The End of the Summer

This weekend marked the end of my summer vacation! It was a good and busy weekend, a good end to a crazy summer. It started Friday with a bouquet of pretty flowers, which Jay gave me. They are very pretty! We then spent some time with Friends out at Hecla on Friday and Saturday. Paul and Ashley are leaving for Australia next week so a game of golf was apparently needed. Trina and I drove the carts as the other four golfed. After lunch Jay and I were off to the cottage to enjoy possibly our last ever weekend there. After watching 18 holes of golf I thought maybe I wanted to try it. Dad was excited and booked a tee time! So after the boys golfed in the morning the four of us golfed in the afternoon on Sunday. I sucked but it was kind of fun and I would even be willing to try it again! On Monday morning the guys went golfing AGAIN! While mom and I enjoyed a late sleep in! It was wonderful!It was back to work today, but with no students, they start tomorrow. I am actually pretty excited to get back to work. I really do love my job and I love my school and my kids. It has been a rather long summer and I am well rested and more organized than I have ever been in September. I have some exciting topics to teach, and therefore my job becomes more interesting. So really I am pretty excited about tomorrow! I always treat September like a new year and make “New Year’s” resolutions as I begin a new year in my world. This year my goal is to stay more organized. I have gotten to a good start, but we will see what happens as the year gets into full swing!

Quality Time With Dad and Other Random Things!

This past weekend I got to spend so time with dad, I say quality, our backs may say differently! You see the boast broke down two weeks ago, so this was the weekend to get it to the shop. Attempt One began on Saturday morning, the wind was fairly strong but dad was sure we could tow the big boat with the small boat. After me jumping into the water in my jeans to stop the boat from blowing into our neighbours boat we were off. Things were looking good, the little boat was chugging along, and the big boat was following beautifully. Until…. The little motor died! So here we are in the middle of the lake, with two boats, both of which don’t work. Dad tried and tried but the little motor wouldn’t start. The wind was strong and not helping things as it was blowing us away from home and away from the boat launch! We didn’t even have the keys to the big boat so we couldn’t even try to start it! With dad’s whistling and me looking like ridiculous as I waved a paddle above my head we caught a man’s attention and he rescued us, towing us back to our dock. In the end it was about 2 hours on the water and no closer to having the boat to the shop. Sunday was attempt number two, we had another plan, and so the adventure began. Dad got the big boat started and we were hoping that it would work for the ten minutes we needed it to. Off we went (at least this time I was dry), heading for the deeper water and the boat launch (where mom was meeting us). We get about halfway there (less than the first attempt) and the motor dies. Dad again tries to start the motor… no luck. We made a quick decision not to look like helpless people (again) and decided to start paddling. The wind wasn’t as bad as Saturday but motorboats aren’t canoes, nor are they meant to be paddled. We paddled and paddled and jumped from side to side to keep us in the right direction. I am sure we looked rather ridiculous as we paddled by people in boats, and people on the shore. It took us about an hour but we finally arrived at the boat launch and got the boat out of the water and to the shop. So it was time spent with dad, but I am not signing up for more of that kind of time, and neither is my shoulder!

So other than that the week has been rather uneventful. Jay and I brought more of his stuff up to Mennville on Sunday. The move is almost over, and I know how glad Jay is to have the end in sight. I have done some work at school this week and am slowly getting more and more ready to go back to school. A couple of trips to staples and I will be excited about school supplies and therefore I will be ready to get back in the classroom and in front of my students. I am excited to announce that it looks like Mennville School will have high-speed Internet this year. Yes we are getting high-tech!

The Sign I Hate!

Yes, I hate this sign; I hate what it stands for! 43 Wasahow Dr is up for sale. The cottage I have loved and enjoyed since I moved here, the family legacy that was left, first by my grandmother and now by grandpa, is up for sale. I don’t like it!
The weekend was bittersweet out there. The weather was decent, the company was good (mom and dad), and I had fun. On the other hand my time out there seems pretty limited, I want to spend as much time as I can out there before it is gone. Yet I don’t want to have a good time out there, I don’t want this to be any harder than it already is. It was an emotional weekend for sure; I foresee the near future not being much different. It seems like it is all happening so fast, and I haven’t really finished grieving and processing everything. In some ways I just want it over, sell it, or keep it, just let it be over. Let’s face it I don’t do the waiting very well, I don’t like being in limbo. Okay I am done complaining!

Summer Fun and News!

This summer is flying by, if only I could stop time for a few weeks so that I could get caught up!
I was glad to spend the week after grandpa passed away with my family. Jay had the majority of the week off so we spent a lot of time at my parents’ house. It was a sad week but overall not a bad week.
Since then I have spent some time in Mennville, I have almost finished planning one subject for the year, many more to go, but it is a start! I am pretty much hoping to spend the weekdays here (or at least the majority of them) as I prep for next year. I enjoy being at home, sleeping in my own room, and living life on my own timeline. There have been many mornings of sleeping in! I went to visit camp the other night, reminded me how much I miss that place! The kids seem to be having a blast!
Okay so now for the big news! Jay has gotten a job in Riverton and is moving here in a couple of weeks! He will be the town Rec. Director for the next six months. Not only is the job closer to me (which I think is a pretty good perk) but it is also something that I think Jay will do a good ob at and enjoy. I am super excited to have him living three miles away from me! It will defiantly change our relationship, we usually see each other on weekends, but that hasn’t always been a guarantee. We should see each other a lot more now!
So that is the exciting news of the week/month.

And Summer takes a turn...

Yes summer has taken a turn, yesterday around 7am , my Grandpa Ducks (Hayward) passed away. He was rushed to hospital on Wednesday and on Thursday morning, with mom and dad at his side he passed away, just the way he wanted it. The death seems sudden, and yet not, he was sick, and so we new it would happen eventually, we are all taken a little bit by surprised at how fast it happened. I was so glad that I was already on my way to Winnipeg on Wednesday night when mom called me. I was here as my family said goodbye and was a part of it. All in all the family is doing okay, their have been tears, and memories shared.

BRING ON SUMMER!

Yup summer is here, and that makes me super excited! I love summer, I love the heat (maybe because I am often cold), I love the carefree lifestyle that summer brings, I love camp... oh summer is wonderful!
Of course summer also means that I am not "working" and thus have some free time on my hands. School finished in a rush and sometimes it doesn't feel like it really is done for the year. I guess on of these days the feeling of freedom will set in! Although in some ways I already want to be back in the classroom, it is getting painted and cleaned so I am excited to get in there and reorganize my space! Plus, I already have new ideas for next year and I just want to start planning!
My first real week of summer was spent at BCBC. It was a long week, with plenty of highlights and lowpoints, but all in all it was a positive week. I can only pray for staff and campers now, as I am not returing this summer. I am sure God will do great things through camp in the next four weeks!
This week I have spent recovering (from school and from camp). Jay has this week off, which means we have been spending time together, and with friends. A nice change to the craziness that was life in the last couple of weeks. This week will come to an end (probably before I want it to!), after that it will be back and forth between Mennville and Winnipeg (and maybe the cottage :) ). I have my courses to get into and planning to do! It appears that summer is never long enough!

My Parents

So last weekend, being Father’s Day, I had planned to write something in honour of my Dad, I procrastinated (Shocker!) so instead today (rather than finishing report cards) I have decided to write something about both my parents.
In all truthfulness my parents are pretty great parents. As a child I never really thought about how much they gave up for my brother and I, I thought that was what all parents did! There were many years that my dad’s vacation time involved spending a week at the PNE chaperoning 15 or so 4-H members, their weekends were taken up driving Joel, my sheep and I to various fairs, or functions. My hobbies became their hobbies, I wonder now if they had any time for the things they enjoyed, did dad golf much? This must be why mom went back to school when I was older and why she started to play the violin after I left home!
My parents raised me to be independent (or maybe just let me be that way), caring, out-going, and to value family and friends. They pushed me to my best in everything I tackled. They raised me to be self-confident and self-sufficient. Yet they never pushed their goals on me. I always knew I could become anything I want to, I wasn’t letting them down if I became a teacher or a vet… or whatever.
As I write all this let it also be known that my parents and I also had those teenage/parent conflicts. I believe I was an interesting creature from age 12-15, my poor mother! Looking back I now recognize that my mom was trying to teach me responsibility, and how we should live up to our promises when she wanted me to train my dog. That clean room she wanted me to have is still a bit of a stretch, but I do get where she was coming from.
I often joke that my parents moved out of the house when I was 15 (there is truth to this). It wasn’t the easiest time for any of us (cancer does that), but what I discovered is that in these crazy years (1997/1998/1999) is that family is hugely important. Through these years there were many moments when friends would say things like” I hate my parents” (we were just teenagers) and I would wish and pray that two months from then I would still have both parents. It was around this time I began to realize how important my parents were in my life, and how wonderful of parents they were/are!
I don’t live at home but I know that if my car needs an oil change Dad will have it done for me. I also still know I have a place to crash (even if it is a couch) when I go to the city for the weekend, even if they don’t get to see me while I am there! My parents are not only my parents now, but also my friends.
I know my mom reads this so:
Thanks mom for being a great parent! Oh and pass that on to dad too!
I can only hope that when I become a mom I can parent my children as well as they parented me!
~S