Sunday, September 25, 2011

A Nice Surprise

I came home today to a nice surprise.  No, it wasn't that my wife was feeling better after a few days sick, but that was nice.  No, it wasn't that my wife made baked beans and wings for supper, but that was nice.  No, it wasn't that my wife had done the laundry which is my usual Sunday job during football, but that was very nice.  I came home to a brand new HD PVR and an upgraded dish courtesy of Bell.  I had forgotten that they gave Jen a call and told her they would be coming over to give us these upgrades as a "customer retention bonus".  After 3 years I own the equipment.  It is interesting that this happened just as we were seriously considering moving to Telus satellite TV largely because they gave us the equipment for free.  Now I don't have the hassle of going through the change of dish and providers.  I can stick with Bell, whom I've been very happy with for the past 3 years.

Now I only have to work on getting that HDTV.  But that is in the works.

Friday, September 23, 2011

If It's Not One Thing It's Another

I'm starting to think being busy is like a perpetual motion machine.  The business feeds upon itself to create more business.  Jen and I have been busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest, since the start of school.  We have had a busier social calendar than we've ever had since we've been together.  Add the stresses and the inherent workload in school start up and we don't know which way to turn.  I'm also aware that working a second job is not helping matters.

If it were only the work and social life that kept us from sitting down for a few minutes at a time, maybe I could handle it.  However, there seems to be a never ending parade of meetings, appointments and minor emergencies that drag us out of school too early to get anything done.

I'm going to stop whining now with the hope that our calendar being empty next week (for now) may lead to some rest and relaxation (as I head off to a house warming party).

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Man Cave

The Man Cave is nearing completion.  It is in use now, but I'm still looking for a shelf or two for the wall.  I have a few McFarlane hockey figures to put on the shelves.  I also have a couple of pictures to get framed and hang as well.  However, I'm very happy with the results.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

My Head is Spinning

Well, I have the first week of school under my belt.  It turns out that the straight Grade 1 class that I had hoped for all summer disappeared like so much smoke in the Fort St. John wind.  It turns out that I will be teaching another Grade 1 and 2 split, albeit with a better split between grades.  Unfortunately, we only found out what our classes would be on Thursday, so there hasn't been much time to adjust my thinking and do any planning.

It has been a busy week outside of school as well.  I worked at Mark's on Thursday evening and all day Saturday.  It makes for a short week, but when I have that new TV, it will all be worthwhile.  We also had appointments in town and Jen's birthday this weekend.  I think this week will see a lot of extra school work as well.

I'll try and find time to blog on a more regular basis as well.  The biggest problem was that there was really nothing to report.  The only thing worse than having nothing to talk about, is talking about nothing.  So, I try to keep my posts to saying something that at least I think is useful.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Vacation is Over

Well, I see that I haven't posted in, well forever.  I was trying to get as much done around the house and I was working almost until the end of summer vacation.  Now I'm back at school waiting to find out what grades I'll be teaching this year.  At our school and from what I hear, most of the district spends the first few days of school dithering until we know our numbers for sure and the bean counters at the district can tell us how many classes we are allowed to have.  So, until our "community building" project is done tomorrow, I won't know whether I'm teaching only Grade 1 or Kindergarten and Grade 1.  Until I know that, I really can't get very far in my planning and I just have to sit on my hands and wait.

Oh, and I get to work at Mark's tomorrow.  We'll see how this two job thing plays out.