tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50398652833137526412024-03-13T02:08:00.085+00:00Christine, WonderingRandom Musings of a Human BecomingChristinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.comBlogger516125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-66304684678985098032016-05-19T10:23:00.001+01:002016-05-19T10:33:45.984+01:00"Oh well, we're all on a spectrum!"
Spoiler: No, we're bloody well not.
I hear this an awful lot. Any discussion where someone is talking about the traits they have that are 'on the spectrum' (whether it's the spectrum of ADHD, ASD or something else) tends to end with one of the people in the conversation saying "we're all on a spectrum!", usually with a nervous laugh. It always frustrates me, because it has never once come from Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-53690737801235258542016-05-13T22:16:00.001+01:002016-05-13T22:16:26.769+01:00Adventures in ADHDA few months ago, a couple of articles on ADHD crossed my Facebook feed. One of them was this one, and it changed my life.
The odd thing is, I already had a diagnosis. I'd just never considered that it might still be relevant.
I was diagnosed with ADD (they made a distinction in those days) when I was about 10, I don't remember the year precisely. It was only picked up because my younger Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-29472315395965599452016-05-01T22:19:00.001+01:002016-05-01T22:19:30.205+01:00I'm Not His Mum.I haven't posted on this blog for over a year and I don't think anyone actually reads it any more, so I guess this is a safe place to put this so that I can link to it when I need to.
Lately, a few friends have referred casually to my stepson's "two mums", or called me a "mum". I know this comes from the best of places - love for me, and genuine recognition of the effort I put in to my stepson'sChristinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-39385425725696121892014-07-07T21:49:00.002+01:002014-07-07T21:49:43.170+01:00Songs of LongingJust parking this here... may add to it. It's nearly the end of the school year, and I'm feeling tired and low. Feelings, I has them.
Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-72715001337513138442014-03-22T08:39:00.001+00:002014-03-22T08:41:14.310+00:00A Filk for a Saturday MorningSaid the little boy to the busy mum,
"Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, busy mum,
Do you see what I see?
A plane, a plane, flying through the sky
Can you see it, way up high?
Can you see it, way up high?
Said the little boy to the busy mum,
"Do you hear what I hear?
Coming down the road, busy mum,
Do you hear what I hear?
A truck, a truck, carrying a load
Do you hear it, out on the road?Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-52831485999934299792014-01-26T11:33:00.003+00:002014-01-26T11:43:10.880+00:00101 Things To Do...
... that are better than dithering on the internet.
Evenings and weekends are hard. They're supposed to be - or rather, have to be - useful times. They're the times for getting things done around the house and in my life. Teaching is such a life-eating pursuit that these precious non-school times must be guarded carefully and used effectively.
The pressure to use them effectively is so great Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-33339906710923672332013-12-31T19:09:00.001+00:002013-12-31T19:11:57.802+00:00And What Have You Done?
I started out this year full of fire and fierce hopes, but like all years it's been a mixed bag.
Today, the novel stands at 51,867 words. That's not bad. It's more than double my previous total words written on a project. It's not finished, but it's more than half finished, so I think I'm content with my efforts given how difficult some parts of this year have been.
I've been on a mild SSRI Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-2744667599821746042013-11-30T18:46:00.000+00:002013-11-30T18:46:18.807+00:00Rock and a Hard PlaceAs you're probably aware, teaching in the UK is getting worse and worse. Shifting goalposts, enormous workloads, constant negative feedback, absurd performance pay, and so on. I'm going crazy with stress and can't keep up with everything I'm supposed to be doing unless I have absolutely no life. I could work 12 hour days 7 days a week and still never get on top of it all.
I keep reaching Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-8314242106560290812013-10-05T21:31:00.002+01:002013-10-05T21:33:33.954+01:00In the Room Next DoorWednesday 11th September started as a perfectly normal day. I went to work, I taught all morning, I grabbed my phone and went to have my lunch.
Sitting down to lunch, I took a look at my emails, and there was one from my Mum which just said "Phone me".
I knew her mother, Jean, was unwell, and my heart sank. I scuttled outside, juggling my credit card and my phone as I tried to charge up a Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-39018461127575331872013-09-07T13:44:00.000+01:002013-09-07T13:44:20.523+01:00HeartsickThere's no escaping the outcome of today's Australian election.
The Liberals are going to cut funding to transport, health, education and infrastructure, re-instate unfair workplace laws, and put gender and sexuality equality back as far as they can get away with. They want to suspend marine sanctuaries, don't believe in human-driven climate change, and tried to block a tax that has actually Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-21675530778758432512013-08-25T18:17:00.001+01:002013-08-25T18:17:52.149+01:00SCA ProjectsI have so much going on in my head right now. School begins again soon, I'm still trying to write this book, and my SCA interests have leapt into action again. So I'm trying to at least write things down here so that they don't get forgotten. This post may be updated as I remember things!
I am now Deputy ID Chronicler. Must nag Lady Constanza for jobs.
Other projects:
Medieval tiles Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-19636201130603447622013-08-23T17:31:00.000+01:002013-08-23T17:31:43.198+01:00CommunicationI had less than 4 hours' sleep last night, so this post may be semi-lucid. We had a friend staying over and good wine, and all temporarily forgot that the kitten and the kiddo were not under any circumstances going to let us sleep past 7am. So turning in at 3am was not smart, and we are zonked.
Anyway.
This is going to be a short post and probably really irritating, because none of the stuff Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-50421963532046665442013-08-07T14:44:00.000+01:002013-08-13T08:14:31.329+01:00Retcon
Retcon
1. (original meaning) Adding information to the back story of a
fictional character or world, without invalidating that which had gone
before.
- Urban Dictonary
A few months ago we took out a subscription to Lovefilm Instant, which among other things has given me dangerously unfettered access to Buffy episodes. I have been indulging in a fit of nostalgia and watching the entire thingChristinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-36074188487627292362013-08-07T14:37:00.002+01:002013-08-07T14:39:56.318+01:00On Trout, and MemoriesWhen I was growing up, one of my eccentric maternal grandfather's hobbies was farming trout in the creek that ran through my grandparents' property in the Perth hills. I have many vivid memories of this setup: the netting around the enclosures, the smell of the big bin of trout food (very similar to kitten kibble!), the texture of the pole on the long-handled nets we used to catch them, the Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-13663383880961659882013-08-05T12:28:00.002+01:002013-08-07T14:40:11.924+01:00An Update...It's been a while, and I've been neglecting this blog shamefully, so here's some things that have happened lately.
Munchkin turned 5. I made a cake.
***
We added a new family member, Ophelia (also known as Feefee or Feely-Cat, or Get Out Of It You Stupid Git).
***
My wife and I both finally accepted that we'd gained more weight than we were happy with in the long slide since the Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-38273793689301005902013-02-17T20:10:00.000+00:002013-02-17T20:10:30.996+00:00LonesomeThis weekend, my wife and I were invited to the birthday celebrations of an old friend of hers, up in Scotland. We could only afford for one of us to go, so I encouraged her to book flights and get on up there and have fun. I've actually been looking forward to it: the munchkin is away too, so I am getting my first 100% solo weekend since E and I first got serious, and my first nights alone in a Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-31321766303265556852013-01-25T20:22:00.000+00:002013-01-25T20:22:58.238+00:00Sharing My Workout...I started off two weeks ago with a workout 20 minutes long and using 680g weights. I've crept it up to 30 minutes now and 1.13kg weights, and I plan to keep creeping... an hour is my length goal, and once I've conquered the 2.27kg dumbells lurking in the back of the cupboard I'll look at investing in something heavier. It's baby steps, but they feel awesome. I'm getting in a session on Mondays, Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-24845547846938929372013-01-06T16:54:00.001+00:002013-01-06T16:54:57.249+00:00A Year of Living ChristinelyBack in November, I tried for the umpteenth time to do NaNoWriMo. And, like most years, Stuff happened. It seemed to happen with particular vigour this time: a chest infection, an OFSTED inspection and the winter vomiting bug , all in a row. By the time the crises were over, I was too far behind to catch up. Again.
But finally it dawned on me that writing a set amount each day until it's done isChristinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-51306998031382675652012-09-10T22:21:00.000+01:002012-09-10T22:42:41.171+01:00Yes yes, the wedding!Ok, so it's seriously flaky to fail to blog about one's own wedding for two whole months, but in my defence they've been pretty busy months.
Married life is treating us pretty wonderfully so far. I've started a new (and much nicer) job, and the munchkin has started his full-time schooling career. Big changes for all, but we're managing well enough.
And now I'll stop waffling and Show You The Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-50406129456892315622012-07-01T21:15:00.002+01:002012-07-01T21:17:34.377+01:00Countdown to a (Same-Sex) Wedding #3
2 Weeks to Go
Erm, well. I meant to make that a weekly thing, and then 4 weeks mysteriously evaporated. I really don't know where the time goes. Where it concerns time remaining at my current school, I'm satisfied that "away" is where it is going. The wedding, on the other hand, is racing up unimaginably fast!
Today I want to talk briefly about homophobia.
I have to be honest, I've rarely Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-58737496870925654702012-06-06T09:39:00.001+01:002012-06-06T09:48:17.689+01:00Countdown to a (Same-Sex) Wedding #2
6 Weeks to Go
This post is a little later than I intended, but it's been a busy long weekend: we spent 4 days completely redecorating our living room. It looks absolutely fabulous if we do say so ourselves! It's made the place feel properly "ours" and we couldn't be happier.
So this week I want to write about some of the people we've encountered on our wedding organisation journey.
It's Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-43303104435870668132012-06-01T20:56:00.000+01:002012-06-01T20:58:21.158+01:00PlottingI'm setting myself a bit of a challenge as a writer at the moment: to plot/plan my new work only, with no scripting or writing permitted, for two months.
In my early 20s, I worked very hard on what I intended to be my first novel. But in 2004, at around the 20,000 mark, I hit fatal plot flaws and had to abandon all the work I'd done on it. The failure of that novel attempt really shook me up. Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-16028715667238459152012-05-27T11:57:00.000+01:002012-05-27T12:11:03.507+01:00Count Down to a (Same-Sex) Wedding #1
7 Weeks to Go
I haven't blogged much yet about the wedding, because there's really not been much to say. We've booked stuff, organised people, bought gorgeous dresses, and dealt with various big-and-small issues along the way. We're down to the fine detail now though (7 weeks yesterday) so I thought I'd start talking a bit about it.
Next week I'm going to blog about the wedding process Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-10190529336709765592012-05-24T19:09:00.002+01:002012-05-24T20:58:34.038+01:00A funny old memory...I was searching through old files on my computer today and came across one of the oldest I've got - from all the way back in early 1995. It contained two poems written by my then-10 year old neighbour, Sarah C, one of which was about me.
It made me laugh heartily and reflect that in some ways I've not changed all that much since I was 14...
MY FRIEND IS
CALLED A DIMWIT.
By Sarah
C.
My Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5039865283313752641.post-67020374717352726172012-04-30T21:18:00.002+01:002012-04-30T21:20:41.719+01:00Coming up for air.Sometimes we get a wake-up call in our life.
Since January, I have been working in a school that demands extremely high levels of planning paperwork, which undergo constant monitoring. The workload is demanding, the management style highly critical and perfection-oriented, and 100% commitment is expected.
And I've been giving it, more than I ever have before.
I've been working 9, 10, 11 hour Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03679926953658179204noreply@blogger.com0