I think my blog has scared everyone away!
It's been pretty quiet around here lately. But shouldn't it be the opposite? School holidays are looming (today! last day! yes! hoorah!)
I had a dream tonight which I think stemmed from reality, which is spooky. In the dream, I was running around chasing a little mouse with big ears. It was in this house, and I'd caught him for a while, and all was well. Then I suddenly woke up in the dark hearing this rustling noise, and thought I saw something in my rubbish bin. Gah! I turned the light on, put some contact liquid in (since my eyes get so dry at night I can't see a thing) and I didn't spy anything. Back to bed I went.
Most people are scared of mice, I don't know why. I'm actually thinking of getting them for a class pet next term, if I am still on the class. Mice are cute, and contrary to what some people think, they don't smell if you look after them. I'm a pro-cage-and-hutch-cleaner, just ask my cockatoo and my bunnies. I was at the pet shop deciding between a few goldfish, a hermit crab or some mice. I wanted mice, because they're always active running around in that spinny wheel thingy, aww! But I wasn't sure if they'd be hard to look after. Turns out they only need cleaning once a week apparently. Ha. I could always take them home on weekends and do the cleaning then.
I think if I had the chance, my house would become a petting zoo.
I love animals.
Anyway. I just thought you'd be able to take some goldfish, whack them in a bowl and feed them some sprinkles every day. Turns out you can't. She gave me this rundown on how to get a small tank/bowl up and running, and it was going to cost a small fortune! Mice, on the other hand, just require a glass cagey thing, a spinny wheel, sawdust and food. And the sawdust is cheap, as is the food. What would you choose? (Oh, we ruled out the hermit crabs because they just sleep during the day, so all the kids would see were shells.)
Last day, oh yeah! Last day, oh yeah! It's before 7am and I'm PSYCHED. Sleep-ins, dead ahead!
Today's post shall be less of a post and more of a link.
Click here and prepare to waste time being amused by cartoon clips involving movies and bunnies.
I especially like the Titanic, Brokeback Mountain and Jaws clips. Enjoy.
That is all.
Sleepy. Oh-so-sleepy. Sleep is good.
Today was a really great day. There was the industrial strike (which I wish I could have gone to, apparently the turn out was really fabulous) so the school was "partially" open. There were only about 25 kids from four infants classes there in the morning, so their four teachers (including myself) took turns to keep them occupied, leaving us some time to plan and programme, which was great.
By lunchtime, I had a class of 7 kids. It was so good. And so quiet! And so less stressful. Imagine what you could do with a class that small - they'd just learn, learn, learn. I adore the kindergartens and little kids, they get along so well together. It's just lovely.
This afternoon, I had a batch of parents not show up at all for their parent-teacher interviews, which left me a bit cranky. But, I also had a few give me some good comments and tell me that they were happy with things so that made it a bit better. In other random school news, I was all proud because my report comments got good feedback from my supervisor and principal. First time around, yay! I had to change a few small things, but for the most part they were alright. Hoorah!
Two more days. Two more days. Tra-la-la! Oh, oh, and before I finish -- Can I say how proud I am to announce that my class FINALLY (after two terms of sitting up straight, the precious cherubs) won the Class of the Week award at assembly on Monday! They were so proud -- they came running up to me yesterday morning just bursting with excitement. We now get the special teddy (whose probably heavier than I am, and that's saying something!) in our classroom, and for the holidays too I think. That was the nicest surprise. One of those awesome teaching moments.
ONE TO GO! And then two more days.
So, round two of parent-teacher interviews is now also down. And this time, I came home feeling pretty good minus the rather large headache that has whacked me over the eyes. Gah. I was only supposed to have an easy day, one which would finish at 3.30pm, because I had someone turn up early yesterday. Instead, I got two LAST MINUTE (annoyance) notes back from two more parents just telling me they'd be turning up today. In the afternoon. As in, I couldn't say no because -- no time! It wasn't too bad, except for the fact that I had three before four, oh, and one at 4.30pm. =/
My last appointment was also with a mother who spoke absolutely no English past "hello" and "thankyou". Hey, I can't even say "hello" or "thankyou" in Vietnamese, so she's better than I am! But all would have been fine, since the school has a Vietnamese teacher whose job is to translate between parents and teachers. Sounds dandy, doesn't it? Would have been, had the teacher show. Thankfully, H's older sister came along, so we had a fantastic 14 year old Vietnamese translator. How good is that?
Tomorrow is a half day strike, I'm not striking because I supposedly had an interview in the morning although I'm not sure that they will turn up. Instead, I think I basically get to babysit the kids that are brought to school, since lessons aren't on until 12pm. I'm sort of hoping a lot of parents keep the kids at home, because I can imagine the headache coming back keeping those kids occupied for three hours. It seems sort of pointless really. You're only giving the kids 2 hours of learning time anyway, since 40 minutes is spent having lunch. Oh well. I would be striking if I could, because I think the whole workplace laws situation is ridiculous.
I don't like to speak about politics but John Howard is a complete idiot. And I'll leave it at that. Probably hasn't worked as a "normal" person for a day in his life. ((end grumbles))
Now my head hurts, and I have to go put on some potatoes and vegetables so my mum doesn't freak out when she gets home. I'd actually just like to go to bed. Hope your day has been fabulous, whoever may be reading this.
And can I say how cranky I am that I missed my 2000th page view? 2000!!!!! Thankyou, oh loyal readers and google-searchers who only find this journal because they are searching for "Stabilo", "Black Fingernails Red Wine" and "Songs about feeling lonely". And the rest of ya'll, too. Much love!
Two more to go. And then another two.
Soooo. I am alive! After parent-teacher interviews started this afternoon. I had four lined up, but then I had one parent turn up late, another turn up unexpected (even though she was not due until tomorrow) and my classroom turned into a babysitting room for younger siblings. Anyway, things went well. I only have two tomorrow - one at 3.15 and another at 4.45. Ack! I'm going to try and ask the other parent if they could manage to do it at 3.30 instead, because that's an awful long time to sit around and wait. Wednesday is the killer, with interviews lined up from 3.15-5.30 on the quarter hour.
It wasn't as hard as I expected - I just asked a lot of questions of the parents and told them any concerns and any great things. For the most part, my class is fantastic, just for the behaviours of some of them. And (not surprisingly) the kids who I am concerned about behaviourally and academically have parents who aren't interested in having the interview at all!
Today was a planning day for us. Nothing has been said to me, so I sort of just assumed that I will be looking after 1/2S for next term? I organised my spelling and handwriting, as well as beginning some literacy group work as well. If I can just organise my maths timetable over the holidays, I should be well on my way to planning well! I really like my guys there, it's funny how you grow attached to them. The parents seemed to think I was doing an okay job too, noone threatened to fire me or anything like that. Hoorah!
Other than that, I have nothing to really say except that it's really quite cold. Oh, and I was reading some low level guided reading books today thinking about what to do next term, and I could SO write those books. I wonder if there is a career in that?
I see an apple.
I see an orange.
Look! I see a pear!
I see some grapes.
I see some cherries.
Look! I see a watermelon!
Anyone knows me, knows that I get irritated by a lot of things.
I won't list them, since you'll be here for quite a while if I do. But my biggest pet hate? Idiot drivers. Why the hell are these people on the roads if a) They don't know how to drive b) They're driving like maniacs to show off c) They're driving like idiots JUST BECAUSE. Gah. Why get in a car and endanger other people's lives just because you're a.. well, in Eboni (of Australia's Next Top Model fame)'s words, a fuckhead.
This non-startling revelation came after driving home from J.'s place last night and having this idiot driver who DID NOT KNOW THE ROAD RULES WHILE MERGING ONTO A FREEWAY (A freeway! Geez!) making me use my smartness (ha!) to avoid being run off the road! Picture this: An empty three-way freeway (it was after 10pm) - a four wheel drive in the closest lane to the merging lane, and me - driving down the merging lane about to move onto the freeway. There are three things that should have happened here.
- The four wheel drive could have just indicated and moved into the middle lane, leaving the "slow" lane nearest the merging lane open for me to move into.
- The four wheel drive could have sped up, and cleared the merging area completely.
- The four wheel drive could have slowed down, and cleared the merging area completely.
Instead, this is what happened. I saw the four wheel drive and braked, anticipating he would speed up and clear the area. Instead, he slowed down. Therefore, I sped up to merge in front of him since there was enough room. After I sped up however, HE SPED UP - rather quickly too, and my room to merge ran out. This left me slamming on my brakes again, seeing as by now the merging lane had almost run out - just leaving the narrow side of the freeway. After he cruised (slowly) passed me, I had to pull out behind him after travelling nearly 100m on the edge. I honestly think that if there had been a car behind me, there would have been an accident. What the hell was that person's problem?
(My personal thoughts were that he fell into the "c" category from above - Driving like an idiot JUST BECAUSE. The way he slowed down, and then sped up to cut me off, AND the fact that he refused to just change into the empty lane next to him like any normal person would.. Gah. Some days, I just want to scream.
***
So. Being the internet dork that I am, I decided to Google Search idiot dirvers and see what I could come up with. These are the favourite posts so far.
# Idiot Driver Dot Com Dot Ay-Yew
Here, you can go online and register when you see an idiot driver. I didn't go in and signup because I am lazy, but who knows what sort of stuff goes on in there. I found this post quite amusing too, from people on a chat forum who linked to that site:
Person 1: Excellent site. Should be used lots.
Person 2: Geez! What ever happened to just flipping someone off for not indicating? That's far more satisfying.
Person 1: Flip them off and report them on this site.
# Geeks with Blogs
(People who tail-gate and rear-end, REALLY piss me off.)
"Whilst I was in the drive-thru at the local McDonalds yesterday waiting
on my daily dose of good wholesome nutrition, I was rear ended twice by
the same driver. The first time, I let it go, and gave the chick the
finger. The second time, though, I couldn't let it go. I got out and
had some very choice words for her which made her cry. Yes, I am a
monster, but if you do something like that, you deserve anything I can
dish out."
# Someone's Random Thoughts
All of the wonderful things people think they can do while they're driving. Very interesting.
# Idiot Drivers by Durst
Ha! See? Am not alone. And I thought I was.. sheesh.
"You know what drives me nuttier than squirrel breath?
Idiot drivers. More precisely, idiot drivers who for some strange
reason have a vendetta against me. You think I'm being paranoid?"
# An Ojar Dot Com Rant
A list of things which are irritating. And I second them all. Okay, except I don't really condone anyone being run off the road (especially my little encounter last night) BUT people who don't go the speed limit, whether it is UNDER or OVER, are annoying.
"I think people who drive in the fast lane going the speed limit, or
under, deserve to get run off the road... that is what the slow lane is
for stupid!!!"
***
I think I'm about googled out now, and that was only from the first page. But seriously? If you are an idiot driver and somehow came across my blog? I hate you. And if you are the four wheel driver owner in Sydney who was a fuckhead (as mentioned previously), all I can say is KARMA baby.
The alarm went off; music filled the room.
She awoke slowly, stretched groggily and burrowed back under the covers. The music continued. The music changed. The longer she lay there, hiding from the world, the music went on. Fast paced, to slow, to easy listening, to the drone of the radio announcer's voice.
This was a morning ritual for her. To wait, as long as she could possibly wait before she arose to face the day. And each morning, there was one song which would be 'her song' for the day. That unknown song which would be playing just as she pulled her frame from the bed and stretched to turn off the alarm. That song is the song that would shape her day.
She had been subconsciously doing this for as long as she could remember. Strangely enough, the song which happened to be playing always, always seemed to have lyrics which would somehow become apparent and connected to the unknown day which lay ahead of her.
She waited. She wiggled her toes. She yawned widely, savouring the pleasure that came from wallowing in her sheltered haven from the world. She knew the time would be soon.
That time came. Her second alarm beeped furiously. She turned it off quickly, and waited; ears pricked for those new lyrics.
And I don't want the world to see me, cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.
So, it begins.
Another day.
Just like all the others.
But maybe, just maybe, today would be different. And she believed with all her heart, that her new song would be a part of it. She arose, turned off the dial, and headed for the door.
Haha, kids can be so cute.
When they're not yelling or making each other cry or beating each other up or crying, that is. I stayed back after school today to try and get some book marking done seeing as the next time I'm at school, I'll be having parent-teacher interviews so I needed to sort of impress, ha! My kids are pretty clever, most of them are naturally bright even if they don't do all the things that the new report cards say they should do. At least they like to write and attempt things. Which brings me to today's post, proudly sponsored by J. in my class's journal. Brought a smile to my face after sitting at my desk for over an hour ticking and sticking.
On the weekend I playd socr with my sitr. My sitr wun bcos I wet ese on hyo. i dont go hard on gurls inspeshlee my sitr. I thing it is men bcos thay can hot us wen thay get mad. My sitr is the best bcos she lockafdrme.
Is that not the cutest/funniest thing you've ever read? I'll now provide you with a translation, in case you couldn't quite read what J. was saying. I love, love, love that I've developed this teacher translation radar. It's quite handy to have around.
On the weekend I played soccer with my sister. My sister won because I went easy on her. I don't go hard on girls, especially my sister. I think it is mean because they can hurt us when they get mad. My sister is the best because she looks after me.
I burst out laughing reading the "They can hurt us when they get mad" part. Isn't that true of most females? How sweet of J. to LET his girly sister win, though. Bahaha! I must say, I've never actually heard of the word lockafdrme before, but it would be handy to have around. Squishing three words into one is a great time saver!
Whilst it's really cute and I find it amusing, please note that I am not making fun of dear J.'s writing. In fact, I'm really quite proud to say that the snippet above was only a teeny segment of his writing journal, which has come along way. And even though he has some spelling issues, he makes attempts to write all the words, and it still comes across as making sense.
Proud teacher. Yep. But also an amused one!
Woohoo! Thanks to the lovely Enn, I have hit my milestone!
I have had 100 comments on this blog. Amazing! *clears throat* I'd just like to say thanks to my mum for making me want to use Typepad, and my friends for commenting -- okay, this sounds remarkably like a lame award winning speech but I am excited! I am honoured just to have people stop by here and read every so often when they get the chance. I'm really enjoying having the opportunity to babble on about anything and have it there to (hopefully) amuse and interest people. Hoorah for freedom of speech!
Today at school was insane. I had three D. tantrums (although they were mini ones, that's not the point) which I handled remarkably well, I thought. I was cool and calm and collected. Three kids were rude to me today on playground duty, yet I continued to remain calm and collected (though yelled at lunchtime, yes, I'll admit that) - and I am happy to say that one boy got a strike (next strike equals suspension) and two other girls are on warnings. I hate to sound mean but they completely deserved it. Strike-boy started a tackle football match practically on top of kindy kids, then threw the football at me when I asked him to quit the game. Bitchy-girls gave me attitude because it was "their football" that I wouldn't let them play with, and decided it would be nice to mutter sweet nothings under their breath as they walked away. Perhaps they forgot that I could still hear them? Perhaps it was intentional? What the hell ever.
I was also delirious from period pain which has not lessened in the slightest. My stomach is really really badly bloated too -- so much so that I walked for 30 minutes yesterday and 30 minutes just now because it alarmed me how huge I looked. I know I can't blame the period for all of that (as much as I'd like to!) but I swear it wasn't that bad recently. Ack. It'll be good to get back into the daily routine of walking anyway. My Ipod-song-mime-walk routine is back in business.
And now I am going to go relax with my feet up because I am absolutely knackered.
Why is it that rainy days always make you think about things?
Not that you don't think of things on any normal day, but on rainy days I always seem to find myself pondering stupid little things. I couldn't remember all of them if I tried, but the thoughts are always there. I must have had a thousand little thoughts today. Some worries, some wishes, some joy, some wonder.
Why does thinking bring such good things, but also such confusion? And why do I think too much sometimes? If only the universe were clearer. Please be nice with my poem.
I look out the window;
Grey skies meet my gaze with silent gloom.
Clouds hang over the horizon,
Clouds hang over my head.
I look out the window;
Raindrops fall like teardrops gentle.
Whispers are in the wind,
Whispers are in my mind.
I look out the window;
Memories hovering on the horizon far.
Heavy hangs the misty air,
Heavy hangs my heart.
June, 2006.
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