What a beautiful day. We had weather warm enough for short sleeves and the wind was just a light breeze. The colours get more vibrant each day. Life without concrete in all directions is good.
Yesterday was a great day. For 20 whole minutes my entire class (even those who have never been able to focus before) was motivated and on task! If you are not a teacher, that won't seem like an accomplishment at all. But it is. It is remarkably hard to direct and maintain the attention of a group of children for 5 hours a day. We had a sublime half hour of intensely productive learning where my boys, who usually ask, "When is gym/recess/clean up?" every 2.5 minutes, were actually smiling while they worked. Aaah, I love my job.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Also...
We are moving again. The school is short housing for staff and so they are working madly to redo the floors in what were once OPP duplexes. We are waiting to hear that ours is ready to move into. It is good news in that there is more space, but hard to repack when we have just gotten settled and Fi is making friends on our road. The new place is on the other side of the community and a long walk to school (3.5 km).
Still no Internet at home, I am blogging from school when I have a few minutes at the end of the day. We are really missing email contact with friends and family. Will post as soon as there is progress on this front.
Still no Internet at home, I am blogging from school when I have a few minutes at the end of the day. We are really missing email contact with friends and family. Will post as soon as there is progress on this front.
Heart's Desire
Our car, which has been making grumbling noises about being moved out of her cosy garage and parked outdoors, made to drive incredibly long distances, and navigate roads very much unlike the 401, is becoming temperamental. Laurens and I look at each other every time we hit a pothole and wonder, "Will it make it another trip into town?"
Next month the snow flies and we will have to buy winter tires (first time ever- it's always been all-season for us city dwellers) and the front end of the Metro definitely needs a substantial bribe to stay running through the cold. So we decided to pull the plug. We have been discussing it for 2 years and now have done it.
We bought Auto Trader and leafed carefully through each ad. We had to curb dreams with the reality of budget (like everyone else) and sort through a different list of priorities than a month ago. Suddenly my heart's desire (Mazda 5) wasn't even on the radar- totally impractical. Instead we returned to an old wish that we were sure in Toronto was our of range- Subaru.
It just so happened that there were three used Subarus advertised last week. So we made some calls and did some surfing online. We discovered that there is one Subaru dealership in Winnipeg, Manitoba (the only one for hundreds of miles) and they just had received a trade in (2003 Forester).
Long story short...
It was our heart's desire. Now it is sitting outside our little home. We had great fun test-driving and negotiating price. And are really enjoying the extra legroom and a CD player. When we sat down to set a value on our car for trade-in, we realized how bare-bones she was (not air, cruise, CD player- just the base model) and were even more tickled at being able to 'graduate' to a car with all those bells and whistles (I know- some of them are standard today).
For the first time it was a pleasure to drive the Grassy road home and not fear flying off the road.
Next month the snow flies and we will have to buy winter tires (first time ever- it's always been all-season for us city dwellers) and the front end of the Metro definitely needs a substantial bribe to stay running through the cold. So we decided to pull the plug. We have been discussing it for 2 years and now have done it.
We bought Auto Trader and leafed carefully through each ad. We had to curb dreams with the reality of budget (like everyone else) and sort through a different list of priorities than a month ago. Suddenly my heart's desire (Mazda 5) wasn't even on the radar- totally impractical. Instead we returned to an old wish that we were sure in Toronto was our of range- Subaru.
It just so happened that there were three used Subarus advertised last week. So we made some calls and did some surfing online. We discovered that there is one Subaru dealership in Winnipeg, Manitoba (the only one for hundreds of miles) and they just had received a trade in (2003 Forester).
Long story short...
It was our heart's desire. Now it is sitting outside our little home. We had great fun test-driving and negotiating price. And are really enjoying the extra legroom and a CD player. When we sat down to set a value on our car for trade-in, we realized how bare-bones she was (not air, cruise, CD player- just the base model) and were even more tickled at being able to 'graduate' to a car with all those bells and whistles (I know- some of them are standard today).
For the first time it was a pleasure to drive the Grassy road home and not fear flying off the road.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Quick Note
We are now on the hunt for a new (to us) vehicle. The car seems to be limping slower and slower towards the happy hunting grounds. We are also not keen on being stranded between Kenora and Grassy for hours with two children in a broken-down vehicle. So, before that happens, we are working to find a replacement for the Metro.
This is not the most fun journey, we don't look forward to the haggling, but it is interesting to see what is out there and try to find a match for our needs. It sure isn't the same set of criteria we were looking at last time we thought about this. Now snow handling, 4wd, and towing capability are high on the list. Of course mileage is important with our 200km a week drives into town.
This is not the most fun journey, we don't look forward to the haggling, but it is interesting to see what is out there and try to find a match for our needs. It sure isn't the same set of criteria we were looking at last time we thought about this. Now snow handling, 4wd, and towing capability are high on the list. Of course mileage is important with our 200km a week drives into town.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Two Weeks In...
We had a good week all around. I have a great class of students, with a wonderful sense of humour. I have lots of multi-leveled instruction to do in literacy and numeracy particularly. This is just the sort of challenge that I love. I am just frustrated with all the primary resources that I left behind in TO thinking that I would not be teaching primary again. I could really use them right now.
Fiona is in grade 1, being tested before school began and recommended to be placed there. The first week has been hard for her. Grade 1 routines are not the same as JK. She has a lot less play time and a lot more seatwork. She is also dealing with a new home, community and school in one shot. Prayer for her as she adjusts and for us as we try to support her would be appreciated.
Sundays are still hard. We miss our church family in TO a lot. We have been going to the mission church here is Grassy for two weeks and see lots of potential for how we can serve, but don't see how we will be fed. A friend recommended finding a church home where we can be fed rather than serving right away as wise in our situation (she has been in a similar situation). We are trying to figure out how to do the 80km drive on Sundays too. It seems a long way to go for Sunday school. However, that is our spiritual food, and Fi doesn't have the benefit of Christian Ed this year, so she needs it more than ever. Again, prayers appreciated.
LK went fishing on Saturday with the Resource Head's husband and son. He had a great time and is looking forward to learning to clean fish so he can bring them home and cook them too!
Fiona is in grade 1, being tested before school began and recommended to be placed there. The first week has been hard for her. Grade 1 routines are not the same as JK. She has a lot less play time and a lot more seatwork. She is also dealing with a new home, community and school in one shot. Prayer for her as she adjusts and for us as we try to support her would be appreciated.
Sundays are still hard. We miss our church family in TO a lot. We have been going to the mission church here is Grassy for two weeks and see lots of potential for how we can serve, but don't see how we will be fed. A friend recommended finding a church home where we can be fed rather than serving right away as wise in our situation (she has been in a similar situation). We are trying to figure out how to do the 80km drive on Sundays too. It seems a long way to go for Sunday school. However, that is our spiritual food, and Fi doesn't have the benefit of Christian Ed this year, so she needs it more than ever. Again, prayers appreciated.
LK went fishing on Saturday with the Resource Head's husband and son. He had a great time and is looking forward to learning to clean fish so he can bring them home and cook them too!
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