Cat-astrophes

Quote of the day "I'll wear whatever you want me to wear...but I'm not wearing that"


xxx

This quote resonated in my head this morning:

"Music organises your intelligence" - Wynton Marsalis

It was spoken in the context of jazz - but I'm now thinking about it in relation to other genres and I think there is some truth in that. It also says something about the intelligence of some of the people producing some of the garbage that is around at the moment too...

xxx

I woke up this morning to find two lovers in my kitchen.

I did what any girl would do at 5 am - I screamed and threw a tea towel at them.

The two freaky little cockroaches did the bolt across the kitchen counter whilst I reached for the spray.

Now you must understand that these are no ordinary cockroaches...these are freaky mutant roaches from Mars. Picture little brown bugs but with 'frilly' shells. Disgusting - even more disgusting than the ordinary roach. I don't like other cockroaches, but they don't make me feel physically ill looking at them like these things do... and they were doing hanky panky in my kitchen!!!!!!

Anyway Rocheo (little male) hid straight away and fat Juliet bore the brunt of the spray. She took a dive off the counter, crawled a metre and lay on her back kicking her little legs around. And no, I did not feel sorry for the icky bug.

Don't think Rocheo got away though. I found his little hidey hole behind the rice cooker. Obviously knowing his doom he took a kamakaze suicide dive off the counter as well. He was met at the bottom with a blast of spray. He ran around in blind circles before hauling himself...wait for it...next to his dying lady. And that's where he stayed...

...and NO, I still did not feel sorry for the icky bugs.



xxx

So I dropped my hero off at the airport and watched the sky until his plane took him right out of view.

I felt like I was in one of those old war movies and I should have been running after the plane with a handkerchief in my hand.

Funny, but as fast as I could run, and as high as I could jump, I couldn't seem to catch the rotten thing.

...and that's that. I won't see him again until a week and a bit before the wedding.

Though I don't have to hide the chocolate anymore!

xxx

I love Wikipedia.

What is there that you cannot research?

Would you believe that this post actually began discussing a random occurance today regarding Powderfinger's Double Allergic. Sparing a thought for people out there who may not know who/what a Double Allergic is I decided to throw in a link...and what do you know, it's there...what's more, even D.A.F. has its own article.

I also learnt that there is a distinct difference between 'booger' and 'snot'.

As a Year 1 teacher it is important to know these things (coincidentally a boy actually told me today very matter-of-factly "I like to eat my boogers because they are salty").

I also never realised that there were so many derivatives of the word 'bugger'.

And so the trail continues...

It happens every time, I go look up one thing and before you know it, I'm looking at an article on the Irish Potato Famine wondering how I got there from the Amazon Rainforest.

So yeah...Double Allergic...

...ahh, it's not that interesting anyway...

xxx

Whilst at the school Cross Country Carnival I received a phone call on my mobile. Being an 'organiser' I had been receiving a barrage of calls all day - including missing equipment, late people, locked gates and lost buses...

...this one was in regards to a little darling who had hurt herself along the track. So I did what any teacher would do...

I took a short cut.

The short cut consisted of walking out a gate, sliding down an embankment and climbing through some bushes. Of course if I have to go to that much trouble, I was going to make the most of it.

So when some snotty usually 'too-cool-for-school' senior boys came running past, I did what any teacher would do....

I leapt out of the bushes and roared.

I think I can take some credit for the two boys who won the race - I have never seen kids run so fast during an endurance event....

Oh yes, I did find the little girl eventually. She wasn't too impressed when her teacher turned the corner wailing like an ambulance. Apparently that's not very cool either.


xxx

OMIGOSH!

Two posts TWO days in a row!!!

Either:

1. I have too much time on my hands (see yesterday's post)
2. I'm procrastinating
3. I have something so insanely profound to say that I just couldn't wait another second before proclaiming it to the world...

I'm afraid it is 2.

Today I move back to my parents' house. This marks an interesting season indeed! Mr Some-Kind-Of-Wonderful (today's pseudonym courtesy of Joss Stone) will be staying at my little abode from this day forth...which means in the last week it has become some kind of mish-mash of 'boy meets girl'.

I'm very aesthetic - meaning everything *must* be in its correct place...either alphabetical or in order of subject, height, colour, date or however else I can organise it. This makes me appear a very organised person...I'm not - I just forget where things are, so they need to be somewhat logical.

Mr SKOW is a little more practical. If there's a space, it'll go there regardless of whether its in my purple room or red room or a blue chest of drawers smack bang in the middle of the green room.

The frustrating thing is...he's right. Unfortunately Little Home means Little Space. Trying to stuff two lifetimes into the one flat which was very full in the first place makes me appreciate the fact Mr SKOW doesn't have as much stuff as me.

...mostly I appreciate the fact that he has waaaaaaaaay less clothes than me - when you have had a full wall-length built in wardrobe to yourself for so many years that you have managed to fill by your itty bitty teeny weeny self...it is *very* difficult to downgrade. On an aside....how come with a full wall-length built in wardrobe full of clothes is it possible to still not have anything to wear??? hehe

Anyway...so that brings me back to point number 2. Procrastination.

In my efforts to make the place look less like 'him' and 'me', and more like 'us', I find that inevitably as in all of my cleaning endevours...I begin to get sidetracked...and before you know it, I'm rambling garbage.

xxx

Yes, I've been quiet.

But my world has been noisy.

With such a long list of things 'to do' I have no idea why I have taken the time to write about the fact that I have no time...and now I'm writing about writing about having no time....

I've realised how subjective time really is though. Three months ago I was originally going to be married tomorrow...

...three months seemed to be plenty of time...

Now I have to admit I'm glad we changed the date (ha...did I scare anyone?). Yes, it'll be winter, and yes it'll be cold...

...but most importantly I have an extra three months with my own surname...

hehe

No, I know that a wedding can be pulled off in three months (even less...) but it's amazing how you seem to work to your own time. If we were still getting married tomorrow, I know that we would've *found* the time to have everything done. Granted there would have been a few things out of our hands - sick parents and the like...but in terms of organisation I know it could be done.

So why with the extra time do I still feel so busy?

At least I managed to squeeze in a little time away. That was definately needed!

xxx

Firstly I would like to say that I have now had uninterrupted sleep for two nights in a row! *bliss*

Secondly I would like to talk about tenuate.

I love discovering how people stumble upon this blog. Often it is x-rated searches generated by my little sign-off with kisses (however, I refuse to change it). Lately I have had a whole range of other hits. Often they will take a subject from one entry and link it with another ie 'Pidgeon toes' will lead to my pidgeon escapades and my narrow escape from drowning in the carpet.

The search that has caught my eye today is 'tenuate'. I'm not entirely sure how I was linked to this appetite-suppressant, but there you have it. You name it and I will appear...

I'm about to reveal my immaturity though. In my own search to discover what this stuff was I discovered a phonetic breakdown of 'diethylpropion' - (dye eth ill PROE pee on) and giggled for far too long at the 'pee on' part.

In fact I was so amused by my own silliness I felt inclined to admit it to the world.

Yes, I Cat giggled at my own pee-joke.

I think I need to get out more.

xxx

If you have read any of my entries in the last few months you would know that sleep is very precious to me.

Lately it hasn't been happening.

I love my neighbours, I truly do. They are lovely people. Apparently they love each other very much too.

It is great that they have a healthy relationship, and fine if their healthy relationship kept me awake for a night...but when it has been four nights running (long nights) and no volume of music played in my room can drown out noises it gets a bit much.

What is the etiquette in these sorts of situations? If I was in a hotel, I would throw a shoe at the wall because I don't know them, they don't know me and I probably won't see them tomorrow anyway.

If I throw a shoe at the wall here it is a little obvious as to who owns the shoe. Do I slip a little note under their door - 'Can we please all get a little shut-eye tonight?'

Surely they must be tired too?

Originally I thought 'hmm, how awkward', but it is becoming a little more awkward as their healthy relationship appears to be getting healthier, and there are now strange noises throughout the day also - which has made entertaining visitors very awkward.

You know that little pause of quiet when you both break from talking about your latest shopping bargain to take a sip from your hot chocolate? I used to savour that moment. Now I find that I am doing all I can from preventing that moment because I know that it isn't going to all be 'quiet'... unless I have music playing at a deafening level...which isn't very hospitable now anyway...

I was wondering whether this was pay-back for my latest addition - for Christmas I was given a surround sound system...

Now I'm certainly surrounded by sound, but it is coming through 30cm thick concrete walls.

So I'm at a loss. I need sleep. I don't want to offend good neighbours. I don't want to have x-rated sound effects at g-rated hours of the day when I can't turn up music loud because my friend is chatting about her latest hair style and whether she should go from chestnut to fireball.

WHAT DO I DO???

At about 4am last night I discovered that headphones were more effective than speakers and finally got 2 hours sleep before my phone (which doubles as mp3 player) ran out of songs and I was awoken again.

...do you think I could hand out complimentary headphones to guests?


xxx

So there are now two weeks left of holidays.

That sounds like a lot. And it is...I'm grateful for it...but this is the time that it suddenly dawns on me that in two weeks time, 28 little midgets are going to walk into my classroom and though they have been to school before, they would have forgotten everything - 6 weeks is a long time for a 6 year old.

Last year I thought I was prepared...until I told them to sit at their desks, open their books and fold their arms.

Mistake #1 - don't give multiple instructions to kidlings just out of kindergarten.

Then we played sound (phonics) bingo.

Mistake #2 - assuming your class know their sounds is too optimistic. There are a lot of letters in the English alphabet after all.

I won't even begin with the disasters of lunchtime. Or when I discovered that two of my girls had severe emotional trauma and would swing into sporadic violent tantrums with no warning.

So this time I realise that in my little group of 28 I may have some knowing everything, and some knowing nothing, with the ones in between full of many many surprises. I decided to start planning, programming and organising things ready for that first week.

The only problem is although I have had 3 and a half weeks of 'almost nothing' my body feels as though I have worked all the way through the holidays. I have a list of things to do, and phonics games to create and all I can think about is laying my head down on the keyboard and ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

oh yes, and eating all those Ferrero Rochers so I can use the boxes to put the phonics games in....


xxx

And I thought I was busy before...

What a whirlwind end to 2006! I don't think I could have had any more excitement if I tried!

Though 2007 is already shaping up to be a busy year. 3 milestones already loom ahead and they are all major events that I never would have dreamed would all happen in the same year. Though time frames have been set, plans have begun to roll in motion and all of a sudden it has dawned on me that my life is about to undergo huge change this year.

...a lot can happen in a year...

I'm sure I'll elaborate later...but for now you'll have to be satisfied with ellipses...

...and if you know me, I'm sure I'll elaborate to your face...

ha, that sounds like a threat...'I'll elaborate yer face real good...'

xxx

3 days to go!!

Holidays are nearing and school is winding up. I've been stripping my classroom bare and getting ready to start all over again.

My body cannot wait to relax! The stress-factor is trying to continue regardless of the fact I'm refusing to 'take work home' - that includes the emotional side of work too. As soon as that bell goes, I'm no longer 'miss' and I really couldn't care less about what Ali did to Ahmad and how little Mohammad's mum is angry at Moustafa and wants to make a formal complaint to get him expelled from the school......

I might not take the emotional frustration home, but it is amazing how it can still make a physical impact. Even now I have droopy eyelids, and if it wasn't for the fact that it is nearing 5:30 and time to cook dinner I would be more than happy to head for bed.

Anyway - what lays before me is 3 days of near-babysitting. I have finished my program for the year, it's a cinema-day tomorrow and reports go home so most students don't turn up after that...so Wednesday and Thursday will consist of keeping students entertained whilst other teachers get to moving their classes in preparation for the new year.

...and crossing fingers for lots of chocolatey Christmas presents this year! Though being a predominantly muslim-populated school, things tend to be a bit low in the Chrissy pressie stakes...

xxx

Have you ever noticed that it is the companies that take the largest amounts of your money that give you the worst service? Or maybe it is just me.

Am I the only one who sits on hold thinking 'you're about to take $545 of mine so answer the rotten phone!!'. For this reason I like to support small businesses (if it's not going to be a risk - ie insurance). However then you have a problem if you try to call to tell them you want to spend $300 but they don't answer the phone...and they have no form of answering service.

In other words you end up wasting an hour of your life calling, waiting, calling, waiting, calling....etc

Or maybe I am just how my post title suggests.

xxx

2 weeks and one day!

Still tired...which is to be expected, however my latest challenge is trying to fit in 'other stuff' in those few waking moments not spent cooking, eating, showering or working.

Trying to think about and co-ordinate 5 seperate entertaining events up and coming over the next fortnight is turning out to be almost impossible!

Anyway - in my quest to try to make things easier and more time-efficient I turned to the cyber-world and became mesmerised by the image on the Bathers' Pavillion website. So much so infact that I have been staring at it for quite some while. It is rather soothing to watch when your eyes just want to close...

The bad thing is I have now wasted some of this precious time staring and accomplished nothing - except a blog entry I never intended to write...

xxx

Around this time last year I started having dizzy spells, blacking out and I was just thoroughly exhausted. I went through a series of blood tests, they found a few things, slapped on the label 'chronic fatigue' and gave me a list of lifestyle changes.

I have been pretty good at keeping them and I have to admit this year has been a little easier - a little. I still have my moments when all I want to do is curl up and sleep for a week...but overall it has been okay.

Then came the dizzy spells again.

Friday I collapsed at work. Thankfully not in front of the kiddies - when I knew I was on my way out I went to the back of the room and stuck my head into my colleagues room and managed to get out 'can you watch them' before getting out of my room and falling.

So my amazing man came and picked me up from school and I slept the rest of the day. In fact, most of my weekend was sleeping.

Monday came around and I was ready to take on the world...or at least the school. By 9 o'clock however I was already feeling a little tired. By 11 o'clock I was quite lethargic. By 1 o'clock I was downright sleepy and by 3pm it was all I could do to try and get home fast enough before I knew I was going to sleep at the wheel.

So I'm back to square 1. Sleep, work, sleep, eat, sleep.

Only 2 weeks and 3 school days left to the end....If only I can stay awake enough until then...

xxx

A stormy Monday...

Storms are marvelous...I love them...however kids don't seem to like them so much.

So on days like today, a room full of six and seven year-olds becomes a high-pitched nightmare.

"eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!"
"miiiiiiiiiisssss!!!! I'm scaaaaaaaaaaaared!!!"

What's more, a lot of these students are refugees and are quite nervous individuals as it is without including loud explosive noises into the equation...if you get my drift....

To top it all off, one of these nervous individuals was receiving a prize at a big assembly in the midst of this storm, and whilst standing on stage infront of the whole school during what should've been a happy moment, her poor nervous bladder gave up. The embarassment turned out to be too much also, so she proceeded to bite her lip....

...until her tooth went straight through her lip. The shock made her freeze.

So aside from controlling a class of 20-something little hyperactive storm-crazed monkeys I had to literally drag a terrified, wet, bleeding 6 year old from the stage.

I won't talk about the row of kindy kids that freaked out at the sight of blood...

So yeah, it's just been another typical Monday.

xxx

PS - the title is in tribute to Saturday night's U2 concert...just dandy. (I've been wanting to use that word all day)

xxx

So I've been having computer issues...and I've had better things to do than fix them. So it is only now that I have had the time to get around to rectifying all those little bugs.

However in order to do so I had to wipe the whole machine and start from scratch. Even though I laborously sorted through files, deleted, saved, deleted, burnt....it amazes me how many 'things' I've still lost.

Tax files being one of them....oops...........

I'm sure I've backed it all up somewhere...right?

xxx

So it seemed like the battle was over. Mr Handyman drove off in his little white van leaving behind more spikes (sadly no big red eye...) and the stupid birds sat on my balcony coo-coo-cooing and wondering what to do.

I threw a cushion at the window and that gave them something to do for the brief moment...

I was happy. Man triumphed over pidgeon.

I celebrated with an iced tea, and sat back on my comfy lounge.

Then I heard it.

tap tap tap tap tap....tappity tappity....cooo? tap tap tap

You have to be kidding.

Mr handyman spiked a pidgeon in the roof!!

That was obviously a few days ago. The tapping has since stopped - so whether someone called someone to come and rescue the crazy bird, or whether I should be expecting a fowl (pun intended) smell soon....I don't quite know....

And here I thought the whole pidgeon-ordeal was over...

xxx