Yukon Chatter Bug

Everyone wants to have fun. So, come on down to this year’s fun-filled evening to help raise funds for the 2008 grads. We are a group of nine students graduating from the BEd program at Yukon College. Come on down!

Update: There will not be a 50/50 draw due to licensing requirements. [05/22/08]

What started as the tearing off of wallpaper, ended up with tearing down a whole wall and stripping the bathroom from everything but the tub. I should’ve known; there’s no such thing as small jobs in the bathroom. Here are some pics for the folks back home and anyone else who’s interested:

	This is our lovely wallpapered bathroom before starting our renovations. Notice the linen closet next to the miniature vanity.
	It all started when I was tired of staring at the peeling flowered wallpaper when nature called (see above for said wallpaper). I was horrified to discover an even more disgusting wallpaper underneath. And worse, this wallpaper was the equivalent of MACtac on panelling. It was not possible to remove it. Plus, we decided to get rid of the horrid linoleum. Again, removing it revealed another layer of even more crazy 70′s linoleum; and finally, rotting wood underneath near the toilet and tub.
	Here’s another glimpse of the wonderful design under the flowered wallpaper. As you can see, we decided to get rid of the old vanity along with the linen closet that was next to it. This will make room for a vanity with some countertop space.
	We replaced the rotten particle board with plywood at the head of the tub. Also notice the absence of the wall that separated our bathroom from the office, as well as the faucets and shower head.I have to say Dave isn’t someone who ordinarily curses. Having to re-do the plumbing for the tub about three times, however, generated curse words I didn’t know existed. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but it really was a frustrating endeavour.
	Here’s the new plywood to replace rotting floor under the toilet and near the vanity’s plumbing.
	During this project, we learned everything there is to know about toilet flanges. Dave crawled under the trailer to cut the old pipe and fit in a new piece and flange. It’s elevated to match the height of the ceramic tile that will be going in.
	After replacing the old green-stripped panelling with paintable hardboard, a new tub surround was installed. Hardboard wouldn’t have been our first choice, except that anything else would have been too thick for the toilet tank to fit back there. As it was, it sat against the old panelling. Actually moving the toilet was out of the question. Here’s a picture of the wallboard, after we painted it. The colour doesn’t really come out on this photo, but it’s a very light buttery yellow, almost white. Also notice our new lighting fixture (brushed nickel). I love it!
	Here you can see our beautiful cedar on the opposite wall, along with the brushed nickel tub faucets. You can also see where our new linen closet will be. We also used hardboard above the tub surround and that ceiling area. Now we have to install our new maple vanity with undermount sink. Oh, and did I mention it is maple. After that, we install the tile to highlight our new maple vanity, and voilà! I’ll have to post a picture of the finished bathroom once it’s done.

“Okay boys and girls, correct the following sentence,” she commands as she points her stick on the tiny blackboard stuck to the wall. The stick is longer than she is, and two pupils are sitting quietly at a makeshift desk with their hands raised. The letters printed on the board are crooked, and the sentence has more errors than the teacher is aware of.

We were playing school in Chantel’s basement and took turns being the teacher. Little did I know the amount of work involved in being a teacher. At the time, I thought teaching was about worksheets, blackboards, and telling the students what to do. I’ve come a long way.

I start my new career next fall, and after spending the last four years studying and student-teaching, I quickly came the the realization that teaching is far from what I imagined. For one, most of the work is done outside the classroom. In order to get all the little kids engaged in meaningful work, and for the day to go smoothly, there is a lot of planning and preparation to do. I’m sure that after I’ve been at it for many years, the planning part will be less time-consuming.

The nice part about knowing what I’ll be doing in the fall is that I have all summer to plan for next year. I can order books, surf the net, and gather ideas. I can actually try some of the stuff I’ve come up with as a student-teacher and get to find out what works and what doesn’t.

To start things off, I picked up Shakespeare’s Othello along with the graphic novel version, just to get me in the mood.

Plus, I’m willing to bet that this post has more errors than the teacher is aware of.