Archive for 11/03/2010

Full Moon in Libra – Tuesday 30th March 2010

29/03/2010 Joh astrology, relationships

A full moon in Libra is going to be about relationships from what I read. Paulo Coelho had this great quote today on facebook :

In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each of us responsible for our own feelings and cannot blame others for what we feel. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it. (Maria in “Eleven Minutes”). 

That really resonated with me.

Astrogrrl has a good post about this moon, tying it in with the previous new moon.  I always enjoy Lynda Hill’s Sabian Symbols for the moons. She is so thorough about all the things going on in the sky. There are so many good astrologers to read. I could spend all day doing it, especially when I’m on holidays.

I have a full Easter ahead with Darin’s parents and children coming here. I am pretty excited to have a full house, especially for chocolate season!  I had better get off the couch and computer, stop lying around reading and eating delicious risotto Darin made for me today and clean the house tomorrow:-).

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Lazy Day

27/03/2010 Joh family, holidays

Today I have achieved not a thing. I have totally been recreational. We shopped this morning. A leisurely stroll. I bought some sun glasses. I have been wearing Tom’s mirrored thingys since the swimming carnival (when I snapped mine and had Darin delivered me a spare pair belonging to him) and as much as the students at school say they are cool when I wear them on yard duty, I feel silly in them.

I watched two chick flicks when Darin went to work. Asha came over and got a foot massage in the middle of ‘The Proposal’.  She threw me off the predicable plot, which made it more enjoyable. It was funny because I have a massage oil and a body wash that is in the same kind of bottle and I mistook the bottles. So we washed her feet first:-). It was funny and kind of appropriate because it’s Easter. She went to my new hairdresser and her hair looked great. After she left I watched ‘Julia and Julie’, it was lovely. I totally agree with her sentiments about butter:-)

I bumped into an old friend today that I started teaching with 10 years ago. She has two children now. I am so delighted because when I worked with her that was her big dream, to have kids and she really didn’t think it would happen. It did. She looks very happy and alive.

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Parent Teacher Interviews

25/03/2010 Joh gratitude, learn, relationships, work

Tonight was the night and tomorrow morning, I’ll have more again. I enjoy parent teacher interviews. I like meeting my student’s parents. I learn more about what’s going on at home from them. It’s insightful. Tonight I had a couple of challenging interviews. I had to tell parents or students, in front of their parents or child, things I knew they wouldn’t want to hear. I was pleasantly surprised with how well the news was received. I was prepared though, with alternatives for them so I think that made a lot of difference.

I really appreciate being at the senior campus. It’s given me a different focus and one that I’m really enjoying. I like seeing parents that I met when their child was in year 7, 8 or 9 and being able to share the pleasure of the students development and maturity. It’s very rewarding.

I also had my annual review (from last year) today. It went well also. I am glad I ran out of time last year to complete it because I feel like a whole new person this year, professionally. Our school has updated it’s technology, and this has made a huge difference to me. I like using technology to teach. I believe students are able to achieve a lot more and I am more efficient using it, to facilitate that. I can see now that all the learning I have done in this area is paying dividends for me this year. It is making my life easier.

Tomorrow I start my holidays…. how good is that!

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A Week of Not Much to Say

24/03/2010 Joh family, home, work

Life is just going along…. well. I feel peaceful. Holidays are coming and I’m not watching the clock so to speak. It’s good. I’m exercising and keeping up with things at home and at school. There is a nice balance going on. I got a haircut on Friday. I am happy with it. I like my new hairdresser too. She didn’t talk too much.

Last weekend with the kids was great. I got to collect them from karate. J (8) has started and it was great to watch. Asha and Tom did karate and I spent many hours watching, especially Asha because she persisted with it for a lot longer. Soccer on Saturday was just delightful. All these little, little people kicking the balls around. Lots of laughs and J kicked 6 goals so he felt very good about it all, as you can imagine. They talked to their grandmother on Skype which was magic to watch. Especially R (3), once the other two had moved away and she got some time. She was quite chatty and relaxed with it all.

Tom survived the cyclone on the weekend. I was really pleased he called me before and after to say everything was ok. It was really considerate of him. I haven’t heard from him much this week, but I guess I know now that he will keep me informed if he needs to, so I am more relaxed about that now.

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Small children, small problems

20/03/2010 Joh family

I remember when my kids were little. I was tired. The sleeplessness blew everything out of proportion and I felt my life was over at times. In all seriousness, it was never going to be the same again, so I was partly on to what was going on! Many of the older wiser people around me would say to me small kids, small problems. My pa, my dad and my elderly neighbour Laurie I remember clearly, saying this to me. I felt like screaming at the time. I felt unravelled and as though they had no idea. Now I can see what they mean.

Tonight I collected the kids while Darin was at work. The middle child, E (5) has started school this year and she was obviously overtired (almost the end of first term) and upset when her mum left her with me at Karate, which is J (8)’s new activity. My own experience with my kids told me that it would be fleeting and I was ok with it. I couldn’t help but feel for her mum though. I remember clearly that separation stuff. It felt so heartbreaking to leave a crying child, begging for you to stay. It happened at childcare, at the start of school for one of my children and sometimes when they went to thier dad’s or when they were coming back to me from thier dad’s. It was hard. Now it is me doing the crying as I wave goodbye to my ‘adult’ child.

When your kids are small, they wear you out. You worry about all kinds of things. It is nothing compared to the powerlessness of having adult children. I miss them. I am proud of them. Even when they are home, it will never be the same. I will never sleep that sleep knowing they are safe in thier beds, no matter how tiring the day has been or how late it was when they eventually got there.

I enjoy being able to put a smile on Darin’s kids’ faces with a chocolate or a trip to McDonalds. It’s still tiring, but I have perspective now and it makes all the difference. I love and appreciate the simple things like kissing a hurt better,  a tickle or a rhyme to light up a small chocolate stained face. Tonight we watched ‘Free Willy 3′ …ah the memories…. and they are not so big they scoff at me shedding a tear:-).

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Love Will Carry Us Along – Ian Moss

18/03/2010 Joh music, work

 

One of the things Darin and I enjoy is sharing our music. He has educated me about Cold Chisel and Ian Moss in particular. I really love this song. I also love his version of ‘Saturday Night’, which was always my favourite Cold Chisel song. I heard it for the first time on our drive to Sydney earlier this year. It was a pleasant surprise.

He is working nights now as a chef again….not ideal with the kids, but I think he really enjoys being back into it and we are working it out with the kids. They are coming this weekend and I’m excited.

 

He is an artist with food I reckon, so it seems right to me. At first we were worried about never seeing each other. To be honest I like the time alone after school. I am used to having a fair amount of solitude. When we are together it is all talking and hanging out. I think we both achieve more having a few hours of our own space each day.

 

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Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

16/03/2010 Joh learn, reading

Malcolm Gladwell explains what outliers are on his website Gladwell dot com. His audiobook, read by him (bonus) was full of interesting stories to demonstrate why people experience success and how it is not so random or bizarre, but a natural result of practise, their cultural heritage and the times they were born into. He draws on examples from almost every field you could think of. I couldn’t help but be interested in it… even when he was talking about sporting successes.

He is convincing. He tells his stories well and I am reminded that if I practise something for 10 000 hours, I will be an expert. I have recently downloaded ‘The Tipping Point’ and am looking forward to listening to that during the holidays.  His writing facinates and engages me and I find my self thinking how obvious what he says is, and I’m glad he has investigated it enough to prove it.

My favourite quote for my students “Repetition leads to discovery” by Buckminster Fuller remains current. I have been amused at how many year 12 students that I taught in year 7 remind me of it still with a smile on their faces as though they have discovered the truth of it for themselves. I’m not sure if I have for myself though and that could be why I keep learning about it.

 

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New Moon in Pisces – Tuesday 16th March 2010

15/03/2010 Joh astrology

At 8ish in the morning the moon is new in Pisces. Pisces is a water sign that is intuitive and creative. My moon as well as Saturn are in Pisces. Pisceans are generally sensitive, imaginative types who can behave with compassion. I am reflecting on my goals for this new moon tonight.

I’ve read some positive predictions about this coming new moon. Everything I’ve been reading suggests wishes coming true. Lynda Hill’s notes on facebook mentions a need to let go of the negative things in your life. It’s always good to do that I guess, but this is perhaps a supportive time to do that. She goes on to discuss all that’s going on in the skies and it’s a lengthy but interesting article that I imagine will also appear on her blog.  

I have let go of my study. I gave it a go, but ultimately there was one interesting subject and one very dull one. The course was expensive compared to what training I could get with those dollars and I really couldn’t justify putting in the time and money, for the return. I am biased against Uni courses to be honest. It’s so random. One of my subjects had a lecturer that I really respected and who put a lot of time and effort into supporting the learning. The other one seemed to create hurdles to get in the way of learning and that one, frustrated me too much. The problem is that one unit on it’s own isn’t really worth much. So after a lot of thinking this last week. I pulled the plug.

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Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss

14/03/2010 Joh learn, reading

I love the confident tone of Caroline Myss when she speaks about the invisible. ‘Sacred Contracts’ is about the agreements we made before we came to planet earth. It’s about purpose and is in no way the flakey or soft stuff that I’ve read so many times before. I enjoyed it. I learnt more about archetypes. I have a lot more to learn.

Caroline’s site has a ‘ Gallery of Archetypes’ that I intend to explore. I love listening to the audiobooks, yet they lack the appendices that ‘real’ books have. I’m glad I found the online reference, it makes up for it. There are 70 archetypes listed so I hope I will be able to find the 12 that are working in me if I put the time into it. Archetypes are ancient patterns basically and have both light and dark forms. I’m quite facinated with the idea right now.

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Massage was Great

11/03/2010 Joh learn, reading

Great with a capital G! I have not been so impressed or rejuvenated by a massage for a long time. I haven’t had many this last year though to be honest. I waited until today to sing the praises though because I was waiting to see if I pulled up sore. It’s not always a bad thing to feel a bit tender the next day, but I don’t want to be crippled. I just feel great. I think after my second week of exercising that I’m finally starting to feel good in my body again.

I have to thank my daughter for referring this woman to me. She has been telling me for years to go to her, and I guess when she first told me I had been seeing Lynda for ages and was really satisfied with her. After trying a few other people who were just ok, I was reminded when I bought Asha a gift voucher for Christmas. Here it is March and I’ve finally got around to acting on that intention:-)

I’ve been listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” whilst I’ve been exercising. It is just as gripping as “Blink” was. Each night when Darin gets home from work I tell him another thing I’ve heard. He won’t need to read those books. Did you know it takes 10 000 hours to be an expert at something? I have been trying to think if there is anything useful I’ve done for that amount of time other than sleep and breathe.

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