Carpe Diem.

This has been a week of many farewells.
One of my close colleagues (there are only 4 teachers at the school where I work, so we are all quite close!) leaves us today for an exciting adventure teaching in Beijing. We had an informal, but quite moving, afternoon tea for her yesterday and although she says goodbye to the students this afternoon we are taking her out for dinner on Saturday for a proper farewell.
This goodbye is really an au revoir, as her contract is just 15 months and I expect she'll pop back to NZ to visit her grandchildren, but school just won't be the same without her.  It won't be worse, just different - and I'm sure we'll soon form equally close bonds with the lady who's replacing her.

Sadly, the other farewells have been more permanent.  We also officially lose a teacher aide today, although in practice we lost her a few weeks ago.  She has advanced terminal pancreatic cancer, and is very very unwell at the moment.  6 months ago she was a fit and healthy 64 year old who worked with us and farmed 68 acres on her own.  This week she has been planning her own funeral.  The positive side of the situation, if there can be one, is that she is finally reconciled with her children after a few years of animosity on both sides.

The final farewell, as it were, is not a personal one - but it holds a strong message for us all.  A friend of mine lost her mother this week, unexpectedly and completely out of the blue.  My friend is only just 40, so although I don't know her mother, I'm assuming that she was only in her mid-late 60s. The trouble is that my friend had had a fairly long running disagreement with her mother, and rarely spoke with her even though she lived less than an hour's drive away.
My friend is now riddled with guilt at not fixing the problems with their relationship earlier.

I don't want this blog to be a place of sadness and despair.  But these three farewells all have their own message that I feel is important.
My colleague who is off to Beijing has had the courage to follow a dream.  She sees life as an unfolding adventure, and will be successful wherever she goes because she has faith that everything happens for a reason and it is her job to make the best of every situation.  She may regret a few things that she's done, but that's nothing to the pain of regretting the things you left undone and no longer have time for.

"Always do the things you might regret not doing" is something of a family motto for us.  It shapes the way I deal with my friends, my colleagues, my students and my family.  It allows me to take the conciliatory ground when I need to, to take risks when I feel I must, and occasionally stops me from making a complete fool of myself.
My friend wishes she had seized the day with her mother and mended the hurt between them.  My sick colleague has mended her bridges, but so very late that she has little time to cross them completely.

They are a reminder to me that I need to rise above petty quarrels, be magnanimous, go the extra mile for the special people in my life... because nothing is as draining and hurtful and futile as those animosities that stop you enjoying each other's company and having fun.
In the big picture, you must seize the day.  Treat each one as a precious gift, and value those around you who are part of your big picture.
Carpe diem.

How to catch an opportunity.

It's funny, isn't it, how opportunities don't arrive in front of you wearing fluorescent spandex leggings, revolving bowties and carrying a large neon sign stating "I'm an opportunity!"  They're just not that easy to spot... and if they did look like this we'd probably ignore them or write them off as weird, 'out there' and the sort of thing we should avoid at all costs!

But opportunities present themselves in front of us all the time - they're subtle, and they often blend into the background of all the other busyness we surround ourselves with, but they're there nonetheless. 
The trick for us is to recognise them while they're still sidling up to us, to identify them as a potential opportunity as soon as they emerge from the background.  That way we're ready to take advantage of them as soon as it is possible to do so.

I spotted an opportunity last week.  It didn't show itself until Friday morning, and the opportunity was ripe on Friday afternoon... I had other plans, and- heck - it was Friday and I'd had a busy week.  I identified the opportunity to my husband, and he recognised it immediately... it was the "could be the biggest thing this year" variety.  So I ambushed the opportunity, and brought it home with me.
I'm nurturing it now, and feed it regularly.  I've begun to take it on outings, and have introduced it into the conversation with friends.
I'm hoping that this opportunity will grow and grow, that it will take on a life of its own and that it will become big enough for me to hitch a lift with it as it embarks on its travels.
I'll keep you posted.

My brain is full!

Wow!  I'm on day 3 of a 3-day block course in Auckland to support my Maths Support Teacher training.  It has been awesome, if a little full on, and my brain is now feeling like it is full enough to burst. 
The good thing is that I love learning new things, and this is really making me re-evaluate my own philosophy and practice in teaching, so that is so good for me personally and professionally.
The other brilliant thing is that I have so many fantastic friends up in Auckland and it has been a non-stop social whirl once the thinking is over.  I enjoyed meeting up with D over a few glasses of wine on Tuesday night, and then going out for dinner with J+R last night.  And today, once the course has finished, I'm visiting my old stomping ground to catch up with a host of people there over coffee before I jump back on the little plane that will whisk me home once more.
I am so very lucky.
I'm being paid to be here, my flights, food and accommodation are paid by the ministry, and I have the opportunity to do 2 things that I love: learn new stuff and have fun with old friends.
And tonight I get to hug my kids again, and settle down to sleep in my own bed once more, snuggled up with my gorgeous husband.
How lucky can a girl be?

Looking forward to having fun!

I'm up in Auckland again next week for 3 days as part of my Masters degree - and I'm going to make the most of the time I have there by catching up with lots of old friends.
I'm seeing 2 on Wednesday - serial dates! - that I haven't seen for five years, and it will be lovely to spend some time with them.  Hopefully I'll be able to line up a few more to visit on Thursday afternoon, before I hop on a plane back to good old Wanganui.
Social media helps us all keep in touch, but I can't wait to give them big hugs again!

Lucky to be me.

I'm not well at the moment.  The usual teacher stuff: no voice, aching head, fevers and chills.  It catches us all at some point, and for me it was the weekend after a very busy week when I actually took a day off and went out for an adventure with my lovely husband. It was not the adventure that was my downfall, but the relaxing that went with it.  Once my body comes down from its state of tension and drive that accompanies high-stress deadlines - and this week contained 3 of them on consecutive days for various jobs  - it is vulnerable to any stray germs that are floating around.  Most teachers experience this in the first week of the holidays... push through to the end of term and then collapse.
But I am feeling lucky this week, because my illness has allowed me to be grateful for a few things:

1. I was only working at school for 3 days this week anyway, so I'm not disrupting the children's programme too much;
2. Last week my business partner and I decided to postpone a workshop that we were due to run this week, so when I felt ill on Tuesday this week I didn't feel obliged to go and run a full day workshop;
3. My boss at school rang me for a chat on Monday (a day that I don't teach) and was horrified at how I sounded, so when I phoned her the next day to tell her I wouldn't be in to teach on Wednesday she wasn't surprised;
4. My boss then showed how caring she is, and the strength of her new-found determination to show the staff explicitly how much they're valued - she rang me on Wednesday to tell me she had already got a relieving teacher in to the classroom for Thursday so I didn't try to come back to work too soon.  She would rather I took the extra day and got properly better;
5. I have found that my attention span is only about 30 minutes at the moment before I feel rubbish again, so i have been doing lots of little jobs, but nothing that involves high level concentration... but I have achieved so many of the little things I've been putting off for a while;
6. I have decided to be more gentle on myself.  I must take Sean Covey's advice and take time to
   "sharpen the saw"... so I've been painting this week - a new creative project but nothing that is pressurised.

So how lucky am I?  Who would have thought that a nasty cold could carry so many lessons? 

Mooching

Wow!  What a fabulous day in Wellington! 
Hubby and I grabbed a day to drive down and visit the NZPS exhibition (it was a bit thin on the ground this year - but it served its purpose for us.  Hubby has decided NOT to rejoin the NZPS as he feels that they put all their efforts into documenting what is in front of their eyes.  Nothing wrong with that, but he documents what is inside his head!) and the City Gallery.  While we were there we also took in the works are Ora, Kura, The Art of Dr Seuss, and Shona Moller.  Oh, and Te Papa.
So a bit galleried out now, but what an amazing day.
It makes such a change to be able to please ourselves, now that the boys choose when to join our adventures. 
Highlights of the day for me were the Len Lye exhibition (City Gallery) and Shona Moller.  And browsing in Artie Bees bookshop.  And wandering along Cuba holding hands with hubby.

And we had great fun experimenting with time lapse photography on the trip down.  I can't wait to see the results.
I know that since bootcamp I've been evaluating things in terms of the Habits of Mind again.  Yesterday was definitely one for responding with awe and wonder, thinking flexibly and gathering data with all my senses!

WOW!

What an awesome experience!  The Habits of Mind Bootcamp 2013 is still swirling round in my head, and it will be a few days before many concrete thoughts are available for articulation!  
I have taught and used the HOM before, but this bootcamp is the most intense experience I've had for some time.
Karen Boyes and her presenters were incredible, and she is so skillful at guiding people through their own personal journeys - we emerged triumphant on Tuesday from breaking planks of pine with our bare hands, and many of us were emotional and tearful on Wednesday after a visualisation that took us face to face with our childhood self.
Thursday's presentations were all fabulous - it is amazing what we can pull together under time pressure, in a group of people that were strangers to us at 9am on Monday but feel like old friends now.
I can't wait to receive my letter to myself in 3 months time.  It's a strategy that I think i might start using with myself a bit more often, and also with the participants on our workshops.  I think my mum and dad might start to receive a few letters that they have to hold onto and then post back at a later date!
I'm so glad I went.
And i'm equally glad that I'm home again now.  Cuddling my husband yesterday, and kissing my boys (much to their disgust!) was just fantastic.  Sometimes it's good to spend some time apart, so that you can enjoy getting back together again.
And tomorrow, we're having a spontaneous day in Wellington to see the NZIP annual conference exhibition.  Such fun!  Bring it on!

A change is as good as a rest?

Teachers' holidays are reknowned for their length and frequency.  But "holiday" is a misnomer really... most teachers spend their "holidays" working.  This is not a whinge about how hard done by we are - far from it.  I am lucky enough to be spending the next four days with the rest of the teaching staff from my school at the Habits of Mind Bootcamp in Hamilton.  Our school is paying for all of us to go ($850 per person investment), renting a car to get us there and a house for us to stay in.  The Board of Trustees will buy us lunch on Thursday, before we drive the five hours back to Wanganui, so that we can discuss what we've learnt from the course and how we think we can implement it back at school next term.
And I all need to do is go along and lap up the new learning, and find ways to improve the quality of our school through its implementation.
I love learning new things (although HoM are not new to me personally as I worked with them in Auckland and attended a workshop with the King of Mindfulness, Art Costa) and this is an opportunity to extend my knowledge.  I'm not looking forward to being away from my lovely hubby for the next 5 days, but on the scale of things I know it's a worthwhile investment of my time.
So HoM here I come.  I can't wait to review my knowledge and add to it, to create an action plan with the rest of the staff and to return to school next week enthused and refreshed.
Bring it on!

Adventure!

I'm so looking forward to today - hubby and i are going on a little adventure all of our own!  It's not far, and it's not huge, but it IS a day that we can head out early and please ourselves for a change.
I know I've got a mountain of work to do, and my assignment is due in next Monday, but this is a mental health break for both of us.
Things are busy right now, and that's fine.  We both like busy, especially when it's invoiceable!  But every now and again it's important to spend a day recharging the batteries, sharpening the saw (in Shaun Covey's phraseology) so that tomorrow becomes more productive.
So today we're heading off in the car.  I'm going to get a haircut, and spend some time on mooching around with hubby.  Retail therapy may be involved.  Coffee in a quiet coffee shot certainly will be.  Lunch together, and maybe an art gallery or bookshop (or two) are distinct possibilities.
And then later we'll do our evening class in business development together, and tomorrow the busy-ness starts once again.
But today is just for us.  Aren't we lucky?

Holidays!

Wow! - just got to the end of a massive 12 week term in the day job... a good 2 weeks' break now to get everything done that I've let slip over the past 2 - 3 weeks especially.
I always end up with far more on my "to do" list than time available to do it, but I'll make my best effort as usual... and this time I'm determined to have at least 1 day of ME-time as well.

• I can feel some tidying up and housework coming on, and also some
• baking,
• painting,
• reading (LOTS of reading as I have an assignment due next week as part of my university paper!) and
• writing. 
• Possibly time for gardening,
• walking with friends,
• planning the next stage in my world domination. 
• Definitely a hair cut, and also
• a little work on hiding the natural highlights that have crept in again! 
• Oh, and a four day Habits of Mind bootcamp that all the teachers in our school are attending in Hamilton, so a roadtrip and some nights away from home as well. 
• A huge pile of wood on the driveway needs to be rehoused in the woodshed
• kickstarting my visits to the fitness centre and swimming pool with a couple of workouts
• filing last term's work
• planning next term's work

and 16 days to do it all in... hmmmmm.... time to break out the lycra tights and cape again, I think!

What a lovely day!

Not much else to say, really!  It has been a lovely day - the weather was fabulous after a chilly autumn morning; the kids at school have been awesome and we've had a really good laugh together even while we've achieved loads; husband got an unexpected koha from somebody he did some work for... he thought it was a favour, they were so thrilled with what he did that they put some cash his was today.
Generally, an all round lovely day.  I've worked hard, achieved a lot (both at school and in my own business as well) and laughed until my sides have ached.
What more could you ask for in life?

Recharge!

Wow!  It's been a little while since I posted, but life got really hectic really quickly (as it is prone to do!).  My evening class in Applied Business Growth has started, along with the homework i need to do for that; the deadline for my first assignment in my PGDipEd is less than 4 weeks away now; and school continues to be full on busy!
However, I have had the most amazing Easter weekend which has left me recharged and invigorated... and ready for anything (and everything!)
My wonderful husband was working down in Wanaka, photographing a jetsprint meeting, and initially I was going to stay at home and work through the weekend.  However, friends of ours who were meant to be racing decided to pull out - which left them with non-refundable flights and a motel booking... which they gifted to my husband for his birthday.  So I got to go to Wanaka with him this weekend, and it was fantastic.
We got up in the early hours of Friday morning, after about 3 hours sleep, and I drove us to Wellington to get the plane.  We checked in at about 5.30am, and enjoyed a bit of people watching while we waited.
After a beautiful flight, watching the sun come up over the mountains, we landed at Queenstown and picked up our hire car.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then headed off towards Wanaka.  The 120 Km drive took far longer than it needed to because we kept stopping to admire the view!
The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, and was just so impressive that even I was rendered speechless... managing an awestruck "wow" every time we rounded another corner and were confronted with yet another majestic view.
I will admit to a little nana-nap once we had checked in to our motel, but in my defence I had been awake for 12 hours already, and it was only 2.30pm!
Once I was refreshed and awake again, we drove out to the new jetsprint track to check out vantage points for the camera and we were really impressed with the new facility that has been created there.
A long dinner with a large crowd of our friends (also in town for the racing) was a brilliant way to end an amazing day.
Although we worked long and hard on Saturday, photographing the racing and the presentations, it was the most beautiful working environment - I found myself just stopping a few times and looking around me in awe and wonder.  What a place to call "work"!  Hubby was as excited as a dog with two tails when he was invited up in a helicopter to take aerial shots of the track... he just about floated through the rest of the day on the adrenaline-rush of hanging out of the side on the end of a harness!
We drove back to Queenstown early on Sunday morning, and arrived back in Wellington just before lunch.
After a weekend of glorious weather, Wellington lived up to its wet and windy reputation, but we still enjoyed a mooch around, people-watching on Cuba and Courteney.
This was the best weekend - and the longest time that we have been away together without the kids in 16 years.  Another plus was that the boys stayed at home on their own... number one son is 16 now so was "in charge".... and they managed really well.
It was only a short break, and it was damned hard work with long hours of travelling, but it was brilliant.  My brain feels refreshed and ready for anything.
Bring it on!

The art of service

Service.
Some people seem to think that it's a dirty word, somehow demeaning or beneath their perceived status in life.
Last week I had two very different experiences of service, and they affected me in very different ways.
On Monday I stopped for petrol on the way to work.  After paying, I returned to my car and found the nice young forecourt attendant had washed my windscreen for me.  I thanked him with a smile and got into my car.  Unfortunately our car has an intermittent fault with the immobiliser - it sometimes refuses to start if you switch it off and then try to start the car again in short succession (as at a petrol station).  The car wouldn't start. The forecourt was empty, and I asked the attendant if he would help me to push the car to the side, as it needs to be left for about 20 minutes before it will go again.  He is a young man, early twenties at the very most, and I am in my mid forties (dressed for business in high heels and a smart skirt).  He refused to help me as "it is an ACC risk and I might hurt my back".  So he left me to push the car on my own... and try to steer it as well.  The forecourt has a slight bump in it, so that fuel spills run toward the centre rather than onto the road, and try as I might, I could not get the car over the bump.  The forecourt was still deserted, and there was nobody to help me.  There was no point ringing the AA because they could not fix the problem - it  just needed time.  The forecourt attendant and the cashier just stood in the doorway to the shop and watched me struggle.
I gave up and locked the car, there in the middle of the forecourt.  I rang my husband, who walked from our house, collected the keys from me at work and drove the car home. He tried to ring the petrol station for an explanation of why I was left without any help, but the cashier lied to him (told him that the forecourt had been too busy for anyone to help me) and hung up.
I got to work late (I had had to walk there), frustrated and angry at the way I had been treated.
I won't be using that petrol station again, and on hearing my story, neither will a friend of mine whose fleet of vehicles usually spends $12000 a week there.
On Tuesday I flew to Auckland on business, and stayed at a hotel there near the airport.  The service there was impeccable.  Every single staff member I met greeted me, looking me in the eye, and was courteous.  They seemed to anticipate the needs of our group and nothing seemed to be too much trouble.  The hotel was very busy, but nobody seemed rushed, nothing was hurried and every little detail was taken care of.  Needless to say, I didn't ask them to push my car for me (!) but I got the feeling that if I had then it would have been done instantly, and probably valeted before it was returned to me.  I left a note for my housekeeping staff, thanking them for the care they had taken in making my room comfortable and clean each day, and I made sure that I thanked the front of house staff as I checked out, asking that my compliments be passed to the duty manager for the courteous attitude of all the staff.  The receptionist beamed as I spoke with her, and stood straighter behind her desk.
I left the hotel feeling refreshed (even after 3 long days of brainwork) and relaxed.
I would stay there again in an instant if I need to overnight in Auckland.

The level of service we give others is a true advert of ourselves and our philosophy in life.  Going the extra mile for somebody is one of the highest forms of caring we can do on a daily basis.  It shows a sensitivity to their needs and lets them know that they are important and valued.
The flipside of that is that people want to be around you if you show this level of attention to them, and they are inspired to do the same for you.  This is the kind of world I want to live in.  It just seems to be a better place.... and it all starts with how I treat other people.

Home and away

Truthfully, away from home right now.
School camp for 3 days last week, then a 540 Km drive on Sunday to photograph the jetsprints, and now a 3 day conference in Auckland requiring a 5am start on Tuesday morning.
The good news is that I caught up with an old friend from my former school and we had a great evening together catching up on chat and gossip; and this morning I have had a gorgeous breakfast at the hotel.
Fresh fruit in abundance, beautifully scrambled eggs and hot tea... I've eaten so much that I might need a nap now before I start work! 

A challenging day today with the first tutorials for our first paper towards my Masters... yippee!!!

Back to normality!

I've just spent three days camping at school - no, not report writing season, but whole school camp.  I've never been in a school that does anything quite like this, and this year's was particularly successful.
We begin on Wednesday, at the end of normal school hours.  The younger students (5 - 7 year olds) go home on the bus, and the fun begins.  We pitch our tents (with some help for 8 and 9 year olds from an army of willing parents) which can take some time, and then have dinner together.  The extra adult tent-pitchers go home, and our senior students take over. They lead team building games for an hour or so - they learnt them at last week's leadership camp with our cluster schools - and then we have a twilight swim.
A game of spotlight goes down well once it is properly dark, and we finish our evening with warm milo and a cookie, all enjoyed while we're having a story.
Our senior students (9- 12 year olds) head off to bed down on our front paddock, and the junior students enjoy the luxury of large tents to small groups... a far cry from the following night, I assure you.
Thursday is a day for special projects.  We are joined by all the other students, so we have the whole school working together.  This year we are investigating the ideas that "everyone in a relationship has responsibilities" and "everyone is valuable - we just have to discover how".  As part of this we spent the day doing school beautification projects... being responsible for the environment of our learning relationship, and finding out that some people have hidden talents.  We built a giant sandpit, removed an old plum tree (no longer fruiting), painted our planters with cheerful patterns, weeded flower beds, planted native trees, designed and painted murals on our bounce boards and did a whole lot of sweeping and tidying.
We shared the results of our labours with our whanau (families) at a barbeque that evening before enjoying a dip in our pool, and then campfire singing.  A total fire ban means we got the campfire songs, but not the campfire... but smores taste just as good if you make them in a microwave!
We all slept well that night - even our youngest students who are enjoying their first taste of camping.  The junior tents are full to bursting tonight, but they don't seem to mind!  Last year we had a five year old starting school on the day of camp, so she stayed over in a tent that night... what an introduction to life at our school!
Friday is much quieter - we view the photos that have been taken while adult helpers move through the tents one by one, helping junior students pack their gear away.  Seniors are left to deal with their own, and then they strike their tents.  By midday school is looking normal again, apart from the mountain of gear that we squeeze into the school bus along with the remaining children.  By 1pm the staff are left in peace to finish tidying, and organising their rooms for Monday morning.
Phew!  Tiring, certainly.  Worthwhile?  Definitely!!  Our children have been at school for only four weeks of this school year, and now feel much more connected to each other, to other year groups in school, to our staff, and to their learning environment.  We have built teams, achieved things that we can look at every day for the rest of the year and think "wow - we built/painted/planted that!"
Powerful, real-life learning.
Who could ask for more?!

Onwards and upwards

Well I've had the most indulgent few days.  Last weekend was all about celebrating hubby's birthday, and also a few friends' special days (five in four days... who'd have thought February could be so crowded!) including our number one son's sixteenth birthday. 
Obviously this has been a week of much reflection, wondering most of the time where the heck the time has gone!  It has flown by since we brought home a little pink squirmy thing from the hospital.  Now we have a six foot three inch hairy monster that communicates in grunts and plays hideous music too loudly because he just can't do the washing up without it!
And this past weekend has been a busy time for me, because being busy means that I didn't have the time to feel lonely.  Hubby was working away from home at a jetsprint meeting, and although I never mind him going away, I constantly look forward to him returning.
So the garden has had a spruce up - not finished because it is such a major task in such a large area - and the house has had some parts cleaned that have not been done for longer than should be allowed, and I have spent some time yesterday painting for pleasure.
My to-do list is still horrendously long, but I have a real sense of achievement from this weekend, and I'm looking forward to moving into the business week today.  A significant meeting should set our business onto a new path, and make our goal of hosting workshops a step closer to reality.
This week is indeed going to be good!

What a wonderful weekend

What a lovely weekend we're having at the moment.   We celebrated hubby's birthday with friends on Friday night - they took us out to dinner, and then gave us a long weekend in Wanaka with spending money as a birthday gift for him - and on Saturday (his actual birthday) we spent a lovely day together adventuring in the car before having a lovely meal at another set of friends' house.
We were gifted a bread maker yesterday as well, and all in all are feeling very lucky and privileged to have such wonderful friends around us.
It really does show that what goes around comes around. Spread the love, people, and the love will come right on back to you.

How lucky am I?

How lucky am I?  Very lucky indeed.
I have been blessed with a fabulous family.  My boys are the most wonderful young men and my gorgeous husband is also my best friend.
And although I haven't always seen eye-to-eye with my parents, I love them so very much.  They provide an aspirational parenting role-model for me... not so much learning from their mistakes, but emulating their approach.
So many children I come across do not have the support of a fabulous family to help them achieve their potential.  I'm so glad that I was never one of them!

Leak free and lovely!

The storm seems to have passed us by now - although it was a total doozy while it lasted.  I'm going to get up on the kitchen roof today and check where the water was coming in.  Nothing much came through - not even enough to put a centimetre in an ice cream container - but I want to get that sorted out before the autumn and winter arrive.  I suspect that some of the flashing has deteriorated, allowing water running off the original villa roof to get under the corrugated iron on the sloping kitchen roof.  Once it's under, it just runs down the joists until it can go no further, and so comes through the ceiling into my kitchen floor.  Looking on the bright side, I have a nice clean kitchen floor now!

I've got time to go up on the roof today because we have a public holiday from work.  It is the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which is a pivotal document in the history of New Zealand.  There are lots of mixed opinions on the Treaty, and whether or not it is a fair document.
For me, as a relatively recent import to the country, it is a meaningless bit of paper.  Stephen Covey suggested that we should live from our imaginations not our past, and I think he has a point.  We, as taxpayers, are paying out millions of dollars to fix wrongs (real or imagined - again depending on your point of view) that happened well over a hundred years ago.  It is difficult to see how we are going to move forward while we have our eyes so firmly fixed on the past.  In the UK we have been invaded and overrun so many times over the course of our history that it has become part of our rich tapestry rather than a bugbear to be "fixed".  Should I hate my Norwegian secretary at school because the vikings once invaded our country, raping and pillaging as they went?  I think not. 

The biggest bugbear for me is that indigenous means "originating in a place".  So how can you be indigenous when you freely celebrate arriving in a waka? 

Phew!

Phew indeed!  What a storm we had last night.
I loved the awesome lightning display late in the evening (far more than my dog and cat did, anyway) and I never mind a good crack of thunder - the anticipation and counting seconds between one and the other is always a good game to play and reminds me of nighttime storms of my childhood.  If I couldn't sleep because of thunder my dad would sit up with me and count the seconds and this was a  masterpiece of distraction, turning something that was unsettling into a fun game.
The thing that I was less impressed about was the small leak that developed in my kitchen ceiling at about midnight.  However, the bottom of the bowl that I left to catch the drips was barely covered by 5.30 this morning, and the drips had definitely stopped, so I am not too worried.  I'm certainly not going up on the roof until the wind stops, so that will just have to wait!

I'm back in school today, after my usual Monday working on my own business.  We had a great meeting with a local Principal, and this might just be the start of a wonderful Professional Learning Partnership!  Can't say more yet, because the Board of Trustees has to give us the go-ahead, but if it works out as we all hoped at the meeting then it will be a symbiotic win-win situation.  Excellent!  And I am so very excited about the whole thing. It has a good feeling about it and could well be the way forward for us.
School will be fun today as well - a little haphazard as we are busy up to the eyeballs already and it's only the second week of term - but I get to meet with my MST facilitator and discuss the programme I'm going to run, including the paper I'm taking through Massey university.  I can't wait to get my teeth into this as I find learning new things tremendously exciting.  I'm going to focus on our parent community as a way of raising their children's achievement. 
If anybody is actually reading this, that last statement and the fact I'm getting so excited about it must seem pretty sad.  That's what makes me a good teacher I guess - the ability to be enthused by my job in all its aspects.

And this year might just be a bit about blowing my own trumpet a bit more too - nothing too arrogant, but acknowledging my skills and value instead of blushing modestly and muttering "oh no, it's nothing".  I'm not nothing... I'm a damn good teacher and proud of it.  I'm also working on being a good mother, a great wife, a good business partner and an interesting writer... when I've had 20 years practise at each of these I hope I'm as good as I am at teaching!

To screen or not to screen...

In 2007 I was lucky enough to go to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London and watch a performance of Othello.  It was the most amazing experience (and I've watched a lot of Shakespeare in a lot of different venues and genre in my time!!) and even my non-Shakespeare-enjoying husband actually enjoyed the play immensely, aided in no small measure by the atmosphere and intensity of the setting.

The little town in NZ that I'm proud to call "home" has just embarked on a short series of Shakespeare plays on screen - film versions of productions at the Globe in London.  I was torn... I loved the Globe, and I love Shakespeare, but I was a little worried that on screen it would lose some of its integrity and atmosphere.

My very good friend thought that this was an opportunity not to be missed - she had visited the Globe in London but had not been able to get tickets for a performance - and so we trotted off yesterday to our local museum/lecture theatre for a 3 hour performance of Much Ado about Nothing.

I needn't have worried - the screening was superb, and did full justice to a joyous rendition of this play.  The cast were brilliant, the costumes elegant and appropriate (I loved the subtle use of colour to show allegiances and character) and even the uncomfortable seats in the lecture theatre helped to add to the atmosphere in a very authentic way!  And the wonders of modern technology made it all possible - I felt transported not only back into Shakespeare's time, but also half way round the world!

Next week is another screening (Alls Well that ends well  I believe) and I can't wait.  At only $10 a ticket it's a treat not to be missed. 

Permission to relax.

One of the things I find most difficult is to relax.
I'm always busy - you might say I'm an active relaxer.... or you might agree with my husband and decide that I just never stop working.
But relaxing is important, and I'm always trying to improve my work/life balance, so I guess I've just got to learn to relax a bit, and stop every once in a while.  My husband would say that I should do as I say as I am always reminding him that he should learn to relax.
So today we've had a lazy day.  I didn't get out of bed until nearly 9am (extremely unusual for me - 6am is more like it!) and then I enjoyed a long hot bath and a good book (which was about business practices, but at least I relaxed while I read it!)
Then I jumped back into bed for a cuddle with my husband as he woke up - and I dozed off and woke up again at 12.15!
Since then I've been busy but chilled out.  I've done some baking, sorted some photos from the in-laws' visit, cooked a roast dinner and done most of the ironing.
It's been a lovely day, warm and sunny, and I've thoroughly enjoyed relaxing - both varieties... lounging around in my pyjamas, and just pottering around.
Permission to relax?   I guess I granted it for myself!

Normal service is resumed.

I have spent the day moving back into my bedroom, and rearranging our study back into a useable form.
We have had the pleasure of my in-laws' company for the last 7 weeks, but they returned to the UK on Monday morning.  We haven't heard whether they got there or not yet... the snow is causing some problems with flights into Heathrow....
And meanwhile, we have repossessed our bedroom (they get it for the duration of their visit, as it is more comfortable than camping out in our study) and enjoyed a good night's sleep last night!
Things are always a little higgledy piggledy when they come to stay, which happens every other Christmas, but the chance for our boys to renew and grow their relationship with their grandparents is just the most important thing, so we all put up with a little upheaval.

Emigrating 10 years ago has made us appreciate our family life, and our extended family, so much more than I think we did in the UK.  We value our little team, and never take it for granted.  We make more effort to keep in touch with family and friends from around the UK, and in different parts of the world, and the role of our computers in doing this is invaluable.
I actually see my parents more often now than I did when I lived in Worcester - we have skype so we talk each week on that, and we email and facebook in between.  We are truly connected, and I am thankful for the ability to be this way.

Having said that, and re-iterating that it is fantastic that husband's parents visit for extended holidays every 2 years, it is also nice to reclaim our spaces again.
Life is returning to normal!

Challenges and how to get them.

Number one son is frustrated with himself.
As a family, we don't "do" new year's resolutions, but we do mindmap some goals for the year and also review the previous year's goals to see how we did. A little pat on the back is a good way to start off the next round of goal setting!
Number 2 son had achieved many of his goals (they had been associated with starting a new school, and he's had an awesome year there) and could easily set goals for things he wants to achieve during 2013.
Number 1 son had achieved many of his goals, but found setting new ones very difficult - hence the frustration.

I have pondered this for the past couple of weeks, and came to some conclusions:

1. Number 1 son is academically very capable, and often finds his school work tedious and unexciting.  One exception was last year's maths - he completed the Year 11 work and did most of the Year 12 work as well... the challenge was stimulating.
2. If he can't find enough challenge in the quite rigid thinking of the NZ exam system for Year 12 students, he would normally look to his out of school past-times.
3. In this case his out-of-school passion is ATC, but sadly the challenges there are quite regimented and time-dependent.
4. So to give him a challenge and a focus I decided I would have to create one for him.

So I've challenged him to write a book.
He did embark (quite of his own accord) to write one when he was 11 or 12 years old, but got a bit bogged down with the complexities of planning and plot development.  I've offered to work alongside him on this, and we've crafted an overview together this morning.  He's off now to start on Chapter 1, and I've said I'll help with structure and editing.
I'm really excited.  It might take us a long time, and even if it goes no further than our computers it will still have been an excellent experience.  I'm hoping it provides number one son with the challenge he needs to sustain his academic interest through the year.

Watch out for the imaginatively titled "Dunno yet" an epic adventure of awesomeness written by number one son and his wonderful mum!

Exam nerves

Not mine, I hasten to add, but number 1 son waiting for his NCEA Level 1 results.  They tried to put them out on the website yesterday, but so many students accessed it at once that it crashed.
It's taken him many attempts today, but he finally got through to his results page.

I'm pleased to report that he achieved his Level 1, endorsed with Merit; and also managed an Excellence in Maths.  He's as happy as a pig in the proverbial, and is much relieved that the wait is over.  Now all he has to do is find out how his friends did... social networking is a wonderful thing. Then he can relax for the last 2 weeks of the long summer holiday, and "look forward" to school at the end of this month.

He finds it hard to believe that we would be proud of him whatever his results were, but of course we would be!   He worked hard, and the end results show that.  Can't complain about a result that puts him in the top 20% of the country, can we?? 

I'm always so proud of my boys.  But then, I'm a mum - I'm allowed to be!

5 have an adventure in Wellington

Actually there were 6 of us, but I couldn't pass up the chance to sound like a cheesy Enid Blyton story!
We had to hire a car for the day, as ours only seats 5 and we had the grandparents, hubby and me, and our 2 sons to fit in, but it worked out really well.  Used a local company and got great service and a great vehicle.  Don't ask me what it was... it was white and it seated all of us comfortably!  Father-in-law was astounded that we weren't given a "ding sheet" as we left the dealership, and that when we returned it nobody bothered to do a close inspection to make sure we hadn't damaged it.  They even took our word for it that we'd filled it with fuel before returning it.  He couldn't get over the level of trust that they showed their customers.  Not the same in the UK, apparently.   Just another thing about NZ that you've got to love!
We had a super day in Wellington: beautiful weather, not too many other tourists!  We had a picnic on the waterfront, took the cable car to the top and strolled back down through the botanic gardens, enjoyed a cup of tea at Smiths the Grocer (fabulous building - repurposed old bank) and generally took in the sights and sounds of "the coolest little capital in the world".
Fish and chips for tea, sitting on the beach at Otaki as the sun dropped lower in the sky, and a clear journey home.
Perfect.  We are so lucky to live in a wonderful country like New Zealand.

Another lovely day in paradise.

Wow!  What a great day we've had!
Only the usual - working with my husband in his photography business - but it was a lovely sunny day, we were really productive in our endeavours, we have put together a great plan for the new year... and we got a surprise koha (gift) from a client which paid for us to have lunch together as we did our planning meeting.
We also walked up and down the main street in town, doing various chores, and bumped into so many people that we knew... it took ages to get back to the car because we kept stopping to chat!  All good networking, though, and as  my husband says "Network, or no work!"

Heigh ho, heigh ho.

Yes, it's back to work I go.
Not school (although we're on "holiday" I was back in school last week doing curriculum documentation), and not Willow Education (my wonderful business partner, Pauline, returns from various family weddings later on this week so we'll kick back into gear then) but with husband's business.
I love this point of the year - we NEVER make new year resolutions but we DO indulge in mindmapping goals for the coming year.  We also begin by checking off all the things we intended to do last year that we achieved.  It's a great feeling, knowing that you are working steadily towards the things you really want to do.
So, having mindmapped 2013 and then timelined it into a realistic framework, we are embarking on specific action planning this afternoon.
And then, with our new focus clear in our heads and hearts we're ready to conquer the world!  Mwah-ha-ha-haaaaaa (*head thrown back to amplify evil laugh*)

Don't worry though.  You're all still safe with us.  Just keep a look out for Inshot Photography images once I get going with my cunning marketing plans! :)

What a ride, what a ride....

Today we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our arrival in New Zealand.
How life has changed for us since we grasped the bull by the horns and emigrated!
It has truly been a bed of roses (thorns and all!) and I look back over the last 10 years in awe and wonder at the amazing people we've met, the fabulous places we've visited, the incredible opportunities we've been given since our arrival.
We made this move for our children's sake, and seeing them now as mature, well-adjusted young men (well, 15 and 12 years old!) who make the most of the opportunities that come their way, I just know we did the right thing.
Not the easy thing, but the right thing.
We took a huge gamble 10 years ago, selling up everything and coming half way round the world to a country we'd never been to before, but it's a gamble that definitely paid off.
Bring on the next 10 years - I can't wait to see what you've got in store for us!

Managing my Impulsivity

Grrrrrrr!
This is the sound of a normally rational human being (ie me) being reduced to a state of extreme frustration by bureacracy!
I've been filling in my online enrollment for a Massey University paper, which forms a compulsory part of the Mathematics Support Teacher course I'm undertaking for my school.  Over the next 2 years I will do a paper each year which will give me 60 credits towards a PGDipEd (roughly 1/4 of a Masters' degree).
However, the fact that I trained at Cambridge University has caused them some problems as they are not sure whether my training is of a high enough standard to qualify me for their paper.
In fact I have spent 35 minutes on the phone to their helpline, and then a further 45 minutes completing their online enrollment.  Not to mention a visit to school to photocopy the required documents and have them verified by my school principal.
Boy, you have to really want to study with them, don't you??!?

However, I've drawn on my Habits of Mind training.  I've managed my impulsivity ("What do you mean, you're not sure if the standards at Cambridge are high enough for your course?" did not pass my lips although I was screaming it loudly in my head), I've persisted with their ridiculously complicated online enrollment form, I've paid attention to the details, I've even found humour in the situation (am I the Joanna Lewis who was born in 1921 who previously applied to them?  No, I'm not!).
And now all I can do is sit back and wait for the wheels of bureaucracy to turn.  And send them the documents they are asking for: birth certificate, passport, residency certificate, change of name documents ie divorce certificate, degree certificate, academic transcript, NZQA assessment of qualifications and a current CV.  Oh and the application form and photo for a student ID card.  Oh and the payment of $1500 which will be partly be reimbursed by the Government and partly by my school.
I can't wait to see what the paper actually entails- it can't be harder than the enrollment process, can it??!?

Rapido

No, this is not an instruction!
It's the name of the coffee house in Wanganui which is showing some of husband's photographic art.
We approached them about 3 months ago, and they said they'd be in touch... hadn't heard anything so took it to be a big NO.... and then yesterday morning we got a text asking for some pieces.  Woo hoo!
So I dashed round there with a panoramic to begin with, and we're going to add 2 or 3 more pieces today (when I've reframed them!)
Just goes to show that patience is a positive value, and that good things come to those who wait!

Today can only get better and better, I think!

Out to lunch!

What a nice surprise I got today!
I have been back at school for the last couple of days, helping the boss to put together our curriculum documentation and writing procedures to cover any gaps.  It's only half way through our long summer holiday, but that's the best time to get paperwork done - no children around, and no other staff on site to distract us!
We were hard at work this morning, when she suddenly announced that it was time for lunch.  We drove into town and she bought me a lovely lunch to thank me for my help outside of normal school duties!
It just goes to show that if you do considerate things for people around you, then nice things happen for you.
And we finished pretty much all our paperwork today as well - double bonus!

Thoughtful

I just had some very sad news - the father of one of my best friends died on New Years Eve.
She is in the UK, and has been a close friend of mine for nearly 30 years.  His death was not unexpected as he had been ill for some time, but that does not make it any easier.
What I most want to do is hug her and hug her, but cannot do that as she is half the world away.  I've had to be content with sending messages via email and social media, but so wish I could afford to just jump on a plane and be with her at this time.
It has made me consider just how lucky I am.  I have both my parents, and am fortunate that they are in their mid-late 60s (so not terribly old) and are in good health.  Certainly, they are in the UK, but we email each other regularly and skype every week so we see each other.
I also have my loving family around me here.  My wonderful husband, who is also my best friend, has walked my path with me for the last 20 years without any cross words passing between us.  Our 2 gorgeous sons are growing up into fine young men with whom we share fantastic relationships.  My in-laws visit us every other Christmas and spend around 6 weeks living with us and sharing in our lives.
How blessed I feel when I think of these people.  Their presence in my life makes my own journey a little easier and a lot more interesting.  I value the moments we share and treasure the memories that I have.
My heart is heavy today, thinking of my fabulous friend and the sadness she is going through.  Love and hugs go out to her.
Go in peace Des.  1931 - 2012.