jamesonepp

Done wasting time on life-sucking vortexes like Facebook. Sorry, that includes LJ. Send an email if you want to hear from me.

Today is Thanksgiving. This is the second of three that we will be celebrating this year. I'm thankful for a lot of things in my life, here are a few:

- Family. My in-laws came out from the Island to visit with us and spend time with their grandson over the weekend. They are helping out a lot, paying for food and hotel, etc. as well as picking up some toys and gifts for the little guy for Christmas. They have been really flexible and generous, and I suppose that means that I am also thankful for: 

-Generosity: See above comment. Also, people who go out of their way for another person. It doesn't have to be monetary at all - just a little extra effort to make someone else's life easier. Think about the movie Pay it Forward (a crappy movie but an interesting premise) . Even holding the door for someone else.

-My child: He makes me smile. He also says, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy..." when I'm gone, apparently. And, he socializes well. He had a playdate today, and showed and shared all of his toys with his buddy, and gave lots of hugs in the process. Also, he is enamored with girls of all ages, especially ones with skirts. :) 

-My wife: She tries to make me happy in all the ways that she can, even if she's having a crappy day herself. She takes care of the house and child, which is a whole heap of work, and does things to keep herself sane in the meantime.

-Cheap hotel rooms: We scored a deal of $30/night at the Coast Edmonton House. Don't ask me how because I don't know exactly. But look them up on the web, and if you're ever in Edmonton, here's the plug. Decent 1 br suite, and cheap.

-Cities: I hate Edmonton, but I love the fact that if I wanted milk at 9:15 on a Sunday, I could run out and get some. Or beer. Or anything else at most times of the day. Traffic sucks though.

-Friends: I have lots, and they are what got me through rough times living up North. The relationships that you develop living in relative isolation are stronger than anything you would develop in a city in the same amount of time.

Uh oh... Carter has put those plastic make-it-yourself freezer popsicle tops into one of his toys... this will require screwdrivers and patience to retrieve them. *sigh*

Anyhow, I felt it was important to write down some of the latest and greatest events of my existence at this point in time.

1) Wie woare jung habn. That's plattdeutsch for "We will have a boy." It was great fun telling both sets of parents and making them try to guess and figure out the plattdeutsch-english translation, seeing as there really isn't a standardised dictionary for the oral language... :)

Both of us are pretty happy, and in all reality, the second boy will be easier than having a girl as a second... the decor and clothing doesn't have to change, we already know approximately what to expect, etc. The plan would be to adopt a non-baby girl sometime in the future, so that we can get our daughter, and help out a human in need at the same time. It's important to look out for your fellow man apparently.

2) Volleyball is off to a great start, as I mentioned in the last post. I really enjoy coaching the girls, they are so receptive and they are learning and growing together as a team, rather than a group of individual players. It's an important distinction, because volleyball is inherently a team sport.

3) I am starting to referee some VB games. My first three are today, out at Hillcrest, Junior games only. LC is hosting Zones this year, and they are in desperate need of coaches apparently. I plan on getting carded as well, so hopefully I can pick up an extra couple hundred bucks this season reffing. At $30 a game, if I ref 10 games over the Zones weekend, that'll really go a long ways towards our Christmas present to eachother this year. Besides, it's good experience to ref a game and know the rules - I think it will make me a better coach.

4) I am so behind and backlogged with marking and planning this year. I blame it all on the rough start at the beginning, and lack of planning time given by the Division. I think that perhaps I need to give fewer assignments. Example: we wrote a Math test on Thursday, and another teacher and I spent one of our PD sessions marking the test. In an hour and a half, neither of us finished our classes of 26. If would have known it would take that long to mark, I would have written a shorter test!!! Actually, it's the new curriculum. There's a lot more writing on the kids part, and consequently, more reading on our part.

5) Presented a PD session for the Division yesterday at the PD day. Co-presented actually... with Lindz, and Whelan. We did Why Try? and had about 10 participants show up. All in all, it was a pretty good session - we had music, games, movement, information, and time for questions at the end. We even made sure to show a video and use a multi-sensory approach. If I were taking it, I would consider it a "good" PD session. But perhaps that's just arrogance talking. I did have a couple of them come to me afterwards and say it was a good session, worth while for them to come, so maybe it's not all just me blowing smoke. :)


All in all: I would say my overall happiness and quality of life this week is about a 7/10. I can see frustrations coming with work, but who doesn't? I think that I am starting to appreciate more what I have, and I think I am also starting to learn what I want, along with what truly matters to me.
 

 I decided this year to coach the girls' volleyball team this year instead of the boys, and what a great decision this is turning out to be. Here's a conversation that I had with members of both boys' and girls' teams: (both played their first games today)

Boys: (in passing)

J - How was your game today? 
Student - We suck, we lost. 
J- Sorry to hear that, did you have fun at least?
S- I guess. They weren't even that good.
J- ...
J- I hear Garden didn't show up for their afternoon game - you guys get your first win! 
S- Yeah... 
J- Well, I gotta go meet my girls, see you on Monday!
S- (noncommital grunt)

 

 

Girls: (post-game debrief)

J- So, how did we do today?
S- We rocked! We've gotten so much better since Tuesday. Our serves were ACTUALLY pretty good. And we did score a few points!
S2- Yeah but we lost. We had a lot of fun though. (chorus of agreement-type sounds)
J- Yeah, we did have a lot of fun. I saw a lot of great things happening. You've improved so much since Tuesday, and you're really coming together as a team.
S3- I wish it were Monday.
J- Why, you like school that much?
S4- I wish it were Wednesday. That way we could play another game right now. That was fun! (the chorus again)
J- (smiles)

 

See? That's why I wanted to coach the girls. They suck, but they've got spirit. They've got at least 4 team cheers, and even when one of them botches a serve, they give her props for trying (she got her next serve).

Reasons to keep teaching, and keep coaching...
 

 So yesterday morning, I figured out that I am missing 12 minutes of my life that I can't account for. 

I awoke at 7:00 as usual, and I remember looking at the clock at 7:08 after I finished putting the coffee on. The very next thing I remember is looking at the clock (I was within 12" of my most recent location) and seeing 7:20. Nothing had changed but the time. Baby still screaming, coffee still brewing (it had only JUST started according to the 'Fresh Brew' Timer), etc. The rest of my morning routine was relatively normal, time dilation wise, but that I arrived at school 12 minutes later than average. Curious. 

I've decided that once again, with my schedule slowly succombing to school, that I no longer have enough time for... well, anything, really. The thought crossed my mind to sell off my hobby-type materials, because I never have time for them. It also occurred to me that perhaps I should just do more work later in the evening. I prefer the latter, as it still gives me time to enjoy with my family, although it will definitely impact my sleep. Here's hoping for 8 hrs every now and then. 

Oh, and on a side note, I feel completely and utterly useless for reasons that are best left unsaid.
 

Reported by a pair of [my] students this morning: 

Two students were riding quad yesterday afternoon down trails not far from their homes. They were hunting prairie chickens. In the process of turning the quad around, a third boy, nearby in his go cart, armed and fired his 22 magnum in his general direction, perhaps to scare them away. It is unknown at this point whether the quadding boys were trespassing or merely "too close for comfort".

After speaking to both victims' parents, the general consensus is that this act of violence towards our students was uncalled for and appropriate legal action needs to be taken. However, as is typical in this and other Mennonite communities, it will most likely be handled "in house" as it were - the perpetrator's father is reported to have said, "I'll deal with it."

I am worried about Kelly! She seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth, or perhaps fallen off a tall Swiss mountain. I 'm concerned about her job situation... or lack thereof. I know that she will get a job eventually, I have faith. I think that I will just feel bad in the meantime. I think that I will call her and see what's going on. School starts soon, and although I'm not quite ready yet, I think that I will be soon. I know that there were other teachers that as they were going about their preparations this afternoon were wondering about her, and wishing she was here.

As for the shameless stab at useless workshops... Could the division not come up with anything better to waste our time with than a rammed-throat-down Alberta Ed overview of a new resource that is a repackaged version of what we already use... but, on a brighter note, we did in fact learn some new things with our new Smart Board toys. And on that note, c'est fini!

I think I need to be happier. So, in what I am terming "an attempt at contentment" I changed my livejournal theme, title, etc. to reflect my new, happier, self.

Other things that are contributing to my overall well-being:

I managed to build a wall, including rewiring lights and drywall.

I managed to get all of my "Need-to-do" list accomplished this summer.

I managed to get 50% of my "Want-to-do" list accomplished this summer.

I have a happy and healthy family that is soon to be growing larger.

I have great friends who are helpful, happy, and supportive, and I try to be in return.

I did a good deed the other day and mowed a lawn that wasn't mine.

I am actually looking forward to starting a new school year.


A made baklava the other day, and I can feel the sugar converting itself into useless stored energy somewhere in my body. It makes me feel lazy. Other than that, we've eaten pretty healthy this summer. We're trying to be more health conscious in our food choices, and I am happy to say that we are finally starting to think about ways to conserve energy, like using the amp less, actually turning off lights that we aren't using, etc. Hopefully this will help reduce our wasteful ways and of course, the dollar cost that goes along with.

Currently reading: 3 months' worth of National Geographic magazines that I need to catch up on. Ooh, and the new issue of Mental Floss should come soon.

Sometimes I think that there is not enough time in the world, but perhaps it's just that I try to do too much with the time that we are given.

It's now less than a week until I have to go back to work and school, and there are still a million things on my list of things to do before school starts, including projects around the home. And that includes getting stuff ready for the new school year. *sigh* I'm sure that in all reality, it's my fault for two reasons:
1) I make a list that is impossibly long
2) The time that I am willing or able to invest is not as long as I think it is, which affects the length of the list.

It also appears that time does not flow as smoothly as the human race appears. In my middle-of-the-night random two hour wakings, I have spent considerable time pondering imponderables such as this. I think that time leaps in great surges at times, and at others we as humans experience a hyperacuity towards time that makes us painfully aware of the slowness of its passage. That being the case, at this instance I am experiencing the latter. Given that my circumstances are that I am awake two hours before I planned to be with a toddler crawling all over me, I'm sure that this particular vortex is localized and environmentally dependent. In the same tone, I feel that there is a larger vortex threatening to suck me in, like a storm brewing on the horizon, where the last week of summer holidays will pass before I know it, and my list of things to do remains unchanged from today.

What to do?!

Considering that I don't exactly believe that I am in good health, perhaps I should just simply cross off some things from the list that I know I will not accomplish, and go with the bare minimums to feel accomplished in my summer.


In other news: Finished reading A Complicated Kindness. Interesting view of Mennonite life in the modern world, from the viewpoint of a teenage girl. In a way, I can sympathize with the protagonist in the trapped feeling, especially in terms of career, and owning a house in a community where there are 55 other units for sale and nothing is moving. The book has an interesting ending, and the protagonist definietly has some options to pursue. Not all of the problems get solved, and the answers aren't all there. So, I am not sure where I stand with this novel. On one hand, I want to know what happened, and on the other, I think that leaving some things unanswered lets the reader fill in the gaps themselves. I think I will recommend it for Book Club and get some other views on it.

Apparently I am a healthy, normal adult male human, approximately 29 years old. At least, that's what the doctor said about my lab results that were done earlier in July. However, I still don't feel particularly healthy. I still am waking in the middle of the night, unable to get back to sleep for a minimum of 2 hrs. And, depending on the original time of waking, example: 4am - I may not get back to anything resembling sleep at all that day. I think that every so often the lack of sleep actually catches up to me. I'm proud to say that I finally slept through the night again last night, first time in at least 10 days, but yet I don't feel rested. I've started taking vitamins like a good boy, and eating conciously healthy, so we will see if that makes any kind of difference.

In other news, the little guy is picking up new words every day. Sometimes these are words that we are trying to get him to say, and other times it's a word that we think sounds like another that we've said ourselves, and he is picking them up on his own. This being said, we are looking at about 50 word vocabulary at the moment, so mommy and daddy are of course very proud.

In school news, after avoiding going in to the school at all costs, I finally made a meeting date with the principal, and discussed scheduling issues for next year, and what to expect for the first few PD days. And of course, the fun didn't stop there, I actually made an effort to clean my classroom, only to discover that I have 50 million other things to do before I will feel ready for school again next week, with students the week after. *sigh*


Currently reading: A Complicated Kindness, by Miriam Toews. I'd love to know who recommended this book to me, or whether it was the random bookstore clerk when I asked what would be a good book club read. The book is written from the viewpoint of a 16 year old Mennonite girl, who actually says somewhere in the novel, "Thanks a lot, Menno." and refers to her people as mennos. (lower case intentional) It's a really interesting look at Mennonites with everything that you hear about that goes on in a real live Mennonite community, like drugs, drinking, premarital sex, etc. But of course, those things don't *actually* happen out here in the real world...

Apparently that means, "What, Seriously?!" in Japanese. It's the slogan for a Japanese game show, Majide, and this year there was a TV show on called "I survived a Japanese Game Show" and it was really funny, as most Japanese people enjoying seeing others humiliate themselves, apparently.
So, seriously... our freak of a neighbour who is never really home, decided AGAIN last night to START mowing his lawn at 9:30. PM. And not the front, nice part, the crappy-ass lumpy and large behind-the-fence in the alley crap. So it was like, Brrrr-ka-chuck... Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, BRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr kachunck. etc. for an hour and a half. Seriously. When the sun goes down, it's time to be quiet for your neighbours. Argh!

Also in the "What, Seriously!?" category are the kids roaming the streets at all hours of the night. Not just the neighbour kids (whose bedtime is apparently midnight regardless of age) but up and down the streets you can still see little kids, and I mean, 3 or 4 years old, riding bikes, walking, running, playing trucks, screaming, shouting, until at least 10 and sometimes 11. Come on, where are the parents and sensible bedtimes?

In other news: I am feeling productive and accomplished. I really enjoy having time to actually DO projects around the house, and still spend oodles of time with my family. That's really pretty awesome. I don't want to have to travel anywhere for a long time. The lawn is almost looking normal again, the garden is mostly weeded and there are signs of produce. Things are looking up apparently.

Future: Well, we talked about the possibility of moving next year, and where to go. I'm still looking at Sturgeon school div, and now would consider Grande Prairie. Sorry, but Edmonton is just too big. I can't deal with the much-larger numbers of retards and their crappy driving. I spent a little time talking to a friend in GP and apparently things are looking good for the teaching market down there in the near future. It only took him 1 year to get into the division on a more permanent basis, so there is hope for me yet. A and I looked (out of curiosity only!) at houses down there on MLS, and they are coming down and nearly affordable. Who knows, this time next year might see me prepping for a new class, in a new school... in a real community.

Finally, after four years of living in the North, we get our own family vacation.

Last year, we camped with friends for a couple weeks, but it was tainted by the fact that it was on the way to visit family. Don't get me wrong, those 10 days or so were awesome. I would have loved to do it again this year, but it just didn't work out that way. :( Something to look forward to in the future I guess.

Over the last four years, I would argue that visiting family is not necessarily a vacation. You are imposing on others, eating their food and messing up their place, their schedules, and that is frustrating for everyone. Even if they don't admit it, it causes stress on everyone and after a while, it wears you down. So, four years and eight trips back to Vancouver Island, we've spent somewhere in the vicinity of $25000 on trips. That's the frustrating part - we would be much better off right now with that extra couple hundred bucks a month. Were those trips worth the $25000? Right now we're saying no, but I imagine in the future some part of us will look back in fondness on those trips.

So, family vacation time. Where are we going? No where. We are staying home. And it's going to be great. I plan on being bored out of my skull, sleeping, eating, and spending time with my family. I look forward to seeing my little boy grow a little more, learn some new tricks, and fall down. I look forward to fire pits, warm summer evenings, and strangely enough, mowing my lawn (I find it relaxing). I look forward to eating fresh produce from my garden, Mmm!

I'm having back-to-school night terrors already :) Within three days of being back in town, I woke up to a dream about the first day of school. I'm averaging one per day. Not too bad, actually, but it's only the beginning of August and I want to get my house projects done first before I start working on school projects. Actually, this year, with the amount of time that I have left before the school year starts, I might actually be able to get a little quality planning time in, rather than wing it throughout the year. Maybe that will make me a better teacher, who knows. I think the biggest thing school-wise that I can do is to get myself organized  before the school year starts. THAT will be a project in and of itself.

We put curtains up in our living room, and when the morning sun comes through, it's actually quite pleasant as long as it's not too bright. Ahh, summer.

Breathe in, breathe out. That's what I've kept telling myself over recent days. I'm not even going to try to relate the entire summer vacation so far, but it's been a literal roller coaster ride of good times and bad. Things to write about so I won't forget: 
Staying with others
Sister
Child
Stupid Parents

Alright, so summer is all about visiting people, and sometimes this involves staying at others' houses. Nova Scotia, for instance, was one big giant opportunity to stay with "family". The problem is, this is where worlds collide and people's rules get bent or broken. Example: We have a baby, and he had a problem with the time change. The problem with visiting relatives in this instance is that there are 4-10 other people who have raised children and obviously therefore know that the problem is NOT in fact the time change, but the fact that he is cutting teeth and needs something cold to chew on. Or vice versa. FOAD! We know our own child, and his peculiarities, and will raise him as we choose. 
Also in staying with others category is spending time at in-laws house in Victoria. We had requested that my parents and sister come visit us in Victoria rather than we go up there for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that A needs less stress on her body, and travelling to NS is hard enough as it is. Apparently this is a big big BIG deal for my family and caused them no end of disappointment and stress. FOAD! If it weren't for NS we would have stayed home. 

Sister: Having personal problems but &*^%# pisses me off to no end because she won't do anything but talk about them. In anyone else's world, an offer of a place to stay (free), a plane ticket and car ride out there, and assistance in finding a temporary employment solution while personal problems are sorted out, would be a dream opportunity. Yes, it involves sacrifice, and yes, I know it means doing things like quitting your job and leaving your life as you know it behind, but FFS it's a leap of faith and she will never get ANYWHERE living with our parents in the same shithole dead end town we grew up in. 'Nuf said. 

Child: 3 molars cut, one more to go. Very painful, very cranky. LOVES LOVES LOVES the ball pit. LOVES LOVES LOVES the swimming pool. Loved the goats at the petting zoo. I really enjoy watching his development and seeing him figure stuff out. It's really quite an amazing process to witness and I am happy he is my son.
Also in the child category: number two is on the way, on back order as they say in La Crete, and is scheduled for delivery some time in January. Very cool! Looking at having the parents come up for a time to help us out, as Teacher's convention falls in that timeframe and A will definitely need some help with a 1.8 year old and a 0 year old. 

Stupid parents: FOAD and let your adult children make their own decision. Grow the ^&%%^ up and stop talking about them behind their backs. Apparently the question was asked, "How do you know if you are controlling?" - Seriously? I can't believe how stressful dealing with my parents is. After the courtesy call to let them know that we are back in LC and happy and healthy, I don't want to talk to them at all for a long time.
Example of how my mother pisses me off: Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss. This is on baby while he is being held by Grandmother. (Aside: There IS a difference between Grandmother and Grammie!) I hated being kissed by my mom when I was a kid, and to this day, still do. There is something just totally offensive about the way that she swoops in and leans forward (one arm out in a pseudo-hug, already for a shoulder-pat) and then delivers a little 'smack' along with the "MmmmmmM!" 
FOAD FOAD FOAD! Leave me the (&*&^ alone. 
I know this is really wrong to say, but she's also a little dumb, and in her old age is starting to forget (or is choosing not to remember) that she asked a question. Example: 7 times in 4 days, she said, "Can you show me how to put pictures on my flash drive?" (I've shown her before). It's not that she doesn't know it's that the real question is, "Where are the pictures on the computer, so that I can put them on my flash drive?" Say what you mean to say, woman.
Father: I learned something about myself via my father this week. He is the biggest full-of-shit person I know. He's also a little on the dumb side. He makes shit up and it doesn't sound real or doesn't quite make sense. What I learned: That I am full of shit because he has been full of shit my entire life. %%$#. Occasionally I learn that I am more like my father than I like to admit and this pisses me off to no end. 

*Sigh*. Hey, I used paragraphs today. Also, Yay! for baby naps!

So, we are officially done working at the school for the year. Yay!

Unfortunately, this means that Kelly is now done working at Ridgeview. Boo! Everyone who knows her will definitely miss her. But, I want her to do well in the City and I am sure that she will with a little perseverance and luck. Of course, that's just me talking out my ass because I really don't know how the school system works down there. Becca does work there, but as of last update from her, the job that she was in was posted, but no guarantee of work yet. I hope she gets her job back if she wants it. She worked hard this year and deserves it.

I am so happy to be done the school year, you have no idea. It would have been nice to get my classroom cleaned up before I left, but I will do that this week. Maybe Monday after I get blood work done. Stupid scheduling! Damn principal! Why did we have to do that on the LAST DAY! FFS! FOAD!

Better now. I look forward to relaxing days and getting projects done around the house. Got the new modem installed and working fine, no problems, which is perfect. Just have to call the whores at Telus and return the old new one. :)

Everyone is sleeping except me. Nap time is nice. I really do enjoy the quiet. Probably the first time the stereo has been off during the day in a loooong time.

Currently reading: Ezekiel Option (Rosenburg) and Unwritten Laws. Thanks Kel!

I don't understand some people's philosophies about spending money. This goes for my spouse as well.

To explain: The principal of our school spends money on frikkin' barbecues (we already have 2) at a cost of $1000, and yet he won't kick in the extra $100 (from our leftover class budgets) to buy a trampoline FOR THE KIDS.  He will spend $500 to feed all the students a nice 'am dinner TWICE in a year, but when we need to buy some supplies for science/social studies/etc. for experiential activities, we are denied. He will spend an unknown amount on decorations paint knickknacks etc for the office (which needed to be done, yes) and yet says there is no money in the budget. TShirt bill comes in, and he says there is no money. Next year, we want to have Take the Time come to the school, but couldn't get a commitment .... It's a $3000 tag, and part of the cost is already covered by Encana as we are partnering with High Level. I put it in the Education Plan anyways, and he questioned it. TAKE THE (*&&^% BALANCED LIT BUDGET LINE OUT DIPSHIT!
Which brings me to a whole other kettle of fish: He asks for assistance and advice all the time, but when given suggestions that need to be done, he "forgets" or ignores it altogether. And then, goes and takes credit for everything.  *&^#$*^!!!

I still don't have any time. I spend a great deal of time working on school work on my personal time. From the time I get home to the time that Carter goes to bed, I spend with him, or cook dinner, or bath, or bed time, etc. And then, there are all the house projects that need to be done. Like mow the frikkin' lawn. I wanted to do it Saturday. I spent half the day Saturday waiting for my better half to get ready for the day, and cleaning the house, and getting groceries, (regular Saturday chores) and then the afternoon waiting around for things to happen. An hour or so working on school work, and then dinner, Carter time, etc. as a regular night, and no time to mow. So, procrastinate to Sunday. And spend Sunday watching the rain clouds cover my lawn and finish doing school work that should have been done the night before. The the shit hits the fan with a family phone call and our normally quiet and contented domicile explodes into a shit-storm of why-this and it's your fault, etc. *&^^% If not said then felt and implied.
Monday was swim trip, and yet another two hours of school work after Carter goes down, and damnit, I want to sleep!

I need to mow the lawn before Thursday because we are having guests. Tuesday there is a frikkin' thunderstorm that wets the grass and makes it too wet to mow. ARgH!

Entering report card comments yesterday afternoon, and I was nearly finished the class I was working on. Since this is the last report card, I need to comment on their overall progress over the entire year. I had saved it after the first three students, but hadn't for about an hour and a half. Click save, and... boom. Runtime script error in ISIS. And of course, what subject, but Language Arts! I was also making behaviour comments at the time, so there was a pile of stuff lost. Stupid program.

Floated an idea to my parents last night about visiting us this summer, they don't seem to enthusiastic about the option that we came up with. Instead of us taking a day to rest and then having to drive back to Vic at the end of the week, I suggested that they come to Vic instead of us driving up island. The law of the lead balloon came into play, although they spouted the platitudes of "I'll talk to the husband/wife" etc.
Frustrating as heck that we will travel 2500 km to BC, only to have them require us to come the further 200 km of driving to be at their house. I think that they are just being selfish and want to have their Carter time without the other set of grandparents around. But, in all reality, it's use that are being selfish as this would be far more convenient for us, especially seeing as we don't even want to travel at all.

I know it's been a little while since I've written anything down. This week has been nutso with it being the last "real" week of school work. I can't believe that I still have some kids handing in assignments that I asked for a MONTH ago. The other thing that I can't believe about my class is how disinterested and apathetic they are about how well (or poorly) they do on their exams, or in school at all for that matter. Exams this week went fairly well, considering. My math class finally got their shit together and even if they didn't study, they at least paid attention during the in-class review. The math finals were done quite well, and a few students got BETTER scores on their exams than their classwork. Odd.
The other final exams, on the other hand, were a bit of a joke for my class. The SS and Science were poorly done overall, and they didn't bother trying at ALL for the LA Reading, which has traditionally been the easiest exam. (which is why we leave it until last). Average for the reading: 57. Science: about 60. (which is OK, but the highest mark was 72). SS: 58. Now, I also teach another class of Social Studies, and everything in that class was 10% higher than mine - their lowest mark - 52% (10% higher than 7E), highest - 86% (10% higher), average: 68% (10% higher). Does that mean that they have 10% brighter students? Or 10% more of the brighter students? or that they care 10% more about doing well?
So tired, because every night this week has been 3-4 hours of marking after Carter down. Brutal.

On another note: Did not get the Lead Teacher position, which I am not broken up about at all. I'm OK with it, as I'm not sure that I really wanted it anyways. But, I do need to commit to this being my last year in Grade 7 or I risk slipping into being a grade 7 teacher forever. I need more experience at different grade levels, especially if I want to become an administrator down the road.
Speaking of administration, while I was on the phone getting my NO about the Tech Lead teacher, the Sup't offered me a principalship. WTF? Out in Zama (waytheheckoutinthesticks), a small 2-teacher school in an oil town. Pay was very good considering what I am making now, in fact, about 27K more, with lots of extra perks, but I can't do that to my family. Especially when you consider that there's another one on the way, and we need to be closer to a hospital in order to make that one work. So the answer (after an hour or so of consideration) was of course, No.
And as for being closer to a hospital, apparently there will be a number of positions opening in EIPS, as they are not on the ball yet with their hiring, so there are those that would like to see us move down there. Thing is, I am so swamped with marking and report cards right now that I can't even think about next year. I just want to get this year done and then we'll worry about the future.

On child-rearing: Ours decided this week to learn how to climb. Tuesday was INTO his high chair. Apparently he wasn't done eating lunch yet. Wednesday was OUT of his crib for his morning nap. SHIT. So Wednesday night was the first attempt at teaching him to sleep in a toddler bed (which he can easily climb out of) and we were NOT looking forward to that. Pleased to say however, that there was only one challenging part, about 3-4:30 in the morning, where he was tired but kept getting out of bed. Eventually we had to just let him cry it out, and after 10-12 minutes, he clambered back into his bed and went to sleep. Phew!

Almost done working on exams and report cards. I have to check and make sure that all of the marks are input correctly, and then put comments in, and ensure that the comments line up with their grades. After that, it's IPP reports for the two or three that I have this year, along with the one or two in another class.

And sometime this weekend I need to act like a father and a husband and a homeowner. Sure would be nice if I didn't have to sleep. Ever.
Monday Doctor appt didn't tell me anything but I did get a bloodwork req. Doc's going to run everything from aluminum to thyroid.

Yesterday got off to a bit of a rough start. Woke up grumpy at 6:30 and couldn't really get back to sleep. Crying children sometimes do that. I ended up rolling out of the "wrong side of the bed" an hour later, and upon standing discovered a splitting headache. Food, water, coffee, and two advil later, it was still there. After spending a couple hours cleaning the house (why do I have to do that on my personal day off work!?!) I continued to be grumpy. Early lunch and grocery run before Carter goes down for his afternoon nap, so I started the lawn mowing for this week. Our lawn is just too damned big. Lawn turned into weeding the front garden, which turned into "Let's prep a section of the veggie garden" which turned into 3 hours of yardwork in the sun. Ouch, I think I got sunburnt.

The afternoon was a walk to the post office, and prep for the Wii & Dinner with friends. Helped put together a table and a chair for neighbour Lindsay, and came home to find a house full of nerdy-looking friends. A surprise birthday party for me! Two weeks or more of planning and I was never the wiser. It was a lot of fun, and I'm happy that I have such good friends. It was a good end to what started out to be a crappy day.

The good thing is that I woke up in a good mood this morning as well, so we're off to a good start. And it doesn't seem like Amanda is too grumpy this morning, so the day holds some promise.

Still ruminating on job prospects.

I got an email today, I get to partake in the interview process for the Learning Tools Support Coach position. Yipee. I am not 100% enthusiastic about my prospects, but I think that I would be really good at the job. The thing that I would hate the most, in fact, I am dreading it already, is the amount of travelling involved. I would be on the road 4/5 days every week, and in and around every other school in the division. I thought about it today driving, and I would probably drive 40,000km or more a year. That's a ton when you are used to driving half that as a regular human being.

There are a lot of reasons why I don't want to leave Ridgeview:
- Established in grade 7
- Established as a team player
- Roles clearly defined
- Leader in the school
- Technology
- Little travel
- Coaching
- Music
- House Teams
and many other exciting new changes that I have been a part of.

Reasons to take the new position, should I be offered:
- Travel to new schools and new communities
- Division car?
- Work every day with cutting edge educational technology
- Enhance other teachers' teaching through coaching
- Lead Teacher role may lead to further my chances at leadership positions in the future
- It's time for a change in my life

I think that I have a really tough decision ahead of me. It will require a lot of thinking, and discussions with parents, siblings, and of course, wife. This will have a major impact on our lives here in La Crete, and guarantees us a further two years up North. I don't really want to be "stuck" here forever, and sometimes I think that there are no opportunities for teachers to grow and learn, and do greater things with their career, and at other times I think that the opportunities abound because of the fact that it's "up north".