my week in (lots of) words - Monday & Tuesday

Another week ... the weekend was far too short, as usual. I am not cut-out for full time work but that's the way it is a the moment. I have spent far too many years putting my own career on the back burner to have time to be a reasonably engaged mother but there came a point in my life when I questioned the sanity of completing a PhD and and MEd to then do nothing much with it. So here I am, with a list of titles to my name, working full time but still not happy.

There is always a mad rush on Monday mornings because we have still not learned to get school bags and whatnot ready on Sunday evening. Work doesn't get off to a good start on Monday. I receive a phone call from a student, whom I don't understand well and who already had called my colleague twice and has received all the information she had required in writing. She tells me she had deleted this email and wants me to resend it. I feel tempted to put the receiver down and walk away, she wants me to agree to something I could not possibly agree to and we go round in circles. Many times. I end up being 15 minutes late for a meeting. There is always one student each year whom I wish to the bottom of the sea. I am making sure I keep correspondence polite and professional but firm and matter of factly. I remind myself of all my experience of handling difficult students and the various courses I have attended to treat students with the respect and fairness they deserve. Unfortunately neither covers how to deal with obnoxious people. Don't get me wrong, I do love my students and they mostly love me. The rest of day passes without further problem and I finish just before 5pm and worked well above the hours required, which will make it easier to be flexible during the remainder of the week. I do start early, which helps, too. I spent half an hour at lunch time stitching and people watching in the cafeteria. With the beginning of term, there is a vibe of expectancy and excitement in the air, which is lovely. I briefly wonder how Sam is enjoying his first day at lectures. At home, I prepare k a nice dinner of small smoky burgers in pitta bread, risotto balls (from leftovers) and salad. Not bad all things considering. Sam has a bit of ago at me for waking him up too early so he would be at his very first lecture on time. I know, I suck. Everyone else is a bit subdued and feeling poorly with a cold or a sore tummy. We don't talk much. Homework is partially done. Bedtime is uneventful for once and I spend the evening listening to a book, stitching. Richard does the grocery shopping. We urgently need to discuss after school childcare, which we only have for Monday and Friday but as usual, we decide to wing it for a while longer. 

Waking up feels less traumatic Tuesday. Tuesday mornings are easy. I usually squeeze in an hour of work at home before the kids go to school but today I can get straight into it because Tuesday is a breakfast club day and I had planned to work at home in the morning anyway. It is incredibly noisy in my office, even with the door closed. Two ladies previously sharing an office are now in adjacent offices but unfortunately still talk to each other as if they were sitting side by side. That plus work men and a steady stream of students proves too distracting. It is the day of my personal development review. Never a joy but my line manager is really good and she motivates me every time I see her. I need to improve my self motivation skills. I have not achieved all of my SMART goals (all very corporate: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-based). I am glad this was due to external circumstances, not my incompetence. My line manager suggests not to be so hard on myself and maybe to lower my standards a bit because I am my own worst enemy. I know that of course. After my review, I pick up some mince at the butchers on my way home because I have a hankering for a rich lasagne. I also buy curries that the butcher makes and other assorted meats that might be required for a camping trip this weekend (weather permitting). I find a parking spot outside the butchers. I am promptly parked in by a delivery van and have to wait for his return. At home, I find a little package in the porch and wonder what I have ordered and forgotten about. I haven't, it is a little surprise from my friend Jo. It is a EPP glue basting stick and refill! I felt like texting a big line of happy emoticons but I don't have Jo's number, we are online friends. I am sending a big hug and thank you now, via this post. After school is a bit of a rush on Tuesday. I stop work at 3:20, thankful for being able to work flexibly. Alistair is home first, James an hour later. Dinner is fish-finger sandwiches on white bread, hold together with a generous helping of mayonnaise (just me) or ketchup (everybody else). James eats first because he has joined a running club on Tuesdays, starting at 6:15. Silly time. He is still on probation (they do take their running seriously in this wee club) and I've already had "the chat" because James likes to monkey about. Richard is taking James and the dog. Alistair and I eat dinner together, condiments dripping from our fingers but happy otherwise. Alistair still loves his origami ninja stars but also has a collection of origami claws that can be turned into a flying ring, which shatters on impact. Epic, he says. We have fruit for pudding and notice a cloud of fruit flies when I pick up a banana. We decide to make an apple vinegar trap to get rid of the infestation. All fruit that can't go in the fridge is moved outside, as is the compost bin. The fruit flies love my vinegar trap. Fascinating really. Sam and Annie are out. I walk Alistair to cubs then do a little housework. I managed to wash and dry bedlinen today. Richard and James return, James has a bath and Richard continues to work for a bit. By the time I pick up Alistair from cubs at 8:30, James is asleep, Sam and Annie are back and all is well. I spend what is left of the evening with an audiobook, needles and thread.