Here in South Africa...

Well, it is warming up again a little. We had such a nice week last week. Then it got freezing this weekend. I mean, dad would have probably been in heaven with the weather, but we were a bit chilly. Not much has been happening. Teaching, Coaching, Teaching, Bible Study, Dancing with Mark, Cleaning.... Mark has hired 2 guys to work for him. Unfortunately without an office, our house has turned into the office. During the week for a while, our kitchen table is being converted to a desk for Wayne and Greg. I can deal with that for a little while.

Teaching is going alright. It is really taking an adjustment for me to come to terms with the fact that 30% is a passing mark for 8th Grade Math! Which is a good thing because I would have many more failing if it wasn't. They have a project due next friday on volume. We'll see how they do.

We had a track meet yesterday. Our B team came in 2nd. The winning team is not a team we have to beat next Thursday for our final meet, so that is good. There is one team that we have not run against that we'll need to beat next week. Both my girls and boys Under 14 relay team won their races yesterday. They have been working VERY hard this term.

Well, not much else is happening these days. I just thought I would put an update even though I have no pictures to post with it. Hope everyone is doing well!! Miss you guys lots.

Extra Pictures

Here are a few pictures I found on my camera that I haven't posted. One is of my girls relay team. They are Rosa, Lameez, Aziza, and Shanea. They have really been working hard. Unfortunately for the Meet today, the "A" team stole Rosa from my B Team, so we'll see who replaces her....

The other 2 pictures are from the party at Gold Reef City last Saturday night. One is Mark and me; the other is me, Ashley, and Natalie. Who have safely reached the states and are back home. I'm very glad they got there safely. People asked yesterday if they had gotten home, and I am glad that I can give an affirmative answer.

Good Long Weekend

Well, Thankfully Ashley was feeling much better by the time I got home on Wednesday. On Thursday we got to sleep in a bit - well Mark and I did. Ashley was finishing Harry Potter until 6 am, and Natalie read until 7:30. Natalie kept sleeping until after lunch, so Ashley, Mark, and I went to lunch. That night, Natalie cooked fried rice for us after we had our ballroom dancing lesson. Natalie enjoyed dancing with our instructor, Fred.

On Friday, we woke up and went to the Lion and Rhino Park. We saw lots of animals and got to play with the little ones. The wild dogs had just recently had puppies - they were so cute. They were still quite wobbly when they walked. Friday night we went to an authentic African Restaurant. We got our faces painted, listened to African music, had ostrich spring rolls and Natalie had zebra. Then we went to watch Transformers.

Saturday was early as we had breakfast at Nick and Belinda's. It was nice - Nick's sister-in-law, Sam, was there from Cape Town. It was good to see her again. She is a massage therapist (or whatever the title is here) so she gave Natalie a few pointers. Of course she needed someone to show with and Mark was more than willing to volunteer :-) Saturday afternoon I took the girls shopping while Mark worked. We went to a flea market at Brightwater Commons and to Cresta for Ashley and I to get a haircut. That night we had John over for dinner and watched 2 movies.

Sunday we went to the Rosebank Flea Market - I don't know how it all got packed!! The girls found lots of fun stuff to take back. We left there at noon and went to Mark's parents' house for a braai. Gran was there and enjoyed meeting Natalie and Ashley. That afternoon, Ashley took a short nap, Mark worked, I got lesson plans and homework ready for the week, and Natalie packed. We went to church, then to eat with Nick, Belinda, John, and Sandy at a Shuarma (sp?) place ( kind of like gyros - except no feta dressing :-( ) Then Ashley packed, Mark worked, and Natalie and I went to sleep.

Thus ends the visit of Natalie and Ashley. I will take them to the airport this afternoon for their flights home. I hope they had just as much, if not more, fun as we had. Hope they have a safe trip home!! Love to all. We'll be talking soon :-) Here are a few pictures of Northcliff that Natalie took when she was here on Tuesday during track practice.

Our Grass Track - many kids run barefoot.


The "floating teacher's" workroom.

My desk


The staff lounge

My cubby in the staff lounge - which half do you think is mine? :-)

Visitors

Hey everyone!
Well, we have our first visitors since we got married. Natalie and Ashley got here on Friday afternoon. Of course we were SO excited. Thinking that they probably had as much stuff as I had when I came here for a month, we decided to take 2 cars. Well, we were not expecting a petrol (gasoline) strike... Yes, the drivers of the big trucks who deliver to the stations chose that day to decide to strike. Since I had less than 1/3 of a tank, I stopped and stayed in line for an hour and a half only to be turned away, when there were only 2 cars in front of me, because the well had run dry. So, Mark had pretty much gotten to the airport by then, so I just met them at home. They had not washed anything for a month, so we began that process as soon as they got there. I had not planned anything for dinner, so we went to Scrooge's at Brightwater Commons for supper. Then home to sleep.

Saturday we had to wake up early (7:30 ish). Our church was having a fundraiser dinner that night and our neighbor was part of the entertainment. So we met Nick and Belinda at Gold Reef City and set up Nick's sound equipment. Then we spent the morning there. We only rode one ride, but it seemed to be a fun one (I didn't go on it- didn't feel too well).

We grabbed lunch at Mugg & Bean then headed off to Sandton to find the girls something to wear that night. I'll post pictures at another time since I don't have my camera at school today. On the way home there was petrol at a station, so we stopped and filled up Mark's car - of course mine was at his parents' house so we couln't fill it up. Oh well....

We slept late on Sunday since we didn't get home until almost 1:00 the night before. Then we had a braai of ribs and boerewoers. We went and picked up my car from the Beckings' and the station from the night before still had petrol so we filled my car up. That night we went to church.

Monday was fairly normal for me - work. Mark took the girls to Cresta to get them a copy of the new Harry Potter, then he dropped them off at the school at athletics (track) practice. It was lots of fun...let me tell you (hope you picked up the hint of sarcasm). Natalie enjoyed seeing the school and my desk in the workroom. That night we had tacos and Natalie went with us to Zeal (bible study) - Ashley wasn't feeling too hot so she stayed home.

Tuesday was very uneventful. I went to work, Mark went to work, the girls were dropped off at Cresta for the day. They had lunch and supper there and watched 2 movies - Harry Potter and License to Wed. They seemed to enjoy themselves, so that was good. Mark and I did KFC for supper and went to Praise and Worship practice. Then we picked them up from Cresta.

Well, that brings us up to today. So far Ashley has not felt well - throwing up during the night. Mark is going to call his mom this morning and see what she suggests. But I'll keep you updated on that situation. We don't have school the rest of the week (YEA!!) Tomorrow is Women's Day and the administration is giving us Friday off so we can have a long weekend. I may update sometime later this week anyway though. Love to everyone!!