Wednesday, August 1st, 2007, 5:50 pm
Today I found a lovely new running route, it goes up to the university and around the lake in the grounds, it was a lovely day, a nice peaceful route and with more interesting things to look at than my usual lap or two of the park! Going to do it again tomorrow- it was 3.5 miles so I am planning to run round the lake twice as I am trying to build my distance up, both for the 10k I am doing in September but also because running further is meant to make you faster in a 5k. Will be going out early in the morning as we are going to Banham Zoo at about 11 so i want to make sure I get the run in. I joined a book group on Monday with 2 friends, it should be fun! We are reading "A History of Tractors in Ukrainian" (think that's the right title) but first I need to finish re-reading all my Harry Potters! It's loads of fun reading them in the context of knowing how everything ends up! Have to say though - reading Order of the Phoenix and the film is MILES better than the book!!! Sorry JK! I always thought the book was overlong and over-angsty, and the film pared it down nicely. Think at the time the editors should have been a bit more heavy handed but it was when the hype took off loads so they were probably scared to make changes, but things got better later! That's my opinion anyway! Once I finish OOTP I will be on to the last two which are 2 of my favourites so I will enjoy that, then read the Book Group choice! Only bad thing about book group was that while there I had a glass of wine and some crisps and nuts and the weight I lost last week came piling back! I'm sure it's just water retention but it's still irritating! Keeping my good habits...today I have had Special K (or should I say Tesco's "Special Flakes"), then a turkey and tomato sandwich with a banana for lunch, for dinner a huge salad with a tandoori chicken breast, with a Crunch Corner, apple and banana. Jolly good!
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Saturday, July 28th, 2007, 6:30 pm
Had good fun today, first of all I got on the scales to find another pound down - that's 4.5 lbs since last Sunday! Woo-hoo! After that I went out for another run, the 4th of the week, I did 3 miles again, although I did get a bit tired on the way round- it was quite a hot day and I started to feel thirsty. A good friend of mine sent me some wrist water-bottles, so I must wear one next time I go! Saw a friend in the park as well and stopped for a chat before running off on my way again! We have had friends visiting us today, we went to Whitlingham Lake for a nice stroll, were going to take a boat out but didn't in the end - we may do that tomorrow or Monday instead (one friend is staying for the week!). It was fun anyway just watching other people going out in the boats, and we went for cake (for the boys) and coffee (for me) in the converted barn cafe there, saw one of my ex-pupils there too - it's a bit like being famous, I get recognised everywhere I go, lol! Very proud of myself for not having any cake- not sure what's got into me! In the past I would just have justified it as being a special occasion and had a slice, but I just didn't want to spoil my good work! John and his friends have gone off to the pub tonight, I was wondering what I would do with myself but the time has flown with a bit of Logic Problems magazine! It's strange, in term time I am so busy in the evenings that I long for time off, but in the holidays I don't know what to do with myself! Days I do of course, there is always loads to do, just the dead time after 8pm! Oh but I am joining a Book Group as of Monday, have always wanted to be in one and I got a call today asking me to join! Hurray! So that will be something to do! We are going down to visit my dad in Torquay and I am wondering whether to risk taking my car or not - a hire car will be £100. I think I will get my car serviced and risk taking it, I have got full breakdown repair + recovery. It probably needs a service and that will be less than the cost of a hire car! Then hopefully it will manage the journey!
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Friday, July 27th, 2007, 4:53 pm
Another month flies by! Well, at last the summer holidays are here! The last few weeks at school were pretty good, the "Green" assembly went well...there were a few Star Wars themed ones - Pollution Boy fighting with Green Man, "Supergreen" who showed the children it was fun to be green, a talking recycling bin who took people into the future to see what would happen if no-one recycled, etc, a few about food miles, it was all great fun! They came up trumps in the end, everyone really enjoyed the assembly! We got a very nice letter with lots of positive feedback from the Year 7s which meant a lot to the children. I have also now met my new class - they seem very nice! A couple of them are real whizzes at maths so it will be fun seeing how far I can stretch them! They're not only good but enthusiastic too which will hopefully enliven the class, sadly last year though they were very good there was a bit of a cult of "oh no, not maths" which dragged the ones who did like it down with them, no matter how many games I played and tried to make it exciting! But I'm hoping that their positive attitude will rub off on the rest of the class. We're setting after Christmas - I hope I get the top set really - I've always been naturally good at maths so find it easier helping the better ones see patterns, get more challenging concepts and move on, I find it more difficult explaining simple concepts in lots of different ways, whereas teachers who've struggled in maths and come through it tend to be better at helping the children who also find it difficult. We'll see what I get though! The holidays have been good fun so far, I've been having a nice time and getting some stuff done, got the washing machine fixed and got my home insurance renewed - shopped around a bit and got it at £100 less than my renewal quote, result! I went out at midnight last week to get Harry Potter which was FANTASTIC, won't give anything away though in case you haven't read it! I also saw the film on Wednesday and really enjoyed that! First film I've seen at the cinema in about 4 years! We went camping last Saturday but unfortunately it got very wet, we had a great time going on a treasure hunt while the weather was nice though - out friend had set it up and it was a brilliant treasure hunt, really inventive! One clue was there was a clearing amongst the trees with a filing cabinet and keys hung up on the trees,you had to match the keys to the doors and inside each was an object - you had to work out what letter was in every object! So there was a ghost, a frog etc and in the end the letter was G! It was so much fun! We came home about 7 though because it was raining too much, but my car broke down on the way back on the A11! We were so lucky though as we broke down just after a roundabout opposite a hotel, I went in and they let us use the phone, we had a coffee etc while we waited for the breakdown man - when he got there the car was fine, it had just got too wet and had dried out before he got there! I think I will take it to the garage for a once-over though as it still seems a bit funny. We haven't done that much else yet, mainly because the weather is a bit bad still! Can't believe it's so awful! At least my courgettes are getting a good watering! My eating has got back on an even keel now - I got given loads of chocolate at the end of term and ate so much of it I went right off it and started craving healthy foods! I'm now having cereal for breakfast, a pasta or toast based lunch and a normal tea with extra vegetables and a Crunch Corner for pudding, but having no snacks at all in between. I also managed to get my running back underway after being so busy, I did 2 miles on Monday and Tuesday and 3 miles today. Feels good to be getting healthy again, and I've already lost 3.5 lbs! Good going and I plan to keep it up, got the summer to get in shape ready to carry on my good habits at school! We get a 1 hour lunch hour from September so I may even be able to start a lunchtime running club! Well, hope to keep my blog more up to date now that I have more free time!
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Sunday, June 10th, 2007, 5:51 pm
Phew, finally think I'm getting over my cold! Going to go to bed in a minute so I can try to get up nice and early tomorrow. Not that I'm counting down or anything...but 29 days til my summer holidays! Between now and then though we have the Anglo-Saxon exhibition and my class assembly. We are getting started on the assembly tomorrow, I have decided, perhaps foolishly, to let the children write it themselves - a set of sketches all based on a "Green" theme. One group have already decided to do a talking compost bin that chucks out chocolate wrappers but eats egg shells, wonder what the others will come up with! Got a week and a half to do it, quite dreading it but hope they will come up trumps! Whatever happens, I suspect we will not be doing very much in the way of real lessons between now and then! Got to keep up with the maths but everything else is by the wayside for the next two weeks! Today was quite nice, had a bit of a lie in while Felix watched Takeshi's Castle, then got up about 10. Didn't really do much all day except go to Tesco's, where I got the rest of the weekly shop for £18. Good eh! Bad thing was I bought a pack of Desiree wafer biscuits, ostensibly for John, but ended up eating most of the packet myself. Not Good! Ah well, have learned my lesson and will be a good exerciser next week to make up for it. Feeling very happy still ever since I found out I don't have to pay back my overdraft in July, hurray! The world somehow seems a calmer and brighter place. I wish I could realise that every time I have ever obsessed and stressed about something, it works out in the end, but I keep thinking this time will be the one that doesn't! My mum always used to say, "You lose money, it comes back to you", that everything always balances out, and I think she was right! The washing machine broke but we got the overdraft sorted out. Some tutoring work got cancelled but the water bill was cut by £30. It always seems to work out! Well there's another weekend gone...I really hope the weather picks up soon, when it's dull and dreary I can never be bothered to go out and do anything! Mind you I am reading a good book, "After the Quake" by Haruki Murakami. It's very interesting...I really enjoyed Norwegian Wood as well and am finding this a good read. The only thing is Felix doesn't like it much when I read as I can't give him all the attention he wants! He has been very good though, building mazes from Lego and he had all his crafty stuff out this afternoon. While I had a 2 hour nap on the sofa! Off to see if I can get to sleep now. Hope the nap and caffeine I have had today doesn't make it hard! I always have Paul McKenna on to help me sleep, he says "You will not become unconscious" but I do anyway! Also hope subliminally all his positive messages are helping me while I sleep!
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Saturday, June 9th, 2007, 4:36 pm
Had a bit of a weird evening last night, me and Felix were in the bedroom and he put some clothes over my head and then dived on me and landed on my head and nearly broke my nose! It hurt so much, I was crying but he was laughing at first but then when he saw how upset I was he shouted "Go away!" and he ran off crying! I think it's scary for them when they see their parents upset...anyway, he was very sorry. But about 5 minutes after this happened my English Lit tutee arrived! So there I was, trying to discuss Vietnam protest poetry, with streaming eyes and a paper towel full of ice cubes clamped to my swollen nose! Well, luckily she was hungover too anyway so after half an hour we called it a night! Today was much better, had a quiet morning, no running as I have a cold that has gone to my chest a bit, then we went to our friends' barbecue to celebrate their new trampoline! I had a burger and some salad and 2 bits of pudding but didn't go overboard, also I had a go on their trampoline and went really high, it was surprisingly tiring! Maybe we should get one so I can exercise on it! Or else I'll just have to go round their house a lot! John has gone to the pub and Felix is asleep so I am home alone. Disappointed to see there is no BB today, I have been enjoying it! Will have to put on a Curb Your Enthusiasm DVD. I'm going to do some weights, and also I have to mark 4 more writing papers. We are having a moderating day on Tuesday so I have to have 6 marked papers so we can check we are all marking them the same way. I got 2 done last night and so 4 to go. It's quite difficult, the criteria for marking are in different bands, and someone could have lots of elements from a high band but are let down by full stops or something so you have to think carefully about where to put them. I'm glad we're moderating it actually as I will be sure all my kids are getting the same marking as all the other classes, never good to have one class higher or lower than another. As I am fond of saying, though "You don't get a pig fatter by weighing it!". I'm all in favour of setting targets to help children move on, and looking at what they do well and where they need to go next, but all this slapping levels and numbers on them, I am not so sure. But sadly the government is!!
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