Ignore!!!

A few months ago a friend of mine told me that she read my blog but that she thought that I never said B! Well, she might be right. I am not that good at really digging into the dirt! Hate to call the things by name when they are less kind. Before heading of with this blogstory I had made some promises. I was never going to hurt people directly by writing about them and trying to safeguard their privacy by in most cases never to use their full names. Family and friends are sacred to me and I don't consider a blog the right place to get things into the open.

Sometimes this is hard because I have some of those moments that I am so fed up with certain individuals I have to hang out with. Like they are in the way. Believe me I do try to be diplomatic in most cases. After 35 years you do know for sure that this globe also gives shelter to people who have different standards and plans then you. In most cases I try to put it in the right prospective but I do have some issues with some people that don't seem to get settled.

It is just that I do have these moments that I would like to strangle some individuals who seem to play the game by their own set of rules. This girl then seriously is tempted to trespass to the 'dark side'. I then do scream, call people less funny names, I kick and am capable of doing things that are considered a crime. But above all my mind is spinning like crazy!


Being the person I am I would rather get it into the open. Talk things over and find a compromise but this not always seems to be the case. In some issues talking is not the magic potion! And then I am so disappointed in people but also in myself! I have considered to even changing jobs because of this! I can't handle it any longer and am afraid that I end up saying things out loud that I will regret later on. But hey I am only human!

The best advice I get in most of these situations: ignore! Well, there is goes wrong. I just can't and I know it is a flaw in my character. But in this case it will be the only way to handle it with care! So sorry for those who will bump into me and meet a less upbeat Stallie! I am ignoring some bits and pieces! Chances are high that you are not the subject of my grudges but the individuals that are will have a ball! Deep down inside I do know that I should care less and that the time that I have been spending on typing this blog entry could have been used for better things: like polishing my toenails, doing the laundry&the dishes, writing report cards, baking a nice cake, reading a glossy magazine or bestseller!!! And believe me ignoring dirty dishes and clothes are also a mission impossible!

P.S.: Tonight 'Mission Impossible III' is on!! A movie hard to ignore as well!!!

Bay Watch!

The last few weeks did really pass by. There were some ups and some downs but most of all it amazed me how fast time flew. If they would ever find a way of cloning time I would sign up right away. And because I had not that much time left to reflect about it here I just want to share some highlights of the last few weeks.

- After signing up for my new classes at the university I managed to end up in the wrong class. That had never happened before and I can assure you I felt like one of those freshmen when they are running around on campus during their first week ever! I managed to get out during the break but my cheeks reflected a bit the colour of a tomato! One Wednesday I was also forced to take A along to the student administration office. He was really cool about it. It was quite hilarious to hear him scream through the whole student mess that he was 'ready' (A screams this when he wants to whipped of when going to the toilet!) and you can bet that I was again once more imitating a tomato!
- I managed to book my first meeting as an educational advisor. Wasn't that easy because try to imagine to get a number of teachers together with each their own agenda. In my new job I imagined that it would be a bit more straightforward with planning. But hey! Last week I mailed my first letters with my name under it! Was a very strange sensation!
- A did say goodbye to R at the swimming pool of Overijse. After six weeks of trying to make some progress in the water it seemed that my five year old started to hate the water. He even cried and had blue lips from the cold water. It broke my heart to see him that way. So we packed in our swimming trunks and headed for a new swim adventure but elsewhere!
- My pupils can still amaze me and make me smile. There were some moments that I left my class room feeling rather satisfied. I still seem to like the teaching aspect of my job description. Looking back I can state that I had more laughs then screaming sessions. Best moment of all was when one of pupils pointed out that I had written a mistake in his diary. 'Misses you have signed this note with 'Misses Stamp'!' He wasn't kidding!!!! When the school nurse walked in that moment we had some extra laughs about this. For sure a highlight of my career.
- P and I ended up once more on the shiatsu massage floor of N. For me it is routine now but for P it was the first time. One of the side effects of N her golden hands is you also get an emotional drain. So when P came back from his session I knew what to expect. Once more we had one of those very harsh discussions.
- A leaves a trail of art work through out the house. Rockets, UFOs, cleaning machines, bread machines & trains. When he is asked what these artworks represent he comes up with some unbelievable sounding explanations. I can assure you that if you would ever get your hands on one of these manuals that come along with those creations you need to go back to university!
- I made it back to the gym! ZUMBA is the newest trend and I do think that it is an amazing way of pushing yourself to the edge. But if you would have told me that I would be shaking my hips with in the back ground the song 'The roof, the roof is on fire!' I would have starred at you with rather big eyes!
- N&P their wedding is coming closer and closer. So I met up with the bride to be and my fellow maid of honour. The two of us had to join our 'bridezilla' to hunt for the fitting outfit. Strangely enough we only had to walk into one shop to find the clothes that N considers good enough. But I had to promise not to wear high heels because N will then look rather as a dwarf in her wedding dress and we are then the two giants running after her veil.
- My new job includes also some painful side effects like a painful neck. Spending tons of time in front of a computer screen seems not to agree with my neck. My best buddy for the moment is now a micro waved cherry pillow to ease the tension.

The five star highlight of the last few weeks is the following:

- A made his comeback at the swimming pool! He had made me the promise that he would do anything for his swim instructor if the water would be a bit warmer! So we looked for a pool with hot water and did find one. Now this little guy can't wait to jump into his swimming trunks to join 'his' Coralie! I have to admit that she is quite something. In the beginning I was a bit afraid because she only talks French. But what she manages to do with A I had never dare to believe after the whole swimming nightmare we went through. I witnessed A using his legs the right way, daring to going under with his head and as top act diving into the water and then picking up some colourful objects!!! This all without wearing any extra help. And this he all does with a big smile! It is such a cute sight to see him having fun in the water and wearing his red goggles for under water use and high fifing Coralie! And for me there is also a very nice treat: the male swim instructors! Yummy, yummy!! Hey, can you blame me?! Being a mother of a five year old can be a though job! So when you look for me on a Saturday around 12 o'clock chances are high that I am sitting next to pool enjoying the sight!!!!!

Heading back to class!

The month of September is already a fact and that means that I have managed to deal with tons of stress without ending up in a Looney bin! Not that there were no moments that I would have liked to have taken some Valium.

One of the last items on my to-do-list was trying to get back to classes. Seemed not that easy because of the fact that I now try to combine two job challenges. And A seemed also to have some extra days. And hey, the prospect of having to drag him along to the student administration office was not my idea of an easy trip through the woods.

Deep down I was even giving up all together to get my student ID renewed. I know that being student means that you have to be able to handle some stress. The last months were stressful and the summer I needed just to get into balance with myself.
And in case you have not noticed yet. I did not manage to pass all the subjects that I took! Two out of four might not be the result that I dreamed of but hey I am proud of the fact that I at least tried to study!

I can now admit as well that it is thanks to many people around me that I did get into my car and drove to Louvain. Friends, colleagues and family were wondering if I still had the guts to get back into the brain battle! Sometimes I had some doubts but yesterday I was standing once more at the student’s registration office and facing a huge line of very important&young looking people. 'What am I doing here?'' Just look at them! They are still full of dreams and hopes. I must look rather ancient!' One of the girls standing in line was also nice to keep her iPod sending out some harsh notes of music. 'I don't know what kind of music she is listening to!'

Before I knew I was standing in front of a desk with a nice sounding lady behind it! 'Your file looks fine and you should be able to fill out everything from behind your computer!' 'Hum, you are sure? I had the impression that people with my ISP had to come by!' 'No, all you need to do is select your classes and mail this to us by the internet. Next you send back your Student ID card and we will renew it after all is taken care of!'

The rest of the day I managed to get into the wrong lecture (hum, I forget to check very carefully where I had to be!), I had lunch at Alma 2 (nice student discount!), went to the FNAC & Standard bookshop to use my collected points (I bought a very nice baking cookbook for the cold days to come!), went to a very interesting class with the label 'Psychiatry&pathology' and ended up not feeling depressed (and this after that this word was mentioned more then 50 times!), hit the Friday traffic in Louvain city where students cause even longer waiting lines, I paid my educational discount cheques and I signed to change my ISP!

Last year I was so proud of myself that I managed to do this without having to call in the help troops. Not a single mail left this house with questions concerning my Individual Student Programme! But this time I just really screwed up that part of my student life. This girl managed to send in an empty ISP!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Meaning that now I 'am' an empty file!

And this because I just hit the wrong key of my keyboard! How stupid can you be!? Not that the very academic people did not try to warn me! All over there were warning that you had to be very cautious when working on you ISP! That once your choice was sent in you were not able to make any adjustments!

So the last thing I did yesterday evening before signing out of my student file on Toledo was mailing my ISP assist! Now all I can hope for is that they get back to me ASAP. P thinks they will because a student who does not select any classes can't be a student! I gave him a very suspicious look when he said this. 'There must me a double meaning in there!’ I was thinking but to chase away all the dark thoughts I digged once more into my chocolate treasure! Betting that this year chocolate will be a study mate!