Descend into December
I was about to sit down and write my yearly letter, but decided in order to be complete, I would firstly write about December. Then I have made it through the year of blogging!
I had a few stressful things in December that were freaking me out a bit - the Vice-Chancellor's thank you to leaders (completely planned, organised, coordinated and run by me), the annual carols (with no rehearsal as usual), the CLARA workshop, then Christmas. But they're all done now.
With the thank you event, I tried to space out all the work, but then we got an all-day event (put in at the last minute, as usual) the day before so actually the day ended up being a mad scramble. I tried to delegate some of the work but the reality was that what would've taken me an hour took them 4, so I ended up behind. I still got my admin person to buy the gifts and to do several other things. I also put together the thank you presentation on Powtoon - I love that Powtoon makes it easier for you to look semi-professional, even if your skills are appalling (as mine are). You can view it here: https://tinyurl.com/upassfeedback2018 I tried to go with a different theme, of what people want to change. Not sure it worked. But whatever... it's done.
I tried to rest for an hour and a half in the middle of the day, but because the event goes til about 7.30pm, I basically worked from 9-7.30pm, as well as the commute in. I caught an uber home because I was aware I was out of beans, but I still couldn't get out of bed the next day. The reality is that I can't work all day and plan a major event and still cope, at least at the moment. Hopefully not forever!!!!!
The CLARA workshop was stressing me out, but then I talked to my co-presenter, and realised that she was going to do pretty much all of it, except a little bit, so it was actually super fun. Still tired me out, so I went home directly after, even though it was only 2.30pm. Thankfully it was also a Friday. It was great to get to know 2 of the new leaders who I had met once before, or nonce before, because one of them was recruited by my assistant senior leader!
We have also confirmed the HELPS advisor who will be working with me next year, which was good to finalise before I went on leave. She is a super experienced teacher and has done a huge amount of scheduling and recruiting and the admin type work I have to do a lot of, so it should be fun working with her. I don't know if I'll be going on LSL in Spring - at the moment, based on my experience of being on holidays for one week now, it's unlikely. You can't really travel to another continent and only be able to do things for half days. Getting out of routine is really tiring me out.
The carols service was easier this year, because the conductor didn't randomly decide to stop the performance and fiddle with one of the instruments for 5 minutes, which required me to ad lib with Stephen, but I did rest all day to make it as it was in the evening. And I didn't help with anything except sing, which I felt bad about. I was still pretty wrecked the next day, which was unfortunately also the day before the thank you event and hence had the all day meeting.
On 2nd Dec, I made the last youth bible study of the year and played games with the teens. I have missed them so much so it was fun to see them and be silly with them. My friend Carol has done an amazing job this year with them and she also organised everything for the end of year event including secret santa. I'm hoping I'll be well enough to take over in February but I am not counting any chickens. To be honest, the next day I was pretty wrecked as well.
I didn't do much socialising this month because of all the big things, but I did have brunch with Laila on Christmas Eve, went to the church picnic lunch, had a swim with Sarah (she's leaving our church and its a bit devastating even though it's great that her husband has a ministry job in Randwick) but I missed out on eggnog with Ronelle's family. I was too sick. It was because I went to the carols at Jess's. Let me tell you about that:
My friend Jess has a house up in Maitland with a spare room, which has been a wonderful blessing to me. She also hosts Carols in the Garage for the last 3 years, but each year in the past I have been booked or busy. This year I wasn't (I have very little bookings now) but I wasn't sure as it was Friday night. My Fatigue Clinic professionals (psychologist and exercise physiologist) have been teaching me a lot about "pacing" but also making sure I wasn't becoming hermit-like because that's also going to be really hard emotionally if I can't make anything. So I thought about the stressor points and why I couldn't come. I realised that driving on Friday night (in very heavy traffic) was going to be super hard, plus my admin student decided to get another job so he could only do Tuesdays and Fridays, and so I needed to work that Friday to handover all the jobs (I wrote a lengthy email as well on Wednesday as I knew I was going to tell him a LOT of information). And I knew that in a strange bed I needed as much sleep as possible. The bed was fine as Jess had arranged a bed elsewhere, and then she helped me get a lift with a friend who was leaving on Friday afternoon. I didn't want to catch the train because getting to Maitland would take 4 hours of precious energy.
It turned out that the last week of work was uncharacteristically stressful, with a lot of politics due to staff changeover, so when Jess said the bed had fallen through, but I could sleep on the floor in the lounge room, I was like: "No, sorry. I can't come now." Jess then (EXTREMELY KINDLY) offered her bed, which meant I had a door to shut out noise, and so I was like, ok, that's lovely of you, I will come now.
Then I was at my weekly dinner with Christine and family (THE BEST) and we had a Christmas feast (THE BEST) and Jess' friend messaged to say that her car had been damaged in the hail storm (a very bad hail storm) and so she wasn't coming. Then I had no lift and I thought: "Ok, I can't go." Christine agreed. But then my friends were like: "Catch the train. I'll pick you up from Broadmeadow" and I thought I'd take my airplane cushion I bought in NZ and doze on the train. It would only be 2.75 hours to Broadmeadow (versus Maitland) and I could go straight from work. I also took all my salad ingredients for my Pad Thai salad in my big backpack, and my gifts for my friends, as well as a change of clothes and toiletries. And then one minute before I needed (really needed) to leave, one of my students walked in and said "There's this major scheduling problem". I was like "I HAVE TO GO" and I said to Adi, my student admin assistant, "Ok, here's your first challenge. Fix it. You have my mobile." Once I got to the station, I called him again to suggest another solution (combine the two classes into one session) and that's the last I heard from him. I presume it's fixed.
After all that, I got picked up by JK from the station, and we went back to her house for a bit. Once I got to Jess', I needed desperately to lie down, so JK offered to make my salad. I only came out to the carols once everyone was there. Then I loved sitting singing and listening to the carols and had a good chat to Jess' sister as well. I left the carols after the singing finished and went to bed. Jess came in and I was almost asleep already which was great.
The next day, we went to brunch at the fancy Art Gallery cafe, and wandered around the art gallery once it opened. I did less "wandering" and more "sitting" in front of the TV displays, where I learnt a bit more about JFK and this other artist who painted a picture of my friend's sister in law (Tara Moss).
After that, I got a lift back to Hornsby with Ann Marie, then caught the train and then a bus back to my car, which was still parked in my commuter spot from the day before. Not surprisingly, I had another crash after that, which meant I missed church and stayed in bed all Sunday. I was ok again Monday though.
I also wrote a post this month on being fired: https://utspeerlearning.wordpress.com/2018/12/24/so-youve-just-been-fired/ It turns out when you're sick you have more time and energy to write stuff.
Christmas was the only other thing I did this month. Mum decided that we would go to my brother's new place (they are knocking his old flat down and building better units which will be a great boon for the government because it's right next to a major shopping centre). I didn't want to go but then Mum and I talked and we drove up separately on Christmas morning. I left at 7.30 and had 2 rest stops, but it was actually really easy driving because the roads were pretty empty. I had a quick rest at my aunt's and then went to my brother's house. It's so good. His old flat was a dump, but this is modern and lovely. We waited for my sister and husband to get there and then opened presents. I was really happy with the presents I got everyone this year. And my presents were probably the best presents I have had for years. We had lunch (quite sparse because Mum only brings basic stuff) and my salad was a complete disaster because I hadn't soaked the noodles long enough. It was awful. Without the noodles, it tasted ok though.
Then I built my brother's bookcase from Ikea that I had got delivered, and went back to my aunts to rest.
The next morning I went to the pool while my aunt went and watered my cousin's garden, and then we went back to my brother's and took him some lovely extra stuff my aunt had, including serving spoons, cutlery, mugs, a gorgeous handmade rug and some linen. Now my brother has a nice place, he can have people over, but he actually needs enough to have people over! After that, it was time for another rest and I had a good nap.
Then we went to a Vietnamese place my aunt likes, which was closed (Boxing Day) and so went to Korean BBQ instead. I like Korean BBQ, but when it's 37 outside, it's probably not the best idea!! After that, we went home and I went to bed and read my Christmas present, "The Land Before Avocado" by Richard Glover. Definitely an interesting read covering some interesting Australian history with his personal witticisms. The next morning, I dropped by Therese's house and saw her for the first time in probably 14 years?! Her baby son was 16 and taller than me lol. Then I drove carefully back to Sydney and rested on the way. When I got home, I slept again and then read another Richard Glover book. He's such a good writer I laughed out loud while reading the book.
And that's December.
I had a few stressful things in December that were freaking me out a bit - the Vice-Chancellor's thank you to leaders (completely planned, organised, coordinated and run by me), the annual carols (with no rehearsal as usual), the CLARA workshop, then Christmas. But they're all done now.
With the thank you event, I tried to space out all the work, but then we got an all-day event (put in at the last minute, as usual) the day before so actually the day ended up being a mad scramble. I tried to delegate some of the work but the reality was that what would've taken me an hour took them 4, so I ended up behind. I still got my admin person to buy the gifts and to do several other things. I also put together the thank you presentation on Powtoon - I love that Powtoon makes it easier for you to look semi-professional, even if your skills are appalling (as mine are). You can view it here: https://tinyurl.com/upassfeedback2018 I tried to go with a different theme, of what people want to change. Not sure it worked. But whatever... it's done.
I tried to rest for an hour and a half in the middle of the day, but because the event goes til about 7.30pm, I basically worked from 9-7.30pm, as well as the commute in. I caught an uber home because I was aware I was out of beans, but I still couldn't get out of bed the next day. The reality is that I can't work all day and plan a major event and still cope, at least at the moment. Hopefully not forever!!!!!
The CLARA workshop was stressing me out, but then I talked to my co-presenter, and realised that she was going to do pretty much all of it, except a little bit, so it was actually super fun. Still tired me out, so I went home directly after, even though it was only 2.30pm. Thankfully it was also a Friday. It was great to get to know 2 of the new leaders who I had met once before, or nonce before, because one of them was recruited by my assistant senior leader!
We have also confirmed the HELPS advisor who will be working with me next year, which was good to finalise before I went on leave. She is a super experienced teacher and has done a huge amount of scheduling and recruiting and the admin type work I have to do a lot of, so it should be fun working with her. I don't know if I'll be going on LSL in Spring - at the moment, based on my experience of being on holidays for one week now, it's unlikely. You can't really travel to another continent and only be able to do things for half days. Getting out of routine is really tiring me out.
The carols service was easier this year, because the conductor didn't randomly decide to stop the performance and fiddle with one of the instruments for 5 minutes, which required me to ad lib with Stephen, but I did rest all day to make it as it was in the evening. And I didn't help with anything except sing, which I felt bad about. I was still pretty wrecked the next day, which was unfortunately also the day before the thank you event and hence had the all day meeting.
On 2nd Dec, I made the last youth bible study of the year and played games with the teens. I have missed them so much so it was fun to see them and be silly with them. My friend Carol has done an amazing job this year with them and she also organised everything for the end of year event including secret santa. I'm hoping I'll be well enough to take over in February but I am not counting any chickens. To be honest, the next day I was pretty wrecked as well.
I didn't do much socialising this month because of all the big things, but I did have brunch with Laila on Christmas Eve, went to the church picnic lunch, had a swim with Sarah (she's leaving our church and its a bit devastating even though it's great that her husband has a ministry job in Randwick) but I missed out on eggnog with Ronelle's family. I was too sick. It was because I went to the carols at Jess's. Let me tell you about that:
My friend Jess has a house up in Maitland with a spare room, which has been a wonderful blessing to me. She also hosts Carols in the Garage for the last 3 years, but each year in the past I have been booked or busy. This year I wasn't (I have very little bookings now) but I wasn't sure as it was Friday night. My Fatigue Clinic professionals (psychologist and exercise physiologist) have been teaching me a lot about "pacing" but also making sure I wasn't becoming hermit-like because that's also going to be really hard emotionally if I can't make anything. So I thought about the stressor points and why I couldn't come. I realised that driving on Friday night (in very heavy traffic) was going to be super hard, plus my admin student decided to get another job so he could only do Tuesdays and Fridays, and so I needed to work that Friday to handover all the jobs (I wrote a lengthy email as well on Wednesday as I knew I was going to tell him a LOT of information). And I knew that in a strange bed I needed as much sleep as possible. The bed was fine as Jess had arranged a bed elsewhere, and then she helped me get a lift with a friend who was leaving on Friday afternoon. I didn't want to catch the train because getting to Maitland would take 4 hours of precious energy.
It turned out that the last week of work was uncharacteristically stressful, with a lot of politics due to staff changeover, so when Jess said the bed had fallen through, but I could sleep on the floor in the lounge room, I was like: "No, sorry. I can't come now." Jess then (EXTREMELY KINDLY) offered her bed, which meant I had a door to shut out noise, and so I was like, ok, that's lovely of you, I will come now.
Then I was at my weekly dinner with Christine and family (THE BEST) and we had a Christmas feast (THE BEST) and Jess' friend messaged to say that her car had been damaged in the hail storm (a very bad hail storm) and so she wasn't coming. Then I had no lift and I thought: "Ok, I can't go." Christine agreed. But then my friends were like: "Catch the train. I'll pick you up from Broadmeadow" and I thought I'd take my airplane cushion I bought in NZ and doze on the train. It would only be 2.75 hours to Broadmeadow (versus Maitland) and I could go straight from work. I also took all my salad ingredients for my Pad Thai salad in my big backpack, and my gifts for my friends, as well as a change of clothes and toiletries. And then one minute before I needed (really needed) to leave, one of my students walked in and said "There's this major scheduling problem". I was like "I HAVE TO GO" and I said to Adi, my student admin assistant, "Ok, here's your first challenge. Fix it. You have my mobile." Once I got to the station, I called him again to suggest another solution (combine the two classes into one session) and that's the last I heard from him. I presume it's fixed.
After all that, I got picked up by JK from the station, and we went back to her house for a bit. Once I got to Jess', I needed desperately to lie down, so JK offered to make my salad. I only came out to the carols once everyone was there. Then I loved sitting singing and listening to the carols and had a good chat to Jess' sister as well. I left the carols after the singing finished and went to bed. Jess came in and I was almost asleep already which was great.
The next day, we went to brunch at the fancy Art Gallery cafe, and wandered around the art gallery once it opened. I did less "wandering" and more "sitting" in front of the TV displays, where I learnt a bit more about JFK and this other artist who painted a picture of my friend's sister in law (Tara Moss).
After that, I got a lift back to Hornsby with Ann Marie, then caught the train and then a bus back to my car, which was still parked in my commuter spot from the day before. Not surprisingly, I had another crash after that, which meant I missed church and stayed in bed all Sunday. I was ok again Monday though.
I also wrote a post this month on being fired: https://utspeerlearning.wordpress.com/2018/12/24/so-youve-just-been-fired/ It turns out when you're sick you have more time and energy to write stuff.
Christmas was the only other thing I did this month. Mum decided that we would go to my brother's new place (they are knocking his old flat down and building better units which will be a great boon for the government because it's right next to a major shopping centre). I didn't want to go but then Mum and I talked and we drove up separately on Christmas morning. I left at 7.30 and had 2 rest stops, but it was actually really easy driving because the roads were pretty empty. I had a quick rest at my aunt's and then went to my brother's house. It's so good. His old flat was a dump, but this is modern and lovely. We waited for my sister and husband to get there and then opened presents. I was really happy with the presents I got everyone this year. And my presents were probably the best presents I have had for years. We had lunch (quite sparse because Mum only brings basic stuff) and my salad was a complete disaster because I hadn't soaked the noodles long enough. It was awful. Without the noodles, it tasted ok though.
Then I built my brother's bookcase from Ikea that I had got delivered, and went back to my aunts to rest.
The next morning I went to the pool while my aunt went and watered my cousin's garden, and then we went back to my brother's and took him some lovely extra stuff my aunt had, including serving spoons, cutlery, mugs, a gorgeous handmade rug and some linen. Now my brother has a nice place, he can have people over, but he actually needs enough to have people over! After that, it was time for another rest and I had a good nap.
Then we went to a Vietnamese place my aunt likes, which was closed (Boxing Day) and so went to Korean BBQ instead. I like Korean BBQ, but when it's 37 outside, it's probably not the best idea!! After that, we went home and I went to bed and read my Christmas present, "The Land Before Avocado" by Richard Glover. Definitely an interesting read covering some interesting Australian history with his personal witticisms. The next morning, I dropped by Therese's house and saw her for the first time in probably 14 years?! Her baby son was 16 and taller than me lol. Then I drove carefully back to Sydney and rested on the way. When I got home, I slept again and then read another Richard Glover book. He's such a good writer I laughed out loud while reading the book.
And that's December.
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