Not too much tonight

I'm actually here in the house tonight; I'm cleaning and getting ready for the folks from the English department to come over for Sunday dinner tomorrow.  Oh no, I'm not making a roast... I'm making Jambalaya, cornbread, salad, and for dessert?  Watermelon, lime juice and mint salad.  It's so good!  Better when it's hot out and I don't have three hundred thousand papers to grade, but still.  Very simple recipe, but it's really sweet and refreshing and healthy for you.  Now, the original had Feta cheese in it, but trying that once was enough.  There is too much of  a good thing you know.

Made my reservations tonight to go to Dublin in July.  It will be my last trip before I go home.  Whoo hoo!  Home.  Lots to do before I go, and it won't be like last year when I had weeks and weeks of summer to get things done.  Nope.  Last day of school is the 20th of July, I go to Dublin from the 22nd to the 26th, and then five days later?  I'm winging my way back home to Santa Barbara. 

{Side note here.  I had about three more paragraphs written, and just hit some button and lost it all.  How did I do that? Not my whole post, just the second half of it.  I hoped that it had automatically saved it, but no.  Now, what did I write?)

Oh, I know, it was about all the things I had to do before I left.  One of which is ending my contract with the minions of Satan Virgin Media. I had to sign up for a year-long contract, although I was told I could pay it off before I left.  Now, it took almost three months just to get through to someone and get it started (so I only started the contract in October), but that wasn't the worst bit.  I didn't actually have a working internet connection until January, if you all recall.  Oh yeah, and it means I will have to call them, which you might remember gentle reader, cost me about 40 pounds being on hold and having my calls to their service center dropped, the last time I tried calling them. I so very much hate that company and the way they do business.

Let's see... the year 10's did two exam papers last week; between 5-8 pages each.  Then my year 7's took a writing exam, that's 100 papers. Found out with the Year 7 paper though, that we're using a different marking scheme than what we normally use, with three areas to be marked.  You know, like grading it three times. Year 8's, of course, but that's only 20 students, and then my year 9's will be taking their writing exam on Wednesday.  It's another 5-pager.  Oh, and marks are due starting Tuesday; we have one week to get our marks on the school computer system.  Yes, you read correctly, we are giving a written exam actually after we are expected to start entering grades.  And the exams ARE their year end grades. 

I may pass out.

But Rebekah, you ask, doesn't your school end in another month?  Why do you have to be finished with your student's marks so early?

Frankly, I don't know.  We also have our summatives (year end reports) due for our form classes by the 30th of June as well.  About three paragraphs each for 25 students.  Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that.    I'm sure there is a reason for all this, but I've not been privy to it.


See, this is why I almost didn't post tonight;  whining, complaining, whinging, moaning... who wants to read that?

Sent my mother's birthday present off to her today.  Still haven't sent my sister anything.  Poo.  She wouldn't give my any clues on things she might like from London/England, and when I go into a shop, I go into brain-lock trying to figure out what she would like.  I pick something up and then put it back.  "Will she like this color?  This scent?  The shape of it?" I convince myself that whatever it is, she won't like it, and then I buy nothing.  I've never had this problem before.  I'm good at gifts usually.  Not this time.  Sister, if you're reading this, help me out.  Do you like vanilla?  Lavender?  cookies, chocolate?  Tea?  Do you like dangling earrings or beaded necklaces?  What colors do you wear most?  What size are you?