Categories
Random thoughts Technology

Silver linings

Regular readers of my blog might remember that I have mentioned my Hubby’s love of fishing. Well, several years ago now, we both decided that it would be better for him to keep his bait in a freezer that lives outside. So we moved the chest freezer that we owned, out to his shed, and bought ourselves a small freezer for us to use in the kitchen.
This system was working very well for us… but, as we all know, all good things must come to an end. Hubby’s bait freezer finally died last Friday. Fair enough too, it was about 16 years old!
He discovered its demise early Saturday morning, as he thought about heading off, offshore fishing. The reek in his shed was so bad, even the dogs started blinking! So he quickly commandeered the small kitchen freezer for his shed, and we headed out as a family to buy a large chest freezer for the house. We figured, as a growing family, we could probably use more freezer space anyway!
So now, $500 later, we have a brand-new freezer sitting in my kitchen. But that’s not the silver lining…
You see, for the last few months I have been unable to charge my phone while driving. Or my iPod. Or my iPad. Or even Miss 8’s iPod! Reason being, the USB-to-iDevice charger that I had bought with my iPhone, had finally died after all the stretching that my children had made it to do, from the cigarette port in the dashboard (the one port in my Toyota Aurion) right through to the back seat, when the iDevice in question had run out of battery and the cherub in question still wanted to keep on playing. And I just didn’t want to buy a new one, seeing as that first one had cost $20, and there was no reason to believe that the same fate wouldn’t befall any further purchase of a similar charger that I made.
Plus, one of my best friends had bought me a similar two-plug USB charger for my car cigarette port, some months ago. She’d also bought me 5 USB-to-USB cords, multi-coloured and retractable. But again, with my cherubs involvement, they had all gone ‘missing’ soon after their arrival at our place. What is it with kids and retractable things?? Anyway, yet another reason why I didn’t want to outlay money on another iDevice charger for my car – I knew we had this double plug charger, and that it would turn up eventually…
Lucky, we could’t fit our new chest freezer into the back of my Toyota Aurion. Lucky, we had to take Hubby’s Pajero and the trailer to get the freezer home. And what should be hiding in the centre console of Hubby’s Pajero, but my cigarette port double-USB charger!

So now I can charge my phone while I’m driving again! Very very very stoked. 🙂

Categories
Random thoughts Work

Website Fun

Do you want to know something funny? I’m blogging this onto my iPhone, using Siri. I absolutely love this voice to text function! But as I was trying to dictate the title of this blog post, it absolutely refused to recognise the word ‘Fun’! Maybe, for some reason, the two words websites and fun should never be together?!
Never mind. I’m actually pretty excited about today. Because today, I’m going to be playing with websites!
The very clever Paul, ICT guru from down at LEQ headquarters in Milton, is coming up to St Pauls today, just to visit me! And we’ll be playing around with the creation of the new St Pauls website. Very exciting stuff!!
So… what’s on your agenda for today? Whatever it is, have a great one, dear readers! 🙂

Categories
Random thoughts Technology Work

Just a few minutes…

Good morning, everyone! I just wanted to share this with you today – it’s something that we watched here at school just now.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Z-afKPmxs]

 

 

Have an awesome day today, people!!! 🙂

Categories
Random thoughts teaching Work

Staff meetings

So I’ve now done two full days (today and last Friday) of staff meetings / professional development.

I’d forgotten what they were like.

Now… I’m not particularly looking forward to another 8.15 – 3.30 day of meetings tomorrow. Followed by trying to fit in marketing work afterwards.

Sigh…

Categories
Uncategorized

Ahhhh…

Birthday week is over for another year. It was great, but I’m exhausted. Night night, all!

Categories
Life Random thoughts teaching

Back into it…

I have my own classroom again. It’s strange how that sense of ownership, of responsibility for a space, has driven home the reality of this new job. It shouldn’t be strange; it’s completely natural, completely understandable, yet it has taken me by surprise. I find that rather amusing!
So today has been book covering day. Book covering & day dreaming. I’m thinking about registering for the Sunshine Coast Tough Mudder challenge. More on that another day though…
Have a great rest-of-the-day, dear readers!

Categories
momentous events teaching Work

Orientation

Today’s the day! My first ‘official’ day as a staff member. It feels strange; I haven’t been one of these – teacher with a permanent position – since 2007. Not too sure how I feel about it… Mixed emotions, that’s for sure!
I’m stoked that I know so much about the school already, as a parent, as a relief teacher, and as the person who’s been contracted to oversee their marketing for almost two years. I’m ecstatic that I’ll be teaching my daughters – and more than a little amused that they’ll finally see me in a role I’m more familiar with than parenting, having had three times as much experience in it!
But I’m sad too. Sad that Mr 3 will be in Kindy, three full days a week. Sad that I was hoping to devote my Miss-5-free time to Bloxham Marketing, and now I can’t. Sad that my life is looking to be just that extra bit MORE full-on and intense this year than I was expecting. Sad that this’ll mean that my Masters studies will inevitably be more prolonged than even I had bargained for.
But, happy that Hubby’s happy. Happy that the extra money coming in will start reducing our debt levels – and maybe even, one day, reducing the mortgage as well! Happy that I have such security, when I know that there are thousands out there who don’t have that. Happy that I’ll be in a role which is a second skin to me; something I’m familiar with and know that I can do well.
And finally, a little anxious. Concerned that I’ll be able to cope (nodule-on-my-right-vocal-cord-wise) because Primary School Music teaching is probably the most intense job on your voice that I can think of… but other than that, I think that’s it. That’s enough!
So today is Orientation day for new staff; everyone else will start Monday. Wish me luck! Here goes!!! 😀
Oh… and an update to yesterday’s “schoolbooks” story?
I quizzed Hubby (yet again!) when he walked in, late last night after interviewing for new staff all day, and he said, “yes. They’re at the school. I meant to bring them home today but forgot.”
YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!
Thanks ever so much for your kind thoughts & your prayers, dear readers… You guys ROCK!!!

Categories
Life Random thoughts

… and schoolbooks

I don’t know about you, but I feel as though I can’t really ‘commit’ to this year ahead. Yes, I know that it’s 2013. Yes, I know that the days will march inexorably forward, like they always do, regardless of my opinion on them, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about this. But I’m not talking about this: I’m trying (badly, I think!) to explain my attitude toward the year… the work/ academic year, at least.
You see, I’m the mistress of ‘get prepared’. Major control freak. I like to know what’s coming so that I can get myself sorted, ready, into the right ‘headspace’ so to speak. Tackle the situation or problem head on, and then move on to other things. Knowing what I need to know, having all the answers to the questions I have about a particular situation, helps me feel ‘ahead of the game’; and also eases my anxiety, and frees up my brain-space for the next ‘challenge’ that I know is coming.
Hence my realisation that I’m feeling more than unusually anxious about this coming school year; and it’s all because of schoolbooks.
You see, late last year Hubby & I ordered the girls’ schoolbooks through the school, in their annual Book pack program. As we did the previous year when Miss almost-8 was in Year 2, and the year before that, for Year 1, and the year before that, for Prep. Last year, for the very first time, I also used those plastic slip-on covers for the A4 and A5 exercise books, and it seriously cut down the covering time by about a million hours! (Yes, some exaggeration was used in the making of that sentence.) So with two girls’ books to cover in 2013, this year I’ve gone & ordered a *heap* of plastic slip-on covers. As in, lots and lots and lots and lots! (I figure whatever doesn’t get used in 2013 will be used in subsequent years, anyway!)
So I have these book covers. But I am still waiting (less and less patiently as the days go by, I might add!) for the Book packs to arrive, so that the whole process of sorting, naming and covering can begin. And, as each day passes with no Book packs arriving, I can feel work looming closer. Heck – I start (officially) tomorrow! (And yes, I’ve been in twice already, to start setting up my room, rearrange furniture, see what resources and work program’s I have, hassle the PA for my own key etc etc etc… as I said, major control freak here!)
So I *need* these Book packs to arrive, so that I can get them all squared away, and out of my headspace, so that I can concentrate on the next thing. Never thought I’d see the day when I was actually *looking forward* to the Book packs arriving, but there you go! It happened!
So. Here’s hoping that they arrive today! I’ll let you know, dear readers!

Categories
family anecdotes

Special books

It being birthday week this week, it’s also Special Book week. It’s the week that I remember to write to my daughters in their Special Books.
The ‘Special Books’ idea was one I came across when I was pregnant with Miss almost-8. I was talking with a colleague at work, and she had mentioned that one of her friends had done it. Bought a Special Book, a blank journal, and had used it to write a love letter to her child. From even before birth, then after, special occasions, birthdays, Christmases, and other milestones, were all recorded in the Special Book, along with the mother’s feelings of pride at that moment. Every special occasion up until the child’s 15th birthday, when the Special Book was presented to the child.
I loved the idea, so I’ve done it too. I have three Special Books, one for each child. And this week, in spite of the busy-ness of life, I wrote to Miss 5 last night, and am determined to write to Miss almost-8 when she turns 8 on Sunday!

20130116-085313.jpg
Three special love letter journals for three extra-special cherubs! (Edit: sorry about the upside-down photo; I’ve only just noticed! My iPhone does that sometimes. Not entirely sure why. Feel free to enlighten me, if you know!)

Categories
Life momentous events

Miss 5

Miss 4 became Miss 5 today. She’s very very very excited about it, but also a little confused that her party isn’t happening today. And the concept of “everyone’s on holidays so we’ll wait until school goes back” *is* a little tricky to understand for someone who only starts school (and therefore has holidays) this year. Her big concern, when she woke up this morning, was that today would just be a ‘normally day’ (her words) like her Daddy’s birthday was yesterday (it was his first day back at work) and so she was trying to insist that today was NOT her birthday, but that her birthday would be the day that she had her party. Cute, huh?

Nevertheless, today is definitely her birthday, the day that, back in 2008, exhausted and in pain, I held her in my arms for the very first time. She looked like her big sister had, blue eyes and dark brown hair (which would later lighten to blonde) and she was SUCH a good baby, right from the get-go. She had an umbilical hernia, and a huge strawberry birthmark on one knee, and when the midwife saw her at her ten-day mark, she discovered that she was also slightly tongue-tied. (No wonder feeding her had been rather painful; she couldn’t latch properly!)

Still an’ all, those were wonderful days, and now they’re precious memories. Like today will be, I’m sure. She’s my middle child, my blondie with blue eyes, my cruisy kid, my clumsy yet giggle-a-minute, talk-under-water-with-a-mouthful-of-marbles kid. I love her to bits and am SOOOOOOO blessed to have her in my life.

Happy birthday, Miss 5!!!