Grumpy today

I have this Year 10 class that it relatively small but also has some of the laziest kids I have ever come across ......... that's apart from the noisy, disruptive, won't do their homework types.

Today I kept two girls after school because they would not stop talking and giggling while I was talking. One of them I kept last week because she hadn't done her homework. The next thing I see she's talking to her mother on the cell-phone, "I don't know why I'm being kept in." I said I'd talk to the mother and explained about the noisy, disruptive, rude behaviour. The mother told me I should give notice when I'm going to keep her darling daughter in - when they enrol at the college the parents sign that their children can be kept up to half an hour without any prior notice. I have explained to my two junior classes that they will be kept in on a Tuesday if they don't do as expected - so why don't they just do their homework and behave in class? Then there's no problem with them staying in.

Then the mother started on about how her darling daughter gets "picked on" about homework. Well, I nearly said to her, "Be glad that the teacher cares enough to check your daughter's homework every day"

Sometimes I wonder why I bother; I have a sick child at home (Ross) and I'd rather be at home looking after him than dealing with someone else's spoilt brat. And quite frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn about other people who clearly don't care about their children. I am done with checking homework

Replies

Penny - I go to AE Preston which is a Wellington butcher. I think the meat at the Mad Butcher looks revolting and cheap!

Tracy - I don't seem to have a link to you anymore?

The ACrylic Album

Here is the acrylic album - all the photos are of Adrian's favourite places

Our now non exsistent picnic place on Rabbit Island

On the left - Lochmara Lodge and outside the accommodation at Fordoun in SA
Left - the willow tree at Bladen (vineyard) and Porpoise Bay on the SI
Waikite pools near Rotorua
Milford Sound
And at the back - looking out to sea just north of Kaikoura

Meal Plans

With the big increase in the cost of living here, there has been a lot of discussion on various forums about meal plans. Penny always has a weekly meal plan. I used to have a four weekly meal plan and it made it very easy to cook (and shop). Otherwise at 5pm I'm standing in the kitchen wondering what to take out the deep freeze that will be ready by 6pm!

So here's my first week:
Sunday: Roast
Monday: Chicken wrapped in bacon
Tuesday: Mince with nachos or pasta
Wednesday: Some sort of casserole that I'll start on Wednesday morning
Thursday: Butter chicken
Friday: Hamburgers and wedges
Saturday: Soup and bread or leftovers or go out

This is slightly different to my actual plan, but that's the meat I have in my deep freeze and I normally go to the butcher once a month. So I'll use up what I have and then start my four weekly plan from the beginning of June

Laid back Sunday

Today feels like such a laid back day! The boys were at a youth group camp all weekend so we had a bit of a holiday too. Friday after we dropped them off, we came home poured some wine, open some chippies and dips and just sat on the couch together watching everything on TV1.

Saturday Adrian picked the boys up for football (they won 2-1) and I went scrapping. I made an acrylic album for Adrian of eight of his most favourite places - Nelson, Lochmara Lodge, Waikite pools, Kaikoura, places in SA. I must say it turned out quite well and he was very pleased with it.

I came home and we went to the Embassy to see Second-hand Wedding. It is rather special to see a movie at the Embassy - full of atmosphere. The movie was wonderful and we both really enjoyed it. Then we went to Monsoon Poon for dinner - one of our most favourite places to eat and I really don't know why! The music is way too loud and the tables are not flash but the food is wonderful and the staff treat the customers really well. It was a wonderful evening and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Today we fetched the boys and they had had a wonderful time too but are both very tired - early to bed for them! I hope that we're going to go to the RSA for an early dinner then back home early too.

Happy Mother's Day

to everyone who is a mother
to everyone who was a mother
to everyone who is a mother to someone else's child
and to all mothers who have to spend the day in hospital

Ross made me a booklet of vouchers: the last one is a Fight Free Day ....... I am still chuckling about it. He also made me breakfast in bed: a hard egg (yuck) and bacon and by the time I got the knife and fork it was all cold. As for the toast - that arrived much later. I ate it all

Colin got Adrian to buy me four mini bottles of Lindauer Fraise

My parents are coming to lunch and I have a leg of pork and a huge container of vegetables roasting right now. Bread and Butter pudding and then Irish Coffees and I think that will be a great Mother's Day.

I have had a cold for a few days and yesterday the inner ear infection recuured - I felt so sick and was in bed by 8.30pm and asleep by 9pm - that's unheard of for me. I was dreading the thought of having to cook today feeling so sick but fortunately the symptoms seem to have disappeared but I may have to take some more tablets later on.

Have a great day everyone

The Lunch .......

was lovely: Bread and oils to start; a choice of Lamb Shank, Chicken, Fish or Pasta - I choose fish and then for dessert I chose a trilogy of desserts - three small bowls of delight: an apricot half baked in filo pastyr with custard, a very rich chocolate mousse and cassis poppyseed gateaux.

Steve and Steph (on the right) from The Breeze and Paige, their assistant on the left

There was a bag of presents - something from Life Pharmacy and believe it or not, I have not opened it yet; a decadent cupcake from The Chocolate Cake shop, a CD and beautiful flowers.



Yes there is two of everything because Adrian got one too!

I know!!!

I got a telephone call from The Breeze this morning. Every year they have a Mother's Day competition - five winners and a friend/partner are taken to lunch at The Intercontinetal and given flowers, goodies from Life Pharmacy etc.

I am one of the winners!!!! They phoned me this morning to tell me. Adrian said he did have a Plan B if I wasn't selected though and that was to take me to lunch at Logan Brown. Either way I'm a winner.

I'm really looking forward to it

What's your guess?

Last night Adrian asked me if I prepare for each lesson or if I re-use work from the previous year. I explained carefully that I don't write out exactly what I'm going to say or do anymore, but I have a plan of where I'm going to to and I use worksheets and excercises from previous years.

Then he says to me that I should prepare work for Friday for whatever classes I am teaching between 12pm and 2pm ..... AND DON'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS! Now don't tell me that! I open the presents at Christmas time and carefully seal them again.

Off I went to school today and casually say to my Head of Department, "Am I doing something on Friday?" She looked at me with a huge smile on her face and said, "Do what you're told and don't ask any questions!"

So what's your guess? I am desperate to know of course as I don't do surprises very well!

Accidents

Today we were nearly either involved in an accident or would have been witness to it.

I bought a fridge on TradeMe for our little staff space at school and the boys and I headed to Paraparaumu to collect it. No problem and we were almost home. Travelling south on SH1 the traffic lights at Whitford Brown turned orange. I was in the outside lane and knew I wouldn't get across in time so I stopped .... as did the old man in the inside lane (next to me). But the great big Linfox double rig behind the old man put his foot down as he thought the old man was going to go. The next thing there was a huge squeal of brakes as the driver of the rig put his brakes on. Thank goodness there is a large verge on the right as I swerved into that to avoid the possibility of the Linfox coming into me. He managed to stop in time but the clouds of smoke from his tyres wafted right round us. Fortunately the old man didn't notice, but Colin looked at the driver of the Linfox and said he was looking pretty pale.

The kids were quite shaken and we discussed concentrating all the time as a driver and also being aware of what is going on around you. Colin particularly, was concerned as he was sitting on the inside.

Because it's NSD

(National Scrapbook Day) even though it's nearly all over. I have some grunge board to give away so I challenge you to complete some UFOs. By 9pm next Sunady night and I want to see before and after photos please

ANZ Fiskars blog

Australia New Zealand that is! For ScrapCamp, Fiskars, who have been donating items for three years now, gave each of us the very cool fingertip knife. Here we are featured: http://fiskarscraft.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/anzac-scrapcamp.html I must say those fingertip knives are very useful

My scrapbook pages

My pages may not be terribly artistic or have masses of stuff on them which is why I seldom upload them to various scrapbook galleries. But they are snapshots (pardon the pun) of our lives and what we've shared as a family. My family love them and so do I and that's what's important. I have decided that I'm not even going to buy the beautiful embellishments anymore as they just languish in a box never to see the light of day again. So there may be a few bags available for those of you who love to use lots of product on YOUR pages :-)

This is another one from ScrapCamp - NO embellishments, just my WishBlade to do the title

Another one completed

This one uses some of the product from an SBO paper add-on; the title I made on my WishBlade (including the bit around the edge) and it fits the NZ Dares dare for this fortnight: Use a number in your titles.

The photos were taken at my BIL's 50th birthday that my husband attended in South Africa. I love how the title turned out and it was chosen by my hubby!