How I will change this year...

I started teacher training this week. It's been a mentally exhausting week so far, but I've really enjoyed being back in an environment in which I'm learning again (yes, I'm a nerd.)

One of the things we've been advised to do as trainees is tell people a bit about what it's going to be like this year. Luckily, I am blessed in that my friends and family, if not directly connected to the education system, at least appreciate and sympathise with the rigours and difficulties of it. So thank you all, to begin with.

I suppose what I really need to say is that I'm not going to be around as much this year. If you ask me to do something midweek that is a) not Forte b) not Thursday dinners with my Community then I'm probably going to say 'no'. I'm really sorry. I would probably love to take advantage of cheap ticket Tuesday (the sad thing is that even though I'm a student again so can save money on the cinema, I'm so rarely going to have the chance to use it), and I probably would love to come round and eat all your food. But I won't, because I'll be swimming in lesson plans or Masters Assignments.

What about weekends, I hear you ask? Oh, weekends. I will miss thee. I am going to be extremely disciplined in having a day off (other trainees and NQTs will either produce shocked or pitying expressions at the thought of having even a day off a week) and on that day I will most likely be relaxing with John (the husband) or having introvert time. Again, I'm sorry, but as an introvert my energies will be sucked dry anyway and I will desperately need that day off to recharge. And as for holidays, if I'm not working, I will most likely be with my family (both Rossers and Finlaysons) as they are most excellent people for me to relax around.

Having said all of this, if you're a person I haven't seen for weeks when I would normally see you much more often, I give you permission to literally drag me out of my house on a day off. Tempt me out with the promise of tea or Avengers Assemble or anything that Jennifer Lawrence/Emma Stone/Joseph-Gordon Levitt is in. And food. Above all, food.

I will definitely appreciate the support that you lovely people will be giving me over the next year, and if I don't thank you enough for that, I apologise. I do not want to neglect my friends and family this coming year, but there are only twenty four hours in a day and I do not have a Time-Turner.

Teaching is something that I have entered into willingly, I know that, so I am going to try my best not to complain (above the usual amount people complain about their jobs, anyway. I won't be able to stay sane without a good rant now and again). No one is forcing me to train. I want to, and I embrace the challenges that come with it. I would just appreciate your sympathy in that, and your not being offended when I say that I can't do something. Because, believe me, I'd probably rather be with you than marking.