Looking for my funness

So, after the excitement of booking my ticket, and spending some quality time with the family, and planning more Oz stuff, I've actually been feeling pretty down for the last few days.

I'm hoping that it's just my hormones making my lack-of-a-break worse - so we'll see tomorrow when they should have stopped!

I am also tired, probably stressed and in desperate need of some days when I can lie-in or spend time chilling without feeling guilty or like I should be doing something else. Luckily there's a half term coming up - I wish it would start tomorrow!

We've got 4 shows on at school next week, I've just started teaching my Y12's in earnest (2 Lighting, 4 Costume) and I'm finishing up the Y9's. However my motivation seems to have wandered off somewhere without telling me when it's coming back.

I find it really annoying when I'm like this. I become very defensive, things which I would normally get excited about I just see the problems with and everything just seems like too much trouble - which is not me at all. Plus I find that certain people just irritate me - sometimes just by being in the room! It's completely irrational and that makes me even more stressed because I don't seem to able to control it. Bleugh.

Plus the couple of people I would normally be able to chat to are having a pretty miserable time themselves so the last thing I want to do (or can do!) whinge over the phone at them.

Anyway, that's quite enough faffing on here. Now to find something that'll cheer me up before I go to sleep........

Off to see the wizard....

I have just done a scary thing.....

Spent a lot of money on my credit card - but don't worry Mum, I can pay it straight off on Sunday when I get paid!.

Now, normally, after spending anything like a large anount of moolah (even NOT on the credit card) I would get this slightly sick feeling in the pit of my stomach (usually the idication that it may not have been the sanest thing I've done) but I feel fine. Which just goes to show that....

going to Australia this summer is TOTALLY the right thing to do, man.... (imagine surfer with sea washed blonde locks saying that.....OK, now focus)

I did my research and got a good deal, the flight also includes 3 nights accomodation in Sydney, which'll be handy, and the lovely people at STA sorted it out.

All in all I've had a highly productive day. My beauty needs, at least 1 of them, have been sorted, my teeth got the OK from the dentist, and the opticians have sorted my new contact lenses. I've ordered my new passport, there's food in the house and I've returned some unwanted props. now looking into getting a visa. It's amazing what you can achieve on a day off.

Julie Andrews...aa..aa.aa.she's perfect as can be....

Well, here i am again, ages between the posts - there's been Christmas and a marriage sine the last one - but there you go!

I didn't get the job - however good things did come from it which will hopefully help with the whole 'being-a-grown-up-at-29' thing I'm aiming for this year. Or it just might get me s..l..i..g..h..t..y. out of debt - either way, a good thing.

Am pretty exhausted at the mo. Been in school for 21 days straight what with the epic that was Tartuffe, including having to learn one of the parts in a day due a B.C student dropping out at the tech!, but Thursday is to be a day off (filled with fun stuff, like the dentists) so bring it on!

Built an igloo in the snow. It lasted for 3 days before caving in. You could fit 2 people in it sitting and I made shelves for a candle. Spent some happy hours sitting in it, enjoying the tranquility and marvelling at how amazing Goretex is. Couldn't sleep in it due to school regs, but it kept people amused!

Vicky & John's wedding was fabulous, it snowed just after the speeches on a magical soft but heavy way and then it had faded by morning....dreamy :) Speaking of dreamy, there's this guy.....but yet, there is no more to that tale.....

Tomorrow night is Gig Night, Despite being in recovery form a stinking cold and still sounding a bit cloggy, I have been persuaded to sing. I tried to convince the girls that playing Bass for 2 numbers and singing BV's for one was enough - apparently not. So tomorrow night there will be a slightly dodgy rendition of 'Both Sides Now' by Joni Mitchell, desperately trying to live up to last years playing and singing of 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' by Eva Cassidy. Really shouldn't have done my most impressive party piece first! I've also had to learn the bass line to Super Massive Blackhole. Which has resulted to me listening to rather a lot of Muse and downloading the album. Oh the joy of Itunes vouchers.

Oh, and did I mention? Jo, Vicky, John & John have bought me the MOST AMAZINGLY EXCITING Christmas/Birthday preset EVER!!!!!

A ticket to see JULIE ANDREWS at the o2 arena!!!!! Live, for one night only - how excited am I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(if there was ever a need for many exclamation marks - then that was it......grammar be blowed)

(!)

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: