Walkies

This is the map of the walk I plan to do! Today was very nice. The body clock woke me at weekday time, annoyingly, but at least it meant I got the washing done before heading out to watch the under 69kg rugby team from my school play in the Final for their grade against my old school. Twas very pleasant (our team lost :( ) except for one particularly yobbo father who began abusing the ref. Doesn't matter which team he belonged to, he only embarrassed himself, with his poor example of unsportsmanship. Dearie me, but I found myself telling him so, too. Oof!

This was all followed by a veery pleasant lunch and walk to the edge of the reserve. The clouds looked very menacing, so we decided to investigate another time. A very wise choice as it turned out - got home in the knickers of time!

Am I mad???

Barking! Why? This week I've accepted the Head of Faculty position. Scary but exciting is how I see it. 2 years ago it was all too much, but I feel like enough has changed now for it to be within my capabilities. The decision didn't come lightly - and was certainly assisted by some quite consistent encouragement from the ex-HOF: that I had more than enough of what was required to take it on. His confidence in my strengths, in spite of being well versed in my weaknesses, meant a lot. It also made me realise that what I really didn't want was to have to train yet another boss - I wanted it myself. And (so far at least) it's a comfortable fit, rather than a burden.

Meanwhile, yesterday we farewelled our principal. He's off to be somebody big and important in Wellington, and hopefully to iron out some of the wrinkles that still exist in our qualifications system. I'll always remember him as the man who had enough vision (and more confidence!!!) to create a better (promotion) position for me, because he felt that I was underselling myself in the original job I'd applied for. I still had to compete for it, but I was up for the challenge then, as I guess I'm up for it again now! He has been a "change agent" in our school, and some people have loved him and others have left. I'm sorry to see him go.

Smug

Got notified tonight that our students have won 2 of the categories in the regional science fair - in both cases for the 3rd year running. Take THAT you other schools!!!
Hat tricks R us!

edit... Turned out that one of those "first's" was actually a 2nd (well 2 of ours were 2=) so I shouldn't be quite so smug. That pair did pick up "best year 13 innovation, invention or investigation" for their respective projects, too.

Meanwhile, in spite of a few teary patches around the place (heh! not all mine, either, I might add) on Monday, the week just flashed by. The tension seemed to build to a peak about Thursday, but then it was all downhill again after that. Helped, I'm sure, by some de-stressing activities that are just too silly to write about, let alone post the pictures!

tonight...

I read this essay, in the book published by Gordon Atkinson based on his blog "reallivepreacher.com".
While the subject of the story wasn't applicable to me, some of the emotions in it resonated. This bit here reached out and grabbed me:

They tried to hold Mr. Grief at bay, but this was his hour. Denial worked pretty well, some days. Bargaining never did much for them, though some people swear by it. Anger was like heroin – a quick, powerful fix, but anger takes energy and Mr. Grief was patient. In the end, he swept onto the dance floor with a triumphant flourish, and ate them all to pieces.

Excellent essay, great book. Recommended.

Deja vu

..Well, that's what it felt like, standing in the staffroom farewelling yet another Head of Faculty. Abandoned again! By some extreme miracle, I managed not to tremble and snuffle my way through it, but instead was actually quite calm and measured and it went really well. Not that there weren't tears! On my own early in the day, when I was sitting contemplating what on earth I was going to write in my card, and then again, right at the end, when we finally went our separate ways. Oh I do a fine line in blub!

In my speech I said that he had enlivened, enthused and entertained us. So true. He's been hugely important in my personal and professional development in the last year or so - his ability to read where I'm at, and his perception in being able to say just the right thing - to push me a little harder when I'm less confident about taking the next step, or to reign me in if I'm over the top. His confidence in my ability to do a good job has meant a lot, and we've been a darn good team. I wasn't able to really put a name to it, but on the way home my friend said it's cos he has a high EQ, and by golly she's nailed it! That, and a hugely professional demeanor, combined with a bigger still sense of humour. It's not going to be the same without him at all! I'm not the only one who thinks so! Only yesterday morning he had me in such fits of laughter that I nearly vomited! Gift of the Blarney indeed!

So, come Monday the buck stops back with me again. And we await the appointment of a new Head of Faculty. It's really unsettling for staff, this interim period, and I was also really sad telling my year 12's that I had to consequently abandon them to another teacher, in order to resolve my workload. They were sooooo sweet, and it nearly sent me off into tears again! They've been SUCH a great bunch.

A couple of links:
This one combines how your Empathy Quotient and Systemising Quotient work together. Allegedly I have a balanced brain.
The one below alleges I've an average EQ....

Your EQ is 107

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick! 51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese. 71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely. 91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that. 111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt. 131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin. 150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

Sleepy...

I went to 2 lectures yesterday, by the 2006 Rutherford Memorial Lecturer, Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse. At the first, he described what he considered to be the 5 most significant discoveries in biology (see here for more details of both). The other big attraction was the award of a UNESCO scholarship to one of my ex-students from last year. The second lecture was titled "Milton and Darwin - 2 views of creation". I'd like to say I was gripped and attentive, but as soon as he started reading Milton, I was gone. I hope my friend didn't let me snore. I believe he was very interesting, but I think my focus gene got exhausted earlier in the afternoon. Besides, it was nice and warm in the Cathedral. Oh, and the sound system was less than helpful - I found it very hard to hear clearly.



and meanwhile: "Andrew Greig, a New Zealand airforce officer who was due to move to a post which was bombed in southern Lebanon, escaped the attack because his journey there was delayed.

The Defence Force says Squadron Leader Greig has taken up a new military observer's role in Israel, but is giving no details."

Peace be with you and yours, Andy.

Way, way, way too close for comfort....

Hang in there, Andy...

Safe...

Really good to see Bron on tv tonight - press play to see the video, it won't start automatically:

Oops!

I just found I had a strange setting on the comments.....
Sorry folks! Fixed it now, so they'll show up! I deleted the ones that you tried to do twice.

The new one...

It's growing on me, slowly....
Saw it twice tonight, as the pub got too crowded for comfort, so we went and found dessert somewhere else, before going home to watch the delayed coverage.
Graham Henry sure is ringing the changes, and a fairly safe win in the end.

Thoughts & prayers are with Andy, having had to say goodbye to Bron and the boys, who got on a boat for Cyprus today, while he remains in Tyre.

Woohoo!!!!!

"U2 and tour promoters The Next Adventure (TNA) today announced new shows for those previously postponed on U2`s Vertigo Tour.
Auckland - Ericsson Stadium - (Old Date) Friday, March 17th/06 - (New Date) Friday, November 24/06"

Today...

And my car got it's WOF. Well, almost. Except for the thing that it failed on, but it's minor, and quick to fix, (I hope). I thought I'd have to get tires, or even that there'd be something else wrong, but maybe even the car is still getting over the automatic transmission transplant from a month ago. Yay!

Stupiderati

I like new words. An example of people who fit into this new category
are students who spend wet lunchtimes getting intentionally wetter and
colder. Frequently these students are also unpleasant to deal with.

Circles.

So, here we go again. Announced this morning, officially, the news that the "new" (as of beginning of 2005) HOD is on his way, although I've known now for at least a month. Sigh. He'll be gone in "24 more school days" he informed me this afternoon. And yep, I'll be back in the hot-seat short-term. Somehow, though, it doesn't seem so bad. I'm 2 years wiser than at this point last time and some of the things that made it so difficult and stressful previously are no longer issues. None of which, of course, alleviates the grief I feel at the thought of losing this brilliant friend from my daily life. I've been the leaver, previously, and I don't think I like being at this end. Compared to this loss, the news that our principal is also on his bike was reeeally small biscuits.

Meanwhile, time appears to have flown by again. The speed cam referred to below as the most prolific in the country has been replaced by the most humungous new mall. Well, on the other side of the road, and now there's a new set of traffic lights or 3, everyone's slowed right down. Such are the days of our lives.

Had a significant birthday event pass in the interim since last post - Mum turned 80. Yikes! She travelled up on the train with a caregiver, and I got a day's leave to spend with her on the big day. We had a brilliant week, and I was really sad when she went home. I've been down there again since then (since time has, allegedly, picked up it's mat and run), and got the chance to visit the Constable exhibition at Te Papa while I was in the vicinity. Here's a link to the same exhib, with audio, from its last location in Canberra. I was a bit cheesed off to find some of my fave huge pix from the National Gallery in London weren't there, but discovered they were actually at another huge exhibition at the Tate. Ah well. They don't look like ANYTHING much in their small, chocolate-box form.

Nuff rambling for now. My cell-phone is broken. It feels like I've lost a limb. Today I heard it's not irrefixable, yay, so in a couple of days hopefully I'll be able to pick it up, and this time I promise I'll make a backup of all the info stored on there that I was in dread of having lost for all time. Arrrgh!

Finished at last!

Yay! This morning I completed the last assignment for the last paper for the post grad diploma I've been working towards for the last far-too-many years. I'm really really grateful to my tutor, who has allowed me quite a lot of flexibility to get this last research project completed. But now it's done, and I'm glad. I could have given up, many times, but when it got to being just one paper to go, I was too stubborn to let go. I had no real choices in the end. I've actually been enrolled for this paper three times, paid twice (got it deferred once, and then failed to complete). It was getting towards the point where there would be no more flexibility at all, and I totally didn't want to pay another $600 to repeat it. (I already have a significant fine from the library, as my enrolment lapsed in April and I wouldn't be able to renew my books) This is the last year the course will be offered, and so if I didn't complete it, I was nearly out of time. I'm just SO pleased.
I sat, with the assessment schedule in one hand and the keyboard in the other, checking all the way that I'd done "just" enough to pass. My standards, once again, are just too high. I got an A. Yay for that too.
Happy happy happy.

Away again..

...This time with 42 students, visiting the big pulp (quote: "the bleached wood pulp is 99% water before it's dried and packed")and paper mill (supplies all of NZ's newsprint and 80% of Aussie's), and a geothermal reserve, where we were able to do lots of exciting chemistry thingy things. It was still the holidays, and I'm just impressed that so many students were keen to come. It rained, pretty solidly, in the morning of the day at the reserve, but cleared up fab later on. Sadly, other people in the region had worse days than us, and floods struck yet again. Speaking of struck. There was some thunder and lightning while we had the umbrellas up, and my colleague got a tiny shock.
Most of my photos were duds, at the reserve, because the camera focussed on the steam rather than the people. And there was a lot of steam!

One whole quarter

..has passed, without a post. During this time I've pondered if I want to keep blogging. It's kinda cathartic and kinda pointless at the same time. Still, here I am again. Anzac Day tomorrow - hard to believe it's been a whole year since the last one. I won't be getting up for the dawn service tomorrow. The weather this year is so different. It's supposed to be Autumn, and we're still having hot humid days and nights.

I've just been for a jaunt down country and back. Twice. All in the aid of getting my mum here for a visit. Flew down drove back, then the same in reverse. Yesterday was exciting - got to the airport and had just checked my case through, (and made it to the loos - Murphy's Law strikes again) when sirens started and the speaker systems all instructed us to evacuate the terminal. Half an hour later, after 3 fire engines had been and gone, we were allowed back. It seems a fire alarm had set off a sprinkler system. Or something. So, eventually got on the plane, an hour late.

Got home, and all was great, I thought, until the non-english speaking neighbours came out and managed to communicate that their power had gone off at about 4pm (just as well it was the same day, as I'd been away 2 nights!), and since the meter board is in my garage, they'd been hanging out for me to get home. I called the faults people for them, and half an hour later the workman was up on a ladder fixing the fuse. Hey presto, their lights all came back on, and they went inside to turn the oven on again. At the same instant, the workman managed to put his ladder through the upstairs window of flat one, and the fuse blew for a second time, and they were back to square one. All terribly exciting, and the last thing anyone needed on a windy wet night. So, workman went back up the ladder, and the instruction was passed on not to use the oven. Their landlady has replaced the stove today, so hopefully it won't happen again. Funny thing is... we've lived next door to each other for 3 years, and never really had any conversation till the last 2 weeks. Lots of smiling and nodding, but finally, as a result of this, I've managed to get their names!

non-speedy gonzales

Have I received mail from a speed camera? Oh yes. On the first day of a new job (where I had the "company" van, and had done for some weeks before starting - some service organisations are kind like that) I received my first. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that the fine went to head office, where the van was registered, before eventually making it's way to me. I think I've had 2 since then. I can only remember the details of one.
Meanwhile, I copied this quote from the Herald a couple of weeks back:

" The 10 busiest speed camera sites in the country churned out almost 60,000 fines in the past financial year, but police say the number is falling as motorists heed the call to slow down."

Why is this interesting? Well, just look at the following map, which shows the locations of 2 of these top 10. X marks the spot where I live (ish). Neither of these cameras has ever sent me mail. Not that I feel particularly deprived by this.

catching up on technology

Second go at this post... serves me right for not saving a draft.

I love Trade Me. No, I didn't win the funeral, I didn't even bid on it! I did, however, sell my old fridge within hours of listing it, but I made up for it by buying an mp3 player. It arrived today, and I really think the instruction booklet was translated on babelfish. Truly - no-one's english could be THAT bad??? Just as well the intuition works well.

It's just in time for my new-found interest - podcasts. Yeah, I know the rest of the world has been onto them for some time, but now the technology and the bandwith match. So, first stop was the Ricky Gervais show, which I appear to have missed the first 3 episodes of - ah well... Followed by podbible, though "my" chapters don't look to be coming up anytime soon on either of the podcasts there. I saw an article about the fantastic site Yahoo! have set up, and found loooooaaaaads of interesting stuff! I recognised it was easily time to stop! There's only so many feeds you can ever get round to checking out! And it's not like I have time this week anyway!

Oh yeah...

And the cat travelled ok as well. Apart from the bit where we got to Mum's retirement village at 11pm, and she went AWOL at that point. Took 1/2 an hour, food and being very tricksy to retrieve her. The cattery was half the price of up here, and really nice.

Wedding

... Came back from down south just in time for Kelli & Randall's wedding. What a gorgeous spot:

Another one of "THOSE" days...

Actually, it's been one of those weeks. I discovered that I'd failed to book the cat into the cattery, so now I'm taking her on the ~8hr drive down country with me. I've got some herbal tabs from the vet to calm her (ha! Can I take them too??), so it "should" be ok. Nevertheless, I've invested in a harness and a lead as well, just in case.

Once again I found myself still at school days after most others had finished, trying to finish off the coursebooks to send to the printer. Finally got them finished last thing on Friday afternoon. After sitting for the best part of 2 weeks, the last thing I felt like was another 3hrs, watching King Kong, but hey - it took about 30s of film to change my mind on that! What an excellent movie. So funny, so sad. What HORRIBLE creatures PJ dreams up! What dreadful fates the crew meet. Didn't manage to spot my colleague from work, but that came as no surprise. He was one of 400 extras in the Civic Theatre shots (Alhambra, in the film).

Earlier this year I won some tickets (the ones I used to go to Johnny Clegg) from a competition at the Civic in Heritage week. (We went on a free tour, and had to fill in a quiz sheet as we went, which went into a draw.)

And then tonight....
I got out of the car, locked the door, and then at the instant it closed, I realised my keys were still inside. Including my house keys. AA took nearly 2 hours, the last of which was dark. Yay for my kind neighbours, but by the time the chap turned up to break into my car (took all of 30 seconds) they really were keen to go to bed. Honestly, I could have wept. It was very much the last straw :(

OOS in my mouse hand...

After today, it would be little surprise!
Talk about an exercise in frustration. With the phone in one hand and the mouse in the other, I was armed and ready for the battle for U2 tix. Only problem was, I couldn't get through on either front. Kept getting an "error" message on the website, and "overloaded" message on the phone. Wasted far too much precious time on it. What a wally!

Any spare minutes throughout today were dedicated to the cause. To no avail, I might add.

Well.

Not until...


I got home, stomped around the house a bit (went to Johnny Clegg last week - see below - so I'm well acquainted with stomping), and got back online to try again.

45 minutes, and hundreds of clicks later (no, no... no exaggeration, really...)

I SCORED!!!!!!! 2 tix, of the variety I wanted.
WHEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Happy dance ensued.

Sigh.
U2,
down the road,
on St Patrick's Day.
And I'll be there. Yay!!!
I'm exhausted now!

(this was the first song played for the encore, video here, with Nelson Mandela, live in Frankfurt, and slower than the version from last week. What was really cool was hearing the story behind each song. Asimbonanga was written in 1986, described by Johnny himself here, when Mandela was still in prison. The grand finale, as it really had to be, was Dela... and WOW! I'll try and ignore that it was on the soundtrack for George of the Jungle!)

Growing....

The Great-niece is growing...
She has the same big blue eyes I remember her mum having at that age...

Classic!

How's the top letter on this page for classic?
I'm left speechless.
(nb, the "official party" were the Principal, Associate Principal, Kaumatua, Deputy Principals, House Deans, Board Chair, Head Boys (2) & Girls (2) & the local Member of Parliament. I may have missed one or two, possibly)

Satisfaction...

Londonkind were back in town tonight, so we took a stroll down to the viaduct for dinner. Although it's not quite the hopping venue it was when the America's Cup was "ours", it's still pretty busy.
Apart from the joy of spending a few short more hours in the company of good friends (and I love the way we are just able to pick up again from wherever it was we last left off 5 or 6 years ago), it was a pleasant surprise to be ably waited on by an ex-student of my last school. He has just qualified as a chef, he says, and is finishing off the Hospitality diploma. He was a student of "character", and it is a joy to see him grow into such a nice young man.
Finished with the special guided tour under the bridge and looking back across at the city lights...

Rugby week....

It's been a great rugby week. Not that I'm a fangirl or anything - not half! First the news of the 2011 rugby world cup being allocated here, though it'll be a case of taking out a mortgage to buy tickets, and then the lovely win over England in the early hours of this morning. And no, my dedication doesn't extend to getting up at 3.30am to listen (since free-to-air isn't an option, and I'm too cheap to have Sky).

And then, to move on to other good news, this morning I read that U2 are going to be playing just down the road on March 17. Yay! St Paddy's day was never as good as this before! Another mortgage, probably. I'll be able to pay that one off just in time for the rugby.

On the home front, lovely to have London visitors. I took Helen and her mum on an outing to Piha yesterday afternoon. We did a wee bush walk, and strolled along the beach. It was gorgeous and hot! So good to see them :):)

Logical intelligence...... below average

Sigh... and I like to think of myself as quite logical. Just shows how deluded it's possible to be. (I couldn't work out the sequence question. blegh.)
Another nonsense online quiz-type thingy thing

Your IQ Is 120

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Rosey tinted glasses....

I discovered, today, after driving 25 mins across the city, that I'd put an event in my diary a week too soon. Ah well. My friend and I decided instead to head for the Parnell Rose Festival, but were easily diverted by the weekly French Market. YUM!!! After a jolly good shop (and having bought some honey and walnut bread, and exceedingly yummy aioli and chutney), we finally headed for the Rose Gardens. You can see that there were plenty of lovely blooming roses. I was amused, also by the cultural mix. On the one hand we had the morris dancers, on the other, the flamenco dancers. There were Devonshire teas to be had, or carved Nativity sets and Christmas decorations from the lovely woman from Bethlehem (mostly NZ woods, although her husband still loves to work in olive). We always have a wee chat, whenever I see her - I have visited her brother-in-law's shop in Bethlehem. When I first met her, about 10 years ago, I was not long back from there, and had been given an olivewood kiwi by a friend. Meeting her solved the puzzle I'd been mulling over - how it was that someone from Bethlehem was carving kiwis.
Today felt like summer is upon us. I'll not be surprised to discover a bit of sunburn, which I wasn't anticipating at all.

dreaming...

Hahahahaha!!! One of them told me today that he'd dreamt about the mountain in my book, last night. We had a big combined morning tea with them all this morning, and the hall was full of tears. That letting go and moving on thing is hard anytime, but when you're fraught with the thought of upcoming exams, and it's the close of not just a whole chapter, but a book, it's that much worse. The sudden shock that they are being turfed out, that it'll never be the same. Every year I see them suddenly wake up to it, and even the hardest of them seem to suddenly turn into big softies!

Stephen, over at Greenflame, talked about songs that define the moment. They played one of those songs today at morning tea. Cat Stevens' "Old Schoolyard"... I'd just been telling one of my leavers about my last day in 7th form, how we'd had a ceremonial sofa burning (that's another story), and then gone down to the local park with a tapedeck, and the Cat Stevens album, and made us a memory, on the swings and roundabouts and seesaws and so on. Not two minutes later, it came over the soundtrack to the morning. It was one of those moments! I was really amused - they'd put together a whole bunch of feel-good tracks, so much more pleasant than the nasty stuff they played at the Grad dinner.

...you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So... get on your way!
And they were off! Another year, another crew, another great bunch of young adults making their way in the world.
We've had good laughs this year, and they wrote lovely things in their card. It's always good to be reminded that even when you think you've done a crap job, mostly it's gone ok.
What really DID warm my heart today, was an unsolicited comment passed on from my previous school...
Cut and paste from an email I received today:

Out of the blue, RL says... "what was the name of the science teacher I had in Y10??" I supply your name, and he says "yeah. I think she was the best teacher I ever had."

Aint that sweet? It's always so much nicer when it's completely unexpected!

Snap Crackle Pop..

I don't remember another Guy Fawkes night that was sooooo full of it! It feels like some of them are coming right in my windows! Went outside to watch, and am convinced I can see a place actually burning away right across the valley, and I did hear sirens a while ago. Honey came out to investigate with me, and really didn't seem at all intimidated by the crashes and bangs, but when I came inside, she RACED!!!!! She was so "I'm not going to be left out here without you mummy"!!! It's all just an endless series of little explosions. So cool. I have no other sounds playing, so it's really the theme tune for the evening.

I was going to a fireworks party tonight, but in the end, was just too tired. It's been a very draining week. Yesterday was both David's funeral in the afternoon, and our Year 13 students' Graduation Dinner in the evening. Both were celebratory, but in quite different ways. The funeral service was of course tempered with loss. The priest pointed out that it wasn't yet 2 years since David had been standing in that very spot, speaking about one of the lads killed in the massive car accident that had sent shockwaves through the school and community. And that it was a great testament to David how many current and ex-students had come to farewell him in turn - hundreds were there. The words that were shared about his life were in themselves filled with life, and I think David would have been delighted. The haka the boys from the 1st XV performed in his honour at the end of the service was an absolute show stopper. It was filled with more emotion and passion than I've seen in an All Black haka in quite some time. (although the test tonight may be the exception to that rule, of course) It was awe-inspiring, and rousing, and while I don't work there anymore, I still know quite a few of the boys, and felt sooo proud of them.

Grad dinner was a hoot. It seems very American, to me, to be handing each student a certificate of graduation from high school. They were a very raucous bunch. The "most likely to...." awards were the funniest of the night, and they didn't stint on them. My year 13's had given me a gorgeous pendant and a card on Thursday, which had me smiling over the good memories of the year. I hate saying goodbye to the leavers, but it's such a necessary part of their journey, that I like to make it a bit special, but humorous at the same time. I have a copy of Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss that I read them on the last day. I hope they all turn up like good little campers on Monday!!!!!

And today, my friend was up from Dunedin, and had organised a brunch out in West Auckland. Yum (shame about the service). I used the opportunity to get to a plant nursery out there and purchase a chinese pistachio sapling. I've wondered for ages what this tree was that I just love in the autumn. There was one outside my window in the first place I lived in Auckland. It will grow quite a bit bigger than I expected, so that'll be interesting. It won't happen overnight, though.

RIP David

Well, David died this afternoon. It's horrid, even when you're expecting something, that it hits quite hard. It's 11 years tomorrow since my Dad died, so I guess there's some feelings hanging around about that too. Tomorrow is the first November 1st since 1994 that has been a Melbourne Cup day. Isn't it silly the little details that stick in your mind. It was a horse called "Jeune" that won that year. (which I just translated on babelfish and it means "young person". If I'd ever studied French I'd have known that!)

11pm tonight....

(clicking on it gives a pic with better resolution)

Men are from Mars....

This week Mars is the closest it will be for the next 13 years.
Last night I made a gif for my class today, of tonight's stars. I realised on the way home tonight that it's about an hour out, cos I forgot about daylight saving, but such is life. Mars is soooooo red when it rises, not till about 10pm. So, adjusting for time, this is the view from Pakuranga, from about 8pm tonight. Each shift is 1 hour. (click to see "readable" size)



Went to visit my friend David at the hospice tonight on the way home. We think it may only be a matter of days now. He didn't have the energy to talk, so we just sat (or lay, in his case). I can hardly believe how much determination and courage it took him, only a week ago, to get on his feet and do his farewell speech. Today, he said the burden was overwhelming, and his mind was racing with all that he yet wanted to say and do, but had no energy for. He is so thankful to be pain-free. Small mercies, eh? I was glad to have time to chat with his wife and kids on their way in for the evening. She in particular is stoically "muddling through" (her words). It's a strange kind of limbo.

Labour Weekend

Goodness me. It says my last post was early September. Shocking!

I have been inspired to post by this article, about "Kumara the hot potato in UK"


Having just enjoyed a roast leg of lamb, with accompanying spud, pumpkin and kumara, it seemed appropriate. I'm horrified by how much they are selling for over there, when they are sooooo accessible and soooooo reasonably cheap here.
I was inspired to go looking for kumara recipes.

It's Labour Weekend here again, where we supposedly celebrate the great achievement of the trade unions, of the 8 hour working day. Gosh, I've heard of it, but what is it? Still, at least we get this glorious sunny day off.

Yesterday, I joined with some other graceway-ites to take our turn to read in the bible podcast. I read a few chapters in Zechariah and Malachi, and then my friend Marti got the transition into Matthew and the genealogy! I was delighted to then have a great chunk of the Sermon on the Mount as my final reading. After Marti had gone, Christine arrived, and told us that she'd taken her friend to church earlier in the morning. The person on "reading the text" didn't turn up, so, the minister, Jodie, turned on the podcast, and it was Marti, reading from the first chapters of Matthew. After this weekend, it will then be available, in chunks, for downloading.

Mark is in the middle of a series titled "generous orthodoxy", at Graceway at the mo. Last week he talked about evangelicalism, and this week was social justice. So, rather than talk about it, we went down to the complex where Mark and Bridget are going to be moving soon, so that they can foster more children at once, and worked on preparing the walls of their unit ready for painting. It was lovely to sit round in the sun afterwards and chat over the BBQ.

It's been a hard week, too. I went back to my previous school for a couple of hours on Thursday, so that I could be there to farewell and thank a dear friend. He has been battling cancer for a long time now, and has been told he probably only has 2-4 weeks left. He was so brave and determined. He managed to stand, to speak, and to laugh at times. It was good that he had opportunity to hear and treasure the kind words and appreciation that so often is only spoken at funerals. The school are going to have a mufti day this week, as a fundraiser, so that his wife and 2 children (under 10) will be able to do something special when he is gone from them. He goes into the Hospice this week.

Sugar??

Several times today I've been asked if I'd had too much sugar in my coffee this morning. It's not even like I had lots of sleep last night. Could it be that I can see an end to some of the horrendous workload of the last year+??? I dunno, but today was a good day.

I've been playing with the html a wee bit too... found that cute quotes site - no idea what they're gonna be like, but am willing to give it a good shot. I like the one for today - "the first duty of love is to listen" - so if they're all like that, well, it'll be interesting!

A week and a half ago I flew to Wellington (yes, again) for a birthday party (yes, again) - my great aunt's 100th. I also met my 3 week old great niece while I was down there. Imagine that. One day I'll be able to say to her (one day, soon, hopefully the poor tot will have a NAME!!!) "on September 2nd 2005, I gave both you and your 100-year-old great great great aunt a hug and a kiss".





This is what a telegram from the queen looks like:




and this is the great aunt's great great great niece and moi

2 in one week

Based on my recent record, this would have to be a miracle.
I'm avoiding marking exams at the moment, although I have one lot half completed, and another are threatening me from the sofa.

Speaking of the sofa...
My big discovery of the day was this:
I have a cat (no, that's not the discovery).
My cat likes to sit on me.
When I won't cooperate (or go conveniently - to her - to sleep) she likes to sit on furniture near me.
My gorgeous blue sofa collects cat hair like it was worth a fortune.

(that's the photo from when I bought them on Trademe)
I've tried vacuuming it, but it sticks like glue (or, at the very least, cat hair)
So, sometime during the week, I had a brainwave. I thought of the bath glovey things I have, that are like wearing a scrubbing brush on your hand, like this
And I thought that it might work really well against the cat hair.
And do you know what??
I was right. It was brilliant:):)
While I listened to and watched the memorial service for David Lange this morning on the tele, I managed to get most of the evidence of Honey off the sofas. Yay!

Yeah, yeah......

Still chuckling at Pete's comment in the last post....I think I woke up the neighbours!
I can take a hint.
Yes, I'm still alive! Haven't felt much like making the effort, sometimes it seems like there's not much happening, and yet, when I look back, I know I've done heaps.
The students are preparing for mock exams starting tomorrow, so it's been full-on getting them ready. (and the students too). At least I only had 2 year levels to organise this year, but I got them back from the printer yest afternoon, and discovered I had forgotten to put the number required on one year level, and so back they go to print some more. I'm glad I didn't discover THAT on the morning of the exam!!!

Oh, and Jupiter is still a feature, yes.... "During August Venus and Jupiter will present an interesting view in the evening sky as the two draw closer and closer together. By the end of the month, they will only be a couple of degrees apart." from RASNZ and here's a northern hemisphere link.

Actually, one of the things I did last week was to set the alarm and get up to watch the shuttle land, on NASA tv on the internet. It was exceptionally cool to hear the conversation between Houston and the Discovery, and I really did feel for them the night previously, when they were put off twice. Eileen Collins managed to not sound too stressed or disappointed, but I bet she was wishing she was home already! Someone at work had told me when to look in the sky to see the 2 of them (Discovery attached to the ISS) going overhead, a few days before, so I was out in the garden in the freezing cold, watching the right point in the sky at the right time. It was amazing - to think how fast they were travelling, to see them, and to go inside and see what was happening, live, on tv. WOW.

Nora - I'm turning into an astronomical-geek. My year 11's have opted to do astronomy for their final module, so *warning*.. it could get worse before it gets better!!!!!

Occultation of Jupiter

I didn't know that was what it was called, but it happened on Thursday night. Jupiter (the tiny dot)was seen to move behind the moon from the dark side. It reappeared on schedule about an hour later.

I tried out all sorts of combinations of settings on my camera, and this was the best result. I was pleased with it, anyway!

PS..

I came 4th= in the rugby picks competition. Feel VERY pleased with that. The top 4 were all women - the guys on staff didn't get a look-in! I'm sure they'll say that was because they were far too busy playing to spend time thinking about their picks.

Not much..

..to post about at the mo. It's all work work work.
That may change next weekend, of course. The big party arrives. All us family members with our round birthdays & a big get-together in Wellington. We've done quite well in the last year or two for getting together in one place. The intervals between events are getting smaller. Sometime between now and then I must find a. a memento of my favourite decade (what on EARTH am I going to take???) and b. a bunch of photos for a montage - eek!! Oh, and WHAT to wear????? I feel quite special, as a number of friends are making quite an effort - 2 flying with me from Auckland, and one coming from Dunedin, along with those who are more local to the party venue.

20 years

How can you compare this:

"Twenty years"

with this:

"Twenty years"??

Take a quiz...

Found this quiz on Darren's and Pete's blogs...
I'm highly amused! Imagine being as fundamentalist as you are existentialist??!!!!

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 88% Idealist 44% Romanticist 44% Postmodernist 38% Existentialist 31% Fundamentalist 31% Modernist 13% Materialist 6% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Pentecost.....

It's amazing how sometimes everything knits together to give a bigger picture sometimes. This weekend seems to have had a theme - but it's only in looking back over it that I can see it.
It started with Hot Air Ballooning (at last!!!) at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. The balloon depends entirely on the wind currents, and it is the skill of the operator, causing it to rise or lower to catch the wind going in the desirable direction, which causes the balloon to have any direction at all.

Then, this morning, I drove a close friend out to the airport, to travel to England to live for a while. When she ticked the "leaving the country permanently" box, I cried, and again when she went through the gates. I will miss her a lot - we have had much common ground in our family histories, and shared a lot of hard times. The mastery of flight, and utilising the aerodynamics and lift and all that stuff, means she's now nearly in KL, and probably more than ready to hit the bed in her hotel.

And tonight we celebrated Pentecost. The imagery people often have is the flames, but I think of the rushing wind. During the course of the prayer stations, I thought of a poem I met in my youth, by Ulrich Shaffer, from Into your Light. I don't think I am remembering it correctly or completely, but here goes:

"I am persuaded by the dandelion
to take the wings of the updrift
to fly
to parachute into enemy territory
to fall to the ground
to be trampled on
to die
and so
to give birth to a whole generation of flyers."

from yesterday morning:

ANZAC

Just returned from the dawn ANZAC service at the Auckland War Memorial - brrrrr. Autumn has definately arrived. We followed the full moon all the way to the domain, and were gobsmacked at how many others were following the same path. The 10-year-old God-daughter and I had a bit of a walk, to get to the Cenotaph, and we missed the arrival parade of veterans. However, it was pretty special just to be there, in the cold dawn, with so many others. The Herald estimates 2000, but I think that's extremely conservative. I'd say more like 4 or 5000. (there were FAR more there than the population of my school, which is 2200-ish). Still nothing like the 20,000 estimated to arrive at Anzac Cove in Turkey this year.
It was pretty amazing to stand while the last post was played, and the flags on top of the Museum were lowered to half mast, and have that many people silent for a whole, precisely measured, minute, and then to turn round and see the dawn breaking over Rangitoto. Click here for Dick Hubbard's dedication, and here for the address by the Governor General, Dame Silvia Cartwright.

We left our poppies planted in the ground in this cross, only to discover most others were placing them at the foot of the cenotaph where the wreaths had been laid.

On the way home I spotted a cat on the road, which I could see was obviously still alive, but looked unable to move. It was dreadful - we did a U-ey round the roundabout and went back to see if there was anything to be done. I lifted him off the road (a GREAT big grey fluffy tabby), and he squirmed away with only his front end working. Poor baby. Went door knocking (at 7am, you understand!) till I found his owner, who was understandably distraught. By then she had a couple of neighbours to support her, so off we went, and off they went to the vet. Spare a thought for some random woman called Allison, who will be feeling very sad this morning - I don't know if "Fester" (what a dreadful name!) will make it. My Honey got hit by a car about 5 years ago, and she's as bouncy as anything now - well, apart from that she's now 10, and sleeps most of the day on my bed in the sun. I would have hated if she had been left on the road like that for someone else to run over later.

Ballooning

Have returned tonight from the "Balloons over Waikato" festival. I was particularly keen to see the "night glow", where they inflate a bunch of the balloons, and then light them up in time with various music clips. There was a scarecrow, a barn complete with animals and grain silo, an enormous bunch of tulips in a vase & a bunch of others, including the one we are going up in today fortnight - all being well this time with the wind!



This morning, we got up at some ridiculous hour and chased the balloons across the city to where they were all landing on a park across town. All, that is, except for the one that landed in someone's front drive, and the balloon itself seemed to swallow up the cars on the road as they hurried to deflate it and pack it up. Highly amusing.

Not as amusing, apparently, as the sight of me in nighty and dressing gown skipping across the bridge to get a better photo from the other side. I made sure at least one of my photos included a woman in her pj's, just so I could demonstrate I wasn't the only one to leave the house in a hurry!!! The view of the balloons along the river was brilliant, and we found a series of bridges to view them from. It whetted my appetite for our expedition coming up!

Tops!

Wow! one of the most amazing students I have ever had the pleasure to know, has just been announced as top scholar for the country (secondary school). (and of course it looks good for my school, too!!!) It's worth $15,000/year for the next 3 years. Again WOW!!! I am so thrilled for her, and a more personable, thoughtful and conscientious person you'd be hard pushed to meet.

WOW!

Just connected my broadband modem. Cor - who'd have thought the internet could be SO fast!!

Sigh...

Not impressed at waking not long after 3am this morning, and now here I am, up & at 'em. Grrrrr. I gave up about 4 and started reading. And now, since I'm still not apparently getting back to sleep, I thought I may as well get up and do some work. Grrrrr!

Oh well....

Tis all very well to have had a front row seat, at the best match the local team have played all season......


BUT...


I hadn't picked them to win, in the aforementioned competition. What a strange feeling, to be so excited about the (nearly) try-scoring happening right in front of us, yet well aware that this amazing and excellent slaughter of the team leading the competition was being matched by my own toppling, as I'm sure that most of the rest of our staff will have loyally picked the local team to win. Won't they??

Rugby

I'm amusing myself, at present, as much as anyone else, by being in the (co-)lead for the 4th week running (out of about 40 people) in the ongoing Super12 picks competition we're having at school. It helped that one week I got all my picks right, and hence 2 bonus points. I think the greatest joy is beating the pants off the coach of the 1st XV. He & I are on duty before school Friday mornings, over in the underground carpark at the shopping centre across the road, so discussing our picks for the week has become a hot topic of conversation. It's pretty entertaining. Much more entertaining than interrupting whatever deals and blegh behaviour we are there to prevent!

Annoyed...

I wrote a post on Tuesday, which seems to have got lost in cyberspace. Ah well.. here goes again!
Last weekend, we put on a service on Friday night, based around the seven last sayings of Jesus on the cross - the UK REJESUS website was a rich resource, with thanks to Mark Pierson for the loan of his copy of the CD.

I was responsible for the station for saying #6, the one where Jesus said "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit". Interestingly, the interpretation on the Rejesus site was of Jesus being angry, but I chose to interpret it along the lines of there being no safer hands that he, or we, could be in. So my painting was titled "No Safer Hands":


Now, of course, I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I'm thinking I might try and sell it on TradeMe!!

Jumped..

...ship, that is, to Firefox.
I went to a conference the other week, and the speaker at one of the workshops I went to introduced us to it. Up till now I'd just heard of it, but now I'm converted! I love the tabs. I love that my taskbar is uncluttered. I like the look, and I was really impressed at it importing my bookmarks & history and passwords. wheeeee!!!!!

Yummy Washing

How sad is this?
Recently, I was being visited by a travelling Brit, who asked what I'd like him to bring me, that I couldn't get here.
So, the thinking cap went on, as it does, on these occasions.
Sure, McVities Gold bars are scrummy.
Horlicks Lite & Ribena Lite likewise, and both unavailable here, although their non-lite counterparts are.
But, I think I really had him when I asked if he thought he'd have room for Ariel Liquid.
I could almost hear the communal familial headshaking and shouldershrugging going on.
My ears were even a bit pink.
However, it has to be said, there is NOTHING available on the shelves here (in the liquid laundry detergent range) that doesn't smell totally foul and toxic.
So, I shall continue to enjoy the yummy washing smell, until the bottle is all gone, as I contemplate how on earth I'm going to access an ongoing supply!

FINISHED!

Well, finished "a" task, anyway!!!
At 5.15pm I completed the 44 page Annual Report to the Board for my department. I've been working since 5.15am today, so am I EVER glad it's a LOOOOOOONG weekend. Whatever trick of the calendar saw fit to give NZ schools Easter Tuesday off as well as Monday, I'm ever so thankful to it!!!
I couldn't really start on my report till I had worked with the new Head of Faculty on the faculty report, since that was my baby, effectively, till he took over in January. Boy, are we having some trials at the moment, but I'm soooo pleased with the way we are working as a team to deal with them! It's my very real hope that now this hurdle is out of the way, things really will, finally, settle!
boy, I sure do hope so.
My Mum gave me a cool book of "hopeful sayings" for my birthday - I liked this one:

"Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent"

credited to Mignon McLaughlin
(cor!!! what a cool name.. reminds me of a scotch-cut sirloin steak!)

Sunrise

It's me! I've surfaced for air, briefly!
just wanted to share this:



This was several photos blended together into a panorama, taken on Saturday morning about 7.30am, on the day I failed to go hot air ballooning:(
This was the treat to make up for the significantly round birthday this month. However, there was too much wind, and so we've had to rebook for May. Darn!
Never mind.. the sunrise across the city was lovely, and the brekkie was pretty nice too!

Meanwhile, it's all manic, as can be intepreted from the massive silence! Tonight I really should be working on my board report, since the final final final deadline is tomorrow, and it's now 2 weeks overdue. But, after getting 143 year 12 students through their practical chemistry exam today (starting at 0745), having been at school setting up till 8.00 last night, racing 25km each way to attend a moderation meeting, coming back to a couple of hours of parent interviews, and seeing off my old lounge suite just now after a 15 year acquaintance, I'm just a tad knackered!!!!

And that was a quiet day!!!
catch you soon, hopefully!!!!!!!!!!!

Blue light.....

It's my week for the Graceway lamp. I know this, 'cos Gareth said so when he handed it to me tonight. (thanks, G) This lamp was given to us just over a year ago, when Mark was inducted as our pastor. Can't believe how fast that year disappeared!
I look at it, and think of our community. This was a good week for it to come to me - I need reminding about belonging. Like the cane we are all woven together. It also reminds me of the reading we had from Mark tonight, where Jesus called the fishermen. I like the light shining through, and I like the shadows it casts on the wall behind. I like the way it comes to church, is part of our visual worship environment, and then it goes home with someone different. I like that Gareth thought to give it to me, and I like that I have a week to think about who to pass it on to next. I like that it's no big deal if I forget to take it next week, or if I want to keep it for an extra week.
I am glad that I have this visual reminder of who I am and where I belong, to shine in my home for this next week.
(ps, I'm not still grumpy, but I am very tired!)

Grumpy

It must be a factor of being Friday night. I'm decidedly grumpy and out of sorts with the world. Too tired and feel pressured from all angles. Blegh.
This afternoon I was trying to write a job description for a "body" to take over some of the responsibilities I had last year before they increased exponentially. This is a delightfully good thing, but last thing on a Friday, with a shout down in the staffroom courtesy of the Athletics day organisers, not something I really wanted to be doing. The sooner I polish it to my satisfaction (my one big chance to dot all the I's and cross all the T's), the sooner we have someone else sharing the load. It's that wonderfully "Catch 22" situation, where you're soooooo frantically busy that there's no time to actually try and delegate effectively. It'll happen, I know it will, and soon. Meanwhile....
(did I say I was grumpy??)

HOT!!!!

Today was a blisterer! Just perfect for the whole school to gather across the road at the large sports domain for the athletics sports. One of the senior boys broke a javelin record that had stood since 1988, and he didn't even look like he was trying. He smashed it by 11m!!!! I got to be solitary crowd control on the highway at day's end, with several hundred bodies descending on my crossing at once like lemmings. "NO, stoopid, do you have a death wish?? Do NOT cross those 5 lanes of traffic until the lights change and the crossing buzzer goes!"

Concerts in the park

Finally got around to offloading from my camera the photos from Goldenhorse gig in the park a couple of weekends ago. Good to hear some stuff off the upcoming album, & to enjoy the time with friends. Mark got into the groove, and proved it's never too early to introduce the next generation to good sounds!

(not that you can see all that much of Soph!)

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

~*~ Mother Teresa's Prayer ~*~

I came across this prayer, this weekend. I will try and hold it in mind throughout Lent. I'm a pretty slow learner, though.

 

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
...Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
...Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
...Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
...Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
...Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
...Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
...Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
...Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

When I was looking for that one, I also came across this saying, by Mother Theresa. I rather liked it also:

    "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."

I've been thinking about being kind, recently. To myself and others. About what it is in relationships with those we care about that make them different from those with people we know as acquaintances or colleagues. I think there's a lot of kindness involved when someone knows your heart. I am touched when the people I care about reciprocate in grace and kindness, and I must be more prepared to follow the words in the prayer, when they don't.

a bit of a plug...

... for those of you living within a bulls roar of Auckland, you really really ought to go and check out Maladict's Fix, a great new cafe my friends recently opened at Clark's Beach. Complete with permission from Terry Pratchett himself, it is named after the vampire character in one of his books who has given up his addiction to blood, and turned to coffee instead.

I went out last Sunday, taking a friend, and you couldn't get friendlier service anywhere else in Auckland. Not only that, but it's backed with a silver medal in the BP New Zealand Coffee Festival last year, in the espresso category. WOW!!! Can't say fairer than that! Get your butts out there and check it out. And there's no excuse, either, if you're not local - check out the link in my previous post, and you can order online!

no whinges today

Yeah, that's right. It's Saturday morning, I'm drinking a fine cup of Zeke's Howler Monkey blend, it's raining (which means that at last it's a bit cooler, yay), and although it turned quite sour in the middle, my week finished well.

The car turned out to have a broken alternator belt. Which, in it's turn, turned out to only be worth $18 ish to replace, + labour. I phoned a colleague to get her recommendations for a local service garage, one that I can easily access from work, and as a result have scored a real "find". Fantastic service, trust & reliability. I got held up at work the next night (that's a whole different story.....), so they just left the keys at the petrol station in front for me to pick up. All this without ever having sighted me - all done over the phone. They were fine about me coming in the next day to pay. WOW!!!!! Have booked it in again for next week for a service and some other bits and pieces I've been putting off.

So, got held up at work... We've been trying to sort some classes this week, it becoming more and more urgent as the day approached when we began full timetable. It became more and more obvious that things weren't working, and on Thursday afternoon, when I sat down with the new HOD to check stuff, it didn't take us long to realise that we had to start again from scratch. This being mainly cos of the duff data I'd been supplied by my last year's 2IC. I should have known that I ought to just start from the beginning again myself, but I have this naturally gullible streak that wants to believe that others are competent. Ah well. It made me look really useless, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that I'd done my best with what I'd been given. And, not only that, it was finally something for new-boss to get his teeth into, and it felt SO GOOD to walk out at 6.20 and know that for once I was leaving someone else to do the work! Yayayayayayayay! The upshot was that on Friday we started timetable, and basically had to tell that year level that we were just filling time for that period, and they'd be with their "real" teacher next week. Oh, and new-boss is sorting the workload issue for me, too, it seems. Well Hallelujah!

So, it all ended well. I walked out on Friday afternoon, knowing that I still have 1001 things to do, but that I'm not in the front of the firing line any more. SO pleased:)

where to start...

So, this is the year that everything is going to be better, right?
Yeah, right, as Tui would have it.
I don't know if I can be bothered working too far backwards from tonight
(although at some point I will rave about what a great summer it was - it
just seems an awful long time ago now, and has been well eclipsed by the
huge hours I've been working again at school).
Tonight my fanbelt broke, when I was halfway down the Highway. It took the
AA towtruck about an hour and a half to get there (in the meantime my friend
appeared to rescue me with KFC), and I felt quite bereft!
Friend said "I wish I'd brought my camera", and I realised "ooh... I have
one on the phone". so I amused myself while nice bloke was loading it by
taking photos. I do like to watch men work. Well, anyone, really, who's not
me. cos it just seems that in the last 2 weeks, all I've heard about is how
much people are enjoying this wonderful weather we are now having, and I'm
stuck in a pokey office, behind my computer. Started feeling QUITE
resentful.

On the other hand, I do need to say that new-boss is going to be great.
Really great. He's Irish, but most recently been teaching in a private boys
school in Surrey. Has a SCREAM of a sense of humour. It just takes more time
than I'm currently wanting to know about to transfer all the information
about stuff that has to happen yesterday. But I know it will get better.
Till tonight, I didn't think it could get any worse!

Phew!

At last, a bit of a slower pace...
It snowed on me in my travels, in spite of it supposedly being the height of summer, and then this morning it hailed!
I had enough time yesterday to finish putting together a cool-as bead angel I was given quite some time ago...

Took my mother and our 96 year old ex-neighbour out to look at the lights last night. We started at the house where I grew up - never seen it looking like this before!!!

so good to be not doing much at all!

Finally

... Yep, finally, nearly 2 weeks after some of my friends, I have finished school. I was so determined to be out of there today that I was up until 2am working, and then, after not really being able to sleep, back at it again at 7.30 this morning. But, at last, at 4.45 this afternoon, I did the last task that HAD to be done before I could leave. There is, of course lots more that I didn't do, but it can and will have to wait. I need this break. This has been one of the hardest working years I have ever known. At the same time it has been challenging and stimulating, but I'm totalled now. Illustrated vividly by more tears at the end of last week.

What am I planning for the summer? Well, it seems to get shorter and shorter all the time - I have to be back for a 2 day intro for the last course in my diploma, which is sure something I could live without. And I have to be back at school a week before everyone else. But other than that, the bit I'm looking most forward to is a week at a beach. Not the same beach as last year, but just as nice by all accounts. I'm looking forward to the long long evenings strolling along and collecting shells and driftwood.

Boy's toys...

My brother cracks me up. He is the epitome of playing it close to the chest. He's off this weekend, to run the Kepler Challenge Mountain race for the 17th time. Last year was a really slow one (11-ish hours to do the 64km), so he joked at Christmas that this year he'd be going for the most improved time. So I wished him well in his endeavours. What do I get back but an email, not about the mountain race, but about the trip down the West Coast to get to the mountain race, and how he was going to have the most improved time for that. How come?
Well... I had to

look in the rear view mirror:

.
.
.
no, closer... in the wing mirror:

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
and then gaze out the front, at the beast disappearing into the distance:


So, apparently he won one of the limited edition Ford Falcon XR8's with personalised All Blacks number plates. Someone remind me again why I don't buy Lotto tickets??

How long....????

It's always the oldies that I go back to when times are tough, as they are at the moment.

Every cry is a song
Every song is a prayer
And our prayers must be heard
To fill the air

Help us make peace
Amazing grace, Morning has
broken, Imagine, Trumpets, Knocking
on heavens door, in the garden,
Forever young, No woman no cry, Ag
criost an siol, Open up, open up,
open up the doors to your heart, You
might need somebody. Thank you
for letting me be myself again.

I'm looking forward to "being myself" again. Dunno when it's gonna happen, still can't see past the next 2 weeks. In fact, at the moment, I'm lucky if I can see past the next hour. A couple of good people have popped out of the woodwork yesterday and today, to fill the vacuum of isolation and speak love to my broken spirit. After these 2 terms, I don't think I'll ever be the same "me" again. I've learnt a thing or two, some things that I never really wanted to learn, or see. Some has been rewarding, some has been very disappointing. I hope I'm a stronger person when it's over.

Fame

How sad it is when we grasp at tenuous links to perceived fame...

Loosely translated as "the school magazine was out today, and I have found my picture (4x) and reference to me (2x)".

Is this where we set goals for next year??

2.5 weeks to go in this academic year, and I probably still have about 6 weeks work. Still not quite sure how I'm going to do it, but there's nothing surer than that time will pass! Somehow, too, I also have 2 massive assignments to finish, of which one is a website, so I may be brave enough to post a link, when it's done. (might.)

(or not!)

Grrr!!!

Why?
1. It's 4.52am and I'm not asleep. I got up cos I'd been not asleep for about an hour and I'm bored.
2. I just got error messages from haloscan saying I didn't have permission to access my member page.
3. Consequently comments have vanished, at the moment, anyway
4. Why not?
5. Marking exams, writing reports, budgets and reports to the Board are not things I want to be thrashing about at this time of the morning. Ever.

Review

Found this in the Herald this morning. I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed it! (although that was very obvious by the demand for encore after encore, which they were kind enough to fulfill)
Most amused at this reference to the chandelier thingys I mentioned already: The giant creatures-of-the-deep-like chandeliers from the workshop of Neil's wife Sharon were certainly flash.
I must just add, tho, that I HATE the St James Theater - it has got to be the MOST uncomfortable venue in Auckland. I was on the mezzanine floor, nearish the front, wonder how close I was to the rest of the Finn clan?!

Bit of a play

Well, instead of doing 1000's of other things that were really far more necessary, I've had a bit of a play with colours and stuff. I liked one of the other templates, but I lost my other settings, so I won't play with that until I have time to fiddle properly.

Finns!!

Instead of focussing on how crap the past few weeks have been, I will go to bed tonight and relive the Finn Brothers' concert I've just come home from. They were awesome. (I can't believe I first heard them as Crowded House, in the Manawatu Sports Stadium on 14 January 1989 - according to this phenomenally detailed bio site!. They played a curious mix of Split Enz and CH, that night, from memory.. faint though it is now!!!) These guys ROCK! They could've gone on all night, and still not repeated the same song twice, although I wouldn't have minded a bit if they had. Lots of songs from the new album, but also ones from way back when I was still at school, and they were the Enz.

The backdrop/set was fantastic. They had these groovy hanging chandelier things, which, with the changes in lighting reminded me at times of:
chinese lanterns
ghost ship lights
portugese man 'o war
pin cushion
glow worms
waterfalls
Christmas decorations
orthodox lanterns
and others that I can't remember. I had a go at taking a photo with my phone, but it's really rubbish from that distance & in low light:



It was a real feast of vision and sound. Loved it.

The supporting groups were Gasoline Cowboy, who had a couple of good numbers, but I could take or leave them, and Missy Higgins, on tour with the Finns & her first time in NZ. She had just an awesome voice, and accompanied herself on either guitar or keyboard. I was impressed!! This is a wee article about her that was in the NZ Herald last week.

Sad:(

What I want to know is this. How is it possible that the most alone I feel is sometimes when I am with the person who is my closest friend? What is that about? Is it because the level of expectation of emotional support is higher, and hence the lack of any is more of a let down? Is it because the people you are closest to are the ones that have the inside knowledge and ability to hurt you the most? Is it because answering the question "what can I do do support you in this difficult time?" with specifics and appreciating the effort while it lasts (about 2 days, as a rule) becomes more difficult every time? I really don't know, but I feel quite sad.

Idolblog.com wins

Woohoo!!! Congrats to Rachel and Regan for winning the Best Youth Site award at the Netguide awards last night, for the site they set up for the first series of NZ Idol. It's grown like Topsy ever since, so that now they have 7000 registered members! You go guys!!!!