hard time watching movies which show how badly some people treat others - I won't be reading the book as I think it would take too much out of me. I really prefer to watch movies which entertain me rather than ones like 'The Kite Runner'. While Dad was at SES, I watched 'My Sister's Keeper' - another really good movie, but also very emotionally draining. So, I was wiped out by the time I went to bed last night (emotionally speaking).
I was called this morning by TRACER, the company which calls supply teachers to fill in for absent teachers. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the job since we had the appointment with the woman at the tax office (and that HAD to be done today), but at least I now know that Tracer has my phone number. Since I hadn't received any calls up to that point, I wasn't even sure if I was in their system to be called. Hopefully, I will receive a call or two next week. I was asked today (at Kawungan) if I would take over Jane's class (another grade two class) on Monday, so that's great as the kids in that class know me a little bit. I also have Terry's class on Friday, so one more day of supply teaching this coming week would be good. I would like to aim for two to three days of supplying each week when we come back from Canada (and the new school year starts).
October 27, 2010
It's been a busy week even though I am done with my teaching contract. I have been going into school each day for a few hours just to get the kids caught up on one assignment I was having them complete. Sixteen out of twenty of the kids have completed the assignment other than the editing - I will go into the school for some time during the next two days to give the students time to finish it so that it's ready for marking.
Yesterday afternoon (noon - 3pm), I supply taught in one of the other grade two classes. What a difference between that class and Bronwyn's class - I would take Bronwyn's class any day of the week. This class couldn't stop talking - at one point, I said to a group of girls that maybe I should change their seats around - she said that the teacher had let them choose their seats - I couldn't understand why - they weren't getting any work done sitting in their chosen groups. Tracey, the teacher, had told me that if this one boy, Tyler, did nothing, that was okay. Unfortunately, he also chose to do somersaults in the classroom, shout out, mimic me, and even hit me once in the knee. I told him, in no uncertain terms, that if he did that again he would be gone. When I talked with Tracey today, she told me that she thought that if she was going to be away again, she would ask his mother to keep him at home. He did at one point tell me he was on medication, but it obviously wasn't working - or maybe it was and he is just worse if he is not on it. Anyway, I was glad to be out of there - I certainly earned my money yesterday. I have another supply day on November 5th lined up in another grade two class and I hope that experience will be much better than this one was.
Dad spent the day at the Family History Centre on Monday - they had quite a few people come to do their genealogy on that day, so that kept him somewhat busy. He also received an email from a friend in Canada who is in the airline business. In the email, the fellow told Dad that he was now working for a different company and that this company was looking for airplane inspectors on planes which this company leases to airline companies. Dad sent this company an email today along with his resume to see if they could use him here in Australia. We'll keep you posted if Dad hears back from this company.
We had the missionaries over for dinner last night - Elder Wong and I beat Dad and Elder Lock in a game of cribbage - we told them last week that we were done with being nice and letting them win and we were going to win this week - so we did! :-)
Dad just sprayed another spider - they are the creepiest things here - they are called huntsmen spiders - they are brown and they run across the floor. Dad bought this machine that sends out soundwaves which are supposed to annoy spiders so that they won't come in the house, but obviously it's not working perfectly. :-) We have rarely seen them up 'til now so I don't know if it's because of the warm weather or what. Dad is going to spray the outside of the house and on the floor between the house and the garage again.
We have been watching movies again - we rented seven this past Friday and so far we have watched four of them. "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (6.0), "16 Blocks" (7.0), "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" (6.0) and "The Manchurian Candidate" (8.0). We have three left to watch tomorrow: "My Sister's Keeper", "As Good As It Gets", and "Kite Runner". I haven't read "The Kite Runner" yet and it is on my list, so I hope watching the movie won't ruin the experience of reading the book.
We were both able to do 'Meals on Wheels' again today - I haven't been able to do it while I was doing my contract teaching, so it was good to be back again. I was welcomed back by some of the people there - it's so nice to be appreciated. I enjoyed chatting with our 'regulars' - they are such nice people and are really grateful for what we do - and we are very happy to be doing it for them. :-)
Yesterday afternoon (noon - 3pm), I supply taught in one of the other grade two classes. What a difference between that class and Bronwyn's class - I would take Bronwyn's class any day of the week. This class couldn't stop talking - at one point, I said to a group of girls that maybe I should change their seats around - she said that the teacher had let them choose their seats - I couldn't understand why - they weren't getting any work done sitting in their chosen groups. Tracey, the teacher, had told me that if this one boy, Tyler, did nothing, that was okay. Unfortunately, he also chose to do somersaults in the classroom, shout out, mimic me, and even hit me once in the knee. I told him, in no uncertain terms, that if he did that again he would be gone. When I talked with Tracey today, she told me that she thought that if she was going to be away again, she would ask his mother to keep him at home. He did at one point tell me he was on medication, but it obviously wasn't working - or maybe it was and he is just worse if he is not on it. Anyway, I was glad to be out of there - I certainly earned my money yesterday. I have another supply day on November 5th lined up in another grade two class and I hope that experience will be much better than this one was.
Dad spent the day at the Family History Centre on Monday - they had quite a few people come to do their genealogy on that day, so that kept him somewhat busy. He also received an email from a friend in Canada who is in the airline business. In the email, the fellow told Dad that he was now working for a different company and that this company was looking for airplane inspectors on planes which this company leases to airline companies. Dad sent this company an email today along with his resume to see if they could use him here in Australia. We'll keep you posted if Dad hears back from this company.
We had the missionaries over for dinner last night - Elder Wong and I beat Dad and Elder Lock in a game of cribbage - we told them last week that we were done with being nice and letting them win and we were going to win this week - so we did! :-)
Dad just sprayed another spider - they are the creepiest things here - they are called huntsmen spiders - they are brown and they run across the floor. Dad bought this machine that sends out soundwaves which are supposed to annoy spiders so that they won't come in the house, but obviously it's not working perfectly. :-) We have rarely seen them up 'til now so I don't know if it's because of the warm weather or what. Dad is going to spray the outside of the house and on the floor between the house and the garage again.
We have been watching movies again - we rented seven this past Friday and so far we have watched four of them. "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (6.0), "16 Blocks" (7.0), "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" (6.0) and "The Manchurian Candidate" (8.0). We have three left to watch tomorrow: "My Sister's Keeper", "As Good As It Gets", and "Kite Runner". I haven't read "The Kite Runner" yet and it is on my list, so I hope watching the movie won't ruin the experience of reading the book.
We were both able to do 'Meals on Wheels' again today - I haven't been able to do it while I was doing my contract teaching, so it was good to be back again. I was welcomed back by some of the people there - it's so nice to be appreciated. I enjoyed chatting with our 'regulars' - they are such nice people and are really grateful for what we do - and we are very happy to be doing it for them. :-)
October 24, 2010
It's been a very relaxing weekend - mostly. Yesterday (Saturday), we got up early and were ready to head out at 7:15am. Our branch was doing tree planting for the local council. Fifteen people showed up to do the planting and it only took us about 1 1/2 hours to complete the task. The fellow in charge showed us what to do (dig a hole, put the plant in, put the dirt back around the plant, leave the pot upside down by the plant) and then we went to it. Dad and I worked together - he dug and I planted. Once we were all finished the planting, we had to water the plants and pick up all the pots. I was wondering why we had to meet up so early to do the planting, but I figured it out by the time we were done with the planting. By 9am, it was quite warm out and since we were expending energy doing the planting, we were sweatiing quite well. Dad and I really felt good doing the service project - the fellow in charge said we were the only church who had volunteered to do the tree planting and said that we could come back and do some more in a couple of months so that we could finish up planting in the area we did yesterday.
After the tree planting, we went grocery shopping and then spent the rest of the day/afternoon relaxing at home. We took our computers and magazines outside and sat on the patio chairs and then out in the sun - another lovely day and it was fabulous being outside and enjoying the sun and the fresh air. Around 5pm, Dad and I went for our daily exercise which was a walk today. Dad has mapped out a route for us to try and finish within 30 minutes. It's a 3.5km route and right now we are doing it in 35 minutes. We are going to continue to walk the route and try to speed things up a bit each day until we reach our goal.
We spent the evening doing some more relaxing - life is so hard here in Hervey Bay. :-) We rented 7 movies on Friday night and decided to start watching one last night. We chose to watch 'Austin Powers' and, although we stopped watching the movie because I was too tired to finish it, I can't see yet why it has received such good reviews. I haven't found the first half hour that funny - hopefully, it will pick up when we start watching it again.
Today was our Primary Sacrament presentation and it went fairly well, over all. Three of the kids wouldn't do their parts, so the leaders had to sub for them. The young women also joined us in the singing - we really needed them as the kids don't know the songs as well as they should have. We had about a dozen kids there today which is probably the most we have ever had at one time. The presentation itself ran fairly smoothly and we heard positive reviews about it afterwards, so that was good to hear.
At 4:30pm, we were back at the chapel for the missionary fireside. When we got there, Dad was asked by Elder Lock who was leading the fireside and Dad told him that Chris Vakas was supposed to be doing that, he thought. Chris wasn't there, so Elder Lock asked Dad if he would conduct the meeting. Dad also had to speak during the fireside. The first speaker was Ashley and he spoke about Joseph Smith's first vision - he spoke for about ten minutes and he did a great job. Ashley is an 18 year old boy in our branch who is quite shy, so I am sure that it was difficult for him to give the talk, but he just got up and did it, which was great! Dad spoke about the authority and organization of the church and did a really good job, too.
We spent quite a bit of time cooking/baking this weekend. We made pea and ham soup, Italian vegetable soup, brownies/cupcakes (for the primary children after the presentation), and two chicken dishes. I just love doing the cooking (I'm not really into baking) and everything we cooked this weekend tasted really delicious! We have been inputting the information about the food we have been eating into an internet site and I am still eating a little more than I should (calorie-wise) and so I am still tweaking my eating plan. I want to make sure that I eat two fruit and vegetables each day. I know that I should be eating more vegetables daily, but since I am not a vegetable person, I figure if I eat at least two servings per day, that's not too bad.
After the tree planting, we went grocery shopping and then spent the rest of the day/afternoon relaxing at home. We took our computers and magazines outside and sat on the patio chairs and then out in the sun - another lovely day and it was fabulous being outside and enjoying the sun and the fresh air. Around 5pm, Dad and I went for our daily exercise which was a walk today. Dad has mapped out a route for us to try and finish within 30 minutes. It's a 3.5km route and right now we are doing it in 35 minutes. We are going to continue to walk the route and try to speed things up a bit each day until we reach our goal.
We spent the evening doing some more relaxing - life is so hard here in Hervey Bay. :-)
Today was our Primary Sacrament presentation and it went fairly well, over all. Three of the kids wouldn't do their parts, so the leaders had to sub for them. The young women also joined us in the singing - we really needed them as the kids don't know the songs as well as they should have. We had about a dozen kids there today which is probably the most we have ever had at one time. The presentation itself ran fairly smoothly and we heard positive reviews about it afterwards, so that was good to hear.
At 4:30pm, we were back at the chapel for the missionary fireside. When we got there, Dad was asked by Elder Lock who was leading the fireside and Dad told him that Chris Vakas was supposed to be doing that, he thought. Chris wasn't there, so Elder Lock asked Dad if he would conduct the meeting. Dad also had to speak during the fireside. The first speaker was Ashley and he spoke about Joseph Smith's first vision - he spoke for about ten minutes and he did a great job. Ashley is an 18 year old boy in our branch who is quite shy, so I am sure that it was difficult for him to give the talk, but he just got up and did it, which was great! Dad spoke about the authority and organization of the church and did a really good job, too.
We spent quite a bit of time cooking/baking this weekend. We made pea and ham soup, Italian vegetable soup, brownies/cupcakes (for the primary children after the presentation), and two chicken dishes. I just love doing the cooking (I'm not really into baking) and everything we cooked this weekend tasted really delicious! We have been inputting the information about the food we have been eating into an internet site and I am still eating a little more than I should (calorie-wise) and so I am still tweaking my eating plan. I want to make sure that I eat two fruit and vegetables each day. I know that I should be eating more vegetables daily, but since I am not a vegetable person, I figure if I eat at least two servings per day, that's not too bad.
October 21, 2010
Last night, we went to Santini's for our anniversary. We were the first people for dinner - they don't open until 5:30pm - but, by the time we were done, the place was one third full. We started off with a delicious garden salad with a light oil/balsamic dressing. The waitress then brought us our main meals: Dad had beef tortellini with a bolognese sauce and I had curly green fettucine with chicken pesto sauce and we shared an order of garlic bread. They had two sizes of the main meal: entree (smaller) and main (regular size) - Dad and I decided to go with the entree size and it was quite enough. Both Dad's and my meal were totally delicious! We enjoyed all parts of our meal and ate slowly so we really relished the food. :-)
When we were done, we went to see if The Cheesecake Shop was still open (it was) and we bought a small pavlova for dessert. I couldn't wait for us to get home so I could eat a slice. It was soooooooooooo yummy - with strawberries, peaches, pears and kiwis on top - and the cream.......mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Dad and I only ate one third of it last night, so we can enjoy another slice tonight and one tomorrow night. What a lovely treat! :-)
The past two days have been quite good, both at school for me and for Dad. I have been mostly working with the 'low' children at school - Chantelle has a handle on the class and hasn't needed me to handle either Ryley or Travis (although I have spoken with both of them a few times over the past two days, but mostly in passing and it seemed to be enough to settle them down). It's been nice to be able to work with the children who need me the most, although both Taleighya and Hayley have needed speaking to - Taleighya about doing her best work and Hayley about acting her age. I made the mistake of telling Taleighya yesterday that she would stay in for recess if she didn't get her work done - she didn't care as she doesn't particularly like going out for recess since she doesn't have any friends. I told her today to go back to the classroom since she wasn't working and sent her work with her. After a while, I guess she figured that she wasn't going to get my help and so she got to work and completed the task I had given her. When she came out to show me, I praised her for getting the work done and talked with her about the importance of always doing her best. The next task assigned to her, she got right down to work.
I stopped by Bronwyn's house yesterday after school to set up a time to meet with her and tell her what's been going on at school. While I was there, she gave me a beautiful glass necklace she bought in Venice. It's very colourful and it will go with many of my tops. I thought that was very thoughtful of her. She also told me that Leanne, our VP, told her that she was very pleased with the way I have taken over the teacher role in the classroom - she told Bronwyn that everything had been very seamless going from Bronwyn to me. Bronwyn also told me how pleased she had been that I had been able to take over the class - it was so stress-free for her knowing that I knew the kids and that I knew what was going on in the classroom. I was really happy to hear that Leanne was pleased with my teaching - hopefully, that will lead to more jobs in the future. I am going in to speak with her tomorrow about how the hiring process works in Hervey Bay.
Bronwyn came into the school today to see how things were going and to get a report of where we were up to in our teaching. We sat with her for about two hours and caught her up on what's been happening in the classroom while she has been gallivanting around Europe. She seemed pleased with what she saw happening in the classroom and with what we told her. I told her that Chantelle has been doing the majority of the teaching and so she, Bronwyn, could do some one-on-one assessment when she came back - she seemed really pleased about that.
I feel a little sad that it's all coming to an end - although it's been challenging at times, I really do love being a teacher and helping children learn. I love watching them take in what I am teaching them and then them showing me what they have learned in different ways. I love integrating my lessons over various subject areas - I haven't done as much as I would have done in my own class, but it's still been a really good experience for me. Bronwyn told me that there is a grade one teacher who is planning on taking long service leave next year and that I should go and talk with her and let her know that I would be available to cover her if she would like. She might have someone in mind already, but I figure it won't hurt to go and speak with her, so I will do that tomorrow. I will be spending some time next week going into Bronwyn's class to finish up some work with some of the students so that Bronwyn doesn't have to worry about it. And Tracey, another grade two teacher, has asked me to come in and cover for her for the afternoon on Tuesday. But, sometime this week, I plan on having one completely lazy day including a really good sleep-in. :-)
When we were done, we went to see if The Cheesecake Shop was still open (it was) and we bought a small pavlova for dessert. I couldn't wait for us to get home so I could eat a slice. It was soooooooooooo yummy - with strawberries, peaches, pears and kiwis on top - and the cream.......mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Dad and I only ate one third of it last night, so we can enjoy another slice tonight and one tomorrow night. What a lovely treat! :-)
The past two days have been quite good, both at school for me and for Dad. I have been mostly working with the 'low' children at school - Chantelle has a handle on the class and hasn't needed me to handle either Ryley or Travis (although I have spoken with both of them a few times over the past two days, but mostly in passing and it seemed to be enough to settle them down). It's been nice to be able to work with the children who need me the most, although both Taleighya and Hayley have needed speaking to - Taleighya about doing her best work and Hayley about acting her age. I made the mistake of telling Taleighya yesterday that she would stay in for recess if she didn't get her work done - she didn't care as she doesn't particularly like going out for recess since she doesn't have any friends. I told her today to go back to the classroom since she wasn't working and sent her work with her. After a while, I guess she figured that she wasn't going to get my help and so she got to work and completed the task I had given her. When she came out to show me, I praised her for getting the work done and talked with her about the importance of always doing her best. The next task assigned to her, she got right down to work.
I stopped by Bronwyn's house yesterday after school to set up a time to meet with her and tell her what's been going on at school. While I was there, she gave me a beautiful glass necklace she bought in Venice. It's very colourful and it will go with many of my tops. I thought that was very thoughtful of her. She also told me that Leanne, our VP, told her that she was very pleased with the way I have taken over the teacher role in the classroom - she told Bronwyn that everything had been very seamless going from Bronwyn to me. Bronwyn also told me how pleased she had been that I had been able to take over the class - it was so stress-free for her knowing that I knew the kids and that I knew what was going on in the classroom. I was really happy to hear that Leanne was pleased with my teaching - hopefully, that will lead to more jobs in the future. I am going in to speak with her tomorrow about how the hiring process works in Hervey Bay.
Bronwyn came into the school today to see how things were going and to get a report of where we were up to in our teaching. We sat with her for about two hours and caught her up on what's been happening in the classroom while she has been gallivanting around Europe. She seemed pleased with what she saw happening in the classroom and with what we told her. I told her that Chantelle has been doing the majority of the teaching and so she, Bronwyn, could do some one-on-one assessment when she came back - she seemed really pleased about that.
I feel a little sad that it's all coming to an end - although it's been challenging at times, I really do love being a teacher and helping children learn. I love watching them take in what I am teaching them and then them showing me what they have learned in different ways. I love integrating my lessons over various subject areas - I haven't done as much as I would have done in my own class, but it's still been a really good experience for me. Bronwyn told me that there is a grade one teacher who is planning on taking long service leave next year and that I should go and talk with her and let her know that I would be available to cover her if she would like. She might have someone in mind already, but I figure it won't hurt to go and speak with her, so I will do that tomorrow. I will be spending some time next week going into Bronwyn's class to finish up some work with some of the students so that Bronwyn doesn't have to worry about it. And Tracey, another grade two teacher, has asked me to come in and cover for her for the afternoon on Tuesday. But, sometime this week, I plan on having one completely lazy day including a really good sleep-in. :-)
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