I’ve got a few things going on lately.

End of year – I’m creating, invigilating, correcting exams on an ongoing basis. And there are still 2 weeks to go! Of course along with that comes student stress. I teach Grade 11. Some of my students won’t graduate this year, some will, some are unsure. The emotional vista in my classroom is panoramic.

Lacrosse – We (not me, the boys at school) made it to the championship game and are silver medal finalists in the GMAA this year! We had a great season – what an accomplishment for a team that did not exist 3 years ago.

Unfortunately our final game was a huge blow out, both in terms of the score and the atmosphere surrounding it. The winning team had a large number of student supporters at the game, which is normally a great thing. It adds spirit and excitement. Not this time. The fans were heckling our players and our coaches. The officials were not experienced enough to really deal with the situation and they basically lost control of the game.

There was an underlying current, steeped in history, of hatred and animosity between the two teams – one French and one predominantly Mohawk.

One of the officials called over some police officers who were patrolling the area to help keep control of the crowd so our players could safely make their way to our bus after the game. Can you believe that even the school’s principal was involved in intimidating and verbally harassing some of our players? It was that out of control.

We have a facebook group to which members of the opposing team posted racist and bigoted comments during the weekend after the game. I was shocked. It’s one thing to call things out in the heat of a game but quite another to post comments a day or two or 3 later. One player even posted one of the most disgusting images I have ever seen. Obviously I have changed the permissions on the group and banned those members. We’ve also made an official letter of protest to the league, to which I am awaiting an answer.

Moving – After 3 unsuccessful offers to purchase homes, I have finally purchased a house! The signing date is next week and I am moving in on the 13th of June. I’m moving out of province so the move will not only give me a new address and phone number but I’ll need to get a new driver’s license and plates for my car. It’s a reconditioned farmhouse, built in 1910, on 2 acres of land. I am very excited and feel slightly overwhelmed with all that needs to be done, not to mention the money that is pouring out of my pockets, over the next little while.

Just to make things a bit more exciting – I took in a new dog 2 weeks ago. An 8-month old pug named Jacob.

He is in constant motion, except for when he passes out for 15 minutes or so at a time. He had been abused and you could definitely tell the first 2 days I had him. I brought him to work his first 3 days with me and he spent those days sleeping in the arms of students. I swear they healed him. He and Toby play well together and I barely have a sliver of space to myself on my bed now, not to mention at my computer desk.

Yup. Life is busy, life is full. Looking forward to summer :)