Journey of Hope and other miscellany
Okay, going to try this again. Google Chrome is misbehaving something chronic today and my teeny tiny reserves of patience can't deal with it. Hence, I have stopped fighting with it and gone back to my old (now unsupported) browser just to get this finished. Anyone with a browser they like and which doesn't have fits of bad behaviour is welcome to make suggestions :D Anyway, back to the story I was in the middle of when Chrome decided to be naughty.
First, Journey of Hope have posted a video advertising what they do. It was filmed mostly at our school with our kids, our teachers and our parents. I was given the opportunity to be in it, but declined - mostly because I was really busy at the time. They chose to do most of this at our school because apparently they had a really positive time with our kids and I think that's really great. So in this video all the playground shots are at our school and almost all the kids are ours too. Nicole and Tracey, two of the teachers shown in this, are Taylor's teachers right now. The video did a good job of glossing over how much is broken at our school, but you do see some good shots of our school hall with our temporary library at the back. The building which the library itself is in isn't demolished yet, and we are in fact still using the office and the staffroom parts, but it is due to be knocked down and the library itself is off limits along with the staff resource room and two classrooms. Anyway, this is a nice positive video made by our kids about their journeys :D
Dakota did make me tear up a bit when she said that her friends all act differently now because they didn't want to talk about the quakes and didn't want to be there. That really hit home because, if you recall, my friends did that too, and I recall how hard that was when I wanted to talk and wasn't allowed to - how much worse that must have been for these guys as kids!! It did get me thinking though - perhaps we needed a Journey of Hope for the adults as well :P By the way, when I watch that it makes me really upset that these kids are the ones in the areas being targetted for that educational experimentation. What on earth are they thinking? If they would just listen to these kids they'd see that doing this here and now is misguided at best and irresponsible and damaging at worst *angry face*
The cardboard cathedral is under consideration again and unfortunately council staff are being very shortsighted and have recommended that it not be given public land because the ten years they may need it for is too long to have parts of Hagley Park our of action and because no-one wants temporary solutions, we'd rather have something permanent going up and because it's only for one small section of the population (presumably the religious section). I'm really annoyed about that because first of all rugby has been granted and is already building a temporary home (and that's the definition of being for a small segment of the population) and second this is a building we can all use. They said at the time that it could be used for multiple purposes, like an old fashioned meeting house thing. So, while the Town Hall and the cathedral are out of action it would be a place to hold events as well as religious services. It's also unique and interesting and something that can be constructed quickly - something that can offer a bit of light to the city right now rather than years from now. My one hope is that the council itself has called for a consultation with the Anglican Church over this, so they haven't outright rejected it like the staff. I still have fingers crossed that this can happen without too much more battle and stupidity.
I have also been drinking water from the tap ever since the chlorine announcement. It may not sound like much but it's been a great feeling. I also heard this week that my favourite cookies are going to be available again soon. This is also very exciting! They were in Worcester Street and I'd only just rediscovered them in January (after I started heading back into the city more) when the February quake happened and wiped them out - quite literally. The building they were in has been demolished. Hearing that they are back up and running even if it is only in a mobile way is joyous :D
I'm sure I had other quaky things to say but I've forgotten them. We have less than a week of school left before summer holidays and that week is totally filled with things to do. The kids met their teachers for next year today which has been interesting. Seth has the same teacher again which I think will be good for him. He loves the creativity of what she does and he has made huge progress with her after struggling most of last year with his previous teacher. That will be a year 4/5 class which is unusual in the school which has til now been arranged into four 'learning teams' of years 0-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8. I think it will be interesting to see how it goes. Taylor is in with an interesting class. His new teacher is the only one in the school who insists on being called by 'Mrs' rather than by her first name and she is fairly old fashioned and rigid. I'm a little unsure how my free spirit, stubborn, independent child is going to go in there but we'll wait and see. She is a caring, dedicated teacher, however, so hopefully they get along okay and there's not too many clashes of personality in there. Summer - well, I was actually allowed to choose her class so I choose the team teaching class that Taylor is just about to graduate out of. Nicole has taught both my boys and they both loved her, and Tracey is marvellous as well, and so is Diane who does the release days for Nicole (who is head of department and so gets a day or so a week off to do admin stuff) so yay :D Nicole is excited that she gets to teach all 3 of them - she told me that she often misses out on the last child in a family so she's happy that we chose to put Summer in there. She also spent ages gushing about Taylor and how much she's going to miss him in her class which is nice.
Edit - I remembered one of the things I was going to put in here! We put up a Christmas tree this week. We had to go buy a new one which is bigger than the old one and so looks much more sparsely decorated. Oh well. I had to take pictures for Seth's class blog so I may as well put some here too. We bought some new lights for it and the blue ones are crazy bright - they tend to dominate but since I kind of like blue that's okay :D
I always make or buy a new ornament for the tree each year and this year I decided to get one at Ballantynes the day the container mall opened in Cashel Street. I don't tend to shop at Ballantynes because it's so very expensive but I made an exception this year just because being actually allowed back into the central city (ar at least part of it) seemed so momentous. So that ornament (the red ball at the top) is there alongside last year's 'road cone orange' one that I made. That one makes me a bit nostalgic for being able to laugh at the quake look a little bit. My mother suggested that I should do everyone one in 'liquefaction grey' this year but I can't do it. last year it was a little bit silly - this year it really doesn't feel appropriate. The angel, for those who care, was brought home for me from New York about ten years ago - in fact almost all the decorations on there are one offs that someone has brought back from somewhere or that have been made for us. It may not be the most co-ordinated of trees, but I value the stories it holds.
First, Journey of Hope have posted a video advertising what they do. It was filmed mostly at our school with our kids, our teachers and our parents. I was given the opportunity to be in it, but declined - mostly because I was really busy at the time. They chose to do most of this at our school because apparently they had a really positive time with our kids and I think that's really great. So in this video all the playground shots are at our school and almost all the kids are ours too. Nicole and Tracey, two of the teachers shown in this, are Taylor's teachers right now. The video did a good job of glossing over how much is broken at our school, but you do see some good shots of our school hall with our temporary library at the back. The building which the library itself is in isn't demolished yet, and we are in fact still using the office and the staffroom parts, but it is due to be knocked down and the library itself is off limits along with the staff resource room and two classrooms. Anyway, this is a nice positive video made by our kids about their journeys :D
Click to viewDakota did make me tear up a bit when she said that her friends all act differently now because they didn't want to talk about the quakes and didn't want to be there. That really hit home because, if you recall, my friends did that too, and I recall how hard that was when I wanted to talk and wasn't allowed to - how much worse that must have been for these guys as kids!! It did get me thinking though - perhaps we needed a Journey of Hope for the adults as well :P By the way, when I watch that it makes me really upset that these kids are the ones in the areas being targetted for that educational experimentation. What on earth are they thinking? If they would just listen to these kids they'd see that doing this here and now is misguided at best and irresponsible and damaging at worst *angry face*
The cardboard cathedral is under consideration again and unfortunately council staff are being very shortsighted and have recommended that it not be given public land because the ten years they may need it for is too long to have parts of Hagley Park our of action and because no-one wants temporary solutions, we'd rather have something permanent going up and because it's only for one small section of the population (presumably the religious section). I'm really annoyed about that because first of all rugby has been granted and is already building a temporary home (and that's the definition of being for a small segment of the population) and second this is a building we can all use. They said at the time that it could be used for multiple purposes, like an old fashioned meeting house thing. So, while the Town Hall and the cathedral are out of action it would be a place to hold events as well as religious services. It's also unique and interesting and something that can be constructed quickly - something that can offer a bit of light to the city right now rather than years from now. My one hope is that the council itself has called for a consultation with the Anglican Church over this, so they haven't outright rejected it like the staff. I still have fingers crossed that this can happen without too much more battle and stupidity.
I have also been drinking water from the tap ever since the chlorine announcement. It may not sound like much but it's been a great feeling. I also heard this week that my favourite cookies are going to be available again soon. This is also very exciting! They were in Worcester Street and I'd only just rediscovered them in January (after I started heading back into the city more) when the February quake happened and wiped them out - quite literally. The building they were in has been demolished. Hearing that they are back up and running even if it is only in a mobile way is joyous :D
I'm sure I had other quaky things to say but I've forgotten them. We have less than a week of school left before summer holidays and that week is totally filled with things to do. The kids met their teachers for next year today which has been interesting. Seth has the same teacher again which I think will be good for him. He loves the creativity of what she does and he has made huge progress with her after struggling most of last year with his previous teacher. That will be a year 4/5 class which is unusual in the school which has til now been arranged into four 'learning teams' of years 0-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8. I think it will be interesting to see how it goes. Taylor is in with an interesting class. His new teacher is the only one in the school who insists on being called by 'Mrs' rather than by her first name and she is fairly old fashioned and rigid. I'm a little unsure how my free spirit, stubborn, independent child is going to go in there but we'll wait and see. She is a caring, dedicated teacher, however, so hopefully they get along okay and there's not too many clashes of personality in there. Summer - well, I was actually allowed to choose her class so I choose the team teaching class that Taylor is just about to graduate out of. Nicole has taught both my boys and they both loved her, and Tracey is marvellous as well, and so is Diane who does the release days for Nicole (who is head of department and so gets a day or so a week off to do admin stuff) so yay :D Nicole is excited that she gets to teach all 3 of them - she told me that she often misses out on the last child in a family so she's happy that we chose to put Summer in there. She also spent ages gushing about Taylor and how much she's going to miss him in her class which is nice.
Edit - I remembered one of the things I was going to put in here! We put up a Christmas tree this week. We had to go buy a new one which is bigger than the old one and so looks much more sparsely decorated. Oh well. I had to take pictures for Seth's class blog so I may as well put some here too. We bought some new lights for it and the blue ones are crazy bright - they tend to dominate but since I kind of like blue that's okay :D
I always make or buy a new ornament for the tree each year and this year I decided to get one at Ballantynes the day the container mall opened in Cashel Street. I don't tend to shop at Ballantynes because it's so very expensive but I made an exception this year just because being actually allowed back into the central city (ar at least part of it) seemed so momentous. So that ornament (the red ball at the top) is there alongside last year's 'road cone orange' one that I made. That one makes me a bit nostalgic for being able to laugh at the quake look a little bit. My mother suggested that I should do everyone one in 'liquefaction grey' this year but I can't do it. last year it was a little bit silly - this year it really doesn't feel appropriate. The angel, for those who care, was brought home for me from New York about ten years ago - in fact almost all the decorations on there are one offs that someone has brought back from somewhere or that have been made for us. It may not be the most co-ordinated of trees, but I value the stories it holds.