Year 2 Day 5: Spag-Bol and Phone Calls

Today consisted of all things random and unexpected. First, I woke up and checked my bank balance to reveal an available amount of...nil. Yep, the cheque that the teller had previously advised me would be IN the account for my use TODAY apparently was not. This threw a wrench into the works as dear husband needed to get to work, however, had an empty petrol tank thus requiring use of my car since fuel unfortunately doesn't have a price-tag of 'nil' per litre at the moment. To further complicate matters, I also needed the car to pick up some items from the in-laws as well as a few groceries from Asda so he would have food for his dinner break. This resulted in me driving him to work in all my frizzy-hair, preggo glory, only to pick him back up at noon after some light shopping so he could have a bite to eat and return to work with my car afterward.

Not long after Matt returned to work, I had a phone call off one of the supply teaching agencies where I am registered. They required a few details to update my file in order to get me out on teaching assignments and one of these was my registration number with the General Teaching Council (GTC). I did not yet have this number though as I filled out the paperwork earlier in the summer and sent it off to my main agency to validate and send to the GTC on my behalf. Luckily, the consultant who phoned had a direct number for the GTC and I immediately rang to find out what the hold up was.

The woman on the other end of the phone verified my details and informed me that the reason I haven't been assigned a number yet was because I had filled out the wrong form. I questioned this further and she explained that since I am an Overseas Trained Teacher I should have filled out the form that said I had Qualified Teacher Status in the UK. Since my studies have only been in the US, I corrected her that I do not have QTS in the UK, but posses a Bachelor's Degree in Education from a University in America. She then asked, "well what course did you take from the University of Newcastle?"

HUH?! Uhm...try...I DIDN'T.

Through further probing, I learned there is another person occupying space on this very Earth with the same first, middle, and last name as me as well as the same date of birth who has been teaching since 2002 in England. After some time on hold to check records and a phone call back about 15 minutes later, the ever-so-kind Natalie from the GTC was able to untangle the puzzle (now 3 months in the making) and give me my GTC registration number. Immediately I called my agencies back and passed on this info so they could finally get me some work in schools!

In the meantime, Matt returned home from work and we decided on some pasta bake for tea. That was, until he got a call from Daz and an invitation to join them tonight for Spaghetti Bolognese -- and let's be honest, who is gonna turn THAT down?! Plus, it meant some munchkin-munching on a certain cutie 10-week-old niece (who is incidentally going to make some boys cry when she's older and her eyelashes are even longer).

As you can see, tonight's photo is the masterpiece Em calls "Spag-Bol." Some may even need a moment of silence to fully take in its beauty. I, however, needed...a bib. You see, my meals now entail a 'speed bump' of sorts (aka my, now 30-week, belly) and require fine ninja-like-skill and precision to get food (in tonight's case, droopy, pasta and mince entwined noodles) from the plate successfully into my mouth.

Naturally I am happy to report my victory over this potentially hazardous challenge and I would like to thank bunny for keeping his cool with the in-utero Cirque du Soleil performance.