I'm not sure how to start this post let alone give it a title given that I haven't blogged since April 2014.
That's because I've yet to get a handle on finding a good life balance with this teaching business!
I've been thinking about why keep this blog open and I guess it gets down to it's a good way of recording life as I don't keep a journal, scrapbook or any other way of recording memories. With that in mind I am going to endeavor to be more regular in blogging, 9 month gaps between posts is just a too long!
Anyway... 2014 was busy, good but busy.
Me
I had a big number birthday in October 2014 that I had decided to approach in a positive way rather than giving into depression about being so old! Since starting university and the 'try to kill myself by falling off a ladder' incident I had progressively put on weight so in order to combat this I joined a torture chamber - a gym! After my first session I staggered home and said to the Cowboy "I need to lie down!" I now love going and feel healthier and fitter for it. Not thinner though, too much Christmas excess, rich food and wine - a lot of wine! Speaking of food, I also changed my eating habits as I approached old age! After doing a lot of reading I decided
Paleo made sense to me. Up until the Christmas season I followed it almost religiously and seriously felt better for it. I'm now back on the wagon!
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| me, me and me |
Teaching
I swapped schools mid year. The call of my final practicum school proved to be too much and when a job came up teaching Year 5 I went for it and got it! I'm really happy where I am, love the school, the kids, the people I work with and the support is fantastic.
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| Maths Week - working on the Pythagorean theorem |
Creativity
I haven't made anything at home since I don't know when. All my creative energy is used in my teaching, Got to work on that this year!
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| Celebrating Diwali in our Going Global study of India - Room 32/RPS. |
The Princess
She is soooooo gorgeous. Smart, cheeky and funny. She's only 11, but taller than me and takes a bigger size shoe than me. School is good, she does well. I was so proud of her making the Science Fair finals with her project "How to make cut flowers last longer". She is mad about Minecraft and reading. Her hair is amazing, thick, wavy and long. Taking care of it is not amazing!
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| 1/ She leaves me messages 2/ The Science Fair Project 3/ The Hair! |
The Cowboy
He's ok :-p No, really he is lovely and super tolerant because I am a bad girlfriend in term time- too tired and overloaded.
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| Hot Cowboy photographer |
Home
The Cowboy and I completed a few 'home' projects in 2014. We 'styled' (I watch The Block) our entrance hall and stairwell around the beautiful photographs the Cowboy takes. The laundry area of the garage also got a wee make-over and some 'styling' haha. In the earlier part of 2014 I found time to garden and grew salad greens, baby beetroots and herbs. I now grow tall weeds. We adopted a baby boy kitten in January and lost him in December along with Sequin, our 4 year old goldfish who died last week :-(
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| 1/ Stairwell gallery 2/ R.I.P. Ninja & Sequin |
Family
Crazy happenings with my family in 2014. My Australian living brother, sister-in-law and three munchkins came out to NZ for a winter snow holiday. It came to a grinding halt on day three with a not so fun trip to one of those indoor trampoline places where my brother had a terrible accident. The end of 2014 saw my other sister-in-law and twin nephews move to Rarotonga and my Mumma and Poppa sell up in Auckland and move to the back of beyond - the beautiful Rawene in the Far North! We also celebrated a family occasion with my oldest nephew turning 21.
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| 1/ Broken brother 2/ Mumma and Poppa's Rawene home 3/ 21 $10 notes wrapped around a sword for a 21 year old |
Trips
The Princess and I went to my almost always best friend (sometimes second best friend) Mary Thistle's farm most holidays where I did the usual, tried to bond with herds of cows, read late at night in my 'chalet' while the Princess hung with her bestie, my bestie's daughter:-) For my big number birthday the Cowboy and I did a trip up North. We stayed at Coopers Beach, ate divine food, walked wind swept beaches and had spas under stars.
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1/ The Princess, a snippet of her bestie & goats, Holly & Milky 2/ Making homemade Ravioli with my bestie, Mary Thistle
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| Coopers Beach getaway - October 2014 |
Entertainment
We, that is the Princess and I, went to Disney on Ice with friends. She was not so enamoured with it, she's at an age where she felt it a bit babyish, however I absolutely loved it. We also went to Cirque de Soleil, which was fabulous. We have seen How to Train Your Dragon 2 and other movies that I can't remember, clearly not memorable. The Cowboy and I went out to dinner on fairly regular basis and hosted friends and family dinners at home.
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| 1/ Very candlelit birthday dinner (no power) 2/ Stella Bella wine brought back from Australia by the 'Thistle's" |
That's a 2014 wrap!
Wishing you all that happen upon this blog a belated Happy New Year!
Rachael xo
