Well my initial excitement that things might have turned around after my holiday seems to have been misplaced.
I had believed that my improved motivation and energy levels would mean that my organisation would have developed too.
Nah.
Even in summer, where there is no teaching so my workload is much lighter, organising where I will be and what I'm doing and who is doing it with me is something I still do last minute.
Anyone have any tips for easy ways to organise your time and life if you're not already an organised person??
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Organisation
Monday, July 13, 2009
Adventures Part 2
OK. So after Mum's party we left with a car loaded with left over booze! My Mum's friend recommended a campsite in the Cotswolds so that's where we went first. It was lovely but familiar so we didn't think to photograph anything other than the moon.
On route we stopped for a walk in the Forest of Dean. We were getting to the halfway point when we heard an almighty grunt from the undergrowth. It scared me! A massive pig! On googling when we reached my sister's house it turns out they have wild boar there.
We headed from there to Cardiff to stay with my Sister and to pick up some stuff I'd left at home that she'd taken for me!
Our next night was in Melverley. This was my favourite campsite of all. In Melverley (tiny village) if you stand on one side of the bridge you're in England but cross it and you are in Wales! Our campsite was in England looking out across Wales. In the next field there was a church built in 1406 which hasn't been changed since. It has also not been out of use. So you can go around (for a donation) the real actual 1406 church. It is AMAZING! I loved it. Here's the pic.
And here is the tent in England... and Wales is just over the river behind the fence there. We walked up the hill in the background in the morning. It was a delightful walk up the hill but a hard walk down as we changed route and inadvertently went down the most difficult route. 
After Melverley we went to Morecombe Bay - a place called Silverdale. At sunset it was quite beautiful though the wind made it quite chilly on the cliffs.
In Morecombe I received a text asking if I would play in a conference here on the Friday. This meant we'd need to come home on Thursday so Morecombe was our last night. To make up for the missed night camping we decided to make as much of a day of it as possible so we packed up and were off at 8.30am.
We managed to see a LOT of Britain in a day. We went to:
Windemere - had breakfast in the town and saw the lake,
Keswick where we went to the market and looked for some local ales,
Cumbrian stone circle - very cool
Penrith where we bought some boar sausages (revenge for the fright) and the ale we'd failed to get in Keswick,
Dumfries where we went to a nature reserve and found wild leek and listened for toads,
Castle Douglas where they had public loos and a tourist information,
and finally Kirkcudbright where the fish and chip shop is without doubt the best I have ever experienced before heading back to Glasgow through Dumfries & Galloway and Ayrshire. 
It was some BEAUTIFUL scenery and the route from Kikcudbright to Glasgow is definitely one I'd like to visit again with more time.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Adventures... Part 1
Over the last 2 weeks we have toured Britain mostly camping in my new tent (thanks Mum & Dad - great pressie!). The most silly thing about this week was probably the number of ancient buildings we attempted to see only to find they had pay and display car parks or entry fees we didn't want to pay... so I have a whole host of photos of castles, abbeys etc that we have only seen from outside. I'll not share them for this reason.
As one does on holiday, we took a few photos. Now it is a well reported fact that people hate other people's holiday photographs... so I will minise the pain but do want to show you some of them.
On Saturday morning we headed North and camped in Pitlochrie.
Next we went down to Dundee to stay with a friend at her house, then headed down to Musselburgh (just by Edinburgh) via East Wemyss ancient caves. They have real cave paintings in.
Tuesday morning I had to go to work - on my birthday! The only school I teach in that was still running as all the others had finished up for the term. And half the kids were on a trip so couldn't have lessons. Grr.... Got away a bit early though, which was a bonus.
We then moved south via Lindisfarne staying in a beautiful tranquil campsite in West Kyloe. This is where I spent my 30th. We heated up some beef stew with rice, then sat out in the sunshine with birdsong and quiet moo-ing cows the only audible sounds, to read books until sunset. It was so quiet and sooooooo good!
http://www.westkyloe.co.uk/caravan.htm
Our next night was a campsite in the North Yorkshire Moors. 
We had a walk through the woods near the campsite. They were a bit stinky because of the fields of foxgloves... growing on rotting woods they really didn't smell too good.
Then we went home for Mum's retirement party (which I'd organised with my Dad, sister and a friend of Ma's). It all went very well and Mum and her guests seemed happy. It was exhausting, however, and I was quite glad to be away to quiet nights in the tent again!
back!
Well it has been some time since my last post.
The main reason for this has been that I have hit the big 30 at last. It feels like it's been a long time coming - I've been dreading this moment for 2-3 years...
It's a huge milestone that I set myself up for when I was a kid, by considering 30 as OLD and deciding that I'd do all the big things - like family etc - when I'm 30. However as I approached 30 I knew I didn't want to do any big things yet.... and I got scared.
So now it has passed and all my dread seems a BIT unnecessary, although I have had several people ask me when I'm getting married and whether I'm planning kids... but the people who asked that also asked it when I was 29. Family friends who seem to think I should. The answers are 'NEVER' and 'No' by the way.
Anyway - explanation over so I'll get on with drafting a proper post shortly.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I need to:
Complete a couple of job applications for Friday.
Complete an application for laptops for Brownies.
Sort out picnic lunches for 10. Stupid - should have just said bring a packed lunch. It's coz I don't have kids that I didn't realise how normal that would be for parents.
practise
teach
do a gig
I felt like there was more than this - but now I write it down it seems very manageable. Time to get cracking.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Update
OK - health. I STILL have a cold and at the moment it's affecting my trumpet playing - note production particularly. My range is fine but quiet scary entries are a no go. Would be ok except it's exactly what I have to do at the moment.
Brownies - they had loads of fun. That's it now til September except for a trip a week on Sat.
Fun - avoiding it actually to try to shift this bloody cold.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Summer Olympics
Tomorrow night we're having a Summer Olympics at Brownies. I actually think this would be something fun to do with other units, but we're going solo. It's our last night for Summer.
The plan:
After they all arrive & pay subs we will hold an opening ceremony - all the sixes (teams) will march around the hall and out to the grass with a flag bearer for each six. We will light the ceremonial torch (tea-light in glass) and then the Olympics can begin.
We have 5 events.
Discus (frisbee)
Shotput (beanbags)
Shooting (water pistols into plastic hoops held by leaders... they're gonna love that one)
Relay.
We will allocate points throughout with winners for each event as well. We will then hold our medal-giving and closing ceremony with juice and biscuits before home time with end of term letters.
This is probably the most organised I've been all year. Hopefully I'll remember how nice it feels to know exactly what's meant to be going on and we'll stick to the routine next year!
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