Friday Five - Things about me

I've had a rather big day today, I mean I had to get up at 6:30am!  Now I know for working people (and my mum and dad, and my brother) that this is quite late, but for us, well it was quite a challenge.  Today I went into my work to see my kid's assembly.  Kids you say?  Yep I have had for the past eight years, thirty kids.  Thirty kids in my class that is!   This week's Friday Five is not about my baby, or my brother, or my husband, what I've baked, or my latest scrapbook layouts, or where we've been on holiday but about me - five things about me.  Not that those aren't great things to blog about, must remember that for the future.




1.  I'm a teacher.  For the past four years I've taught seven and eight year olds in a school in London.  I love my job because I get to make a difference in their lives (well hopefully).  I really love teaching History and Design Technology.  Before I taught in London I taught eleven and twelve year olds in New Zealand, quite a different story to the younger ones!  I have a funny story about one of my students, lets call him Steve.  Steve had a habit of saying what he thought out loud without thinking about he consequences.  One day I came to school looking particularly rough, I'd had a cold and was very tired, and I had no make up on.  Steve asked me (very innocently)   Miss C, why have you got pen marks under your eyes?  I raced next door to the mirror to check, and what did I see, just my dark circles!  I made sure I was wearing make up the next day!

2.  I like old school crime novels.  My favourite series is Agatha Christie's Poirot, and I'm also partial to the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters, and the Alphabet series by Sue Grafton.  I like these books because while you have to think about 'whodunit' there isn't too much gore or scary things, I'm not a fan of scary things.  I also looooove Poirot on TV, there is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Any by Poirot I mean David Suchet, not that Peter Ustinov guy!

3.  I spend far too much time on the internet.  Now this is probably to be expected, I mean I (try to regularly) write a blog, but there's so much more than that!  I read lots of blogs, food blogs, mum blogs, scrapbooking blogs, photography blogs and travel blogs.  I also tweet, check three email accounts, read two New Zealand newspapers, spend far far too much time catching up with friends stalking people on Facebook, and then there's my Cityville game, and people.com.  Sad, sad, sad.

3.  I quite like the idea of gardening but never really get round to doing much.  I'd much rather leave that to Andrew, he used to be a gardener in a former life so is much better qualified, and then I don't have to get dirty!  When I do garden however, it seems to be the destructive type.  I'm quite good and pulling out things, or cutting things back, but I certainly don't like cleaning up the mess, that's a boys job!

4.  I played football/soccer for nine years.  From 1994 to 2004 I played soccer in New Zealand.  I started off as a goal keeper, and then moved up to right defender and finally ended up as right midfield.  During my first two years we lost every single game, talk about character building.  During the five years I played in the field I scored two goals, yep only two goals.  I'm sure I helped set up a lot and save a few even.  When we moved to the UK in 2005 I was sure I'd be able to find a team here, it is the home of football!  But no, it wasn't too be, there was no team in my area.  Never mind, I'm sure I'll get to play when/if we move back to NZ.

5.  I used to live in the Scottish Highlands.  In 2005 when we moved to the UK we stayed with friends in Dundee, Scotland for a while.  It soon became obvious that while we loved staying with our friends, Dundee wasn't the place for us.  Andrew found a job as a gardener on Attadale Estate in Lochcarron and I worked in the best pub in the village, the Strathcarron Hotel.  Lochcarron is a teeny tiny village on the west coast of the Highlands, about an hour and a half west of Inverness.  This was a very remote place, no broadband, no freeview TV, and not many people, about 1000.  We had the best time up there and even used a Highland name for our Chicken, Eilidh.

So there you go, five things about me, happy Friday everyone!

So there you have it