Sunday, March 13, 2011

On Friday, I spent another day with the grade one class and we had another good day.  I couldn't believe what the teacher had set up for a supply teacher to do - it was almost a regular day - I only did that with someone who I knew knew the kids and my routine.  Anyway, things went pretty well again - I had to talk with a couple of the kids, but nothing major.  One of the boys asked me if I could come back on Monday instead of his teacher.  I asked him why and he said his teacher was 'mean'.  When I asked him how she was mean, he said that she made them work hard. :-)  I told him that that was her job and another student piped up and said that his job was to learn.  It was nice that the kids liked having me in there for the two days.  I took some time after school to do some marking and some tidying up.  When you are teaching grade one kids, there is no down-time during the day and so there was no time for me to do much of anything during the day other than to teach.

Right after school, Dad and I went to the motorcycle dealership to pay for my scooter. :-)  It was so exciting to be able to say 'it's all mine!'. :-)  Dad  talked with the guy who is going to give us lessons and he said that his schedule is pretty flexible and to call  him as soon as we have our learner's permits.  We will be studying the manual tomorrow and  going to write the test on Tuesday after school.  We are hoping that we can get the lessons on Saturday - the guy thinks that if everything goes according to plan, he should be able to teach us what we need to know and give us the test all on one day. 

After that, we went to our friends, Rob and Rosalea's place - they have sold their house and are renting another house in Hervey Bay for six months and then are heading to Western Australia which is where they came from before Hervey Bay.  Dad had been with them all day helping them to load the moving van at their old place and unloading it at the new place.  The missionaries also worked with them all day.  When we got to their place that evening, we helped them unload boxes at their new place.  I was helping Rosalea set up the kitchen and Dad helped Rob and the missionaries unload the truck again.  We had pizza for supper and then did some more work on the house.

Yesterday morning (Saturday), we went to Rob and Rosalea's old house to do some more cleaning (me) and loading and unloading (Dad).  It took ages for me to clean the kitchen completely and then to help Rosalea with cleaning the floors, baseboards and walls.  We also spent some more time sorting through things at their rental house again.  It was a full day (10am - 6pm) and it really helped Rosalea to be less stressed, so I am really glad that we could help our friends out.  We were able to get all of their stuff to their new house and to completely clean out the old house.  So, now, all they have to worry about is cleaning the outside yard area. 

We were so tired after all our working yesterday, that we stopped at McDonald's for supper - a very yummy Big Mac :-) -  and then came home and crashed on the couch and watched some tv.  By 8:30pm,we were both really tired and so we picked ourselves up and went off to bed.

Today at church, everyone was so happy to see us again - I got lots of hugs and the Bishop even welcomed us back in Sacrament meeting.  The members asked us how things were with our new grandson and how things were with Grandpa Martin - it was so nice to be back in our ward and to know not only how much we were missed, but that the members were thinking of us and our family while we were away.  Our speakers in Sacrament meeting today spoke about sharing the gospel with others and setting a good example.  Personal examples were given about how just one little seed planted can lead someone to activity in the gospel even if it's years later.  All four people gave really good talks.

Right after Sacrament meeting, I headed off to Primary.  All the class teachers were here today, so I was able to sit and talk with my secretary about things that she had done in organizing things for Primary while  I was away.  When the classes were over and 'Sharing Time' began, Leanne, our new Primary Music Director, started off with singing with the kids.  She is a music teacher (her career) and so she was amazing with the kids - keeping them focused and interested - I knew that she would be great when I asked for her to be in that position - I am really glad that I was inspired to call her to that position.  Things work so much better when I let Heavenly Father guide me. :-)  I gave the 'Sharing Time' presentation today - I showed pictures of various prophets, had the kids tell me what they knew about each one of them (from Adam to President  Monson) and then we sang a verse from the song 'Follow the Prophet' about that particular prophet.  The kids were really good at keeping focused during the activity so I was really pleased.

Dad and I spent the rest of the day doing what we do every Sunday: rest. :-)  We are very good at that, I must admit.  :-)  It rained like crazy later in the afternoon and Dad went out to look at the rain cuz it was raining so hard.  While he was out there, he noticed that one of the rain gutters was overflowing and then when he looked at the bottom of the rain gutter, he noticed four little cane toads in the puddle of water.  It was so cute (not the toads - they're creepy), but just that they were sitting in/under the water and not moving out of the way.  I took some pics and have attached them under this entry.

Four little cane toads sitting in the overflow from the gutter

Thursday, March 10, 2011

It's great to be home, but what a busy time it's been since we got back!  I supply taught for Bronwyn yesterday and had a great day - she really does have a lovely class this year which she deserves after the classes she has had for the past two years!  I really enjoyed teaching them for the day - I even got lots of hugs at the end of the day - even from some of the boys. :-)  It was fabulous being in the classroom again - I love teaching and I love grade two!  While I was in the classroom, Karen (the woman at the school who is in charge of supply teachers) came in to me and asked me if I could come in today for a new grade one teacher in the school.  I said 'sure' and went to talk with the grade one teacher - she told me what I needed to do today and also told me that she would be away tomorrow as well. 

I am tired tonight, but it's not from jet lag - I haven't been affected by that at all, which has been great.  But, working with a class of 21 little six year olds is enough to wear me out. :-)  The students were pretty good at  working, but boy, could they talk.   There were a couple of issues: Ashley started the day out crying, but by the end of the day, I had her smiling.  Leyton apparently is a little naughty boy, but he wasn't too bad for me.  I did have to talk with him once about doing what I asked him to do or he would give up free time next time - he put away his toys then.  An older student came in at the end of the day and asked me how he was and how many strikes he had received.  I was a little surprised because he didn't seem to behave in a way that would require strikes and the student seemed surprised when I told her that he didn't get any. 

At the end of the day today, I went in to speak with Karen to see if I was supposed to be coming in tomorrow for the same teacher and she said that the last time she'd talked to the teacher, she was going to phone 'Tracer' (where you phone when you need a supply teacher) if she was going to be off tomorrow.  I realized that she wouldn't be able to ask for me as I had put myself down as 'unavailable' for the week.  So, I had Dad drive us straight home after school today and put myself back on the 'available' list.  I also put in a phone call to someone at 'Tracer'.  They called me back later and I asked them to check my availability and to see if the teacher had called in for me.  She had and so this woman put in that she had talked with me and I was assigned to the grade one class again.  YAY!!! 

After that, Dad and I went in to the motorcyle store where our scooter is being held.  Unfortunately, Terry, the guy who is handling our purchase, was not there today and so we have to go back in there tomorrow to finish up the paper work.  Dad also talked with the guy who teaches people how to ride scooters/motorcycles and we are hoping to get lessons soon.  We have to get our learner's permits first, but Dad says that it's easy to do that.  He's looked at the practice tests online and they only give you five questions that directly relate to riding motorcycles/scooters if you already have a car license. 

Dad went back to SES tonight - they did a review of using ropes for safety when you are on a roof - using the harnesses and how to attach the harness to ropes.  Dad said there were tons of newbies there tonight.  It seems that ever since the floods, people have been signing up like crazy.  The 'oldies' were happy to see Dad back again. 

November 14, 2010

I felt much better about my teaching prospects after being at Kawungan school today.  Bronwyn asked me to come in for a 'morning tea' in my and Chantelle's honour (Chantelle was Bronwyn's student teacher and was with me for three of her six weeks of placement).  Before I went to the Year 2 block for 'morning tea', I stopped by the office to talk with a few people.  I first stopped to talk with Barb who is one of the V.P.s.  Bronwyn had suggested to me that I speak with Barb about the 'computer guy' position which will begin in late January (the new school year).  Bronwyn thought that maybe Dad would be interested in applying for that position if he was qualified for it.  Barb said that she didn't know much about the position and that I should talk with Karen about it.  Karen is the admin resource person and so I went and had a sit down chat with her. 

Karen told me that the position wasn't officially coming out for another week or so, but she sent Dad an email with an overview of the position and some information about an 'orange card' which you have to have to work for Education Queensland in the IT department.  Dad read over the requirements and it depends on whether they ask for someone with a degree/diploma or just someone who can prove they can do the job.  Karen said that when the position came out, she would email Dad a copy.

I also spoke with Leanne, another V.P., about jobs for next year.  I told her that I knew from talking with her before that there were no jobs available for this coming year, but I wanted to know if there were any contract positions that would be coming up at the beginning of the year.  As it turned out, no teachers from Prep - Year 3 were going to go on long service leave at the beginning of the year, but there were three who are taking off in the second half of the year.  Two of them have actually applied for the time off and Leanne penned my name in beside those two.  One of them, Luise, who is a Year 1 teacher, is taking off the whole fourth term (October to December) and I have already spoken with her and she has okayed me to cover her.  The second one is a grade three teacher who I will speak with when we get back in January.  She is taking off in June/July.  Since I worked in Bronwyn's Year 2 class and supplied in the other Year 2 classes, I will know most of the students in the grade 3 class, so that should work out really well.  The third teacher who is taking time off is in grade one and I have already told her that I would love to take her class while she goes on leave in August/September.  I will volunteer in the grade one classes beginning in February (when I will likely not get any supply jobs as it's the beginning of the year) and get to know the grade one children, teachers, and the program - that made such a difference when I did that in the grade two classes this year.  I also asked Leanne to take down my email address just in case something did come up (even part-time) which I would like her to keep me in mind for.

After speaking to those people (and getting hugs from Leanne and Jean (one of the secretaries) and lots of best wishes for my trip back to Canada, I went to Bronwyn's classroom.  I got lots of hugs from the kids (who just happened to be signing a card for me :-)  Once they were all out for recess, Bronwyn, Chantelle, and I headed over to the Year 2 block.  There, on the big table where we all sit, was quite a spread for our 'morning tea' - cookies (including Tim Tam's), nuts, cheese, crackers, vegetables and dip and the best of all, a delicious pavlova. :-)  Bronwyn is so kind to me. :-)  All of the grade two teachers had signed a Christmas card for me which was really nice to receive.  Bronwyn also gave me a really beautiful Thank You card and a great gift: a key chain which has a digital photo frame (it can hold over 100 photos).  I love it and told her that I would put my scooter key on it. :-)  I felt very appreciated which was nice. :-)

Dad brought me home after the morning tea and I spent the afternoon cleaning - so much fun - NOT! :-)  I was able to finish all the inside cleaning and when Dad got home, we both cleaned all the outside windows of the house - he did the upper parts of the windows and I did the lower parts. :-)  Then, we both worked on sweeping/hosing off the grass clippings (from my mowing) off the patio.  It took us a while to do all that cleaning, but everything looks great now and it's ready for us to leave (other than one final sweep/vacuum on Monday evening). 

Yesterday, I got my hair coloured and cut.  I went back to Christa who cut it last time and she did another great job.  I told her that I wanted highlights put in and she put in red and blond ones.  I then asked her to cut it and she asked me how I wanted it cut.  I told her to do whatever she wanted - she had done such a good job last time and so I trusted her to do the same this time.  The only thing is that she likes to put 'gunk' in my hair.  She put something in just before she dried it and then something else after she was done drying it.  I really don't like stuff in my hair, but I didn't worry about saying anything since I knew that I would be washing it out this morning. 

After my hair cut, Dad and I came home and just relaxed for a few hours.  We know we are going to be busy once we get back to Canada and so we are taking some time to relax before we head back there.  After lunch, we went down to the beach and had a lovely hour long walk along the edge of the water.  There were tons of people there yesterday - must have been some people in the caravan parks coming up for the weekend.  The water was cool when we first put our feet in, but the more we walked, the warmer it became.  We really love walking on the beach - it's so peaceful walking along  the edge of the water and listening to/looking at the waves.  We walked 3kms in total - great exercise and fun to do - can't beat that, eh? :-)

Today was our last day as a branch here in Hervey Bay.  The District Presidency came down from Bundaberg to speak to us.  Everyone is really excited about the coming changes.  We don't know who the Bishop will be (it might just be the Branch President becoming a Bishop) so there is some speculation going on.  Everything will be found out next weekend when they hold Stake Conference.  Dad and I will have to rely on our friends, Rob and Rosalea or Robyn and Geoff to tell us what happens.  I had a meeting with the Primary leaders today to sort things out for the two months we are gone.  We are going to make changes when I get back, but I figured it would be best to leave  things as they are while we're gone.  There was a branch luncheon after church - we brought fresh vegetables and dip - most of the people brought sandwiches, party pies  and desserts.  It was a really nice time for everyone in the branch to eat and chat with each other. :-)

November 11, 2010

I miss teaching - I mean I REALLY miss teaching!!!  I know that Dad and I are meant to be here in Hervey Bay and we love living here in Hervey Bay, but it's hard not being able to teach as much as I would like to be.  I am feeling a sense of loss today - I think it's hit me a bit hard because I have not been called in to teach at all this week.  When I emailed with the VP at Kawungan three years ago, she told me there were tons of supply teaching jobs available at Kawungan, but it seems that things have changed since then.  It happened like that back in Canada with teaching jobs, but not with supply teaching - there were always jobs going in that area. 

I know that since we are meant to be here, that things will work out, and it's only been this week when I have been able to supply teach and haven't been called.  It's just hard not being called in and doing what I love to do.  When I get back to Hervey Bay in January, Dad is going to make  me some business cards with my picture on it and info (phone number, email, etc) on it as well so that I can give it out to other teachers at Kawungan and at other schools in the area as well.  I am going into the Anglican College (private school) tomorrow to talk with them about supplying for them in the next school year and I am also going to talk with Leanne, the VP at Kawungan, tomorrow about other teaching opportunities which might come up at Kawungan in the new year.  I am also planning on volunteering in the grade one classes at Kawungan come the new year.  I will do all I can do and then have faith that I will be able to teach more come the next school year which begins in late January.

November 10, 2010

Wow, the time has gotten away from me again - I will have to do better in writing these blogs, won't I? :-)  Well, the big news actually happened to day - we bought a SCOOTER - a BIG one - 125cc - like a small motorcycle, but it's an automatic!  We knew that we wanted to buy one, but we were going to wait until we got back from Canada.  Today, the guy from the Honda dealership, Terry, called us to say that they had sold one and that two other people (from NSW) had been making enquiries about the second one they had.  Since we had shown interest and they would really like someone riding it around in Hervey Bay, he thought he would call us and tell us about a deal which they were having - the would pay the registration fee, the taxes and third party insurance for six months.  We were so thrilled as this made the price much more affordable and we jumped on it.  We were over there this afternoon and signed on the dotted line.  We told them that we were going back to Canada for two months and they offered to keep the bike in their store if we just put a deposit on it.  That way, it won't get registered until we get back (saves us paying for two months of registration and insurance when we are not going to be here).  I can't wait to learn how to ride it and start riding it around town.  I have to buy a helmet and gloves as well when we get back.  Here comes a motorcycle momma - well, a scooter momma anyway. :-)

On Sunday, I was called  as the new Primary Presidency of the Hervey Bay branch (soon to be the Hervey Bay ward).  A first counsellor was also called - Maureen Hensley - and my second counsellor, Debbie Davis, was recalled.  The teachers remained the same as did the nursery leader.  I have asked for a secretary to be called and a pianist.  I am working on getting someone called as Achievement Girls and Cubs leaders and an assistant nursery leader as well as a Sunbeam (3 year old) teacher.  I also need a chorister to lead the children during singing time.  The previous Primary President told me that she will stay  on and help with Primary while I am gone.  It's going to be quite busy when we get back until it's up and running smoothly, but we will figure it out especially since there are good people working in Primary.

We spent Tuesday cleaning the house - I wanted to make sure that it got a good clean before we head back to Canada.  I even did the windows throughout the whole house - how's that? :-)  It actually felt good getting it all done - it's easier when there's not as much furniture in the house.  We asked our friend, Rob, if we could use his trailer to take back the furniture which friends had loaned us - he graciously agreed to loan us his trailer and himself to help Dad load and unload all the stuff.  We bought my two friends who loaned us the stuff a miniature chocolate variety pack each to say thanks - we really appreciated them loaning their items to us so that we could take our time to find what we wanted and buy them at a good price. 

A serviceman also came to fix our rainwater pump - it had been leaking (not working) since we moved into the house.  The company which manufactured it went out of business and so someone else had to be found who would service the pumps.  Finally, someone was found and we asked if they could come and do ours first since we were leaving for two months and would be gone during the time the guy was going to fix all the rest which were broken.  The guy took about an hour to fix it, but it looks great and works even better.  Dad says he loves the sound of the pump working - it means we are saving money because our own rainwater is being used now instead of city water.  Rainwater, in the tank, is used for the toilet, the washing machine and outside water use, so it's going to save us a lot of money now that the pump is working.

Tomorrow, if the weather holds out, we are going to spend some time at the beach - we want to get in some more beach time before we have to come back to the snow. :-)

November 6, 2010

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.