Mother's day: Farewell 09

*No sofas were vaulted in the taking of this picture.

I must say if I were going to choose a way to spend Mother's Day it would not be seeing my mother (and father) off at the airport*. They are heading back to the UK for the summer and will not be back until after Christmas. *sigh*
Still, the BA and I spent the day at Ikea doing retail therapy which was a very nice Mother's Day thing indeed. Here's one of our frivolous comfort purchases.

Hallelujah! A Classroom Miracle

I had a good lesson with Year 10.

This is itself is a miracle but add into the mix the fact that it was a Monday AFTERNOON lesson and the ridiculously unlikely nature of the event becomes more apparent.

Further add the fact that the topic was Trigonometry and that one week ago I knew next to nothing about the subject and it becomes obvious that there has been Divine Intervention.

Oh, and I made them follow a seating plan.

Actually, maybe that was the key?

Many of you who know me in real life will recall that of all my academic strengths, Maths was actually the most problematic. Well, maybe it was Physics...although it was Chemistry that I bombed out in at the exams....

Whatever.

That fact is that I was a 'problem maths student' all the way through school and only focused on the sciences at matric at the suggestion/insistence of my father. I drove my maths teacher mad. I asked questions ALL the time. "What do you mean imaginary numbers?"I exclaimed," we don't have enough numbers already but you go and have to make some more up?????"
She called me 'PigPen' because she said I spread my mess all around me. When I didn't understand, I doodled. Eyes mostly. With long lashes. I still have the folders with the evidence.
Every time I look at those folders and think..."they've got to go"......I look inside at the pages and pages of equations which, in 2009, mean absolutely. nothing. to. me. and I can't bear to throw them out. I mean, I used to know that stuff! Look at that clever stuff I did!!!!

That was 30 years ago. This year, teaching mainstream Y10 maths for the first time, I knew Trig was coming up and only vaguely remembered the words sin, cos and tan. "But it will come back to me," I thought, "after all, algebra did." Last Sunday night however, I experienced severe panic as I read through the next chapter of the text book and realised that I had no clue on earth what the authors were talking about. Himself thought it was hilarious.

But never fear, oh ye of little faith! I did do this stuff once and I'm sure all I need do is ask my Maths teacher guru boss when I get in to school. Just give me a brief history of Trig please mate......

Are you beginning to see why Monday afternoon was such a miracle?

So why, I hear you ask, is such an incompetent being allowed to teach maths to our preshus chiddlers?????? Well that's easy. No one else wants to take the bottom classes.

However I am happy to report that it is all coming back to me, thankfully at a slightly faster rate than it is coming to my class. We must be doing ok because Monday afternoon was a remarkable work-fest with minimal incidence of arguing, ipod fiddling or 'what do we need this for'ness. I do have to admit though, that two of my main protagonists were away :-(

Wish me luck for tomorrow. With a bit of luck they'll all bring a scientific calculator.
*cynical grimace*



image credit

Happy Birthday BA: Fourteen

May the 8th marks the anniversary of VE Day, the sale of the first glass of Coca Cola and the birth of the Baby Angel.

There has been much build up to this year's event as, at 14, kids are legally allowed to find part time jobs and, in this family, have their ears pierced :-(. I made that rash promise years ago when she first asked and, at the time, 14 seemed like a lifetime away.

But here we are. Fourteen at last. Her big present was much anticipated indeed; on Thursday night we went to see the big arena production of 'Phantom of the Opera'!!!!

The BA's journey with the Phantom started many years ago. I once bought her a little music box which played 'Music of the Night'; I think she was 7. Later, the Bestie introduced her to the film version and eventually, last year, her dad took her to the theatrical production in Sydney. She was smitten.

When Prof J asked us late last year if we would like to make up a group to see the Opening Night performance here in Adelaide, we couldn't say yes fast enough. I must admit I was slightly less excited than the BA. I had seen it once before in the UK and was a little underwhelmed after all the hype but I was willing to have a second look.

Well! What a phenomenal performance! We saw Anthony Warlow and Ana Marina (pictured) in a spectacular which made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. From the moment the chandelier lit up amongst showering Roman Candles and was lifted upwards towards the ceiling accompanied by the thundering chords of the 'Phantom' theme, I was hooked. Warlow's voice was sublime and his performance tormented. The staging was breathtaking and complemented by the massive dual screens on either side of the stage, enabling you to see the faces of the performers, close-up.

The BA was simultaneously captivated, moved and overwhelmed . She wept at the finale and left the theatre aglow, agog and outrageously happy. And then it hit me like a lightbulb going on over my head. Her cake this year would have a 'Phantom' theme.

This had been giving me trouble for a few weeks now. Each year I do a cake for her birthday (and latterly for the Small Boy's) and it is part of the birthday ritual to choose the cake and for me to interpret it somehow. Last year was a star from the sidewalk at Grauman's Chinese restaurant, Hollywood; previously she has had an ipod cake, an X-Men cake, a Treasure Island cake, a Scooby Doo cake and a Monster's Inc cake. After initially finding instructions in cake books, nowadays I mostly make them up. I usually find a picture and try and to carve the cake into approximately the shape required, then use roll-out icing to create the features and details. Generally I am fairly pleased with the result.

This year was different. After struggling for a theme (the BA was less than helpful) the Phantom came to me on the night before her birthday! As you can imagine it did not leave me much time!

Now, had I had sufficient time and the brilliant idea about a week earlier, I could have produced something like

this


or this

for her birthday cake.

Instead, she had to make do with this. It didn't quite go as I'd planned and of course I'd left it all too late to try again or do anything else. Oh well, she was a good sport and told me it was great and dutifully blew out her candles. Well, she actually only pretended to blow them out as she had a shocking cough and didn't want to breathe her germs all over the cake!

Fourteen marks the beginning of a seven year cycle for the Baby Angel. At seven she was wrested from her comfortable existence in the UK and whisked halfway around the world to a new life in Australia.

I wonder what the next seven years have in store for us?

Whatever. I'm up for it.

Theme Thursday: Love

December 2007

Got an image of 'Love' to share? Click over to Cheese Party and check out the 'cheese' :-)

Parental Instruction: Responding To Cries of Alarm

Just a quick note to parents.

When your irate child TEXTS you from school (during lessons I might add) to complain that their ipod has been confiscated, possibly until the end of term, do NOT immediately phone the school demanding an explanation. Instead reply in text that said child should not be using a phone during lessons, that she can tell you the story at home tonight over dinner and, should you find there to be any inequity, you will contact the school at your convenience the next day.

This may cost you a bit in text charges but reeaally!

The parent in question turned out to be quite reasonable when he phoned the school to find out what the story was. He also agreed that she had been doing the wrong thing and she would have to take the consequences BUT my problem was with his immediate response.

What message are we giving our teenagers when we respond to their ipod angst as if it were a life threatening situation?

What are we reinforcing about the use of phones in class?

Generation Y needs a healthy dose of 'reality check' as far as I am concerned. Life can go on without mp3 players and mobile phones.

"But we'll be raped!" shrieks one of my (more hysterical) Care Group members.

You will be raped anyway kid. Mobile phones do not deter rapists. Should you be confronted by an attacker, your phone is unlikely to get you assistance in enough time to prevent the attack. Nor will it help in a mugging where it is, most likely, the intended loot.

Also parents, if your school has laid down a policy of 'no phones/ipods' in class and after many day/week long confiscations has implemented an 'end of term' confiscation.....suck it up.

And please. Oh please. Do not simply go out and buy your kid another one :-(

Life Whilst Not Posting

This is the centre of my life at the moment. This is why I haven't been regaling you with witty, insightful posts; creasing you up with hilarious stories of my attempts to impart algebra to the heathens; uploading pictures of my beautiful daughter or dropping pearls of wisdom on the perils of parenting the Y Generation.

This is my raison d'etre for the 1st- 6th May. Actually, it doesn't look that full considering the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into it.


Let me share with you the before shots. Observe, behind our shed. Did you catch that? No? Here, have a closer look.


And here is the after......Well done Husband!

But I was working too....

Here is the newly cleaned out compost heap which had 'grown' over that pile of bricks and extended out past the steps. I informed Himself that if he ever dumped grass clippings over a pile of bricks again I would introduce him to a brick at slightly closer quarters!!!!

Himself did work very hard though, including clearing a rubbish bin load of bark and twigs off these steps.
The next job we are tackling is the BA's bedroom. I don't think it will be finished in time for her birthday on Friday (14!!!! augh!!) but we have made inroads. At least she can get to her bed now and fit her knees under her desk :-) More photos of that when I have some 'afters'.

I am really aware that I posted some 'befores' of the 'Guest Room' (which was the bedroom of No2 Son before we did it up), and then never got final pix of it posted before he moved back in and started to trash it again :-(

Hopefully the BA's room will become a finished project before she starts to work her 14 year old magic on it again :-)

Theme Thursday: Perseverance

Up and over Boy Z! This young man was determined to get over this log by whatever means possible. That's 'Perseverance'.

Have you got a photo that exemplifies 'Perseverance'? Head over to AmyJo's and leave a link on Theme Thursday. Have a look at everyone elses' interpretation of the Theme while you're there.