Sometimes my job is cool.

I brought this and this into my lesson today and made both 'relevant' to the media theory we were talking about (the spoon one was more of a stretch, but still demonstrated the social interaction use of a media text because they were all laughing together and talking about it as they walked out of the classroom!).

* * *

I saw True Grit tonight. I really liked it. It's another good Coen Brothers one. The end does go rather quickly after much, much buildup. But I enjoyed the whole thing and the main characters were all great (particularly the Jeff Bridges one and the young heroine). I kinda like that she went the whole hog, against convention (the bit just before the snake-pit).

Much more humour than No Country for Old Men (which I also really liked).

I turned my computer on to look at the latest world happening on Stuff.

And got English teacher rage.

So school is back

I'm at work again.

It's good.

It's nice having a 'career'. Every year I feel more senior and sagely. We have three new department members, so I feel even more sagely than usual. I am a fountain of knowledge and tips. My self-importancy overfloweth.

My classes seem pretty good so far.

I am in about ten class-rooms. That's yuck. It makes me about 10 minutes late to every lesson by the time I've fought my way across the school (sometimes going to the wrong room), set up my laptop again (then realised some vital chord is missing or broken, and given up) and gone back to the staffroom to get the stuff I forgot to bring. I took for granted how awesome it was having a home-base with functioning IT equipment other years.

I'm teaching Media the old-school style with me and a white board marker. No fancy 'technology'. Bleh. I will teach them film noir by re-enacting the key scenes with accents and props. You should hear my Bogart impression.

Apparently the timetabler is working on solutions. Until then I'll be the teacher rushing around carrying a Nood basket full of everything I might ever need (today it was nail polish remover, 20 diaries, a hole punch, a stack of A3 paper, my laptop, a bag full of about 50 pens, and some other stuff).

After bringing nail polish remover from home only one kid in my form class had offending nails. I was almost disappointed. My rants must be sinking in or something. Phase two is taking on the nose rings!

More of my excess

I have no whiteboards at home. But I have over 30 whiteboard markers for some reason. Mostly taken from school. Accidentally.

1. Ants

Why are there ants on my laptop moniter? I keep killing them but they keep coming back. Just two at a time. No trail. Stealth.

I love that ants die so easily.

2. Frisbee

The season has started again. We had a 20-9 loss, which may sound bad but was actually ok.

We're usually playing teams that can pass the Frisbee the length of the field whereas we take a whole bunch of little passes. It's kinda like when you play an awesome 2 point shooting team in netball but pretty much stay with them (just scoring half the points cause you're only getting ones). We grafted pretty hard for our points and I'm sure there were lots of little mistakes we'll weed out as we get used to it again.

Having said that, I'm not implying that we stayed with them really. They were fitter, taller, more experienced and better. But I think they layed off us a bit of defence (either that or they're a pretty lazy team) so we got some passes strung together. We're all much, much better catchers than we used to be :)

Was nice to see Lew and Amelia again. And Mash gave us a bit of control on offence and a long-pass option (which led to a beautiful run by Lew for a point).

I had fun. I didn't like it too much when I had to chase the little red-shirt girl all over the field. But other than that it was fun. My body is built and conditioned to run exactly the length of a basketball court (and then rest for a minute). The field is twice that length. I wanted to stop half-way but the red-shirt girl kept running. Cruel. Bring on basketball season with dimensions I can handle at a sprint (or fast jog, at least).

I try to play by the motto 'rest on offence' but I just really can't keep up with those fit 'uns no matter how hard I try. Especially in current post-summer shape. Especially!

3. Nesting

I've started thinking more seriously about buying a house. I even went and got a pre-approved mortgage and stuff. I just have to be patient and wait for the right houses to come on the market. My heart in currently set on some kind of two bedroom cottage in Petone for under $400,000. I've seen a few such houses around in the last year or so of passively looking, so hopefully a few more come on the market soon.

In the mean-time I've started spending my disposable income on house stuff. I figure I could do that instead of buying dresses for a bit. I've just had two flatmates move out which has left a few things the flat needed. I usually resent buying stuff like that, but since it's stuff I'll have to buy anyhow it feels less painful to buy some now rather than have to spend thousands all at once when I buy a house. If I can do it bit by bit from my cheque account it will mean my deposit is bigger! I'll put off buying stuff that wears out quickly or needs to be the right size for the house (new manchester and couch).

I have bought

• a big wooden chopping board (one of those checkerboard ones 60% off at Nood)
• a few sharp knives
• a pots and pans set (60% off at Briscoes, bless them)
• a spice rack (one of those awesome magnetised ones)
• a pot-holder
• more giant plastic storage boxes with wheels and lids (to clean out my linen cupboard of crap)
• a rack to put letters, take-away menus etc in
• a dvd player for the lounge ($30 - can't be bothered buying a flash one til they come down in price)
• an iron ($19 from Briscoes down from $70)

I still have to buy the big lounge TV but I'll do that some time this week.

It's quite satisfying! My sharp utility knife is awesome. It cut through a pineapple like it was butter.

4. My Favourite Things

Right now I am loving soda water with lemon and lime cordial. And vanilla-custard flavoured yoghurt. And I'm looking forward to the Fashion Police Golden Globes special. Watching Fashion Police is one of my guilty pleasures.

5. Reading

I just finished reading 'Mister Pip'. It wasn't at all what I expected. It was very easy to read. I thought it was gonna be convoluted for some reason.

Now I have to re-read stuff I'm going to teach. And start planning and stuff. No more reading for leisure!

I have enjoyed using the Michelle Library and will be going back some time though. I don't think I've ever borrowed and returned books this quickly. It's a record.

No more pizzas please.

Me, Michelle and Janine all got multiple vouchers for $6 pizzas at the Craftsman. Great deal - but it really hasn't helped my post-Christmas healthy eat idea. I spose I could've just not eaten any of them (or maybe not the full half of the pizza that I consumed) .... but they were practically free! I can't say no to free food.

Today me and Janine went there for lunch. While we had our chicken, cranberry and camenbert, we played Scrabble.

She won.

I could've won but made a dumb move at the end. She also let me have 'quin' which may or may not be a 'real' word. But it got me lots of points!

* * *

TV Advice

After that she helped me go TV shopping. With Reidun moving, we'll be TV-less again.

I figure I'll buy a 32 incher. They seem to be around $600 to $900 which is all I want to spend.

Does anyone have any advice about what to look for? I went around four shops today taking notes. Here are my questions:

1. What brands are best? The first guy said he wouldn't get a Samsung, but the other two guys I asked said they were fine. LG, Panasonic and Sony seemed to be the other main ones. I don't think I'd go down to a super-cheap brand I'd never heard of.

2. Would you bother getting full HD? I couldn't see heaps of difference on some of the sets, but maybe a little. I'm tempted to get the 50Hz HD maybe.

3. LCD, LED or plasma? I figure I'll get LCD probably. If I stretched my budget to a 42 incher I'd have to decide though. The sales guy estimated that if I watch a lot of TV it might be up to $6 a week more power to have a plasma.

4. Any other features to look for? The first guy pointed out that some brands have USB ports that you can watch movies from - that sounds good. They all seem to be Freeview ready. To be honest, I'm not a super fancy TV watcher. I just wanna do the basics. But a TV that could watch movies from my laptop or external hard-drive really easily would be a bonus. I just bought an external hard-drive today so I'm gonna steal movies off people now.

* * *

For those of you who try to keep up with who my flatmates are (it can be confusing at times).... Reidun is moving out tomorrow having had a whirlwind job offer yesterday for a school up north. And Anthony moved in today. He seems nice. He's sporty so I may be able to make him fill in for our various teams. If he is worthy.

The changes are ringing! I'm gonna take the opportunity to do a bit of spring cleaning. Over the years lots of flatmates have left bits and pieces behind and I've never known if they were Reidun's or theirs. Now I'll be able to throw away pretty much anything that I don't want since Colleen doesn't have much stuff in the common areas and the new guy hasn't had time to spread out there yet either.

Might have to do a car-load to the dump, even. I've never done that!

If anyone is looking for a 'rustic' sleepout (no fancy stuff like bathrooms or kitchens, but it has electricity!) for $85 plus expenses... let me know :)

* * *

Indoor Land

First indoor netball game of 2011 played. We won. That was good because the other team had two players from Michelle's outdoor team (which I played a season of twilight with at the end of last year). We like beating her outdoor teammates especially. We were losing the first quarter so had to make a wee comeback, too.

I got quite tired trying to defend the crafty little Attack guy (the one Morgan has made 'friends' with so he has to be nice to him on court). He used his elbows and other body parts craftily so that you practically have to lean on him the whole game. I don't enjoy that kind of intimacy with non love interests.

I had to make Michelle swap positions after two quarters of it. Tactically that wasn't a great move 'cause me and Ben had finally figured out his game and were double teaming him pretty well, but I felt happier down in the land of Attack. Me and Brad tend to make it like a comedy show down there.

Defence is intense! Attack is slack!

* * *

And by the way, I have now added 'Cassie the Lap Bandit' to my blog list. It's my friend Cassie (who most of you know) and her blog about her lap band operation. She hasn't had it yet, so it's still build up (was supposed to have it, but it all went terribly wrong on the theatre table).

It's all kinda fascinating. She's also already lost 21kg just with the pre-op diets - legendary!

Grindhouse

I just watched the double feature of Death Proof and Planet Terror with Janine.

I liked them.

But you know how after you watch stuff like that, you end up kinda feeling like you're in the movie for the first few minutes afterwards... like you're in some kind of hyper reality? Death Proof is not a good movie to watch just before you have to drive home at 1am.

Me Plans

I'm officially getting my head into the zone where I'm ready to buy a house. It's taken a while.

The past year I've been looking on TradeMe religiously to get a feel for how much house you can get for your money in different suburbs.

But I haven't gone beyond that yet. I think I've been happy enough flatting where I am. My flatmates have been stable and nice and I like watching my money grow. I know when I buy a house it won't be nearly as close to the city, my bedroom won't be as sunny or massive and I'll be way, way poorer and will have to make an effort to not turn into a hermit. There will be compromises to make.

But now I'm ready to be a poor hermit. Most of my friends are already anyhow :) I think cheap, suburban fun is the name of the game in your mid-30s.

I've been talking to house-savvy friends to get advice on where to start and what to ask about. And next week I might actually go to the bank and get one of them pre-approved things so I have a proper budget.

I think I'll be aiming way under what they'll actually loan me anyway, so it won't be a problem. I want to pay somewhere under $400 a week mortgage. That's about what I've been saving, plus I've been paying rent on top of that. I think, according to the online mortgage calculators, I'll be looking for somewhere in the $350,000 to $400,000 range.

My dream house would be a two bedroom cottage in Petone. 90m square (or so). With a garage (off street park could suffice if it's not near the beach). Small backyard, but low maintenance (enough to sit outside or have a BBQ and a tiny vege and herb garden but not much more). Neutral and fresh interior. Not expecting anything flash for my budget - just tidy and not too outdated. Don't wanna have to do any work on it urgently. Character would be a bonus.

I want the second bedroom to be just for visitors or people who need a short-term crash-pad. Don't really want a permanent flatmate. I want it to just be Kate Land. Everything chosen, arranged and cleaned by me. No negotiation, compromises or walking on egg-shells. No feeling guilty for using up band-width watching YouTube videos or keeping my heater on because it's cold or leaving dishes on the bench for a day or two (though, am very keen to get another house with a dish-washer - they're essential!). White with splashes of red and other warm colours. Clean lines. Culture and pretty things dotted around on walls and bookshelves. Quirky and colourful cushions. Somewhere to hang coats. Coffee tables you can put your feet up on.

I'll need to buy a few new things straight away (maybe beforehand, depending on current flatmates dispersing):

• big TV
• washing machine and dryer
• vacuum (mine just broke)

Then there'll be other things I realise I need, but which aren't urgent such as:

• toaster and kettle
• a decent set of pots and pans
• bed for spare room
• new lounge suite (I've wanted this for a year or so but figure I'll wait to see what kind of space I have to work with - rather than accidentally get something that ends up being too big or the wrong colour)
• a robot dog

My mind-set has totally changed, though. I am getting excited rather than anxious about the prospect of buying a house. I am going to start stockpiling kitchen appliances I'll need at Briscoes sales and the like (just bought a spice rack and some knives today which I don't really need in current flatting situation, but I felt like 'nesting' 'cause I'd just had a two hour long lunch with Julie, talking about how to buy a house and stuff).
Who knows if it will take a month or a year. That's the scary bit.
I'm going to my first open home with Cassie along for emotional support on Sunday.

Gotta go to the museum some time soon. See the masters.

* * *

Have been eating breakfast at home and most other meals 'out' for the last few days.

Anther bag of salad-mix will be quietly wilting away in my fridge.

* * *

Sun. Cloud. Wind. Repeat. Weird summer weather cycle we're having. The wind is a bit crazy.

* * *

Me and Cass are guessing NCEA results come out next week or so. That's always interesting (and momentarily terrifying).

You get the same nervous feeling that kids get when they open their results (when you log into the all-seeing teacher-site where we can view results).

* * *

Wellington has been nice and quiet for the last couple of weeks. Would be quite lovely if it was always this populated. Except I'd like more of my cafes to be open at the same time.

* * *

Saw Harry Potter 7 and liked it. Didn't understand a lot of the technical stuff (not being a reader of the series in general) but was fun enough. You just need to know that Harry Potter = Frodo and Ron = Sam and Voldemort = Sauron.

* * *

Am really like Modern Family now that it's on every night. Ed O'Neill works well as a successful guy who gives good advice. Who woulda thought?

I also watched The Graduate all the way through for the first time the other night. I liked it. I like how 70s movies liked to have those slightly ambiguous endings. And a Simon and Garfunkel sound-track is a good thing. I grew up on them.

* * *

Must head to the LVN for a bit next week. Will wear my t-shirt. Wonder if people will think I'm a tourist. Maybe I'll carry a map and camera with me for effect.

* * *

Am now reading Middlesex. My second big-fat-book in a row!

This reading thing's a lark. And they don't even have any pictures in them either.

NYE Predictions for 2011

Here are our drunken new year's eve predictions (some are morbid, yes). We weren't allowed to say the same thing as anyone else. Since we were drunk, we didn't all answer each question 'cause our attention spans were not good.

What Famous People Will Die?
Michelle - Prince or Whitney Houston
Jon - Jack Nicholson
James - Lady Gaga or Beyonce
Cassie - Liz Taylor or Morgan Freeman
Kate - Paul McCartney
Brendan - Tom Cruise or Ian McThingie (the LOTR guy)

What Will be the Big Break-Up of the Year?
James - Nicole and Keith
Cassie - Brad and Angelina
Jon - Khloe and Lamar
Michelle - JayZ and Beyonce
Kate - Tom and Katie

Sum up 2010 in One Word
Cassie - Ass
James - Awesome
Jon - Poop
Michelle - Meh
Brendan - Sucked
Kate - Average

Event of the Year
Cassie - My Non-Op
Jon - Michael Jackson's Funeral
James - The Festival of James

Who Will Win the World Cup?
Kate - France
James - Australia
Jon - NZ
Cassie - South Africa
Brendan - England

I have officially lost track of what day of the week it is.

Hello 2011.

You look nice so far. Blue skies and a Glee marathon on TV.

* * *

I'm going to (in a direct doctor-speak quote from my GP) 'molly-coddle' my back for a bit. I think it needs a day in bed reading.

Enough of the tennis-playing and cross-town revelling. It's 33 years old now and starting to feel its age. Even though the face still looks under 25 (another direct quote).

Woke up a little hung-over today. Didn't get home til 6am or so. The sky was light. We closed the blinds quickly to hide the sunlight. Woke up very dry-mouthed. My voice was hoarse from something. My hair was sticky from something.

Me and Cassie got up slowly and had avocado and tomoto on toast.

Once my stomache had soaked up the remnants of alcohol, I went to get my car. Peered up at Michelle's and the blinds were all still down.

Would like some peanut butter icecream, please.

I started reading The God of Small Things yesterday, in the bath. Once I got past the first page or so I really liked it. I read til the water was luke warm.

I kept reading til 2am (in bed now). Outside it was storming with angry wind and rain. I had my window ajar so the blind was puffing in and out and I could feel a tiny bit of rain on my cheek.

I like when a book is that good and the weather is that dramatic.

I wish the wind would stop soon though. At this rate I'll hardly ever get to wear my new billowy summer dress!

Now that I'm 33 year old cougar this is my favourite kind of anecdote...

[Yeah, this is really similar to a previous post but it just proves the trend]

JJ Murphey's waitress: Can I see some ID?
Me: [blank look - I only ordered coffee and corn fritters for lunch]
JJMW: Sorry, we have to ID you to serve you anything on the premesis, if you look under 25.
Me: :)


[I think it's the chubby cheeks - they make me look cherubic and youthful!]

* * *

And these are my favourite songs from my Adele CD.

Tunnel

I was walking home at 2am on Christmas night through the Mt Vic Tunnel. (About four Rosebuds and four Mojitos and a fruit cocktail and a wine.... )

It was so quiet. Probably the whole time I walked through only half a dozen vehicles came (and that's a 6 minute walk or so). I liked it. Oddly peaceful. And I had on my comfy sneakers and my summer dress that swishes as I walk. What is usually the nosiest place in town was the quietest.

I could actually hear noises in there I'd never heard before. Trickling water and a humming noise. I saw a plastic bag floating very American Beauty-esquely down the empty road below.

Three fire engines sped through, no sirens but flashing lights. I wondered where they were going. I suppose it was to the gymnasium fire at Rongotai (as I heard on the radio the next morning).

Today I was walking through again, just after lunch and it was was noisy. I tried singing, really loudly (The Lion Sleeps Tonight, for some reason), and I could barely even hear myself. Kinda liberating singing at the top of your lungs in public without anyone hearing a note of it.

Quite a contrast though. Christmas day is the eeriest time in Wellington city.

It's like the whole populace have had a mass exodus back to their turangawaewae (or at least to the Hutt). Back to their secret home towns that their new urban identities have tried to hide away from public view.... where their labels mean nothing......

* * *

Today is one of those days where I like my friends. Not that I don't always like them, I just had a really nice time with two separate bunches of people. All fairly spontaneously planned. Nice.

>

And I won Trivial Pursuits (with Fishy). The point is that we beat Sam. It is worth noting any time we do that. My knowledge of mid-90s All Blacks trivia was surprising, given I couldn't name more than three players in the team nowadays.

.

My friends are smart. That's the way I like them.

.

Nice to see Charlotte using presents I gave her as a babe. Hungry Caterpillar DVD (and 'Catch the Moon' - cute). I liked that a lot because Roger McGough was the narrator, I think.

.

And a music box thingie that I thought would break after a day or so is still going strong. Woohoo!

.

I tried to explain to her that I'd bought them for her last year, but her 2 year old mind did not comprehend that and she looked at me like I was a crazy person and she snatched them back off me, saying 'Charlotte's!' emphatically.

It's a wrap

Done! A ribbon on every one.

My wrapping theme had nothing to do with Christmas really. More a chance to cut up some Frankie magazines and use the rainbow of ribbons I got at Spotlight the other week. And the screeds of awesome old-school brown paper I've had all year.

My brother's getting a gortex jacket from the Kathmandu clearance sale - don't tell him! He walks in the rain heaps.

And my self-presents (dress, cushion and two necklaces and an Adele CD and a tub of peanut-butter icecream, not pictured). Just what I wanted! The dress has pockets and plenty of belly-room for mass eating.

.

Also pictured are my birthday-pictures (the framing of which were my birthday blow-out last month) - all by Pete the Painter. One of them's the interior of Fidel's and the original used to hang in my living room in its glory days. He left the prints as a gift last time he stayed (he now has a wee baby called Olive). The others are the Asian lady with graffiti and the street-lamp.

.

Merry Christmas to me and the family and you (if you're reading and I like you - you know who you are!).

Christmas is nearer

I rehurt my finger at netball tonight :( It had just got almost full movement back. I had to shoot and pass nine fingered for most of the back to back games I played. It's not swelled up again, but it's regressed about an inch back in recovery.

So.... people who have had Instant Kiwi seasons greetings
- Richard
- Michelle (with two wins!)
- Brendan
- Ben and Anna
- Fish and Sam
- Flatmate Geoff

So far Michelle is the only lucky one (with a free $1 scratchie then a $3 win - she's gonna take the money and run). The netball peeps had not scratched when I saw them, so not sure if they won $10,000. Fingers crossed!

I'm getting my dad a book that has the best science writing of 2010. I ran it by him as an idea and he was surprisingly keen. He's also getting Mad Men Season 1. I think his wife would actually like it more than him - but she already has a couple of presents (Nood shopping basket and Adele CD).

And that's all the presents I'm telling (I already told him most of that on the phone, so it's not secret anymore).

Yay to Morgan and Cal and their bubby, Willa.

* * *

I finished reading a book today. Momentous! This one was the 10pm Question. It was high-school reading, but kinda sweet. Spoiler alert....





It's about a guy whose mum has that disorder where you can't leave the house. It made me remember that we were family friends with a woman like that when I was little. She used to come clean our house twice a week, so I didn't really realise. But she'd get really anxious out in town apparently. She had a breakdown in the library once. We used to take her sons to the cricket with us.

* * *

Christmas presents are tricky. I am at the age where I realise the only people who truly like what you give them are kids. Adults are fussy buggers. Other than a couple of CDs I picked right, I don't think my dad and his wife have every particularly used anything I gave them. So I'm gonna still with edibles or experiences for them. Or an Adele CD.

* * *

Me and Michelle are among those who don't have exciting Christmas getaways and are just going to the Hutt for lunch. So we're having grown-up drinks on Christmas night. It gives us an excuse to leave the festivities and blob with cocktails after we've had our family fill :)

* * *

People seem shocked when I say I haven't done my Christmas shopping (going back to that). But I'm a teacher! I still have three full shopping days. And town isn't as busy as people fear on Christmas Eve. I think people all stay home because they think it'll be so crrrraaaazy. And it's actually fairly quiet. In my experience. I speak not of the supermarket, though.

* * *

I have bought Instant Kiwis to give to people randomly as the Christmas spirit takes me. If you are special and see me in the next few days then YOU might get one!

Moore Wilson's has good customer service.

Girl at Counter: Moore Wilson's card?
Me: No.
GaC: ID?
Me: (aside) Hehe
GaC: Whoa - you look good for your age.
Me: See, Michelle. I told you so.

* * *

I'm going to the Wiry Rapper with Cass, Fish and J9. Should be a nice quadrio of people to spend a few chill-out days with and herald in the holidays.

* * *

When I come back I will have a MOUNTAIN of washing that needs attacking.

* * *

My knee is just owie now. It hurts to kneel.

I was taking photos of our final assembly, trying to be unobstructing of views, so I started kneeling down and it hurt a lot.

And a student asked if I wanted her seat (not cause she knew my kneeses had grazes, just cause she's a nice kid). I said, 'Yes, thank you dear,' like an old lady.

* * *

Toffee milks are still pretty freakin' awesome. I got a box from Moore Wilson's and gave them out to my classes as treats. They last ages. And I like how the texture changes from brittle and hard to chewy goodness.

* * *

We had a nice dinner with Justin. He told us the story of his origins (much like a super hero would). Me and Michelle thought it was awesome.

* * *

I should go and get some crap to take to the shared lunch at work tomorrow. I hate shared lunches. I like eating them, but I inevitably leave buying stuff to take til 9pm the night before. Every time!

My bruised finger is beautiful like a sunset.





I will not update the images of my knee.

I only just read to the end of the second-skin instructions where it says 'Warning: Do not apply to open wounds'.

I've had it on all day 'cause I had nothing else big enough and I liked the idea of having a window to my wound ....

My knees are weeping. They are beautiful like raw meat.