You won’t believe it but I have been sitting down to write parts of this blog for the past week and a half… each time writing something down, going away, coming back again, and deleting it, in order to begin again.
Good news first!
So since I last wrote both Ciara and Lisa have now got engaged; both within 3 weeks of each other. This is obviously very exciting news but also absolutely terrifying! How the hell are my two sisters engaged? It only feels like yesterday we were dancing around in the living room, singing to S Club 7 and holding mum’s hand as she walked us to and from school. Now they are there, with their own houses, and both with a ring on their finger, and a wedding to plan; absolute madness! Obviously, I am so pleased for them, and so delighted that they have found two genuinely lovely guys in Dave and Drew. They’ve come into the family so seamlessly, they’re down for a laugh or a chat, but most importantly they make two of the most important people in my life happy. That to me is the best reason to keep them around 🙂 Bring on the big days; what a couple of excellent parties they will be!
Next up, and perhaps not as grand as the engagements, but I have finished six new books since the last time I wrote a blog; very proud of myself. Granted, I’ve not read a book since returning to school but I have returned to Audible once again and have finished the books I had going on there- yippee! There was not a better sense of achievement this summer (other than surviving being a bridesmaid, not knowing anyone, leaving me feeling quite anxious, and not tripping over my dress down the aisle – yippee!)
Academic year number 6 (!) has begun, and WOW hasn’t it been full on!? Year 6 is definitely a new experience, and what has come along already (both inside and outside the classroom) has knocked me down, shaken me, and then picked me up again all in the space of 6 weeks.
Remember that old saying that everything comes in threes? Yeah that has been the story of September, but triple that. My Year 6 team and I are exhausted (Well… I am and I think they are pretty tired too?), but bloody hell I’m proud of us for getting here- we’re still standing, and I am amazed with how far one can go on little sleep, late working, rushed lunches, adults down, and just the overall life admin that comes hand in hand with the profession we have chosen to work in.
I try to show I am grateful for everything they do for me (and they do A LOT!) and I know I have said this before, but I genuinely wouldn’t know what I would have done without them this month. It’s been tough, and I’m pretty sure I’ve been a nightmare to be around sometimes, but there’s a light now, and we’re coming out the other side. Onwards and upwards… I hope!
What gets you through?
For me, it’s music, sport and watching TV programmes (or re-watching in some cases). Katie and I went to see McFly a couple of weeks ago, and it was something I didn’t realise I needed until I was there, standing in Wembley Arena listening to the opening of ‘Star Girl’ and just grinning ear to ear. The feeling of live music; very few things compare to it. The atmosphere was insane and there was nothing more I needed in that moment than good old live music and the escapism from the everyday life norms.
Funnily enough I’ve just been watching the London Marathon, and a father who set up a charity (Kiyan Prince Foundation) in memory of his son who was stabbed to death at 15, hit the nail on the head really about what sport means to a lot of people: “Sport is what life is about; supporting, encouraging and helping each other”. If nothing else, going out for a run with friends, or even just a walk can make a day, which started out badly or not as planned, so much better and the problems you feel are overwhelming, suddenly more manageable. In life we try to support the others around us, we encourage them to aim higher and help them to achieve their potential (well that’s teaching anyway) and so sport links so well to that and by doing that little bit often enough can make a huge difference not only to our physical health but our emotional, social and mental health too. I won’t bang on too much about this… I know I have done a lot in the past already!
Finally, there’s TV. I drive my sisters crazy a lot of the time when they ask me what I am watching, or listening to, and I tell them I’ve started watching something I have watched many times before or listened to a million times. But I don’t know about you but doing these things not only make me happy, because I know how much I loved them the first time around, but more importantly they give me a great escape, and make me feel safe (maybe because I know what’s coming?). This is not to say I just watch the same thing over and over again as I have demonstrated when writing before, but sometimes there is nothing better than sitting back and mindlessly watching your favourite episodes of a series you have seen plenty of times before without the guilt of not fully concentrating, or the stress of needing to understand what the hell is going on. Saying this, I am almost at the end of Series 3 of ‘Sex Education’, and will soon be moving onto ‘Clickbait’ before the newest series of ‘You’ returns next week; so bloody excited!
There we have it, perhaps the 4th draft of this particular blog and hopefully the final one.
See you next month, probably 😀
Sinead x
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