The Graduate Part 2

Well the news hot off the press is that the MA results are out and thank goodness I have passed .... if I hadn't I think Hudds Uni would have sent me packing!

After receiving this news you'd think that I'd be jumping up and down with joy, but the fact is the whole MA thing happened so long ago it all seems like an anti-climax. Also I miss my fellow MA students as tonight we should be all down the pub drinking a few pints of God's juice, but instead I am at home on my own knitting! Anyway, on a plus point my supervisor very kindly e-mailed the English Dept. with my news and has organised drinks for after work next week, which was nice of her :) so i am sure I will have a few pints then.

I found this quote which quite frankly I found quite disturbing, but as it's relevant I thought I'd still use it.

"A Master of Art - Is not worth a fart" - Andrew Boorde, 1690

Time Management

Apologies for the lack of postings of late - It's just hit me that I finally have a proper sort of job and wow my time management has gone completely out of the window! I seem to be permanently at my desk, whether in work or at home - not good!

I am struggling this week to get all of my lesson prep. done before the weekend so I can actually leave the flat on Sat/ Sun but it's not looking good :( Anyhooooo I shouldn't moan about it as, at least I do have a job so I should just shut up and get on with it.

Other news ... last week I lost another 2lbs.....hoorah! but this week I have not been good so I may have put that back on ..... boooooh! Bad Dawny -I must try harder next week.

I had a lunchtime meeting with my 2nd supervisor this week, who apologised for the lack of organisation i met upon my arrival - which was a nice thought but 3 months too late. Anyway, she asked me what hobbies I had to keep me busy - "knitting" I replied - you'd think I said child torture, which I think would have had a better response. Why is there such a stigma about knitting? I think it's fab!

Lisa i Uni. who has just moved house, has kindly given me a huge folder of knitting patterns and top tips - circa 1983 - but it's the thought that counts! So if everyone gets "bat-wing" jumpers for Chrimbo '07, you know who to blame!

OK that's it for now - no quote today, can't be arsed... well honesty is the best policy (which is a sort of quote, Mrs M. Matthews 1969-present)

Success!

Well it was a start of a good day today I got on the scales and I have lost 4 lbs - hoorah! Only another 48 to go .... ah well it's a start. I don't imagine at all that I will loose 4lbs every week, I just think that my body is in total shock from the lack of chocolate and crisps it's consumed in the last 7 days!

Anyway, to celebrate my success .. I decided to do some work - yes for a change I have spend my Sunday on my laptop doing lesson preparation - the thought of working in Tesco's on the check-out has suddenly become very appealing! Hey ho such is life - so I've just finished and it's time for din-din's (low cal of course!)

I successfully completed my first on-line shop yesterday with my delivery at 3.50pm. A very nice man called Dave turned up with all of my shopping and didn't even moan about walking up 2 flights of stairs - it was def. worth £5! I have ordered so much fruit, that I have started to use my large mixing bowl as a fruit bowl - my kitchen looks like a Carmen Miranda's hat box full of exotic fruits ready for smoothies but hey it's healthy so who cares!

"I am not fat - I am 3 laxatives away from being Posh Spice" - Maria Moogan

Stormy weather

Well I won't moan about it too much as I know the rest of the country is suffering the same - but the weather up here is terrible! What makes it worse is my elevated situation on the second floor with only single glazing - I have started to play a game every evening of "Name That Tune" as the wind whistles through the windows. I hope it gets better soon or I will feel the need to buy a kite and embarrass myself on campus.

Other news - my knitting is coming along nicely, I have managed 2 squares towards my niece Tazmin's birthday scarf - which is in March so pressure on to finish! She actually picked the wool for me so she gets the first scarf - Kaci next and then Ewan - also Brad has an order in for a jumper but I have managed to re-negotiate to bed socks as I think a jumper is a little beyond my capabilities ...for now (ever the optimist!) So it's all go - I am sure Anne-Marie would be proud ....

I was planning on venturing out for a drive this weekend, but as ever my work has caught up with me, so I will try and get loads done tomorrow so I can pop out on Sunday - also Sunday is weigh in day :( I have tried really had this week to loose a few pounds so I will let you know how I get on.
Tomorrow I am expecting a delivery - nope not a maternal type - but a grocery type. I have decided to try on-line shopping, I have placed my order and now between the hours of 3-4pm a very nice man in a van loaded with my goods should arrive. My theory is why should I struggle across 6 lanes of traffic and up 2 flights of stairs with my shopping, when I can pay £5 and get somebody else to do it??? Is this lazy, extravagant or just a way of preserving my constantly aching back ?? well I will see how it goes, if it's pants then I will have to invest in a new granny shopping trolley - deep joy!

"McDonald's in Tokyo is a terrible revenge for Pearl Harbour" - S.J. Hayakawa

1st day back at school!

OK so today I had a bit of a mad day - busy busy bee! Meetings, teaching and more meetings, so I now feel like a real lecturer!
The teaching went well, I was pleased to see that most of my 2 classes comprised of the students I taught last year for Sociolinguistics and what a nice bunch they are. They are very polite, don't grumble when I talk cr*p, and laugh politely at my attempt at humour - what stars!

I finally have some company in my office, Matt (the only other PhD student) has moved in. To be honest it is a good thing as I now feel guilty for staring out of the window day dreaming - so much more work is achieved leaves me more time in the evenings for knitting - result!

I did have a visit today from one of the MA girls who has had a terrible time over Christmas and has now missed her deadline for 3 assignments - I felt so sorry for her as her face today reminded me of the panic I was in when doing my MA. So tomorrow we are going to spend an hour trying to get her back on track as she has a 1 week extension - poor thing!

"A lecture is a process by which the notes of the professor become the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either" - R.K. Rathbun

Diet time!

Well today is the day - I have started my new "healthy eating lifestyle" aka DIET. I managed to get my lardy arse on the weighing scales this morning and OMG it was bad! I did intend to name and shame myself on my blog and divulge my weight but it is SO bad and as I am mathematically challenged and therefore unable to work with large numbers, I have wimped out ..... but I will record my weight loss - so you can all share the joy of me loosing the pounds.

However, I will say that I need to loose 4 stones which is 56 lbs (for my American readers) which I think is the size of a small pony? Anyway it needs to be done.

The quote for today is remarkably apt - which makes me feel such a saddo!

"I'm at the age when food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact, I've just had a mirror put over my kitchen table" - Rodney Dangerfield

I'm Back!

Well I'm back up North after enduring 4 hours of rain and squeaky windscreen wipers up the M4, M5 and M6. Due to the poor weather conditions, which meant that there was a lot of surface water and spray, there were loads of warning signs to advise motorists to slow down - unfortunately this did not apply to BMW drivers who obviously do not have to adhere to any driving warnings. (yeah right!) I was travelling in the middle lane doing 65 mph and following the flow of traffic, when this idiot starts flashing a me (with his lights not his private parts I hasten to add!). At first I thought there may be something wrong with my car, but then as he overtook me doing 80 mph+ he gestured at me to move over to the outside lane - cheeky mare! So I returned his gesture, but used two fingers instead of his one! He was just so damn reckless!

It is nice to be back in my own flat again - and after unpacking, washing, dealing with mail and sorting out my computer I fell asleep for 3 hours - but I am sure I will sleep again later as I need to catch up after a tiring 3 weeks.

You will be pleased to hear or maybe not so pleased to hear that I have had a new quote book for Christmas from Anna - so let's get cracking .....

No theme today so here's a random one to start with, which is also good advice!

"Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day" - Harry S. Truman

Yarn frenzy!

Hot off the press ..... I have the knitting bug! After months admiring Anne-Marie's knitting skills I have taken the plunge and bought the "Art of Knitting" as advertised on TV. This fabulous purchase includes a 13 min DVD, 2 knitting needles and 2 balls of wool (aka yarn in the USA!). I spent 2 hours knitting a square last night which to me looks more like a rhombus - but hey it's a start!
The whole idea of the magazine is that each week they teach you to knit, but also include a different ball of wool to knit a square which when added to all of the other squares makes a pretty throw over. However, you need 90 squares to make the throw and at £3 for each magazine that's £270!!!! what an expensive throw! So I will be knitting squares, but with scraps of wool found at the end of unravelled jumpers and under sofas etc. I hope that this new form of therapy will give me something to do in my infrequent free time - also it will keep me out of the fridge and away from the sweetie counter!

My other major purchase is a smoothie maker - they are fab! All part of my healthy eating/ I need to shift/ re-locate 3 stones mission which I hope to document on my blog. If i spill the beans on my progress it may encourage me to keep it up - well that's the plan anyway!

Happy New Year!

Well it's all over and done with and I can't believe that it's so long since I wrote in my blog - I can't even use the excuse that I've been doing anything important - I've just been doing "stuff".

Anyway, the whole Christmas process still succeeds in annoying me each year, as the commercialisation (is that a word?) of the day in question is indeed very tragic. I managed to attend Church on Christmas morning and the atmosphere, peace and tranquility of the service was in sharp contrast to the madness, hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas period. Without trying to get all deep and spiritual on you, I find it quite disturbing that the only reference my nieces and nephew get of Jesus and the Christmas story is in their school nativity play - and then they are more excited about which part they play and what songs they sing. The whole Christmas event is summed up for them by how many presents they get - but who can blame them when the whole nature of Christmas can be seen in the number of TV commercials for toys and games.

Anyway enough ranting - well about Christmas anyway! My next gripe is the sales. Does Martin Kemp think he looks truly convincing when he spouts out about his super sofas at SCS? He has the same mad/crazed look on his face each year - and also is there ever a time when there isn't a sale on at that place???

Anyway, during my break home I went to Belfast for 3 days with my sister as she celebrated her 40th Birthday. We stayed at the Stormont Hotel which was a very fancy 5 star experience with large open fires and reasonable room service. The food there was fabulous and was a nice treat after my sad attempt of cooking Christmas dinner! I also went to the local Saks spa for a facial and a manicure - which was great but there was one little problem. Unfortunately my back has been playing up (due to me having to sleep in my 3 year old nephews bed) so after having to lie down flat for an hour on a treatment bed having my facial - I seized up! The lady at the salon had left me to relax in the dark with two cucumber pads on my eyes...then she left me instructions to join her at reception when I was ready. As I was unable to move ... I was slightly concerned how long she was going to leave me there before she realised something was wrong. So cutting a long 20 min. story short I managed to throw my legs off the side of the bed and fall to my knees - as I was topless at the time this was not a pretty sight! I crawled around on all fours for a while then managed to get dressed - not good!

So I have returned back to the mad house of my sisters and I will return to Hudds on Saturday for a rest! Hopefully I will have more time to write my blog!