I promised proposal stories and holidays so here they are. Cut for those with a lack of whimsy.

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In other news, we have finally started house-hunting with our first one being an excellent find with all the weaknesses trotted out later. Chibi has worked out the following estate agent types (moved to separate entry to incorporate NEW ENCOUNTERS (ooh)


Hopefully this 3 bedroomed house we are first on the list for viewing will work out ... and then look out for solicitor types

The school has had a blitz on observations over the last three weeks. I have had three. One random drop in from the Deputy Head and Headmaster (doing a climate walk … go figure), one from my Head of Department and one from the English Advisor at the Essex LA.

The result from the Head: “Er, yeah, was good, oh yeah sorry I didn’t teach that lesson you set up for me. I forgot”

The result from HoD: “It was good, a few outstanding features.”

English Advisor: “You have an excellent rapport with them, I would rate it as good with features of outstanding.”

Remember I was "the crap one" of the group in teacher training (as quoted by one of the other trainees we didn't like very much who I have just found out has quit ahahahahaha) so Chibi of Pride (although she's very glad the advisor didn't see her with year 7 as it took 20 minutes to settle them after all the spazzy behaviour with all the "I haven't got a pen/homework diary/fish/my book/a brain" and "I have a music lesson/exam/rounders match/dentist/doctor/need a drink/going home/holiday". Drove me borderline psychopathic and I yelled at them, if they are this spazzy tomorrow I am detentioning them on the spot)

In other news the Year 11s were dispatched with the most boring ball ever (four hours of standing around, the year 10s have elected me to plan next years as I reckon  bouncy castle). Although several of the kids turned up in interesting ways including a Routemaster Bus, a tractor, a Buick car, several limos/stretch hummers and the Local Fire Engine.

Also a trip to Thorpe Park. Our coach turned up late and we had to endure the other two driving off with “nyahnyahnyahnyahnyah” signs only to turn up twenty minutes ahead of the others due to our driver believing that the straightest route was the best route, which was brilliant for the kids on the M25 as they got to rubberneck two accidents, sign-language lorry drivers and point and laugh at the bus of a “Special” school.

I only really went on Colossus, Tidal Wave (got soaked), Tea Cups and Zodiac. Didn’t really want to do anything else. Nothing to do with fear of the rides but I really didn’t fancy queuing for 90 minutes for a ride that lasted max of 30 secs, especially in the sun that was creeping up towards 32 degrees.

So now we start to build up for the end of term. To be honest I’m winding down already.

And in other news the company-who-must-not-be-named are sending K-chan to Korea for a week … in my last week of term … coming back a day before our holiday (meaning I drive the 500 miles) … going on a weekend … oh yeah and over my birthday. I am not a happy bunny because I now have to spend my birthday not only at school but alone. It’s official, my birthday sucks.

If anyone happens to be in Cambridge around the 13^th July let me know.

We are pondering on house-buying-related shenanigans. w00t

Today I have:

- Gone independently to a large garden centre and bought herbs for the kitchen and narcissi and violas for the single square foot of garden and hanging basket we have.
- Also thought 'ooh that's nice' about a solar powered light.
- Gone to Waitrose and bought something thinking 'that would be so useful in so many dishes'.
- Driven back from said Waitrose with the Best of Enya in the car.
- Made cookies for K-chan and his work as well as having a little batch for at home.
- Worn a stripey apron.
- Made a 'nice pot of tea'
- Done the washing up
- Potted my herbs and planted my narcissi.
- Had a nice bath to the Sofia Symphonic Orchestra

Remark from msn friend "Always the same when K-chan goes back to work in the holidays, you turn into Bree Van Der Bloody Camp"

Maybe she's right

Sigh, did every idiot in Cambridge decide that suicide was the way to go yesterday? I have literally had most of the population of the city all too willing to drape themselves under both my and every other cars wheels in the city. Much as I enjoy the sight of a renegade pedestrian bounding merrily across my bonnet and being swept away by my wipers like some demeted Darcey Bussell, I could do without the subsequent insurance claim.

K-chan and I finalised our holiday plans this week. We looked at abroad. We liked Abroad. Abroad sounded like something we wanted to do. We looked at flights. Mmm ... yes, well. Abroad can go stuff itself As much as we can afford it, flgihts abroad in the high season are an utter nightmare, with two flights for us costing £400. What also doesn't help is the 1 Euro 1 Pound thing.

We're off the Cornwall instead. Will probably rain but at least we can afford a pasty.

In other holiday news we have booked a few days in London. We rather like our little jaunts in London, being somewhere between tourists and random shopping vistors. However I do need to acquire a very nice ball-style skirt for the Year 11 balls (sudden realisation and listening in on Year 11 indicates that the Magnificent Purple Dress of Win may be a little too magnificent - read cleavagelicious - for such a thing). Any suggestions where I could get a ball skirt in London for a fairly reasonable price?

In school news I have discovered that my Year 7s are so damn needy. I dread me asking "any questions" as fifteen hands will immediately go up before I finish "any" and the questions are often spectacularly stupid. This involved a poetry lesson where we read a poem and the kids had to adapt it to their own style, this was complete with helpful hits and a sample verse on the board for the class spanners, I thought I'd covered it ... oh no ... this is actually what I was asked last lesson with replies I wished I had said next to it. To add excitement, one of these responses if real! Guess which one.

"Miss, do I need to put the date?" (No, for you I will make a special exception)
"Miss, which pen do I use?" (One that you can't swallow)
"Miss, I have an idea but I don't think it's right" (That's what Hitler said)
"Miss why are there crows outside?" (They are here for you my child)
"Miss I can't write poetry. Can I write a story instead?" (Sweetheart, I don't want to teach you, can I teach a rotweiler instead?)
"Miss, I don't have the right sort of tissues with me." (Umm ... Well done?)
"Miss, shall I do the rhyming words in a different colour?" (Living dagerously aren't you?)
"Miss, why is there a sixth former here?" (Because the sixth former has been naughty and I can't think of a better hell than catching up here with you)

Oh and addictive random game fun

http://www.playauditorium.com/

Why is it that I have weeks of having new songs and then all of a sudden several come along at once. For starters, having only listened to it in passing, I discovered to my pleasant surprise that the song "Runaway Train" was not Bon Jovi but a band called Soul Asylum. Bonus band explorage will ensue.

Holiday is progressing with requisite laziness. I feel I should be doing more work and even nipped over the the deserted school to pick up my mock papers and marking criteria instead of yelling at the internet next sunday for not having the answer booklets I so sorely need. I felt so organised and strangely creeped out by the lack of ANYBODY up in the English block. Felt like writing swear words over the board just because I could. I didn't.

Also had little brother come and visit and single-handedly sleep in three seperate beds thanks to social (gasp shock horror) things to do such as anime nights of wonderfulness. We had a pleasant few days commencing with the visiting of Ye Olde Manga Shoppe which proved to be a little on the disappointing side. Having been there several times in the previous months and come out with an urge to sell my own kidneys just to get MOAR manga love. This time it was two volumes and that was it. All my (ha-ha)saving and pondering on writing some pointless drivel came to nothing.

However the trip to the Japanese centre proved more profitable as I now have cooking chopsticks, a bunny plate for nibbles and a cat saucer which are very cute. Chinese Supermarket trip in Cambridge also proved profitable as they had banana mochi which I enjoy very much and everyone else seems to hate which means more win for me.

It is also a funny thing how I now get cravings for films. For weeks I have had the music, jokes and a good portion of the pointless dialogue from Shrek 2. I get the dvd, I watch the dvd, and for some reaosn I hoped for more. Even though I've seen the movie thousands of times I somehow wanted it to be just as great as my memory of it. I was sleepy though.

Car update - Took it to Kwik Fit to find out what needs doing on the car after the garage I got it from "forgot" to include the advisory note that came with the MOT they put on it. Six things need doing apparently, although lucky for me the kiwk fit guys didn't think so except for one: there was a hole in the exhaust the size of my fist and when the exhaust was removed and it dropped to the floor and the back box split open like a chocolate easter egg. One replaced exhaust and suddenly my car is a whole lot quieter. Feel like a right ding dong for not noticing sooner.
I then decided to wax the car to protect it in the weather and yuck and whilst was merrily painting it on, noticing the twitching of net curtains. I live in such a nosy neighbourhood.

Oh well I have three lunch dates to look forward to next week.

Technically I was supposed to be incommunicado for the past three days having been on holiday in Majorca (I am writing this lying on my front with aftersun on as I have sunburnt shoulders and back, this is after me seeking shade wherever I could, reapplying sunblock and saying to K-chan "You'll get sunburnt, don't stay too long out there" yes yes I know the irony.

The holiday itself is described in a review we left on a website but just to re-iterate, once we left the hotel we had a great holiday including finding God. God is not in the sky no no no, he is in a crepe stall in Alcudia.

Ah yes anyway, incommunicado didn't happen as I did not get my results saying if I had qualified teacher status or not and subsequently lost the job I had been offered (the 44 miles away one turned out to be lovely and I really wanted it). I am not a happy bunny over this, being once again jobless due to the incompetancy of the University. This has turned into a farce it really has so I am starting an official complaint, seeing as my grievance list is a mile long.

Anyways yes onto the holiday with subtitles for the sarcasm-enabled

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And also the Harry Potter film was very good, sadly I found it a bit more interesting than the book ... which makes my soul scream and cry. Possibly because x amount of pages detailing Harry's excessive teenage wangst was concentrated into one two second close-up shot. However if there are any Media Studies people/teachers of Film Studies bods, the film is a FANTASTIC study set, it had all the classic shots, repteaded themes of narrative theories rolling into one.

I realise the seventh book has been leaked but it doesn't bother me particularly, I'm off to get a copy on saturday because I finished my Jasper Fforde on holiday and I'll be damned if I'm making another attempt on Annie Proulx whilst trashy yay! fiction is about.

So there you go, tomorrow I'm on cleaning duty at K-chan's house becauser it's either that or help with the car... and big things that have the potential to go boom scare me.

Last week in the arms of my darling was lovely. Except now I miss him very much and would like much sympathy if possible.

Met the York crowd and you lot are all still lovely. I particularly enjoyed seeing merlinspig, odangochan, enyay. Also seeing the dougsoc crowd too ... hey guys!

Although I did a bit snappy with one of the freshers, I don't know why, maybe I'm just more trouble than I'm worth at times. There were a couple of misunderstandings, and I understand how people can get possessive over their drinks, but in truth, I was trying to save it from flying off the table. I swear :( oh well.

I didn't want to leave York either, let alone my dear hara_hetta. It hasn't changed much, however it was nice to meet my darlings CULES lot and meet a load of Cambridge students, who were delightful. I did feel a little out of my league in what they were talking about (lots of in-jokes that I hadn't the blindest clue about) but we played the most fantastic game called singstar on a Playstation 2. It was so much fun, and I think it would be a marvellous game to play at a party. What you do is you have to sing in tune with the songs, although sometimes you have to sing togetheor if you have a large group you all get called up for certain parts. It's lots of fun.

Noticing my mp3 player is playing up too ... stupid thing