Monday, November 19, 2012

Catching up...

I know I have written and posted at least 2 posts since the last one posted... but I see blogger has decided to eat those... hmmm. I've had a pretty busy term, but mainly because June was living with me for 3 months. It's funny how having someone living in your house can take up your time, not in a bad way, just in a "where did all the time go" way. Sadly, June is now back in Canada and I seem to have tons of time on my hands! Actually this is probably a good thing as we only have 2.5 weeks left in the term and my "free time" will soon be used for report cards and such. This term I've had to make up a lot of curriculum for my students as well in the Science and Social Studies departments. For example, right now we're learning about Seasons. Our Science books are American so the seasons are completely different/backwards from here (for ex. Christmas here comes in the Summer time). So we're busy trying to make a "Zambian Seasons" book. Hopefully this will make it easier next year when I teach the same curriculum. This is always the hardest term for report cards as it determines whether or not the students continue on to the next grade. I have a few students this year who probably won't be passing... or if they do they'll be sqeaking by. We've been interviewing for next years students, so far I've interviewed @ least 6, Mark did one interview for me and I have 6 more at the end of term. We only have 12 spots available. so that makes it a little harder. We've already told some of the parents they'll have to try again next year. I'm SO glad I'm not the person in charge of doing that! I've been assisting again with the drama part of end of term show. This year it's got a Sherlock Holmes twist to it. Not to worry, no one gets killed! It's a little corny, but what's a kids play if not corny? The rainy season is in full swing now; so the flowers and gardens are in full bloom. Unfortunately so are my allergies! I'm praying I'll make it through the rest of the term without getting my end of term cold-thing!

Friday, November 2, 2012

My Crazy Cat!

This was written ages ago but I guess it was just stored as a draft... My Cat, Smudge-Orion, is too smart for her own good! She has learned to open doors (unfortunately not to close them again) and will often let herself out; even though she is supposed to be an indoor cat. So I've had to start locking the door to keep the cat in. She then learned that windows are an alternate route of escape. Her first few attempts didn't work so well for her (see picture below) however she finally figured out that there are 2 windows in the house that I am not able to lock (based on the way they open) and if she plays with the lever and pushes she is free. We even tried to wire the one window shut but that only deterred her for 2 days. :S I now have to lock the bathroom door, the front door and tie the kitchen window shut! this is getting nuts...
This is Smudge stuck between the screen and the window panes (they're slotted and closed behind her)