Sunday, January 8th. 2006

Happy New Year to all! These Christmas holidays have been the busiest ever. We had two family members moving in St. Catharines: Gloria and family expanded from a two bedroom apartment to a three bedroom townhouse, and I had to pack all of my dad's belongings as he will be going to a nursing home shortly. The only time we were all together was for the Christmas Eve Carol Service in church, which Inge was able to attend thanks to the fact that both Gloria and Jason are RN's and were allowed to take him out of the hospital. He had a short gift opening and turkey dinner occasion before church, and once there was warmly received by the congregation. They even gave him a round of applause, this was the best gift for him....

Christmas day we spent at Jason's parents' home, and managed to get a family picture with most of us there....And then the packing upheaval hit. Even Alex called for help, he got one of his friends to come and get him 'out of the eye of the hurricane' as he called it. We managed to surface around the 30th when Ricardo and I became the official babysitters for Thomas for the next two nights. Gloria was working nights, and Jason days having to leave at 5 a.m. As Thomas was fighting an oncoming flu, we had some wakeups.... Boy, no wonder it's better to have kids when you are young and full of energy.

On the first, Ricardo and I made our way back to the cold but oh so lovely and quiet north! We've been sleeping like logs, eight and nine hours at a stretch. The usual recovery from the holidays took on a new meaning this time. Myself, I was very glad to be back at work, where I can jump into what I love: teaching. This year I'm teaching the 7/8's ESL (English as a Second Language). I do this for 25% of the day, with the remainder dedicated to wearing my principal hat. The first week went by quite smoothly, I think everyone is glad to get back to the old routine....

The highlight of our visit to the city was our luncheon with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, James Bartleman. This came about as a result of a conference I attended the previous month, where his honour attended and gave a presentation on the literacy camps he's promoting in the aboriginal communities. He invited the principals if in Toronto, to Queen's Park so he could 'pick the teachers' brains'. Neither slow nor lazy (ni lerda ni perezosa) as our Argentinian saying goes, I called and booked a time. It was awesome, and best of all: he is committing to provide a literacy summer camp for the children in Wunnumin, as well as hockey equipment for the teams. A public relations coup....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!! My baby turns 24!
With a good job snagged at the end of last year, and three more courses to graduate, another feather in Ricardo and my cap.....