So I don't do this often, call it creative bloggers block or something.

So. I've always secretly been in love with John Mayer. His voice gives me shivers and let's face it, he's hot. Rather hot, in fact.

He was hot preppy.

And now he is even hotter in this grungy, let-go stage. Someone give me a cold shower please.

So this post will probably come back to bite me on the ass one day.

I had my first day back in at school after the flu from hell, and thankfully, we ended up having the whole day off class so that we would have planning time. The last few planning days we had, ended up being stacks of meetings that took forever and very little planning so I was very wary. Anywwwwwhoooo.

((Oh, and I was also not amused to come in this morning and see a message on the noticeboard saying "Reports due to Marg by today". In fact, realistically, my heart actually stopped beating in my chest, because OH MY GOD I HAVE BEEN OFF ALL WEEK AND I HAVE DONE DIDLY-SQUAT OF MY REPORTS. Shit! I went down to my room, switched the computer on and was going to frantically conjure up some report comments, until someone walked in, asked what I was doing with all the lights off in my room, and then proceeded to inform me that the message was a joke. Haha! HA! Yes. HA! Funny!))

So, after a super short meeting (the best kind) we got told we had the day to do reporting and assessing. So I spent a good few hours sitting in front of a computer typing up comments about the first half of the year for my 25 munchkins. It was sort of fun for the few five kids or so. Hey, my first report writing experience, it was cool, alright? Suddenly writing the things I've always wanted to say but never could before, power. Lots of power. Until I got bored and then, dear me, it took forever. Seriously, about 2.5-3 hours later, I had finished them and my back was buggered.

Then I had to go learn how to use the reporting database, so that was quite fun too. Not too hard, just fussy and fiddly and my back still hurt. Oh, so did my arm, in case you wanted to know. The phantom gland pain in my right underarm/pit is still there. And my wonderful doctor (HA) said that Panadol will fix it. Right. If I came in with my arm torn off from a rabid dog attack, she'd probably still prescribe me with Panadol. HAAAAAAAAA. But. I finished it! All my little ticked boxes and comments are done, with the exception of one little boy whose name somehow managed to be wiped off my class list. Poor dear. I never knew how hard it was to actually write personalised comments for everyone, the hardest ones to write for are the dears who are a) naughty little turds, b) behaviourally challenged or c) have learning difficulties. But I think I survived. Phew!

Hi! Welcome back to my blog! It's great to have you.

NOW HAVE YOU SEEN HOW CREATIVE I WAS LAST NIGHT BECAUSE (OMG) I RE-DID THE COLOURS AND EVEN MADE MY OWN BANNER AND I FEEL SO CLEVER.

If you spot anything that doesn't work, let me know. I'm below-beginner at this graphical hanky-panky. Bunnies are too cute though. I go aww everytime I see them. Would anyone like to diagnose this bizarre medical illness I have apparently come down with? Out of nowhere, I currently have swelling and soreness and stiffness under my right armpit, sort of near the glandy bits. Nothing caused it, but it hurts like hell, and I can't lift my arm out or do things normally without it hurting.

I finally ventured outside yesterday to take some photos since the digitical camera HAS RETURNED. I was going to take a couple of me, but considering the fact that I had one hell of a bad hair day, I refrained. Instead, I got my old car, my new car, and Lucy - my lop bunny who is getting rather massive and changing her colour. Here we go!

Okay, so I didn't actually take this one. I found it on the camera when I was uploading mine and thought it was cute. Mum and Dad - coming back on the train. And no, she is not naked.

My dear old car. She looks rather in this photograph actually, maybe because you can't see the big-ass dent and rust in the back. Any buyers? Only $2000 Aussie dollars!

The NEW CAR! You know, looking at the two pictures side by side, they look kind of similar. Except one is, you know, ten times hotter than the other. Isn't she lovely? Isn't she perfect?

This is a blurry photo of Lucy. At this very moment, she is considering gnawing your face off. Be afraid. Her ears sense danger.

Help! She's on the move! Her eyes are narrowed and she is focused. She is ready to BITE! Run! Run!

Gosh, you people are dorks. How can you be scared of such an innocently beautiful bunny rabbit? -cuddles her- She used to be all orangey, but now, she is speckledy. Still cute though.

Tomorrow,because I know you all want them, I shall perhaps upload the pictures that were taken of Max having his bath. Haha. Rather amusing. Until then..!

Ok, so ever since I started reading people's blogs a year or so ago, I've always been amused by some of the "searches" that link people to the sites.

Especially the sites that actually post what it was people were looking for. So far, since I've had this public blog open, I've only had a few search engine stat results, mainly song lyrics. Especially for Stabilo and for The Fray. Apparently, people really like Flawed Design. Poor dears, ending up at my old ranting and rambling blog.

Anywho. I am rather disturbed to check my stats for today, and this is how someone found me:

Vomit videos to watch online. -cough-

Okay. So I don't know what's more disturbing. The fact that there are "45,565 results containing vomit videos to watch online (0.17 seconds)" or the fact that someone went searching through all of those pages to somehow end up at this blog, because my bloglink? Is not on Page Number 1. DISTURBING.

In non-vomit news, my parents arrived back in Sydney yesterday after catching a 12 hour train ride. Mum wasn't able to fly because she had the keyhole surgery. She's doing fine, feeling very sorry for herself and is still quite immobile. She's having next week off work and we'll be looking after her quite a bit for a while yet. I'm just glad she's home.

J. and I had a great dinner last night. We did end up going to that Barnaby's place and it was gorgeous! It was candlelit and wooden floors, really really nice. We got taken to this table at the back of the restaurant right near the patio, so we could see the river behind us. SO NICE. We had garlic bread for starters, J. drank and I had orange juice since I was the chaueffer for the evening. J. ate shredded duck and salads for his entree, I had tuna fettucine minus the tuna, and it had pinenuts and mushrooms, just YUM. For my main, I just ate a sirloan steak with mashed potatoes, and it wasn't too bad. J. ate trout, and I was rather alarmed to see THE WHOLE FISH staring at me off his plate. I do love that we are in our 20's but can still make fun of our food. Good times.

Dumb Moment(s) of the Evening:

* Realising I actually can't drive in my high heeled shoes which I have not worn in approximately 3 years. Realising I am also rather bad at buckling up ankle-heeled shoes. It was quite nice though having J. down on his knees in the parking lot doing up said buckle. Love!

* Erm, cutting my fettucine with one large super-sized steak knife in front of J. and several of our waiters before J. decided to point out exactly why he was laughing at me. What! I just grabbed the first knife I saw, how the heck was I supposed to know that I was using the wrong one? Until I tried to cut my steak with a butter knife I guess...

Today is May the 26th, 2006.

And it's my gorgeous boy's 24th birthday. Hoorah! HAPPY BIRTHDAY J.!!!

Since I'm 95% positive he has no idea that this blog even exists, I suppose I am safe to say what I planned for tonight. He yelled at me when I asked what he wanted for his birthday because I have my car loan. And since he's really quite hard to buy for - I told him I'd shout him to dinner instead, somewhere fancy shmancy that neither of us has been before. And hey, in almost 4 years, we've been to a fair few of our local restaurants. It was rather a challenge. So I scrapbooked him a car with all these cute random facts in it about the day he was born (Thanks to Wikipedia) and then booked this snazzy restaurant. This is where we are going! I haven't dressed up in a long time. Oh dear. But I hope he enjoys it, it's got some amazing ratings in the food books we have.

And yes. I am still coughing like a mad-woman, although this mother of all flus has now decided to reside in my SINUS instead of in my CHEST. How thoughtful of it.

Anyway. J. is the most important person in my life, and how he puts up with all of my crap is a miracle - so happy birthday babe. I love you, and you're fabulous. And here is one of my favourite photos of all time. It's us in Scotland in 2004, after just hiking up that big-ass mountain! Love!

Strange that I'm randomly thinking of this topic when I'm not even at school.

Actually, I am instead sitting at home feeling rather sorry for myself and wishing I had someone around to keep me company. Alright. Wishing I had someone around to whine to. That sounds more real. (Although, the irony is that my mum gets home tomorrow, and she's going to be the one whining to me!) ((Although, that is to be expected since she did undergo, you know, emergency surgery and has four gashes on her stomach.)) (((Although, my evil cough did leave me gagging and retching for hours last night with no-one to cry to.))) ((((I really need to quit with the brackets already.))))

Something made me start thinking back to high school, and the teachers that did playground duty there. At high school there was the quad area and then the oval. That was basically it. So, two teachers at recess and two teachers at lunch time. On a staff of about 50, mind you. Meaning, the teachers didn't really have THAT many duties when you think about it.

I work at a school with a staff of about 12 teachers. And we have also got a quad and an oval. But because our staff are so small, we do playground duties 5 times a week. I have three lunchtime duties and 2 recess duties. It never used to bother me at first, but it's just getting so boring. I know it's necessary (hello, duty of care!) but it's a big waste of time. No wonder I get nothing done, ever. People think that teaching is an easy job, you get in at 9, you leave at 3 and hey! You get lots of holidays too. I'd like to respond to that with a big FUCK YOU! (Pardon the french.) ((Damn, I used brackets again.)) (((And by the way, I have never ONCE got in at 9 and left at 3.))) ((((And my lovely holidays are spent planning for the next bloody term that is about to start, so HA.))))

Our oval is pretty massive. And we get probably around 200 or so kids down there, most times? So how the hell is ONE teacher supposed to actively keep an eye on 200 cherubs who are running, screaming, kicking, throwing, dancing, walking, playing, etc etc? It just seems so hopeless. The nicest part of playground duty is being trailed around by a random group of kids who all chirp things like; "Miss, can I hold your apple for you?" The worst playground duty I've had so far this year? Breaking up two fights in 5 minutes. Different fights with different people, mind you. Gah.

Why am I thinking of this? I have absolutely no clue. Possibly because I would have had a dreaded oval lunchtime duty today if I actually had a voice and had my ass at school. And since I am not there, I have no cute quote for the day by one of my kids. Instead I shall do a random google web search and post the first tacky quote I can find.

Quote of the day:

"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand."

Proudly brought to you by Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky!" Oh, and also the website that it produced. Which is apparently named The Simpsons Random Quote Generator. The wonders of Google!

What a day! What a weird, weird day.

So. Today was my first day back at school after taking Monday and Tuesday off to recover my terrible flu and lost voice. I felt a bit better this morning, and just had a croaky voice so all was well. The kids were really sweet, they had written me get well cards and stuff. Very aww-worthy. I also heard that my little tantrum-thrower (behaviourally challenged) darling was also asking for me and wanting to know why I wasn't there. I am loved, hoorah!

We had school photos today. In the freezing cold wind, and the kidlets were all told they had to take off their jumpers and just be wearing their short sleeved t-shirts. Poor buggers. That resulted in a few tears from a couple of the girls, whose goosebumps would have been visible from several streets away. Anyway. The kids had their individual shots, and were all angelic. Even tantrum-thrower D. was well behaved and did a big cheesy smile. It was great!

Then came the group photo. And all hell broke loose. D. decided he didn't WANT to sit down to have his photo taken. He then also decided he didn't want to stand to have his photo taken. Then he decided he'd sit back down again, thankyouverymuch. But he would not face the right way, or put his knees and feet together. In fact, he didn't really want a part of ANY of this photo, alright? If the death stares this kid creates could kill.. haha. In a weird way, it was sort of funny watching him be so stubborn. But then not. Because twentytwo other munchkins were all freezing their asses off and getting rather narky towards D.

And then came the tantrums.

They were so bad, and involved screaming. Lots of screaming. He has never lashed out at me since I've had him, he's always just been emotional rather than violent. But he did lash out at my supervisor who came to talk him into getting off the chair and out of the photo. The tantrum continued. The other kids got pissed. I was trying to settle them down and hey! That's when my voice decided to go on me. So I'm there rasping at the kids to try and just stay focused, everything will be okay, and practice your big smiles! There we go!

It was so bad that the school principal got called and had to physically remove D. from the photo. And that was the end of my first photo shoot as a teacher. In completely random news though, my hair DID decide to behave today, although I believe as I was gritting my teeth and saying something like Twisties! Or Holidays! Or Smarties! (Ah hell, I don't remember which one I said) - I managed to get a mouthful of hair in my mouth. Just another lovely photographic memory.

I assumed the rest of the day was going to be awful. We had maths to do and lots of writing work, AND we needed to do singing practice for our Education Week item. D. hates singing at the best of times, he has issues with his ears. Anyone seen There's Something about Mary ?? He's going to grow up to be a Warren. Anywho. He was an angel ALL DAY. He even came up and gave me this biggest hut at the end of the day because he said he would miss me if I was away tomorrow. It was a rather odd day.

Oh, and in other news. I was told to take tomorrow off and rest my voice, because it's obviously not well enough to talk properly. Day off. Another one! Slack I tell you. I am slack!

Teaching quote of the day:

"You're not the boss of me! Only Miss S. is the boss of me!"
Dear T, you are so right, mwahahaha!

Hi there. Aly here. Just thought I'd write you a small letter, expressing my love-hate relationship with you right now. I hope you enjoy!

We've had quite a past together, doctors surgery. Why, did you know that you are the first surgery I ever went to? That's right! When we moved to this lovely neighbourhood when I was but a toddler, there you were - your doors flung open in welcome and we knew, we just knew, this was the local GP for us. My lovely Dr C is still there, she has barely aged a day too. It is rather creepy now that I mention it, but you know, I won't get into that right now.

While I don't remember back that far, I do remember the lollipops. Ahh, the lollipops. What better way to bribe young children into sitting still and either a)getting needles or b)watching other people get needles or c)running around the room hiding from the thought of needles. Dear doctors surgery, is it you and your lollipops to blame that I have many, many cavities and a rather large fear of the dentist??

You were there, dear surgery, many times when I needed you. Like that six month period when I was in Years 4-6 when I turned into an accident prone maniac. You were there to set those broken bones; all five thousand of them. Well, let's see. Do you remember them all? There was the left wrist x 4, the right wrist x 1, the numerous toes, the left ankle, oh and all of those fingers. Good times, good times.

I remember, the time when that lovely old doctor disappeared. He was the one who used to chase me around the room when Dr C. wasn't there to calm me down with the hint of lollipops. He was the one who used to scare me into hiding behind the observation room curtains because he terrified me. Absolutely terrified me. I remember when he disappeared, dear surgery, and it wasn't for another few years that I learned that he had actually committed suicide. A very sad time.

Ah yes. I could go on for hours. There is such a history between you and I, I cannot deny that. I could mention those brown chairs in the waiting room which are older than I am. I could mention the horrid receptionists that come and go. I could even mention your bathroom door, which to this day does not have a lock on it and leaves me in a panic every time I have the urge to pee since obviously, someone could just walk in at any time and expose my nether parts to the entire universe. Or, you know, waiting room. Or, nobody. But that is not the point.

Alas, dear surgery. The times have changed. And so I have a question. Please, take your time before you answer. WHY THE FUCK DOES IT NOW TAKE OVER 3 HOURS TO BOOK A SIMPLE VISIT TO MY FAMILY DOCTOR??

Your ever patient, er, patient,

Aly.

One I actually remember for once. That's impressive.

You know those weird dreams that you sometimes get when you don't sleep well? My last night's sleep was just like that, full of completely weird and random things. I thought they were real too, until I woke up.

Me teaching a Synchronised Swimming class.
The "Lockdown" evacuation system alarm going off.
All my kids being herded into our classroom and school wing, and me having to lock everything up.
The other three classes in our school wing deserting us and leaving my class alone.
Director Ron Howard coming in to rescue us at the end.

Lucky me also woke up with sinus, a cough that sounds a lot like a seal and has left my throat feeling scraped down with a spatula, as well as a voice that likes to fade in and out alot. So I rang my supervisor and had another day off school. I know it's a Monday and I do feel bad about it but I was just imagining my throat after a day of screaming. It really was the worst day to have off too - Mondays are so easy. I miss only 3 hours of class, 1 hour of RFF time and 1 hour of assembly. Damnit. But you can't pick and choose the days you actually get sick so.. Bleh.

I was watching Music Max on Foxtel yesterday and realised that I don't see that many video clips these days. Hear the music, sure, that's what radio is for. But actually sit down and watch the videos? I hardly ever do that! But I have made the decision that there is one band whose filmclips are just, well, fucking amazing. And that band is Nickelback.

First there was the older songs like How You Remind Me, Too Bad, etc. They weren't too fabulous. I mean, they were good at the time. And I still adore those songs, the angry ones used to freak me out a wee bit, but they got me addicted to Nickelback. And you know that clip I'm talking about right? The poor guy who kept seeing his girlfriend upset and couldn't figure out why she wasn't talking to him, and all the clues which ended up telling us that he was actually... Well. I won't spoil it JUST in case.

And then came the Someday lyrics and filmclip. I absolutely adore that song, to this day. To me it's one of those songs that you can never skip on an album (or an Ipod), you know? And that filmclip, omg. So clever. I cried like a baby the first time I saw it. And the second. Well. You know.

My next favourite filmclip? Only the most romantically beautifully tear-worthy song around lately. Far Away, yep. How can you resist the lyrics;
That I love you, I have loved you all along. And I miss you - been far away for far too long. I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go. Stop breathing if I don't see you anymore.. Sad sad fireman filmclip. Left me in tears too. I should probably not watch television anymore.

And my most favourite? The song I fell in love with since the first time I heard All The Right Reasons?  None other than Savin' Me. I don't even know why this song hits me so hard every time I hear it. I just can't stop myself from belting out the notes, no matter where I am.
Say it for me, say it to me - And I?ll leave this life behind me. Say it if it?s worth savin' me. -sniffles- AND THE FILMCLIP. Whoever is making these music videos is an absolute genius. I won't describe it, but hopefully the link I've just shoved underneath this text will talk about it more. Let's hope so, anyway.

Edit: I took it out because everytime I loaded my blog, I'd get blasted. Do a google for it yerself. Savin' Me is the best filmclip. Ever.

Hi there. This is your warning that I shall now be venting. Thankyou.

Okay. I am a beginning teacher. I do realise that this is my first year out working with 25 young children five days a week. I do realise that I am subjecting my body to one hell of a lot more germs than I have ever subjected it to in the past. On a daily basis. I realise that. I do. I even realise that I need to let my immune system build up some defenses to these forementioned germs because, you know, 25 kids equals one shitload of germs. That means, yes, I will get sick a lot this year. Fine.

But three fucking flu hits in 1.5 school terms? Bloody hell. This is ridiculous. I wonder if I can claim all this medication on my tax stuff this year. I feel like death. DEATH I TELL YOU. And it only started yesterday, suddenly it's a full blown flu. Gah.

(Yes. I realise how lame this is, me whining about having a cold when my poor momma is in hospital.) I'm a bad, bad daughter. Well, no, I'm not really. But I am awfully whiny when I'm sick.

Speaking of momma news. She is okay. She rang me and sounded great, and fingers crossed she'll be home sometime next week.