Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Rain Check

I have photos .. of the Touch Footy tournament AND the super full moon tonight .. but I am exhausted and need to go fall into bed immediately.

So please take a rain check and I will make up for it tomorrow.

Nite all.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Ok, so I know that I promised photos and something 'other' than study updates, but ...

At 11.50am today, I was preparing to type up my assignment document to submit for marking.

All of my assignments have a cut-off time of 11.55pm on their submission dates, so I assumed that the assignment which was due today, was the same.

You know what they say about 'assume'? It makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'. It certainly made an ass out of me!

When I checked the submission time, it showed 11.55AM instead of PM!!!

It took me well over an hour to type my answers into the submission document so I was more than 90 minutes late with my submission.

I was horrified that I'd made this mistake and felt sick to my stomach because I had worked so hard to finish it by the due date and I had almost lodged it last night .. but it was late and I (thought) I knew that I still had more than 24 hours left to lodge it.

I sent a message to the supervising teacher for this subject today, complaining about the time discrepancy.

I took responsibility for not checking the time myself, but questioned why it was the only assignment with a time difference.

Because these messages are public for all students doing the same subject at the same time .. I have received feedback from 5 others who made the same mistake and are also not happy.

Anyway, I have not heard back from the teacher regarding this issue, BUT she has already marked my assignment and I received a mark of 95.8% which is another Hight Distinction!!

I am shocked and amazed!

I was expecting to lose approximately 10% from my possible mark for the late submission, but I didn't lose any marks for it being late.

Whoda thunk?

The other assignment that I thought was due next Friday, is the first assignment that I submitted a couple of weeks ago, so I have a week's breathing space and two weeks until the next assignment is due (at 11.55pm!).

What a relief :)

Go me!!

Now I'm off to bed and I hope to be up early enough to go with the family to the Touch Carnival at 6.30am tomorrow .. I'm not confident .. perhaps I will make a later appearance!

Nite all.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Almost at the finish line.

I have finally completed all of the questions for the second assignment, but I think I misunderstood one of the questions, so I will have to redo it tomorrow morning and I'll submit both assignments together. Then I can then relax for the weekend .. YAY!

On Monday, I'll have to start the next assignment, which is due the following Friday and then another one is due the following Friday after that! Full on!

Our visitors have arrived and unfortunately I haven't been able to spend much time with them yet, but I'll make up for it after tomorrow.

The big touch football tournament starts tomorrow morning, so the days will be full of sports and activities.

Tomorrow, I should have photos to share and maybe some news OTHER than study stuff!

Nite all

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

QUEENSLANDER!

What a great way to end the State of Origin series!

My team didn't win the series this year - I should remind you that we won the last 8 years in a row - but tonight they played the final game of the three game series and won by a very large margin. The final score was 32 - 8.

Adoring Husband and I watched the game at the local pub with one of our favourite families .. my cousin Nellie and her husband and two young kids, who are here for the third year in a row to participate in a big touch football tournament that is held in The Bay.

There are something like 3000 kids from all over Queensland participating this year, so it is a very large tournament! Apparently the largest in the southern hemisphere.

Anyway, we ate dinner at the pub restaurant and then moved to the bar where we all made a LOT of noise for every one of the 32 points scored and had a really good time.

I've still not finished my assignment, but I'm getting there and I think I'll finish with time to spare ... just!

It's definitely time for me to hit the hay. I've had 6 wines tonight and although I'm not drunk, I'm feeling a bit sleepy.

Nite all.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

P. S.

Despite my better judgement, I took time out from my studies to have morning tea with the girls today. It was a good start to the day and helped me start the study day nice and fresh.

I got a lot done today and the second assignment is looking good at this stage.

My reward for working hard is to watch the movie "PS I Love You" which is playing on Foxtel tonight. Adoring Husband is enjoying it with me :)

He had to take one of the psychotic dogs to the vet today, for a couple of reasons, so hopefully she will be ok now.

Harriet, the new chookie, was finally welcomed into the henhouse, so she will be warm and protected for the night.

Our visitors arrive tomorrow afternoon and we'll all be heading off to the pub to watch the third State of Origin match. Go QUEENSLAND!

Nite all.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Halfway There

One assignment down and one to go.

I don't think I'll have the second assignment finished before our visitors arrive on Wednesday afternoon/evening, but I'll give it a good go.

I think the one that I just finished was REALLY difficult, so I'm glad that I got it out of the way first. I had to do so much extra research, aside from the text book and the lessons provided, to make sense of some of the information.

I think ... or should I say ... I 'hope' that this next one is pretty straight forward. It shouldn't frazzle my brain the way the last one did.

I can only hope!

So obviously, my day has been full of study and not much else. I did cook lunch and dinner in between all of that ... mealtimes come as a welcome distraction and helps free my brain of so much intense thinking. Then I sit down to a fresh start.

Poor Adoring Husband is copping the brunt of my mad dash to the end and is doing a pretty amazing job of keeping everything else running smoothly, including the housework that I have neglected for weeks.

My one gripe with him is that he must learn to not have such loud and long conversations with the animals! It's very distracting. We have 8 animals ... 3 dogs, 4 chickens and a cockatiel, so that adds up to a LOT of distraction!

We've hit another cold snap and the nights and early mornings are so cold that it's very difficult to get out of bed in the mornings. After the sun rises, it quickly reaches a very pleasant 20+ degrees Celsius, but according to my weather app it was 3C this morning, but felt like 0.08.

I shouldn't complain though because Number One Son had to pedal to work in -6C ... yes that's MINUS 6 degrees celsius! Ugh!

Anyway, enough of this frivolity.

Nite all.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Paradise

Yes, we are living in paradise.

Another gloriously beautiful sunshiny day with the maximum temperature 21C.

I spent about 90 minutes enjoying the Wintery sunshine this morning, but unfortunately the rest of it was spent inside studying.

Study Study Study ... the story of my life.

I think that once the panic of this semester is over and I can start the new semester fresh, I will be able to manage my time in a much more controlled fashion.

My problem is that it took me a long time to find a routine and to figure out what was expected with the assignments.

There was a lot of procrastination in the first 6 weeks, which you would expect from the Queen of Procrastination!

The other thing that I've noticed, is that the content of the lessons have become more complex and detailed as we got closer to the end .. which just adds to the panic.

So my plan for next semester is to getting a running start and get as much done, as early as possible, then spend the last couple of weeks revising everything and double checking my assignment work so that I can refine and hone them to perfection by the time I submit them.

I have learned a lot during this first semester and I've learnt that I'm not as smart as I thought I was!

Anyway, this has been my break .. I now have to sneak another hour of study in before my reward .. watching the finale of 'House Rules'.

Oh, and for those of you interested, Harriet has settled into her new home very nicely thank you.

Nite all.