I had an email (well, a Facebook message) the other day saying 'Do you still do your blog?' Uhh, not really. Here I am on New Years Eve, pumpkin roasting in the oven (no, that's not a metaphor!) with some time to spare so I thought I'd write a little about 2009, what happened to me, and what I hope for in 2010.
I started my new job, and it has been (mostly) good.
You know, I think a lot of teachers feel like they're faking it most of the time, myself included. I mean, you do the study, you stand up in front of the class, and sometimes the magic happens. Well, the magic happened with my Year 6 class of '09. It was the first class of people I have actually missed during my holidays and most of the year was nothing short of fabulous. I was really lucky to fall on to my feet in a school that I immediately felt familiar with; and even after a difficult selection process, I was welcomed by my new colleagues with open arms.
Most of all, I appreciate being a permanent teacher (finally)! After years of holding out for an Art job (and never seemingly, teaching art), I finally have found a job where we can study Basquiat and Arcimboldo amongst the other subjects, and then go forth and create... at this age the kids enjoy the theory as well as the practice, and for me, that's a little piece of heaven!
I do however, miss my freedom. My school can come across as being too much of a 'tight ship' and sometimes this can be translated as being mistrustful of teachers. Well I'm happy to report I'm at a school where everyone works damn hard, and this is evident in the happy, well balanced students we are helping.
I started my Masters degree, and it was sort of a shock!
I applied to commence my Masters degree in Education in 2009 (well, the first 'part') when I wasn't sure if I would ever get a permanent teaching position. I figured it would help my prospects and keep me busy if I found myself out of work. Well, as it turned out, I got the job AND started the Masters degree in 2009.
It has been hard, I have kicked and screamed and whinged all along the way. I started off getting really bad marks and lost my confidence. I quickly improved but found attending lectures with other teachers annoying, most of all I hated feeling like I had to be competitive. Completing assignments meant locking myself up at night and on weekends for weeks, and this also meant an increased presence on the net ;)
However, good things have come out of it, including some extra paid teaching work at the uni, and it's good to feel like I know what I'm talking about when I'm asked to contribute to professional conversations at work. I will probably take a year's break from half way in 2010, mainly because I am getting married!
In 2009 I got engaged to the one I love!
This is by far the most pleasing and exciting thing that happened to me in 2009! On the 24th of July Mark and I went away for the weekend to Kangaroo Valley. We stayed at a beautiful little cottage called the dairy@cavan and something special happened when we were walking across the Hampden Suspension Bridge, the oldest suspension bridge in Australia, built in 1898 (neat!) It was lovely to see how genuinely happy everybody is for us, and we are very excited about our wedding in Sydney, October 2010!
So, we had an engagement party.
We didn't necessarily want to have an engagement party, but it seemed like an opportune time with new babies recently born, Dad returning from Portugal, and elderly family members wanting to get together. So one Saturday early in November, at approximately 37 degrees celcius, we held a Mexican Barbeque (of course!) for our families.
One of the best things was that my Nana Colgate eventually came along after all, after threatening not to come for about a month (giving very confusing reasons and making me upset). I was also pleased to see my Pop Richards, as the week before he was in hospital having quite a serious operation, so it was a big effort for him to come along and sit in the heat.
We received some wonderful presents! Such as an authentic Norman Lindsay print (a lady with her boobs out!) and expensive kitchenware (my favourite). Engagement presents to start with seem a bit extravagant, so we were touched to receive so much quality stuff!
Besides the bbq, I cooked some awesome enchiladas after poring over cookbooks for months and asking my friend Michelle in the USA what she thought of the recipes. The family couldn't get enough, I could have got away just with having an enchilada party!
We had an adorable cake, this lady up the street from my Dad's place in Menai truly makes the freshest, most delicious buttercake with second-to-none buttercream icing. We had a heart shaped cake studded with smarties, which we ate with ice cream, it definitely was a highlight of my day - and just $40!
This is not me! (I'm pretty sure it's my teacher Caroline.)I (then we) discovered yoga.
Yes, we have all heard about how yoga is a life changing experience. Well, I'm so pleased I found the Kings Cross Yoga Centre this year, and have become very disciplined about attending classes (unusual, I know)! I couldn't even touch my toes at the beginning of the year, and now (after stretching) I can rest my hands on the floor. After I had been attending for about 6 months Mark started as well, it has been great for both of us. The best thing is knowing that I will keep going to yoga, it's no longer something I have to force myself to do. I generally have always disliked team sports and fitness, preferring incidental exercise, so it has been wonderful to find something we both enjoy and can commit to wholeheartedly as well.
We both very much feel like adults these days.
It seems I don't mind talking real estate, I worry about my car and think about when I should organise salary sacrifice. I cook the dinner, I turn up on time, get a little buzz from feeling organised, and wake up without hangovers. It's great to support my friends and (try) to be there for my family. We still live in our little flat with great views in Potts Point and often consider sacrificing our house deposit for an overseas trip.
Most of our close friends no longer live in Sydney, and we continually wonder how we'll do it - even though on paper we do pretty well, it seems to buy a place, have children and afford Sydney you must cling to the fringes of the city. We wont be moving anywhere in the near future though, we have a very quiet and pleasant life and our jobs keep us firmly planted right here!
My favourite places to be in 2009...
- Walking down Macleay Street in the afternoon, when the breeze carries the smell of the harbour up the street
- Andrew Boy Charlton Pool
- My lounge, staring out the window out towards the Art Gallery of NSW!
- City of Sydney library at Customs House
- Yoga
- Fratelli Paradiso or Yellow for coffee, if I have a visitor (otherwise it's the plunger at home)
- A Tavola restaurant for something special
- Jimmy Liks for cocktails!
- Newtown or Glebe, largely for reasons of misplaced nostalgia
- Melbourne (only wish I could go more often)
- jezebel.com to feel normal
- passiveaggressivenotes.com or lamebook.com for laughs
- jcrew.com sale page for beautiful clothes (thanks for sending them out Michi!)
- oncewed.com for my type of dream weddings!
My favourite other things of the year...
Well it seems that most of my watching is done on the net these days, how can one possibly wait for a weekly show on free to air television? It got even better towards the end of the year when we hooked up our macbook to the big tv.
2009 was definitely a year for watching the entire (available) series of Mad Men and The Wire, which I enjoyed very much. I'm also watching Seasons 1-3 of Big Love looking forward to Season 4 with gusto! Those who know me well also know I enjoy watching the news and this year I found I was watching SBS world news more often, as well as the 7:30 report and Q&A on the ABC. I'm also a sucker for most cooking shows and design shows such as (anything!) Nigella and Grand Designs.
I'm adoring Ben and Jerrys ice cream's arrival in Australia, along with cooking Pastabilities frozen pumpkin and goats cheese ravioli on the nights we can't be bothered to cook!
I loved the new album from The Crayon Fields this year as well as Monsters of Folk. We don't go to too many gigs at the moment but really enjoyed Joanna Newsom, Rufus Wainright and Sufjan Stevens (all seperately!) at the beginning of '09, rock on!
We are constantly watching films and the main three that come to mind this year were The Savages (but then again, was that 2008?!), Bright Star and Elegy.
Books? I'm constantly reading but it's better that you ask Mark.
And now I am all out of puff. That is all for now, it has been quite a self-indulgent experience, this blog post!
We have had a great year, wishing you all the best for 2010! (another exciting year for us!)
xx
