To Catch You Up

Lets see, a lot has been going on. Last weekend I went away to Lake Bruner. It was an awesome weekend however it piss poured rain the entire weekend and on top of it all the boys’s broke their boat. We never got to go out on the lake or go water skiing (which secretly I wasn’t going to do anyway) but everyone else was really bummed about it. I was just sorry we didn’t get to go for a speedboat ride!

So we sat around, drank a million bottles of wine and played cranium (my new fav game, Im an expert at humdinger!)

As you can guess, pretty much a dream holiday weekend for me! There were 6 of us, 2 couples, a baby and Greg and I the singletons, although Im pretty sure Greg had other ideas! Ill tell you more about that when and if I see you.



Check out the pics in my photo album link. I know they are not that exciting but give me a break; it was raining the WHOLE weekend.

Too Funny

David Gray!

Let me just say....

Front row center. David Gray was amazing...truly amazing.
Plus I have a new boyfriend, Pete Murry. He opened for David and he is from Australia and Im in LOVE!!!
awesome awesome awesome concert!

More to tell you but im out the door for a long weekend away in cottage country!

I swear this country is trying to kill me!

That’s it! I’ve had it! I swear!

Since I have been in NZ I have
-Fractured my arm
-Had a severe cold for almost 3 months
-And now.... now I have officially thrown my back out.

I spent the morning at the chiropractors and I have an inflamed joint or something.
The doctor had me all over the table: sitting, standing, and bending, everything. This sucks. She said that all I can do is rest and ice it. But resting is the problem, I can’t rest, I can’t sit and I can’t lay down, basically Im an old woman that is falling apart.

I need to get back home where my body might act normal for once. Im so sick and tired of being, well, sick and tired!

Rugby Girls!

As it was Karen's last night here we all went to the Rugby game. Jacqui also joined us, because she knew we would be causing trouble and that means fun!
Ive actually been able to follow the game and I really like it. This is one sport that makes sense and it moves fast so there is always action. Plus the guys arent bad looking either!
Our seats were so great we were only 2 rows off the grass. Everytime the ball was kicked through the goal post it would land in the crowd. We were ducking balls all night. Never got hit though thank god!
The Christchurch Crusaders (black and red) creamed the South Africian Cheetahs 53-17. It was awesome!
After we went out to the bar and had pizza and drinks. We of course went to the rugby bar and low and behold half of the team showed up! And we didnt reccongnize them so we just kept staring at them saying I swear he should be on the team he's huge. It wasnt until the next day when we watched the highlights of the game did we see the guys from the bar on the TV. Yep huge fans we are. Didnt even know it was them. I mean I could have gotten an autograph or something!
It was a fun match no matter, and our seats were awesome. A great way to end off a weekend in NZ. Anyone up for a match when I get home? I can explain it all to you.

Schooools Out for Everrrrr!

That's it. School is done. The kids are off driving their parents nuts now and I am free to sleep in until noon if I could!
Now I only have a Thesis to write, a house to pack up and my luggage to ship. Life is busy but good. Sometime in doing all that I am also heading out the Muskoka of Christchurch Lake Bruner. It will be a sweet weekend with lots of drinking and relaxing on the deck.
I can’t wait.

Time is flying by

Okay everyone,
Here is the low down on my flights home.

May 4-16 Vancouver
May 16-27 Calgary
May 27 Toronto.

Any questions?

You Spin me right 'round baby right 'round

Did my first spinning class today. Oh My Gawd! Okay i was told it was a great workout, I dont know what is wrong with people but they are messed up if they think this is the most fun class. I was puffed out within the first 3 minutes and then I had to keep going for another 40!!!! By the end of the session I couldnt feel my toes and my legs were so tired they were shaking. I loved it!
Hopfully this will take me through to the end of my time here. I need another class to pump me up so Im going to start getting right back into them all.
Ill keep you up to date, but man is my butt sore already, I dont think Miss Downes will be walking upright tomorrow. Time to rest these bones of mine.
Sleep, ahhh good good sleep. zzzzzzz.

My pills

These are my herbs that I have to take. This is one day's dose! I can't wait till I get better!

Just Hanging Out

A weekend trip to a local town that is famous for.....um, well maybe the ocean and cafes. Im not sure now that I think about it. But they did have nice cafes and lots of shopping.
Anyway it was a nice day and well worth the long drive. Its only an hour and a half away and everyone we talked to couldn't believe that we would drive it there and back in one day. They think things are so far away here, an hour and a half, ha! That's nothing in Canada.

Easy Breasy

How does a work week like this sound?
Saturday off
Sunday off
Monday teach all day
Tuesday off
Wednesday off
Thursday Teach all day
Friday Teach all day
Saturday off
Sunday off
Monday off

Sweet as! Only 2 weeks left and my working for free is finished, Jolly good!

Nothing like a good weekend

There's nothing like a good weekend out with good people to get yourself sorted again. Its funny how sometimes it takes a stranger to remind you of all the things you want in life, and why your doing it, and what you are aiming for. Sometimes you need someone, anyone just to say it like it is and to think its great.
Right, so into my 2nd last week. Man it has flown by. Before I know it ill be on a plane home, and I don’t even have a ticket yet. Priorities Sarah!

What is in the air?

So in the last few weeks I have found out that one of my best friends is pregnant, another got in engaged and Faye (if you know her you know her, if you don’t she was one the girls I went to Taiwan/Thailand with) well now she is engaged!

Oh and me? Yah well, I have $60,000 in debt.

Im so excited for everyone and all these life changes. But Im also so gutted that Im missing it all and that its not happening to me.

Jealous anyone?

Right, okay

Right so I have given up on modern medicine for now and I headed to the naturopath. Miss Vicki was my consultant and she spent over an hour chatting with me about all my symptoms, my diet, my body functions, everything! I am now on a bunch of pills and a liquid form of herbs, which I might add is the worst tasting thing I have every tried to drink. Actually it reminds me a lot of the anti-cold herb vile I use to take in Taiwan, but worse, much much worse.
However she does promise me it is all to up my immune system because I’ve had this cold/cough for almost 2 months my immune system is hugely weak. We shall see how well it works but at this point Im thinking....it has to work, it just has to!

Wish me luck swallowing it all down!

Camp life or just life

Was at camp this week with all the year 6's. There were 100 kids and 20 adults, both teachers and parents. It was a lot of fun but it totally wore me out. Im spending the weekend watching a stack of movies and chilling out on my couch. My flatmates have gone on a over night trip and I have the house to myself for the better part of 2 days. I feel like I need a lot of me time lately. I don’t know what it is really. Maybe it’s the impending doom of my beautiful little bubble bursting. Travels over, love lost, fantasy finished, time for the real world to creep in. I know I’m excited for whatever happens next all the new adventures of career, money, house, life but in the same breath I'm worried, scared and pretty much freaked out that it may not be as good as I’ve had it.
It’s silly to think like this I know, and Im so young and there’s so much more to happen, I’ve been given the speech a million times. But until you hear it in your own head it never really sinks in. I think it’s just the ending of something that is getting my heart racing and making me hold my breath, the beginning of something new is always exciting but closing off a piece of my life, letting it go and moving on that is a different story. It was really, really hard the last time I did it. Wounds I don’t think will ever heal are still here and now I am about to move onwards, another step. It feels a lot like a step backwards but yet it is still a step in my life. My life. Deep breath Sarah, good things will come.....one can hope.

Argh!

Travel agents -grr!
Trying to get my plane tickets together and Im hitting a few snags.
So Im at least heading to LA...
Ill be in North America now on May 4th, Then Ill be heading to Vancouver to hang with Sarah, Gus, Tory and Chris (the gang from Taiwan) After that fun adventure, which i cant wait for, Ill be taking a few days in Calgary to play with Erin and her baby. Then Ill be home around the last week of May.

Now all I need is a travel agent in Canada to book my ticket!
haha, not as easy as it sounds trust me.

Ill let you know how it all goes.

Thesis Part 1 - DONE!

Thank God, after weeks of working on it, the first part of my thesis is finished! Now I can move on to actually starting my research in the classroom and attempt to make my ideas actually work. Its only 3000 words but man it took a lot to get done, and it doesn't help much that I work full time hours during the week.
Next thing on my to do list is to actually apply for work for next September. Is there anything else anyone wants me to do for them, because I have a ton of free time right now (Grin)

Ink Blot Test

I did a ink blot test on line and this is what they said about me....Very scientific I know - grin -

"You have a deep desire to be kind and fair to others. You are preoccupied with finding kindness in the world around you, far more than you may realize on a conscious level. This makes you unusually empathetic and very sensitive to other people's feelings.

Your kind nature makes you an optimist at heart and allows you to see the best in the people around you. Because you're not judgmental, others seek you out when they need a friend.

Your psyche is very rich; the more you learn about it, the more you will understand who you really are."

Baby News

Janet and Karl MacDonald (Janet is one of my oldest friends, I was her maid of honor at her wedding in the Yukon a few years ago) they are expecting!!!
Janet is about 16 weeks along. Im so happy for them both, they're going to be amazing parents.

What the?!?

Okay no joke, they told me the other day that it was the last day of summer. And my god they were right! The temperature has dropped almost 10 degrees, its been raining and hailing and everything since then and I haven't seen a nice sunny day since the last day of summer. Feb 21 is my new hated day. And their summer weather wasn't even summer. I think the hottest day was 30 degrees and that only happened once. Now I have deal with cold and wet. So unfair!