What a home-maker!

I am now officially on one of my tri-annual two week holidays. Starting today, I have almost two weeks completely at my disposal, and boy does it feel fantastic!

I don't want to brag, but I really really enjoy having all this time to myself. I used to feel slightly guilty about it and I guess this is because of the reaction I get from most people when they hear about how many weeks of hoildays teachers get. I used to feel as though I had to justify my 'non-contact time'. Now, however, I just kick back and enjoy it.

And how does one enjoy twelve weeks of holiday? I hear you ask.

My time is taken up by all sorts of things. Often, I'll use the holidays as a chance to visit my whanau in Christchurch. This is a regular thing for me, and I usually visit them three or four times a year, usually for five days at a time (don't ask me why, but this has worked out to be the perfect amount of time - Mum and Dad are just getting to the point where they're sick of me and I take off.) Sometimes, my holidays are used to catch up with old friends I haven't had a chance to see throughout the busy term. There really is nothing better than having the morning to sit in a cafe and share gossip over coffee. Uusally, there are a few odd jobs to do around the house and garden - or I create jobs for myself, such as this morning when I decided to make Quince Jelly or decide to redecorate my office - now that's going to be a big job!

The rest of the time is 'me' time. I use this time effectively to refresh my mind and get all that stuff out of the way that I haven't had time for during the term. Reading, playing Piano, writing, completing mosaics and ugly dolls, watching chick flicks while lying in bed with a steaming hot cup of tea, listening to audio books, just generally enjoying time alone.

I think I may have discovered the perfect work/life balance for me, and I love it.

March - missing in action!

Seldom do I seem to find the time to post on this blog these days, but after reading Katherine's eloquent post, I figured I'd make the effort.

I'm sitting here pondering the upcoming weeks - next Thursday marks my last day of work for the term. This term has been interesting - not many kids, but some positive stuff has happened. We have helped one get back into school after having missed most of the term, classes have generally gone well, and more and more I feel as though I'm coming to grips with the curriculum material. Some things that have 'shocked' me (for lack of a better word) was seeing the rapid mental decline of one of my students, and working with a tiny 11 year old girl with a severe eating disorder who has to be fed through a nasal gastric tube. I found it really difficult to work with this particular child - not because of her behaviour, but because of the realisation that she may never recover.

But all in all, I feel as though it has been a relatively successful term (if you can call it that.) I'm feeling so much more confident in what I do, and in my own abilities. Sometimes I leave work thinking 'I love my job' which is something I never thought I'd ever experience. All positive things.