Busy week

I had another lazy weekend this weekend, but this time I really did need it – last week felt rather frantic.

For a start, I had an essay due on Thursday. Which of course I didn’t finish last weekend like I should have. Maybe if I’d actually considered what I had on during the week I would have, because I was out on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night, which didn’t leave a lot of time for essay-writing (I did manage to get it done, by sneaking some time at work, but it was a close thing – I was putting the finishing touches on it two hours before the deadline.

On Monday night I went to an ESOL-HT seminar about listening skills to launch a new CD and book they’ve just had published. It’s going to be a great resource, because most of the CDs and tapes out there to help people learn English are produced overseas, and it’s really important for learners to hear NZ accents when they’re learning, so they can understand the people around them. The only decent resource with NZ accents up till now has been for more advanced learners, so this one, which is pitched more at a beginner level, will be very popular.

Tuesday night was meetup, but only me, MrPloppy, and lytteltonwitch were there. Awhina was sick, so they all stayed at home, Angela7715 is overseas, and none of the other semi-regulars showed up. At least that meant there was less temptation to take books home 🙂 (Lytteltonwitch didn’t resist the temptation, though – I convinced her to take Somehow Form a Family by Tony Earley by telling her about its illustrious bookcrossing history). I released the other book I’d taken along, Ladie’s Man by John Ramster, in the bus exchange on the way home. Dunno if it will find an appreciative reader there, but I couldn’t be bothered hanging on to it until the next meetup.

On Wednesday night I had my ESOL student. We had a great session, but as always it took a lot of concentration, so I was shattered by the time I got home. If I’m that tired just teaching, I’d hate to think how exhausted my student must be by the lessons – I’m just having to concentrate on making sure I’m understood and trying to understand what she says to me – she’s got to do all that AND remember the new stuff I’m teaching her!

At least Thursday was a quiet night, but by Friday I was more than ready for the weekend, and was seriously looking forward to going home and collapsing in front of the fire with a good book. Except just before I left work, MrPloppy rang to say Tam had dropped by, and he’d invited her to stay for tea…

It was really nice to see her, and we had a fun evening playing games on the playstation and computers (we tried to be super-geeky and get a LAN party going, but for some reason although all three computers could see the network, we couldn’t get them to see the computer acting as server for the game, and seeing as our network is a bit delicate at the best of times, MrPloppy didn’t want to fiddle with it too much in case the whole thing died again, so we just went back to taking turns on 1-player games), but it wasn’t really what I was in the mood for.

At least I got to make up for it with a totally lazy weekend. Next weekend’s going to be a busy one, so probably a good thing I did.

Currently reading: Chronicle of the Unsung by Martin Edmond
Currently listening to: Tender is the Night by F Scott Fitzgerald