52 Weeks of Me: Work

 Well I am about a week behind with my 52 Weeks of Me Challenge. I started a post about work late last Friday night but it was Tuesday before I checked on the theme for the picture I should have uploaded on Saturday! As a happy result of my snowballing lifestyle, I can now put both of these incomplete posts together and bring you a real run-down on work, as I experience it!

That lunatic grin above probably resulted from the fact that I had just succeeded in catching a child who had done a runner from his classroom. Note the high flush in my heavily crevassed cheeks and the manic glint of triumph in my eye? I gotta tell you, for a 51 year old I ran like the clappers! In fact, I haven't sprinted like that since the time I tried to play rounders at school in the UK when the BA was still only about a year old. That ended badly. Recent childbirth and the attendant strain on various parts of the female anatomy do not partner well with a flat-chat sprint, a shock to one who had often represented her House at sprinting. Since then I've confined myself to gentle jogs on the treadmill and omitted jumping jacks from my workout regime.

But I digress! There's nothing like the thrill of the chase and the rush of the capture to brighten a girl's day. So, how did it happen? Well, it was like this.........

There I was, standing in the classroom as Extremely Tiny but Extremely Disturbed Boy (henceforth known as ETBED Boy) shot purposefully towards the doorway. I had thoughtfully suggested to his teacher that she lock the door as she left but had foolishly forgotten that (for OHS purposes) the bloody door opened from the inside. This fact had not escaped ETBED boy, who made a purposeful break for the exit about 2 minutes into his recess detention.
(Do not ask about why he had a recess detention. The whole thing is too hideous to repeat but involves a lot of 'I WON'T AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!!)
Knowing that I was at a make or break moment with the child and that I desperately needed to win the powerplay, I set off after him with the determination of a teacher who needs to make a point. As I barreled out  into the wet area I was a good 6 metres behind him but I pumped my arms and, doing my best impression of Cathy Freeman, I found myself gaining on him. As we shot through the side entrance door into a narrow race formed by the playground fence I was almost upon him; but knew I had to get him before we reached the open space of the playground. We skidded around the corner like  Coyote and the Roadrunner and, lunging forward, I brushed the collar of his shirt with my outstretched fingers. They closed on thin air! Fortunately, he felt me hot on his heels and changed tack. He stopped abruptly and latched himself onto the fence with a face that said 'I shall not be moved'.

I practically fell over him, so quick was his strategy change! Breathing heavily and trying to sound light hearted, I prised his fingers off the fence and carted him back to the classroom to serve the rest of his 'sentence'.

It all worked out ok in the end but boy oh boy could I feel my calf muscles for the rest of the day!!


Never a dull moment.