Welcome back!

After a lengthy rest from blogging last year, I've decided to give it another go. 


The school year ended on a rather rushed and sour note, as we went on strike 2 weeks before school ended.  Not ideal. 

Chris and I have moved schools this year and are teaching new grades as well.  I wanted a change.  The strike carried on throughout the Summer and into September.  We started school on September the 22nd with only a day to get our classrooms ready!  Not a very organized start to my year and I spent a lot of time stressing out about things and consequently have my first cold of the year!  Thank goodness the government didn't take away our sick days during bargaining.

My classroom is almost decorated and I am thankful that no parents have really noticed, or at least haven't mentioned that it looks less than organized. 

I have 23 students, so far, and they are adorable!  I have a straight grade 1 class and after being a grade 2 teacher for 4 years in a row, it is a bit of an adjustment.  I have one EA this year which is a huge change for me after having 3 in my room last year.  My students are coming back after an extended Summer break and it shows.  This past week was about routines and remembering that they can't do what ever they want, when they want.  Overall, they seem like a balanced group and my EA is eager to work. 

After many late nights for the past 7 days, I am taking a day off and nursing myself back to health with lots of vitamin C and tea.  I will worry about planning and all the other necessary stuff tomorrow!

A Catch up post

Well the last month has gone by in a blur.  Work was finally started to slow down, but we have mid term reports due and IEP meetings starting now, so off we go again.
I have already been sick with sinus trouble, but it seems to be calming down.  Hopefully it just goes away without the usual trip to the walk in clinic for antibiotics.  We'll see I guess.

I have discovered how helpful a crock pot can be.  I have started using it during the week to help with dinners on nights we are going to be busy or late.  I have found some yummy recipes (thank you pinterest) and thankfully it cooks enough for leftovers for lunch the next day.  Yay lazy cooking.

The weather here has turned, but still no snow.  Hopefully, we have a long fall for once and mild winter.  Ha.

The house next door to us finally sold and we are waiting to see who moves in next.  The last tenants started off okay, but slowly turned into a train wreck.  They were only renters though and the owners kicked them out to sell the place.  Now whoever moves in we are stuck with.  I'm just hoping that there's only one dog.  In our neighbourhood 2 is the usual number.

Still no scrapbooking.  I just haven't found my mojo yet.  Whenever I sit down in my room, I remember 6 other things that I should be doing instead!  Hopefully this weekend.

How's life in your neck of the woods?

Scrapbooking? What's that?

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I liked it.

This is the question that I seem to be asking myself lately, as I have had absolutely no energy to even think about my favourite hobby.  My Studio Calico kits keep coming and I open each one with great excitement, but to actually pull one out and use it seems too hard to do right now.  Maybe this weekend.  This week went by in a blur with work taking up the most of my waking hours.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I always forget how hard the first few weeks are.  This year, I have 23 little people, but I have two EA's and a straight grade 2.  It's going to be tough at times, but they are nice kids, and I know that we'll have some fun along the way. 

Meanwhile, my dishes are piling up, I haven't dusted anything (I just try not to move anything),  I the laundry bin is filling up fast.  We've been at work until almost 5 every night and I spent last weekend at work too.  This weekend is going to be my belated birthday celebration, so I'm not going out to work.  I will probably do work at home though.  What am I thinking?  Of course I will be doing work at home!

We have been very lucky with the weather though.  Since we've been back from Hawaii, the sun has been out and the temperatures warm.  Yesterday was hot @30 degrees!  I don't remember ever having such nice weather in the fall since we've moved up here. I hope this means we will have a mild winter. 
There will probably be more random pictures from Hawaii popping up here for the next little while.

Is that the bell?

Yes it most definitely is.  School has started.  2 months went by in a flash it seems.  When we were getting ready on Monday night, it really felt like a regular Sunday night and we'd just had the weekend.  Is this what happens when you get old?
Anyway...

I forgot what jet lag was.  Truly.  We got back from Hawaii on Sunday and went back to work on Tuesday.  I hadn't thought about the jet lag.  It's not bad, just annoying enough to make me a little short on the patience side.  Tomorrow will be better.  I hope.

We had a fabulous 3 weeks (or close enough to) in the US.  First San Francisco for a week and Hawaii for 2.  We saw so much on our trip(s) that it's going to take me the rest of the year to get it scrapbooked.  There are literally a couple thousand pictures for me to go through between all the shots my mom, Chris and I took.  It'll take time to get through them to decide which one will go into an album. 

As I walked into my classroom on Tuesday, I was flooded with all the plans I'd made for the space.  All the cleaning and purging that I wanted to get done, the organizing and the new programs and lessons that I want to try.  Then I sat down and checked my email.  I was too tired to think about any of those things,  when all I really wanted was a nap.  That was at 8:50am.  As soon as the little ones came down the hall, I perked up.  Their excitement carried me through the day.  At 3pm, I was done.  It was a Subway night, we were both too tired to cook.  As the week wears on, and we still don't have class assignments or solid numbers I am trying to find some excitement.  I think it will come on Friday when I finally get MY class for the year, and can begin planning.  At least I hope so.

I'll leave you with a few shots from our trip.

8 years

On the 24th we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.  It was a quiet occasion, spent at home.  Chris surprised me with a lovely breakfast from the local bakery and I cooked a rather involved Thai dinner.  We didn't go anywhere, there was no hoopla and it was perfect.  I think because we appreciate each other everyday and realize that it's a bit of a gift that we found each other in this wide world, that we don't need a big deal made.  When I left for Korea, I didn't think that it would result in a husband that's for sure.  Especially not a husband from Ontario of all places!  We have been together for 8 years, married for 4, but it seems like much longer than that.  In a good way.   In 8 years we have moved 4 times.  We've bought a car, a house and changed jobs.  We have visited New York, Las Vegas, various locations in BC and the Emergency room.  Through it all, we've managed to laugh, even when times were tough.  When I look back at the last 8 years, I think "WOW, we've had some adventures!"  I wonder what will come in the next 8 years?

Picture by Mckinnon Photography

This summer has been the wettest summer that we've seen since moving up here 7 years ago.  Usually by now, the grass is gasping and the gardens are hard and cracked.  This year, it's so wet, we have tons of mushrooms growing in the grass and Chris can't keep up with the mowing!  I have not had to water my meager gardens this year very much.  Even so, I have learned a valuable lesson.  Well 2 actually.  1) we do have weeping tile around our house.  The house inspector had told us we didn't. 2) don't water the gardens for 12 hours at one time as said weeping tile will not be able to keep up and the water will seep into the basement!
Oops! 
Last year, we had new carpet laid in the basement and when we were ripping out the old stuff we came across 2 wooden covers in the floor.  We had no idea what was under there, (I was hoping for treasure), and decided that we'd just cover it up as there had been no problems.  Why go looking for some right?  Well fast forward to last week and this is what my basement looked like:

 I was the one that stepped onto the wet carpet and my heart sunk.  My new carpet!  Chris was out, so I started moving what I could out of the room to get ready to rip up the carpet.  We had to open the wooden covers and found this:

We looked at each other, WTF?  So I called the city and a nice city worker came over within 20 minutes or so.  These are apparently called clean outs, one is for weeping tile and the other for sewer.  Huh!  The water was coming from the front one (weeping tile) and after some experiments, we came to the conclusion that I need to water for less time.  Good information.  It's been so wet, that the ground is already saturated and then I added too much water on top of that, making the water rise in the hole and into our basement.  Needless to say, I have been more conservative when watering!

So summer has been moving right along, where does the time go?  The first couple of weeks were spent doing the yearbook for the school.  That has been finished and submitted, thankfully.  It was constantly hanging over my head.  The weather turned and we have had more rain and clouds the past couple of weeks than sunshine.  We actually had our furnace on one day, as it was about 12 degrees!  Gross.
We went to school another time to finish up some little things.  I was going to clean out my cupboards, but decided that I can wait until the fall instead.  I'm done with school for right now.  We don't get back from our vacation until right before school starts, so I did managed to put up some decorative things and got a few things ready that I would need for the first weeks of school.  That's enough for now. 
The gas fitter finally came to hook up the BBQ and Chris had been happily grilling away.  Unfortunately the amount it cost was almost the same as the BBQ itself!  Oh well, we'll just have to grill until Christmas, I'll keep the snow shovel handy.

The Musical Ride came to the North and we got to see it with our friends Michelle and Bryce.  Thanks to Sherol for sitting out on the stands saving seats for us.  It was cool when we got there, but the actual ride didn't start until almost 8pm and by then the wind had picked up.  Just as the riders got into the ring, the storm we'd all been watching reached us and the skies opened up!  We stayed, huddled in our rain coats through the pouring rain watching the RCMP on their horses.  There were about 2000 other people there, so I didn't feel quite so bad, especially when I saw that some were dressed in t-shirts and shorts.  By the time it was over, we were all soaked through, freezing and a little grumpy.  After some hot chocolate and dry clothes, we were all in better moods.