School’s Out but I’m Back Next Week

…..just couldn’t finish in the library

Normally the children are finished with school one day before the teachers but this year everyone had to stay in school right up to Friday. The last day for teachers is usually a clean-up day where teachers put away as much as possible so that the care taking staff can do a thorough cleaning in the summer.

Many of us found it very difficult to get our rooms to that point and despite staying for a couple of hours after the children had left some of us need to come back next week to continue with the purging and tidying. In the library I had one extra job that needed doing this year. I’m having new carpet tiles put down and in order for the workers to move the free standing shelves and the book carousels I had to empty them all and box the books again (same job as last year). I had children in all day who tried to help me with this task and we still didn’t finish.

As I wrote earlier the last two weeks of school have been very busy and stressful. I’ve mentioned before that stress and weight gain go hand in hand for me. Not only that but all week children and parents have been bringing in chocolates, cupcakes and cookies. We had a pizza lunch with the book club, a BBQ with the grade 5s, our staff party and our principal treated us to breakfast (muffins, Danishes, bagels, croissants) all in the same week. IMG_20140626_193926-2

This morning I put myself on the scale thinking that I had gained back all the weight I had lost recently plus more. I did gain four of the five pounds that I had lost but I was relieved that it wasn’t more. Now that most of my stress has been lifted for the summer I’m hoping to get back on track and drop all the weight that I’ve gained this winter.

I started the morning with a healthy breakfast and then went for an eight kilometre bike ride.photo 2-200 photo 1-201 For the rest of the day I’m going do some gardening, get out for a walk and drink lots of water. I’m also hoping to get  up to the cottage this weekend to open the place up and then I’ll come back to finish up in the library. With any luck I should be able to get the job done in one day.

New Flower of the Day (June 25, 2014) – White Peony

….this one is from my garden

When I got home from work today it was pouring down rain. I was worried that my peony bush would be flattened if we got much more rain so when the weather let up a bit I went outside and took some pictures of the peonies that have finally opened up. There’s usually a bit more red in this plant. Maybe it will show up in another day or two.

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Share Your World – 2014 Week 25

…..almost half way into the year….yikes, where does the time go?

What is your favorite type of dog? (can be anything from a specific breed, a stuffed animal, drawing, cartoon or character in a movie or TV show) 

As much as I love our current dog, Frances, I’d have to say that my favourite breed of dog is the Golden Retriever. Before adopting Frances we owned 2 Goldens over a 23 year period. Our first dog died way too soon, just before she turned eight and our second Golden lived to be 15 years and 40 days old. My husband says now that the Goldens were my dogs and that Frances is his.

This is Scully at the cottage when she was 15 years old. As you can see she only has one eye. She lost her eye when she was only two but it certainly didn't slow her down. She hated having her picture taken and would usually run away when she saw the camera. I suspect in her last year or two her sight in her one eye was starting to fail.

This is Scully at the cottage when she was 15 years old. As you can see she only has one eye. She lost her eye when she was only two but it certainly didn’t slow her down. She hated having her picture taken and would usually run away when she saw the camera. I suspect in her last year or two her sight in her one eye was starting to fail.

 

Frances is a mixed breed of Dachshund and Australian Shepherd.

Frances is a mixed breed of Dachshund and Australian Shepherd.

 

Name one thing not many people know about you.

It’s a weird thing to admit but I have a deathly fear of bears. I’ve never had an encounter with a bear or even seen one from a distance. My sister thinks it has to do with a book our Aunt gave us when we were kids about bear attacks. Last year a family of bears swam across the lake and now live on the island where our cottage is. I’m actually afraid to go for walks in the woods now.

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Have you ever gone scuba diving? If you haven’t, would you want to?

I’ve never been scuba diving but if I went to a sunny island in the Caribbean I would probably like to try it.

What was the most important event in your life last week? (anything goes it can be a good nights sleep, finished a reading book,winning the lottery, or getting married)

Last week was extremely busy and I had a lot of late nights. For two nights in a row I didn’t get home until 9:30 and 10:30 and on one of those nights I couldn’t sleep right away so I stayed up and painted and didn’t get to bed until 2:00 in the morning. The following day I went to lie down right after dinner because I was feeling a little off and I didn’t wake up until after midnight. I changed out of my clothes and into my PJs and surprisingly fell asleep without any difficulty. I woke up shortly after six in the morning. Sleeping for over ten hours on a school night and finally getting the rest I needed was the most important event of last week.

One of the paintings I was working on.

One of the paintings I was working on.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that my daughter went into school with me on the weekend and helped me clean up my art area and part of the library. She also helped me organize the children’s prizes from the Jump Rope for Heart activity and together we took down all the art work around the school and returned it to the different classrooms. I knew that if I didn’t get it done on the weekend I’d be in big trouble this week. There is so much going on at school this week that I needed to get those jobs done ahead of time.

I’m looking forward to the end of school on Friday and to our staff party on Thursday night. Normally the children are finished one day before the teachers are but this year both students and teachers work right till the end of the week.

For more Share Your World posts check out: http://ceenphotography.com/2014/06/23/share-your-world-2014-week-25/

Sunday Trees – 136

…..now that my big Ontario White Pine is no more I have a full view of my neighbour’s Black Walnut Tree

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I don’t think I’ll replace my tree with anything this large. In fact I might just put in a nice little Japanese Maple. They don’t grow to be very big and something smaller would suit that space much better.

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For more Sunday Trees check out Becca Givens site http://beccagivens.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/sunday-trees-136/

Ode to my Pine

…..first you see it, well what’s left of it

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…..and then little by little over the next four hours it starts to come down

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….until nothing is left but a bit of saw dust

photo 2-196….and now my view has completely changed

photo 1-198 Thirty five years ago

you were barely three feet high

You grew wide and tall

Your lower branches spread across the lawn

and encroached on the neighbour’s roof

trimming was a necessity but you continued to grow

until you shot above our two story house

You were home to birds, squirrels and racoons

You provided shade and nourished the soil

I cursed your shedding needles but

you always stayed green season after season

Your demise was swift, we barely saw it coming

Sun shines where before you provided shade

and our view is forever changed

Farewell dear tree