Belinda’s Blog

Today was not the usual Tuesday workday. I had planned for various things, not realising that today was the day for the big Christmas Scripture service. So I scrapped my regular morning routine, to accommodate the service happening.
This basically took us through until lunch time. Normal Tuesday playground duty at lunch.

By the time lunch was over, I was feeling somewhat unwell, mainly as the result of a headache that I had when I got up, and had continued to get worse. I couldn’t get through the remainder of the day doing my normal routine, so I took it easy. Weirdly, whenever I give my kids a treat and have some ‘free time’, I feel guilty. We do it so rarely though, and I wasn’t feeling great, so we just enjoyed it. I really just wanted a nice dark , quiet classroom. One of the boys in my class had “Goblet of Fire” on DVD (not sure where he sourced it from), so we watched it for the remainder of the day. The kids were mostly quiet, so couldn’t really complain! The best bit was a couple of my girls, who offered to give me a head and shoulder massage, while we watched the DVD. Ahhhhh….bliss! I saw the majority of the movie and it looked great, though I am looking forward to seeing this on the big screen with Steven, with NO kid noise

I came right home and didn’t bring any work with me tonight. I took an hr nap when I got home and after dinner, will probably have an early night.

Wednesdays I don’t see my class that much, as I have time off-class for marking and admin, so I plan on taking it easy and cleaning out my storeroom, finishing off any throwing out I need to do before I move classrooms in 2 weeks’ time.

Thursday, I have the day off, to go and have my next Dr appointment, as well as getting the car serviced (our service centre does not to major services on Saturday, so had to wait for my Dr appt to fit it all into the one day), as well as some shopping and a movie while we wait the 4-5 hrs for the car. Should be a good day and I’ll find out more of what comes next in the whole pregnancy care thing.

I often get depressed on Sunday nights, I can’t help it. I just get irritable and snappy because the weekend is over and I often just wish I had ONE more day to do all the things that I wanted to do. C’est la vie, non?

Anyway, this is what I got up to this weekend. Saturday, slept in a while, got up and did laundry and did some housework, then Steven and I ventured out to the 3 main babystore chains in our area, just to browse and get an idea of what kind of prices we are up for for certain items down the track. We then swung by a food place to pick up some lunch, then headed home for about an hr, before driving to my parents’ place. The weirdest thing about Saturday was not knowing what to wear! Upon getting up, it was cold and rainy & so the laundry was either hung inside, or put in the dryer if possible. By the time we hit the stores, it was HOT! Not just warm, but hot! Not a cloud in the sky and humid and very sunny. Weird!
At my parents’ place, we had dinner outside. My younger bro and his family were there too, which was really nice b/c we all chatted the night away. But by the end of dinner, the weather had turned yet again. Really strong winds, followed by one hell of a storm! The rain when driving home was torrential! Eek!

Today, after getting up, we headed into the Mall and had breakfast at a cafe (was dying for some scrambled eggs), then Steven went and got his haircut, while I browsed a bit for birthday cards and various other bits and pieces. Diorrhea hit again as soon as I’d eaten, so after 2 or 3 bathroom visits, I went to resume my hunt for a good 60th card for my Mum (her b’day is Wednesday), only for Steven to be finished his haircut already. So, we both then went and looked thru cards, Xmas departments in the stores and I bought Kate’s (the winner of Australian Idol) single which came out today. Still pouring with rain by the time we left. Came home, I slept for a few hrs , then we went to do food shopping.
I haven’t had many off days but I just don’t feel so great today so I’m taking it easy and will have an early night.

In another piece of news, my bros’ wife has been in and out of hospital doing NST (non-stress tests) on her baby. She’s due Dec 21 but has Type 1 diabetes so is high-risk and had been expecting to be induced on Tues 6th Dec. But at today’s NST baby’s heartrate was up, so she is back there again this afternoon being checked again. She may be kept in there and induced if it’s still up, or she may come home. She is really over the whole thing, as she has to do the NST every 2nd day until the baby is born, due to the risk of complications that are associated with diabetes in pregnancy. So by Dec 6 I will have another niece or nephew. but it could end up being somewhat sooner than that! Hopefully things are OK.

As the title suggests, today was a very rainy Friday. In fact, it poured for most of the day. A few absent kids, I thought I’d have a quiet day. That is, until I remembered how off-the-walls kids stuck in a classroom for 6 hrs without an outside break can be! Oh, it was painful! I guess we don’ t have really pouring rain very often, I so forget what those days are like until the next one comes around. We were doing fun things, like Xmas craft, but still the kids were hyper, noisy and generally a total pain in the butt. I love them to death, but they drained the life out of me today and I could not wait to walk out the door right on the bell at 3PM. TGIF!!!!!

Well, 8 weeks today! It seems to be going fast so far, which is good. I hope up until 12 weeks it continues to speed by. I am sure all is fine, but I can’t wait for that reassurance from the OB at the 12 week mark. Still feeling good. Symptoms still remain as sore boobs, headaches and reflux from time to time, but that’s really it. I definitely am not deathly ill (god bless my iron stomach!!!) so life is good!

No plans for this weekend, as yet. Tonight we are having a BBQ (love BBQs!) and the rest of the weekend is just going to be all about sleep, rest and hanging out with Steven. I don’t have any work to do, other than to get printed the individual photos I took of my class yesterday, for their 2006 calendars they are making. With just over 3 weeks of work left, I’m starting to wind down and I’m trying to spend less of the weekend doing work related stuff – especially this weekend, as I just want lots of quality time with Steven

Less than a week til Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire is released here in Australia. I cannot wait to see it as it’s prob my favourite book of the series so far. Excited!

So glad we’re closer to the weekend than we are to Monday!

Work is fine. The kids are tired, the teachers are tired, yet it feels like we still have so much to get done and we’re running out of time. Such is the life of a teacher though – always feels like we’re playing catchup! Just on 3 weeks to go til end of school year and with all the ‘extra’ things that happen due to end of year (elections, presentations, etc) it’s jam-packed!

On a very happy note, Steven flew in last night It’s just such a nice feeling having him around again. We didn’t get a heap of time to sit and talk last night, but tonight we’re going out to dinner so we can sit and have a really long talk.

He did something really sweet when in NZ. He wanted to buy baby stuff and knew it was quite early but he wanted to buy something over there that would be different. I said OK, and that we would just put it away and forget about it for a few more weeks, but he was so excited how could I say no?

He bought this gorgeous sleepsack that is white and has hand-embroidered little bees on it. It is SOOO gorgeous. It’s newborn size and so tiny. I got teary when i saw it.
He also took it upon himself to choose and buy a nappy bag. OMG I love that he knows my sense of style b/c it rocks!

He got me this one with the red panel…

http://www.kapoochi.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=KB-1&Product_Code=31831&Category_Code=010

Weather is miserable here today. Such WEIRD weather considering it’s almost Summer! We had consistently hot weather for a while there, but the last week or more it’s been on and off showers.

My memory has been shot the last few weeks, but this made me giggle.

Sunday I was out and when I was shopping I didn’t stop for a coffee or anything, but it was well past lunch time by the time I left. I was going to stop at the food court before I left, but it was so busy I decided to skip it and since it was McHappy Day, I’d buy my once-a-yr Big Mac to help out charity (I actually never normally eat Big Macs, I’m not a huge beef fan). You know, you feel good when you are doing something for a cause.

Just sitting here watching TV, only to learn that McHappy Day was on SATURDAY!! LOL! So none of my money went to charity and I felt good for nothing.

*sigh*

…that hubby comes home.

I cannot wait to see him! I took the day off today. Got up during the night a few times during the night, so I was tired and had a headache and some reflux, so I called in sick and went back to bed. Going to take it easy for a few hrs then maybe do a bit of work.

Steven lands at 7PM. I am getting so excited. I’ve just missed his presence so much. We’ve spoken a lot during this break, but it’s more just him being around and the hugs that I’ve missed. In some ways the time has gone fast, but mostly it’s been really difficult, so I’m just so glad that it’s all but behind us now. He will continue to make regular trips to NZ since their parent company is there, but none of this magnitude are expected, thankfully!

OK, off to watch Women’s channel and prob nap some more. The amount of sleep I’ve been needing still staggers me!

Monday was just like any other Monday, nothing special.
We decided against going to the concert. I wasn’t feel ill, just really tired yesterday & wasn’t sure I was up for driving into the city and then standing for 3-4 hrs til it started, then fighting my way out of a huge crowd to head home after it. Lena phoned me at 2 and said that there were already heaps of ppl there, so if we were only going to see a speck on a stage, we decided it wasn’t worth it anyway. I came home and slept an hr or two, which made me feel much more alert. Then I just grabbed takeaway (the only takeaway I ate while Steven was away. I opted for my favourite, but food doesn’t really excite me at the moment and I ended up giving some of it to the girls lol!) and headed home, had a shower, got settled into PJs and watched the Idol Final at home. I had been following Kate for quite a while and really wanted her to win. Amazingly, for the first time in 3 yrs of Australian Idol, my choice won. I cried (preggo hormones the cause, no doubt!) then went to bed right after.

I swear dogs have the same emotions and thoughts as humans, as this example I’m about to give clearly highlights.

When I went to the supermarket before, there were some dog toys in packs of 2. I bought one since they need some new toys to play with and one (the hard toy) suited Paris and the other (a soft fluffier one) is more Tully’s type – so, perfect!

I got home and gave them their toys and they knew which they were allowed to play with. Tully got very protective of hers for a while and wouldn’t put it down, knowing that Paris may pounce at any given moment. She tried once or twice, so I said “naughty” and she put it down right away.

While cooking dinner, the girls were in the TV room near me. This is when the funny thing happened.

Tully knew that Paris would get in trouble if she went near her toy, but she wanted to check out Paris’ toy. So, Tully proceed to put her toy under the TV cabinet in the TV room, so that it was safe from cyclone Paris (who loves to destroy soft toys that Tully adores). paving the way for her to then check out Paris toy (which she would not damage, she just wanted to check it out).

It was SO funny to watch! She totally planned the entire thing and watching her you could see her thought processes, I swear!

I could do nothing but laugh! Labs are SO clever and SO HUMAN!!!

Man, I love to shop! I don’t do it that often, but today I had some to do and I enjoyed getting out there.

Went to Miranda up near where we used to live to do it. I pretty much knew what I wanted to get Steven and my Pop for Xmas, it was just a matter of getting what was on my list. I think Steven will be a happy boy on Xmas morning (but he’s probably peeking here so I won’t elaborate!)

I needed to buy a few more things to wear casually/to work on warm days. And since I don’t know when I will start to change shape and/or outgrow things I have, I wanted to try and keep the cost down (usually I pretty much solely shop at C0lorado and Sussan). I just opted for a size larger in the skirt, even though my current size fitted fine still, I just figured I would get more wear out of it that way. I bought a really nice tiered skirt with a choc cap sleeve top to match and then another pair of cargos and a singlet top (one of those ones that has another shirt sewn into it, so it looks like you are wearing two tops). Very pleased with my purchases!

I also invested in one more bra, since I’ve worn the new one for about a week and it’s SO comfortable. Weirdly, it only comes in black and like a jaffa colour! So that will make for less washing now I can alternate the two.

I just love wandering around the stores. Am so glad that I got there soon after opening though as the place was already packed and finding a car space after that would have been tricky. One reason why I do NOT go NEAR shops in DECEMBER!!!

When I got home, I wrapped the presents up so they’re all nicely put away with the others until gift-giving time.

Steven phoned to say that he had landed safely in Auckland. This time on Tuesday, he’ll be gearing up to depart NZ. Cannot wait to have him back home again. Missed him big time! My dogs have been awesome company though.

About to go and do some schooowork then it will be about time for a nap, I think.

Tomorrow after school, I’m heading straight into the city. My friend and I scored tickets to the free concert that’s on before the Australian Idol final. I’m not that into AI though I have watched it all the way thru, but the concert is Anthony, Casey, Guy & Shannon, so I figure it should be pretty good! I won’t hang about to watch the Idol final there, I’ll just leave after the concert or else it would be a VERY late night.

Well, the end of another working week – thank God! It’s been such a draining week in many ways so I’m glad it’s over so I can really kick back this weekend.

It’s been nice having dinner with my parents so much this week, but tonight I’m here catching up online, with a few rented DVDs and (hopefully) a big sleep to follow!

Felt quite unwell today and I had msgs going back and forth to Steven in NZ. I got to work and regretted having gone. I had to keep dashing to the toilet and I had a shocking headache. I cried because I just didn’t think I could get through the day. Thankfully I managed to get through it. My kids were making Xmas wreaths this afternon . They are so cute when they do craft that is ‘different’ , they get oh so excited. I just love seeing kids excited. I walked out right on the bell and thankfully I don’t have too much work to do this weekend either – yay.

Steven is spending the weekend with relatives in NZ, before flying to Auckland late on Sunday. Then he is there Mon & some of Tues, before he leaves to fly home, arriving back in Syd on Tues evening.

My weekend will be movies, sleep, laundry , Steven’s Xmas present shopping, a teeny bit of work and very little else. Oh, and my favourite dinner at my parents’ tomorrow night!

So so glad it’s Friday