This time last year I promised I would never run another marathon. 0n hearing this news, my small and perfectly formed readership sighed collectively in relief, believing my, ‘I am a marathoner’ running blogs would cease. Although I have kept my promise, they were wrong about the marathon blogs. Stay with me, this time I…
Author: thedragonflyjar
I'm a sixty something working, single woman, navigating through all the challenges and opportunities of life - hopefully with a little irreverent humour and grace.
Small Talk
This week Paddy breaks the news to me that he has not read this blog in months because he never seems to get a name check. He feels I have been distracted from my boot camp blogs of old. In point of fact I feel obliged to remind him that we do not attend a…
Quietly quitting
It is not in my DNA to quit, but I confess a fascination in some silly season media interest in the coined phrase, ‘quiet quitter’ to define someone who appears to be mentally checking out from work. I have had time to stumble over this phrase because, as a teacher, I am gifted permission to…
Term of engagement
Speaking to Favourite Daughter (also a teacher) we decide that only teachers can understand the end of term collapse which has to be disguised to anyone outside the world of education for it is unlikely to find a sympathetic audience. ‘Yeah, right, you are feeling tired and emotional because you have got a six week…
Nothing going on
I am here to report on the most luxurious of days, a day when I was tethered to the house – grounded if you will – in order to greet the arrival of a lovely man scheduled to fit a new hob. It is the least that I can do for the lovely friends who…
I’m still standing
I realise that there has been silence on the blog front recently. In truth it has been a challenging time, but the remit of this blog is to chase the dragonflies when they show themselves and to trust that they will return when they are hiding. Sad songs can say so much but it feels…
Swelling up
It is not unheard of for a teacher to be on their knees at the end of term. We soldier on, knowing that the WFH crew has no time – or inclination – to cry our pity party. In the words of Favourite Man, ‘You are a tired – and quite frankly, grouchy and unlikeable…
My mother says
I have spent a lot of time with my 95 year old mother of late and know the value that she brings to my life. I also know how tough Mother’s Day can be for those who are missing their mothers; those who are missing their children; those with mothers who are unwell and those…
Rude
It is hard navigating through these mid-life years with humour and irreverence, but now I need to negotiate some additional hurdles – namely social etiquette and punctuality. I fear I have been reprogrammed to become quite rude over the past two years. I am now noticing my inability to be punctual, my struggle to be…
Mudlarks
After a half term trip to London, I consider a third change of career – or a third ‘pivot’ as those folks on social media would have us say. I am toying with the idea of becoming a mudlark- someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value. Stay with me on this; naturally I would…
The Dragonfly Jar 