Holiday? What holiday?

The holidays started on Friday but I haven't sat down yet! Spent Monday in the new school, and Tuesday and Wednesday in the old one! House is like a pit and the packing still needs doing!  And I have all these DVDs and recorded telly programmes to watch only I don't have time to look at them! Sigh! Have to go do last minute shopping for food and final stuff to take and could see it all far enough? May need to go and open a bottle of wine......

Till next time.

All change again!

Well as you might expect from the date, the school summer hiatus has begun.. However, not to be boring, I decided to get into a bigger school in order to have promotional prospects. So it's off to Lawfield and primary 5. Because Rosewell is having major renovations done I can't get in at the moment to get my stuff out, so that's going to be interesting! Tired and in need of a proper holiday, hoping to have a relaxing time in Cape Town. As its winter it will be cold and wet so I can see me spending a lot of my time reading books on my Kindle. Oo it's going to be busy!

Till next time.

Again? So soon?

Jings am I on fire or what? Have taken the notion to write a bit more tonight as I am on holiday, or so you would imagine, however I spent most of today in school trying to get a head start on my forward plans. That and tidy up my classroom.
It was a pleasant interlude in a child free room, iPod playing gently in the background, vanilla candle sending gentle wafts of soothing scent over the room, creating a delightful ambience in which to work. Why can't we have more days like this? I could use one a week for prep and clearing up.
Have found a pile of books while clearing up, books I have to read, so many that I think my proposed trip to Cape Town in July will be taken up with all the iBooks and Kindle books I have downloaded and I will spend my reading time at nights with hands full of paperbacks instead of technology!
Spending tomorrow on laundry - have heaps of ironing and a couple of box sets to watch. I know how to live it up! Just have to decide which one to watch. Ho hum,as long as its fun I don't suppose it really matters.
Kitchen is a bit of a state since I left it half done this morning so I really will have to go get it sorted out before tomorrow.
Will be taking Vicky to Lanark first thing tomorrow morning so will be able to get on with things from early doors - hoping to get it all sorted long before tea time.
Okay. Enough today guff, it's been a not so exciting day and no doubt I will have other things to write about another time but that's it for today.
Till next time....

Has it really been THAT long?

Blimey! Sitting browsing on the iPad and I came across a link to this blog. I haven't written in here since forever! Anyone who ever used to rad it will have long since given up on any current info and so I may as well just give it up and shut it down.
Mind you it's quite nice to have somewhere to empty my brain into, even if it is just a repeat of the previous moan!
What has happened in my life since last I wrote? A million things and more besides. Vic is now at Stowe West doing Technical Theatre and loving it. Jen has gone to Napier and not loving it quite as much as she did Stevenson but still doing very well. She and David also got engaged in February and are planning to wed in July 2016.
I have finally got a permanent post! Yay! At last! I am working in a wee school in Midlothian. I have a multi composite p5/6/7 class who are mainly okay but have their moments! I enjoy it but the usual previous rants and moans can be inserted here! Nothing really changes that much unfortunately.
Am training to be a teacher leader though so maybe there may be a wee promoted post in my future somewhere - that would be very welcome financially. Jen is driving and has the Panda nearly all the time and Vic will be L plate free by the summer and will probably then want the Micra most of the time... I just pay to run and insure them both and hope for the occasional use ..... Well, not really, I have the Micra most of the time just now, but I expect that to change once Vic passes her test..... As I can't afford to run and insure three cars its going to take a Fair bit of finagelling to keep everyone happy and mobile.
Gave the Junior workshop up and started my own group, Shooglestick, we put on Tom's Midnight Garden last year in the Biggar Little Festival and it went down really well, there are less than 20 kids in the group but they are all remarkably talented youngsters and I am delighted to be doing another play with them this year.
Off on the Easter hols just now - not that I will get much respite, going into school on Monday as the Janice is in, so that I can write my forward plans! Nothing changes!
What else? Jen is 21 in May and is having a party so we have that to organise and it will be on us before we know what we're doing. May be going over to Cape Town in July to visit family but nothing booked yet.
We are all keeping fairly well and life just rumbles on.
Maybe I will drop in more often now I have remembered about my blog, however, I don't think anyone but me will actually read it! Not that that is a problem, I shal make it private and keep it as a diary! Ha!
So. Here's till next time.

Getting tired of it all now...

So, it's been ages since I had time to sit down and write anything in here. And indeed, truth be told, perhaps I should have just left it that way! Not much to tell really, just the usual twelve hour days in school trying very hard to keep up with the marking and planning. Plus trying just about as hard to maintain an outside life. Well to be frank it's all going to hell in a handcart lately! There is so much involved with the Curriculum for Excellence in schools these days that the amount of paper it generates is positively staggering! So much for the paper free office and the eco friendly, waste not want not, green stuff!! Can't get teaching the wee dears for all the planning and evaluating needing done!! So it's a bit of 'give 'em stuff to do and then sit and try and catch up on the paperwork!' instead of all singing all dancing active learning. Honestly, the powers that be have no true concept of the amount of guff this system generates. Yet we are expected to serenely sail on, producing leaders of the next generation..... pshaw!
so that's school.
Life?
Well it sucks like a toothless budgie! The Theatre side of my psyche is being sorely tested these days and I feel deep down that my continuing with the local group will not be the case after the children's show. The theatre has been refurbished. It looks, smells and feels totally different to what it used to - that's to be expected. What I didn't expect was the realisation that I am gently being ousted from the post I've held for the past 11 years. All aspects of responsibility are being taken away and given to others without so much as a by your leave, and I have felt severely patronised by newcomers who seem to think they know all about it and can do it so much better than I. Well good for them I say, after this last production in March I will just hand the whole address book to them (or maybe I won't) and let them get on with it! Not sure yet exactly how petty and mean I will decide to be come the revolution, but I am not going to be particularly heplful!! I may take up painting, sewing and writing again! Joy!! Who knows, I may even start doing housework again! (steady!)
Anyhooo, we'll just wait and see what happens over the next wee while. Rant over, normal service has been resumed...
Till next time...

Aahh Me!

Well another school year begins and another job rears it's not so attractive head! Should have been covering a maternity leave in a nursery but another teacher has (finally!) decided to retire and so I'm back into a P6 class and all that brings with it. Unfortunately the teacher concerned, knew she was retiring before the end of last term and opted not to share this information with anyone who ought to have known. Subsequently she did no prep work for the new term and I am now running like a headless chicken trying to pick up where the last class teacher left off! I have a whole class to set up and no time to do it. We had half a day today and have a full day conference tomorrow. Children are back on Wednesday so I'll have to go in after the conference and work till the Jannie throws me out!
I suppose you could say I will thrive on it but I am not so sure. The class is small, only 22 children at the moment but there is a strong possibility of two more before the end of the week and a potential for at least another four before Christmas. Onwards and upwards I think - no point in being grumpy, this is the career I wanted to have, I can't help but wish it were my calss for the whole year and not just until February when the Mat. leave ends. Oh for a class of my own!!
On a more positive note, both girls did really well in their exams. Jen is starting at Stevenson to do her HND in Classical Music, she'll then go to Napier to complete her B.Mus. Victoria is started in fifth year and looks like having another good year - she has subjects she did very well in with her standard grades and her plans seem to be all under control.
Everything else is bog standard normal, except for the fact that Paul has managed to get us all wirelessly linked and now I don't have to take turns on the computer!
Until next time...

Back in the old routine...

Well good news for me!! I have been successful in getting onto the SLC supply list and have work lined up from Easter till Summer!!! Fab fun all round. I'll be working for a Headie that I worked for before during my Classroom Assistant days and so I know I'm going to be completely happy and relaxed about things. Looking forward to getting started on the 19th April. Working between two schools - so plenty of scope.
Just have to get the workshop production finished and get my series of six workshops planned and then I can move on to other things!!!
Life is good at the moment, let's hope it stays that way!
Till next time!

All downhill till Easter...

Well here we are, the weather has decided to pick up a wee bit and there was actual sunshine over the weekend!! Yes! There were people out in open topped cars, riding horses, cycling, walking dogs without wearing coats (that's the walkers, not the dogs...) and all sorts of malarkey! My current contract draws to a close on the 1st of April and I'm living in hope of something coming up for the next term. I've been for the first of my two interviews - made a bit of a fist of a couple of the questions, I now believe there is such a thing as studying too much for something - I think I was concentrating too much on trying to recall my notes instead of just answering the questions!! Point made and taken, thank you! Tomorrow is the second and I'm off now to have a last read over of my notes and then I'm off to do some Workshop admin and poster making and have a wee glass of wine and then off to bed. Will report back later in the week, hopefully with some good tidings....
Till next time!

Once more into the breach....

Well that's the second application form this week! Yes peeps! It's that time of year again. Every NQT, supply teacher and part-timer will be on their mettle for the next few weeks! This is almost as regular as the lambing season; every February/March cometh the 'Bulk Interviews' (West Lothian) or the 'Round Robin' (South Lanarkshire) where the teaching sorority goes into a frenzy of form filling, trying to write something spectacular. Attention grabbing headlines on a boring On-line form are not easy to manufacture but still we try, in the desperate hope that this year, maybe this year we'll be one of the successful ones, one of the ones who actually get given a job that isn't a temporary contract or Maternity cover. Doing a Mat cover in the school I'm in at the mo' is not a bad thing as the Headie is one of the application form considerers, she's helping sort the wheat from the chaff and if I don't get an interview it won't be for lack of trying!!! The Depute checked over my form, as did my ex- Headie from my previous school and both declared it a good form, coupled with the rather super (if I say so myself!) Headteacher's Report that the Headie gave me should hopefully get me a chance to sparkle in person and hypnotise them into giving me a permanent post contract in a smashing school with no behavioural difficulties and a pupil base of angels who want nothing more than to hang on my every word as if they were pearls of wisdom, while they work hard at being the best class in the Universe.... well I can dream can't I? Have also completed one for my Local Authority who have at last lifted the Recruitment Freeze and are looking for Supply staff. Mind you, I'm not daft, if I were to be offered a post in my current Authority then I would definitely take it - in this jobs climate one can't be too choosy!! However, getting onto the Supply list makes me eligible to apply for any permanent posts that come up in the future, so here's hoping!
Speaking of climate; it's not been as snowy as I'd expected. The forecast keeps saying it's gong to be a white out but although the frost is doing it's stuff every morning and nice and crisp it is too, the snow has not really made much of an appearance this past week. Note well my friends, now that I have said there is no snow you can practically guarantee the blasted stuff will be all over the place by morning.... Perhaps the Spring will soon come around and we'll have daffies nodding their pretty yellow heads all over the verges.
Funny how much I find I miss typing stuff. I would love to be able to write a book but that would require a plot and a beginning, middle and end. The creative writing course I did with the O.U. was great fun and fairly got the creative juices flowing but as happens, life takes over and the reality of why I was working for a degree jumped on it and squashed it flat. I have three or four notebooks with ideas, phrases, titles, characters and setting jotted down in them. Not in any particular order, they're not the bones of an epic tale or anything remotely organised like that. I love pomes. I use that word as I don't think my doggerel can really expect to be called poetry. Some of them I am quite chuffed with, others probably need a years' work just to be readable. Never a great fan of the Haiku with it's seventeen syllables I had a bash at some. Wrote a couple of contrived poems from given titles then, creatively and independently, I did one I was quite proud of with a rhyme sequence on the third lines, the name of this format escapes me for the moment, I recall having it described by a tutor and realising that I had written one without really knowing that it was a specific poetic form!! Was I chuffed? You bet your little pink bootees I was! Maybe one day I'll go and dig out my verse and publish it all here. That'll sort out the men from the boys, we'll soon see who can stick it out and who says "The hell with it, I'm off...." I would like to think that one day I will sit down and have a crack at a wee novello or maybe a few short stories. Along with the painting that I've put on the back burner since taking up teaching and the Cross-stitch I never got back to, perhaps when I eventually retire I will myself trying to fit in so many hobbies that I will give up and just spend my life Twittering, Blogging and watching re-runs of Dr. Who and True Blood. (the sublime to the ridiculous) on the telly. Joking apart, I've always promised myself that I'd re-write the scripts I created for the Junior Workshop as children's books and possibly self illustrate them too; who knows, maybe one day. In the meantime I'll keep buying the Euro Millions Lottery tickets when it's a Rollover week and give my mind a wee treat imagining what I'd do if my numbers came up.......
I suppose I should go and get myself off to bed now, it has been a long day and I am somewhat knackered. Early start and hair to wash in the morning so it makes sense not to sit here any longer. So, better shift it then....
Till next time,

And that's one month gone....

Crivvens, where did January go? there was I, feeling all smug about not letting the year race away and when I turned round it was February!! It's already on the slippery slide and gaining momentum by the minute. Haven't booked any holidays yet as have yet to decide where we might like to go, we've also to consider what it's likely to cost as the prices seem to be a bit steeper this year, or is that just my imagination?
I've more or less decided not to make any special plans for the next wee while, there is so much of life in a state of flux at the minute it's practically impossible to make any! I know what I'd like to achieve - mainly in the house - but as I am working at the mo' it's unlikely to happen. So I'll just plod on doing a wee bittie here and there and maybe it'll all come out right in the end.
The new school is pretty good, although I'm finding the sheer size of it a bit daunting. Double classes makes for a lot of children and a lot of staff; who are very nice by the way, that's the staff mostly, the kids are a variable feast.... some horrors, some wee sweethearts, and the usual motley collection of swots, middle of the roaders and refusers. The class I have are, on the whole, a good enough bunch, just a few who could make you want to rip their throats out.... The previous incumbent in his infinite wisdom (translate that as sheer bloody laziness) did not, however leave a forward plan. Apparently it was 'my responsibility to write one with the stage partners'. Neither did he leave his daily diary pages so I could see what the class had covered and at what pace. So perhaps that's the reason I'm feeling somewhat stressed just now and why the month has hurtled by, I'm trying to do the job, discover what has been done in the past and plan for the rest of the term! No pressure!
The applications for the next lot of jobs are out now and need to be submitted by the 28th Feb. Unfortunately it has to be accessed from a school PC and to date I have been unable to get on - some glich in the server won't let me on to the council intranet. Further to this we have been told that the 'norm' (this will be my third year in the bulk interviews) is not happening this year. Instead of all who apply, Probationer teachers, those on supply who want permanent, those who want a transfer, getting an interview regardless of the application form, the forms are to be graded and matched with Headteachers comments and reports. Ones and Twos will get interviews, threes and fours won't. In past years everyone was seen, allowing for personality to overcome a poor form - not everyone writes a good form after all, but now we are all going to have to sparkle on paper like a ballroom dancer's bodystocking. Ho hum, I'm going to have to get on the case as soon as I figure out how to get the blasted form opened.

Here I go again, I keep telling myself I won't rabbit on about teaching and jobs and the like, yet there I am doing just that!
What else am I doing? The workshop is moving along rehearsals are going fairly well, we just need to pick up the pace a wee bit. I have three Wednesdays that I have courses or Parents Nights to attend so we have to be up to speed with it all before that happens. Going this weekend to see the Hall we will be performing in in April. The Young Farmers will have the scaffolding up and the stage extension up so that will be good to see. We're working in a measured area so, hopefully, we'll be able to hang a backdrop a metre off the back wall and get access to both sides of the stage without having to go offstage - there are steps up to the stage from the back area and if we can have the cast on the stage ready to come on without having to come up the steps to do so, so much the better. Costumes are well under way and Jenny is gathering props already. David is looking at how we will set the scenes; we've been dicussing a simple but effective method of ringing the changes using a stone cloth as a static back with various embellishments to create the different scenes. As always, we all pool our knowledge and experience and I fully expect we will come up with something fairly innovative again. The team are truly brilliant and I am so lucky to have so many talented and dedicated people pulling together. We're all working on the kids show and we'll be working together on the Panto along with a few more talented people - I fully expect it to be a blast and although we are not certain of getting the Theatre back in time for putting it on I have booked the Hall as a stand by. Just hoping for a biggish cast to pull it off!
But there I am again, rabbiting on about the end of the year and we're barely started. Maybe I will just toddle off and watch/listen to Terry Pratchett's lecture instead of rambling here. Yes, I will do just that. Night night.
Till next time.

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know it's the 10th already and most of you have forgotten about the new year and are well on the way to planning for Easter and your summer holidays but I'm determined to let the year happen slowly instead of it's usual breakneck slalom down to the 31st Dec!
Starting a three month supply job in a school in Livingston tomorrow, it's a maternity cover for a P6 class and I'm looking forward to it immensely. Well in some ways anyway, in others I'm quaking in my boots. From what I can discover this school has some different ways of working than others of my ken. they use different materials and schemes of work, which is okay, but I'm nervous about not getting up to speed when there are children who need to be getting tested on their next levels! I have been informed that it is not possible to do any photocopying or find any resources by oneself. There are two staff members who do nothing but, and all requests have to be in a wee blue book and submitted well before the event, so that means I could have a few difficulties until I get organised. As the school is open plan I'm not sure whether or not I'll be able to use music they way I usually do for settling down and doing creative work or for finishing and tidying up. No doubt I'll find out fairly quickly! I understand I have a couple of stage partners who job share the other half of the P6 class and I'm looking forward to meeting them. I've never team taught before so this is all new and will be very interesting and useful for future job applications. Yes, I'll still be looking for jobs even though I have this one. I need to be on the ball and get my fingers into any possible pie as quickly as I can as the probationers from this year will be on the lists soon too! So that'll be me competing with all the unemployed from my year and last year as well as this year! No pressure then!
The workshop is well under way and the rehearsals are going well. We will not be able to use our theatre as it will still be closed but instead will use another hall in the next village. This will be a huge learning curve for all of the production team - we'll be somewhat out of our comfort zone and have to really think about our staging and scenery. The cast are showing great promise and I think this could well be one of our best shows, it certainly has a lot of good catchy songs and that's always a bonus!
Getting asked to vacate the PC now as there is, apparently a need for someone else to use it! As there are no emails in their inbox and the IT skills are limited I suspect there may be a very basic recreational use on the cards.....
Till next time!

All downhill from here!

Well that's the official start to the silly season. A house here in town has not only got it's Christmas tree up in the window, the lights are also on! I have, in the past, when in the throes of Panto insanity, been known to put the tree up early but I never lit it (except to check the lights worked) until into December. Those days are long past as the girls have been helping trim the tree and put up the decos for years now, but still... The street lights are up as is the town tree (and it has it's lights on too!) but they don't come on until the Christmas Shopping night on the 27th November. I like that. I love when it's chilly (but dry) and maybe even a bit of fog swirling about. It's atmospheric and gets the idea of Christmas and giving, up and running.
Otherwise it's all downhill from here as the panic over how much there is to do sets in and the ulcer develops it's own ulcer. All for the single day in the year that should be the most relaxed and loving. Sigh! I'll continue to dream...
Till next time.

Picky, picky, picky!

I thank my learned friend for reminding me that I did indeed post a vast quantity of Christmas cards without stamps last year. However, these were the hand deliver cards that ought never to have seen the outside of a pillar box, let alone the interior aspect!! You know it only takes a moment of inattention or a second of relaxed concentration and the ensuing chaos leaves a lasting trail and memory! I will be using two distinctly separate boxes for this years cards and making a point of putting the stamped cards in one and the hand deliver in the other!! Roll on! I love a challenge......
Till next time!

39 days till Christmas!

Well, sorry, but as my dear daughter took it upon herself to drop that little bombshell on my poor unsuspecting head via Twitter this morning I have been inconsolable. Therefore I decided that everyone should be just as miserable, so there!
Christmas! Crikey! How time flies when you are enjoying yourself... sorry that was a reflex reaction.... where has the year gone? As you will no doubt realise I'm still housebound, sort of, I have managed to get one day a week in a local nursery, but as it's minimum wage it's hardly setting the heather alight! Still collecting dole and still looking for that elusive job.
Not sure if I have finally contracted the horrid swine flu or not. Have had the most awful sore throat and yukky productive cough since last Wednesday but am still realatively able to function - I think if it were the real McCoy I'd be lying in a darkened room somewhere moaning quietly and wishing for oblivion. There again, I'm used to working through things like this and not being off work just because I've a 'bit of a cold' so it could be my work ethos gene is keeping me upright! Vic was off two days last week with something similar but returned to school this morning - I'm not so sure she should have been going in; it would appear that a vast number of staff and pupils are already off and maybe she should have stayed at home, but I wrote the note and sent her off! More coffee needed, excuse me........
That's better! So, what have I been up to? Not a lot obviously, the ever present mountain of laundry is slowly beginning to diminish as I tackle huge chunks of it at a time. I may even haul down some curtains before I'm done, but don't quote me! Very gradually the mess that doubles as our living space is getting sorted. The dining table has appeared like a genie and is now sitting there smugly; daring anyone to dump stuff on it's now empty surface. The Halloween boxes are re-packed and ready to put back into the loft and I have put up the extra shelving in my study and shall make headway with the school stuff tidying in the next few days. When I put the Halloween boxes up I'll bring down the Christmas cards and make a start on writing them. Hopefully I'll be able to cut down on my postage a bit this year as last year I posted over 60 cards! That's a lot of pennies when one has no wage!! The plan is to get the cards written early and go round hand delivering them wherever possible! I have started my Christmas shopping; got a couple of things last week and the week before. I spoke to two of my friends who are in much the same financial boat as I am and we have finally seen the light and agreed not to exchange gifts this year - we usually give each other wine and biscuits and give the kids money, daft when you think about it! So we will send cards and that's all that's needed! Does this mean I'm finally becoming a responsible adult who deals with things in a practical manner instead of the previous 'what the hey, it's only money' approach I used to have? Sigh! Maybe. Then again, maybe not, as I'm still on the lookout for funky stuff for the few pressies I am buying!!
I'm thinking about getting my Christmas decorations up as soon as I possibly can too! Why? Because I love all the sparkly stuff and twinkly lights! I end up rushing at the last minute to get up all my stuff and more often than not don't do half the job I want to in getting it just right. Maybe this year I'll get it done properly with all the lights arranged exactly as I like them and the cards will go up as they come in and not lie in a huge pile till after my birthday and then get flung up any old how.
Hey ho! Have to go and get the next load of stuff sorted for the machine and ironing. May you all have as much fun getting ready for Christmas as I will.
Till next time...

This is getting boring...

Why? Because I still have had no indication of there being any work at all from any quarter. Short of going out in a sandwich-board offering my services (and yes, it crossed my mind!) I have no hope of anything yet. Local Authorities have practically no jobs to speak of in any area let alone teaching, and I am now looking at trying to get a job in a local coffee shop when it opens next week - but as there are hundreds of people looking for work - the chances are slim to say the least.
Anyhooo... Biggar Little Festival drew to a conclusion last night and was I glad? Yes I was! Not because it had been boring but because it has been so busy! Biggar Shorts last Monday was frantic fun - finally managed to get a grip on most of the dialogue, but mega thanks to Gil who kept an eye on me and gave me the subtlest prompts to keep me moving through the sticky bits! Mostly Musicals on Friday was great fun! The Vaughn Williams came together at last and I think it went down well. The rest of the show was pretty good too, though the Rossini may have just slipped a bit in the last section.... however the wine was flowing after in the bar so that was all right then! In fact I found I partied a little harder than I would normally have done and the results were not happy at all. Discovered that Champagne and red wine truly do not make for a happy mix. Saturday was a bit of a washout as I was not firing on any cylinders for most of the morning. Did not dare to drive till late in the afternoon...
Not to worry, I will get back to having a glass of red eventually - perhaps just not this week....
Final barge at the theatre emptying and clearing this week and next. The last items need to be packed up and put away. Juniors Halloween party on Wednesday night then the Farewell Fling on Friday 6th November and then we're shut for the duration!
Ah me! The end of an era indeed.
Till next time....

Foiled! And I don't mean covered in silver paper!

Well they say the best laid plans gang aft agley and it is yet another truism. Decided to thrust myself into the Borders schools today to repeat the exercise of Monday and introduce myself around and hand out my card so they can contact me directly for supply. At the optimum moment a text popped up on my phone from a friend who should have been snugly at work in her Borders School Office asking if I were going to Livingston as she would accompany me if I were. At this point I realised that Borders have one day more of holiday than South Lanarkshire, who are in school today but off next week! Confused? So am I! Why can't they all take the same flippin' holidays? Then we could all plan trips and excursions with our families and so on! I've not spent October break with my girls for three years because the holidays in Lanarkshire are different to the Authority I'm working in!
Anyhoooo. As previously stated the Stane primary job is a burst, still hoping for a bite at Cleland and have spent the morning writing applications for Priorsford in Peebles and Newmains at Wishaw. From one end of the country to the other!! Just hoping I get an interview for at least one of them! In the meantime, I'm still plodding through all the job search websites I have in my favourites list in the vague and vain hope that a job I could do (perhaps not in teaching) would pop up - it would have to pay reasonably well and not be too far away, hours? Monday to Friday 9 till 5 would be perfect. well so long as it had a minimum of 15K in the paycheck..... or more..... so any of you blog browsers out there who are drawn to this blog for what ever reason, if yo have a job in need of filling let me know! All sensible suggestions considered! Dearly Beloved suggested I go and see if Tescos are hiring...... don't fret, he still is able to walk!
Off now to make a bite to eat for lunch and to study my lines for Biggar shorts, then it's a bit more ironing accompanied by Bleak Expectations (guffaw!) and then into Lanark to collect Victoria from her last day of Work Experience (maybe with a large bag of biscuits in tow!) and back here to yet more housework type stuff. Ah me! A woman's work is never done!!
Till next time...

National Poetry Day

Today upon the radio
...I learned something I did not know.
......This day, it would appear to be,
.........Is to be filled with poetry.
............Now I've been known from time to time,
...............To pen an epic tale in rhyme,
So here upon this blog I scrawl,
...Dear reader, here I give my all!
......It's been a busy time all told
.........In job hunting I have been bold;
............Pro-active is the phrase I spake
................Whilst touting an employment break.
I went to schools and left my card
...Contacting me should not be hard.
......Supply you need? I'm on my way,
.........I'll stay all week or just the day!
............So far no interviews have come my way
...............One possible said 'no' today.
But that's okay, I'm not upset
...There will have been, I'd like to bet,
......At least four hundred folks applied,
.........And I can always say I tried
............To write a real exciting sheet
...............To make them put me on the leet.
However it was not to be
...The other job? I'll wait and see.
......Now I have to go and play
.........At housework for the rest of day.
.............I hope you have enjoyed my rhyme
................Fare thee well, until next time.......

Oktober-festers more like...

Eugh! Weather is practically bi-polar, one day lovely and sunny, the next gale force winds and monsoon type rain. Still no work and none of my applications coming up with anything positive. Have started the rehearsals for the Juniors' show and have it cast. Now just need to sort out the dates for the performances and make sure everyone is able to be there and then it's onwards and upwards!!
Our Biggar Little Festival week is almost upon us and I'm now back against the wall trying frantically to learn songwords for Mostly Musicals and script for Biggar Shorts. No matter how much time I try to give myself for these tasks, I always end up at the last gasp, giving my ulcers, ulcers in a vain attempt to at least appear in control of the situation...
House is still like a squat - have pushed vacuum about a bit but need to get stuff shifted and either dumped or put away. I suppose I ought to have spent the time out of work getting the house sorted out, but the advent of the Corn Exchange refurbishment knocked that on the head. We have till the 7th Nov to get every stick and scrap out, either to the dump or to storage. I must say it is immensely satisfying to see the order created from the chaos it was, but I can forsee future moans and groans as people realise just how much stuff we had to get rid of. I mean we only have two storage units and we have all the lights and tech equipment still to pack up, not to mention the scenery, curtains and props. In contrast, the house will be here when I'm not!!
Have an evening service to participate in tonight so I'd best be off and get the guitar out of mothballs.. suppose I'd better cut my nails too.....
Till next time,

Yah Boo Sucks!

There, that's just how I feel today! Getting fed up with the continuing lack of a job, but now hoping to get a crack at one or two in yet another Local Authority! Started filling in Application forms yesterday and had to stop at midnight as the eyes were giving up! Talk about complicated!! Some of the questions were sensible and straightforward and some were just evil - I don't see how you can answer the question about why you think you are suited to the job fully and then answer a question about what qualities you will bring to the job without duplicating information. They even give you a space to give any relevant further personal information that you may not have mentioned anywhere else!!!! Talk about overkill? Anyway, I have till the 14th to get the applications in so am having a short break off the brain busting to see if things clarify and gel in my brain before I go back and compose my final answers.
Missed the chance of going to Edinburgh and listening to another concert today as was in with a chance of a supply post - unfortunately I didn't have the Special Needs experience wanted.... so it's just keep on trying!
Will spend the day gathering books and old videos for a Tearfund Coffee Morning which is taking place this Saturday and in doing so will clear my lounge of stuff and generally make things neat and tidy - well that's the plan anyway!
Built my Ikea CD tower and started to fill it - blimey I have a lot of CDs! I think I may even need another one to put them all in! The DVDs are going to go onto the bookshelves that I am clearing out - so there will also be a few DVD racks going to the Coffee Morning sale unless anyone wants them - I have 4!! On that note, maybe I should go back into Twitter and make that known..... Hmmmm.........
Till next time.

And the beat goes on...

So here we are on the cusp of September and nothing changes! Still out of work and looking for supply to keep the wolf from the door. Had a very interesting experience in the local job centre where I went to 'sign on' as it were. Apparently all the National Insurance I've paid over the years is not necessarily enough to ensure my getting what folks of my generation would call 'the dole' or is currently known as 'Jobseekers Allowance'! It is a strange thing to be told that I can work up to 16 hours per week and still be entitled to this allowance, yet if I do one day as a supply teacher (7.5 hrs) I automatically become exempt as the salary for one day supply is so much more than a weeks dole! Similarly, if I do one day's supply, my claim has to be closed; ergo if I do one day supply my claim closes and I don't get any money from them but if I don't get any further work and have to go back to them, I have to start again with another claim!!! Surely this is the most ridiculous thing ever? Why can't it be sensibly dealt with? As 'Big Brother' knows all about my working career and what tax and N.I. I have paid over the years, knows where I work and for how long, then why is it so hard to compute that I'm not working and automatically pay me my unemployment benefit? Is this not a function that the wonderful computers of our era could be harnessed for? After all, there surely is very little of our lives that is not recorded somewhere, somehow.... not that I'm paranoid or anything......
More pleasant things have happened thankfully. Went into Edinburgh with the gang a week past Saturday - they went to see Amanda Palmer and I went to see 'The Time Traveller's Wife' in the pix. They had a whale of a time and I sort of enjoyed the film but perhaps would like to see it again to make some sense out of bits of it! It flies in the face of all the previously mooted theories of time travel. Any other thoughts of time travel seem to have agreed that it would not be a good thing to meet oneself as this would create a paradox, or a matter/antimatter problem, the assumptions being that the same molocules or atoms. I forget which, cannot exist in the same plane in duplicate, if you see what I mean. In this film the main protagonist not only meets himself and speaks to himself, he actively seems to manipulate or organise things that will happen, or set up cover for eventualities. Very strange, but very poignant and a bit of a weepie!! Maybe one to get out of the cheapie bin at Morrisons in six months time......
After watching the film I went down Lothian Road and sat in a pub drinking coffee - yes! Me! - and studied my script for Biggar Shorts while I waited for the boppers to return from the concert. The journey home was hilarious, hysterical at points even!! So, a good time was had by all and we slept soundly that night!
The following night Jen and I went with another friend, Alison, to see Bryn Terfyl in the Usher Hall - brilliant! What a voice the man has! I loved the music and the programme he opted to perform. We were in the organ seats and although Byn had his back to us most of the evening he turned around and sang to us a couple of times!! We even had a singalong! Not quite Kareoke but fun nonetheless. The lyrics were printed in the programme for each piece he sang, this made it so much more interesting to listen to for some reason! I think because when you listen to something you maybe don't know well or have never heard before you concentrate on the words and maybe miss out a bit on the performance. This way the words were there and one could really appreciate the full beuty of the delivery with all its dynamics and nuances! Fabulous!
So... back to the mundane and ordinary again. As I am not working it seems I am expected to tote that barge and lift that bale and get the house into a sparklingly immaculate and pristine condition, as well as complete all laundry and ironing and cook from scratch tasty and nutritious meals!! Where do they get these ideas?
Till next time....