Exhausting !

It's been an exhausting day in several senses of the word. First there was the unaccustomed rising at 6.30 so that I could be at school by 7.40. Some people have the strange idea that teachers start work when the children walk into the classroom and finish at the same time as the children. Not a chance, you need that hour to sort out the photocopying, sticking stuff into books and dealing with any emergencies that arise. At the end of the day I had to photocopy work the children had done in small groups, mark 2 pieces of work from each child and stick 60 bits of paper into books. Unsurprisingly I didn't leave until 5.00.

The day has also been exhausting in that this class are very lively with a number of children who find it hard to sit and listen to anything let alone be able to work independently.

And then finally, as I was driving home half of the car's exhaust fell off underneath the car. Not only was the sound from the unmuffled engine like the roar of a jet engine but the broken pipe was dragging along the road making a horrendous noise. I knew what had happened straight away so I drove at about 2 mph to a gateway 50 ft up the road. From there I was going to walk home and then decide what to do. I still have wire, pliers and work gloves in the car for such an event but I knew that the exhaust would still be very hot and also that it had broken right in the middle of the car. Just as I parked my poorly car another car drew up and the lady driver asked if I was okay (people are like that out here in the country). It turned out that she was coming down to the stables and she gave me a lift saving me the walk from Ashelford Corner. My plan was to ring the RAC and get them to tow the car back to our usual garage. Parking is very limited there so I gave them a call and the young lad I spoke to said they were fully booked until Thursday. I booked the car in for Thursday anyway and now Peter will call the RAC tomorrow and I'll take his car to work. That's better for me as I hate being towed and it would have been a fuss having to wait for the RAC tonight as they could take anything up to a couple of hours to turn up.

School had been fun in that the Year 1 & 2 teachers and children were all dressed up as characters from Roald Dalh's books. It was a very warm and muggy day, temperatures across the eastern side of the country went up to 34C, so by the afternoon the teachers especially were shedding parts of their costumes. My Charlie Bucket's mum's outfit consisted of a dress, apron with added patches, loose zip-up fleece and a scarf tied around my hair which was up in a sort of bun. Some brave teachers began the day wearing animal onezies which must have been really hot. We had high humidity and rain in the morning and then some thunder during afternoon playtime at which we beat a calm but hasty retreat. Then 5 minutes before home-time we had more thunder and it poured with rain. Oh no I thought, all these children with no coats and some with home-made costumes! but then it suddenly stopped and it was dry as the children left the classes.