Tuesday

At home with both things that are shooting through the school right now - or maybe it is one bug that shows in different ways, who knows?

Yuck.

Have a better day . . .

Monday

So here we are, back at school in a short while, all ready and prepared (mostly, anyway) with time to have a nice relaxing bath.

Yesterday was good.  It was a very warm day with plenty of sun, although it did get cooler come the evening.  Beth, Alex and I went out to the Flyer for lunch and when we got home, predictably, I went to sleep.  That was nice.  What wasn't so nice was the increasingly sore throat and bunged up nose.  Yes, the first cold of the new school year has landed.  It didn't stop me sleeping well though!

Today is a usual Monday.  Hopefully there will be nothing unusual and nothing different.  Fingers crossed . . .

Sunday

Yesterday was a very gentle day.  I enjoyed it very much and feel rested and relaxed, which is nice.  There's more to do today but it's all good.

I hope that all my readers have a very pleasant day too, whatever situation you find yourself in right now.

Saturday

Woo hoo.  The weekend has arrived.  Three cheers.  Now we really are half way through the half term!

Yesterday was a mixture of good and muddled, nice and disappointing.

It started with me making an early morning order with Just Eat for yesterday evening.  I mentioned in yesterday's blog (or maybe it was a bit before, I can't recall) that I had a friend coming round and I was getting a take away Chinese.  I ordered plenty, partly because I like to have variety when having a Chinese and partly because I love to have leftovers either for the next day or for freezing in single portions (or, preferably, both).

With that off my mind, the day itself went swimmingly well.  Got a lot of work done, set up some finger gym programmes, looked at some IEPs and taught my class in the afternoon.  And I do feel they are now 'my' class.  This week has been great!

Came home and after a while checked the old mailbox to find an email from JustEat asking if I needed the takeaway tonight or tomorrow night and if they didn't hear from me within 24 hours they would cancel the order.  This has happened before so I was none too pleased.  Last time it worked out OK as I just cancelled the order (remember, Sonja?) but this time I was expecting the delivery and didn't want to cancel.  I guess JustEat doesn't handle early morning orders all that well!

So I emailed off high priority to confirm (rather tetchily) that I wanted it for tonight, yes, they had the right phone number but no, as I had told them before, being hard of hearing, I rarely answered the phone as I more than likely wouldn't hear what the caller had to say and anyway I was at work all day and being a teacher I couldn't just leave . . . oh, you get the idea.  A bit of a mini rant, in fact.  And I did add that I had a guest coming too so a non-delivery would not be a terribly acceptable thing.

Then I just had to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait . . . and I was beginning to wonder if I ought to go out and get something in when a reply pinged in.  Very nice, very apologetic, saying the delivery would be made on time.  So I sent a nice answer because, after all, I have been brought up proper.

And then, not long after, there was a bang at the door.  That's early, thought I, much too early.  So I stalked to the door, only to find S, my guest, looking like death warmed up, apologising and saying that she felt terrible (she did look poorly too) so would I mind if . . . and then she presented me with a lovely bouquet as an apology.

Poor S.  Of course, I told her to go home, wrap up, snuggle somewhere comfortable and look after herself.

So . . . I had a substantial amount of food (no complaints), two bottles of alcoholic grape juice (no complaints) and a quiet evening to myself in a clean and tidy house (still no complaints).  I did offer S one of the bottles but she rejected it with a shudder.  Not good. poor lass.

See what I mean - it was a fair old muddle but, while very disappointed, I was glad I am comfortable with my own company too.  And I opened a bottle immediately.  After all, it WAS Friday evening.

And I still have an evening with S to look forward some time soon and a beautiful bouquet of flowers to enjoy over the next week.

Apart from that, illness was still rampaging through my class yesterday and I reckon I got off lightly with my little stint over Wednesday night.  Five away yesterday plus one with an appointment in the afternoon.  Still, always the teacher, it gave me an opportunity to reinforce how to take away from a whole ten (there are 30 in the class) by using what we know about pairs that total ten and a number line!  Any teacher worth his or her salt makes maximum use of little contretemps like this to make hay, so to speak.

So today I have a substantial amount of Chinese to sort out and freeze, bread to make, pears to preserve (chutney and jam but not together), a pile of ironing and some school planning - quite a lot of school planning.

And tonight it is Strictly AND Doctor Who.  What more could one ask for?

Friday

More apologies, this time for yesterday's non-appearance.  It wasn't overwork, it was snoozing!

Yesterday was an experience day.  A Great Fire of London experience day, in fact.  You can see what it is about by following this link.  http://www.historyoffthepage.co.uk/courses/great_fire_london.htm

Because of this, I didn't have any work to do Wednesday evening which was just as well because I fell asleep on my recliner before Bake Off started and woke in time to see Martha leave - so it is just as well I can watch it on iPlayer.  Off I went to bed, almost straight to sleep but woke in the middle of the night with tum cramps so spent a while contemplating the towel rack in the bathroom - hardly an inspiring sight.

Fortunately, I managed to get a bit more sleep but was pretty woozy Thursday morning.  After having almost 100% attendance this term, I had three away and another went home not long after the start of the day so it looks as if something shot through some of us!  A great shame because it was a fab day, the children loved it and they were brilliant in both work and behaviour.

After a general introduction around a map of the City of London in 1666, they had to pretend they were apprentices and went to different tables to try weaving, candle making, learning to be a surgeon and various other trades of the time.  In the meanwhile, as they were working, a fire started in Pudding Lane (a flame coloured scarf on the map) which got bigger and bigger with rats escaping now and again.  Some of us made chains with buckets to try and put the fire out . . . oh, you get the idea.  It was really good.

After lunch they were archaeologists and had to 'dig' up objects and work out which profession it came from.  Again, excellent, covering various ways in which we can find out about the past.  It finished with a story of a family who managed to escape the flames.  The children were utterly engrossed in the tale.

We were worn out afterwards but it was more than well worth doing and has helped to make the whole thing come alive.

Since we started this topic, many of the children have been taken to London to see Pudding Lane, the Monument, St Paul's, etc., by their lovely families.  It makes such a difference.

Today is SEN in the morning and I am taking my class in the afternoon.  And then it is another weekend.  Where is the time going?

And finally, Must do a bit more tidying up because I have a friend round for a Chinese and a chat this evening.  It has to be a takeaway because I have no time to cook, but she's OK with that, thank goodness.  I'd better get going then!

Wednesday

Wednesday already.  The time has flown this week.  In three more days we will be half way through the half term.  Incredible!

Today is a busy day.  Reading revelry, violins and then library, all before play.  After lunch it's mentor and PPA times.  Everything's ready so I'm quite relaxed.

Have a lovely day, everyone.

Tuesday

Brrrr - it's a bit parky this morning. It was yesterday too.  I was on playground duty am and we both shivered a little bit, especially out of the sun.

It was a nice day with plenty of smiles and fun.

I wrote the above this morning but didn't have time to finish.  So I will finish now.  Sorry!