Catching my breath...

So, the autumn term is nearly over and I can't say I'm not glad- it's always the longest (and hardest) of terms. The darkening days, the stress of Year 11 preparing for their mocks, kids getting hyper at the mere whiff of Christmas and the fact that the staffroom is bitterly cold don't help. Anyway. I've decided to have a marking blitz this weekend and so have a restful Christmas break. I've not managed to do as much knitting/reading/baking over the past few weeks as I would like, so I want a complete wind down.

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year- last year I was a bit ill and down and this year I'm much more positive. The festivities kicked off on Tuesday, when I hosted a Christmas pub quiz, which despite the lame heckling attempts, went rather well. Then on Wednesday it was the SnB Christmas party. This year, for the first time, I organised it. It was great and I had a fantastic time. I also got some lovely sock yarn in the Secret Santa, hurrah!

Ophelia has settled in... she has a habit of following either myself or Bronte (although Bronts is not thrilled by this) I think she thinks we are rabbits. She is lovely and very easy to live with- not a chewed skirting board in sight!

So this next week, I intend to get all my admin done, sleep and look forward to the 18th when school finishes!

Meet Ophelia!

ophelia5
Originally uploaded by Brighton Belle

Long time no post, but just thought I should share a picture of my new rabbit :)

My cat is giving me evils...

...well, we did de-flea her about 20 minutes ago and she's refusing to have anything to do with either of us. Literally, we're getting the cold shoulder at the minute. If she will insist on going out though..

I think the meds have kicked into gear again; I'm more positive and less stressed- even getting up this morning in near-pitch-black-ness didn't get me down. I'm taking everything in my stride and, whilst I wish I didn't have to rely on the tablets, at least I'm a functioning human being. I've been getting a lift to and from work too, which is probably helping loads in that area.

Talking of functioning, I've been knitting up a storm; a surprise for a swap I'm participating in and Colonnade from Knitty. It's unusual for me to have two projects that I'm working on simultaneously. I'm pleased with the progress in both, but I have to stop the total perfectionism from ruining items that are, really, OK.

Bunny planning is going well, I've picked out a hutch, researched all the bits and pieces and getting everything ready. The only problem is, I lost my debit card last week, so I can't buy anything :( I'm an idiot, but at least it means I'll have to wait til payday on Friday!

Woo-hoo!

My article about Irish women's role in the independence struggle is going to be published! :D I can't believe that it's actually going to be printed, I spent so long writing it.

Also, in other news, I went to pick my rabbit yesterday! I picked the runt of the litter who is mostly brown with odd splodges of white. He/she arrives on November 14th. Benn is still being Mr Indifferent about it all, but those baby rabbits were SO CUTE, I think he will fall in love. Eventually.

Also, we went to a paella night last night and this morning I remembered why I don't drink. Let's just say that I've discovered how evil gin is and I don't want to revisit it any time soon.

Autumn

So today really feels like autumn has hit and I'm loving it. It's getting dark out, the wind is howling and I just cooked roast chicken and vegetables for the first time in months. Lovely. It also means I can now justifiably wear hats and scarves :)

In other news, I'm back on the meds :( I have been for about two weeks and things are much better. If I'm honest, I just wasn't coping very well with being back at school and it was the sensible option. I'm not thrilled, but I'll deal with it. The upshot of going back on them has been some *very* vivid dreams, which stay with me for whole days. I'm keeping track of them in my (sometime) journal.

I've also persuaded Benn to let me get a rabbit! I've wanted a house rabbit forever, so I'm planning on putting a deposit down on a chocolate otter mini lop. The vet said, rather ominously, that Bronts and the bunny will get on rather well as "The rabbit always wins..." The rabbit will live in the sheltered part of our garden, but will come into the house when I'm home. I can't wait. I'll post pics asap.

I need to catch up with emails and letter writing- the last two weeks have been...odd, to say the least, for obvious reasons.

New (academic) Year Resolutions

So, school started today and I've decided to make some positive changes. September is a good time to change things and lay down the ground work for semi-hibernation. My plans are as follows:

1) I am going to grow my hair a little.
2) I will try (for the next week to start with at least!) to not buy anything that is not essential. I have had a bit of a splurge recently and I want to try to rein it in a bit. I hope that this way will mean stash yarn will be knitted and my ever growing book collection will be read.
3) I will be finishing things! February Lady Sweater, socks, Hypoteneuse, that article...
4) I will take care of myself. It's almost a year since my health went a bit skewiff. I don't want to go back to that. So I'll take time to do things, eat well and sleep. I've started using Lush hair and skin products to look after the outside as well as the inside :)

I really shouldn't...

...write when I'm tired. But I can't help it. I've been working on my Irish women article for an actual magazine for a while now. I've had some inspiration and have been pootling merrily along, trying not to completely plagerise the books I've been using and then it hits me.

This article is probably rubbish.

The little demon of doubt comes into my head and goes "but should you just focus on this area? Won't it be rubbish if you go on? How can you go on? Aren't you jumping from paragraph to paragraph? Call yourself an English teacher with THAT grammar? Oooh, do you think someone will sue you for this article? Are you ripping off someone else's ideas?" (Actually- the answer to the last two is no.)

*Head/desk*

And then, I'm not helping myself by realising that if you go on Ravelry and look up 'yarn', the first listings of a particular type are ones available for trade/sell. Let's just say I'm obviously helping an economy somewhere with that one.

I should go to bed. Even the cat is snoring.