Dear Richard
It’s December already! Really crazy how
this year has gone so fast – but then you’ll be feeling that too! I’m hoping
that these letters will get to you before Christmas J
My work last week was pretty relaxed…
finally J After releasing the results I didn’t have
any major complaints from the students, which is always great!
I also finished working on the chapters
for the new groups textbook we’ve been working on. It was a bit frustrating
because I did the last chapter the one day, but then I lost all the work! L So the next day I spent another 4 hours
redoing it… But I’m pretty sure that there were areas that I made changes the
second time round that I missed the first time, so maybe it wasn’t all bad… J But I did learn some lessons – firstly to
know where you’ve been saving your work! And then also just listen and act on every
thought that comes to mind that sounds like a good idea! There were a few
thoughts I had during the day that could have prevented me from re-doing the
work, but I didn’t listen properly L But now I know
better!
I attended a meeting for all the lecturers
in my section of the department, the Financial Reporting section. I was able to
present some of the proposals I have for changes to my course for next year,
which I had already discussed with the powers that be. And again the feedback
was positive. But what was also really nice was that one of the first year
lecturers that I’ve worked with for the first time this year then told everyone
how much she’s enjoyed working with me this year and how much help I gave with
some aspects of the first year courses. It was really nice to have such
positive comments J and completely
unasked for! But that was 3 meetings in the last 2 weeks where things went
really well for me, and I think that I’m starting to finally find my really valuable
place in the College J I also got some
nice feedback on the marks spreadsheet that I worked on developing from another
lecturer that always used to be the excel go-to-guy, and parts of that has now
been rolled out to other departments in the faculty as well!
I sleep-walked for the first time ever
last week! Andrew says that I regularly talk in my sleep, but this was a first…
Strangely enough, I think it’s because I’m so tired all the time that these
things are happening… But I’ve realised that I need to go back to taking iron.
In fact, we were fasting for missionary work this weekend, and lately I’ve been
feeling so tired and weary that I actually haven’t had the energy to talk to
anyone about the church, and in fact I haven’t wanted to have the church come
up, because I didn’t have the energy to give a discussion justice… But during
the fast I was talking to mom, and it got around to my tiredness, and I
realised that I’ve stopped taking iron, and I need to go back to it… And I
realised that there is quite possibly part of the answer to me being more
effective with missionary work again! So I bought some more iron tablets this
morning ;)
I went and had my ears syringed last week,
because they had gotten so blocked that I couldn’t hear properly at all! It was
so amazing to get my hearing back again! It’s been interesting though, having
to learn to tune out background noise again… I’ve heard that deaf people who
get hearing aids struggle at first to filter out the background noise, and I
felt like to a degree I’m having the same problem. When I’m at the shops I
struggle to hear people talking, because the music is so loud in my ears… But I
know that I’ll adjust again, and at least I don’t have a permanent problem! Once
again - our bodies are wonderful!
This is the worst time of year for a
bishop and his family… Tithing settlement really takes it out of him, and it’s
a very lonely time for us… There have been a few times recently that I’ve had
the kids (who are also sick L) crying because
they miss him L. It really is tough… But just 2 more
weeks and then his report has to be in, so then we get him back! And then it
will be the holiday, and he’s taking more leave this year than in the past, so
it really is going to be great!
And yes, these sick kids… All of us had a
nasty virus, although the kids had it worse than us, and Caleb the worst of
all. And now it’s developed into measles for Caleb! I had kept him home from
church yesterday because of how he was, and when he came out in the rash today
I was so glad I did! Also I was glad to be at home when he puked all over me…
That would have been nasty at the chapel! So we’ve got a very sad and sick boy L But hopefully he’ll sleep okay tonight!
So I couldn’t visit anyone’s class yesterday
to give feedback, but I found a really great article in the August 2013 Ensign
that I sent to all of the teachers in the ward. “Great questions, great
discussions”. Definitely well worth a read! (If you don’t have access to the
Ensign let me know and I’ll send it to you. It shows in a great way how to use
questions that will promote good gospel discussions, and what kind of questions
not to use as well! It was amazing reading the article and feeling like this
author can read my mind! But he could put my thoughts into words a whole lot
better than I could have! I’m a really strong believer in using questions!
We had a braai at Colleen and Rohan’s
place for Andrew’s birthday on Friday. It was nice to see that Josh and Hannah
are getting so much better behaved if we’re at someone’s house. There’s hope!
We worked in the garden a bit again on
Saturday, and I also sprayed the lawn and cut back the lavender this evening
while the sun set beautifully. This weekend we planted some flower seeds, and
some of the vegetables we planted last week are coming up already! We’ll still
have to see how they grow all the way up, but that’s very promising! J
On Saturday afternoon we had the ward
Christmas party. The kids really enjoyed it, and Father Christmas got fantastic
presents for Josh and Hannah especially – they haven’t stopped playing with
them! Josh got a dinosaur where the skeleton can come out of its rubbery skin,
and Hannah got a Dora the Explorer Mega Blocks set. There’s a really cool toy
factory shop where Father Christmas got the toys at great prices! It was really
nice as well though that a less-active couple where I visit teach the wife came to the party! We’ll get them back at church
yet J And there were a few less active families
and individuals that came. It worked out well!
So now we really start the countdown to
Christmas, and it’s going to be so awesome getting to speak to you! Looking
forward to it!
Keep well, love you lots J
Shelly
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