Everything is dying

Well, it has been a while since I wrote. Things are still crazy around here. We are busy this summer with soccer and reenacting. We have had several events over the past couple of months. I cannot show you pictures though, because my computer has issues. It started behaving funny about a month ago, and just continually got worse. It has now lost its operating system and Staples has sent it off to the depot for repairs. Thank goodness we bought the extended warranty. We bought a laptop in March to help Hubby teach his new curriculum. The first time he used it to teach was at the end of June. As he was starting the afternoon class on the first day, it seemed to be going well. That was just an illusion though. The hard drive crashed during his powerpoint presentation. Nobody was even touching it. That was fixed and returned within three days, so we are not completely computerless, but I do not want to put my photo program on the laptop. We thought our bad luck was changing, because there were no other computers in the house. They say bad things happen in threes, so we should have known better. Two days ago, while preparing to enter the freeway, my car died. They are pretty sure it is the torque converter, and that would mean a whole new transmission. The cost of such repairs wold be more than we paid for the car.
This means we have had to reevaluate some of the events we were planning on attending, but thankfully it is just stuff and not those dear to us.

so busy

I know that I am not consistent in writing, but this time I have a good reason. The instructor who said she had gotten on full time with the City in March, quit a week later. John and I have been putting out fires, and trying to keep his appointments straight just to catch up the 32 kids who sat in the March course. That is not including the April and May courses that were both already partially booked at the time. We are finally starting to feel like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have taken some time off to do a couple of reenactments, because that is the only way we get to see John. If I don't get him completely away from the house, He is being pulled in all directions. The Summer will be busy, but I think that things will finally settle down in September.

On another note, we have been contemplating what has been going on with the business and what it means for us. As some of you know, we have contemplated selling the business and the house and moving. The things that hold us back are:
1. what do we do for work if not this?
2.Are we being ungrateful for the blessings the Lord has given us?
John and I were discussing it this weekend, as we have been having trouble finding help. When we do find it, they back out at the last minute and leave us floundering. The conclusion that we have come to, is that this has one of two meanings. The first is that we are to keep our classes small enough that John can handle all of the in class and in car lessons on his own, or the Lord is telling us it is time to move on (by keeping us uncomfortably busy). I personally am leaning toward the latter, as we are having trouble limiting class size. This may be the perfect time to sell, but again the question is what do we do if not this? Please keep us in your thoughts as we ponder this and try to do as the Lord wants.

Zac Update

Hey, I know it has been awhile. So, Zac has is definitely going into the military (if he doesn't mess things up). He has submitted his papers, and referrals (who have been called). He was supposed to have an interview last Monday, but missed it. I won't go into why, but we were unimpressed. They called to rebook, and he will not miss the next one. He is going through an interesting/infuriating phase right now, and both his mother and I feel September cannot come soon enough. That being said he signed on with the air force, and his preferences are MP, Search and Rescue or Airplane Mechanic. I am not sure how, but I have become his enemy again. This being said, we are just waiting for September, when we know someone else is helping to mould him into a man.

Turn of events

So, some of you knew that Zac was looking to join the Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.) and that he was going to take a course to get his large equipment licenses, including his AZ or Class 1 license. He went to a meeting to have EI pay for it, only to find out that he has to fill out a whole pile over paperwork with a councilor to prove he has no skills first. This would mean that he will mis the start date he had figured on. Being a somewhat angry and fickle young man, hequickly vented and said that he was not doing it if he has to wait till the next one. He went to his mother's house for the weekend, and when he came back he informed us that he has put his name in with the airforce. So, we are back to the military, and his name is actually on the list. He has to go in to Kingston to the recruitment office there to do some testing at the end of the week, and then he will move forward from there. I think he still plans to go check out the O.P.P. recruitment at the end of the month, too, but who knows at theis point? Time will tell, and we shall see.

not much to say

So, I missed a couple of weeks but, I don't really know what to say. It is March Break here, and we were blessed with a very large class at the driving school. We have been busy trying to stay on top of things. One of our instructors retired, and the other informed us she just got on full time driving for City Transit. She is not abandoning us completely, but it certainly is going to cut her hours back. Our computer monitor died suddenly last night, but fortunately for us we had bought the extended warranty. I was able to get a new one this morning, and now we are back in business. As long as the tower holds out we are good, that or it has to go before September (but we are not hoping one way or the other). We have a new curriculum now for the school, but still have to tweak it to make it work for us.

Reenacting in the cold

We had our first reenacting event this year. It was a reenactment of the battle of Ogdensburg. This was from the War of 1812. It took a fair bit of preparation, but was worth it. I made uniform jackets for John and Zac, and borrowed one for Parker. I still have to teach Zac how to do the pants up properly, but the guys look pretty sharp to me. These next two pictures are from the battle. Zac is in the group of soldiers on the left, and is the on closest to the flags. John is in the group on the right, and is in the middle of the three soldiers in light grey. If you look closely, you can sort of see Parker standing behind the flag bearers. The other one is Parker running towards us. He stepped in a puddle, so they sent him to me to warm up and dry them out once there was a break in the fighting.
















This final picture is Kierstan and I playing at the ball (I am behind the camera). They do English country dancing. The first time we went to a ball, we felt like we were just fumbling. This time John said we looked like we completely comfortable and graceful. We both will tell you that the way you dress makes a huge difference. We only had one pair of gloves between us, but they just seemed to be that reminder of grace. So fun, I think we are hooked.

*SIGHS* OF RELIEF

I know that I have been slack on writing the last few weeks, but when I get stressed this seems to be the first thing to go. I have had a lot of panic and stress moments, or so it seems. First we had to write a curriculum for the driving school. The guidelines were vague, or just downright confusing. If we called the ministry of transportation to try to clarify what they wanted, they left me more confused than when I called. After a lot of writing and editing, we had something we could live with (but we didn't like). It would at least allow us to operate in April when the rules change. We sent it in with the understanding that it would take 4-6 weeks approve. This meant the we should hear about it at the beginning of January. We didn't hear about it in January. With plans for a baptism in play, I tried to push it to the back of my mind. We had a meeting with CAA to see if we might be interested in using their curriculum. They had not even been approved yet, so the decision to call the MTO was made. I was informed that they had not even seen ours yet, it was still in the pile. We knew it was not up to the level that we wanted it to be, but didn't know where to start editing it. That, mixed with the uncertainty of what happens in April if we haven't heard from them, had me right flustered.

With planning the baptism, we had to wait until the day before to get a baptismal interview. (the Branch President has a strange work schedule). It did not occur to us until after we returned home form the interview that we did not know who was presiding at the baptism. I began calling branch presidency members to see who it would be, only to learn that the ball had been dropped. The BP was working,and both of his counsellors (father and son)were going on holidays. I was told I might just have to rebook to the next weekend. After informing them that that was not an option, with grandparents already here and aunty J. already on the plane, a scramble was on to sort this out. In the end, it was decided that the second counsellor in the Elder's Quorum would both conduct and preside. It still felt a bit crazy and disorganized, but we did it. (YAAAAAY!)

After sadly returning family to the airport to go home, we shifted focus to income taxes. I had to ensure that paper work was in order, not sure if I had even entered things into the books correctly. That has been a fiasco that I think we have finally found a way around, and then we found out that the date for our new curriculum was pushed back to September. Small Sighs all along, but I still did not know how to fix the curriculum we did not like. We received an email about an opportunity to learn about an approved curriculum, that is available for us to purchase. This was exciting, but with undertones of stress, as we had a ministry audit to ensure compliance on Friday. We were fine, but I had to make sure all the paperwork was in order.

This weekend we spent with family in Kitchener, as we had decided to attend this information session in Scarborough. I was going into this thinking and hoping it was an answer to prayer. Dear hubby went into this thinking he would buy theirs, and use it to fix ours, making it our own. After hearing what they have to say, we realized that it is what we have been looking for, and more. It would not benefit us in any way to make it fit ours, as they are calling it a "Living Curriculum". This means that as changes are made by the gov't, and in technologies, they will send us updates and how to use them. These will be sent via email, therefore making them free to receive. The cost would then only be incurred if we "chose" to print it off the email. (the choice would be ours.) The cost is only $5 per student, as opposed to the $50 per student that CAA wanted. It is such a relief to me to know that we are able to switch to a new approved curriculum that meets all our needs, and they will provide us with all the technical, and learning support we need. We have decided to switch to this new curriculum in June. This allows our old students to make up any classes they are missing, prior to the change. I can now start to look back at the pictures and moments of fun over the last few weeks, and start to put the memories together. I will be putting pics up next time.

Count Down

The kids are so excited that this week has finally come. I have been asked almost every day this last week, are they coming today?? Now we are down to one more sleep until we go to the airport. Then we get to go at the end of the week, and all of the cousins are coming from Kitchener. Oh the excitement from the smallest member of our house is about to explode out of the windows.

no more snow

After all the snow we got last year, we were relieved that they were forecasting less snow this year. I guess they changed their minds. These two pictures are looking out the front window at the snow on the front lawn. This is the approximate height the snow was last year at the END of March. The plows push thesnow onto the sidewalks here. That would mean that there can be no more snow here this winter. This is not what the weather is forecasting. On the plus side, it is supposed to be warm most of next week. Some of the snow will melt while the grandparents are here. Unfortunately, it is currently saying that it will cool off the day aunty J comes out. She has already been warned to bring a sweater, old houses are drafty.

We are sure excited to see the family, even with the snow and/or slush.

I'm still here

Just a quick note to say that I haven't forgotten about the blog. It has been a little stressful here trying to keep our finances in order. With Zac losing his job, it put unexpected strain on us. He just found out that EI has approved his claim, and that a cheque is in the mail. He will get enough to cover his bills, and start to pay off some of his debts (mostly to us).

Home at last

We just got in from visiting family in Kitchener. What a crazy drive home. It snowed all the way home, the plows were out and oh so slow. It took us two hours longer than normal. We did enjoy our time there though. I had an opportunity to get together with the ladies involved with reenacting the Revolutionary War, and learn about the requirements for those costumes. The helped me with patterns, and I am starting to get an idea of fabrics and patterns. It also takes a bit, because their ideas on matching colours and patterns differed greatly from ours today. While I was learning (and planning), the boys went skiing at a nearby hill with a brother and cousin. We also managed to get to the temple while in the area. Before we really got on the road to go on Friday, I had to drop some stuff off in Kingston. I took the opportunity to go to best buy, and bought a camera. I did take one picture, but I still have to load the cd on the computer to read the manual. I will get around to that this week, so I can start taking pics again. Well, I am tired of sitting, so we'll chat later.

CRAZINESS!!!!

So... I went to the doctor before Christmas, because the orange spots around my eyes were starting to spread. I was very quickly told that they are cholesterol deposits. My doctor ordered blood work, and made a referral to another doctor. The good news is that the spots can be treated with lasers, or chemical peels, and I managed to lower my bad cholesterol to a normal range. The rest is leaving me a little stressed out. It turns out that my good cholesterol is very low. I now have to get a special ultrasound on my carotid arteries (neck), to check the levels of plaque build up. My doctor also orders ekg's when ordering blood work, and this one came back different from the last one. So, I now have to go for an ecg. I feel like I am falling apart, and part of me would like to just go back to my ignorant bliss, where my biggest concern was that I still have 20 pounds to lose. At this point that is the only one that I can do anything about. I will just have to continue to get my but out of bed, watch what I eat, and be consistent. For those who didn't already know, I committed to this back in September, and lost 22lbs between Sept. 29 and Dec. 13. We all got sick, and I had to stop for awhile (its hard to work out when you are coughing). I put 5 back on during the holidays, so that means I still have 15-20lbs. to lose. That will put me at 150-155lbs. Right about where I was in highschool.

I have also been looking at various cameras, and starting to decide what I want. We will definitely have one before Parker's baptism.

Sooooo Tired

Hi everyone. Just thought I would send you a note to let you know what we have been up to. We spent New Year's Eve with friends in Kingston. They used to live right across the road from us. We had a pajama party with them last year, and decided it was so much fun that we would join them again. Then we decided to get dressed up, on Friday night, in our reenactment clothes and go see the lights at Upper Canada Village (it is like heritage park, but bigger). We got up real early today (Saturday) and took the family skiing at Titus Mountain. Kierstan and Parker took lessons, and they all had fun going down the hills all day. I sat in the lodge where it was warm, and read and made jewelry. Sadly, I do NOT have any pics, because my camera has decided to die. It will only take 1-3 pictures on a set of batteries, and then flashes low battery. We have been having this problem for awhile, but it has gotten so bad now that I cannot hardly take a picture anymore. We will have to save up and see what we can find for a new one.