Moving has some real advantages - one of the foremost in my mind right now is the simplicity with which one can make a transition, namely, screwing Bell and going with Vonage for VOIP. I think this is what we’ll be getting:
Talk about fun. We need a phone line, we need cordless phones, and I don’t have a wireless router yet - what a great way to meet my needs!
I survived with nary a scratch! 5 days canoeing in Algonquin - no better way to spend some of the most beautiful days in September. No bears, but I did see mooses (mom and baby):
On Wednesday, I arrived at 12:00, and after 8.5 km (hoping to, and successfully avoiding a bunch of kids) from Canoe Lake, setup camp on Teepee Lake. The day was beautiful and sunny (though really windy!).
Thursday was a day with 11 portages and a total distance of 19.5 km, from Teepee to Fawn to Little Doe to Tom Thompson to Bartlett to Willow to Sunbeam to Treefrog to Jay to Burnt Island. It was pretty cloudy but the perfect temperature - very comfortable for 9 hours of canoeing (8:00-5:00).
Friday was a beautiful morning - and the wind was behind me, so in only 4.5 hours, I went 19.5 km - from Burnt Island to Baby Joe to Little Joe to Canoe. The next 6 hours I spent hiking the Hardwood Lookout trail, viewing the Algonquin Art Gallery (I highly recommend it - the art is amazing… I think I’ll save up a couple thousand dollars to buy one of them), and reading books as I waited for friends to arrive.
Jen and Jamie (our friends who spent the past year in Ethiopia) and Maja (a friend of Jamie’s from teacher’s college) showed up at 6:30, and we canoed through sunset another 7.5 km (27 km total for the day). It got dark and we kept going, under the stars. We found a nice site and setup camp under moonlight. If we did it solo, it would’ve been frighteningly unbearable, but with 3 others we were all able to savour the peacefulness of the night. We’ve each wanted to do some nighttime canoeing, and finally we all got the chance.
I didn’t bring my camera on this part (filled the film on the first three days), so the visual memories are mine alone.
We did a day trip of 23.5 km from Ragged to Big Porcupine to Bonnechere on Saturday, resting on a rocky point we slept after lunch and it was so relaxing. We ate an amazing supper, and sat by the fire into the night.
Today, we had a relatively quick 8 km trip back to the Smoke Lake access point, and were heading home by 1:30 this afternoon.
The total trip was 83 km (47.5 km soloing, 35.5 km with my friends). I’m exhausted, and I’ll sleep like a baby tonight, but the trip was unforgettable.
Some key observations:
Doug is off on his fall canoe adventure. He is up at Algonquin - two nights solo and then on the weekend our friends Jen and Jamie (who just got back from Ethiopia!) are going to join him. I was going to go but couldn’t get a ride up for the weekend. Oh well.
Our house is coming along nicely - only 30 days left! Woohoo! The insulation was almost done, the wiring was all in, and all the pipes too. The brick was almost all up when Doug was by on Monday. Hard to believe it will be done in a month!
It has always been a question of am I going to work or school? Anyway, I survived my first week of school. I have a good class and a great group of EA’s. It looks like it will be an interesting year for sure. I haven’t been able to make a schedule yet as I have to wait and see when my kids go out on rotary - which is quite the challenge at the moment.
We’re counting down the days until we’ll be in our new place. We can’t wait to leave things a little messy and just relax when we get home! Phew! (38 days…)
Our house is growing up. He’s definitely a boy (see the blue?), he’s got hair (it’s not quite black, but I dare not say gray), he’s got most of his bones, but is lacking some connective tissue, circulatory system, and organs, and I think this week he’ll get some skin.
(sorry the picture is so big (at least it seems big when I’m uploading and previewing on dial-up) but I’m not at my computer)
So Tuesday will be my first official day as a teacher… Scary! With spec. ed. there really is not curriculum laid out of what you have to teach… and basically I will be designing 10 different programs! Eeks…. of which you can’t really design until you meet the kids. I have met the EA’s and they are all great. The whole staff seems like they are fun and easy going which will make my first year easier I hope. I am right in the middle of the school and first class beside the office so lots of people will be passing by.
Oh, I guess I was mentioned in the big old newspaper in Acton… Woohoo! Stardom is starting already!
Our house is also coming along which is a nice motivator. It has shingles now, the brick has been delivered, and the stairs are in! Oh… the windows and doors are in as well… I can totally see it now… I love it!