Birthdays, parties, everything!

Well today was a wonderful day without any school work! Yesterday I spent marking and was tired and feeling the effects of the heat afterwards. Dinner last night turned my weekend around! My gorgeous husband and I celebrated with a friend, for our friend's 53rd birthday. Italian was on the menu and I began with an orechhiette pasta dish and then with beef and vegetables. Today my husband took me out to breakfast, at Cherish cafe in Sandringham. Mum made a delicious lunch and I bought a great cake for my dad's birthday. Dad's birthday was a lot of fun. My great aunt is visiting from Inverell and joined us for birthday lunch. My niece performed a medley of songs she has learnt at pre-school. How lovely it was to spend so much time with family.

Mark and I, so keen for me to start cooking again (can you believe that today was the first day that I actually did some tidying around the place!!) as we have both eaten erratically whilst I have been marking. We went to one of our favourite fruit /veg / continental deli stores in Sydney. Lots of wonderful fruit and veggies were purchased! Very excited about cooking some wonderful meals!

Caught up with a great group of friends this afternoon and then tonight I warmed a Chicken and Mushroom Arancini and made some steamed beans to accompany it for dinner.

Am now pouring over some wonderful websites to plan Christmas parties and prepare for some baking.

I hope that you had a weekend filled with family, friends and great food as well!

Another busy week

Well it seems strange that a whole week has just come and gone. No further thought has been given to anything to do with Christmas. I know, I know! With each passing day, there is less time to prepare all that I need to do. I anticipate things will quieten down by the end of next week, but then that leaves me in a predicament! I suppose I will have to try to find some time to start my preparations!

So much is happening at the moment and I feel as though I am in somewhat of a whirlwind, hoping that I will land on my feet! Lots of changes at work. I have been thinking about work quite a bit and am planning to make a few changes in the department next year, that will ensure the workload is shared more evenly among staff.

Lots of planning days to organise as well! So much to do and so little time!

Today is my only day off marking (well, today and Friday) so I need to do some housework, do some shopping, make some food, edit all of the year 11 reports and go to a family lunch and hopefully dinner with friends. I don't know that I will achieve all of this, because I would also like to go for a run or do some exercise. I feel very unfit at the moment and I really need to do some exercise.

It really is hard, leaving home around 7:10 each morning and then returning at 9:35 each night for three working weeks. It leaves you so incredibly drained! It is so hard to come home, particularly after marking so many papers and then focus on housework and the rest of my life! In any case, having an incredibly wonderful husband helps a lot!!

Well, there is so much to do and with so little time, I should probably get started. I should note that my wonderful husband is making us breakfast right now! Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

Today is Melbourne Cup Day!

I will preface this post by saying that I don't bet on horse races and I don't live in Melbourne, so there is no public holiday that comes with 'the race that stops a nation.' The race is one that stops most of the nation. Work finishes early in most places, where people dress up in race wear when they head into work. At some schools, children decorate hats and they have a hat parade which is innocent. It's actually a really convivial day but alas myself and a few others won't be indulging in the merriment that comes with the race day. No. We will be marking papers. You see, not everyone in the nation stops!

I did get to thinking though that there will be some distinct similarities between us markers and the racegoers. We all have to park a decent walk away from the car, so some markers will have lost their heels for thongs. In the anticipation for the end of the evening, markers are a little like horses at the barrier gate, waiting to begin the race to the car. You see, if you aren't one of the first few out of the car park, then you join a queue of cars and remain at the back of the pack.

I suppose the day itself is a little like a race, the markers, like jockeys remain abreast of their marking duties for the entire 4 hours. They don't wane and they come up as good at the end as when they started! A talented and dedicated group no doubt.

Well, that's my really ordinary blog post for this morning. I suppose I should get back to writing report comments and then get ready to go to a meeting! You should know it is raining in Sydney, has been all night. So the weather will indeed match the day.

Have a wonderful day!