new shopping experiences

I've found two wonderful places yesterday and today. The first is a minimalist designer-esque Japanese store called Muji. While Si and I were there yesterday I bought a travel toothbrush kit (much on my mind lately!) and a new green pen for marking.


They also sell furniture, cardboard speakers (fold up for travel), clothes (T-shirts packed as a cube the size of a deck of cards), and loads of storage boxes and shelves.

The second is the geekiest crockery ever. If I had the money I'd buy Micah and Anna something from the Neutrino set. In fact, I can think of several other people who would love to use plates and bowls with atoms on them.

the apple store

I am in the city today with our friend Si and so we stopped by the Apple store to counter internet withdrawal symptoms. It's lovely to type away on a big iMac. :) Yesterday was the first day of my half term break and I went in to work (as per my usual habits) and marked loads of books. Just as I had four books left (by 4:10 pm) the custodian came by. The school was supposed to close at 4 pm and so he was there to make me leave. So it was a case of taking my four last books home with me or else spend the night in the school. I think I avoided the greater evil, although I would have preferred to leave my work (and therefore, my stress) at school.

We've been to the National Gallery today and now we're wondering around the city, eating sandwiches and window shopping.


I hope to go to Cambridge one day this week and also meet up with a few other friends.

possible replacements for sweets (to which I am trying to break my addiction)

a drink of water
apple juice
apples
bananas
berries
crisps
nectarines
peanut butter
pears
V8 juice
veggies

internet problems

We have had internet problems for the last week or so. Our service cuts out for an hour or three every few days and we are steeling ourselves to disconnect the line and switch providers. Due to technical issues (ha ha!) the line cannot be immediately reassigned, so we may be without internet for two weeks or more. Eek! But we have both set our personal email addresses to forward to work. However, Blogger is blocked from work so I can't view blogs or post to them. I'll try to set up the remote posting address so that you won't be without news. But I will be cut off from your news. Boo.

we're both reading!

Ant has never been a big reader. He'll tell you proudly that he had only read three books in his life until this Christmas: Romeo and Juliet, a Star Trek book, and Fermat's Last Theorem. But for Christmas I got a copy of Bloodletting and Other Miraculous Cures and he dived on it and devoured it by the first week of January.


He then picked up The Bourne Identity (566 pages). He bought the book a whole year ago as part of a bet with our cousin, Kelsey. She was to watch a Grand Prix race if he read the book within a year. He failed to do this, and miserably. He had the book for a year and barely opened it. But he grabbed it in January and says he'll finish it tomorrow at lunch. Will Kelsey still watch a Grand Prix? It remains to be seen.


Ant has already ordered the next two Bourne books from Amazon. Both are bigger than the first. His new year's resolution is to read at least twelve books this year. I'll keep you posted on his progress.

selfridges

I went into the city today to go to Selfridges department store. April gave me some gift vouchers for the store and it's bonus time at Clinique. (I follow bonus time!) It reminded me of when Jayme and I used to go into Oxford Street for a bit of food and a spot of shopping. The Clinique counter was throbbing, but I got my soap and bonus kit, including a very floral wash bag. Here are two shots of the current window displays. (Remember the old ones?)

June weddings

I have two dear friends getting married in Halifax on the same day in June. Richard is getting hitched in the morning and Sara in the evening. This lovely set-up means I will get fed and entertained non-stop on that day! I have now purchased my flights for a wonderful weekend away. I will need to take Friday and Monday off work since I leave on Friday and fly overnight on Sunday to return. Wow, I am going to be so jet-lagged, but I think it will all be worth it. My best bet will be to not even switch time zones at all, I think.

reading

I have been reading an interesting book while sick this week: Sarah by Marek Halter. It's a novel about Abraham's wife. Abraham and Sarah have always interested me. They make a lot of mistakes in the Bible, but God still works through them and the New Testament praises their faith. I would describe their faith as halting, but, then again, I can't even imagine waiting as long as they did for a promise to be fulfilled.

The book is intriguing, although not completely accurate. According to the Bible, Sarah and Abraham were related (Genesis 20:12) but the novel invents an entirely different family background for Sarah, saying she was from the ruling family of Ur, where Abraham's family dwelled before they set out for Canaan. The book suggests reasons for Sarah's barrenness and for her enduring beauty. In the book, Sarah struggles with following Abraham's God when He seems remote to her.

Well, if I was in a better mental state I would try to make some connections or at least say something more. Sadly it's not happening. I'm enjoying the book and that's as far as I can go at the moment!

(I made French toast for supper. That's how inventive I felt.)

food, glorious food

One of the bonuses of having more people around is that there are more people to help with the food preparation. Anna and Micah were here yesterday and Si is staying with us for a while. So for supper last night I had more than enough hands to help me make a pork steaks dinner with mashed potatoes and broccoli. And cherry and blueberry coffee cake to finish with. They all pitched in. The only downside is the huge amount of washing up to be done afterwards.

my mother was right (again)

I have been offline for quite a while recently. Our internet has been all on and off this week. But it's miraculously reappeared this weekend! Thankfully.

My mother was right about classroom management. I remember her saying that you have to want the kids to behave and act as if you expect them to do so. When I was training my university mentor said that my raised voice was not very convincing and he advised me to go out into my back yard and yell. I was dealing with a troublesome class yesterday and I was trying my hardest to portray my feeling that I expected them to behave. "How much do you want it?" my mum would ask. I really wanted it. I was determined that they would not continue their disruptive behaviour. Now I just have to keep up the energy to demand that again next lesson.

I had a good talk with my parents tonight and that's perked me up a bit. Anna and Micah are coming to visit us tomorrow and we're looking forward to that.