Life Lessons I have learned from Glee!

I love Glee. I genuinely do. I don't think it's the most amazing thing ever to be on TV but it's good fun and a nice healthy dose of cheese. In fact, I would go as far to say I was a "Gleek" but not so far as stalking the actors on Twitter.

Best part is, I got Rich into it too...much to his shame and the joy of his co-workers. It hasn't done much to squash the rumours that he's gay and I don't exist and that he hired me to be his beard and come out to the pub with him once. He calls it his "guilty pleasure" but I know he proper loves it.

In celebration of the new series, I have decided to do a love/hate thing on Glee. It is mightily mightily flawed. So without further ado, I will give you a list of Life Lessons I have learned from Glee...

Life Lessons I have Learned from Glee...

1) You can transfer High Schools at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. Your parents will automatically be ok with it, especially if it to leave a top private school in your senior year to join your boyfriend.

2) Bursting into song at any time and any place is normal.

3) All females are one dimensional As long as you fit into one or more of the following 3 categories: Bitch/arrogant/badass, Slut/Dumb and Odd but lovable the writers can cope and you can join Glee Club. Note: No one watches Glee for the amazing writing but come on...

4) It is ok for your High School teacher to hug you, invite you to his apartment and drive you in his car without permission from either the school or parents.

5) You don't need a teaching qualification to teach any subject, You can literally walk into a classroom and do it.

6) As long as your Cheerleading Coach gets a trophie, she is allowed to abuse pupils emotionally and physically and have a Downs Syndrome child as her lacky. I would keep my teaching job and CRB clean if I did this.

7) Your Glee club can meet at any time during the day because it is the only mandatory lesson. Occasionally you may be shown for a few snippets in any other class but as Glee is the only one that gives you homework, it is the only important lesson. SIGN ME UP FOR THIS SCHOOL!

8) The "star" quarterback, much like the "star" basketballer in High School Musical, can do whatever he wants and always gets the best solos...despite having the weakest voice out of all the males.

9) Even if you do manage to sneak a song away from Rachel Berry (who gets EVERYTHING), She'll still get a killer number at one point during the episode to make everyone forget you however well you sing.

10) If one of your actors wins a Golden Globe, everyone else goes on the back seat. Period.

I do love Glee. I love the different factions it represents and the way that some of the issues are dealt with. I love singing along to the songs and look forward to what's going to be happening each week on a rudimentary level...but I cannot take it seriously and find myself caring less and less about the characters as they shove randomers in to fill roles! SO I suppose I shall just watch with a critical eye and enjoy the music and camp-as-christmas choreography while Rachel and Finn get the best songs.

Film Pick: The Kings Speech. AMAZING!

Crappy Film Pick: Aquamarine starring Emma Roberts...should have known it would be total teen tish. It's not worth any more blog space.

Song Pick: Glee- You can't stop the beat. Literally wet myself when this came on on Thursday night. Yes, I love the original Hairspray version the best but I had to restrain myself from Dancing.

Adios! Please feel free to post what Glee has taught you!

Life's Little Warnings and Lessons

It has been a bit of a mental fortnight so I've been unable to update the ole blog sooner. However, have had to edit some of my posts etc as a little warning was made loud and clear...NOTHING you put on the internet is safe!

I didn't think I was at a particularly reckless point in my life but have been grateful for all the cautionary warnings and promptins I have received this week...warnings to be careful when opening my gob (or blog), thinking before shoving foot in mouth at work and generally letting go and taking time to not stress out.

As a teacher, the job is obviously full on and my health has taken a bit of a tumble. Although I'm not about to have a nervous breakdown, yet another cold/flu thing and throat problems (that's twice in two months) have given me the hint to slow the frig down. The hubby is getting more and more worried:

"What do you mean you don't eat lunch or breakfast? You can't do that, take a nutri-grain bar or something or nick an apple from the kids' fruit bowl"...rather than correcting him (fruit is served in KS1, not KS2 as they shove it down toilets and are generally not allowed by some governemtn scheme) I have to understand that he is coming from a point of love. You're bound to burn out I suppose if you're constantly going from one thing to the next, day after day, week after week- even if you do have a good class and enjoy the fact that time zooms by when you're doing PE in the yard and making habitats for woodlice. Schools talk about the importance of a work-life balance yet jobs get piled up over weekends and evening. I can hear the good ole "Your job is easy, you have over 6 weeks off a year" argument now. On average, I spend a week of each half term working, around 3-4 weeks of the summer working when I am supposedly on hoilday and my average day is 7:30am-6:00 at school and then usually working to 8-9 (on good days) once I'm home and have my tea! Don't be quick to judge the teaching lifestyle before you've spent a week observing in a school...I know I used to think it couldn't be that hectic! However, I do love my job and do my best to teach as well and as interestingly as I can...but I no longer accept that my job should be my whole life. Even Doctors and Firemen get a break and my job doesn't even come close to some of the stressors there!

Yes, working and job security and enjoyment are so important for lifestyle, living in general and of course your sense of purpose and self-esteem. But this week I've learned of a sudden, unthinkable tragedy in a friend's family that just again, reminded me that your families and loved ones are so much more important than anything else. My Dad has a motto: Family comes First. He has said it when my older brother watched his mates tease me at school and laughed along and he said it to me when I freaked out that my Mum was going to have a baby again when I was 16. I've had to say it to myself this week when I came in feeling ill and tired from work and jumped down my husband's throat about something...I didn't even stop to think that he might have had a difficult day himself (which he had, moreso than mine) beforehand. This surely becomes even more important when you start thinking about having your own kids. My mother always put us first and that's the kind of mum I want to be. It's the kind of wife I want to be.

So, next Mrs M is going to slooooooooow down and keep things in perspective. And watch her mouth. Carefully.

Anyways onto what I hope will be some regular bloggy features:

Exciting News this week: 

1) I babysat my nephew for a whole evening (including sleepy time) AND HE REMAINED ALIVE! Whoop Whoop! There is hope for me as a mother yet! However, I am disturbed and alarmed by In the Night Garden and said nephew had already been put to bed by mum and I was just told to leave him to soothe himself to sleep. So his being alive wasn't actually down to me. The kisses and mind-blowing experience of discovering which door hid the washing machine, were ALL ME!

2) Abi and Joe are coming over to chow down on my food on Thursday NOM NOM NOM! 

3) Glee Series 3 and an Idiot Abroard 2 start this week. Got itchy and have already watched Glee Episode 1 online. Without the hubby. Who loves Glee. Ommers. I would go mad if he watched 24 or House before me. Don't tell him! I do have some issues though with the "character development" (or lack thereof, it is Glee after all...we don't watch it for the writing, do we?) but I don't want to spoil anything. I think I'll dedicate a whole blog to slagging off Glee and the Glee project followed by an outpouring of love that stems from an addiction to show tunes...and Blaine Warbler... (does he have a last name? I'm next on the list for Fag Hag)

Suggested Film: "Blades of Glory" : I watched it when I was sick this week and it cheered me up.

Film to Avoid: He's just not that into you. Now, listen. I LOVE chick flicks. I LOVE romance in cheesy form in particular (I have been robbed of it as most women have) but this film was the biggest pile of steaming, sexist crap I have ever seen. I thought it might be alright because it had tonnes of famous people in it but it's not. They tried to do a Love Actually thing by having 5 or 6 different stories weaving into one but it did not work. I did not care that Scarlett Johanssen was sleeping with Bradley Cooper who was married to Jennifer Connolly or that Ben Affleck didn't want to marry Jennifer Aniston but does a surprise proposal at the end because "If I want a shot of being happy, I have to make you happy first"...The worst one though was The woman who played Johnny Cash's wife in Walk the Line (don't even know her name) literally throwing herself at every man in a somewhat desperate way throughout the film and being portrayed as a typical single women. Er...don't think so!

Song Pick: Caro Emerald- That Man.

Adios!

Kate, you need to calm down.

I have had to repeat the above to stop myself from a ridiculous panic.

Don't get me wrong, part of me was looking forward to coming back to work as I got a bit bored during the last few days of summer. I've had quite enough of TV and lounging around waiting for the washing to be done. It's just that I was soooo slow getting back into it. Every decision took forever to make and I couldn't remember the simplest of things. Suppose its my brain's way of waking up.

To start my day, I woke up next to a proper moody hubby.

"Why did you set your alarm for 20 to 7 and then go to sleep again till 7? You woke me up, what was the point?" Who peed on your cornflakes, Mace? I wanted to ask but I decided to let it go...because I knew he would respond "you". During Term Time, Rich sleeps through my alarm no problem till his own goes off but as it's been 6 weeks holidays, we're out of sync. I really tried to stay out of bed and wake up once I had gotten up to turn the alarm off. But I couldn't. I genuinely, genuinely tried...sort of.

Shortly after, I found myself waiting outside Staples at knob o'clock in the morning waiting for it to open as I realised I had no plastic wallets/polly pockets, folders, labels or coulouring crayons for my class (school budget is shocking and you have to alarm and label something for it not to be stolen there). Let me tell you now, that place is in no way depressing at that hour. Not (double negative used, hope it makes sense). Myself and some other woman looking at each other furtively, knowling we are both sad and somewhat despearate for stationary.

I was proved wrong about the staff meeting. It was pretty purposeful but they decide to introduce a whole new behaviour plan, meaning much of my work over the summer was for nought.Hence the above mantra. However, I am now much more calm and refusing to worry. We spend 40 minutes introducing ourselves to the 11 new staff starting (we're a massive school) in which there were two pregnancies and an engagement announced. Preggers No.1's thunder was ever so slightly stolen as Preggers No.2 has a history of ovarian cancer in the family and at one point thought she couldn't have kid. Plus, everyone else went to fabulous places like a Singles Bootcamp in the Bahamas, Mountain climbing in Switzerland, Married in Gibralter (IN A KNEE LENGTH WEDDING DRESS, LE WIFE!) etc which made my story about me canoeing in France with Richard and ALL the in-laws seem a little tame but hey, it was nice to see everyone and get back to work.

We spent the morning thrashing out rules etc and reminding everyone of basic expectations. I also got to meet my new TA. She seems really lovely and willing to help but in addition, is BRAND NEW to the job so will probably need alot of guidance. I find having a full time TA weird as I am used to doing everything myself because I have never worked in a place where I've had a TA to direct. They get stolen from me and asked to cover emergency meetings, teach small groups well into the afternoon when they are not meant to and cover PPA. Also, have had a horrendous TA that scarred me for life with how crap she was and as a result, I have TA Abandonment and Trust Issues. I remember all too well how she mutilated my classroom, the kids books and any coridoor I asked her to decorate. I almost think she did a man thing and deliberately do a crap job so she wouldn't be asked to do it again. Heres hoping I can be less of a control freak and hand over the reigns more to her (I did have her doing laminating and sticky-backing, both jobs hate me so I figured she had to be better at it...and she was despite never having used a lamintor in her life!). Shall keep you informed...

Anyway, my classroom still wasn't as perfect as I hoped it would be but was kicked out at 6 so can do nothing more. I do, however, need to work out some sort of seating plan for them and some time fillers. Seriously not organised and resisting the return to work, even though I badly need it. When I get bored, I eat junk and that HAS to stop! I'm already the largest I have ever been...Ducan Diet, here I come!

I'm nervous about seeing my new class again. Always lots of apprehension and  having to drag some poor kid in. They're a friendly bunch and on the other hand, I have PPA first day back to get a head start on next week. Not sure what this will do to some of my more nervous kiddies but they have to get used to the routine sometime and plus...they are painting. Why do I have to do all the boring stuff and the PPA happens to get the cool stuff? No fair!

Onto a cheerier note, if you are a Harry Potter Fan, you need this in your life. It's wonderful. If you have already seen it, watch it again. This never fails to cheer me up. The Theatre Students from the University of Michigan performing a musical version of Harry Potter. It's fantastic! Their other plays are hilarious too if you have a spare few hours.

Disclaimer: When I first saw this, I had no idea that Blaine from Glee was in it, even though I have a Fag-Hag Crush on him. Meh.

Speaking of Harry Potter, I am still waiting for my Pottermore email and to get sorted. I will boycott the site if I am a Hufflepuff. Not happening. Will take sick leave from work to grieve. I'm A Slytherin or Gryffindor. I don't want to jinx it by saying I'd take Ravenclaw...will have to cross that bridge. Besides, I can't be in Dufflepuff because I am rubbish at finding things that are lost. Ask Richard, no other thing about me annoys him more. I would lose my head if it wasn't screwed on. I once spent a whole week taking buses to uni because I'd lost my car keys down the side of the sofa and 5 days without a phone that was under a pile of laundry. I also forced my whole class to stop what they were doing to find my USB Port with a promise to reward the finder with a treat. I am that bad and everyone knows it.

Anyway, I hope this blog has made you smile! Please feed the fishies and leave your comments below

PS- Merci, Lauren for allowing me to nick your fish idea and being my first follower. You're a wife in a million. Love you.

Heads up to another Lauren, Lauren Jayne who I buddied for a brief time at YSJ for being inspired to write her own blog after reading mine. You go, girlfriend!

Kate x x

My very first post on my very first blog...

Right, here goes!

My name is Kate and I am a Primary School Teacher from York but now living in Leeds. Welcome to my blog! As of yet, I have no idea how interesting it will be but I'll try to at least amuse you if you stick with me.

Lauren,  who will be referred to as Le Wife in several postings, began her blog with a list of things she liked because, like me at this very second, she had no idea how to start her blog. As I am Le Husband and generally whats mine is hers, I am going to borrow this as a starting point and way of introducing myself.

6 Things I like...in no particular order.

1) Cuddles: Men out there need to know that they ARE important and A VERY BIG DEAL. At the moment, Chief Cuddler goes to my somewhat long-suffering husband, Richard. Perhaps I need to tone it down as I have now earned the nickname "Barnacle Kate" (another alternative name for the blog and signature). Anyway, until I get a squishy baby of my own to constantly mollycoddle, I will have to make do with friends, Husband, little nephew Zak (when I can bribe them out of him....he is only a year and a half), my little monkeymonks/baby sister Sandra and other peoples babies. Yes, I am aware of the connotations of this but your little ones have nothing to fear.

2) Babies and children: They are the most wonderful things on earth and although I love my job as a teacher, I cannot wait to be a Mum and feel that this is my true calling in life. I love watching them grow and learning new things. Like most teachers, I get a massive kick out of seeing knowledge click into place and helping shape these kids bit by bit. I also vow to post funny sayings and pictures etc from the kids. Unfortunately I threw out accidentally the lion that looked like Lord Voldemort (the kid saw the funny side and agreed so am not a total cow). Actually, it's a good thing I'm already married as if I was looking for a potential boyfriend, points 1 and 2 would be enough to send a sane man running in the other direction. I give off Crazy Baby Lady (CBL) vibes. I'm working on it. Or on him, I should say. Metaphorically of course...oh dear.

3) Being a Mormon: As this is my blog, my rules. This isn't a bible bashing/mormon bashing area. So please don't. I am a repector of all religions and ways of life even if I have a different opinion and hope that others reading this blog are the same. I love being a member of this church. Not only have I met some amazing people and made eternal friendships, this way of life gives me the opportunity to progress and become a better person. The Lord and my church family love me, no matter how far I fall short (which is alot, much of the time) and for that I am forever thankful and have much to be grateful for. Even on rubbish days!

4) Movies and TV: Now, these two forms of entertainment get me through a heck of a lot of marking! I'd love for this blog to be a place to talk about stuff like this (NO SPOILERS FOR "24"). At the minute, Richard and I are in the middle of Series 2 of 24 and season 6 of Supernatural. We also love Glee and Boardwalk Empire (or Boobwalk Empire as Rich has now called it). Too much TV is not good and I need to find a form of exercise to balance my life out a bit as I do get very sluggish! Here's to trying Zumba!

5) Cooking: I enjoy it and am trying to put more time and effort into it rather than shoving stuff from the freezer into the oven. NOT the kind of mum and wife I want to be. I am also "fake veggie" which further complicates things- I eat fish but no other meat (so I think it's a Peschtarian, spelling not checked) a subject that strangers constantly feel the need to challenge me on. In short, little lamb named Blackie ended up on our dinner table. Fish was the compromise I made with my parents and it's stuck since then. Any yummy recipes, send them my way!

6) My family: I am the second of 6 children. My parents are great and I do love my siblings, even when they drive me bonkers. I'm married into a fabulous church-going family who take the meaning of the word "family" to a whole new level. I have an amazing, gentle hubby who is often more than I deserve. Without being all Miss America/winner of a VMA, I am truly blessed. You'll definately be hearing more about the family as the blog goes on...

Ok, that's 6! I could go on I suppose but I think that's enough for now. Plus, it's an even number. I'm back to school for the start of a new year and have a training day tomorrow.

For now I hope my blog has given you a little insight into me and my life!

Speak soon!

Kate x x x