The girls' school re-opened today. The news on my car radio this morning said that according to the unions, "the strike is still very much on and the education department, calling for schools to re-open, is jeopardising the safety of school principals".

I can't help being a bit anxious about this situation. The girls are so desperate to get back to school that we didn't really consider keeping them at home again this morning. I hope we have not done the wrong thing. If I didn't have to be at work I might be more likely to wait a bit longer as they wouldn't then be bored and miserable at home - instead we would just work on our own projects at home. Numbers are sure to still be down at school as some parents will wait for the situation to settle down completely.

According to this recent news report, a resolution might be achieved quite soon. God I hope so.

More happily, we had a really nice weekend. I used to feel an urge to go out somewhere in order to have an enjoyable weekend; now, although I still enjoy outings, I am just as happy to enjoy what we have at home. This weekend, among other things, various members of our family

• went to a birthday party
• gave and received home-made Father's Day cards
  
• built a bonfire
• played swingball
• braai'ed
• went to watch the Comrades runners run through our area
  
• sat in the sun and read books
• had a party
• danced
• played musical statues
• made an island out of a molehill (complete with trees, dinosaurs, giant spiders, and many other creatures)
  
• enjoyed skipping (kids had never done the huge skipping rope type of skipping)
• trampolined
• played cricket (very briefly, child in question has negative interest in ball games of any sort)
• rode bikes
• soared through the air on the tyre swing
• learnt how to swing standing up
• giggled hysterically
  
• recorded music mixes
• choreographed a dance
• played a new game on the Nintendo DS
• watched The Human Stain (which I enjoyed more than the reviewers, evidently)

I love where we live. Also the climate.