If I could save time in a bottle...

... the first thing that I'd like to do..... SING IT WITH ME EVERYONE......

HAH, never mind...you don't want to hear me sing! Really.

So it seems one must retire in order to get time pieces worthy of keeping track of one's time, if one wanted to keep track of time when one retires...one might not!

 I find it rather ironic that my plan for retirement day is to throw away my current watch and go watchless, after all I can always check my phone for the time as I'm so technologically up-to-date. THAT'S IF I NEED TO KNOW THE TIME - I'M HOPING I DON'T!! Sorry I didn't take a photo of the old chesnut (yes, I'm just being lazy) but believe you me it has stood up to the challenge of keeping me on time for the past 20 years!!

They don't make watches like mine anymore! If I squint past all the scratches on its face I can see that it's an Armitron Quartz and water proof to 100' which is handy if I ever drive off a cliff into the ocean and need to check the time! All silliness aside (just for a moment) the few times I've forgotten to take it off before showering I WAS relieved to see it still ticking away!

I purchased it at least 20 years ago at the local Bi-way store which closed down at least 15 years ago. Maybe more. I've had to replace the band umpteen times and the battery umpteen more and it even survived the time the lady at Zellers, who was replacing the battery, whacked it on the glass counter making the tiny little hands fall off!  She just wanted to sell me a new watch!! You wouldn't believe the disdainful looks I used to get when I'd need a new battery - I suppose most people would just throw a scratched up cheap old watch in the garbage and buy a new one - but not me!! I'm PROUD of the fact that I'm cheap and had a cheap watch that lasted 20+ years - it's still ticking accurately away as I speak type.

I believe my old dependable watch cost about $15.00 originally so along with new bands and new batteries has averaged me about $1.50 per teaching year. I guess time IS cheap after all!

The other ironic thing about my new clock and new watch is that both are engraved or "enfaced" with the union logo (clock) and school board logo (watch). Who wants to be reminded of work every time they check the time???

Well, I suppose I could say to myself - I wonder what those poor suckers are doing today?!?

Greetings one and all! I'm back from PEI, got back Sunday night. Drove 12 hours on Sunday and got home at 5pm. Then on Monday and Tuesday I attended a conference - nothing like getting right back into the swing of things! The picture above was taken while driving Hwy 108 (Plaster Rock-Renous) in New Brunswick, well actually I did stop the car while I took the picture!

Michael is still in PEI - his son Dane is helping out with the airshow - he's a firefighter with the military and he volunteered to work the airshow - he helped install the giant "elastics" that stop the jets when they land at tiny Charlottetown airport and he'll be on hand "just in case". So Michael and Dane have been spending lots of time together while I'm toiling away here at home. The last two days have been spent sitting with my laptop on my lap putting together lesson plans and resources for BACK TO SCHOOL!

As far as school goes it looks like we should be back in the classroom on September 4th. Our provincial premier, Dalton McGuinty is bringing parliament back early from their summer break to initiate legislation that will force us to be in the classroom - the Bill is called "Putting Students First".  So contract or no contract we'll be in the classroom. I'm sort of OK with that as I'd rather be at work than on strike BUT we have a union meeting on Sept. 10th and our union is up in arms because our school board won't sign off on our agreement with the gov't. No progress there whatsoever!  So the first few weeks of school will be rather unsettled and I can only hope that everything gets resolved amicably! HAH! That's probably asking for too much!

My apologies for neglecting you recently. I look forward to getting into routine and being able to  read your updates on a regular basis. It's always hectic at this time of year and my only focus is on preparations for school.

My nephew continues to mend. I spoke to my sister for a couple of hours on Tuesday and she is feeling very strongly that Jon will be able to walk  again someday. He is having daily physio and when the nurse moves his legs apart he is able to bring them back together (with great pain). The bad news is that right now he is blind. One eye was badly damaged and cannot be repaired while the other has a detached retina. Surgery will help reattach the retina but can't be done while he is in the halo brace which he will wear for another five months. Hopefully he will regain some vision in that eye after surgery but no one knows how much. Due to his diabetes his eyesight was already becoming poor. He'll be in hospital/rehab centre for probably up to a year (or more).

And now I must get to work - I leave you with a few more photos from my trip home:

 Sometimes I just hold up the camera and shoot while I'm driving - that's why the horizon line is kinda tilted in some of the pictures - I don't aim I just shoot!