Family Tales

In the spirit of regaling each other with tales of our families:

I just texted Mosser to tell him we'd have to raincheck our afternoon drinking session. My excuse for absence made me laugh: I have to help my Mum cook eggs for my uncle's surprise 50th birthday party tonight. This sounds completely ridiculous, and yet it is true.

Also I was chatting with my Dad in our family room and in the space of about 5 mins he said:

1. "Good, let them" - in response to my warning that the tax man would come and get him if he tried to avoid inheritance tax.
2. "You could move to Senegal" - in response to my pointing out it will probably be maaaany years before I could afford to entirely independently make it onto the property ladder.
3. "I am bored of giving her money" - in response to my questioning why we aren't giving my Dad's friend's daughter her usual birthday present.
4. "I wandered lonely as a cloud" - kinda outta nowhere, but when pushed on it, he admitted it was Wordworth who first put those words together, and not him as he originally claimed.

Mouche, the book is still about you. The pile of stuff is growing. Want some of my brother's old clothes too?

Oranges

I am reading this book. Very interesting. And not just because I like oranges. Or the references to gypsies.

Weirdly it seems to be about Mouche's life.

I knew Mouche couldn't be a real name...she is masquerading as Jeanette Winterson.

The clues:

1. Big emphasis on the Church - Mouche (or should I call you Jeanette?) tries to keep this low-key, but I know her Sundays are for The Lord (and footy of course).
2. A mother full of "character" - in fact, the mother in this book is almost the same as I imagine Mouche's mother, with lots of quirks but an overall logic that seems to justify them.
3. Jeanette went to Oxford - where did you go Mouche?

There are more clues, but they are harder to explain. Basically it just seems to be written as if Mouche is doing the writing. e.g.

"And now," said a voice, "a programme about the family life of snails."
My mother shrieked.
"Did you hear that?" she demanded, and poked her head round the kitchen door. "The family life of snails, it's an Abomination, it's like saying we come from monkeys."
I though about it. Mr and Mrs Snail at home on a wet Wednesday night; Mr Snail dozing quietly, Mrs Snail reading a book about difficult children. 'I'm so worried doctor. He's so quiet, won't come out of his shell.'
"No Mum," I replied, "it's not like that at all."

Can't you imagine Mouche saying that? Or, more specifically, imagining Mr and Mrs Snail? (Obvy the people who have never met or heard of her will find this bit difficult, but try).

Anyway, I am only 22 pages in, but we will see how it pans out.

In other news, went on a marathon shop in Romford yesterday, epic. Much more productive, mainly because of the presence of PRIMARK, whoop! Today I am contemplating doing some work for school. Unlikely to be done, but contemplation is the first step. Yuck, school next week, booo.

The Sales

They are evil.

Well, maybe not evil. Just a bit crazy.

Clearly it was an error to go shopping in Old Londinium Town today when every single other person in the UK seemed to have decided to do the same thing. Millions and millions and trillions of people packed into a tiny area - perfect. At times I swear the road traffic was moving faster than the pavement traffic. My experience was further worsened by my "not feeling in the mood to shop" anyway (I need to be in-the-mood. Or, at least, not not-in-the-mood). Error.

Low points:

1. Seriously contemplating selling-out and going corporate - surely then I will be rich enough to not have to risk being runover by angry shoppers on their way to (or maybe from) Next? By the way, there are three Nexts between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road, all of which opened up at 5am today, and won't shut till 9:30pm. Insane.
2. Realising that I am both Asian and frugal (a vicious combo, but good for the bank account. So long as I am sober.) and thus even if I was mega-mega-mega rich, I would still look for a bargain.
3. Being cross with all the people who brought their children shopping. Why would you do that? Don't you love your children? Why put them through the horror?
4. Being jealous of all the men who had grabbed the comfy sofas in all the department stores, thus not having to trudge around. Lucky.
5. Being even more jealous of the old people in the electric golf cart things (don't worry, I appreciate my mobility. Really. I only fantasise about a bright blue golf cart with pretty lights and a toot-toot horn occasionally.)
6. Getting lost in the John Lewis men's suit section for 20 mins. How is this even possible? I didn't even want a suit.
7. Seeing Scrouse's 50 year old self. Ok, I'm kidding...this was obviously a high point, not a low point!

You'll be pleased to know I bought nothing, partly because I was too lazy to fight for a bargain, partly because the only thing I wanna buy at the moment is a piano, and that would involve spending my entire annual salary in one big hit (soooo tempting. But no. Must resist...) When I left my brother, he had managed to buy a belt. Good stuff. He is still out there battling, but phew, I'm glad to be home.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Eat, drink and go crazy! Maybe a little Disney ice-skating...

If you have 10 minutes to spare over the break, two hilarious things to check out on YouTube:

1. Russell Peters - hilarious Canadian born Indian stand-up comic, who mocks people of every race.

2. Charles Marshall - my brother's rather rah friend, who is very drunk in hall and thus funny funny.

Enjoy the break, take care, and see you in a pub somewhere soon!

Things I must try and remember to do:

1. Line my stomach before drinking.
2. Don't mix my drinks.
3. Stay away from things that I am allergic to, no matter how much I believe that "this time it'll be alright".
4. Don't do a 2 hour journey home after an epic drinking session.
5. Keep an eye on all possessions, and try and bring back what I take out.

As you can see, the day with Bertie was wonderful, and had the usual sorry ending. Heehee, must be more responsible. And less of an alcoholic.

Other things I will try and do (kinda New Year's resolutions...but more like aims for next year):

1. Learn to play the piano.
2. Run in a 10k race and do it for charity.
3. Detox the whole of January (months without drinking are good for me).

TF Christmas carolling was ace tonight - we made £60 for charity busking in London and it was wonderful fun, really got the festive feeling rolling!

Mmm bed. But first, more water :)

I was thinking this morning about how a picture is worth a thousand words. This led to me thinking how it might be more fun for you if instead of rambling about what I've been doing, I took photos and posted them up here instead. Don't hold your breath - the more diligent observers amongst you will realise I am already rambling and thus have no photos for you. But I am going to try and describe what these photos would be.

So firstly I would probably have one of my maths department in our curry house. And one in the pub with lots of our staff in it too. And obvy some of the naughty naughty kids playing maths charades and eating mince pies. One of all the people in my choir, and also the yummy curry we ate on Brick Lane on Sunday (for someone who eats lots of curry at home, I seem to go out to eat it an awful lot too!). Oooh and one of my family, now that we're all back under one roof again. One of my father and his old school buddies, most likely all holding full glasses of whisky. One of us playing Nintendo Wii at their house too (amazing! I think it might just be the novelty factor, but whatever, totally worth trying out). From last night one of the B-Team in The Goose in Walthamstow. And from tonight one of dinner with Ish from uni and Emma from school (interesting...why do I always think it's a good idea to try and see completely different people at the same time? Surely by now I should have realised I am all about keeping my friends away from each other). One of my car in the fog with the crazy bright lights on. One of our house with all the Christmas cards (and truly wonderful puzzle postcard from the Todster - you are amazing!) And finally one of my lovely warm bed that has been souped up for winter i.e. the big snuggly blue blanket has come out to play.

Hmm, enough imaginary photos for now. Tomorrow I'm going to see Bertie in Aylesbury, which I am muchos excited about :) I have bought him an Italian phrasebook full of things one shouldn't say in Italy, very useful. I am also going to see Suze and Kim in the evening, so all in all a day of drinking, yippee!

Mouche I am fantastic at scarching, bring on the battle. Come singing on Thursday, it'll be ace.

Potter, congrats on the exams, good stuff! I borrowed Freakonomics from the library just last week, what are the chances? Not read it yet but will give you feedback once I have. In similar artistic coincidence, caught the end of Notting Hill and am convinced Hugh is sitting on a bench reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin in the closing scene, which I am also reading at the moment, albeit not on a bench. Very strange...

Puj, gutted not see you tonight, I wanted to show you my filling and wonderful polished teeth. B, I sympathise over the needles...boy will I make a rubbish doctor: "sorry Mrs Patient, I am too squeamish to help you with the splinter in your finger, you will have to go to Casualty, it's the only way".

I love mince pies, is it wrong that I want to eat them with custard all day long. Maybe this is why I need a filling...thoughts of sugar are decaying my teeth.

My tarot card reading told me that at the moment I was confused and undecided about a lot of things. I immediately assumed the cards were talking about my job (especially since it was another teacher doing the reading) but now I wonder what else it might be about. It was very weird getting the cards done because they all fitted with each other and seemed to tell a story, which kept getting more and more real (but also surreal) as the cards got turned over. I want to get another reading done.

On Saturday we went to a birthday dinner party for one of my father's old school friends. It was great fun, particularly since there's nothing like an old boys' reunion when it comes to hilarious anecdotes about my father. Despite his insistence that he was a hardworking lad, it seems he managed to get himself into his fair share of trouble. Anyone who has heard the story of how my Dad impaled his cheek on a spear (luckily not too badly) will be relieved to know his school high-jinx weren't so dramatic. Still, seeing all of them together made it easy to imagine them with their dirty knees and scruffy ties, causing trouble left, right and centre. This is despite their privileged education at Royal College in Colombo, Sri Lanka (established 35 years before Keble College, if that's any indication of "fancy-pants-ness").

Tried to do some Christmas shopping yesterday. Failed miserably. Was rather more successful at TF choir - am finally managing to not sing the tune and sing the alto part instead, props to me! Went for yet another curry in Brick Lane last night, yum yum. I have decided Cobra doesn't count as beer so I am free to drink it in vast quantities, excellent.

Warwick brother is home, yippee! Proceeded to completely rearrange the reception rooms; am mightily pleased with the new layout, particularly because I feel it can now accommodate a piano, which means there is almost nothing to stop me learning in the new year, yay!

B-Team drinks in Walthamstow tonight...am starting to warm to good old E17, it's not so bad after all. But first it is time to do something productive.

Happy days at work people, mwhahahahaha!

Christmas Holidays!!!

Woo hoo! School's over for the year, it's holiday time!

I made it! Oh my gosh, yippee, exclamation marks galore!!!!!!! :) !!!!!!!!!!

2 weeks of no marking, planning, teaching, preparing, reporting, praising, telling off...running around like a headless chicken! Yay yay yay!

The end of term flew by in a blaze of classroom parties, Christmas assemblies, carols, fun lessons, and festive greetings to all and sundry. The Christmas spirit finally took control of the school and I was really taken back to my own school days by all the merriment, it was great! This was despite having had a heavy night on Thursday (maths department dinner, then a birthday in good old London town, then a jolly trip on the night bus....hmmm, why have I added the night bus as if it was a whole other event?) and so feeling a bit worse for wear yesterday. Imagine if I'd been feeling 100%...

With the kids finally sent home, the staff Christmas lunch kicked off in fantastic style. The promise I made to myself to keep it under control at work was thrown out of the window and after 6 hours of solid drinking with the other teachers, I was suitably merry. I really had an ace time, it felt like we were celebrating finishing finals, that's how jubilant everyone was! I guess it's been a tough term for everyone, so I'm really pleased we made it through.

Things that shouldn't have happened:

1. "Borrowing" a spare crate of Carlsberg from the staffroom after the party
2. Taking said crate to the pub and proceeding to secretly drink it alongside vodka
3. Bumping into some of my Y8 maths group on the road later on (what are the chances of that? I've never seen any of my kids all term, and then the one night that I am in teacher-guise and lashed, they see me.)
4. Getting my tarot cards read...exciting stuff, more on that next time.
5. Having to go and rescue my car today (actually, clearly it is better this happens rather than me attempting to drive it hammered).
6. Not making it to meet Mouche and Potato Potter. Sorry girls, I am rubbish...I really was in bed by 10pm!
7. Eating absolute junk (including ridiculous amounts of spicy peanuts, NOT good) this whole week and drinking beer after I had banned it. Whoops, I can sense Christmas will take its toll on my body.

Anyway, am very excited about the holidays and will fill you in on all the fun and games tomorrow!

Happy weekend!

I feel like this colour today. Weird right?

Nothing much to report, except that my girls played their last game in the tournament today. Alas they lost big time, but still there were smiles. Some Y10 girls were there to support, and at one point they got all the younger girls around to give them a bit of a pep talk. It was amazing to watch them sharing and helping each other - yes, I had a moment :)

I had an unmoment period 2 today when I gave my Y8s an end of term test. I am scared to mark it cos they all looked completely stumped the whole way through. Oh dear. One of my established colleagues gave the same test to her Y8 group, and the kids' National Curriculum levels actually dropped...I can already sense this will happen to my kids too. Great, I am unteaching them.

Played "maths charades" with my Y7s, which was hilarious. They loved it, particularly the whole boys vs. girls thing. Aaah the tension amongst young teenagers is fabulous...is it wrong that I provoke it so? Mwahahaha, but it's entertaining drama, and I do love drama.

Tomorrow is full of marking and reports and sorting out end of term stuff. Hurrah.

And finally, here are some Christmas jokes for kids to make you smile:

What is the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the regular alphabet?
The Christmas alphabet has Noel!

What did the pack of Walkers say to the Skips?
Merry Crispmas!

Why should you be careful at Christmas?
Because there are mince spies about!

And my personal favourite...

Knock Knock.
Who's there?
Mary.
Mary who?
Mary Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

Woo hoo, this week of school is gonna be great I think :) All my classes are having tests and then "fun" lessons, hence minimum serious planning. Their idea of fun and mine may well differ. I wanna play Charades and Mafia with them. They are probably more interested in charlie than Charades and I'm sure some of them harbour serious ambitions to join a criminal gang.

Still it will be funny to watch them work in groups. I love analysing group dynamics. Thus I will ignore their complaints and instead try and placate them with mince pies and sweeties (while remembering to apologise profusely to whichever poor soul has to deal with their E number induced hyperactivity). Excellent.

As a side note, getting Christmas cards from the kids is really nice, and rather bizarre too :)

What else? On a downer, I need a filling. Shocker. This is what happens when you don't go to the dentist for 3 years. And also when you gloat about how amazing your teeth are. Rubbish.

The book I am reading now (Light on Snow, Anita Shreve) is vaguely coincidental with my life. Only because it is set in New Hampshire, where I spent a jolly summer in 2005. I think I need more evidence before I can conclusively prove that this book (and all subsequent books) are about me. And no, I'm not an egomaniac; just empathetic.

And finally, I read that apparently you can classify all the people in your life according to the world of Winnie-The-Pooh. That is, everyone is kinda like one of Winnie, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Gopher, or Christoper Robin. One day I will sit down and do this. In the meantime, take this Poohsonality Test to find out for yourself.

I'm in a ridiculously jolly mood today. I think I just woke up on the right side of the bed. Without a hangover :) Excellent. Thus I am treating you to photos and also the highlights of the weekend, you lucky people.

So here's a picture of us at the London Dungeon. Scary stuff! Not as scary as the last time I went there. I made a real effort not to make eye contact with wax models, and always looked around for people hiding in dark corners so I was ready for their surprises. Contemplated touching people to see if they were real or fake, but decided this was an error. Still, managed not to have a major freakout or anything, which I'm pleased about.

Puja gave me a Crunchie - very poignant since Martha gave Jack a Crunchie when I was reading just the day before...what are the chances? All in all a fun day out, very well organised, not too scary, lots of special effects and educational value. Can't wait to have kiddies so I can take them there! Also went on a lovely walk by the river, aaah I love the river :)

We then spent a jolly couple of hours in the pub. Aaah daytime drinking, my favourite. Fruli is rapidly moving up my favourite drinks list. An interesting discussion on the definition of pulling proved that indeed tongues do have to be involved. Also lots of gossiping and complaining about boys, excellent. Clearly our lives have dramatically evolved from when we were at school.

The "Jarvin" blind date went faaaaar better than I ever thought it could. Despite occasional awkward pauses, they seemed to get on like a house on fire, chattering away about all kinds of things. Despite my comedy error of not telling "M" which boy was the gay one (thus leaving him very confused at the table as to who he was actually on the blind date with!) things worked out in the end. The boys swapped numbers and I think we will be seeing them both again on Thursday, thus proving being optimistic about my matchmaking abilities was the right thing to do.

This brings me to the fact that apparently there are half a million more single girls than boys in the UK. I wonder if this is because there are more boys than girls? Whatever the reason, clearly the British population is in need of my dating agency (this weekend's invention, just in case you thought I'd stopped all that malarkey). Birmingham has the most singletons, so I will start my business there, after first doing some research in Reading, since it's supposedly the place to find Mr Right.

In other news, I have now finished the book about me. Luckily it has a happy ending :) In two final coincidences, in the last few pages both London Bridge and Thai food were mentionned, both of which featured in my weekend. Weird, huh? I wonder who my Jack is...(don't worry Puj, I haven't given up, this just makes it all the more interesting!)

Oh and for those that wanted to see it, here's my car, Dixey, so pretty :) The poor parking is courtesy of my lil bro...see, it runs in the family!

My Y8s were so bad today. Grrr. Had to have "D" removed from my class for the second time this week. Also put "S" in detention tomorrow after school (thus violating my "no detentions on Fridays" policy, dang it). Am thinking of making her write an essay with the title How can I make myself a better person? but I think that might be offensive (plus patently she will just write things like "get extensions, violate my ASBO orders, have a baby etc".) Maybe the title will be How can I improve my behaviour to help me be a better learner? That sounds suitably teacheresque. Excellent. Maybe I will be super-mean and rip it up after she has done it...? Or maybe it will be good and then I can photocopy it and stick a copy in every kids' book....oooh possibilities, see every negative can be made positive (so true in maths as well)!

Anyway, luckily I didn't lose my temper too much. Getting loads better at the ol' anger management. Did have to to run out of school during lunch though cos I was so cross (I mean literally run....far too far in fact, almost had to get the bus back to be in time for period 5!) But that's better than reaching for the bottle, good progress on the drinking front, heehee :)

On the plus side, two good things.

1. "D" has now been removed from my class for the rest of the term. I know that's only a week more, but still....bliss :)
2. Not sure I've mentionned the ridiculous blind date that I somehow got roped into co-ordinating, but it's going ahead, and am now far more positive that it could be a success. Looking forward to my reputation as an epic matchmaker being elevated to new heights! Full report to follow next week (unless it goes really really badly!) just to keep you guys on your toes :)

Shout out to MT - happy birthday Mrs President! Hope you have lots of fun and all the best for this year!

Y11 had their non-calculator mock GCSE paper this morning. I've got my group's papers sitting on my bed but I'm not brave enough to mark them yet...too nervous! Doesn't help that one girl told me she missed out ten questions - there are only 29 on the paper! Oh well, it's only mocks...well, that's what I say to them anyway. Sure they've got 5 months to the real thing, but that time is gonna fly so quickly. I want them to focus now so that they can get their Ds (don't even get me started on the stupidity of the system that doesn't let foundation tier maths pupils get a C...at least they've changed it now, but one year too late for my kids).

Fire alarm went off at 8:27am today. Good start to the day. Mock exams ran late, causing chaos at break and lunchtime. Doors to the main corridors were locked...almost got steamrollered by a massive year 10 boy when I told him he couldn't go in. Wonderful expletives flew forth from his mouth. Impressive.

Also mightily impressed by Neighbours and the lengths they will go to do drive up audience figures. There's no other way to explain the multitude of scenes featuring Ned and Boyd topless. It used to be wrong to think Boyd had a good body, but now that he's out of school and married, it's fine :) It is still my ambition to play the token Asian on Ramsey Street; I have faith in my shoddy acting ability and willingness to participate in silly story lines, what more do they need? I wonder what my character should be called...am thinking Sheila Patel - the right blend of ethnicity and Australian-ness. And I wanna be in a love triangle with Harold and Lou. Hot stuff.

Woo hoo Tuesday's almost over! I don't know why I am not a big fan of Tuesdays - apparently it's our most productive work day. I think it's cos it seems like such a "nowhere" day, in that you're not even halfway to the weekend. Anyway, it's almost over, yay! Not that I'm wishing my life away or anything (my Grandma told me not to do that. In Tamil, of course).

My girls lost 7-0 to Leytonstone. Ouch. It is very annoying how one or two really good players on the other team means that your team get annihilated. Oh well. At least they won their friendly against Walthamstow School for Girls 3-2. Good stuff.

The lesson on stereotypes went well despite my turning red as a beetroot. It is quite bizarre - you'd think I'd be used to public speaking by now (especially given that most of the time I am in public when I talk...although there are momentary lapses when I find myself chattering away to...yes, you guessed it - myself). It was really embarrassing, kinda like I had drunk half a bottle of SoCo and achieved that lovely tingly sensation in my face. I think its cos I get nervous when I am being observed. Whatever the reason, I was still happily warming my hands on my face a good hour later. This didn't look strange at all, oh no.

Managed to get completely lost in Leytonstone. On the plus side, found the Primark AND the McDonald's. Realised that even if I was lost, I would survive. A pivotal moment.

Martha has said that she likes conkers and is a hopeless romantic. Girls, don't know how many of you remember "Willy the Conk"...my trusty good luck conker I carried around in my blazer pocket. Oodles of good luck came my way courtesy of Willy. I wonder where he is now...

Sprouse, I love it that in your spare hour you are willing to write reports for me. You are such a good friend :) Alas, you seem to forget that you can't write. Maybe you can do the ones for the EAL (English as an Additional Language) kids...they can't read them anyway! Hahaha. Sorry, bad joke, I love and respect my kids, honest.

Mouchio, sorry life is tough in the world of futons. Square sausages will make things right (right-angled in fact...hahaha) in the world. Think of your blog as a cathartic devise...except with lots of brackets :)))))

Everyone else, check out this mapgame, shamelessly stolen from SB's blog. She says she gets a 100 points regularly. On my first go, I got 6. Hmmm. Admittedly I didn't realise the game had started, but still, only 6?! Rubbish. I will play this game at school I think...the kids will love it. And I too will get 100. One day.

Today was a bit of a write-off. I think at times I really am an awful teacher. Was going over converting metric units with Y8 (again) and they still didn't get it.

Me: If I have 5 centimetres and I want to know how many millimetres that is, the first thing I have to do is decide what units are in the question. What are the units?
Y8: Is it 5 Miss?
Me: No, I want the units. What are the units?
Y8: Is it 10 Miss?
Me: No, units, I want to know the metric units in the question.
Y8: It's a hundred isn't it?

Cue almost hysterical laughter from me. I literally couldn't keep a straight face. The kids thought I'd gone loopy. Talk about raising expectations...I'm a baaaad teacher, I laugh at my kids. Oh dear.

Y7 weren't much better...the little monster K went into a strop when I moved her after she repeatedly made weird sucking/squawking/quacking noises. She refused to participate in the lesson and so I kicked her out. Lots of lovely drama and squawking later, she leaves. She flounces back in at the end of the lesson. "Mr Aubdool is a really good teacher, "she announces grandly. "Maybe he'll keep you permanently," I mutter under my breath.

Things got better though. Played "heads down thumbs up" with 7D in tutor time, very constructive. Helped some Y11s with exam questions. Was granted leave for family stuff at the start of next term. Managed to get home before 5 and have finished my work for the evening.

However, these next two weeks aren't as carefree and easy as I thought. Reports need to be written for every class (including full written reports for Y11). This means every class needs to be tested and every test marked in time for the reports. Great. Also found out that the average life span after retirement for a male head teacher in an inner-city school is 1.5 years! Like most jobs, it's hard to leave work at "work". But teaching is all consuming. Today is one of those days where I missed staring at spreadsheets. Inevitable I guess after the joys of last week.

In other news, I am feeling rather philosophical. It's a loooong story, and don't worry, I will be happy-go-lucky (i.e. thinking about stupid things like ducks) again tomorrow. Note to self: no deep and meaningful conversations after bed time.

Also, I have been roped into a rather bizarre match-making scenario. The two in question are complete opposites, and I'm convinced it won't work, but have somehow been "tricked" into fabricating an opportunity for a rendez-vous. And yes, just for added drama, they are both boys. Hopefully my match making skills are universal.

For inspiration, check out the link to scaramouche on the side bar. Her tale of Melanie Bellamy really is quite ridiculous.

I am meant to be writing my Teach First journal, but you know how I love distractions...

Celebrations! A whole week without having to stay back for detention once :D What are the chances eh? Admittedly, N let the Y7 group down by forgetting his exercise book and missing a homework (he has a 30 min detention tomorrow) but I'm not really counting that. So yes, detention-free week!

Did lots of tutor time with 7C this week, was actually quite nice to get to know the little monsters. Maybe having a tutor group wouldn't be so bad? Was also really proud of how mature and well-behaved the Y7s were during the fire drill and at the awards' assembly - they can be good sometimes!

In the world of fiction - another sign that I am Martha:

"Today was the type of day when you saw a space in the supermarket car park and you managed to reverse into it, first time, no hesitation."

This has never happened to me, but I know it would be a good day if it did.

Alas, Michael has just left Martha. Oh dear. I hope this book has a happy ending.

In other news, the pineapple I didn't use as my costume yesterday was delicious. I don't have a cumulative hangover either :)

I am also just about over the Spurs defeat to the evil Gunners. True, Spurs lacked ambition yesterday, but Arsenal were definitely on the lucky side of lucky. Two dodgy penalties and an off-side goal make me wonder why I'm not a Premiership referee? I can make just as many errors...

This is my second-to-last weekend of lesson planning before Christmas! And no Y11 this week! I am being observed on Tuesday in a PSHE (Personal Social & Health Education) lesson. I have never taught this before and currently have no idea what the lesson is meant to be on, or even how a PSHE lesson works. Good stuff.

10 teaching days to go!

Mouche, I am looking forward to reading your online insights. And also being the godmother of your child. I don't mind which order I do this in.

Girls, I'm looking forward to our pyjama party....aaaaw to be 11 again! Except it'll be even better - we'll have wine!

Update 22:02

Went to the gym and choir practice. In the same 6 hours, my parents went "impact-visiting" which is where they visit lots of people who live in the same area. Now they are being impact-visited. Yes, that's right, I come home at half nine on a Sunday night and we have visitors. Tea is being served. Tea! At half nine. Bizarre. This is after they went to a wedding reception last night. Plus, my mother is the president of her old school association and she hosted a party for them yesterday during the day. AND the phone started ringing at half seven on Sat morning and I don't know when it stopped. Aaaah I only hope I am as busy and popular as my parents when I am old. Actually, forget when I'm old, I should be as popular as them now! :)