Well, it’s been difficult to keep up the frequent posts lately.  This week there were no exotic trips or adventures.  It was spent sitting in front of the tv, marking assessment upon assessment, doing report cards which are due this Tuesday.  Yes, folks, I am here on a work exchange.  I do show up to work 5 days a week, have multiple meetings before and after school, do prep, mark and am still trying to learn 120 student names.  And this week… they added another class.  So now I have another 25 names to learn.  It’s really annoying when a student needs to be told and you can’t call his/her name.  That is one good thing about working in the same school for years.  You get to know the students as they move through the years to graduation.

On the social side, we entertained a few of my coworkers last night.  It didn’t start out to be a chick night but some people or their husbands were busy, so it was Leon and 4 lovely ladies for a nice Mediterranean style dinner overlooking the lovely back yard.  Leon and I spent the day gardening in the autumn sun.  Just a nice, warm, sunny day.  Guests arrived for drinks on the patio.  The bubbles flowed (can’t get enough of those).  Dinner was delicious and a good time was had by all.

Today, it was a very much anticipated Sunday morning in bed with coffee and the newspaper.  Brunch was restaurant style sausage, eggs, homefries and toast on the patio (our private bistro).  After a couple of hours of marking, I decided not to waste the day and we were off for a drive to Castlemaine, another gold town nearby.  Honestly, we weren’t that impressed and decided Bendigo is so much nicer.  We did stop a few times to try some local wines, notably at Hartcourt and Black Jack.  Leon did the tasting and decided to bring back a bottle of the Black Jack.  Sometimes when you are tasting, you are the only ones in the place, so you feel a little bad not buying at least one bottle.  And don’t think we are taking home any bad wines out of pity.  They are all excellent but not always very affordable.

Back home, I am looking forward to another evening of marking and report cards.  I’m almost there…  This will be a busy week with relatives coming from Canada, a night in Melbourne and a weekend in Geelong.  And we are only 2 weeks from our 17 day holiday.  I hope to report more exciting events next time.