Here or There

Things I don't have here but wish I did.
1. shopping mall - I know it's sick but you don't realize how convenient they are until you don't have one
2. cold water - the "cold" water that comes out of the tap is lukewarm
3. changing leaves
4. the kids friends
5. the Vineyard
6. cel phones that work properly
7. good butter
THE FORKS

It's been a hard week for many reasons. I have been fighting off a sore throat that seems to be getting worse and worse. I pretty much destroyed the laminator at the school..... well not exactly destroyed but I did put it out of commission for a few days. Now I'm afraid to use it. Getting up at 6am ( I should really be getting up at 5:30) everyday is getting pretty tiresome. I've been a bit home sick too. That's funny because I don't really have a place to be home sick over. I just miss little things like driving down to the Forks with my family or a walk at Assiniboine Park. The sculpture garden is so pretty in the fall.AT LEO MOL SCULPTURE GARDEN '06

I've also been thinking a lot about people I met at the mission (Siloam Mission). I've been asking myself questions like. What is ____ doing right now?
Is ____ still reading books on watercolour painting?
I wonder if ______ is still sober and creating amazing works of art everyone loved?
What was that joke _____ told me that I laughed so hard at?
Man I loved my time there. Hard as it was at times (which actually were some of the best times) I loved it.
Well I'm tired and need rest. We have been invited to go out to Sting Ray City tomorrow morning with some people who also just moved here and have two kids. Making friends is always hard for me. I wish it was easier. Good night.

Did I grow wings?

Lizard. They're everywhere.

Time has been flying by these past few weeks. Getting here was such a long laborious process which seemed to take forever. But now the days are quickly passing and we have so much we should be doing but where to find the time???

When we first got here I made a commitment to myself to send people mail. Postcards, letters, pictures and boxes with fun treats. Well I have three packages ready to send but haven't gotten tot he post office for two weeks! Today is the day to remedy that. Facebook and phone are great for staying connected of course but there's nothing like a piece of mail to hold and read over and over.


School is going well for all of us. Some days it's hard to get the kids motivated in the mornings but other than that it's been fairly smooth. Football (soccer) practice has started and both Silver and Trinity have joined. Trinity is the ONLY girl in the whole school who is playing. Apparently the boys play football and the girls play netball. Well I think it's a bit sad that more girls don't play. She is having a hard time already. She has mentioned a few kids have said rude things to her about it. It may prove to be too difficult for her to continue. I mean she's only 6. She's not really ready for all that pressure of being the only girl.
Silver is really growing to love the sport. He is on a team with kids younger that him and all his classmates are in the older teams but he still wants to continue. I'm so proud of him. He has been doing very well in school. He has been getting mostly A's and B's because he studies and gives his best. We are working hard on catching him up in Cursive and Math.


At the school we celebrated Grandparents Day by inviting the Grandparents of students in to the classrooms to share stories, talents or to just observe. We had a good time in Pre School with a room full of Grandparents.

Gramma and Dude came to Silver and Trinity's class and Dude played his harmonica. The kids loved it! I can tell Silver and Trinity are still getting use to having Grandparents (or any family for that matter) around. They totally love it!
I hope I can up date much sooner this week but don't count on it. The days might fly by again.

List of Loves

1. Seeing the janitor shew a cow out of the school parking lot
2. Finding out that the teacher I work with had her baby at the same hospital in Winnipeg I had Trinity at. The teacher is from Jamaica. Love it.
3. Teaching art
4. Random groups of chickens
5. Getting mail
6. Sending mail
7. Music
8. Dancing in open spaces
9. Chasing lizards
10. Family
11. Creating
12. Change

Back to school

Let me begin this post by saying that yesterday I slept for 10 hours straight got up for 5 hours then slept again for 9 hours. I was hit with a crazy flu bug that just took me out for one whole day. It was CRAZY. The only time I have ever experienced anything like that before was when I had food poisoning about 11 years ago in Kamloops. It was a very un-welcomed illness in the midst of a crazy first few weeks at school.
Trinity in the pool.

Things are going well. I have been busy in the Pre School making charts and wiping noses. The kids are a really great group. I have been hugged and told I'm loved by more than half of them already and it's only been a week and a half:)

Ryan is really enjoying teaching High School. He is starting a sailing club which is something he has been interested in for a while. I will try to get him to write an update in his own words soon.

The kids are finding their way through new subjects such as US Geography and Spanish. They are also making new friends and getting to know their teachers. Silver is coming out of his shell a little and talking in class. Trinity is doing well and has only had one day she said she didn't want to go.

Here we are set up to watch a movie outside at Camana Bay. Every Tuesday night they show a movie for free. It's really cool. Camana Bay is a really cool place that has a book store, coffe shop, movie theater, shops, apartments, fountains and this cool place where they show the movies.Fun in the pool.

So here we are. Settling in. Living day in and day out. It's fun but difficult. I still don't know which chicken to buy at the store or where a good bakery is. But no worries I've got time to figure it out.