Line learning!

I am 1 1/2 hours away from my audition for BLOG (Bath Light Operatic Group).

I am currently trying to remember my monologue and not screw up one line in the song "I cain't say no" which evades me everytime.

Just realised I have eaten a triangle of toblerone which isn't going to help my case at all!

I've not had a lot of time to prepare really - owing to the show and various other things, still, I'll go in there and do my best, which at the moment consists of standing and talking, and try and make all those people who told me to keep singing (and to whom I apologise profusely) proud.

I also have an interview next week for the application I have been agonising over in the posts below. It's one of those jobs where getting an interview is pretty good. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I'm going to go with my gut instinct and a lot of prayer and see how it goes!

School show is going fabulously, going to have to rethink the tech team structure for shows I think - too many of them! See if we can't sort out some sort of rota system......

Never has a button beenso hard to press

So, I just pressed send.

Although I did pray a lot before hand and have handed the whole thing over to God, it's up to him what happens now!

I just have to remember to go and tell the Boss man about a change I made and I should have covered everything.

Why it has taken me 'ti; 3am this morning (especially considering I was up til 2am yesterday for the same reason) to fill this thing out I'm not sure. It certainly feels very weird, a little sickening and slightly wrong. But I guess I had to stick my head out sometime.

Now we just wait and see........

Major Butterflies.

Well, yesterday afternoon I made a decision that has led to so far 1, and this morning another, difficult conversation.

I'm trying to work out if how I feel would be the same if this decision had been made a couple of years down the line and, going on the dreams I was having last night, I have decided that it would be jus as yucky then as it is now.

I can't say too much as the occasional member of the school drops by, but this could mean big doings in the next 6 months. I'm not sure if it is the right time for 'B(ig) D(oings)' but God does so I'm leaving it up to him.

Lesson planning and all that jazz

Huzzah,

I have just finished my first ever lesson plan. At least, think I have.

I've never really been shown how to do one so I've produced a chart with the 6 lessons on it and filled in what to do in the lesson (including timings) and the another column for homework. Then I've put or columns on the end for the dates that each form will reach each lesson - go me!

I've produced a OneNote Notebook (my new favourite toy!)with all the info I need for each commedia character ad now I've got a couple of handouts to produce along with updating the mark scheme and I'm done. I want to finish this becuse then I will actually have achieved what I set out to do today and will have one less thing to stress about - yey! Only a load of Health & Safety paperwork to produce and I'm away!?!

I've also been listening to the Soundtrack of Cabaret as tomorrow I'm going to one the singing teachers houses to find an audition song for in a fortnights time. Yup, I'm joining a Drama/Muscial society down here.....scary!!

Also got a bit further with the Australia planning (rang STA to find out about the best time to book flights and was also given some ideas about a couple of other things to see!) and the wood for the benches was delivered to school - woop woop :)

Cooking and planning

It's half term at the mo. Hence I am sat in bed (having just realised the clocks have gone back so not feeling so guilty as I did!) at 1:30pm on a Sunday, deciding what to do and making plans.

First, I plan to work my way through the various cookbooks I own - what's the point in them being there if you don't utilise them? So I started last night with Hugarian Chicken with Red Peppers, very nice :)

Plans are a big thing at the moment. I've now been in the same place for over 2 years (ahhhhh!!!) which is starting to freak me out a little. However, God doesn't seem to be telling me that it's time to move on yet so I'm trying to be grown-up and make some plans for the future.

It is tricky to be grown-up when you work with teenagers and then come home to a flat of teenagers. In fact, Thursday (Oct 22nd) was the first time since......errr....the Easter Holidays (!?!) that I've spent more than 3 days without the lovely beings :) Still this issue is being addressed (I have assurances, despite setbacks!) so hopefully by, ooo I dunno, the summer, I may have somewhere to live without them.

The money situation is still interesting. I know this may not seem the case as I'm planning to go to Australia next summer (more on that later) but this will involve much sacrificing and scrimping, but I want something to aim towards so that is definitely big enough! I also found out that at another girl's school, not a million miles away from here, the same job pays a wage of £12,000 MORE than me, that's roughly a 40% pay difference...hmmm...... However, I don't think it includes accomodation - except I could actually afford to rent on that. Quite frustrating really.

So yeah, Australia. I have quite a few friends over there and I've not seen one of the in about 8 years so I figured it's about time I went over and explored the place. 4 weeks at the beginning of the summer holidays (back in time for Lee Abbey) should be enough to get a good taste and say hi to folks. I know of a few things I definitely want to do. Now I'm trying to work out the best way to travel between them all. Train seems to be the best way so far. Cheaper than flying and I get to see the landscape whilst passing through - fabulous! I'm makig an attempt to use OneNote to organise everything. The kids at school use it a lot so I though I'd give it a shot. Is proving very handy actually!

Qatar airways seems to be the way to fly (at least the cheapest) I would love to stop over in Fiji or somewhere, but as I'm not sure how that works timewise that may be saved for another occasion!

Well, off to do some more research!

J&J Wedding

Jo's Wedding

I am seriously slack at keeping this going!

I've been thinking a lot over the last few weeks, which also involved a couple pf weeks of feeling pretty low and blue, and realised that one of the things I no longer did regularly anynore was to blog. So I now take the Brownie Guide oath to come back to this and to stop being distracted by the likes of Twitter and facebook until after I have blogged.....at least until the next big social networking craze comes along...there, perfect.

Jo and John's wedding was truly one of the most beautiful days of my life :) It was chilled out and yet just as fairy tale like as it should have been. Everyone looked amazing and my mouth hurt by the end of the day due to smiling so much! It was fun being up there for the days beforehand and making the table centres, meeting John's family, running errands etc. The only bad thing that all that meant was that I came crashing down (emotionally speaking) in the 4 days afterwards which didn't bode well for work! The school nurse was lovely and made me tea and let me hide in a bed for 1/2 hour though which was wonderful :)

Actually the Monday wasn't too bad as, just as I reached the M4, Vicky rang to say I'd left my keys there and decided to come down and bring them to me. So we had an evening of Chinese and 'Keeping Mum' and she got to drive a TINY car down here and back!

So, here are some piccies from the event:

Home and recovering!

I'm back! and in one piece (including some strange stomach thing and jet lag!) I counted yesterday as a non-day to get myself back together and here I am :)

Peru was absolutely amazing. The girl's worked so well and, I believe, had one of the most worthwhile experiences of their whole lives.

The first week we spent a day in Lima, also we had to wait for 10 - count them! - bags that IBERIA failed to get on the plane - FROM HEATHROW!!!!! (we had a connection in Madrid) the day before.


and then a few day acclimatising (which wasn't long enough for some - including me!) at a lodge outside Huaraz that belongs to a guy called Alex - for truly chilling out in stunning surrounding you can't beat this place:



Then we headed off on the Santa Cruz Trek - except we did it backwards to avoid folowing another couple of wilderness groups - amongst others! It took us about 4 days and was one of the most awesome, and testing, things I have ever experiences. The views were stunning, the headaches were mean but ultimately it was definitely worth it.

Then for some recovery (and our tree planting!) we went to the Llanganuco Lodge, which is run by Alex's brother Charlie. There is a lake up there with a folk story attatched to it and the views over the valley are breathtaking.

The tree planting day was hot and sunny - until the afternoon when the wind decided to have a little fun!

The next 5 days were spent on project. A previous group had laid the foundation and underfloor pipework for the toilet block. It was our job to finish the plumbing and cement it in, purchase and install the sinks and toilets, dig a pit for the 1,000 gallon septic tank and for the pipes leading away from the toilets and also to dismantle on of the end buildings so the bricks could be used to for the new block......piece of cake!

On our last evening there the family of the cook at the lodge came over and prepared a feast for us. It consisted of Cuy (Guniea Pig), Chicken and Potatoes all cooked in a chilli sauce - absolutely gorgeous. First proper meat we'd had in over a week and a half! They bought the Cuy live and killed them there so we could watch the process. I was actually fascinated until one of them started squeaking when they took it out of the bag, then I found sudden interest in the piece of rock I had been trying to remove with the pick-axe and left them to it!

After project we started our Cultural/R&R phase.

First we headed to Chiclayo where our hostel had a lovely guy yelling "Mas, mas, mas" outside the window every 3 mins or so for (and no, I do not exargerate) 18 hours a day! We never worked out why he was yelling that but it added to the local colour!?!

We visited the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán (Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan), which contained all the artefacts found at the burial outside Laymbayeque. It also has a reconstruction of the burial site an loads of info on the Sipan - really well presented, layed out and lit (!) displays and my Spanish improved no end as there was no English translation!

We also spent a couple of afternoon's pottering around the famous market in Chiclayo. The plays was a riot of smells, colour and people wanting to sell you everythig from machetes to pet birds! Did my first bit of bartering on a present for one of the John's (quite chuffed as I really don't like doing it) and enjoyed the coffe/cocoa stalls as well as the interesting objects , herbs and othe things in 'shaman alley'.


Next we headed over to Chachapoyas - a much smaller town but with lots to visit - including the brilliant Kuelap Ruins. This place rivals Macchu Picchu in it's size, volume of stone and preservation. But the pleasure of this one is that not many people go there and most of it is still fairly overgrown with jungle - so you get to feel like an explorer (all those Famous Five books when I was younger!). There are around 140 round building, mostly houses, plus about 4 square buildings. Some have been cleared and one of them has been reconstructed so you can see what it would have looked like. The views, again!, are stunning - the Chachapoyans must have been able to observe for mile from up there

There was also a friendly (if elusive) pack of Llama/Alpaca up there :)


The following day we did the Gocta Waterfall hike. This had been meant to be an overnight thing but we discovered that it could be easily done in one day and would give us an extra day elsewhere! It was great fun hiking through the jungle, saw loads of butterflies, plants and even a Cock o' the Rock (bird with bright orange head and body and black wings) - very exciting! The waterfall was immense - the tallest double waterfall in the world. It was the dry season when we visited but it was still pretty cool.


We then set of to get to Tarrapoto. Although this involved a rather lengthy wait in Pedro Ruiz (a village in the back of beyond!) waiting for bus that never showed up! We had fab fun with some local kids and eventually the bus guy said for an extra 30s/. he could get us a collectivo/combi to go to Tarrapoto. 5 1/2 hours in a very small minibus - good times!

Tarrapoto was much more humid than the other places we had been and just as hot. We had 3 days of water filled fun! On the first afternoon we visited the Ahuashiyacu waterfall and got to swim a little and soak in the atmosphere of being in waterfool pool in the jungle! We also had fun getting there and back as we decided to take the motor-taxi's that seem to be everywhere there. They are basically motobikes with a carriage for 3 attatched (although they also have ones with pick-up style backs on!). Sooo much fun!
The next day we went white water rafting on one of the tributaries of the Amamzon. So good - until a particularly strong current took me (and the dry bag containing my camera) under the raft for 20s before I struggled out and then promptly had to resue 2 oars and one of the girl's shoes. After that I considered my camera out of action until I could get home and dry it out properly. It was a fabulous afternoon though!

For our final day in Tarapoto we headed to Moyobamba and the Thermal Baths which are kept at a steady 42'c - just hot enough so that you get too hot and bored at the same time! Had a good meal in the evening although a coupld of the girsl started to get sick - the others went out for some Karoke fun (apparently not that fun!) whilst I headed back to the hostel with the sickies for an early night. We were staying in the Hostel "July". July is the nam of the owner and in the lonely planet she is described as an 'Imelda Marcos type' - which is her to a tea. Gregarious and very protective of us she was one the best characters we met out there and fought everyone to see that we got the best deal for everything!

Headed back to Lima the next day (a 12-hour delay for me & Alice who stayed in Tarapoto so she could get some hospital treatment for dehydration) and retuned to the hostel we started in. Found a fab craft market and got to do some more bartering for gifts etc. Also not feeling brilliant but well enough to pootle on.

Next day was our last and consisted of trips to the market and supermarket for lasy minute puchases (the supermarket did a roaring trade in Pisco and Inca Kola that day!) and then on to the airport for out flight.

Reached the UK to find that only 2 of our bags were missing - some kind of miracle! - and they would be delivered to the homes anyway. After a mix-up with coach we were home by 10:15 where some exctied parents met some tired young women and Pan the cat was there to see me.

Crawled into bed feeling fairly ill and shivery at 2am - spent Sunday trying to convince myself that I wasn't going mad and snoozing on and off between waking up with hallucinations and trying to do laundry etc.

Jet lag is fimrly here but I woke up at 10:30am this morning - If I can hold on 'til tonight and not go to sleep I may get it licked before I'm due at camp on Saturday!

...Now....where did I put my Malaria tablets.........

I'm off..

SO, a quick dashed off post before I wander out of the door with my rucksack.

All the girls are here and in one piece - currently going through their rucksacks, making sure they haven't any extraneous items....phones for example!

I'm quite nervous about thus trip - more so than any other time I've been away, but then, I've never had resposibility for 11 teenagers before! Still theyr're all highly excited and it seems to be catching.

I'm looking forward to a truly amazing experience, some wonderful sights of God's earth and getting to know a new country and it's people :)

So au revoir and take care, :)

4 days to go!!!!

Very exciting!!!

Finally have ALL my kit (including camera type things...mmmm shiny!) so can now attempt to fit it all in my rucksack.

However first I have lots of sewingy bits to do for Pride & Prejudice to do tomorrow. The girls have produced some amazing work in both the costume and tech departments. Have some very reluctant Y10's (although 2 or 3 of them I'd keep) and some lovely younger newbies who are fab. Anyone need regency dresses? I've made 8 in the last week. We have also ventured into the world of front fall breeches and regency period army jackets - which are pretty swish if you ask me.

Also need to bake brownies and make a key lime pie/cheesecake for the BBQ soiree at Sheila's tomorrow. Much as I enjoy my tech's it will be nice to talk to some adult's for a bit :)

The packing begins

I am busily trying to sort all my kit out on the dining room table (that is, it was our dining table in Ann Road - now it sits in my living room looking forlorn and over-dressed) and I may need to open the other 'leaf'. SLightly worrying as I'm not sure how it's all going to fit in with only 1 'leaf' and the middle bit.

I also had a fabulous epiphany moment and have realised (I REALLY hope) where my fleece is. Safely locked in the sports hall PA cupboard, I mean, where else would it be?

anyhoo, enough with the procrastinations. The GAPS have gone out and I have the flat to myself.

.."Oh joy, oh rapture unforseen, for now the sky is all serene....."

1 more to go

Hurrah! It's done. Junior School production went very well last night, even managed to redo the video credits thing so it was clearer (although I could read the previous version without my astigmatism being fixed, but, there you go!). It was all a bit teary when they firls were saying thank you and goodbye to Ade which made it all the sweeter :) Ade is the head of music down there and is one of the first people I had a 'proper' conversation with when I started at the school. She is one of the most warm, patient and open people you could ever hope to meet and she will be missed greatly. Hmmm that sounded like an Obit - but no fear she is off to carry on her singing so is definitely alive and kicking!

Just got the de-rig to do today and then it's throwing myself into P&P and preparing for Peru, try saying that after a few!

2 weeks to go

2 weeks today I shall be packing to go to Peru - how very exciting (and, if I'm honest, a little scary!) I have lost my fleece in the last week which is not very helpful (and probably involves having tobuy a new one :() and asking people if they have seen your fleece when the weather is like it is at the moment does produce some choice responses!

Finally finished lighting the Junior school production this afternoon. I say finally. We had actually finished on Tuesday - before the technicl rehearsal. ANd you'd have thought that the day after the dress and the afternoon before the first performance was not the best time to change L.E.D's. However, there you go! The battens do look brighter and better then the, frankly naff, Par's we had inside the giant turban but the macro effects that come with them are nowhere near as good [/rant]

Trying to get my head around the show up here which is on on the last full day of term. We're doing Pride & Prejudice (partly my suggestion!) although finding a decent script has been a nightmare. Found a decent strating point and then had to cut it down whilst stil holding parts for 28 people! The show is on in 2 weeks - tomorrow we start production, all good fun!

Both of my sisters are getting married this year! (see below post) both to guys called John, who drive Audi's, their Dad's names begin with A, they both trained as Engineer's, they both have large famlies and they both come from up North......... Now what do I do if I meet someone called John? Produce a questionnare or run in the oposite direction.....very tricky....

SO this will be my 3rd and 4th times as bridesmaid. Although hopefully the dresses will be more comfortable to sit down in this time!

The dreaded SF has hit school. Various folks in and out today but nobody seems particularly peturbed by it. I just hope if any the Peru Crew get it it'll be long gone before we head off!

Sims3 is proving good, once you get into it. However I'll still be playing my Sims 2 as you can't really play all the characters and half the time you don't know who they are - and then they die! (Although you can control whether they age and whether the story progresses). SPeaking of which I have an hour of chill time before I head off down the road again......

Excited x 2

Don't think I'm allowed to explain the above comment yet. But when I can I will! Excited x 2 has also left me pondering, wondering and assessing. Have decided a need a life......just not quite sure where to find one.....the nearest Audi show room may provide some clues...but that's all I'm saying.

Still trying to get into Sims3. Read a whole load of bad reviews. Although, like the good ones say, it is really an entirely different game to Sims2. More about the individual/1 family than about the whole neighbourhood.

Peru here I come...30 something days and counting!

Have been feeling pretty ill all weekend but this evening our itinerary came through for Peru......cannot tell you how excited this made me - put Sims3 right out of the window!! We are apparently now doing our trek first and the project second. However, they have managed to find us somewhere to do some tree planting, at a lodge and everything!!! So excited to talk to the team about it.

Also, Tabi may possibly have decided (with a little suggestion from me!) that the play in activities week will be Pride and Prejudice - how cool is that. I mean, it'll be no blockbuster production, but it should be pretty cool!

Have been feeling rather stressed out today about nothing in particular. Must try and keep my mind on the big picture and stop sweating the small stuff. Not helping the illness thing!

My first Sim Upload....proud moment!

view more at TheSims3.com

From a very excited Bunny........

*beam*

I hath a mum mowf

Have been to the dentist to have a fracture in my tooth filled. Howvere she needed to give me 2 shots of local anaesthetic and so now, just over 2 hours later I cannot feel my outh of speak properly. However hopefully I will not need dental assistance in Peru - so all in all it balances. WHta as good was that whilst sat having this done Radio 2 was on and the factoid about 50% of the population not wanting to visit the dentist caused great discussion amogst the team - good times!

Dress Rehearsals of James' play tonight - should be good fun! I've 'sort of' finished the set, and they 'sort-of' know their lines. good fun all round really.

Had my yellow fever injection last week with suprisingly little/no side effects. Weird, as I was prepared for the worst!

I was reliably informed that we have 46 days before we head off. Getting scarily real now all of this......

Ooo, Ooo and my sister Jo and her boyfried got engaged.....hurrah!!! Now....I need a dress....and a man.....

Bex Key's Charity Haircut

Here is the video of my haircut! Enjoy :)

The Cut

Sorry for the lateness of this - been trying to sort lots of stuff out and get You Tube to co-operate!


As you can see from the video above there were loads of people watching - made for a great event, if a little scary! The 2 6th form manning the bucket managed to get over £200 out of the watching crowd which was fantastic! I've raised around £400 online and about another £200 from friends & family. Altogether a very humbling and exhilirating experience!

Nerve Week

Wow, getting close to hair chop time - 18 hours to be precise!

I was starting to get nervous about it but after last night and this morning I don't think I could get nervous again this week without having some sort of melt down :S

Last night was Gig Night II, a great evening of all sorts of bands and combinations of muscicians that is very chilled and very enjoyable evening. I played and sang 'Oever the Rainbow' the Eva Cassidy version. It's something I have done on the ship before (well, once) but noone at school has really heard me sing or play the guitar. In the song before I actually started to feel almost sick, and then whilst I was playing I couldn't stop my legs from shaking and even my hands were shaking as I was playing the guitar! My voice must have sounded OK though because I got a lot of really nice and encouraging comments from everyone, including the Y9's (an acheivement believe me!). It sort of encouraged me to do more - but only if I stop getting that nervous.

I contrast, assembly this morning was a breeze, probably spoke too quickly but the girls all listened and focussed whilst I was talking and lots of them have said they are coming to watch the great hair cutting.

I am feeling nervous about it. The only thing that I can see in my head is the geeky 14-year-old I was the last time I got it cut. And even though I now wear contacts, my face has changed a lot and I take much better care of my hair; I'm just worried that I'll end up looking exactly like that again!

But now I guess I get to be a geeky 28-year-old who is being supported by her friends, family, colleagues (inc one coming in on her day off!) and students in drastically changing her appearance for 2 very good causes. And if I think about that, I don't get nervous at all :)

5 days to go!

Well the day draws nearer and I'm beginning to feel nervous!

However before that I have to give an assembly tomorrow morning (about 81/2 on the scary scale) and then sing and play on Wednesday night (9 on the scale) so by the time I am sat down in front of half the school (and some press!?!) on Friday lunchtime I should be used to a queasy feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

Just come back from a fab weekend planning for Lee Abbey this summer. I can only do the second week but I really feel it will be worth going, and a week should be long enough to recover fom Peru! It was nice to be in a Christian environment for a bit and to focus on God instead of all the other craziness going on at the mo. Felt like a real break, and even though Im shattere, I do feel rested.

Sponsorhip is up to £165 which I'm very chuffed with. Not sure I'll reach my target but going to give it a right good go :)

My hair is going to a better cause

I have decided to have all my hair cut off - well, leaving 1 or 2 inches so I won't end up with a sun burned scalp in Peru!

A rash act you may think (certainly a few people round here do!), however please pause in your calling of men with butterfly nets to hear my case.

I recently found out that a friend of the family, Bessie Smith, has Motor Neurone Disease. If you wnat to find out what this merciless disease consists of then please take a look at this link. It basically robs you of your independence, your mobility and sometimes you memory and mind. All in a short space of time. There is no known cure and sufferer's can end up completely unable to move, talk, eat and even breathe independently - however they can still have complete mental awareness, it's to terrifying to contemplate.

Bessie was diagnosed last year. We used to spend many holidays with her and the family - I remember them getting married, the boys being born and vrious summer holidays. It was alsway so wonderful to get to spend time with her - she meant a lot to me and I'll never forget what a wonderful motherly person she was. She has gone from being a bright, sharp, caring woman who was a nurse to someone who only wants to sit around all day watching cartoons and behaving like a 4-year-old. MND has affected her by altering her personality - a rare result of the disease, she has dementia, and, it has also weakened the muscles in her mouth and throat so that she cannot speak or eat. She has had to have a feeding tube fitted.

This has been hard on her and her husband, Phil, who went to college with my Dad, and her 2 boys who are 15 and 19. She spends 2 days a week at the Earl Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of White, where they live, as respite for her and the family. The hospice only receives 1/3 of it's funding from the NHS and has to raise the rest. They need to raise £2million every year to keep going. Due to the recession they have already had to let staff go - including the nurse who was looking after Bessie.

Phil is doing a tour of the UK on his motorbike to raise £5000 for the hospice, and I felt I would like to do something to help. I was thinking of having my hair severely trimmed before the summer, but then I found out about Bessie and it started me thinking. I had heard of the Charity "Little Princess Trust" from a friend of mine and knew that they used hair to make wigs for kids with cancer. I checked out online and they need 10-12 ". I definitley have that much so it made up my mind. I can't have it shaved due to Peru but I will go as near as I can!

If you feel you would like to sponsor me/donate money to the hospice then please go to my justgiving page. I am getting more nervous by the day about having this done, the last time my hair was that short everyone thought I was a boy! I just have to think of Bessie though and my determination returns :)

In of preperation Easter Celebration

Ah, my first taste of chocolate for 6 weeks......mmmmm

And this afternoon - the alcohol, bring on the Pinotage........

Enjoying my 3 week holiday, have a shiny new laptop to play on (Sims2 works like an absolute dream!) so it means i can also crack on with the video editing (which pretty much turned into a farce using my school computer). I have finished my marking, which was actually good fun what with some of the reasoning behind their design choices, and next week I'm going to plan so hopefully the crazy first 4 weeks of next term wil go fairly smoothly.

Spent some time in Cov, visiting folks. Had a great time with Corey when he came to visit. Actually got to be a tourist in Bath which was great fun - the Roman baths are brilliant, well worth the visit and so much bigger than you think from the outside.

Still waiting to here aout the Peru situation - and we have our training weekend in 3 weeks, slightly worrying. Never mind I'm sure it'll all be fine :S

so...about that marking

Have just spent a lovely 4 days chillaxing in Coventry.
Vicky is back from Ireland for good, hand in plaster and now mooching - what will happen next?

The show went really well on Saturday - think it was the best I had ever sung it. Pam agreed which was reassuring and then had a text off the choral mistress (Anna) at school and she congratulated us and said I had a great voice..... I was all warm and fuzzy :) Stayed until about midnight to help clear up and then had to go home pack, tidy up etc so got to bed about 1am..or make that 2am with the hour forward an' all. Then up at 6 to drive myself and Matt up to Cov for Jo's Birthday BBQ. Fabulous weather and a great day. I am proud indeed that I managed to keep the coals at a good cooking temperature form 12 midday until around 9pm.

There was fun on the actual birthday morning as one of the housemates and her fiance bought Jo the same present as Me and John (Jo's bf) but we decided not to let Jo open the other one and get her something else. I was mightily impressed with John's ability not to crack under the laser like questioning form Jo as to the exact make and model of the afore mentioned present!

Had a brain wave later in the morning, rushed into town, avoided the shoplifter, closely followed by the securtiy guard and trailed by the shopper , and bought her Mario Kart for the Wii plus an extra wheel. It seemed to go down well.

Have spent the last couple of days wacthing some Gilmore Girls and visiting some folks. Got to meet Jessica (new addition to the Parker brood, and one of the most chilled babies I have ever seen!) and saw Wythall Theatre company rehearsing their next production 'Steel Magnolia's'. It was good to see the folks again and also Sarah and Kate (both friends from Church) are in it and I was blown away by their acting (especially Sarah!) I cannot wait to see the final product :))))

So now I am about to head home and actually get some work done....no. seriously....I will.

The sky at night

Just wandering home from the Y13's assessment evening and paused to look up at the starry sky..... only a short pause due to the biting wind but lovely and worth while one!

One of the things I miss most about being on the ships is the space. Ironic, you might think, as I shared a small cabin, lived and woked with the same 25 people for 8 months and sometimes couldn't find a place to be alone. But some of my favourite moments were when I had finished DJing or been up late working and I used to go up onto the top deck and just look out across a dark sea into nothing, and then look up at a perfectly clear and uniterrupted (except for the horizon) sky and see the stars. The more I looked the more I saw and the more it made me marvel at the amazing creation of the Universe. However you believe it got there/ we got here it is still a beautiful, awesome thing to admire and wonder about.

Tonight, I stood in the middle of the hockey pitch. There was no extreaneous light, no throbbing engines, and no background music (bane of my flippin' life!). Just an owl hooting, the sound of the wind, and the very quiet murmur of the traffic on the A4. Gorgeous :)

Don't you just love a suunny productive day!

Have a had a good weekend, show went really well. One of the Bosses and my Mum & Alan came to see it on the Saturday which was the first time I was really nervous - but it's probably the best I ever sang the duet!

Got a lot of cleaning, baking and generally sorting out done as well as getting to spend some time at Dyrham park chillin' and reading in the sun - all in all a great weekend without a whole load of stress - for once.

My fabulous trio of P.S.T techies did a great job of dealing with the Y13 A-level performances on Friday night, I feel very proud of them, especially as 2 of them had never seen the plays before and 1 of them had only seen 2 (there are 4 plays in total).

I have my dinner in the oven and a lovely form from the DVLA telling me it's been 10 years (!!??!!) since I had my driving license and I need to renew the photo or be fined £1,000 , so I really should go and see to those things!

'Tis me, and I need a diet!

Check out this link. It is the article in the Bath Chronicle about AD34.

See the small photo on the right (or if you got to the 'entertainments' section it's there), see the pudgy person to the right of the white T-Shirt guy (Paul - who is playing Saul/Paul slightly confusingly!) with a Black V-Neck on....that's me.

The photo is small, very pixelly and almost pointless.....however it makes a point to me; that I don't want to see the big one, because then I will feel the need to wear a baggy jumper on stage and go into hiding until I lose a stone.....ah, the price of fame!

Check out the revenge of the stick man!

If follow this link you will find a highly amusing , and very clever, couple of minutes - and for anyone who has tried to animate in the minefield that is flash, you will appreciate it all the more!

Tech went well tonight, although I ended up helping (although I'm not sure how much!) with the lighting desk (a Zero 88 Jester - slightly similar to the Frog we have at school, but different enough to make it awkward!) and attempting to sort some mic issues out. So a trip to Enlightened is planned tomorrow to swap some stuff! Voice is a little sore but I'm sure it'll be fine. Full Dress tomorrow night, first time I'll have worn foundation in .... mmmm.. 2 1/2 years (since the lat play I was in!) - ah the joys! I have to say I have had soooo much fun doing this show, even though it is longer hours than most of the Wythall stuff (whom I love dearly!) it is made so much less stressful by the fact that it's a church production :)

More sunflowers etc have made there way through to the sunlight - photos tomorrow hopefully...it's very exciting!

1st Dress rehearsal coming Up

Am desperately trying not to eat cheese, or drink milk or caffeine until after I have been to rehearsal this evening, need my voice to work and not conk out at the end as it has a scary habit of doing! Have finally sorted all my costumes, including the quick change one at the end, I refuse to go on wearing the ever-so-attractive dress that I've got to be a Roman Woman for the finale!

So hopefully I'll remember all the words to the songs and it'll all go fairly smoothly :S Hasn't quite hit home yet that we open on Friday. It's beginning to. I saw the set in church yesterday and it looks great, which helped me take a step closer to 'show mode'. Unfortuantely I also spent the whole, gloriously sunny, weekend inside the dark Mem Hall doing the tech-ing for the Y13's and it's their shows that are at the front of my mind right now........

On an exciting note, my first sunflower sprouted today, and some of the sweet peas and lots of tiny Allysum....So cool. I just think watching plants develop form a tiny hard seed into the thing they become is one of the most magical things to watch. Every time I go back and check something else has poked it's head through the soil :)

Sweet Pea

Allysum

Sunflower

Seeds away!

Huzzah!

Finally got round to planting some seeds today. Some Blue Stripey Sweet Peas (love the smell!) that are hopefully going to wind their way up the balcony rails and some sunflowers of both the giant and the 'spray' varietoes. I have also attempted to put some Alyssum in a tray but the seeds are terrobly tiny so I'm not sure how that'll work out. Still it is all quite exciting!

Trying to get the Y13 assessment stuff up and running for the weekend, just don't seem to be able to quite get my mind round it! Still I have nearly all the lists of everything they want now, and besides taking the doors I made last year of the trolley and getting the swing up when it arrives form Germany (yes....Germany!) I think I might actually get it done! 1 of my Y12's is halfway through making her costume already and the others will hopefully not be far behind. It's still rather scary that someones A-Level result depends on me teaching them and keeping them to deadlines (especially as one of them 'doesn't do morning's '!).

Rehearsals for AD34 (the musical I'm in for the next 2 weeks) are going pretty well. Still having trouble making the words stick which is not brilliant as I tend to be the one everyone looks at to start verses! Still I do have the honour of bringing everybody off (including the band!) in the final number. My voice isn't doing too brilliantly but hopefully we can warm up lots and it won't start cracking all over the place as it was last night (mind you I was singing alto then soprano and then back again) or that will be highly embarrassing.

Shhhhtupidly tired

I cannot quite understand why I am quite so bloody k*******d as I feel right now. It took all my determination to get myself to de-rig the movers today and take them back - even htought he lovely guys at Enlightened had extended my return day from yesterday - 'cos it was just impossible then!

Right now it's 8pm and all I want to do is go to bed! But I feel I must hold for at least another hour so that I don't then wake up ridiculously early. Maybe I should catch up on some neighbours whilst I wait for 9 o'clock to come round?

Had a fun afternoon with the BATHOS lot. Becky and Angharad came and spoke to the girls about life and fashions in the 80's. Tea was drunk and Brownies were eaten and I think they now have a much clearer idea of what they want to design and the overall look we're going for - huzzah!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Cream Crackered

Am now chilling out and making lists for tomorrow (when did I become a list person?) after walking about 20km with almost my entire kit for Peru!

Me and 3 of the Peru Crew joined the Silver DofE'ers and the Ten Tors lot on their 2nd training walk today. It was perfect weather for it and I am very proud of how they did. One of the girl's has dyspraxia which makes her balance quite tricky but she managed brilliantly! Am feeling better for several reasons:
- I'm pretty sure all my kit will fit in my rucksack
- The walking poles were a brilliant buy! (They really do help your knees etc - bizarre...)
- I'm about 3 times as fit as I was last year - the final hill was nowhere near as hard!
- I know that I can deal with all the weight on my back
- I have found the perfect sock combination (that includes tubi-grips!)

All in all a succesful day. I have spent rather a lot of money on kit this weekend but I was back in the black for the 1st time in 5 years, albeit briefly, and I thought if I get it now then I don't have to worry about it any more. Only little things like iodine tablets and re-hydration powders now....well and the £150 I've got fork out for vaccinations but heigh-ho!

Next week is the dance show. Have still to program the moving lights so that's my main job tomorrow. In between teaching Y9's about make-up design, Y12's about 1:25 scale model building and working from costume patterns and checking the set design's for the Y13's - I love my job....weird but wonderful.

On the Peru front there has been a bit of a set back, which hopefully will be resolved soon. Can't say too much in case one of the girl's finds this page! But it is a little stressful and I'm not sure how the parents will react......still, we shall see.

Be Prepared

...as my old Guide leader used to say. Well, actually, she didn't - and she wasn't old either, but I think it was written on my belt at some point!



Am off to the exciting Trowbridge this evening to BCH camping, who have kindly agreed to do a "lock-in" for us (not the sort you're all thinking of - the only drink there will be coffee.......tut!) am looking forward to trying on lots of things and spending my birthday and Christmas money in a guilt free way :) The plan for this evening is to get a rucksack, sleeping bag and Gore-tex jacket - may be the most frightnened my bank account had ever been - despite the lovely tax man giving me £600 :)



Had a serious meeting after school today, mostly to do the financial climate and how we're going to progress ahead. Kinda scary, I'm not exactly worried for my job, but there may be some changes to be made so am not really sure what's in store.

hum-dee-hum

Dude, the size this mug!

Hurrah, the snow came down.

11 day girls and about half of the staff made it into school. So with the boarders and the 25 Juniors who also made it up the steep and slippy hill they enjoyed a day of 'Fun in the snow' until 9:30, a languages quiz (snow related), Science time (all snow related) and then an Art Lesson. Then the fabulous lunch - which as ever on a Thurday included CHIPS!

Then after lunch they officially closed school most of the day girls had already gone home and it is the first official snow day (possibly ever!) tomorrow. This should be cool. Having a few panicky issues about the fact that we are supposed to have a play on on Monday Luchtime that has never been tun through with the whole cast, set, props or technical wizadry - but if the snow has its way then we won't be in then either!

Some props for one of the plays next week arrived this morning - boxing gloves. And with them?for free? Quite honestly the largest mug I have ever seen! It's huge, and is now sat next to me on the desk filled with approximately 2 cups of tea.....oh yes, this snow day is going to be a wonder!

I also got to go up the tower for the first time today. Took some wonderful photos. The view form up there was just stunning - although you weirdly lose your bearings when you're up there looking down at everything! It was a very....!Famous Five-esque" climb up. 2/3 of the way consistes of a tiny stone spiral staircase (accompanied by Raph's running commentary on the dangers he felt were aroung - honestly for a geographer he hasn't got much sense of adventure!) and then a series of dubious looking ladders - the last the most dubious of all, especially when you're the first one up and have to unbolt and then shift the slightly degraded trap door. Well, I say trap door, there no hinges so it's not a door, just piece of chip board with 2 (although only one works!) bolts on it. Still it was fun and the view was definitely worth it :)

Snowy thoughts

I am wide awake and it's 7:45 - the reason?

SNOW!!! It's now the third day of snow. It fell during the night loast night after most of it had melted during the day - however it is now snowing again - the GAPPIES have been called to go down to the Junior school (even though they don't start 'til 11), and I gatta tell you, the road looks impassable.

However this school has never shut fo snow in at least 25 years (because of the boarders mostly!) but a lot of the other students and staff will probably not make it in today so who knows......

Graphics Card blues

I am a tad stressy at the moment as my poor laptop has a poorly graphics card.

At some point something sprung off inside (this, of course, would have nothing to do with me urrr ...bumping it several times!) shot across the inside wedged itself in the cooling fan for the graphics card, snapped off to blades and managed to burn out th emotor - impressive huh?

Now it transpires that either it is just the fan - so when this is fixed the card will fine and wil no longer send my screen doolalay after 15mins or, it damaged the actual card and it has sadly ended it's uselfulness :( This has been stressful because: this first went wrong 2 minutes (and I do mean 2 minutes!) before the curtain went up on 'A Midsummer Night' Dream' and the laptop was controlling all the projections, and, I have no way of editing DVD's (because the annoying school video camera has no USB/firewire out and even the new laptop they have given me (#4 now!) isn't set up to rip DVD's) or sorting the website for whiteboard theatre out. Which in turn means that an awful lot of things for school aren't getting done ahhhh!!!

So between me and the lovely guy at technophobia in Keynsham, we have been trying to find a new card. This has proven rather tricky. Mostly because, although MXM graphics card are a great idea for those people who want to upgrade their grahics capabilities without replacing their entire laptop, no company relaly picked up on them and they are like gold dust to find. SO the search has so far included 5 2nd hand ones being sent over from the states to be tested (non of them worked!), me sending the original back to the company who assembled the laptop (they say they may be able to fix/replace the fan) and, in the latest escapade, me finiding a far more up to date model on eBay in....wait for it... Canada! So after I get paid this will be winging it's way across the ocean to me.

I have checked the compatibility charts - my model of Notebook is there and it says it is compatable - so there is no reason this shouldn't work. It does not, however, come with the fan or heatsink, so I have to make sure I get the other one back so we can nick the bits off that!

In a way I rather hoope the actual original card is damaged - this new card is about 4 times as powerful........4 times.....imagine Sims2 - or even Sims3.....*cough* I mean, imagine how much easier DVD editing will be..........

Telegram from a crap blogger....

Life has been very busy STOP

So have not blogged for long time STOP guess this is a good thing really COMMA means I have been busy STOP

Things that have happened COLON (that would be the punctuation not a thing..)

Christmas DASH very cool

New Year DASH in Lake District with great people COMMA impromptu Ceilidh and everything STOP

Finding Larry DASH panto I wrote and directed starring some amazing students and teachers from school COMMA went very well COMMA raised lots of money for Peru expedition COMMA good team bonding STOP

Decorating Gatehouse DASH Hallway is done COMMA new GAPS here and enjoying it COMMA Living room next STOP

Promise to be better blogger from now on STOP Especially as I spent this morning reading a book on Peru and am now more excited than ever EXCLAMATION MARK

Now have no money due to long telegram STOP