BBQ Season begins!

Well, I don't know what's happened, but I just spent half an hour writing this blog and then it just disappeared. So this is the 2nd, and probably more truncated attempt.

The good ol' Kiwi BBQ !

It has been another full and delightful day today. I love BBQ season! 'Tis not usual that we spend well over 6 hours at our hosts' place when invited out for a meal, but the company was most entertaining, and the food just kept coming and coming...

The Great NZ Pavlova....as delicious as it looks!

We learnt lots from our friends today about intercultural differences and similarities. It was absolutely fascinating. Just even basic things like eye contact, greetings, and simple responses can lead to huge cultural offences! I do cringe sometimes when I think about all the 'toes' that we unknowingly might have 'stomped upon' when we were living overseas...For example - here in Kiwiland, a typical response to someone else's "thank you", would be "no worries mate!". To the Kiwi, this is equivalent to the Canadian "you're welcome". However, in some cultures, to say "no worries" implies that there has been some kind of bother or hassle! Or take the example of the Asian student who has been taught to look down when being reprimanded by a teacher or anyone in authority. A sign of respect and submission. And when they come to NZ, they are then considered rude because they don't make eye contact. The reverse is also true, that when they learn to make eye contact and they go back home to their Asian families, they are then considered to have an attitude problem when they make eye contact with their reprimanding parents!!! I could go on....!

But instead, here are some random shots. The boys had their first ever game of mini golf yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was pleasantly surprised myself, at how much fun the game itself was!

And some shots of Auckland from one of the many mounts we scaled these holidays. Oh, and I feel the need to confess that yesterday, I bought my first ever pair of Italian leather shoes! Entirely handmade in Tuscany. It is totally true what they say about Italian shoes - they are extraordinarily comfortable. I'd never have believed that a fashion shoe for women could be that comfy! (Notice I took your advice about shopping, Dee!)
Looking forward to seeing those photos from Big Bear's graduation!

Weeping, Wailing, and Gnashing of Teeth

Big Bear had his convocation today, and finally, he is a Master!
It was a beautiful day - the sky was blue and the sun shone. The university looked beautiful. The pipers piped and the "graduants" marched.
After it was all over, we came back to our house with my parents and Monika; Tim and Andrew joined us later for sushi and Chinese food. What a combination! And, of course, we had champagne!
I, however, am unhappy.
I don't know what's going on, but I can't seem to upload any photos! I will have to try again tomorrow, and I promised you, Lea, to post them right away. So sorry.
Have a great trip home tomorrow!

Skills revisited

So! We didn’t end up going away despite the temptation to sneak away to our friends’ bach. The main reason was that the weather forecast (and indeed, the weather outside our windows) was not nice at all – 150kmph winds, 200ml rain per day, cold, blerky conditions were forecast – not at all conducive to going out onto a snowy mountain. However, back home on the ranch (well, ok – at our wee villa), the weather actually wasn’t too bad all of the time. However, the webcams on Whakapapa and Turoa persuaded us that we’d made the right decision to stay home. There’s something ‘stay at home-ish’ when one sees a dark grey webcam picture with a shadowy promise of a ski lift partially visible through the fog….and lotsa raindrops on the lens….and a “Mountain Closed” sign….

But we did get 7 hours of skiing in on our first day – all indoors! It was actually quite a boon, since the boys needed to refresh their ski legs again after all those years. It wasn’t exactly Whistler, but it was a nice start! And we’ve been ice skating, and eating out, and climbing mountains, and ice skating, reading, playing boardgames, going on photo expeditions, and visiting….! It’s all been very nice really. The boys have commented that it’s been ‘better than going skiing….though we’d like to do that TOO!” Hmm.

One of the highlights for me, has been being in the middle of a whole grove of trees covered with cherry blossom, and then to get the preface to the strong winds. The unexpected huge gust of wind meant that we were surrounded by a blossom-storm. It was just beautiful. Getting hit by an elderly couple’s flying picnic lunch as well (felt like super heavy blossom!), was all part of the excitement! As was stepping ankle deep into a highly fragrant and fresh pile of cow dung. Warm, but definitely a low point in my photographic enterprise! But the best part was seeing the boys regaining some of their skiing and skating skills, after having not used them for over 3 years. That was really exciting.

Ange of the North, minutes after I received your text about yodelling on the mountaintops, we had a nasty surprise. We’d been having some very delicious pies on top of Mt Wellington, and enjoying the view. There were 2 cars parked close by to our car, and when we left our car to go for a walk around the crater edge, I felt distinctly uneasy about one of the cars and its inhabitants. However, we were able to see our car and the entire carpark from about 90% of our walk. There was only 1 small patch of about 2-3 minutes walk, which obscured us from the carpark. On our return to the carpark, I noticed that the car which had made me feel disquieted, had gone. I went to get something from our car, and noticed that the glove box was open and that there was glass all over the floor. The occupants of the remaining car in the carpark hadn’t even heard anything (probably because the car which had made me uneasy, had extremely loud rap music blasting from their speakers). They had, however, noticed the occupants of the Rap car behaving a little strangely. Anyway, the long and short of it is, that they took K’s bag which had credit cards, cash, all our good ski gloves that we’d bought in Vancouver, my new ski pants (the ones I bought when I was staying at your place – at least I got 1 day’s wear out of them!), my favourite Burton snowboarding leather wrist guards, the boys’ Epipen, and my spare spectacles. It was just SO brazen! Really, it was all just stuff - and it’s stuff that can be replaced. It’s just that it is so inconvenient and frustrating. The boys were quite upset. I was mad! I wish I’d left a verse or something in K’s bag – “Thou shalt not steal!!!” Grrrrrrrr!!!!

Anyway, I guess I’ve been putting off getting some spectacles for ages, and now I get to have some new ones! And at least, we’d gotten our skiing and skating in first. It’ll be nice to have some new gloves & pants too – I don’t even have to wash this season’s ones! K will get a new bag and cellphone – he’ll be happy to have an updated toy! Might have to give up on the skateboarding till I get some new wrist protectors though…..

A beautiful world

"...And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life,

keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world..."

(''Desiderata'' - Max Ehrman, 1926)

~*~

Ange of the North - have fun at your conference tomorrow and Friday. And CONGRATS to Big Bear on his graduation! What a great effort! It only seems like yesterday when BB was telling us about this crazy plan he had, to do some study...and here he is at the other end!!! Woohoooooo!

Take lotsa photos, celebrate well, enjoy the achievement (joint effort, y'know!)!

Exotic Fruit and Other Trivia

Tis the season for apples! We visited the produce market on Sunday afternoon and I reveled in the smell of fruit. Fresh, local fruit. I love to see all the varieties of apples in the fall (at least one reason to like it)!
We also had our traditional brunch at White Spot with friends. Two large boys attached themselves to us; one way to get a free meal!
The sky was dark and forboding, but at the same time, kind of sunny. It was a relief after the pounding rain from Saturday.









The big teachers' convention is coming on Thursday and Friday; I'm frantically trying to balance regular school stuff with preparing for my workshop and the worship team. AND Big Bear's official graduation is on Friday afternoon! I can't wait to see it!
Today at school, all the children were excited to see roadwork happening on the other side of the fence!
It was like a magnet for them, and they were glued to the fence as they watched Bobcat, the roller, and lots of big, burly workers building a new road. It was fun entertainment for the teacher, too, as I unknowingly waited for a big grade five fight to happen....

Exotic flowers?!

Someone recently told me what these flowers were called, but with my great head for floral names, I have completely forgotten what it was. I had a chuckle that you called our flowers 'exotic' ! I don't think they can be exotic at all, because they grow in our garden!!! More likely, they're weeds, but they look pretty anyway.

Well, the old skis have been dusted off and are waiting patiently for their waxing. The old polypropylene and goretex are smelling a little musty...it's been about 3.5 years since we hit the snowy slopes at Whistler! I wonder if we'll remember how...

And what do we think we are doing to our poor unfit and unseasoned bodies???!!!!

Goddag!

I was just looking at Copenhagen Cycle Chic, a fun blog featuring cool cyclists in Copenhagen - cycling capital of the world! I haven't kept up with it lately, but since Lea is there visiting her family, I thought I would check up on how it's looking at this time of year.

Hello, Lea and Christina! Hello, Poul and Bente, Carsten and Birgitte, Kim and Anna! We wish you could be here at the birthday party tomorrow!

Shape of the Day

Whew. They're gone.
When I came into the classroom this morning and looked at the shape of the day, I saw my plans: Now that the day is done, I see the remnants:
What happened between then and now had very little to do with my carefully made plans!
Cooper got through the morning without a time out. Yay!
I spent 30 agonizing minutes "scribing" for Sweet But Bewildered Boy (remember the fairies that can't fly through windows??). 30 minutes and very, very few words.
I listened to everyone's memory work, ranging from know-it-all to know-almost-nothing.
Three little boys helped me "renew my energy" at recess, after having drained it in class.
It rained at lunch time - lots of pent up energy in the classroom!
We had a really good discussion about David Livingstone.
We played a guessing game and they never did figure out that it was a horse!
Jordan created two more Dino comics that he proudly read to me.
We spent 20 chaotic minutes in the gym, burning off all that energy.
Why is it that when children are tired, they want to run, and when I am tired, I just want to go to sleep???

Innocent blood cells

As music blasts through our house this morning, I was reminded of a story recently when E and L were listening to “Help me Rhonda” by the Beach Boys (“help me Rhonda….help, help me Rhonda….get around in my heart…”).

~*~*~
L asked me: “Who’s 'Rhonda', Mummy?”

I replied that I didn’t really know, but that it was probably some lady that the Beach Boys were singing about.

All was quiet for a few minutes……then L said thoughtfully, “Maybe Rhonda is a red blood cell!”
Eh what?!! E & I must’ve looked somewhat surprised for a moment, before we both burst out laughing!

~*~*~
“What do you mean L???” asked E.
“Well....” said L, “Rhonda must've been a red blood cell, cos red blood cells go all around your heart, don’t they?!”

The economy of jewels

Another pretty flower with unknown name

~*~*~

I’m glad to hear that despite your busy-ness, you are still able to enjoy those special ‘moments’.

Cobwebs are incredibly difficult to photograph – it was lovely to see that one reflected in the light. And I love the morning sun. K would at this point, interject with a smart comment about how I don’t see the morning sun enough to know what it looks like….but that is simply untrue! It is one of my favourite times of the day (when I am up to see it, that is!).

Anyway, your posting yesterday made me think about Robert Louis Stevenson’s words –

“The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.”

So since I don’t detect a soon-to-happen change of your schedule, let me instead encourage you to continue live in what Kapka Kassabova (Bulgarian poet) calls “the cherished economy of the moment”!

And now I must away to do some necessary flailing of my own cherished economies on this side of the world!

By the way – 2 updated articles from the Herald on the Good Samaritan, if you are interested.

Carrol Du Chateau : Amid the sorrow, an inspiration - 02 Oct 2008 - NZ Herald: Opinion, Editorial and Reader Comments

Farewell to a man who did the right thing - 02 Oct 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

Enjoy your day!

Night and Day

Wow. The past few days have been a whirlwind of craziness, and I hardly know how I will handle everything I've got on my plate right now. All I want is to stay home and be quiet! However, I seem to be fated to spend all my evenings running around doing "stuff".

With the busy season in full swing, I like to look for jewels. Jewels are the little moments of beauty God puts in my path. They remind me to thank him and to notice his glory hiding in the everyday.

When I was at a women's event on Monday night, I looked out the window and noticed a spider's web illuminated by an outside spotlight. It had to be a photo, and I love how it turned out. Definitely a jewel.

Today, driving to school, Little Joe and I enjoyed the early morning sun . Don't you love morning and evening light???! In my side mirror, I could see the golden rays of the sunrise behind me making everything glow - even the traffic looked pretty! I had to pull the camera out of my purse and snap as I drove. Another jewel!

Forgetful Flora

Well, I forgot to post my flower of the day photo yesterday, with all the excitement. (I wonder if Fluffy survived the night...)

Our day is full, full, full today, so I may not get back to post later....I thought I should do it before the mechanic comes to tune our car this morning...and before the day gets busy.

So here's a flower.

Again, I have no idea what genus or species or common household name it bears. However, it makes our garden look pretty.

It's another glorious day in Aotearoa! Hurray.

The Ugly Duckling...Swanling

A definite highlight of our day today, was going to a park for a stroll with some friends in the beautiful weather.

I love the new birth that Spring brings. We saw ducklings and cygnets everywhere.


Until today, I hadn’t realised how familial / territorial swans are. There were certainly plenty of incidences of male swans attacking other swans if the stranger swan came too close to the family group. Unfortunately, (we soon learnt) if you happen to be an orphaned cygnet, then you either have to become very pond-savvy very quickly, or your chances of survival are severely decreased.



The kids found a very young cygnet stranded against a drain grill, petrified by the rushing waterfall next to it. They rescued it and we brought it to the edge of the pond, hoping that some swan might either identify it as its own, or another random swan might look after it…..but pond life doesn’t appear to have uphold such niceties. Within seconds of swimming around, a male swan started viciously pecking the cygnet and picking it up out of the water by the neck and dashing it down again! We were absolutely horrified!

We managed to rescue the cygnet for a second time, this time much worse for wear than the first time. It reminded me so much of a hurt child, who so badly needs its mom. The kids cuddled the cygnet, who snuggled into the warmth of their arms and soon stopped its shivering.


We decided to take the cygnet (now named “Fluffy”!) to the neighbouring zoo, convinced that the animal-lovers at the zoo would take the cygnet and bring it up till it was ready to stand on its own! How wrong we were. We were told in no uncertain terms that the zoo has strict policies and that we just needed to let nature take its course. Life can be so tough for some young ‘uns….anyway, we found a pond that didn’t have any swans, and gently introduced Fluffy to his new environment, hoping that he would survive. He seemed so young, so fragile, so needy, so vulnerable...

Fluffy seemed to want to stay with us…it was so hard to have to leave him, knowing that his chances of survival were probably not too good. The kids were bereft.


Fortunately, a crowd gathered when they saw us with the cute cygnet, and Fluffy was soon engrossed with kids bearing large bags of delicious fresh bread. I left wondering if Fluffy’s parents had been there, whether they would’ve warned him not to eat too much…. or he might get a very sore tummy?!

I guess it might be too much to hope that Fluffy found a nice bunch of feathered friends to snuggle up with during the night.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder

Now that my camera is a little bulkier than before, I am pleased that I have passed on the photo-taking mantle to E. He is so keen on taking photos that he brings his wee cam with him most places, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on photographing those essential moments! And he does a spiffing job of it too. I think he has his dad's eye (& patience) for great shots (I was going to say 'his father's eye for beauty', but that could be misconstrued!! :-))

Today’s contributions come from E’s collection of recent days. I liked the colours on these. The flower (whose name I’m sure I ought to know!) is actually the flower planted by lil L in their class garden at school.

Earlier today, the boys enjoyed the best seats in the house at a 3-hr theatrical production of the “Wizard of Oz” complete with real, live, barking Toto dog! It was very well done - most professional. We are so grateful for the friends who bought the tickets and gave us such amazing seats – front row, right in the centre, and about 2m from the stage edge! It has certainly whetted the boys’ appetites to be part of such a production…a great thing! I'd hoped that would be the case. We sang "Phantom of the Opera" all the way home in the car!

And tonight, it was so nice to unwind from our busy days to go for our family evening stroll around the park. Lots of people wandering around and enjoying the Spring evening, kicking balls around, skateboarding, walking their dogs, walking their kids, walking their spouses…

Crisscrossing

So here's my flower for the day.
Don't expect the Latin genus.
These grow around the side of our house, and down our street there are all manner of different coloured variations. Very pretty. I haven't a clue what they're called, except that I vaguely recall someone once saying that they might be a 'Japanese paper lantern' or somesuch name. Could be totally up the creek on that one of course! Feel free to enlighten us.

And this picture was taken because I loved the way the sun caught the mass of silken highway.....it looks a bit like our lives feel, at the moment!

The Changing Face of my Family

It was so nice to see Little Bear at home this afternoon. I must sound like one of those mothers... the desperate kind. I am aware that I do miss him and it's sweeter all the time to have him around. I also really love to have Little Joe at home; I know that this year will be over all too quickly, and then he'll be finished with high school, too. He has already declared his intentions of joining his brother at Bible College, and "Wouldn't it be so cool if we could be roommates and play our guitars together!" I refrain from reminding him that they were "roommates" for a good twelve years and they were both more than happy to have their own rooms after that!

Anyway... we had a tasty family dinner this evening, and I dragged the three of them into the backyard to pose for me in the last light of the day. The photo reminded me of an old one I took back in 1993, when the boys were 1 and 3. How time flies!

We just said goodbye to Little Bear as he left for the college - back for another week of fun and games! I'm so thankful that although he's "away" at school, we can still see him throughout the year and continue to enjoy watching him grow up. It never ends. I always enjoyed the different stages the boys went through as babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and so on. I'm still enjoying it as they make the transition to adulthood.

Here's one of my favourite quotes on parenting, by Elizabeth Stone: Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.

Random thoughts

The current cool vernacular around these parts is ‘random’….my son’s band was even named “Random” for awhile. However, I wish to use the word in its traditional sense of the word today. Here are some random (though not necessarily ‘cool’!) thoughts from our weekend.

I’ve decided that I will ‘try’ and post a flower a day till I run out of flower shots or till the Spring bloom is over, whichever comes sooner. However, I don’t know any of their names, other than the basic models like rose, carnation, lily etc! If you know the names, please feel free to share. I wonder if we’ll have the same weeds here as up in the great white north…?

It has been such a busy time since school finished (surely it wasn’t only 2 days ago?!!). The boys have been partying hard and enjoying being free from school and routine. Clip ‘n Climb, Laser strike, birthday cake, treasure hunts, ice cream, friends, junk food!

Both boys also took part in the services this morning – E on the keyboards, and L singing and dancing with the kids. K and I were well and truly in the Land of Nod at 6am this morning, when E came in and politely suggested that one of us got up since Band Practice began in less than 30 mins. Groannnnn. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS has begun…..Spring forward….less one hour’s beauty sleep! However, fortified by good coffee and a ‘pain chocolat’ from the café at church, life was sweeeeeeeet. And the services were truly fabulous. Great music, fun dancing, lotsa laughs, good people, fantastic message.

Would you like to entertain a very cool family from here? They are heading over to the Great, and hopefully white, North to ski for 2 months! The reports from Whistler have been most encouraging…..for the snow-seeking tourists at any rate! We are most envious and would love to be carrying their luggage for them! Our friends have organised a house swap – they have access to a beautiful home close to Whistler, and on the flipside, the recipients will enjoy our summer only about 5 doors from the beach!

And today, we were discussing with our lunchtime guests, the way the media and country have responded to the events of the “Slain Good Samaritan”. I am so impressed with the way the family are responding, despite the immense tragedy and loss they must be experiencing. My heart grieves for them too each time I think about it. One line that has really impacted me for some reason, is the line from a recent newspaper article (about the woman whose life was saved because of Mr Hemmings’ unselfish actions) – “,,,today, she is grieving for a man whom she never even knew…” Who knows how far reaching Mr Hemmings’ actions may go? There is at least hope.

On a different note. The week ahead is full. The weeks ahead are scarily busy. I feel stressed just thinking about stuff to be done. I really don’t know how you can fit all you do into your week and still try to take on more, Ange of the North! Perhaps you could share some of your secrets…..???

Oooh, a Project!

I'm suddenly excited and inspired! Ali Edwards, one of my scrapbooking idols, is doing a great project on her blog: document a week in your life. If this piques your interest at all, check out her blog here, as well as the post on Shutter Sisters (a fab photog blog!). The big question is not, do I want to, but rather, would I be foolish to do such a thing right now...? I really should start preparing for the three-session workshop I'm supposed to present at the upcoming teachers' convention. And I should also be getting ready for the rather foolish party we're hosting next Saturday (our friend, Dan, asked if we could host a birthday party for him, as his house is too small - as if ours is large - and I said that maybe it should be a joint party as Big Bear just had his own birthday, and Dan has invited all kinds of people and I'm panicking just a little bit... But it will be fun!). But what I really want to do is the scrapbook project! What to do??? I'll probably just end up playing Sudoku (when in doubt...).

Troubles

Sounds like it has been quite the Friday in the Great (almost white) North. You'll be so glad of the weekend! Similarly here. However, since it has taken me a hugely inordinate amount of time to even write these few sentences, I will just let you know that it has been frustratingly difficult to post anything for the last 2 days. After many attempts yesterday, I did manage to get the spring blossoms through to the blog. And tonight, after a number of half hearted attempts by our computer to connect with the blogsite, I think this posting will necessarily have to be photo-less. I will therefore bid you 'bon nuit'......GRRRRRRrrrrrr !!!

Slain good Samaritan

Hey.....but this link did come through!

NZ has been grieving the innocent death of a man who lost his life 2 days ago, when he came to the aid of a woman who was being assaulted in broad daylight in the middle of the city. Totally tragic, totally senseless.

It has caused people to look deep within themselves to ask the question if they would do the same as this brave man did, when faced with someone in need. I doubt this man even thought much about it when he went to the lady's rescue. I imagine it was something inherent within his moral fibre that just led to his immediate (and heroic) action. And so, I would like to think, that there is still hope for our society; that there would still be people who would unselfishly go to the aid of those in their moment of need. Not in a foolish or foolhardy way, but with the basic compunction to see basic standards of justice and mercy upheld.

Wishful optimism? I hope not.

Here is a link from the NZ Herald - a wonderful tribute to a good man. The heart and thoughts of our nation go out to his family.

Slain good Samaritan's family speak - 27 Sep 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

Finished Friday!

It was a very intense day in my world. At recess, I had a quick conference with the principal, as she was out on playground duty. On my way back to the classroom, I encountered a kindy boy in the throes of passionate wailing; something traumatic must have happened to him! However, I discovered that this happens every day. Then there was Hunter, who had to go home with a headache. And our math test was way too hard for many of the students, who needed constant support and direction, every step of the way. Someone left cardstock in the photocopier and I ended up with truly hard copies of our spelling list - 24 of them. Austin was in time out at lunch and just couldn't seem to admit that he'd been hitting and kicking. Come to think of it, I really don't remember having a lunch time at all... One of my students informed me that she won't be back on Monday, as she is going to be homeschooled - after just three weeks with us. Juan was terribly naughty and had to sit by himself. All my loudest boys needed something NOW. And as the day progressed, the pace seemed to intensify...

There were, however, some very sunny moments! Here are three of them:


All my girls got together to paint a beautiful picture. I loved hearing them cooperate with each other, brainstorming, writing down their ideas, and voting on the best one.




Our school did the Terry Fox Run this afternoon. It was fun to see the students (and teachers) so excited to participate together!


The very best moment, however, was seeing James actually carrying a little kindy girl who was too tired to run, all the way down the lane. This boy, who has a hard time controlling his behavior, was being so kind and self-sacrificing - yay, James! And the little girl will now be his most devoted admirer for life!