I was going to have to do a Tuesday Ten on why I love my job but then I realised, it's been less than two months since the last time I did that. Work is not a happy place at the moment. Ten reasons why work is not a happy place at the moment...
1. RUBBISH ski company, cancelling my ski course at three weeks' notice. That's the ski course I have been going to personal training to ensure I am fit enough to complete, since September.
2. RUBBISH ski company, telling me they are behind on all my trip paperwork because they have someone on long term sick. We leave two weeks on Friday. I don't even know what time we get back yet. I understand long term sick is a problem, but unfortunately, it is not MY problem. I do not have time for this problem.
(I think RUBBISH ski company will have to provide an awesome incentive if they want my booking next year).
3. Governor shizzle. So secret, I can't tell anyone at work. I hate the pressure. I'm constantly worried I'm going to blurt it out.
4. The possible upshots of all the governor shizz, and worrying about them.
5. People who are ungrateful for the huge amounts of work I put in on their behalf.
6. People who expect me to be able to work miracles, over things that are NOT EVEN MY JOB.
7. A2 students who expect me to spoon feed them their coursework and look shocked when they turn up for class, without completing their assignment (that's zero for nine, people) and I don't think it's really funny.
8. ...and then have the audacity to ask me if the coursework deadlines are always so tight. DO. YOUR. HOME. STUDY. Then it won't be so tight. Also, don't ever question my methods. I have two degrees and years of experience. I was so good at coursework at uni, that my professors let me write a second dissertation instead of attending a taught unit in my final year. You can't even remember to bring a pen to class half the time. I know who most people's money would be on.
9. Having the additional pressure of trying to prove I am worthy of a meaningless label, in three weeks or less.
10. There is too much to do. I haven't blogged in nearly a month! Rubbish.
Nice knitting weekend away this weekend though, and thank goodness for that. I have almost forgotten how to knit.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Tuesday Ten
Ten Pictures from the last Ten Days
1. Batman prepares to ski, Les Diablerets, Switzerland
Unfortunately, Batman did not take to skiing.
2. Skiing with Sib and his girlf
It snowed all night Saturday night and all day Sunday, so we had tonnes of fresh snow to work with by the time we made it to the slopes on Sunday afternoon. Indeed, too much; Sib, who has only had a week on snow, and that at the tender age of 13, found it exceedingly hard going and in the end gave up and walked the rest of the way down. Even I only managed one good run from the top of the bubble before I was cold and wet through (my waterproof jacket proving to be not waterproof) and not in the mood to continue.
Still! It was skiing, therefore I mainly loved it. And so beautiful in amongst the trees!
The snow was also good for Les Diablerets, which has been snow-poor so far this season. Elise's sister, who walked into town Sunday morning for fresh baguettes, said she had never seen so many smiley, happy people.
We had a bit of a time finding it, though. In my efforts to jet-set, we flew to Switzerland from work on Friday night, arriving at our hire car at 11pm for a 2 hour drive. Neither of us brought a map, or had access to SatNav. This was how we ended up driving up a road which appeared closed (neither of us speak French so it may have been closed, or just closed to dog sleds). The road wound up, and up. We passed skidoos. We were nervous. We were grateful for the winter tyres. Then we had to stop because we came to...a piste.
When we eventually figured it out, we discovered Les Diablerets was the other side of the mountain and we had to drive all the way back down to Aigle and begin again. So, it was around 3am by the time we arrived. I said sorry, a lot.
3. Blue Lagoon, Iceland
This was a school trip. We had to get up at 3am to get to school and then on the plane; we went to the Blue Lagoon straight from the airport. It couldn't have been a better first stop, from the obligatory hot naked shower beforehand, to the smooth silica mud we scooped out of the troughs and smoothed on our faces, to the ice creams they served from a booth by the lagoon. It even snowed while we were in there. Awesome.
4. Geysirs
Picture absent for now...unbelievably, I managed to leave behind both cameras and my phone on the first day, which I had helpfully packed all in the same pouch and left on my hotel room bed. Geysir picture to follow, when I can get one from a kid.
The amazing thing about these geysirs (and I have seen a lot of them, having visited Yellowstone...and yes, the spell it differently in Iceland) was how close we were allowed to get. The regular spouter has a small fence around it but if you stand upwind of it, you will more than likely be showered in water and enveloped in steam, which is what happens when you neither read signage nor pay attention to nature. I must say, I enjoyed the experience more in a culture devoid of superfluous lawsuits. Not only was I able to get close enough to really see what was happening, but we also found a little place where a geysir is definitely on its way. Little baby steam vents have appeared in the ground, and a teeny bubbling hole, right in the centre of the path. That path's route may have had to change in 10 years' time.
5. Columnar jointing
Spectacular! Columnar jointing is formed when lava of enormous depths cools. It forms long pillars which bang against each other and create hexagonal shapes. Seeing this in action is amazing. I spent quite some time staring at it and photographing it, and managed to pick up a lovely piece which had dropped off in the shape of a claw, although this sadly broke up into many pieces on the journey home.
6. Maybe the most beautiful beach ever
And I really love beaches. I consider myself something of a connoisseur. This was totally up there. There is no landmass to break these waves between this shore and Antarctica, so they are big, powerful breakers, which make pure white foam that covers the black sand (Iceland is almost all basalt) and provides the most awesome of contrasts. At this point, the pupils had gone over the hill with the guide and I had snatched a moment to myself to walk down to this beach. I am so very glad I did. Moment of the trip for me - and there were many other moments.
7. YARN!!
I was napping on the coach when it came to a stop, and the girls behind me said knowingly, "Bring your purse Miss - this is a wool factory!" They weren't kidding. I very nearly spent an awful lot of money, and considering my luggage ended up almost impossible to zip closed and almost half a kilo overweight, it was just as well I managed to stop myself at 12 balls of Lopi and a big, chunky pair of socks. There was a yarn factory behind the shop with a viewing gallery, although they were machine knitting the colourwork designs in big pieces of fabric and then cutting and stitching them into garments. There were plenty of handknits in the shop, though. I am fairly sure my socks are handknits.
8. Eating ice from a glacier
On Saturday morning, the coach turned off the main road and onto a snowy, rocky, single-land track, which wound alongside a river separated from the road by an increasingly steep bank and little else. At the end of this track, six enthusiastic Icelanders waited to fit us with harnesses and crampons, and arm us with ice axes. We then set off walking on the glacier. At this point we were in a crevass, hacking out some 800-year-old ice and having a taste. Pure!
9. Standing behind a waterfall
OK, I am in front of the waterfall here; but since the picture of me behind it has be backlit, you can't actually see me. It was wet and chilly, but extremely impressive. Iceland is known as the land of 10,000 waterfalls. To start with, we tried to count them as we saw them, but this proved impossible, as there were so many.
10. Hopping across continents
This trench marks the plate boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate, which are moving apart at a rate of around 4cm a year. Iceland is basically formed due to this divergent, or constructive, plate boundary. It's amazing to see this in action: the cliffs either side of this trench are layered with the products of countless eruptions.
There were so many awesome moments in Iceland, my pictures and stories just don't do it justice. Unfortunately we missed the Northern Lights, due to the windy and snowy and cloudy weather; but the night we spent at the youth hostel (which was WAY more comfortable and pleasant than the hotel) we did have occasional flashes of sky, containing more stars than one might imagine existed. I think I saw even more stars that I saw from Death Valley. We had sun, hail, rain and snow - sometimes all in the space of an hour.
Also, if anybody loses their passport abroad on the day they travel home and this also happens to be a day their Embassy is closed, I now know what to do (thankfully, it wasn't me - but I might have had to spend an extra 2 nights in Iceland if we hadn't have found a way round it). My best tip: Keep a photograph of your passport on your phone/camera.
Unfortunately, as well as some good rock specimens and the yarn, I also brought a nasty bug back from Iceland and have been off sick for two days. I struggled with it from Friday but it didn't manage to cast too much of a shadow on what was an amazing trip. If you get a chance - go.
I am now 3 weekends through my marathon of 5 weekends away, so I may continue my relative blog silence for a little longer. I miss Weekword, though! I'll see what I can do for this Friday.
1. Batman prepares to ski, Les Diablerets, Switzerland
Unfortunately, Batman did not take to skiing.
2. Skiing with Sib and his girlf
It snowed all night Saturday night and all day Sunday, so we had tonnes of fresh snow to work with by the time we made it to the slopes on Sunday afternoon. Indeed, too much; Sib, who has only had a week on snow, and that at the tender age of 13, found it exceedingly hard going and in the end gave up and walked the rest of the way down. Even I only managed one good run from the top of the bubble before I was cold and wet through (my waterproof jacket proving to be not waterproof) and not in the mood to continue.
Still! It was skiing, therefore I mainly loved it. And so beautiful in amongst the trees!
The snow was also good for Les Diablerets, which has been snow-poor so far this season. Elise's sister, who walked into town Sunday morning for fresh baguettes, said she had never seen so many smiley, happy people.
We had a bit of a time finding it, though. In my efforts to jet-set, we flew to Switzerland from work on Friday night, arriving at our hire car at 11pm for a 2 hour drive. Neither of us brought a map, or had access to SatNav. This was how we ended up driving up a road which appeared closed (neither of us speak French so it may have been closed, or just closed to dog sleds). The road wound up, and up. We passed skidoos. We were nervous. We were grateful for the winter tyres. Then we had to stop because we came to...a piste.
When we eventually figured it out, we discovered Les Diablerets was the other side of the mountain and we had to drive all the way back down to Aigle and begin again. So, it was around 3am by the time we arrived. I said sorry, a lot.
3. Blue Lagoon, Iceland
This was a school trip. We had to get up at 3am to get to school and then on the plane; we went to the Blue Lagoon straight from the airport. It couldn't have been a better first stop, from the obligatory hot naked shower beforehand, to the smooth silica mud we scooped out of the troughs and smoothed on our faces, to the ice creams they served from a booth by the lagoon. It even snowed while we were in there. Awesome.
4. Geysirs
Picture absent for now...unbelievably, I managed to leave behind both cameras and my phone on the first day, which I had helpfully packed all in the same pouch and left on my hotel room bed. Geysir picture to follow, when I can get one from a kid.
The amazing thing about these geysirs (and I have seen a lot of them, having visited Yellowstone...and yes, the spell it differently in Iceland) was how close we were allowed to get. The regular spouter has a small fence around it but if you stand upwind of it, you will more than likely be showered in water and enveloped in steam, which is what happens when you neither read signage nor pay attention to nature. I must say, I enjoyed the experience more in a culture devoid of superfluous lawsuits. Not only was I able to get close enough to really see what was happening, but we also found a little place where a geysir is definitely on its way. Little baby steam vents have appeared in the ground, and a teeny bubbling hole, right in the centre of the path. That path's route may have had to change in 10 years' time.
5. Columnar jointing
Spectacular! Columnar jointing is formed when lava of enormous depths cools. It forms long pillars which bang against each other and create hexagonal shapes. Seeing this in action is amazing. I spent quite some time staring at it and photographing it, and managed to pick up a lovely piece which had dropped off in the shape of a claw, although this sadly broke up into many pieces on the journey home.
6. Maybe the most beautiful beach ever
And I really love beaches. I consider myself something of a connoisseur. This was totally up there. There is no landmass to break these waves between this shore and Antarctica, so they are big, powerful breakers, which make pure white foam that covers the black sand (Iceland is almost all basalt) and provides the most awesome of contrasts. At this point, the pupils had gone over the hill with the guide and I had snatched a moment to myself to walk down to this beach. I am so very glad I did. Moment of the trip for me - and there were many other moments.
7. YARN!!
I was napping on the coach when it came to a stop, and the girls behind me said knowingly, "Bring your purse Miss - this is a wool factory!" They weren't kidding. I very nearly spent an awful lot of money, and considering my luggage ended up almost impossible to zip closed and almost half a kilo overweight, it was just as well I managed to stop myself at 12 balls of Lopi and a big, chunky pair of socks. There was a yarn factory behind the shop with a viewing gallery, although they were machine knitting the colourwork designs in big pieces of fabric and then cutting and stitching them into garments. There were plenty of handknits in the shop, though. I am fairly sure my socks are handknits.
8. Eating ice from a glacier
On Saturday morning, the coach turned off the main road and onto a snowy, rocky, single-land track, which wound alongside a river separated from the road by an increasingly steep bank and little else. At the end of this track, six enthusiastic Icelanders waited to fit us with harnesses and crampons, and arm us with ice axes. We then set off walking on the glacier. At this point we were in a crevass, hacking out some 800-year-old ice and having a taste. Pure!
9. Standing behind a waterfall
OK, I am in front of the waterfall here; but since the picture of me behind it has be backlit, you can't actually see me. It was wet and chilly, but extremely impressive. Iceland is known as the land of 10,000 waterfalls. To start with, we tried to count them as we saw them, but this proved impossible, as there were so many.
10. Hopping across continents
This trench marks the plate boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate, which are moving apart at a rate of around 4cm a year. Iceland is basically formed due to this divergent, or constructive, plate boundary. It's amazing to see this in action: the cliffs either side of this trench are layered with the products of countless eruptions.
There were so many awesome moments in Iceland, my pictures and stories just don't do it justice. Unfortunately we missed the Northern Lights, due to the windy and snowy and cloudy weather; but the night we spent at the youth hostel (which was WAY more comfortable and pleasant than the hotel) we did have occasional flashes of sky, containing more stars than one might imagine existed. I think I saw even more stars that I saw from Death Valley. We had sun, hail, rain and snow - sometimes all in the space of an hour.
Also, if anybody loses their passport abroad on the day they travel home and this also happens to be a day their Embassy is closed, I now know what to do (thankfully, it wasn't me - but I might have had to spend an extra 2 nights in Iceland if we hadn't have found a way round it). My best tip: Keep a photograph of your passport on your phone/camera.
Unfortunately, as well as some good rock specimens and the yarn, I also brought a nasty bug back from Iceland and have been off sick for two days. I struggled with it from Friday but it didn't manage to cast too much of a shadow on what was an amazing trip. If you get a chance - go.
I am now 3 weekends through my marathon of 5 weekends away, so I may continue my relative blog silence for a little longer. I miss Weekword, though! I'll see what I can do for this Friday.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Bad Wife
It's Valentine's Day today. We don't mark it. I have concluded that Valentine's Day is marked according to the preference of the female in the relationship: if she says no, it's no. If she says yes, it's yes. This explains why my circuits class tonight was half empty, and the half that were missing were the men.
Anyway. When I got in Mr Z expressed that his intention had been to cook a surprise three course meal with prawn cocktail and everything, but that the Mitten* was ill and he had to take her to the vet. When he got back, he said he'd just have soup or something, so I decided I'd get pizza from the supermarket after class. I thought I'd pop home first though, and discovered he was part way through cooking an extremely healthy low fat Chinese stir fry, and had concocted 100-Island-Dressing for the prawns in an attempt to meet my health-kick criteria.
And so what did I do? Well, I pouted, because I had set my heart on pizza by then. So he is going out to get me pizza while I have a bath. This is troo devotion. After I had pouted, he showed me the oven-cooked pork, and the star shaped carrots, and had me taste the 100-Island-Dressing, and so then I got bad wife guilt for being so ungrateful. I said sorry, a lot. "Oh, go and blog about it or something!" he said, before peeling me another grape.
Now I have to think of a way to make it up to him....
* She's fine now.
Anyway. When I got in Mr Z expressed that his intention had been to cook a surprise three course meal with prawn cocktail and everything, but that the Mitten* was ill and he had to take her to the vet. When he got back, he said he'd just have soup or something, so I decided I'd get pizza from the supermarket after class. I thought I'd pop home first though, and discovered he was part way through cooking an extremely healthy low fat Chinese stir fry, and had concocted 100-Island-Dressing for the prawns in an attempt to meet my health-kick criteria.
And so what did I do? Well, I pouted, because I had set my heart on pizza by then. So he is going out to get me pizza while I have a bath. This is troo devotion. After I had pouted, he showed me the oven-cooked pork, and the star shaped carrots, and had me taste the 100-Island-Dressing, and so then I got bad wife guilt for being so ungrateful. I said sorry, a lot. "Oh, go and blog about it or something!" he said, before peeling me another grape.
Now I have to think of a way to make it up to him....
* She's fine now.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Four Things Tag
I have lately become a fan of the Lazy Designer and her blog, which is all about her adventures in a little Italian shop, her cats and other aspects of her life in Italy. I am a fan of Italy. We went there on our honeymoon. I like the fact that each of the four places I have visited there were almost unique, like they were different countries. Venice, Lake Garda, and two ski resorts in the Alps; those of course were quite similar, but totally different from the other two. We do a little background on the formation of Italy during A-level History at my school, so I can well understand how this is the case.
Anyway. Bobbi didn't tag anybody specifically, so I am going to neb in on her tag and do this for myself, as a break from marking.
4 shows I watch
Glee
Skins (original British version, and not least because it is filmed in Bristol)
Human Planet, an epic documentary series on the BBC at the moment looking at communities living in extreme environments
The Big Bang Theory
4 things I'm passionate about
Live and let live
The colour blue, in all its wondrous variety
Spelling and grammar
Travel
4 words or phrases I say a lot
So....
Oh!.... (I seem to begin the vast majority of my sentences with one of these two words).
Man up.
Oh YES! I am loving that.
4 things I have learned from the past
Don't be afraid to hoe your own row.
The truth is almost always a lot less painful in the long run.
If the doctor says you're not sick enough to refer, get a second opinion.
Too much vodka is A Bad Thing (or at least...I assume. I don't remember.)
4 things I did yesterday
I went to knitting group at Get Knitted.
I was called a rude name by a bad driver who changed his mind at the last minute about the way he was turning, and therefore nearly ran me over.
I caught up on some TV shows I haven't had time to watch.
I did lots of backreading for my team. Yawn.
4 places I'd like to go
Machu Picchu, Peru
Skomar Island
Bucharest
To bed...
4 things I'm looking forward to
The end of exam marking, on Tuesday.
Skiing IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!
Iceland right after that, and seeing the Aurora Borealis, I hope.
Thursday knitting group weekend away at the end of March.
4 things I love about winter
Not being too hot all the time.
Hoar frost building up on the trees.
Beef stew and dumplings.
Christmas!
4 things on my wishlist
I want a little Mac Book Air. I really do not need one.
A third shelf for my knitting room.
A new pair of Uggesque boots, but with a decent, sturdy sole that copes with snow.
A woodburner.
4 bloggers I'm tagging
There are a lot more than four bloggers I would love to read more from. I always think these sorts of answers are a bit of a cop out but I cannot narrow it down to four! Please consider yourself tagged if you are reading this, and respond on your blog. And tell me if you do! I am not allowing myself into Google Reader before Tuesday, when marking finishes, so I might miss it otherwise. I sneaked a little peek earlier and saw the tag, but now I have wasted nearly an hour of good marking time and I really must be strict tomorrow!
Anyway. Bobbi didn't tag anybody specifically, so I am going to neb in on her tag and do this for myself, as a break from marking.
4 shows I watch
Glee
Skins (original British version, and not least because it is filmed in Bristol)
Human Planet, an epic documentary series on the BBC at the moment looking at communities living in extreme environments
The Big Bang Theory
4 things I'm passionate about
Live and let live
The colour blue, in all its wondrous variety
Spelling and grammar
Travel
4 words or phrases I say a lot
So....
Oh!.... (I seem to begin the vast majority of my sentences with one of these two words).
Man up.
Oh YES! I am loving that.
4 things I have learned from the past
Don't be afraid to hoe your own row.
The truth is almost always a lot less painful in the long run.
If the doctor says you're not sick enough to refer, get a second opinion.
Too much vodka is A Bad Thing (or at least...I assume. I don't remember.)
4 things I did yesterday
I went to knitting group at Get Knitted.
I was called a rude name by a bad driver who changed his mind at the last minute about the way he was turning, and therefore nearly ran me over.
I caught up on some TV shows I haven't had time to watch.
I did lots of backreading for my team. Yawn.
4 places I'd like to go
Machu Picchu, Peru
Skomar Island
Bucharest
To bed...
4 things I'm looking forward to
The end of exam marking, on Tuesday.
Skiing IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!
Iceland right after that, and seeing the Aurora Borealis, I hope.
Thursday knitting group weekend away at the end of March.
4 things I love about winter
Not being too hot all the time.
Hoar frost building up on the trees.
Beef stew and dumplings.
Christmas!
4 things on my wishlist
I want a little Mac Book Air. I really do not need one.
A third shelf for my knitting room.
A new pair of Uggesque boots, but with a decent, sturdy sole that copes with snow.
A woodburner.
4 bloggers I'm tagging
There are a lot more than four bloggers I would love to read more from. I always think these sorts of answers are a bit of a cop out but I cannot narrow it down to four! Please consider yourself tagged if you are reading this, and respond on your blog. And tell me if you do! I am not allowing myself into Google Reader before Tuesday, when marking finishes, so I might miss it otherwise. I sneaked a little peek earlier and saw the tag, but now I have wasted nearly an hour of good marking time and I really must be strict tomorrow!
Friday, 4 February 2011
Weekword
This week, Scribbles whispered, in a soothing tone, "Therapeutic."
There has been a dearth of this type of action at Bunny Towers this week, thanks to the additional pressue of the GCSE marking (see below). But next week I will be all about the therapeutic. Here are some things I like to do.
1. Baking
Easily the most relaxing thing I can find to do. We catered our own wedding buffet, and I made all the cakes and desserts. People were amazed, but it was literally the best way to keep myself calm in the days leading up to The Big Day.
2. Baths
I get my best ideas floating in the tub. In fact, I shouldn't limit this to just baths, because I find water in general to be extremely relaxing. I remember swimming across the lake and back in Wisconsin, when I did Camp America, and it was twilight; a huge turtle suddenly surfaced in the water by me and swam with me some of the way. One of my favourite water memories, and one which never fails to calm me.
3. Knitting
The regularity of it; the repetitiveness: it's very predictable, and if you follow the rules you know what you'll end up with. It's nice to have something utterly within my control. I also find that my knitted items hold good memories from when I was knitting them, but mysteriously not the bad ones.
4. Reading old books from my childhood
Things that are easy and take minimal brain power and effort, but that don't leave me feeling a bit soiled and lazy, like cheap trashy novels do; I'm currently re-reading What Katie Did Next on my Kindle (it was free!) I love the 19th century American take on Europe.
5. Mr Z
The husband is a very calming chap. He has taught me not to sweat the small stuff, although I still do sometimes. He's also very good at providing blankets, slippers, hot water bottles, fans, cold drinks, hot drinks, hugs, supportive words, soothing words, sleep-inducing petting, amusing distractions and healthy hot meals, and he runs a mean bath. I think I would be a basket case without him.
6. Paul, at work
I don't talk about specific work people much, but Paul has been very therapeutic for me this week. He has tremendous and unshakable faith, as well as being extremely passionate about, and good at, his work, and this is a huge inspiration for me on both levels. I find talking to him always makes me feel better; I am very lucky to have such good colleagues. I don't share my blog with work friends so he's unlikely to ever read this, but hopefully he realises how much I value him. We might get to work together on a project soon...
...I went for "a chat" with the deputy head about this project yesterday, which turned out to be an actual interview, which was a surprise. I wish I had known in advance. Paul had his today so I prepped him thoroughly beforehand. We're hoping they will tell us we can share it. We find out on Monday.
In between now and then, there is a LOT of marking. I can look forward to something therapeutic at the end of it. Maybe not something from my list, though. Maybe gin and a nap, my favourite pick-me-up.
Next week's weekword is over at Junebug's, and it's a doozy! Leave a comment over there on Monday to take part.
There has been a dearth of this type of action at Bunny Towers this week, thanks to the additional pressue of the GCSE marking (see below). But next week I will be all about the therapeutic. Here are some things I like to do.
1. Baking
Easily the most relaxing thing I can find to do. We catered our own wedding buffet, and I made all the cakes and desserts. People were amazed, but it was literally the best way to keep myself calm in the days leading up to The Big Day.
2. Baths
I get my best ideas floating in the tub. In fact, I shouldn't limit this to just baths, because I find water in general to be extremely relaxing. I remember swimming across the lake and back in Wisconsin, when I did Camp America, and it was twilight; a huge turtle suddenly surfaced in the water by me and swam with me some of the way. One of my favourite water memories, and one which never fails to calm me.
3. Knitting
The regularity of it; the repetitiveness: it's very predictable, and if you follow the rules you know what you'll end up with. It's nice to have something utterly within my control. I also find that my knitted items hold good memories from when I was knitting them, but mysteriously not the bad ones.
4. Reading old books from my childhood
Things that are easy and take minimal brain power and effort, but that don't leave me feeling a bit soiled and lazy, like cheap trashy novels do; I'm currently re-reading What Katie Did Next on my Kindle (it was free!) I love the 19th century American take on Europe.
5. Mr Z
The husband is a very calming chap. He has taught me not to sweat the small stuff, although I still do sometimes. He's also very good at providing blankets, slippers, hot water bottles, fans, cold drinks, hot drinks, hugs, supportive words, soothing words, sleep-inducing petting, amusing distractions and healthy hot meals, and he runs a mean bath. I think I would be a basket case without him.
6. Paul, at work
I don't talk about specific work people much, but Paul has been very therapeutic for me this week. He has tremendous and unshakable faith, as well as being extremely passionate about, and good at, his work, and this is a huge inspiration for me on both levels. I find talking to him always makes me feel better; I am very lucky to have such good colleagues. I don't share my blog with work friends so he's unlikely to ever read this, but hopefully he realises how much I value him. We might get to work together on a project soon...
...I went for "a chat" with the deputy head about this project yesterday, which turned out to be an actual interview, which was a surprise. I wish I had known in advance. Paul had his today so I prepped him thoroughly beforehand. We're hoping they will tell us we can share it. We find out on Monday.
In between now and then, there is a LOT of marking. I can look forward to something therapeutic at the end of it. Maybe not something from my list, though. Maybe gin and a nap, my favourite pick-me-up.
Next week's weekword is over at Junebug's, and it's a doozy! Leave a comment over there on Monday to take part.
An explanation of the exams
I just realised I very rudely never explained about my exam marking, in answer to a comment last week, so I will take a moment to do that now.
GCSEs are compulsory exams in the UK, that students must take at 16 (10th grade) before they can leave school. They are set nationally, by several exam boards, so that they are the same for every student. They cover an enormous range of subjects; most pupils sit around 10 different subjects. There are some compulsory subjects, like Maths, Science and English Literature/Language.
I am a team leader for the exam board, for a History paper. That means I am in charge of a team of examiners who are all marking the paper, and I have to mark a bit myself, and make sure they are sticking to the markscheme and keeping the standard. This is my 8th exam series, and my 3rd as a team leader. Normally I only do this in June, but big changes to exams in 2009 mean that my paper is now modular, so students can opt to take a paper in January instead of two in June.
We used to mark actual paper exam scripts. Enormous bundles of these would arrive at my house and I'd have red pen all over my hands for the entire marking period. Samples had to be trusted to the Post Office so that marking could be standardised.
Now it's a bit easier, because all the exam papers are scanned in by the exam board and made available through a special online marking program. This makes the whole job a lot easier, especially because we can put in "mystery answers" - responses we have already marked - to check the examiners are keeping to the markscheme. The computer does a lot of the hard work now. However, it still takes a long time, and I am a bit miserable with it this week. Normally the exam period is 3 weeks long, bit this time it is only 10 days, so I am run a bit ragged.
It makes me a better teacher, doing this extra work, because I know my subject and the exam criteria better than most other teachers. And also the money is extremely handy. Wink.
Hope that explains it some!
GCSEs are compulsory exams in the UK, that students must take at 16 (10th grade) before they can leave school. They are set nationally, by several exam boards, so that they are the same for every student. They cover an enormous range of subjects; most pupils sit around 10 different subjects. There are some compulsory subjects, like Maths, Science and English Literature/Language.
I am a team leader for the exam board, for a History paper. That means I am in charge of a team of examiners who are all marking the paper, and I have to mark a bit myself, and make sure they are sticking to the markscheme and keeping the standard. This is my 8th exam series, and my 3rd as a team leader. Normally I only do this in June, but big changes to exams in 2009 mean that my paper is now modular, so students can opt to take a paper in January instead of two in June.
We used to mark actual paper exam scripts. Enormous bundles of these would arrive at my house and I'd have red pen all over my hands for the entire marking period. Samples had to be trusted to the Post Office so that marking could be standardised.
Now it's a bit easier, because all the exam papers are scanned in by the exam board and made available through a special online marking program. This makes the whole job a lot easier, especially because we can put in "mystery answers" - responses we have already marked - to check the examiners are keeping to the markscheme. The computer does a lot of the hard work now. However, it still takes a long time, and I am a bit miserable with it this week. Normally the exam period is 3 weeks long, bit this time it is only 10 days, so I am run a bit ragged.
It makes me a better teacher, doing this extra work, because I know my subject and the exam criteria better than most other teachers. And also the money is extremely handy. Wink.
Hope that explains it some!
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Tuesday Ten
Ten Confessions
1. I really wanted to do project 365 but I failed after the first week. It was just too much effort. I think it would be easier to start in the summer when it's light in the evenings.
2. That thing on the back of the door was down to ME (I can't tell anybody this).
3. I used to think if I won the lottery I'd stay in my job. These days, I'm not so sure of it.
4. People that admit to not being tech-savvy and seem proud of it really annoy me. LEARN. It's not going away.
5. I forgot to brush my hair before going to work yesterday.
6. I have favourites in most of my classes. I can't help it; I'm a human being.
7. I have never admitted it, but that Valentine I was accused of sending when I was 14 and denied over and over again? I sent it. And I MEANT it.
8. Sort of related to number 7 - I find some bits of my teenaged diaries so embarrassing I actually can't read them.
9. I am secretly quite wussy, but make myself do things that scare me or that I might fail at because I always feel a bit sorry for people who won't take any risks, and I don't want to end up feeling sorry for myself.
10. I am a terrible procrastinator, but wish I wasn't. I want to be one of the doers. I just don't know how to make myself.
1. I really wanted to do project 365 but I failed after the first week. It was just too much effort. I think it would be easier to start in the summer when it's light in the evenings.
2. That thing on the back of the door was down to ME (I can't tell anybody this).
3. I used to think if I won the lottery I'd stay in my job. These days, I'm not so sure of it.
4. People that admit to not being tech-savvy and seem proud of it really annoy me. LEARN. It's not going away.
5. I forgot to brush my hair before going to work yesterday.
6. I have favourites in most of my classes. I can't help it; I'm a human being.
7. I have never admitted it, but that Valentine I was accused of sending when I was 14 and denied over and over again? I sent it. And I MEANT it.
8. Sort of related to number 7 - I find some bits of my teenaged diaries so embarrassing I actually can't read them.
9. I am secretly quite wussy, but make myself do things that scare me or that I might fail at because I always feel a bit sorry for people who won't take any risks, and I don't want to end up feeling sorry for myself.
10. I am a terrible procrastinator, but wish I wasn't. I want to be one of the doers. I just don't know how to make myself.
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