Wow!

Emily got her GCSE results today: 6 A*s and 5 As. (She took an extra subject last year; hence the 11th result).



We're going out tonight to celebrate.

Up and down

Up: my mum-in-law and sister-in-law have arrived. It's lovely to have them here, and we've been sightseeing and doing touristy things. Tower of London, boat trip on the Thames, Greenwich market, Hever castle... And the weather has been gorgeous. Hot and sunny; most un-English.

Down: Bobby has swine flu. He's quite ill. High temperatures, muscle aches, sore throat, sore chest ... generally miserable. I think he is starting to feel a little better but it is a nasty flu. The NHS system has worked very smoothly; we picked up his Tamiflu as soon as he was diagnosed so he could start it promptly ... and we didn't have to pay a penny for it...

Up: Stephen got his A level results today. He got his predicted grades so he can take up his place at King's College and start his philosophy degree in a couple of weeks. So all that hard work has been worth it. He's excited; so are we. Excited and proud.

The only bad Friday...

...is the last Friday of the holidays. Back to work on Monday - oh the horror.

It's not that I don't like my job, I do. But these next few weeks are going to be grim. I am slogging my way through my PGCE assignments, I have two lesson observations, and it's three weeks till my students write their exams. So I am stressed. I have a tension headache pretty much all the time...

And my stress is nothing compared to Bobby's. This new role is really not what he signed up for. He worked 18 hours yesterday. Eighteen hours! So much for the better work/life balance we wanted! He's going to have to work those kind of crazy hours for the next ten days; by the end of next weekend he should know if all his hard work has paid off. He's finding it massively stressful, not so much for his own sake, but because he feels responsible for the other people working on the project. If it fails, they will lose their jobs. I can see why he feels like this; on the other hand, though, he's only been involved in this project for a few weeks - the problems weren't created by him, and he hasn't got enough time to fix them. And it won't help anyone if he burns himself out completely...

We are both still running three or four mornings a week to try to counteract the stress. It does make for a good start to the day, being out in the fresh air, listening to the birds and watching the bunnies in the fields. But once the run is over the stress comes back...

Poor Steve is stressed too. It's the final runup to his exams and he has a lot of work to get through. And a lot riding on these exams.

At least the girls are well and happy. Sophie had a sleepover here last night (much giggling; I'm glad our bedroom is up in the loft - they were up later than Bobby was!) and is seeing a movie with a different friend this afternoon. Milly has been doing a version of Come Dine With Me with her friends; it's her turn tomorrow night so she's been trialling her dishes on us. They are delicious (prawn curry puffs for the starter, tandoori chicken for the main course, and mini mint chocolate cupcakes and chocolate dipped strawberries for the dessert) - let's hope she can recreate them on the night!

Ugh. I'm cold... And it's grey and horrible and drizzly outside today, which doesn't help my mood. I had better get on and finish up the lesson preparation I've been procrastinating; I know I'll feel better when it's out of the way. If I can just resist the temptation to have "just one quick round" of Scramble ... I curse the day I installed it on my iPod, it's freakishly addictive.

Aaaaahhh....

Today is the first of my 16 days off work.

I've had a lovely, lazy day ... but I am also feeling slightly anxious because I have a lot of work to get through (assignments for my PGCE) and I haven't been able to bring myself to make a start. I have piles of papers that need to be sorted through, and I have an uneasy feeling that I may have lost a document that I need.

If I knuckled down and got going on the task I'd probably feel better. But I can't face it, so I'm ignoring it for today. Think I'll start tomorrow afternoon.

Work anxiety aside, it's going to be so nice to be able to spend unrushed time with the family. I really miss them during the long school days. And the weather is gorgeous at the moment - hope it lasts! We're planning some fun day trips - the girls and I are going to Ikea on Monday (Bobby's idea of hell), and we think we might go to the Camden market one day next week as well...

Oh, and I booked tickets to see Rodriguez in the summer! How weird is that going to be, hearing him live in London! Weird, but cool.


<

Slumdog Millionaire

We went to see Slumdog Millionaire on Friday night, and it was excellent.

Intense, and disturbing. But excellent. And very funny, in places. We had thought of going as a family but then realised it had a 15 rating. And I have to say, the rating is justified - I would definitely not have wanted Sophie to see this film. Far too upsetting for children.

Among other things, the film made me grateful that we live in a place where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is not - on the whole - too huge.

It was a very good evening in general; Bobby and I went out to dinner beforehand, just the two of us, at our favourite Indian restaurant. The food's great, and they always give us a free liqueur afterwards, so what's not to like? I'm glad that, even though we've been married for more than half my life, we still look forward to our date nights.

So that was good.

Saturday, though, was not. We discovered that the girls had nits, and practically the whole day was taken up by going through their heads with the proverbial fine-toothed comb. Now I see why all those Victorian workhouses shaved the orphan's heads. It took bloody hours - only someone who truly loved their child would bother. All the websites said that it's not necessary to do anything special to bed linen and so forth but I was so utterly grossed out by the whole thing that I've washed everything on the hottest possible wash. Shudder. I checked their heads again today, and it all seems okay. Touch wood. Yuck.

And today's been blah as well. I had essays to finish for Weybridge, and work to do for tomorrow, and I worked inefficiently (Facebook doesn't help with this sort of thing) so work plus chores (the dreaded ironing) took up pretty much the whole day.

This coming week I'm going to work smarter, so that my weekend is clear.

First birthday of the year

Happy birthday dear Stephen!





We took the train in to London so Steve could spend his book vouchers at Foyle's. It is really pleasant doing stuff in London on New Years Day as there are always far fewer people than usual about.





While in London we took a stroll down to the Philosphy building at King's College - if all goes according to plan, that's where Steve will be studying next year! Bobby and Steve outside the Surrey Street entrance...





...walking down to the Embankment





... girls outside the Embankment side of the university...





Buses on the bridge...




and the London Eye...





Reading on the train on the way home...





Emily is racing through the Twilight series; wish I could find a new author I liked as much! Perhaps best I don't, though, I have an awful lot of work to do this year..

Me trying to stave off death from hypothermia in the dreaded depths of East Croydon station. Am surprised that, in my weakened state, the exorbitant cost of the inferior coffee didn't finish me off once and for all.





I could go all mushy and write pages about Steve at this point but I won't because he wouldn't care for it. I will say, though, that I love him very much.

Curled up in a ball whimpering quietly

Tonight was the first meeting with the coordinator of our new PGCE course. (There are several of us from college doing this course, and we're switching en masse from one university to another for our second - and final - year, as the first one was so poorly run). The new guy seems almost as annoying as his counterpart at the first place - what is it with teachers who teach teachers? In the course of a half-an-hour meeting, he managed to irritate and/or offend all six of us. I'm reserving full judgement till I've experienced his actual teaching, but I'm not hopeful. Ah well - if I can just get through this year, it'll be worth all the trauma. And he might be a good source of anecdotes. Certainly imitations of his predecessor kept the family entertained over the dinner-table on many an occasion.

Getting through this year is going to be tough, though. Already I'm finding it difficult to get my head around teaching in two departments, and these last two admin-filled weeks have been the easy part. It's more meetings tomorrow, taster sessions for the new students on Friday - and even that's a pain, dashing miles from one department to the other and then back again - and on Monday it's all systems go.

Eek.

Oh, and I almost forgot - my throat is scratchy and sore, the glands in my neck are swollen and my nose is starting to run. I'm hoping that a combination of vitamin supplements and denial will stave it off, but I sense a full-blown cold coming on....

One year down, one to go!

Until a few days ago, we had no idea that this common even existed. We discovered it when figuring out the cycle route that Bobby will take when he moves offices next month. It's beautiful. Less beautiful are the scratches on my ankles and arms from the brambles and nettles (ow) that we ploughed through on our way through the woods. Worth it, though! I love summer. I also love the fact that I am (touch wood) done with my horrible Crawley course course till September. No more Monday night torture, woohoo!

Essay angst

Am drowning in sea of papers ... two essays down, one to go. Was not happy yesterday afternoon when I discovered that the assignment I'd been slaving away all morning on the WRONG ASSIGNMENT!