Holidays

It turns out we aren't going to be going to Ontario to see the family as planned, so I decided to dive into the yard and get fencing. I rented a fancy-shmancy gas-powered auger to drill the post holes and got to work this morning. Except that what the guy at the shop didn't tell me is that there is NO WAY I can drill the holes. I'm not tall enough to put my weight above it, and even standing on something, I'm not heavy enough to push it down. So after much crying, and frustration I gave up. Lance (my neighbor) came over this evening and dug three holes no problem (the most I could do was about 4 inches deep). He said he'll come over tomorrow and dig the rest -- oh! I'm going to owe him big-time. I'll pay him, but I don't know what is fair. I've been able to salvage all the boards so far though, which is good, because I'll be able to reuse them and just put a wood filler in the holes before repainting. That should save me a good chunk of change. And so the only boards I'll have to buy are from the existing fence to the alley. Not bad at all. probably only about 50 1"x6"x6'. That's oohhh-kay.
One of my kids came by the house last night to visit. "You miss me already?" I asked. Apparently so. I told her I'd have her over for a BBQ this month (she's moving out of town, so it's a special deal just for her), and she is not going to forget. I think she came over, really, to have me commit to a time. I told her it'd be late this month, once I'd built my deck. I'll see her again soon, I'm sure.
Anyway, it's just really good to be on holidays and I am looking forward to a couple of leisurely months. Oohhhh Yeah.

The HAR Cometh!

It's here, and will be signed and sent off tomorrow back to ABC for head honcho signatures and then to the department. I was checking out immigration stuff yesterday, and apparently it is all done in 2 parts (the application is), and so you can have part one done and then just wait for the information on the match, and immediately send off part 2 to hopefully move things along a bit quicker. It sounds like some of the longest waiting will be for Canada's immigration department, so I figure it can't hurt to be proactive and get part one out right away.
Today was the last day of school for the kids. I still have to be there tomorrow to clean up and organize and take an extended lunch with the other teachers. Sounds like a plan.
Next week will bring fencing, decking and gardening. I can't wait to dive into my yard.

Moving

OOOOOOOOOh-Kay! We're moving forward. Kind of. According to Perdita, it is on it's way to me for signing. This is what she emailed yesterday, and it's been couriered so it should be here tomorrow. Ooooooohhhhhhh Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Oh Yeah.

MMMMMMM (Marge Simpson-esque growl)

Two days of actual school left, then one beach day, some clean up on Friday and it's all about the holidays after that! Oh yeah! My kids have checked out already. I gave them a day to catch up, and they did not a lot at all. Some of the girls helped with clean up. I have them sorting my stuff into subjects, and I even had a couple doing easy marking and another entering marks on the computer while I helped out others and organized the rest of my helpers. And now I really should stop stalling and get to marking. I have to get on top of it all.
Anyway, on the adoption front, Perdita emailed me back (I called her Saturday hoping we could get together while I was in Edmonton and sign the Home Assessment Report). She said the HAR is done save for one tweak. She'll send it off tomorrow and then the folks at ABC will sign it and then send it to me. Except that by then, I'll be on holidays. Seriously! Perdita said she'll tell Ramone, the head honcho at Adoption By Choice about the rush and see it we can't work it out before the weekend when I leave. I doubt it though. I guess this is the waiting they were talking about. Already this sucks! I hate waiting. I can only imagine how much harder it'll be to wait once I have a picture of my little girl and have to wait for the courts to do their business. Akk. This is going to be a long year+.

The Invisible Parent Returns

I need to go to bed! But I just love my quiet time at the end of the day because I spend the rest of my waking hours around loud students and my loud boy. He's so noisy! I don't really even realize it until we are around other people, and then I'm a little embarrassed because he yells instead of talking when he plays.
I finished writing the ELA 8 final so it's ready to photocopy and that's good. But I have a whole pile of marking still to do. I don't know how I can possibly get everything done that I need to.
Jon called yesterday (Saturday). I guess my mam ran into his girlfriend Brandy on Friday and they talked and Brandy said, "I wish they could just work it out." "So do I," mam said, "Jonah really misses his dad." "Jon misses him too," said Brandy. "But he's the adult," countered my mam. Good. It's hard for me not to be totally vindictive to Jon when he's hurt me so badly, and now I have to see him hurt Jonah. I just want to be so mean and tell him he doesn't deserve our boy. That he is inconsistent and if he really cared, he'd try harder. But it's not about me, and it doesn't help anything to be like that.
So my mam told Brandy that we were coming into town this weekend, and he should call. And he did. He talked to Jonah. And then he talked to me. He apologized for not having paid until then, and told me he had it sorted out now, so I should be getting direct deposits. And he told me he's going to try harder. I told him that would be good. I want Jonah to have his dad in his life, I just want him to be a good dad. I don't think he expected to see Jonah this weekend, but I don't want to keep having this tension, so I asked what he was doing the next day, and then asked if he wanted to see him. We met at the mall and he took Jonah around for an hour while I bought a new swimsuit and some kids' clothes. It was kind of nice to have an hour to just shop. He was about 7 minutes late coming back to the meeting place, and I couldn't help but feel very anxious thinking, what if he's taken Jonah? Irrational, but there none the less. I told my mam that and she just said, "You never have to worry about that. It would require a life change from Jon to take Jonah full time." True. I guess I don't need to worry. But I do hold out hope that we'll be able to have some sort of system where Jon and Jonah have a close relationship, and I don't feel like spitting when I see him.

Hello... Perdita???

Seriously! Where the H-E double hockey sticks is my Home Assessment Report? I'm getting kind of irritated waiting, because I know nothing is happening with it. People just are letting it sit around, forgetting about it. Crappy! This is my life! I want to keep moving!
I gave away Felix. I was really conflicted about it. I love Felix, but the eating of the baseboards and tearing up of my carpet was too much. And I just don't have time to train a new dog. But he's so sweet too. You know, when he's not wrecking things. He went to a cattle farm with one of my students, so he's back to what he knows, and probably loving it.
I brought my dog to work day today. And I'm watching Jay Leno right now and apparently it's national take your dog to work day in the States. Hey, I had no idea. My kids loved having Davis in though. He just wandered quietly, getting loving where he could, and then just falling asleep beside my desk. The kids couldn't believe how quiet and calm he was. Good dog. I did invest a lot of time in him though, so it makes sense he'd be good. Yeah, giving Felix away sucks, but it was a good call.
We went to the monster truck and demolition derby here in town today. Jonah loved it. I ran into kids and parents everywhere I looked. The fate of a small town teacher I guess. I realized though after talking to another teacher today, that I really need to be careful, because while parents are friendly, they aren't actually all like that. In fact some of those smiling faces would just as well stab you in the back. I say and do stupid things all the time. My self control needs work because if something goes in my head, it probably comes out my mouth. I'd better watch myself.

Racing Against and Toward the Holidays

Things seem to have been moving along so well, but they are not going at all now. Still waiting for the completed HAR. I'm not sure what's taking so long. The writer emailed me with some follow up questions after having it reviewed by her supervisor, and I responded right away, but it's been a couple of weeks and nothing. So I'm trying not to think too much about it or it just gets me a little frustrated. I thought I'd be able to have it sent off to the province and approved this month so I could ship it off to the agency in July. Sigh. Now who knows? The person who does the approval at the government may well be taking some holiday time right away here too, so now that we're into summer. Meh. It could take a while.
I suppose it's a good thing, it makes sure that I will have a whole other year of teaching under my belt before the adoption happens, but thinking as I did that things may have gone quicker than originally expected got my hopes up and had me in the frame of mind that this little girl might already be out of the belly and just about ready for matching. It was wishful thinking, I know.
On a different front, I am soooooooo looking forward to the summer. Three weeks with my mam and sisters and Jonah in Ontario, chillaxing on the island -- oh, it'll be sweet. And my kids are so ready for the summer. Two weeks to go, and I'm having a tough time reeling them in. I am looking forward to being only in Junior High next year, even with a smorgasbord of courses: science, social, English, art, information processing, health... Oy! I will certainly be busy. But it is great and I am so excited.
I've been trying to get a hold of Jon (Jonah's dad). He hasn't called in a long time (over 3 months now), and hasn't given me any financial support either. I'm ticked about the money, and totally hurting for Jonah who misses his dad. I talked to a psychologist about it on Saturday, and her advice was to pursue him. She said if he'll come see Jonah if I guilt him about it, then I should guilt him, because ideally, every kid should have both parents involved. I think that would be great, and I still hold out hope that it can be resolved, but I don't know why Jon has fallen off the planet, and I think he has just decided to bow out. I wish he would just be decisive about it so I could at least know what to expect. My brother Jim said he would go and talk to him and say all the things I want to but can't. I think I'll just leave it. But I will start leaving messages for him on his cell (increasingly lengthy as long as he chooses not to pay -- he's a pay-as-you-go guy, and he'll pay, one way or another). According to my mam, one call a day is acceptable according to the law.