Week Nine Term Four

 Two girls singing the anthem while Joel accompanies them.

 The goodbye to our old VP Vicky, six months after she got a new job.

 The French book fair.

 160 kids in one room to talk about camp for next year.

 Part of the transition process, Emily and I worked with the 'parachute' with some of next year's grade 4's.

 Joel leading 3/4 dancing on the bongo.....

 then singing.

 Joel and I went out for a 'parma', a couple of pints and a few games.

I think he is standing on a chair.

What's this?

Monday, November 28th to Friday, December 2nd.

On Monday at morning assembly, we had a special moment to say goodbye to our previous Assistant Principal who got a full time principal job six months ago. Vicky was gracious and the staff were happy to see her. At the assembly Joel played guitar while he had two students sing the anthem.

On Wednesday after school, Joel and I went for a beer and a 'parma' at a downtown upscale hotel called the Imperial. We parked on a street with a parking meter that charged for a spot indicated by a number on the sidewalk. Therefore it didn't give you a ticket for you dash. I saw a car with a ticket on it and took a peak - $77!

We ordered a couple of Kosciuszko Pale Ales with dinner. Our 'parma' or chicken parmigiana was huge. I decided to eat half and take the rest home. We talked about school, his up coming wedding, music and religion. Joel is a 24 year old second year teacher. We are polar opposites when it comes to careers.

The waiter came by and asked if we were finished with our food. I explained that I wanted to take it home. He told me they didn't do take out or doggie bags and sorry but I couldn't take it. What? We talked about it, but he wouldn't budge. He actually said if I wanted to take it home he'd have to photograph it! Apparently it has to do with the worry that someone might take it, not store it properly and get sick from it and then sue them. Yikes. So I told him I was going to finish it. He went away, I went to the car and got my backpack and lunch container, cut the parma in two pieces and put it in my lunch container. We continued talking and the waiter came back to an empty plate. Problem solved.

When we finished our beer I drove Joel most of the way home and we stopped at another 'working mans' pub called the Preston Hotel. It was a betting pub. They had lots of TV screens and terminals for betting on horse or greyhound races. They also had two pool tables. So Joel and I played a few games and had another pint. He won the first three games and I won the next three, so we decided to leave it as a draw and head home.

On Thursday they had a French book sale in the BER building. And on Friday after school they had a French food product sale. These were items that are available in France but not here. There was a lot of excitement about that.

On Thursday I got mail (a very rare occurrence here). It was from the Vicroads and contained my first driving infraction. I had entered the intersection 0.8 seconds after the light had turned red. The fine was $389 and three demerit points! The points didn't concern me as they are not transferable to Canada, but the money ticked me off. Then I looked closer and saw the fine was given at noon on Thursday, November 10^th. I'm always at school at that time. The notice also gave me a website where I could see a picture of me committing said infraction. Just as I was suspecting (and fervently hoping!) the photo showed my plates on a different car! The license plate thieves had made the infraction and it was two days before I noticed they were missing.

I have since contacted Vicroads who put me in contact with the ticket place and they told me to just mail in the ticket and the police report and it should go away. Now I just have to wonder how many other tickets the driver might have got before the date that I reported the theft.

And on Friday, we had a very strange ring around the sun. Everyone noticed it but I couldn't find any reference to it on the news. I thought maybe the end was near! (And so it is).