Saturday: the start of a new life

Good morning, gentle readers.  It is a lovely sunny morning and I have the windows open, freshening up the house as a warm baking aroma is starting to pervade the air.  A mix of fresh air and fresh soda bread.  What could be better?

There's an awful lot to say today and I doubt very much I will say it all in one go - in fact, I won't even try!

OK, so the last few days have been very strange.  Very lovely and very difficult all at the same time.  I feel rather numb at the moment and almost 'out of body' so it will take a while to sink in but although there's a great sadness aching inside, there's also excitement and exhilaration!

I wondered about this blog.  Not about keeping it up, I'm not going to stop now, but about its title.  Somehow, 'Diary of a Retired Teacher' doesn't sound right.  Anyway, I may be retired but I am still a teacher.  Yes, I can't cut the knot entirely.  I shall be back at school for one day each week for the first half of next school year doing PPA cover.  At present the plan is to do two hours in Y1 and the rest of the day in FS and I can say that now because the news is out.  It could change; nothing is written in tablets of stone as far as this sort of thing is concerned.

I think it will feel weird.  For so long I have thought in terms of 'my' bay, 'my' class, 'my' laptop, 'my' parking slot and so on.  That's not as possessive as it sounds but there is a certain element of 'belonging' involved.  All those things will go now.  I won't have a base, I will park in the visitors slots (well, actually, once I have no heavy bags/piles of books/etc, I shall walk to school anyway!

There's another way of looking at it though.  No classroom means no space to have to keep organised, tidy and dust free, no display boards to keep updating, no class to plan for and assess and manage, a saving on petrol and a way to get fitter . . .  It will be a whole lot less heavy, won't it?  A lot the fun without as much of the hassle and spare time to boot!

I have already told my team - no, not my team any more, my ex-team, oh dear, that will be hard to remember at first! - to choke me off is they see me overstepping my boundaries.  I wouldn't do it by design but I might do it by accident!

Diane commented that I will be able to 'go with the flow' a lot more.  We all have days when all we want to do is huddle in a chair and read or watch rubbish telly.  Days when the garden calls and we have a chilled bottle of something and a good book once the weeds have been banished.  Days when the food magazine arrives and there are interesting recipes to try.  Days when creativity bites hard and our fingers ache to experiment.  Now I can (mostly) follow my nose and see where it takes me!  Not just for the next six or seven week but for the rest of my life.

Oh, wow!!!