Sunday, 20 October, 2013

A week at home has been nice - some relaxing time and some busy time. :-)

It turned out that Dad didn't go to Melbourne this week.  His boss was able to get an airplane down there for them to do some training on, but most of the guys couldn't get the time off work, so they are going to do it at a later date.  Dad spent a lot of this week prepping for the course in Adelaide and then for the Perth course.  He spent a lot of time organizing his pictures of the different airplanes, so that it's faster to access them as he is talking about them.  He also spent a lot of time organizing how he will use his time in Perth as he will have to share the time with another instructor.

On Tuesday, my friend, Maureen took me out for morning tea to a cute little cafe in River Heads which is about a fifteen minute drive from HB.  We sat on the patio and had an amazing view of the Mary River (pics below).  We had a slice of cake (I had a Mars bar slice) and a hot chocolate and just sat and chatted.  We ended up talking for over three hours. :-)  When I got home, I went off to the pool so that I could get in another 30 lengths.  I was still tired after I was done, but it felt good as usual. :-)

On Wednesday, Dad and I met up with Robyn and Geoff down at the beach.  We had a barbecue (steak, salad, fruit) and then went for an hour long walk along the beach.  The day was perfect and we had a great time catching up with our friends.

On Thursday (at 5:30pm), I went to the pool for my first time at the 'Adult Swim Class'.  Jo (a woman) is our instructor and she is really good.  She actually teaches swimming as her job, including teaching a swim club after school.  There were five of us at the class and basically Jo told us what to swim and we did it.  We started off by 'warming up' - swimming six lengths (that was more than just a warm-up for me, I can tell you :-)  We continued to swim lengths for the rest of the hour (some with legs only, some like a 'rocket', some using a flutterboard to practice breathing alternately to the right and left).  As Jo watched us swim, she gave us suggestions on how to better our stroke technique.  It was a great workout and I was exhausted by the end of it - and I am looking forward to next week's class. :-)

On Friday, Dad and I went out for lunch to celebrate our anniversary - we decided to go to the same cafe which Maureen took me to on Tuesday.  We sat out on the patio and Dad loved the view as much as I did.  Dad had the seafood basket (which he really liked) and I had the quiche (pretty ordinary) and we decided to buy a mud cake (chocolate cake) from the grocery store to have for dessert.  The mud cakes here are just so yummy - we hadn't had one for over three months (the whole time we were away in Melbourne and Brisbane) and I just relished each bite. :-)

We didn't get to stay too long at the cafe as Dad had to get home to put a warm pack and a cold pack (alternately) on his shoulder/neck.  He had gone to the chiropractor on Tuesday for a regular check-up and she asked him to come back on Friday.  When he went in Friday morning, she did the regular routine and then asked Dad if he minded her doing some acupuncture on him because he had a really tight knot in his neck.   After his session, the chiropractor asked him to go home and put a warm pad on his shoulder/neck for 20 minutes and then a cold pack for ten minutes and to continue doing this all afternoon and then to return to her office again at 5pm. At that time, she massaged out his neck a little more and he finds it is a lot better now.

While Dad was at the chiropractor's, I went into Kawungan State School to see the grade one teachers.  I especially wanted to see Fiona again (the teacher whose class I was supposed to cover) to apologize again for not taking her contract.  She told me that she was actually happy that I didn't take it - she said that she was really glad that I decided to take care of myself - she thought that was way more important than teaching her class.  I was so happy to hear that - everyone was happy to see me - they are such a lovely group of women - and it was so nice.  I asked Fiona how the teacher coped who did take her contract and she said that she did not have a good time - in fact, she told Luise (another grade one teacher) that she would not come in for any of the grade one teachers at Kawungan for the rest of the year.  When I heard that, I was VERY glad that I did not take the contract.  Luise also told me that she will be teaching only half-time in two years and asked me if I would be interested in teaching with her.  I would LOVE to do that as she and I get along really well and teach  in a very similar style - and, even more importantly, discipline in a very similar style.  I don't know if it will work out, but it was very nice to be asked.  :-)

On Saturday, Dad needed to do some more prepping (just making sure that he was ready for both Adelaide and Perth) - he will be in Adelaide from today until Thursday (exam day for his students) and then will fly to Perth that evening and begin teaching the new course there on Friday - so he will have no time to prep for that Friday before he gets there.  While he was busy doing that (and packing for his trip), I went to the pool again.  Jo (the adult swim teacher) suggested that I get a swim cap, so I bought one on Saturday.  I couldn't believe how much further I could swim before getting tired out.  I guess having to deal with hair in my face every time I breathed was taking it out of me.  I tried to remember all the different things which Jo had had us do on Thursday - I ended up swimming for 50 minutes and got a very good workout.  I was very tired and worn out, but it felt great! :-)

Dad headed out to Adelaide this morning - he emailed me once he got to Sydney safe and sound and then skyped with me once he arrived in Adelaide.  The flight from Sydney to Adelaide was delayed because an airplane blew some tires on the landing and so one runway was closed until it could be cleaned up.  Dad said that everyone had to sit in their airplane for an hour until they were given the clearance to take off.  He was happy to arrive in Adelaide finally. :-)  He picked  up his rental car at the airport and drove to his hotel (a very nice large room, he said) and was heading out to get some supper (by the time he got to his  hotel, it was 8pm and he was starving! :-)   We both wish that I was in Adelaide with him, but I am sure that this week will go fast and he will be picking me up in Perth on Saturday evening. :-)

View of the ocean from our picnic table on our barbecue with Robyn and Geoff

On our walk with Robyn and Geoff (Dad is on the left)

Robyn and me

View of the ocean (on our walk)

Dad working in his 'office'

Me working hard :-)

View from our table on the patio at the cafe

Dad and his seafood platter

Me and my anniversary lunch

Sunday, 13 October, 2013

Another week gone by - I think the time needs to slow down. :-)  Dad's course in Brisbane went really well - he spent a lot of time studying every night and it certainly paid off.  On Thursday, he took the exam marking the end of the course - when the exams were all completed and marked, the instructor put a piece of candy on the desks of those who received 100% - Dad was pleased and relieved to find a piece of candy on his desk. :-)  He sure didn't want to get any ribbing from the guys on the course if he didn't get a perfect mark. :-)  So, now Dad has one more course to add to his very long resume. :-)  

While Dad was busy with studying, I continued to do my exercise routine going for walks and swimming - I am feeling better each time I swim and I can tell that it's making a difference in my fitness even after doing it for only a short time.

We drove home to HB on Thursday afternoon - very uneventful - and, after dropping off some stuff at home, went downtown to grab some groceries.  When we returned home, the excitement began as there was a visitor in our house - a very UNWELCOME visitor.  Dad had just taken his shoes off when he looked up the hallway and exclaimed "Whoa, what's that?"  I turned to look and just about jumped out of my skin.  It was a SNAKE!  EEEEEEK!  I am deathly afraid of snakes, as you all well know!  The first thing I did was call our friends, Robyn and Geoff, to see what they thought we should do and Robyn suggested we call the police to find out who would do snake removal in HB.  Thankfully, Dad had had the foresight to put the names/phone numbers of three snake removalists into his phone.  While Dad kept an eagle eye  on the snake (who was barely twitching), I called the snake guy and asked him to come over IMMEDIATELY!  Mick, the snake guy, was brilliant!  He was there within twenty minutes of me calling him and removed the dreaded creature - I didn't watch it happening - I was out on the driveway (shaking).  But, I did come in the house once the snake was caught.  Dad watched the whole thing (yuck) and said that Mick just put this contraption over the snake's head to hold it to the ground while he checked out what kind of snake it was (it was a harmless tree snake) and then he picked it up and held it by it's tail (it was very very skinny and about 18" long) - the snake just hung there.  Dad paid Mick the $80. fee and then Mick took the snake away (he said he would release it somewhere away from people).  That was too much excitement for my blood!

The next morning, Dad and I went to Bunnings (like Home Depot) and got some foam door seal which Dad put around the sliding door between the house and the garage.  We figure that the snake got into the garage when we opened it when we came home from Brisbane.  When we were bringing our luggage in, we had removed the towel which went across the bottom of the door so no spiders could get in the house from the garage.  When we had gone grocery shopping, we had forgotten to put the towel back, so we think that's house the snake got in.  Dad did a great job of sealing that door, so there is no way that anything can get inside the house now. :-)  Although, having said that, we did find a baby gecko (about 3" long) in our house last night, but him I can live with. :-)

Yesterday, Dad spent the day getting ready for a course he was going to be teaching in Kuala Lumpur and I spent the day cleaning up the house and I also went for a swim at our local pool.  On Friday, I had bought a 20 pass card to the pool here which has no expiry date.  There were quite a number of people swimming lengths which I was surprised at.  I was, however, able to get a lane of my own to swim in.  After doing my 30 lengths, I spoke with the girl at the kiosk about which swim clubs might be available for me to join (it's not that fun swimming on your own) - she told me about a few and I have decided to check out the one on Thursdays which is for adults who want to improve their stroke techniques.  I actually want to focus on what I can do to improve my ability to swim more lengths of front crawl before I get winded. :-)

Today, about 90 minutes before we were to leave to go to the airport (Dad's flight to Kuala Lumpur departed at 5:30pm), Dad got a call from his boss to tell him that the course was cancelled.  Apparently, the plane they were going to be training on had received some damage and there was going to be an investigation into the incident - while this was happening, no-one was being allowed to work/train on the plane.  As you can imagine, everyone who was going to be doing the training with Dad was very upset (as was Dad's boss), but there was nothing that could be done, even though Dad's boss had made a ton of calls to see if there was another possible solution.  Late last night, Dad got a call from his other boss to tell him that there was a possibility that they would be able to do the course in Melbourne instead.  So, now, Dad's just waiting to find out if he will be headed off to Melbourne on Thursday - he is already scheduled to fly to Adelaide on Sunday and then directly on to Perth the following Thursday.  I told Dad that his company is very fortunate that Dad is so flexible. :-)

It was so nice to be back at church today and we received such a nice warm welcome home from everybody - lots of hugs and smiles all around.  It was great to see everyone again and to get caught up on what people have been doing while we have been away.  By the end of the day, I had three social events on my calendar: morning tea with my friend on Tuesday morning, lunch with another friend and supper with another friend.  Not bad, eh? :-)  It was General Conference Sunday here as we obviously don't watch it when it's being broadcast from Utah as that would be 2am Monday here in Australia, so they download it from the internet here and then replay it the following Sunday.  The two phrases that touched me the most from this conference were "Look Up" (Today is the time to look to the Source of truth and ensure that our testimonies are strong) and "Decisions Determine Destiny" (The wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions is crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity).  I LOVE General Conference - so uplifting! :-)

Sunday, 6 October 2013

Here it is, Sunday again - where does the time go?  Well, they do say that time flies when you're having fun, so I guess that's what it must be. :-)

Dad has now finished teaching this course - he just has to give the students one more exam on Monday morning.  He is very happy to be finished the course - the prepping took up so much time and he's quite tired from the week.  Dad says that he learned a lot while teaching the course as it's not an airplane that he has a lot of experience working with.  He was teaching about the Airbus A330 - he has a lot of Airbus experience, but not with this particular model.  He really enjoyed teaching this group of students - they were very inquisitive and asked tons of questions - that makes the teaching/learning more interesting for everybody. After Dad gives the exam out and marks it on Monday, he then becomes the student until Thursday when he will have to take an exam of his own about an airplane engine which he has never worked on.

I went swimming again this week on Tuesday, Thursday and yesterday.  When I went on Tuesday, it had been six days since I had gone (since I didn't go the Friday before last) and I found it much harder than going two days after the last time I had gone.  So, I decided that it was better if I go three times a week.  I am finding that my arms are starting to hurt a little (I guess from the consistent exercise), but it's a good hurt. :-) Dad told me that there is a pool in the complex we are staying in in Perth the week after next.  I hope it's a long pool and not just a dipping pool (if you know what I mean).  It's an outside pool, so I'm not sure if it will be heated or not.  Dad's boss and his wife were just out there the week before last and they said that they did not use it as the weather was too cold.  Hopefully, it will be nicer when we are there.  If not, I will look for a community pool nearby and either walk there or get Dad to drive me there after work.  They say that it's important to find some kind of exercise that you enjoy doing or you will likely not keep it up - I really am enjoying swimming (even if it's hard work) - I think it's quite appropriate that I was born a Pisces. :-)

On Wednesday, I walked down to the pier (about a fifteen minute walk from the apartment) and caught the free ferry which goes up and down the Brisbane River.  It was a beautiful day (sunny with a cool breeze) - I was able to sit on the top deck and enjoy the sun and breeze while I checked out what was on either bank of the river.  Although it was a nice day for 'sailing', I found it a bit boring to be doing it on my own.  I have decided that I am not a good solo traveller - I would have much preferred that Dad was with me so that we could have talked along the way.  

On Friday, I walked downtown again and met up with my Aunt Beth and Aunt Janet - they are Poppy's younger sisters (they both live in the Brisbane area).  We met up at 10am and found a cafe to have a coffee/tea/hot chocolate in.  We found two really comfortable couches across from each other and spent the morning catching up with each other about what had been going on in our lives since we last saw each other (which was in January when Nana and Warren were here).  Aunt Beth's son, Adam and his partner just had twin girls in July who were eleven weeks premature and so she was showing us lots of pics of them.  When lunch time came, we were still at the cafe and so we ordered lunch and continued to chat - we ended up spending over five hours together and it was great!  I hope to be able to get together with them again next time we are in Brisbane in November.

Today was a really restful day - I love Sundays! :-)   This afternoon, Dad and I spent two hours walking around the downtown area of Brisbane.  We walked on the boardwalk beside the river until we got to the Botanic Gardens.  When we were walking through the gardens, we saw a lovely little goanna (like an iguana) on the footpath (picture down below).  He was as still as still could be, but we just knew that he was quite aware that we were there.  After walking through the gardens, we walked up Queen Street Mall and sat down on a bench to people watch and chat.  It was such a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. :-)

Sunday, 29 September, 2013

Wow, where did that week go?  It's gone so fast - I can't believe it's Sunday already!  :-)

This week was a very busy one for Dad - he had to teach a very large amount of information this week.  He was up prepping 'til 10:30pm a couple of nights.  I have had to tell him what time he needs to stop so that he can get in some down-time.  I told him from my own experience that it's important to have some time to relax before you try to sleep.  Otherwise you get stressed and also don't get a good night's sleep which is  very important when you have to teach the next day.  He's happy that the week is over - he thinks that next week (which is his last week teaching this course) will be much lighter.  All his students passed the test this week and the one who didn't pass last week (and got some private tutoring from Dad) got 100% on his make-up test which made the student (and Dad) very happy.

I started swimming this week - the pool is just a fifteen minute walk from here.  The minute I put my face in the water, it felt great.  I swam 30 lengths (25 metres in length) - I did a rotation of two lengths front crawl, two lengths back crawl, two lengths side stroke, two lengths front crawl and two lengths legs only (using a flutterboard). and I did this rotation three times.  The first day I went (Monday), I felt so sick afterwards (like throwing up sick) and yet I felt great (if that makes sense :-)  My legs were so wobbly afterwards that I found it a bit difficult to walk home.  I went again on Wednesday and felt much better after that swim.  I hope to go three times this week.

On Tuesday, I walked downtown and spent a couple of hours purse shopping.  I wanted to look for a purse which I could take travelling with me - one that was light and had a place for credit cards and  had zippers (and didn't cost a fortune).  It doesn't sound like it would be that hard to find one like that, eh - I think I hit almost every store in the downtown area.  I finally found one that I really liked, but the price tag said $60.  I know that doesn't sounds like a lot of money to some people, but I still have trouble spending money on some things (travel doesn't count ).  I thought about it on the way home and tried to figure out a way to make myself okay with spending that kind of money.  When I got home and told Dad about the purse and the price, he said that I should go and buy it if it was exactly what I wanted - he had been given a bonus from work and said we could use some of the money to buy it.  I don't know why I have such a hard time spending money on stuff (other than travelling) - I guess it's because I have always had to save my money for something (education, house, children).  I was so happy to head back downtown on Thursday to buy the purse.  The pics below show the front and back of the purse.

On Thursday, I walked down to the Botanic Gardens for a volunteer-led walk around the gardens.  I thought I was going to be the only person on the tour until just before 1pm, a young Chinese student came.  Alison, our tour guide, gave us a great tour of the gardens and told us a lot of the history of the place.  We must have walked around for at least an hour learning and talking and enjoying the beautiful day and the lovely gardens, including some really nice fountains and some beautiful flowers.  I just love being out in nature.

Yesterday, Dad and I went to the Temple - we love going there and it's great that it's only a five minute drive from where we are staying here.  It's so peaceful in the Temple.  It's nice to be able to go so often with Dad working in the major cities and the temples being in those major cities.  We are looking forward to going to the Perth Temple when we go there in a few weeks.

Dad and I went out for lunch yesterday - we are going out to eat once a week while we are travelling - and I took him to the Asian restaurant which Sarah and I had gone to last week.  I decided to get the Pad Thai (which Sarah had said was really good and you, Terri-Ann, said you liked to get when you go to a Thai restaurant).  Dad got the pork belly with honey mustard, rice and salad.  Dad said his meal was really nice, but mine was just okay.  I liked the  pasta and the veggies in the meal, but I wasn't fond of the sauce and spices.  I remember you saying, Terri-Ann, that you like the tomato-based one - this one wasn't tomato-based.  There are so many restaurants downtown here and we are looking forward to trying a new one next Saturday for lunch.

Terri-Ann, I thought about you when we were in Sunday School in the Brisbane ward today.  We hardly got through much of the lesson due to the participation of the members.  The teacher (a sub) would ask a question and he would have at least a half dozen people answering each one.  I was going to make a comment, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. :-)  I love how you can go almost anywhere in the world and the church is there and the lessons are the same. :-)

Sunday, 22 September 2013

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.

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.