Fall?

People have been saying, "what's happened to summer?" because it has been very cool and rainy. However, I'm grateful because I know what a really hot prairie summer can be like, and I'm still acclimatized to the north. It has been pretty wet, but that means that I can't mow the lawn or even feel guilty about it, and I don't have to worry about watering the garden. Lots of things to be thankful for.

I've started to go into work get get ready for the fall term at school. I'm not even putting in half-days yet, but I've started the get things cleaned up and sorted out a bit. Hopefully they'll get the new computer up and ready for me so that I can finish the year end and inventory on it and switch over to a new year.

No, I don't know what I'll be teaching yet. Lots of possibilities, but nothing for sure until we know what the enrolment is and the grade distribution. For sure I'll be in the library (half-time?) plus.... some of the possibilities include: English 9, Christian Ethics 9, Remedial math (Math 11, 21 and 31 - as a combined class), Fine Arts/Guidance/Health 9 (as a job share - six weeks of each?), a college class on surviving post-secondary (as a job share). So, I'll find out next week. The English 9 is very likely for sure, so I can work on getting prepared for that.

Winding down

It's not even August yet, and it feels like summer is winding down. Rose flies out today for Yellowknife. She'll be back in a month for a wedding. Bram will leave in a week. It has been so good to have them with me.

I've caught a summer cold. I'm walking around with a box of kleenex in my hand - just in case. I've also got a sore throat and no energy. Aside from that, I'm feeling pretty good.

My parents have been up since Tuesday evening - spending most of the day with me and the evenings over at Ruth's. They brought Sonja down with them. Dad's been helping me with doors and locks at my new apartment - we've still got two locks to rekey and one more deadbolt to install. Mom's been finishing up Rose's graduation quilt (it looks beautiful!). She's the one that shared the cold with me. Thursday mom stepped into one of those rings that they put around bundles of newspapers and fell badly. She cut her cheek and bled profusely and may get a couple black eyes from it as well. She's looking worse for wear.

Great Sale!

Sears Clearance Centre had an indoor sidewalk sale on this week. I went yesterday to drop off some stuff at Value Village and discovered it. Bought a few things. Today I took Rose. What an amazing shopper! She (and I) together bought 3 skirts, two pairs of pants, a pair of capris, and two packages of 10 panties - all for under $25! All of Rose's new clothing is green (surprise, surprise) while all of mine is in the purple, burgandy, lavender colour family.

Back Home

We actually arrived back home Sunday night, however I've been busy catching up ever since. Had a great time in Arkansas. It's approximately 30 hours driving (one way) to get there. Or, for Bram, it's approximately 90 hours spent in a vehicle since he came down from Yellowknife. He'd just as soon not do another long trip for awhile. I did over 80 hours last summer, so I know what he's feeling. Two hours or so short of Little Rock, Bram was very sick in the van, but was better after about 24 hours of the flu. He had a hard time adjusting to the hot temperatures and humidity, and walked around with a styrofoam cup full of ice which he breathed over for the first few days, which seemed to help.

Rose has started her two weeks of summer session, French Immersion. I think she's enjoying it. She took the bus for the first time this morning, got off at the wrong stop and wandered for about 45 min. before she found where she was supposed to be. I guess that's how you learn.

Saw lots and lots of cousins when we were down there; many of whom I hadn't seen for years and years. It was really good to see them. (Technically, most of them were first cousins once removed, or my cousins' kids; but it was still good to see them.) Came home by Winnipeg and saw Grandma Baxter and Tara as well as many other people who I haven't seen for years. It was all good.

The MAP training was also good -very hectic but excellent. (To find out more about that, check out Sonny Childs' blog at www.sonnychilds.com ). There's a picture of Bram there and of the group as well as several summaries of the week.

Busy Times

It's the end of the school year. Grad is tomorrow. I've been doing inventory in the library for the past two weeks. Final exams finished Wednesday. Report card marks are due Monday. All in all, it's been a very busy time. However, the end is in sight.

Monday is the last day of work for me, and it's an in-service day. So I essentially have to have everything done before then. I still have about 1.5 to 2 hours worth of inventory left to do; and then I need to generate reports, etc. I think I can likely squeeze that into tomorrow somewhere. I have exams marked but don't have the report card marks generated yet. Rose is pretty much ready for Grad. I need to take her out tonight to get some essential undergarments (see Robin's blog for a further explanation) and she gets her hair done tomorrow morning.

For the past two weeks I've not done much more than inventory at work. It's eaten up all of my time. (Every book in the library has to be scanned for that - do my arms ache!) At home I've been working on my Theory 4 - nearly done! My last lesson is Tuesday for that.

It'll be good to have a breathing space, but no... Lord willing we leave Wednesday for Arkansas. Tuesday will be taken up with all my running around that I've been putting off. I have a huge list.

News Flash!

OK, I've just found this amazing website. It is a meal and menu planner - not only does it plan meals for you based on your preferences (budget, cook for one, beginner, cook for kids, express, gourmet, eat local, etc.); but it gives you the complete shopping list for it, an action plan (designed to minimize the time you'll spend in the kitchen), has the complete recipe and nutritional info for each item on the menu (including diabetic symbols) as well as a price per serving! If you really like a recipe, you can save it in your cookbook on the same site. It also has a serving selector, so if you like the recipe but want to do for a different number of people, it will automatically change it for you. Best of all... it's free!

Have to tell you, I'm really impressed! I'm definitely going to give it a try.

Now, I suppose you'd like to know the website? http://www.soscuisine.com/?sos_l=en

"It rained for 4 days and nights"

I realize the original kid's song is 40 days - but I can't claim that it's been raining for that long. It has definitely been raining though. I think it's all my Dad's fault, because they've started working on repairing the roof. They've removed all of the shingles, covered the roof with poly and have been working on putting up new rafters. The plan is to superinsulate the roof. Well, it's rained non-stop since Friday. Lots of rain. Lots and lots of rain.

The good news is... the poly doesn't leak. I've had my ceiling leak anytime it's rained all spring. Not this time. The bad news is.... that the poly was supposed to have been sealed to the evestrough at the front of the building and the worker assigned to do that task didn't do it. So, I have had a couple of drips on my windowsill but in the Williams' apartment next door, they've had quite a bit of water in. It's damaged everything they had sitting on or near the windowsill. The good news is... that they usually had their laptop sitting there, but they had it with them this weekend, so it wasn't harmed. The bad news is... that they had lots of books sitting there.