Last Week Before Half Term

Sunday...
Woke up in the morning to go to church, went down and turns out Hannah, Liz and their friend Laura were mingling about. No plan to go to church in the morning but Hannah mentioned wanting to go to the evening service instead. As I was already running a little behind (and I hate walking into church, class, or basically anywhere LATE) I decided the evening service would be a good change. We ended up taking Laura to Chiquitos (becoming a fairly regular spot for us) for Sunday morning brunch. I gorged out on the hash browns (sooo delicious). In the afternoon, Laura wanted to visit the Sea City Museum so I used my wanting to go as well as an excuse to tag along. Actually, pretty much all of Camp Canada was out-- what a great group activity. The Sea City Museum is basically totally "Titanic" oriented. Which makes sense, as the Titanic did sail from Southampton and it had an immense impact on the economy! After we walked through the museum area, we ended uo in the gift shop (don't worry, mum, I didn't buy anything), upon entering the museum and also around town, we'd seen advertisements for another exhibit called the "Soldier's Path" centring about soldiers in the World Wars. Walking through the gift shop, Maggie asked if I wanted to join her to check out the Soldier exhibit, apparently peoples were just walking through (we'd originally thought you needed to pay more). Who could resist that? So we ended up walking around another exhibit for 10-15 minutes. When we came out, everyone had gone without a text or anything. We walked around to the library thinking they might be there... nothing. In the end, we messaged them and turns out they'd left for ice cream. By the time we joined them for ice cream, Laura had already left for the train. Too bad I didn't get to say goodbye. I felt a little hurt that they'd all left without even mentioning it to Maggie or I. I find lately I'm struggling with where I fit in this group. Everyone is so wonderfully funny and I enjoy their company immensely, but sometimes I feel like a tag along running behind them, like an after thought. These thoughts are only magnified by the fact that this past week I've been having trouble sleeping (waking up with constriction and pain in my chest.) As I'm sure everyone can relate, when not sleeping or sleeping poorly, emotions can run high. After the museum, Liz and I watched a few episodes of Grimm while I sat with my hot water bottle as my chest had the pain again.
Hannah and I walked up to the city centre to church for 6 o'clock. When we got there, we realized we were half an hour early! The service had lots of youth integrated into it. While I didn't necessarily know the songs, I enjoyed the beat. As we were leaving, we were approached to join a newcomers group. We gave them our information and spent some time sharing about our Canadian-ness, etc.
Once home, I chatted with my parents and was ready for bed. Anne and I had discussed chatting tonight but I think she was still napping when I tried to call. At this point, I don't have a booking for Monday morning... wouldn't it be nice to have a day off.. haha

Monday...
Got the call to go into a new school today at 7:16 am. The call was to go into a year 3 class in Shirley, an area I've never been to before. I started the walk into city centre with the intention of walking the whole way but soon realized that just wouldn't work at all-- I'd never make it on time! So I was able to jump on a bus (wow, never thought I'd say that!) and got myself out to the school. They were very welcoming and I had a lot of support throughout the day. The icing on the cake was that Anne texted me around noon asking to video chat when I was home. I managed to leave school AS SOON AS the kids were done and I was home by 4. That will definitely never happen again! Had a wonderful chat with my BBF for a little over an hour. It was so good to catch up with her ad hear about her trip to Scotland and adventures of the past few weeks that we haven't chatted. It was tough to hang up with her, though. She was heading out to meet her mum and I was heading out to the No. 4 (as usual). It was good that I was kept busy after hanging up with her as I'm sure my emotions would have overrun me!

Tuesday...
Had my usual Tuesday booking at the same school for every Tuesday morning. It was nice to see those kids again after missing them for the past two weeks with other books that came in. After Maggie and I left the school, we stopped for some lunch at Bella Italia. I was never really a sandwich person before but now that I've tried toasted paninis here, I LOVE THEM! Especially with Tomato... yes you read that right, I eat tomato on my sandwiches. Some of you may be wondering why this is such a feat for the girl who loves ketchup, but it truly is. My Aunt, I'm sure, can attest to the fact that tomatoes kind of freak me out with their squishiness etc. After a late lunch, we wandered into EE to check about using our phones in Ireland (turns out we're both going with our friends that are coming to visit.) I have tried not to think about Darcie's visit here too much because I would get too excited and I wanted to take it one day at a time but beginning to think about Ireland on Sunday has me quite excited and looking forward to half term! I got home for a little bit but then headed out again to my 5 o'clock doctors appointment which I made last Wednesday. I'm glad that I kept the appointment because the pain has been coming and going. I ended up waiting over  half an hour and then met with the Dr, who apically dismissed me saying that it was indigestion. I understand that it's hard to diagnose when the pain is not currently happening, but I can pretty much assure you that it is not indigestion. After leaving from that appointment, I was feeling a little teary (such is the day) and decided to walk down by the water as it was fairly nice, though windy, out. Actually, it was QUITE windy today! I sat for a few minutes down by the water, and cried a bit to myself. As I walked home, I decided to stop in at the No. 4 to get a hot chocolate to take away (that's British for "to go"). As I was leaving, I noticed Hannah and Liz sitting on the couches playing Banana grams. I sat with them and ended up walking home with them. As the night was still early, I ended up hanging out with Liz in her place and then we had a "future housemate meeting". We discussed who gets what room, bed sizes, etc. I took the single bed as I don't plan on having any visitors and I'm fairly accustomed to a single bed, though I have grown to enjoy my double bed currently. Oh well, a bed is a bed. Hard to believe our move in date is approaching quickly!

Wednesday...
At midnight, I rolled over in pain and ended up boiling the water for my hot water bottle. By 3 am, I was awoken again with pain. I couldn't sleep and felt very isolated so I called home. my mum answered (only being about 10 for her) and we chatted for an hour. It felt nice to cry to her about the pain, about how I've been feeling and just talk things out with her. There are times we don't see eye to eye about many things including money (eh, mum!?) but she's my mum and even just chatting with her brings me some inner peace. She asked if I was booked in for a school today and I told her yes but that I'd booked Friday off to catch up on sleep and do errands before meeting Darcie.  In the morning, about 7, I was headed to a school that allowed me to catch the bus at about 7:40, woohoo a sleep in! The class was a little chatty (I've come to expect that from British classes)  but I enjoyed my time with them. When I got there in the morning and was waiting to be told what class I was going to, I noticed Hannah arrived as well... And then Rachel's friend Natasha whom we'd met on Sat. It was nice to have people to share my lunch hour with! Over the morning break, I got a call from TimePlan about a potential long term job. When I called them, Natalie told me that the school wanted to meet with me on Thursday and Friday but she saw that I'd booked Friday off... When I explained to her my reasoning, being as sweet as she is, she began to suggest various anxiety remedies that had worked for her. In the end, I ended up cancelling my Friday off.
On the way home, Hannah and I stopped at the pharmacy for the "Kalms" that Natalie had suggested. It ended up being a fairly early night. Alex and I ended up watching some "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" for about an hour and I was ready for bed by 9. Technically could've gone to bed earlier but wanted to push it back to ensure I'd sleep through the night!

Thursday...
I managed to find the school alright. I got to catch the bus at about 7:30 so a slight sleep in. Hey, I'll take anything I can get! Turns out the class I am to be in has just changed rooms as their old room is being renovated, the TA will be out of the room today, and there was a random P.E. survey that wasn't on my lesson plan...The new room that we're in has very high ceilings so it echoes, and there's the humming of a fan! The day was alright, it was a year 3 class and I enjoyed the maths and english lessons I got to do with them. I just found them to not be very good listeners. The TA told me that they'd been like that all week! Holy crow! I really made an effort to learn the student's names, knowing I'll be here tomorrow. And I also enjoyed coming home, knowing what the basic outline of the day would be for tomorrow. Before going to bed tonight, I was on pinterest finding some activities they could do with their 100s square investigation on patterns. Liz messaged me saying we all needed to meet with the letting agency to sign the contract (thankfully, we didn't all need to be there at the same time). So, after I bussed back into the city centre from Shirley, I headed out in the opposite direction to Portswood! Guess who was getting off the bus I was about to get on? Liz and Hannah, they'd just come from signing! When I got there, I found Jesse and he and I ended up walking home together and stopping for some food. It was a nice walk, and I got to know Jesse a little better. Tonight, there was live music at the No. 4, I went for a little bit with the girls but left early as I was feeling tired.

Friday...
Today, I managed to drag myself out of bed. Turns out, Liz booked today off (I'm very jealous!!!). I missed my bus by a minute or so and was forced to wait 20 minutes for the next one to come. I just arrived at the school at 8:10 and the kids come in at 8:30! The morning went well. I ended up teaching the maths lesson twice. Once to "my" group and then again to the other year 3 group when the other teacher took my group. The second time is always better, but both times I found the kids focused on the colour patterns on their 100s square, rather than the numeric patterns. At lunch, I had a student come in and ask if I was a specific girl's teacher, when I said yes, he told me that she was annoying him on the playground and he was going to hit her. When I told him I understand its frustrating that people annoy us, but is hitting the right response, he kept talking and wasn't listening to what I had to say. After what felt like a long time of him rambling, he looked at me and said "I'm going to hit her anyway" and then ran out of the room... What was the point in asking me, kid!?  In the afternoon, we had art, and I was able to get some marking done while the student's worked. With a little bit of extra time before the worship assembly, I taught them how to play "Heads Up, 7Up" They really enjoyed it but then we ran out of time. The assembly went well but the kids were not sitting very nicely. I was so ready for the end of the day when it came!! Hallelujah, it's half term and I've got my week off!!!!!!
Tonight, We've got the TimePlan social beginning at 6, and I am only staying for about 10 minutes as then I need to race off to the Coach Station so I can meet Darcie at Heathrow. Hard to believe it's time for her to be here! I'm so excited to see a familiar face from home (and to enjoy the treats she's brought me ha ha). I sped walked up to the coach station and then enjoyed a quiet 2 hour ride into London. The bus had wifi and it was great to keep myself busy. Aunt Marj. tried to FaceTime me while on the bus and though we did have a god short talk, I told her we'd chat soon. I managed to find my way up to the arrivals area recognizing a few of the sights along the way from when Alex and I flew in. I waited for Darc and it was so good to see her face come through the throngs of people!! We caught the coach home, not before getting Paninis at the bus station. By the time we got into Southampton it was coming up to 1 am. The cab picked us up and we made it home. I'm so excited for me week with my friend!

Saturday...
After having a late night with Darc, we slept in until after 9! The plan was to get to the bank, do laundry, and perhaps get my hair cut (all the while while Darcie slept) however, in action, that didn't necessarily happen. We did make it to the bank and I showed Darc around a little bit, we did do laundry but then the landlord wanted to meet us sooner rather than later so we all (excluding Jesse who was gone today) made our way over to the house. We walked into the house with it being in the same state as when we did our original walk through. During the original walk through, the estate agent had assured us the landlord would go through and clean the house, etc. Obviously we had some sort of miscommunication. So we ended up spending a few hours this afternoon cleaning! The room that has been designated as mine had some mould that I attempted to scrub away but will have to talk to landlord about. When I was chatting with Anne a few days ago, she said she hoped that I would have a clean house to move into. I think she jinxed me! So of course I had to text her about the state of the house when we arrived! It was good to have Darc to chat with while we cleaned, though I felt bad to subject her to that! I also figured out how to work the gas oven! Im in shock that the previous tenants would move out and leave the house like that?!?! We all left around the same time, but the girls walked ahead of us and Darc and I explored around the city centre for a bit, stopping for groceries on the way home about 5. We're ready to relax and plan our Ireland trip!

Had I been driving the Titanic, she never would have sunk! 

Jesse shovelled coal! Tough job!

Learning Morse code. 

I'm morse code proficient! 

Part of the Solider's Path Exhibit

Looks fairly similar, I think!

Got a little silly.

Wrote my War Time postcard!

Just Another Manic Monday

On Monday,
My booking was at the same school as I was at on Friday.. Liz and I caught the bus at about 7:40 am (another somewhat sleep in.. after a wild Sunday.. not!). It was rainy so we ensured that we got a return ticket! On the way, I realized I had a missed call from TimePlan.. Called them back using the redial on my phone and it called the London office! whattt? Liz and I also figured out that our regular Tuesday morning booking had been cancelled for tomorrow morning. Looking forward to having the day off tomorrow... perhaps! I got to the school and was shown to same classroom I was in on Friday.. I got there and the prep cover teacher was in. She told me that for the morning, I'd be an extra pair of hands-- great, fine by me :) And I'd be teaching in the afternoon. Then the regular classroom teacher walked in and the prep teacher said to her "well, this is supposed to be your supply," to which she replied, "I didn't call in." So I then went back to office to inquire about where I should be. I was then told I'd just be used as an extra set of hands in the classroom all day as they didn't want to send me home in the rain. Drats, haha! The day went by alright. At times I felt like an idiot because I wasn't quite sure what I was doing ex. One teacher told me not to keep the star job sheets, so as the kids handed them in, I checked off their names but didn't write their names on their sheets. I was then informed by the classroom teacher, that they keep everything.. great.. The day was alright though and I was able to leave pretty soon after as I didn't have any marking to do. Liz and I rode the bus back home and enjoyed chatting about random things like child names, etc. We stopped at a convenience store and found microwave popcorn!! We've been looking for this for a while. Next step will be trying it out!

Tuesday...
I thought I'd be able to have today off. I lay in bed and received the call-in at 7:30 am so a school I'd never been too! I was watching youtube videos on my phone when it began to ring. It was Natalie on the other end sending me into the year 6 class. I got to the school shortly after 8, and waited outside to be let in for over 10 minutes. A few teachers walked past me getting out of their cars and went around to the staff entrance. So I waited and waited and waited for someone to let me in while standing awkwardly there. The day was tough, I'm definitely not going to lie. It was a very multicultural school-- I couldn't pronounce most of the names, couldn't remember any names, yada yada yada.. At one point, I was leading the class out to break, and one student left the classroom before we were ready to leave classroom quietly, this student ran out of the classroom. I walked after him asking him to come back and he turned, looked at me and ran! The bugger ran! Not cool! It was just a lot of behaviour issues that I wasn't equipped to deal with... I definitely don't like the older grades. I was sure ready to leave once the day was over--I was at my wit's end!!
Luckily, I came home to a welcoming crowd though we didn't do much. I worked on the puzzle and did some knitting. After a tough day, it was wonderful to unwind!

Wednesday...
Today commenced my week long booking at the same school covering for another Canadian teacher (never met her before) who went back home for a wedding. Her job is to cover for various teacher's prep days. NQT (newly qualified teachers) get a whole day off for prep while teacher who have been working for a while get half a day off. Today I was in a year 4 class. I actually really enjoyed the class and the age group! Though I was a little intimidated when I was told I'd be teaching the french lesson "Quelle age as-tu?" It was alright.. I survived...! I find the mornings tough when trying to learn names because they break up the students into sets.. So I take the register (attendance) and then for maths they get sorted into their learning groups.. I taught the middle set (we talked about hr 3 timetable and then using partitioning in division- I enjoyed it!) So just as I was getting the hang on the names, it switched to literacy and a whole different set of students (some the same.) and we were working on similes based on colours "Purple tastes like a grape lollipop," etc. We had some interesting ones... "red is like cold blood.." thanks, kid... Just as I got used to that set, it was lunch and I had to hand out the dinner band for my ORIGINAL class. In the afternoon, I had the original class and it went well. Taught R.E.-- focusing on Vanesha... and french. I'm not knowledgeable enough to teach this stuff! The day was good though!

Thursday...
I was between two classes today. In the morning, a Year 3 covering SPAG (Spelling and Grammar) and Maths. In the afternoon, I was in Year 2 (it was a good afternoon). Wasn't too memorable, though I did enjoy my time there. As I was waiting for the bus, got a wonderful Facebook message from Jennifer wishing me a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people. Really looking forward to our Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend!! We're planning to cook a turkey, stuffing, and vegetables-- All the fixins.. And all without a working stove top of our own! Stopped at a little bakery on my way home from school to order buns for our Thanksgiving dinner. On a  whim, I also ordered a nice looking loaf of bread. Wanted to make my own buns but don't have the room or the muffin tins for it, sadly!

Friday...
So close to the weekend!! Was in a year 3 class, and it went well! I really enjoy this age group, because they're not too "old" but yet I still enjoy teaching them! We covered RE- talking about Muhammad and his life in Medina and Mecca... I had no context to teach the kids... but I think we were able to fumble through it. On the way back from school, I picked up the buns, which the woman handed over to me in a large garbage bag. Walking to the bus stop carrying them was an experience! Once I returned home, it was a bustle of activity getting the turkey prepared to be cooked tomorrow and catching up with the friends of Camp Canada. The task for tonight was to finish the puzzle before our apartment becomes filled with people tomorrow! Unfortunately, didn't get finished but the goal is to finish tomorrow!!

Saturday...
Wasn't up too early but tried to make it a decent time as need to get work done on the puzzle! And we finished it around 11 o'clock. Alex designated herself as the turkey cooker so while I puzzled, she was basting the turkey. I quite liked the set up! I was on potato duty, once I was able to start preparing the potatoes, and the buns that I picked up yesterday. I really worked on my self control and waited to have a bun with the meal, and not a moment before! With such a build up to them, they were a bit of a let down and not as good as homemade (though nothing ever is! This is where my mother would insert a story about homemade butter tarts being much better than store bought..) The plan was for people to begin arriving around 3 so for the hour before, we were frantically running up and down stairs (the JOYS of enjoying flats so close to each other) borrowing utensils, cooking on other stoves, and mingling. It was a great time to have everyone over. I enjoyed catching up with Zoe and Ryan, Paige, Rachel, and numerous other friends as well as meeting new people! It was a very laid back atmosphere with LOTS of food and good amount of dessert as well! We ate, played heads up, had a few drinks, and relaxed. By 9, part of the group decided to go out to a bar. Maggie, Zoe, Ryan and Myself stayed back to relax and chat some more. That's more my style, the laid back atmosphere. I found out Zoe and Ryan had decided to take a day trip to Bournemouth (about an hour away by train) tomorrow and I weaselled my way into joining them!! After a long day of prep and build up, I was ready for bed about 11 and slept so well!

Sunday...
This was the first week I went to church on my own. I walked up, as usual, and entered the building at the same time as another woman. When it became obvious we were going to same place, she introduced herself and I ended up sitting with her. Once the service was over at 10:30, I quickly got out of there as I was meeting Zoe and Ryan at 11:30 at the train station. We got on the train to Bournemouth and as we were approaching the Christchurch platform, we heard an announcement alerting us to the slowing of the train due to a swan being on the track. As swans are technically owned by the Queen, there was not much we could do about it except to try to shoo it off the tracks. After about 10 minutes of waiting, we were told the swan had found its way onto the platform once again however now the power to the tracks needed to be shut off due to the fact that people had wandered onto them (trying to shoo the swan away, I guess?). So we sat for about 15 minutes or so waiting for the power to come back so we could continue on our way. Zoe and I attempted to get a picture of the offending creature (the swan) but never managed to capture the moment. We arrived in Bournemouth and walked into the city centre, not a long walk at all! We enjoyed walking around, seeing the sights, and stopping into a few different stores. Mostly, they were touristy places that had "London" plastered all over them. Seems to be a bit of a lie to send postcards and items home with London written on them when I haven't been there yet. Did manage to find a few postcards, can't wait to send them home! Bought a few gifts in preparation for Christmas, already! Woohoo! We found our way down to the waterfront and it was beautiful! While Southampton has more of a harbour front for the boats, Bournemouth has a beautiful beach and pier. We frolicked in the English Channel (was a little chilly and reminiscent of splashing around in Lake Superior around this time last year). As we walked out to the end of the pier, it began to rain but we still managed to enjoy the time (almost got on the zip line if it had been a few £s less! We ate a late lunch at a restaurant called "Harry Ramsdens" it boasted to have the best fish and chips-- I think Ryan was pretty impressed! We walked back to the train in the rain but had a wonderful afternoon! We got back to Southampton after 6, and I was glad to have my umbrella with me once we parted ways (earning to take it everywhere with me!). After such an exciting day, my night was spent watching a bit of television and relaxing in preparation for the week to start. I had a great chat with the famjam at the cottage AND the Stewart family as they were preparing their Thanksgiving dinner (such is our yearly tradition). It was great to connect with both families-- especially because I haven't had a chance to Skype with Erika or Emily for that matter yet! What a wonderful end to my night!

First week of October!

Following my wonderful birthday dinner on Tuesday, the rest of the week was rather uneventful. On Wednesday, all of Camp Canada, with the exception of the full timers Maggie and Alex, was at the same school. I was in a year 3 class... The day went by quickly, and I enjoyed the age group. The school office didn't open until after 8, so we took the 7:45 bus, it was quite the sleep in! No complaints from me! Once I found my way to the classroom, I found the planning a little overwhelming.. different terminology, lots of detail but boo clarity for me, etc. Luckily, the TA was amazing and we were able to muddle through it. The biggest issue I found was doing phonics.. The lesson was focusing on the al/ ar sound.. In Father, half, calf... And with my different accent, I said words differently and, I think, confused the kids a little bit. Luckily, the TA was able to jump in and save me.
Every other wednesday night happens to be Trivia night at the No. 4. So we had two Canadian teams and didn't do too well but it was a relaxed night with laughter and enjoyment! I'm thinking that might become a bi-weekly routine for us!

Thursday, I was in a year 5 class... good experience for if I get the year 5 class on the Isle of Wight. I got to the classroom to discover it'd be a very laid back day. The Maths lesson was on the computers, an independent task which I just basically had to oversee, the teacher was back for literacy (so I went and helped out in the year 4 class), after lunch was P.E. (toughest part of the whole day... teaching a game-- handball that I've never even heard of!) and then music... In the downtime, I read to them from War Horse and we talked about Canada. The day went by quickly, but talking to Rachel at lunch, we talked about how supply work is much harder than we anticipated... The more I supply, the more I want my own classroom. In the evening, I had a wonderful Skype chat with Jillian! It was so amazing to catch up with her and to hear from a familiar face from home. I also chatted with Darcie! I hadn't really chatted with her in MONTHS so it was good to catch up and "shoot the breeze."

Friday...
Today, I was back in the school from Wednesday, but this time in a reception class (JK). It was another "sleep in morning"... left house at 7:30am!! Usually, this would seem early but I usually leave the house at 7. So I'll take what I can get! This is one of my favourite age groups to be with, but I find to jump into the classroom is very tough because it is so routine oriented and not knowing the routines and the little details of the day really throws them off (as well as me!) The day went by pretty quickly... again, had an amazing TA, and we got through the day. Again, phonics threw me through a loop just because of the routine, etc. The nice thing about reception is the lack of marking so I was on the road to walk home by 3:45pm!
My friday night was pretty low-key. We met Alex once she got home around 8 at the Sir Admiral Lucius Curtis. We all got invited to go out to a beer pong tournament and most went. I decided, however, to have a quiet night in. Laura and I were texting and I had originally decided to watch a movie but the internet was acting up, so I decided to take it as a sign to read my book instead! Good choice, self!

Saturday...
Had our regular morning pancake breakfast! As always, delicious! Our original plan was to visit the Isle of Wight today, however, we woke up to rain! So that plan was quickly canned and we decided, instead, to see a matinee. I threw a load of laundry into the machines. Once it was finished, I discovered that the spin cycle hadn't done it's job... at all!! I had to wring out every piece of clothing!! Hung it all up around the flat... There was not much free space at all! Maggie and I ended up walking into the city centre to pick up a few things-- including another set of bed sheets (on sale!).. a flannelette (not quite Canadian flannelette but these will do). Dropped everything back at the flat, and Alex and I met Liz and Hannah at the theatre. Things I've learned about going to see a film in England: they don't have butter on popcorn (options are sweet and salty), and they tell you where to sit, like going to see a play. We saw 'The Equalizer'. It was a good movie.. Basically like an adult version of 'Home Alone' haha of course by the time, we got to the theatre, the rain had stopped-- what a waste! The rest of the day was spent hanging out doing our "stitch and bitch" session!

Sunday...
Was up and ready to go to the church service. We left at 8:55 am for the 9:15 service. I like the routine of going each week, I find some solace in the service and knowing I'd be going if I was home too! It's not quite the same though, I do miss my Anne's sermons! On the way back, we decided our weekly brunch would be at 'Bella Italia' as they hd a breakfast special! I got the pancakes (can one ever have too many pancakes?!). In the afternoon, we started a puzzle I had bought from the thrift store-- a steam engine. Over the time, we had various people working on the puzzle, crocheting or bringing up yummy muffins (thanks, Maggie!). I thoroughly enjoy a Sunday afternoon/ evening spent puzzling! We also went over to the No. 4 for a wonderful hot chocolate and hangout session. The girls taught me how to play cribbage so I've been enjoying learning this game ( learned it before but forgot how to play!). A relaxing sunday, just how I like it!

The picture doesn't do it justice-- beautiful flower amongst the leaves.

Crossing the Itchen Bridge. 

Trivia night at the No. 4

Sharing a coke with my mate-- me! 

Beautiful plate I found at the thrift store-- I thought it was quite "Canadian" 

Cluedo?

Perhaps a Christmas present?

Hannah playing Piano tiles on my iPad.. She complained it was too big for her fingers. 

Crossing the Itchen bridge again! 

I thought I was quite witty!

My wood fired pizza! Made me think of my SarMer and our Jazz Festival weekend!

Isle of Wight Interview and Birthday in the UK!

Hi Everyone,

After a good weekend, I didn't have a Monday booking. So I used my morning to putter around the flat. I organized, wrote a few letters and slept in. I'm learning to take advantage of my mornings when I have them!! I had my Isle of Wight "interview" set for 2pm. Upon Liz's instructions, I left the house about noon, stopping by the TimePlan office along the way. I'd gotten a call earlier saying they'd pay for my ferry across the water-- awesome! So I stopped into the office to pick up the moula and had a good chat with Natalie. I did start to tear up a little bit, talking about how I missed the familiarity of home, and how I'm finding supply work tough... Going into a different classroom each day not knowing the routines, the teaching lingo, etc. I pulled myself together and got on the road, so to say, to catch the ferry over. The ferry that I ended up taking was the express ferry-- so it only took about 25 minutes as opposed to the bigger boat which would take about 45-60 minutes, so I've heard. I got onto the Isle and walked past the school with about 40 minutes to spare, so I kept walking for about 5 minutes and came upon a bench. Luckily, I had brought my book so I sat and read for about 20 minutes. Once I arrived at the school, I sat for a few minutes but was met but a very warm welcome from the head teacher. She took me into her office, we chatted about Canada for a few minutes, she showed me the long term plans and explained the basics of the position ( year 5, from Nov to Christmas, etc) as well as the planning (every friday afternoon, while the student's learn a chosen activity for the term!). I went into the interview sure that I didn't want the job due to the older age of the students, etc. and left thinking that I definitely wanted the consistency and to be able to communicate/ form relationships with the students.. I sure do make things more difficult for myself! I had another meeting planning with my new friend, Ashley at 4:45. I got off the ferry about 3:45 and after a funny quid chat with Hannah where we impersonated each other's accents, I walked up to meet her and grab a gelato milkshake from the amazing Gelato booth at the city centre. During the walk back down to Ocean Village,  managed to spill on myself, put the cone in my mouth to wipe up my pants and then spill on myself again!! Just my luck! 

Met Ashley at Pitcher and Piano, the girls found their table else where, and we enjoyed a good chat! two hours few by again and I couldn't believe it! He even ordered me chips (fries)... and I used up all the ketchup, no surprise there! After we parted ways, I sat with the girls a bit sharing about our Mondays.. Alex had planned to meet someone but when that didn't seem to pan out, she and I headed home to eat some dinner and relax. It was a dreary day in the morning and I wasn't feeling too positive, when I mentioned to this her in a text her response was, "when you're feeling down, remember that tomorrow is your BIRTHDAY!!" that definitely helped!

Anne was catching her flight to Scotland today! I'm SO excited for her to have some time off and enjoy her mother country, but I'll also miss our contact over the next two weeks-- because she won't have her blackberry on and be able to communicate with me! But, here I am just being selfish! I truly am excited to here about the wedding and her adventures. When Tyler and I were talking about her trip over to the UK, he commented " your BBF is going to Scotland for 2 weeks and can't even find the time to visit you in England while she's in the area?!?" I agree, Tyler! Seriously... hash

Tuesday...

Happy Birthday to me! Though I am used to being away from my family and Ennismore friends for my birthday, I was a little down today to be so far away. I had my regular Tuesday morning booking in the year 3 class. Mostly, I forgot it was my birthday. Two students got into ruler sword fights, I tried to decipher the literacy lesson plan, and I had an hour of marking to do. I got out of the class JUST as the students were coming back in from break. The morning was good though. I started my "Canadian memorabilia" handout to a student who was listening and on good behaviour. Hopefully, the bribery will work! ahha On my way home, stopped for a gargantuan milkshake. I was able to snap a pretty funny picture of myself with the milkshake and a random guy in the background probably wondering just HOW crazy I was! Once back at the flat, I relaxed with the girls. Did some knitting, played music and lay in slappy (their single bed in the living room... All luxurious flats have one, don't ya know). The girls made me meatloaf (my favourite!!) and a wonderful cake! I received flowers from Rebecca (my first time receiving flowers-- it brightened my day!!), and opened my cards that had arrived in the mail over the past few days. It was a low-key birthday surrounded by my Camp Canada friends, and thats just how I envisioned it!
When the girls told me they were making meatloaf, they said they'd asked messaged Anne asking what I'd like. I told them she'd say "chicken fingers," and they responded "that's what she said!" I didn't believe them after on the weekend, I asked them about the dome in the distance from the docks and Alex said, "that's where they film that show 'Under the Dome.'" Because I so gullible, needless to say I fell for it. Until I saw the looks they were shooting back and forth and realized they were playing with me! So when they said they'd messaged my Anne, I didn't believe them... until Liz showed me the conversation. And they had! It was a gesture that touched my heart and I teared up a little. Anne had her flight to Scotland yesterday so we weren't in contact today but I felt her positive thoughts! Rachel and Paige came up from downstairs and it was a great night of laughter and eating cake!

Sitting by the docks

Catching the Ferry! 

There's a castle in there... somewhere!

Isle of Wight! 

Mailbox in the wall! 

Making my cake!

I got to lick the bowl! 

Relaxing on slappy!

Birthday flowers from Rebecca!

My cake! 

lighting the cake

How wonderful!! I'm spoiled! 

My cards!

The amazing dinner!! 

YUM!