SORE MUSCLES AND VIRTUAL EXHAUSTION

I honestly don't think my body was made for hard, physical labour. Our load of lumber arrived on Wednesday right after school. We managed to get it unloaded and stacked in the shed - all 7010 lbs of it. Since then we have been busy measuring, sawing and nailing. One of my best friends, Wanda, was here for a few days. Little did she know she would be helping us build the foundation blocks for the house. She didn't mind and all and was a great help. We had a really nice visit. It was so nice to see her. And, this was just an added bonus, she did the dishes and cleaned my kitchen while I was at work. Anyways, hopefully I will have pictures this weekend.

ANOTHER GREAT DAY FOR ME - NOT SO GREAT FOR BRIAN

Well, I woke up this morning and the sun was shining. It was absolutely gorgeous out. So, I took my toast and coffee onto the front porch and had a lovely breakfast. Oscar came to and managed a few crumbs. We just basked in the sun for about an hour. By that time the kids were up, so I left them to their own devices and continued basking in the sunshine. Brian, didn't wake up to such a lovely morning. He is still coughing and has absolutely no energy. Most of you know that he usually goes for walks that last 2-3 hours, now he can't even walk to the school (a 2 minute walk). I am getting a little worried. Looks like he'll be off another week. That means that I will probably be teaching his class for another week. YAY!!! (note the sarcasm) One thing that I have found during the last 2 weeks is that God did not give me chronically ill kids for a reason - I can't handle it. It is time to be better. No one should be sick so long. However, enough ranting for now - on to something else. We got possession of our house this week. So, I grabbed Josh and a couple crowbars this morning and we headed to the house. We donned dust masks and gloves and went to work. We removed the broken windows, there were 3, and pulled out all the carpets in the bedrooms and living room. We were sweating profusely, but it felt good to get in there and actually do some work. As always when you begin a home renovation job you realize there is more to do than you thought. We have to replace some of the base flooring in the living room and one bedroom. I guess when the windows were broken some water got in and was left to just soak into the carpet and flooring. Also, we met with the building inspector and the foundation that the house is currently on, and which we were going to use, is not right. So, we ordered all the wood we need to build the proper foundation. $5000 later I am starting to feel a little stressed. I guess it will all come together and everything will be o.k. Just a moment of buyer's remorse. They say most people have it. I guess that means I am normal. Who would have thought!

ADDICTED TO THE EAGLE CAM

Barb, you mentioned the Eagle cam in a recent post, and of course, being the curious person that I am I checked it out. Needless to say it doesn't take long to become addicted. Yesterday morning I turned it on and one of the babies was moving around the nest checking things out. Last night we got a nice view of the mother's rear end. But this morning was the best - the mother was feeding her babies. So much movement took a lot of buffering, but it was very cool. I know I will be thinking about it at work today - wondering what they are doing now. Maybe I will pull it up on the classroom computer and let the kids watch. On second thought - No, too much distraction. I will have to content myself with checking it out at lunch. I had heard about it before but hadn't bothered to check it out. So, I will have to blame this addiction on Barb.

NEWS, NEWS AND MORE NEWS

Lots of happenings in the life of Brian and Ann today. Brian went to the doctor today and it was determined that he has some kind of chest infection - either bronchitis or pneumonia. Whatever the diagnosis may be, he is on antibiotics. He isn't doing too well today, but hopefully will be on the upswing soon. Meanwhile, I am still teaching his class - giving tests and making up assignments on the spot. It is quite interesting. The class is complaining that I am making them work too hard. Oh well, better that than giving them too much free time. They can't wait for Brian to return. After work today we met with the building inspector. It turns out his wife starting teaching in Watson Lake the same time Brian starting teaching here. He remembered me from the orientation meetings. It is always a good thing to get along well with the building inspector. Anyways, when we arrived at the property it was to find that work is once again being done. The gravel bed is almost complete for our foundation. They need to finish packing it down, etc, but it won't be too long before we can move the house on. Septic will have to wait until we have both pieces of property amalgamated. It can go in after the house is on anyways - as long as it is ready by summer's end we are o.k. The other happening was a trip to the restaurant. I finally got the burger I've been craving since Mother's Day. It was worth the wait. No pre-made burgers in Ross River - homemade burgers and fries only! That's about all for now. Hope you had an interesting day too.

STILL WAITING FOR A RECOVERY

So, here it is Monday again. Brian actually attempted to go to work today. Thomas, the principal, took one look at him and sent him to the nurse's station on his way home. That was at 8:50 this morning - before school even started. The nurse did a complete check-up, including xrays. Nothing showed up, of course - just a virus. So they gave him a ventolin inhaler and sent him on his way with instructions to take a couple more days off work. Needless to say, that means that I have to sub his class. They have been pretty good for me so I can't complain. Also, only a couple weeks of school left. Hopefully everyone will be better soon.