new season, new shows

Heehee. I have grown to like British TV, and September means a new raft of shows to enjoy. I am actually quite excited by this. :) The best show on TV at the moment is a BBC drama about MI5 called Spooks. Ant and I both also enjoy watching You Are What You Eat, which I have blogged about before. CSI is always a favourite of mine; I watched an episode tonight. Ant loves watching house selling shows, or property development shows, or house makeover shows. He jokes that he will know everything about buying a house by the time we come to do it. We watch some personal makeover shows as well, and I have just learned that Ladette to Lady is returning this year: a show where they take a group of rough, unlady-like young women and send them to a traditional finishing school where they have to learn to talk properly, cross their ankles, arrange flowers, learn to sew and cook, and behave like a proper English lady. As you may already know, I am only 56% lady, so I have lots to learn from this show!

overworked?

My dad thinks I have been working too hard. He's probably right. Ant thinks so too, and on his urging I've set up a daily alarm to remind me to go to bed at a reasonable time. It's come to that! I am working really hard, but on things that directly impact my teaching, so I don't begrudge the time I'm spending. Part of the problem is that I'm just not a fast thinker when it comes to having creative teaching ideas. I need time to ruminate. But instead the days fly by and I feel as though I am frequently on the back foot. Ah, well. I will continue to work on my work-life balance.

In other news, I was reading two BBC articles tonight: teaching maths in England may be getting a bit easier soon, and a church in Glasgow has paid the price for having an open door.

news flash

I have discovered this week that I like teaching. Shocking, I know! On Tuesday I came home in a really good mood. I enjoyed my day: a bit of teaching, a bit of lesson planning, a few laughs, a bit of exercise... the whole day seemed about right. I didn't come home depressed or annoyed that I had a job. What a turning point. I didn't really realise until this week how I could regain my sense of enjoying my job. Until now I was feeling mostly relief at the beginning of the new year, but now I find that I actually like being a teacher! I can hear my parents laughing now.... I suppose they knew all along that I would like it.

On the other hand, I am tired all the time. In fact, I am exhausted by my regime. I am sleeping very soundly at nights! I leave school at 6:00 each evening. Fortunately, I would say, they lock the building and close the gates then, so I have to get out by six. They start ringing warning bells in the school at 5:45 to remind me to get out before it's too late! Cycling is proving tiring as well (again, shocking, I know), but in a funny way it also energises me. Some evenings when I'm sitting at my desk I think I won't be able to make it home, but once I get going I seem to arrive in due course.

This afternoon I went up to the fitness suite for 45 minutes. Some of the other young teachers were there as well. I didn't do too much, not wanting to go crazy and then have to cycle home. I did some arm and abs exercises and left it at that. No legs, not ever again. My legs are in enough pain. They are getting stronger!

success!

Here's a picture from before school started of the big sign I made for my room. I laminated it and put it up above the board. I really want to give a positive feeling to the room and I think this sign makes a difference. It's so cheerful looking as well.

new cycling gear

On Friday it was raining when I left for work. By the time I was halfway there it was tipping down in sheets. I was soaked through and quite miserable when I arrived. Fortunately for me, I ordered a cycling jacket earlier this week which arrived on Saturday. It's waterproof and windproof and, perhaps obviously from the picture, good for visibility. It's fantastic.

why do you blog?

Find out the answer! I took a little quiz about the type of blogger I am. Ha! I think I knew already that I blog to share with my friends and stay in touch with people.

You Are a Social Blogger!

Your blog is more of a semi-private affair for your friends. It's how you keep in touch... sharing stories, jokes, and pics.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

ha!

You Are 56% Lady

You're part lady, part modern woman. Etiquette is important to you, but you brush aside rules that are outdated or silly.

Are You A Lady?

i have riden past Truro

By riding back and forth to work last week I covered 70 miles, or 112 kilometers. Wow! I didn't realise I had done that much already. It really hurts in my legs especially on the way there. I have a rather large hill on the way there. On Thursday afternoon, part of one of the main roads was closed and I had to walk part of the way. I am now investigating a shortcut to allow me to avoid a high street that is jam packed in the evenings. The road is so full that I can't get down alongside the cars, and the pavement is so full with pedestrians that I couldn't possibly cut along there either. So hopefully I can find a slightly different way to go to sort it out.

one couple, two laptops

From my Dad. Heehee!

first day of school

I am tired, so I won't write much. (Thinking up a comment to Sonya's baby naming blog entry took up all my time!) But today was a good day of meetings and getting to know a few people. Ant cycled down with me and I cycled home on my own. The day has left me happy and also exhausted. I am going to be so fit if I can keep this up! With all my books in my pannier bags I had to work much harder to get to school. And I'm happy because things are planned at this school! :) Tomorrow I have another day of meetings and preparation. I've made a friend in the maths department who helped me with a few things and didn't mind if I asked questions all the time. And I laminated my big "Welcome to Success" poster and put it above the board. My computer is now on my desk, but not yet working because the IT department was out of extension cords!