Christine, Wondering

Random Musings of a Human Becoming

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Back to it . . .


School has been back in for two days now. It's going much more smoothly than it did at the start of the year - most of the kids have got used to the idea that this new arrangement is here to stay and that there's plenty of good new stuff happening. Literacy groups are going well, music is working, I'm starting a whole-school voluntary choir, and so on. Up to my usual tricks, basically :D

I went to see Tim Minchin's stand up routine at the Perth Concert Hall last night. He was absolutely brilliant (I spent most of the evening in tears of laughter) and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We had great seats - right up the back out of the way of being picked on, but with a perfect view down to the stage. The comedy was sharp, clever, linguistically savvy, and wandered back and forth over the comfort line perfectly. And it contained one of the best comedy bait-and-switch moments I've ever seen (a song about discrimination, making reference to a word that contains "a couple of gs, an r and an e, an i and an n" ... not what you're thinking though). Plus, he is an AMAZING pianist. It was a great evening and I'd thoroughly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity goes to see him. Also, youtube him. I can recommend Storm and there's plenty more on youtube.


Friday, April 24, 2009

Errandy Things


I gave blood this morning and then went and got my hair cut, as per the routine I'm trying to develop. It was my 5th donation so I got a little commemorative pin - yay! I'm still feeling a little strange but it's wearing off now that I've had lunch. I went to the same hairdresser as last time, and she did a great job the second time running, so I'm impressed. I explained what I'm trying to do: I want to grow it down to my waist, but I want to maintain layers in it all the way up to my ears even when it's long. So I wanted a little bit off the ends just to get rid of the dry stuff, and layers cut back in up the back and sides so that it's still bouncy. She did just that, and gave me a cute bouncy wave of hair over my left ear (my part is above my right ear) which forms a neat little curl next to my left cheek. It's cute and lively and I love it.

I'm performing in an ANZAC Day parade tomorrow with my concert band, in which we are marching - my first march! I'm trying to get the music memorised so that I don't trip over my own feet. It's going interestingly.

I got new contacts yesterday with a slightly stronger prescription - a few weeks ago I realised that my distance vision had gone sproing again, and I've been struggling to switch between close and distant (which teachers have to do a LOT - looking at a child's book one minute and then giving the teacher stare to a child at the other end of the room the next minute!). So off to the optometrist I went, and the verdict was that each eye has deteriorated a quarter point. My last prescription allowed me to use the same power of lenses in each eye, but my optometrist decided that this time I need a stronger one in my left eye (which has always been the dodgier of the two). They're up to -2.50 (right) and -2.75 (left). They started off as -0.25 and -0.50 when I was 15 *sigh*. The good news is that the new contacts work beautifully: the distance is crisp again :) And the headaches are gone, yay! Hopefully it'll be another two years before I have to get them reassessed.

I think that's all the news for now!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Being who you are, and other stories . . .

I had a bit of a revelation on Saturday. I was at Mum's for an Easter lunch, and after everyone else had left Mum and I were chatting about this and that. We got to talking about the future and what I might do with it. When I started at the Montessori school, everyone I knew heaved a huge sigh of relief and said that now that I was back in Perth and teaching at such a great school, maybe I would just stay put for a while and maybe this job would do me for a good whack of my career. I agreed, I wanted to stay. But deep down I wasn't sure, and even as this term has passed I've become aware that I still have itchy feet. I still have dreams that are unfulfilled and paths I'd like to take before I run out of time. So Mum and I were talking about how I still thought I wanted to teach in England eventually. Mum - although obviously reluctant to encourage that particular plan - pointed out that the longest she's ever worked any job was for 5 years, and that was a bit of a fluke. In general, she hasn't gone more than three years without at least changing position (such as maths teacher to computing teacher) and a lot of the time she's changed career or path entirely. Itchy feet, career-wise, is in my blood. That made me feel a whole lot better. It's true. Switching careers, roles and locations is probably an inherent part of my personality and I should stop trying to fight it. Since that realisation I've felt much more relaxed about the future. I don't need to convince myself that I love my school so much that I'll stay there forever. I won't. I know I won't. I might go and come back but sooner or later I will need something fresh and new. That frees me up hugely. I don't need to commit to being somewhere for 20 years. I just need to be happy where I am until I decide it's time to move on.

My long term plans do include teaching in England. I will do it eventually. It'll happen. Mum and I came up with a budget plan that, if I manage to follow the key points of it, will get me out of debt in about 5 years' time, and well and truly in control of my finances long before that. It won't be long before I'm free to do whatever I like and will have the money to do it.

So . . . I'm not a settler, I'm a wanderer. So be it :)

Addendum: I just chatted to Mum on the phone, and she reckons that after I have kids I won't want to be a teacher anyway. But, in her opinion, that's fine because by then I'll have my next degree and I'll become a book editor. I could do that :D

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!


I'm sitting in front of my computer trying not to make any sudden movements - I'm feeling nauseous and already lost my breakfast. I'm sipping a stomach relief drink (very slowly) and hoping it helps.

The sad thing is that I only had a couple of tiny easter eggs yesterday, and haven't had any today at all, so this isn't even the traditional sickness of over-indulgence on chocolate. Boo to that!

Before anyone can say it - because it would be a delicious irony after yesterday's post - I'm NOT pregnant. No, I'm not. The odds of that would be minuscule. Definitely not.

Besides which, MD has been unwell with a mild stomachy thing this past few days, so no doubt I've just caught that. I'll be right as rain in a few days and just have to be patient.

But anyways . . . Happy Easter!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Babies :)


I have a new cousin tonight - my uncle David and his wife Frances (I don't call her my aunt because she's only three years older than me, David only being 9 years older!) welcomed a little girl named Josephine into the world today. It's similar to the kind of name I predicted for them earlier in the year (I picked Katherine, Elizabeth, Emma, Lucy and Sarah - old-fashioned classics) but I'm glad it's something a bit less overused than the ones I chose!

I'm incredibly happy for them and wish they were here instead of England (they're bringing Josephine back for a visit in September, thankfully!).

Friday, April 10, 2009

Easter at last . . .


First term is over. In some ways it seemed to fly by, in others it crawled . . . I'm just glad that now I have two weeks off and can work out which was is up again!

Still got assignments to finish, but I'm getting there.

People are strange - two kids in our class were pulled out at the end of this term because the mother didn't feel that we were experienced enough Montessori teachers to teach her kids the way she wants them to be taught. So ... she's sending them to a strict private school that adheres to the mainstream education style. That is, the style in which I *am* trained. Go figure. We know she actually has a private issue with the principal that has nothing to do with us teachers (she has said it herself) but it's amusing that she a) needs to tell herself a story about why the kids are leaving that leaves out her issue with the principal; and b) that the story she's picked has such a great big plot hole in it. People!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Ick


I'm at home with a sore throat today, the sort that could possibly maybe turn into tonsillitis. Do Not Want.

I'm also trying not to waste any of my dwindling supply of contacts on a sick day, so I'm wearing my glasses. Man they feel weird. I haven't worn them once since I got my first set of these contacts in about August last year. Everything is slightly more curvy than it should be, and the edges (even with my nice half-rimless ones) are really throwing me off. Blech.

I've spent the entire morning in bed sleeping, and now I intend to laze around doing not much of anything except resting my throat, and incidentally listen to some uni lectures I've been ignoring!