Spring Has Sprung - And Other Things.....

03Sep08 - Today I am grateful for -

• The blossoms have started to bloom.......it's a sign of warmer things to come. (YIPEE) It was a rather chilly winter - and although it was a bumper season on the ski slopes (2 hours south from here) - we didn't manage to fit in a snow trip this year. Hopefully 2009.

Here are some almond blossoms in our front garden, taken today.

• A great tutorial at Uni today - with lots of discussions on the state of Australia's education system - and all that has been in the news lately.

Sadly - our society puts so much emphasis on the measure of success for a child being how high their university entrance score is upon finishing high school.

Seriously though - one can not measure a child's ability to be successful in life in only those terms. That's really quite absurd!!
As teachers (and as parents) we must care for our students, help them to have a love of knowledge - and just give them the best tools to take on the world.
And those tools MUST include the ability to think for oneself / think creatively / think outside the box / think with empathy & compassion for one's fellow man - as WELL AS having a good grasp of literacy and numeracy, science and social studies.

Teachers and schools are asked to show their worth by children scoring well only in the areas of literacy and numeracy.

How on earth can that really work???????

It baffles me that this education system - and all the government debates - haven't really changed at all in the last 100 or more years.

There HAS to be a better way.

Frustrating - to say the least.

(and I won't even start on how low teachers are paid in this country!!! Scandinavian countries pay their teachers almost the same as doctors - whereas here - we're expected to work our magic for the kids - but live off very low wages. No wonder over 50% of new graduate teachers leave the field completely within the first 3 years.........yes - 50%!!)

Anyhoo - the discussions were good. Rant now over!!

Now I have to work out how I can change it all!!! (I'll get back to you on that one......!)

• Getting around to doing a big food shop today. It's been awhile - just grabbing small bits here and there. Our pantry and fridge are now fully loaded!!!! (we'll see how quickly this hungry family manages to consume it all!!)

02Sep08 - Today I am grateful for -

• Teacher's strike this morning for 2 hours at school - so we managed to have a sleep in. I dropped MissJ and MissE down to school at 11:00am. It was a nice and calm morning!!

• A surprise package arriving from my sister L - who lives in Darwin. She recently went to the UK - the trip was part business / part jolly - and she hunted around for some great treasures for us all.

And here are pics of the girls with their new Gap t-shirts from London....

Yes - it's a dorky photo - I know - but it's so cool that they're all at a similar height difference!!

(they're growing up so quickly - * sob*)

So here's a more relaxed shot - with Miss Molly!!

01Sep08 - Today I am grateful for -

• Having a monumental BLONDE moment - but still being able to admit it - and to laugh harder than I have in a very long time!!! I think it's a good skill to be able to laugh at your own mistakes. It's lucky I can - as I make mistakes often - and I'd be a depressed mess if it weren't for the laughter!!

• My gorgeous friend MrsSmiff came home from hospital today - after 5 days in with pnemonia. She's a busy woman - and the hospital stay forced her to rest. We're all very glad she's now home - on the mend - and resting for another week. It's also made her re-think life choices - which could be a very good thing. Life's far too short and precious to be running around after everyone except you and those that you love.

• Long over-due phone-call with my sister L. It's been awhile - and it was great to catch up. Sadly we may not be able to see one another this year (she lives 8 hours by plane away - in Darwin) - but we'll look forward to when we can.

Bad Blogger.

So apparently I'm not too good with sharing my 3 Grateful Things (3BT) each and every day.
Yes - I can admit it. I'm a slacker.
But truly - life just gets busy at times - ya know?!

I think at this stage in my life - I have to remember to be gentle on myself.
I am NOT superwomen - even though I try to be sometimes.
I am just a women, that is figuring out her place in the world; a mother, that is trying to raise 3 gorgeous girls that show me more about love than I've ever known; a wife, that is not nearly as kind to her husband as she should be; a student, that is not very good at time management and seems to always end up finishing assignments during the wee hours of morning; a friend, that cares deeply but often doesn't show it enough; a netballer, that really isn't fit enough, and may even be an embarrassment to all that play with her - but is having a damn good time at it all anyway.

OK - Things that have kept me busy these last few days.

• The girls had Book Week parade at school last Thursday. It's become an important tradition at our local school - and everyone from the Principal through to the grounds person gets in on the fun!! It's a hoot. Here's this year's effort from MissE and MissJ................(MissJ's very first Book Week Parade...my baby's growing up too fast)

MissE was a 'Fairy Godmother' and MissJ was a 'Princess' - obviously. Miss E put her outfit together herself - and luckily we found enough supplies for everything around the house and in the dress-up box. (thanks goodness for well stocked dress-up boxes - I say!!)

• Thursday was also a successful day for me - as I handed in an assignment for my counselling unit - on time. PHEW!! Apparently my brain does still function - dispelling all fears to the contrary. So - on to the next assignment I go - due next week - ICK!!

• Friday saw another wonderful day off. It's good to let my batteries recharge at the end of the week.

• Saturday was full of netballing madness.

Great news - MissG and MissE both had wonderful games - and they both now head into the finals. VERY exciting. (especially since last year - MissE's team didn't win a game all season!)
My game was a loss - and that's it for the season for us - but we had a GREAT time - my first ever season of netball - we're all planning on playing again next year. It was a hoot. Great friends, good laughs, no major injuries - all was good!!!

Here's MissG in action -

And here's MissE -

• Today - we had rain - lots of rain. It was wonderful to hear it falling on the roof - and being snuggled up and warm inside - with a fire for added warmth and visual pleasure!! (perhaps the fire was not so good for the environment - but I feel the cold - damn it.......). Our parched soils are looking kind of sad - so rain is good. I say - bring it ON!!! More rain please Mr Weather-Man!!

OK - I've stayed up far too late - once again.

Thanks for coming.