The Keir’s lockdown update

Hi Family and Friends,

Wow, this year has been an interesting one. We started it off with Gran staying for 5 weeks over the Christmas period. Thank goodness she was here for the winter because the Summer 2020 holiday would not have been possible now. She was a dream to have and missed having the fairy in the basement doing the laundry while we slept :-P. While she was staying, I sneaked off to meet D in the USA for a week-long cruise from Miami. It was a lovely holiday where D and I just chilled together and I drank way too many cocktails on the balcony. I am hooked on cruising now. On return to Miami, we did a Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour which ended with us having lunch in Little Havana.

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Feb and March were busy months. D travelled out west twice and also had two trips to Montreal. The first trip to Montreal fell on a Friday, so we took the train up together and then made a weekend of it. We stayed in an awesome hotel in Old Montreal that was themed on the history of Montreal in the 60’s to the late 70’s. Each room told a different story and you could look up facts using their app on the TV. It is very quirky with little details like a record player and an old phone in the room. They had placed records in the room that had been released during the 60’s which was another cool feature and one I listened to while I completed an assignment. For breakfast they deliver a basket of food to eat in bed. We did a restaurant hop on the Friday. The first stop was a beautiful Italian restaurant that we will need to go back to. We then had mains in a pub near the waterfront. The hotel was across the road from the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History which has part of Old Montreal underground that you can explore. For one part you walk through a portion of the first sewer system and there are remnants of old buildings. It was really fascinating and not something we had known was there before arriving at the hotel.

Uville Hotel

Due to being an Occasional Teacher, my work supply has completely dried up but there is always a bright side to any situation. I had time to focus on completing three courses. I completed a distance learning course about behavioural needs within the schooling system. This was interesting because it went into details of the legal system and how delinquency is handled as well as reform methods. At this point, I only had two remaining to meet my conditions on my teaching license, which will then result in me converting my education to one that is Canadian equivalent. Although it’s not a big deal really because it doesn’t actually impact my employability. I then spent April starting the process of making a few teaching resources that I have been meaning to start since May last year but just had not found enough time to focus on it. I decided to do another course in May/June but this one was not one that would be used for my conditions. All the courses I do are available to all teacher and either count towards meeting my conditions (I fill in a form telling them the course needs to count towards conditions) or towards my qualifications listed with the teaching board (Canadian equivalent to SACE). Some courses have multiple levels and the one I did was called Special Education Part 1. I will do the next level in a year or so. I made the choice to do this one because it is an important one to have under my belt and is also a course that links to my end goal within my career. I would have had to do it now or do it when I meet my conditions. I felt that it would be better to just get it done now, so that I can be eligible for jobs that have level one as a requirement. I then had 2 days free until I started the course I am doing now. I finish the course Assessment and evaluation next week Friday. In the last slog but then will hopefully be done with courses for a while. I have one remaining which leaves me very tempted to do it this year, but then I am worry I’m not going to cope with completing it because the next round of courses will not start until mid-September and that would lead to it only end early December.  

As of April 5^th, we have been living in our own Canadian home for a year. I can’t believe how time has flown.

We were both meant to have our fathers visit this summer but obviously, that went out the window. Hopefully, they can visit next year. We have had a very warm summer which has led to some lovely swims in the Ottawa river.

Most of you should know by now that December is going to be an exciting month for us. We are very excited to meet our Christmas present. As of today, I am exactly halfway. Eeeeek! I have just started feeling the little jellybean’s movements, so hopefully D will start feeling them soon. We had an ultrasound last week but the little thing wanted to have tummy time, so we did not see the little face or get any images, as images of the spine aren’t really one you want to stick on the fridge. I have another scan next week, so hopefully, I see its cute little profile. I plan on giving it a sugar rush beforehand to motivate some movement.