An Ode to Libras...

Well, not an ode really but it can't just be a coincidence that three of my favourite women (although there are some favourites who aren't Libras) in my life are Libras...freaky really. Their birthdays are approaching, and I wanted to send out a Happy Birthday. Love you ...love you....love you!

Tour's Over...

So, those are the pictures... hope you enjoyed the tour... its really cozy even though it's a basement suite... it hasn't been too cold yet but I'm sure it will get kind of chilly in the winter...nothing that a blanket won't fix! Still waiting to get satellite hooked up... should happen this week (although I've been saying that for awhile now) We have another volleyball mini-tourney against Canoe Lake on Wednesday, this time they're coming here. Will fill you in later...

The tour continues...

More pictures for your perusal... Michele helped me paint the bedroom, living room, bathroom and the one kitchen wall... it was a big (and needed) change ... it was a dark peach colour...this is much better...

Tour of my new abode...

Apparently I can only upload so many pictures at once, so you're going to get the fragmented tour of my cozy little place... here it is

"Bushisms"

My ponderings on this subject were more intriguing yesterday; however, the internet wasn't working very efficiently and I lost all my ponderings...a sad moment. Anyways, I came across all of these "Bushisms" and it really made me wonder how one votes for leadership. How can a man who doesn't understand what an import is, who can't clearly articulate the definition of ambition, and who clearly cannot speak with proper grammar (not that I'm saying I'm perfect) be the leader of a powerful nation? It really boggles my mind... So I guess we can try to answer the question of which is worse (screwing an intern or screwing a nation) Why is it that a nation looks to their President for moral guidance (think of the history with American Presidents and monogamy (which is a "moral" issue) Lincoln, Roosevelt, JFK, Clinton...they all had mistresses... and there may be more). Hmmm.... I'm actually surprised that I'm blogging this pondering because I've never been one to really contemplate politics before... but since 9/11 I've given it more serious consideration. Back to the question...do people vote for their leaders based on their "moral" platforms or do they vote for somebody who is educated enough to lead their country. I'm thankful that I live in a country where I feel that our government is capable, even if I don't agree with specifics or certain standings of the different political parties. A friend of mine said that our government leaders are educated -- I'm thankful for that. For those of you who are wondering why I care about the American Presidency...we're their neighbours... it scares me to think of what could happen with our current Canadian government (being Conservative) if they are consistently agreeing with any "bushisms" of the current American Office.


If you want to see more "bushisms" check out this website
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm

Speak Freely!

Volleyball in Canoe Lake

I had the utmost pleasure of taking a group of 10 girls to Canoe Lake (1 1/2 hour drive from here) to play Volleyball against their senior girls' team. We took the school van (a 15 passenger van) and we had a blast. The girls did excellent - they won 5 out of 6 sets, and the set they lost was by 1 point. They were really quiet on the way there, but perked up on the way home (I haven't laughed so hard in a long time!) Margaret came with us so I wouldn't be lonely (or so I wouldn't get lost!) We stopped in Beauval to eat and then we were home late. I'm not sure when the next trip will be or what the destination will be, but hopefully it will be as much fun as this trip.

Scenic Drive

I went home a couple of weeks ago and as I was driving back to the Sticks...I realized how beautiful the northern half of our province is. These pictures were taken between Green Lake and Beauval.... amazing....breathtaking...and .... yup, we're lucky to be living here.

Pictures of Patuanak

I know that you've all been waiting patiently to see pictures of Patuanak instead of reading my incessant digressions....so, here they are! I wanted to take more but something is wrong with my camera... its acting up. But these will have to suffice for the time being. I have more so I'll probably end up doing 3 posts today -- lucky you! These pictures are all from August 28th, which was the 100th anniversary celebration of the signing of Treaty 10. It was quite a big event. Above you will see the beginning of the canoe races. It was really windy that day and the water was quite choppy (note the whitecaps) but the boys handled it! The race took over an hour and one of the canoes capsized (brrrr...)
Ignore the comment about all of the pictures being from August 28th because the one above is not. This picture was from our fishing trip the first week of work. This is Bob, the tour/fishing guide whose boat I was privileged enough to ride in. He was a great driver and even let me catch more than my daily limit (shhh...) We had a cook out after and everyone enjoyed them!
These pictures (above and below) are also from our fishing trip. These are shots of the Churchill River...it is absolutely beautiful. We even went through rapids to get to the fishing spot.
This last picture is back to Treaty Day. Many of the young children got dressed in traditional clothing for the day. They looked great! It was a busy day and there were a lot of activities to partake in.

Really ... TGIF

It has been one busy week...Every night I was doing something with the kids and now I have marking, an unbelievable pile of marking, to finish by Monday. Oh yeah! Plus, I still have to plan what we're actually going to do on Monday....phew... More like, TGIT...Thank God its Thanksgiving...I'll be at home eating turkey with la familia! Yum..Actually, its not that bad... Being at work, and being in the swing of things is really what keeps me going... Anyways, happy Friday to you all...Next post will be Sunday (that's when I have it penciled in!)

But it connects you to the world!

Some would argue that television controls us...that it dictates our beliefs and some would even argue that it influences our behaviour (note the entire debate surrounding aggression and violence in kids) and while I have been on the fencepost, sometimes tipping onto one side or the other... I now firmly plant my feet on one side of the fence (although I may lean over the fence to "check out" the other side now and again) Anyways, I digress with my initial pondering.

I haven't hooked up the satellite yet and I am not one of the fortunate recipients of "PrairieVision" (you know, where you plug in your tv and you get CBC) so, I've been relying on internet news and the radio to keep me "in the loop"

But, I don't always have the radio on during their 5 minute news segments, and sometimes the mornings are too busy to check the news online so I miss things. Huge things. Things that are important in this world. Like when the season premiere for Grey's Anatomy is...kidding...I'm talking about the shootings in Montreal. Wow.

I was in the staffroom yesterday and a bunch of the teachers were talking about a "possible third shooter" and I was staring at them with a look of "I have no clue what you're all talking about"...good thing I don't teach current events!

So, the moral of this verbal (or typed) pondering is that one of the top priorities on my to do list for the next week is to get the satellite hooked up! Phew...guess I could have just said that to begin with!

Watch the news! ... and email me of any noteworthy events :)

The "Ah Ha" Moment...

Okay, so this is the moment I wait for everyday. Somedays I don't even get an "Ah" but today I got the whole "Ah Ha" and it makes me realize that I can do it. I can teach. Really, an "Ah Ha" moment from my students is directly linked to my own "Ah Ha" moment.

Beginning school this year has been quite an adventure. In Deline, I taught the same grade for three years; therefore, last year was easier for me because I knew what I was doing. So far this school year feels like my first year of teaching again. I'm at work before 8am (usually 7:45) and I leave around 5pm... but not only that, last Sunday I spent 9 hours in the school...actually working - not procrastinating. Breathe. I remind myself to breathe. Some days I panic that I'm not teaching them what they need to learn...

But then there's mornings like this morning. Started off with Creative Writing where they are actually getting less scared to write... a major achievement. Then, the big "Ah Ha" moment came in English A30 (English 12) where we began our unit on poetry. We talked about poetry and out of 14 students, 12 said they hate "doing" poetry in class. That was then.

Thank you Mr. Frost. I couldn't decide what poem to start off with but we had been discussing the ideas surrounding choice, so I figured that this poem would serve as a good transition as far as theme was concerned. To make a long story (hey, it could have been longer) shorter, let me conclude with: they got it. They got that Robert Frost may not have been referring to a physical road but rather, a path in life that one must choose. Moments like these make me happy to be paying off my rather large debt incurred while attending the Education program.

But, one last digression... I had been explaining to the grade 12's that the more familiar you become with literature the more frequently you notice it referenced in popular culture. While we were "dissecting" The Road Not Taken one of the students said "Hey! Its just like when Tom Hanks was standing at the crossroads in Cast Away!"

Ahhhh.... Haaaa....

Rules for Life...According To Bill Gates

Hmmm... some food for thought on this early Tuesday morning... I received this as an email but found it interesting... something to ponder anyway... Happy Tuesday everyone!



Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of highschool. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is hard wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. Before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Back to Bloggin'

A view of Patuanak, from the lake on our first fishing trip. Will fill you in on that and post more pics when time is more abundant.
Well, its been awhile and its a new blog... new chapter in my life deserves a new blog, I've decided.

If you're interested here are a few links to old blogs of mine. Not that you're interested. I'm just sayin'.

Photographs and Ponderings

Confessions of a Scatterbrain

The second one isn't finished, actually I think there's only one posting...but it might serve as a good link to this one. And, I forgot the password, hence this new creation....anyways...

Its been quite busy in my life. Setting up a new house, setting up a new classroom and teaching an entirely different grade...but so far I must say its fun. Right now I'm busy marking rough copies of essays so this post will be shortwinded (something uncommon for me, I know) but I'll put up more pictures and ponderings, and definitely more digressions soon... until then...take it easy!