Day Five

Already?! Time seems to be flying by, so that's good - H will be home soon! But it also means I don't have long to get everything done!

I was woken up this morning with the plumber knocking on the door. Hadn't really expected him before 9am ... It also messed up my waking up routine a bit as well, and I didn't have breakfast until about 10am. In the meantime I switched on the computer, always a bad idea when there are things to be done.

Breakfast - banana, pear, blackberry, yoghurt, honey and cinnamon fruit smoothie with a toasted bagel and Mum's homemade strawberry jam.

Lunch - brown rice risotto, made with spring onions, cauliflower, aubergine and courgette, served with tomato and salad.

Afternoon snack - WeightWatcher's toffee yoghurt

Dinner - the rest of the risotto (didn't think I could freeze it, and I'm not sure what's happening tomorrow yet), along with some cucumber, mackerel and a couple of slices of houlloumi cheese.

I've also laid out all my shoes on the floor, swept under the clothes rail, and have done the laundry. I just need to get round to hoovering the bedroom and I'm almost there. I've also been for a walk to the library and back. While there I bought a bottle of water and a set of four WW yoghurts (about 84p for 4). I've also finished another book, The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde.

Day Two

I think I've made slightly better progress today - although I couldn't have done it without yesterday, and I still have quite a bit to do!

I woke up around 9am this morning, with my alarm - no bright sun to open my eyes today! No, it was bleak, overcast, damp and cool, and remained so for most of the day (until I left around 7pm to go shopping, when, very kindly, it cheered up a lot and was a pleasant summer's evening!)

I have swept and hoovered about half of the room, and cleared most of both desks. I have just now been to the shops and stocked up on vegetables.

Breakfast - poached egg on toast

Lunch - carrot and coriander "healthy eating" soup with toast

Snack - banana

Dinner - small slice of cheese and onion quiche and some boiled veg. Cabbage, courgettes, carrots and cauliflower in a veg stock cube. I should have added some celery, as I bought some of that as well! Hadn't realised until now that they all began with C!

Drinks - lots of water and a cup of lemon and ginger tea

Exercise - sweeping and hoovering, and walking to the shops (I took the bus back, because the three bags were so heavy!)

I spent just under £30 at the supermarket, which may have been a bit more than I had hoped, but I hope to use all the veg and fruit wisely so it should do me for some time. Hopefully. Wondering just now whether to make C Soup from the leftovers, or if I should just eat the rest of the veg as they are ... ???

My cousin is coming round tomorrow, so I have decided to make lentil curry. As I have never made this before, it could be interesting!

I have just paused for a short while to turn the leftover vegetables into soup - very nice and thick it is too!

I wanted to keep a record of my shopping to see how much I spend on each meal.

1. Still water - £0.93
2. Fresh milk - £0.45
3. Lentils (tin) - £0.40
4. White vinegar - £0.45 (I have been using vinegar lots recently as a cleaning product!)
5. Bean salad - £0.46 (thought this would go nice with veg in a curry or stew)
6. Potatoes - £1.98 (very versatile! And these should last for a while)
7. Lychee juice £0.79 (I bought a different brand from my favourite Rubicon. Hope it's okay!)
8. Brown rice £1.23 (thought I'd try some while H is away!)
9. Plain bagels £1.15 (the last time I was on a diet the magazine recommended these a lot, so I ate them a lot!)
10. Blueberries £1.00 (want to have them in smoothies)
11. Blackberries £1.99 (ditto)
12. 3 beef tomatoes £1.74 (3 for the price of 2, so actually £1.16)
13. White cabbage £0.68
14. Spring onions £0.59
15. Leeks £0.57
16. Broccoli £0.76
17. Cauliflower £0.78
18. Courgettes £0.50
19. Twin Sweetcorn £0.66 (reduced)
20. Plantain £0.31 (reduced)
21. Ground cinnamon £1.40 (hmmm. Sure it said £1.23 on the aisle ... only just noticed ...) (Bought it to put in smoothies)
22. Prepared salad £2.00 (rocket, watercress and spinach, my favourite)
23. Smoked mackerel £1.68 (thought I should have some oily fish!)
24. Celery £0.50
25. Cucumber portion £0.33
26. Mushrooms £1.08 (3 large flat ones)
27. Bananas (5) £0.60
28. Plums (punnet) £1.00
29. Natural yoghurt £0.68 (for smoothies in the morning!)
30. Carrots £0.42
31. Aubergine £0.84
32. Onions (3) £0.51
33. Red onion £0.19
34. Pear £0.20
35. Quiche £0.31 (reduced)
36. Seasons best £0.66 (not sure what this is though! Will need to go and look in the fridge!!)

So, today's dinner so far has cost about ... about 85 pence. Not bad! And it's been very healthy. Quiche, soup and veg. Might even make a smoothie for supper!

The End of Day One

It's now 10.15pm, and I am about to go to bed. I will check my email first in case H has sent a message - but it was nice to hear from him earlier on that he has arrived safely at his first destination!

I spent too long on the computer during the middle of the day - about 2 1/2 hours I think, but that was interspersed with phone calls and doing a bit of work. I have finally managed to go through all the filing, I think, and have almost filled a second bag.

For dinner, I cooked a meal in the wok which consisted of cubed potatoes, aubergine, spinach and cheese. It was very tasty, and quite different to the stews I would normally have. I ate at 6pm, and watched Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It is not as good as the book - at least about half of the story lines are missing! - but it wasn't as bad as I feared it was going to be, according to many of the reviews I read at the time. Passed a good couple of hours. Another hour tidying, and here I am.

One desk is almost cleared - well, there is a space in the middle, anyway - and I will attempt to plough through the papers on the other desk (H's desk) tomorrow. Then my aim is to dust everything and sweep and hoover the floors. I'll also have to go shopping, as my cousin is coming on Saturday and I'd like to cook her lunch. Also want to buy some more white vinegar, which really is marvellous for cleaning things! Used the last of it to descale the bottom of the kettle today. It's all shiny and bright now! But could do with some more so it descales further up ... I've already used it lots for glass and mirrors. The only problem is it makes the house stink of vinegar! I quite like it, but H isn't too keen, and it does get wearing after a while!

Right. Off to bed. Goodnight! (Wonder if I'll wake up as early tomorrow?) (Oh, and I've just eaten a banana - hadn't wanted to eat anything after 6pm or so, but I really felt hungry and I haven't had any fruit today. I have, however, drunk lots of glasses of water, which did a good job of filling me up until the banana, but it has also slowed me down because of the frequent comfort breaks!!)

Anyway. Goodnight!

Fortnum & Mason's

It's become a bit of a Christmas tradition that I visit this well known and loved London department store and take photos of its famous Christmas window display. I've so far written about the Alice in Wonderland windows, and the Twelve Days of Christmas.

This year the theme is the Snow Queen. I went to the shops in daylight this year; this meant I could see the windows more clearly, but there was more of a reflection, so the quality isn't always as good! However, I hope you like them!

This magical mirror a sorcerer did curse
Where good looked bad, and bad looked worse.

The greatest of friends poor Gerda and Kay
Neath rose framed windows they loved to play.

A splinter of mirror glass pierced the heart of Kay
The Snow Queen flew down, bearing him away.

The Snow Queen's palace, so white and cold
To free her Kay, Gerda must be bold.

To find her friend Gerda soon set forth
The reindeer carrying her far to the north.

Her tears of love melt the ice in Kay's heart
And from this day on they will not part.

Entertaining

We've just had a lovely evening with friends. Always great to chat to them - she is in the same line of work as H - and it's nice to extend our conversation beyond our usual!

Unfortunately I mucked up my timing a bit - leaving everything to the last minute isn't always the best idea! - but apart from cold lamb and roast potatoes, everything seemed to go down well!

Starter - Olive and sundried tomato hummus with gluten-free pitta bread, cucumber and cherries.

Main - lamb, roast potatoes, and a sort of roasted/stewed veg - carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, fennel, onion and beetroot cooked with chopped tinned tomatoes.

Sweet - fruit salad and cream (pineapple, pear, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, plum, nectarine).

Cheese dish - gluten-free savoury biscuits with 5 cheeses: brie, jarlsberg, danish blue, port salut and medium cheddar.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape was served, along with a Blossom Hill White Zinfandel rose wine. The driver and the cook were drinking freshly squeezed (although not by me!!) lemon juice.

Too full for tea and coffee, which was a shame because I had bought new coffee! Mum and Dad will need to return soon to drink it!

So, all in all, a lovely evening, and a day on which I have done very little else other than do the dishes, the shopping and the cooking.

This was because we were out rather late last night, first of all at the going away party of one of H's school friends who is travelling to Egypt then home, and then we went to the Double Club to celebrate the birthday of another dancing friend. Lots of lovely people at both events, it is nice to get out and about and meet new and interesting folk!

I do have quite a bit of marking to do tomorrow though:

* Finish Year 7 marking (this has been going on for the past three weeks, I think).
* Year 11 Mock Exams (2 and a half sets)
* Year 11 books
* Year 10 books
* Year 12 / 13 assessment booklets
* Year 9 assessments (2 sets; I set them the assessment for classwork to try to get them to do some work, which they haven't been doing recently. Not my class.)

Other things I need to do before the Christmas holiday on Thursday:

* Phone all the parents of the Year 7s who have not brought back their trip letters.
* Tidy up the office!! (A HUGE job ...)
* Write and send the Christmas cards.
* Return a document/booklet/resource to a teacher in another school.
* Write Year 11 and Year 13 reports.
* I'm sure there are many other things .... !!!

Off to bed now. It's after midnight and I have church tomorrow!

Happy St Andrew's Day!

No haggis for us tonight, unfortunately, but I hope you are all having a lovely St Andrew's Day!

Just thought I'd make a list, not of what I have to do, but what I have done since yesterday!

I got up around 10am yesterday morning.

I cleaned the bathroom, put the washing on, did the shopping, hung up the washing (grammar???), put the shopping away, made the lunch (spatchcock poussin) and washed the dishes. By noon.

For the rest of the day, I washed those dishes, made dinner (lamb steaks with rice and squash), washed those dishes and cleaned the kitchen. I also produced two and a half powerpoints (I have just finished the third now) for our big RE day. That was quite a big job.

Today, I have been to church, made lunch (beef stew), completed all the admin things for the RE day, including sending some emails, written my A Level mock exam paper, and made a GCSE revision checklist for my Year 11s. That has taken some time, but I'm pretty pleased with my progress.

I still need to do the dishes, make dinner, and mark three sets of books. Will see how I get on ...

Weekly Update

Well, I think I have certainly blogged more than normal this week, but I am interested myself in adding an overview of the whole week, as a reflection on what has been achieved.

Monday 11 August - Looking back, I apparently had a very focused day and got lots done. I don't think I've quite managed to keep it up, though, unfortunately!

Tuesday 12 August - Took loads of photos throughout the day to make an animation of the changing skies. Also spent a lot of time online, posting memes, and thinking about, and enjoying, the Olympics. (Have done a LOT of that this week!)

Wednesday 13 August - Some more memes, surfing and stumbling around on the internet, and watching the Olympics. H was up north overnight, working. Took me hours to get to sleep. Was just dropping off when he phoned, then an hour later was still awake, so decided to switch on the light and read for a bit.

Thursday 14 August - Got up and went into school for a couple of hours. I managed to clear out one cupboard of stuff - I now have a huge pile of scrap paper for any pupil who forgets their book (not that that should happen, of course! I don't plan on letting them out of my sight too much!). Rushed home, worried that H's friend, arriving by plane, might have arrived when we were both out. He hadn't. Didn't arrive at all, in fact - turns out he was staying with someone else!

Friday 15 August - Was back in school again for a few hours this morning. A new colleague came in, and it was lovely to see her. She's really looking forward to starting, which is good. Hope she stays that way!! I now have three bin bags full of rubbish to be thrown out. Unfortunately I then had to come home so H could go out (he's lost his keys - again!), and just as he phoned me the door fell off my cupboard! Fortunately, with a little bit of help from the caretaker, I managed to get the door back on again. Hope it stays! My classroom door is still a bit wonky, and I forgot to check and see if the windows have been fixed (I doubt it). I noticed some new graffiti from during the holidays on the side of the cupboard. Annoying. I don't know who's been in. Came home, H went out, I got some work done. A bit. And some more surfing, I think. Eventually went to bed, no sign of H. He eventually arrived back quite late with his friend. Got up and chatted for a bit before heading back to bed for some much needed sleep and left them to it!

Saturday 16 August - Got up and went to the shops with a neighbour. Nice to sit and have a coffee while she finished her shopping before coming back. Then sat and watched a load of Olympic events for most of the afternoon. H made lunch, I made dinner. Chatted about the past. After taking H's friend back to the place where he was staying, we came back and thought we'd watch the overview of the Olympics, and the preparation for the women's marathon. Then we thought we'd watch the beginning of the marathon. Ended up getting so gripped we watched the whole thing! And ended up going to bed around 3.30am.

Sunday 17 August - So tired I slept in, and didn't make it to church. H got a text at around 11am that woke us up ... fortunately his friend was letting us know that he was running late, so that gave us time to get ready! We went to Brighton for the day, arriving in time for a late lunch. Not quite at Harry Ramsden's though ... we went a bit further, down the pier, then had fish and chips in the pier restaurant. We walked to the end of the pier, where we were amazed at the people who were spending £8 to go upside down and round and round on one of the rides. They seemed really close - it was quite motion-sickness-making watching them! H was almost tempted to have a go on the bucking bronco, but decided not to. I quite fancied getting one of the those getting dressed up photos, but we would have had to have waited, so we decided not to. Instead I had a huge candyfloss, which was good - but maybe a bit much! Then we walked down to the beach, where we took photos next to a giant doughnut, and H lost his hat (although he found it again, on the other side of the wall - he managed to jump over and get it before the wind carried it out to sea!).

The beach is full of pebbles, which are not that easy to walk on in the sort of shoes I had. I kept sinking in and getting little pebbley stones in my shoes, which wasn't very comfortable! However, I eventually made the sea, and walked into the water - I wasn't quite able to jump over the waves, the pebbles saw to that, but I enjoyed standing there with the water washing over my feet.

It was nice to go for a wander along the promenade, taking photos, remembering nights spent in the Grand Hotel, watching the seagulls flying overhead and generally talking and laughing. By now it was getting a bit later, so we began to head back to the car, past the Brighton Pavilion, stopping off at the Colonnade pub for a drink (they don't serve hot chocolate, but they do have muffins). We eventually found the car, which was no mean feat, and I drove home. At some point I deviated from my planned course, but that meant we had a detour under the Greenwich Meridian, so that was good.

Monday 18 August - I haven't managed to do all the things I wanted to do today. As I write this it's now after 6pm. I started writing this around lunchtime. I've had a dizzy spell earlier that has made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I have watched some Olympics and made lunch. I need to go and clear up. I haven't done too much computer stuff today, but I have done a bit. Mostly I've not done much at all, just sat around feeling a bit under the weather. We are going out in an hour. H is going off for a jog. I'll go and clear up. Hopefully tomorrow I can not go on the computer at all and just blitz my essays so we can head north on Wednesday with everything done so I can just relax. How quickly holidays come to an end!

Updating my list ...

1) Watch London marathon (want to get pics of the Maasai warriors that are running)
2) Visit our friends with a newborn baby
3) Plan a unit on the Holy Spirit that involves art
4) Mark another set of books (and possibly pop in to school to pick up some more sets of books, and the two sets of year 7 assessments that I left at school by accident)
5) Buy an outfit for my friend's wedding, and a present
6) Buy a present for our nephew's first birthday
7) Plan the forthcoming lessons
8) Tidy the house!! (I've done it, but it has to be continually kept up to date!)
9) Sort out the car insurance stuff following my accident the other week.

So, as far as school goes, I still need to:
1) Mark the other half of Y9 books
2) Mark the other set of Y9 books
3) Mark the two sets of Y7 assessments
4) Plan lessons for Y9 assessment
5) Plan lessons for Y8 assessment
6) Plan lessons for new Y7, Y8 and Y9 schemes of work
7) Plan LOTC scheme of work on religion and art for Y9
8) Arrange times for Parents' Day
9) Complete Risk Assessment for school trip

Also need to:
1) Send off car insurance stuff
2) Get the car keys back
3) Possibly buy coat and gloves for wedding outfit (Done - Sunday)
4) Complete at least 2 applications
5) Arrange graduation stuff (at least I've started on this by asking for time off!)
6) Bind my dissertation

Hmmm. So I still have quite a bit to do tomorrow ...

PS GREAT NEWS! I got the car keys back!

What a day!!

I was still tired when I woke up so I stayed in bed for a while, before eventually thinking I better get on with everything. Phoned the garage - the car was ready - and the best time to bring it back was 3pm. Which was annoying, but had to be done, so I got up and ready and planned to go shopping and get back from there by then. So off I went.

Arrived at DLR - no train. Had to wait for replacement bus. Eventually, it arrived, and I got to Canary Wharf around noon. So I had about two hours to shop. Quite a few things on my list, but the two main ones were shoes and wedding present.

First shop, tried on nice pair of shoes. But I like to look elsewhere ... so in the next hour or so I tried on every other half suitable shoe in every other shop in the Wharf - well, there was only one other suitable pair, as it turned out, but I had to go through every other shop to find that one - and eventually had to head back to the original shop to get that first pair! Could have saved myself an hour ... ! Also managed to get the present, which was a funny story in itself ... basically I was trying to make a choice and work out the prices, when a couple came along and took them all from under my nose! So that was a bit annoying, but not a lot I could do about it. So I had to get something slightly different, but perhaps they can change them later if they want!

Went to Itsu for lunch, in empathy with H. Had miso soup, chilli salmon with obe (?) leaf, rice, spicy vegetable dumplings, and Valrhona chocolate mousse with pomegranate seeds, with an Itsu zinger on the side (ginger, lemon and mint juice). Very nice ... but more expensive than I had expected!

Got home in time for the car man. Got the call, man on his way; turned out that was the courtesy car man, but the garage man arrived just as I was about to go and get the courtesy keys, so I waited to pay the garage man first. He had the pin machine with him, so I paid for the car, he gave me the documents and explained a few things, I headed back indoors for the courtesy keys, signed for that, saw that man off, went upstairs - and realised I didn't have the car keys!!! Phoned the courtesy car people and the insurance company, but neither of them had a mobile number for the garage man. Remembered that there must be a spare key somewhere: turned the drawers inside out, found a few interesting things and discovered where the odd socks disappear to, and eventually got the key. However, the man has still not returned with my key yet ... !

All in all, I have a headache, and haven't managed to get very much else done. Still haven't got a coat and gloves either for next weekend. Oh dear.

Right. Glad to have written all that down. Let's see what I can get done before bed ...

ADDITION: 12.40am The garage man has brought back the car keys! He eventually discovered them in his pocket and has returned them! So now I can go to bed ... a bit later than planned, but at least happy in the knowledge that I can drive to work easily on Monday, and maybe even go shopping tomorrow!

Travelling

All the excitement recently has been around H's trip overseas. It was a bit last minute, but he managed to get a ticket and got on the flight in time. Just! I've been finishing off some form filling for him, and have posted two parcels this morning. So now I have some forms to fill in of my own, as well as trying to tidy this place up.

Let's review that list from earlier this week ...

1) Watch London marathon (want to get pics of the Maasai warriors that are running)
2) Visit our friends with a newborn baby
3) Plan a unit on the Holy Spirit that involves art
4) Mark another set of books (and possibly pop in to school to pick up some more sets of books, and the two sets of year 7 assessments that I left at school by accident)
5) Buy an outfit for my friend's wedding, and a present
6) Buy a present for our nephew's first birthday
7) Plan the forthcoming lessons
8) Tidy the house!!
9) Sort out the car insurance stuff following my accident the other week.

Hmm. I thought I'd managed to complete more than that!! I am very happy with my outfit, which we got a couple of days ago - I'm just hoping that none of my old uni friends have made the same choice as me! I imagine it would look very good on any of them - that could be interesting! I still need to get shoes. And the presents ... so it looks like a day's shopping in London is in order at the weekend. I think I'll concentrate on number 8 (again!) for the next hour or so, in order to have some space to complete numbers 3, 4, 7 and 9. Unfortunately I think number 2 will now have to be put off for a couple of weeks, until H is back and after the wedding. Fortunately my friend also has a blog with some great photos of the newborn - not so new now, he's a month old! - so at least we're keeping up to date with his progress that way!

Right. Tidying, while listening to the Elgar Enigma Varations. Great!

Art and Accidents

Where to start? With a resume of our outing yesterday, with my critique of a documentary watched last night, or with a brief description of this morning's accident? Well, probably best to recall in chronological order ...

We had a lovely Saturday out. Having spent last Easter weekend in bed, I hadn't been able to follow up my plan of exploring the National Gallery's works, so we decided to do that this weekend. After popping in to Angel and having a filling Wagamama lunch, we then tried to make our way from Angel to Charing Cross. Easier said than done. Went back down the tube at Angel, got a tube to Euston, tried to find a platform from where we could get a tube south to Charing Cross, couldn't find one, got on a tube that took us back in the direction from whence we had come, got off at King's Cross, took the Piccadilly Line south to Leicester Square, changed for the Northern Line, waited a while for a tube, squeezed onto one ("I am going to say this very slowly for the benefit of anyone who does not understand. Stand away from the doors. The doors will not close if you are standing between them. For the IQ challenged, stand away from the doors."), heard the announcement for the next station - Tottenham Court Road - realised we had gone in the wrong direction, had to get off, wander around the station to find the trains going in the right direction, and eventually managed to find a train that took us to Charing Cross.

The National Gallery is great! We only went to see the really old paintings (1250-1500 or so), but they really are something. So much bling! All that gold leaf ... and such detail, for example on the halos of the saints or on the dresses. And the colours are so vibrant, which is amazing after hundreds of years. Especially the blues of Mary's dresses, the golds, the reds. I am considering taking a group of students. Not sure how they'd be though! But it would certainly be a different experience for them, I'm sure!

We spent a couple of hours there, until we were thrown out (it's okay, so was everyone else, the Gallery closes at 6pm on a Saturday). Then we headed home, where I made a delicious and healthy dinner, of lamb and bean stew with cabbage, peas, potato, sweet potato and coleslaw.

While we ate we watched Oona King present a documentary on Martin Luther King. Which was quite interesting, until she started the most bizarre line of study ... are we in danger of forgetting King's religious side? Now, maybe it's because I'm an RE teacher, and as far as I'm aware probably just about every RE teacher in the country will cover MLK at some point, looking at how he was influenced to fight for racial justice, having been inspired by the teachings of Jesus (and the example of Gandhi). Which presumably means practically every young person in the country will be aware of the fact that MLK was a Baptist minister, inspired by his Christianity. He is covered in History as well, so I'm sure they will almost all have seen some examples of his preaching, which is full of Biblical allusions and references to God. Now, I understand that many students might not pay that much attention in classes, but at least with my students the moment MLK is mentioned, at least one person in the class will say, as a reflex action, without even thinking, "I have a dream!" Fair enough, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are thinking about King's religious convictions, but is it really true that people are not aware of his religious convictions?! At one point she even expressed surprise that his Christianity was nearer to socialism than to right wing conservative attitudes - sorry, no quote - but that really shocked me. Like Jesus, King was perhaps quite radical in his non-violent, turn the other cheek, love thy neighbour (and pray for your enemies) type attitude ... do people really consider him as a "secular icon of human rights"?! The documentary seemed to show Oona in a very naive, or even perhaps ignorant (in the most positive sense!) light, which I am sure was not the intention. Perhaps I do just make huge assumptions about the knowledge and understanding of the general British public about MLK, so forgive me if I sound too judgmental ... what do you think? Do you think King's Christian beliefs are important? Were you aware of them?

Right. So that brings us to the accident ... I was driving to church this morning (the first time I have ever done that, I was running a bit late, thought it might rain, wasn't feeling too great, and decided to go straight from church to the shops), when, having just come off the slip road, a blue van decided to come into my lane. While I was still there. I realised he was moving over, thought he mustn't have seen me, and began to accelerate away, but he still bumped my back bumper. I was pushed over a bit and swerved and got back on track, pulled over and we swapped details. Not too much damage fortunately, just a bit scratched, but still annoying! I was a bit shaken, but okay. Our priest was on the doorstep when I arrived - possibly looking out for me anyway, since I was due to do the reading and the intervention meant it was just a few minutes before the service started - and was really helpful when I told him what had happened. He got me some paper and got me to write down what happened before I forgot, and asked me a few questions to help make sure it was all accurate and detailed. So he waited to start Mass for a few minutes until I had written it! Anyway, I managed to get all my lines this week, and was quite quickly calm.

I've now got a spatchcock poussin in the oven, so that should be nice. More later!

The Twelve Days of Christmas ... at F&M's ...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords aleaping,
Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings!

Four calling birds,
Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!

Christmas catch up continued

On Boxing Day we hit the sales ... the first time I think I've ever done that! We headed to Canary Wharf first, where some of the shops were open. H bought a new outfit at Gap. Then we went to Oxford Street ... we avoided Selfridges, and instead bought new shoes in Barratts, Skechers and Nike.





We decided to go to Islington for dinner (Turkish at Gallipoli). We were shocked to see loads of graffiti all over Angel tube station. I've taken some photos on my mobile that I'll upload later, but in the meantime there are lots of links to other images and articles. It's also interesting reading some of the comments. Personally, it was such a shock and a surprise, that it made me realise how well kept the tube stations are kept most of the time. Everyone coming off the tube was looking around them, amazed. I overheard a couple of guys making a comment like "well, it's artistic", but the thing was, it wasn't! It was amazing, in that you couldn't take your eyes off it, but it was so mundane, boring, and simply vandalism, without any uplifting or amusing features. Of course, it's got people blogging about it, like me, so I suppose that means the vandals have achieved their aim, but it's not good. And to think that some had the audacity to write "Happy Birthday Jesus" on the wall opposite the platform! I don't think Jesus would really have appreciated it that much ... Also, it seemed really dangerous, although I've since discovered that the tube station was closed for Christmas (just as well we didn't go out for a meal then ...!)

So, suitably outraged but filled with bemusement rather than wingeing, we headed home.

The next day was spent in a similar way, although only on the shopping side rather than the looking at graffiti side. This time we did Canary Wharf and Fortnum and Mason ... look out for this year's Christmas windows once I work out how to download them from my mobile! And the biggest news of the year ... as we were going down the escalator in Canary Wharf ... was to see the Evening Standard headline "Bhutto killed in Pakistan blast". That was a real shock. I looked at it for a few seconds, not believing it to be true, wondering if there was another Bhutto that it could mean, before realising that of course it meant what it said, and drawing H's attention to it. Tried to buy a paper but no cash ... Got one eventually.

Today ... H went shopping and got a new guitar, I stayed at home and played Bogglific on Facebook. Honestly. I have loads of marking to do ... but at least it's relaxing! Washing and marking tomorrow, honestly ... !!!

Happy Christmas Holidays!

Had a lovely last day on Friday. Only a few students came in, but we played pass the parcel and they all joined in with the forfeits - a bit half heartedly, and so that they could win the chocolates, but still! - and we danced a bit to some music, and when I started singing "We wish you a merry Christmas" just before we left the classroom to head to the hall for the Carol Service, they all joined in! So that was great. The Carol Service was good too, and then it was nice to go back to my HoD's house for pizza with our new PGCE student. Absolutely shattered by the time I got home - a great idea on H's behalf to order a takeaway, after which I slept for about 12 hours.

We went shopping for the first time this Christmas yesterday. H bought me a new jacket for Christmas, and persuaded me to buy a smart black one that was in the sale. I bought him a couple of small things for Christmas, and he bought himself a laptop bag and a sleeveless jumper. We had a lovely lunch at Nandos - chicken livers, chicken burger in pitta bread, quarter chicken, chips, rice, coleslaw and corn, with tasty frozen banana yoghurt for pudding to cool down my mouth. Don't worry, we shared the rest, that wasn't just my dinner! Then we came home and watched the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was fun.

Have just arrived back from church, and am waiting for H to get up and dressed so we can go to Sainsbury's for the grocery shopping and maybe buy a little Christmas tree and a few small decorations for the house. Then the plan is to come home, tidy up and decorate. I might even get a bit of marking in to try and get it done before Christmas. Then some London shopping tomorrow ...

Catch up time!

A few thoughts from last week ...

Geese flying overhead, through the blue sky. I looked up and watched them fly directly above me, in a V formation. Beautiful.

SACRE meeting on Wednesday night went very well, although there was a lot of running around trying to find the correct keys etc. I made a presentation, and it went across well. There were some very interesting questions, particularly about how we teach about sex and relationships in a Catholic school, and whether or not there is a tension between Science and RE in how we teach about the creation of the world. There isn't, I don't think, although some of our pupils have a different point of view on things ... Anyway, left school at 9:45pm that night. Had arrived at 7:45am ...

On Thursday, a TV researcher got in touch about another one of my blogs and the technology I use in my classroom. We had a chat, then she emailed asking if they could come and film me with a class in the ICT suite on Monday or Tuesday! I'd expect longer notification for an ordinary observation! Have told her I'll need to get Head's permission and pupil consent first, so we'll wait and see what happens.

Friday ended up being really busy - I had 3 non-contacts, but they all got taken up with admin type things, so I still haven't planned my lessons for this coming week. Am about to do that now.

On Friday evening, we were going out to an opening, so I met up with H in town. We went to a gallery just off Bond Street (some nice shops around there!!!), but then discovered it was all locked up. The exhibition there had obviously been on for a while. Later we discovered that the gallery did have another opening on that night - in Munich!

We wondered what to do, and H remembered that there was another opening in Whitechapel, so we decided to try and find it. Eventually found the opening to the Fieldgate Gallery near Atlantis. That was quite fun. I particularly liked a couple of works by Maria Anwander, for example a video of someone swimming in a pool that is set inside a sink. There was also an excellent painting by Andy Harper, which looked very realistic. You can see some pictures from the exhibition here.

Seeing we were in the area, we decided to head down Brick Lane to Chutney's. As we were about to enter, a girl standing outside was calling out, "We've got a celebrity dining here tonight - Carole from Big Brother!" And, sure enough, she was there - in fact, we were almost placed right beside her, within elbow knocking when you use your knife distance, but H prefers to be further inside the restaurant, away from the door, so we sat nearer the middle of the restaurant. I had chicken passanda - very nice, as always.

Yesterday I had another course to attend, which ran from 10am to about 3.30pm. I found it really hard to keep my eyes open! Afterwards I wanted to buy a pair of more casual shoes, and the Dorothy Perkins next to Bond Street tube station had a huge selection - nice to be able to find some so quickly and easily! Then I headed across to Mexx, where a little top caught my eye. I tried it on, and bought that too ... Will go back, I liked their look.

Today I've been to church, and now I have to plan those lessons. This week I am giving a presentation on Wednesday to teachers from other schools, and we need to plan for our upcoming open evening. So I expect it will be busy again! And I still need to finish my dissertation ...

Busy, busy!

Sunday

Had a great night last night. We went to the Lee Hurst Backyard Comedy Club with a friend; I haven't laughed so much in ages! Lee Hurst, the compere, was really funny - especially in the way he handled hecklers - and the last comic was really good too. There was also another couple of guys, one with funny hair, the other a magician, who made a dove appear, which was quite impressive - the first time I've seen that done in real life - but was also a bit strange. Dark humour.

I was also a bit shocked when some barristers in the audience, asked by Lee to share some interesting cases with us, gave us some examples of stories. One girl shared a story about a current case which featured some unusual points, which seemed really unprofessional to me. I don't think her client would have appreciated everybody in the comedy club knowing about it. Then a young man told us a story which I presume is a legal type joke - he was defending a burglar, who was bad because he kept leaving fingerprints everywhere, and kept getting caught. So the barrister told him to stop burgling, or at least wear a pair of gloves. A few months later he was in court again. Why didn't you wear gloves?, the barrister asked him. He had worn gloves - those fingerless ones. (Hope it was a joke ... we wondered about the professional advice burglars are receiving from their defence barristers these days!)

Today I was walking to church when I saw a family all dressed smartly in black and white, carrying food, obviously on their way to the local gospel church with a pot luck lunch. I was thinking about how the black and white clothes reminded me of Jehovah's Witnesses, as they crossed the road in front of me, and then I noticed that the mother's skirt was quite short. I was wondering whether that was okay - the knee high boots, the lacy black tights, the short skirt - when I realised that her skirt was hitched up from walking. And that she had a slit in her skirt, that had also ridden up. And that her underwear matched the black and white theme ... Oh dear. I hope someone told her quickly and that she wasn't too mortified that she had been walking around with her underwear showing ...

Right. I'm off. Shopping, tidying, some lesson planning, then hopefully a bit of relaxation and an early night!

Nelson Mandela et al ...

Had to go to the American Embassy this morning. Website said "Do not bring cameras, mobile phones, iPods, blackberries etc ... to the Embassy", so we didn't. Turned out I had two dead batteries in my handbag that I had to hand in, then collect again at the end. And everyone else just handed their phones in there. Anyway. Got there early, the security people were all quite friendly, and when I caught up with H at the IRS section, the man was very friendly and helpful. We were only there for about 20 minutes or so. Would recommend it. Although they are digging up the whole front section looking out over Grosvenor Square. Hmmm.

Then went to H's agent to hand in some documents. The first time I've visited, so very interesting to see it. Realised that his agent (well, the boss) reminds me of the editor I worked for. Quite severe and serious, but with a more humorous side.

While there, we asked what time the Nelson Mandela statue unveiling was at. I had thought it was around 1pm, but I had obviously missed out a 1 there. Turns out it was 11am, the time it was when we asked the question. Far west of Westminster. We decided to head down anyway - it would be nice to see the statue on the day it was unveiled. Anyway, we didn't have our camera or phones, so wouldn't have been able to take photos. Took the bus.

When we arrived, we could hear a choir singing "O Happy Day". We looked over the heads of the crowds - and there was the man himself! We could just make out Nelson Mandela and his wife, Graca Machel, in yellow. We moved round to another side, as Mandela left the stage to claps and cheers. Some people started going up to stand and have their photos taken next to the statue. Here are the people we saw during the time we watched:

Richard Attenborough; Naomi Campbell; David Lammy; David Miliband; Jesse Jackson; Tony Benn; Ben Okri; Benjamin Zephania; Kwame Kwei-Armah; Adam Boulton from Sky News; Brian May; Nicholas Glass from Channel 4 News.

I'm sure we saw other well known people but didn't recognise him, and H also saw Hilary Benn, but I haven't included him in the list because unfortunately I missed him. David Miliband was really working the crowd - talking to people, shaking hands, signing autographs, asking people how they were, smiling lots, that sort of thing. Kwame had a long golden-bronze gown on, and as he went along the line where we were, he stopped occasionally, smiled at the people taking photos, and gave a small bow. Brian May stuck his thumbs up a couple of times at those taking photos. Ben Okri spoke to a few people, he seemed very relaxed and chatty. His wife (?) stood quietly back to one side out the way.

We were quite excited to see Kwame Kwei-Armah, and a couple of people near us asked who he was. We got chatting to one - turns out she's a journalist, and she took our photo and sent it to us, which was good of her - we now have proof we were really there!

The police then moved us all along, so we decided to head to Covent Garden. Had fun wandering around the shops there. Eventually made it home. A nice day. Fun had by all!

Enjoying the Holidays

We headed towards Oxford Street yesterday. H bought a nice paisley patterned pink shirt and bright yellow shiny trainers, and I bought a black cardigan and a green jumper. Very seasonal! The tube was very hot and very crowded. Fortunately I had "Northern Lights" with me, which I started on the tube on the way into the city and finished this morning. Another good book.

Today, along with finishing "Northern Lights" and reading over half of "The Subtle Knife", the second in the trilogy (which I may well finish this evening), I have baked some banana bread, taken lots of photos of H for his author photo, typed out some KS3 Level Descriptors, worked on a SoW and made a seafood paella. Lots of enjoyable things to do - I do like the holidays! Still feel as if time is running out though - I've so much to do before I go back to school! Haven't even started on my dissertation yet.

Wandering down Tottenham Court Road

I got the biggest, blackest cross I've ever seen on my forehead yesterday. Huge. Not like the discrete ones I got last year at school, where I managed to end up going up three times at different Masses to demonstrate to the pupils what they were supposed to do. Discovered later that you're not really meant to do that! But those ashen crosses seemed to disappear so quickly, no-one noticed!

We eventually decided we couldn't wait in wondering when the builders were going to stay forever, so we went to Oxford Street. Saw the big, orange, Chinese lanterns. Not that exciting, actually, although they probably look nicer at night. No, the highlight of the day was when we wandering up Tottenham Court Road trying to find Foyle's, the Bookshop (later discovering we should have turned right instead of left, since we were very close to it), and ended up going into the Scientology shop. We were invited to see a film, and out of interest since I occasionally teach it a bit (in the Sects and Cults section of my curriculum), and since H has an interest in these religious things too, we went to see the film. We're probably the two least likely people to be taken in by such a group, but surely others are not drawn in after watching the film on Dianetics that we saw.

We were led first of all into the small, downstairs bookshop, where hundreds of copies of L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics, in multitudes of languages including Cantonese, Zulu and Khosa, were lined up on shelves. The people working there all had black suits on, the women with white blouses, the men (well, man - we only saw one) with a red tie, that seemed appropriate. We walked up the red carpetted stairs, past one door bearing the sign "Film in Progress" on the first floor, and up we went to the second floor. We were shown into a room with about 16 red velvet chairs laid out as in a theatre. We sat on the front row, in front of a screen. Two more people came in a couple of minutes later. The film was called, "Book 1". It was something else. L. Ron Hubbard was only ever seen from behind - like early films featuring Jesus. Instead, he had three friends who read sackfuls of letters out to him, only pausing to comment, "I've been a doctor for twenty years, and in all my knowledge and experience, I've never known anything to work as effectively as Dianetics!" and "In my years of study as a Psychiatrist, nothing comes close to Dianetics as a method of helping people!" In the one scene where someone was shown to have hurt his head, the talk was all about how he was going to have to have it amputated, then, the back of Hubbard's head, and a moment of revelation, "Ah! Now I know why I felt that way!" and all of a sudden, the man isn't going to lose his leg after all. Anyway, the story built up to a crescendo, the publishing of Hubbard's first book, about Dianetics. The two people behind us had had enough, and walked out. We stayed, waiting to see what happened next. And suddenly, the film stopped, the screen went blank, and the lights came on. Was that it? Like that? No finale? The door opened, and a woman walked in. Just behind her was another Scientology Operative, or Thetan, or whatever, and we called out - "Was that it? Is it finished?" Another film was just beginning. Not our one ... this one began with dark shadows. The woman looked shocked ... "Hadn't it finished?" When the other couple left, she had assumed the film was finished, that noone else was left behind, imbibing their teaching. So a bit embarrassed to find us still there! She offered to put on the film again for us in the other, now vacant, film room, but we didn't want to watch it all from the beginning again, and she couldn't fast forward it, so we decided to leave. She showed us the books downstairs, which we decided not to buy, then offered us a free personality test. Very tempting ... just to be able to tell my class about it so they don't feel tempted to ... but decided against it, since it was now getting late and we had to find Foyles.

Well, we walked and walked, and eventually asked for directions. And were given directions to Waterstones on Gower Street. So we now know where that is, but since they didn't have the book we wanted, that was not much use anyway. So we wandered back down Gower Street (old university street which reminded me of my Alma Mater) then eventually headed over to Charing Cross Road. And Foyles. And got the book.

We finished the day off at Dionysus, a Greek kebab restaurant/cafe. Finally full, we headed home, only pausing to enjoy Eduardo Paolozzi'a mosaics at Tottenham Court Road underground.

Today has been spent at the Opticians, with a bit of shopping. I didn't realise Peacock's at so many nice clothes, for younger people. But didn't buy anything there. Maybe after pay day. Since then, I've read a book ... but for that, you'll need to read other blog!

Funny kind of day

It was nice to have a longish but not too long lie this morning, and to be able to finish my book without worrying too much about getting up ... although I did have a lot planned. As usual. Anyway, we have a visitor coming, and we expected him to arrive at Heathrow early on Sunday morning, so the first priority was to tidy up. H got up bright and early and started emptying the bathroom. I went through the stuff and got rid of lots of old bottles etc ... it's interesting the sort of things that you find in your bathroom. Old bottles of shampoo, soggy plasters, single contact lenses, bits of soap from here and there, runny suntan lotion, half filled mini travel bottles of who-knows-what, blunt razor blades, spilt cotton buds, lotions and potions of indeterminate age ... Anyway, we've been through it all now I think everything left in there is useable and safe! I started sweeping the floor around the dining area, then sorted through the clothes ... anything not to be worn in the next fortnight has been folded away into a suitcase, so there will be room for our visitor to hang his clothes. The bedroom now looks a bit emptier and tidier - still a bit of work to do on it though!

My main task for the day, however, has been writing my methods and methodology review for my dissertation. I have managed to write almost 3000 words, although since I haven't had time to do any reading, most of it is based on my own ideas rather than interacting with the literature, so there's still a lot to be done. However, I'd rather hand in something that needs a lot of work on it than nothing at all ...

In amongst that, H has been to the shops, we've cooked dinner together (veal with Italian potatoes and Chinese/Malawian vegetables) and we've hads our nightly fix of Big Brother. In case you're wondering ... I phoned for Jermaine last night. Although today we thought we would be happy if Dirk wins. Shilpa is the favourite to win, at the moment, but I think Jermaine and Dirk both stand a chance.

So, that's been my day.

And our visitor? Well, we realised this afternoon that he won't arrive until very early on Monday morning, so we don't have to get up super-early to drive to Heathrow tomorrow and I still have time to get the washing done, and go to church! So it's all good.