Occasional Notes

Oh, dear.

Very tired.

The hot weather is bringing out the worst in my kids. We are in the middle of exam revision, which even I find to be equal parts boring and stressful and I'm not the one sitting down to write an exam, and the combination of the heat and the emotional turmoil is proving too much for their squishy little brains. Almost every class this week has felt like an uphill battle.

There was a chair thrown by one student at another student yesterday.

Added to that, we had a Parents' Evening last night that was my busiest yet. I teach 99 students in the year group that was coming last night (yes, exactly 99, and I counted), and 22 of those I teach both History and English, so I had to do double duty with them. I had a massive line at my table from fifteen minutes in that didn't disperse until almost an hour after it was supposed to end. Only I and the Head of Year were left at the end. I would have snuck out a little bit earlier -- the Parents' Evening was already scheduled to be three hours long, and I stayed for another forty-five minutes beyond, which brought me to a total thirteen hours straight in school -- but my table was positioned in such a way as I would have had to sneak past the line of waiting parents to get out.

There were a couple of parent interviews where this setup made me feel distinctly trapped. It's all very well to have your back to the wall, but that's only a comforting position if you also have a clear path to the door. And parents kept sneaking up from the side, anyway.

So.

Anyway, one more day. I can make it through one more day, can't I? Yes. Then it is half term and I get a whole week to nap, excepting the overnight trip up to Cambridge I am taking to get stuck into the Stead papers again. But, no. Mostly sleeping. And riding my bike. And getting caught up with work that I've been letting slide all this term because I've been just so tired all the time. And geeking out over movies with the BF. And seeing the friends that I've let slide for as long as I've been letting the work slide for much the same reason.

I am looking forward to it immensely.

Just need to get through tomorrow.

I really was hoping that physiotherapy would work a bit like a cross between surgery (minus the cutting parts) and massage. I wanted to go in, get a back rub, and walk out mostly fixed.

Apparently, it's a process and I need to be patient.

Stupid physiotherapy.

In other news, I am still not allowed to sit or lift anything. I am allowed to lie down, recline, stand, walk, and bend as much as my currently limited range of motion will allow. I kind of miss sitting, though. I've had good times sitting. I've had good times combining sitting with other activities, like eating and watching movies in movie theatres and things like that. One of my favourite activities to combine with sitting in recent times has been riding my bike.

I really miss riding my bike.

*pout*

Riding hard then sitting cross-legged on your bed for ages working on homework?

Leads to (ow ow ow motherfucker ow) stiffness.

Mental note.

I dreamed I was stressed out and working on schoolwork.

I feel so cheated. Even my subconscious is against my having a break.

To do today:

- shower (now)
- finish assignment that is due this afternoon
- finish assignment due tomorrow
- ride home from school no matter what seemingly semi-catastrophic circumstances arise over the course of the day, damn it
- apply for a UK work visa (BIG STARS SUPER IMPORTANT NO REALLY DO IT TODAY OR ELSE)
- watch TV before bed so as to not have a repeat of last night's suxor dreams

(oh, coffee, hi, coffee, i love you, yes i do)

A post-script to this morning's post:

1. I am pathetically, pathetically out of shape.


2. Cycling is still the funnest thing that ever was. OMG HI BIKE HI!

I will be spending the day frantically marking my grade six class' two major poetry assignments so that I can get them back to my associate teacher before I head back to North Bay tomorrow. I hate marking. I love reading what the kids wrote, don't get me wrong. It's that I then have to assign a value to it that causes me discomfort.

I need coffee. I need it right now omg.

I am, once again, declared a fantastic teacher. Go me!

To celebrate, I am going for my first bike ride of the season.

*THUMBS UP HEY YEAH RIGHT ON*

Interview = done. I feel pretty good about the whole thing. I should not prepare more often -- the lady told me I interview really well.

Ball hockey = done. We lost both games, but had a fantastic time doing it.

Art show = visited. My stuff is pretty. Other people's stuff is fantastic. All very nice.

Formal = done and done. Meh. People were pretty and that was nice. Still, meh.

I woke up this morning with an overwhelming desire to go for a bike ride. Sadly, this is Canada in January and there is currently a snow storm warning for my region. So not so much.

The bike.

Oh. My. God.

The bike.

I am actually, earnestly, not-faking-for-internet-fun at a loss for words to describe how wonderful the bike is. I rode for a little over two hours today and felt like I could have easily gone for another two, except for the fact that I really did need to get back to packing. I even managed to get the hang of clipless pedals right off, which work rather like ski bindings. The gentlemen at Full Cycle out and out promised me that I would fall off the bike a couple of times before it got through to my subconscious that my feet were actually bound into the pedals and that I needed to twist out to release them. Apparently, however, a lifetime of downhill skiing has served me in good stead and I had no trouble at all adjusting.

Anyway, the bike proved to be even more fabulous over the first ride than I had expected it to be after my three second spin around the cycle shop's parking lot. I can't wait for tomorrow when, if I get up early enough, I get to do it again.

Also on the plate for tomorrow: FINALLY TURNING MY THESIS IN HEY YEAH RIGHT ON. Loading up my car with my cats, bikes, skis, guitar (which will likely be sad and lonely in the presence of all those other matched pairs), and anything else that will fit. Driving to North Bay.

But enough about the mundane nonsense. I'm going to go back to thinking about my bike now.

Good things that happened today:

- I got an email back from my thesis supervisor absolutely positively promising me that I will be able to get my thesis handed in by Tuesday afternoon.
- I spent omg so much much less than I would have had I not been a smarter-than-I-usually-am shopper and researched sales ahead of time. I got a bike rack for my car so that I'll be able to take my beautiful new baby as well as my reliable old baby (soon to be my mother's one and only) to North Bay when I go, some assorted and much needed bike-related bits and pieces, and two new shirts that I'll be able to dress down with jeans or up with a nice skirt as needed for classes and practice teaching respectively.
- thought a lot about my new bike.
- read great chunks of the owner's manual for my new bike.
- wrote a list of questions to ask when I go to pick up my new bike.
- bike.
- bike.
- bike.
- saw Casablanca for the first time ever at Bytowne Cinema with graycastle, and enjoyed it immensely, I might add. Far more than I expected to.
- bike.

All in all, a very lovely day.