I didn't write on Tuesday cuz there really isn't much going on with me - and Dad is pretty much doing the same thing at Grandma's as he's been doing for the past couple of weeks. So, using the emails back and forth between Dad and I, I will fill you in on what we've been doing since I last wrote.
Monday
My Monday was delightful. I slept in 'til 9:15am which I thought was a very respectable time to get up. :-) After breakfast, I started working on my plan for the first day of school. I absolutely loved doing it - it reminded me of how much I love teaching - just not in Hervey Bay. I asked Heavenly Father what we were supposed to do - I want to teach - I am not ready to give it up yet - but, I also don't want to teach in the conditions here in HB - I'm not sure what the answer is yet. Anyway, after I was planning for a while, I thought to myself - what am I doing inside when it's such a beautiful day outside (27C today), so I went outside and read my book out on my chaise lounger. This book is a crime thriller and it's quite good - it's about a blind woman who 'sees' the last 18 seconds of a dead person's life when she touches their hand. I didn't get my nap in today as I didn't really feel tired at nap time - likely cuz I had slept in late. After the wind got too cool outside, I came inside and ran a bath and read for another 90 minutes. I know that it will cost a little extra having all these baths, but I figure that since I am not doing anything or going anywhere that costs money, I can afford to pay for a few bathtubs full of hot water. :-)
Tuesday
I got a call from Rosalea about 9am to say that were up and ready for me to come over to help them clean the house. As soon as I got there, I got to work on cleaning out the kitchen cupboards - that's a big job and one that I could do without Rosalea's help - she was busy packing things into their fridge. Rob was busy packing things into their sea container. We worked until about noon and then they wanted to go and get something to eat, so we drove over to 'Subway' on the Esplanade and then ate on the foreshore, beside the ocean on one of the tables there. It was another beautiful day in HB. :-) After that, we went back to their house and worked until almost 5pm. I told them that I wanted to leave by then as I didn't want to drive in the dark (not quite comfortable with that yet).
Wednesday
Today I went to the Lovelock's for lunch. Alison and I sat down at their kitchen table and chatted while Graham made pancakes - they asked me if that was okay and I told them how you used to make it all the time for us when the girls were little. The pancakes were yummy! We talked about how they met and they showed me their wedding albums. We will have to have them over for dinner when you get home. After lunch, I went over to help Rob and Rosalea clean again. They asked me if I would like to go with them to Rainbow Beach tomorrow, but I declined as I really need to do some planning - I have only touched a little of it on Monday and haven't done any more since then. They also wanted to take me out to dinner tonight for helping, but I told them that I was quite tired and just wanted to go home and relax. Since getting home, the only energetic thing I have done is make 'Bev's Garlic Chicken'. It's been a night of tv watching - what a lazy slug, eh? :-) Oh yeah, when I was on the way to the Woodcott's from the Lovelock's, I stopped at 'Cut it out Christa' and made an appointment for 11am on Friday to have my hair cut - it is getting way too long and it's starting to make me look old - and I don't like looking older than 29! :-)
Thursday
I slept in until 9am again - yippee - I'm getting good at this - just in time to have to wake up early again next Monday. :-) I spent some time reading before getting to work on my planning. I am now reading a book called 'The Secret Life of Bees' - it's one of my book club book list books. I was able to completely plan for the first week of school which I was pleased about. Tomorrow, I will start to get all the supplies I need for the week so that I can take the stuff into my classroom on Saturday (or maybe tomorrow if I'm really organized). My evening was spent watching tv again - I have it on every night just to have noise in the house - I just don't like the silence in here when it's not on. If it's during the day, I have the CD player on, but it just doesn't do the trick in the evening. If there's 'nothing' on, I put on the news channel just to have some background noise (although often on the news channel, it's actually interesting. :-)
DAD
Monday
I walked Mom through sending an email today. Krystal had written and sent along a few pictures of Alexander and Dominic. She opened the email, read it and looked at the pictures, then replied and sent it off. All in all not bad for her first go. I spent the day today, after making 5 trips to the garbage bin and recycle with all yesterday's garbage, helping Mom with all sorts of things. We found phone numbers for almost all of the companies who she will need to call in the next couple of days. It took nearly all day, and still a dozen or so calls for Mom to make. Jackie is still sorting photos with Mom. Which to get rid of, which to keep and put into albums. Tomorrow I also need to get a small mailer box and send if off to myself with all the family history documents and old photos that are passing to me. In going over documents and photos with Mom we have found a few holes in the family history that will need looking into.
Tuesday
Mom really likes having me here helping her out. She really does not like having to deal with all the red tape and forms, etc that go with someone passing. Doug, or Scott, or Erika can help her, but I think she just likes me being here to take it on straight away and get things sorted out, or at least moving on. Today Mom and I went to the airport and picked up my Zed ticket. A stop at the funeral place to see how the memories book is coming. Jackie needs some of the photos back to scan for Victoria who is working on Dad's memoirs book. The memory book computer version should be finished by tomorrow. So all is well there for Jackie to get the stuff back in time to scan it before they head out to Calgary. Speaking of Calgary it looks like Scott may not be going. He does not have enough time off available and is having trouble seeing if someone can swap a day or two with him. Also today included stops at the drug store, the post office and the grocery store. Several more phone calls (they're neverending, it seems). There really is a lot to tidy up after someone passes on. I can see the 'business wisdom' in a company requiring all this red tape, but it sure makes it difficult for a grieving spouse to deal with all the paperwork and red tape. Tomorrow Dad's work has arranged for a courier to come and pick up 2 boxes and a paper roll tube of stuff we have come across that needs to be returned to his office. Then they can decide what happens to it all. Much of it they did indicate they would like back when Mom talked with them.
Wednesday
Jackie has decided to come back to Vancouver after Thanksgiving and will likely stay until Christmas. That way she doesn't have to rush through sorting photos and books. She can also continue to help Mom with email, Skype and other things which come up. So today was stops at the drug store, pet store, Walmart, Dad's Dr's office to get some forms signed for insurance. Also Jackie and I went over and had a look at the memories book. We found a few missing pages and a couple of typos they had made, so they will fix those tomorrow morning and give us another call. Mom's visiting teachers came by tonight and they are really nice and supportive. They offered to give her a ride to church if required and stop by if she needs any help. They talked about the VT message that Terri-Ann put a quote from in her blog the other day regarding being hit over the head. We also had a very nice stew dinner tonight. Yesterday at YW, they had a cooking lesson and made the stew. They made tons and when the girls asked what they were going to do with all the extra, the leaders said they were going to be giving it to some sisters in the Ward that were on their own and could use the help. Right away the girls said to make sure Sister Martin got some. So they brought enough by for the three of us. It was pretty good. Certainly better than fast food.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
It's been a wonderful relaxing week - it's been all about sleeping in, reading, bike riding and napping. :-) I was so stressed from teaching this past term and I knew I needed to just relax for a while. I have been sick almost the whole term - cold symptoms - due to stress, I believe. I have really enjoyed doing 'nothing' this past week. :-) I love reading and it's been fabulous spending so much time reading this week. I have been spending a lot of time reading outside, too - it's been 25C every day with blue skies and a shining sun. :-) I spent time finding book club book lists online and made myself a list of 12 books which sounded like they would be worth spending time on reading. The first book I found was over 500 pages - a bit of a long book for my liking, but I had seen part of the movie which had been made from the book and it looked good so I gave it a shot. It was a good read - and I also found the sequel (much less pages, thank goodness! :-) on the shelf in the library which was an okay read. The third book I finished today - it was a really good read - a crime thriller - my favourite kind. I am now reading my fourth book which is also a crime thriller. I have a fifth book ready to read called 'The Secret Life Of Bees' - it sounds like a really interesting story.
I will have to start planning my last term of school tomorrow - our main unit is on 'community helpers' - sure wish I was in Canada and could go to 'Scholar's Choice' to get a theme book on it. :-) I did a lot of internet searching before the holidays and have the outline done for the unit, so it should be easy to put together. I need to put together a language and math program as well geared towards getting the students ready for grade one.
Dad is still keeping very busy with Grandma - he's been doing some work around the unit and also he, Grandma and Jackie are still sorting through things and working on getting things organized for a memory box which Grandma and Jackie are putting together. Dad says it's a really slow process having to do all this work and also running around doing things to cross off the list of things to be done because Grandpa passed away, but he's glad that he and Jackie are there to help Grandma go through it all. He says that things are starting to come together and he's hoping it will all be done before he goes.
Scott is going to drive Grandma and Jackie to Alberta on Thanksgiving weekend and Doug, Sharon and the two boys are going along also. They will all spend the Thanksgiving weekend with Kathleen, Rob and their kids. I am sure that Grandma will be really happy to have most of her family around at this time. I have read that all the holidays in the first year are really hard to go through for someone who has lost someone. So, having her children and grandchildren around her will help Grandma through this first holiday.
I will have to start planning my last term of school tomorrow - our main unit is on 'community helpers' - sure wish I was in Canada and could go to 'Scholar's Choice' to get a theme book on it. :-) I did a lot of internet searching before the holidays and have the outline done for the unit, so it should be easy to put together. I need to put together a language and math program as well geared towards getting the students ready for grade one.
Dad is still keeping very busy with Grandma - he's been doing some work around the unit and also he, Grandma and Jackie are still sorting through things and working on getting things organized for a memory box which Grandma and Jackie are putting together. Dad says it's a really slow process having to do all this work and also running around doing things to cross off the list of things to be done because Grandpa passed away, but he's glad that he and Jackie are there to help Grandma go through it all. He says that things are starting to come together and he's hoping it will all be done before he goes.
Scott is going to drive Grandma and Jackie to Alberta on Thanksgiving weekend and Doug, Sharon and the two boys are going along also. They will all spend the Thanksgiving weekend with Kathleen, Rob and their kids. I am sure that Grandma will be really happy to have most of her family around at this time. I have read that all the holidays in the first year are really hard to go through for someone who has lost someone. So, having her children and grandchildren around her will help Grandma through this first holiday.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Hello all. Sorry I didn't write on Sunday. I was going to, but friends showed up unexpectedly and then they didn't leave until late and I was too tired by then to write. There really isn't that much to write about, though, since I am on holidays, but I will catch you up anyway - I'm going to do it by cutting and pasting my emails to Dad which tell about what I have been doing............
16 September - Hooray - it's Friday - I am so glad we're done for two weeks - phew!
Just thought I would give you a laugh for today. Last night, the lamp on my side of the bedroom blew out and I tried to get the bulb out, but I twisted and twisted and it wouldn't come out, so I gave up and moved to your side of the bed. When I woke up this morning at 6:20am, I turned over to see what time it was, and I fell out of bed.
Hope the rest of my day is a bit better.
16 September - Well, I am finally on holidays - yippee! Today was okay, but the kids were so off - and so were all the other kids in the school. I thought that I might have had fewer children than usual, but nope, I had 21 of them there. I told some of the parents today that there was no way we were doing any work today - that the kids were spent - and the parents thought it was a good idea to just let them play. So, our day started off with going out to the fort (playground) to play which the kids loved - the whole fort to themselves. After fruit break, we went outside to the Prep/grade one eating area where Paula, our indigenous TA, taught the kids an indigenous dance which the kids enjoyed. After lunch break, we were going to have activity time in the classroom, but earlier in the day, the music teacher came to me and told me that she was going to take my kids for an hour for my non-contact (planning) time - what a lovely surprise that was and very much appreciated. While they were at music, I spent time talking with Sam about what I want to do next term and we also reorganized the classroom so that all the tables are in one area rather than being split by the carts. After music, we went to science and then down to the great hall to judge the things which had been built by the students with recyclable materials. Some of them were really good - the kids were very excited that there were many tickets inside the box beside our 'recycle man' (every student got to vote on which one they thought was the best by putting a ticket in the box in front of the item). After last break, it was off to the computer lab and that ended our day. I spent about ten minutes in the classroom doing some final tidying up and then I was out the door.
and........... guess what? ................. I drove all by myself into town. That's right - you read it right - and I am so pleased! I first went to Coles and parked way far back by the road. I didn't buy much to actually eat - well healthy stuff anyway. I did buy milk and eggs and meat pies and fries and sausage rolls for food - most of that will do me until next week when I might have to buy some more milk. Then, I went to the library, but it was past 4pm, so I didn't get to get any more books out, but I did return two books. I might go down to the library later this week to get a book or two or three to read over the holidays - I really do want to take some time to relax over the holidays. After the library, I drove to the post office. I was just a little startled when I got to the roundabout at Beach St. and Boat Harbour and there were two lanes - I didn't know which lane to go in, so I crossed over the first one and went to the second one - I was hoping I was doing it right - I made it to the post office, picked up the package with no problem and then drove home via Nissen St. I was so happy once I got onto Nissen - I even cheered out loud! I have been relaxing since I got home, although I do wish that I had a movie to watch as there isn't anything on tv tonight other than 'The Glee Project'.
I was going to clean the house yesterday, but I just didn't have the energy to do it. I will do it tomorrow in spurts, though - it really needs a good vacuum and the toilets need cleaning desperately! I also want to do some laundry - and just for the record, that reminds me, I have made the bed every day except for the day I had to wash the sheets.
17 September - I was so happy to be able to talk with you today via Skype. I look forward to being able to do the same thing in the middle of this coming week.
Thanks for that info about the roundabouts - now I know what the right thing to do is - I will make sure to follow those rules when I have to go through that one this coming week when I go to the library. I want to go and get some books to read while I am on holidays. I checked out some more book club lists and found a really good site (goodreads.com) which has reviews by actual readers - I found a dozen books I think I will like and so I have put a couple on hold and will go and check out some of the others when I go to the library; I am going to also get some dvds out for when there is nothing on tv.
It was really nice being lazy today, but I really do need to get doing some house cleaning next week. You might not be here to mess it up, but it's getting dirty anyway. It really needs a good vacuum and a good clean off the bathrooms. I do the dishes every night, so the kitchen is clean and I make the bed every day, so the bedroom looks neat, but there is dust on the furniture, so I will have to do that, too. My daily plan for my holidays is this: biking to the store to get a newspaper, then eating breakfast and watching 'Touched By An Angel', reading outside on my chaise lounge, having lunch, having a nap, reading some more, doing some cleaning, having supper, watching tv, reading some more, going to sleep. Doesn't that sounds like a lovely plan for a vacation?
It was interesting Skyping with Terri-Ann - Colin was his usual goofy self taking over the computer screen with poor Caleb in the background. Benjamin just wanted to touch the computer and so I didn't get a chance to really talk with Terri-Ann. I figured that she was there to visit with Mom anyway, so I told her that I would talk with her next week. Terri-Ann and Colin told me that Colin and Caleb made an instrument at home this week and then took them to school to be part of a marching band there. Colin sang 'Clang, clang rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day' over and over (that's from a Robert Munsch book). Benjamin actually said 'hello' which sounded more like 'hewo' - it's weird to hear him actually saying words.
It was good to get caught up with Jennifer. She is in a grade four classroom with one other TA and they are looking after three children that Jennifer has worked with before at this school. Would you believe that she has been working for five years now as a TA - the time sure flies fast, eh? Everything is going fine with the baby - she showed me her belly - it's all out in front, though, like when I was pregnant with Terri-Ann. She and Derek have started going to pre-natal classes and they are doing it at the Bolton Library complex - where Jennifer found out they have an 'Early Years Centre' as well which she is looking forward to going to when her baby is older.
Oh yeah, here's some more news: Elders Johnson and Karee have been transferred and we now have two Samoan sister missionaries. What a surprise that was! I will meet them on Sunday.
18 September - As soon as Primary was over and I cleaned up the room, I drove home, got changed and went over to Rosalea and Rob's for lunch. I had a lovely time over there just eating and chatting and chatting and chatting. Rob and Rosalea and I talked about various and sundry 'til Rob got a call from a friend and then Rosalea and I got to have a nice long chat on our own. I left their home around 5:30pm, so that I could get home before dark. I managed to drive there and back with no problem (well, one little one when I didn't realize I had to make a left and was in the right lane so I made a left turn from that lane - oops!
When I got home, I was just relaxing a bit and deciding when to have dinner - I was watching a couple of episodes of 'Raymond' when someone knocked on the door. I wasn't expecting anyone, so I gingerly went to the front door and turned on the outside and hallway light. It turned out to be the Chris and Christine Vakas. We hadn't gotten a chance to chat at church, so they decided to come and see how I was doing - and they just left about half an hour ago, so I just finished dinner and it's 10pm. So, I didn't have to worry about there being nothing on tv tonight. We had a really nice chat, actually and it was nice to have someone to talk with - it gets really lonely not having anyone around. That reminds me: I talked with Alistair Gilbert and he invited me to come to their FHE; Diana Brown asked if I was okay for meals; many others asked when you were coming home and if I was managing okay on my own. It was very nice of so many people to be worrying after me.
19 September - I was able to sleep in until 9am - isn't that good? So, I didn't get a chance to bike down to the Foodworks to get a paper, but I did have brekkie while I watched 'Touched By An Angel', put a load of laundry in, had my shower and drove downtown. Yep, you read it right.......*I* drove *downtown*. I went to the library (I had printed out a list of the books I wanted to look for, but forgot it at home - sheesh) and borrowed three books and 4 dvds My next stop was to Aldi's, but not to shop there. I was talking with Christine and Chris last night and telling them that I wanted to go to Terry White's (drug store), but that I didn't want to go through the roundabout at Main and Boat Harbour and Christine told me that she parks at Aldi and then walks to Centro. So, I did that and got some Vitamin C tablets and some throat lozenges. I then stopped at the chapel again to talk with Denise (who was busy with patrons, so we arranged to meet up on Friday at 3pm as she will be at the FHC that day as well).
I was so pleased with myself at driving all that way by myself. And I felt really comfortable doing it, too. Rosalea said that I will be so comfortable with driving around HB by the time you get back that I will be telling you to move over and let me drive. :-) I did make a few boo-boos in my directions. I wasn't sure where to turn (which street Coles was on) so that I could go to the library that way and I ended up going down Taylor and so I went down to Torquay and up Hunter and to the library that way. Then, when I was driving to Aldi, I wasn't sure which street to turn on to get there on my way from the library, so I had to pull over and check things out in our little map book (I was right about which way I thought I should go) and so I am starting to learn the lay of the land in HB.
After lunch, I took my book outside, lay on my chaise lounge (in 26C temps) and started reading one of the books which I got out of the library. I must have been out there for over three hours and it was lovely. I can't wait to do the same tomorrow! It was so relaxing and the weather was so beautiful - it was a great way to spend the day and to do nothing, but fun things.
20 September - It's been another relaxing day today, but a bit boring, so I went for a bike ride, but more first...........I woke up at 7am and decided to run a bath and I read 'til 9am. It was glorious! I am reading a book called 'The Deep End of the Ocean' - it's a really good read so far. At 9am, I had breakfast and watched 'Touched By An Angel'. By then, I was bored and decided to go for a bike ride. It took me ages to get the bike out since you had really tucked it away behind the freezer. Today was a beautiful sunny day and it was perfect for taking a bike ride. I decided to ride to 'Foodworks' to buy a newspaper. It felt a lot longer from our place to Doolong Road when I was riding my bike, but I was able to make it all the way to the store, no problem. After picking up a paper (I decided on the 'Courier Mail'), I rode to the Vakas' house. I was so hot from riding and figured that I wouldn't make it home without a drink of water or two. After my drinks of water, I rode home - however, it was harder riding home than it was getting to the store. I had to stop a couple of times (just for a few seconds) to give my backside a rest. I spent the afternoon laying outside in the sun reading and napping. I just finished cleaning the toilets and main bathroom (I did the vacuuming yesterday) and now I am just sitting in my chair watching tv while a pizza cooks in the oven. How's that for a fabulous restful day, eh?
I emailed Krystal today to let her know when I could Skype with her and she emailed me back and we are going to do it on Thursday at 9am my time which is 7pm Wednesday her time - she said that evenings are best and that way I can see the boys before they go to bed. I don't think I have seen Dominic since we were there in January which means I haven't seen Alexander in ages, either. It will be good to see all of them and see how Alexander talks now and I can't wait to see Dominic's hair via Skype.
So, that's what has been happening here with me. I'm afraid that the rest of the days this week will be filled with the same as today - nice for me, though, eh? :-) Dad says that things are going well at Grandma's - they are getting tons done between Dad, Jackie and Grandma. Dad says that for every thing they cross off the list of things to do, though, Jackie puts two more on. :-) Since this entry is so long already, I will write more on Thursday about how Dad is doing in Vancouver.
16 September - Hooray - it's Friday - I am so glad we're done for two weeks - phew!
Just thought I would give you a laugh for today. Last night, the lamp on my side of the bedroom blew out and I tried to get the bulb out, but I twisted and twisted and it wouldn't come out, so I gave up and moved to your side of the bed. When I woke up this morning at 6:20am, I turned over to see what time it was, and I fell out of bed.
Hope the rest of my day is a bit better.
16 September - Well, I am finally on holidays - yippee! Today was okay, but the kids were so off - and so were all the other kids in the school. I thought that I might have had fewer children than usual, but nope, I had 21 of them there. I told some of the parents today that there was no way we were doing any work today - that the kids were spent - and the parents thought it was a good idea to just let them play. So, our day started off with going out to the fort (playground) to play which the kids loved - the whole fort to themselves. After fruit break, we went outside to the Prep/grade one eating area where Paula, our indigenous TA, taught the kids an indigenous dance which the kids enjoyed. After lunch break, we were going to have activity time in the classroom, but earlier in the day, the music teacher came to me and told me that she was going to take my kids for an hour for my non-contact (planning) time - what a lovely surprise that was and very much appreciated. While they were at music, I spent time talking with Sam about what I want to do next term and we also reorganized the classroom so that all the tables are in one area rather than being split by the carts. After music, we went to science and then down to the great hall to judge the things which had been built by the students with recyclable materials. Some of them were really good - the kids were very excited that there were many tickets inside the box beside our 'recycle man' (every student got to vote on which one they thought was the best by putting a ticket in the box in front of the item). After last break, it was off to the computer lab and that ended our day. I spent about ten minutes in the classroom doing some final tidying up and then I was out the door.
and........... guess what? ................. I drove all by myself into town. That's right - you read it right - and I am so pleased! I first went to Coles and parked way far back by the road. I didn't buy much to actually eat - well healthy stuff anyway. I did buy milk and eggs and meat pies and fries and sausage rolls for food - most of that will do me until next week when I might have to buy some more milk. Then, I went to the library, but it was past 4pm, so I didn't get to get any more books out, but I did return two books. I might go down to the library later this week to get a book or two or three to read over the holidays - I really do want to take some time to relax over the holidays. After the library, I drove to the post office. I was just a little startled when I got to the roundabout at Beach St. and Boat Harbour and there were two lanes - I didn't know which lane to go in, so I crossed over the first one and went to the second one - I was hoping I was doing it right - I made it to the post office, picked up the package with no problem and then drove home via Nissen St. I was so happy once I got onto Nissen - I even cheered out loud! I have been relaxing since I got home, although I do wish that I had a movie to watch as there isn't anything on tv tonight other than 'The Glee Project'.
I was going to clean the house yesterday, but I just didn't have the energy to do it. I will do it tomorrow in spurts, though - it really needs a good vacuum and the toilets need cleaning desperately! I also want to do some laundry - and just for the record, that reminds me, I have made the bed every day except for the day I had to wash the sheets.
17 September - I was so happy to be able to talk with you today via Skype. I look forward to being able to do the same thing in the middle of this coming week.
Thanks for that info about the roundabouts - now I know what the right thing to do is - I will make sure to follow those rules when I have to go through that one this coming week when I go to the library. I want to go and get some books to read while I am on holidays. I checked out some more book club lists and found a really good site (goodreads.com) which has reviews by actual readers - I found a dozen books I think I will like and so I have put a couple on hold and will go and check out some of the others when I go to the library; I am going to also get some dvds out for when there is nothing on tv.
It was really nice being lazy today, but I really do need to get doing some house cleaning next week. You might not be here to mess it up, but it's getting dirty anyway. It really needs a good vacuum and a good clean off the bathrooms. I do the dishes every night, so the kitchen is clean and I make the bed every day, so the bedroom looks neat, but there is dust on the furniture, so I will have to do that, too. My daily plan for my holidays is this: biking to the store to get a newspaper, then eating breakfast and watching 'Touched By An Angel', reading outside on my chaise lounge, having lunch, having a nap, reading some more, doing some cleaning, having supper, watching tv, reading some more, going to sleep. Doesn't that sounds like a lovely plan for a vacation?
It was interesting Skyping with Terri-Ann - Colin was his usual goofy self taking over the computer screen with poor Caleb in the background. Benjamin just wanted to touch the computer and so I didn't get a chance to really talk with Terri-Ann. I figured that she was there to visit with Mom anyway, so I told her that I would talk with her next week. Terri-Ann and Colin told me that Colin and Caleb made an instrument at home this week and then took them to school to be part of a marching band there. Colin sang 'Clang, clang rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day' over and over (that's from a Robert Munsch book). Benjamin actually said 'hello' which sounded more like 'hewo' - it's weird to hear him actually saying words.
It was good to get caught up with Jennifer. She is in a grade four classroom with one other TA and they are looking after three children that Jennifer has worked with before at this school. Would you believe that she has been working for five years now as a TA - the time sure flies fast, eh? Everything is going fine with the baby - she showed me her belly - it's all out in front, though, like when I was pregnant with Terri-Ann. She and Derek have started going to pre-natal classes and they are doing it at the Bolton Library complex - where Jennifer found out they have an 'Early Years Centre' as well which she is looking forward to going to when her baby is older.
Oh yeah, here's some more news: Elders Johnson and Karee have been transferred and we now have two Samoan sister missionaries. What a surprise that was! I will meet them on Sunday.
18 September - As soon as Primary was over and I cleaned up the room, I drove home, got changed and went over to Rosalea and Rob's for lunch. I had a lovely time over there just eating and chatting and chatting and chatting. Rob and Rosalea and I talked about various and sundry 'til Rob got a call from a friend and then Rosalea and I got to have a nice long chat on our own. I left their home around 5:30pm, so that I could get home before dark. I managed to drive there and back with no problem (well, one little one when I didn't realize I had to make a left and was in the right lane so I made a left turn from that lane - oops!
When I got home, I was just relaxing a bit and deciding when to have dinner - I was watching a couple of episodes of 'Raymond' when someone knocked on the door. I wasn't expecting anyone, so I gingerly went to the front door and turned on the outside and hallway light. It turned out to be the Chris and Christine Vakas. We hadn't gotten a chance to chat at church, so they decided to come and see how I was doing - and they just left about half an hour ago, so I just finished dinner and it's 10pm. So, I didn't have to worry about there being nothing on tv tonight. We had a really nice chat, actually and it was nice to have someone to talk with - it gets really lonely not having anyone around. That reminds me: I talked with Alistair Gilbert and he invited me to come to their FHE; Diana Brown asked if I was okay for meals; many others asked when you were coming home and if I was managing okay on my own. It was very nice of so many people to be worrying after me.
19 September - I was able to sleep in until 9am - isn't that good? So, I didn't get a chance to bike down to the Foodworks to get a paper, but I did have brekkie while I watched 'Touched By An Angel', put a load of laundry in, had my shower and drove downtown. Yep, you read it right.......*I* drove *downtown*. I went to the library (I had printed out a list of the books I wanted to look for, but forgot it at home - sheesh) and borrowed three books and 4 dvds My next stop was to Aldi's, but not to shop there. I was talking with Christine and Chris last night and telling them that I wanted to go to Terry White's (drug store), but that I didn't want to go through the roundabout at Main and Boat Harbour and Christine told me that she parks at Aldi and then walks to Centro. So, I did that and got some Vitamin C tablets and some throat lozenges. I then stopped at the chapel again to talk with Denise (who was busy with patrons, so we arranged to meet up on Friday at 3pm as she will be at the FHC that day as well).
I was so pleased with myself at driving all that way by myself. And I felt really comfortable doing it, too. Rosalea said that I will be so comfortable with driving around HB by the time you get back that I will be telling you to move over and let me drive. :-) I did make a few boo-boos in my directions. I wasn't sure where to turn (which street Coles was on) so that I could go to the library that way and I ended up going down Taylor and so I went down to Torquay and up Hunter and to the library that way. Then, when I was driving to Aldi, I wasn't sure which street to turn on to get there on my way from the library, so I had to pull over and check things out in our little map book (I was right about which way I thought I should go) and so I am starting to learn the lay of the land in HB.
After lunch, I took my book outside, lay on my chaise lounge (in 26C temps) and started reading one of the books which I got out of the library. I must have been out there for over three hours and it was lovely. I can't wait to do the same tomorrow! It was so relaxing and the weather was so beautiful - it was a great way to spend the day and to do nothing, but fun things.
20 September - It's been another relaxing day today, but a bit boring, so I went for a bike ride, but more first...........I woke up at 7am and decided to run a bath and I read 'til 9am. It was glorious! I am reading a book called 'The Deep End of the Ocean' - it's a really good read so far. At 9am, I had breakfast and watched 'Touched By An Angel'. By then, I was bored and decided to go for a bike ride. It took me ages to get the bike out since you had really tucked it away behind the freezer. Today was a beautiful sunny day and it was perfect for taking a bike ride. I decided to ride to 'Foodworks' to buy a newspaper. It felt a lot longer from our place to Doolong Road when I was riding my bike, but I was able to make it all the way to the store, no problem. After picking up a paper (I decided on the 'Courier Mail'), I rode to the Vakas' house. I was so hot from riding and figured that I wouldn't make it home without a drink of water or two. After my drinks of water, I rode home - however, it was harder riding home than it was getting to the store. I had to stop a couple of times (just for a few seconds) to give my backside a rest. I spent the afternoon laying outside in the sun reading and napping. I just finished cleaning the toilets and main bathroom (I did the vacuuming yesterday) and now I am just sitting in my chair watching tv while a pizza cooks in the oven. How's that for a fabulous restful day, eh?
I emailed Krystal today to let her know when I could Skype with her and she emailed me back and we are going to do it on Thursday at 9am my time which is 7pm Wednesday her time - she said that evenings are best and that way I can see the boys before they go to bed. I don't think I have seen Dominic since we were there in January which means I haven't seen Alexander in ages, either. It will be good to see all of them and see how Alexander talks now and I can't wait to see Dominic's hair via Skype.
So, that's what has been happening here with me. I'm afraid that the rest of the days this week will be filled with the same as today - nice for me, though, eh? :-) Dad says that things are going well at Grandma's - they are getting tons done between Dad, Jackie and Grandma. Dad says that for every thing they cross off the list of things to do, though, Jackie puts two more on. :-) Since this entry is so long already, I will write more on Thursday about how Dad is doing in Vancouver.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Today was a good day - mostly. The kids are wired really - they are tired and they are forgetting all the rules. Today, Pam (another Prep teacher) said that terms should be no longer than 8 weeks. I told her that our first term in Canada was 15 weeks, but the difference was that Preps only went for half days. Anyway, I told Sam (my TA) today that I am going to let the kids play tomorrow, basically - I figure that if the "good kids" aren't doing what they should be doing, that *I* am the one who needs to change. So, tomorrow, we will have play time outside for the first half hour and then singing time with Sam for half an hour then fruit break and then dancing with one of the TAs. After break, they will do activity rotations for an hour during which time I will listen to the kids read their sight words and then it will be science, voting for the best thing made with reused materials and then computer lab will end the day. I can't wait until 3pm tomorrow - I will be ready to leave at 3:05pm. :-)
Tomorrow I am going to be brave and drive into town. I have to go to Coles for groceries, the library and to the Post Office (to pick up a package for Dad). Sam gave me directions at school today to go to all three places without having to go through the huge roundabout in the middle of town. Then, I received an email from Dad giving me the directions as well. :-) Dad filled up the car with gas (petrol) before he left and I haven't even used enough to make the pointer go down one click. I hope that when I go grocery shopping tomorrow I will be able to get enough food to last for almost the whole time Dad is gone - I will likely have to do one more shop before he gets home. (2 weeks and 6 days - not that I'm counting :-) My throat is still hurting, so when I am out tomorrow, I will pick up some more lozenges, echinacea and vitamin C tablets. I have been drinking lots of OJ, but having the tablets will give me much more vitamin C than the OJ.
My friend, Rosalea (from church) called today about 5pm asking me if I wanted to come to dinner tonight at their house - I told her that I wasn't comfortable driving at night yet (which I would have to do to come homefrom their place after dinner) and also that Chris and Christine were coming home tonight to pick up their dog and I didn't know when. I told Rosalea that I would come over to their place the week after next to visit with her during the day and help her pack, etc. (they are moving to Western Australia) and she could feed me then. Too bad about tonight's dinner, though - she was making a roast dinner. I ended up having a chicken and tomato sandwich with chicken noodle soup.
Chris and Christine came around 5:30pm and Josie was sooo happy to see them - she went ballistic! Chris kept asking me if Josie behaved, so I'm wondering if they're thinking of asking us to look after Josie again - what could I say - she was fine - but, I was stressed with those two incidents and I wouldn't want to handle that again. We'll see what happens and hopefully, I will be strong enough to say 'no'.
It's been a boring, but relaxing evening. I have been watching tv (X Factor) and writing an email to Dad and this blog. Dad and I like watching X Factor - it's like American/Canadian/Australian Idol - four guest judges (this year they are Ronan Keating, an Irish Singer, Mel B from the Spice Girls, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, an Aussie singer and Guy Sebastian, an Aussie winner of a previous Australian Idol) and each judge chooses three acts (girls under 25, boys under 25, groups, and people over 25) which they are assigned to. Everyone sings each week and the public votes. Last year, Dad and I quite enjoyed watching it week to week especially since our choice won the competition.
Dad is still really busy at Grandma's. He is working on getting together all the words spoken at Grandpa's funeral. Doug will send Dad his eulogy, and Dad has sent an email to the other speaker, Dennis, Grandpa's friend and past co-worker. Once he has it all together he will send it onto you girls and others who may be interested (like Nana and Warren, Uncle Bob and Aunt Beth and Aunt Cathy and Uncle Gary). Today, Dad also finished contacting magazines to cancel subscriptions which Grandpa had - Dad said he is still waiting for 3/4 of them to confirm. They moved the furniture back to normal today, but will get the dining room chairs tomorrow (they had done some moving around of furniture when people were staying at both places). They also had to do some banking, and lawyer stuff, and go through videos and dvds - there are some work video/dvds of Grandpa's that his work wants to have to compile a history of Health Canada from - there's just so much to do.
I read the comments which people have made on the site set up for people to say things they want to about Grandpa. I told Dad that the thing that comes to my mind about Grandpa (other than taking us out to dinner all the time when he came to Toronto) was how he used to always take the long way home from wherever he was and how we used to joke about that all the time (that Grandpa would take four hours to go 45 minutes in distance). :-)
Tomorrow I am going to be brave and drive into town. I have to go to Coles for groceries, the library and to the Post Office (to pick up a package for Dad). Sam gave me directions at school today to go to all three places without having to go through the huge roundabout in the middle of town. Then, I received an email from Dad giving me the directions as well. :-) Dad filled up the car with gas (petrol) before he left and I haven't even used enough to make the pointer go down one click. I hope that when I go grocery shopping tomorrow I will be able to get enough food to last for almost the whole time Dad is gone - I will likely have to do one more shop before he gets home. (2 weeks and 6 days - not that I'm counting :-) My throat is still hurting, so when I am out tomorrow, I will pick up some more lozenges, echinacea and vitamin C tablets. I have been drinking lots of OJ, but having the tablets will give me much more vitamin C than the OJ.
My friend, Rosalea (from church) called today about 5pm asking me if I wanted to come to dinner tonight at their house - I told her that I wasn't comfortable driving at night yet (which I would have to do to come homefrom their place after dinner) and also that Chris and Christine were coming home tonight to pick up their dog and I didn't know when. I told Rosalea that I would come over to their place the week after next to visit with her during the day and help her pack, etc. (they are moving to Western Australia) and she could feed me then. Too bad about tonight's dinner, though - she was making a roast dinner. I ended up having a chicken and tomato sandwich with chicken noodle soup.
Chris and Christine came around 5:30pm and Josie was sooo happy to see them - she went ballistic! Chris kept asking me if Josie behaved, so I'm wondering if they're thinking of asking us to look after Josie again - what could I say - she was fine - but, I was stressed with those two incidents and I wouldn't want to handle that again. We'll see what happens and hopefully, I will be strong enough to say 'no'.
It's been a boring, but relaxing evening. I have been watching tv (X Factor) and writing an email to Dad and this blog. Dad and I like watching X Factor - it's like American/Canadian/Australian Idol - four guest judges (this year they are Ronan Keating, an Irish Singer, Mel B from the Spice Girls, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, an Aussie singer and Guy Sebastian, an Aussie winner of a previous Australian Idol) and each judge chooses three acts (girls under 25, boys under 25, groups, and people over 25) which they are assigned to. Everyone sings each week and the public votes. Last year, Dad and I quite enjoyed watching it week to week especially since our choice won the competition.
Dad is still really busy at Grandma's. He is working on getting together all the words spoken at Grandpa's funeral. Doug will send Dad his eulogy, and Dad has sent an email to the other speaker, Dennis, Grandpa's friend and past co-worker. Once he has it all together he will send it onto you girls and others who may be interested (like Nana and Warren, Uncle Bob and Aunt Beth and Aunt Cathy and Uncle Gary). Today, Dad also finished contacting magazines to cancel subscriptions which Grandpa had - Dad said he is still waiting for 3/4 of them to confirm. They moved the furniture back to normal today, but will get the dining room chairs tomorrow (they had done some moving around of furniture when people were staying at both places). They also had to do some banking, and lawyer stuff, and go through videos and dvds - there are some work video/dvds of Grandpa's that his work wants to have to compile a history of Health Canada from - there's just so much to do.
I read the comments which people have made on the site set up for people to say things they want to about Grandpa. I told Dad that the thing that comes to my mind about Grandpa (other than taking us out to dinner all the time when he came to Toronto) was how he used to always take the long way home from wherever he was and how we used to joke about that all the time (that Grandpa would take four hours to go 45 minutes in distance). :-)
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Would you believe it - I am sick AGAIN! I have never been sick so often in my life. I know this time it's because I haven't slept well in the last couple of days - sore throat, swollen glands, etc. I will get through it. I have been going to bed before 10pm every night - tonight it will be even earlier. Hopefully, I will kick it before I start my holidays on Saturday - I sure don't want to be sick over my vacation time like I was last time.
The last two days have been good days at school. Today was a fun day at school; the kids were a bit hyper - although that was expected since it was a teddy bear picnic day. They all brought their teddy bears (or other stuffed animals) to school along with a blankie to sit on for the picnic. We did our usual this morning (put the teddies to one side for the first two hours) and did language and math stuff. Wouldn't you know it - it's been such nice weather for ages and today it POURED rain. So, we ended up having our teddy bear's picnic in the 'great hall' - it all worked out okay, though. I was in charge of the sack races and the kids really loved that. Pam took the kids on a teddy bear cookie hunt, Chantelle had them icing teddy bear cookies, Colleen was doing hoola hoop activities and Sam was singing with the kids. The kids had been put into five groups and they just went from one activity to the next every 12 minutes or so. We ended the picnic with them sitting on their blankies with their teddies and eating their teddy bear cookies. They all seemed to have a fun time and it was good to not worry about teaching for a while. I was going to have them do some silent reading this afternoon, but that wasn't happening with all the excitement, so I just let them have activity time for longer than usual.
You'll never guess what happened this morning - well, let me start with last night. Since my throat was really hurting me, I put a glass of orange juice on a book on my bedside table. I woke up at 3am to go pee and then had a hard time getting back to sleep - I just tried to relax and tell myself that as long as I rested, I could get through today. When my alarm went off at 6:30am, I got up and then reached over for the glass of juice and............it fell on the floor behind my night table and the juice went everywhere and the glass broke - sheesh. I didn't get upset about it - what could I do - so, I wiped up the juice, picked up the big pieces of glass and got the vacuum cleaner out and vacuumed it all up. I left everything out for the day so that everything could dry. THEN, at school, I was going to open the door for Sam and I tripped over one of the chairs that the kids had left out - I feel like such a klutz - I grazed the back of my ankle of my left leg and banged up (will likely bruise) the knee of my right leg. I sure hope that tomorrow is a better day for me! :-)
I got a text from Christine today and she and Chris (the owners of the dog I am dog-sitting) are on their way back home and told me that they should be here by Thursday night. I was pleased about that - even though Josie is not a problem - the two things that have happened (her front paw and waking me up barking at 3am) have been stressful and I really don't need any more stress right now. I do have to say she's so cute when I get home from school - she has constantly got herself wrapped around the post and is so glad to be off the chain when I get home. She comes over a number of times during the evening to get a pet from me - I sit on my comforter by the door and give her some good rubdowns - she really loves them.
Dad is really really busy with helping Grandma at this difficult time. There are so many things which need to be done - it's really amazing. Jackie has been great helping out Grandma as well. I think that Grandma will be okay with both Dad and Jackie there to support her. She will, of course, have some down times and some teary times, but I think that having this support for a month will really help her to deal with the feelings and emotions she will be experiencing at this time. Everyone who was there has left now (except for Dad and Jackie) and all have arrived home safely. So, the craziness of everyone around (which Grandma really appreciated) has calmed down and now it comes time to go through with all the paperwork and phone calls which take a lot of time.
So, it's off to bed I go with the hopes of getting a full night's sleep. I haven't got a lot for my students to do this week - we are all so 'over it' as the saying goes here, which means that we are all sick of school and just want to get on to being on holidays. So, it should be a pretty good relaxing week of sorts and I am looking forward to it, actually.
The last two days have been good days at school. Today was a fun day at school; the kids were a bit hyper - although that was expected since it was a teddy bear picnic day. They all brought their teddy bears (or other stuffed animals) to school along with a blankie to sit on for the picnic. We did our usual this morning (put the teddies to one side for the first two hours) and did language and math stuff. Wouldn't you know it - it's been such nice weather for ages and today it POURED rain. So, we ended up having our teddy bear's picnic in the 'great hall' - it all worked out okay, though. I was in charge of the sack races and the kids really loved that. Pam took the kids on a teddy bear cookie hunt, Chantelle had them icing teddy bear cookies, Colleen was doing hoola hoop activities and Sam was singing with the kids. The kids had been put into five groups and they just went from one activity to the next every 12 minutes or so. We ended the picnic with them sitting on their blankies with their teddies and eating their teddy bear cookies. They all seemed to have a fun time and it was good to not worry about teaching for a while. I was going to have them do some silent reading this afternoon, but that wasn't happening with all the excitement, so I just let them have activity time for longer than usual.
You'll never guess what happened this morning - well, let me start with last night. Since my throat was really hurting me, I put a glass of orange juice on a book on my bedside table. I woke up at 3am to go pee and then had a hard time getting back to sleep - I just tried to relax and tell myself that as long as I rested, I could get through today. When my alarm went off at 6:30am, I got up and then reached over for the glass of juice and............it fell on the floor behind my night table and the juice went everywhere and the glass broke - sheesh. I didn't get upset about it - what could I do - so, I wiped up the juice, picked up the big pieces of glass and got the vacuum cleaner out and vacuumed it all up. I left everything out for the day so that everything could dry. THEN, at school, I was going to open the door for Sam and I tripped over one of the chairs that the kids had left out - I feel like such a klutz - I grazed the back of my ankle of my left leg and banged up (will likely bruise) the knee of my right leg. I sure hope that tomorrow is a better day for me! :-)
I got a text from Christine today and she and Chris (the owners of the dog I am dog-sitting) are on their way back home and told me that they should be here by Thursday night. I was pleased about that - even though Josie is not a problem - the two things that have happened (her front paw and waking me up barking at 3am) have been stressful and I really don't need any more stress right now. I do have to say she's so cute when I get home from school - she has constantly got herself wrapped around the post and is so glad to be off the chain when I get home. She comes over a number of times during the evening to get a pet from me - I sit on my comforter by the door and give her some good rubdowns - she really loves them.
Dad is really really busy with helping Grandma at this difficult time. There are so many things which need to be done - it's really amazing. Jackie has been great helping out Grandma as well. I think that Grandma will be okay with both Dad and Jackie there to support her. She will, of course, have some down times and some teary times, but I think that having this support for a month will really help her to deal with the feelings and emotions she will be experiencing at this time. Everyone who was there has left now (except for Dad and Jackie) and all have arrived home safely. So, the craziness of everyone around (which Grandma really appreciated) has calmed down and now it comes time to go through with all the paperwork and phone calls which take a lot of time.
So, it's off to bed I go with the hopes of getting a full night's sleep. I haven't got a lot for my students to do this week - we are all so 'over it' as the saying goes here, which means that we are all sick of school and just want to get on to being on holidays. So, it should be a pretty good relaxing week of sorts and I am looking forward to it, actually.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Hello all. I just couldn't bring myself to do an entry this week - with the news of Grandpa's passing and Dad leaving for Canada, I just wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. I was grateful that the week went pretty well at school - Baylee was away one day and that made for a peaceful day (or rather, a more peaceful day than when he is here) and Brayden did very well, considering. The vp came to me on Tuesday and told me that I had a new student starting right away - I told her that was fine as long as it was a girl. :-) It was - yippee - and so now we have added Emma to our class. The girls were really great in making her feel welcome and showing her all around and playing with her. Mia was happy because now she had a buddy to walk with around the school (her previous one, Bailey, left a while ago). So, having a good week with the kids made things a little easier.
Dad's flight to Sydney (via Brisbane) went fine and the hotel stay went without a hitch. Lunch was Hungry Jack's (Burger King), supper was KFC and breakfast the next morning was McDonald's - good eats, eh? Dad was hoping to sit up front on the way to Vancouver as there were two seats open, but two passengers put in upgrades, so poor dad had to sit in the back for the 14 hour flight. I am hoping that, since he will be able to choose the date of his flight home, he will be able to get up front coming back here. I have been in touch with Dad since he left here (I have learned out to text on my phone - pretty good, eh? :-) and we even got to Skype today which was really nice. I was able to talk with Krystal and also with Grandma.
Everyone said that the funeral went well (for a funeral) and Grandma told me today that Grandpa actually planned his own funeral last week. Doug gave the eulogy (I am going to ask for a copy of it and I will pass it on to you all) and a friend from Grandpa's work spoke for half an hour about Grandpa's contribution to Canada health. Krystal said that it was standing room only in the chapel where the service was held. She said that Grandma held up really well, considering. Dad said that there were a few teary moments.
Most of the visitors are leaving tomorrow - Dad will be driving Aunt Cathy, Curtis, Tricia, her husband, Tom, and Julia to the airport tomorrow morning. Kathleen and Rob will be leaving soon and Krystal, Jesse and Dominic will leave on Monday. Krystal, Jesse and Dominic are staying with Doug and Sharon right now, but will come to stay with Grandma tomorrow after everyone has left. That way, Grandma will have some time with Krystal, Jesse and Dominic. I asked her to make sure that she gets a four generation photo with her, Dad, Krystal and Dominic. Jackie will be staying on for a month as well as Dad. I think Jackie is staying at Grandma's other unit in the complex, but I'm not sure where Dad is staying. Erika will be back at Grandma's since she will be back at university and Grandma will have her own room, so Dad might be staying on the couch like we did when we were there earlier this year.
I have been taking care of a friend's dog this week and last night (at 3am), she started barking. Luckily, I woke up (you know how deeply I usually sleep) and I ran outside to calm her down. I can't stand hearing a dog bark late at night, so I didn't want to bother the neighbours. I ran outside without anything on my feet - it's cold on the patio at that time of the middle of the night. Anyway, I ended up calming her down and putting her back to bed. Too stressful for me, I'm telling you - I don't ever want to take care of anyone's pet ever again - when Josie (the dog) couldn't stand on her front paw earlier this week, I started worrying about what I would do if it didn't fix itself. So, I am glad I could help these friends this time, but that's it for pet sitting for me.
I spent Saturday doing school stuff (planning my 'community helpers' unit for next term) and then I finished up doing the Sacrament Meeting Presentation outline so that I could hand it out to the families today so that they could practice it during the month of September. We will start our rehearsals in October and we perform it on October 30th. Today, at church, the theme was 'joy'. We had three really good speakers and they all touched on the importance of looking for joy in your life - that no matter what the challenges, joy can always be found. I love the difference between happiness and joy. I love how, even though life might be tough at times, the gospel always brings joy in our lives. It really does have to do with one's attitude. I know that throughout my life, whenever something negative or sad has happened, that there has always been a 'silver lining' which has helped me to deal with the challenge. I love how the gospel can buoy me up and help me to see the blessings I have in my life, which really do bring me joy.
Dad's flight to Sydney (via Brisbane) went fine and the hotel stay went without a hitch. Lunch was Hungry Jack's (Burger King), supper was KFC and breakfast the next morning was McDonald's - good eats, eh?
Everyone said that the funeral went well (for a funeral) and Grandma told me today that Grandpa actually planned his own funeral last week. Doug gave the eulogy (I am going to ask for a copy of it and I will pass it on to you all) and a friend from Grandpa's work spoke for half an hour about Grandpa's contribution to Canada health. Krystal said that it was standing room only in the chapel where the service was held. She said that Grandma held up really well, considering. Dad said that there were a few teary moments.
Most of the visitors are leaving tomorrow - Dad will be driving Aunt Cathy, Curtis, Tricia, her husband, Tom, and Julia to the airport tomorrow morning. Kathleen and Rob will be leaving soon and Krystal, Jesse and Dominic will leave on Monday. Krystal, Jesse and Dominic are staying with Doug and Sharon right now, but will come to stay with Grandma tomorrow after everyone has left. That way, Grandma will have some time with Krystal, Jesse and Dominic. I asked her to make sure that she gets a four generation photo with her, Dad, Krystal and Dominic. Jackie will be staying on for a month as well as Dad. I think Jackie is staying at Grandma's other unit in the complex, but I'm not sure where Dad is staying. Erika will be back at Grandma's since she will be back at university and Grandma will have her own room, so Dad might be staying on the couch like we did when we were there earlier this year.
I have been taking care of a friend's dog this week and last night (at 3am), she started barking. Luckily, I woke up (you know how deeply I usually sleep) and I ran outside to calm her down. I can't stand hearing a dog bark late at night, so I didn't want to bother the neighbours. I ran outside without anything on my feet - it's cold on the patio at that time of the middle of the night. Anyway, I ended up calming her down and putting her back to bed. Too stressful for me, I'm telling you - I don't ever want to take care of anyone's pet ever again - when Josie (the dog) couldn't stand on her front paw earlier this week, I started worrying about what I would do if it didn't fix itself. So, I am glad I could help these friends this time, but that's it for pet sitting for me.
I spent Saturday doing school stuff (planning my 'community helpers' unit for next term) and then I finished up doing the Sacrament Meeting Presentation outline so that I could hand it out to the families today so that they could practice it during the month of September. We will start our rehearsals in October and we perform it on October 30th. Today, at church, the theme was 'joy'. We had three really good speakers and they all touched on the importance of looking for joy in your life - that no matter what the challenges, joy can always be found. I love the difference between happiness and joy. I love how, even though life might be tough at times, the gospel always brings joy in our lives. It really does have to do with one's attitude. I know that throughout my life, whenever something negative or sad has happened, that there has always been a 'silver lining' which has helped me to deal with the challenge. I love how the gospel can buoy me up and help me to see the blessings I have in my life, which really do bring me joy.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
We've actually had a nice relaxing three days - minus the work. :-) I actually had a good on Friday with the kids at school. I wonder if, after ten weeks, things are looking up. I think that I will just enjoy the next two weeks if they are anything like this past week, and then see how things will be after the holidays. I am sure that I will be having to retrain them after the holidays again - hopefully, it will not take me too long to do that. Dad spent Friday working hard on census stuff - he is working as many hours as he can on it so that he can finish up asap. He feels really happy that the end is in sight, although he wishes that some of his collectors had been a little more careful.
We were planning on sleeping in yesterday morning - then, we got a phone call at 6am - of course, we wondered who could be calling that early - we were both fast asleep. Dad got up wearily and answered the phone. It was a friend from church - Dad still hadn't clicked - Christine said who it was and then said they were at our front door. Finally, Dad clued in - they were dropping their dog off at our place for two weeks. We knew they were coming on Saturday, but had no idea they were coming that early - people in Hervey Bay have no idea about sleeping in on Saturdays. :-) Josie, the dog, has been easy to take care of - she mostly just lays in her bed. She has whined a couple of times, but only when I first come out after she hasn't seen us in a while. If I give her a little pat, she settles right down.
We decided to take it easy once we got Josie settled - we really like Saturdays as they are often our only relaxing days. It's great to just hang around the house doing nothing. :-) We went to the library later on and then to a school fete (carnival) at Kawungan. We had seen a sign in town saying it was on and I told Dad I would like to go to see all my teacher friends back there and to support the school at the same time. It was great talking to many of my friends there - some of them even saw me before I saw them and came over to say 'hi'. I had a long talk with Bronwyn and it was really nice to see her again. I told her that Chantelle wants to get together with her and me again and so we are going to set that up one day soon. I made sure to say 'hi' to the VP, too - not only to say 'hi', but to make an appearance just in case they have a teacher spot for next year. :-)
We spent the rest of the day doing school stuff and census stuff. I am working on a plan for a social studies unit for next term which begins after the holidays. We are going to be doing a unit on 'Community Helpers' - I am having to find the stuff on the net - if I was in Canada, I could just go to 'Scholar's Choice' and get a book on it. :-) I have also redone my class schedule - again - to make sure that I can get in enough time in language and math so that the students are ready for grade one. I actually hate doing this because it's against what I believe in (which is that kindergarten should be play-based - I should not be teaching them to read), but I have to do it and so I thought that I had better really focus on making sure that as many kids know the basics as I can help them learn. I am going to have to provide activities for those children who have already completed the kindergarten curriculum as outlined in our goals - they will be having to work independently as I work with those who are having difficulty. I still have two boys (both sweet) who haven't been able to learn to recognize their numbers to 10 (the goal is that they should be able to learn to recognize numbers to 20).
Today, at church, I was doing triple duty - neither of my counsellors were able to make it today, so it was just me and my secretary, Denise taking care of Primary. We only had seven children there today, so it was pretty easy to manage. We are still with only one teacher, but there is hope - today the bishopric member in charge of Primary said he would be calling a new teacher (for the Sunbeams) soon. The missionaries told us today that they wouldn't be here in HB for dinner on Wednesday as they would be in Bundaberg - then later, Elder Johnson (from Calgary) came up to me and asked if they could come to dinner on Friday instead. I told them that we were having guests for dinner, but then thought, why not add two more. Elder Johnson said he was really glad because they were thinking of coming back early from Bundaberg just so that they could have dinner with us. How sweet is that! :-)
As soon as we got home from church, Dad set up the computer so that we could Skype with Grandma Martin. She wasn't home, but we did get to talk with Jackie and Scott. We asked how things were going and they said that Grandma and Tricia were over at the hospital with Grandpa. Jackie had had the night shift (from 11pm - 7am) and said that Grandpa had been a bit out of it. She said that Grandpa seemed to be rambling about where he was and it almost seemed like he was going between this world and the next world with some of the things he was saying. Dad will Skype with them tomorrow and see if he can talk with Grandma and get her opinion as to how Grandpa is doing.
Dad and I were both tired today, so after church we had a lovely long nap - the alarm went off after two hours, but neither of us was ready to get up - Dad hit the snooze button four times before we actually got out of bed. :-) Even though Sundays are very busy during the morning, they are relaxing afterwards. :-)
We were planning on sleeping in yesterday morning - then, we got a phone call at 6am - of course, we wondered who could be calling that early - we were both fast asleep. Dad got up wearily and answered the phone. It was a friend from church - Dad still hadn't clicked - Christine said who it was and then said they were at our front door. Finally, Dad clued in - they were dropping their dog off at our place for two weeks. We knew they were coming on Saturday, but had no idea they were coming that early - people in Hervey Bay have no idea about sleeping in on Saturdays. :-) Josie, the dog, has been easy to take care of - she mostly just lays in her bed. She has whined a couple of times, but only when I first come out after she hasn't seen us in a while. If I give her a little pat, she settles right down.
We decided to take it easy once we got Josie settled - we really like Saturdays as they are often our only relaxing days. It's great to just hang around the house doing nothing. :-) We went to the library later on and then to a school fete (carnival) at Kawungan. We had seen a sign in town saying it was on and I told Dad I would like to go to see all my teacher friends back there and to support the school at the same time. It was great talking to many of my friends there - some of them even saw me before I saw them and came over to say 'hi'. I had a long talk with Bronwyn and it was really nice to see her again. I told her that Chantelle wants to get together with her and me again and so we are going to set that up one day soon. I made sure to say 'hi' to the VP, too - not only to say 'hi', but to make an appearance just in case they have a teacher spot for next year. :-)
We spent the rest of the day doing school stuff and census stuff. I am working on a plan for a social studies unit for next term which begins after the holidays. We are going to be doing a unit on 'Community Helpers' - I am having to find the stuff on the net - if I was in Canada, I could just go to 'Scholar's Choice' and get a book on it. :-) I have also redone my class schedule - again - to make sure that I can get in enough time in language and math so that the students are ready for grade one. I actually hate doing this because it's against what I believe in (which is that kindergarten should be play-based - I should not be teaching them to read), but I have to do it and so I thought that I had better really focus on making sure that as many kids know the basics as I can help them learn. I am going to have to provide activities for those children who have already completed the kindergarten curriculum as outlined in our goals - they will be having to work independently as I work with those who are having difficulty. I still have two boys (both sweet) who haven't been able to learn to recognize their numbers to 10 (the goal is that they should be able to learn to recognize numbers to 20).
Today, at church, I was doing triple duty - neither of my counsellors were able to make it today, so it was just me and my secretary, Denise taking care of Primary. We only had seven children there today, so it was pretty easy to manage. We are still with only one teacher, but there is hope - today the bishopric member in charge of Primary said he would be calling a new teacher (for the Sunbeams) soon. The missionaries told us today that they wouldn't be here in HB for dinner on Wednesday as they would be in Bundaberg - then later, Elder Johnson (from Calgary) came up to me and asked if they could come to dinner on Friday instead. I told them that we were having guests for dinner, but then thought, why not add two more. Elder Johnson said he was really glad because they were thinking of coming back early from Bundaberg just so that they could have dinner with us. How sweet is that! :-)
As soon as we got home from church, Dad set up the computer so that we could Skype with Grandma Martin. She wasn't home, but we did get to talk with Jackie and Scott. We asked how things were going and they said that Grandma and Tricia were over at the hospital with Grandpa. Jackie had had the night shift (from 11pm - 7am) and said that Grandpa had been a bit out of it. She said that Grandpa seemed to be rambling about where he was and it almost seemed like he was going between this world and the next world with some of the things he was saying. Dad will Skype with them tomorrow and see if he can talk with Grandma and get her opinion as to how Grandpa is doing.
Dad and I were both tired today, so after church we had a lovely long nap - the alarm went off after two hours, but neither of us was ready to get up - Dad hit the snooze button four times before we actually got out of bed. :-) Even though Sundays are very busy during the morning, they are relaxing afterwards. :-)
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