It’s been a funny old summer, this was the second heatwave of the season yet it feels like it’s been a dull summer so far. The first heatwave fell in half term but this time it was a working week. Fortunately our school is a new build and we all have very effective air conditioning in our classrooms. I cannot imagine what classes would have been like in other schools as the heat was intense, definitely higher than the predicted temperatures. It’s rare to have a first in my 30 year teaching career but I achieved that this week with the first ‘hot’ break akin to wet break, as we needed to stay inside as it was too dangerous for the children to be out in the sunshine and heat during the day. When we took the children out at the end of the day, the intensity of the heat was like when you step off a plane on a sunny holiday abroad and the ‘hot’ break was definitely the correct option. Whilst I’ve had excellent air conditioning in the classroom and new car, the heat has sapped my energy and it has been more challenging to sleep at night. I have a smart watch and generally get a very good sleep score of at least 80 a night, this week it’s averaged 50 as I’ve tossed and turned in the sweltering heat. It’s also World Cup games at very different times so bedtimes have been affected by watching the games too. England have played at 9pm and 10pm so that’s late bedtimes. Neither game was particularly good but results mean that England got through and now play their next game in Wednesday at the very reasonable time of 5pm. I am finding it difficult to follow this World Cup as so many of the games are played at night. Normally, I love to try and cram as many games as possible in but it just isn’t possible and this tournament seems a little disjointed.
It was a full on week with two late nights at work, for a meeting and parents evening, a further late night as I sold my old car to a car dealer after work and then had to catch a bus, home, 1 hour 20 minutes on a sweltering bus, for a journey easily done in 35 minutes by car. Living rurally the bus goes through all the villages and towns en route to our town, it’s a long and windy journey. I was impressed by the ease of cancelling my insurance, breakdown cover etc.. Sometimes online admin works brilliantly.
After all the busyness of the week, we’ve had a much needed quiet weekend at home. I volunteered rather than ran at parkrun as I am trying to recover from injury. It feels like I’ve been injured on and off for most of the year. It was a lovely morning I had great company on my marshal spot and then had a lovely chatty breakfast with my parkrun buddy and son on a warm and sunny terrace. I do love chatting to the tourists and met some really interesting people, I was fascinated by a couple whom are just finishing off the South West Coastal path after walking it over the past few months, what a great adventure. I spent the rest of the day doing some admin, a couple of passes needed to be redone for the new car and I finally got to personalise the car, it’s now got the football club sticker on the back window, my spare glasses etc.. It’s my new on the road office! I am also loving the electric car, I have an app which tells me our charging costs and reduces it to the best possible rate, I charged it up yesterday, admittedly it was on 55% charge when it started but it cost less than £1. I did cash out my loyalty at the petrol station this week as I won’t be using my loyalty account again and got a nice little Amazon voucher.
This morning I went to park Yoga, again an absolutely beautiful session. Before I started this summer I had never done yoga and I worry in the winter months that the wonderful al fresco yoga I’ve been doing will mean that indoor practice won’t feel so special and relaxing. On my walk home from the park I walked along the beach and got a takeaway coffee, life felt pretty perfect. I also did something that I haven’t done so far this year. I got the garden recliner out and simply sat and relaxed listening to a few podcasts for an hour, the break was very much needed.
I have a new audio book for my commute, one of this summer’s bestsellers Yesteryear. I’ve read about a quarter of it so far and it’s already an interesting take on influencers and one whose themes are making me uncomfortable. I’m not quite sure where it’s going which is great, as it’s unusual to read an original story.
I’m hoping to have another quiet week, before the busy last fortnight of the term. I’m moving classes so have a little extra on my to do list too. I’m hoping to do as much as possible so the 6 week holiday is a time to relax, play and explore.
Seaside Sparkles 