Kate's 30th

What do you get when you have 7 girls, lots of alcohol and a karoke machine? A bloody good time! Just wish I wasn't suffering so much today....

It's always the way

Thursday night I started to feel my sickness coming on. Rest assured, it always happens close to holidays. This year was no different. I couldn't have Friday off (they say you are always replaceable but sometimes it seems I'm not), so I did my weekend chores (washing, cleaning and shopping) yesterday, joined the library and borrowed some James Patterson books and prepared myself for a weekend in. Not that I'm complaining that much, If I had to be sick at a perfect time, this was it. I've already completed my junior marking and results, and I couldn't do anything else because my seniors don't complete their essays til next week in block exams. So I'm putting my feet up, lying in bed, reading and preparing myself for a big couple of weeks coming up.

Sex Education Talks

Through discussions with the school nurse and my senior health education class which is studying Sexual Health, I came to the conclusion that not only are girls sexually active at a younger age, but that they are talking more risks with unprotected sex. So, 2 of my senior students and myself designed a powerpoint 'Let's Talk About Sex!' We spoke to the year 10, year 9 and year 8 girls on different days and discussed the consequences of being sexually active.

The year 8 girls giggled a bit and keep saying 'yuk', so I think we got the message through. We also said that they could speak to us at any time, and straight after a girl came up and told us her friend from another school in year 8 was pregnant and didn't know what to do. So hopefully, we gave her some supportive advice for her friend, mainly to let the parents know.

The year 10 girls acted like they knew everything, however the girls that we particularly wanted to target (girls that we know have had STI's and unwanted pregnancies) were a bit dumbfounded with the risks that they were taking. I enjoyed watching them squrmish when I discussed genital warts and genital herpes. Hopefully, they will be making sure they use protection from now on.

Today I'm talking to the year 9's girls, many of whom I teach and I'm sure they will be very attentive and I'll increase their awareness on sexual health issues.

I'm very proud of my 2 senior girls who have delivered the speeches with me, because it's not easy to talk about such a personal topic, especially to whole year levels. However, they believe that these girls aren't getting the education from anywhere else and they want to help reduce the risks and improve their sexual health. I also, have enjoyed presenting because I believe I'm the most knowledgable health ed female staff member and I have a good rapport with the kids and most of them will listen to what I say.

My salary may not be huge, but I am responsible for the next generation, the generation that will be running the economy when I retire so I need to instil good values, attitudes and practices to ensure these kids grow up to have a full and prosperous life!

Dog sitting

J and I had quite a productive afternoon in the yard, preparing for the escavating when we realised that while Tyson (the dog) was running up and down the fence barking at the next door dog, he had cut himself on some aluminum sheets. His leg was quite heavily bleeding and J always gets very stressed and upset when sometime bad happens to him (you know what they say about man's best friend).

We applied pressure and tried to wash the wound. I called the vets but it was too late to get stiches and last time we went to the emergency vets it cost us over $1000. We didn't have any bandages so J went to the Chemist while I sat holding pressure on Tyson's leg. When we finally butterfly clipped it and bandaged it you would think our job was done. NO!! As you know, dogs lick their wounds and Tyson was trying to rip the bandages off.

So our Saturday night was spent together taking 1/2 hour turns of 'dog sitting', not letting Tyson rip the bandages off and making sure the bleeding had stopped. I even went to bed holding Tyson's bandaged leg to prevent anything happening. And this from a women who use to hate dogs!

Sex & the City

On Sunday, me and my girlfriends went and saw Sex & the City. Considering I had never really watched the TV series, I still knew the characters and most of their past adventures. Funny how much you can pick up reading gossip magazines. The movie went for over 2 hours, which meant halfway through I needed a toilet break due the amount of coke I had drunk.
The movie was funny and enjoyable, although at times predictable (maybe its just me). We went and had cocktails after the movie and lots of girlie chats. I think the movie will be a huge success because it will force girlfriends to make time and to catch up with each other. It did for me and I cherished the afternoon spent with my girlfriends.
However, at the end of the day, I don't mind that my life isn't as exciting as theirs. I didn't have to wait for my 'Mr Big' for 10 years!

Footy Match

I organised a rugby league match between the year 11 and 12 boys at school yesterday. The students had really been looking forward to it and it showed in their enthusiasm and crowd support. The year 12 boys even managed to get out of class to warm up and talk tactics. And it must have worked because they thrashed the 11's, 9 tries to 0. There was only one injury (a broken collarbone) but many good memories. Apparently, several teachers were annoyed that their junior school students stayed and watched the game after lunch, however they were told to leave (and wouldn't you want to stay?) So I'll cop a bit of flak for that, but it was worth it in the end, particularly when they announced the player of the match (who received a signed Broncos ball) and they lifted him and chaired him off the field like a hero. You don't teach for the money, you teach for the days like this!

Socceroos

On Sunday 1st June, me and the family went to watch the Socceroos World Cup Qualifier at Suncorp Stadium. My sister who is doing an internship at COKE scored a job handing out powerade to the players and got two awesome seats just behind the players bench. Being her favourite sister (and her only one) I got to hang with her (as long as I took good photos!). It was thrilling being so close to the action and so close to the players (love Harry Kewell). At the end of the game, my confident sister walked onto the field with her powerade bag and received hugs and winks from the players. It was amazing atmosphere and although I haven't seen it yet, there is footage of use on FOXTEL. Here are some snaps...