"A faithful promise! "

I seem to open all my posts with a disclaimer about what a slack blogger I have been and promises to improve greatly in the near future. This hopefully will be true this time as Semester (thankfully) draws to a close.

Things have been busy and tiring lately, but good. I am enjoying tutoring for the most part, and (legitimately) got to talk about Nelson in class a few weeks ago. I stopped at pulling out my Nelson figurine and placing him on the desk next to my 'nothing says "hello, sailor" quite like ruby red lipstick' pencil case. I am hoping to maintain some semblance of sanity so that the students can't claim special consideration on the grounds that I am mad.

It is annual review time this week, so while I am nervous I had a pep talk from my supervisor on Thursday and I am hoping the positive reinforcement lasts until Thursday this week.

I have incidentally been spending a lot of time on the Internet, procrastinating, but also just to give me little breaks in between marking and the like. I have therefore been reading every one's blogs, and as such was inspired today by Foodycat's most recent post to make something delicious for dinner. Out of the ingredients in the recipe I only had Haloumi, which didn't stop me. I had zucchini as a replacement for sausages and eggplant and grape tomatoes for peppers. I laid them all on the tray with two cloves of sliced garlic, a little olive oil and a good crack of black pepper. I let it all roast away for 15 minutes or so and then ate (ashamedly most of it!) with a good squeeze of lemon. Lovely!


HH

"You think it a faithful portrait undoubtedly"

I have been a bit silent of late, and I do apologise,the week "off" over Easter was greatly appreciated, though I could have done with two weeks. I am no where near where I want to be with my thesis work. Tutorials are going well however, and the feedback I have gotten from the students has been overwhelmingly positive, which is great.

Taking advantage of a lovely autumnal day we went to the Art Gallery to see the Archibalds. It was heaving with people, we had to wait in line for 10 minutes just to get tickets! The exhibition was good, though not overly profound. The highlight of the morning was seeing Bonita from Playschool in the crowd. That being said there were some very good portraits, particularly one of the little kid from Australia, that was stunning.

We then went to The Lord Nelson Pub for a pint (of real ale!!!) and lunch. We have been meaning to go here for about 5 years, and it didn't disappoint! I went for Fish and Chips and an Admiral's Ale, which was delicious, I am very much looking forward to going back there when I don't have to drive home and having several pints. It is a lovely pub though, and I am curious about the accommodation too. I am scheming for when Mr. A comes out to visit, it might be a nice place to stay for a weekend.

On the baking front, it has been also been a bit silent, or at least not worthy of photography. I did make some more choc-chip cookies, like the ones I made previously, but they turned out so different as I left out about 90 g of flour for oats. They were much crunchier, though equally delicious. I will make another batch tonight I think. I made ANZAC's too, but they weren't quite right. I think they needed more golden syrup. I will try again.

My Annual review paper is due in about 3 weeks. I haven't done it and I don't want to think about it. The panel is pretty nasty, and it isn't a stretch to say I am very nervous and anxious about the whole thing. Fingers crossed they don't hate me. Perhaps baking to soften them up might be the way to go!?

Ah well, better go and do some of the work that I have been putting off.

HH

"I have sometimes thought of going to London again after Easter"

The last few weeks have been somewhat crazy. Tutoring and marking have somewhat consumed my life, and my PhD has gone by the wayside. Tutoring itself is going really well, marking I hate and am now anxiously awaiting the avalanche of complaints. Mr A is good, though still in England, and it is a bit of a downer being apart, especially for the long weekend when we are both doing nothing in particular. I am secretly wondering if I need another research trip, I am sure I could pitch it legitimately to the uni and my supervisor...maybe....

I hope over the coming week to get back to my own work and have some down time, which I seriously need. Today I made a good start on that, by watching several more episodes of Buffy! (Phwoar, urst, angst!) I also made some hot cross buns, from Nigella Feast. I am tempted to make them again and let them rise in the fridge overnight as she suggests as they could be more tender. Though infusing the milk with spices before adding it to the dry ingredients and ground spices, awesome. I didn't pay much attention to presentation so they are a little ugly, but really, it is what is on the inside that counts. (Sorry that there are two missing from the picture, they smelt so good we couldn't wait!)



I hope everyone has a good Easter, or long weekend, which ever takes your fancy.

HH

"So says my historian"

I am now officially a tutor having survived two weeks of classes. The first week went pretty well. I was less than brilliant in the first one, but by the second I was finding my feet and by the third and the fourth I was in my element. I really did enjoy it and as general concept it is good. This is big from me whose main goal is to be invisible where possible. I also distinctly remember saying I would never be a tutor. How times change, though I think apart from the good experience this all falls into doing things I wouldn't normally do, which has been my successful New Years Resolution two years running. It was good to be able to talk in tutes, something I rarely did as an undergrad, and the students spoke as well (bonus). It is a bit strange being asked my opinion on essays and things, when it will affect their marks if I tell them something crap or wrong, but I suppose I am marking them so I can do what I like! (mwhahahah)

I have a busy week so far and have a workshop tomorrow with an Historian from England which I crammed all weekend and wrote a mostly new chapter for, and then tutor training on Friday. It is strange in the last month or two I think I have become an historian, at least in my own mind, which sounds a bit pretentious, but it isn't meant to be. I think I have just reached a point where I know what I am doing, where I am going, and where I actually fit into all this work I have been doing!! So that is a nice feeling.

Despite all the work I have to do today, I baked choc-chip cookies this morning. Just from the AWW "Cook" book, but they are pretty good. Chewy in the middle but crisp on the edges, chocolaty, vanilla-y and lovely. I was worried when I ate one too soon of the tray that they weren't right, but no I was wrong, they are right. Perfect with milk, good with coffee, and thankfully it made a huge batch so the four I ate in a row won't be missed.


HH

"There is nothing to be alarmed at in reality"

It is four weeks now since I left England, *sigh*, and reality is well and truly setting in. It has been lovely seeing friends here and catching up, though I am missing England and a particular Englishman an awful lot. It is amazing how quickly I have started to fall back into old routines. I am back to work at my Saturday job, but have told my typing job to shove their typing up their arses, (not in so many words) as they were going to decrease my rate of pay from the miserable amount it was to an even more miserable amount. This was, I was told, because of the drop in the Aussie Dollar. For an Australian company, hiring Australian workers in Australia and only taking Australian jobs, I can't see how that would be an issue. However I think it will be the best thing I have ever done, and a wonderful feeling to tell them that I would be unable to proceed!

However, to make up for the lack of this job, I have taken on a new venture, tutoring at uni!(argh) My supervisor is also the lecturer on the course, and I am the only tutor, so those things are in my favour, though having never tutored before, I am naturally freaking out!! I am a little excited, perhaps 1%. Mr A thinks it is great, and it will be good experience, if it doesn't send me over the edge!

It seems like I am going to be insanely busy this year, which will be good in a way as it will make it pass by quickly. Though as I want to try and finish up ASAP, I hope it doesn't melt away too fast!!I have so much to do on my thesis, but a new sense of determination and motivation is pushing me on. Some how I have broken it up into 10 chapters, of which I have written the equivalent of 4, but all of which will need to be redone. I am thinking March next year, my supervisor is thinking July....we will see. It will be a battle of wills and if I can defeat procrastination, I might just do it!

HH