Bad About Updating....

Sorry for being super bad about updating.
Okay, so the first major thing that happened to me lately was getting teaching contracts here in Charlottetown... yes contracts, plural. One for the mornings and one for the afternoons. In the morning I am at Glen Stewart Elementary School where I am on a grant and I help out the grade 4 and the grade 5 french immersion classes. They are really great kids, but just have huge classes so having another teacher in the room to help out is great. I also get to practice and improve my french. I haven't routinely used it since probably grade 12 so this is great. I'm so shocked at how much comes back and how quickly it comes back. Hopefully having french will help me get a permanent position for next fall!!!
In the afternoons I am at Parkdale Elementary school where I am filling in for a mat leave. I share the position with the reading recovery teacher. We teach grade 4. I mostly teach them math and then when they are at their specialists (gym or music) I do resource and help out in other classes. I LOVE teaching and I LOVE knowing where I am going to be every day and getting to know the kids and other teachers. My obsessive organization and planning really comes in handy :P It is a lot of work and you can't really turn off you brain from thinking about school stuff (kids, planning etc.) but I am so happy that I became a teacher.... it is really what i was meant to do!
Having these contracts are great but I am nervous about next year. I really want to get another contract or to get a permanent position. The biggest issue here in PEI is that we are in the middle of school reorganization.... they want to close 11 schools, one of which being Parkdale. These closure are due to our declining population and such. BUt the process to close these schools has been...... complicated. The school superinentdent wrote the report saying that these 11 schools should close. Then there is 90 days of public meetings and input. But they accused him of not including information in this report and therefor he had to add things to it which restarted the 90 days. So currently public input is being accepted until May 12 then the school trustees have to write a report which is due May 31. Then the government has to have the final say. Then the schools that close will close at the end of June. There are lots of issues for and against. There is also a supreme court hearing next week on whether this whole process is legal. UGH! I understand both sides of the issue. From a really selfish point of view..... if the schools close they have to reassign all those teachers which means less positions for people like me to apply to..... I hate being selfish like that but after having contracts I don;t want to go back to subbing. I will not be able to apply to potential jobs until June 15th at the earliest.
Matt and I went to Florida with my family from April 2 to 12. It was really fun. We had a blast. We spent 3 days in Treasure Island (outside Tampa) for my cousin Kathy's wedding then went to Orlando. We went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios. Anyways here are a few pictures from my trip. :)


Seb, Lo, Dad, Me, Matt, Aunt Margie and Mom at Magic Kingdom


Seb, Lo, Dad, Mom, Aunt Margie, Me and Matt at Epcot


Dad, Lo and I at Bubba Gump Restaurant


My Dad's Wicked Shirt and my Drink that the Bank of Dad bought me :)


Matt and I at Magic Kingdom


Matt and I on the beach in Treasure Island for Kathy's Wedding

2009 has not started well

I know not many people actually read this but I do enjoy writing my blog.
So 2009 has not started that well for me. In my last post I was talking about a cough that I had..... well I went to the Dr shortly after that post and was told I had a virus and that I was having trouble breathing because of that and my asthma. I was given a new puffer and told that I would feel crappy for a week or two. Well I spent the rest of that week on the couch at home (luckily I didn't have to turn work down! I just had no calls that week) but the following week I had work at the jr high.. and I could barely work. I couldn't get from my couch to my bathroom without getting completely out of breath and coughing, I don't know WHY I even though I could work at the jr high. I did work all day Monday and then the am on tuesday and went immediately to the ER on Tuesday. I couldn't' take it anymore. I was so out of breath from the littlest things and was always sleeping and didn't have an appetite. Luckily I didn't have to wait too long and after Chest X-rays was told I has pneumonia. I was glad I got a diagnosis and drugs that worked but if anything I got worse for another two days until the meds kicked in. It took me several weeks to get mostly better but I'm still not 100%. I'm mostly there and have started getting my appetite back. Apparently pneumonia is a great diet.... only I don't recommend it at all!! I've dropped over a size in pants due to being sick. I know I'll gain it back. OH! the other thing that is going on is that my thyroid is all messed up again. I had another appointment with my Internal Medicine Dr here in pei (I really like this guy, he's super thorough) and my blood tests reveal I'm anemic, my thyroid levels are low again AND I may have Celiac's Disease. I go back in May and will find out more. This appointment was a week after I was in the ER but my blood tests were done 2 1/2 weeks before that....before I got super sick.
Other than my health, 2009 hasn't been too bad. I'm not getting as many hours as I wanted subbing, but I am averaging at least 2 days a week so it's better than nothing. I spent 3 days teaching a grade 4 french immersion class which was fun but I realized how unsure I am of my french and how nervous I am speaking it. I had an interview for a contract teaching grade 1 french immersion but didn't get it. But It was really good experience. I finally have all my papers from maine so I can get my official teaching papers instead of just my subbing papers, though I have to fill out two more sets of forms and pay more money. I can't wait to be completely certified and I can't wait to have my own classroom.... hopefully I'll have one next fall... I can't wait to be able to plan lessons and to organize things. Right now I show up and find out that morning what I am doing. One thing that was fun, I got to teach home ec the other day, we made huge heart shaped chocolate chip cookies. It was so much fun! I LOVE to cook so being able to teach it was just fun.
Matt and I had a pretty low key valentine's day. The week before I had mentioned to Matt that I wanted flowers and miss getting flowers. I feel bad when I do things like that because I feel like I'm forcing him - though he did say he was planning on getting me some before I said anything.He did end up getting me a dozed gorgeous long stemmed roses (that came with a vase and everything). That night he took me to a "fancy" restaurant called Sim's Steakhouse and Oyster bar. People here in Charlottetown think it's so fancy but it's really not. It has decent food (not great) but it was all that was open. There's a better restaurant called Lot 30 that Matt took me to for our anniversary but it's closed for the winter. We had a good night. Things between Matt and I have been going super. I am looking forward to finding a house (hopefully) this spring. Just to have a place that is ours. That doesn't have neighbour's that you can hear or worry about making too much noise and bothering (say with Rock Band Drums). Having a driveway to park in instead of parking around back and having to climb through snowbanks to get to our car. Not having three flights of super steep narrow stairs to go up and down. I do worry about not being able to find a nice place that we both like AND within our budget. Its still too early for most of the spring listings but around March break is when they start. So we'll see. I think that even if we don't find a house that we'll move. I'm sick of having to go to the laundry mat and the stairs and the parking AND i miss having a dishwasher.
So I've gotten super behind on my photo challenge...... my excuse is that I was sick but I'm not sick now and I'm still not really taking many photos.

Update and 365 Challenge photos!

Hi all! Hope 2009 is being really good for everyone. So far it has been very good for me. We started the new year with a huge snowstorm here in PEI. We got 50cm of snow that was blown around. Some drifts have been recoded at being 8-9 feet deep! Luckily Matt did not have to go back to work until the 5th so we had several days just to sit and chill at home which was so nice. I am so lucky to have him in my life. I can't believe we have been together for 8 years. We are still so much in love. He makes me so happy and balances me perfectly. We never fight. We do disagree and frustrate/annoy each other but that is only natural. I donno.... we are in such a good place right now. Its so nice. He is able to calm me when I get stressed about things that don't matter. While I may not have a ring on my finger, we act like I do. I donno. I am just so happy with Matt.
So starting this January, I am a substitute teacher. The students only went back to school on Monday, but I have already had two calls. Wednesday morning at 6:45am I got a call from my former mentor teacher and went to the jr high and worked for the day with the same kids I student taught which was fun. Then on Friday I was booked at the elementary school I did student teaching at. I was at grade 6 which fun. Unfortunately this week the Eastern District School Board released a report to restructure the schools and that elementary school was on the list. It is sad but it is a small school. There will be 90 days of public meetings and then they will officially announce which schools will close for sure. It is hard for the teachers there as they have been told they are not out of a job but where they are going to teach is up in the air. It is also a bit disappointing for me as I have a really good relationship at this school and was hoping to apply for a job there in the future but now I can't. It is also a bit stressful to know that all this uncertainty is going on in the education system here in PEI... I really hope there will still be jobs for me to apply for in the spring.
I have also been sick this week and it sucks. I started developing a cough early in the week and by Wednesday night it was really bad. I'm huge sook when i am sick. But coughing so hard that you are pulling muscles is not healthy. I've been trying to go to bed early and drink lots of water. Hopefully I'll be better soon! I worry about waking Matt up with all my coughing but he has taken to wearing earplugs so I don't.
So I told you all about how I was in a car accident on December 18.... well today, January 10 I FINALLY got my car back! YAY! Matt and I went and picked it up this morning and took back the rental. Then we went and got my winter tires put on the car so I'm all ready. My winter tires had been stored at my parents so we brought them back with us after christmas. It is reassuring to have winter tires on as they are not very good at plowing the roads here.
OH!!! Exciting news! My cousin is getting married in April.... in Florida! We booked our flights and our accommodations. My whole family is going, including Matt and my sister's bf Sebastian. We leave on Thursday April 2 for Tampa, stay there for three nights (wedding is on Friday) and then go to Orlando for a week. We have rented a house in Orlando with 4 bedrooms, so my Aunt and Uncle from England will stay with us. Then next door, my Aunt and cousin and her family have rented that house. Should be so much fun!! I can't wait. We are there for 10 days. Matt has never been to Disney so we will be going there. Should be so much fun!!!!!
One of my goals for 2009 is to take a photo each day. It is called the 365 photo challenge and I have been doing pretty, good. I have missed two days, but I did take some extra photos to make up. Here are all my photos so far....
January 1 Snow Storm - we got over 50cm!

January 2 - Matt walking down the street

January 3

January 4 - My knitting WIP...a sock!

January 5 - Waiting for a call

January 6

January 6 - Photo #2

January 7 - Coughing is not fun!

Make up photo for January 8 and 9... TWILIGHT! You all need to read it!!!...do it..

January 10 - One of my favorite games atm

Almost the new year!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holidays. I know I did.
It was not the most relaxing vacation, as every time I go home I want to see everyone, but it was a fun holiday filled with lots of wonderful friends, family and of course FOOD! :P I cannot get over how generous everyone is and how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life.
My holiday started out kinda stressful, with me someone hitting my car while I was at a stop sign....and on my last day of student teaching at that! I was sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn left when a car coming from my right came and went to turn onto the street I was on.... only he cut the corner too narrow and ended up hitting the front passenger side of my car. I am fine but my car is still being fixed... It needs a new bumper, splash guard and the piece that holds the radiator in place is all cracked so that needs to be fixed/replaced. I have a rental car so I can at least get around, but it doesn't have winter tires. Hopefully my car will be fixed soon!
Matt and I headed home to Halifax on Sunday Dec 21. It is always so nice to return to Halifax but the longer its been since we lived there, the stranger it feels. It is but at the same time, it is not home. Also when we both go to Halifax, Matt stays with his parents and I stay with mine.... its just hard when you are so used to living with someone and then you aren't for a week, yet you still see them. So we left on Sunday because of the wind and ice storm that night. Monday we had no power for most of the day (although Matt and I sent text messages back and forth!) then Monday night was mini-christmas at Heather's. It was so nice to see everyone!!! I felt bad that it was the only time I saw everyone, but we were only home for a week and were trying to see so many people! Tuesday we did some christmas shopping and errands (mostly for my mom) then that night Matt and I FINALLY went to see Twilight. I thought it was really well done. I did not have high hopes for it, but I was impressed. They did change it from the book, and leave a few things out, but for the most part it was well done. Wednesday (christmas eve) power was out again! Then we did out family things by going to Matt's Nan's and then to my parents. Christmas was a lot of fun and we were spoiled! Christmas dinner was at my parents and we had 15 people for dinner! There was TONS of delicious food. On Boxing day we went to supper at Big Leagues with some old jr high and high school friends and hung out at one of their places... well Matt only came for supper, then he went to another friend's place. I of course did some boxing day shopping on dec 27. I did not get a whole lot, but I did get some new work shirts which was nice. That night we headed down to Luke's to visit with some more friends. Then we came home on Sunday.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday like we did.
Tonight is new years eve. 2009 is going to be a huge year for us. I'm finally done school and will be working as a teacher. I'll be finally be making money!! Then Matt and I plan to buy a house this year which is so exciting. WE are going to go to Florida in April for my cousin's wedding (which will be so much fun as Matt has NEVER been to Disney!). Plus all my family will be there which is always fun. Then in the summer all of my England family are planning on coming to NS so I'll get to visit and seem them twice in one year! Who knows what else will happen!
I don't really have any new years resolutions, except to stay happy and healthy. I want to continue to eat better and cook (from scratch!) more meals. I want to continue to drink more water. I want to continue to work out by going to adult swim team and by going to the gym. I want to do what I love and be happy and I hope that this is true for everyone!!

Deck the Halls.....

I know I meant to be really good about my blog and have been bad, but I am hoping to change that and start updating sooner.
So what's new with me.... I am super busy, but I love it :)
I'm almost done my second placement, I'm at Queen Charlotte Jr. High. I will finish on Wednesday December 17th, which is a bit later than I expected, but oh well. See in Maine you need 15 weeks of student teaching which would have meant that I would end on Friday December 12, but I found out that actually it is 15 weeks if there are no breaks or holidays... so I actually need 85 days, which is why I end in the middle of the last week before Christmas. I LOVE teaching. It was the BEST thing I have ever done. I am currently teaching two grade 8 health classes, a grade 8 math class, two grade 9 science classes and a grade 9 health class and I'm in the library too. I have three supervising teachers which is a little hard. My main teacher I was set up with is now the school librarian and does teach two grade 9 science classes, but since she wanted me to experience more than just that, she got two other teachers to work with me. One is great, while the other..... she's very nice and knows what she is doing but has not worked with a student teacher before. I find the kids in jr high pretty good for the most part, but I am having some trouble with my classroom management skills. I was so used to grade 1's where you could just look at them and say "stop that" and they will listen, but jr high kids aren't like that. I'm not a bitch so I don't want to act like one to the kids, its just finding that middle ground. I've found it in most classes though which is good. I've also received my substitute teaching authorization from the Department of Education and have applied to be a substitute teacher at the Eastern District school board so I'm all ready to start working right after christmas. Unfortunately in PEI they only put up job postings in the late spring, so any positions that are opening up now-ish (from teachers retiring or going on leave) are being filled through word of mouth. I HAVE heard about some mat leaves at one of the high schools. Its really hard since I'm not from the island. If i can't get a long term position, its not the end of the world - I will be able to get subbing hours.
Other than teaching I am still coaching the local swim team.I love it. The kids are just so cute and fun. I have also starting going to the adult swim team and doing practices myself which I need. I've lost most of the weight I put on at school last year (I'm down at least 2 sizes in pants, and according to my mom that's at least 20lbs). Its nice to fit into my clothes again. I still want to tone my body a bit more (like around my middle) so actually going to swim practices should help that. I've also noticed that lately I haven't been finding clothes that I like at the stores. I don't know if I'm not feeling the fashions or if I am starting to look at more grown up clothes. Im also working on de-cluttering my closet and it's actually scary how much I have donated to the salvation army.
Tomorrow is my bday and I'll be 25. Partly for my bday, Matt and I went to Moncton yesterday to do some shopping. I am looking at getting new work clothes - things that are comfy but yet professional for the classroom. We also did a bunch of christmas shopping. It was such as great day. Moncton is only an hour an a half from Charlottetown and has a mall that is similar in size to Halifax Shop. There aren't many places to shop in Charlottetown so it was nice to get a good chunk of our shopping done. It was also nice to hang out all day with Matt. We spend a lot of time together but we don't often go out, so it was nice to do that for a change. Even though we were traveling and the Mall was busy, it was so nice and relaxing. I was actually surprised! I expected to get all stressed out. I don't know what I am getting tomorrow from Matt....the idea was for me to pick out some clothes but I couldn't find anything I like. We also discovered that we agree on what I want for a ring but that it's actually really hard to find what we want. We want a solitaire diamond ring in white gold or platinum. Can't been too big (my hands are small!) and it can't stick up too high (would be so annoying, getting caught on everything) AND we want a really high quality diamond. Expensive and hard to find. So there will NOT be any announcements or sparklie things in my near future. :P We plan on getting married to each other and such, but we are so picky (but at least we agree!). Plus we think that we will buy a house in 2009 rather than get married. Both are really expensive and it is a buyers market right now. Together over 8 years, so we are considered 'common law' which is like being married.
I love christmas time and even though I'm not a Christian, I love the music, the lights, the decorations, etc. On December 1st I started listening to christmas music and I put some christmas lights up on our banister. Now we just need to put our little fake tree up and some snow! Matt and I aren't sure when we are going to Halifax for christmas, but we will be there. Our biggest issue with going to Halifax is that he stays with his parents, and I stay with mine and which its nice to see them, its kinda weird.
Anyways I should get going. I've started getting into the habit of cooking a bunch on the weekends and then we have food for the week all ready. Its nice to get home after a long day or even after swim practice and only have to heat up supper instead of make it from scratch. I do want to do some christmas baking and may head out to get supplies. I love cooking and baking.
I also should curl up and finish my christmas stocking and start Matt's. I've been knitting us new ones and love the pattern. Mine is red with white snowflakes and my name, and Matt's will be navy blue and white. I will post pictures when they are done!
P.S. Post a Comment !!! Let me know what you think! :)

Macbook!!!

Okies so I've been bad. I haven't updated in like two weeks. Oops.I do have a bit of an explanation... I had a super bad cold and was on antibiotics and everything for it so I was super lazy. Plus it was my last week and a bit at the elementary school. Wednesday was my last day and I was surprised by a card and a cake and some presents. The kids were so sad and some looked like they were about to cry! They all gave me a hug at the same time which was super cute and made me cry. I will really miss them BUT I am planning on going to visit them on Halloween in the afternoon. The kids don't know that yet. I'm going to dress up and bring a treat for them. I can't wait! Halloween is my favorite holiday.
Tomorrow I start at the Jr. High. I am excited but nervous. Its funny though. I am more nervous about not knowing the school or the teachers and whether or not I will get along with the staff, than I am about teaching teens. I am going to be teaching grade 9 science and grade 8 math. Should be fun to teach in my content area.
oooo I also got a new macbook...it was stupid expensive but I'm enjoying it.

Busy Busy

So I've been super busy lately but feel that I've lost touch with so many people so I've decided to start a new blog (livejournal isn't cutting it for me anymore, there are much more options here) and will hopefully update it at least once a week (at least that's my goal!).
So What's new with me?

• Just finished week 6 of first placement. I love this elementary school and I also really love teaching grade 1. They are so cute and fun. My supervising teacher is really great, she's been teaching grade 1 for approx. 25 years at this elementary school. I love how this school is super small, in class size and school size. The students and teachers are really great! I guess I've been doing a good job as my supervising teacher is going to a workshop this week that I can't go to, so the principal decided that instead of calling in a sub, I'll just teach for that day and a half (Wed afternoon and all day Thursday). I'm excited to be completely in charge and to have the responsibility. In two weeks I am going to be changing schools. I will spend 7 weeks at the Jr. High teaching grade 9 science. Should be a huge change, but I'm excited.
• I'm not working right now which is wierd but I really like it. I am at my school from 8am until 4-4:30pm most days. But that time I have to come home and do my journals and type up lesson plans/unit plans and such. Its also really nice to have weekends off to spend with Matt.
  
• I'm coaching at the local competitive swim team. We have close to 150 members and I'm coaching some of the brand new swimmers. I have two groups, Wednesdays from 4-5pm and Fridays from 5-6pm. Since most of my swimmers are 6-7 years old, I'm in the pool with them for the hour. I really missed being involved with the swimming community, so being able to do this, two hours a week is fun.
• I'm becoming even more domestic. Matt and I have a super nice apartment which we moved into last April. I got lazy over the summer with working such odd retail shifts (over supper and on weekends and such) that I developed some bad habits. But I'm now able to get over that and have a routine with cooking and cleaning. I love to cook and cooking things from scratch and having leftovers for lunch is so nice.
  
  
• I've been doing a lot of knitting and crocheting at night while watching tv. I can't sit still so it's nice for me to have something to do. I made a wicked pair of mittens (see above) and am in the middle of making myself a cute tunic/dress.
• I'm cooking my very first turkey at the moment... the apartment smells so good.