Some more running inspiration....

While I lived in Ballarat, I spent my last year as part of a running group, The Tann Clan. I've mentioned this in an earlier post, but I can never underestimate the impact that being a part of it made on me.
Anyway, we even had a monthly newsletter that we could all contribute to, and in one of them this letter was posted anonymously, and to this day we are still unsure who the author is, not that it matters.
What stands out is how it emphasises the need to be accepting of everyone, and this could be applied to our workplaces, other clubs, friendship circles, whatever!
So, have a read, hope you appreciate it too.

And just to show that I had some vague running ability at one stage, I won the coveted 'Lord of The Lake' run just before we left Ballarat.

For those of you who don't know about this, the "Lord/Lady of the Lake" is the annual handicap race around Lake Wendouree in Ballarat, a distance of 6 km, and a mecca for all runners in Ballarat.

A decent trophy was mine to keep for a year, something which I cherished.

BUT... more needs to be added to the story...

About 2-3 months before this race, a few of the blokes who I did some extra running with all developed some groin and stomach problems, most likely from over training. We all went on courses of anti inflammatories, which killed the pain and kept us running, but didn't treat the problems.

After a while it became too much for me, so I got mine looked at. It turned out I had developed a few hernias, which explained why I doubled over in pain every time I sneezed, coughed or tried to sit up. The end result was a week in hospital, and missing the Melbourne Marathon. All my mates were keeping a close eye on my treatment as none of them wanted to stop running, and were waiting to see how long they would be out of action if they followed suit.

Then followed many weeks of recuperation.

However, by late December I was taking tentative steps towards running again, and by the time of the Lord of the Lake run I was ready.

The handicapper really looked after me, as no-one knew how ready I was, which explains the great handicap I was given, and duly saluted!! Winners are grinners!!

The handicapper copped some very direct, but good natured abuse from everyone about the time he gave me, which I will be forever thankful for!

A glance through the other times would have placed me well down the list.

Another memorable part of the run that day was that a great colleague who I was teaching with at Creswick ran 2nd, and it was also the day that we both finished at that school.

Anniversary Day

It was on this day 27 years ago in Port Fairy that we said "I Do".
A great night the night before at 'The Stump' hotel, a highlight being my brother 'Dirty' and a good mate Laney feeding the video jukebox with 50 repeats of "Locomotion" by Kylie Minogue, which was a hit at the time.
I remember being at the bar with Dirty ordering a drink when the song came on yet again.
The barman just groaned, "Oh &*^%, not again!!", to which Dirty replied, "Yep, and only 36 more to go!!".
With that the barman went and unplugged the jukebox and cancelled out all remaining credits.

The next day was fairly slow ( for me, not so much for Jen who was probably flat out!).
After a casual lunch at one of the pubs, we had a lazy swim in the motel pool. As the wedding was at 4.00, we decided at about 3.00 that we should start getting ready, so the groomsmen and I showered, donned our suits and we were there with loads of time to spare.
All went well, we remembered what to say and what to do, except that Jen signed as a witness rather than as the Bride.
Does that make it legal??

Getting the job done.

Bill Carnie, yours truly, Daryl 'Raj' Rathjen and Mick Chalkley. Three of the greatest friends one could ask for.

The photos got taken, and a few months after the wedding we tried to organise our album, only to find that the photographer was untraceable. We tried every avenue, but could not find him anywhere, so we were left with just our proofs, and did not get the album done. At least with technology these days we can get it done, but still haven't!!
The reception went well, despite running out of beer, TWICE !!!!! Apparently the Port Fairy wedding caterers did not expect so much beer to be drunk.
The Bridal Waltz, the part we were dreading also seemed to pass without incident, and in the video you cannot even see me counting the steps!!!!

After a great night with family and friends, we took off early the next morning for a week in Hahndorf, South Australia for a well earned rest.

The End of the World????

I just had to laugh at something that occurred this week at home.
We had just had a few days of stormy weather, which resulted in the many gum trees on our block shedding lots of bark, leaves and twigs all over the yard.
As I'm still on school holidays, I had the time to do a really good clean up.

The condition of the yard after the storms.

However, while doing this, I noticed one of our neighbours hovering near the fence that separates our respective blocks of land. Usually this is 'the signal' to wander over and have a chat, but because I was on a roll and getting a lot done in the heat, I ignored her and kept raking and listening to the radio.
This was too much for her, and before long she came charging up our yard to see me.
Let me say now, what I said under my breath when I saw her coming, and what I actually said to her were two entirely different things!!

After some general small talk about insignificant matters (like how she has had to move the occasional twig out of the way when she walks her dog through through our block!) she came out with the big problem.

It went something like this...

"I have to mention something to you that is very troubling. I found some ants in our yard recently, and I have followed them. It appears that they are coming from your yard, and they are crawling under the fence and coming into our yard. They might be coming from someone else's yard and just passing through yours, but they are definitely coming into our yard"

When I quizzed her about the ants, she said they were 'giants', about 2-3 cm in length.

Having not seen any six legged monsters during my raking of the yard, I was not overly concerned, but agreed to come and see them.

Well, all I saw were a few of the common meat ants that live everywhere out here, just going about their business looking for food and paying scant respect to the wire fence that was the border between our two blocks. They were hardly the 'giants' that I had been warned about, and there was not much of an 'invasion' happening either!!

So, after feigning deep concern, I promised to be ever vigilant for the rest of the day and to do all that I could to locate the source of these evil arthropods. 

On a block like this, one would expect ants to be somewhere!!

In the end, if all that she is worried about is a few ants travelling between our two blocks of land, then all is well in the world!!

Canada

Canada

In 2011 I was fortunate enough to be selected to participate in a Study Tour to Canada for a few weeks. There were about 30 or so people on the trip, from schools across Melbourne, country Victoria and a few from NSW. A colleague from the school I was working at was also selected, so at least I had a familiar face to start with.

The participants met a few times before the trip to outline the itinerary and everything else, so by the time we hopped on the plane we knew quite a few people really well already.

After a quick flight to Sydney, we then hopped on board another plane for the flight to Vancouver, and boy, was that a long flight!

Flying from morning and back into the night was a new experience for me, as was seeing the lights of Hawaii as we flew over it.

The weirdest thing was that we left Melbourne at about 7.00 on a Sunday morning, and landed in Vancouver a bit after 7.00 on their Sunday morning. 

The trip took 15 minutes!!!!!!

After heading to our hotel, we had the day to ourselves. Many hit the sack, others went shopping, and my colleague and her roomie hired some bikes and went touring around the place.

The first thing we had to master was the rule to "Keep to the right"!!

One of the many totem poles around Stanley Park, Vancouver.

The bridge to North Vancouver.

The Vancouver skyline from Stanley Park

Looking back towards Stanley Park.

After a few days in Vancouver looking at a few schools, it was on to a plane for a short flight over the Rocky Mountains to Calgary. Seeing the Rockies was mind blowing, especially when we saw how they come to a very abrupt halt just as you reach Calgary.We had to attend a conference here, but it came a very distant second to the amazing scenery and great times we had exploring the city and it's surrounds.

Flying over the Rockies.

They stop abruptly!

Flying into Calgary.

After a day or so at the Calgary Conference, it continued the next day and night at a small town further to the north, Canmore. The mountains surrounding Canmore were just beautiful and the town itself was amazing. 

After a fairly big night at the Conference Dinner, we had half a day left of the conference, needless to say it was very low key!

Early in the night at the Conference Dinner.

Much later in the night!!

We woke up the next morning to find the town covered in a blanket of snow, so my roomie, Greg and I decided to go for a run along the riverbank. When we got back, the reception staff asked us where we had been running. When we told them, they then proceeded to warn us not to go there again due to the presence of bears!!!

A cool early morning run in Canmore.

Greg couldn't resist the lure of piffing a few snowballs.

So picturesque, only to be told later to watch out for bears!!

The riverbank we ran along.

The pace was too much for Greg!

The next day we took a day trip up to the town of Banff, which is a picture postcard place, just like you see in the movies. A chairlift up a nearby mountain and into the snowline was unbelievable, and we were lucky enough to experience snow falling while we were up there.

Just when we thought the scenery could not get any better, we travelled further up the highway to Lake Louise.

Above Banff in the snow.

The town of Banff.

Lake Louise.

Lake Louise.

This still continues to be the most beautiful place I have ever been to, and the slight snow that was falling while we were there only added to the experience.

Wherever one looked in Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise a photo opportunity presented itself. Amazing scenery around every corner, we were just so privileged to experience it.

After Calgary it was off to Toronto to look at more schools, but to be honest, the touring around was the highlight!!

A helicopter flight over Niagara Falls was a standout, as was getting a photo with the cheerleaders at an ice hockey game!!

Greg holding the hockey puck that hit him in the leg. The cheerleaders obviously helped soothe the pain!

On the edge of Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls.

There were just too many highlights in Canada to mention, and way too many photos to share.

Needless to say, it is a place I'd love to visit again, but there is a whole world out there waiting to be explored...

Holiday Rest and Renovations...

Being a school teacher, we tend to cherish our generous amount of holidays that we get.
Usually a day or two of slackness is followed by a period of frenetic activity as I get restless with the sitting around, and just have to "do stuff"!!
As we live on a large block, a lot of our trees drop leaves, bark and branches in the heat, making a mess and creating an extra fire hazard.
So, with the assistance of my wife for an hour or two one day, then one of my sons, Will, for the next two days we really cleaned the place up.
This was all done on extremely hot days, so I only snaffled them for assistance early in the morning then 'released them' before it got too warm, while I continued on relentlessly like a blowfly in a bottle, because once I get started I just have to keep going regardless until the job is done.
The yard looked tremendous two days ago when we finished, but now looks a bit different after Bendigo copped a severe soaking this afternoon. We were lucky as we had cleaned spouts etc, but in town there was major flooding.
Looks like some cleaning up again next week...

Just after the clean up on Wednesday

This afternoon after a deluge.

Holidays also mean that my wife, Jen, likes to begin odd jobs around the house. The trouble at times is that while she likes to begin them, I often end up having to finish them! (But not always)

These holidays I was told that we were going to redo our ensuite. Great!!

Jen got the ball rolling by removing six tiles from the floor that came up easily, but then noticed that the rest were going to be a bit more difficult. 

I took this as my invitation to get the rest done.

So, two and a half days later all of the tiles are off, the shower screen is gone and new waterproof sheeting and backing has been installed. This was all done mind you in temperatures of 35 plus degrees, and working in that confined space was equivalent to a sauna.

I did manage to take the skin off almost every knuckle in the process, and a few tiles fell and put a slice in my leg that resulted in a trip to the hospital.

However, we are past the halfway mark now and she has started to lay tiles. After a day staying away from this job I think I am back on deck again tomorrow.

Our two boys are hoping we get it done asap as they don't really like sharing their toilet and bathroom with us!!

Chipping away in the shower (more like a sauna)

The wounds of work!

As far as I know there are no other major jobs in the pipeline, but that could change as soon as we finish this job!!!!

Inspiration

By now you will have realised that I have a passion for running.
I have been loving seeing various messages on Pinterest related to the things I am interested in regarding my work and my leisure time.
Running has long been a passion, so I have slapped together some of the best posters and inspirational messages into a short movie.
Enjoy!

Playing Football

Football has always been my first love as a sport, having played it from the earliest days I can remember.
It has given me some of the most amazing highs when unexpected wins occur, flags are won and just the camaraderie that exists within a club makes it special. I have met some of my closest friends through football.
But, it has also given me some lows on a regular basis as I tended to cop lots of injuries through wear and tear, collisions, some punch-ups and just getting crunched. Maybe if I used the inside of my head a lot more instead of using the outside of it to attack opponents then perhaps I might have not had so many injuries and hospital stays!

Some insights from different clubs and teams that I was lucky enough to play with...

Colbinabbin
As soon as I was allowed to play footy by my mum and dad I was into it. Colbinabbin is a small, one street town ( it actually has more streets now, but back then it was basically just the main street) near Bendigo.
The population rarely got close to 200, so it was obviously hard to fill a seniors, reserves and Under 16 team, unless the club was doing well on the field.
What I remember most from this time, about 1974 ish is that when you are in Gr 3 or Gr 4 and are playing U-16, the other kids were BIG ! I was lucky that I had my older brother Tony playing as well and we were often the 19th and 20th players for that year. This was in the days when there was no interchange, so if you came off, you stayed off. It was good to have that familiar face sitting next to me on the bench, and also great to share the moment when one of us was sent on.
I can't recall many wins in those days as Colbinabbin 3rds were the minnows of the league and we could not compete against the powerhouse teams from the bigger towns. Nonetheless, I only have happy memories of my first few years of footy at Colbo as I loved getting to training and just absorbing myself in the culture of a football team. My first injury surfaced at this time when I started to get lots of problems with my heels and arches and started to have my feet strapped and wedges placed in my boots. Looking back now, I probably needed orthotics as each of my own boys have had similar problems and all 3 wear orthotics now. Back then they weren't an option.
After a few more years I gradually played more regularly until the time came to go away to Boarding school when I was 14.
I remember the first time I came home for holidays and was asked if I could play for the 3rds the next day. Unfortunately, the team had already been picked, so on the day, just before the game the coach asked for someone to step out to make room for me. My younger brother Peter quickly volunteered and I was in, but I can still see the disappointment in his face at missing out on a game so that I could play, even to this day. That has always bugged me, and if I had my time again I would never have played in the first place. He loved his footy, so to miss out on a game would have killed him too.
As I reached the age of 15-16 I was playing in the 3rds whenever I came home from boarding school, as did my close mate Raj who went to a different boarding school in Melbourne. There were also a few other boys as well, and my brother Tony. As we were now the older members of the team and could get a lot more of the ball, one or two of the other teams quickly began to target the 'College Kids', as they did not see it as fair that Colbinabbin would top up their team from time to time with these semi-regular players. We quickly became targets for high tackles and fights, and the boys from one team in particular didn't mind if this continued after the game or even when it was not football season, as we were hassled if they saw us anywhere.
As I got a little older I started to play in the reserves and then the seniors when I came home from college and the rough stuff sort of stopped as there were bigger and older blokes in the team who looked after the 16 year olds.
This was when I copped my first big knock. In a game at Stanhope I was having a good game, and the next thing I can remember is being in the Rochester Hospital.
Apparently an opponent game me a whack to the face in a pack and knocked me out and I was taken concussed to hospital where I spent the night. The most annoying thing was that I had to stay home for a week and missed playing for my school team the next day. The bloke who hit me got 6 weeks, and at the tribunal I got a lecture for 'unsatisfactory evidence', because I could not tell them what had happened, and they thought I was covering for the bloke.
The next week I was going to play again, but the club weren't sure if I should. It came down to a decision by my dad, so at training on the Thursday I trained my butt off to impress him, which worked as I got the okay and had another good game.
After leaving school I came home each week to play and was in and out of the seniors and reserves. The highlight of the year was winning the flag in the two's against a team who we had not beaten all year.

Check out the front row, 2nd from left. Is that hair, or a crash helmet? And blue boots too ???

I played again for Colbinabbin in 1986 when I was teaching in Wodonga, and was coming home to play football. This was a lean year, we won a few, but lost more. The blokes were great to play with, especially as they were mostly my mates I had grown up with. My fitness wasn't great because I was living on my own, not eating properly and basically became a bit of a fat slob, but I still loved playing.

Buninyong

In 1983 I moved to Ballarat to study teaching and moved into a house with 6 other blokes. Within a week we had the President from Buninyong on our doorstep trying to recruit us all. 3 of us went out and trained, but the other two pulled out after a week or two, leaving just me.
From the outset, I just loved this club and all of the blokes in it. They made me feel so welcome and very quickly a lot of good friendships were formed.
The season started well and I was in the Senior team, but we weren't having a lot of success. To make matters worse, I copped a bad ankle injury midway through the season and missed about 6 games. I came back and played the rest of the season, but struggled with the ankle every game. I was a bit slack about getting proper treatment for it, and it wasn't until about 7 years later that I ended up getting it looked at more closely, with the result being that I required an ankle reconstruction. That meant another year out of action.
1983 was a great year at Buninyong even though we struggled. It taught me a lot about always giving your best no matter what, because on the odd occasion when we did win, the feelings were so special.
For some reason, I spent the next year at East Ballarat after getting talked into signing on after a boozy night at the local student pub. I never really enjoyed my time here as one never knew until the day of the game if you were going to play or not, so after a while I just stopped turning up on the Saturday. This killed me as I loved my footy. I still trained, but if they couldn't confirm if you would be playing or not, I chose to not go.
So, in 1984 it was back to Buninyong and this is where I really felt at home.
We trained our butts off in the pre season under a very tough, but fair coach in 'Bull' Dean. Success quickly came our way and we spent the season in the top 5. 'Bull' taught us to play hard, but fair, because if we got rubbed out we would disadvantage the team.
We made the finals, and in the first final it was us vs Bungaree, played at Learmonth on a typical crappy, cold and wet Ballarat day. The mud and slosh was ankle deep and it was my job to cover a bloke named McGuigan I think, who had won the league B & F Medal. I was always close enough to mug him, but to my everlasting horror he kicked 5 I think in the 1st quarter, leaving me gutted. At 1/4 time I asked if someone else could cover him, but it was still left to me. He didn't do much more in the game, but the damage was done, and we lost by about 30 points, which was what he kicked in the 1st quarter ! 'Bull' was noble after the game, but I could tell he was gutted, he always worked so hard for us.
I moved away for a year to teach in Wodonga, and in 1987 I was back in Ballarat and straight back to Buninyong.
This time I got myself really fit and we started the year off well. What I loved most was that the team stayed settled all year, in particular the backline where I was. The 6-7 blokes who played there became really close on and off the field, and although we missed the finals, we had a great time all year long. Towards the end of the season I developed my first knee injury and needed lots of strapping to get on the paddock. I managed to see the year out and have an operation, the first of many over the next few years.

Check out the mullet, as well as the strapping to hold the knee together !

1988 was a great year, the best I had of all my years of playing. While we did not have a lot of wins, we celebrated hard when we did win. One night in particular saw us smoking cigars after an unexpected win, so you can imagine how a non smoker like me pulled up after this !

We trained  our butts off throughout the year, and even during those bleak winter Ballarat nights I just loved it. I thrived on the work because the results were showing up on the Saturday.

I remember one game against Bungaree where the game itself was its usual hard but fair contest, but towards the end the game was paused for about 10 minutes because a lot of the spectators were fighting, and it spilled out onto the ground. I can still see the masses of people spread from the wing to the goal posts just going for it, while the players from both teams assembled in the middle and just laughed at what we were witnessing. Usually it is the players having a crack at each other.

Whenever we played Hepburn (who we hated, and were known as a dirty team) I always came up against this one particular bloke and for some reason we always ended up having a punch up. In this one particular game we lined up on at each other at the start and before the ball was bounced he started swinging, After we were seperated I called him some names and asked what his problem was, to which he said "Just wanted to get it done early!"

It doesn't sound good, but it always gave me pleasure running through him!!

In another game, I was playing against my good mate Laney, who was the gun forward at Springbank. Before the game started, we were doing the usual shaking of hands before the game (unheard of now!) and as I reached out to shake Laney's, he spat in his hand then shook mine, all the time with a wicked wink in his eye. No malice, just Laney being Laney. Imagine my horror when my team mates saw this and pounced on him and laid into him because they didn't know we were mates and he was just mucking around. After the scuffle was broken up he just laughed it off then proceeded to kick 10 goals and murder us all day.

The following year was going to be the big one for me, I had won a few awards the previous year, so this was time to step up. 

I had never been fitter and was ready to go, only to stuff up my knee again two weeks before the first game. Another operation and that season was over. Gutted.

Sadly, this was my last season for Buninyong, as some issues arose in regards to my hospital bills, so at the start of the next season a few friends got in my ear and I was off to a rival team, Springbank. Despite not winning a flag at Buninyong, I still regard them as 'my team', the one that I still have the closest allegiance to.

Springbank

I had been spending a lot of time over summer with a good mate, Laney, and although he wasn't playing that year due to a knee reco, he convinced me to come to Springbank to play.

While I was very keen to do so, I was still torn between the attraction of going to this club and my loyalties to Buninyong. The only thing that made me change my mind was that I had had hassles at Buninyong after needing a knee op, and there were problems with the insurance that we paid. The hassle with getting a clearance were always happening, even to the point of the club ringing me at school, and the coach waiting outside my school to see me to get me to change my my mind.

So, off I went, and I also talked a teaching colleague into coming to Springbank as well. Well, they were rapt, as my colleague was blitzing everything at training, and they were thinking "How good is this?". However, one night at training before the season even started, my colleague went down in a heap after doing his hammy. He looked like he had been shot, and I can still see him crawling along the ground trying to stand up, but couldn't. Needless to say, he ended up at the hospital, crutches for a while and his footy career ended there and then.

Our coach was a well known player who had a reputation of being tough, but fair. I always got on well with him and loved his approach.

He always told us that we were not to kick 'torps' at training, and 'look out if anyone does!'.

It became a constant game to try and sneak a few in while we were having our warm up kicks while he was in the sheds getting ready. Sometimes he would catch someone and some form of punishment would be given out, so if you tried to do one you were taking your life into your own hands.

This year I was in and out of the Seniors and missed out on a spot in the Grand Final, which they won. It was still great to be part of the club at this time, they were amazing people.

Recuperating at home after an ankle reconstruction.

Footy ended for me in about 1992 0r 1993 when I played in the Reserves Premiership for Springbank. But there is a bit more to this story...

I wasn't really meant to be playing after having had so many knee operations in the previous years, so I was asked to be a trainer for the club (you know, the guys in white overalls who strap the players, handle injuries etc). I readily agreed to this so that I could still be involved. My wife liked the idea too because she was pretty well sick of all the injuries, plus we had just had our first child. Plus, I was getting some dollars for doing this role.

Anyway, all was going well in the first week or two of the season, but numbers of players were down. So, in about round 2 or 3, the reserves were really short of players and the club asked if I could fill in.

Could I ?? Hell yeah !!!! So on went some borrowed gear and I played and had a ball, but didn't say a word about it when I got home.

The next Saturday came and I secretly packed my footy gear into my 'trainer's bag' and off I went to the footy, played again and was over the moon. We were getting more players and we were winning. Once again, my secret was safe.

However, the next week I played and copped a cut to the head, and there was no way of hiding it when I got home. As expected, it was noticed straight away and the game was up. Silence for the next few hours!!

Next Saturday came, and I was heading off to the footy, this time to play rather than strap players, but not with the full support of my wife.

We won again, and even more players rocked up, and before too long we were the top team and the pressure was on to keep your spot in the team. We covered most teams really well, except Wendouree who we just couldn't knock over. The finals came and we soon found ourselves in the decider against Wendouree, and the planets aligned beautifully on the day and we smashed them. A highlight for me was when a good mate, Hoges brought our son Sam (who was about 2) into the rooms before the game and he was wearing a jumper with my number on it. I felt forgiven at last !! (But this was definitely going to be my last game!!)

Or so I thought....

Fast forward about 10-11 years and we are now living in Bendigo. I had started to run marathons and was reasonably fit. One weekend I went out to watch Colbinabbin play and was amazed to see a lot of blokes my age and older still playing. I quizzed my brother who was one of the trainers about this and he said they were just so short of players. I casually said to him "Oh, if they're short, just give me a ring" and thought nothing about it.

Until the next Friday when the coach rang me and asked if I could fill in. I was over the moon, the wife was just as impressed as she was 10 years previously when I made a similar 'comeback'!

So I turn up to Colbo the next day and get handed some gear and nervously do the warm ups, meet the players etc. Was I nervous!!!!!!

As I said, I had been doing marathons, so thought I was fit, but after the first few contests I was ready for a heart/lung transplant - I was knackered! It is a totally different type of exertion playing footy when compared to running non stop for 3 1/2 hours.

The bloke I was playing on just wanted to punch, push and niggle right from the start, so I just faced up to him and said "Mate, just play the friggin game, and we don't have to worry about this sort of crap", and to my surprise he stopped straight away and we were besties for the rest of the game.

We were playing the top side and late in the last quarter we were up by a few points (unexpected as the team was topped up with blokes like me) but kicking against the wind. The coach said to another older bloke on the bench "If I put you on, can you win it for us?" to which he vigorously nodded, so on he went. Within a minute he had decked an opponent, starting a big melee which ran down the clock and won us the game.

The next Friday, the phone rang at home and it was the coach again, but unfortunately, my wife took the call. Needless to say, I didn't play that weekend, and my footy career finished at age 41.

Wow, have I been slack!!!!

Well, you can tell that it is school holidays again!!
I have been somewhat embarrassed to revisit my blog only to find that I have not contributed to it in more than a year. That is too slack, and I intend to right that wrong by committing to add more often so that it becomes habitual.

Admittedly, I did write quite a lengthy piece early last year, only to lose it all with a laptop malfunction. That disheartened me greatly as I remember putting so much work into that piece over a few days.

So much has happened since my last official posting, so where do I begin?

Work:

When I last posted, I was working at St Peter's Primary School in North Bendigo as a Numeracy Coach.

I worked here from 2010-2013 and had a ball. An ultra dedicated staff and really switched on Principal who did all they could to make learning relevant and enjoyable for the kids.

Some of the funniest things I have experienced in more than 25 years of teaching happened here, involving both staff and children.

I remember one day in particular when on yard duty, and the bell rang to end recess. There was one particular boy who just would not leave the sandpit, despite repeated calls for him to get a move on back to class. As I got closer to the sandpit, I asked him to hurry up back to class, he refused, and just stood staring back defiantly at me with a spade in his hand. I asked him again, same result.

Not wanting to escalate things, I asked him to put down the spade and head off back to class. 

What I wasn't prepared for however, was his sudden reaction to this!

Without warning, he has swung back his arm and let fly with the spade in my direction, giving me no reaction time at all from a distance of about 5 metres.

I can still vividly see the spade heading towards me, knowing that I had no time to protect myself.

And it got me. Right in the groin!!

Down I went, gasping for breath while at the same time trying to keep an eye on this boy, worrying what was going to happen next. I could see by the "Oh my God, what have I just done?" look on his face that he knew he was in strife!! By now he could see that I was in a bit of strife too, so his immediate compliance was appreciated! As I slowly stood up and gathered my breath (and him!) I took him back into the main building and handed him over to some other teachers to be dealt with.

My next stop was the fridge in the staff room and grabbed an ice pack to treat "the affected area" and wait for my voice to drop back to its previous levels! I can assure you that the chosen ice pack was never used again!!!

After some token 'genuine concern' from my colleagues (this lasted for all of 10 minutes I suspect!), then the jokes really started, and we could all see the slightly funny side of the situation, although I was rather sore for the rest of the day. 

One of the funniest reactions came from a group of Gr 6 boys who saw it happen and asked me later if I was okay. My reply was something like, "Yeah, thanks boys. He just hit me where I had my leg operated on a few weeks ago". The boys just gave me an understanding nod, knowing full well that he had hit me in the crown jewels and not to the back of the leg where I had an operation recently. 

Sometimes males just understand each other perfectly!!!

Some random shots from my time at St Peter's...

With a good friend, Craig Simpson at a farewell evening for a staff member who was leaving.

Dressing up with my colleagues from Gr 5/6 to launch a new inquiry on Travel.

It does appear worrying that there is a tendency to dress up a bit!!

Doing the 'Kel and Kath' thing with Beth.

I cut the O Dog to pieces in this epic battle!

Were there Smurfs in the Middle Ages???

Another inquiry was on Crime and Punishment, so as part of it we held a whole school Medieval Day, which was a huge success.

Don't ask me what I am meant to be, but I saw a costume like this when I was researching the inquiry!! (I think it was a peasant)

Another Injury!

While I was at St Peter's, the staff had a team entered in a mixed netball comp, and they asked me to join it. Another team sport ? Hell yeah, was I up to it!!

My wife had said to me soon after I told her what I was doing, "You know you'll end up injured!" to which I replied something like "Oh, as if. Who gets hurt playing netball??"

Famous last words that will forever haunt me!

We won many games during the season, and before we knew it we were playing in the Grand Final.

I have always been religious with my warm ups and stretching so I considered myself well prepped for this game.

Tragedy in the first five minutes when our big unit Bolts went down with a serious ankle injury.

Then, a few minutes later I jumped for a ball and BANG!! Something exploded in my butt cheek.

I had never had hamstring troubles before, but I knew I'd done something wrong here.

We lost the final after being a few players down, and then I had to do the walk of shame back into the house when I got home. Well, it was more like the hobble of shame, and then I got the "I told you so", which I knew I had no comeback for.

The end result was a hammy torn off the bone, so off to Melbourne for some surgery and then a few  weeks on the couch recovering. I now have screws holding it together, which make another love of mine, cycling, somewhat difficult at times as sitting on the hard saddle is not really great for it. Losing feeling in a large section of the leg has not helped either, but things a lot worse could happen, so it's no big deal.

A few screws holding the hammy together.

Fundraiser

One of the Grade 6 Leadership Groups at school was planning a fundraiser 2-3 years ago. The kids were joking about my hairy legs, so I foolishly and flippantly said "For $50 a leg you can wax my legs and Mr Simpson's legs", not for once thinking that they would raise the necessary $200.

One week later and they easily had the necessary cash!!

Professionals were booked to do the waxing, but they cancelled at the last minute, so a few staff 'kindly' volunteered to do it. How convenient!! I must confess at this stage that a female colleague hinted to me the night before that it might pay to 'trim' a little bit in order to lessen the pain of the ordeal. I followed her advice, but perhaps left not too much to work with in the end!!

The worst part was not the waxing in front of the entire school, but watching the staff trying to read and make sense of the instructions and trying to figure out how to do it!!

Anyway, some good coin for a great cause in the end.

The nervous anticipation...

On goes the wax strip...

And off comes the hair!!

Book Week

Every parent's headache each year (and teachers!)

What will they put their kids in for the annual Book Week Dress Up?

Thank goodness my lovely sister Anne (who is also a teacher) has her parade a few days before ours, so I just borrow her Captain Underpants cape, buy some oversized blue ringers, and Presto!!!

Not a great look, but at least I'm into it!

Erin just could not resist her local Superhero!!

I don't think this outfit will surface again!

More Inquiry

Once again, we really got into our inquiry units.

In this one we were looking at body systems, and an interactive display was set up to display various organs and muscles of animals. 

I must clarify the 'interactive' aspect here... I was the only one who 'interacted' with the sheep's lungs, and apart from the atrocious smell, it was a great way to demonstrate how they worked for the kids.

And finally, the great team that I worked with in my final year at St Peter's.

St Francis of the Fields, Strathfieldsaye

So, after 4 years at St Peter's, I was lucky enough to land a new job at a school where I had previously taught for 2 years. In 2014 I was back to St Francis of the Fields in Strathfieldsaye to take up the position of Deputy Principal/Numeracy Coach.