Nate's Mountain

I care. I actually do...

2009-12-29T23:14:08Z

It's the New Year shortly. What will I make of it? Will there be ...resolutions? I've never minded having a go at those. Will I renew my LJ account? That's coming up soon. I probably will. It's still a place I can let off steam, and these days I have friends who can handle just about anything without getting crappy at me. Which is good.

I'm having a massive clean out at the moment, trying desperately to get ruthless with stuff. It's hard. We don't have much storage space and we all seem to acquire a LOT of stuff that we can't possibly do without... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Maybe I'll clean up my LJ too... if you're off the list, take offence. I probably don't like how you have behaved to me and it's been way too long waiting for you to come to your senses and be friends again! Caring? I am thinking of giving that up for 2010 and just being a person.

Hmmm, that'll last about five minutes, huh! A friend(?) phoned yesterday just to catch up. I refer to her as the PHB or psycho hose beast... did you watch Wayne's World? She's very unstable but quite chatty on a good day when her meds are up and her children aren't trying to destroy themselves or one another... she wants me to come up for a cup of tea in the New Year. It's hard but *sigh* I'll probably go, huh. Because. I. Care. Dammit.

Anyway, I'm going to hang out two loads of washing then I'm going to walk to the Pharmacy to get some interesting pills then I'm going to sit in the sun and just bask and write before I cook our own re-visit to Christmas dinner. I am really very lucky. What are you up to? I want to know. Because. I. Care...

Catching up...

2009-12-29T11:13:41Z

So what happened to LJ notifications? I had Christmas comments I was not even aware of! Sorry, guys. I haven't gotten past checking emails for Mass stuff the last few days.

Let me tell you about Christmas. As usual, we had Midnight Mass, where I had to play the keyboard. Then the morning Children's mass, where I got to play the guitar for the nativity play and run the powerpoint. Much more relaxing. The Codfish even did a halfway reasonable sermon. About the layers of Christmas (something he got from the British Tablet). Then our friends came to lunch. Still the day was okay. Then we had to go there for dinner. And at that point the day turns to custard and the tension rises. And we tried to stay calm but Finn enraged our friend's daughter with his dislike of regular cutlery habits and it all got pretty tense and Christy finally took Finn out for 'a little walk and talk' and after a bit we just pretty much gave up and went home, determined to have Christmas dinner at home in future. And I KNOW I said that last year but our friends are so insistent that they have our company. But then they try too hard every year to get it all just right and it's just... not.

And although I sent a heap of gifts up to my brother and his family, they didn't send even as much as a Christmas card to us. He gave me a sheepish phonecall on Christmas afternoon. My other brother hasn't even made contact. Nothing from my mother. And frankly, I'm pretty much over even trying to have Christmas spirit. It's just a waste of energy and time and effort when I could be doing heaps of other things. It'd be different if people cared about us as much as we tried to care about them, especially family... not even a card from my aunt. *sigh* I'm just not impressed. Recession aside, surely people still would like to show they care about me? Maybe not. Maybe I'm just not worth the effort either, in their eyes. *shrug* I'm not really too worried. I move ahead faster these days.

Oh well. We avoided the usual obligatory Boxing Day barbecue and went for a long walk on the beach instead. In fact, we've been for a beach walk almost every day. Except today, which was rainy so I went with the boys to Sherlock Holmes. *sigh* Robert Downey Jnr was, IMHO, brilliant. I loved it. Watson wasn't as loveable as I found him reading the books as a child, but Jude Law was a remarkably astute casting. I liked the movie. Tomorrow we go to Avatar in 3D. Our Italian musicians at church worked on the movie at Weta studios (just down the road from here) so that makes it more special.

I am enjoying clearing clutter out of the house before the New Year. And cooking. It was my friend's birthday yesterday so I baked him a carrot cake. His wife was delighted as she hadn't baked him anything! And tonight we had honey sesame prawns and pineapple rice served right in the pineapple shell! I feel quite culinary.

After New Year I am driving the children north to the Coromandel Peninsula for a change. We'll go via my mother's place, as that's only a couple of hours from there, and we have two sets of friends camping up there so we'll take tents and sleeping bags, I think. Might be a good adventure.
I'm looking forward to some real writing time. I've been too tired to do that yet, much to my disappointment. But I need a clear head, a tidy-ish house and some peace and quiet to write. It'll come. This evening I can feel an opening sentence rising up out of the dark, deep recesses of my troubled mind *g* If only I were as clever as Holmes...

And so to bed. I see midnight has come and gone as I sit here mulling over so many things. See you tomorrow. </i>

Christmas Day

2009-12-24T13:17:03Z

It's two in the morning, just got in from Midnight Mass. I had to play the keyboard for the Mass. It was okay. Crazy woman conducting and I didn't read her signals so I just did what I usually do. But it was okay! I played O Holy Night for our young soloist and that was a buzz. The Samoan Community sang brilliantly, really stirring stuff. I loved it even though I hadn't wanted to go to that Mass at all!

BECKY< HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS CHRISTMAS CHAOS

And MERRY CHRISTMAS friends out there. Find someone you like and tell them that you like them today. Have something nice to eat. Give some consideration to those in need. After our nativity practice this afternoon, one of the mothers gave me a whole ham to give to someone in the parish who was needy. She had one spare for some reason, a raffle or something. Amazing, huh. I knew one particular family but I thought that they had moved house. I made a phone call from my mobile to someone who knew where they were. She didn't know the street number but described the house and we set out to find it! Christy and I trekked up a steep path to dilapidated house and a family of six children. You could tell from the door that they had nothing, so I hope they like ham! It felt right, to pass on something good to someone in need at Christmas time.

So that's it for now. From tomorrow night onwards, my holiday will really start to happen.
Looking forward to it... now I will rush off to bed...
xxx

When a child is born...

2009-12-20T10:35:32Z

Today at Mass I ran the music for a change (due to absence, illness, whatever) and had everyone singing what I wanted (within liturgical reason, of course!). But at the end, for the recessional (or runner as we call it!) we played 'When a Child is Born'. It's a lovely gentle Christmasy song, apparently not to be sung at Mass because it's 'not a real hymn'. Last Christmas we had this fundamentalist organist who refused to play it.

Well, you know what I think of people telling me what to do or not do...
so we sang it. Our usher, who loves the song, popped his head around the doorway to give me a special smile in thanks. And people sang up really well. So I don't care if it's not a hymn, the sentiments are just lovely. And I love playing this song on the keyboard. (Becky won't want to be singing this just now *g* more Christmas cheer!!!)
A ray of hope flickers in the sky,
A tiny star lights up way up high,
All across the land dawns a brand new morn -
This comes to pass when a child is born.

A silent wish sails the seven seas,
The winds of change whisper in the trees
And the walls of doubt crumble tossed and torn -
This comes to pass, when a child is born.

A rosy hue settles all around,
You get the feel you're on solid ground,
For a spell or two no one seems forlorn -
This comes to pass when a child is born.

It's all a dream, an illusion now.
It must come true sometime soon somehow.
All across the land dawns a brand new morn -
This comes to pass when a child is born.

Advent - getting ready for Christmas... I should write in purple...

2009-12-17T10:54:17Z

And another night falls. I am wondering how long life lasts and how many amazing experiences we can have. This morning I was walking across a huge park to get to the garage to collect my car (as usual the WoF ended up costing about $500 - damn French car!) and it was a brilliant, sunny morning, and I swished my feet through the long clover and thought how lucky I am.
Then I worked alone in my classroom for about four hours today which was pretty rewarding. Later this afternoon found me in the vets with our rabbit - Christy thought he had a tumour like the guinea pig but it turns out he has... matured... down there *g* He's a pretty tough little tiny rabbit, and he chases the cat any chance he gets. A ball of black fluff with lop ears and big gray feet.

Tonight the temperature on my car thermometer was 28 deg Cel. That's pretty warm for Wellington pre-Christmas. It was a delightful evening. I hope it continues tomorrow. I'm going to get Christmas sorted tomorrow. I'm way too late for the mail but I can do some electronic good wishes, huh! I just can't function at the end of the school year. It takes me about a week or two to get my thoughts together and get over the mad, mad, mad rush of the year.

And so this day has ended. I wish you all a good day out there. Be nice to someone today. I think Christmas for me is less and less about gifts and more and more about love. And that may sound soppy but I'm way over the whole getting stuff thing. Maybe I never really liked it. I think if we can love someone and show that we love them, that's gotta be a good thing. Build. Care. Smile.

And love. Even amidst the tension and irritation. Heavens, I walked out of music practice last night, so it's not like I'm above being irritated! But I can still find some love. Have to. Otherwise, what was the miracle of Christmas all about... the signs were all there. And frankly, it's no different today. The magic is in the striving to find good and welcoming it. We don't have to be shepherds or kings. But we do have to be open to the possibilities. Huh.

natesmountain @ 2009-12-14T23:34:00

2009-12-14T10:34:24Z

I am just loving not having classes at school. I love the summer holidays. I don't like summer much but I sure love the holiday break. Not that I haven't been working. Today I took all my own children to school and along with my Principal's son, we finished up our Christmas boxes. We finally packed up 24 full shoe boxes and one giant teddy wearing a Santa hat.

See, a couple of years ago my school took part in the Christmas box scheme, is it from oOxfam perhaps? You fill a shoebox with a range of useful items and toys and wrap it up, then send it to Africa. Now that's not a bad idea for the English, but sending stuff from here to Africa is pretty tough. It costs $7 per box just to ship it. So this year I decided we'd do some boxes for local kids in need instead. Our seniors had left school to sit their external exams so the juniors were all challenged to bring in things like toothpaste, soap, toothbrushes, toys and little books, felt pens, skipping ropes etc, and we filled shoeboxes in whanau time (that's a kind of form time). It's amazing that we ended up with 24 pretty wrapped boxes (and one big Ted)! Today we drove them over to the Catholic school in Newtown where the Principal said she had some very deserving children who would get a Christmas shoebox! It was good. Some of our girls came from that school so their little brothers and sisters might even bring home a St Cath's shoebox. I'm just glad we focused on doing good before Christmas.

I still have a heap of work to do at school but I want to spend some time with my own children as well. I can't believe Christmas is coming so fast. I thought I was getting ready... but as usual, it's just not happening as fast as I would like. I'm just so tired. Still, gotta keep on.

It has been really windy the last week or so. Northerlies have battered us endlessly. I don't usually mind but this has been really frustrating. You open the car boot to get something out and papers fly everywhere. Doors slam constantly. The washing blows around. The basketball hoop has broken. Hats fly off. Recycling blows away. Spring here, as I've said before, is crap. At least it's warm though.

I still don't know what we are going to do over the holidays. I want to go away again. Just get out of the house and go. I was rolling up Christy's OC poster of Seth today and I remembered buying it in Germany. I remember that so clearly it's like it was just last month. I'd like to shop there again one day. Europe is definitely interesting and so very, very different from here. I'd still like to go to China again more though. I think I'm Asian inside. It's funny, it's apparently quite acceptable here for a Chinese person to refer to an Asian who is Westernised as a banana, yellow on the outside but white on the inside. Heh. I think I'm the opposite. I'm an egg... white on the outside...

And on that note, it's late and I have more harrowing non-fiction to read. I think I'll get on with my own writing from tomorrow night. I'm sick of real life suffering. I want to wallow in imagination-land. My imagination land. My world and welcome to it. It's what we make it, huh. I watched Groundhog Day this morning with breakfast (don't ask). And yet again it makes me think about what I'm doing with my life. Not that I'm worried about what I'm doing, but I think it's important to keep checking that it's (for me) meaningful and stimulating ... and just good. And that sounds weird when I'm on a site where I have made so many enemies. I still don't get that. *shrug* whatever. I'm learning, amongst other things, to move on and on ...and on. Along. And up, even. *g*

Tomorrow, a long drive out to Paraparaumu to see my girls on their leadership camp. Then I'll have the afternoon to... hmmmm... I'll let you know. I hope not just sorting the laundry.

natesmountain @ 2009-12-13T01:16:00

2009-12-12T12:14:08Z

There is supposed to be a blitz on drink driving but I just drove across town at midnight to pick up Asher and a friend from a party and didn't see a single cop anywhere. Odd, huh. Still, a nice night to be out. We have been driven mad by northerly gales this week and it makes everyone a little crazy. Me, I'm just tired. Seems to be an eternal problem these days. I'm hoping to get some rest soon. Still finishing off stuff at school but the girls have finished YAY!!! And of course, I have to check on my own children through the day. Thank God for cell phones!

It's been a long, difficult year at school and all the Staff think so at school. Worst thing was seven of my Year 9s getting suspended in the last few days. They are like my own special kids at school (I am apparently the only teacher that likes their class) and I'm so sad that they have gotten into trouble. Thing is though, for every bad kid in the group, you can pinpoint the background that has contributed to it, whether it's a PTSD situation from abuse, a parent in jail, a sister who recently died, it's all been too much for them as a group. And I know that's not necessarily an excuse, I had one of those situations in my own home and I never did anything wrong, but it just depends on how loved and cared for these children are. As soon as even just one parent fails to show that unconditional love (and children just need one parent to do this), the child suffers.

There has been such beauty in my world all the same. Christchurch was lovely. I spent three days down there on a conference and it was good to be away, just doing what had to be done there and nothing else. Sleeping quietly in my own little room. No housework! But surprising how quickly you get sick of lining up for smorgasbord. I lined up all during the conference, then at the Year 13 Leavers' dinner, then at the Staff end of year dinner... but at least I have food to eat. I really shouldn't complain. I was invited to a lovely lunch on Friday at one of the senior teacher's houses. Isn't watermelon and feta (with a dash of mint leaves) nice together, even though it sounds kind of gross! You must try it.

The tuis are brilliant this spring. They are quadrupling in numbers around Wellington and the other day there was one in our garden! I was so excited. I love them. Their noisy clacking, their liquid whistles, their cheeky beaks and white tufts at their throat, they're amazing.

And now it's nearly 1 am, my first chance to update in forever, but I really need to go to bed! So much to do over the next few days. I have five girls on a leadership camp in Paraparaumu and I'll have to go check on them a few times over the next few days. It's about 40 minutes drive out there so it's a bit of a trek. I hope they have a good time. They were very nervous out there this morning. I stopped at J'ville on the way back and did a bit of Christmas window shopping, bought a coffee, just chilled for half an hour. At least going to Paraparaumu you drive along the coast the whole way. The sea was rough today, brown with runoff from the hills, white flecked waves rolling in, Mana Island misty in the distance, and Kapiti Island invisible. I saw in the Deaths column yesterday the passing of a man called Mike Meads. He had come out to Mana Island with us one time, and while we slept he would be out in the bush tracking the nocturnal insects. One morning at breakfast he reached into a cloth bag and pulled out a Giant Weta. It was fat and creamy and quite different from the usual wetas, but still *shudder* pretty gross. He wanted me to hold it but no way! I am sorry he has died, it looks like it was a hard struggle.
It's good to cruise beside the sea though. It's kind of levelling (excuse my pun), to be at sea level, to be right there at the edge of a vast sea that reaches around the world to all of you. I feel connected with the world when I'm on the coast. And I've been a bit down lately so I think that kind of connection is good.

And so to bed. Have a good day. I have been reading a harrowing tale of a girl from Sierra Leone who lost her hands, followed by the story of the girl who was hit by napalm in Viet Nam, and now I'm onto a woman who broke out of the Mormon church. Fun reading, but once I am not so tired, I'm going to do some writing. I can't stop that. And I am looking forward to that.
Ciao, dudes.

nearly there

2009-12-01T04:22:51Z

hi team! i'm in an airport and i have a few minutes free time - 15 to be exact but it took a while to get here. I've been on a conference for DRSs, that's Directors of Religious Studies down here in Christchurch. It's been fun. DRSs are usually really nice people because it's a hard and religious job and you have to be special to even be able to do it LOL! So a lot of really NICE people. And I'm even being serious! Now I'm on my way back to see what chaos has ensued at home and at school.

So I'll catch up with you when I get home! I am BACK!

My world and welcome to it...

2009-11-17T10:50:05Z

It's been frantic but it's nearly over now. Last week we had the final week of senior students and while some colleges seemed to get rid of theirs from Monday to Wednesday, we stuck it through to the bitter end with the Year 11s and 12s leaving on Friday. So I had to organise the leavers' liturgies for each year level (although I got to delegate a couple as I was on a course). I also had to organise the school Thanksgiving Mass on Wednesday, held in our gym so tricky to create atmosphere. We solved it by curving the chairs instead of straight rows. Turned out to be a lovely Mass although the priest didn't arrive until 9.59am (Mass was due to start at ten) and he took well over an hour to say the Mass - funnily though, the girls were good and we had a good time. Big relief to me.

We also had junior exams last week and had to have them all marked, first in class organised and junior reports written, all before the end of tomorrow. I had to coordinate the junior exams as I am head of the department. My other teachers in my department all shy away from computers. Odd, huh.

I'm trying to get there. I was going to do all my reports today but at morning tea time I took my Sister-of-Mercy-in-training out for coffee. I felt a bit odd just as I went to sip my coffee, like my jaw had gotten stuck under my ear. Well, by the time we left the coffee shop, I had a huge golfball like swelling in front of my ear and it felt like a rock! Somewhat perturbed, we drove back to school and I phoned my GP's nurse. I felt like I was turning into the Incredible Hulk. In the end I went to the After Hours, who said it was glands and I was about to be very sick with some throat infection... (not happened yet but maybe in the morning? he couldn't treat me since I wasn't actually sick yet...) and after school I went to my own GP who said it could be that or a partially blocked something or other, oh hang on, I think Parotid gland, a salivary thing. I raised the concern of Bell's Palsy returning (had that in Feb 04) so just to be safe he has given me five days of steroids to take with breakfast. I shall be high as a kite tomorrow at work... you know, when I got that virus last time, it was the first time I talked to Elaine on the phone. She phoned all the way from Scotland to see how I was. That was one of the happiest days ever. We had such fantastic conversations over the following year or so. I have to admit I still miss her so much. She was my best friend then.

So, I'm going to bed with a still-swollen side of my jaw. I hope it all just goes away before the morning. I don't want any infections or paralysis or anything else! My ears are itching...

On other fronts, the Codfish collapsed at Mass on Sunday. He has occasional faints from blood pressure being too high but this time he just couldn't seem to get back on his feet. We had two doctors in the 'audience' who came up to help him and I had to reassure everyone that it wasn't so unusual for him to collapse. We had to call an ambulance in the end as he just seemed off still and our elderly retired priest came and said Mass for us. By then everyone was crowded like sardines in the meeting room and they had a hilarious fast consecration in there rather than go back into the church!

Still mourning the passing of Caramello, our sweet little guinea pig, but having a lot of fun with the kitten and the rabbit being good friends. I said to Steve yesterday, what kind of life is this where I am talking to a rabbit in the living room while a kitten stands on my shoulders...

Still haven't read the Nick Earls book. It's definitely not here and no one I asked to get it in Brisbane has. SO I'll order it for myself for Christmas. I decided to read The Thompson Gunner again to make up for it as I don't own that one either. I suspect Nick isn't so popular here because of occasional way he knocks Kiwis in his books... we're not that bad, actually. I guess it helps if it gets a laugh out of the Aussies but it kind of hurts when I so badly like being a fan.

Finn is away this week on a school camping/tramping/boat trip in the Abel Tasman National Park down south. I took him (very nervous he was too) to the ferry yesterday morning at dawn. He was telling me his cousin Max was doing the cooking for his little group. What do you do, I asked. Well, Mr Finnimore told us if we're not cooking then we're to stay the hell out of the way! I suggested Finn could lead grace with his friends. He mulled over that, suggesting he could pray for his dead grandfather, his dead cat and his two dead guinea pigs. He immediately shed a few tears and said, "crap!" What's wrong, I asked. Crap, he said again, the boys at the ferry will think I'm crying because I am going to miss you!

Asher is finally excelling at school in his own class and is very proud of himself. It took him over a year at college to work out how to really work as your teachers want you to (helped along with a little financial bribery on my part to get him off to a good start!)! Having finished Wellington Rep soccer he's now selected for his school athletic juniors team. He's very happy. He got two awards at the College Sports Dinner, too.

Christy has finished three art portfolios and has two Level 3 externals to sit, one tomorrow, one next week. She's doing fine and just got accepted to Massey University Bachelor of (Fashion) Design with Honours, four more years' work. She is very lucky. She had a lovely prizegiving at her high school, a nice mixture of formal and informal, with a phenomenal Kapa Haka group chanting from the back. It was very moving. Christy won three awards! One $50 cash for Excellent Attendance, and two Contribution to Class (the person who made the best contribution in Year 13 subject classes), one for Design and one for Fabrics. She was so happy! What a great time she's had at Wellington High. I'm so glad she went there for that final year of school.

Well, that was all pretty insular. So I'll take myself and my itching ears off to bed now. I have missed you all but honestly, it's been so incredibly busy and the children have sucked up all my time at home. I can't wait for the holidays and some writing time. I just want to sit, play the guitar, do some little bits of writing... in fact, just to sit... *g*
Oh and the other night my friend turned up and said, let me film you talking about exam stress in families (he was having some himself with his children, I think!!) So if you want to hear me rabbiting on, go here *snort* don't comment on the hair, thanks very much, it'd been a long day and it was half past seven in the evening!)
http://www.inspirationaltv.net/

mundane and a little bit sad

2009-10-25T09:33:59Z

I cleaned the fridge today. I also cleaned the door, where all the magnets are. And I pulled the fridge out of its tight little alcove and dusted behind it. *shudder* I'm trying to find time to paint the kitchen so I need to keep cleaning corners.
Yesterday our guinea pig passed away. I wept. The vet had tissues. I miss him so much already. I was getting a carrot out of the fridge when I remembered he isn't there - the rabbit doesn't like carrots much. sad sad sad. Poor wee Caramello. I hope he finds his old buddy Cocoa!

And it's been a very stressful couple of weeks. I am SO freaking stressed. People nag me for stuff left, right and centre. Even after mass today there was a freaking queue of people asking me for decisions, comments and stuff. But on we go. Can't stop now although I'm desperate for a day off during the week, just so I could get a chance to be ALONE for a short period of time. I need a brief virus. I can hardly wait for when the seniors leave. OMG. Two weeks down, three to go. Then they are GONE. I will lose over one hundred students! Then I might get mysteriously ill. I need a day before the end of term as then my own children are home as well. I just want to be ALONE! ...says she, sitting with kitten on lap.

At school we've been raising money for Samoa, praying the rosary (not a prayer I particularly like but I'm just leading it for October)... it's busy at school just now. I have a lot of stressed out seniors trying to pass their various levels before the final cut off date shortly.

So. Better things to come. In just three weeks.
oh and I have three teenagers in the house now. Thanks, Moth, for Finn's gorgeous ecard! xxxx
He loved it.

For MOTH

2009-10-21T05:11:38Z

For ELIPER

2009-10-21T05:02:20Z

HAPPY DIWALI!!! and an Inkheart warning...

2009-10-10T10:55:22Z

Today was a day of mixed emotions, the two-week break drawing to a close and horrific, cold, sleety weather this morning, rain coming in sideways and a cruel southerly. But it got better as the day wore on. Still cold though. SOme interesting things seen today...
*the waves crashing over the breakwater at Lyall Bay like mighty mushroom clouds thirty feet high before thundering and rolling into the curve of the bay.
*a fire engine following me tonight as I went to pick Christy up - I pulled over to let it pass - in the dark it was mightily impressive and I followed it through the Mt Vic tunnel watching its lights swing around on the bricks.
*driving Finn and friends home from a party this evening - Finn observed the many religions in the car - a Jew, a Hindu, a Catholic and... his mother, an RE teacher! (RE = Religious Education). We dropped the Hindu off at the Temple for Diwali celebrations.
*a good jolt of an earthquake this afternoon. Christy and I just paused, felt the roll, then got on with what we were doing.
*watching the kitten and the rabbit playing tag in the rain this morning was just priceless
*two mighty rainbows this evening arcing across the harbour caught in the crossfire between waning rain and the setting sun
I guess all things are blessings if we can see them with a positive attitude, huh!

The earthquake was 4.8 but very close, only 20 km NW away. I guess that's Porirua...

And btw if you were a fan of the Inkheart series, Christy's most beloved books, do NOT, say again, do NOT see the movie. It is the crappiest crap crappest piece of crap, not only for the horrifically WRONG choice of Brendon My Name is Ugly Fraser for Mo, or the baddest bad acting in the world from the daughter, the mother, the aunt, and many other cast members... the impossibly far-from-the-plot-of-the-book plot... it is absolutely Awful. What was Cornelia thinking when she wanted Fraser to act in the movie of her book? He's so not Mo. I loved the book's Mo - he should be a gentle, nerdy, slightly confused, fragile, hurt kind of character, lost without his wife and afraid of his reading power, and Fraser is not right at all! The daughter should be bright, strong, resourceful and capable. This one was just plain blonde... "Dad, you can tell me now, I'm old enough. Where is my mother?"
And every EVERY book character had diagonal typing emblazoned across their faces to show they had come out of books. One or two might have been clever but all of them? Are we meant to be that thick that we need that information? It was so lame.
OMG! Christy groaned, swore, snorted and protested through the whole movie then we took it back to the video store.

Anyone who still cares I'm alive LOL

2009-10-05T10:52:20Z

Hey there. I can't really describe to you how busy I've been, I haven't been to bed before midnight and up at six for weeks until this last week when we've been off school. Not that I got a break, it was Asher's Wellington Rep soccer tournament from Sunday to Wednesday. He had worked really hard to get in the team and is very proud of his name on his own football shirt. Also, Christy has had a dress she designed for the Wearable Arts season (WOW) and it was put in the gift shop window at our National Museum, Te Papa. I'll have to go find you a photo to see.
I also had Confirmation in our parish with nineteen children getting confirmed by the Archbishop under my organisation. Then a wannabe Sister of Mercy who spends two days a week with me in my classroom at school made her First Profession last Saturday and I had to go to that in the Cathedral and be a Eucharistic Minister! OMG I was so nervous, Sisters of Mercy, five priests and the Archbishop again!
I also had an essay on the Synoptic Gospels due the last day of the term. That was hard slog.
I was flat out at school in the last weeks of term with senior report evening, reports to write (I have over 100 senior students) and Mercy Day on the last day of term, which of course is something I have to be in charge of.
It's been one thing after another and there honestly hasn't been a time when I could really justify just sitting here and looking out for my LJ friends. I thought this last week would have been more relaxing but with the soccer and then one of Finn's friends did a 'mean thing' to him that kind of traumatised me a bit the last few days, and I also had to go to a Parish meeting to plan our new outlook, and my boss and I packed up a case of stationery donated by the girls for a poor school in Tonga that went today hopefully, and I have consequently had a lot on my mind. Not to mention the awful, frightful tsunami in Samoa. We work and teach with so many Samoans, it's a big percentage at our school, I can't imagine how the girls will be feeling next week when they come back to school after the break. I assume they will want to do something. I feel such enormous sorrow for the people of Samoa, Tonga, American Samoa and the earthquakes in Sumatra, the Philippines with the typhoon, and in Sicily too even though they'll get the financial support all those other places really need.
I did get some badges ordered for my Mercy Crew, that's been on my mind for a while. My cousin can organise to do it at cost for me. I had to check with the Bursar today that we could cover the $500 outlay - the girls will have to buy their own badges! $5 each. Hopefully that stock will last me a few years of school.
And what else... I flew my mother down for this weekend so she could see Christy's dress in the window. She goes back tomorrow. Unfortunately our whole country has been hit by a sub-Antarctic cold front trapped between a big High to the south and a big Low up north so we have unexpected freezing temperatures and all the central North Island roads are closed. Lucky we didn't drive north this time.
We went to WOW last Wednesday too. It was fantastic as usual although I thought last year's designs were actually better. Christy wants to enter next year's one now, after her success with the dress on the mannequin. She and two others had a big photo of themselves and an article about their work in the newspaper on Friday, so she is really buzzing.
So. I have missed catching up on your posts. I am truly sorry. I'll understand if you'd rather not be friends with such a disastrous soul. But I'll try to have a look at what's been going on. The only thing I've done for me at all in several weeks is - I've been doing some Chinese brush painting this week while we watched tv in the evening. It's been fun. I can kind of paint bamboo and random calligraphy with the traditional brush painting set I bought in China centuries ago!!
Anyway, I'll find a pic of Christy's dress...
Well, here's the night view of the entry to the Museum - her dress is in the left hand window - there were three other students with dress designs as well. They had to do it all, design, dye fabrics, create and sew the dresses. They don't have to move though, just sit on the mannequins!

Here's a closer view

The wrist decoration

And a night view!

We have to take it down tomorrow morning. It's been up for a fortnight.

A birthday card...

2009-09-19T11:25:18Z

Spring is in the air...

2009-09-10T11:20:17Z

Some pics to share. I'm trying to get my act together.
Our jasmine is flowering again

Forget-me-nots - they were my grandmothers, then my mothers. Now I'm growing them

Kitten reaches for the camera

And our beloved Jack

Kitten in the dollshouse

2009-09-10T10:52:48Z

A while back I couldn't find the kitten... then we heard a little creak and there he was peeping through the front door!!! And yeah, he'd gone in that way.

natesmountain @ 2009-09-08T21:14:00

2009-09-08T09:46:27Z

It's been hard to get a moment to get here, and I'm using the dud laptop Christy uses with the line down the screen! I had an awful week last week but things are much better and less busy. We had end of assessments and senior reports to write, and I teach a lot of senior students, just over a hundred. So it's a lot of reports. Still, done now, and a lot of my marking is done too. I'm hoping to have a quieter end of year but of course there are a lot of things to do yet. We're looking at integrating our Year 9 English, Social Studies and Religious Education programmes next year so I'm going to a meeting about that on Thursday. Should be interesting, if we can get all of us three heads of department to ...co-operate... We'll have the librarian and the guidance counsellor there too so that might help. It'll be fun to be part of setting up something new and challenging.

I wrote some of the third part of my swimming 'trilogy' in my head on the way home from work yesterday. That's the first real writing I've even thought about for weeks. I'd pretty much stopped for a while. But I knew I couldn't leave it forever. It was such a relief to feel a story brimming.
It's just such a busy life at the moment. Every moment seems to be full of action or work or not getting what I wanted done or trying to get some sleep or providing food, or getting the laundry done, or getting the children to help and not get annoyed with one another!! Three teenagers in the house is absolute madness. And I mean madness.

There's a hint of spring. I took some pics of the garden on Saturday. If I find some time I'll share them with you. Right now I'd better get the boys off to bed, since my husband is away up north this week (as opposed to down South last week)...

natesmountain @ 2009-09-03T23:23:00

2009-09-03T11:24:49Z

TO MICROJOTZ HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR THE DAY, DEAR PHIL!
SORRY< AM UNDER SOME STRESS BUT I WILL MAKE YOU A CARD SOON XXXXXX

natesmountain @ 2009-08-30T23:41:00

2009-08-30T12:12:30Z

I'm on catch up mode again. I just can't get a moment to myself to do the things I yearn to do. I've even started to WANT to do some writing, but can't afford a minute at the moment. Some time between now (nearly midnight Sunday night) and Wednesday I have to write about 95 senior reports! OMG... I think it will be a late night tomorrow night.

Yesterday was amazing. I woke up slowly, feeling tired after a hell of a week, and decided it was a lovely day, I wouldn't even bother listening to the cancellations on the radio. I don't know why, because I ALWAYS check that. I hadn't even turned on the computer yet as Finn's game was due at 10.45. Then at five to eight the phone rang. I was still in my pjs. It was one of the mums from Finn's soccer team telling me the game had been transferred to NINE o'CLOCK! That was in an hour, in Khandallah, quite a drive away from here! OMG! I had to phone everyone in the team, get them up and out of the house, pick up three other kids apart from taking Finn (who had been asleep) and amazingly, we all got to the game on time! AND we won! And for the bbq in the afternoon, it was brilliant, sunny, warm and we sat outside with wine and sausages saying, how can this be winter!

Tonight it is a howling storm, and I really mean rain rain rain. I just drove my bro-in-law home and could hardly see the road... driving rain? Yes and NO!

All I do at the moment is run from one activity to another. I may implode shortly. Watch this space...

Oh and I've been reading 'The Jane Austen Book Club'. It's not my cup of tea but I did get one good bit out of it... but anyway, I was reading it this morning before I got up, and it just ended, bam, like that, with a whole heap of pages left! Turns out there are literary notes, references etc. What a let down LOL! So now I'm going to read Freedom Writers. I've seen the DVD a zillion times so I'll finally read the actual book/diaries of students that sparked the movie.

And tonight I held a baby, just a few days old, our best friends' son's baby. I got each of my children to have a hold and the boys were just 'wow'! It's a really cute baby, half Edinburgh, half Orlando-Floridian, made in NZ! I've never been particularly good at baby stuff but I can state that for sure he's a beautiful baby. I'll never hold Liz's baby but at least I know what it feels like to be holding another newbie! Just miraculous.

Nickfanwritewantneedbookstufflikethat and I'm SO TIRED

2009-08-22T00:46:28Z

Still frantically busy but there should be a brief hiatus this coming week as Senior Exams continue and my work is all internally assessed and I've NEARLY got everything marked that they have done this term. It's been a mission. I've just had SO much to do, all day every day.

I loved seeing eliper's really cute baby - how did I miss that post? I'm so glad she pointed it out to me. And there was Nick with the baby. OMG, that just made me fizz with long-buried fannishness. I immediately wanted to start writing again but I'm going to keep suppressing that for a while longer. *sigh* I so want to write... I wish Nick's books were big here, so he'd come here. I guess he'd have to stop knocking Kiwis in his books first... yeah. Oh well.

Having a tough time at school with a couple of things, but you don't need to hear about that here. I have some amazing students and work with some great teachers, and I just have to embrace that and move along. I've spent a lot of time out of the staffroom this week at school and that's been good. Swings and roundabouts, huh. We spent three lunch hours sorting clothes for three needy families.

One more soccer game to go. Asher had his basketball final last night, soccer final next week. Finn's team just has one game left. They haven't won much.
We have confirmation in the parish in September and I'm getting the little children ready for that again. That's been fun so far, they are great kids. I got them to say their names and something from church that started with the same letter as their name, and we got things like, My name is Louie and my word is Liturgy, Andrew kept his own name, and the last one in the circle said in a tiny little voice, My name is Grace and my word is God. It was ...nice!

Our kitten caught his first big blackbird this morning, but there was a huge struggle and the mighty blackboard broke free, sitting in a huff on the fence looking ruffled. He's always come to our deck table to steal guinea pig food and it must have been a rude awakening to have the kitten leap upon him. There are feathers everywhere. The rabbit seems a little traumatised, too.

Still haven't secured Nick's book, I guess my brother forgot I asked him to pick it up. He lives in Brisbane, too. Still, he's not given me much thought over the past thirty years so what could I expect? I'll have to get a bookshop to order it for me, or go on the net, I guess. That might be the answer...

We have to go to a birthday lunch now. It's a GLORIOUS sunny, calm, perfect day, for Winter! Amazing Wellington. And I need to clean the house... see you later.

natesmountain @ 2009-08-16T13:46:00

2009-08-16T02:06:33Z

It's been so long since I could concentrate on something other than all the other things I have to concentrate on for even five minutes and sit here and post. The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of frenetic activity where I haven't been to bed before midnight or later, where I've been up every morning at six, where the family has been demanding and there's just been so much to do. I even took the plunge and tried to ask for an extension to an assignment I had and in the end just wrote the damn thing because the rules for asking for an extension took even more effort than to do the essay!

So I've gotten through the Catholic Education Convention, Combined Mass (a thousand teenagers and five minutes before it started the other guy's laptop didn't work with the projector and I had to get mine going and change things and blah blah - it went well though!). I have had this essay to write on the Synoptic Gospels, I've had assessments by the zillion to mark and moderate, I've had a bioethics inservice course to attend, Finn had a parent interview night, we've had soccer and basketball games to attend, I've been to the PacWell Polynesian festival which took all night last Wednesday - rolled Finn into bed at 11.30 pm - overall it just hasn't stopped for a fortnight. Still, I'm fine. Just not able to do the things I'd like, like LJ!

It was a beautiful night last night. I picked Christy and friends up from a party and the sea was calm, the yellow street lights along Cobham Drive like a line of flaming torches reflected in the sea. After a beautiful sunny day, no wind, it felt like summer was just around the corner. And technically we're still in winter here but it's a pretty temperate climate.

I have to bike over to school this afternoon, get some work done. Someone from my music group wants me to come up to hear some music later and friends want to play Trivial Pursuit later after dinner! Should be a fun evening. But there is also housework to do and I have a book on the Gospel of Judas that is shouting for me to read!!

My laptop is terminal - the LCD is smashed to buggery but we were able to retrieve everything off it, thank goodness, thank you to Moth and Viv who offered backup and helpful hints! I have put it all on the external hard drive now so no fears of any more serious losses. And in a way, it's good to learn to let go of stuff too. I sometimes struggle with that! But the Takahe laptop is no more. I have to decide how and when to replace it now. *sniff* is in mourning all the same.

The kitten is amazing. He roams all the neighbouring gardens for hours, climbs tall trees, hikes up the cabbage trees like a Fijian up a coconut tree! I am sure he'll find a way onto the roof soon. He chases the rabbit round the garden, then the rabbit chases him. He sleeps curled up in our arms like a baby, or sleeps on our heads in the middle of the night. He's a very curious cat. Plays with water in the basin, drinks soapy water in the sink, and queues up for his turn in the warm tiled shower box where he slurps up the excess water and leans on the warm tiles! He's a joyful, fun loving kitten and we are blessed to have him.

I'd better go do some work at school. Take care, guys, I'm thinking of you all. I have many friends on Facebook, the number grows every week, but you are people who can really communicate. I think that's important. Twitter and Facebook are so ...now. Temporary. Brief. Just snatches in passing. And from you I got TWO postcards this week *g*

And OMG Wilby Wonderful was on tv the other night!!! Such a beautiful movie.

natesmountain @ 2009-08-06T22:53:00

2009-08-06T11:01:32Z

Fell over cord, laptop crashed to floor. Laptop broken. Deep sorrow but had to keep it inside. All my stories, all my writing, all in there.

Geeks on Wheels tomorrow.

*is in mourning of the Takahe laptop* may sentence the death knell of writing... then again, a friend returned today from a massive gay swimming gathering in Copenhagen and said my last two short stories, about the swim meet, were just about spot on in every way *blush*!

But alas, they're trapped in there too...

RIP

Catching up again...

2009-08-02T10:45:01Z

Okay team, I'm behind pretty severely here. I shall get to your LJs asap...
But here, let's catch up. I've had two weeks back at school, and still scrabbling to catch up after being sick before the holidays, I then had to prepare my classes for pretty much a week without me this past week. So I got through the first week and that was a tough one. They put in a new server at school and it just Didn't. Work. Properly. Old emails were unavailable and new emails were bouncing back all over town and I was trying to arrange twelve billets, a local one-day conference thingy and get ready for a convention.

Well, we got there, billets in place, a Mercy day reflection for about fifty Mercy school students and then the big Catholic Education Convention got under way. A thousand people enrolled at considerable cost, including my Principal and me! And it was like a three-day flight. You sit in a seat, mostly in the Michael Fowler Centre, our prime concert and convention site, maybe for a couple of hours, then you queue up for coffee, sit again, listen to another presentation, queue for lunch, go to a seminar or two, back for coffee... and on and on. Still, it was stimulating, I networked with a heap of people, and got some good ideas. Had lunch with the Archbishop and a couple of nuns one day, so feel we're back on better terms! On the flip side, I was exhausted after being incredibly nice to so many people for so many days! Still, it was great to see quite a few of them, and it was neat to have so many people thrilled to see me!! That was nice. I don't work in a big school, so on a regular basis, I mostly see the same 20 or 30 staff members. To be in a big crowd, with heaps of people I haven't seen for ages milling around, it was refreshing. I got to play the guitar for the Mass, a thousand people, and we sat on the stage! I also had to attend the student dinner to keep an eye on that, as about sixty students attended the Convention from around the country, and we held it at our school. I was the lone teacher there while everyone else went to the Big Dinner at a hotel. *sigh* still, we had fun.

On other fronts, the kitten has been a blast. He's the most inquisitive thing, demanding, determined, curious and lively. We introduced him to the Great Outdoors a couple of weeks ago and he now roams off for up to an hour in neighbouring gardens. I fear for his safety but we have to let him go find out things for himself. We also introduced him to Jack, the rabbit, and they now run and play together on our deck (or under it). The kitten stalks the rabbit, then just as he pounces, the rabbit turns and confronts him. Kitten takes off with rabbit after it, then a moment later, the kitten is chasing the rabbit. It's very funny. No aggression involved to date.
I had to pay $80 yesterday because the kitten caught a bumble bee while I was watching him, and it stung or bit him (the vet says they can bite) and after half an hour one foot swelled up to double the size of the other one! I had to get him anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine injections. And boy, did he yell!

What else? I have so many stories I'd like to share but I also still have a ton of work to read up before I teach tomorrow and it's nearly bed time.

Finn was wearing one of Christy's old dresses tonight. He found it when he was clearing up his room, it's a narrow Indian blue muslin dress, sleeveless, and he immediately pulled it on. He wore it through dinner and everything - OMG. He said to Asher, 'I like wearing this, you go to the loo and just lift the dress, go, then pull it down again!' As he undressed to go to bed, he was yelling, 'help, how do you get out of this thing?' and a moment later, in mock shock, 'Hey, OMG, I have a penis!'

Well, I have to go read about Old Testament prophets. Funny, I was out to dinner last night and one parent, whose son goes to school with Finn, said the religion teacher was mad.
Why, we asked.
Because he said he believes in the devil and doesn't believe in evolution.
Well, I said, what's wrong with that? He's a religion teacher. He has to teach that God created the earth and everything in it.
She nearly blew a blood vessel. 'But that's wrong!' she exclaimed. 'It's not school policy.'
I said I didn't think subject matter was school policy, that evolution was for the science department and that creationism was a valid option, no matter how it quite took place. I said I don't teach evolution. I do teach creation, no matter how that developed.
But this can't be in the school syllabus, she spluttered.
Of course it is, I countered. It's a Presbyterian school. They have to teach the Bible.
Then she tried to tell me that as a Catholic I wouldn't know anything about Presbyterians. I told her I teach about most religions.
She changed the topic. Fun night...

OMG better go. Talk to you later.

Four Seasons In One Day...

2009-07-26T10:45:10Z

While Christy has her memory chip in the PC I'll show you a couple of her pics from our journey last week
Here is Mt Ngauruhoe covered in snow

It was much warmer in Tauranga. Finn does a handstand by the glassy estuary.

On the way back we struck fog. We're not used to fog. It's too windy in Wellington most of the time...

And as we drove, it just got thicker and thicker

Then we arrived in Taupo and it was all gone! Weird weather driving around NZ. Four seasons in one day indeed.