Brainwashing Boys

So this week I was talking about what I'd consider the 'perfect guy' and I am pretty sure he doesn't exist!! I am one of those many girls that sit and watch take me out every week and judge those poor guys coming out the love lift, but it was this that made me realise I have a problem. I never want to date any of them; there is always something about them that I just can't overlook. Last night for example, that rugby guy, perfect... until I found out he shaves his legs. In the last eight months of singledom, I have only properly dated one person because I am just too darn picky. What's to blame? Television couples. To be more precise... the cute guys on TV. To quote my favourite character ever, Jessica Day..

"What if I have some idea of love in my head and it's just totally wrong?"

Penny and Leonard

I am a massive geek at heart, so I absolutely love guys like Leonard. I've never really dated a nerdy guy and I definitely think that's where I'm going wrong and why we never have stuff in common! It's just so lovely how he cares about her from afar for all that time and finally he gets his break. I really can't imagine Penny being happier with anyone else.

Seth and Summer

Seth Cohen; the original geek. I think I was actually in love with him for most of my teenage years. I was one of the thousands who cried when he ran after Anna at the airport, that were left heartbroken at the spiderman kiss and welled up when he finally married Summer the girl of his dreams.

Mike and Susan

The best couple on Wisteria Lane, no arguments! They are the most genuine and caring couple through all the seasons. Yeah they had the ups and downs but you knew all along they'd do anything for one another. When Mike got shot I think I cried for the entire funeral episode :'( sob sob sob

Phoebe and Mike

Phoebe is a nutter. The fact that she finds true love with someone, that 100% accepts her mental ways, gives me hope :) Poor pheebs has to wait till series 9 to meet Mike; by this time Rachel and Monica are pretty much sorted. It just shows that you don't have to rush these things, you will find your weirdo eventually.

Nick and Jess

I don't even need to say anything here. Well I can't say anything anyway because I don't want to ruin things for people watching it on UK time. They are so weird, and I love them. Find me a Nick!

Is this an actual diagnose-able problem?

Maybe I should just watch less TV and talk to some real-life men.

Nah ;)

Inside Out

A few bloggers have been doing a '25 facts about me' post lately and I've found them really interesting to read. Two of my favourite blogs have got in on the act and it's inspired me to do my own :) You can have a read of theirs here.. a rosie outlook and lily loves lola. I've tried to think of 25 things that most of you probably won't know about me, or you at least won't know all of them. Hopefully you enjoy being nosy as much as I did reading everyone elses :)

1. I was born in Wolverhampton. My Mum is from Wolverhampton and my Dad is from Consett near Durham. I recently worked out that if you look at my Grandparents, I am 50% northern, 25% midlander and 25% southern. So it's kind of fate that I've found myself living up north.

2. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I can't focus on anything until I have eaten breakfast. I am a fan of a leisurely breakfast and I would rather get up earlier and make time to eat. How seriously yum does this breakfast look? My Sundays are always sunny side up :) or some other happy equivalent.

3. My favourite number is three; because it is magic of course. I also like the number seven, because J.K. Rowling has made it a magic number too.

4. I have been on plenty of holidays thanks to Mum and Dad, but I have NEVER been out of Europe. I always have major wanderlust going on and I have a list as long as my arm of places I want to go. Even the North Pole.

5. As a kid, when I thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to be Lara Croft. Who wouldn't want to run around and go on adventures and find cool historic stuff? I don't think I'd be comfortable shooting people or tigers though.

6. I love to go on walks. Not in towns though, it has to be a forest, fields, hills, beaches, waterfalls, moors, cliffs or other beautiful natural places. One of my favourite places ever is Cannock Chase, I have been there with my family more times than I could count.

7. I really can't stand touching wet unvarnished wood. Wooden spoons and washing up always added up to a fearful experience back at home. I once wrote this on a piece of paper in a lecture about our 'fears' in freshers and it  dropped onto our bathroom floor; it really freaked Leah out when she found it and read it.

8. I used to go to air cadets. Not a lot of people know this, probably because it was very short lived.

9. I had my first kiss when I was thirteen, it was by a tree at my local park on a very sunny day. I thought this was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to anybody.

10. I am a well known picture ruin-er. This is not something I am proud of.

11. As a teenager I wanted to be a journalist. Once I sent a funny story, about a boy at school with a bad runny nose, into Sugar magazine and it got published. I wish I'd have kept it because nobody will believe me now.

12. I haven't seen a bunch of films that apparently 'everyone' has seen. Home Alone, is an example. I didn't watch Titanic until I was about 15 either.

13. I have a doppelganger who is a music festival organiser. My sister was reading a magazine and thought I'd run off and become a model. The tattoos give it away though as I am ink free :)

14. I want to be a vegetarian. My diet is probably 90% veggie, but I love bacon and chicken too much to possibly go the whole hog. Ha ha ha, bad pun.

15. In High School I got bullied and talked about for all kinds of reasons. Being tall, being clever, having a boyfriend, finally growing some actual boobs at 17... you name it, there were stories. I'm weirdly quite grateful for it now though because it made me much stronger and more self assured than I would have been.

16. I had bad skin growing up and I eventually started covering it up with loads of make-up. When I look back now though I realise that I actually had nothing to worry about at all, I looked fine make-up free!

17. When I was in year 11 I didn't send anyone a christmas card because I'd just started being obsessed with eco-friendly stuff. Instead for every card I recieved I donated 20p to the World Wildlife Fund. I only raised about a fiver, but I was proud nonetheless.

18. I am really nervous when I meet people's dogs for the first time. I was once chased by a dog in Spain that managed to jump through a gate. It was tiny but the mental scars are HUGE.

19. Me and my sister Nikki definitely have ESP (extra sensory perception) which is a twin thing. Even though we are two and half years apart. We look so different but our brains just tick in the same way; we can finish off sentences, we can come out with the same jokes and we will reply to questions in the exact same way. Weeeeeeird!

20. When I was seven I was showing off swinging from the top bar of my swing and I fell. I had to go in an ambulance because my Mum thought I'd broken my rib and punctured a lung. I was very lucky and had just winded myself... I still don't recommend doing it though

21. I have believed in God since he helped me pass my driving test with only one minor. It was the first time I had genuinely prayed since being a child and it had a great outcome :) I'm not religious but I do believe that there is a mightier power at work here!

22. On my bedside table you will find; a lamp, a box of tissues, a candle, a junk bowl, a buddha, lucky gems (for wisdom and luck) and some Guatemalan worry people in a bag. Sometimes there is a cup of tea or a glass of juice.

23. I once had a really vivid dream that I was living in a beautiful house in Australia with a husband and we were eating breakfast before work. Deep down I hope that this was a psychic vision and not just a dream.

24. I am an adrenaline junkie deep down; if there is something I can climb on or jump off, I'd probably do it. Surprisingly I have never broken a bone, touch wood!

25. I once made a list of all the reasons I shouldn't get back with my ex boyfriend for me to read if I had a moment of madness. These included "he disliked France for no reason", "he didn't like Harry Potter" and "his surname wouldn't make a good teacher name". Clearly I am not easily pleased ;)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Have you ever wondered why Valentines day is in February? Yeah it's all fine and dandy for those who can snuggle up and keep warm, but what about all the poor singletons. Valentines falls in possibly THE most depressing month of the year (if you forget about pancake day for a minute). If it was in August, I'd be too busy getting a tan and going on holiday to even think about my relationship status.

... and why is it that I am more concerned about Valentines (or my lack of) more now I'm single than when I was in a relationship for like FOREVER?! Now  I keep finding all these lovely internet images pretty much summarise my feelings towards the dreaded 14th this year.

Pretty, darn, grim. I've told Sammy and Leah that when I eventually get back from placement, I'm going to play a very loud and depressing playlist of love songs while I mark books or plan, but I'm only winding them up of course :) if you are interested in making an anti-valentine playlist then please feel free to add the following.

 

BUT I totally shouldn't be down about valentines day! I read somewhere that we should think about those people that don't have their mum on mothers day or their dad on fathers day, and it really puts it in perspective. So instead I am going to remember all the good things I have for the other 363 days of the year :) and it doesn't hurt to think about all the amazing reasons it's better to be single!

For my fellow teachers out there, as I have done a not very teachery blog for once, this is for you. Instead of RE, give your class a treat and talk to them about St Valentine and how he married young soldiers in secret :) let them know it's not all about the flowers and chocolates but instead to celebrate (supposedly) a man who just made the world a better place! I did it last year with my year threes and they loved it, they can even make cards for their families.

So best wishes to you all :) whether you are being all yucky in love, or if it's just your standard Thursday!

 xox

What did grandma taste like?

source

When you are a teacher, every single day is different and that's why I love it so much! You are in an exciting and stimulating environment all day long and you get to spend it with some of the most interesting people on the planet. Children :) In no other profession can you say that you were a scientist, an artist, a historian, an actor, a cheerleader, an architect, an explorer, a big bad wolf and many other things all in the space of a week. We all complain about our piles of planning and lack of a social life BUT  I can't imagine doing anything else for the years and years to come...

The Teacher Diaries

Monday:
It was a super exciting start to the week (even more exciting than the firemen!) because we got to play on the brand new ipads :) woohoohooooooo. As my class teacher is the ICT coordinator, our class got dibbs on them. We used an app called puppet pals to retell traditional tales; the kids uploaded pictures of themselves with masks and used them to act out their story. My class is doing a Disney topic at the moment and this week was focused on Tangled, so lots of fairy tales and castles!!

You can watch some of the puppet pals creations on our Class Blog haha, remember they are only year 1/2 though :) definitely a good effort if you ask me.

Tuesday:
As I'm only on mini block of placement, I haven't been doing too much of the teaching; the hard work all starts in a weeks time, eek. I spent Tuesday afternoon exploring all the art resources at school and then building a castle and a dragon for our role play area. I filled it with lots of fairy tale books for the children to read during busy time and we are thinking about maybe putting some crowns and shields in there too :) fun fun fun.

Wednesday:
SCHOOL TRIP DAY!!!! Unfortunately I didn't get to be a cool kid and sit on the back seat, I was too busy being a super profesh teacher, complete with hi-vis jacket! Here is a very muchly cropped, sneak peak of me in all my hi-vis glory...

I think I was trying to get my furry hood around my ears as it was a really windy and cold day at Skipton Castle. The kids loved climbing over EVERYTHING and pretending that they were at a banquet. I now know how my Mother felt when me and my sister used to climb everything in sight... who am I kidding, we still do that now. Sorry Mum.

Thursday:
Today we interviewed three little pigs, made patterns out of shapes, learnt a song in French, ran around like mental people in PE and a load of other stuff. The best thing about Thursday though was that we decided what our topic for next half term will be in the planning meeting... Mini beasts! I get to watch all the kids squirm when we look at spiders and caterpillars and everything else tiny and gross :) It also means there will be a lot of pond dipping, growing plants and of course school trips to wildlife centres, yaaaaaaaay!

Friday:
I had my first appraisal, EEK! I did a lesson on hotseating, which the kids had never done before. I was awful at drama at school but I did manage to pull off a hilarious big bad wolf from red riding hood... until somebody asked me what grandma tasted like.... "a bit boney" was all that came to mind.

Then I had to rush off to cross the county from North to East to go and view a school that I'm applying for a job at. Every room was full of chaos, it was lovely :) I don't know whether I will get the first job I apply for but hopefully there is a job out there for a nutcase like me.

Being Superwoman

I am really fed up of thinking that because I'm on placement, my life is oveeeer. What will happen when I work full time as a teacher in just a couple of months?? I am dedicated to the job but I don't want to be one of those women that get consumed by work and forget about actually living. This week alone I've been told by two people to just stop; even after hours of placement I am still restless and want to do something. Sitting in the staff room this year, I always overhear little snippets about the other teacher's personal lives; the other year 1/2 teacher managed to fit in a two hour walk over the moors as well as planning, all before bedtime. I want that to be me!! 

How I proved to myself that I'm super too..

Teaching

This week we were supposed to have some 'whole class responsibility' but instead I taught all Thursday afternoon and then did phonics and literacy on Friday morning. Above and beyond me ;) I am actually finding key stage 1 lessons a lot easier to plan for because they don't do as much but I am still not used to it at all! Letters and Sounds is all foreign to me so thank God for Mr Thorne's phonics videos :) Sammy did look a bit concerned about the 'ur' sounds coming from my laptop. The TES iboard had this fab interactive book that I used to teach traditional/fairy tales. Just because you use resources and ideas to help you out, it doesn't make you any less of a fab teacher... why re-shape the wheel?!

Food

I bought myself a meal planner from paperchase (featured on my blog 2 weeks ago) and I was worried I wouldn't use it. Quite the contrary, it has been so helpful to sit and think of five yummy lunches on the weekend and buy in what I need for the week. Then on the evenings all I have to do is prepare it and there's no over thinking :) It's good to have really healthy lunches and try and get as many as your five a day while you are at school because then you can have your treats at home. I know this lunchbox has a muffin in but who is judging eh? ;)

Housey chores

I am soooo skilled at creating piles of plates and other crockery so that it takes up the least amount of space on my side. There is still space to prepare stuff as well as putting off my washing up for another day. I have been trying to keep on top of it though so I'm not faced with the usual mountain of washing up when all I want to do is slob. As well as washing up, I've been washing my clothes really regularly too, then I never have to panic about not having a teachery type outfit ready.

Me time

This week was lovely because I was actually back in Uni Monday-Wednesday for a few lectures. I had time for shopping, Starbucks, meals out and cinema trips. I know I won't be able to do much on the evenings but I will most definitely be planning time out on the weekend for me to just chill out. I didn't do any planning yesterday at all so I will have to do a few hours today, but it was totally worth it.

CV enhancing

Now that I've done four months at Oxfam, it was sadly time to leave so that I'd have some free time on the weekend. I am still attached to the York Castle Museum because I'm still in the training process. I did a shift before Christmas making Victorian Christmas cards with the education team but I had to wait until yesterday to do my object handling training. I spent an hour picking up fancy bear fur helmets, heavy body armour and a few brass candlesticks. My next training session isn't until March 16th but after that I will be fully trained to run a military session :) I will be in charge of some pretty impressive weaponry. My future history lessons will  clearly be awesome!

Being a proper yogi
I am very aware that I am eating more now that I'm on placement, which is totally fine BUT my exercise levels have dropped. I don't power walk everyday like I usually do; instead I drive too and from placement and that's about it. Usually I spent my whole day walking to and from everywhere and I might have a bike ride to the shops when it's warmer. The belly podge is starting to appear and the bottom is maybe more wobbly than it should be...  so, action plan! I popped into TkMaxx on my way back from town yesterday and they have loads of good sports gear for quite cheap; weights, exercise balls, yoga mats, clothes & loads more. Leah has moved her xbox into the living room so I have lots of yoga videos at my fingertips through Youtube. I'm thinking of doing 10 mins a day to relax and then 20-30 minutes on Saturday and Sunday to keep fit :) There is a great 'Yoga Solution' series from LiveStrong Women which ranges from beginner right through to some scary looking headstands. 

Phew, I will have to read this back one day when I start to doubt myself! Now I think I qualify for a t-shirt.