- For the first time since I started teaching, I actually had my first day of the year at a school. I've been teaching now for about 6 years, but have never started the year at one school, especially as 'the teacher', as opposed to being a casual teacher. It's been very intense so far - what primary schools lack in HSC and career path pressure they make up for in pressure on building small children up to become capable and resilient adults. The kids I'm teaching are great, some of them are a little more special than others, but they all have the ability to become excellent people. My Year 1 are probably the toughest - it sounds a little ridiculous to say that 6 - 7 year olds are tough to teach, but these kids are off the radar. I'm working on them slowly, though... regardless of how much I yell at them in class (a lot) I still get a lot them running up to me in the playground to hug me around the knees and show me their toys and tell me their absurd stories with no point.
- Because I've started working more, I've had to cut back on other things. I quit the orchestra I was playing in, which was a really hard decision to make. It means I haven't really played much at all this year, which sucks a little, but it was definitely the right thing to do. My rehearsals were on Monday nights, which is now the night in between my two big days, and I'm finding that I get home on Mondays absolutely shattered, not mention borderline catatonic on Tuesdays. I didn't want to risk playing like crap, not to mention driving dangerously.
- I'm getting married in September (woo!) and planning is a bitch. Who the hell invented weddings? Australian comedian Tony Martin once made the comment that he eloped with his wife to Las Vegas after hearing a mate of his saying he had to miss a night out because he had to go home and discuss the colour of napkin rings for the reception. I'm starting to feel like the napkin ring discussion isn't too far off...
Anyway, that's all the main stuff of the year so far. The reason why I was motivted to finally update this again was because I met with a new specialist today and he was REALLY good. Asked all the right questions, was friendly and welcoming. It's also quite beneficial that he's also an immunology specialist. He stuck a camera up my nose and had a look around - apparently I am only utilising about 20 percent of my nasal capacity due to allergic inflammation, which may be having an adverse affect on my sleep. So I'm going to give some nasal spray gear a go for a while and see what it does. It has made me think - what if I become the first person in the world to contract narcolepsy via allergies to dust and cat hair? Stay tuned for the book release....