We're Off!!

Well, the day has finally arrived. My classroom is packed, moved up to the third floor of my school (with the help of Stewart, of course), report cards are home, and I've planned out my school year for my Grade 4 classroom. Now, we're officially ready to go on the trip! We start out in London for some theatre (see mother, I do listen), move on to Edinburgh & Inverness Scotland for some hiking and Highlands adventures. We then fly to Turin Italy for one night, and we're staying with a fantastic and humorous Italian ambassador, Dr. Winger. From there we move on to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riveria and then onto Nice, the French Riveria. I do believe bathing suits are in order and that my nice shining white legs will be eye catching for all the wrong reasons. Yes folks, as my family says, I do glow beneath the water because they are so darned white. It was my maiden name, you know! OK, back to the schedule. We are taking the train to Innsbruck Austria (Alp hiking) for one night, and the next day we meet one of my life-long best friends, Erin Drew in Munich. Erin and I always seem to get into trouble anywhere we go, so I'm sure Munich will be no exception, and throw Stewart into the mix and it's bound to be a blast. We fly back to London after our visit with Dr. Drew, and start our Top Deck camping tour. Now, I made the mistake of cancelling my Top Deck tour when I was in University because I was being "thrifty" (Denise, is there a surprise here?) and wanted to put the money towards tuition instead (some people say boats are holes but really, University is the true hole folks... regardless of the "long-run" benefits older, wiser people tell me about). Some highlights: Paris, Lyon (France) Florence, Rome, Venezia, (Italy) Vienna (Austria), Prague (Czech Republic -- I don't even need a Visa for this folks), Lauterbrunnen (Switzerland), St. Goar (Germany) and Amsterdam (Netherlands -- definitely checking out that Red Light district everyone talks about). So there you have it! Stay tuned for the adventures, mishaps and amusing stories that come along with travelling. We even have fishing line as a way of hanging up our laundry (illegally) in hostels...

Love you all!

Amanda & Stewart

Jess's Birthday Cake

We went to my Auntie Maureen's birthday party a couple of weekends ago in Victoria. An old friend of mine, Jess, made this cake! You wouldn't believe how good it was. She made the icing out of marsacapone cheese, lemons, icing sugar and butter. Jess did an amazing job and it was so beautiful I had to post it on my blog!! I've really been into cakes lately -- lucky you if you're my neighbour or my landlord becuase we bake a giant cake and distribute slices to everyone.

Amanda :)

Squishing anything possible into a two week period...

Well, hello to everyone! As many of you know, I have a slight problem with time management. And it's not sleeping in that I'm talking about. I'm talking about COMPACTING. Trying to do as many things as possible within a limited time frame. Indeed, my friend Kim in Victoria has always wondered why I haven't had a nervous breakdown yet rushing from one thing to another, and by george I think she may be onto something here! I applied for jobs, had interviews for jobs, started planning for the Grade 4 classroom I was offered, started packing my classroom (no way out of that one), moving my classroom (not that one either), preparing for our trip away, and report cards all within the past three weeks.

We also had my Mom's surprise 60th B-DAY PARTY, which was a huge success, last weekend. I did the appies for the party, and Velma Legrow & I were chatting about the difference between women and men when it comes to entertaining. Men see the lowest common denominator, the baseline reality checks, in a party. Do it properly, make sure people are fed & happy, and skip all the pretense. My Dad & Uncle-Mike had it right -- ready to go lasagnas, salad, paper plates, plastic cups, and plastic cutlery. Women (only some of us) well -- it has to be "just so." Why buy a cheese ball when you can buy 8 kinds of cheese and make it yourself? Why buy roasted red peppers conveniently canned with no preparation when you can wash, cut, roast, peel, cool & marinate 14 of the blimey things yourself? Why buy paper plates that leave 0 clean-up when you can put out all your nice china and silverware and wash dishes for three days following an event? Why keep it practical and stress free, when you can agonize over every detail and "teat" beloved family and friends and in turn need a Valium to go to sleep the night before the party? Haven't I answered my own question? Like my Dad always says, KISS. Keep it simple silly. Wise at 19? I don't think so -- not so wise at 29 either. But working on it!
Perhaps I'm being dramatic but seeing as that's what I'm best known for I might as well keep the tradition and stretch out a good story when I see one.

PS: My kids/parents in my classroom gave me a SPA present -- can you believe it! Appreciated more than they probably know...

First Year Almost Done & Off to Europe We Go!

Well, I am officially almost finished my first year of teaching! It is very exciting to consider these options -- but I can definitely see why people who've been teaching for 30 years say it "flies by"!! I have loved what I've been doing -- I have a great class & a great parent group. Stewart has been most wonderful in helping out around the house when I've been too tired to do it myself -- and of course I hear the jokes and the commentaries about the latest jazz album along the way.

Some changes for next year -- it looks like I'll be teaching a Grade 4 Montessori class! That Montessori training has paid off -- literally and figuratively. This means I'll have my own classroom, and I already know most of the children and their parents. It's going to be a great way to try out intermediate and see if I enjoy it as much as I enjoy primary. I've also had retired teachers give me boxes upon boxes of supplies -- you need all the help you can get as a new teacher!

Our trip to Europe is just around the corner -- we are starting out in London, then going to Edinburgh & Inverness (Scotland). From there we fly to Turin Italy and onto Cinque Terre, the five cities on the Mediterranean!! Our next stop is Nice (France) and onto Munich to visit Erin Drew in Munich for two weeks! We then fly back to London and will start a three week tour of some of the major cities in Western Europe -- it's a TopDeck camping tour, and you should see our sleeping bags! They are amazing. They compress into a tiny packet that fits nicely in the bottom of our backpacks.

Decisions decisions decisions -- Stewart & I have been talking about kids (not the ones in our classrooms) and you never know what could happen in the next two years. I'll keep you posted. We've also talked about going to the Cook Islands but that might not happen either?

Hope everyone is well -- Amanda & Stewart