Started the week a bit ill, or at least Jack did. Bleck!

I picked Jack up from school and all I saw was a tearful boy who could only say, 'I have a headache'. I felt his head and he was burning up. There were two kids home sick from his class and his little friend, Louis, had been throwing up all Thursday evening. Sadly, I think we just caught our first bug. He ate virtually nothing, a piece of toast and drank some juice, and fell asleep on the sofa at 6:20 pm. We had set him up there as soon as he got home, with a bucket beside him in case he had the urge to barf. I'm pleased to report there was no barfing on Sunday evening. We carried him to bed and Stuart hoisted him up to his top bunk and he fell asleep. I had given him some Tylenol as soon as I picked him up from school so I had to wake him up at about 8 pm for some more medicine. 

Rugby was canceled for Sunday evening because it had rained off and on all day. This was good because I know Jack would have wanted to muster up the energy to go and that would not have worked out well at all.   Although it rained, it did not rain hard enough to warrant kids being dismissed from school, as was the case earlier in the year.  That was fine with me because I was evaluated on Sunday by my head of faculty and my principal. No matter how long you are in education, observations don't get any less nerve racking (or maybe it's just me that feels that way). 

My observation was fine even though I haven't taught in five years. The one thing I know is that I have a good report with my students which seems to help them be less inhibited when learning/attempting to speak English. One of my students who never says a word or participates in class discussions, was the super star of the class. It was so great. I suppose I get to stay another year. 

My class threw me another 'birthday' party on Monday even though I told them that the principal was not allowing parties anymore. But I just decided it being my 'birthday' and all, we would have to go ahead with the party. I got a pair of sunglasses and a nice bottle of perfume. The sunglasses were obviously a 'regifted' item, but the perfume had the plastic wrap on it and everything. Not necessarily a scent I can wear all the time, but very thoughtful indeed. We partied, like you do on a Monday for no reason at all, and they loved it. Sometimes growing these relationships is a large part of their learning process. Next 'birthday' I am hoping for jewelry!  Oh, I also got this card. I am now referring to myself as 'Ms. Dan' (all of us are referred to by our first names- which is referred to as our 'good name'). 

The bed we bought week before last was finally ready for pick up on Tuesday. When Stuart got it home, although I had not smelled even a hint of smoke while in the house, clearly the people that owned it were smokers. Ugh! We contemplated trying to use the remedies we had read on the Internet, but in the end we decided to trash it and buy another mattress. We had purchased the bed frame and the mattress for next to nothing so we still paid less than if we would have bought a brand new frame.  It seems sturdy enough. The test will be when my parents sleep on it for 4 weeks.  We ended up just getting the mattress where we bought the one we sleep on. Lesson learned I suppose. 

Thursday we went to the mall to have some dinner. After we ate we went to watch Astrid perform on the ice rink.  Astrid is the daughter of our Irish friends, Gemma and Fechin. She had asked us to come and watch. On our way home I told the kids we were going to get home, take showers and go to bed. Stuart reminded me that Friday was bed changing day so we could probably skip showers. Yahoo! It turned out that no showers was a good thing because we had no water pressure when we got home. This happens from time to time, for no apparent reason. 

Jack's class has two birds, Mango and Rio. He has bugged us to bring the birds home every since he got into school. We finally agreed to have them in our home this past weekend. I never knew caged birds were so noisy. Most likely Mango and Rio will not be coming back for a visit anytime soon. Pretty but loud. 

Friday Jack had his last rugby tournament. They mixed up two of the teams and formed several teams so they could have a round robin tournament. Then they served the kids lunch afterwards. After lunch, the veteran rugby players played the under 17s. Guess who one of the players was? Yep! Stuart had an absolute blast. I am so happy that he is so happy here. Since he moved to Arizona and married me, I have felt he hasn't really had his own life/friends. He just inherited mine (although he loves you all). Now he has been able to meet new people and together we have found friends with kids the same age as ours as well as some of the same interests. I really love seeing him in his element and feeling at home in this country. By the way, he played really well and wasn't sore at all, though he was afraid he might be. 

Saturday we had a very low key day. The kids and I went to a birthday party at a local park where Spider-Man showed up. However, Jack informed me it wasn't the real Spider-Man. I quote,'Mama, that person was just asked to put on that costume so Charlie would have a good birthday. He's not the real Spider-Man.' Made sense to me. 

Still love it here but as always, miss our family and friends.