Month: September 2006

We found out that Christina should now be able to roll over onto her back from being on her tummy. We tried it out and were amazed at how she immediately raised her head and legs and started to try and roll over. There are some pics in the gallery and the short movie is either there already or will be put there soonish.

In other news, we have put to rest all that happened after Ava’s surgery. After calls to the hospital and various attempts at trying to get decent answers we managed a formal meeting with the doctor and he answered all of our questions. Not all the way we were hoping, but they were honestly the best we were going to get.

We have started some checks just to make sure that everything is really okay with Ava. These will take a little while and include a brain scan and a check of her lungs. We are still hoping for a final answer to the whole thing. But a taxi driver told Ava it’s not about the right timing, but about when Ava is healthy enough again, which sounds just right.

The countdown to our trip to South Africa is underway, we are so looking forward to seeing the family, which will include a sister-in-law, a nephew and from our side a granddaughter/niece.

Things plod along as usual, but with a few extra things to cloud my mind.

I have started looking into other areas for work opportunities. Not specifically a change from teaching, but possibly. This is just one of those getting older things, which is also helped by the two ladies at home, the older of which likes to keep me on my toes. What is comes down to are the following options, which could change, but here they are for now.

I can keep teaching, but to keep myself as an asset in an industry that’s not too great I’ll need to invest in some courses to make myself an asset and assist in finding another job. Going along with this I was thinking about how to get my HDE, which could help to land a primary or secondary school teaching position. The other option is an editor. These jobs are well fought for as they are one of the few options for non-Chinese speakers in Taiwan. There is not too much preparation for this besides perhaps a little reading up.The final option is a programming job, although I was dead set against this earlier in my life and especially after University, after doing a lot of website stuff involving php and mysql I have a renewed interest. I do wonder if that interest will be the same in a work position as opposed to doing it for fun.

So the plan of attack is…

For most of the above I need to improve my Chinese, especially for a programming position. So I need to tackle that. I have been looking online at English courses that are applicable now. Finally I have whipped out my book of php and mysql to brush up on something I am quite rusty at.

Ava is back at University now, two days a week, which is quite a nice load with the extra work of taking care of the baby. We are so grateful to our friends Alan and Angela who live in our neighborhood. Angela helps take care of Christina on Tuesday evenings when Ava goes to school and I only come home later in the evening.

I get the honor of taking care of Christina on Sunday mornings.

There are probably a whole lot of things that I have forgotten, but that’s it for now.