My Nan, circa 1950

My nan, on the right, was crowned Queen of Rochester, and won a trip to Tasmania on Australian National Airways. My great grandmother is on the left.
This was before Nan met Allen, my grandfather. He is 77 and she is 73, so I think she was still in her mid-late teens in this picture. Pretty special!
This image was found in a library archive by my dad's cousin.
I got a bit overwhelmed by it, I love my nan!

Tasmania Trip with the year 11s

This is why I haven't blogged for a long time - I was away with the year 11s on Tassie Tour!
Here are the best of the photos...

Tuesday

I know, I know... I've writing about Tuesday four days after the fact. Slack blogger.

Tuesday...

Most commonly the day I wake up and wonder if I could take a sneaky sick day, then I haul my lazy bones out of bed and begin the day.

Tuesdays are busy at work. There are never any meetings on a Tuesday, so that's when we have our rehearsals for whatever show I am working on.

Every second Tuesday there is a fair chance you will find me with no money whatsoever as it's pay week and the fund have run dry (except for the Europe savings of course)

Monday

Well... here I am on a Friday writing about Monday. Hmm. Let's just say it's been a busy week and there have been some frustrations and tears, so I am going to keep this short and sweet. I don't like starting something & not finishing it.

Mondays are... A fresh start. I don't suffer from Mondayitis, as some people do. I like my Mondays at work, I have the afternoon to prepare the week ahead, which I should have done the previous Friday. We have yummy morning teas in our staffroom on a Monday. Two people bring far too much food - usually one brings sweet and the other brings savoury. AND the best thing is that I share a staffroom with Food Technology teachers (yes, that's what home economics teachers are called these days!) and some very keen chefs and foodies. Yum!

Mondays are nothing spectacular, but comfortable all the same. The weekend is too far away to be be bothered thinking about, and usually I am still thinking about the weekend that's just passed, on a Monday.

Monday gets its name from the Moon. The Japanese word for Monday is getsuyōbi (月曜日) which means day of the moon.

Sunday

Sunday is, for many, a holy or sacred day. I think it used to be far more so than it is now, but I am not religious, so I don't know for sure.

Sunday is a great day for eating breakfast out.

I also enjoy reading the papers on a Sunday, although I didn't today.

Sunday is a name I love for a girl. Or for a calf raised by hand, like mum's friend Gillian had - a lovely black calf called Sunday. Very sweet.

Sundays are for lazing around, or picnics, or phone calls to family to catch up.

Sundays are lunch-making days, grocery shopping days, planning-the-week-ahead-at-school days... A combination of rest & organisation.

Sunday Trivia:

Sunday is named after Sunne, German goddess of the sun, which is where the word "sun" also derives it's name. The Gregorian calendar repeats every 400 years, and no century starts on a Sunday. Any month beginning on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th.

Sunday Today:

My lovely dear best friend Mel & I spent the day wandering in search of the perfect pair of boots for her. We also saw the Drawn to the Stage exhibition which I thought was really interesting, especially seeing the initial sketches that designers come up with for sets and costumes, and then some of the finished products on display as well. Mostly it was drawings and designs but there were some 3D miniature sets too. I would love to organise for the budding set and costume designers in our Theatre Studies class to go and see it - their folios would improve dramatically (pun intended)!

I finished watching the Australian mockumentary Razzle Dazzle today as well - what a great satire of the dance world! I laughed out loud!

It reminded me of my days as a child dancer... dance teachers who wanted the limelight for themselves, mums who pushed their daughters to succeed, the daggy trophies (I still have mine, and they gave out trophies just like it in the film! Nothing has changed...), the tight hair do's and sequins, the shimmies, injuries, jetes (love that word!), eyeliner on 9 year olds, leotards and floorwork. I miss dancing. (Not sure if you can pick me in this photo... Look for the largest smile.)

Thankfully my second dance teacher was not seeking any limelight, and my mum was never pushy. She resisted the blue eyeshadow for the Grease finale in 1990, yet I convinced her that all the other girls were doing it and therefore I wanted it too! Bless you, mum, for making all those bloody costumes when you had babies under one arm and washing in the other xx

(I am recognisable by a rather large and unrulyfringe... like I mentioned earlier, nothing changes...)

Saturday

Oh Saturday, the day I love!

The day I can do whatever I want.

Sleeping in, cuddles, going out for breakfast. Excessive wearing of pyjamas, reading the papers, coffee over-consumption, snoozing.

Saturday is the day I make plans to see friends and family, because during the week there is just no time.

Today I had breakfast with two girlfriends, one of whom has a 2 and a half month old son, Oliver.

This photo was taken after I had given Ollie his bottle while Claire had a cup of tea. He was getting cosy under a rug and smiling at me as he fell asleep. Yum, babies, they smell good and their smiles are better than rainbows and ponies and shooting stars. Gosh he's lovely!

Saturdays are for washing the sheets and hoping for sunshine so they can dry the real way.

Saturdays are the day I brave the bunny poo and clean up after my little munchkins and let them run around the yard while I do so. They are super-curious about why I am cleaning up their mess and like to sniff and climb around to let me know that they are watching.

Saturdays are browsing and walking days. Saturdays always feel better if they include sunshine.

Sometimes Saturdays are the going out evenings, which is rare but fun. And it's nice to know I can sleep in a little the next day!

And today, I am so excited, even more so than I was to see Claire and Oliver, because my best friend Mel is coming down from Bright and we are having a girls night, sans-wine, and a damn good catch up for the first time in probably about a year.

Oh how I love Saturdays!

Friday

Yes, I'm a day late. Such was my excitement about the fact that it was Friday, I forgot to write about it!

In most Germanic languages Friday is named after Freyja, as pictured above. Freyja was a Norse goddess of Fertility. (Perhaps Fridays are good for baby-making?! Oh and speaking of babies, I love the name Freya!)

Friday is... the last day of my working week.

It is a day of relief and hope - the weekend could bring something amazing, and if not, at least it will be relaxing. Or something unexpected could happen, but it never seems as stressful on the weekend because I don't have to juggle the unexpected with work. You see, work is a very routine-driven place - schools are always based on routine - so anything unexpected can be difficult. But fun too!


Friday is the evening I relax and do what I want, usually spent by myself until I feel sufficiently chilled, then I might see James.


Friday is the day I have 2 periods off in the middle of the day and I always try to plan the lessons for the week ahead but I usually end up doing nothing resembling constructive work.


Friday, for some reason, seems most relaxed. It's the wind-down. But if there's something fun planned, it's exciting! And I always look forward to not waking up to an alarm.


Friday, well every second Friday, is after work drinks in the staffroom, where we eat chips and drink wine and debrief. It's very therapeutic.


Thank God It's Friday is a phrase often used by those of us who work the Monday-Friday week. It was also stolen for use by a large chain of "restaurants". Hmm.


After writing these entries on days of the week, I have realised that I've sadly become a person who spends basically their whole week waiting for the weekend. Is this what full time work is about? I don't remember being like this in the uni days. And in the hospitality days, weekends were my busiest time - I never said "thank god it's Friday" when I was a bartender. More often than not I would think, "can't wait til Monday", because I always had Monday and Tuesday off. I guess that was my weekend. Perhaps I really did count down to my two days off. Does this mean I am always just craving time out? I suppose this is normal - we all love to just do as we please. Hmm. Now I am feeling a bit blue and philosophical. Time for a cup of tea.

Thursday

Thursday is...

Thursday is named after the God Thor, the bearded god of Thunder and War. (That's pretty exciting I guess. Maybe not the war part, but thunder I am quite partial to.)

This picture shows Thor's battle against the giants by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872


Thursday is... The second last day of the working week. Hurrah!

The busiest of my teaching days - no breaks, constant teaching & talking... exhausting! We often have meetings on Thursdays too... boring!

Thursday was the night I used to always go out when I was at uni, because I never had classes on Friday. Uni nights in local bars were notorious for cheap drinks and even cheaper crowds.

Thursday is the day when new movies are released.

The astrological sign of the planet Jupiter represents Thursday with similar names in Latin-derived languages, such as the French Jeudi. In English, this became "Thor's Day", since the Roman god Jupiter was identified with Thor in northern Europe.

Thursday is... The day I wake up and think, "thank goodness it's Friday tomorrow!"

Thursdays used to be the day I went to school and said, "we're going to the disco not tomorrow night but the next night!" in a very-excited-high-pitched-schoolgirl voice, often followed with, "what are you going to wear?!" Luckily the discos were once a month, not every weekend, or we might have wet our pants with excitement... :)

Thursday is a night we often go out for dinner or get yummy take away.

Thursday is late-night shopping in the city. When I first lived in Melbourne, aged 12, I thought this was extremely glamourous and exciting. When we moved back to the country I thought everyone in rural Victoria was so completely backwards for not having late-night shopping. Now I think they are probably just lucky.

Thursday is the night I don't do any preparation for work the next day, except tonight - I've done 2 hours of preparation for a "Circle Talk" with a class tomorrow.

Today, Thursday involved organising a totally new initiative for one class. It also involved my lovely brother/housemate cooking me vegie burritos for dinner. I came home to a sparkling clean bathroom too. What a star! Today I also had a really great chat with one of the Assistant Principals. I left work feeling good.

Thursday is often the evening I am most tired. And on that note, I will stop the Thursday post and prepare for an early night.

Wednesday

Wednesday is...

A member of the Addams Family! Apparently, this name was inspired by the nursery rhyme "Monday's Child"... Wednesday's child is full of woe.

Wednesday is, according to the Hebrew Bible, the day when the Sun and Moon were created.

Wednesday is "Hump day" - once it's done, we are over the half-way hump and it's all downhill to the weekend!

Wednesday is the day I go to my course far, far away from home and spend an hour driving back to Richmond... such a long day, but only for one more week. (And totally worth it - it's been a while since I could sit for 90 minutes and listen intently to people talk)

Wednesday is a day I teach a variety of classes, therefore a day I wear a variety of "hats" - you know, the "English teacher's hat", and the "Drama teacher's hat", and the "I'm Pretending to be Super-Knowledgeable to Teach my Year 11s hat".

Wednesday is the day I wake up and don't think much of it at all.

Spicks and Specks night! Yay!

Wednesday is the day that the weekend seems close but perhaps not close enough.

Today, Wednesday involved some sunshine absorption, lots of talking, helping and learning.
A minor disagreement which blew out of proportion. A significant amount of time in the car.
An internal debate regarding whether to wear purple boots or black boots.
The discovery of a lump where a bug bit me after an adventure into a forest last weekend.
A very productive meeting, creative students, a visit from the Principal and another Principal from another school (lucky I had my "Look At Me, I'm A Great Teacher" Hat on!)... and a spot of laughter.

Stay tuned for the next instalment of 'Days of the Week'. You guessed it - Thursday!

I can't decide if 'Days of the Week' sounds more like a Playschool segment or a daytime soap?!

I take it back...

It is NOT a lovely day today - when I wrote the last post I looked out the window to see sunshine. I have now looked out the window again and it's raining! Typical Melbourne weather.

Busy week, big night out...

I was just looking at my blog thinking that I have somewhat abandoned it a little recently - I have just been so busy. This past week I have babysat a friend's kids (they were loads of fun, I taught them how to play Uno and we read lots of great stories together at bedtime!), been out for dinner with James' cousins whom he hasn't seen for 20 years, saw The Simpson's Movie, which was predictable but very funny, and a bit more adult than the TV show, went to the course I am doing for work on Wednesday night and took an hour to get home (grr, I hate traffic)
... and finally last night I went to a party at a funky little bar and caught up with lots of old friends whom I haven't seen for at least 6 months. I was pretty nervous actually but there's nothing a few (too many) glasses of wine can't help! A very dear friend who had a baby 3 months ago had her first night out after leaving her beautiful boy with her parents, and we had an absolute ball. My feet hurt from dancing, which is better than hurting from not dancing, and I got lots of compliments on the weight I have lost since I last saw all of the 'old crew' - *BLUSH*!
I am really suffering today though - I honestly believe hangovers get worse as you get older! It's a lovely day today though so I hope I can pull myself together enough to take in some sunshine and perhaps plant up a few things in the garden... Or just rug up and lie on the old banana lounge in the backyard with a book! Speaking of books, I read a wonderful young adult novel last weekend that I picked up at the Victorian English teachers conference called "So B. It" by Sarah Weeks - I was reading it in the spa at Lorne and having a good old weep! It's a beautiful story. Despite being for teenagers it's still a great read for grown ups too; I highly recommend it for anyone who likes to read about families and young people seeking to find where they belong in the world.

No energy to write anymore - I will endeavour to be more regular in my posts!