Movember, 2012

Hi Guys,

Seems like November has flown by, so here are a few snaps to tell the tales:

 "Yogurt World" recently opened near us... it's a self-serve frozen yogurt place where you choose your flavours, then top it with anything you want from their topping bar.  The more gluttonous you are, the more you pay, as it goes by weight.  These are our good friends Greg and Sunelle who have just moved down here from Rocky... they've rented a unit just 2 blocks from us, so we're pretty excited.

Andrew is getting lots of action on his longboard these days, which he loves.  It's so nice to be able to skateboard right by the beach.

As the end of the school-year approaches, lots of private schools here have this special tradition... some schools call it "the walk of faith," but this school (where I was subbing at that day) just call it "the tunnel."  It's basically where all the grads walk down a sidewalk lined by the grade 1-11 kids (plus all the parents, grandparents, etc) after the grad assembly.  Everyone gets to high-five them and wish them well and say their last good-byes (as the grade 12s finish school a few weeks before everyone else.)   Quite touching.  Most of the grads seemed to be pretty emotional going down the line. 

Last Sat we gathered a bunch of friends (Greg, Sunelle, Becky, Jo, and Andrew and I) to hike up Mt. Coolum, which has an amazing ocean view once you get to the top.  Emily, Mum, and Dad, you will remember doing this with us when you were here. 

It's crazy b/c as we were going up we bumped into this chick running it who said she was doing it 5 times in a row that morning.  

And here is Andrew arranging some flowers that he picked from our building's bushes for us.  He is quite talented at this art-form  ;)

I've been having quite a few days off recently as there's not a huge need for supply teachers at the moment... so sometimes I go down to the beach.  Last week I saw bus-loads of elementary-school kids getting free surf lessons at our local surf club, which I think is so cool.  I guess it's kind of the equivalent of kids in BC going ice skating during school hours.

We have definitely hit summer now with temps regularly above 30 degrees.  This past weekend we spent plenty of time at the beach.  It was so nice that Andrew could have a fully relaxed weekend as he just finished course #8 of his masters, as well as finishing all his marking and report cards.  He also got to go fishing up the local river with a colleague, and hang out with some friends. 

 On Sat night we met a bunch of friends down at the beach for the Christmas fireworks... this pic was taken while we were waiting... gotta get down there early to get get your prime piece of picnic-blanket real estate :)  Unfortunately we didn't get a big group pic since it was dark by the time all our friends arrived.

A couple weeks ago, Andrew was strolling along the beach when he bumped into 3 Canadians... he actually identified them b/c the guy was wearing a Leafs shirt, so he went over and struck up a conversation... next thing we knew they were at our place for appies and wine this week- fun times.  James is a physiotherapist, his wife Jen is an occupational therapist, and their cousin Julia is a writer.  They are taking a year off to travel the world, so it was fun swapping travel stories and visa procurement experiences :)

That's all for now... we are getting ready to board the plane in 4 days to come home for Christmas.  We fly to Sydney on Sat, stay the night with our friends there, and then fly to Vancouver on Sunday (we actually arrive before we leave... wrap your head around that). 

We're really excited to see everyone, go snowboarding, and have some Tim Horton's (amongst many other things). 

While we are gone, our landlord is gonna be renovating our 1970's kitchen and bathroom, so it should all look pretty flash by the time we get back.  Looking forward to having kitchen drawers that actually slide open, and our bathroom vanity not being puke-colored anymore.  I know, I know, we've got it better than 2/3 of the world... shouldn't complain at all.

K, catch you all later... we'll see most of you in just a few days now :)

~Corinna for Team AC