Life Happens

Okay, let’s face it. I am depressed. I am not going to let it get me, BUT, it’s there. I am almost convinced I will not find an ESL job in PG, but despite having talked about it, don’t think I will be moving to Vancouver for it. I am just… more at home in PG than Vancouver. I don’t want to be worried about getting lost. I don’t want to worry about buses and all that. I know, a little pathetic of me, but whatever, it’s what I want, or think I want anyways. However, I am not being a total bum about it, although it does feel this way to me, and therefore, probably to you as well. I have applied for all the volunteer positions I can think of. I am going to set up a meeting with a director to talk to her about some options I have. I would enjoy doing some more observations along with maybe a class or two. I would enjoy subbing as well. So, I am going to do that. I am trying to find out if we still have an “ESL cafe” in town, and would be excited to take a part of that as well. Hopefully, at least one of these volunteer positions come true for me as well! I need a job, so, I will have to find something soon, ESL or not. Monday’s goals.

I am going to be one of four mentors working on the Go Girl Program this spring. This program is ran through Big Brothers and Big Sisters. It is aimed at pre-adolescent girls and is meant to help build confidence and self-esteem in these girls. It sounds like a pretty great program, and I am excited to have this opportunity. I had it last year, but it wasn’t the right time for me. A big part of this program which appeals to me on a professional level is that we are given basic lesson plans for each meeting, and we have to facilitate them. I am happy to have this chance to continue my teaching, even if not in an ESL environment. It also makes me happy to know that my teen story might inspire someone. I know I followed a very clean path, and it is possible that hearing this from me will encourage the girls to step away from the peer pressure they might feel to conform to fit in. In a lot of ways, I was a pretty typical teen. I was depressed. I bullied kids who I didn’t like. This did not become clear to me until long after high school ended, and I am a little ashamed of what I did. However, I have forgiven myself, and I have moved onto be the girl that you all know and love. I will have to tell this to these girls. It is a little scary to know that I will “bare my soul”, but I am at a point where I am ready to do this. This program starts in about mid-April, but my training is this week. This program will run for seven weeks (which will look like nine on the calendar because of two long weekends in there), for 2 hours a week. I am so excited!

I am still going to sign up for those two courses I talked about previously; they start April 20th. I am also signing up for a first aid course. I took Nathaniel sledding on Tuesday and when he scratched the heck out of his head, it was the scare of my young life. I thought he might have a concussion, and I quickly realized that I had no idea what a concussion looked like, or what to do about it. This event on cemented in my mind that I need a first aid course before I go overseas. If I do something dumb to myself, like fall in a sewage hole again, I need to know how to treat it myself! I won’t always have a Katherine around to play doctor! This is in May. Probably also in May I will have my yard sale for Relay for Life 2011 and United Hearts Children’s Centre. For those of you in PG, I will gladly take your yard sale treasures for this fundraiser! And of course, the Relay is in May as well! As you can tell, I have big plans for my summer here, and I have big plans for my future still. And of course, I am raising money for that too!

On a side note, mostly about Nathaniel’s mishap on the hill…. I had a mishap on the hill today too! I was cruising along, enjoying the perfect spring day… snow was sloshing behind me, and life was grand. And then, I had time to think “oh shit!” and “thank god I wear a helmet” before my face crashed into the snow. I don’t know the rest, but I landed hard on my back as well. My goggles were around my neck (making it hard to take off my helmet!) My little neck warmer thing was filled with snow. I wasn’t sure I could move. (I am pretty sure part of my back landed on something and will soon be bruised, but Mom says that she can see no damage to me yet). I yell curse words down the hill so that Mom at least knows I am alive. She asks if I am okay, and I answer with I think so, but I am not yet sure. My back hurt so much I didn’t know what to do. Once I caught the breath that this wicked fall had stolen away, I slowly sat up. Okay, good, my back merely hurts. I pull out a tissue to dry the snow off my face, and discover that somewhere, there is blood on my face. It takes me a bit to figure out that the bridge of my nose is bleeding a little. As I start to get re-dressed (there was snow everywhere!), I realize that I broke the inside lens of my goggles, and made a little crack in the outside of them. I figure it was the goggles breaking that made my nose bleed. And now that I am safely at home, my whole body is starting to hurt to move (and my back is even sorer). I had a bath, but tomorrow will still be a rough day. If I had more time to think thoughts as I flew to my death (I enjoy being dramatic), I would have also thought “this is going to hurt”. One of mom’s statements was pretty much just that : you will hurt in the morning! I joked that I did it to make Nate feel better, but Nate’s entire face was scratched from his sliding face first to a stop at the bottom of the sledding hill. As upset as I was about it, he shouldn’t have gone down on his face! Those were not my instructions to him! Nathaniel was really upset by the blood on his face, so I can only show you the picture I took when we got home today, of me!

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers and donations towards United Hearts Children Centre. What could have been a crisis with the roofing situation has been handled, and we are back to raising money for the inside of the orphanage. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you guys!

Anyways, that’s my week for you. Don’t worry, I am going to pull my shit together and get this back together. I have to drop off a criminal record check, mom and my passport renewals, go swimming?, I am going to apply everywhere and get a job, I am going to talk to people about ESL placements, and I am going to find volunteer work as well. I have my first interview with Georgia on Thursday, and I am going to get that job and go to Georgia for September! And I am a month ahead of university students, so I can get the best jobs!

I love you, my dear friends.