Bus Shelter

OK folks, here is the news - I GOT ON A BUS TODAY!

This may not be earth-shattering news to many, but I have a long history of fear of buses in particular and public transport in general. I've got off buses and walked 6 miles in the snow rather than get on another one, had to get off to be sick through panic and fear (then the Wonderspouse had to persuade the driver I wasn't drunk and he should let me get back on - or we'd have faced a £50 taxi to get home), I've clawed at train doors in my panic to get off and collapsed onto the floor and had to be rescued by kindly members of the public, and even now, going on a bus takes up more energy for me than it does for most people.

But my ankle hurt a lot. I was too exhausted to finish my lesson plan last night. My bag was seriously heavy. So I got a bus into college this morning.

I was typing away by 8.15. Then making overhead projector slides (yes, college is still on OHPs), then observing my first colleague teaching, then doing teaching myself, then observing my other colleagues.

It went OK. I did a bit too much teacher talk. I was slightly bamboozled by the silence between activities as the students waited patiently for the next instructions (getting kids to be that silent is much more difficult). I forgot to mark the stresses on my words in a different colour board pen. But in general it was good. I'm teaching again next Wednesday and Friday, so can address all those things then.

After teaching we had to self-evaluate then had a mammoth feedback session, so total work time (without a break - too busy) was 8.15 to 1.30, after which I walked back to Scharwenka's house (going as gently on the ankle as possible, so taking it slightly slower), where I was greeted with a seriously delicious portion of this pie. I was too tired to do anything brain-orientated so we played with Scharwenka's "new" leaf hoover (which he "inherited" from his son) in the garden, and then surfed an online "specs by post" website - I'm pondering trying some sort of bifocals, since I can no longer read sensibly with my specs on and copying from a whiteboard is a total nightmare. Scharwenka also took my blood pressure on his home machine - it's still up, which probably explains the low-level persistent headache that seems to be following me around at the moment.

The Wonderspouse arrived and we went to Sainsbury's to do the shopping - I managed to resist some very good looking cakes that were staring at me - before getting back home.

It was dark when we got home, and pretty much still dark (headlamps required) when we left. It's getting colder and more wintery every day. I'm just hoping it won't be such a bad one as last year - I can't miss college or I fail the course, we want to be able to get to Devon to see MiL and help FiL whenever necessary, and my own health relies on being able to get out of the house and get proper daylight and exercise (I used to have a treadmill, which was good, but it's broken and I can't afford to get it repaired).

*****

I'm actually typing this up on Saturday morning - much too tired to do it last night. Report is that my weight is now stubbornly stuck at 15 stone 6, where it's been for the last month. Apparently the only thing that actually loses me weight is swimming - walking 21 miles a week doesn't work. Grrr! The Wonderspouse (who's good at silver linings) did at least point out that it hasn't actually gone up again!

And now I have to juggle exam revision, CELTA written assignment, 2 lessons to prepare, housework (we're running out of clothes), and goodness knows what else (I daren't look), all while worn out and with a headache. Just NO slack in the system at the moment - usually I would eat to get through it or buy something, but with weight and blood pressure to consider and too much negative money in the bank, even those aren't really options.

Feeling a bit sorry for myself this morning. But at least breakfast is now ready, so that should make things feel a bit better!