Weeknote 1

Working:

The first week back at school this week, and it has been just about as normally awful as it ever is. I thought I'd dodged the new-term insomnia when I slept easily and well on Monday night, before inset day, but then it returned on Tuesday night instead. I managed roughly four hours of sleep and so was like a zombie on Wednesday. Thank goodness it was a short week.

I helped to deliver a session at our cross-trust inset on Tuesday, wheeling out an old favourite planning method from a decade ago, which got some really positive feedback from the delegates. Outside of school, we have been finishing up the November series at the exam board - one week of work left on that - and I've been tentatively making a start on the current writing project, with some background reading. Naturally, the book I really need for this is currently awol, but luckily I have a lot of books so I can plug some gaps with that. 

My resolution to do 20 minutes of marking a day is turning out surprisingly well. I have discovered that (a) I can get more done in that time than I expected to, (b) it is much easier to get started when I know it's only 20 minutes (Friday afternoon marking, anyone? How did I manage that?!) and (c) I don't always feel like I want to stop dead after 20 minutes, even though I know I can. This week, I've managed to mark full sets of Y8 and Y10 assessments, plus the Y12 essays I have been putting off since I had covid. I am quite pleased with that and hoping that I can continue until the habit forms.

Exercising:

The 20 minutes of moving a day has also been going OK, though I think I need to take better care to stop after 20 minutes. I observe that it is is easier for me to achieve this by booking myself into a class, but that a class is usually an hour and this builds up. Consequently, I did aquafit on Tuesday, yoga on Wednesday and saw my trainer on Thursday; this was too much on consecutive days, particularly with the poor sleep. So, on Friday and Saturday, I did 20 minutes of Ringfit Adventure on the Switch (actually quite tough and not to be sniffed at) and this morning I went out for a squelch around Warmley Forest Park instead of going to the gym, as I had planned. It was a sunny morning and there was a bit of frost left on the ground and a lot of happy dogs to admire. A definite win. 

I lost my swimsuit when I went to aquafit. I must have dropped it on the way out. It was my last one-piece suit; I bought it almost a decade ago when I was at Center Parcs for a conference and wanted a new one. It was bobbly on the bum and I really couldn't face driving back to get it. Now I am not sure whether to splash out on a new suit or go all-bikinis for all-swims in the future. A bikini is fine on holiday but does feel a bit weird for aquafit. And, come to think of it, if I had to swim in front of any students. OK, that settles it. 

Hobbying:

I managed to finish my first book of 2022, The Betrayals. It was a very engaging read and I even chose to carry on ploughing through it instead of napping on Wednesday when I got home from school. I've also managed to knit more of Milou, to the point where it is divided for the armholes now. 

I've moved on to reading Drowned World, a novel set in Bristol in 1607, just after there was a major flood from the Bristol Channel. Coincidentally this came up in a documentary I watched this week, on historic extreme weather, 

Entertained by:

I continue to watch ER, I'm almost to the end of season 12 but it all gets a bit sad from her on, iirc. Maybe it was all a bit sad. Either way, it has slowed me down somewhat, so I have also watched two films on Netflix - Don't Look Up and The Unforgiveable. The former was a pretty depressing satire on our current world and the latter was the same but with no satire. So, yeah. Maybe I need to find some nice comedy for the coming week, cheer myself up a bit. 

I'm pleased that The Apprentice is back, although, wow. Just wow. That guy who got fired had clearly had a slip with his razor or his cabin mates on the cruise gave him a little sleep trim: this hardly boosts my faith in the business future of this nation, although tbf, he was fired. I just keep reminding myself that the main reason to watch is for Karren's arch looks and Chanel accessories. Love her. 

Cooking:

Today's meal prep was sweet potato, ratatouille and cauliflower roasted with onions and chickpeas in ras el hanout. I also made Nigella's clementine cake to take to work (next time will boil a star anise and a cinnamon stick with the clementines) and my annual blueberry bread and butter pudding, which I never ended up making over Christmas because we had too much food to eat. This paid off in the long run because, when I ran out of leftovers for lunches last week, I had a very bougie lunch of cheese and crackers with chutney and fruit cake, thanks to still having too much cheese in the fridge. 

Feeling:

Pleased that I managed to stick to my 20 minutes marking/moving/reading resolution for the whole week, even Saturday. It has made me feel less anxious in my unstructured time - I have spent a lot of time playing Super Mario this week and haven't felt like this is a mistake or that I should be doing something more productive. 

I am maybe a bit less pleased about work, though. I do love my job, obvs, and I don't want to leave it, true, but I would rather not be there at the moment. I'd rather not be working full time. I am waiting for this feeling to go away but it doesn't seem to want to. I just keep circling back to my dissatisfaction with the way it is to be a teacher at the moment and I can't seem to get past it. I am hoping it is just a phase. 

Next week I've got not much on except work. I am hoping to see my friends Jo and Kath for late Christmas festivities. I'd like to make a start on some exam board work that isn't due until February, try to clear the decks a bit. I'd like to clear out one box or drawer or type of clothing from my wardrobe: this is the next thing to be tackling little and often, I think.