Half way

The school term is now officially half way - half over or half left? Both actually, which means I only have 5 weeks left of teaching in South Africa. I heard that my application for early retirement has been approved . I haven't seen it in writing but did speak to Mr Govindsamy in the Education Department and he confirmed that I can leave at the end of March as he had seen the letter with confirmation my application had been approved. How do I feel? Excited but also a bit sad. Excited because a new chapter is beginning and I will be close to my family which is something I have wanted for a long time. Sad because I will be leaving the school where I have taught for the past 20 + years plus friends who have known me for a long time.

All I know is that I must focus on the positives and look to the future, not the past. Yes, there are things I will miss but I can live without them. I am really excited about being with all the family. I have missed not being part of so many occasions and to be able to be closer to my parents, especially now with all that has happened to dad, is very important. Now to book tickets for Caelen and myself  will be the next step. Until I knew that I had approval,I couldn't book the tickets. The next two months are going to be busy.......slight understatement, I think!

Sam, the IT teacher,  helping Debbie get set up

Talking of busy, this week has been exactly that. In fact, every week is busy when you teach. I have had meetings with teachers or parents Monday through to Thursday. Then there are the demands of the classroom. I love teaching this age group but boy, are they demanding! At the end of the day you feel exhausted. Tuesday night was Book Club and I did Edu Admin training on Thursday and Friday. I must admit, I really enjoyed the training. We were learning how to set up computerized reports for the school. This is something that the Intermediate Phase were already doing but we, in the Foundation Phase had not yet put into place. I have been keen for a long time but there was some resistance, however, we need to keep up with change and at last they agreed to go ahead. What Debbie and I had to do was build packages and format the reports so that the codes and information was in place for the teachers to be able to work on their reports. It was very different to what I am used to doing but it was challenging and enjoyable. There were 4 of us with the facilitator, Jay, who came down from Johannesburg to do the training. Hats off to Jay, he was really patient and it was a pleasure working with him. We were only working on the first term report but Debbie and I managed to do the second term report for Grades 1 and 2 as well. Our next step will be showing the staff what to do - that could be fun!

Debbie and myself 

Sam and Sandy hard at work

The ever patient Jay guiding us through the various stages

After I had finished on Friday I popped down to watch some of our Grade 3 cricketers playing a match. As part of my HOD duties I go to support various sports teams when they are playing matches. 

Some of the team watching the game waiting for their turn to go in to bat

Vanessa, the teacher in charge who also does the scoring

Cricket match in progress

After watching the cricket for a bit I moved on to my next stop - Nails on St Andrews. I haven't done this in years but was given a voucher so decided it would be a nice treat. The young lady who did my nails was very nice and did a really good job. They look very natural - and the gel layer is not too thick. I was very happy with the results.

Before                                                  After

On Saturday Chez and I took a drive to Umdloti. We went to see a flat that Chez had seen advertised. With Caelen and I going to the UK Chez and Ciaran need to find somewhere else to live. Much as we love it here the rental is too much for them on their own so they are looking for a cheaper place that has 2 bedrooms. Unfortunately it was not suitable. It was very small and only had a hand held shower. Our family are shower people and a decent shower is a definite requirement. 

The block of flats

Getting directions

The view

Last night we decided to go out for dinner. It was just Chez, Ciaran and myself  because Caelen is away playing in a golf tournament in Harrismith. He goes every year with some friends, leaving early on Friday morning and coming back on Sunday afternoon. Ciaran booked for us and we took a walk to Angelos in the nearby Granada Centre. I had a very nice ribeye steak and vegetables, Ciaran had chicken Panacotta and Chez had Peri-Peri chicken. It was lovely sitting chatting together over a glass of red wine for us and beer for Ciaran. Before we left we took a few photos. One thing about doing Project Life is that you do take photos at every opportunity. Now I need to get some of us with Caelen in them - not so easy because he does not like being in photos!

Chez and myself

Ciaran and myself


That's it for this week. I need to finish Week 7 of Project Life now. All the photos are in place. I just need to do my journal cards. Shouldn't take too long. Have a good week.