Jan 2015 - catch up.

I’m blogging because I read it is good for my health. So this post is all about me.

I finished the year feeling better than I had for about two years. More exercise. No more napping. Feeling normal. Then I got the results from my checkup. My doctor told me I have some deficiencies - need to take supplements. That’s fine. The worry is that I’m clinically anaemic. Which could be caused by internal bleeding. Which we need to investigate. Also, it means I’m on a very strange spectrum for tiredness. Now I just feel like I need to nap.

I have finished the coursework for my degree. I’ve packed up my readings to pass on to other students. I’ve learned that online learning is a vastly inferior form of delivery compared to being with people. I literally could have studied a whole degree without saying the words. We are taught that we need to know our students, build relationships, cater to their needs, deliver information in various modes, work collaboratively, and then we are given readings and told to write. The feedback I’ve had on my assignments have been close to worthless. Not good. I’m sitting on a GPA of 5.9, which makes me realise I should have asked for remarks which would have toppled my GPA to 6. Even though I know no-one will care, I do. I have two pracs to undertake to finish my degree. I’m getting back to exercising to make sure I’m ready.

Then I’m ready to work. I know not to expect I’ll get a permanent teaching job right away. I know I’ll have to network to get casual work. I’m looking at making my own work if I don’t get a job. I have a Plan B.

At the new year everyone was saying how crap 2014 was. I didn’t feel that way. Then I took a look at what had happened and agree. It was a crap year. In some ways it has continued to be a crap year. Horrible things have been happening to people. There is a lot of sadness. I know what to do to help the people around me. I’m not sure what to do to help on a wider scale. Like everyone else I’ve been thinking about the role of religion in terrorism, and what we need to teach people so that basic human rights are respected. I understand that people don’t think logically when they feel their beliefs are being attacked. I need to learn more about what to do. I want to read Sam Harris’ book ‘The End of Faith: Religions, Terror and the Future of Reason’ and Andrew Scott’s ‘Northern Lights: The Positive Policy Example of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway’. I’m also thinking about the intersection between being authentic and being kind. I’m not suggesting that kindness isn’t authentic, just that sometimes it takes some thought and control, and that living an authentic life, being true to yourself,  isn’t always responsible and kind.

On the home front I’ve been working out what our new routines will be. The children’s schedules have changed. We’re looking into joining a new dance school (looking at the online photos has been somewhat stomach churning). I know I won’t get everything I want and am prepared to compromise. We’re making a cleaning schedule, based on aspects of Flylady. We’re talking about what we need from being part of this family - how we need the home to be the safe place where we can relax and regroup. Matilda will be going on four camps this year, she has a job, and will be doing the Duke of Edinburgh award. She has been invited to perform in Prague. She won’t be going. Clancy‘s band is proposing going on tour in NSW. I’ll be arguing against that. Banjo is now old enough to walk to and from school herself. It means I’m not so involved in the primary school. This is my tenth year at the primary school. I’m ready to move on.

I kept a record of the children’s expenses for last year. Matilda: $7585, Clancy: $5199, Banjo: $2295. Some expenses were waived for us because we’re unemployed, so the real figures are higher. These aren’t just school expenses but include dance and music.

I’m starting a feminist book group. I will set up a FB page after we work out how to run it. There is lots to talk about.

We’re working on organising Mamapalooza. The plays this year are about domestic violence. We are having an art exhibition at ANU in Canberra, and I’ve proposed we do a presentation at the Symposium at the The Editorial Collective of Lilith: A Feminist History Journal,  Flesh and Blood: A Feminist Symposium on Embodied Histories, ANU on Friday May 8, 2015.

I’m taking Feburary to get organised and build up my energy again. I’m happy to see friends and exercise and have fun. And talk. Talking is good.