June 1 is the official start of winter here.  It was frosty in the morning (+1C) but 18C by mid-afternoon.  Ok, I can live with that.  The days are short and I feel like hibernating or doing some Christmas shopping  or something, but no, that’s not till summer.  Very confusing to the body.

Leon is still in Canada, after a tremendously long trip over with 2 stops in China.  He has been busy working on his house, landscaping and pool/hot tub, trying to move a sale along.  Let’s hope this will do it.

Ariane and Nick left for Mt. Isa on Tuesday and had a job the next day.  Ariane says everyone is hiring in that mining community.  They are staying at a hostel for the next 4 weeks until we meet up again in Brisbane for a family beach holiday.  I have booked the camper and the flights.  We leave on July 3 for 11 days.

As for work, well it’s busy, busy, busy.  Lots of marking, report cards and training for the laptop program that starts tomorrow.  Our grade 9 students will now be equipped with their own laptops.  It will be exciting and challenging for all of us, as you can imagine.  So I can’t say I’ve been able to relax lately.  I had an overnight away for PD day with the Diocese this week.  We went to Yarrawonga, which is just on the border of NSW.  We actually stayed at a motel in NSW overlooking a lovely lake that is part of the Murray River waterway.  The motel had a pool and a spa.  It’s too bad I wasn’t there in the warmer months.

I am, however, looking forward to a weekend away in Mildura.  Next weekend is the Queen’s birthday weekend, so Leon and I will be traveling 6 hours to visit with 2 other couples who are former exchange teachers.  Funny story about one of those couples – when they were in the USA on exchange, the Aussie dollar was worth about $0.60 US.  The poor people were being paid poverty wages when you took into account the exchange rate.  I bet they would love to do it over again now with the Aussie dollar being $1.07 US now.  It’s costing us a bit more than we had planned in that sense, but there is no sense quibbling over pennies.

This weekend will likely be quiet for Earl and I.  He has a haircut planned for the afternoon followed by a movie with Mom.  We might try to find a zoo to visit on Saturday, weather permitting.