Hello. I'm aware it's been a while. I am slowly coming up to the surface after moderation month. Last year was the first time I had done it and I wasn't prepared for the fact it would be a month of absolutely no fun, drowning in a sea of paper and videos and mopping up the mess of other drama teachers. This year I was more prepared but I was not ready for the fact that my school plonked report deadline day on exactly the same day as the moderation deadline. How the hell did that happen? My feet haven't touched the ground. I have been saving time by prepping reports in my dreams (yes really) and then just typing them up when I woke up and with five days to go I have half a centre left for moderating and 38 reports left to write. Believe me, considering where I was this time last week, that is a happy place to be.
I'm not whinging I promise. There have been times in the last month when I have thought if I watch one more video of one more class exploring 'Blood Brothers' I may do myself or my TV some harm. I do love it though, otherwise I wouldn't do it. However, I have been hanging out for it to be over and for me to get my life back.
So I went out last night. My BFF and I wandered up to a local pub for dinner. We made a strategic decision not to go into town so that there was no late night option. Over the years we have learnt that it is important to plan against drunken foolish decisions before one is drunken and foolish. How then did I end up head first in a bush somewhere around the Ridgeway at 1.30am this morning? I blame the council. All the bloody streetlights were out and what with the Ridgeway being a bit of a curly road it is easy to get disorientated and stray from the path, over a wall and into someone's front garden. Thank the Lord that (a) it was dark and (b) I don't teach in St. Albans anymore so can revel in this dreadful behaviour without the risk of being caught by pupils or worse still parents of pupils that you then have to try and convince you are actually a civilised professional instead of a drunken scumbag at the next parents' evening.
I had a moment of clarity as I realised I was too drunk to pull myself straight out of the flowerbed last night and instead had to drag myself back over the wall. If I have a lot more free time now that examinations and moderation have finished I may find myself stuck in a bush (stop it you filthy minded lot) more often. That's not necessarily a good thing. I'm going to give myself the benefit of the doubt and assume that my quiet-night-out turning into raucous debauchery last night was just a release of the stress I have been under for the last few weeks. Just in case though, I've decided to keep myself busy for another couple of years and today have signed up to do an MA starting in September. It could be a slightly knee-jerk hangover reaction but I think it is better for my family and the residents of Marshalswick in general if I keep myself busy and out of trouble.
Surely with two degrees I am bound to then be grown up and sensible. We live in hope. I will keep you posted.
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