Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Sleepovers

This was a sleepover weekend. My younger girls came Friday night (3 of them, all sisters) and the older girls came Sunday night (7 of them). Thanks to a long weekend, I could do both sleepovers and free up the rest of the weekends. I also took Friday and Tuesday (today) off to prepare and recover (and to do homework; I think reading a page counts, right?). It was also a chance to rest from the stress of work lately and prepare for the upcoming madness.

The sleepovers went will. With the little girls (grades 4-8) we mostly laughed a lot and danced around the living room to the songs on the 4th Ice Age movie (except the oldest didn't dance, either because she's too cool or she was tired from band trip) and they went to sleep before midnight.

The older ones are louder of course. They need to remember that there are other people in the building. We watched some movies and went for a walk, ending up at the playground. It's a well equipped playground (with a lot of spinning things to make kids sick) and it was late so there weren't many kids there. They love the playground. For supper they had kids' meals from Boston Pizza (it was the only way to get an all cheese pizza) and they loved that too. They aren't  quite as grown up as they think they are. Some time after 1:00 I got them settled down and put on Pride and Prejudice. They were asleep by 2. In the morning they were sluggish until I told them that there were mini boxes of cereal for breakfast. I've never seen anyone get up and to the table so fast!

It was a really good weekend. I was able to relax and (mostly) for get about work and have some fun. Now I'm feeling better about going back to work tomorrow, way better than I have in weeks.

Saturday, 18 May 2013

Moving

We moved to the new centre on Wednesday. I'm very, very, very happy to be moved. It was lovely on Thursday to walk into work and it was so quiet, so peaceful. There was no lawyer, no lawyer's people or receptionist (although the current one is nice), and no lawyer's incense (that's what makes me happiest).

The moving part was somewhat stressful. I clashed with one of the head office people over packing and unpacking. We can both be control freaks, only I tend to be more relaxed and don't show my control issues at work very much. For moving though: I wanted things packed a certain way so that I could unpack more easily. I was trying to keep as organized as possible. Then, when unpacking, I was trying to stay as organized as possible. I also had ideas about how to set things up (there were fewer issues here as she wasn't part of it and the others either agreed, helped decide when I wasn't sure, or let me try my way and then saw that it worked pretty well; after all, I spent weeks dreaming about this). Anyway, this other person is used to being in control and I think that finding me insisting on overseeing stuff and not backing down surprised her. I know it upset her. I tried to be as diplomatic as possible, but it's a challenge with someone who is used being in charge and suddenly isn't.

Plus, there was the regular stress of moving: days spent packing (and not getting other work done) and then unpacking (and trying to get other work done). I ended up very, very tired and stressed and gave up on finishing stuff. Thursday I did my best and then left. I'm off until Wednesday. I'm not sure that taking a couple days off right after moving when things aren't really settled at work was the best idea, but I already had plans for the weekend (and we were supposed to be moving a couple weeks ago). At the same time, I really, really need the break.

The new centre...it's bigger than the old one. My office is way bigger. In the old one, after 3 people it felt crowded. In the new one, I can fit at least twice that. The teaching area has 2 more tables than the old one and it still isn't as crowded. I have a little alcove that we're not really using yet (it has a computer table, but no computer so far). There's also a large storage room that is big enough to double for a staff area (for coats, fridge, microwave, etc.). The whole centre is really, really nice, and new, and clean, and it makes me very happy.