The sun is out and so is our boat! It is getting hotter, far hotter than I remember but I may have been brain washed by UK weather, so we decided it was a good idea to get our feet a little wet. Oh, and Jake wouldn't be left behind either! Road trip! All the way to Port Macquarie for more sunshine and water. Camping for the first time in ages was a blast, I even saw a few kids I knew from school about four years ago, they're so tall! Thought for the week... It is holiday time but I am starting to get my feet back in teaching with a few casual days before the end of term and a few more planned in the new year. I am a good teacher and a good person. Some people are just beyond help and some people just won't help you out of sheer greed and their own insecurities. I can do this!
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Christmas is a time for family, friends, food and drinking. All of these were had in abundance in the Biv household this year. We had both sides of the family over at different times, work christmas party and lots of fun things in between including an ACDC performance tribute which, surprisingly, I actually enjoyed quite a lot! Wishing all my loved ones health and happiness over the christmas break! xx Mum, dad, Ness and I went to see Shania Twain- she was great. Service at the Hope Estate, not so much. Aside from saying we spent two hours in line waiting for a pre-ordered hamper, I won't go into it.
Shania was awesome! Sounded exactly like her CD's etc and looked absoluitely fab! September has been an exceptionally social month for my family and I. There have been birthdays, concerts (CHER!!!), lunches and a concerted effort to walk the dogs more and improve general health and mindset.
It has also been a month of recovery for me, allowing me to lick my wounds a little and regain my centre through the presence of my family and friends. I love you all! xx As some of you know, I have realy be struggling at work recently due to a whole raft of issues. What I thought was going to be a relatively simple job to see me out to December, has turned into something that is affecting my entire life.
After talking to family, mentors, fellow staff and taking time out to think about what I want and what I am feeling, I have decided, it is in my best interest and the best interest of the children in my class that I take some time out from teaching. I have handed in my notice, broken my contract for the first time in my life and I feel awful, but I also feel relieved at the same time. I am more than happy to ask for help when I need it and to admit when I am out of my depth. I did both of these things and, unfortunately, nothing changed for me. The stress began to affect my home life until work was all I could think about and anxiety crept in. This decision is something I forced myself to consider from all angles and for a long time. I am not someone who likes to leave things undone or disappoint anyone and so it is with regret I pass on these complicated little beans to someone who is a little more fresh and can see them out for the rest of the year. I try to remind myself that time and space are healers and to always look up- I am blessed in so many ways and I can't let difficulties blind me to that fact. I appreciate the support I have recieved from all over the place, truly. Hopefully, once I rebuild my confidence in myself and my teaching I will dive back in but for now, I will keep thinking positive, keep my chin up and lean on those who love me the most. I am the luckiest girl in the world! Technically, I was still supposed to be in the UK this time of year and so, when Steph bought 2x P!nk tickets last year, they were never going to be mine... surprise! She took me along and I will worship her forever. It was an incredible show, particularly considering she was performing on steroids due to bronchitis and, the very next show she had to cancel because she was too ill. She was incredible. I would pay to go and see her again in a heartbeat. She played old and new songs, even did a Gwen Stefani mash-up and there was plenty of singing along and dancing. Steph has gone and done a sweet thing, too. She bought Hayd and Nessa tickets to one of the make-up shows because Ness missed out. My family is awesome! My first birthday back with the fam-bam in literally three years was amazing! We managed to get tickets for the local 'Tranny Bingo' or 'Naughty Numbers Bingo' night and it was an incredible show with laughter, singing, a little dancing and more outrageous jokes than I thought I could handle.
Thankyou to all those who came, and to those who got me horribly drunk, I will find a way to pay you back. Ness, Steph, Hayd and I went to Newcastle for an adventure that didn't turn out exactly as we wanted but was still something to talk about.
We signed up and paid for dinner and an interactive show called 'HogWatts' which was supposed to be a big thing. We dressed up- choices were house robes or the Yule Ball. Seeing as house robes cost about $90 per set, we wore dresses for the ball that happened to be in our closets already. First mistake, everyone else had gone with robes and we were the odd ducks out. Second mistake, booking late, we ended up on Hufflepuff table, which, on its own isn't a bad thing. Unfortunately, the four 'house tables' were crammed so close together we had to hold on to shoulders to get in and out. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were set in the middle of the old church, making it impossible for the characters walking around to get in and out, and toilet breaks were a hassle. Characters: were good, in-character, particularly the Hagrid actor, but the professors would purposely ignore Hufflepuff when we were trying to 'earn points' and favour Slytherin and Gryffindor. In the books, that wasn't the case but I'm a nerd so... moving on. Finally, the food. Considering we paid a good $30-$40 per person, we were supposed to be fed a three course share meal between the four of us. They ran out of meat. Everyone around us, literally everyone on either end of the table and on every other table had been served and finished before we got our 'first course'. We were forced to share with the couple on the other side of us as well (6x people per platter, originally meant for 3-4 people) and the gluten free people on our other side took our dessert and ate it before taking their own and eating that too. They took my FOOD! I was not in a good mood. We left and went to McDonald's where Steph almost hit a tree but that's another story. I would not recommend this event and I went on Trip Advisor to say so. How sad for them, multiple others have complained about the lack of food and character actors as well. I emailed the company to complain but had no response. On the bright side- we looked awesome and got some nice photo's together. Somewhere new! I booked tickets to a Romeo + Juliet dance party based on the soundtrack (Volume 1) of Baz Luhrmann's film. Initially, I thought it was bands performing the album, like a tribute... until I got there and saw the masses dressed up as if going to Baz's famous ball. Crazy! Absolutely crazy! Poor Ness thought we were going to an opera. Steph had never even seen the movie. Tara and Renee weren't sure what I had brought them to... The first performer out on stage was a man in a Beyonce leotard and angel wings with boots... very different! All in all, though, it was a great night out in Sydney and we all had fun. Despite email correspondence and multiple assurances, I have a gut feeling that my school sponsorship application is simply not going to happen. Unfortunately, the points system that should have been low enough to allow me immediate entry back into the UK with a job has been high-jacked by the governments preferences and apparent need for nurses and doctors. I have resolved to give it a maximum of six months of continued application then I am moving on to the next thing.... whatever that is. I was having a serious think the other day and I decided that, even though my European adventure may currently be on hold, there is no reason for me to stop exploring, particularly considering I have been reluctant in the past to discover my own area. Talking about it in the UK, I realised that, although I have travelled a lot, I still haven't dug deeply into Australia or even the Central Coast and Sydney. There is no point wasting away, pining for London when I can't do anything more than I am already doing and so I am determined to keep exploring, discovering new things and meeting new people. With that in mind, I have begun! First, there was Country in The Vines, a country music festival with some descent names, if I do say so myself- Adam Harvey, The Wolfe Bros, John Williams, who got the wobble board out for a sing-along and Lee Kernaghan, who sadly, did a shoe-y (cringe!). There was family, ice cream, a few drinks and sunshine that has been sorely missed. Next, I agreed to visit ViViD in Sydney- apparently it's a big thing that has been going on for some years! My excuse for ignorance is that I have been out of the country and no one told me. Well, Mum and Dad told me but I wasn't paying attention. Lucky me, on the way to meet the beautiful Tara, I ran into a friend on the train, was introduced to his friends and managed to keep myself occupied the entire way there. After seeing the lights, and the raging crowds, Tara and I hit up a whiskey bar tucked into a back alley- very London of her! Add to all of that, I got to go and see, for the first time, this spunk perform live. I am looking at investing in some 'We <3 Corey' shirts to wear next time. I'd be a good groupie, I think. I can't sing well but I can sing along and cheer plenty :) So, with a positive start and some good friends around, hopefully this will be the beginning of more adventures to come!
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AuthorMy home is Australia, with my family and their many, many animals. I have travelled all around the world with my family and by myself where I have made too many friends to count. Archives
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