Back to reality...

It’s amazing how quickly life can change. Within the last month I’ve become an auntie (to the gorgeous George Henry) made my first ever Christmas cake (thanks to my very good friend Sophie for her help... I think I might find an alternative career as a master baker!) and signed a new contract to go back to school.
Thanks to my amazingly supportive husband, the last year and a half of my life have been extremely self indulgent; a time of equine, literary and domestic bliss. But after 18 months ‘off’ to indulge my habit I couldn’t go on living in denial for ever; it was time to wean myself off daytime television, start earning some real money again and put something back into the pot.
Having explored many avenues, supply teaching seemed like an enjoyable way to earn, whilst still maintaining the flexibility necessary to pursue my competitive ambitions. Great in theory; not so great in practice. Having signed up with two agencies, I sat and waited for the frequent phone calls I was sure to get... and waited...only they didn’t come. Apparently the whole system has changed in secondary schools but the agencies failed to tell me that bit as I spent hours filling in their endless paperwork.
Luckily there was a plan B; having approached several local schools directly for work, my old school contacted me about a maternity cover contract beginning in January. They agreed to let me keep some flexibility (Houghton, Bramham and Blenheim are still pencilled in on the 2012 calendar) So that’s where I’m heading next week, school bag winched down from the attic, pencil case dragged out of temporary retirement and brain cells extracted from the muck heap.
Students be warned, quite a lot has clearly changed in my absence and I may be a little rusty, but I’m definitely keen to get back into the classroom. You might just need to give me a little extra, occasional guidance.
Faithful followers of my blog may find me unusually silent; if I fail to post anything over the next few months it will probably be because I’m buried under a large pile of marking.
Here’s to an even better 2012 for all!