A Belated Half-Birthday Post

Those of you who know me well will know that I do love a good half birthday. I've never really grown out of them, and only recently realised that other people have. For example, I turned 22 and a half on 11th July. And this blog turned, well, 0 and a half (or 6 months, if you will) on 1st September. I completely missed it. So I thought I'd make up for it now by doing the classic 'Things I've achieved' and 'Things I'd like to achieve' post. I'll go back to January though as it's hard to think of lots of things I've achieved since March. The list will probably be brief...

Things I've wanted to do that I've achieved so far this year:

• Saw 'The Lion King' in London for my birthday, something I've wanted to do for years. Also saw Stomp, The Sound of Music and Les Mis. I'm doing pretty well on the musical front.


• Went to Riga and Hamburg (I wouldn't say either of these were an ambition of mine but they turned out to be two of my favourite days of the year so far...)


• Was the Props Co-ordinator for a major (school) musical production.


• Rode in a limo.


• Reached the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower without having some kind of panic attack.


• Passed my induction year in teaching and became a 'normal' teacher.


• Went snorkelling and rode on a banana boat!


• Passed my driving test (on 2nd January, that one just made it onto the list).


• Started a blog. Never thought I'd keep it up, but turns out that anything that stops me being more efficient on the work front is a winner.

I'm bored of that one now. Onto 'Things I would like to achieve...'

• I still want to ride an elephant. How achievable this desire will be over the next 6 months is unclear.


• I would love to see 'Wicked' and 'Avenue Q'. Not hinting there at all...


• I would like to somehow gain a sense of direction. I'm hopeless. A bit like Dory from Finding Nemo. I forget where I've been, how I got there, where I'm going... every day is like a new adventure for me!

Hmm, it would appear that I am currently lacking ambition. Although I'm quite impressed at how much I've done this year... really didn't feel like I'd achieved much until I wrote it down. Actually, I'm going to add:

• Get paid to stay at a Hilton hotel and eat lots

Just because I found out today that I'm doing that one as part of my job (going on a one day course). So one down, two to go! Woop woop.

Here's to the next six months...

A Very Frightening 5 Minutes

Lately, when I wake up in the morning, I have been suffering from sleep paralysis. It's never happened to me before, but during the last month or so it's been happening pretty regularly. Never when I first wake up, but only when I have a lie in and go back to sleep, or have a power nap in the afternoon. Basically what happens is this...

I think I'm awake. I try to move, but I can't. As I try harder to move, concentrating all my energy into moving one arm, the deeper I seem to be sinking in this indescribable feeling of entrapment. Then I start to panic. I feel as if I can't breathe, my energy is gone and my body is exhausted. Eventually, I manage to force myself to move a finger, and then it kind of disappears and I can move. It can sometimes last for up to half an hour! It's frustrating and sometimes terrifying.

Anyway, I googled it yesterday. I went onto this website entitled 'Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis'. I skim read the first paragraph, and it described EXACTLY what I was experiencing. 'Phew!' I thought to myself... 'It's not just me'. Then I scan to the bottom of the page and pick out the sentences 'disease involving degeneration of motor neurons' and 'progressive fatal illness'. I nearly burst into tears right there and then, before going back and reading the end of the first paragraph...

'If you've had one of these experiences, then you've probably had a glimpse of how it feels to have a fully developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.'

Thank goodness. I then left the Website of Death and visited the next one on the list, which immediately says:

RELAX! You are not going insane or dying. Sleep paralysis is not harmful. Read 'The Terror That Comes In The Night' for more information.

If only I'd read that one first. Off to Amazon we go...

Oh, and just for your information... Sleep Paralysis is actually 'a natural bodily function that causes us to be paralyzed during sleep. It prevents us hurting ourselves or others during dreams. It's when it follows us into the waking state that it becomes a disorder'

Wow... I have a disorder!

By the way, has anyone else experienced this?

Back to school

This week has been crazy. From getting up around midday and going to bed around midnight I've had to get used to getting up at 6.30am and still going to bed around midnight. My day has increased by about 6 hours. And man, does it feel like it. I'd forgotten how exhausting it is to have 20 children constantly demanding attention from you all day, and how immature they are when they first come up from Year 1. I try not to go on about work too much on my blog, but today is an exception as it's the first week back and it's been my life... I just want to share a little example of what I have to deal with:

Me: 'Sophie, what are 3 lots of 10?'

Sophie: (bursting into tears) 'I'm sorry, I've got something on my mind. *SOB* At breaktime, *sob* I accidently trod on Luke's crisps on purpose... but I didn't mean to but I did it on purpose and I just know how much he likes them *sniff* and I just can't stop thinking about it'.

What a burden to have on your shoulders at the age of 6. I looked over at Luke and his facial expression was pretty much 'Bovvered?'

Right, no more classroom anecdotes for the next few posts. Promise.