I have received my P45 and am officially no longer a teacher. I am a writer, I have written my first book, and am planning my second. I am looking for an agent, a publisher and a deal. I am trying new things (blog), doing some self promotion (Twitter), and so last night decided that it was time to unveil the new me and my blog on Facebook. And my lovely friends and family showered me with love and kindness, and made me cry with words of encouragement. So smiley face and monkey hands to you all, you lovely people!
I received an unexpected phonecall from T at lunchtime. She has been rubbish at phoning me since she went to Uni, and I am hoping that it is because she is so busy being wild and bohemian, rather than because the sound of my voice might reduce her to tears because she cannot live without me.
"so", (she starts every sentence with so, and a month living in Yorkshire has not yet knocked that out of her. I live in hope.... )
"I have this random money that's appeared in my bank account".
"That's your student finance. You need to use it to pay your accommodation."
"No, I went to accommodation and they didn't even know why it was there."
"That's because they didn't put it there. You have to pay THEM with IT."
She said she had to go, because I was triggering her (I think that just means talking to her), and she needed to get lunch. She called me back later, and I had an awful feeling that she was going to tell me that she had spent most of the random money on high heels and Mac lipstick, but she is smarter than I realised. So now she is all paid up and legal, and no doubt won't call me again until the next crisis.
At home time, I got a phone call from a sad sounding L, asking me to pick her up in the car this afternoon because she was much too tired for walking. Autumn is definitely here and there is a chill in the air. My bare legs are a definite no no for walking, and unable to face the prospect of trying to find a pair of tights for the first time this year, I decided that taking the car to collect her was actually a good idea.
Tomorrow I will wear jeans, as I must NOT get out of the walking habit. And I also need to count how many cans and bottles there are in the bushes between the cycle path and the fire station. Last week in the space of 48 hours, there was an increase of 20, up to 98, and it's a really short distance. I am not usually in the habit of counting rubbish, but as a consequence of my new life, I now have time to notice and reflect on things around me. Zombie no more!
Every day I get to the path and remember that I meant to bring a bag to collect up the litter. Maybe tomorrow! Mr C says I need to also take protective gloves, which makes me wonder if any of them might have wee in them, and suddenly my good citizen halo disappears. They do bother me though, so one day I might get round to doing something about it. Northampton Council obviously have more important things on their minds.
I drove up to the school and L sighed as she got into the car, so I guessed it must have been a hard day. I asked her what she had been up to.
"Couples yoga", she replied.
I quite like the idea of that. It sounds like what we used to call helicopters, where my big brother would lay on the floor with his legs in the air, and I balanced on them. I wish I still had people strong enough to play helicopters with me! Think my brother secretly struggled even when I was 6 and he was 17.
L does such lovely things at school and I am really quite envious of her life, although I know that it will all change very soon. She hasn't yet discovered boys, or at least she knows they exist, but doesn't see the attraction, with the exception of Zac Efron. He first entered her life when she was 3, and I took her to the cinema to watch High School Musical 3. She sobbed so hard when he got upset in the film that I had to take her to the toilet until she calmed down because nobody else could hear the singing. I was duty bound to tell her that no boy will ever live up to Troy, and that in real life she shouldn't expect them to, because that way disappointment lies. Hoping she is sufficiently prepared for what's to come.
We are off to Slimming World tonight. Mr C will once again don his Summer shorts, because they are what he always wears for the weigh in, and he cannot risk wearing heavier garments which might skew his stats. Will give progress or otherwise report tomorrow. Fingers crossed.....
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