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Jo's Row4/20/2009 Hello friends. Sorry for the lack of updates. Life gets too busy sometimes. I've opened a Facebook page, so maybe I'll see you there!
- Joleen 11/21/2008 Winter BeginsIt's pretty obvious from the photos that a few things have changed around here. On Tuesday we awoke to a foot of snow on the ground. Fred and I had a lot of shoveling to do just to get the cars out of the driveway. School busses were not running, and we had only a small number of students at adult ESL school. Only two of the four morning teachers made it in to school, so we divided up the students that were there and taught them what we could for the morning, cancelling classes for the afternoon. A number of the students experienced their very first snowfall and it was fun to see their excited faces. The next day one of the students who had stayed home told me about making snow angels along with her teenaged daughters. I think that's a cultural experience that's worth staying home for
 .The teaching is going well, although it still consumes most of my time. Do you suppose someday I'll find a better work/life balance? I'm not sure when we'll ever properly "settle" into our house here - I'm too tired in the evenings to think about things like putting pictures on the walls. 10/19/2008 Fall ColoursIt's been a good week. Sonya and Emily and their boyfriends drove here for Thanksgiving Day. The weather was fantastic. We ate a lot of turkey, went for a walk and a drive to Sarnia's waterfront. We wanted to try out the corn maze at Korny Korners (why oh why do they have to use K's???), but it was closed by the time we got there just after 5:00. I suppose the owners deserve their own Thanksgiving dinner.
On Friday after school I drove to Kitchener and took my daughters out to eat, and then we went shopping together. I really enjoyed the time with them. Sonya let me sleep on her futon, and the next day I went to a professional development workshop in Kitchener. That was also really good. I visited friends a bit before driving back to Sarnia. On the way back I stopped at some antique shops in Shakespeare, and finally found a piano stool for our pump organ. Looks great!
After all my postings of Sunday afternoon drives in Europe, it's only fair that I now share Ontario's fall colours with you. This afternoon we drove northeast of Sarnia, staying near Lake Huron. Had a lovely afternoon, and we didn't even need a GPS system. 9/21/2008 Teaching at LastAt last I am teaching English as a Second Language, and it is certainly keeping me busy, as expected. The learners here may attend school for a full day, but I share my classes with other teachers. That means that in the mornings I teach Levels 2 & 3 (a combined class), and the afternoons I have Level 1 combined with "Pre-level 1" and Literacy. It's a small school here in Sarnia, with small class sizes so far. The other staff members are very friendly and helpful, and the learners - all adults - are wonderful to spend time with. I'm very happy to have this opportunity.
A short time ago our school took a field trip to Oil Springs, not far from Sarnia. I took some pictures of course, but to respect the privacy of the students, I'm only posting pictures of the museum itself. Sorry about that - the students are much more interesting than the history of oil wells... 8/24/2008 New BeginningsTwo weeks ago Fred and I moved into our Bright’s Grove home. After a summer focused on packing and preparing for this move, it was a relief just to have this accomplished. We took possession of our “new” house a week earlier, so Fred and I had a little time to paint a couple of the rooms and do some cleaning. At the same time Emily was able to rent an apartment not far from her university in Waterloo, so she got some friends to help her move her larger items out. She is now sharing the apartment with a girlfriend.
The move-out day went smoothly. Fred was working in Sarnia so he didn’t have the joy of participating in this. ;) I was about as ready as I was ever going to be, with the appliances unhooked, clean and ready to go and almost everything in boxes. I was so grateful for good, cheerful movers to cart everything into the moving van. They had everything loaded in 4 or 5 hours and took it away to be delivered the following day. I picked Emily up from her job at 3 pm. We loaded up the car with her remaining things and brought them to her apartment. Then we loaded the car up again with the things I didn’t want to send with the movers – including Oscar, of course! I confess to some teary goodbyes. Then a rather bewildered dog and I (with mixed emotions) drove 2+ hours along the picturesque small highways through rolling farmland from Kitchener to Bright’s Grove, part of Sarnia along Lake Huron. That night Fred and I and the dog “camped” on the floor of our new house. Fred had had an apartment in Sarnia all summer, but was eager to get into the new place.
The movers arrived with our stuff by about 10:00 the next morning and soon had it all in. I wish I could say that I have everything settled in its place now, but we’re waiting for new carpeting in 2 rooms, so lots of things remain in boxes and out of order. A week after our move, our kids came to visit overnight, including Steve from Dallas. It was great to have them here. We had beautiful weather, and spent a couple hours on the beach and in the lake just down the street from our house. Later we walked back for sunset views.
That Sunday morning we all got up early to drive to Kitchener, where Emily made profession of her faith at church there. Many of Fred’s family joined us for a picnic in a park there afterwards.
Now summer is almost finished. In about a week I am supposed to begin teaching ESL, possibly part-time, possibly full time. The director doesn’t know yet, since the decision is not completely up to her to make. Meanwhile she’s out of the country until the end of the month. I would like to be better prepared, but I guess I’ll just have to trust that God will give me the resources to do the job that He gives me. 7/20/2008 Summer StuffIn spite of having more rain than usual this summer in Ontario, Fred and I have really noticed how much more sunshine we're getting than when we lived in Belgium. Living in Belgium was a special, unforgettable experience for us, but we are loving the sun!
Fred is enjoying his new job in Sarnia, so that's a good sign! I'm still packing, packing, packing up things in Kitchener, but in less than three weeks we should be moved to our new house and ready to settle into our new community. In the meantime, we've enjoyed visits with family and friends.
We had a visit from some friends that we got to know in Antwerp, but who now live in the USA. Chola and Chanda and their boys drove with us to see Niagara Falls, and you can see their picture in my "Summer Stuff" photo album. It was their first visit to Canada, and I hope they enjoyed it. Their boys certainly seemed to enjoy the water splash area at one of our local parks! They're not so sure of how much they would enjoy it here in the winter...
A week ago Fred and I flew to Iowa for a quick visit with my family there. The weather was wonderful, for which we were grateful. My sister Diane and family gave us a lovely bed-and-breakfast experience, and we enjoyed the views from their sunroom. I saw a picture in a magazine there of Cedar Bluffs Nature Preserve in their county and suggested that we check it out. The others weren't always happy with my suggestion during the 2.5 mile hike, mostly along the edge of a cornfield. When the trail finally dipped into timber near the Des Moines River floodplain, the trail was prettier, but I began to doubt my own suggestion. I narrowly missed sliding into the slime while making my way to a footbridge. Flooding had carried the little bridge off its support on one end, so that end rested in the mud. I'm glad I didn't have to rest in the mud, but it was a close call. During our Iowa visit we also visited with other brothers and sisters, and of course, my mom. She continues to do quite well at age 93.
While we were in Iowa, we had the opportunity to visit yet another family from our little church in Antwerp. Ryan and Angie are "home" in Iowa for the summer, and we got to meet baby Moriah, who was born just after we left Antwerp. What a sweetie! You can find their picture in my album also. What a blessing it is to be able to reconnect with a few of the people who have been important to us. 6/16/2008 Niagara FallsLast week Fred had a conference in Niagara Falls for two days, and I went along. You can drive to the Falls in under two hours from Kitchener, so we've been there a few times over the years. Of course, you can't go to Niagara Falls without your camera, so take a look at the pictures if you like. We had a "falls view" hotel room, which was actually rather impressive.
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