Dusting off the cape again.

Just as I think things will calm down, life throws something else onto my plate.

The art installation is finished, and we are holding a celebration tomorrow - parents and the press are invited, and we will be having a barbeque, campfire with singing and marshmallows. It will be fantastic, and the children are all looking forward to it - they're all a bit over the artwork after four months! The only thing is that it has meant a couple of stupidly busy days, climbing ladders, varnishing, drilling, sawing etc etc.

And just as I feel that I can relax, we begin to wind up for ERO to come and review the school's performance.

Now I don't want this to turn into a whinge-fest, but I sure would welcome any ideas for maintaining my sanity during the last half of this term - from now until July 3rd life is going to need full cape and undies over the tights!

And yet more art!

Well, what a couple of days! We have finally got all the kids' art works up in the paddocks around school, which has meant some frantic drilling, wiring, waratah bashing, riveting etc... and they look fantastic.

But we sat back and did an overview with the children in class, and they commented that there were no learning objects (and they felt that we had not done any art as teachers!).

So the last couple of days has also meant buying and priming large sheets of plywood, drawing the required words and objects, cutting them out with a jig saw, and sanding the edges. Tomorrow I'll paint them, and then we'll get them varnished over the weekend. They have to be up on the fence by Thursday because that's our grand opening!

And while all the art's been going on, I've also been teaching full time - marking, planning and reflecting as usual.

But at the weekend I made time to just be with the family, strolling in town, sitting with coffee, walking round a lake with a friend... and it reminded me that life is good. You just have to take off the cape every now and then so that you can slow down and savour it. Yum!

Nailing kids to posts!

No, not really child abuse.... just the culmination of a long art inquiry at school. Watch this space for pictures of our awesome corrugated iron art - 5 foot tall pukeko, fruit bowls, kids playing sport - which give a message about our school and what we value.

It's been a long haul, but we're getting close to the end... the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't sound like an oncoming train any more!

I'll be glad to get my classroom back to normal, and also to be able to spend a whole day in my teaching clothes rather than my painting outfit. It also means one less thing to pay attention to during a school day... so the cape can stay hung on the back of the staffroom door for once!

Phew!

Wow! It's been a day and a half! The soccer season started today, which meant 3 games for my sons (number 1 son played for two different teams). So from 8am until 1pm we were variously occupied up at the main soccer complex in town.

Added to that, number 1 son needed new winter school uniform - so I had to dash into town with him between games. Unfortunately he is so enormous (6' 2" at just turned 13) that it was difficult to find a shirt in the correct colour with sleeves that made it all the way to his wrists!

And on top of that the parents' group at my school were holding a fundraiser, and needed home baking to sell.... so I was up early baking shortbread stars and chocolate chip cookies.... ask me next time for the recipes... delivered the baking as we were shopping for uniform.

A lot of running around today, and normal housekeeping jobs that needed doing. We were meant to be going to a friend's house for dinner, but my head was in such a spin after all the running around that we didn't make it.

Those "L" plates are firmly in place today, but I think I may have forced a draw!

One down....

First day of term went well - apart from the fact that 6 little sweethearts did not return. One has gone to Australia on two weeks' holiday (yes, I know we've just had two weeks off... but it's cheaper once the holidays have finished!), one is staying with grandparents at the top of North Island, one has gone to another school (unexpectedly) and the others... well, they just don't do "first days" (or last days, or Fridays, or Mondays, or days with an 'a' in them etc etc... and then their parents wonder why they don't achieve as well as their classmates!)

But today went really well, and the children were quickly into the flow of things. We did reading, recount writing, maths, inquiry and a spelling test.... and the kids complained that the day had seemed too short!

It's taken me a term to get them back into the swing of learning things, but now they're mostly getting there they've realised it's fun to exercise your brain!

The down side is that I now have 20 spelling tests to mark, and 20 draft writing books to look at as well.... and a maths lesson to plan for tomorrow. And I'm baking fruit scones because my own boys have eaten all the home baking in the last two days.

Oh well, out comes the cape again... watchout world - here I come!

How much???

Shoe shopping achieved yesterday, so both sons will go off to school in new footwear tomorrow morning. I had to stop my jaw from dropping when I heard the price for 2 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of soccer boots! "That's why I work full time," I thought!

Term 2 starts tomorrow morning, so it's last minute organising and collecting gear. I went in today and sorted out the furniture in my room - the cleaner was in on Friday and wanted to dust the skirting boards so everything had to move. I now have a classroom that looks like we mean business!

The forecast is good for tomorrow, so the children will be able to play outside - essential for reducing spare energy levels (theirs) and maintaining sanity levels (mine). We have a busy day, starting when the library van arrives at 9.00am. Throw in a 'start of term' assembly and the first session is just about full up already! So the busy-ness begins....

Better go and iron my cape - wouldn't want to look like a totally scruffy and unprofessional superwoman tomorrow morning, now would I?

...And back again!

Did you miss me? Of course you didn't - there are much more important things happening in your life than fretting about me and my absence!

The conference was like the curate's egg.... good (indeed brilliant) in parts. Top marks to the Mana Education Centre in Porirua who organised the whole thing.... great keynote speakers, interesting workshops.... just let down by the venue a bit.

Still, on the whole an extremely worthwhile couple of days. As Sean Covey would suggest, I sharpened my saw (check out the 7 habits of highly effective teenagers if you're not sure what I'm banging on about).

I am now looking forward to a busy weekend, getting organised for the start of term 2. Shoe shopping for my sons comes first... and soccer boots too, as it's the start of the season. And school socks, and winter trousers, and fleece tops, and...... you get the picture, don't you?!

Dust off the cape again - Saturday shopping here I come! :)

Away!

Another busy day yesterday - I didn't achieve half the things I wanted to, but that's the way it usually goes in my universe. I DID manage to get to the hairdresser's though, which is a minor miracle as it is nearly 5 months since my last visit! My fringe has been a testament to my own skills with scissors, and over Christmas, in desperation at not being able to get to Debbie, I even pressganged hubby into cutting nearly 2 inches off the length!! A brave man indeed!

But yesterday I got there and have returned looking much less like the wild woman of Wanganui, and almost (dare I say it without laughing?) professional.

And today I'm off on a little adventure with the principal and the other teacher at my small rural school. We're heading off to a conference on building a cutting-edge curriculum, which will take me away from home for 2 nights. The school in investing in this very expensive professional development, and is also putting us up in a nice motel for the duration.

We head off this afternoon, and return on Friday evening - hopefully inspired and invigorated for the start of term 2 next week.
Meanwhile, I still have to pack, organise the paperwork we'll be working on this evening, finish planning for next term so that I don't have to work the whole weekend, bake cookies (comfort food while I'm not with my boys.... for me, that is, not them!) and fit in a coffee with a close friend that I haven't seen for a couple of weeks.

Out comes the cape, then, and off I go again........

Well, another busy day in paradise. It's officially school holidays, which means I spent today at school painting large corrugated iron chickens and pukeko and kids and letters. Also used a few new muscles banging warratahs into the ground so that we can display our school name proudly for all to see.

I also sharpened pencils and did other essential behind the scenes stuff like that - things I just don't get time for when the kids are all at school.
My gorgeous sons came and helped out for the morning, while hubby worked. All-in-all a busy yet worthwhile sort of day in our household.

Hubby is working on a new photograph - he's a freelance photographer who does a mean line of post-production work to recreate the depth of detail that our eyes can see but the standard camera doesn't. It's all a bit beyond me, but I know that his images are fabulous, and really stand out from the crowd.
The one he was working on today was a motorbike + sidecar racing outfit, and he's producing it as a gift for a business contact to use promotionally.

He's just starting up his business after 7 years of being a house-husband. When we moved from the UK to NZ we decided that one of us needed to stay at home - the boys were only 2 and 5 then - and hubby decided to give up work. He found it quite hard at first, going from a busy university environment to being at home in a strange land with a 2 year old for company, but I think he appreciates the strong relationship he has with both the boys now. He had to learn how to cook, clean, operate a washing machine, and he has done the shopping, washing, ironing (yes, I have a man who IRONS every week for me!) since we got here.

And now in our family we don't have boy's jobs and girl's jobs... we just have things that need doing and people who are capable and willing to do them. I'm so very lucky, I know. :)

But he was finding it a bit tough to get back into the workforce after 7 years at home, (he was in web design and construction - and computers have changed quite a bit since 2003!) so he decided to set up his own photography company.

It's just beginning to get off the ground, and I'm helping out where I can... mostly things like cataloguing the photos and chatting to people when we go out and cover events. I really enjoy working alongside him, and love being a photographer's assistant even more than I like teaching!

My long term dream is to leave teaching and become a full time studio/gallery manager for him... but that is a few years away yet. Still, ....
"you've got to have a dream,
if you don't have a dream
how you gonna have a dream come true?"
to quote Captain Sensible (and isn't that something I never thought I'd have to say!)

But tonight's nearly done - I've made a big dent in the ironing pile (my way of giving hubby a holiday when I'm off school) and it's time to hang up the cape for the night. I'm going to sit and relax with hubby and a cup of tea. Bliss!

"So.... why a probationary superwoman?" I hear you ask. Well, as I was getting mildly stressed the other day (baking, planning a set of reading lessons for my class, and trying to clean the house ready for visitors to arrive) my husband happened to tell me "you're not superwoman, you know. Chill out and let it go."
That's mildly frustrating for me because I think I SHOULD be able to do all these things as once, and probably while I'm re-puttying the kitchen window and making a roman blind for the dining room! So clearly I'm no superwoman (yet) and am horrifyingly normal... but I'm working on it.
I take multi-tasking to a professional level (most teachers do) and feel I ought to be able to do all these things at home as well.
Take this morning, for example. We had a couple of friends round with their young children for an Easter egg hunt. Yes, I know Easter was last week, but that's a whole different story!
So I'm up at 6.30, getting hot cross buns in the oven (made the dough last night but ran out of time to bake them), baking a chocolate cake - number 2 son's request for the week - and some gingernut cookies - number 1 son's idea, cleaning the bathroom, organising the kids to pick up the grass from the garden (husband cut it yesterday evening but I ran out of daylight to get it all raked up!) and get the chairs out, hiding the eggs, tidying the living room, feeding the cat, waking up the husband etc etc. Oh, and I actually made time to eat breakfast as well. And after 4 hours of frenzied busy-ness I threw on a summer dress 5 minutes before everyone arrived.
And it was a lovely morning, the kids enjoyed the egg hunt and the grown ups enjoyed the homemade hot cross buns, the sun was shining and we all enjoyed sitting outside on a glorious autumn day.
But I could have made it so much easier on myself... gifting eggs instead of hiding them around the garden... buying hot cross buns instead of making my own.... not caring if the grass was a bit long instead of trying to get the section into shape during the last few evenings.
However, in my universe none of those things would have been quite good enough, so I get 4 frenzied hours' work, and a bemused husband who thinks I'm mildly crazy.
I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling this way. I'm certain there are other people out there who go to this much trouble over stuff. But until I master the art of being in at least four places at the same time, I'll carry on being a probationary superwoman!

What now?

So.... I've filled in all the profile thingies and chosen a format........ now it says my blog is created and all I've got to do is write. Therein lies another issue!
I guess that even probationary superwomen are stuck for words at times - it just isn't normally like me! That's what comes of trying to be fabulous 100% of the time.... maybe it's just not humanly possible. But that's not going to stop me trying!
I'm sure that I'll soon be rattling away on this thing, and anyone who's odd enough or bored enough to read it will know better next time.
You can't count on writer's block to save you every time, you know! You have been warned!