Welcome back!

Our friends the Quicks arrived back last night and it was a joyful celebration to have them with us again.  Rose and Joshua were very excited when we passed their house in the morning and they said "they're back!"  Naomi quietly said, "I don't think I remember Sarah and Jason".  I realised this is probably true - a year is a long time in her short life but I assured her it didn't matter and she would be able to renew her acquaintance with them.
We gathered as a group of friends to receive them back into our lives and it was interesting to see the change in the group - friends who are absent, and more children!

Quality time

One of the surprising things I have discovered this week is that my son misses me!  He has made it quite clear this week that he would like some "mum time" when he is home from school and as I thought about it, it made sense!  He has gone from spending almost all of his days with me to seeing me in the small section of time he is home after school.  It was kind of an uplifting moment for me as before, because he has spent most of his time with me, it has always been Steve's attention he has wanted.  It was also a reminder to me to be conscious in giving my children quality blocks of my time and not scraps.

Another fine mess

Everything was going swimmingly.  Naomi left me to lie in till 6:40 this morning.  We enjoyed a slow pace  and went out to the fabric market to pick up some extra material for one of my friends then arrived at the mall just after it was open - and, therefore, nice and quiet.  Naomi and I did the bits of shopping we needed and we headed back to the car with plenty of time stretching out before us before we had to go up to school for R and J.
And that's where it all went pear shaped.
I could not find my parking ticket.  I knew I had put it in one of the outer pockets of my bag but it was not there.  I emptied the bag. I searched the car. No joy. I haven't lost one before.  I knew you had to pay a 150 peso fine (not very much, considering) but wasn't sure what else was going to unfold.  So I pull up to the guard at the exit and explain I've lost my ticket.  She wants my car registration document which I do not have.  I do have my driving license but she wants 2 ID documents.  In the end I have to park the car by this guard, go back into the mall, across to the other side, down to basement 2, in the security office, explain again what has happened, explain again that I do not have any documentation other than my driving license, produce said license, agree to pay fine (would have done that half an hour ago!), go back to car with representative of security office, pay cashier the fine, agree not to lose a parking ticket ever again, finally get to leave.
It was one of those situations where - if you can be detached - you are glad they take it seriously but you wish they weren't when it involves you : )
Another fine mess I got myself into!

Beyond myself

Yesterday afternoon, Steve graciously dropped everything to drive me and the kids home after school because I was feeling terrible - I had got to that point of not knowing what to do with myself.  (I had just been food shopping but don't think that made any difference!)  Naomi was so good for me.  I dosed up on medicine, we got home and I went straight to bed and slept deeply - other than waking to field one question from Joshua!  I went back to bed early and slept all night.  Steve had to come and wake me in time to get ready for school!  I woke up feeling loads better, although still with some cold symptoms.  There is something going round school - and, of course, going back in the classroom doesn't help the immunity system!
My class and I have been reading the Crucible and we have enjoyed it.  They are quite keen to act some of it now!  We are going to see a live performance in Makati in November and almost all of them signed up to go.

Party

Rose had been invited to a classmate's birthday party so my friend and I took her and a friend from school to the classmate's subdivison to their "clubhouse" (a far grander description than the actuality!) where they were going to use the pool and eat.  This classmate is from Indonesia - her dad works for the Asian Development Bank, she is an only child.  She had catered Indonesian food (Rose enjoyed the noodles and shrimps and satay), a clown, a balloon artist and a magician.  And this was all organised in one week!!  I'll stick to the playground and a cake : )

I took the opportunity to shop for shoes - and chat and drink chai tea and eat lunch!  I forgot lots of other things, though, like the birthday present I was meant to be buying (and had already forgot to get the day before!).

International Irony

How deliciously ironic - and I genuinely did enjoy this - that our daughter was the only child in her class (which has a large number of Americans) who recognised the Lincoln memorial.  And the reason she recognised it - she knew it from Night at the Museum 2!!!

Oasis

Today was the day Naomi and I have off from pre-school and work.  It has already become something of an oasis in the week.  I am very grateful for a break from school and time just for Naomi and I.
Today we had arranged to spend some time with one of her friends and her friend's mum.  But before that, we watched a film (Underdog), had a shower, I did a bit of sewing and Naomi practised cutting out pictures from the old newspaper.  She did a brilliant job, I was impressed.  Then we got our swimming things together and headed off to her friend's apartment.
We spent time chatting, playing and swimming, and then had lunch together.  It was lovely.  Then we headed up to school, picked up Rose and Joshua and came home.
Steve and I went out with the rest of the school administration team and spouses for dinner.  Our kids were very happy as they were being entertained by a Dutch couple who have been here on short-term work.  Josh has bonded with Willem and both he and his wife are lovely.  (Jen was there too but she only had to get involved when Josh wouldn't go to bed.  Good cops, bad cop, I guess!) They were deeply ensconced in a game of Sequence when we left.
We had a wonderful evening - we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant as our Superintendent's wife was born and spent her childhood there so she ordered several dishes of different types of food - we had about 4 courses! - for us all to sample.  It was great.  This is pretty much the same team now for the third year and you can tell in the ease of conversation and relaxed atmosphere of the group.  I think it gives stability and security to the whole school.

A Mystery

We all got in the car yesterday to drive home after school.  Steve says, "Why is there a light fitting on the front seat?"
Josh: "It was Naomi"
Naomi: "I don't know.  It's a mystery."
Steve - looking straight at her: "Is that right?"
Naomi: "Yes. A mystery."

Celebrations

I went to a friend's baby shower this morning.  She is married to a Filipino pastor so their church have been following the pregnancy with great interest and celebration.  Of course, there were games - Filipinos love celebrating occasions with group games.  Most of the morning was conducted in Tagalog so Wendy and I weren't always sure what was being said but it was fun.  I did the smell and identify the baby food game.  I failed miserably by the way!
Then tonight we attended a different kind of celebration - a farewell and pre-wedding bash.  We had a barbecue on the Elem playground so our kids enjoyed themselves.
Oh, the rhythms of life.

Friday feeling

Naomi and her friend came bubbling out of the preschool room ready to head to our house.  They chattered all the way to the car and home and then engrossed themselves in some game.  It was lovely to watch.  There are times I still wonder if I am doing right by Naomi but I know she is enjoying having routine time with her friend and feeling the loss of Joshua a little less.

When Joshua gets home, he and Naomi quickly start playing together and can hardly bear to pause for a snack because they have to fit a whole day without each other into a couple of hours!!

We went swimming today after school - it was our first sunny day for a while.  It has been pretty dreary and a little rainy lately.  It was fun to de-stress in the pool after the first full week of school.

We played the 21 questions game (to find out the animal) again at dinner - I think this is something the kids associate with Wendy now!  Naomi made us laugh when she asked "Does it eat cars?"  We wondered what on earth she was thinking of but that became obvious when she then asked "Is it a dinosaur?" Although I'm not sure dinosaurs ate cars.

My favourite Joshua quote: "I'm next, I'll think of something....OK.  I've thunk of one!"

We all crashed after dinner - it has been a long, tiring week.  The kids have definitely been getting more tired as the week has gone on.  When we put them to bed tonight they didn't move!

Results

Today was a fun part of my job.  I handed out IGCSE results to the 74 students who took one or more IGCSEs.  It was great to observe their reactions as the majority did very well - we had 36 A* results spread amongst the students.  Lots of our Korean students were excited as they achieved so highly on the English as a Second Language IGCSE they are able to take Grade 11 English this year.  We had 3 A* from that group which are the first ever, so the teacher was pretty chuffed too.  Out of the 20 students doing English Lang and Lit all got As or A* except for one B - I'm feeling the pressure of that : )
How wonderful to celebrate successes together.

Bad dog

Naomi's been so disappointed that she has not started "class" yet with Josh and Rose both at school.  She went to her friends to play for the morning while I taught, but at first she didn't want to go as she was traumatised when I dropped her off on Friday and the dog jumped on her.  My friend assured her she would carry her through the gate and chain the dog up so she agreed to go .  When I picked her up, she had had a great time and was calling the dogs "the bad dog" and "the nice dog that follows us around".

Blast from the past!

I had so much fun teaching this morning.  I think I had really forgotten how much I enjoyed it and I also think I enjoyed it because I was ready and everything has come together so easily and conveniently that I believe this is the right thing for me to do this year.
I had to smile to myself though, one of my first questions was a typical TCK one: "How long are yougoing to be our teacher?"  When I said, "probably the whole year" the class visibly relaxed and obviously felt it was worth investing in relationship with me!  The other thing that the whole class visibly reacted to in a positive way was when I told them I had taught IGCSE English before.  They were expecting a cover teacher who knew next to nothing about how to teach the subject.
Naomi had a shortened session in preschool and was very happy.  Bev has done a great job of setting up the room and has got loads of new resources and toys and has created a stimulating environment with lots of fun things lined up for this year.  And I do not miss it at all : )  I think it will be great for Naomi to be in there without me.

First Day, New School Year, Big Adventure

The children went to play at a friend's house and Steve brought them over to the Manila Centre after he finished working at school. The children stayed overnight with me and one of the teenagers from our mission looked after them for the day while I sat in meetings. About an hour before we were due to finish the rain started - fairly typical, considering it is rainy season.  Then I got a text saying it was flooding around school and I thought I should probably get going.  I quickly gathered up the children (quickly being  a relative term) and left - forgetting I had offered a lift to two others heading out to our subdivision!
Steve rang me to say he had lost power at the house with a lightning strike and I should stop and feed the kids at a mall.  So we stopped at Marikina - only to remember Naomi had not found her shoes before we left so I had to carry her round piggy-back!  We left about 6:45 so I was already a little concerned that we were past the childrens' bed times and it was first day back at school tomorrow.  I decided not to go the straight forward route as it was backed up and we headed to Ortigas.  It was fine until we got to the bridge over the Pasig.  Then we stopped and in the next three hours we inched forward until we stopped completely just after Ever mall.  About 9 Josh curled up on the front seat and went to sleep.  We had to improvise with a box we emptied of toys as a portaloo.  Eventually I watched as the G Liner bus drivers had a conversation in front of me which indicated it would be better if we all turned round as the water was up to the guy's knees further down the road.  By this time Steve and I had dialogued a few times about what to do (thank goodness for mobile phones!) and we found out the couple I had forgotten had caught a taxi but had to abandon it and wade home.  This seemed to confirm the futility of sitting in the traffic till who knew when.  Plus, by now other cars were counterflowing down the other road and blocking the road out.  At 10 Steve and I decided I would turn round and drive back to the Manila Centre and stay there again.  I ended up on the same road 3 times trying to find a way back while avoiding the queues which were building up on every road heading out towards our area.
At 11 we arrived back at the Centre.  All 3 were asleep but woke up as we got into the bedroom and began squabbling over which bed they wanted to sleep in!  I was just ready to fall into bed.
We didn't wake till 6 this morning.  (The managers' children leave on the school van at 5:30 to get to school in time!)  I started rushing the children to get dressed and breakfasted so we could leave as soon as possible.  We left about 6:40, went the back way and got to school about 7:30.  Steve had Rose and Joshua's uniforms ready so we changed them and off they went to class.  Amazingly unfazed I would have to say.
I, on the other hand, was wiped out!  I dropped Naomi off as per my arrangement for last day of meetings.  Rang my director to explain what had happened and why I would not be there today, went home and slept solidly for 2 hours!
Then I got some work done at school, ready to start teaching tomorrow!!!!!  I am excited but not sure what to expect and whether I still have "it"!

 

Bedlam

Today was very busy.  Steve and I were both busy at work.  I was trying to get things done for students' schedules.  Our children were happy hanging out in the pre-school classroom.  Josh was on the roof of the play house with some carpenter tools.  Rose was setting up the kitchen stuff and Naomi was playing in another area.  I had a high school meeting and Steve an Elementary meeting.  One of the teenagers was looking after some of the other elementary staff kids so ours tagged on to their activity and were perfectly happy.  After our staff meeting they were all going to have lunch at the V (our cafeteria) and then carried on with whatever they were doing.  It meant I had lots of time to do my jobs.  I was dealing with IGCSE office issues and then got sucked into the English Dept needs because we have no official head of department right now and most of the English teaching is being done by a new couple to the school.  I also had to organise a supply teacher for my first lesson as I have Admin Council this week too!!  It is my last one but what a week for it to be.
I am getting ready for one of the most manic weeks of my life!

Questions

On the way back from retreat Joshua and Naomi fell asleep so Wendy introduced Rose to the game of 21 questions to entertain her.  She picked it up pretty fast and we were in the middle of a game when Josh woke up.  When Steve said he had an animal (we were all doing animals) Josh's first question was "what is it?"  We laughed and told him that was the point of the game - discovering what it is.
Today they were playing it again.  It's funny how they can't infer things from answers like "Is it an animal that lives in water?"  "No"  "Is it a land animal?!"