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Friday 9th November 2001 I say this every month..... KEEP NOTES!! Do I do it????? NO! My memory is so lousy, I should know better. This week... God... what's happened... Guess I'll just go with the flow and it might come back (Right!!!) Here goes... Lots of pictures this week.... Last Friday we went to the School Musical "Mirror Mirror" based on Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs (Isn't that a virus????) <grin> I have one word for it PATHETIC! I'm not knocking the kids, they did a great job but the production was BORING. I took my camera to get photos and had intended to take video film the next night. Well, we didn't go the next night (neither did Jared). Jared was on for about 2 minutes and had to hang around for three and a quarter hours. Since they lost the teacher who used to do the producing and directing it's gone downhill fast. BUT what makes me angry is that hours have been wasted that could have been spent on the three R's. (Have I mentioned this before ???? *S*)All it is is a money making exercise for the school.... exploiting the kids. This last term at school is a write off, makes me wonder what we're paying for, between the Musical, Excursions, Camp, Sport. Development Electives etc.... there's little time for REAL work, so that's 9 weeks down the drain. I'm having a meeting with the Primary Principal some time next week along with the Child Guidance Counsellor, Jared's Grade 4 teacher and his old Grade 2 teacher (who takes him for extra lessons in English). The progress Jared's made this year is non existant! In fact, if anything, he's gone backwards! Thanks to his teacher he's lost all self esteem at school, thinks he's worthless. Now we have to work five times as hard to get him interested in school again. We went to the Occupational Therapist for an assessment last Tuesday and it turns out Jared DOES have problems with Fine Motor Skills in his right hand/arm. This is why he takes so long to write stuff down and would rather answer questions verbally instead of written answers. Any teacher worth their salt would have picked upon this. HIS teacher DOESN'T have the TIME!! ....... Doesn't have time to teach MULTIPLICATION tables, doesn't have the time to correct the homework himself, doesn't have the time to work out the errors when kids get something wrong in their homework UNLESS there are a LOT of kids with the same wrong answer to a particular question. What about the couple of kids who keep getting the same thing wrong all the time BUT because there were only 2 of them the teacher HASN"T THE TIME to explain where they went wrong. THIS IS SO DAMNED FRUSTRATING!! Anyway it will all be brought out at the meeting and I think Jared's teacher has a lot to answer to. More later...... Talking about Jared's school... here's a couple of aerial pics I pinched from their website *S*
A wonderful setting... don't you think!!
Enough on that.... I've gone to school... to learn how to use PSP7. I'm having a great time learing all this new stuff. If anyone's interested in brushing up on PSP, I can recommend this site. http://www.artistrypsp.com/ Never fear... you'll all be subjected to my new creations in the not too distant future!! <BIG GRIN> Hey... we now have a permanent visitor at feeding times.... a rather pretty cat. Jared's been secretly petting it and I got sucked in to feeding it when I feed the dogs. Well, we discovered that she's had 4 kittens in behind our back neighbour's shed. They're out in all weather and it was teeming with rain the night before last. So "MEAN Nanny" got a box and padded the bottom with some old fabric, Jared got the kittens and I got Mum and put them in the box under the table in our pergola out by the pool last night. Jared came running in at 6:15 this morning to tell me she'd taken all the kittens back behind the shed!!!! Contrary little bitch! That's all the thanks I get for being kind. Come to think of it..... it's been a long, long time since Jared's been up THAT EARLY in the morning!! He tells me one kitten has died, it was squashed under Mum. Their eyes are not open yet. Can anyone tell me how old they are when they open their eyes?? I rang the local paper this morning to report her FOUND. Someone must own her, she's too friendly and too well kept. Jared won't be happy if she finds her owner.... BAD LUCK!! *S* My mother even made up some food for her this morning!! This is the woman who was ranting and raving last night about NOT encouraging the cat! "It'll kill the bird...MARK MY WORDS!!" Bah Humbug!! She's (the cat) able for our dog Dingo... he's usually able to scare off any trespassers BUT she won't be scared off. *S*
While I was browsing Jared's school's website I came across this great link for Hervey Bay. Has sections on Fraser Island, Whales, etc.
Aerial view of Hervey Bay ******
I just love the old Queenslander homes. and lastly
We took Jared go-karting last weekend... it's the only time Jason (his Dad) can drive like a lunatic and not get booked *S*.
Maybe next year Jared's feet will reach the pedals and he will get a Kart to himself. The little darling went off and got us some chairs to sit on.... so Mum and I could watch.... Anyone would think it was heavy :-)
Finally I was woken up the other morning at about 4:30! By this lot of squawking ruffians...
There must have been at least 50 Sulphur Crested Cockatoos ALL SCREECHING at the same time.... what a din! I couldn't go out and take a photo or they would have all flown away. This is what they look like close up.... beautiful BUT NOISY.
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Tuesday 20th November 2001 Boy is it cold this morning! I'm actually wearing a cardigan!! This is great.... Brrrrrr! Actually the weather hasn't been too bad so far this Spring... we had a couple of days that were stinking hot... so I got someone to come quote on airconditioning and ever since that day the weather has been a little cooler. So, I haven't bothered about the airconditioning. Just maybe ....... this Summer will be reasonable. Well... I got up at 3am yesterday morning to see the Leonid Meteor Shower..... it was 'bucketing"! So that 'washed out' any possibility of seeing the spectacle. I doubt if I'll be around for the next time... I'd be 88!! Jared and Mum woke too but I sent them back to bed and of course I stayed up... so what's new. I spent the time doing a weeks worth of lessons for my PSP7 school... I mean... in this house one never knows what's going to interfere with my computer time *S* This is one example of what I've been learning.... cool isn't it *S*
You can check out the rest of my lessons HERE if you're interested. It's really a great experience. I've spent the last few days working (much needed) in the garden. Managed to pin Jason down on Friday and he took 3 HUGE loads of garden refuse to the dump. God... he carried on about how much there was.... So I told him... "You think loading it on to the trailer and dumping it is hard work..... think about the work involved in cutting back etc., bagging the small stuff, dragging the big stuff and having it all neatly piled by the gate to make it easier to load on the trailer. Well I did it all BY MYSELF!!!" Heavens above, I even helped him load the trailer so he wouldn't carry on! Funny thing with 'kids' (all ages), if they need something it has to be done/got immediately BUT if Mum needs something done she's got to wait ....... and wait........... and wait .......... until it suits THEM. It poured again yesterday afternoon but I managed to get some gardening done out the front of the house in the morning. Boy! Did it come down! Horrendous claps of thunder and constant flashes of lightning went on long after it was dark. Had to shut off my computer :-(((((( Dingo was petrified. Apparently 50,000 homes in NSW (south of the border) were without power for hours yesterday and on TV last night we saw the damage the storms had done to some homes... they'll have to be demolished, no hope of saving them. I got up at 3am today.... just incase there was a repeat performance of the meteor shower but no luck. The sky was so clear... why couldn't it have been like that yesterday????????????? Oh well, I didn't go back to bed..... no prizes for guessing how I've been spending MY time *S* Got x-rays of my feet and ankles last Thursday. have yet to get the results from the doctor. My right ankle is giving me hell... I've become an 'old crock' which is really ticking me off. I've never been sick a day in my life except for colds and minor ailments. It's so damned infuriating, especiallly getting in and out of the car. I have to get both feet out before I can stand properly. If this is 'getting old' I hate it! But I guess I'm stuck with it and have to make the best of it.
Enough about me. The dear sweet puss I told you about before eventually lost all her kittens :-(((((( They died one by one ... poor little darlings.
I felt so sorry for her. This is a lousy photo... she really was adorable. I almost kept her BUT she was eyeing off the bird.......
so..... she had to go. I rang the animal shelter and asked how long they keep cats before they send them to 'Pussy Heaven'. I was told they DON'T put them to sleep.... they keep them until they find homes for them. That sold me! So Puss and I headed off to the shelter that afternoon. She wailed all the way there (in the car) it was pitiful... but I couldn't give in. Every time Pippa went near her she'd scratch her. Pippa is a Shi-tzu and is blind so she had no idea she was anywhere near a cat and poor thing kept getting swiped as she bumbled along. I had the DETTOL out a few times before I decided Puss had to go. Jared got over it :-) I was mentioning gardening before... check these out... this is what happens with NEGLECT <grin>
. These roses are from one of the 'climbers' we have and it seems the less care and attention they receive... the better! The bush is full of blooms and buds. Hey.... while I'm in the picture mood I might as well throw in the rest of the menagerie *S* This is the mouse....
. This is Doris... well, we think it's a "Doris" *S*
. Mousey, ended up going to school today... Show and Tell. Lucky mouse! Gotta pick up Jared early to go to Occupational Therapy THEN I have to go back to the school for a meeting with the Principal, Child Guidance Officer, his Teacher, his Learning Support Teacher for next year. That should be interesting! Then tomorrow Jared is off to camp for 3 days. They're going to Mon Repos (about an hour and a half north of here) to a Turtle Rookery. It's the season for the hatchlings and should be quite exciting if they're lucky enough to see them. The Botanic Gardens, a Cooperage and a trek through the bush is also on the agenda.... kinda wish I was 9 years old. Didn't do things like this when I went to school :-( Heaven only knows what kind of tales he'll bring home. Jason's gone fishing again. He was out for 2 days already, Saturday and Sunday, had a day off, out today and again at the weekend I think for 2 days. An American from Louisana has chartered the boat, Jason loves taking out Americans. They're also decent 'tippers' *S* Jason might be useless at a lot of things (in my eyes) BUT when it comes to Game Fishing... he's an expert. This guy has never caught Marlin before by fly fishing and it seems he had a super time. He was thrilled... they caught 2 billfish and 2 marlin. His 11 year old son may now hold a world record for his Marlin catch!! Jason also caught dolphin fish... he was on the doorstep this morning at 5:30 with a pile of fillets for us before going down to the boat. We have enough for about 4 or 5 meals. I might add... it's been a whle since we had FRESH fish. Monday 26th November How the devil can so many things happen in a few days???? On Thanksgiving day at the top of the world, we down here were going through dramaaaaas! FINALLY Jason has left the neurotic girlfriend... it's a long story, she's a NUTCASE!! She stole his mobile phone and "tossed it"... who knows where! She says she can't remember what she did with it. As a result he missed out on a job last weekend that would have made him a minimum of $600 cash in hand! I won't go into any more gory details... suffice to say he's back home bag and baggage AND THERE'S SO MUCH OF IT!!!! Only God knows how we're going to fit it all in the new garage/storeroom. We collected some of his stuff today.... my nice tidy garage is a MESS :-(((( I told him he's going to have to do a BIG cleanout.. this is the perfect opportunity. Tuesday 27th November Rain last night and today.... yippee!! I LOVE IT!!. Another dramaaaaaa yesterday!! I went to collect Jared from school and while I was waiting for him to come out of class I checked his sports bag to make sure he had all his gear after swimming. It was all DRY... hadn't been touched.!! So, when he came out of class I asked his teacher why he wasn't at swimming. He said "Jared missed the bus." ME: "How could that be?????" HIM: "Because the bus left without him... it was at recess and it's Jared's responsibility to get to the bus on time." ME: "No it's not! He's YOUR responsibility!" HIM: "It's up to him." ME: "I'm sick of this damned school!!" and I left, raging. I wrote a letter to the Primary Principal this morning asking "What would have happened if the children (there were 4 of them) had NOT gone to the Staff Room to say the bus had gone without them? What if they decided to go off somewhere else instead... the teacher would have been none the wiser! What if something had happened to those children... who's responsibility would that be???? I was told in no uncertain terms earlier in the year by the smart-mouthed deputy Senior Principal (who is no longer there) that once the kids hit the school grounds THE SCHOOL is responsible for the children. The 4 kids were heading up to the bus , which was parked further away than normal.... when the bus drove off! You'd think the Sports Teacher would do a head count! It doesn't matter that 24 of the kids made it... 4 didn't!" I'm awaiting an answer. <grrrrr> We had a meeting last Tuesday with the Principal, Jared's Teacher and the Learning Support Convenor for next year (who was Jared's 2nd Grade teacher). I heard her quietly asking his current teacher why he didn't follow through on certain things. He's such a bloody ('scuse me) WIMP! She got poor responses. But I am happy with the fact that the Principal will be taking 5th grade for Maths. He's "old school" and if the new methods are not working with the kids he'll go back to the old methods... the way I was taught and the way my son was taught. He's been really great about the fine motor skills problem Jared has and will work on that with him too as well as Jared getting the Occupational Therapy each week and working on it at home with us. Glynis... if you're reading this... thanks for the info about the tennis ball exercise :-) Well, I'll have to go and get cleaned up to pick up Jared and take him to the OT at 2:30... so I'll be back later. That's it for November.... can't see me having time to add anything in the next couple of days :-( I'm looking forward to the December Journal... I've created nice new pages... Huge Hugs, Jamie
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"Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth." Soren Kierkegaard. Danish philosopher, 1813-1885 |
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