For Karen

A friend flicked me this today ;)

I didn't really have a blog post but needed to get rid of the hot chips blog post title!

New Desk

I've been lucky enough to be given this gorgeous roll top desk from my friend Greg. He's in the process of decluttering and kindly offered us this desk.

Husband Deluxe last weekend mentioned that he was on the hunt for a small desk for me to store my laptop and assorted teaching bits and pieces in. Greg flipped out his phone and said he wanted to find a good home for his desk from his childhood... :-)

Husband Deluxe being completely fuckawesome has already made some minor adjustments to increase the desks usability.

He drilled a small hole at the back to feed the laptop cable through and raised the drawers so that my legs fit properly.

Such a fabulous husband and gorgeous friend. I am grateful for both!

Op-travaganza #3

I literally had a spare 15 minutes before our NAPLAN training this afternoon. Which was held at Daramalan, so the lovely Steph and I decided to hit the Op shop in Dickson. I was lucky again! Cool huh? After a quick, whirlwind whip around the store I scored the following:

A Jaqui E grey skirt with a gorgeous lace and velvet ribbon trim: $2
A pair of Diana Ferrari knee high, high heeled boots, black: $7.50 (these were half price!)
A Tigger and Pooh bear glass for String Bean: .50c

Total spend: $10

The op shopping was way better than the training ;-)

So inspiring

Mr Paul Southwell @ Target.

It isn't very often that you meet a Principal of this calibre. Husband Deluxe managed to catch this happy snap of Paul dressed up as 'Where's Wally'. Obviously some primary related activity, as there were plenty of school kids and staff wandering round looking for Wally.

I've been lucky to meet 2 fabulous Principals in my teaching career so far & I'm so pleased that the kids are going to school with someone at the helm who genuinely loves children and will go to any length to make their day. Engaged: not just office admin, paper work or behaviour management.

Thank you Paul for being you and caring so much. You're inspiring and appreciated.

Op-travaganza #2

Lucky finds again at my two favourite op shops.

Flapper wear for the party:
* actual tap shoes: $15
* black fluffy bag: $4

A new black coat, Tightrope: $12

2 videos that the tots love: $2

Regal dress ups, crown and cape: $4. Great for Book Week dress up day.

Total spend $37.

Plus I also have something very, very special on hold. Will be going in tomorrow at 3 to pay for it. Watch this space.

Update: I had found an antique Wagner piano yesterday. Beautifully carved and very special. Unfortunately it hadn't been tuned since 1977 and my friend, Annette, came to check it out for me. When she played it even *I* could hear how very badly out of tune and tinny it sounded. Sob it is so special, but not for us. Would cost upwards of $9000 to repair, as it would need all of its guts replaced. Hopefully someone who is into repairing antique pianos buys it. $350 at Salvos Mitchell.

Yummo

I was so grateful to receive today a packet of Artisan Biscuits from the lovely Steph. Baked by hand and made with white chocolate.

It's so nice to working in an environment where you're appreciated and cared for. Still loving work, overjoyed to be at my school.

May even consider sharing some with the kidlets tomorrow ;-)

Blood Wedding

I was thrilled to see my teaching partner Steph acting tonight in Blood Wedding at ANU. In her words, she was playing "the middle aged harpy" and she did a wonderful job!

We all went out for dinner first, lots of wine and hilarious conversation. Great night out. We're all waiting to see what Steph auditions for next, hopefully something light and fully.

My Birthday Cake

My lovely teaching partner Steph baked me my very own 'Cake Wreak'. I should have worked out that something interesting was about to happen, as she wrote on my card: "Happy Birthday. I hope you have a day full of surprises".

So when I walked into the staffroom at recess I was definitely surprised and impressed to find this cake waiting for me...


omg! What a classic. I was laughing so hard. The best bit was that nobody got it, except Steph and I, which added to the general amusement factor as most people sat there trying to work it out.

Mystery Reader

Fuzzy's class put out invites asking for parents to visit their class bring a favourite book to share and a chat about our jobs. An opportunity I was not going to pass up! So on Wednesday morning I hid out in the Piazza and waited for Fuzzy to come out with a friend to find me!

Of course I picked Fuzzy's favourite story: The Gruffalo.

Hiding in the Piazza

His class is delightful and I had them eating out of my palm in 5 seconds. Read The Gruffalo putting on all the different animal voices, waiting for the kids to join in with the predictive text passages. Considering the Director of the ELC is his teacher I figured I might as well do my best, in case I ever decide to apply for a position there.

Fuzzy on the extreme right Husband Deluxe took a great shot!

Shining Light

Image courtesy of Shining Light.net.au

As a staff we've decided to participate in the Fit to Teach program run by Shining Light. We're all really quite excited about this and have 12 participants, which is phenomenal considering the size of our school! I recieved my confirmation email tonight so we should be starting any day now.

Great way to burn off all the extra crap I ate during the Easter school holidays.

So this is me.....

....this year. My new classroom. Two weeks in and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.

Stimulating, humorous staff: a laugh a minute.

Delightful children: making me happy to be there everyday.

A wonderful, enthusiastic team teaching partner: same wavelength.

A school in my local community: lots of familiar faces.

What more can I say? So grateful for life handing me such a wonderful opportunity.

Sequined Fish mobile: FISH Philosophy revision.

First Day of School 2009

First Day of School 2009: Radford College.

Well it's that time of year and as another school year begins it's a great time of joy in our household. Signalling my return to work and the start of many new adventures for the children. I'm sure that 2009 is going to be a year of growth and learning for all of us.

String Bean is in the lovely Mrs Malcomn's Kinder class and Fuzzy is in Ms Boardman's Pre-Kinder class. So far so good. They are both happy campers :-)

I've also started my appointment at a new school and having a ball. So far, so good.

It's all over for another year.

Look what my little String Bean came home with on her last day of school. A gift that bought tears to my eyes. She put so much care and thought into this picture of me, doing my thing as a teacher. I have it framed and on my desk. Something to treasure always.

Not quite sure why I am lassoing an elephant while jumping.....hehehe. I really am a multi-tasking teaching professional! I'm also wearing my two favourite colours: pink and purple!

On a more serious note I have received my offer for next year and happy to report that I'll be teaching at Charnwood/Dunlop School. Which has a fantastic reputation now. So very happy here.

All finished...

My new Salt & Pepper mug. Very pretty ;-)

What a relief that the school term is over. I was so exhausted by the end of today. Was a real struggle to stick with it. I guess what has really tired me out has been the application process for a new position for next year. We were given two weeks to decide on positions, visit those schools and then write and lodge the online application. Not much fun.

I ended up visiting 6 different schools. All in my local area, no more driving to the other side of town. Some were really interesting and I got a good vibe from, while others were not my cup of tea. It has been quite a stressful two weeks and I'm glad it's over. I won't hear anything now until just before the end of Term 4. So it is now over and done with. I hopefully won't be applying again for about 8 years. I'm not going to use anymore brain space thinking about it.

So thinking about the great new position that I'm going to be placed into, I decided to treat myself to a new mug. I couldn't resist this one. It's pink, girlie and with flourishes too. Very happy here. I think I'm going to leave it on my desk at work.....as a positive reminder of moving on to bigger and better things.