In pursuit of Health, Wealth and Happiness

Kepp

Stay safe Tete

Birdie85

Sunday! :eek: Blimey, way to drag out your holiday! Hope the hurricane passes swiftly and safely and you can enjoy the rest of your trip without it costing too much. Will you get anything back from your travel insurance to cover the costs?

At least you'll get plenty of crocheting done whilst you're waiting for it to pass!

Dinah93

As others have said, hope it passes quickly and you actually get a few bonus days to enjoy New York without it costing too much. I take it you're not in an evacuation area? When we went it was 8 days after the last big hurricane hit, and you couldn't really tell anything had happened apart from tape on a few shop windows as we drove in from the airport.

ruby_eskimo

Glad your safe, hope it stays that way and you can come home soon!

archersluck

Wow, stay safe Tete. Hopefully it'll be a fun adventure!

Tete_en_l'Air

Whew, hello. I'm finally back from NYC and starting to think about my next steps - things were very fraught and floopy before I went away (came home to a bombsite, money all over the place in my accounts and so on) but I'm getting my listy head on now.

NY was amazing, had the best time with my girls. We ended up having to stay an extra 6 nights because of the hurricane (which was honestly just a bit of wind and rain in Midtown thank goodness) - one night was free because our first hotel lost power and water so we didn't have to pay for that, then we had to move hotels but were kindly given a special Sandy Rate so the final bill for the extra few days only comes to about £300-350 each but we're hoping to get the full amount back from BA.

Spending-wise, I took £700 with me and only had to draw out about an extra £100 so that's not too bad, and I brought quite a lot of stuff home too (inc a Tiffany necklace, eep!). It was brilliant to have a few extra days however a lot of the extra stuff we could have done (eg Brooklyn, Coney Island, Library tour...) wasn't possible either because the place was closed or inaccessible so by the last day we were at a bit of a loss and just traipsing up Fifth Avenue.

The extra time away boogered up my last-minute plan which I hadn't had time to mention on here. I'd told work I was 'worried about workload' after having two weeks off so I'd come in (last) Thursday and Friday and take the following (this) Thurs and Fri off instead (to spend two more days in School P), but I only arrived home at 2pm yesterday so I couldn't do that, but I DID manage to take today off citing 'jet-lag' and go into the school so all was not lost, but now I'm proper pooped!

I was with Year 4 today and I think they've been my favourites so far - they're a really nice balance of youthful eagerness and more-mature intelligence. Came across the first teacher to live up to my previous 'moron' prejudice though. He was nice enough and great with the kids, just not very intelligent (said North and South America are joined by a 'peninsula', didn't know what AD stands for in dates etc - I just think that a teacher should know things like that, whatever age they teach somehow )

As I said before I left, I've been so preoccupied finding classroom experience that I'm now panicking about the actual application and still haven't decided which route to take I'm not going to look at it tonight because I probably won't sleep but will try and have a look tomorrow at work in between the gazillion other things I'll no doubt have to do NOT looking forward to going back there I have to say (but this makes me sure I'm doing the right thing!)

I feel the key to feeling less stressed about everything is feeling like I know what I'm doing and what I need to do so it's time to get super-organised, both at home and work, so I'll be working with a to-do list (some things here I've already done but I'm including them anyway )...

- [STRIKE]Light wash[/STRIKE]
- Dark wash #1
- Dark wash #2
- [STRIKE]Change bedding[/STRIKE]
- Wash bedding
- [STRIKE]Unpack[/STRIKE] and actually put things away properly
- Make acupuncture appointment next week
- Look at possible dates for going back into school
- Look at PGCE app (closing date etc)
- Look at Finance for above
- [STRIKE]Connect phone and laptop up to new broadband[/STRIKE] (surprisingly hassle-free)
- [STRIKE]Upload new antivirus onto laptop[/STRIKE]
- Upload new antivirus onto Dad's laptop
- Check banks and do some major money shuffling
- Change money back (all $22 of it!)
- Update petrol record
- Restart myfitnesspal*
- [STRIKE]Sort packed lunches for the week[/STRIKE]
- Email hotel manager to praise the staff who really helped us
- Leave a glowing review of hotel on TripAdviser and any other site I can find
- Download photos onto hard drive
- Update Day Zero List
- Clear out car and prepare it for winter (oil, windscreen washer, tyres, de-icer)
- EBAY
- Email G, P and M
- Book for Groupon facial I bought ages ago
- Start Xmas pressie planning
- Work out how the hell Tesco points actually work**
- Send birthday card

*Didn't actually put any weight on over there I don't think, but I've been piling it on recently and it needs nipping in the bud (particularly before Xmas!). Am dead on 11st and would like to get down to my happt weight of 10st4...

**Can anyone help me understand these blimmin' things? Or is there a good bit on the website that explains how to get the most out of them? I had an email to say that I have some which are due to expire at the end of Nov - is it possible to extend them? I also notice in the email that there's a special x2 offer on at the mo, should I just bite the bullet and do that? :o Clueless!

That's it for now, sorry for the long ramble to anyone who's kept up. Off for a long sleep!

Kittikins

Sleep well and welcome back! I'm also panicking about my application, am all done bar the yukky personal statement and work experience bit

I've now finished work (eeek!) and have been to registered for TA work with an agency this afternoon. They sound eager to get me out working, but then agencies always say that don't they.....

Dinah93

I can help with the Tesco points hon. as you know I work them for all they're worth.

Personally I don't like the 2x offer, as most of the deals on are for 4x anyway. Have you had a browse of the clubcard site and seen anything you like? How many vouchers do you have to use up and how many total? If you haven't already sign up to view your clubcard details online so you can easily see all your unused vouchers and also their codes. x

Tete_en_l'Air

Thanks Dinah, nope not looked on the site in ages, and won't have too much in vouchers really - I normally get about £4-5 a month. But I have just got a Clubcard reward credit card thingy so might start using that. Will double check and get back to you Do you know if there is a way of extending them or am I best off getting the 2x offer for the ones about to expire?

Hi Kitty, lovely to see you - yep the thought of the PS is giving me the jitters! Anyway, not looking at that tonight, need a good nap! Brilliant that you'll be getting the TA work in - do you need many qualifications / experience to do that and does it pay much through an agency? Just thinking if worst comes to worst I could maybe do that for a year if I don't get in this Sept :undecided

Dinah93

No you can't extend them. but even if you traded them in for a deal you woudn't need to buy the full value of the deal you want now, and that deal voucher usually lasts for two years itself - so if for example you ever go to pizza express trade them in now and you'll have them to pay when you next go. Or if what you really want is (for example) a night in a hotel, trade them in for £20 worth now, you can get another £20 or whatever in 6 months and they'll still work together.