Well I think I may have made a few decisions about my spare time today! I have now signed up for a distance learning course where I'll be studying A-Level Psychology - so watch out if I start asking you weird questions!
I have also enrolled on a 10 week course to learn more about digital photography - which includes how to use Photo-shop to edit and manipulate your images. I'm hoping to become more of a whizz on that front! Now we need to buy that digital SLR that Steve keeps talking about.
I have also seen a job advert that looks interesting, so I rang up for a application form. It's for a supply teaching assistant post at a new purpose built special needs school in Cambridge, which would mean I could continue with my studies and also earn a little bit of money - have to be careful how much because it could effect our child tax credit payments otherwise! It will also mean more experience and in a different setting than before. Watch this space!
So this is how my weeks will be looking: Monday- Psychology and SPICE(eve), Tuesday- Photography, Wednesday- Psychology, Thursday - SPICE, Friday - Psychology.Plus work if that happens, so all in all looking a little less uninspiring!
My latest dilemma is that Beth has been invited to a sleepover by a girl in her class whom I have never met, don't know her family, don't even know where she lives! I have to say it's not something I've ever had to think about before. Beforehand we either knew the family really well or had known the child a long time! So at this stage I've said to Beth that I would like her to invite Hannah round after school next week and I will get her address and telephone number and speak to Hannah's parents! Beth of course thinks this is way over the top and unnecessary!
Isaac seems to be settling into school and is really enjoying school dinners! He's joined the running club and said there were 49 children at it this week! His teacher thinks he's lovely - she's not the one who has to motivate him in the mornings! He also has set homework now- which he's none too happy about, but really it's not much more than he had to do before! Boys -eh!
Steve and I celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday-well I say celebrated, I bought Steve a gift and a card and Steve bought me a card and some chocolate on his way home from taking Isaac to school on Wednesday morning. I suggested we should go out for lunch - Steve made me cycle into Cambridge and then we did a bit of shopping and shop exploring. When we were in Debenhams Steve went off on his own (always a mistake!) when he found me again he showed me a jacket that he wanted to buy - he has it in his head that now he's an Ordinand he needs a blazer or jacket to wear - even though apart from a suit he's never worn a jacket before - he doesn't really have clothes that would go with a blazer, but that's another story- he's a combats and t-shirt kinda guy - why a blazer, why???? It was a Jasper Conran jacket (part of a suit!)and cost £99. It was black, too formal and almost a shiny material, not suitable at all! then to finish off we went to Pizza Hut for a buffet lunch - I did insist on a Magners instead of the usual Pepsi refill! He is so the last romantic,I did get some nice flowers, which i then had to carry home in my pannier, somewhat precariously!
On the jacket front - it was made somewhat worse the following day when we went to a SPICE coffee morning at a cafe in town, one of the other husbands got up to leave and put a jacket on.... however he was wearing smarter casual clothes and it wasn't shiny material and had a less formal look to it, but it hasn't helped my case!!! SPICE in case I haven't already explained in the group for Ordinands spouses at Ridley Hall, the college Steve will be studying at.
Well, time to read Isaac a bedtime story - must drag him away from a Top Gear repeat!
Friday 12 September 2008
Tuesday 9 September 2008
To study or not to study -that is the question?
Having got the children seemingly settled into their new schools and with Steve about to set off on his own voyage of dicovery I have been turning my attention to some studying of my own. I am in a quandry... I have several options, that is the problem. Currently I have several GCSE's, 1 A-Level and an NNEB Diploma to my name. I never went to Uni because I failed French A-Level twice (2nd time worse than the 1st!) and by this time had met Steve and wanted to settle down etc etc.
There are many ways that I could follow: the full-time Mum and dutiful wife path, the finally get my own career path in teaching, the part-time mum dutiful wife and part-time student of life enhancing little courses. Anyone who knows me reasonably well might well assume that the first option is not really me - true I think, although today I did sleep in until 11am - the joys of Steve being at home! Isaac said I was being a lazy lump!
The 2nd option would entail several years of hard study - 2 years to gain another A-level or complete an Access course and then somehow fitting in a Degree after that and quite possibly a PGCE beyond that. I have looked into an Access course here in Cambridge which is part-time over two years, but with the prospect of 2 or 3 days in college and timetabling as late as 4.30pm it all started to sound a bit complicated with school pick-ups and after school clubs etc. Still the idea lolls about in my head.
Today I have spent far too much time looking at Adult Ed classes on the web here in Cambridge. I'd quite like to do A-Level Pyscholgy, but as yet haven't found a course that runs in the daytime. Then I picked up a leaflet that fell out of the local newspaper about ICS distance learning courses that you study at home - which set me off at another tangent looking at all those possibilities, which led me to the OU web site and so on and so on.
Now my head is positively reeling from course information and I'm still none the wiser for what to do. Steve is not really helping by having no comment to make on the subject other than "do you really want to be a teacher - all that extra responsibilty and work at home etc. At least when you're a TA you can leave it all there at the end of the day" So after that gem of wisdom I thought OK still interested in Psychology, but what else could I do.
I really would like to increase my computer skills - have you ever looked at the vast array of IT and computing qualifications out there, it's a minefield of letters and driving licenses. No idea what course means what! Then I struck upon the idea of something less educational more crafty. In the past I have completed an Interior Design City and Guilds course and a Photography Skills course, both at evening classes. So I had a look through what the local colleges had to offer and found a Digital Camera skills course which includes using Photoshop to manipulate images on your computer. Sounds interesting I thought and so for the moment I'm considering the third option, some cosy crafty type of courses, but still would love to do Pyschology-aargghh!!!! If anyone reading this has ever done a distance learning course I would love some thoughts about it, good or bad!
I just feel that being a full-time Mum (difficult when they're at school 6 hours a day), housewife and wife is not quite enough, but as yet I haven't come up with a plan for me.
There are many ways that I could follow: the full-time Mum and dutiful wife path, the finally get my own career path in teaching, the part-time mum dutiful wife and part-time student of life enhancing little courses. Anyone who knows me reasonably well might well assume that the first option is not really me - true I think, although today I did sleep in until 11am - the joys of Steve being at home! Isaac said I was being a lazy lump!
The 2nd option would entail several years of hard study - 2 years to gain another A-level or complete an Access course and then somehow fitting in a Degree after that and quite possibly a PGCE beyond that. I have looked into an Access course here in Cambridge which is part-time over two years, but with the prospect of 2 or 3 days in college and timetabling as late as 4.30pm it all started to sound a bit complicated with school pick-ups and after school clubs etc. Still the idea lolls about in my head.
Today I have spent far too much time looking at Adult Ed classes on the web here in Cambridge. I'd quite like to do A-Level Pyscholgy, but as yet haven't found a course that runs in the daytime. Then I picked up a leaflet that fell out of the local newspaper about ICS distance learning courses that you study at home - which set me off at another tangent looking at all those possibilities, which led me to the OU web site and so on and so on.
Now my head is positively reeling from course information and I'm still none the wiser for what to do. Steve is not really helping by having no comment to make on the subject other than "do you really want to be a teacher - all that extra responsibilty and work at home etc. At least when you're a TA you can leave it all there at the end of the day" So after that gem of wisdom I thought OK still interested in Psychology, but what else could I do.
I really would like to increase my computer skills - have you ever looked at the vast array of IT and computing qualifications out there, it's a minefield of letters and driving licenses. No idea what course means what! Then I struck upon the idea of something less educational more crafty. In the past I have completed an Interior Design City and Guilds course and a Photography Skills course, both at evening classes. So I had a look through what the local colleges had to offer and found a Digital Camera skills course which includes using Photoshop to manipulate images on your computer. Sounds interesting I thought and so for the moment I'm considering the third option, some cosy crafty type of courses, but still would love to do Pyschology-aargghh!!!! If anyone reading this has ever done a distance learning course I would love some thoughts about it, good or bad!
I just feel that being a full-time Mum (difficult when they're at school 6 hours a day), housewife and wife is not quite enough, but as yet I haven't come up with a plan for me.
Monday 8 September 2008
Time to get in on the blogging act!
I have decided to give you all the chance to read my side of the story...
My husband Steve is about to embark on a two year training course which will lead to him becoming a Vicar one day, currently he is known as an Ordinand. He has a blog of his own - from his perspective. This blog is intended to give you a glimpse of what an Ordinand's life is really like from a wifes' point of view! As I have been sorting out our new house, getting the children prepared for school and organising life in general I am behind him in posting blogs of life so far. A potted history:
July 2008: Left a job which I loved and colleagues who were great, watched my children say goodbye to life as they knew it, friends, lovingly cherished bedrooms, Guides, Cubs and other clubs. Started the sorting and packing process. Said fond farewells to church family - I spent quite a lot of July leaking from my tearducts!
August 2008: Went to a family wedding, packed up one 3 bedroomed house in leafy Ferndown, Dorset, packed up 2 children, 2 rabbits and went for tea at my best friend's house - for some reason it felt a bit like The Last Supper and I was the betrayer! Said see you soon and meant it.
Arrived 3 hours later in Cambridge City with two quite excited children and a worn out husband, didn't really get much sleep on an airbed masquerading as a waterbed - it was that kind of motion everytime one of us turned over.
The removal men arrived bright and early the next day with a mahoosive lorry - well alright it was 2 trailers. Thankfully it was bright sunshine and blue skies overhead and the children were bouncing on their new trampoline - bribery as part of the moving deal! Then followed a near constant stream of plants, boxes, furniture and yet more boxes, which were emptied into our new 4 bedroomed, 3-storey townhouse. Finally we collapsed in a heap sometime after 6pm!
An old friend took the children out for a couple of hours and then fed them tea, Steve and I had a Macdonalds - neither of us could think by this point and we knew where the golden arches were! The following day my parents arrived ( I now really understand the term Godsend) Dad was putting stuff together - well he had to or they'd have been sleeping on the floor, Mum was rapidly unpacking boxes like a whirling dervish - I on the other hand would have happily gone and hidden somewhere! By Sunday evening everything that could be unpacked was, there were even pictures hanging on the wall in the lounge! One room was full of empty boxes - neatly stacked and organised by mum and mostly garage and shed stuff, but everywhere else was beginning to resemble a home - maybe that's when it hit me. This was now home, so how long before it would really feel that way?
The next couple of weeks were filled with putting pictures and clocks on the walls and sorting out more permanent homes for things. It was also the time to discover the little irritating things about living in rented accomodation - like washing machines nearly catching fire and Lawnmowers with official not safe labels on them. A tiny dishwasher for a family of four, a range cooker that isn't a patch on my humble double oven back in Ferndown and a really stupid and impractical white kitchen floor (which has 2 doors to the back garden!)
I also had to endure several nights where my children found it really difficult to settle - what I don't yet understand is how they seem to think that I have the answer to why they can't get to sleep and how I can magically make them fall asleep! This is after applying all the usual techniques known to man on settling babies, toddlers, children and adults!
Then finally after buying last minute items for school and trying out routes to new schools the last day of the Summer holidays was here.
September 1st 2008
Quite a horrible day, both children were grumpy - I put this down to nerves about the reality of new schools. Isaac has declared that he wishes Daddy would change his mind - then we can all go back to Ferndown and he can finish Yr 4 at Hampreston. We got school things ready and tried to get them to bed early -Ha Ha
I was going out at 8pm to a Pimms O' Clock evening being held by the Ridley Hall spouses group - more about that later. In the end I left after Beth had stropped out majorly and Isaac had procrastinated so long in the bath that he was more raisin than prune!
September 2nd 2008
First day of new schools. Steve cycled with Beth to St. Bedes and I walked a reluctant Isaac to St. Philips. It was a shock for me, it was like another world. St. Philips is a C of E Primary School in the Romsey area of Cambridge - we live in that part of the city, I don't know what I was expecting, but the multi-ethnicity and appearance of pupils and parents made me feel like a fish out of water. I also was not prepared for how I would feel leaving Isaac there. I went with him to his peg and then to the classroom door, gave him a big hug and said right off you go then - see you later and watched as he dejectedly swaggered into the classroom looking for a seat and flopped into one. He looked so out of place and lost. It's hard to describe but I felt a very real sense of abandonment, what had I done putting my baby through this. I cried on the way home.
My husband Steve is about to embark on a two year training course which will lead to him becoming a Vicar one day, currently he is known as an Ordinand. He has a blog of his own - from his perspective. This blog is intended to give you a glimpse of what an Ordinand's life is really like from a wifes' point of view! As I have been sorting out our new house, getting the children prepared for school and organising life in general I am behind him in posting blogs of life so far. A potted history:
July 2008: Left a job which I loved and colleagues who were great, watched my children say goodbye to life as they knew it, friends, lovingly cherished bedrooms, Guides, Cubs and other clubs. Started the sorting and packing process. Said fond farewells to church family - I spent quite a lot of July leaking from my tearducts!
August 2008: Went to a family wedding, packed up one 3 bedroomed house in leafy Ferndown, Dorset, packed up 2 children, 2 rabbits and went for tea at my best friend's house - for some reason it felt a bit like The Last Supper and I was the betrayer! Said see you soon and meant it.
Arrived 3 hours later in Cambridge City with two quite excited children and a worn out husband, didn't really get much sleep on an airbed masquerading as a waterbed - it was that kind of motion everytime one of us turned over.
The removal men arrived bright and early the next day with a mahoosive lorry - well alright it was 2 trailers. Thankfully it was bright sunshine and blue skies overhead and the children were bouncing on their new trampoline - bribery as part of the moving deal! Then followed a near constant stream of plants, boxes, furniture and yet more boxes, which were emptied into our new 4 bedroomed, 3-storey townhouse. Finally we collapsed in a heap sometime after 6pm!
An old friend took the children out for a couple of hours and then fed them tea, Steve and I had a Macdonalds - neither of us could think by this point and we knew where the golden arches were! The following day my parents arrived ( I now really understand the term Godsend) Dad was putting stuff together - well he had to or they'd have been sleeping on the floor, Mum was rapidly unpacking boxes like a whirling dervish - I on the other hand would have happily gone and hidden somewhere! By Sunday evening everything that could be unpacked was, there were even pictures hanging on the wall in the lounge! One room was full of empty boxes - neatly stacked and organised by mum and mostly garage and shed stuff, but everywhere else was beginning to resemble a home - maybe that's when it hit me. This was now home, so how long before it would really feel that way?
The next couple of weeks were filled with putting pictures and clocks on the walls and sorting out more permanent homes for things. It was also the time to discover the little irritating things about living in rented accomodation - like washing machines nearly catching fire and Lawnmowers with official not safe labels on them. A tiny dishwasher for a family of four, a range cooker that isn't a patch on my humble double oven back in Ferndown and a really stupid and impractical white kitchen floor (which has 2 doors to the back garden!)
I also had to endure several nights where my children found it really difficult to settle - what I don't yet understand is how they seem to think that I have the answer to why they can't get to sleep and how I can magically make them fall asleep! This is after applying all the usual techniques known to man on settling babies, toddlers, children and adults!
Then finally after buying last minute items for school and trying out routes to new schools the last day of the Summer holidays was here.
September 1st 2008
Quite a horrible day, both children were grumpy - I put this down to nerves about the reality of new schools. Isaac has declared that he wishes Daddy would change his mind - then we can all go back to Ferndown and he can finish Yr 4 at Hampreston. We got school things ready and tried to get them to bed early -Ha Ha
I was going out at 8pm to a Pimms O' Clock evening being held by the Ridley Hall spouses group - more about that later. In the end I left after Beth had stropped out majorly and Isaac had procrastinated so long in the bath that he was more raisin than prune!
September 2nd 2008
First day of new schools. Steve cycled with Beth to St. Bedes and I walked a reluctant Isaac to St. Philips. It was a shock for me, it was like another world. St. Philips is a C of E Primary School in the Romsey area of Cambridge - we live in that part of the city, I don't know what I was expecting, but the multi-ethnicity and appearance of pupils and parents made me feel like a fish out of water. I also was not prepared for how I would feel leaving Isaac there. I went with him to his peg and then to the classroom door, gave him a big hug and said right off you go then - see you later and watched as he dejectedly swaggered into the classroom looking for a seat and flopped into one. He looked so out of place and lost. It's hard to describe but I felt a very real sense of abandonment, what had I done putting my baby through this. I cried on the way home.
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