Blog conundrum

As I sit here thinking about the blog, I am struck by how to move forward with this.

You see, I don't write about work.  Period.  I keep this as anonymous as I can.  Both of these are somewhat limiting, but manageable.

Now I am basically engulfed in the house reno details, and when I sit down to write I am not sure what to do to not bore folks nie unto death.

By the same token, while I am trotting out clichés, I do want some record of what the heck we are going through, and that is part of the reason that I blog, I would not want to create a 'style' or 'brand' to the blog, cause that's not why I'm at this.  Part of it is for me, to figure out what the heck is going on.

So, what to write about....the endless debate about numbers and the house, which is probably where this is going to go, and today's period of regret that we got ourselves into this....the Catalan teacher who corrected my daughter's name IN RED to add accents to it.  I am sorry but where the freaking frog arse holes do you get off correcting someones name??????

Words may well be said on that one.

Or I could describe the walk I took with the dog today, which was chilly enough that I wrapped my scarf around my head like a wayward and aged hippy with a head cold cause I HATE getting cold wind in my ears.  Though the walk was utterly lovely.

I can't talk about anything that happened at work today.....cause I just don't.  But I will say that some of it was very very funny.

I can say that I am in the middle of designing a new course that I am enjoying doing it enormously.  Cross your fingers for me that I get lots of students.

I could talk about the book I am reading, which I picked up because I used an Economist review of it in a class, and it was well enough written that I wanted to read the book...it is a trilogy by Stieg Larsson...I am reading the second book, the Girl Who Played with Fire...and it is good.  Eldest MAY NOT read it, and thankfully doesn't want to.  So far, so good, though I don't usually like crime fiction all that much.

I could talk about going to the bank and talking to the manager about numbers, and whether these are wildly unreasonable.  He could only say so much as he doesn't know what we are getting done, but he said they seemed high...and that people do get mortgages with these kinds of numbers....

I could also mention that a friend's husband, who is in the construction industry, told us that the architects take a commission from the trades who work on their jobs.

I believe that is more commonly called a kick-back, no?  I give you a job, so.....

What to post about?

2+2=95

Crunched numbers all day.

Went round them and up one side of them and down the other.

Looked at them sideways and turned them inside out.

Still look stupid high.

Re-evaluated exactly what it is we want to do and what we need to do for now, and we will take it from there.

Thought in circles all day.

Time to think another way.

And to get started on thinking about XMAS!!! WOOOT!

Gonna start making lists....LOVE this part.

Cheers,

O

$$$$$$$

Had a visit with the architect and his buddy.  They showed us the latest version of the plans, which were at least mostly correct.  This is a Good Thing.

He also had a breakdown of the numbers for the work.

Aside from the fact that they are higher than the cost of the house, and that the carpenter alone is making more than the annual gross income of many people here....it is interesting.

So you know, we are putting in new drains and gas, new water pipes and electricity, a massively renovated roof, three (very small) bathrooms, converting a crap room out back to a dining room, and putting in a place for the washing machine.  We also have to replace the front door...not a small undertaking as it is big enough to pull a horse and carriage through.

The price seems high.

They had the work broken down by zones and by trade.

I am breaking it down again by what we get for the buck...for instance the bathroom downstairs should cost us - approximately - 2,500 Euros, while our bathroom will be - approximately - 5,700 and the kid's 7,300.  This is by their numbers.

They want 10,000 EUROS to paint the house!!! WHAT!!!!!

Ummmm.

It's 15,750 for the roof and that is a MASSIVE job....UMMMMMmmmmmm, me thinks not.

It should be an interesting process from here on in.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go.....

at least I'm not paying private school fees.....

Evidence of how much Eldest was paying attention in school!

If you want to get involved...

I am going to be teaching a course, not on English Literature, but for non-native English speakers who want to maintain their (high) level.  We will be reading two novels, neither of which I have yet read either...The Bluest Eyes, by Toni Morrison and Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.

If you would like to read either or both of those books and could then send me a review/article/essay/write up or would like to post on either or both of them, I would love it and if you didn't mind, would use it in the course material...credit could be given, or not, as you wish...JG?  CS?  Beth????  Anyone????????

Thanks!

O

I have also come up with an utterly evil exercise for the students...homolinguistic translation....where they have to take a poem and translate it, English to English, word by word....changing possibly altering the register- formality or tone or audience....you should listen to this though, and maybe this too..it is amazing sounding....not useful for English students...wait through the lead in, it's well worth it!  If you want to see the main site where I found this, you could do worse than going here.  This is bpnicol, a Canadian poet really playing with the words....love it!

I've been doing a ton or research for this and can I just say that the internet is an outrageously fantastic and fascinating place.  Honestly, the stuff you can find...nobel lectures, audio readings or poetry....books, reviews, courses on nearly anything...a pretty amazing place.

I do suppose I am preaching to the choir, no?

update, food and books....not a bad combo.

Youngest much happier today, let's hope it holds......

I bought avocados at the market today.  Made guacamole of course, though it isn't the same with lemon juice, I like it a whole lot better with lime....still...what is it about guac that is just so terrifically yummy.....

Chuck the dog yawns when he is feeling stressed, or rather a strong emotion that he cannot express, such as disappointment when he realises we are not going to the mountains, or we are coming home after a shorter than hoped for walk.....is that why we yawn too?  I know, I know, he's a dog and we aren't...then again, we are all mammals, no?

I am trying to get some books that eldest will really like in Spanish....and I think I am onto some with Carlos Ruiz Zaphon....she had to read one for school, and loved it.  I have to say that the Generalitat here can REALLY pick good books, she is reading the neatest stuff.....not like I remember, though she did have to read the Petit Prince...I have to confess to hating that book, but maybe if I hadn't been forced to read it in High School......Eldest said it wasn't THAT bad....then again, she says that Salman Rushdie is her favourite author, so she is not exactly your typical younger reader.....I'm going to have to work to keep up with her, I'm reading Terry Pratchet right now, which is a good fun romp...not sure it's in Rushdie's league though.

We are going to be making the students read some books, these are not set by the Generalitat, but rather by a different large organising body, who shall remain unnamed....they are dreary...Jurassic Park for crying out loud, and Through the Glass Darkly...ugh....plus Of Mice and Men, not so bad, and I haven't read it yet...though Steinbeck is not noted for his humourous and light-hearted romps, it is on the 'should be read' list, no?  The final book is The Woman in White...which I've never heard of, and which sounds DREADFUL...but maybe it isn't...I just did some internet work...still sounds dreadful, dreadful and dated.  Good lord, where do they find this stuff?  It's a crime novel....sounds terrible...too bad they didn't chose the one written by Jostein Gaarder, of Sophie's World fame...love him or hate him, it might have been more interesting.


Why is this suddenly double spacing.  Gosh, I still don't like reading assigned texts...blech.


I do love avocados though.  Mmmmmm.  And the Georgian hot sauce/paste that a student brought me today...one of those long slow burns.  Mmmmmm.

Would that be the definition of a fun-over?

Return home, day 1, youngest is in full on panic mode about school.  Things have been getting worse and worse and worse since September and I have had three meetings with the teacher now, with no improvement and something has got to change before the kid snaps.

Holy geez is she ever stressed.  I am not sure I have been that stressed.

You know that feeling when all you really want to do is rip someone's head off and p*ss down the holes in their neck?

Yup.

My boss came in like that today...holy jeez...R.A.N.T.I.N.G!!!!  It was actually kind of amusing, probably partially because I didn't understand every last word of it and also because I knew it wasn't aimed at me....

She was laughing about it herself.....later.

I went into this meeting today with the teacher after managing youngest's complete HYSTERICS at lunch....so incredibly frustrated it is difficult to explain....I also knew that I was going to cry.  You see, all that emotion that I really want to expend by breaking large heavy things and flinging them around viciously has to come out somewhere.  As a well brought up woman, I rarely attack animate or inanimate objects...instead I find myself crying sometimes.  Kinda hate that....then again, I probably won't get ulcers, or go to jail.  Both good I guess.

We are managing now, (I just finished not one, but two chocolate bars, life always seems a little better then, no?)  I came to the conclusion, none too brilliant but original for here, that part of the problem is that, despite Youngest's flawless Catalan accent and her easy use of all grammatical forms, in fact (holy hell this is a crap sentence.) wait, I'll start again.

I have to restart in Catalan too but I have a better excuse.  Maybe it's the chocolate talking.

OK, I think that part of the problem is that youngest, of the flawless accent and effortless use of complex grammatical structures, in fact does not understand the difference between a subjunctive and an imperative.

Imperative would be something along the lines of *hear a srgt major about now* GIVE ME THE HOMEWORK NOW (WORTHLESS SCUM)!!!!

Subjuctive (in translation as, for all intents and purposes, subjunctive doesn't exist in English),  *imgine the Canadian Ambassador to somewhere dangerous here*  "If you could, it would be great if you could give me the homework when you get a chance."

That entire difference hinges on a few syllables..less in fact, usually one vowel, sometimes two.  It is further complicated by the fact that the negative imperative, such as DON'T YOU DARE!!! uses the subjunctive form...and still sounds like a srgt major....you may imagine that youngest is confused by this....I am.

If you were always hearing example one (the sgnt), and the teacher was in fact always saying example two (Canadian ambassador to Islamabad), you might see how some confusion and stress might emerge.

I think there are more problems than that..but this is a start anyway.

Bless the girl's teacher, he set a meeting for two weeks hence.  We certainly need this resolved.

There is only so much chocolate that is good for a girl, ya know?


Lordy lordy am I ever babbling today.

Fu*ck 'em all.

One of these days I am going to find myself in a public place screaming a mixture of Catalan and English obscenities at someone, and it isn't going to be pretty at all.

'Nuff said.

Time for bed.

It was smashing!

I feel almost British when I say that!


I was off at a wedding this weekend, I had to fly out for it, and it was MARVELOUS!!!

Below you can see the ring bearer, who was an absolute delight, though a little freaked out and left early.

It was all a wedding should be, lots of guests, a beautiful ceremony, unbelievably fantastic food,

wonderful to see some of my extended family, everyone had loads of fun....it was great....

It was an absolute delight all the way round, chatting, walking the dog, buying books, visiting, eating wonderful food, from the roast dinner on the first night which was amazing, to the fry-up breakfast on the morning of the wedding, to the wedding food itself, which was sublime, to the hot cup of tea I was woken up to this morning....oh my goodness, that was one of the best cups of tea I'd ever had....

Mmmmmmmm,

There were also some outstandingly delicious cupcakes make by my Aunt, but I was so excited by those that I didn't get a pic...and this was the second round of cheese, I must have been so excited by the first that the picture is all blurred!

My family, I might add, are universally interesting and funny and it was so great to see them again....and frankly to get to know some of them much better.

I came back DRIPPING with books, I must have bought more than 20, and as I went off with only a fairly full normal school size knapsack, it was quite a trick getting them all home, along with the two pairs of tights, three pairs of stockings and five pairs of socks I also picked up.   You see, the airline would only allow ONE bag per person including handbags....you can tuck a book into a lot of odd places if you have to.  For instance, with a good cuff, they will stay inside a coat sleeve....makes you look a mite oddly muscled, but it all worked out!

Wonderful wonderful weekend, and a big fat THANK YOU too all my family who made it so great.

Fabulous to see you all again!

nice to be back with my family in Spain too....and the weathers just a wee bit better as well.

Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off away I go......

Away for the weekend....

Hope you have a great one, I'm gonna try...

Cheers

O