More Avoidance

Well, this is the big weekend when I need to finish writing my report cards. The public school teachers are probably all frolicking and having fun at this moment, as they are refusing to do administrative duties. Meanwhile, I am forced to spend the day at my computer and come up with creative ways to avoid the whole thing. Until the last moment, that is. It's hard work being an effective procrastinator, I tell you!

So, I was actually doing some work, going through Social Studies work. (That's what we teachers must do in order to come up with deep and meaningful observations.) We studied Canada this past term and I asked my students some hard questions about our country, such as "Who lived in Canada before Europeans arrived?" (One little friend in a previous year said "Adam and Eve"... oh, the cuteness! And such confusion!)

I was deeply engrossed in checking work when I came upon one little friend's paper and the question, "Why do so many people live in the south of Canada?" Well, after countless class discussions about the complete unsuitability of the north for farming and the inhospitable climes way up there, I naively thought this would be a no-brainer. However, I was sadly deceived. The sweet child wrote this response: "I'm not sure but I think there are more statues, like the statue of Liberty."

Statues... Statues! Southern Canada is obviously teeming with them! And all this time I thought that it was all about the temperatures...

I clearly need to teach a lesson about New York City and its location.

Life Right Now

Oh dear, I've been neglecting the blog again... And the fact that I'm back typing at 10:57 pm can only mean that I'm putting off writing report cards!

Here's what's happening in my world right now:

• The public school teachers are on strike in BC; meanwhile, we keep working away. I'm very thankful for a supportive employer and school community!
• Today marks a year of living without my dad in this world. How have we done it?? Things are definitely not as sparkly without him, but life definitely does go on... We all went to the cemetery on Sunday and Mum added a couple of flags (Canada and Bermuda). Dad loved flags!
• The spring bulbs are starting to poke up out of the ground!
• Days are getting longer and I'm not driving in the dark to and from school so much anymore. yay!
• My current favourite song is 10000 Reasons by Matt Redman
• As I mentioned, it's report card season. They're due into the office on Tuesday morning. Aaaggghhh! I feel the ADD coming on!

And to finish, I leave you with a quirky video, inspired by my darling son, Little Bear. He has been playing the old eighties song by Lionel Ritchie, "Hello". I just stumbled onto this version online. Enjoy it!

Literarily dry …. and slightly dotty!

Well, here we are again! I must confess that because it has been so long since I have ‘penned’ a blogpost, I feel as ‘literarily dry’ as a month-old sponge cake…quite unlike YAYOI KUSAMA, the amazing Japanese contemporary artist whose art works positively ooze creative juiciness. We visited her exhibition yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Rather than writing screeds of clever things, I think I will let the photos speak for themselves….oh, except to say, that “The Obliteration Room” was the favourite for us all – a room that had everything painted totally white to represent an expansive blank canvas…over the space of some weeks, children were given coloured dots of varying sizes and colours, to stick all over everything, thus transforming the previously blank canvas into an explosion of vibrant colours.

The artist has a real fascination with dots and pumpkins….

…and vibrant colours!

This exhibit shows Kusama’s fascination with perspective, reflection, and patterns. Loved the giant inflatables!

Kusama’s work extends to film, sculpture, painting, sketching, fashion, installations, performance etc. Her mind must work overtime!

~*~

The Obliteration Room

So, so COOL !!!

Wonderful exhibition!! Well worth seeing for yourself if it ever comes to town….

Wet Wet Wet

Typical Vancouver winter weather. (Or fall... or spring, for that matter) Pouring rain.

This week, Big Bear decided that it was time to replace the old copper pipe supplying our house with water. So he enlisted Little Bear to dig a trench to the water main and booked a plumber friend to help him today.

The rain began on Thursday. The trench filled up. Last night, Big Bear rented a pump to keep it... well, dry. But there's no such thing as dry in this weather.

Today, the two bears went outside to start work, but to no avail. They just couldn't keep up with the pounding rain. The project was aborted for today.

Too bad...

The question is, why is Big Bear wearing his old construction hard hat?

Hmmm....

Back to the Nest

My boy has been far from home this year, trying out his wings and going to school in the land of the cold. (Edmonton is the true Great White North!) He has delved into good cooking, lived on a tight budget, and created a niche for himself in a new city.

His brother misses him.

On Thursday, Little Joe will fly home for nine days. He has been phoning almost every day. For a boy who wants independence, he sure seems to miss us all!

I, for one, am looking forward to getting a great, big hug!

The New Year

In my classroom this past month, we worked on writing some goals and resolutions for 2012. Of course, the real purpose of the whole thing was to create a super cute bulletin board, inspired by the genius of Clutter-Free Classroom (my fave teacher blog)!


And it is an awfully cute bulletin board, indeed!


I loved reading the earnest thoughts of my friends as they carefully considered the coming year and what is truly important in life.


I think this young man has his priorities straight. He may just be my most favourite student of all.
Smile!

Snow Fell All Over My Hill!

Well, here I am again, back in the blogging saddle. I'm wiggling around a bit, trying to find a comfy spot while I get settled. It's been such a long time, but I think we need to get back to it!

While it continues to be summer Down Under, here in the Great White North, things have actually been white, in an offandon kind of way. A couple of weeks ago, we were all praying and sitting on the edge of our seats as we received repeated - but poorly timed - snowfalls. But alas, no glorious snow day.

To have a valid snow day, the snow must begin in the middle of the night and continue at least until the start of morning rush hour. The roads need to be just slippery enough to make the school neighbourhood treacherous. (It actually doesn't take much to do that!)

And then, yesterday, I woke up to a vigorous snowfall. It was sticking beautifully to the street and seemed wet enough to be really slippery. The view from my kitchen window showed the neighbour's black roof covered in a pretty white blanket.

But unfortunately, it was Saturday and didn't matter. No school...

And predictably, within a short time, the wet snow changed to rain and washed away all the accumulation.

Sigh.

It was sweet while it lasted.

When will we have a snow day again???