A wee laugh for today...

Going through my files on my new computer and getting rid of a few of the nonsense ones, I found this piece on friendship. Stuff the sentimental poetry, this is for true friends!

My Friend...

When you are sad, I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

When you are blue, I'll dislodge whatever is choking you.

When you smile, I'll know you finally got some.

When you are scared, I will rag you about it every chance I get.

When you are worried, I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it can be and to quit whining.

When you are confused, I will use little words to explain it to your sorry butt.

When you are sick, stay away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.

When you fall, I will point and laugh at you.

This is my oath, I pledge till the end. Why you may ask? Because you're my friend.

If I may take the soap box for a second...

Flying in the face of all those self-help books that advise that you live each moment as if it were your last, live for today, be in the moment... let me add my own somewhat contradictory advice.

Plan for the future today

Finding the best fit for today is not always a smart idea.

Talking to my associate about my disappointment in my job rejection, she advised me that it was likely that particular school did not currently want to spend the time required to train a new teacher (we are legally required to have more time during the school day without our students). If new teachers are not able to find positions, it is likely that more young teachers will simply choose to leave the profession and search for other jobs. Ten years from now, you have no teachers of our generation to fill the ranks of experiences as other seasoned teaches retire or take sabbaticals.

If you focus too much on fulfilling all your wants and whims right now, what are you missing out on in the future? Do we truly contemplate the "opportunity cost" of the decisions we make everyday? Let me know in the comments.

Busy week, with a chance of stunnage...

This past week has been insane and the next week is looking to be just as crazy. In my absence from the blogosphere, I have been:

• completing Week 1 of my last two weeks on placement at a school. That has drawn to a close so quickly, I am almost dumbfounded by the realisation that a week from now, I'll be preparing to go back to the campus with the grown-up people :)
• rejected by the first school I did placement with for a position they had available next year. I have to admit that stings - the negative side of me is going "Wow, they saw you teach and they think you suck". I'm trying to positively reframe their decision in the light that it wasn't meant to be, I'm obviously meant to plant my roots elsewhere and flourish.
• Pink Star Walking for Breast Cancer. It was a fantastic night, raising lots of money for Breast Cancer research. SB, Papa Scribbles and Uncle G all got into the pink spirit by wearing shirts that Mama Scribbles had painted with large pink ribbons. There's just something kinda special about walking along in a sea of people all dressed in the same colour.
• arguing a bit more with SB. We've been miscommunicating this week and it has been a refreshing reminder to both of us that we need to be more clear about what we are wanting. It's also good to see that we can argue, put it aside and still love each other deeply.
• making holiday plans - SB and I have made plans to go away at the start of December and I cannot wait.We're tossing up between two (domestic) destinations and either of them will make me cheer with glee!
• having a Friday where I had to explain to different groups of students the origin of the word menstruation and the definitions of bisexual, transexual and hermaphrodite. In English and Drama classes no less. Who said that being a teacher was boring?

In the week to come, there's plenty to look forward to and also to bite my nails about. I have a preliminary interview (a meet-and-greet tour at one of the schools I've applied to teach at), an interview for a summer job, senior speeches to assess, ends to be tied off with placement duties, assignment work to try and squeeze in around the edges and drinkies with the girls on Saturday night. I'll try and keep the blog as updated as possible, but follow me on Twitter for daily updates.

What were the highlights of your week, Scribblettes?

Family Fun Times

ChChSis was up this weekend for her birthday and last night we all gathered together to celebrate her reaching the ripe old age of 22. As SB and I sat in my parents' lounge, watching my mother, father, sisters and relatives gently poke fun at each other, I realised something.

I do not often think about how blessed I am.

Both SB and I come from backgrounds where family is incredibly important. When we talk about the future, we assume that our life together will have the same focus. Sure, we have occasions where we will blow our stack at our parents and we certainly don't agree with everything our relatives say but we wouldn't trade those immediate and extended family links for anything. We're grounded with our roots in our family plots, even if we grow ourselves elsewhere. We know where we come from, and that's a huge thing.

If the pain is anything to go by...

... then I'm very wise today. My last wisdom tooth is coming through and owies! I'm trying to work out when in the next week I can visit a dentist to get it extracted. I can't wait until I'm back at uni to get it done, there isn't enough room in my mouth for it and I'm sucking down the Bonjela Teething Gel like a baby :)

Other news this week:

• I started creating a new website this week that I hope to have live within the next couple of weeks. I got the thought after having repeated conversations with several people on the same general topic in one day - they must think I'm some kind of expert! Ah well, you don't need to play rugby to know the rules of the game *wink wink*
• I celebrated seven months with SB on Wednesday... things just keep getting better and better between us... when you find the person you can truly be yourself with, grab hold of them with both hands and never let them go! We went to this tiny wee restaurant in our hometown. The food was a little bit more pricey than what we usually go for but it was so scrumptious!
• I got a little over-excited in planning bachelorette events for a friend's wedding - however, she loved all the ideas :). A beach-side getaway for her bridal brigade (the larger group of friends assisting with the wedding, not just the bridal party), a high tea bridal shower and a "debauched beauty queen" themed bachelorette night. Fun fun! Roll on the beginning of next year
• Finding the perfect dress.... because of my curves (and their rather substantial nature), I really hate full length shots of me unless I'm covered in a giant coat. When shopping for a dress to wear out to dinner on Wednesday I found the dress that was made for me. A little red cocktail number, it nips in at exactly the right place, making those full length camera shots make me look like Jessica Rabbit . Best of all, it was $25! And will continue to look great even if I lose some more weight.
• On the down side, I feel like I've got nowhere near what I intended to get accomplished over the holidays... did I have hopes that were too high? Did I muck around too much? Regardless, SB is watching the Bathurst (is that even the right spelling?) races tomorrow so I'll have a bit of an opportunity to catch up.

Back to work... yes, I am being naughty and blogging on the company dime. How was your week, Scribblette?

Taking control...

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know that Mama Scribbles has had a small recurrence of her cancer in one of her lymph nodes below her rib cage. It could definitely be worse - it hasn't spread from the original location. In reality, it's more of a pain in the ass then something to fall apart over and our family is continuing along focusing on the positive. Radiation (for Mama Scribs anyway) is far easier than chemo to deal with (think morning sickness and food poisoning's bastard child vs. a bad sunburn) so we just need to chin up and support mum tackling the bastard little Gerties.

I think one of the worst things about having an ill loved one is the complete lack of anything you can do about it. You can be there for them, take them to appointments, chat with them but in the end you are just on the sideline watching them fight their own personal battle. For a control freak like myself, it's tough to have a challenge like this.

So I'm throwing myself into things that I can control and affect - my job search, my group assignments and a friend's pre-wedding parties. It has a hint of the former event manager life I used to lead and part of me wonders whether it would be worth it to head back down that path but I think that teaching is definitely the right path for me right now. Who knows... maybe "Day Of" co-ordinating is a business I can set up when I'm being a SAHM a few years from now. Choices, choices....

A space of one's own...

If you've read the blog for a while, you will know that I moved home temporarily in the first half of 2008 and with my mother getting ill with inflammatory breast cancer (she is currently no evidence of disease), that stay ended up getting extended rather longer than originally planned. When Mama Scribbles was sick and constantly getting hospitalised, what life was like at home wasn't so much of a drama. My room was simply a place to finish my assignments and rest my head when I wasn't up visiting mum.

Meeting SB at the start of the year made things easier. It didn't matter that my room was cramped (having half a house worth of stuff in one room is not easy) and small because I was spending a lot of time with him - home again being just a place I rested my head. With my sister moving to Christchurch in July, however, I had an option to make my space at my parents more of the haven I desired - so I've moved into the garage!

Internally accessed from the parents house and rigged with curtains, it feels just like a gorgeous studio apartment. I have room for my bed and room for a study. I'll be spending much more time here in November (when my parents go away on holiday and SB will be staying with me for once) and again over summer (where it's likely I'll be unemployed so spending more time at home) and with the weather getting warmer it was an optimal time to do it. To some of you, this might all sound a little crazy but I would love to hear stories from you all about the odd places you have made your home!