Saturday, November 15
Joy-of-joys, my birthday rolls around next week- I'll be twenty-eight years old. Rock on. As per usual this annual event has got me thinking about getting older, what I have achieved in my life so far and my future aims; I have also been thinking about the latter because of the Dubai Bombshell and the related recent developments.
I don't think it is either fair nor realistic to expect to spend the rest of my life with one person- sizeable chunks are what I think is achievable. I suppose that a chunk could be anything from five years to fifty but I would hope that upwards of ten years would be the minimum. I also don't expect to like the person I am with all the time nor be "in love" with them; I don't expect to get hitched, I don't expect kids.
I think that marriage is important for the legal protection it can provide and although I am positive about a wide variety of family forms I believe that it is probably better to have a partner to raise your kids. Despite appearances I suppose I am rather traditional-leaning in that I would prefer to be hitched before I continued my species, but that doesn't mean I couldn't.
The recent developments with MW#1 have focused my thoughts a bit more on what I want from my career, i.e. how long I should stay in my job before I move jobs or take a break to start a family or change career. I think another five years or so would be preferable so I can get a decent amount of experience under my belt.
During my recent performance management my boss encouraged me to be ambitious and apply for a Head of Departmentship in the next five years; I was pretty surprised by this suggestion (and flattered)- I never see myself as a leader, knowing that my enthusiasm for things can frequently come across as being childish rather than childlike. I don't see myself being anything other than a "regular" teacher for many years to come, and I am very happy with that.
Aside from the fuckwits of the Senior Management Team I am very happy and satisfied in my place of work at the moment; I am not sitting on my laurels in that I am adding to my skills by working there- learning how to use the darkroom, ceramic and textiles work etcetera. I still don't have a permanent full time contract and I know that the same shenanigans will take place once again come the Summer term; my heart sinks when I think about it...
Anyway, i'm happy in my job. What else do I worry about, aside from the Dubai Bombshell and the welfare and performance of my students? Housing. Well, on that front a lot of things are undecided and really not worth thinking about until the new year. I'm not asking to own my own place, just to move a step up from student housing, but I don't think this is possible for maybe four or five years. So i'll continue to rail at the world and it's buy-to-let-greedy-fuckers unfairness for a long while yet...
A friend updated their Facebook status to say that she was "being whisked away for her birthday by her lovely man". What will I be doing on my birthday? I will be spending the morning in the company of my form as we collectively tackle high wires, assault courses, abseiling and archery at an activity centre - I am quite looking forward to this - that I have unfortunately just discovered is run by an uber-freaky Evangelical group; post-exertion I will dust myself down for at least two hours of "e-safety training" which will succeed in seriously pissing me the fuck off. YAY.
I'm more generously padded than I was at this time last year courtesy of an extra two kilograms of fat that has materialised upon me without my permission (I feel podgy), i've shorter hair and many additional stripes of cellulite; after two cervical smears I know I am also free from cervical cancer and chlamydia. Woo hoo.
This time last year no-one had ever told me that they loved me, nor had I told anyone similarly... Although I lie awake at night worrying about The Dubai Bombshell and the future ahead, I can at least say a little interpersonal progress has been made. Now i'm just waiting for it to be taken away.
