I wonder if I should change the title of my blog to 'Adventures Around Australia'. :-) Anyway, I thought that I should start up my blog again since it's been ages since I last wrote and I rarely seem to have time to tell you what we're doing here when we are Skyping (which is fine with me since I love hearing about what you girls are doing and also what my lovely grandchildren have to tell me :-)
We are currently in Brisbane - have been here for a week and have two and a half more weeks to go here. Dad is teaching for three weeks and then he will be on a course himself for four days. Dad has been getting so much work and he is happy about this. He really likes teaching and the guys he's teaching like him as a teacher since he has so much experience. He's finding the preparation time a bit much right now - he spends many hours prepping when he gets home from teaching and doesn't have much time for anything else at this point. He is hoping that things will get better as he gets more experience. I told him that things will get a little easier, but he will continue to spend time prepping as he will find things to make his teaching better. It's interesting now that the tables are turned watching how much time he spends planning and prepping - it's good that he sees why I have spent so much time planning and prepping in the past.
I am loving the relaxing time I have been having - in Melbourne, it was cold and so I spent most of my time relaxing inside. I did get out almost every day for a walk, but we weren't close to anything interesting so it was a bit boring. I did walk to the mall a few times, but since I am not a shopper, it was just a destination which was the right distance away from where we were staying. Dad's company has a unit down there (the word 'unit' is Aussie for townhouse or attached house in a group of six or eight) and it's quite a nice one - it's a three bedroom unit and quite roomy. It's a three minute drive for Dad to get to the hotel where he teaches, a five minute drive to the airport when he has to teach on an actual airplane and a thirty minute walk for me to get to the mall. For me to get downtown, I walked to the mall and caught the tram (streetcar) from there to the city - it would take about 45 minutes or so to get to the city and I would spend that time reading on my e-reader. I did go to the state library a couple of times to do some family history research - the library has access to a number of records so it was really helpful. The ward we went to for church was really lovely - they made us feel really welcome and even told us that they were going to give us callings since we were there for so long (eight weeks in all).
We got home from Melbourne a week ago Saturday. We had time to mow the lawn, return my library books, have dinner with our friends, Robyn and Geoff, and repack before we headed down to Brisbane on the Sunday. We are staying in a rented apartment in Brisbane - a three bedroom, two bathroom, two balcony one on the fourth floor. The living room has a floor to ceiling glass door to the balcony which provides a great view and gets a wonderful breeze coming through when we open the door which is also the whole 'wall'. Dad and I prefer to stay in a place like this as opposed to a hotel. For one thing, there's way more room in an apartment and also we can cook our own food - we like to go out once a week to a restaurant, but not more than that.
Dad's work is a fifteen minute drive from here which isn't too bad especially when he has to start teaching at 7:30am. I am absolutely loving the location of this apartment here. I can walk to downtown in ten minutes and have been doing that almost every day. The Brisbane river is downtown and so I have walked along the boardwalk by the river a couple of times - I was walking along there last Friday and looked up at the blue sky feeling the sun on my face and looked as well at the river and the boats on it and thought to myself 'can life get better than this!' :-) I have been walking for an hour to two hours when I go out and it's really great - the weather has been fabulous (around 27C). In the downtown area, there's a place call the Queen Street Mall - it's free of traffic and a great place to wander around looking at the shop windows or just to people watch. There's also a pool which is a fifteen minute walk from the apartment as well which I am going to go to to swim lengths - hopefully during the day there won't be a crowd of people at the pool.
This past Friday, Sarah Gothe-Dias and I met up here in Brisbane. She is here for her work - Scentsy- trying to introduce the product to Australia. She and a friend (who lives near Calgary) are travelling around different cities in Australia for two weeks to do this. Sarah and I met up for lunch and had a delicious meal in a cafe - we sat on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, weather and food. After having a nice long chat, we took a walk around the area - I took Sarah to the Queen Street Mall and she loved it. We even saw some missionaries there who were talking with people in the mall (small world, eh?). Sarah also came to church with us yesterday - the chapel is right beside the temple here and the ward is huge. After church, we invited Sarah to come back to our apartment for lunch and afterwards (for her) a nice long nap - she is still suffering from jetlag - and then we drove her to the motel where she is staying with her friend from Calgary. It was amazing that Sarah happened to be in Brisbane at the same time as we were - love these 'coincidences'. :-)
Dad's teaching is keeping us very busy - well, him very busy and me very relaxed. :-) Although, I do have to say that I do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. so that Dad only has to concentrate on planning and prepping and teaching. After this 3 1/2 weeks in Brisbane, we will be home for three days before Dad heads out again, but this time he will be going on his own. He is going to teach a one day course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - but, due to flight times, he will leave on Sunday and not be back until Wednesday. Then, a week later, we head off to Perth (on the other side of the country) for two weeks. When we get back from there, we turn around and drive to Brisbane again for a three day course. Phew! So far, that's it for the year, but Dad will find out within a week for sure. The company doesn't accept any courses during December and January usually - as much as Dad is loving his job, I think he will be glad for the break.
We are both looking forward to coming back to Canada and seeing everyone and especially excited about being able to go to Colin's baptism. :-) It will be a shorter trip than usual since Dad needs to be trying to stay in Australia as much as possible so that he can take out his Australian citizenship. He can do that once he has been in Australia for four years - with all our comings and goings, however, that date keeps being pushed back. We are going to be coming over as soon as Dad finishes up work and will only be staying for about three weeks or so this time. We will definitely have to have a few family dinners while we are there so that we can get all the sisters and cousins together with Ma and Pa.
Dad and I are still looking at camping trailers - we went to a sale yesterday and were told by one of the salesman (an honest one, if you can believe it) that the sale price is one that he could give us all year round. He told us the extras which he thought were good to have and told us about one item which we hadn't thought of which would be good to have (a fly cover on the outside which goes over where the beds are). It's a lot of money to buy a brand new camping trailer here (about three times the cost of one in Canada), so we need to make doubly sure that we get the best one for us. We have checked the cost of buying a second-hand trailer, but the prices just don't decrease much here and it seems to us it's better to buy brand new. The one we really like, the Jayco Swan, is quite roomy and has a separate couch from the table which I really like. Since we plan on doing a lot of camping and also plan on camping around Australia in the future, I would really like a bigger camper (the Swan) compared to the smaller one (the Penguin) which Dad first liked the best. We likely will not buy one now until the new year since we are so busy travelling with Dad's teaching and then coming back to Canada.
As you can tell from our schedule, there's been no time for me to do any teaching. I did turn down that 3 1/2 week contract at Kawungan for that grade one classroom and felt so much happier when I did that. I really am not into spending my time disciplining children - I just want to teach - that's my passion. I am finding that it's getting more difficult to find classrooms in which I can just teach (like I did at R.J. Lee) and it's quite frustrating. As you know, all I have ever wanted to be is a teacher and I absolutely love it when I can spend my time planning and prepping and then share this information with my students - I love seeing the look on their faces when they 'get' something which I have helped them learn. Unfortunately, I don't know how much I am going to be able to do that as even Kawungan (which I think is the best state (public) school in Hervey Bay) is beginning to get more and more students who are behaviour problems. So, I am not sure what will happen in the future with regards to my teaching career. It makes me sad to think that I will not be able to do it much since I love to do it so much, but I know that I don't want to deal with behaviours. I was quite distressed thinking about it at first - then, I remembered that things have always worked out in the past. Heavenly Father has always taken care of us - and when I remembered that, I decided that I would just leave things in His hands and we'll see where things take me. It really is much less stressful when I do that.:-)
So, that's about it for now - a brief catch-up of what's been happening with us in the past two months or so since we got back from our last trip to Canada. I plan on writing every Sunday again so you can keep up with what we are doing. Love you all. :-)
Sunday, October 21, 2012
I know that I talked about General Conference last week, but I'm not sure if I talked about the talk given which was about how you spend your time. It 'spoke to me' in that I started to think about how much time Dad and I spend watching tv - and often it's watching shows we are not that interested in. So, I talked with Dad and we decided that we would only watch tv shows we really liked this past week. When the tv wasn't on, we put on a variety of cds. It was amazing how much other stuff we were able to get done - we were both pleased with what we accomplished and plan on continuing on with this goal.
I finished my contract at Kawungan this week - it was a sad day on Friday in that I don't get to go back to school on Tuesday (Monday is a 'Pupil Free (PD) Day). Some teachers came to say goodbye to me which I thought was really nice - they said that they want to get me teaching at the school which I really appreciated. They also told me that they would call me to supply teach this term which will be great - both the grade two team and the grade one team like me subbing for them which gives me a total of twelve teachers who could possibly call me. I will have to tell them to each take one day off a month - that would give me 12 days in a month and that would be good for me.
Bronwyn (the teacher I was doing the contract for) got back from her US trip on Wednesday and came into the school on Thursday after school to see where I was in relation to the curriculum. She said that she was glad that I had been able to take the contract as she knew that I would keep to her schedule and do my best to get things done. She told me that when she had told me that the kids that I was going to be taking over for her, they cheered - that made me smile. :-) I told her that when I told them that she was coming back on Tuesday, they cheered. :-) I received gifts from three children which I thought was really nice. I received two boxes of chocolate and one craft item (it's hard to explain). One of the moms came in and told me that her daughter had said that she wished that I was her teacher and that Bronwyn was the supply teacher - I was glad that she enjoyed having me for the four weeks I was there.
On Wednesday, Dad and I began or eating/exercise plan - we are forming an eating plan based on recipes from sparkpeople.com. We went for a walk on Wednesday and Friday in our neighbourhood and on Saturday, we went for a walk on the beach. We didn't get one in together on Thursday as by the time I got home from talking with Bronwyn, it was time to have supper and then Dad had to get off to SES. At SES that night, Dad and the other members did a 5km walk as they were working on GPS skills - so Dad got to count that for his exercise. We have done really well with the eating part of the program, too - we are trying new recipes and you will never believe it, but I actually ate cabbage rolls tonight. :-)
On Saturday, after our beach walk, we went to Robyn and Geoff's for dinner - they had also invited some friends from church - and as usual we had a very enjoyable evening. Dad and I tried to eat smaller portions (bbq meat and salads) and of the dessert (trifle) - we ate more than we would have at home, but we didn't do too bad. We enjoyed chatting with everyone after dinner, too - it's great getting to know people better in a relaxed setting. We are going to have Robyn and Geoff and two other friends from church over next week - my plan is to try to get to know everyone from the ward in this way - we might have to have a few luncheons in order to do this as some of the older people do not like driving at night.
Today it was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation at church - I had written up the script based on ones posted on the net and gearing it towards the number of children we have in our Primary - and we had been practicing for three weeks. We only have ten active children in our ward and only four of them can read. I wanted the presentation to be about the children, so none of the leaders/teachers said anything during the presentation, except for one teacher who had to help the children from her class participate (she said the words in small phrases and they repeated what she said). One of my councillors conducted the music as our music leader is in the UK right now and I told the children near me when to go up to do their part. We had a lot of positive comments afterwards and I was so proud of the kids - they did such a good job. They were a small group and they sang quietly, but they sounded like angels from where I was sitting. We had a little celebration just before the end of our meetings (cupcakes and juice) which the children really enjoyed - it was a nice way for us to show them our appreciation for a job well done.
I finished my contract at Kawungan this week - it was a sad day on Friday in that I don't get to go back to school on Tuesday (Monday is a 'Pupil Free (PD) Day). Some teachers came to say goodbye to me which I thought was really nice - they said that they want to get me teaching at the school which I really appreciated. They also told me that they would call me to supply teach this term which will be great - both the grade two team and the grade one team like me subbing for them which gives me a total of twelve teachers who could possibly call me. I will have to tell them to each take one day off a month - that would give me 12 days in a month and that would be good for me.
Bronwyn (the teacher I was doing the contract for) got back from her US trip on Wednesday and came into the school on Thursday after school to see where I was in relation to the curriculum. She said that she was glad that I had been able to take the contract as she knew that I would keep to her schedule and do my best to get things done. She told me that when she had told me that the kids that I was going to be taking over for her, they cheered - that made me smile. :-) I told her that when I told them that she was coming back on Tuesday, they cheered. :-) I received gifts from three children which I thought was really nice. I received two boxes of chocolate and one craft item (it's hard to explain). One of the moms came in and told me that her daughter had said that she wished that I was her teacher and that Bronwyn was the supply teacher - I was glad that she enjoyed having me for the four weeks I was there.
On Wednesday, Dad and I began or eating/exercise plan - we are forming an eating plan based on recipes from sparkpeople.com. We went for a walk on Wednesday and Friday in our neighbourhood and on Saturday, we went for a walk on the beach. We didn't get one in together on Thursday as by the time I got home from talking with Bronwyn, it was time to have supper and then Dad had to get off to SES. At SES that night, Dad and the other members did a 5km walk as they were working on GPS skills - so Dad got to count that for his exercise. We have done really well with the eating part of the program, too - we are trying new recipes and you will never believe it, but I actually ate cabbage rolls tonight. :-)
On Saturday, after our beach walk, we went to Robyn and Geoff's for dinner - they had also invited some friends from church - and as usual we had a very enjoyable evening. Dad and I tried to eat smaller portions (bbq meat and salads) and of the dessert (trifle) - we ate more than we would have at home, but we didn't do too bad. We enjoyed chatting with everyone after dinner, too - it's great getting to know people better in a relaxed setting. We are going to have Robyn and Geoff and two other friends from church over next week - my plan is to try to get to know everyone from the ward in this way - we might have to have a few luncheons in order to do this as some of the older people do not like driving at night.
Today it was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation at church - I had written up the script based on ones posted on the net and gearing it towards the number of children we have in our Primary - and we had been practicing for three weeks. We only have ten active children in our ward and only four of them can read. I wanted the presentation to be about the children, so none of the leaders/teachers said anything during the presentation, except for one teacher who had to help the children from her class participate (she said the words in small phrases and they repeated what she said). One of my councillors conducted the music as our music leader is in the UK right now and I told the children near me when to go up to do their part. We had a lot of positive comments afterwards and I was so proud of the kids - they did such a good job. They were a small group and they sang quietly, but they sounded like angels from where I was sitting. We had a little celebration just before the end of our meetings (cupcakes and juice) which the children really enjoyed - it was a nice way for us to show them our appreciation for a job well done.
what we saw on the sand when we were walking on the beach - Geoff told us it's called a Blue Blubber Jellyfish - we saw seven of them on the sand in the short part we walked along (all dead) - they can give a mean sting, but they are not a risk to humans - Robyn told us that the turtles like to eat these jellyfish - apparently they are common here at this time of year - they come down from the north in the warm current
Sunday, October 14, 2012
This past week at school has been quite good - it started off a bit rocky with the kids having had two weeks off school - but by Wednesday, they had settled nicely back into a routine. By Friday, I was really tired and weary, but when I was on my way to meet up with my friend, I thought to myself that although I am so tired and worn out from the kids, I can't think of anything else I would rather do as a career. I absolutely love teaching and helping children learn. It's amazing to me that both Dad and I have been able to/ and continue to work in careers that we love so much. We feel very blessed.
On Thursday, I had another appointment with my doctor - here, you have to get a doctor's appointment to get the results of your tests - seems like a waste of time to me (and of course you have to pay for the appointment), but I did get all good news. I have to go and get a breast ultrasound tomorrow and then the results from that and the mammogram I had will be sent to my doctor - so that will mean that there will be another trip to the doctor to get the results of those two tests. I also made an appointment for the 23rd of October to have him check out the bump on my head. He wants to cut one open and take out what's inside and have it checked out (he's pretty sure it's just fatty tissue like Dr. Nixon thought) - I'm not looking forward to it, but the one on top of my head is getting quite big now, so it's probably a good idea to have it taken out.
On Friday, I met with my friend, Chantelle, after school for an iced chocolate and a chat. Chantelle is the young teacher who I taught with last year in Kindergarten and who stayed in our house while we were gone. We had a lovely talk - she is being transferred next year to a place nine hours away from HB. It will be good for her to get her 'country teaching' done (every new teacher is supposed to do some teaching in a country town for three years during their career). We will certainly miss our house-minder. :-)
On Saturday, after General Conference (they download the videos of General Conference here which was actually last weekend, and we watch them the following weekend), we met up with Robyn and Geoff at a local restaurant called 'Hogsbreath Cafe' to celebrate Dad's and Geoff's birthdays and our anniversary. Dad and I wanted to see if they had a good prime rib like 'The Keg' - there really isn't much of a selection of nice restaurants here in HB. When we went in, the music was really loud - we asked our server if she could lower the volume and we were told that she couldn't as it was part of the contract of being a franchise. None of us like to have loud music playing when we are trying to talk with each other and I did ask Robyn and Geoff if they wanted to leave and find another place to eat, but they decided that they would stay. Dad had a lobster/prime rib dinner and mine was a ribs/prime rib dinner. Although the food tasted good, I thought mine tasted more like a steak than a prime rib - and I love prime ribs, but steaks are only so-so. Dad thought his meal was delicious. I don't think that we will go back there, though - the music was too loud and the food is quite expensive. We decided that we will go out as a foursome for a really nice dinner three times a year: in March to celebrate Robyn's and my birthdays, in June to celebrate their annniversary and then in October like we did this year. We are going to have to do some research to find a really nice quiet restaurant in HB - Robyn and Geoff only go out as much as we do and usually they go to the 'Boat Club' or something like that (similar to a cafeteria style restaurant) and that's similar to what Dad and I have gone to in the past.
Dad got his contract in the mail from 'Queensland Aerospace College' (his new employers) this past week - it was a large package, but Dad said it seemed like a pretty standard contract. It took him a couple of days to get it all read and then signed and sent it back to them on Friday. His official starting date of his contract will be November 1st. He's really looking forward to going on the course to Melbourne at the end of November. I was going to go with him, but when he asked his boss if I could go, he said that they have no issue with wives going with the instructors at any time (which the wife of the instructor of this course will do), but that since this instructor will be bringing his wife and they and Dad will be staying at the company condo, the boss thought that it might be too crowded for me to stay the whole three weeks. He said that he thought that it would be fine for me to stay there for a few days, but not longer than that. I decided that I didn't want to spend the money for the flights for just a few days, so I will be on my own for those three weeks. Thank goodness for technology - we can Skype/phone during the time Dad is in Melbourne.
We went to both sessions of General Conference on Sunday - the way they do it here is that they play the first session from 9am - 11am, take a half hour break to eat lunch and then watch the second two hour session. I loved the talks which were given (on Saturday as well). I love our Prophet - he was telling a story about how the jumbotron at a youth conference wasn't working and it needed to work for the presentation which was going to be given that day. After many tries to get it working, someone decided to ask the youth to pray that those who were trying to fix it would be able to figure out what was wrong and fix it. He said that 3,000 youth got down on their knees and prayed sincerely for assistance. It was such a spiritual experience, President Monson said. The problem was solved and the person fixing it said that they were so lucky to find the problem. President Monson made a sound like 'hmph' - it was such a funny sound and look as if to say 'yeah, right - luck - NOT'. :-) I love being spiritually fed at Conference.
On Thursday, I had another appointment with my doctor - here, you have to get a doctor's appointment to get the results of your tests - seems like a waste of time to me (and of course you have to pay for the appointment), but I did get all good news. I have to go and get a breast ultrasound tomorrow and then the results from that and the mammogram I had will be sent to my doctor - so that will mean that there will be another trip to the doctor to get the results of those two tests. I also made an appointment for the 23rd of October to have him check out the bump on my head. He wants to cut one open and take out what's inside and have it checked out (he's pretty sure it's just fatty tissue like Dr. Nixon thought) - I'm not looking forward to it, but the one on top of my head is getting quite big now, so it's probably a good idea to have it taken out.
On Friday, I met with my friend, Chantelle, after school for an iced chocolate and a chat. Chantelle is the young teacher who I taught with last year in Kindergarten and who stayed in our house while we were gone. We had a lovely talk - she is being transferred next year to a place nine hours away from HB. It will be good for her to get her 'country teaching' done (every new teacher is supposed to do some teaching in a country town for three years during their career). We will certainly miss our house-minder. :-)
On Saturday, after General Conference (they download the videos of General Conference here which was actually last weekend, and we watch them the following weekend), we met up with Robyn and Geoff at a local restaurant called 'Hogsbreath Cafe' to celebrate Dad's and Geoff's birthdays and our anniversary. Dad and I wanted to see if they had a good prime rib like 'The Keg' - there really isn't much of a selection of nice restaurants here in HB. When we went in, the music was really loud - we asked our server if she could lower the volume and we were told that she couldn't as it was part of the contract of being a franchise. None of us like to have loud music playing when we are trying to talk with each other and I did ask Robyn and Geoff if they wanted to leave and find another place to eat, but they decided that they would stay. Dad had a lobster/prime rib dinner and mine was a ribs/prime rib dinner. Although the food tasted good, I thought mine tasted more like a steak than a prime rib - and I love prime ribs, but steaks are only so-so. Dad thought his meal was delicious. I don't think that we will go back there, though - the music was too loud and the food is quite expensive. We decided that we will go out as a foursome for a really nice dinner three times a year: in March to celebrate Robyn's and my birthdays, in June to celebrate their annniversary and then in October like we did this year. We are going to have to do some research to find a really nice quiet restaurant in HB - Robyn and Geoff only go out as much as we do and usually they go to the 'Boat Club' or something like that (similar to a cafeteria style restaurant) and that's similar to what Dad and I have gone to in the past.
Dad got his contract in the mail from 'Queensland Aerospace College' (his new employers) this past week - it was a large package, but Dad said it seemed like a pretty standard contract. It took him a couple of days to get it all read and then signed and sent it back to them on Friday. His official starting date of his contract will be November 1st. He's really looking forward to going on the course to Melbourne at the end of November. I was going to go with him, but when he asked his boss if I could go, he said that they have no issue with wives going with the instructors at any time (which the wife of the instructor of this course will do), but that since this instructor will be bringing his wife and they and Dad will be staying at the company condo, the boss thought that it might be too crowded for me to stay the whole three weeks. He said that he thought that it would be fine for me to stay there for a few days, but not longer than that. I decided that I didn't want to spend the money for the flights for just a few days, so I will be on my own for those three weeks. Thank goodness for technology - we can Skype/phone during the time Dad is in Melbourne.
We went to both sessions of General Conference on Sunday - the way they do it here is that they play the first session from 9am - 11am, take a half hour break to eat lunch and then watch the second two hour session. I loved the talks which were given (on Saturday as well). I love our Prophet - he was telling a story about how the jumbotron at a youth conference wasn't working and it needed to work for the presentation which was going to be given that day. After many tries to get it working, someone decided to ask the youth to pray that those who were trying to fix it would be able to figure out what was wrong and fix it. He said that 3,000 youth got down on their knees and prayed sincerely for assistance. It was such a spiritual experience, President Monson said. The problem was solved and the person fixing it said that they were so lucky to find the problem. President Monson made a sound like 'hmph' - it was such a funny sound and look as if to say 'yeah, right - luck - NOT'. :-) I love being spiritually fed at Conference.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
It's been a great week for my second week of holidays. We started our week off going over to our friends, Robyn and Geoff's for dinner on Monday. They had been away for a couple of weeks and so they wanted to catch up with us - it's so nice having such good friends that both Dad and I get along so well with. We borrowed their trailer and brought it back home.
On Tuesday, we headed off to Brisbane - we were so excited to be able to get away and to go to the temple. We stayed at a 'Big 4' campground which is very much like a KOA campground. This campground had a number of cabins and semi-permanent trailers along with spaces for tents and camping trailers. The one we borrowed from Robyn and Geoff is like a big tent with a bed which is raised. The campground had a pool, a games room, a playground and a camp kitchen. We did all of our cooking in that kitchen which was really nice - two fridges, barbecue, stovetop and microwave. It was so relaxing at the campground - we read, we did crossword puzzles, we swam, we ate and we played games - it was so nice after being so busy teaching for those two weeks and Dad doing his four day course the week before that. The weather was perfect, too - beautiful blue sky and the sun shining down - ahhh - life is good. :-) One thing we noticed is that it was still cool at night and so we need to remember to bring our track suits next time we go camping for after the sun goes down.
We loved going to the temple - we were able to go on Wednesday morning and evening and Thursday morning. There were a lot of people there and they ended up having to bring in extra chairs each time we were there. It is such a wonderful place to be and it's so peaceful and gives one time for contemplating and being apart from 'the world'. Dad and I loved it so much that we have decided to make it a monthly trip.
When we arrived home, Dad had an email from the company who has hired him. The fellow said that he was just waiting for the head of the company to come back from teaching in New Zealand so that he could sign Dad's contract and send it on. So, Dad should have the contract in his hands later this week - he is really looking forward to seeing it, getting in the training later on this year and to begin working for the company next year.
We had the missionaries to dinner on Friday and then on Saturday (after spending the afternoon relaxing outside reading), we had Robyn and Geoff over for dinner along with another couple, Lyn and Dan. They had been to Canada for a month in July and had gone on the 'Rocky Mountaineer', to the 'Calgary Stampede' and on an Alaskan cruise. All four of us (Dad, me, Robyn and Geoff) all want to do this trip and so we had asked Lyn and Dan to come over for dinner and to bring their photos and videos of the trip. It was great getting to know Lyn and Dan better and to also see/hear about their trip. We all are really keen to go on that trip even more now. The scenery was incredible!
It's hard to believe that my two weeks of holidays are up and that I am going back to work tomorrow. The madness begins again! :-)
Below are pics from where we were sitting on our patio enjoying the blue sky and warm sun. :-)
On Tuesday, we headed off to Brisbane - we were so excited to be able to get away and to go to the temple. We stayed at a 'Big 4' campground which is very much like a KOA campground. This campground had a number of cabins and semi-permanent trailers along with spaces for tents and camping trailers. The one we borrowed from Robyn and Geoff is like a big tent with a bed which is raised. The campground had a pool, a games room, a playground and a camp kitchen. We did all of our cooking in that kitchen which was really nice - two fridges, barbecue, stovetop and microwave. It was so relaxing at the campground - we read, we did crossword puzzles, we swam, we ate and we played games - it was so nice after being so busy teaching for those two weeks and Dad doing his four day course the week before that. The weather was perfect, too - beautiful blue sky and the sun shining down - ahhh - life is good. :-) One thing we noticed is that it was still cool at night and so we need to remember to bring our track suits next time we go camping for after the sun goes down.
We loved going to the temple - we were able to go on Wednesday morning and evening and Thursday morning. There were a lot of people there and they ended up having to bring in extra chairs each time we were there. It is such a wonderful place to be and it's so peaceful and gives one time for contemplating and being apart from 'the world'. Dad and I loved it so much that we have decided to make it a monthly trip.
When we arrived home, Dad had an email from the company who has hired him. The fellow said that he was just waiting for the head of the company to come back from teaching in New Zealand so that he could sign Dad's contract and send it on. So, Dad should have the contract in his hands later this week - he is really looking forward to seeing it, getting in the training later on this year and to begin working for the company next year.
We had the missionaries to dinner on Friday and then on Saturday (after spending the afternoon relaxing outside reading), we had Robyn and Geoff over for dinner along with another couple, Lyn and Dan. They had been to Canada for a month in July and had gone on the 'Rocky Mountaineer', to the 'Calgary Stampede' and on an Alaskan cruise. All four of us (Dad, me, Robyn and Geoff) all want to do this trip and so we had asked Lyn and Dan to come over for dinner and to bring their photos and videos of the trip. It was great getting to know Lyn and Dan better and to also see/hear about their trip. We all are really keen to go on that trip even more now. The scenery was incredible!
It's hard to believe that my two weeks of holidays are up and that I am going back to work tomorrow. The madness begins again! :-)
Below are pics from where we were sitting on our patio enjoying the blue sky and warm sun. :-)
Sunday, September 20, 2012
Although I have been on school holidays, it's been a very busy week. I have already posted about the first half of the week on my last post, so this one is from Thursday. I spent about four hours on Thursday at Kawungan school. My friend, Sandy, who teaches grade two and has the classroom next to me, was going into the school and she had the code to turn off the alarm on our little block. Sandy and I get along really well, so it was fun as well as productive getting our plans sorted and picking up supplies so that I could get some things ready at home this coming week. It felt really good to be able to get so much done - I really like being as prepared as possible ahead of time.
Friday was another day of doctor's appointments. The first one was an ultrasound and yes, having to hold a litre of water for over an hour is not a fun time. :-) The doctor was really nice and chatted while he did the ultrasound. I was never so happy to get to the bathroom afterwards, though. :-) After a quick trip to the chapel to open up the Family History Centre, we went to my second doctor's appointment which was a skin check - and it was exactly what I thought it was - the doctor checked over every inch of my body for moles - every now and then he used what looked like a jeweller's spyglass to look at something closely. He said there was nothing for him to be concerned about which I was really happy about.
Whenever this doctor has to do something where the patient has to undress, he has a nurse come into the room. The one on Friday was the same one who had come in when I had my pap smear last Monday and so she and I chatted while the doctor was checking me out. I asked her why she was there and she said that she is usually typing up whatever the doctor is concerned about re: the skin check, but she didn't have to do anything with me (she did type up one thing at the end when I told the doctor that Dr. Nixon in Canada had taken care of one mole, so the doctor here wants to keep an eye on it). I think it's also protects the doctor from anyone saying that something inappropriate happened, but of course, they didn't mention that.
Yesterday, we spent the day helping the Gilbert's move - since the Gilbert's are not residents of Australia and have a South African driver's license, they have had difficulty renting vehicles here in Australia for some reason. So, they asked Dad if he would rent the truck and drive it from their present house to their new house. I spent most of the time helping Haidi clean out their garage - they had a lot of boxes in there and I managed to help Haidi 'throw out' a lot of stuff - she was even telling others how good I was at helping her to cull things. :-) I told her that Jennifer was the queen of culling and that I had learned a lot when we had to decide what to bring and what not to bring to Australia.
Today Dad and I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. My talk was on how we can always have the spirit to be with us and Dad's was on faith. Both talks went really well - we had both practised them a number of times so that we were able to look up a lot of the time as we gave the talks. Dad and I were both told by a number of people how much they enjoyed our talks. I told them that I was very grateful that we have lds.org to go to on the net to get copies of talks from the church magazines because that's where I go to to get a lot of what I talk about in my sacrament meeting talks. I got very emotional when giving my talk - the spirit really touched me and I love that feeling. :-)
Dad and I are going to the temple this week - I am so excited - we haven't been able to go to the Brisbane temple since we have arrived here. I was told today that it is a beautiful temple (aren't they all? :-) We are planning on borrowing our friends' tent trailer and staying at a 'Big 4' campground which sounds and looks a lot like the KOA campgrounds over there. It will be nice to get away, relax and spend some time in the Temple. :-)
Friday was another day of doctor's appointments. The first one was an ultrasound and yes, having to hold a litre of water for over an hour is not a fun time. :-) The doctor was really nice and chatted while he did the ultrasound. I was never so happy to get to the bathroom afterwards, though. :-) After a quick trip to the chapel to open up the Family History Centre, we went to my second doctor's appointment which was a skin check - and it was exactly what I thought it was - the doctor checked over every inch of my body for moles - every now and then he used what looked like a jeweller's spyglass to look at something closely. He said there was nothing for him to be concerned about which I was really happy about.
Whenever this doctor has to do something where the patient has to undress, he has a nurse come into the room. The one on Friday was the same one who had come in when I had my pap smear last Monday and so she and I chatted while the doctor was checking me out. I asked her why she was there and she said that she is usually typing up whatever the doctor is concerned about re: the skin check, but she didn't have to do anything with me (she did type up one thing at the end when I told the doctor that Dr. Nixon in Canada had taken care of one mole, so the doctor here wants to keep an eye on it). I think it's also protects the doctor from anyone saying that something inappropriate happened, but of course, they didn't mention that.
Yesterday, we spent the day helping the Gilbert's move - since the Gilbert's are not residents of Australia and have a South African driver's license, they have had difficulty renting vehicles here in Australia for some reason. So, they asked Dad if he would rent the truck and drive it from their present house to their new house. I spent most of the time helping Haidi clean out their garage - they had a lot of boxes in there and I managed to help Haidi 'throw out' a lot of stuff - she was even telling others how good I was at helping her to cull things. :-) I told her that Jennifer was the queen of culling and that I had learned a lot when we had to decide what to bring and what not to bring to Australia.
Today Dad and I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. My talk was on how we can always have the spirit to be with us and Dad's was on faith. Both talks went really well - we had both practised them a number of times so that we were able to look up a lot of the time as we gave the talks. Dad and I were both told by a number of people how much they enjoyed our talks. I told them that I was very grateful that we have lds.org to go to on the net to get copies of talks from the church magazines because that's where I go to to get a lot of what I talk about in my sacrament meeting talks. I got very emotional when giving my talk - the spirit really touched me and I love that feeling. :-)
Dad and I are going to the temple this week - I am so excited - we haven't been able to go to the Brisbane temple since we have arrived here. I was told today that it is a beautiful temple (aren't they all? :-) We are planning on borrowing our friends' tent trailer and staying at a 'Big 4' campground which sounds and looks a lot like the KOA campgrounds over there. It will be nice to get away, relax and spend some time in the Temple. :-)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Time sure gets away from you sometimes, eh? Well, it has from me since we have returned home from Brisbane. My second week at school went very well again - the kids are getting used to my way of doing things (a little different from Bronwyn). There were a number of children away this past week, though - there was some kind of bug going around - plus, a few went on vacation early. So, on Friday, I only had 12 children. I couldn't do any teaching, really, so we spent the day mostly doing fun stuff - painting, reading, cleaning up the classroom. :-) I have spent this week planning for the two weeks after the holidays. I went into school today to do some prepping and to get some supplies which I will sort out at home.
On Sunday, we had our first run-through for the Primary Sacrament meeting presentation and it went quite well - I was really pleased. The three children who can read were away, so we had others reading their parts (just to get an idea of the timing) and the other children parroted what the grown-up sitting with them read from the script. I photocopied the presentation and drove around town on Tuesday delivering the scripts to the Primary children. I am just hoping that they all show up for the next two practices.
Monday, my first day of vacation, was spent going to doctor's appointments - my doctor is getting all sorts of tests done since I am a new patient - so I have been to get blood tests, did the mammogram and pap smears, and have to go tomorrow to have an ultrasound of the uterus/ovaries area and also to have a skin check. I haven't had a skin check before, but I am guessing it has something to do with checking moles, etc. as Australians are very susceptible to skin cancer as so many of them spend a lot of time out in the sun. The only thing left to get at the doctor's is a physical - phew, I will be glad when it's all done, at least for another year. It is good to know that the doctor is being very thorough, though.
On Tuesday, Dad got the call he's been waiting for about the job he interviewed for - he was so excited about what the guy, Chris, was saying on the phone, that he kept giving me the 'thumbs up'. :-) It was so great to get some good news re: a job for Dad - he is very excited to start on this new adventure! He will be travelling down to Melbourne at the end of November for three weeks to sit in on a course - it's a course about the A330 airplane - Dad has a license on the A300, A310, and the A320 and some experience with the A330, but hasn't got a license on it. So, Chris wants Dad to sit in on the course (like auditing it) so that he can learn the differences of the A330 (so he can eventually teach the course himself) and also Dad wants to see how the instructor (who's been teaching for this company for nine years) teaches. The company will pay for Dad to fly down and back and also will put him up in the company condo in Melbourne. He is going to ask if I can join him - I hope they say yes - Melbourne is a beautiful city and I would love to spend some time touring it.
Yesterday, I went out for lunch with my friend, Haidi. She and three of her children are going back to the UK for an extended vacation, possibly leading to them staying there (being joined by her husband and two other children who are staying here til the end of the year to complete their high school education). We had a great time chatting with each other and eating a good meal, as well. I'm sad for me that she is leaving, but I am happy for her as she feels that the UK is her home (even though she was raised in South Africa). It sucks making new friends and then having them leave - first Julianne left so that her husband, Clive, could get more work, then Rosalea left to be closer to her granddaughter, and now possibly Haidi. I had so many friends in Canada that there was always someone to hang out with, but of course, it took me years to make that many friends. I am glad that Robyn and Geoff have no plans to move out of HB. :-)
On Sunday, we had our first run-through for the Primary Sacrament meeting presentation and it went quite well - I was really pleased. The three children who can read were away, so we had others reading their parts (just to get an idea of the timing) and the other children parroted what the grown-up sitting with them read from the script. I photocopied the presentation and drove around town on Tuesday delivering the scripts to the Primary children. I am just hoping that they all show up for the next two practices.
Monday, my first day of vacation, was spent going to doctor's appointments - my doctor is getting all sorts of tests done since I am a new patient - so I have been to get blood tests, did the mammogram and pap smears, and have to go tomorrow to have an ultrasound of the uterus/ovaries area and also to have a skin check. I haven't had a skin check before, but I am guessing it has something to do with checking moles, etc. as Australians are very susceptible to skin cancer as so many of them spend a lot of time out in the sun. The only thing left to get at the doctor's is a physical - phew, I will be glad when it's all done, at least for another year. It is good to know that the doctor is being very thorough, though.
On Tuesday, Dad got the call he's been waiting for about the job he interviewed for - he was so excited about what the guy, Chris, was saying on the phone, that he kept giving me the 'thumbs up'. :-) It was so great to get some good news re: a job for Dad - he is very excited to start on this new adventure! He will be travelling down to Melbourne at the end of November for three weeks to sit in on a course - it's a course about the A330 airplane - Dad has a license on the A300, A310, and the A320 and some experience with the A330, but hasn't got a license on it. So, Chris wants Dad to sit in on the course (like auditing it) so that he can learn the differences of the A330 (so he can eventually teach the course himself) and also Dad wants to see how the instructor (who's been teaching for this company for nine years) teaches. The company will pay for Dad to fly down and back and also will put him up in the company condo in Melbourne. He is going to ask if I can join him - I hope they say yes - Melbourne is a beautiful city and I would love to spend some time touring it.
Yesterday, I went out for lunch with my friend, Haidi. She and three of her children are going back to the UK for an extended vacation, possibly leading to them staying there (being joined by her husband and two other children who are staying here til the end of the year to complete their high school education). We had a great time chatting with each other and eating a good meal, as well. I'm sad for me that she is leaving, but I am happy for her as she feels that the UK is her home (even though she was raised in South Africa). It sucks making new friends and then having them leave - first Julianne left so that her husband, Clive, could get more work, then Rosalea left to be closer to her granddaughter, and now possibly Haidi. I had so many friends in Canada that there was always someone to hang out with, but of course, it took me years to make that many friends. I am glad that Robyn and Geoff have no plans to move out of HB. :-)
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
I have been so busy with teaching and so tired from teaching all day - that's why I haven't written until now. I love being back in teaching mode - doing all the planning is exciting to me - I definitely am meant to be a teacher - it's totally in my blood. :-) I am teaching a grade two class and there are 21 kids in the class. There are two little monkeys, but the rest are quite good. There are more girls than boys which suits me well - having said that, there are some sweet boys and some annoying girls in the class. :-) There are so many things that the government is telling us to teach now (explicit lessons have been given for language and math), that I feel that there is so little of "ME" in my program. This is nice for me right now with doing a contract position for just four weeks, but I am not sure I would be a fan of it if I was permanent/full-time. Teaching is taking up pretty much all my time. I get to school around 7:30am and am usually there until between 4:30pm and 5pm each day. After dinner, I usually spend between 1 1/2 and 2 hours doing more school work. It's a lot of work and it's tiring, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. :-) Other than school work, the other thing that keeps me busy is church - on Sunday, I typed up the Sacrament Meeting Presentation which the Primary children will put on in October. We usually have 11 children in Primary, but two of them (both of who can read and know the songs) are leaving for England before the presentation - so, we are really going to find it hard, I think, to make it work, but we are going to try. We are going to have a run-through on Sunday to see how the children cope with what I have prepared for them to say and then make a decision on the final draft of the presentation.
Now for Dad - he has some good news - we think. :-) He is still waiting for a phone call to 'seal the deal', but he feels very hopeful - and very excited. He drove down to Brisbane this morning (3 1/2 hours) to have an interview with a guy who owns a company which teaches aircraft technical training. Harry (the owner of the company) and his son interviewed Dad (for 1 1/2 hours) and Dad reckons the interview went really well. He said that they sounded like they wanted to hire him, but be thought that they might need some time to figure out when they could use him, when he could get some training he would need, and also to give him some time to get his ABN (Australian Business Number). Basically, he would be working as a contractor and so he would bill the company every time they use him to teach and then that means he would have to pay his own taxes. Dad has also been busy with church stuff - mostly getting his lessons together to teach on Sundays. He also has been busy working on things around the house and at the Family History Centre.
We both need a cruise to go on to get a rest.
Now for Dad - he has some good news - we think. :-) He is still waiting for a phone call to 'seal the deal', but he feels very hopeful - and very excited. He drove down to Brisbane this morning (3 1/2 hours) to have an interview with a guy who owns a company which teaches aircraft technical training. Harry (the owner of the company) and his son interviewed Dad (for 1 1/2 hours) and Dad reckons the interview went really well. He said that they sounded like they wanted to hire him, but be thought that they might need some time to figure out when they could use him, when he could get some training he would need, and also to give him some time to get his ABN (Australian Business Number). Basically, he would be working as a contractor and so he would bill the company every time they use him to teach and then that means he would have to pay his own taxes. Dad has also been busy with church stuff - mostly getting his lessons together to teach on Sundays. He also has been busy working on things around the house and at the Family History Centre.
We both need a cruise to go on to get a rest.
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