The Day to Day Stuff...

Suzie:
Happy St Patty's Day Everyone.

I spent the day at my school's Swim Carnival. Thank god that job is done. I feel like I only have one job now instead of two! Wayne stepped up and helped me prepare for it and stayed all day today to help out. Basically I was the convenor for a swim meet with 94 events and almost 300 kids. I had less than 5 hours to get it done and get the kids back on their buses to catch their rides from school. No pressure!

Once it was done, we had a big celebration. Especially me! Kathy, Jeff, Clark and Abby Denomy are here visiting us from Canada right now, plus Tammy Donnelly's parents (Wayne and Marie) came by for drinks! A little green drink made it fun too.


For all of you realists who want to hear about more than just the travel and fun, here's the Monday to Friday boring stuff (feel free to skip this whole post if the domestic Hum Drum doesn't interest you):

Wayne's routine is to get the family out the door in the morning and then get in some Ironman training. He's signed up for the Busselton Ironman the first Sunday of December. His goal initially was to take off some of the holiday weight from Africa and Mauritius and get back to his base level. I think he's there now and starting to increase his distances. He's a little frustrated because his wife takes the early morning time slot and leaves him with the 9am start. Doesn't sound bad, I know, but the heat is a major factor. The wife (me) loves the heat, but Wayne just melts. It'll get better for him. Fall starts this week and the nights are already starting to cool down.

So Wayne's routine is totally dependent on the weather. If it's windy that means a run day. He can't ride his fancy new bike with the special tires in the wind, because he gets pushed around too much. And when he swims on a good day, in calm water, he spends most of his time looking sideways for sharks! So swimming in rougher water isn't high on his favourites list. Once he's back home, has stretched and showered, he either does laundry or shopping or is on the internet looking up travel information. Maybe all three- at the same time! It's senseless to put wash in the dryer here when there is a clothes line in the backyard that fits 3 or 4 loads all at once. Plus, once Wayne finishes hanging the last few items, the first few things are almost dry. He's learned to not leave it out too long. There is no way to bring back the 'crispy clothes' once it's baked in the heat 'till stiff and rough. Trust me, he tried. Our first few weeks here we were all wearing shirts and shorts that were, ah... like cardboard. They all acquired a certain textured look from massive, deep wrinkles that were later permanently pressed into place by an iron. BUT it in no way looked attractive or normal. And I was getting chafed from undies that were so rough I thought he'd started using starch. Luckily those days have passed, and we're back to comfy clothes again.

I'm sure he occasionally cleans the house or cuts the grass. The place always looks good. Thanks Wayne, good job. You have got to see the contraption that cuts the grass. It's a combination of lawn roller and cutter. There's no height adjustment, it only cuts SHORT. Like a golf green. And then there's an ear-piercing edger that literally slices through anything. Wayne actually wears hearing protection while using it. It could wake the dead!

I must compliment Wayne on his culinary creations. It's a challenge to fulfill the wife's nutrition requests and still keep two kids full enough to actually close the kitchen by night fall. Plus, we are trying to spend the majority of our income on travel this year, but the money spent on groceries is 'shocking' as the Aussie's would say! We like lots of fruit and veggies, but they cost an arm and a leg! There is a very high cost of living here: gas is $1.50/litre, an avocado is $3 each, red peppers (capsicums as they say) are $10/kg (or about $5 per pound). Everything here is metric, absolutely no Imperial Units at all. That took some getting used to. What else... bread is very 'dear' at about $5 a loaf. Actually all baked goods are a fortune. Muffins $3.50 to $4.00 each, donuts are $3 each, and on and on.

By 3pm it's time for Wayne to either be ready for the kids to walk home from school (and start the snack and homework routine) or go and pick them up. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday's he drives over to their school (two blocks away) so that Ellise has time to come home and change before gymnastics. We've found a similar gym to Winstars in Windsor. Ellise absolutely loves it. She came home today and asked to go to New York City in July of 2015. Apparently the Australian gymnasts are going to a special training camp and doing some sight seeing. They asked Ellise to meet up with them. Sounds good to me! Anyhow, Ellise trains from 3:30 to 7pm 3 nights/week. So Wayne drops her off, comes home to start dinner, later picks her up and then starts the lunch making routine. I can't stop thinking about Michele Rocheleau making 5 lunches every night! Wayne keeps busy making 3.  That about sums up his day.  Although, I'm sure he'll read this and have something to add. Oh, I know. I should tell you about his new part time career; TRAVELS BY WAYNE. So far he's booked four weekend trips, a weeks worth of hotels driving up to Exmouth (a 16 hour drive north of Perth), and the house we're renting while there, and some excursions (like a day trip on a boat that takes us out to swim with whale sharks)! Last week he also did extensive research into Bali and booked our flight and hotel! Yeah Wayne. Good job.

Okay, my turn. Let's see. I wake early. Alarm is set for 6:30am, but I've only been woken up by it twice so far in a month and a half. It's a summer time thing for me. If the sun comes up early and the birds start then I'm up. If I don't fall back asleep then I might as well get up. Since I have no extra energy for exercise after work, and I want to spend some time with the kids, I try to get up 3 or 4 times a week to run or walk. I sometimes stick to the roads or nearby park (all parks here are called a reserve), but the ocean usually wins out. I can choose the sea-side path which runs for a mere 25 kilometres+ (far more than I'll ever need) or I head right down to the sand and dodge the waves. Sometimes with runners on and occasionally barefoot. I always think of Angie Mooney running with Marybeth in an icy head wind on a freezing cold winter night. They would kill for the scenery I have each morning. Lately I've been trying to remember that Ryan Donnelly has a whole workout gym in his 'shed'. Everything here is a shed; the produce market, the back yard storage/garage, and everyone has one in their yard! Anyhow, he has a punching bag, speed bag, some weights, Wayne brought our TRX, and there's lots of room out in the 'shed'. It's a great spot. I'm all set and won't even miss GoodLife Gym at home.

Time is always an issue. I have to leave by 5:30am if I want to run 8km or 6am for a 5k. I'm always rushed to stretch, shower, eat, and dash by 7:15 or 7:30am. The weird thing about my commute on the Kwinana Highway is that the earlier I leave, the more rush hour traffic I run into. The later I leave, all the big city commuters are already in Perth and the road is almost clear. The 30 km drive shouldn't take long, but with the 100km/h highway slowing to 20 to 30km/h, it takes about 40 minutes minimum. I have learned to navigate the back roads now. This means I can exit as soon as I start to see red up ahead. All the brake lights that is! It's always a gamble for me, how long should I risk staying on the Kwinana (I like saying that name) before getting trapped on it?!?

Once at Mater Christi Primary School, I lobby for a spot in the 'car park' around 8:15. Then I put up my shiny silver sun block on my dashboard. Remember those? All cars here also have carpet on the dashboard. Their custom made to fit each car perfectly, the carpet I mean. It's the funniest thing, just to save the plastic from cracking in the sun and heat. Next I carry in my bazillion bags; I have a bag of spare clothes since I am so sweaty after work, I can't even stand myself in a car to drive home. Then I have my school-issued MacBook Pro laptop and case. I'm not too sure if I should leave it in my 'lobby' (that's what they call each building at school). I also have a school bag and my lunch and two water bottles. I cannot imagine how bored you must be by now, but I'm going to keep going because I know you know that our life down under isn't all glamorous and picturesque. There's regular and mundane stuff too!

So my skin and kidneys should be good and healthy by now. My water in-take has never been better. I have a system that's working well for me; bring in two full water bottles. One goes in the office fridge, and one comes with me to morning classes. Then another two times per day I refill, leave in fridge and grab a fresh one litre of cold water! Ahh, fantastic. However, I also sometimes struggle to make it home because I need to pee so badly. That's a painful way to get caught in traffic! Trust me.

Lets see, next I always forget to go to my 'pigeon hole' (no one ever says mail box, even the mail gets delivered to your 'letter box' at home); but I do try to check all the staff emails, but get caught up in various questions and conversations that eat up my time so that the first bell rings before I'm ever ready for it. Then off to class. Every day is a different schedule for me. I have 22 different classes and I only see each one once a week. The schedule is two 45 minute classes, recess for 30 minutes, two more 45 minute classes, lunch (an hour), and usually two more 45 minute classes. Except two days a week (Wednesday and Thursday's) when I have a shortened lunch for the 2 Kindy Classes (Kindergarden) after lunch followed by another 45 minute class. I always end at 3pm. Tuesday's are my only rest days. I do 'support' for Year 5 and 6 classes all day and finish with D.O.T. after lunch. (Duties Other than Teaching). I thought it stood for Do Other Things until just tonight, when my adopted parents told me what it really stands for. So all week I only have one and a half hours when I'm not teaching and with the kids. It's tiring for sure, but at least the days fly by when I'm so busy. For all those teachers wondering, yes I do have duties. Three a week; two after school at the Pick Up (parents drive up in a long line while we have all the kids in a hall and have to use a microphone to be heard calling out the surnames from signs on their parents down turned sun visors. Weird, but that's how it's done here. And Oval Duty at lunch on Friday's. Oval means playing field, like soccer or football. I try to leave by 4, but usually have to rush out by 4:30pm when the buildings get alarmed and the car park gate gets closed and locked! That's a mad dash. But now that the carnival is done, I can relax and go home on time. I hope.

I arrive home lately between 5 and 5:30, eat, try to do something with the kids, and then before I know it it's tuck in time with the kids and I'm bushed too! I have crashed as early as 8pm (embarrassing) and most often around 9:30 or 10pm. If I get home and have some energy, than I try to go out for a bike ride or go for a quick swim with Noah or Ellise. Tuesday nights are Pilates Class with Marie at the local community centre, and Friday's we're often on the road. If we aren't driving somewhere you can be sure that I am having a cold one and lazing around. Busy times, but good times.

Gotta head to bed now. It's almost midnight. I should have zonked hours ago, after all the sun and fresh air today at the meet. But that darn caffeine in my rum and cokes. Can't handle caffeine any more. I'm going to pay for this tomorrow!