No Pictures but WOW what a morning.

Dear Readers,

I am definitely on an adventure that I would never have thought I would be on.  After applying to Teachers College and being put on the waiting lists I was down and out until a friend told me of a school that was still looking to fill spots in June. I applied, was accepted and had basically one month to find a place to live, get police checks and the TB test. I made it except for the police check which will mean a trip home Labour Day weekend to get that.

Today just makes this experience seem not real. I never would have thought that I would live somewhere that would allow me the opportunity to cross paths with a black bear on my way to church. Yes you read that right...my first Sunday here by myself and I saw a black bear 2 blocks away from church. When I first saw it on the road I thought “man that’s a big dog...or maybe a wolf” but 2 seconds later as it realized a car was coming and started to move I noticed that it was a bear. Scared me a little bit to think that I was in immediate bear country and I wasn’t just watching a show on the discovery channel. And it probably didn’t help that just last week I saw a program about a lady who was obsessed with feeding bears and then they killed her.

After I passed the bear running through someone’s yard, I thought “what have I gotten myself into????” My car had better not break down on the way to church because I could end up being dinner! The trip home from church was uneventful and for that I am grateful. There is only so much I can handle in one day.

Love,

Katie

I Did It!!!!

I have graduated with a BA (Honours) in Child and Youth Studies. Here's proof...

That is me walking into the gym before the ceremonies (short brown hair looking forward).

Further proof, my parents came and the white thing in my hands is my program...my degree was being put into a frame at this point in the adventure.

And then there were the cheering section/adoring fans...

We didn't get to wear hats but I'm glad of that because who knows who would have had it on their head just before you...I worried about the gowns but hopefully nobody had lice...

It turned out to be a nice day. My ceremony was at 2p.m. and the weather was cloudy and around the 20 degree mark so I made no complaints. Thanks to all my supporters out there who came and those who came in spirit due to distance or work or me not letting you know that it was happening...

Now on to the next phase in life......

Oh the Weather Outside ....

Today was one WINDY day.

I heard the wind running over the roof like a freight train and then some banging.

I decided to look out the window and what did I see??

Popcorn popping on the...oh no it was shingles from the roof flooting across the road.

Aaauugh!

This is the damage the wind did (not sure how well you can see it).

strip club ha ha ha



There were a couple missing up higher but the paper managed to stay on.

When dad got home from work we put a tarp on.

Then we ran out of screws and strips of wood so we had to get off the roof for a minute and then finish it off.

We got more wood and screws and finished the job as the light faded to black.

So I took some pics of NF from up as high as the roof....

The wind was still blowing pretty good so I had a hard time keeping the camera still

and this is the best I could get. 

The roof is covered now and hopefully the rain will stay away.

Good bye wind!!!!



Love this quote!!!!

The silver lining in going to school and reading journal article after journal article after journal article is that every once and a while you come across a quote that jumps right into your lap and stays for a visit. I had one of those moments recently and so I thought I'd share the quote with you.

"The mastery of any skill - whether a routine daily task or a highly refined talent - depends on the ability to perform it unconsciously with speed and accuracy while consciously carrying on other brain functions."

Benjamin Bloom (1986)

So for all you moms who feel like a broken record in asking your kids to perform tasks you think they should be doing with out prompts just remember that you are helping them to master skill which need lots and lots of practice to make them become automatic and that doesn't happen over night. Practice isn't usually fun but it is necessary to change our "effortful" tasks into "uneffortful" automatic responses that allows us to move onto developing in other ways as well. So every time you ask one more time to pick up their toys or put something away, be glad that you have a hand in helping them to develop that skill.

Catch up

Yep. It's true what they say, when you get a little down time that's when the flu bug hits...Its soooo nice when its gone.

Really I wanted to catch you up on the results of the last entry. I did do better than the first test in that class. I raised my mark by 17% over the first one. Now the results are inconclusive as to why I did better the second time.

I have been working on a couple of projects though....

This is a book purse...Yes, once it sat on the shelves of the local public library and now it wanders the city slung over my arm. What a fun way to reuse hard covered books.

These beauties are made out of placemats... cool little totes. The green handles are made of ribbon and the brown handles are from an old belt. I love recycling....

Funny thing happened on the way to the Opera....

Not that we should enjoy someone else’s misfortunes, but every once and a while it’s nice to be reminded that we are all human with off days. I went to write my quiz today and was feeling a little bit stressed. Sat down, got out my pens and was mentally preparing as the papers were being past down the row and then it happened…they stopped at the person before me and there wasn’t one for me.

So I got up and left.

 

Just kidding!

I had to wait 15 minutes while the Professor made a phone call and someone came to make photocopies and bring them back. It reminded me that we all have bad days when things just don’t go right and we do the best we can with what we’ve got. It did end up being a bit of a stress relief as 12 of us sat in the hallway chatting as we waited for more tests to come….blessing in disguise? I’ll let you know when I get the mark back…

This Is Exciting!!!

I just got off Skype with Toshina, Brian and Maren and Maren is walking! Took her first steps today. Hope Toshina gets it on video and puts it on facebook to show you...Or maybe you should Skype them and see for yourself!!!