My dress!

Since I finally found some shoes to go with my dress, I can now post some pictures. I hope you like it Mom! My arms look extra gorilla-like...


And here are the shoes. The dress looks funny because I'm pulling on it. It's not actually layered weird like that.
Now I just need to figure out what to do with my hair...

Bridal Shower

We had a little bridal shower today for Nicole, who will be married in 5 weeks from today. We had a great time, played some games, and had some good eats! Nicole also got a ton of great gifts! Thanks to everyone who came!

Marina, Kay, and Robyn

Auntie Mary, Nanny, and Mary (Craig's mother)

I'm taking this time to warn you that I took a picture of Nicole with every single one of her gifts. This is mainly for Mom, who couldn't be here.

This is Nicole and her friend Julia. And her shower hat.

Just so you don't think we forgot about you, Mom, I set out a picture of you on the coffee table.


One more present picture.

Mmmmm, sweets.
This is the last picture. I haven't quite figured out how to use this new camera, but for some reason, when you take pictures going lengthwise, they don't automatically go right side up. So here is a picture of Nicole sitting with the picture of Mom and Dad. Sideways. (I would have deleted it and tried to fix it, but once pictures have been uploaded into Blogger, you can't delete them).

Anyway, congratulations to Nicole and Mark. Five more weeks!!!

I'm Back!!!

Okay, so after 3 months I've finally decided to come back to the world of blogging. In all honesty, the reason I gave up for awhile is because I was pretty unhappy doing what I was doing (substitute teaching), and it didn't make it any easier to rehash it over and over again for my blog. But I now realize that I actually had it pretty good at the time. At least I was working. Right now it is such a slow time in the world of teaching (at least in the HRSB) that I'm lucky to get 1 day a week. Please refer to the following newspaper article: http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1032159.html
So because of this unbelievable lull (made even worse by the fact that it's exam time right now), I have a little bit of time on my hands. And as many of you know, I'm not used to being this non-busy. I'm more used to having about 47 things on my plate and burning the candle at both ends. Things are so boring right now, in fact, that I'm actually planning to go back to waitressing. I know I said I never would, but it would keep me busy, and I can make a ton of cash. I even thought about tutoring until I realized that there are already hundreds of people advertising themselves as tutors on job sites in Halifax.

Speaking of substitute teaching, there was an interesting article in the Herald the other day that sort of made me angry: http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Living/1033122.html
I know that it is likely true, what the article says, but it still makes me angry. It makes me feel that the job I'm doing right now is a waste of time. When I go into a classroom, I do anything I can to make sure the students do their work. And more often than not, they do. At least in high school. That's why I try to sub as much as I can in math classrooms. I make myself fully available to help the students out with whatever they need. I like to think that I don't waste anyone's time, and I make it perfectly clear when I think someone is wasting my time. So I'm wondering why nothing is being done to remedy this situation. Children should be taught immediately in their education that they are to respect all teachers, regardless of whether they see them everyday or not. *climbs off soap box*

I stumbled across another interesting article today: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080125/national/australia_cda_warning
This one made me think of you, Cari. I don't know if it's just a slow news day, or what. If you scroll down on the page, you'll notice that over 330 people (as of right now) have responded to this article. Is that the general opinion down there, Cari, or are people just blowing things out of proportion like they usually do? Do people really think Canada is unsafe? Or are Canadians just uber-sensitive and defensive?

As for life in general, Craig and I are doing great. We had an awesome Christmas. In fact, Craig and Griffin are playing with their big gift (a Wii) as I write this. I must admit, I suck at video games in general, but the Wii is pretty cool. And when we're not playing Wii, we're usually at the gym getting ourselves ready for swimsuit weather. We leave on our trip in less than 6 weeks! Nicole just found out her dress is ready, and mine should be ready soon. Yah!

I guess that's all for now. Hopefully I somewhat made up for the last 3 months with this long(ish) post. If anybody has any suggestions for what I should do with my spare time, please let me know. Hopefully things will pick up in a couple weeks, but in the meantime I might go crazy!

Hmmmm

I know. I suck. I currently have a very dead laptop on my hands, and therefore cannot be bothered to update very often. Especially on the weekends where there are three people competing for one computer. Not that there's a whole lot going on to talk about. Cari - that's crazy about that stingray thing! I'm glad you're okay. Your cruise is coming up soon, so you must be excited! Just remember to look down this time! :o)

I've been getting some subbing. It's hard sometimes, when you're not 100% certain that you're doing what you really want to be doing. But I figure everything happens for a reason, so this must be leading somewhere. And the kids are always good for a laugh. Though I guess we'll see after tomorrow... my first day at a new school. Always a nerve-wracking experience.

Also on the workfront, I should find out tomorrow if I will be getting paid for all services rendered to this point in the year. I was excited when our little news report showed up on Breakfast Television. I also heard it made the radio. Finally some vindication. Keep your fingers crossed for me...

Finally, I thought I'd end with a couple pictures of Halloweens past (to try and spruce this post up a bit). This year Griffin will be dressing up as Syndrome (the villain from The Incredibles). Since this costume doesn't actually exist, Craig and his mother had to get pretty creative. And they did a pretty good job, I must say. Here are a couple of pictures from previous years.


I'll add pictures from this year once I have some. Cari, I'd send you some Halloween candy if it wouldn't be stale by the time it got there! :o)

It's About Time

I can't believe this took as long as it did to show up in the paper:

http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=73682&sc=89

The Latest

So we finally decided on a style and colour for my bridesmaid dress. We actually went for a completely different one than we originally thought. So I appreciate your voting, and the pink one almost won, but then we changed our minds :o) Here it is in all its indigo glory:

On another note, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with the Halifax School Board. It feels like I've been subbing like crazy, and I've only been paid for 2 days so far. On 2 separate pay cheques. I've been calling and e-mailing the school board like crazy, but no one there will answer their phone or return e-mails because it turns out most of the sub paycheques have been screwed up. They now owe me about a thousand dollars, and I can't get ahold of anyone to find out when I'll get it. One lady's answering machine says they hope to have it all worked out by the time Nov 1 paycheques come out. But my issue is about all the people who need to pay rent on Nov 1. I think this whole situation is unacceptable, and someone should be getting fired over this. I bet everyone at the school board got paid this week...

An old friend...

Just wanted to let everyone know that I ran into an old friend the other day - Jen McCulloch! Turns out she lives in my building! She's doing great, working in accounting, and she asked about everybody. She doesn't have internet right now, but plans to get Facebook as soon as she does, so keep an eye out for her! She looks great! And Cari - she was definitely shocked to hear that you were living in Australia! She's also in awe over all the marriages and babies, though sometimes I am too :o) Anyway, just thought that I'd let you know that she says hi to everyone!