Having said that, I will usually give one or two a go, just to see what they say about me.

This evening, I took one of them Enneagram tests. Now, I don’t know a huge amount about the enneagram, except for the fact that it categorises you as mainly one of 9 types. And then gives you a variant type on top of it.

So, here are my results.

Main Type	Overall Self

You can try it here too.

Fascinating, isn’t it?

Like I said, I’m not sure how accurate it is. I can’t really look at myself and say “oh, yeah, I’m definitely 54% focussed on my image”…

So, if anyone who is reading this actually knows me, what do you think? Does this describe me?

But, I really couldn’t be bothered.

I know that sounds really, really bad, but, there you go.

Perhaps tomorrow, when my brain has finally woken up after being on holidays for a full week and a half.

It’s not even that I have too busy to post.

Call it what you will, I have realised this evening that it is 8 months (months! yes! eight of them!) since I last posted here.

I don’t do new year’s resolutions, but if I did, blogging more would be one of them.

On the basis that they are not new years resolutions, here is a list of things I would like to do this year, or do more often. And do them well. At least, to the best of my abilities, and that is all anyone can hope for, isn’t it?

1. Blog more.
2. Understand how to make nice websites. Ones that look nice, and work well.
3. Use the knowledge from number 2 above to make some websites. Nice websites, that work well. I think we’ve covered this.

When it comes to non-internet-related things, which I guess are somewhat more important than those in the first list above, there are a small number of fairly specific goals I would like to meet, along with a few more general…. let’s call them… hopes:

1. Most important thing I absolutely, positively must do this year is pass my finals. It’s been a long, hard slog so far, and it would be a shame to fall at the final hurdle, so to speak. And I don’t mean scrape through with 45 or 50%. Without meaning to sound like I am blowing my own trumpet, I have been top of the class every year so far, getting a first each year, and I don’t mean this year to be any different. I refuse!
2. Contingent on passing my exams, but nonetheless important, would have to be finding a job once the summer arrives, if I haven’t one lined up already. What kind of job, I hear you, my readers (if I have any), ask? Well, given that the qualification I am currently studying for is a B.Sc. in Science Education, in DCU, the logical course of action after four years of teacher training would be to find a job teaching. So, that’s what I’m planning at the moment.
3. Once I have fulfilled the first two goals, anything and everything else this year will be a bonus. These include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• • Building a model rail layout (more on this anon)
  • Learning a new language (possible but unlikely, given number 1 above)
  • Travelling more (quite possible, more on this at a later date)

So, I guess that’s enough for now. I know there is some theory about how writing down your goals helps you achieve them. Then, I recently heard an opposing theory that sharing your ideas with other people, and hearing their praise for having such good ideas, provides enough self-affirmation that most people go no further with their grand plans. I have experienced the latter, but I’m still hopeful that writing down what I hope to do in the next year or so will be motivation enough to give it a go.

Referring back to the beginning of this post, I think that may have been what was lacking in the last few months.

Motivation.

A long while.

But, I’m not gone anywhere.

So, hello!

I love seeing new places, experiencing different things, learning new languages. All that jazz.

I am constantly checking out the Ryanair website, to see what new deals they have, and to see where I could fly to, for a day, a weekend, or a week, for as little as possible.

I usually don’t care where I end up, or usually when I fly, so it was “researching” some flights that I came across this:

Fly from Dublin to Frankfurt-Hahn on Firday evening, and return on Sunday evening. Perfect timing, really. No need for me to miss classes, and no need for anyone else who wanted to come along to have to take time off work.

And the cost of these magical flights?

€10 each way, including those horrible taxes and charges. Add in another €10 for booking the flights using a credit card, and you get a weekend in Germany for €30.

So, that’s what I did.

My friend Amy and I flew out to Frankfurt-Hahn, not to be confused with the actual Frankfurt International Airport, on Friday evening last. We had a lovely weekend, and flew back on Sunday evening.

I will post again – make a mini-series out of it, if you will – about what we did over there, but there is the basics of it.

For all their faults, you can’t beat Ryanair for flights that cheap.

My friend Amy and I are going to spend the weekend in Trier, in Germany, and the plan is to take a day trip to Luxembourg.

I mean, how many people can say they deliberately visited Luxembourg?

My friend commented, on hearing this, that there may be a reason for people not visiting the place!

I’m sure it will be lovely. I will let you all know when I get back!

I wasn’t teaching today, the school was closed for an inservice training day. I didn’t have to go, but the teachers were being given a lecture on Assessment for Learning, and it probably would have been useful to have gone to that.

As it was, I had a nice lie-in, followed by lunch with a friend, then I gave grinds to my cousin, who was off since the school was closed, then did some shopping, and have been sitting here since about half six, thinking about the classes I am teaching tomorrow.

What a productive day!

I have just had a massive craving for coke!

Mmmm…. sugary sweet.

This, on top of the nicotine cravings.

If I have any regular readers, this may annoy you.

I’m sorry.

But I like the new look, and hope to keep this one. For a while anyway.

The background picture at the moment is a photo of Smerwick Harbour – from half way up Mount Brandon.

Smerwick Harbour from Mount Brandon