A few camping pictures.

Tai in the river, she did eventually jump in a swim a bit. She liked walking in the water a lot, I thought she would be more scared but she was a really excited to play in the water.

We stayed in the the middle of 2 huge mountains

Down by the river below the camp ground.

When I got up in the morning the clouds were really low. When we drove down the mountain we drove through them. It was a good last weekend in Taiwan.

One last Monday

This is it, my last week here. It is a bit surreal and I am overwhelmed with the packing and such that I have to get finished. My goal is to get myself organized by tomorrow night so that I can really enjoy my last few days here. I have plans to go out with some friends on Wednesday night and then someone else on Thursday and then I leave on Friday after work.

I had a great time camping, there where some transportation challenges but once I got there I had fun and enjoyed breathing clean air all weekend. Tai had an amazing time and really enjoyed the river. It was interesting to watch her with the other dogs. I think that she thinks she is a person and the barking of other dogs has always scared here. She did have a brief encounter with the side of cliff when she fell off as she was running away from another dog but she was rescued by a friend and all as well, I kept her on her leash after that. I will post a few photos tonight, they are mostly of Tai but the place that we were staying was beautiful.

I am off to get a little packing done before work, I'll be back later.

There are 7 more days of life in Taipei

Okay the delete key on my keyboard is broken, it make s typing really challenging and much slower than usual, actually now that I have published that for all of cyberspace to read it just decided to behave, now it works. Crazy.

This is my last week in Taipei, I have been running around after work like a chicken with my head cut off ( no one here would know what that means because they sell the chickens with the heads still on and they eat them) trying to get all the things that I want to get to bring home with me. There has been a great deal of shopping going on and if anyone out there has any requests speak now or get nothing.

It is a cloudy day, this is sad because I am going camping this weekend, it seems that the weather here always tries to interfere with my plans. It always seems to be nice during the week and then rain on the weekend. I have packed a poncho and some garbage bags for under the tent to act as a tarp and hopefully I will I have fun even if it is wet. I am taking Tai, a last party before I send the poor girl to a kennel for a month. I think she will enjoy the space and hopefully like the river. I am a little concerned about the level of care she will get while there but it is one of the best in the city and they have outdoor runs for them so I think that she will be ok.
In case you are wondering where I will be when here's the plan:

Friday June 17 leave for Bangkok to meet CJ, she's coming the next day.
We will travel until July 13 - Northern Thailand, Laos and Cambodia - maybe Vietnam, you need visa for Vietnam and given our time constraints I am not sure if we will make it there, we'll see , the whole schedule is very flexible.
July 14 fly back to Taipei, get the dog, take her to the vet and doggy immigration office. Shop like crazy for any last minute things I feel I can't live without.
July 16 fly to Victoria
July 23 - day to trip to Saltspring to stroke some sheep. Michelle is coming, anyone else?
July 29 fly to Ottawa and find a JOB.


That's it, sounds like a good month and a half to me. Guess what it is time to leave for work, surprise, surprise, let me leave you with this little link to something that I think is great and rather cute. Have a great weekend, see you on Monday.

PS I still have 3 folks waiting for Chibi's - I will be at the LYS next week for another look, last week they were still out, I'll see what I can do.

Time flies

My house looks like a typhoon has come through. Tai has decided that the couch pillows are for her to chew on and drag around the house. She would be really happy if I threw one for her but encouraging her bad behaviour is where I have to draw the line. I am trying to get some order in the chaos that is my life at the moment but that would require packing and in many ways I am just not ready to begin that yet.

I stopped at the store tonight on my way home from dinner and guess what they had passionfruit. This is one of my favorite things to eat and I will miss when I leave. It can be hard to find but today I got 4 about 2.50, it was good deal. It was the only good deal I got but the rest of the food was for this weekends camping trip. I will enjoy a weekend in the mountians with all my expensive imported gluten free food. I just noticed that you can see Tai trying to lick my hand, it turns out she likes passionfruit as much as she likes mangos. Alright I must go and be productive, maybe I will pack a book or something.

Look I finally finished something

I went shopping on Friday and bought a cheap MP3 player. I looked at cases and they were all to much money so I came home and knit this up yesterday. It is made from mystery yarn that I got at a bookstore near my school. I used a chinese bead as the button. I should of made it a little longer but it will be ok when it stretches a little.

When I wasn't sleeping, knitting or working I was doing other fun things

The orchids at the flower market

Tai and treat she would not put down

The view from the top of Taipei 101

The gecko that lives on my kitchen window at night

My class practicing for graduation

A little tiny frog on Mount Yang Min Shan

It was a funny day on the mountian, it was raining but the sun was shining

A great old staircase, everything was really green and because of the weather there were very few people there

I am not sure what it says but I liked it.

T and A knitting on our last day of school, they really loved it.

I went out to the waterfront with a friend and saw some idle dragon boats. The festival is this coming weekend but I am going camping instead.

Here is the fantastic fabric sent to my mom for backtack, I am not sure what she plans to make but I bet it will be great.

Backtack

My mom says that her BackTack goodies have arrived but she hasn't yet sent me a picture to post. As soon as I have one I will put it up aling with some of the other wonderful things I have been meaning to show you.

I could

I could be....
- packing
- doing dishes
- cleaning up the apartment
- organizing the heaps of photos I have been meaning to post.
- getting dressed and going to the tax office
- answering neglected emails
- walking the dog
- updating my resume and writing a cover letter for a job that I want in Ottawa

But instead I am reading blogs, drinking tea and eating gluten freee chocolate chip cookie dough ( why make the cookies when you can eat the dough) in my pj's while I enjoy the fact that I do not have to work today. I have to work part of tomorrow instead but I don't want to talk about it.

Here's to 14 more days Taiwian.

Today is the last day of school (sung to the tune of Mary had a little lamb)

Today is the last day of school
day of school
day of school
Today is the last day of school in the year.

I will miss them when they're gone
when they're gone
when they're gone
I will miss them when they're gone BUT I'm not sad to go.

It's a bittersweet day, after spending 185 days with these little people it will be hard to say good- bye to them. I will most likely just burst into tears and let that be my good-bye, I did yesterday. This year has been complicated, I learned a lot about myself, children and teaching but there were times when I was ready to pack up and leave because of the stupidity of the things that the administration chose to harass me over.

Regardless it feels good to be finished, I still lhave to work for 2 more weeks but I will not have any kids - slave labour for me.
Okay, I'm off a little early today as I need a vanilla latte from Starbucks before I get to school.

ps - they have LOVED learning to knit, I have learned a lot about picking up dropped stitches as well.

We have a winner

Well actually 2 winners. Marina and Michelle. It was random, I drew names and those are the 2 that came out. I am not sure what your going to get yet, I'll have to see what I can find. Thanks for playing. It's fun to know that there are lots of folks out there who like to play, I'll have to do it again. Just so you all know I brought her home in my fanny pack, yes she fit in it, she won't anymore though!

Have a great weekend, I am off to do something out of the city, what has yet to be decided but I am going to meet friends and we will decide where we want to go.

Converting the world one child at a time

Kindergarten Graduation was today, the kids did well and I managed to get through the whole thing with no major mishaps. They were cute as ever and I am going to miss them so much. 3 more day of classes and then they are gone, another chapter finished.

Look what we did yesterday! .


He has been harrassing me to teach him all year but there was never a chance. With 3 days left of school we don't have much planned and this was the perfect time. I, (being the prepared teacher that I am) got some chopsticks out, sanded the tips and away we went. It was such a huge success that they all want to learn and so off I went to LYS. I got some double points, put beads on the tips to act as ends and on Monday we are all going to knit the day away. They all really wanted to learn but the chopticks were so small that it would of been hard to get a lot of them going. Yippee for the end of the year. They are all going to be lefties though because try as I may I just can't knit with my right.

I am off to have a drink!!! I so deserve it, remember that huge to do list a few weeks back, it's almost finished and all the work related bits are now done. I even mailed home one box and packed another today, Thailand in 20 days.

PS I will draw names for prizes from my contest in the morning, or maybe later tonight. I had people enter I did not even know were out there, thanks for entering.

Tai

There seems to be some doubts about how little she really was, so for your entertainment here are the pictures. I had her about 4 days in these photos, long enough to feed her heaps of food and take her to the vet to make sure she would survive. She's bigger now not but not huge as far as beagles go.

I think she licked the camera after this picture.

Wows

3 wows today

I only have 7 more days with my class and that includes today.

I overdosed on allergy medicine last night but slept through the night without waking up sneezing uncontrollably

I already have people answering and they are all correct, what good readers I have.

Gotta go make my lunch. Have a good day

FYI - I'll take answers until Friday, whenever Friday is for you.

Contest...

Okay so I have been blogging for a year and I decided to follow the lead of some others and have a contest. It's simple really, all you have to do is find the answer the the question below and email it to me at bagknitteratyahoodotca. Please email me your answer instead of leaving it the comments and I will draw from among the correct ones for 2 prizes, both will be a suprise from my summer travels. I don't know what yet, that really makes it a suprise.

Okay here's the question - When I bought Tai how did I get her home to my apartment? The answer is here in the archives but you will have to look for it. It quite specific and you need to tell me exactly what I did to be correct.

Happy Searching and happy 1st birthday to me and my blog.

*Addition of a clue* I think this might be a little hard for some of you and I know that many people have other things to do rather than spend hours reading my blog archives so here's a hint. Tai is almost a year old. That's all you get though.

a day in the life of me

3:00 am - wake up having yet another severe allergy attack - this has happened every night for about a week, doesn't matter what I do I still wake up sneezing in the wee hours of the morning, I finally got back to sleep.

6:15 - bang, bang, bang, bang - gunshots perhaps. No a funeral procession going down my street with firecrackers, drums and loud music

9:00 am - Amazing race, season 7. I know who wins but I am enjoying anyway.

10:00 am - Phone calls to a variety of folks I love, answering emails and looking for Thailand hotels.

12:30 - Leave for an afternoon of shopping with a friend, bought some zip off pants for my summer trip.

4:30 return home, crank the AC and putter around the house, laundry to get going etc.

5:00 - More bangs, firecrackers galore as another funeral procession heads down my street, this was the biggest one yet. Tai is not afraid of the firecrackers but she is afraid of the drums - funny dog.

So far nothing too exciting... right, just an average day at 43 Fu Yang Jie.

5:15 - Landlords arrive and walk into apartment unannounced, I am only wearing a night shirt. I throw on some clothes and go out to meet them. They have another person with them and there is much conversing in Chinese, She is the lady from across the hall. Apartment here are bought one by one or floor by floor. It's kinda like a stack of duplexes at home. So they have to get her in on fixing the leak that has been driving me crazy since December. Well there is much going back and forth between her space and ours and lots of talking and hand motions and then they drag me over to the other ladies space to see what is happening and what do I see..... a wall of black mold! Yes the leak in my bedroom is water seeping in from her moldy rooftop patio and she has done nothing about it. Lucky me. My chronic cough, horrible allergies and constant sneezing when I am near this wall in my room all make more sense to me now.

They are replacing the roof and getting rid of the mold - the toxic black mold. But I have to tolerate it for 26 more days... at least I know why my allergies are so bad.


7:00 pm Landlords finally start to leave after much saying sorry, sorry, sorry for the mold and water in my room they left.
I made some soup for dinner. I watched CSI and I am moving my bed as far away from that wall as possible tonight.

In the home stretch

First a much belated thanks to all who commiserated with me over last Thursdays fire, thankfully we have all managed to put it behind us. The kidlets have recovered and all is well. Thanks Gina for the great e-card, it was exactly what I needed.

It's been a busy week, I have managed to get almost all of my work related stuff together and hopefully graduation will go off without a hitch next Saturday. I had a great dinner with Kimberli on Wednesday. We went to this fantastic Thai restaurant, the food was great and there is run down of the evening on her blog. I am so looking forward to eating Thai in THAILAND in 26 days. The giant to do list is getting smaller and I am getting excited.

Seeing Kimberli reminded me that I can't be in on SP5. Yes it's sad, but true. I will be all over the map this summer (literally) and I think the logistics might be to challenging. Oh well, hopefully I can be in on the next one. Should you want to sign up, I believe that you can until May 30 and there are already 350 participants!

This weekend I plan to beat this cold that is driving me crazy and try to get the some order in the apartment so I can start mailing things home. I decided to mail home a bunch a clothes and books but I am packing my stash... I wouldn't want that to get lost in the mail now would I. I will leave a bag here in Taipei and then pick it up when I get the dog on my way back through in July.

I am off to bike around town and run some errands, stationary store, electronics market and the LYS. There are still 2 people waiting for chibi's and I hope that the LYS finally has some more in stock. Have a great weekend

Coming up for air

Hmmm.... there is so much left to do this week and so much could still happen. Happy things, 2 Kimberli is coming at we are meeting up for dinner on Wednesday(that's tomorrow) and there are only 12 teaching days left.
There are things going on at work, some of them as a result of last weeks fire, others are just happening. Work is not going to be a fun place this week and I that's all I can say about that on the internet where anyone in the world may be reading.
I will be in Canada in 60 days, just in time to go to this, yes boys and girls the Saltspring Fiber Festival is kindly waiting for me to come back to BC before starting. Isn't that nice of them. I know that Michelle is going and I think the rest of you westcoasters need to go as well (Maureen and your little beagle too). It's not like I would ever make it to Maryland but this will be my own little westcoast shopping extravaganza.

Sadly I have to go that place that I do not want to go today.

This is what I woke up to this morning, pouring rain, thunder and lightening for the 5th day in a row. Great weather if you are a duck, oh well a chance for me to get some knitting finished. The blanket is on vacation today as I am tired of it. Instead I am working on this bag, but that's all I can say about as it is a gift. It's kinda fun but this is my second attempt, I frogged the first because it was to loose, smaller needles this time around.  

10 rows later, there's 101, the rain has stopped and the sun is thinking about shining.  

Sometimes it is important to share translations of signs and let them speak for themselves.  

Fire Rant

It started off like any other other morning, nothing to exciting. I got ready for my day and my kids started to arrive, 8:45 the principal starts blowing the fire alarm whistle, I look up from my art project, over to the 3 kids at the computer and say to her as she walks by, your kidding right. Why are we having a fire drill now? I'm not kidding there's a fire is the response. Another teacher hollers at me that there is a fire, I grab the 3 kids and start to leave, then have to go back for my emergency phone list and grab my bag while I am at it, I did not want to leave my passport in a burning school.

I hustle my 3 kids out the door, pick up 2 more who are exiting the elevator and head outside into the rain. We follow the routine and hustle all the kids across the street and in front of the bank. School has just opened and so we only have about 50 of our 100 students. There is some confusion while we sort out what has happened but finally everything is under control, everyone is out and the principal has managed to extinguish the electrical fire ( it was an air condtioner short).

But we can't go back in... so we sit outside in the rain for about 30 minutes well plans are made for what to do next. As phone calls are being made, parents are still dropping off their children. Who in their right mind would leave their child at school when it has been evacuated and all of the staff and kids are sitting outside in the rain! I wouldn't, but our teaching assistants kept on assuring the parents that all was well and parents believed them. I went from 5 kids to 13 while we were sitting on the street. I was annoyed but I was not at the end of the line where the kids were being left so there was little I could say or do.

FINALLY they get it together and we are hustling the 80 odd kids we now have to the school's owners apartment around the corner, in the pouring rain. We get the kids there, in the elevator, up to the 19th floor and into the apartment. Well the owner is the middle of moving ( I won't even begin to tell you about that story) and so her apartment is a pile of 1/2 packed boxes and no furniture. We move the kids around so that each class has space and then attempt to entertain them. Meanwhile the assistants are still accepting children, I get 3 more. So I am sitting in an empty room with 16 children and nothing, I mean nothing to do. We sang every song we know, 5 classes of kids singing different songs at the same time as a little overwhelming. We played every game I could think of and still we were sitting there on the floor 2 hours later. Finally I got nosy and found some paper and pens and so they could draw. That kept them quiet for awhile longer.

Eventually we hear that the school has been cleaned up, deemed safe and we can go back. Go back, I think we should send the kids home, I think we should of sent the kids home 2 hours ago! I think we should not of let their parents drop them off at all! Folks lets get a grip here we are talking about small children. But no we are going back to school even though one classroom is out of commission because the ceiling was on fire, but nope we'll go back and just shuffle those 16 kids around to other spaces.

We get back to the school and start to hear about what happened after we left, like the accountant not calling the fire department when instructed. Instead she need to come down 3 flights of stairs to our floor to see if there really was a fire. Even better there was an assistant who snuck back to the school to see what was happening (she was supposed to be helping me) and when instructed to bring books for the children and she said no, they did not need anything and were fine. Fine, we were pulling our hair out we were so not fine.

It was a long day, kids are traumatized, teachers exhausted and I am amazed at the lack of fire safety found in this country. This year was the 1st year that the school even had fire drills, could imagine evacuating 100 3 to 6 year olds if they had never ever practiced? I can't. The fire department when finally called took 30 minutes to arrive, I mean we are talking about 15 story building and there was no way for us to know if the fire was still smoldering in the ceiling tiles or such. The whole thing was just crazy.

Ok enough ranting, I must sleep. But that damn alarm clock is ringing again, someone below has and alarm that rings all the time, like every 20 minutes and it is starting to drive me a little crazy, especially at 2 am.

Backtack

hey there backtack match, check out the comments from the last post, (including my response full of typing mistakes) your answers are there. If you have any other questions let me know.

Bad Bloglines

Bloglines should come with a disclaimer - it can be addictive. Before bloglines I would surf for awhile while I drank my tea and that was that. Now I have so many blogs at my fingertips at all times. Let me just say that I am addicted an spend way to much time watching for that bright red x to appear on my blogline icon.

In other news I have all the stuff for my backtack match and am sending her fabric and such today, I hope she like it. The person who has mom is asking questions, if you have anymore feel free to ask. My mom likes bright colours, cute things and animals.

I had a decent weekend, had to work on Saturday morning. We had a "picnic" in a dirty gym with 57 loud elementary students. Then I went back to the school with the best intentions to get report cards finished but instead t went to Costco. I was planning on finishing them but going to Costco was far more interesting. I got 10 done so I have 22 left. I am one my way out the door early to get some more done. They are due next Friday.

I gotta be out the door in 4 minutes.

Happy Mother's Day to those of you in other time zones and I am not biter at all about missing the weekend Maryland, it would of been a little far to go! Besides I jut out about Saltspring, more on that later.

I have to leave for work in 12 minutes

and I am not yet dressed, blogging is much more fun. You will all be happy to know that the overwhelming to do list is slowly but surely getting smaller. I am planning to look myself in the school on Saturday afternoon and not come out until my report cards are done.

On the puppy front, I have managed to find plane tickets that work so that I can travel and return here to get her. I also found a kennel will let her outside to play everyday and not charge me a million dollars to keep her. So it looks as though we will be okay, it means a little running but that is okay. I also have 2 offers of people to take her sooner, I will have to wait and see if either of them work out.

Chibi update - the LYS is out, they are getting more but I am not sure when. At moment I only have one person waiting for 2 and I have sent out 12. If anyone else wants some speak soon as time is running out.

I am tired of knitting my baby blanket, it's checkerboard and it's just so dull. I am through 4.5 balls and have 3 left to go. It's slow going. The backsac and hats are on hold until I get this finished. I will get it done.

Backtack names are out. If you have me you need to know that the finished product will be for my mom, not me. She is the sewer and I thought that she would like to be in on this one. So we signed up together. She is a knitter and a sewer so I am sure whatever you send her will be amazing and she will love it. I am participating with her, my blog and I am sending fabric to our match from here. I must say it is very cool fabric.

Oh I so have to go, happy Thursday one day till Friday.

WHAT !!!!

What do you mean it is going to cost 1000 bucks to ship a little 15lb dog to Vancouver. Well the moving company charges for 66lbs regardless of how much the pet actually weighs. Can you say "highway robbery", I can. So now to add to my list of things to do I have to figure out a way to keep my dog and not have it cost me a billion dollars. There are many options but all of them depend on the kindness of strangers because all of my friends will be out of town like me in June/July. So I am spreading the word in Taiwan that I need someone to watch her or take her to Canada for me ( much cheaper for her to go as a baggage) and keep my fingers crossed that someone offers.

In other news I found out who my secret pal is but she did not leave her blog address and so I don't really know where to find her. R, if you are reading tell me where i can find your blog.

My to do list is getting smaller. It did rain on the picnic day and so although my kids where disappointed they had fun having a picnic in the gym, making cookie pizza's and playing parachute games inside. We went to the park in 5 billion degree heat on Friday afternoon instead and had a good play. The summer is so here, it's hot and the AC is back on.

Speaking of AC, when you live on the roof of a building don't open the storage room window to wide. My window AC units backs into a storage room, said room has a window. Window is always a little bit open for new air to circulate threw the AC. Makes sense, right. Well, last week I decide in my infinite wisdom to open the window more as the air was really stale and old smelling. What happens when you open a window really wide on the top of a building... the pigeons think it would be a great nest and come to visit. I woke up Thursday morning to pigeons cooing and thought it sounded to close but did not think to much of it, when it happened again on Friday I decided to investigate. I opened the storage room door and at least 5 pigeons started to fly around. They all flew out and then there was one more who just could not figure out how to leave the room. I opened the window wider and chased it out. The window is now back to only being open about an inch. You would think I would of learned my lesson in Ottawa when one flew in my living room window. What is it with me and pigeons.

Speaking of wild animals, I also have a gecko that has taken up residence on my kitchen window. I'll see if I can take a picture for you.

Thanks for all the sympathy with regards to the super long to do list. I know it will happen and when it does I will be so relieved. 4 more weeks of teaching and then 2 weeks of grunt work until I am finished.

One more thing, the Hong Kong album is finished, click here if you want to see it.

Life is so complicated.

well not really but it seems that way at this moment. I have a to do list a mile long, make that 2 lists one for home and one for school . Want hear about them? That was a rhetorical question so get comfy.

Work
- 32 report cards by May 20
-32 graduation hats made by May 28
- mothers day concert and tea
- graduation show to prepare - I finally got it written, now the kids have to learn it
- finish the May calendars
- deal with the disappointment of my kids whose field trip was cancelled for tomorrow due to the threat of thunderstorms. If the sun is shining I will scream.
- clean and pack my classroom
- mail packed contents of classroom back to Ontario
- work 3 Saturdays in May, picnic, graduation and carnival
- teach everyday, that means I have to plan something, although flying by the seat of pants has worked well this week.
- come up with some witty speech for graduation, one that will entertain the children and their parents.
- my personal favorite, attend a thank you party held for me by my kids families, 32 kids, 64 parents + siblings in some swanky restaurant = chaos, at least I think it will be.

My list for my own life is a little easier
- pack
- mail packing to Canada
- ship dog to my parents
- eat
-sleep
- knit
- plan trip to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia
- pack some more
- clean my apartment and find homes for all the thing I won't be taking like the TV
- see all the things I have meant to see all year in Taipei
- vacate the apartment on June 17th so I can leave for Thailand and a month of seeing the world.

I know I can do it all but the tasks seem a tad overwhemling at the moment. On a brighter note I was RAOKed yesterday, Carrie from Southern Fried Knitting sent me a card. I so love getting mail.

Off to bed

FYI - if you asked me for a chibi it is in the mail, I sent the last batch out on Monday. If anyone one ( or more) else wants one let me know.

Here it is, me in my pj's for international PJ day, this was tough to take but I figured out the timer function on my camera. The dogs pose was all her own though, I tried to get her to lie on the couch but she wouldn't! Now your PJ day is just starting and my is over. Back to work in the morning. Please excuse the falling apart plastic couch, I rented the apartment furnished and the blanket/cover is in the wash.  

Book Meme

Q: You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be? I haven't seen it or read it and so I am not sure, but a old classic I have always loved is Little Women.

Q: Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? Umm no but there are characters I have wanted to be like.

Q: The last book you bought is: Lonely Planet, Southeast Asia on a Shoestring ( preparing for the upcoming trip)

Q: The last book you read: Wedding Season by Darcy Cosper - it' not actually the last one I read but I really liked it and last book I read was dumb!

Q: What are you currently reading? Southeast Asia and The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes

Q: Five books you would take to a desert island.1. Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flag 2. Wild Swans by Jung Chang (so I could finally finish it) 3. 5 People you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 4. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie 5. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Q: Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why? I don't know who has had this as I have not been paying to much attention so here are 3 and if they've had it oh well...

Denise at Knitting without Needles becasue I would like to know what she is reading
Kimberli at Kimberli New York because she has great taste on broadway and I imagine it is the same for books, maybe I will find some new good books.
Lorette at The Knitting Doctor because she has been home nursing an injured hand and I think she has been reading a lot lately.

Apples and Bananas

Okay so the song goes...

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas, I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas, I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas, I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.

and then you change all the vowels as you go through the song to cover a, e, i, o, u, it sounds funny and is quite fun. I am not sure why I hadn't used it with my kids earlier in the year, I guess I forgot about it... ANYWAY

We sing the first verse and then get to the 2nd, change all the vowels to i so you get
I like to iat, iat, iat ipples and bininis... All seems innocent enough right, wrong Nini (said sort of like nai nai) is the kids Chinese word for breast, I guess it's like boob. My 6 year old boys lost it, they could just not get their giggles under control and I must admit it was funny. I vaguely knew the word as the boys have mentioned it before and I was not about to have a conversation with 14 boys about Chinese words for breasts, so I just ignored it and moved on with the day. Frankly I forgot all about it until today , I was certainly not listening for it in English song lyrics!
We quickly ended that song and moved on to Down by the Bay.

I signed up for another swap this week, well me and someone else are sharing the work but I don't want to give away my identity to a future secret receiver. It's called back-tack and I think it will be fun.

I have been tagged with a book meme by Rae at Live Love Laugh, go say hi. One of her munchkins is sick and I am sure she would appreciate a cheering section. Maybe I will get to the meme in the morning before I go to the dreaded annual work picnic.
Kids + teachers + no parents + Saturday morning = nightmare

I am going to bed so that at least I will be well rested for said nightmare.

BTW I remembered my camera and am looking very forward to International Pajama Day on Sunday April 24th. Pictures of me in pj's of course, the pup and maybe even a knitting project coming soon

Disappointed

I am sad and disappointed at the choice that the Catholic church has made. The last thing the world needs is more division and absolute moral purity. As I type I am listening to a right wing conservatives on the BBC. As Jackie said, I think I will go pound my head against a wall for a while. I am ( yes it is rare) speechless, I don't know what to say and so I am going to read the comments of the world t large and find comfort in the fact that I am not they only one who is devastated by this decision.

I survived

I survived the week the bad week at work, I developed a migrane on Thursday afternoon and it happily stayed until late yesterday. As I type it is contemplating rearing it's ugly head again but I have pain killers close at hand. Not to sure why I got this one, something hiding in Thurday's ice cream perhaps.

Anyway I did start feeling better yesterday afternoon and rode my bike to the LYS for some fiber therapy. I did not buy any wool although I was tempted they got more Jaeger and some other lovely things that I need to have and may not be able is find at home. I need to buy one Little People yarn from France jut because I love the name. But I am babbling now, I went out there to get some Chibi's for someone who wants them.

I had no idea they were as popular as they are and such a rip off on ebay. So if you want one, or any other cool Clover products let me know(the US and Japanese site have different products listed). I am not independently wealthy and so I can't gift them to all the people out there who want some but I am sure that we can work something out - trades or paypal. In the picture there is a pom pom maker kit and some cool stitch holders that come in variety of sizes. There are also lots of other cool things in the store although not all the things listed on the website.

I am off to work on my blanket, it's coming along. I contemplated striping it but decided not to and it will just be pink. Sine the little person is already here there is no worries about gender.

My mom said there would days like this even in Australia

Yes I am using lines from children's literature to title my posts, I can't decide if that is amusing or sad.

Yesterday was long, to long, inconsolable little girls, full oatmeal cans falling on heads, monsterish behavior and generally just a crappy day at work. Then I got a photo from Cooper, not a great picture, actually it's not even a good one but he wrote me a note on the back,

From super Cooper
to Ms. Kruz
your really good
Cooper

Ps I really love you.

moments like that make teaching worth it even if everything else is crap.

I want to ask a question to the peanut gallery about stripes or no stripes on the current WIP but I forgot the camera at school... it'll wait till tomorrow I guess.

Mark your calendars International PJ day IV is April 24th, more details tomorrow when I pay more attention and get the link.

Here are the treats

Here's the wool, I am in love with all of it. I feel some more felted bags being a part of my WIP's, buttonhole bags perhaps. My SP says she's a yarn snob, I love yarn snobs because they have such amazing taste!

This is the box along with the wool she also sent some bamboo needles, tea and....

a bone for Tai, you can't see her tail wagging as I made her sit but she could not believe her good fortune. She walked around the apartment with it in her mouth for about 20 minutes before she actually ate it, I think she was making sure I wasnt going to take it back.

Thanks again SP, you are the greatest! Sorry about the small photo size, I am playing with photobucket, but must go to work so I will have to play some more tonight.

She strikes again

More treats from my secret pal arrived yesterday( well I went to school yesterday, yes it was Sunday and they were there) , sadly I have been caught up in work and a working on a new baby blanket and thus there is not a photo yet, tomorrow I hope. I do need say that Tai loved her bone, I came home from work today and it was gone, I got a photo this morning though. I'll post it and other pictures soon. Thanks so much, your amazing.

PS the Hong Kong album is on hold, I feel the need to finish the blanket before the baby is walking and talking.

This is funny

Okay 1st I was Costa Rica and then I went back and said I prefered cool of tropical weather and this is what I got, I think I'll keep it.

I deleted the flag cause it was huge and messing up my formatting!
You're Canada!
People make fun of you a lot, but they're stupid because you've got a much better life than they do. In fact, they're probably just jealous. You believe in crazy things like human rights and health care and not dying in the streets, and you end up securing these rights for yourself and others. If it weren't for your weird affection for ice hockey, you'd be the perfect person.
Takethe Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

Highlights o f Hong Kong

A photo album will follow shortly, maybe tomorrow at some point but more likely Monday or Tuesday. Until then let me tease you with these (I'll delete them when I get the photo album up so the free web host doesn't kick me off for exceeding my limit)



Hong Kong has it's own Walk of Stars, I had to take a picture of Jackie Chan's just so I could say I was there. This was the end of my day of walking in which I saw most Hong Kong Island and then crosed the bay to go to Kowloon, this was the last place I went.


This is the giant buddha on Lantu Island, it was cool to see but a bit of a tourist trap.


This is Nica and I on the rocks at Stanley, about 30 minutes from the city. I met Nica and Bergen at the hostel and we had a great day together, they were on their way to Nepal to go on a trek.


This is the harbor on Hong Kong Island, I liked the boats with the skyscrapers in the back, sadly I cut them off and you can't see how big they really are. I came here to see the noon day gun but missed it by about 2 minutes because I was waiting for an elevator. On a brighter note after leaving here I found Ben and Jerry's, chocalte chunk mint ice cream makes everything better.

Tired

I'm whiny, there is no other way to say it. Yesterday was a long day and when I finally got home with the grumpy dog (she was at the kennel) my landlord was here painting the wall in my room. Prior to painting he should of used some fans to dry the cement wall but he didn't and now the paint is peeling off. I was away all week and he waited until the last possible minute to show up and get some work done, I was a little annoyed. I was up until 12 while he painted and I was tired to begin with and not feeling well because someone secretly fed me MSG, bad restaurant.

Today I am just tired, it's that post vacation, I don't want to go to work on Monday feeling. As a result I spent day mastering contintenal knitting instead of doing the many things that need doing. Oh well, laundry, floors and groceries can wait until tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be a more productive day and I will get some photos and details up from my Hong Kong trip. However for an excellent synopsis of my knitting adventure go to kimberli's blog, she said everything I would of said and even put up pictures, one just of me!. Yes I broke "I am not buying any more wool until Canada promise" but let me sayin my defense, it was on sale, I needed it to finish something or it's for my secret pal. I can justify the purchases so don't give me any grief about having to move it back to Ontario.

I am taking my tired body to my bed to read my new Marian Keyes book. The Other Side of the Story (my sister got me addicted, she is really funny) and hopefully I will return in the morning less grouchy and ready to have a productive day.

On my Way

Just a short note as there are people waiting for the computer and I am on my way to the park. I just needed to say thank you for my first RAOK, I got a great gift certificate for some yummy tea. So thanks a million, I love tea. I think I will have to wait until I am in Canada to spend it again but that will be very soon.

I am off to Starbucks and the park before I head back to Taipei tonight. There will be photos and more news tomorrow when I am home. The week has flown by but it has been a lot of fun and I am really glad I came.

I am currently sitting in a coffe shop at the highest point in Hong Kong. It's called the peak and a few minutes ago I was 550 feet above sea level. To get here a rode a tram and then walked a path that led me to the actual top of Victoria Peak. It was beautiful, sadly it's foggy and so the photos won't turn out to well.

Last night I met up with a group of great women, 3 from here Marjorie (www.hkknitter.blogs.com), Siow Chin (www.yscmama.typepad.com/little_purl) and Eva(www.evashiu.typepad.com. (sadly the little link button is not here so I couldn't so the magic link trick that I learned last week, neither is the spellcheck the menu bar is MIA). The 4th person was here from New York, Kimberli (www.kimberlinewyork.blogspot.com). After a little intial confusion we found each other and went wool shopping! I got some great yarn for some baby projects that I need to get underway and some "James Dean" yarn for my SP. It was a lot of fun. After that we went for coffee and a little knitting... Sadly Siow CHina and Eva had to leave after coffee. Kimberli, Marjorie and I went out for some dinner in Times Square. It was a great evening and I am so happy that it all worked out.

This morning I wandered around the city a bit, I followed a walking tour route and saw some of the highlights. After I leave here I am heading to the Star Ferry to go across the harbour to Kowloon for an evening of more walking and sightseeing. I am hoping to make it to the beach and to see the Po Lin Monastery in the next day or two. I will let you know how it goes.

My coffee is done and my feet have stopped aching so I think I can safely move on. I'll try and post again in the next couple of days, I am back in Taipei Thursday night.

hmmm gotta go!

Just a short note because I have to finish the dishes and get out the door. I am heading to Hong Kong a day early so that I can meet up with some very cool ladies (links later) and an afternoon of my favorite thing - shopping, any shopping will do and today it is yarn.

I'll post from HK I promise and let you know how wonderful it is. By the way the link for RAOK (random acts of kindess) now works as I got into the ring yesterday. Yipee. Sadly the SP4 ring isn't working and I haven't had time to look into why.

Have a good weekend.

Yippee

She's coming, it's official and I am so excited. Who's she and where is she going you might ask ? Well, she is one of my oldest and dearest friends CJ ( we met when I was in jr. high and her oldest was a baby, her oldest in now 14 and has 2 siblings) and the place is South East Asia for a month in June/July. Anyway I have to get to work, it's Friday morning and I just got through tying the principals furniture together with fishing line. Happy April Fools Day.

PS don't forget to click the link in the post below this and go comment!

Secret Pal

Here are the coveted secret pal gifts, well I have shared a little bit. I got the very cool knit knack kit with 25 pattern cards and a book and some gummy candy. The 2nd bag of candy is hidden under the 1st because it is almost empty, I opened it at work and shared it with the other teachers. There was also a very cute chocoholic card, yes I am addicted I'll admit it. Thanks so much for all this great stuff, the other knitters at work are already planning projects with the new patterns as am I.

So exciting

My week just keeps on getting better and better.

I am going to Hong Kong on Sunday instead of Monday and thus get to knit and go yarn shopping with a bunch of great women. Yippee. I thought that changing my plans would be challenge but it was a breeze, Cathay Pacific has amazing customer service. To make a good day even better I got a package from my Secret Pal, and I must say a huge Thank You. It has some great treats in it and the other teachers and I are already contemplating projects that we finish before I leave in June. I will post a picture when I get home today... if I let the other teachers near the candy it will just be a photo of some empty bags, (that's not true but the supply will be decreased). Okay I am off for lunch.

knitters

I got this comment yesterday from Kimberli saying that they were getting together in Hong Kong to knit on Sunday afternoon if I was interested in joining in. Cool huh, well sadly for me I am not going to Hong Kong until Monday, no particular reason for that, life just happened that way. I decided to go from Monday to Friday instead of over a weekend. I told S and H about the comment when I came to work today and their response was well go to Hong Kong a day earlier, I am entertaining the idea. S and H are the other teachers that I knit with and they both think it would be great to meet up with new people in another country to hang out and knit.

This little world of bloggers and knitters is an amazing one, who would of ever thought that I would be entertaining changing my plans so I can go and knit in another country. Well I must go and contemplate as I get ready for my day with the little darlings.

Oh my gosh I am so slow sometimes! I just figured out how easy it was to add a link into my message. I have been blogging for almost an year and I thought it was hard and complicated and it is so easy. All you have to do is click the link option, oh well now I know how and can link you to all kinds of things in my messages without typing the address. So now the bold names are links, so great.

Okay I really have to go now.

Happy Easter

It is always strange to be in a non christian country on a christian holiday, Easter came and went without to much excitment. That's not true I celebrated with my kids at school and we even had an egg hunt at the park. But aside from that you never would of known that it was Easter, I had pretty low key day and met up with some friends this morning and this afternoon. I also spent some time working on my fair isle hat, sadly I don't think it is going to fit on my head...oh well.

On another note all together there is something you can do this week, on April 1st a blog I read is having a comment-a-thon to raise money for breast cancer research. All you have to do is go to www.californiahammonds.com and leave a comment. People have donated money for the comments and the more comments the more money raised. The author of the blog lost his wife to cancer a year ago and he is doing this in her memory. It's a great cause and it will only take a minute but you have to wait until the 1st for the comment to count in the fundraiser.

Okay I am off to bed, since Easter is not a holiday here there is no long weekend. I do have spring break starting on Friday though, lucky me, I am heading to Hong Kong for 4 days.

I've been tagged!

I have been tagged by J at Scarfomatic.typepad.com
1. How much space is left on your Tivo or Comcast box? A what box? I barely even have cable and only 8 english channels

2.Have you ever bought a DVD of a TV series and if so which one? I don't have a DVD player but one day when I do I would buy/ will buy ER (especially the season that I have missed being abroad) and Friends

3. What was the last TV show that you watched before reading this message?
While you Were Out, old season shown in Asia on Knowledge.

4. List 5 shows you won't miss.

1. The Block ( shown here now even though it is over in Australia) 2. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy 3. CSI Miami (or Las Vegas but we only get old episodes here) 4. (If I was in Canada) ER . 5. Amazing Race, hopefully I will catchthe next season in Canada

5. Name 3 people to whom you will pass this stick.
Okay, most people I read have done this but there are 2 I know I haven't www.susanknits.blogspot.com and www.rgbilkes.blogspot.com

damn eggs

okay excuse the four letter word but it was the most gentle one I could use to describe the last 14 hours. I work 10 hours a day, 8 teaching, 1 for lunch (actually unpaid prep time) and 1 for prep time ( marking and classroom step up) as a result a lot of little things come home with me. Annoying work that has to be done but that there never seems to be time to do.

Today annoying work EGGS!
eggs bought on my way home from work 50
eggs boiled 49, one broke on way home
eggs cracked in pot while boiling 13
eggs broken because I was having a bad morning and did not pay enough attention to what I was doing 3

33 eggs remaining, number of students Ms. Kruz teaches 33 - okay all shall be well. I spoke to soon, Benson dropped his and it broke. If I ever see another boiled egg again it will be to soon. Those kids better love dying easter eggs and have HAPPY MEMORIES of kindergarten.

Anyone out there want 13 odd boiled eggs witha crack in the shell.....

a bad day gets better

Look I got treats in the mail today, lucky me! As you can see they have already been opened and tasted, I am in love with rhubarb custard sherberts. I was having a crummy day at work and nothing was going right and then at lunch time these arrrived and brightened my day. I got them from Jessmay at www.scarfomatic.typepad.com , I sent her some stitch markers that I made and asked for Marks and Spencer candy in return. Trading is so much more exciting than selling.

I am from

I am from a striped velour couch, from kool-aid and your the youngest sit in the backseat.
I am from the house with an open door, chaotic but caring, usually sharing a meal.
I am from the sand, the salt air and the fresh smell of cedar trees.
I am from 2 Christmas dinners, from J's, Mary's and I'm not Spanish we changed our last name.
I am from the clan of good cooks and no elbows on the table.
From eat your zucchini and onions and let's go swimming
I am from church, sung, not spoken and usually Ukrainian.
I'm from the island, perogies, and pasta ( often togethter).
From the basket of Nana's bicycle, shopping is for girls and be yourself, make every moment count.
I am from generations of strong and courageous people remembered now in black and white, hundreds of faces, never met them but will always know them.


It's based on Where I From by George Ella Lyons, someone thought it would be fun to adapt for a blog and I think they are right. Want to see the template, click the title and it will take you to the link.

I am off to enjoy a sunny Saturday, a long walk will make Tai very happy.

hey did you know

That it is Friday again already! Amazing how some weeks times fles and others it just crawls by. I has a fun week at work, I taught the kids about St. Patrick's Day and we made leprechaun traps to catch the ones were visiting our classroom. It was a lot of fun at at my parent teacher conferences yesterday I continued here how much the kids loved it. Some of what we did is on our classroom blog www.coolcatskindergarten.blogspot.com

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday, a huge envelope of foam letters and numbers for my class. My firend Lexi sent them, thanks Lexi. I am not sure what I will do withthem yet but I think that my kids are going to go crazy when they see them.

I have a another morning of interviews today and then I am off early... Yipee. I have a friend coming to visit this weekend, actually 2 friends and I think it will be fun. Okay well I have to get out the door, it is my day to open the school and thus I can't be late, plus I have a parent coming at 8!

Have a super Friday.

culture and knitting

My friends and I went back to Wisteria tea house today to knit, we went there last weekend to. It's fun to take your knitting and go sit in traditional asian tea house and drink tea made of real flowers. We spent the afternnon knitting. I sadly did not get to much done but Heather is finished the back of her sweater, she's never knit a sweater and neither have I... we make an interesting pair. I can read the pattern for the most part, so that helps and it looks good so far. Besides as we try to figure it out we are providing free entertainment for the staff and other customers as they enjoy watching us.

That was the highlight of my day. I have another cold and it started raining again yeterday. Figures, it was glorious all week, the weather wouldn't want to hold out through the weekend. No that would be to easy. I am heading out of the city on the train tomorrow, well let me rephrase I am suppossed to be heading out of the city but given the way I am feeling at this excat moment in time I may bail on them and stay in my bed instead. I'll decide in the morning.

I finally got around to taking a photo, the wool on the left I got from Susan at susanknits.blogspot.com in exchange for some of my stich markers. She really liked them and I love the wool. The ball on the right is one I just bought for my secret pal but I am liking it a lot, I think to much to send it to. I'll have to wait and see.  

I should be finishing my parent teacher conference paperwork but i was taking a coffee break (literally) and found this on another blog. I just about died laughing. It is based on a comic you can find at http://www.goats.com/archive/030808.html I just had to share it with you immediatley as this couldn't wait 

Jessica was the ringleader of this little adventure. She is loud and often drives me crazy, how very appropriate that she taped her mouth shut.

Patience, I need some

I have very little patience with cyberspace annoyances. I am not sure what happened on my blog the other day, posts were there and now they are gone, one that I did not delete has disappeared. I am tad perplexed but oh well life goes on.

I am, (as usual) looking forward to Friday tomorrow. I have the day to get ready for parent/teacher conferences. They are not my favorite way to spend a day but I am looking forward to a few of them. Today I gave my kids word tape as they did an excellent job on their writing. It is this bright orange tape with words like super and fantastic on it, it's easier than stickers. Well they started to stick it on their shirts and bags and then one of them had the bright idea to put it on their face. First it was on an eye and then on nose and finally Jessica( the loudest kid in my class) put it on her mouth. By the time they all figured out that it was funny to put it over your mouth it wasn't very sticky so they had to tape it on with clear tape. At ten to three I had kids walking around laughing as their mouths said words but they weren't talking. I took some photos and had a great laugh and then made them take it off before I sent them home. They waved their hands at me, no, no I want to wear it home their eyes pleaded. Yeah that is jut what I need you going home with your mouth taped shut... I can imagine the phone calls already. I will share the photos with the good humored parents and keep the rest for my own "need a laugh" days. Children really can be priceless.

I have plans to get out of the city on Sunday, it will be a nice little break from the smog! Hopefully the nice weather will hold out until then, not bloody likely but I will try to remain positive.
I will get a picture up of the cool yarn that I got from Susan, hopefully tomorrow. Maybe even one of the crazy children in my class.

strange

The missing post is here, the other one is here 3 times and even though I deleted 2 of them they will not go away. I don't understand!