I fell in love with ...

... Simon on the Internet, he made me laugh and cry and think and dream ... and then he rang me and his voice on the phone was ... gorgeous! Sexy and oh so confident sounding ~ yum! And he wrote beautiful emails that made me realise that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him before we had even met ... not that I told him that of course! And then 6 weeks later he travelled to Gillingham to meet me ~ I booked him a room at the local hotel and we cancelled it and we stayed awake all weekend and then I felt like I'd lost a limb when he went home two days later.

Well, eventually he moved here and the rest as they say is history ... and he is a wonderful guy ~ loving, caring, supportive and he still makes me laugh and we only get very minor ufck-up's ever so occaisionally.

But the thing he has a major problem with is my job ~ not the good bits i.e. the salary (still currently the only salary), the long holidays, the ability to finish at 3.15 if I need to BUT he has a problem with what he sees as the "over and above the call of duty" bits! The 5 hours planning and preparation on a Sunday, the parts of the job that are not teaching. I think that when I first met Simon he was under the impression (like so many people*) that teachers worked from 9 until 3 and that was it! As a class teacher, I spend 2 or so hours every evening marking the days work and then another 45 minutes preparing interactive white board or PowerPoint files for the next day's work. I rarely get to sit and eat lunch as 2 days a week I perform a senior lunchtime supervisory role in KS2.

I'm the Data manager; I track the children's progress, identify the children needing intervention programs and the high flyers, set the school's targets for results etc. So whilst certain members of the public (not you my darling fellow bloggers) probably thought I was relaxing in France last week sipping champagne and eating foie gras I was in fact crunching data all week long. I did eat foie gras though :o)

I am the ICT co-ordinator so have to deal with IT problems, requests, in-house training, repairs, wish lists, requests for ink, installing ink (sheesh - how many times do you have to show someone how to install an ink/toner cartridge before they can do it themselves?) etc. I'm the one who has children knocking at the classroom door during lesson time "excuse me Mrs L, but Mr(s) X says can you come and see her in the ICT suite because she has a problem?" So I arrange cover and off I toddle, to be informed by Mr(s) X that the printer wont print!

Me ~ have you checked if there's paper in there?
Mr(s) X ~ ummm, no.
Me ~ have you pressed the continue button (big red button marked continue on the front of the printer)? The one I told you about last time!
Mr(s) X ~ ummm, no.
Me ~ have you checked if the printer is switched on?
Mr(s) X ~ ummm, no.
Me ~ have you checked if your brain is there?
Mr(s) X ~ ummm, no.
Me ~ ?????????????

And my problem is that I tell Si about all this, we talk about our days and I probably should shut up about these things. BUT that wouldn't be right ~ would it? And yesterday (well Wednesday ... is today Friday yet?) I came home as Modern Foreign Languages Co-ordinator ... another hat! No extra time or money available for the role! But you see this is the job I REALLY want! In fact what I really want is to spend ALL of my time teaching French ... maybe working between 2 or 3 different schools. A periapetetic French teacher that could be me! But my god I so wish I hadn't mentioned it when I got in on Wednesday night! The contre-temps/argument/fight (call it what you will) of the century took place ~ your job, more important than our marriage; more time to children and work than me ~ sheesh!

Things are ok now, he does know I don't love work more than I love him. He's pissed off by his own lack of job (but has the final interview for a post office job on Monday :: fingers/legs/eyes crossed) and is worried that he won't get an employment offer. I'm hoping for a better day today!! :o)

So, come on "dites-moi; est votre emploi aussi merveilleux que d'autres pensent qu'il est?"** [Just getting ready for that periapetetic job that's hollering my name!!]

* I remember reading a reader's letter in the Daily Mail from a jerk who was amazed that teacher's were asking for a 35 (I think it was 35, something like that) hour working week as he had never heard of any group of proffesionals demanding an INCREASE in their working hours!?! As everyone knew that teacher's only worked from 9 until 3.30 and always had an hour for lunch which was only 27 1/2 hours a week - I couldn't believe that crap!! I did almost 27 1/2 hours EXTRA the weekend before half term!
** "Tell me; is your job as wonderful as other people think it is?"