Chilling

Ooops, it seems to be rather a while since I updated. In fact, last time I was on holiday. That's aaaages ago.

Well, since then, my dad came to visit, and we went to the seaside.

The seagulls looked very content sitting on a long line of posts, so I took a photo.

Work was very busy - there were lots of things to get through before the holidays, and I think we just about managed it. We broke up for Easter on Thursday afternoon, and in the evening I drove up to Durham to Sam's parents' house, pausing in Cambridge to pick Sam up.

The break in the North East was relaxing. We did lots of walking, and a little bit of shopping, and ate very well. We headed back south on Monday morning, listening to Classic FM's annual Hall of Fame countdown on the way (all the pieces I voted for made it into the top hundred, but none were in the top ten). My mum provided yummy lunch, and then we continued south, having acquired an Alistair for a few days.

The subject of teachers' holidays rears its ugly head with startling frequency. I feel that I'm well paid for what I do, but even with more money I wouldn't want to work many more weeks of the year in the classroom - I find term time very intense and love having the chance to recharge my batteries and catch up on housework. I'm thinking of applying for non-teaching jobs, and lots of people have asked how I would cope with the dramatic drop in holiday. Everyone I know who has left teaching for a "normal" job has found that the flexibility makes up for it, and I get the feeling that if I didn't spend every working day managing the learning and behaviour of 25 or more kids for five hours, I might have a little more energy in the evenings to keep on top of all those things that get left until half term now. Besides, I'm becoming more inclined to say to anyone who complains about the holiday I get that if they want to retrain as teachers the government is crying out for new recruits - people often lose interest in the argument at that point :-)

The inflexibility of my holiday means that there are things I *have* to get done in the next couple of weeks, because otherwise they'll have to wait until late May. So this morning, I ordered myself a new laptop, as a birthday treat to myself. Here's hoping it arrives promptly before I'm back at work. Maybe I'll blog more frequently once it arrives.