Great Teachers

Hey hi!

It has been really hard balancing everything these last several months but I just finished my practicum and loved it.  As most everyone knows I have been studying working with children with learning disabilities, autism, and global delays.  It was a great 5 week  practicum, and left me with a very positive feeling toward the work elementary school teachers are doing. Not just academically but each one of the teachers I worked with were excellent at teaching life skills constantly in the classroom.  About the ethics of being a good person in life.  They said because many young ones don't have structure and guidance at home they work hard to talk about good basics each child should know.  There was constant guidance from the teachers on being kind to each other in the class.  Being honest.  Being nice.  Talking and treating others properly.  And when the students didn't treat each other well verbally, or physically, the teachers would make them sit at a table outside the group until they came and apologized to the other student for their actions.  Most teachers had a saying on the wall written out so the children could be prompted if they forgot the wording...but it was along the lines of "sorry Minju that I scowled at you.  Scowling at others is not appropriate conduct because it makes others feel bad."   They did that for hitting, or being grouchy, or being selfish, or any number of other things that were not nice.  It really made me appreciate the hard work the teachers are doing trying to get the students to be conscious of their actions and words.  They were on top of it all the time.  Anyway, it made a very good impression on me because I could see that it was teaching the students beyond just books - but how to be good people in the future.  I think things would be different in high school of course but the elementary school teachers are really doing their best with this kind of instruction.

Now I am back to teaching at the college on Monday.  Will have to check on the progress of all my students and see who needs help with what.  The weather has improved a lot over the last couple weeks so I have started riding my motorcycle.  Stopped and bought new flourescent gear today so I glow nice and bright. :-) If it stops raining I would be even happier, but even being a little warmer makes a huge difference on the road.  But the savings in gas is incredible so that makes me really happy. :-))))
 
Pearl and Harvey are doing really well.  They are presently pooped out on the bed being sweet little cupcakes.  When I get less lazy I will upload some pics of them.

WT tomorrow is especially good, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Love to all,
d  :-)

Long Weekend in Rock Creek

Hey hi everyone, :-)

Friday Night

We are sitting in the LLT (Long Long Trailer) at Rock Creek.  It is the four day weekend here in Canada so I decided to bring the pups up here to run around.  The first hour was a little scary :-& because we hit a snow storm going over the Big White pass.  There was a truck that flew off the road down an embankment.  If there was a place to turn out and I may thought about turning back, but basically couldn't.  There were only two tire tracks going in each direction and a wagon train of cars and trucks so the choice was clear: keep going.  Glad we did though because on the other side it was nice a clear with no snow.

Right now we are all laying like rags on the couch because I have some projects going here and have exhausted myself for the moment.  Actually I was kind of already exhausted before starting because Pearl got freaked out by a fire alarm battery chirping and decided it was a smart idea to run up the side of the mountain.  If I hadn't got the idea to cut through the bush and head her off she would probably be standing on top right now, and I would be laying dead from a heart attack close to the bottom.

This weekend is purely about freshening things up here.  I am putting anew pergo floor in so the old on needs to be stripped out.  Then I am moving onto the bedroom - big ideas for in there too.  Probably will take a few long weekends to get everything done, but that is okay.  Gives me something to plan and look forward too.

Okay, gonna go now.  Feeling the urge to flop on my bed and snooze for a bit. :-)

Saturday Night

Well, 24 hours later and we are back on the couch after a good day.  Listening to CBC radio - jazz night.  After I played with the antenna the connection is pretty good.  There is no internet up here.  Everyone is sacked out.  This morning I tagged along with my parents and went down to Oroville, Wa to do some stuff.  Their cabin is up above me on the mountain.  Very cool place.  Harvey and Pearl stayed at home.  Their pen is set up on the RV so Otto kept them company.  It is actually the life of luxury for the little coots.  When they get tired of hanging around outside watching squirrels and any deer that walk by they can go in through the doggy door and snuggle under the covers in the bedroom.  That is one thing I really like about my RV - it has a private bedroom at the back so when the door is shut to the livingroom kitchen area, it is very private.  I may not be able to ever afford another unit so I am glad that when I initially prayed about the purchase of this one Jehovah answered me in a good way.  Honestly, I love this place and I can see myself living in it right up til A.

Harvey just about offed himself tonight.  Stinker.  When he is running around the mountain he doesn't like to listen to me.  He runs like his butt is on fire.  Well tonight after dinner we were starting to walk across a field and he started running down the mountain to the highway.  I called and whistled and he paid no attention at all.  He just kept running...all the way to the highway.  Thankfully two vehicles saw him coming and slowed down.  Anyway, when I caught up I had steam coming from my ears, and every orifice of my body, I was running through trees and hopping rocks to catch the brat.  Anyway, he is on permanent leash now.  He is really smart, but he gets this half dopey look on his face when he wants to ignore me and then runs to do his own thing.  For a dog that crippled himself with a bad back a couple years ago he sure can run fast now.

Pearl on the other hand has turned out to be the good fur-kid these days.  Runs but sticks pretty close.  However, she has her moments too.  When we were walking a loop last night she found some dirty thing under a thing she thought was yummy and when I yelled for her to drop it she started running away eating it as fast as she could. :-/  So basically neither one of them could win a dog obedience competition, except if maybe the competition involved food somehow.

Tomorrow we are off to the CO meeting up here.  There are 29 in the congregation.  Should be fun.

Sunday Night

Three of us squished on the couch with the lights out.  Power went out on the entire mountain.  Good reason to catch up on the blog.  Beautiful day here.  Went to the meeting this morning.  Not sure how many there, but since a bunch of us are camping up here this weekend there were quite a few more than normal.  Nice to be in a tiny hall.  It reminded me of some congregations I have been in overseas.  Everyone counts.  REALLY counts.  After we went for an absolutely incredible lunch.  Someone converted an old house in the tiny town into a restaurant.  She makes beautiful beautiful food.  Very much enjoyed it and look forward to going there next time.

Was about to get a lot of spring cleaning done inside my unit today.  Gorgeous outside.  Then slept for a couple hours.  It so quiet up here that I find once I sack out that is it - I sleep like a rock.  Harvey and Pearl and Otto the same.  Otto could be sleeping up at my parents cabin but I snag him because there is nothing like a three dog furnace on cold nights.  I turn the heat off in the unit and am cozy all night.  Haven't quite convinced my dad of the value of letting Otto sleep with him yet, so I might as well take advantage of the little guy's heat producing ability.  Tomorrow morning will sleep in a tiny bit then get up and get busy.  Right now I am going to read my old pioneer manual by flashlight.  I forgot the wonderful information it has in it.

Monday...snoooze after driving.

Will post pics after. 

Love you all,

d  :-)

International Culture Day

Hi everyone, :-)

Every year we have international culture day at the college.  I supervised the Saudis again and loved it.  They are master organizers and put on such a wonderful afternoon of food and entertainment.  I believe it is because of the mass entertaining they do back home (big families).  Anyway this year the college has opened up to Saudi women so here are some of my girls.  They wear their full outfits everyday of the year, and I think it is great.  I have never seen their faces but I feel like I know them so well by just watching their eyes.  I admire them for coming to a society that could mock them for their appearance - strong strong young ladies.  Okay, hope everyone is doing well these days.

Love to all,
d
ps. Harvey & Pearl are doing fabulous!

December 2013

Hey Hi everyone :-)

It has been ages since writing but this month has been great.  The program I am taking at night is going very well and I am on a two week break while family and friends have been up visiting.  Been out walking with the pups two or three times a day, and at this moment typing quickly as Pearl is mewing for me to give her a back massage.   Yes, I am their slave. :-) So here are some pics.  Take a look while I get back to massaging the skinny white dog.  As you will see, lots of family, hanging out, which means lots of good food :-(, and a jaunt out for cc skiing, not to mention a really great Ukrainian theme dinner at Tanya and Tim's too.  Relishing my last day of rest though as I am back to work tomorrow. Hope you all are enjoying your winter too.

Love to all,
d :-)

It's Been A While!

Hi everyone :-)

Hope everything has been going good.  Time has flown by.  Been busy busy with my program - the one for working with children with learning disabilities and autism.  Really enjoying it, but not a lot of time for other stuff.  Most important things to mention is that the Bible studies are all doing well, and I really look forward to my Friday evenings and Sunday mornings.  Second, we had our first snow here on November 5, but rain ever since. :-(  The pups are all doing well, and being healthy.  Work is fine.  Still enjoying it.  Mmm...not much else so I will show you a couple pics. :-)

Harvey with his second favorite ball.  The first favorite is a Kong that squeaks.

Dad giving attention to his little cutey petuty Otto.

Pearl and Harvey were wrestling up a mess before this pic was taken.  They're not so good at fixing the blankets later.

Mom and dad and Tim really went to town one afternoon and restuccoed a section of mom and dad's place.

And this is what Harvey looks like every morning before I roll his furry body out of bed for breakfast.  Pearl is up waiting at the fridge - not so much him.

Okay, everyone take good care and hopefully I will have more exciting pics to share next time.  Love to all, d  :-)

We're Back!

Just got back from hiking trip to North Cascades and have attached a few pictures.  A few more will follow later.  Had such an excellent time.  Loved tenting.  And the views hiking could not be beat.  There are so many more trails and campgrounds I want to investigate there.  Several times I just stopped and thanked Jehovah God for being so creative and artistic in ability, because visually it was outstanding.

At one point, I was warned that a thunderstorm was coming with 60 mile per hour winds (100 km), so we hunkered down on the shores of Lake Chelan.  I have to say of all the places I visited on this trip, this was the one that captured my heart the most..close behind was Mazama...or maybe tied actually.  The hiking was incredible in both places, and each morning when I opened the tent door and saw the view it felt like my breath was being taken away - such a  gorgeous area in an awe inspiring way.  Gave me lots of moments for deep thought about where I have come from and where I am going as a person.  I highly recommend both places to anyone - Washington state so not too far.  You can see one of my hiking partners is enjoying his pillow time too, as well as the other one is collapsed on her pillow inside.

Cuddled In Our Tent Waiting For Thunder Storm

All is going great on our tenting adventure.  Found a wonderful campground in Winthrop that for $15 gives a grassy tent space with electricity and wifi.  $8 cheaper than State Park and much nicer.  I found the state park here kind of crazy - kids yelling and screaming and parents just ignoring it, and everyone jammed together.  At least at the private campgrounds the security people keep things nice for everyone.  However, there are some campgrounds that I HAVE TO come back and do.  The national park campgrounds are incredible and beautiful patrolled by rangers.  I stopped to do a hike at Colonial Creek Campground.  Outstandingly beautiful and the national park campgrounds are only $12 per night.  In fact for anyone who loves hiking and beauty the entire Highway 20 to eastern Washington is gorgeous with so many hikes and each one is better than the last.  I made it a goal to do at least one hike a day while on this journey and each one has just been wonderful.  Jehovah's artistic ability awes me.  Today we did two hikes in Mazama.  Totally stunning scenery.  Tomorrow we are driving back to do another because I could tell that Harvey was starting to get a bit slow by the end.  I forget sometimes that the little dude is a senior. At one point when the trail got close to the river instead of standing at the edge and licking he just walked right in up to his belly.  I have leads on them so there is never a worry that they would lose their footing.  Pearl did the same thing.  Anyway, tonight a thunderstorm is rolling through and we are prepared.  Tent is well covered and we are snuggled inside with a six inch mattress, goose down duvet, and wool blankets - should sleep right through it.  All is going well, and will probably stay here a couple more days because nice trails in Mazama that I really want to do.

Okay, til next time.:-)

Love to all,
d

Having An Awesome Time

Just a quick update.  We are having an awesome time.  Hidden Village in Lynden was excellent for the first night.  The beaches have been great, and today we hiked the Interurban Trail in Bellingham to Marine Park - great little perk for the dogs at the end because they can run in the park and on the beach.  Now time to go flop in the tent and catch up on some reading.  Pics will have to wait for the end because I forgot the camera card uploader. :-(  Each day we are hiking another trail, so the pups are sleeping VERY well at night.

Okay, gotta run.  And...the phone charger is not working so email or SKYPE are places to leave messages if necessary.

Love to all,
d  :-)

Hoorrrray! It is 2:20pm and We Are Going Camping!!!

Off for two weeks camping - glamping with the tent. :-)  Washington...pretty places... - one big circle.  Kayaking and hiking with the pups.  Should be lots of fun.  Will post pics.

Love to all,
d  :-)

Assembly

Well the assembly is over.  Really great.  Of course the full colour drama was the highlight.  And boy was it good.  Yes it was serious, but I always remember things better when there is some humor thrown in, and the brother that played Haman was a real character.  We had leaping and queen-wrestling, and jigging. :-)  It was just excellent - and in the end the lesson really got across to all of us watching.  And it was so funny.  This was the first time I couldn't tell who many of the ones playing the characters were because they body painted everyone and had fantastic wigs.  It was amazing how it changed their appearances.  Anyway, here are a couple pics.  I wish I had more to show but things were moving so fast a moments that unfortunately my camera blurred some good shots.  Anyway, hope all of you that have either attended, or will be attending soon will enjoy yours just as much.  And the last shot is the last shot of Tanya, Tim and the kids...minus the stray Brian...before they take off to hike the Grand Canyon.

Love to all,
d  :-)