Lunar eclipse, teaching, amazing race

1. Tonight we have been observing a lunar eclipse. Interesting in its own way and won't be seen again for another 7 years I believe. Oh well.
2. I've just completed two busy teaching days working with a group of gifted young writers aged between 8 and 13 years. It was fun, challenging and inspiring. I'll repeat the process with a new group next week.
3. Our family really enjoys the Amazing Race on television. I felt sorry for some of the competitors on tonight's show as they had to deal with airline problems which were no fault of their own and set them back half a day. I'd still like to do the race myself one day though.

Glasses, home sick, control

1. I now wear glasses for reading and computer work. I'm very happy with this turn of events as I've always rather secretly thought my face would suit glasses. The reaction from the family has been mixed, to put it politely. My husband laughed. My son looked dazed and my outspoken 9 year old daughter described them as "disgusting" or some similarly outlandish word. Friends who I showed the glasses off to described me as looking intelligent with them on. Mmmm. Not sure about the ramifications of that one. I took all this in my stride as I love them and that's that. No one else has to look at me while I'm reading or on the computer. And, obviously, my eyesight is much better with them than without them. That's a bonus.
2. My son stayed home from school today. He had quite a bad cough although he got progressively better during the day so I'm sure he'll be back at school tomorrow. I think a day of rest probably helped a lot. Several other children in his class have had a virus which results in a persistent cough but I think his is on the mend, thankfully.
3. Usually, having a child home sick from school sets my schedule right off balance and I find it hard to cope. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often as my children love school and are pretty well most of the time. Today, however, I found myself in control of the situation despite having a busy day planned. I was able to change some of my appointments very easily and my mum was happy to look after her grandson while I taught for a few hours in the morning. So, all in all, I felt very "together" about the whole thing which is happy-making.

Angry and upset, eyes, another birthday

1. I cried today. It was in anger and upset at what I considered to be an exhorbitant parking charge. The sign clearly said I would be charged $7 as long as I arrived before 10am which I did. After spending just over three hours researching in the library, I went to leave the carpark - only to be told that the charge was, in fact, $13. Surely there was some mistake? But no, I hadn't noticed the bit they'd added to the sign on Tuesday which said the $7 fee only applied to early birds who left the building after 2pm. And you're not the only one who's been complaining about it, lady! That was obviously supposed to make me feel better. It didn't. I'm still fuming and they haven't heard the last of me. I can promise you that.
2. I also had an optometrist appointment today. Not good news. However, I rather fancy the idea of adding glasses to my visage. I'm suffering from age related eyesight deficiencies which, apparently, start affecting people from around 45 years of age. On top of that, I have astigmatism in both eyes. He did explain it. So, I'll be wearing glasses for reading and computer work from this time next week. My daughter is not happy about it but I think it's cool.
3. My husband celebrates his birthday tomorrow. Well, when I say "celebrates" I mean it in the broadest sense of the word. He would rather not celebrate. But we're going out for a family game of 10 pin bowling as a happy compromise. I don't expect to do well.

Birthday, surprise, food

1. Yes, it's my birthday. I'm 48 today. It's the first birthday when I've actually felt concerned about time marching on. I certainly don't feel 48. Well, not often anyway. More like 32. I'm having some deep, personal thoughts about aging but I'm not ready to share them.
2. I had a wonderful birthday surprise today when my friend from Auckland (two hours drive away) turned up on my door step. We spent two hours together over lunch with my mum in a wonderful cafe before she had to return to her family in Auckland. It was a wonderful memory. Thank you Lynley.
3. I've enjoyed plenty of wonderful birthday food today - and the best thing about it all was that I didn't have to cook it or clean up after myself. Yay! I think that's my favourite thing about birthdays.

Power cut, writing prompt, squash

1. I came home from a teaching job to a strange power cut thingy today. Let me explain. The fridge light was dim. The computer started to make the right noises but it wouldn't come on properly. And the microwave was haunted. I went to warm up my lunch, opened the microwave door to find the glass plate inside spinning mysteriously by itself. I closed the door. It stopped. I opened it to check and it started spinning again. Some of the lights in the house worked. Some didn't. The electric kettle turned on but would only warm water, not heat it to boiling point. My cordless phone explained mysteriously that it was "out of range". I phoned my husband on the cell phone. He wasn't particularly sympathetic, just told me to calm down and turn everything off at the wall in case of a "surge". So, sadly, the afternoon was free from vacuuming, exercise videos, computer work etc. The power went off fully for about two hours. I'm not sure why. But the strange state of "half power" was spooky indeed.
2. I use a writing prompt when I work with writers in schools which always works. It reminds them of a time when they were afraid and they write about their experience. I worked with a classroom of students aged about 10-13 years old today and a couple of the boys who "hate writing" actually enjoyed the experience. I was thrilled. So was their teacher.
3. I used to write a lot on this blog about my son's squash tournaments but haven't done so for a while. He's reached a bit of a plateau at J3 - sometimes winning, sometimes not, but just hovering at that level which is fine by me. It's teaching him lots about the game etc. Tonight we were at a tournament about 45 minutes drive from our house. It was very difficult to find the squash club in question - in part due to their signage which clearly pointed with an arrow in completely the opposite direction to where the club turned out to be. Then, once we actually found the building, there was another trick. The entrance to the squash club was through the toilets and not marked at all. Very odd indeed. My son lost his game. I was glad to be out of the place.