I was teaching at Kawungan yesterday in with the grade twos. They are doing what they call 'validation' which is basically listening to the kids read and validating that they are reading at the level which you already know in your head that they are reading. They have to do so much of this validating here - the admin actually check up on them which would drive me crazy. I used to know where the kids were because I listened to them read all the time - I didn't need to do it formally. So, I was in Jane's class in the morning and Kelli's class in the afternoon. Both classes were fairly easy to teach, but Kelli's class really needed a lot of reminding of what they should be doing. I was telling Bronwyn about it and she said that Kelli is 'very soft' (not firm enough) with her class and that she (Bronwyn) was often having to speak to the children. I am sure that the children would have been happy to see Kelli back the next day after having had to listen to me nag and nag and nag at them. :-)
Dad spent the day doing the rest of his interviews. They went really well and Dad is glad that they are all finally over and that he can now work on who he will recommend for the collector positions.
When I woke up this morning, the sky was blue and the first thing I thought of was 'what a beautiful day' and the second thing I thought of was 'too bad I don't have any laundry to do - it's the perfect day for it'. That probably sounds really funny to you guys, but that's what I was thinking. I don't even think twice about hanging the laundry on the clothesline now - it's like it's become secondhand now. I'm still not as quick as those who have been doing it for ages, but I'm getting faster. :-)
Someone told me the other day that they couldn't believe that I was 53 - they thought I was around 40! I thanked them for that! :-) We decided that part of it was due to spending so many years in Canada where it's cold so much of the time. We were talking about how the sun really does a number on Aussie skins. I felt really good when they thought I was so much younger than I am. I also think it's got to do with good genes. (Thanks, Nana! :-)
Today, I worked again at Kawungan - Rachel (grade one) hurt her foot and thought she would be able to come back this week to teach, but after teaching on Monday, she found that her foot was killing her and so she decided to take off the rest of the week and asked me if I could teach her class all four days. I was booked in to do the grade twos on Thursday and Friday, but I traded with Terri who they were going to ask to cover Rachel's class - it made sense for me to stay with Rachel's class and for Terri to cover the grade twos (she is a part-time grade two teacher). Rachel's class is not too bad, but so many of them are not good listeners - I felt like just having them follow instructions (one after the other) - often there are a couple who don't listen, but in this class, there are a number of them.
Dad spent a bit of time today organizing all the information from the interviews. There was quite a lot of information to input. Then Dad had to rate each person based on a set list of criteria. His next step was to select his seven collectors and four reserve collectors. After inputting this information into the computer, he then had to mail these forms to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. He also attended a funeral of a woman who went to our church (she was older and quite ill, so it was a blessing for her to leave this world). He also went to a luncheon for those who volunteer with Meals on Wheels. They needed to have a training meeting and so they served lunch while they were doing the training. Dad sat with a guy named Barry who also volunteers for SES so that was nice (you know how shy Dad is). After having the missionaries over for dinner and driving them home, Dad spent an hour sorting out the Home Teaching lists for the High Priest group. He was a very busy boy today. :-)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday was 'Show Day' here in Hervey Bay and it was a holiday. I can't believe that everyone gets a day off to go to 'the Show'. 'The Show' was held in Maryborough which is about a half hour from here and sounds like it was a combination of a very small CNE plus the Royal Winter Fair. Dad and I were thinking of going, but the price of $20. per person to look at rides, games, crafts and animals just didn't seem worth it. Instead, we decided to spend the day outside. First, we went to the beach and took a walk along the water's edge - it was such a perfect day to do it - blue sky, shining sun, lovely breeze (what's new in HB, eh? :-) The water was lovely, but we weren't dressed for a swim so we just enjoyed walking in it. Then, we came home and had lunch outside on our patio, read books on our chaise loungers and had a lovely nap in the warm sun. Can life get much better than that? :-)
Saturday was cloudy and the perfect day to be so - we spent most of our time in the car yesterday. We picked up our friends, Denise and Sue (from church) and Dad drove us to a place called Kawana Waters for a Stake Relief Society activity. Kawana Waters is about 2 1/2 hours from HB - I wasn't game to drive there myself as I had no clue where I was going. I asked Dad if he would drive and he said 'sure'. We got there with about an hour to spare and so we drove down to the beach to eat our lunch. It was in a city called Maroochydore - they had a great park by the beach and I said to Dad that I thought that the boys would love playing there - especially on the climbing ropes apparatus. I wish that I had taken a camera with me to take a pic of it - next time we go there, I will make sure to do that.
The Relief Society activity was really well organized. It started off with a really nice powerpoint presentation of pictures and songs. There were a couple of those kinds of presentations over the three hours and whoever did them was really technologically savvy. After the introduction, we were divided into three groups and we rotated through three workshops: 'By the Sweat of my Brow' was about getting back to nature to make meals - I didn't try any of the ideas because they either sounded icky or they smelled icky. :-) I know, I am very fussy! :-); 'Life's Like That' was about creating balance in your life - we spent some time honing our socialing skills by meeting new sisters in our Stake - we had 30 seconds to speak with a sister and share something about each other with each other before moving on to someone else; and the last workshop was called 'Soul Savers' which focused on making sure that we feed ourselves spiritually every day. After that, we all got together for a presentation about Visiting Teaching. The sister who gave it was trying to get us pumped up and excited about doing our visiting teaching each month. She had a very busy display with all sorts of poems and lists about visiting teaching. Our closing exercises included a wonderful song sung by a young woman with a beautiful voice after which we had a light snack (sandwiches, crackers, bars, etc.) which was a lovely way to end the day. After Dad dropped us off, he drove over to the beach and spent about 45 minutes there watching the freighters and people who were walking their dogs on the beach. He then drove to a nearby mall and checked out a store called JB Hi-Fi - an electronics store. He then spent about 1 1/2 hours doing some indexing of shipping records for Family History (passenger lists of ships bound for Canada).
We got to Skype with Terri-Ann and the boys this morning, although not for long. Our internet was acting up and so our connection wasn't that good. We also had to get to church early so we didn't have much time to talk. We did find out that Colin and Caleb starting t-ball this past Tuesday and they really like it. Caleb even told me that he hit two home runs. Colin seemed disappointed that he didn't hit any home runs, but I told him that what counted was that he had fun and he said that he did have fun. Their coach is a friend of theirs (Adam) and James is the assistant coach - I am sure that with those two coaches, the boys are going to have a great experience playing t-ball this summer.
Sacrament today was really good - the theme was about 'forgiveness' - our three speakers were Jordan (a 15 year old young man), Sandy and Lyn (two older women) and they all did a really good job. Something really touched me today when Lyn was talking. Sometimes, we hear things many times at church, but then sometimes it just hits us differently. Today Lyn mentioned a scripture and it really made me think - it was from Matthew 6:15 -- But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. I told Lyn how that really made me think about how seriously Heavenly Father takes forgiveness. If we aren't forgiving to others, then Heavenly Father isn't going to forgive us. That's pretty serious stuff to me. I told Lyn that I wasn't at a place at this moment in my life where I was having difficulty forgiving someone, but who knows what the future holds.
My first counsellor was back today and I was really happy to have her back with us - we have missed her. I didn't work much on Primary this week and it really showed today. I had everything organized, but I just felt like I was running from here to there and back again. I managed to get everything done that I needed to get done, but I realized at the end of the day, I need to work on Primary a little every day so that I am able to feel less stressed on Sundays. It will help having my counsellor back now - I will meet with her this week to go over what we have been doing since she's been gone (six weeks). I will start doing more delegating as well - I won't be able to keep running things the way I have been once I start working full-time. Things are really starting to come together, though - I am pleased about that. :-)
After church, we got to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. They told us all about their trip to Alberta with Uncle Bob to see Kathleen, Rob, Dominik, Isabella, Jackie and Curtis. Everyone out there is doing well and looking forward to coming out to Grandma and Grandpa's in July for Trish's wedding and Isabella's baptism. Grandpa did not look well - he is losing weight and his skin has gone red from the chemo. The doctors are still conferring about what to do re: the chemo and the blood clotting side effect. It was good to talk with them/see them - we are going to do it again next week. Grandpa likes to plan times to Skype - he does that with Uncle Bob as well. When we were at their place earlier this year, he and Uncle Bob were Skyping every Wednesday or Thursday. It's great to have this kind of technology - it's almost like we are there in the room with them.
Saturday was cloudy and the perfect day to be so - we spent most of our time in the car yesterday. We picked up our friends, Denise and Sue (from church) and Dad drove us to a place called Kawana Waters for a Stake Relief Society activity. Kawana Waters is about 2 1/2 hours from HB - I wasn't game to drive there myself as I had no clue where I was going. I asked Dad if he would drive and he said 'sure'. We got there with about an hour to spare and so we drove down to the beach to eat our lunch. It was in a city called Maroochydore - they had a great park by the beach and I said to Dad that I thought that the boys would love playing there - especially on the climbing ropes apparatus. I wish that I had taken a camera with me to take a pic of it - next time we go there, I will make sure to do that.
The Relief Society activity was really well organized. It started off with a really nice powerpoint presentation of pictures and songs. There were a couple of those kinds of presentations over the three hours and whoever did them was really technologically savvy. After the introduction, we were divided into three groups and we rotated through three workshops: 'By the Sweat of my Brow' was about getting back to nature to make meals - I didn't try any of the ideas because they either sounded icky or they smelled icky. :-) I know, I am very fussy! :-); 'Life's Like That' was about creating balance in your life - we spent some time honing our socialing skills by meeting new sisters in our Stake - we had 30 seconds to speak with a sister and share something about each other with each other before moving on to someone else; and the last workshop was called 'Soul Savers' which focused on making sure that we feed ourselves spiritually every day. After that, we all got together for a presentation about Visiting Teaching. The sister who gave it was trying to get us pumped up and excited about doing our visiting teaching each month. She had a very busy display with all sorts of poems and lists about visiting teaching. Our closing exercises included a wonderful song sung by a young woman with a beautiful voice after which we had a light snack (sandwiches, crackers, bars, etc.) which was a lovely way to end the day. After Dad dropped us off, he drove over to the beach and spent about 45 minutes there watching the freighters and people who were walking their dogs on the beach. He then drove to a nearby mall and checked out a store called JB Hi-Fi - an electronics store. He then spent about 1 1/2 hours doing some indexing of shipping records for Family History (passenger lists of ships bound for Canada).
We got to Skype with Terri-Ann and the boys this morning, although not for long. Our internet was acting up and so our connection wasn't that good. We also had to get to church early so we didn't have much time to talk. We did find out that Colin and Caleb starting t-ball this past Tuesday and they really like it. Caleb even told me that he hit two home runs. Colin seemed disappointed that he didn't hit any home runs, but I told him that what counted was that he had fun and he said that he did have fun. Their coach is a friend of theirs (Adam) and James is the assistant coach - I am sure that with those two coaches, the boys are going to have a great experience playing t-ball this summer.
Sacrament today was really good - the theme was about 'forgiveness' - our three speakers were Jordan (a 15 year old young man), Sandy and Lyn (two older women) and they all did a really good job. Something really touched me today when Lyn was talking. Sometimes, we hear things many times at church, but then sometimes it just hits us differently. Today Lyn mentioned a scripture and it really made me think - it was from Matthew 6:15 -- But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. I told Lyn how that really made me think about how seriously Heavenly Father takes forgiveness. If we aren't forgiving to others, then Heavenly Father isn't going to forgive us. That's pretty serious stuff to me. I told Lyn that I wasn't at a place at this moment in my life where I was having difficulty forgiving someone, but who knows what the future holds.
My first counsellor was back today and I was really happy to have her back with us - we have missed her. I didn't work much on Primary this week and it really showed today. I had everything organized, but I just felt like I was running from here to there and back again. I managed to get everything done that I needed to get done, but I realized at the end of the day, I need to work on Primary a little every day so that I am able to feel less stressed on Sundays. It will help having my counsellor back now - I will meet with her this week to go over what we have been doing since she's been gone (six weeks). I will start doing more delegating as well - I won't be able to keep running things the way I have been once I start working full-time. Things are really starting to come together, though - I am pleased about that. :-)
After church, we got to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa Martin. They told us all about their trip to Alberta with Uncle Bob to see Kathleen, Rob, Dominik, Isabella, Jackie and Curtis. Everyone out there is doing well and looking forward to coming out to Grandma and Grandpa's in July for Trish's wedding and Isabella's baptism. Grandpa did not look well - he is losing weight and his skin has gone red from the chemo. The doctors are still conferring about what to do re: the chemo and the blood clotting side effect. It was good to talk with them/see them - we are going to do it again next week. Grandpa likes to plan times to Skype - he does that with Uncle Bob as well. When we were at their place earlier this year, he and Uncle Bob were Skyping every Wednesday or Thursday. It's great to have this kind of technology - it's almost like we are there in the room with them.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
It's been a busy and tiring two days for me working for Rachael Stewart's grade one class at Kawungan. Rachael had asked for me on Monday, but I was already booked up at Pialba. The supply teacher who was there for Monday and Tuesday was apparently not someone they wanted in there. It felt good to know that they really wanted me in there. The teachers are in a really stressed mode right now as they are trying to get tests done in time to assess for report cards which are due in a couple of weeks. Can you imagine doing so much paper testing in grade one? It's driving all the teachers crazy when they know that good teaching is using hands-on manipulatives to teach different concepts. The 'powers-that-be' want more paper testing done so that teachers can 'prove' the marks they give the kids. It's so frustrating that those who are NOT in the classroom get to dictate how teachers teach in the classroom, especially since those 'higher ups' are so clueless about what teaching in the classroom is like today. They are trying to push the curriculum down so that what was taught in grade two last year is now being taught in grade one. The top children are doing well, but more and more students are being left behind. The kids are also not enjoying school like they used to. Grrrr. The kids in Rachel's class were a little bit frustrating as they are not very good at listening (in general) or follow instructions. I did the best I could and I told Luise to tell Rachael that if I wasn't called in to supply teach on Tuesday, that I would come in and help her out by going over some of the tests with the kids one-on-one. I used to do that for Bronwyn and it was really helpful. I felt that I was saying the same kids' names over and over again yesterday and today to get them to listen, focus and follow instructions. I'm not sure if they are different when Rachael is teaching them or maybe she is just more patient than I am - it will be interesting when I see her on Tuesday (if I get to go there and volunteer) to hear her take on her class.
Dad has spent the past two days working on interviewing more people who want to work as census collectors. He had quite a few people from his area apply to be collectors and so he is having even more interviews next week. He is finding a number of people who will be very acceptable in the position, so it might be hard for him to choose who he will recommend to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). He also spent some time collating all the information he has received in the past two days - all of his notes have to be inputted into the ABS system, so he is finding it best to get them in as soon as possible after the interviews. He has his final interviews next Monday and has to then get his recommendations in as soon as possible after that. The next step in his job is to get training on how to train his collectors and that will take place some time in June.
Dad has spent the past two days working on interviewing more people who want to work as census collectors. He had quite a few people from his area apply to be collectors and so he is having even more interviews next week. He is finding a number of people who will be very acceptable in the position, so it might be hard for him to choose who he will recommend to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). He also spent some time collating all the information he has received in the past two days - all of his notes have to be inputted into the ABS system, so he is finding it best to get them in as soon as possible after the interviews. He has his final interviews next Monday and has to then get his recommendations in as soon as possible after that. The next step in his job is to get training on how to train his collectors and that will take place some time in June.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Oh, I have the most amazing news! I got a job - full-time - well, for the rest of the school year, anyway. J I am so excited! I got a call yesterday from Torquay State School - it was one of their administrative assistants, Kim - asking me to call her about a contract position at Torquay. I was thrilled when I heard the phone message. I asked Dad to drive me over to Torquay so that I could speak with Kim in person. We had to wait for her to get out of a meeting - when I did get in to talk with her she said that they are in need of someone to take on a contract from June 14th until the end of the school year (December 9th) in a Prep class. The biggest smile came over my face as I said 'YES!' :-) And there is an even better part of this deal - Chantelle, the prac student who was with me in Bronwyn's class last year, will be my team partner! Could it get better than this! I am over the moon about this and can't wait to start. Chantelle and I get along so well - and there is a teacher's aide, Samantha (Sam) who will be working in the class and she is fabulous, and I have taught Yvonne's class before and they are lovely! It's the most amazing thing. I was just lamenting a couple of weeks ago about how I wasn't getting as much work as I wanted. I was praying about it and one thought that came to my mind was 'after all you can do' - it reminded me that I need to work hard for something I want and then the blessings will come. That's when I decided to apply to the Catholic school board and the private school to supply teach. I also spoke with a friend who works at another school about her introducing me to the Deputy Principal at her school. Even though I didn't get a job at any of those places, I feel so blessed to have been offered more work at different schools and also to be offered this contract position. I am so grateful!
I worked at Pialba State School yesterday - I did 1 1/2 hours in each of three grades: Prep, grade two, and grade five. The Prep class went fine as did the grade two class (I had supply taught for this class before and they are pretty good) and then had a disastrous time in grade five (which is why I don't like teaching above year three). The teacher told me that I had to sit on them and that they were a tough group (which another supply teacher confirmed later when I talked with her about this class). Anyway, there are a number of rude boys in there and sure enough, as soon as their teacher left the room, they started acting up. Now, I don't care if they don't want to do the work, but they better be quiet cuz I don't handle rudeness or ignorance well at all. Anyway, two of these boys decided to to act up royally and be ignorant, disrespectful and rude. After giving them a number of chances to smarten up, I got the Deputy Principal to take them out of the class. It still wasn't great, but I was able to get through the rest of the time okay. As soon as I got to the car after school, I told Dad I needed chocolate. :-) I got a call from Karen from Kawungan and she asked me to teach on Wednesday and Thursday this week - I was so happy to get a call from her - teaching at Kawungan is so much better. :-)
Dad had his first interview of the people wishing to work as census collectors yesterday. Dad spent about 25 minutes talking with the person and then took five minutes to write up some notes about the interview. He was a little nervous about how the interview was going to go, but he thought it went very well once it was over. Dad spent the rest of the day trying to figure out which private health care company we were going to go with. It works a little differently over here in Australia compared to what it is like in Canada. Let me start out by staying Canadians are very blessed for the health care system there. We received our Medicare card last year about this time and didn't realize at the time that we only had a year to decide on whether we wanted to get extra health coverage. Well, a couple of weeks ago, we got a letter telling us that we had until Tuesday (today) to make our decision. If we didn't make a choice by today and we decide we want it later, it will cost us a lot more (2% per year over age 30). We had talked with some friends about what to do and they all basically said to get it for now and then decide later on if we want to keep it or not. Basically, in Australia, Medicare covers basic emergency and general medical needs in the public medical system. You have to pay to see the doctor (about $65 per visit, of which Medicare reimburses you about $40.). You can get extra coverage which covers dental, optical, chiropractic, massage therapy and physiotherapy up to a certain amount per year. It also covers semi private rooms when you go into a hospital (after you pay the first $250. of the bill). It also allows you to get on a private coverage list if you need an operation which means you don't have to wait for ages (if you are only on Medicare, you go on a different waiting list which takes a lot longer to get treatment - unless it's a medical emergency when everyone is at the same level). I don't like the fact that it's a two-tier system over here, but I am grateful that we can afford to get it. We don't need it now, but who knows what the future will bring.
Today I was at Pialba teaching the same kindergarten class as yesterday, but for the whole morning and the same grade two class as yesterday, but for the whole afternoon. The kindergarten class was great first thing in the morning as they had computer lab and all kids love going on the computers. I had one issue with a little boy who punched a little girl in the stomach because she wouldn't hold his hand to walk to the lab. He had already kicked a young boy in the cheek (which left a red mark) in the morning, so I asked the teacher's aide to take him to the office as I felt it was important for them to be aware of what was happening. Mark Brose, who is the Deputy Principal, takes this kind of physical abuse very seriously and took care of the situation - I really appreciate admin who back you up. The children in the grade two class are quite nice and I do like going into their class. One girl caused an issue by wrecking another student's work. I asked her to sit out and told her we would talk about it later. When I told the teacher about the incident, she said that this girl and her mother (and maybe siblings) had moved in with the grandmother until the mother could find a caravan to rent. I really feel for the things so many of these kids have to go through at such a young age. There are many children in Hervey Bay (at least at the schools I have supply taught at) who are living with one parent or with stepparents and they have issues with the other non-custodial parent. The children should not have to deal with these things - no wonder they struggle with school and that there are so many behaviour issues in HB. The deputy principal also asked me today if I would like to come in and teach the grade two class I had today in October when the teacher goes on leave for a short time. I would have enjoyed doing that, except that now I have been offered that wonderful job at Torquay, so I had to tell Mark, (the DP), that I couldn't do it. I did thank him for asking me, though.
Dad spent most of today doing more interviews with hopeful census collectors. He needs to get seven collectors and one reserve collector and he is very confident after doing the interviews today that he will have no difficulty getting his people. He still has six more people to interview tomorrow and he also just got a new batch of resumes today so he will have to go through them and interview some of those people as well. Dad said he felt much more comfortable doing the interviews today.
I worked at Pialba State School yesterday - I did 1 1/2 hours in each of three grades: Prep, grade two, and grade five. The Prep class went fine as did the grade two class (I had supply taught for this class before and they are pretty good) and then had a disastrous time in grade five (which is why I don't like teaching above year three). The teacher told me that I had to sit on them and that they were a tough group (which another supply teacher confirmed later when I talked with her about this class). Anyway, there are a number of rude boys in there and sure enough, as soon as their teacher left the room, they started acting up. Now, I don't care if they don't want to do the work, but they better be quiet cuz I don't handle rudeness or ignorance well at all. Anyway, two of these boys decided to to act up royally and be ignorant, disrespectful and rude. After giving them a number of chances to smarten up, I got the Deputy Principal to take them out of the class. It still wasn't great, but I was able to get through the rest of the time okay. As soon as I got to the car after school, I told Dad I needed chocolate. :-) I got a call from Karen from Kawungan and she asked me to teach on Wednesday and Thursday this week - I was so happy to get a call from her - teaching at Kawungan is so much better. :-)
Dad had his first interview of the people wishing to work as census collectors yesterday. Dad spent about 25 minutes talking with the person and then took five minutes to write up some notes about the interview. He was a little nervous about how the interview was going to go, but he thought it went very well once it was over. Dad spent the rest of the day trying to figure out which private health care company we were going to go with. It works a little differently over here in Australia compared to what it is like in Canada. Let me start out by staying Canadians are very blessed for the health care system there. We received our Medicare card last year about this time and didn't realize at the time that we only had a year to decide on whether we wanted to get extra health coverage. Well, a couple of weeks ago, we got a letter telling us that we had until Tuesday (today) to make our decision. If we didn't make a choice by today and we decide we want it later, it will cost us a lot more (2% per year over age 30). We had talked with some friends about what to do and they all basically said to get it for now and then decide later on if we want to keep it or not. Basically, in Australia, Medicare covers basic emergency and general medical needs in the public medical system. You have to pay to see the doctor (about $65 per visit, of which Medicare reimburses you about $40.). You can get extra coverage which covers dental, optical, chiropractic, massage therapy and physiotherapy up to a certain amount per year. It also covers semi private rooms when you go into a hospital (after you pay the first $250. of the bill). It also allows you to get on a private coverage list if you need an operation which means you don't have to wait for ages (if you are only on Medicare, you go on a different waiting list which takes a lot longer to get treatment - unless it's a medical emergency when everyone is at the same level). I don't like the fact that it's a two-tier system over here, but I am grateful that we can afford to get it. We don't need it now, but who knows what the future will bring.
Today I was at Pialba teaching the same kindergarten class as yesterday, but for the whole morning and the same grade two class as yesterday, but for the whole afternoon. The kindergarten class was great first thing in the morning as they had computer lab and all kids love going on the computers. I had one issue with a little boy who punched a little girl in the stomach because she wouldn't hold his hand to walk to the lab. He had already kicked a young boy in the cheek (which left a red mark) in the morning, so I asked the teacher's aide to take him to the office as I felt it was important for them to be aware of what was happening. Mark Brose, who is the Deputy Principal, takes this kind of physical abuse very seriously and took care of the situation - I really appreciate admin who back you up. The children in the grade two class are quite nice and I do like going into their class. One girl caused an issue by wrecking another student's work. I asked her to sit out and told her we would talk about it later. When I told the teacher about the incident, she said that this girl and her mother (and maybe siblings) had moved in with the grandmother until the mother could find a caravan to rent. I really feel for the things so many of these kids have to go through at such a young age. There are many children in Hervey Bay (at least at the schools I have supply taught at) who are living with one parent or with stepparents and they have issues with the other non-custodial parent. The children should not have to deal with these things - no wonder they struggle with school and that there are so many behaviour issues in HB. The deputy principal also asked me today if I would like to come in and teach the grade two class I had today in October when the teacher goes on leave for a short time. I would have enjoyed doing that, except that now I have been offered that wonderful job at Torquay, so I had to tell Mark, (the DP), that I couldn't do it. I did thank him for asking me, though.
Dad spent most of today doing more interviews with hopeful census collectors. He needs to get seven collectors and one reserve collector and he is very confident after doing the interviews today that he will have no difficulty getting his people. He still has six more people to interview tomorrow and he also just got a new batch of resumes today so he will have to go through them and interview some of those people as well. Dad said he felt much more comfortable doing the interviews today.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
I had another good day supply teaching Friday. I was at Torquay for just two hours (well, I got paid for two hours) and I was so happy when I found out I was with Chantelle's class as I had planned on staying all day with her class. Chantelle had 'warned' me about a young boy named Brayden and I was wondering how he would be for me since he didn't know me. Fortunately for me, he didn't show up. Those who were there were easy to teach (although there was one boy who could get annoying if I had to have him full-time) and we had a good two hours together. I stayed on with Chantelle to help her out, but it turned out that there wasn't much to help her with. I think that all teachers are feeling a bit overwhelmed at this time due to report cards coming up and having to have all sorts of assessment done at this point. Chantelle said that next time I came in, she would definitely have things for me to do.
Dad met up with John today (motorcycle teacher) to take his test - and he passed! YAY!!!!! John only had to ride with Dad for 90 minutes to know that Dad was ready to get his license. John met Dad at our house and watched him ride around some quieter areas of HB. He gave Dad some pointers (eg: not to take the corners so wide) and watched Dad ride some more. He then asked Dad to drive down into the middle of the town so that he could watch Dad maneuver through busier traffic. After that, it was out onto the highway to see how Dad handled the scooter going at 100km/h. After that, John followed Dad home (John drove his motorcycle over from Maryborough) where he filled out the paperwork to say that Dad had completed the assessment successfully and then Dad took that paperwork over to the DMV to have the scooter endorsement added to his driver's license. I am still not comfortable with knowing the streets of HB to take the test, but John told Dad that if that is the only issue, he could come out and take a longer time to assess me. I could also wait for Robyn and Geoff to get back and do some more practicing. I'm not sure what I will do, but I told Dad that he is not allowed to ride 'my' scooter until I get my license and I can go out and ride on my own. :-)
Dad picked me up from school and we drove to the Family History Centre as he had to close it up. I nipped onto the computers, put in my info about Richard Terry (great grandfather) to see if I could find the family tree and it popped up right away. I couldn't believe it! I checked out the info and I was able to pick up something that might help in my search, but most of it was stuff I already had. The person who put it on the site was listed as Nikki, but I couldn't find out who she was or how to contact her.
When we got home, I got a phone call from Mark Brose who is the Deputy Principal at Pialba and he asked me if I was available to teach next Monday and Tuesday. I had to check my calendar as I am getting a few days booked up now. I was available for both days and so he has booked me in to teach three different classes for the first day (Prep, grade 2 and grade 5 for an hour each - he told me that he knew that grade five was out of my comfort zone, but could I do it for just one hour and I said 'yes'). On Tuesday, it will be half a day with a Prep class and half a day with a grade two class (I am going to ask Mark if it's possible to do Mrs. Dean's class who I had last week if he doesn't have anyone particularly assigned to her class). I am excited to be getting some jobs at other schools and now I have two days booked next week (and we don't go on Friday next week as it's 'Show Day' - the kids get the day off school to go to the Maryborough Show - like the CNE). I also have three days prebooked for the next week at Kawungan in the grade two classes (each teacher gets half a day's coverage). Things are starting to look up! :-)
We got to Skype with Terri-Ann and the boys yesterday morning - I love that! :-) They had just arrived back from the ice-cream store and so the boy were covered with ice-cream - they looked so cute. Colin was singing a song I had learned at camp back when I was about 13 - I couldn't believe it when I heard him singing those words - who would have believed that someone would have taught him that silly song that I had learned all those years ago. It's called 'Vista' and I do it with the kids I teach as it's fun and silly and they love yelling 'VISTA' at the end. I told Colin that when I do it with my class, I have them hit their knees and then clap their hands. I meant that we hit our knees with our hands, but he thought I meant that we hit our knees together so that's what he was doing. :-) What a cutie! Colin reminds me a lot of Terri-Ann when she was a little girl in that he likes the limelight. :-) Caleb was trying to sing us a song he learned at 'Teddy Bear school' and Colin was trying to sing over him. :-) Benjamin was babbling, but when I told him to say 'Ma', he did! What a clever boy! :-)
I drove by myself for the first time yesterday - YAY me! :-) My friend, Denise, was going to visit our friend, Judy, in the Maryborough hospital and I wanted to go with her. I was not comfortable, however, driving all the way to Maryborough and around Maryborough, so I told Denise that I would drive to her place if she would drive the rest of the way (which she readily agreed to). Dad said he would drive me to Denise's, but that would have meant a 15 minute drive there and back for him and then again when he came to pick me up. I told him that I would try driving it on my own as long as he put the directions in our GPS (I love our GPS :-) I was a little bit nervous about driving on my own, so I said a quick prayer and then I was okay. On the way back from Denise's, I missed a turn, but it wasn't my fault as the GPS told me to turn after the actual turn (it thinks this street goes all the way through for some reason even though it doesn't), so I did have to do a U-turn, but I made it home safely and I was pleased about doing it on my own (well, sort of since my GPS friend was with me - I wonder if I should name the GPS like some of my other friends have done. :-)
I really enjoyed the talks given in Sacrament meeting today - the theme was about The Word of Wisdom. It's interesting to see some people's take on things. I have thought of The Word of Wisdom more as a list of DON'Ts rather than a list of DOs, but today I began to think of it in a different way. It's interesting how you can know something and hear something for years and then somehow come to look at it differently depending on the people talking about it or the place you are in at the time. Anyway, today as the speakers were talking (and I was listening :-) something came to my mind about how since The Word of Wisdom is a commandment, I should be following it more diligently. It's easy to follow the DON'Ts (like no alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, drugs), but I was thinking today about how it's not so easy to follow the DOs (like eating meat sparingly, early to bed and early to rise). I also think that there are some things which are not talked about, but which we can take from what is being said in this scripture should rarely be taken (eg: junk food) since the whole idea of this section is to take things into your body which are healthy and leave out of your body things which are not. Even though I have read the promises to us if we follow the things spoken of in the Word Of Wisdom, they really touched my heart today: shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. It's interesting how sometimes, you have someone speak at church and you really find it speaking to you - that's how I felt today. I want to do some more reading and pondering about this and I will write more about it later after I have done this.
Dad had my phone in his pocket at church today and it started ringing during Sacrament meeting - oops. :-) Dad said he always turns both phones off, but he forgot for some reason today. After Sacrament meeting, he checked the message and it was from my teacher friend, Bronwyn. I called her back and she said that she wanted to know if I was working tomorrow and Tuesday. I told her that I had already been asked by Pialba to teach on Monday and Tuesday. It turns out that she was calling for Kelli (a new grade two teacher at Kawungan) who's mother-in-law had been flown to Brisbane by helicopter for a medical emergency and so Kelli needed someone to cover for her. Bronwyn told her she would take care of it. I was disappointed that I couldn't do it - it would have been great teaching grade two and doing it beside Bronwyn. Bronwyn said that if Kelli needed someone for Wednesday and Thursday, would I be available and I said 'yes', so we'll see what happens. It doesn't rain, but it pours (with supply teaching jobs), eh? :-)
Dad and I are both sitting outside on our patio furniture while I am writing this. The weather is gorgeous: blue sky with a few clouds, warm (about 26C) and so peaceful out here. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is playing on the CD player - such sweet and soothing music. Life is good - nay, life is GREAT! :-)
Dad met up with John today (motorcycle teacher) to take his test - and he passed! YAY!!!!! John only had to ride with Dad for 90 minutes to know that Dad was ready to get his license. John met Dad at our house and watched him ride around some quieter areas of HB. He gave Dad some pointers (eg: not to take the corners so wide) and watched Dad ride some more. He then asked Dad to drive down into the middle of the town so that he could watch Dad maneuver through busier traffic. After that, it was out onto the highway to see how Dad handled the scooter going at 100km/h. After that, John followed Dad home (John drove his motorcycle over from Maryborough) where he filled out the paperwork to say that Dad had completed the assessment successfully and then Dad took that paperwork over to the DMV to have the scooter endorsement added to his driver's license. I am still not comfortable with knowing the streets of HB to take the test, but John told Dad that if that is the only issue, he could come out and take a longer time to assess me. I could also wait for Robyn and Geoff to get back and do some more practicing. I'm not sure what I will do, but I told Dad that he is not allowed to ride 'my' scooter until I get my license and I can go out and ride on my own. :-)
Dad picked me up from school and we drove to the Family History Centre as he had to close it up. I nipped onto the computers, put in my info about Richard Terry (great grandfather) to see if I could find the family tree and it popped up right away. I couldn't believe it! I checked out the info and I was able to pick up something that might help in my search, but most of it was stuff I already had. The person who put it on the site was listed as Nikki, but I couldn't find out who she was or how to contact her.
When we got home, I got a phone call from Mark Brose who is the Deputy Principal at Pialba and he asked me if I was available to teach next Monday and Tuesday. I had to check my calendar as I am getting a few days booked up now. I was available for both days and so he has booked me in to teach three different classes for the first day (Prep, grade 2 and grade 5 for an hour each - he told me that he knew that grade five was out of my comfort zone, but could I do it for just one hour and I said 'yes'). On Tuesday, it will be half a day with a Prep class and half a day with a grade two class (I am going to ask Mark if it's possible to do Mrs. Dean's class who I had last week if he doesn't have anyone particularly assigned to her class). I am excited to be getting some jobs at other schools and now I have two days booked next week (and we don't go on Friday next week as it's 'Show Day' - the kids get the day off school to go to the Maryborough Show - like the CNE). I also have three days prebooked for the next week at Kawungan in the grade two classes (each teacher gets half a day's coverage). Things are starting to look up! :-)
We got to Skype with Terri-Ann and the boys yesterday morning - I love that! :-) They had just arrived back from the ice-cream store and so the boy were covered with ice-cream - they looked so cute. Colin was singing a song I had learned at camp back when I was about 13 - I couldn't believe it when I heard him singing those words - who would have believed that someone would have taught him that silly song that I had learned all those years ago. It's called 'Vista' and I do it with the kids I teach as it's fun and silly and they love yelling 'VISTA' at the end. I told Colin that when I do it with my class, I have them hit their knees and then clap their hands. I meant that we hit our knees with our hands, but he thought I meant that we hit our knees together so that's what he was doing. :-) What a cutie! Colin reminds me a lot of Terri-Ann when she was a little girl in that he likes the limelight. :-) Caleb was trying to sing us a song he learned at 'Teddy Bear school' and Colin was trying to sing over him. :-) Benjamin was babbling, but when I told him to say 'Ma', he did! What a clever boy! :-)
I drove by myself for the first time yesterday - YAY me! :-) My friend, Denise, was going to visit our friend, Judy, in the Maryborough hospital and I wanted to go with her. I was not comfortable, however, driving all the way to Maryborough and around Maryborough, so I told Denise that I would drive to her place if she would drive the rest of the way (which she readily agreed to). Dad said he would drive me to Denise's, but that would have meant a 15 minute drive there and back for him and then again when he came to pick me up. I told him that I would try driving it on my own as long as he put the directions in our GPS (I love our GPS :-) I was a little bit nervous about driving on my own, so I said a quick prayer and then I was okay. On the way back from Denise's, I missed a turn, but it wasn't my fault as the GPS told me to turn after the actual turn (it thinks this street goes all the way through for some reason even though it doesn't), so I did have to do a U-turn, but I made it home safely and I was pleased about doing it on my own (well, sort of since my GPS friend was with me - I wonder if I should name the GPS like some of my other friends have done. :-)
I really enjoyed the talks given in Sacrament meeting today - the theme was about The Word of Wisdom. It's interesting to see some people's take on things. I have thought of The Word of Wisdom more as a list of DON'Ts rather than a list of DOs, but today I began to think of it in a different way. It's interesting how you can know something and hear something for years and then somehow come to look at it differently depending on the people talking about it or the place you are in at the time. Anyway, today as the speakers were talking (and I was listening :-) something came to my mind about how since The Word of Wisdom is a commandment, I should be following it more diligently. It's easy to follow the DON'Ts (like no alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, drugs), but I was thinking today about how it's not so easy to follow the DOs (like eating meat sparingly, early to bed and early to rise). I also think that there are some things which are not talked about, but which we can take from what is being said in this scripture should rarely be taken (eg: junk food) since the whole idea of this section is to take things into your body which are healthy and leave out of your body things which are not. Even though I have read the promises to us if we follow the things spoken of in the Word Of Wisdom, they really touched my heart today: shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. It's interesting how sometimes, you have someone speak at church and you really find it speaking to you - that's how I felt today. I want to do some more reading and pondering about this and I will write more about it later after I have done this.
Dad had my phone in his pocket at church today and it started ringing during Sacrament meeting - oops. :-) Dad said he always turns both phones off, but he forgot for some reason today. After Sacrament meeting, he checked the message and it was from my teacher friend, Bronwyn. I called her back and she said that she wanted to know if I was working tomorrow and Tuesday. I told her that I had already been asked by Pialba to teach on Monday and Tuesday. It turns out that she was calling for Kelli (a new grade two teacher at Kawungan) who's mother-in-law had been flown to Brisbane by helicopter for a medical emergency and so Kelli needed someone to cover for her. Bronwyn told her she would take care of it. I was disappointed that I couldn't do it - it would have been great teaching grade two and doing it beside Bronwyn. Bronwyn said that if Kelli needed someone for Wednesday and Thursday, would I be available and I said 'yes', so we'll see what happens. It doesn't rain, but it pours (with supply teaching jobs), eh? :-)
Dad and I are both sitting outside on our patio furniture while I am writing this. The weather is gorgeous: blue sky with a few clouds, warm (about 26C) and so peaceful out here. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is playing on the CD player - such sweet and soothing music. Life is good - nay, life is GREAT! :-)
Thursday, May 19, 2011
I got a call yesterday to go in for Fiona again - what a nice way to wake up - getting to teach a lovely class and not feeling like I'm really earning my money! :-) I had a really nice time in Fiona's class - she had sorted another lovely day for me as well. I told the kids that if they worked hard, I would take them out for some ball games. They were really excited and worked really well - and we did go out for the ball games. Little did they know that Fiona had put it on the day plan - they just thought I was being nice. :-) At the end of the day, I was thinking how much I would love to be the teacher of that class on a full-time basis. There was a prac student (student teacher) with us yesterday (she's with Luise for 3 weeks) and we were talking. I was telling her how difficult it is to get a job in Hervey Bay - I didn't think it was going to be this difficult to get work - but, at least I am getting some days.
Dad spent yesterday doing census stuff again. He finished checking out his seventh and final area of his census district. It took him all afternoon to input the info into the computer. Then, he had to organize all the info he received about the people applying to be census collectors and put that onto a sheet so that he could set up his interviews.
We spent the evening at the Family History Centre last night. I decided to continue working on my Grandpa Terry's line - and somehow I found my way into a Terry family tree. It had my great grandfather and great grandmother on it although it had a different date of birth for my great grandmother. I was so excited to find the info - but, I forgot to write down the way I got to it - so today, when I went into library genealogy centre, I tried to find the family tree again and couldn't find it. I was so frustrated - I figured out how I found the way to do it, but not the route to get to the way I did it. That makes no sense at all, I know, but it's hard to explain. Anyway, I am going to try and find it again next time I get to work on it. I did find out info about my great grandfather's trip to Canada from England. I found out where he was living when he left England in 1928 and also where he was going to once he landed in Quebec. It's neat finding out information about my ancestors! :-)
I was very pleased NOT to get a call to supply teach today. I like not working on Thursday as I like to do 'Meals on Wheels'. Fortunately, we also didn't get a call from Avis to say she didn't need us. So, off we went at 10am to drive to the MOW building. We got route 4 today which I was happy about as our Bishop and his wife, Diana, live on this route. Diana really hurt her leg and shoulder last week, so bad that she wasn't even able to come to church last week. Half way through the route, we stopped at their house and had a short chat with her - I just wanted to see how she was doing. Dad and I get along with the Bishop and Diana really well - we want to invite them over to dinner really soon. At one of our stops near the end of our route, one of our clients had some cute kittens running around his place. There was a ginger one who was soooo adorable. The man could see that I was so taken with this little kitten - he asked me if I would like to take the kitten home - I would have loved to, but of course, Dad said 'no'! :-( I know that it makes sense since, when we come back to Canada, we come for so long and it would be hard to find someone to come over and feed a pet for us for such a long time, but the kitten was so cute, it was hard to leave it behind. :-(
I did a load of laundry when we got home from MOW and put it out on the line. I checked it when we got back from the library and I told Dad it needed another hour or so. About half an hour later, the 'air conditioning' turned on. :-) What I mean by that, is that it started to pour rain - on our tin roof, it sounds just like air conditioning. I ran to the back door to see if I could save the laundry, but it was too late. So, now, it's staying out overnight and hopefully by tomorrow afternoon, it will be dry. It's so strange here with regards to rain - it had been raining overnight and that's why I didn't do the laundry before we left for MOW. While we were out on the route, the skies cleared up and the sun came out and it was lovely. In the middle of our route, we had a very short, very light shower of rain. Near the end of our route, there was another shower. Then, by the time we got home, it was beautiful out again. So, out went the laundry, and then, just as if on cue, down pours the rain again (this time it was truly raining in strength, but not in length). It's what happens when it rains in HB - it rarely rains for any length of time - just many short showers. At least it was 24C today. :-)
Tonight at SES, they did a maps, compass and GPS navigation exercise. They were divided up into teams of three and given a map with a starting reference (they had to figure out from the reference where the starting point was). From there, they were given several bearings and distances to follow and had to write down what they found at each of the endpoints. When they got back, the instructor cross-checked each group's findings with his. The pacer in Dad's group underestimated his paces, so the distances were too long. Dad's group missed their marks, but because it was a circuit (they went in a circle), they ended up in the right place in the end. Dad's group decided that they need to double check their paces when they are going to do an exercise like this.
Dad spent yesterday doing census stuff again. He finished checking out his seventh and final area of his census district. It took him all afternoon to input the info into the computer. Then, he had to organize all the info he received about the people applying to be census collectors and put that onto a sheet so that he could set up his interviews.
We spent the evening at the Family History Centre last night. I decided to continue working on my Grandpa Terry's line - and somehow I found my way into a Terry family tree. It had my great grandfather and great grandmother on it although it had a different date of birth for my great grandmother. I was so excited to find the info - but, I forgot to write down the way I got to it - so today, when I went into library genealogy centre, I tried to find the family tree again and couldn't find it. I was so frustrated - I figured out how I found the way to do it, but not the route to get to the way I did it. That makes no sense at all, I know, but it's hard to explain. Anyway, I am going to try and find it again next time I get to work on it. I did find out info about my great grandfather's trip to Canada from England. I found out where he was living when he left England in 1928 and also where he was going to once he landed in Quebec. It's neat finding out information about my ancestors! :-)
I was very pleased NOT to get a call to supply teach today. I like not working on Thursday as I like to do 'Meals on Wheels'. Fortunately, we also didn't get a call from Avis to say she didn't need us. So, off we went at 10am to drive to the MOW building. We got route 4 today which I was happy about as our Bishop and his wife, Diana, live on this route. Diana really hurt her leg and shoulder last week, so bad that she wasn't even able to come to church last week. Half way through the route, we stopped at their house and had a short chat with her - I just wanted to see how she was doing. Dad and I get along with the Bishop and Diana really well - we want to invite them over to dinner really soon. At one of our stops near the end of our route, one of our clients had some cute kittens running around his place. There was a ginger one who was soooo adorable. The man could see that I was so taken with this little kitten - he asked me if I would like to take the kitten home - I would have loved to, but of course, Dad said 'no'! :-( I know that it makes sense since, when we come back to Canada, we come for so long and it would be hard to find someone to come over and feed a pet for us for such a long time, but the kitten was so cute, it was hard to leave it behind. :-(
I did a load of laundry when we got home from MOW and put it out on the line. I checked it when we got back from the library and I told Dad it needed another hour or so. About half an hour later, the 'air conditioning' turned on. :-) What I mean by that, is that it started to pour rain - on our tin roof, it sounds just like air conditioning. I ran to the back door to see if I could save the laundry, but it was too late. So, now, it's staying out overnight and hopefully by tomorrow afternoon, it will be dry. It's so strange here with regards to rain - it had been raining overnight and that's why I didn't do the laundry before we left for MOW. While we were out on the route, the skies cleared up and the sun came out and it was lovely. In the middle of our route, we had a very short, very light shower of rain. Near the end of our route, there was another shower. Then, by the time we got home, it was beautiful out again. So, out went the laundry, and then, just as if on cue, down pours the rain again (this time it was truly raining in strength, but not in length). It's what happens when it rains in HB - it rarely rains for any length of time - just many short showers. At least it was 24C today. :-)
Tonight at SES, they did a maps, compass and GPS navigation exercise. They were divided up into teams of three and given a map with a starting reference (they had to figure out from the reference where the starting point was). From there, they were given several bearings and distances to follow and had to write down what they found at each of the endpoints. When they got back, the instructor cross-checked each group's findings with his. The pacer in Dad's group underestimated his paces, so the distances were too long. Dad's group missed their marks, but because it was a circuit (they went in a circle), they ended up in the right place in the end. Dad's group decided that they need to double check their paces when they are going to do an exercise like this.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
I knew that I was going to be teaching today as I was asked to do this day (Monday) at Pialba State School and that it was grade two. It turns out that the teacher was going to be in the school all day doing some assessment with the children. It turned out to be a lovely class - two boys who were challenging, but overall I had a really good day. As the teacher was there before school, she was able to review with me what I needed to do that day and I also was able to ask questions to clarify things. So, my day went really smoothly. I told the teacher at the end of the day, when I gave her my card, that I would like to supply for her again if she needed someone.
Dad worked on area number six of his census district - this was the area in which we were going to have a house built before we bought this one. There has been so much building going on that there are way too many dwellings for one area so they are going to have to make it into two separate areas or put another person on for that area. Dad says there are sixteen houses in the street that we were going to buy on - in some areas of Hervey Bay they are just going crazy with building.
Guess what? I got another call to teach today - I was so happy! This time it was for a grade one class at Kawungan - Fiona, the teacher, is really nice and has been great to me - when I got to school, she was there - her daughter wasn't feeling well and so Fiona came in to write up a day plan for me. She left me a lovely easy day - she basically said I could do as much or as little as I wanted to (except for reading rotations because it involved two other teachers). She warned me about one little boy who was a handful. The class was amazing and I had a terrific day! Even the little boy who is a handful was pretty good today. Mind you, I made him my 'carpet example' - I kept mentioning that everyone should be doing what Logan was doing: sitting like Logan was, watching me like Logan was, being quiet like Logan, etc. It really worked well and so my day went smoothly. I really enjoyed being in a grade one class again and it made me look forward to taking over Luise's class in October. I also got a call from Tracer asking me to supply teach for two hours at Torquay State School on Friday - this works out great as then I can stay there and volunteer in Chantelle's class and then talk with her about ideas for her class - she wants help with her literacy centres - it's great to be wanted. :-)
Dad spent the day doing a lot of different stuff: he spent the morning inputting info re: the census areas he has been canvassing into his computer program; then he came home and mowed the lawn; and then spent some time this afternoon working on his seventh and final area - he was able to get almost all of it done, so he should be able to finish everything up this week. He also received some more applications for census collectors which he will have to go through and will likely start interviewing people next week.
We had the missionaries for supper tonight and I made my delicious penne pasta with bacon - oh, I love this dish - it is so yummy! :-) Elder Richardson asked Dad and me to write in his book - he is asking people he is close to if they will write something so that he can remember them when he gets back off his mission - he's only been out six months so far, so he has a ways to go. He feels an affinity to Dad and me for some reason - he says we 'get him'. :-) He even called me 'mommy' tonight. :-) We asked them to come earlier next week as we don't have much time with them if they don't come 'til 5pm and they have to leave at 6pm for their meeting with the Bishop.
Dad had his PEC meeting tonight with the Bishopric and Chris, the Elder's Quorum president. As the Bishop wasn't at the meeting last week (he was ill), he wanted to review the people on the ward list. They are trying to find out whether less active members are still in the area and they also want to decide who will be their home teachers - whether it will be Dad's group or Chris' group. It's a long process to go through, but it will be really good in the end when everyone will be assigned to the members in the ward and more people can receive monthly visits.
Dad worked on area number six of his census district - this was the area in which we were going to have a house built before we bought this one. There has been so much building going on that there are way too many dwellings for one area so they are going to have to make it into two separate areas or put another person on for that area. Dad says there are sixteen houses in the street that we were going to buy on - in some areas of Hervey Bay they are just going crazy with building.
Guess what? I got another call to teach today - I was so happy! This time it was for a grade one class at Kawungan - Fiona, the teacher, is really nice and has been great to me - when I got to school, she was there - her daughter wasn't feeling well and so Fiona came in to write up a day plan for me. She left me a lovely easy day - she basically said I could do as much or as little as I wanted to (except for reading rotations because it involved two other teachers). She warned me about one little boy who was a handful. The class was amazing and I had a terrific day! Even the little boy who is a handful was pretty good today. Mind you, I made him my 'carpet example' - I kept mentioning that everyone should be doing what Logan was doing: sitting like Logan was, watching me like Logan was, being quiet like Logan, etc. It really worked well and so my day went smoothly. I really enjoyed being in a grade one class again and it made me look forward to taking over Luise's class in October. I also got a call from Tracer asking me to supply teach for two hours at Torquay State School on Friday - this works out great as then I can stay there and volunteer in Chantelle's class and then talk with her about ideas for her class - she wants help with her literacy centres - it's great to be wanted. :-)
Dad spent the day doing a lot of different stuff: he spent the morning inputting info re: the census areas he has been canvassing into his computer program; then he came home and mowed the lawn; and then spent some time this afternoon working on his seventh and final area - he was able to get almost all of it done, so he should be able to finish everything up this week. He also received some more applications for census collectors which he will have to go through and will likely start interviewing people next week.
We had the missionaries for supper tonight and I made my delicious penne pasta with bacon - oh, I love this dish - it is so yummy! :-) Elder Richardson asked Dad and me to write in his book - he is asking people he is close to if they will write something so that he can remember them when he gets back off his mission - he's only been out six months so far, so he has a ways to go. He feels an affinity to Dad and me for some reason - he says we 'get him'. :-) He even called me 'mommy' tonight. :-) We asked them to come earlier next week as we don't have much time with them if they don't come 'til 5pm and they have to leave at 6pm for their meeting with the Bishop.
Dad had his PEC meeting tonight with the Bishopric and Chris, the Elder's Quorum president. As the Bishop wasn't at the meeting last week (he was ill), he wanted to review the people on the ward list. They are trying to find out whether less active members are still in the area and they also want to decide who will be their home teachers - whether it will be Dad's group or Chris' group. It's a long process to go through, but it will be really good in the end when everyone will be assigned to the members in the ward and more people can receive monthly visits.
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