A Little Nuky at Paul's Tomb

Well well well, with Tesser still in town, she had made a plan to go to "Paul's Tomb" down by the lake in Kelowna. Tess' friend couldn't make it, so Ash and I filled the void.

Knox Mountain is a look-out point, hiking and biking destination in town. One of the trails takes you to Paul's Tomb. Since there was no literature about Paul on the walk, we had no idea of the history behind the name of this spot. It was only upon making this blog entry that we found out who Paul was and why he has a tomb.

Above is a picture of Rembler. Turns out Paul is his last name. He was a renaissance man who dabbled in farming, mining, real estate and veterinarian surgery (well 20 years of being a vet is more than a dabble). He moved to Kelowna from eastern Canada in 1905. He built one of the first homes on the lake and also built a tomb to house his family members that passed. From what I have read, the tomb is still there but because of vandals, they had to put a mound of dirt if front of it. Only a portion of the top can be seen. Now I must make a return trip and see if I can find this local landmark.

What we did instead of tomb-hunting, was take the leisurely stroll to the area where Rembler's home used to be and we messed around on the beach for a bit.

A little balancing act on some slippery rocks to start.

We see big tall rock so therefore we must climb it... Why?... because it's there... duh.

Once the lovely over-the-shoulder-boulder has been conquered, they ham it up for Ash the photog. I give Tess the sucker punch and she gives me the classic bunny ears.

Having just come back from the Olympic games, Jeff got the great idea of building an Inukshuk atop this great boulder. I got the great job of documenting it!The two builders show off their work. Not even Nuky is safe from the bunny ears.

They got a bit crazy from the lack of oxygen at that altitude.
Somehow they helped the bump on a log up the rock for this patriotic shot.

Nuky, all by his onesies. Standing on gaurd for all of thee. Wonder if he is still there? Will check next time Indy and I go relic hunting for Paul's actual resting place.

Stay tombed everyone...

Two Weeks in Westbank!

Unfortunately for Kristy and fortunately for me, the recovery time for hernia surgery is quite extensive.

Kristy - married to Steve, who played hockey in Ottawa with Jeff, moved here during the summer of our wedding - is the Learning Assistance Teacher at Helen Gorman Elementary in Westbank. Kristy, recently endured the aforementioned surgery and needed a TOC to cover her for the two weeks before Spring Break. I am the aforementioned TOC!

Kristy is my brother from another mother... I couldn't have asked for better preparation! She made me a binder - WITH LABELLED TABS! - and detailed explanations of what I would be doing, which kids I needed to pick up when and where, a map... it was awesome! All of that stress I had about being a TOC and not knowing where to go... GONE! I knew it was going to be a very busy schedule, but she eased all of my worries about the unknown.

I am enjoying meeting kids from Kindergarten to Grade 6, working on Reading, Riting and Rithmetic and getting to know the school. It's great to be able to leave school at 3:00pm and not take anything home with me! I'm taking anecdotal notes the whole time and that's it for "marking"!

Thanks again to Kristy for the opportunity to work for a wickedly planned two weeks! And also for not having to wait and hope for TOC calls!

Vancouver 2010 - ROAD TRIP!!!

Friday, February 19


We decided to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the Olympics in our own country, and now our own province! Tess flew in yesterday to join us for the Olympic journey. Road trip!!!



Peg, the owner of the the house we are sitting, was scheduled to come back for a week and would be arriving while we were in Van. That meant not only packing for the road trip but also taking what we needed from the house over to John and Kath's place. Clothes, food, computer, etc. Good thing it was only across the street.

We got on the road to Van at approximately 9:30am. We stopped in at Big Al's (Abbottsford) for lunch (thanks for the sandwich! Let us know what Tess owes you for the cookies!) and an hour and three bridges later, we arrived at Keri Lyn and Chris' at around 3:00pm. We took in the gorgeous view from their living room window, over-looking the Horseshoe Bay ferry dock. We had a coffee and discussed our plan for heading downtown. KL drove us to the bus stop and we took the bus into town (about 30 minutes).
Here's Tess on the Blue Bus as we cross the Lion's Gate Bridge. Were the drivers ever friendly!

When we got off the bus, it took a few minutes to get our bearings and gawk at all that there was to take in. Here Tess and Ash are in front of the giant Canadian flag on the corner of two streets. Davit!

Below is the zip-line that ran through Robson Square. This is where we first understood the line-up issue that was in store for us. They had signs for the 6- and 8-hour mark of the line-up. That's right, people lined up for hours for a 20-second ride! Needless to say we did not partake.
We met up with Tess' friend, Emma, who moved to Vancouver from Calgary. We stopped for dinner at Joey's and waited 40 minutes to find out they had lost our reservation! We were sitting right freakin' there!!!! How can you lose us?!? Once we made a fuss, they found us a closed-in patio part, kinda outside but not. As true Canadians we didn't make a stink about it! Just too hungry, I suppose.
It was so cool to walk around Robson Square, see all the people and feel the pulsating energy. There were big TV screens here and there, showing the games. We happened to walk up to one as Jon Montgomery was about to do his final heat for gold in Men's Skeleton. As he approached the start line, all the people started hooting and hollering, and cheering him on. After the final competitor's heat and we realized that Jon won the gold, the cheers were exponentially louder and everyone around us was smiling! Off to one side, part of the crowd began to sing "O Canada" and proudly joined in. It was so neat!

Along with our 100,000,000 closest friends, we made our way to the torch. Just like you see on TV, it was hard to get a good shot with all the people and, of course, the fence. Photog Jeff gave it a shot:
As per Cousin Brook's suggestion, we tried to get into David Lam park, but we didn't know that they don't admit anyone after 6pm. Too bad, but we were able to watch the fireworks from just outside of it!

Tess was staying at a friend of a friend's place in town tonight, so Jeff and I caught a very busy bus back to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal at around midnight. Unfortunately, we didn't know the street names to pre-order a cab, so the gal said it would be at least half an hour. Not wanting to wait outside in the cold, we walked back to KL's (thank goodness I remembered Maggie's directions!). We arrived by 2:00am and fell into bed.




Saturday, February 20



Our day began with a bit of a sleep-in after the previous night's late events. KL took us down to the bus stop again, and we met up with Tess after the half-hour ride in. The gals picked up a cup of joe for the walk and we made our way to the Live City Downtown site. Since there were huge line-ups at every site, we decided to follow the herd and check out the inside. It was approximately a 30-minute wait to get into the site. While inside, we checked out Manitoba House where we were educated on the new Civil Rights Museum being built near the Forks in Winnipeg. (We were there last summer!) The beer tent was quiet so we made our way into yet another line-up for the Canada Pavillion, about 40 minutes, but it was worth it as Canada's Holy Grail was waiting for us!Not many other people recognized him, but Jeff did and took the opportunity to chat with and get a photo with "The Keeper of the Cup", Phil Pritchard. I think he does everything with his white gloves on!
And just for kicks, the gals gave their Olympic mitts a workout on the Bobsled.
From the Live City, we made our way to the place near the sea wall and GM Place: it was beer tent/pavillion city! Most provinces were represented and had massive line-ups to get in, but you could hardly tell what you would be waiting for! Ontario House and Quebec House were WAY too long! So, when we heard fun music coming out of the Saskatchewan House, we made the decision and stood in line for half an hour. As suspected, it ended up being a beer garden and the band eventually came back on from their break. We downed a few bevies and grooved to the Dixieland band... fun!

You had to look for it, but Sask did have an information place with booths about wheat and stuff. Like everything at the Olympics the most popular "to dos" were the free stuff. Here, people lined up to get their pictures taken with all things Saskatchewan... like a big stuffed fish or a football, superimposed over a background of a lake or wheatfield or was it a canola field? I guess it was popular because it was free! (Not "included", Estupido!)

Feeling tired from lining up all afternoon and since we made dinner plans with the Long family, we hopped a bus back to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. Chris took a break from his studies to pick us up. Merci Monsieur!

With the kids taken care of by the sitter, we got freshened up and went for dinner at The Boathouse at 7:15pm. Deli$h! Back home around 10:30pm, wiped, we went to bed.



Sunday, February 21

We happily joined the Long Family on their traditional Sunday morning walk to the beach near their place. The road there was not without its dangers, as steep hills and slick conditions resulted in Jack having a little one-on-one with the back of a parked truck. No harm done on either end.
After the long stoll, pretty Cate finds herself a sunny spot to re-hydrate before the stone skipping starts.Here we are making our stone selections and giving "what for" to the ocean.Once we got back home, we enjoyed a delish breakfast with bacon and eggs and cute kids!Packed and ready to go into town, we thought we'd save ourselves some time by driving to the Park Royal strip mall in West Van and do the Park and Ride bus thing the rest of the way.

We bused it all the way to meet Emma and JR (Emma's friend from Calgary who also recently moved to Vancouver) and walked around Granville Island, which was called the French Quarter for the games. Once again line-ups o'plenty!
We had a crêpe lunch at the Market (shout out to Alndrew! Totally déjà vu!). As it was getting close to game time (Canada vs US), we made our way back over the bridge to downtown. After realizing every pub and bar were full of revellers for the big game, Emma thought we would have more luck back across the bridge, in Kitsilano. The three of them hopped in the first cab, Jeff and I caught another one and we met up at a restaurant called "The New Bohemian". When we arrived, there were five guys sitting in there, facing the two TVs in the corner. JR was on it right away, trying to confirm that they would, in fact, be showing the game and that there would, in fact, be sound. One out of two... no sound! It didn't help that our server was a complete "meaner" (shout out to Mona and Emily!) who obviously didn't realize just how much money she could be making tonight!

People started arriving, all with the same looks on their faces: "Are they showing the game in here?" "Why is it so empty?" They soon found out! Fortunately, Tess went outside and discovered "The One Sushi Restaurant" a few doors down... it had two big TVs, both with sound, a table for us and friendly staff! We promptly paid our Bohemian bill and settled into the Sushi place for the second and third periods. Much better! Despite the outcome of the game!

After a few more pops at another pub across the street, our crowd dwindled to us three, JR and Karin (Tess' high school friend) who was nice enough to give us a ride back downtown to hook up with "the funny Dumas"... Scott. Scott was at the Cactus Club with one of his ticket dudes, Doug, and "The Reed Man", his buddy from his days of insurance sales who now lives in Van. That's Tess below making nice with the locals. The place was hoppin' with awesome energy and a fab DJ who actually took requests! (Bring on the Gaga!)

The Olympic spirit (or should that be Spirits) took hold of Tess and Scott, which led to a Norway vs Iceland showdown. Who knew arm wrestling was a winter sport? Luckily for national harmony it ended in a draw: Norway wins in the right hand division and Iceland in the left. No need to send the Peacekeepers, Mr. Harper!

Well after all the excitement downtown, somebody must have said "they wished the night would never end". Enough with the bus, we decided to take a cab back to the Park and Ride only to discover that we had been locked in! The car was locked in a gated parkade for goodness sakes!Another guy, who had been there and also locked in since 1:00am, had called 911 and got the number for the Parking Garage people. They said the gal that does her rounds will be around... eventually! We got there at 1:30am and waited until 2:10am for her to arrive. She read us the Riot Act about being in a gated garage (even though there were no signs anywhere!) and said we were lucky we didn't get a ticket. We managed to get home around 2:30am, ready to fall into bed except that the front door was locked!!!! We felt terribly for waking up KL to let us in. Sorry! It was a bit funny 'cause she had killer bed head. See you in the morning. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Monday, February 22

With Chris off to work, we had planned to go for another walk this morning, but Jack had an earache, so we stayed and played instead. We got packed up and on the road around noon. We were feeling the effects of the long weekend so it was a long and quiet ride. Home by 5:00pm to invalid Mommé! We leave her alone for just a few days and she found a way to trip up and sprain her ankle. All her Olympic hopes and dreams dashed! Maybe she could decorate the games instead!

It was very neat to watch highlights on TV for the following week and see the crowds full of excitement and national pride. So glad we were part of that!

Go Canada Go!

TOC Job Count: Two Half-Days

My first TOC call came on Monday night for a morning-only gig at Peter Greer! I accepted right away since I know where the school is, the classroom, the bathroom... all that good stuff. To make it even more attractive, there was a Student Teacher AND a full-time CEA in that room. I was an excellent supervisor for all 2.5 hours!

My second call came last night for a gig at Glenmore Elementary - where I went to school from Kindergarten to Grade 7! It was an afternoon only in a French Immersion, Grade 4 classroom. I was so excited!
When the kids came in from recess, I told them that I had gone to this school and got a pretty surprised reaction. (Whoa! The school is that old??? Well, that's what I imagined they were thinking. That's what I was thinking!)

I decided that my "gimmic" as a TOC would be to play the game "Two Truths and a Lie" (thank you Tribes!). I write three sentences on the board: two are true and one is false. It's up to the kids to ask questions to figure out which one is the lie. Then we vote and I reveal. Very exciting stuff. I used it on Day 1 in Grade 7 and it was a hit.

I use two standard sentences, one of which is the lie:
1. I have four sisters.
2. My brother-in-law is a stand-up comedian.

And my third is usually something currently happening in my life, in this case:
3. I'm going to the Olympics tomorrow.

They usually ask me to name my sisters (which I easily roll off: Shilo, Courtnay, Robyn and Tess) and this time I had to explain what a stand-up comedian is. I gave them some time to chat amongst themselves (they already had a topic and I wasn't feeling veclemt) and overheard someone say: "Well if she was going to the Olympics, she would have had to leave already, so that can't be true..." We voted which one was the lie and, as usual, #2 had the most votes. (I need to get something to prove that it's true. Maybe a poster advertising his show or something? I'll figure it out.)

Anyways, I enjoy this game because it's good practice of oral French, asking questions and they get to find out a little bit about me. I hope this gimmick will work in my TOC career!

Although it was for such a short time, it was really neat to be back at my old stomping grounds. As I walked through the hall, I think I saw one teacher that taught there during my time (although she never taught me). Yikes.

Maybe I'll get a call back to Glenmore! I'll have to figure out another game if it's the same class though!

All You Need is Love!

While digging through the cupboards and drawers in this Kindergarten classroom, I came across these HUGE heart shapes stapled together. Curious, I pulled them out to investigate and found... THE CUTEST VALENTINE'S DAY CRAFT - EVER! It took a lot of prep (thanks, Husband!) and I sure would not have done it if there were more than 11 kids in the class. However, it was worth all of it when they walked out the door to see their parents. I give you...

Sandwich Board Valentines!

So my contract officially ended on February 12. I am sad to now officially have to be called a "TOC" (Teacher On Call - it's much nicer than "substitute", though, isn't it???). Now I have to hope for phone calls either the night before or the morning of (as of 6:00am... ick!), find out which school I'm going to and where it's located, which grade and classroom am I in, whether or not the teacher left a plan, where the staffroom and washroom are... by 8:30am, I have given myself an aneurism!

To lift my spirits, that evening, we finally got the chance to see Vaughn's (#15) hockey game. We had been trying all season to catch a game! (The last time was prevented by the car keys falling in the elevator shaft. It's a true story. Just ask the Superintendent.) A celebratory ice cream at DQ (win... loss... what's the diff???) was the post-game treat.

On Saturday, Ash hooked up with a former co-worker from Ottawa, Sheila, who was in town visiting her grandparents. Ash spent a lovely afternoon with Sheila starting with a pedicure and then a bite to eat at The Green Room. http://www.greenroomrestaurant.com/Greenroom_Restaurant/Greenroom.html. I will go there again and if anyone is visiting Kelowna in the near future, I would definitely recommend it!

Jeff picked the girls up and drove Sheila to her grandparents on the Westside. They have a lovely panoramic view of downtown from their balcony. And it turns out Ash's dad and wife are good friends with Sheila's grandfolks. Small town.

On our way home from dropping her off, the M3 took a rear-endeder from a Jeep. Ash and I were "all shook up", but ok. It sounded a lot worse than it looked (only $1000 damage, according to ICBC).

We were on our way home to change and head to a Rockets game. Ash was starting to feel the crash a bit in her back but we decided to go to the game anyway and see how she felt after.

Well after a stressful shootout loss, we took Ash to the Emerge to get checked out. A quick in and out with a prescription to take an aspirin and a hot shower. A couple massage treatments and we'll be as good as before the last car accident!

Almost all the pain went away when Ash woke up to gorgeous flowers and a lovely card from Dear Husband. Oh, and a stiff neck. Then he surprised me in the car with the soundtrack to "Once". Tears. The show wasn't outstanding, but the music sure was. It won "Best Song" at the Oscars in 2008. Take a listen to "Falling Slowly": http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/ I love it! Can someone please learn the harmony so we can sing it? Hontz????

On Sunday, we went for brunch at the Yacht Club with (from left after Jeff) Sheri, Grandma, Gladys, Dillon, Glennis, Gaye, Leigh, Michele and Blake. The buffet was delish! (Except for the crepes. Ick.)

After brunch we hung out at Uncle Steve's with the family and watched curling. Dillon got a ride around the block with Steve.

Since Robyn was spending her first VDay without Dave in 8 years, we decided to take a run over and chill with her and the little one. Presley was sick but summoned the energy to chase bubbles blown by Aunty Ash. Cute.
From Precious Presley, we went to "Precious" the movie with Mommé (Sheri). Although well acted it was not an uplifting VDay pick. Mo'nique for Best Supporting Actress! "Dats my man! Who gonna luv me?!" Heavy stuff.

We're keeping an open mind and an open heart to what adventure the universe will present us with next.

xo j and a

Lighter Load

My cold, that started on December 22, lasted the whole Christmas break. I even had to miss the first two days of school! Very disappointing. To add to the stress, we haven't received our BC Medical Cards yet, so I had to pay for the visit to the walk-in clinic where I got a doctor's note saying that I should not be at work for the first week of January. To make matters even more complicated, when I was feeling better, I had to get a second doctor's note saying that I could go back to work earlier than the first note had stated!

I have really been enjoying my little French Kindergarten class of 11 kids in the mornings and my English and French Reading Groups in the afternoons. To call it a lighter load than last term is an understatement! Little people - little problems! I had an appreciation for Kindergarten teachers before this experience and now, it has grown! I don't know if I could do it for a whole day though. My patience is growing, but it really is a different world!

Speaking of patience, a whole lot of that is required for my two English Grade 1 Reading Groups. I've taught this age before, but never to read! Sound it out... break it up... look at the pictures... does that make sense? My favourite part is when they guess the word based on the first letter, say it like a question and then look at me for confirmation! My one French Grade 2 Reading Group has me back where I'm used to! Even my encouraging statements come out in French first! The Grade 1 groups are learning to read as well as some fun French expression!

Only two more weeks with this assignment, as the gal whose medical leave I'm covering is coming back to work. Hopefully she'll call me in as a substitute for this group if she ever needs it! I am lucky that my Principal found a way to keep me on and we'll see what School District 23 holds for me next!

My fingers are starting to cramp up from being crossed so long... stay tuned!