O coach

2008 - was it a lazy year?

Posted on 02 Jan, 2009 by Lynne Walker | Filed under Blog • General

As usual, all the best intentions for regular posts on the blog went somewhere. I have become so out of practise that I will have to enlist the help of my assistant to make sure I get this post up! I had thought that posts would be more regular after purchasing ‘Wee EEE pc’ but that has not happened.

I could put up the usual excuses and yes, many of them would apply. The main problem is getting the work / life balance sorted out. For 2008 there seemed to be too much work and not enough life. Every year I expect things to become slightly easier but then the goal posts change and I end up working for quite a bit most evenings.

I also had a sheet of recreational aims & achievements drawn up for 2008 and I reckon I made about half of it. This was actually a useful exercise as it made me realise what areas I was OK in and where there were enormous gaps between the aim and the reality. I am about to do the same for 2009, and will have the experience of 2008 to draw on as well as the hopes for what I’d like to do.

So, the last post was at the end of August. There will now be a quick snap shot of the remaining four months of 2008.

September was an orienteering month with some OK results. The road to Strathspey became familiar but the woods up there are well worth the journey. The autumn colours enhanced some of the runs as well.

I was surprised to be selected to run for Scotland in the Veteran Home Internationals in Northern Ireland at the start of October. EasyJet flight from Glasgow and car sharing with Gill, Pauline & Martin. The accommodation at an Army Camp at Magilligan was ‘interesting’; the individual was on wet windswept sand dunes but we were staying very close and so were in the showers warming up 15 minutes after finishing. The afternoon was for exploring so we took the small ferry to the Republic (tight security to board the ferry) and had a drive to Malin Head. The relays were closer to Belfast in a wooded area. I made one error and was a bit disappointed with my run. However, the good news is that Scotland won the event – the first time ever!! I have the T shirt to prove it as well.

We went to a lovely apartment at Boat of Garten for the October holiday. Time was spent walking, running in the wonderful terrain from the door and of course, visiting coffee shops. This is a place we would consider going back to.

Although there were not many orienteering events on the Scottish calendar in November and December we had a run of EckO events. These saw a good turn-out of people for most of them even when the weather was horrible! I also managed to fit in observed assessments for my updated assessor qualification. This is nearly finished as I have completed the question paper and only have to have the ‘professional discussion’.

Workwise, I had a trip to Austria for 5 days in November. The school is part of a Comenius group along with schools from Latvia, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Austria (obviously!), Finland and Turkey. The place we went to is near to Graz and so south of the main mountains with a more moderate climate. We were not worked too hard and I had a good 6km run exploring the area. Graz is a lovely city and the Christmas markets had just started. I am not sure about the viability of the format in this day and age; the project involves four visits over the two year period. Each visit takes place in a different country over a four to five day period (including travelling time). Can we really justify the cost (financial and environmental) of this? In March 2009, we are the host school for the final visit and so there will be a busy time sorting out the details of this.

Christmas and New Year have been fairly quiet as we have spent most of the time at home. Our home needs some work done in terms of redecoration. Before we can do this the ceilings need a skim of plaster to obliterate the ‘bodged’ Artex job (not me, it was done by the previous owners). We did not get around to having a plasterer look at it in time and so this will be a 2009 task – maybe. I say maybe as we are also considering the accommodation we have. The ‘office’ space is part of the main living space. It would be good to move it so that we can have more natural light in the work area. Do we get rid of the spare room and convert it to an office? Or do we spend quite a lot of money and convert the loft to a work area? Decisions!

So, 2009 is now here. I would like to do more activities (spend more time on my bike, in my sea kayak, climb a few more hills, do some rock climbing) and get our home sorted. Not too much to ask is it? Watch this space to see if I achieve it (and do the blog posting!)

Tagged : Blog • General