Belinda’s Blog

Steven’s working late tonight so I rented this DVD on the way home from work and watched it before Big Brother.

I thought it was great! It had so many twists and turns and I love it when I don’t pre-empt them I really recommend this!

ETA: I also rented and watched High School Musical. OK OK, it was a Disney film, but I just love musicals and kept seeing some of the songs played on ads on TV, so decided to get it and check it out. I was expecting it to be really lame and I guess it is aimed at young kids and teens, but I actually quite enjoyed it. The lead characters were cute and I can’t get the finale out of my head

We finally got around to investing in a mobile hard drive to back up all our files/photos etc. We’ve been meaning to get one for AGES and knowing we’ll be taking a crapload of photos in the near future & beyond that we would not want lost, Steven finally ordered it and received it this week.

The one we chose is SO darn cool! It’s a LaCie and it looks like a giant white Lego piece. I kid you not!

Check it out – isn’t it funky?

What things really peeve you and get your blood boiling?

I have several: lateness, untidiness & ppl who lack common courtesy.

I guess what I’m about to write fits into one of those in an around-about sort of way.

Last night we swung by the supermarket between the train station and home, to pick up some olive oil for the barbecueing. I waited in the car and not long after we parked, a lady who’d just done her weekly grocery shopped headed back to her car in the row in front of me. She unloaded her car, left the trolley right next to her car and then got back into her car and drove off. I really HATE when people just dump trolleys – especially when there is NO reason why that person could not just put the trolley back. And I’m not even talking from a trolley tidiness perspective here. If that had been a busy Thursday night, that trolley would have been blocking probably the only spare carspace. So how far from a trolley bay was she, I hear you ask? 3. Yes, T-H-R-E-E! So there was her car, the discarded trolley in the next, 2 spare spaces, then the trolley bay.

Maybe I’m a goody-two-shoes, but I ALWAYS, repeat ALWAYS take my trolley back to a bay, even if it at the opposite end of the carpark. I hate going to pull into a carspace only to find a trolley shoved in there, blocking my way. Rude, I tell ya!!!

That sums up what my week has primarily consisted of. Testing, testing and more testing. I actually haven’t minded it, though there was so much to do and so little time. So that was the main task of this week: to test 8 classes of Yr 1/2 kids (approx 24 children per class). Thankfully 2 of the tests could be administered to a group, so that was fine (though still time consuming). The SPAT , however, had to be tested to 1 child at a time, and given that it takes the average child 20 mins (and quite a few took longer), you can imagine how time-consuming and tedious this could become, as we were racing against the clock to try and get it all done between a few of us.  I enjoyed being exposed to some new diagnostic tests and enjoyed the quiet working environment of the 1 on 1 SPAT tests, but after spending days on end doing it, I think I could quote the test word for word and will probably have nightmares about it

The week at work has been busy and with several meetings, to shape the direction of the rest of the term from a Learning Support viewpoint; planning with various grades and the focus we shall take. At least I feel a lot better prepared for next week and beyond. I’m also quite looking forward to working alongside some teachers in a classroom situation, instead of taking purely withdrawal groups.

So, it’s been OK to be back – better than I had anticipated. Having said that though, it’s been a tiring week. I’ve come home some days and needed to nap. On those days when I’ve still felt fairly energised, I’ve done laundry and cleaning, in the hope that it will equate to less needing doing on the weekend. I am definitely in countdown mode though with regards to work. It’s a long term and I hope it goes quickly.

Really haven’t done much else as all of the above has taken most of my time and energy.

On the baby front, not a heap going on. I was really nervous one day as there was next to no movement, but he must have picked up on my anxiety on that, because the next day he was back to his usual busy self again. Huge sigh of relief! He must be growing in leaps and bounds now because he is moving a lot more strongly & he has moved up higher and I’ve definitely rounded out more this past week. Hard to believe that I’m almost 5.5 mths into this thing now & that he’s 30cm long. It’s definitely going by fast!!!

Sadly, the day has arrived. I’m dreading going back to work. There are several reasons why I  wish I didn’t have to endure another term. Oh well, I can only wish that it goes by quickly. Being another ‘long’ (ie 11 week) term, I doubt it though. I just really enjoyed the extra sleep and the lack of pressures. Anyway can’t and don’t really want to go into that on a public post, so let’s just hope it all works out ok. We are back tomorrow and kids on Tues.  At this stage I’m planning on being there until Sept 30 but I’ll see how things progress and how I feel.

Had a really nice day yesterday. After my funk, Steven decided to come to the city w/ me when I went to see the Young Divas & we’d go up earlier and spend some time together (we rarely go into the city). We checked out some hotels at the last minute and decided to book a room at our favourite hotel. Some luxury for a treat- yeah God knows when we’ll get out and spend a night in the city next (methinks it will be ages after He arrives). We checked in around 2, spent some time wandering the city and its shops, before we ducked back to the hotel briefly. Lena then met us and we had a nice dinner by the water at Darling Harbour. From there, we went to Star City, Steven left us be and we went to the concert.

I really enjoyed it. Emily didn’t bother me nearly as much as  I thought she would have, although she seems very nervous at working a crowd. Ricki-Lee was pretty good. Paulini looked stunning and singing, from her, seems so effortless. And Kate was great at getting the crowd involved and into her songs. We were almost in stitches laughing at some of the  audience who got WAY too excited about dancing and were just lost in their own little worlds. One person was soooooo into dancing at the end of one song, he had to stop and take a drink. You’d think he was the main attraction, not the Divas    Man, we laughed, didn’t we, L?

Afterwards, Steven met me and the 2 of us headed back to the hotel. We had a nice sleepin, followed by a hot shower and then a really yum breakfast which had me feeling really relaxed.

Then it was time to start thinking about heading home to the girls, so we checked out and drove south.

Need to go to the baby store and pay a chunk off our stash this afternoon but not much else is planned.

Ciao! 

I managed to slip into a bit of a funk the past few days. I think it’s been a combination of the weather, being at home alone so much, lack of sleep (trying to get comfy is starting to get a bit tricky) and hormones. I cried for hours this morning and it left just as fast as it came upon me.

I think that b/c we have been so focused on saving and spending every bit of spare cash on  big things for quite a while (first the bathroom, now all the baby related expenses and stash), that we’ve been staying home in favour of saving money, instead of really getting out much and having FUN!

At least we’ve realised this, so we’re trying to rectify that I have some fun planned tomorrow night anyway , as I’m going to see the Young Divas at Star City w/ Lena. But on top of that, Steven and I have decided to head into the city during the day and have some fun – maybe a museum, or a movie or just some shopping or something (we RARELY go into the city!). Then we’ll have dinner w/ Lena and Steven will have fun in the casino while I see the show then we’ll head home together.

Fun awaits – finally!