Tag: birthday

Busy Busy Times

Last night we had the Christmas concert in the park in the middle of town. It was great. I walked down, enjoyed the kids music making and walked home.

It’s been frantic at work. My Digital Storytelling class are undertaking to make a short film for each homeroom to be shown to the whole school next week and as these things always happen, at the last minute, there are still some that aren’t complete yet. I am rushing around to get that organised in lunchtimes and feeling very flustered about it.

I still haven’t started my report writing yet, but am making a lot of progress with my marking, in snatches here and there. We have a public holiday on Friday for the local show, so I expect, I will spend it writing reports.

Today we went to an ‘adventure’ park with our year nines as part of a transition program. They are going to the senior campus next year. It was exhausting.

My team talked me into participating in a couple of things. So I did the ‘Leap of Faith’ which involved walking a plank with a harness on, up very very high.

I also did one of the team activities. We had to all as a team get over this really high wall. There was one student left who hadn’t done it and as I was attempting to convince her it would be fine, some bright spark suggested I show her, for extra points for the team. I would have gladly disappeared, yet instead allowed my students to boost me up and drag me up over this wall.

Bruises galore! Why do I always fall for these things? The kids are younger and braver than me! I am so tired, but it was great to see the kids push their boundaries. Some of them are amazingly strong, brave and fit. One more day of teaching and then a marathon report writing weekend, including my birthday somehow. Oh, I have to make my wish list!

Sagittarian’s Birthday Season

The sun enters Sagittarius today. There are a few Aussie bloggers who are Saggis, I have noticed. Megan Bayliss from Imaginif, is actually born on the same day as me! She’s slightly older and wiser though. She also shares this date with my friend Rhonda. Kelly Marie has mentioned her birthday is the 18th December. There are probably others I haven’t noticed. I have a daughter and a brother born in December also.

There are heaps of Saggis at work too. Must be a good 10% at a rough guess of the teachers. We must love teaching! I have found them to also have a great love of laughter. Christine Broadbent’s: Sagittarius is an interesting read if you really want to know more about what makes us tick.
I found this great link and share the outlook of it’s author, I seriously like to celebrate my birthday. So Happy Birthday to you all in case with all the rush of December I forget to wish you personally!

With Hindsight 30 was……

Truthfully
Ghastly for me. However, to be completely honest, I’d made rather a mess of my life by then and it was possibly the best thing that ever happened to me in a nasty yet useful way. It’s over 10 years ago now, so with that kind of space from it, I can see the benefits.

Karen Cheng asks about turning 30 in her post The Big Three Oh- Women Turning 30 – I’m glad you asked Karen!

Picture This
On my 30th birthday, as the sun was coming up, I was barefoot in a muddy field with an aching back and my precious babies sleeping in the backseat of my celica, whilst I cut not nearly enough asparagus to make it worthwhile. My once beautifully manicured hands were calloused and cut. There were rows of asparagus ahead of me to cut.

How did I get there?
I was separated and trying to raise two kids under 5. I’d been in decorating business with my friend and business partner. It was long hours and I felt I didn’t have enough time for my kids. I hoped that by selling the business and taking casual jobs, I would get more time and have a more peaceful lifestyle.
It took a lot of convincing for the farmer to give me the job so I was too stubborn to leave after promising I wouldn’t quit in the first week. I barely made a living and had help every day from fit, experienced blokes who would see me struggling and jump the fence and cut out my rows so I’d finish before the asparagus went off in the field.
I remember one day picking up my daughter from kinder and one of the mum’s asked me if I’d been to Bali cause I had such a great tan. I rushed out to the car so I wouldn’t blubber in public. It was a painful time.

Benefits of the Harsh Experience
I saw the most amazing sunrises and dragonflies. I made some good mates and for the first time learnt why labourers drink beer. It tastes damn good after hard work! It was a physical challenge.
I knew I was insane doing it so hard . I had a BA and lots of skills and it was one of those turning points that makes you get your act together. It took a while but I made progress to making a better life from that day on.

I still feel …
In Karen’s reflection she says she still feels like she is 24. Even when I turned 40 I still felt like a kid. I don’t think age is about feeling a certain way. I did have expectations of having my act a lot more together when I was 30 than it was. I felt like a failure in so many ways and I didn’t match up to my vision for 30. I started to feel that it was time to take my life a lot more seriously and that I had to stop fluffing around.

10 Years Later
Turning 40 was bliss in comparison. I not only felt pleased with my life but had the perspective of how painful it had been only 10 years ago to amplify my gratitude. I feel like I am now living the best years of my life. I know you can decide this at any time.