winter is upon us...literally!

I woke up this morning at 5:10 am. It was freezing cold. Ok, it was relatively freezing cold. The last few days have been cold enough to snow, so we cranked the heat and added blankets, that sort of thing. When I awoke I realized that it was a little bit too cold for comfort. I touched the radiator and realized it was ice cold too. No heat. No heat can only mean one thing (besides that it will be really hard to get out of bed...). We were out of gas!!! Whoever thought pay-as-you-go gas was a good idea was not too bright. Or maybe he had just never run out in the middle of a freezing cold january night!! We braved the 6am wake-up call and managed to get out of the house without too much pain. Let's hope tonight is better!!

Oh, I forgot to tell you why I woke up in the first place. I was having a line dancing dream. As in, I was line dancing in my dream. I was calling the steps for the c-c-shuffle. Not the most fun thing to wake up to. And of course I couldn't get it out of my head for the next hour!! Two steps to 2 o'clock, two steps back. Two steps to 4 o'clock, two steps back. One step and back, one step and back. Heel heel toe toe, heel toe point turn! For an hour. In my head. I wish I could just turn my brain off!!!!

ice is not a friend

I had a bit of a fright this morning. I arrived at school fine, and was sitting at my desk checking my email when I heard a horrid noise. A noise that no one ever wants to or should have to hear. I looked out my classroom window and my heart just about jumped out of my chest. There was a woman laying on the ground screaming bloody-murder, with a delivery truck right beside. It looked to me like the truck had run her over! She was screaming for help, so I ran out of the school and was the first one to her side. Turns out the truck did NOT run her over, but she had slipped on some ice and not been able to break her fall. She cried, and couldn't feel her lower back or her legs. The cold was either helping numb the pain, or causing it, we couldn't be sure which. One of the teachers hung out of the staffroom window and called an ambulance and a few others came out with blankets and a pillow to make her more comfortable. Poor lady...she kept saying that she was so embarrassed, and please don't make a fuss. The ambulance finally arrived and she was whisked away to hospital. I heard at lunch time that she may have broken her pelvis. At least, that's what the latest news was. She was the deputy head at the infant school, and while she was lying with a potentially serious injury, she was more concerned with whether or not there was someone to cover her teaching!! I felt so bad that she was hurting.

Anyway, that kind of ate up a good chunk of my morning, so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. The kids were pretty good today though. My desk is a huge mess again. Two days of cleaning it off don't seem to matter! AAHHH!!!

I just finished art club. I'm not interested in doing any more work tonight. It's time to go home and enjoy the newest book I am reading. Another Jodi Picoult. I so love her!! It's a page turner!

Let it snow

It snowed last night. Not much, but it's definetly white outside. It's actually quite pretty, and that's even being said about the city! I can only imagine how picturesque the countryside is. The last couple of days have been quite cold (relatively) and we realized just how poorly our house is insulated. Monday night we were FREEZING! I hardly slept a wink. Last night we cranked the heat and slept with socks, slippers, and sweaters on. Plus two extra blankets. It was a much nicer sleep, but I sure didn't want to get up this morning!!

I'd also like to ask that people start praying about this new house. We were really excited about it last week, but I got a negative email about it last night and it has soured us toward it quite a lot. We want to be happy there since it will be our home, but we are frustrated and angered with the way some people are approaching the situation.

Well, the kids are about to come in, so I will say "cheerio" for now!

Nemo Time!

We went to the London Aquarium yesterday. Ryan was really eager to go, and we had such a great time! We caught the train from Romford station to Liverpool street and then took the tube to the aquarium. In total it only took us about 30 minutes to get there. It was great!

The aquarium is set up into zones, and each zone is representative of a different climate or area of the world. I think the most interesting was the pacific ocean. They had four different species of shark (including the nurse shark, which was so funny). We even got to see them feed, although I have to say, I thought it would be more exciting. It was amazing to see so many different species of fish in one place, and those are only a fraction of the fish that are around!! They also had a big push on conservation and awareness of harmful effects on the oceans and lakes around the world. It was amazing to hear facts like "270,000 sharks are killed EVERY DAY!". Who'd have thought?

All in all a really great day. Pictures are up on myspace.

Big House, Small House, Our House, HUGE HOUSE!!

I am going to try to follow in the footsteps of my dear sister and blog on my life even though I am sure people would say I have better things I could be doing. Actually, until today my life hasn't been interesting enough to blog about. Then came today. Oh today. What a magnificent, horrible, lovely, fun day.

Let's start at the start (which is where most things should start). I didn't sleep well last night. Ok, hold on. Now that I say that, maybe that isn't the start at all. Let me try that one more time...

Lately I have been going to bed early. Some may say, "what's wrong with that??" Others may be shocked and appaulled that "early" is actually 8:30 pm, and also happens to coincide with the point of my evening where I can no longer physically keep my eyes open. Teaching'll do that to you (apparently). So, last night being no exception, I fell asleep at 8:30 and expected to sleep through the night as per usual. Except that I woke up at 12:30 am and could not fall back asleep. Begin the longest night of my life. If I ever said that 5:50 comes too soon, I was wrong. It couldn't come soon enough. When it did finally come I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. I seem to detect a pattern? Anyway, long story even longer, I was tired at school and the kids were all inside for play because it was raining. It was actually quite a storm. The rain was pelting and the wind was incredible. It was right about the point where Oscar was tapping me incessently, trying to get my attention, that I thought "wow, I could really use a day off." Enter, God. Turns out that God heard my little cry of dispair, and he used the already gale-force winds in my favour. The roof of the school started coming off!! Actually, only one part of the roof is actually secured, and once that came off the whole thing just started to crumble. Turns out falling roof is a health and safety issue, and it was deemed a hazard to have the kids at school. So the school is closed tomorrow, monday, and tuesday. God not only gave me one day off, He gave me THREE!!! Well, I guess I can't count monday and tuesday as off since I still have to go in, but the kids won't be there, so at least it's a bit of a break! We do have tomorrow completely off though. The head teacher actually told us NOT to come in, and if we were really that keen that we were coming in at our own risk.

The wind did wreck havock on the city though. There were trees down, and we saw one brick fence (about 2.5 ft. high) that fell over onto the sidewalk. They were warning people to stay inside if possible.

Which brings me to the title of our blog (and the real reason today was so great). The six crazies who live in the Burlington House decided not to heed the warnings, but to venture out to look at the next rental property that was offered to us since we have to move. The first offer was looked at earlier this week, and was decided that it was not good enough for us. The location sucked, and the house was not what we were expecting. It was ok, but not fantastic. Today's house was a different story. Not only is it on a great central route, but the house is AMAZING!!! Actually, make that AMAZING!!!! I wish I had pictures to share (although there will be plenty of time for that). At first glance I was skeptical. Save for the glass roses on the front door window. We walked inside and instantly knew the place was amazing. I don't think I could describe it, but I'll try. There are THREE sitting rooms. A front room (which rumour has it will be turned into another bedroom) a middle room with a fireplace which is the room you first walk into and also leads to the kitchen, and a third sitting room at the back with also leads onto the kitchen from a different angle. The kitchen itself is not huge, but it does have a gas stove (a new MUST in any home we have). There is enough cupboard space we think, and attached is a HUGE dining room, which could easily hold a table for 12. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms, each exceptionally large. There is also a third floor with another bedroom. That one has slanted ceilings as it is actually in the roof. The four bedrooms are separated by quite long hallways, so you don't see any bedroom doors when you first walk up the stairs. The bathroom has a large bathtub, two sinks, and a nice sized seperate shower. Just wait, I saved the best for last. The bedroom that Ryan and I are taking (which we "called" and no one opposed) is huge. It is clearly the master bedroom, and get this - it has an ensuite bathroom!!!!!! It has a complete bathroom with a shower and toilet and everything!!! It's amazing. Somehow, having an ensuite makes me feel like an adult!! In addition to all of this space, there are lots of little nooks and crannies that can be used for storage or whatever. I'm absolutely head over heels in love with this house. If any of you remember me saying that I would take the layout of the Burlington House home to Canada and build it, I changed my mind. I want the new house!!! It's phenomenal. Now the next question is, WHEN DO WE GET TO MOVE IN?!?!?

Ignorance is NOT bliss!!

I met the most ignorant woman today. The kind of woman that you see on tv shows like "this hour has 22 minutes" or hear about in a really bad joke. I went to get my hair cut today at a salon just down the street. The lady who washed my hair was making polite conversation. I went something like this:

hair lady: "Where are you from? You sound like you have an accent."
me: "I'm from Canada."
hair lady: "Oh, is that in America?"
me: "No, Canada is it's own country."
hair lady: "Oh, I thought it was a state."
me: "Nope, it's north of America."

just wait, she doesn't stop there...

hair lady: "Since you live near America, do you call yourself an American?"
me: "No, I live in Canada, I am a Canadian."
hair lady: "Oh, I never did understand that." (Clearly...)
me: "Me calling myself American would be like you calling yourself European."
hair lady: "Oh, well I wouldn't tell someone that, now would I?"

No. No hair lady you would not.

The hair cut itself (once I got over my initial shock) went quite well. I am back to a very short 'do which should last me for quite awhile. It's not a "dana" cut, but it will have to do. And I have bangs back, which is so nice! Actually, the hair lady also mentioned that she thought it was 'cute' that I called them bangs. Does anyone know what British people call them? Oh well...

Are we there yet? Mid term is only 4 weeks away!!

I haven't blogged for awhile, and for that I apologize. I actually wonder if anyone other than Julie and Derek actually read this thing! Sometimes I even forget that we have it!

We're working on getting back into the swing of things over here. Jet lag has worn off, although I am still getting to bed early (too early for Ryan!!). We are both busy working, and it's true what they say, the first term is by far the hardest. Although it is still a challange, the management side of it is so much easier. So many of the kids just need a "look" and they stop their bad behaviour. There are a few who still get on my nerves, but what can you do?

I am thinking of starting up a Scholastic club at the school. Along with the line dancing club, the art club (which I got kinda suckered into), and the french club, I think this term will be quite busy. I am doing my best to stay caught up on my marking (blogging doesn't help that though...) and my planning. I have PPA on monday (yeah!) so I hope to get everything sorted before then. I did so much planning this week, but none of the printers at the school were working, so I couldn't print any of my plans!

We are reading The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe in class. Well, I am reading it. The kids are listening, and so far, they have done a good job. We only read about 10 minutes a day, and that's about all they can handle. They get bored if it's any longer. They are really enjoying the story. It's good to have something that they are interested in!

Ryan and I are looking for somewhere hot and sunny to go for mid term break. If anyone has any ideas (not too expensive please) let us know. We just can't decide!! Although we were looking at Malta last night (I don't even know where that is) and then I had a dream about it. I dreamt that the bus for the airport was leaving (I knew it was the Malta bus because it said Malta where the street name or whatever would go) and it was CRAMMED FULL!!! I'm talking people on top of people, faces squashed up against the windows. Needless to say, we missed that bus. I don't know what the rest of the dream had to do with Malta.

Ok, well now I feel like I am just rambling. I should go home and eat some dinner!!

Love you all!

we're back!

It's been a long road, but we are finally back in the UK. Some of you may have been worried that we got injured in the traumatizing car ride to the airport (or aeroport) but it was a rather uneventful ride! We got there on time (if you don't count Ryan's escapade with returning the car) and we even managed to fly out of Heathrow Airport before they closed it down because of fog. Our airplane problems began right away, as we checked into the flight we were told that we weren't sitting together. That's a shame, since we PAID to have our seats reserved by a travel agent, who was subsequently reminded three times. Whatever. After a choicely worded phone call to said travel agent, we were on our way to the gate, with the hopes of some christmas cheer and that someone would take pity on us and let us sit together. We went through security with no problems at all. I was sort of expecting something, since we were flying out of a major airport that had been the brunt of a terrorist attack in the not so distant past. We did have some annoying perameters, but other than that, we were free and clear. We did some shopping in the MASSIVE shopping/duty free area. They even have a mini-Harrod's! We flew for 8 hours and landed in Toronto. We were met by Julie with a sign for "Favourite aunt Elaine and uncle Ryan" and we got to hold B for the first time in 4 months!! She is so much cuter in person!

After a very long drive out of Brampton (it took 45 minutes) we got on the road to North Bay to pick up a few things, then onward and upward to Sudbury. We spent the night at the Smith's and did Christmas with them. The next day we had Bertrand Christmas which had 30 some odd family (or mostly family) members for dinner. Including three babies, even though Emily is not so much a baby, which was a nice refreshing change. They are all the entertainment needed!!

Christmas Eve morning Julie dropped us off at the airport for our next stage of our journey. We were heading out to Vancouver to spend the remainder of our vacation with Ryan's family. After our last flight experience, I was concerned about whether or not we would be sitting together. The check in lady said that they were assigning seats at the gate, so we headed over that way. When we got there I spoke to the "gate keeper" and she promptly started to assign us new seats, which I was very grateful for! As we stood there, another man came over and said, we've got lots of room, you can move people up front. That's right, we got bumped to executive class!! That would have been great enough with the lounge chairs and real mugs and cutlery, but because it was a domestic flight we should have had to pay for any food we have. Lucky for us, we got a great fruit platter, an omlette breakfast, and another fruit and cheese platter. Not to mention all the tea and coffee we could drink. It was sweet!

We spent our week in Vancouver (well, Richmond) celebrating birthdays and christmas, and having lots of fun together. We ate way too much dessert and watched a great movie, and even made it up to the top of the mountain to see some real snow. The highlight of the trip had to be Ryan's gps unit. It resulted in loads of time spent wandering in circles and finding "really really good parking spots". A source of unending entertainment.

There are so many more stories, but they will have to wait for another day.