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It has been an eventful week, especially for Katy. Monday was the Dartmouth High School Prom. Katy went with Brenden, one of the members of the church Youth Group (just a good friend for those wondering). She got all gussied up in her slinky dark dress bought for $10 at Value Village, a second hand clothing store. Katy had a competition with one of her friends to see who could spend the least on her Prom outfit. Katy won, spending a total of $40 on a dress, a purse and sandals, but the effect was still very elegant as you can see from the picture. The afternoon began with a trip to the hairdresser followed by pictures in the back garden, then pictures in the Halifax Public Gardens. Then the Prom itself followed by Safe Grad (a less formal party at the school from 1 to 6 AM). Katy and Brenden had fun at the Prom but found Safe Grad a bit boring and left early (!) at 5 AM.
Meanwhile Emily, James and I were out playing soccer. The coach of Emily's team was out of town so, as I am the Assistant Coach, I had to step in. That meant that I missed all the pre-Prom picture taking. The picture at the left was taken by Valerie using my camera.
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On Tuesday Katy and a bunch of her friends had their hair shorn to raise funds for cancer research. Katy lost a good deal of hers and now sports a new hair style (see the picture), but her loss was nothing in comparison with Neal's. He used to have long blonde hair down to his waist, but he's now completely bald!
Wednesday afternoon was Katy's graduation ceremony. It was held in the arena at the Sportsplex, starting at 2 PM and ending just before 5 PM. The Grade 10 Concert Band, in which David plays trumpet, provided musical entertainment before everything got going, then played Pomp and Circumstance while the graduating class, all 279 of them, entered. After a few speeches, each graduate was called up to receive their diploma and any additional honours that they had won. There were a few special honours reserved until the very end. We were very proud that Katy won one of these: the Queen Elizabeth Medal for the highest average over Grades 10, 11 and 12. Her friend Jessica won the Governor General's Medal for the highest average in Grade 12.
As soon as it was all over, we rushed home for take-away Chinese food and a celebratory chocolate mousse cake before Emily, James and I went out to play soccer. Emily's team, the Fury, played a very good game against one of the other strong teams in their small league, ending in a 0-0 tie. The Fury are clearly one of the strongest teams as they have yet to lose after four games, though they have tied twice.
By the time the Sidewinders' practice began it was raining. (The Fury practices from 6 PM to 7 PM; the Sidewinders, James' team, from 7:10 PM to 8:10 PM.) Only three other players on the team showed up and though we stuck it out for a while, we eventually went home early.
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Wednesday was also effectively James and Emily's last day at school, though they did go in briefly on Friday morning to pick up their report cards, so the summer holidays have now officially begun.
Yesterday David and I drove to Sydney in Cape Breton, along with two of his team-mates, for a two game series against the Cape Breton Selects. The first game was yesterday afternoon at 4 PM in 30°C weather. They lost 4-0, though the teams were much more evenly matched than the score suggests, Dartmouth United having the better of the play for much of the first half. We spent the night in the dorms at the Cape Breton University (formerly known as the University College of Cape Breton) after a communal dinner at Pizza Delight. This morning they played again, this time losing a very close game 2-1. In both games DU suffered from fewer substitutes and an inability to finish plays in front of the Cape Breton goal. After showers and a quick lunch at Tim's, we drove home again arriving just in time for dinner.
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The good news for David and Katy is that school is finished for the year. Katy is going to the prom tomorrow, but other than that it is all over except for final report cards. The bad news for David is that two days after his last exam he got braces on his teeth. He will have to put up with them for the next 18 months or so.
David has now had several refereeing jobs, mostly as an assistant referee. The pay is fairly good: $14 a game for an assistant referee, more for the referee. That is considerably better than minimum wage, which is the best he could expect elsewhere but, of course, the jobs are sporadic. On Tuesday he was assistant referee for two games: an Under 14 girls game and an Under 12 boys game. The referee had to judge his performance and report back to the refereeing organization. According to David, everything went fine and the referee said that he had done a good job.
On Friday Ann joined James's class for a trip to New Ross Heritage Farm in New Ross (about an hour's drive north-west of Dartmouth). The farm is still run as it would have been 100 years ago with a cooper, a blacksmith, a mill, a small school-house and fields ploughed with oxen. A highlight of the trip was a calf born only a few hours before.
On Friday evening there was a big end of year bash at David's friend David Foster's. David took his toothbrush and didn't arrive home until the following morning, just in time for his soccer game against the Celtics, the team of his good friend, and Ann's godson, Alex. DU (David's team) had the best of it in the first half; David set up a goal about midway through the half and then they scored again just before half-time. However, we were playing with only two substitutes and the Celtics had seven or eight. Near the end of the second half DU ran out of steam eventually allowing two goals for a 2-2 tie.
On Saturday evening we had our frineds Mae, Marcel, Luc and Luc's four week old brother Mathieu over for dinner. Mae and I share an office at DRDC (which I have to myself for the next month or two). Just before they arrived Emily and James were invited to a sleepover with their friends Leona and James (also brother and sister). There was a mad scramble getting them ready to go as well as getting dinner ready, but in the end all was accomplished.
Today was the Church picnic, held at Shubie Park after church. Only a few families attended, probably because it was so cold, but those that did had a pleasant time picnicking, playing Capture the Flag and soaking each other with squirt guns (the kids were the only participants in this one).
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Last week I was in Ottawa for a three-day business meeting. I flew up on Tuesday after work and back again on Friday evening. The meeting went well and in the evenings I led a fairly boring existence, staying in my hotel for the most part. I did go out on Thursday for a walk around the Parliament Buildings where I took a few pictures of the sunset over the Rideau River. Ann managed to keep everyone on schedule at home, including ferrying the kids to various soccer and flute practices and swimming lessons.
Saturday was a very busy day, even for us. James and I took David up to New Minas for a noon soccer game against the Valley team. It was a pretty close game, though the Valley was the better team and ended up winning 1-0. James and I watched the game while it was on and otherwise whiled away the time kicking a soccer ball around.
Meanwhile Emily was at the birthday party of her friend Leona. They all went to the Dartmouth Common and flew kites. Most came back safely but a couple were irretrievably snagged in trees.
After we returned from New Minas, Emily and James had their last gymnastics lesson of the term to which Mums and Dads were invited so that they could see what the kids had been working on. Ann and I both went to see.
As soon as that was over we picked up a quick meal and then returned home to host a big music party in honour of Ann and Ingrid's recent birthdays. An assortment of our musical and other chums came to help celebrate and we played music until about 1 PM. At one point David and his friends had a small electric band going in and around our maple tree (see the picture).
Today has mainly been a day of recovery, but we did pause to go to Katy's last flute recital which was held in the church mid-afternoon. Katy played two solos and was part of a trio playing Fauré's Pavane. I particularly liked the 3rd movement of Telemann's Flute Concerto in F (the first of her solos).
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James had an eventful week last week. On Wednesday he "swam up" from Beavers to become a Cub. There was a ceremony in the church basement followed by cookies and drinks. On Friday afternoon James' class performed several plays based on fairy tales. James had two roles: Doc in Blanche Neige et les Sept Nains and Hansel in Hansel et Gretel. As usual he played his parts with gusto.
Wednesday was also another concert night for Katy. The Grade 12 students performed a musical revue at the high school including pieces from each of their years as band students, from Grade 6 to Grade 12. There were also several solos and duets including Katy and her friend Alison playing Sheep May Safely Graze on their flutes. Katy was also in action again tonight with the All-City Jazz Band at Doolittle's Tap and Grill in Dartmouth. While Mums and Dads (including Ann but not me as I was coaching soccer: see below) watched and ate, the band entertained, playing 18 different numbers. Apparently the performance was wonderful.
On Saturday the Youth Group had a marathon movie night watching the first three Star Wars movies at Alex's. Not everyone could stay the course; Katy came home early to get some work done and David left early to go to a party at his friend Scott's.
On Sunday David had another soccer game. It has been so wet here that the natural turf fields have only just been opened, so one of his other recent games was cancelled. This time they played Scotia, his former club, which is considered one of the two best teams in the league. They lost 5-1.
This evening soccer started for Emily, James and myself. I am assistant coach for Emily's Under 10 team, the Fury, and coach for James' Under 8 team, the Sidewinders (all the U8 teams are snakes). The season started well, though it was pretty cold.
May 2005 Archive
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