Happy, happy, joy, joy! December 4, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, LGMD, Life writing, OU, TMA02.9 comments
Just a quick post, as I’m off to do some more poetry study and read through some bumpf about One Fine Day (who knew there were so many variations of the poem).
The mark for TMA02 happily waited for me this morning. I was convinced I had only done enough to pass – that is get a mark of 40% or a little over – because I had panicked so much about the essay. But, oh, what joy! I opened the ZIP file to find a fantastic mark of 75%. So pleased!
(Yes, I know the mark is lower than what I usually would like to achieve, but yay! It’s better than what I had hoped for!)
Oh, and I’ve added a new page to the Scribbles section – a life writing piece about the trials and tribulations of walking and the battle to diagnose the Muscular Dystrophy. —> A mile in my shoes.
Plumbers and poems. December 2, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in Building work, EA300, OU, Poetry.1 comment so far
Today the plumbers are in sorting out the new boiler. Ooh, it’s exciting to think that we might have a fire in the front room this Christmas! Last year it was grim, but thankfully not so cold, after the fire was condemned – in May 2008 or round about then – because the fluebox had split. We couldn’t replace the fire as the central heating (at the mo) runs on a back boiler, so we’ve had to wait until the boiler was moved to get a new fire. That day has finally arrived! Woohoo! But the house has been in turmoil over the last few days with moving the furniture out of the way of pipes and whatnot that need replacing. But it is all sorted now and the plumbers are hard at work. Yay!
Well, so much for me not fretting about the last essay. I really hate the fact that my marks will be going down because of the second rate work. I keep telling myself that I have done the best I could, but I’m not sure I did. I’m going to have to bump up my marks a little with the next essay, but at least I feel a little more confident about it with it being poetry. I am more secure when analysing poems, especially when I can choose one of my favourite children’s poems. But I don’t expect I could use the Spike Milligan fave:
Can a parrot eat a carrot
Standing on it’s head?
If I did that my mum would send me
Straight upstairs to bed.
(C) Spike Milligan
because it’s too short! I am thinking of using On the Ning Nang Nong though. Or possibly William Blake’s The Tiger But I think I’ll work through the block before choosing a poem. I might even ask Princi to choose a poem (that isn’t Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, as that was used in the first essay), but she might choose Solomon Grundy or Brian’s Picnic by Judith Nicholls, as they are her other favourite poems.
But for now I think I shall go and read The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.
This week, my brain learned gymnastics. December 1, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, OU, TMA02.2 comments
Yep. It had to really. It needed to jump through hoops to get that last essay done. Holy heck! I’ve never had to write something as (almost) impossible as that! Even the 10,000 words dissertation on tau proteins in Alzheimer’s Disease and Muscular Dystrophy seemed a walk in the park compared to it. Not that I can remember much about the Biomed dissertation now… except the mind-numbing hours in the lab repeating test after test after test – the thing that put me off science. But I think I’d happily go back to repeat testing if given the choice between that or talking about how changing ideologies shaped nineteenth and twentieth century children’s literature in 2,000 words. Oh, my head hurts just thinking about it.
That being said, I have completed the essay (albeit by pinching some of the 10% leeway we are allowed, the wordcount coming in at 2,138 words) and pressed the submit button. I couldn’t stand to look at it any more, and as there is a lot to do in the house to free up the areas the plumber needs to get to tomorrow, I was really pushed for time. But it’s done, gone, and I’m over it now. I’ve just got my fingers crossed that I get a pass for it, as it really is a pile of pants! I think I shall read something I want to read as a reward, then get back to work studying for TMA03 next week. I might even try and get that done before Christmas, so then I’ll have time to read some of the books needed for TMA04. Yikes! So much to do. And I still have to buy in the last of my Christmas pressies. Ho hum!
But for today… I have tidying and packing stuff away to do.
The builder’s progress (and some general moans). November 25, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in Birthday, Building work, EA300, OU, TMA02, The Principessa Files.3 comments
So as I’m procrastinating with my essay progress, I thought I’d get round to the building update. Here’s how it looked at end of workday 25 (last Friday).
Day 25 - Exterior.
Day 25 - Interior.
I think that considering the time of year and the crappy weather we’ve been having lately, the buiders are doing fabulously well getting this extension done. This week they are fixing up the stud walls and the plumber and electrician are trying to sort out their first fixes. Woohoo!
Yeah. Moans. So far, crappy birthday. Princi woke up with the intention of being incredibly difficult and argumentative, shouting at Grandand and then refusing to eat her breakfast. It didn’t really help when I told her that her behaviour was the cause of her not being allowed to come to my birthday meal this evening. There were tears in the coco pops. Sigh. I had to change tack and say that if she could be good all day at school then I would change my mind. This had some success as she started to eat her breakfast. At least she was good when it came time to getting her into her uniform.
As for the essay… Well, I’m blogging, so it’s not being written. I have managed to write a fifth of it though. Only another 1600 words to go! I’m hoping to crack another 200 words before lunch. At least I’ll feel as if I’ve done something then. If I can get a first draft done by the end of the week, I’ll feel so much better. As it is at the moment, I am at panic stations (the essay, btw, is due in next Thursday) and this is causing a horrible block. I need to destress! The idea of not getting the essay done is causing me to have anxiety dreams where I am the first female Doctor Who! I don’t see how that’s going to help me write this essay!
Anyway. Must get back to it.
What’s going on? November 13, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, OU, TMA01, TMA02, The Principessa Files, bed.2 comments
The poor blog. I’m neglecting it a bit with trying to get through the reading for the kidlit course. So I think it’s about time I posted again. (To the sound of an angle grinder… Or maybe that’s just the sound of my tired brain.)
Well, the new mattress finally turned up last Friday. Yay, I thought. Comfy sleep, here I come! Yeah. Not so much. The mattress was about three inches higher than my old one, and had a button-quilt effecty thing on top. Nice, yes, but practical? Not in my terms. The top of the mattress is done in such a way that it feels like traversing a mountain range. Now, you’re probably thinking “Just stop whinging already!” And you’re probably right. A mattress is a mattress. But it’s important to understand that with the muscular dystrophy, I get used to things in a certain way, move onto, off from, and across things in ways that accomodate my limited muscle strength and movement. A simple, flat mattress would have done me fine. This one looks comfortable, but it’s incredibly impractical and difficult to move on. The one plus is does have is that it’s easier to get up from. But that’s it. It’s not even particularly comfortable. Well, not for me it isn’t, either. I suppose that is what comes with asking another person to pick out a mattress for me. I’ll know, next time!
As for the kidlit course, well, good news. I received TMA01 back on Tuesday to rapturous self applause. I had been hoping to get around 60-70%, but the mark came back as 83%. Woohoo! I was very pleased. I’m not sure how I’m going to keep that standard up for the next one, but I’ll try. I’m struggling to get through the reading at the moment, let alone get my head around how I’m going to answer the essay question, but hopefully I’ll get there. I need to get past the next essay as I am looking forward to having a go at TMA03, which is focused around poetry for children. But first I need to fight my way through ideologies and focalisation.
As for Princi, she is still my little star. Her reading is going great guns, she has now learned to break difficult words down into smaller, managable fragments before trying to say the whole word, giving her lots more confidence reading aloud. Not that she didn’t have confidence before, but she is now needing less help and can happily sit and read quietly to herself, although she much prefers sitting with someone and reading to them. She is also practicing her writing more. The school sent a homework book home with her last week, so we do a letter (or two) each morning before school. At the moment she’s not too pleased about the writing, especially when she gets to the end of the dotted letters and has to try writing the letter herself. But she does try after a little moan. It’s also good that the school uses the Jolly Phonics system, as that is what we have at home too. Yay!
As for the building work. Here is it as it was yesterday morning:
Day 19.
Right. Now I’m off to prop my eyelids up with Acme matchsticks and continue on with Little Women.
Little Red has left the building. October 28, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, General rubbish, LRRH, OU, TMA01.2 comments
Thank the oral folk tale tradition! I pressed the button and send Little Red scurrying into the dangers of the binary forest earlier today, much to my relief. I’m not expecting good marks for the essay, I’m not sure that I structured the argument well enough for that, but I tried. And that was really all I could do. I can only hope that I can continue to get the new vocabulary fixed in my brain ready for the next essay – the one that I am dreading. Now I HAVE to get through Little Women and finish Treasure Island (yeah, I’m still reading it. Other things have distracted me) and start thinking about the next argument, this time something to do with the gender divide in children’s literature. Yikes!
I am hoping that the road for the next essay is a bit easier than Little Red’s. There have been many things to distract me – Princi’s illness last week, half term this week, the start of the building works (and wow! Are they motoring. And no, that is not sarcasm), and worrying about debts that I know I don’t owe. But I am glad that Princi is better now, that the essay is gone, and that the building is going better than I expected it to go (although I hope I haven’t just jinxed it by writing that). All I have to do now is compose a letter email and send it recorded delivery to the debt recovery company – I received the first threat letter this morning – and then I can take a break. If my head doesn’t explode first!
Anyhows, Guitar Hero calls. I need to wind down. And I shall catch up on blogs and various other things tomorrow.
Picture books, poems and Princi. October 21, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, Instructions, Neil Gaiman, OU, The Principessa Files, books.4 comments
So I’ve just pre-ordered ‘Instructions‘ by Gaiman and Vess. Oh, how I am looking forward to getting this book. But, I shall have to wait until next June. Such a long wait. And such a pity. If it had been released in February then I would have been able to use it for the picture book essay on the kidlit course. As it is, it’s just hard luck. Ho hum. But still – eximacited!
It’s getting very stressful here. There’s still loads to do with moving things out of the back room, sorting the little bedroom out, and general decluttering, yet no matter what we do it feels like more stuff magically appears. There is just TOO MUCH STUFF! It’s even come to the point where I’ve had to start thinning down the book collection to make room, so Skidaddles dropped a big bag of books off at a charity shop the other day. *Sob* My beautiful books! But I suppose it’s better that way, I doubt I’d ever read the books I gave away again. After all, there are plenty of other unread books that need my attention.
Speaking of attention… Gaz came around last night, so that meant a climbing frame for Princi. Not an actual climbing frame, but tall, lanky Gaz! At one point she jumped on Gaz’s shoulders, grabbed under his chin, and started to lean backwards (good job Gaz happened to be sitting down). Gaz asked Princi, “Are you looking for attention?” To which Princi replied, “No, just trouble!” Little terror!
(Oh no. The postie has just delivered a box of choccies. I will have to remember to cancel that membership to the choccie club – although I thought I already had. Now I’ll have Princi begging for chocolate all day.)
Well, I should go and do some Jolly Phonics and learning to write with Princi. I may call radio silence Twitter and blog wise over the next week while I fight my way through the end of the LRRH essay and its further rewrites. I think I need to give myself some away from the internet time before it makes me feel paranoid.
Knock, knock. October 19, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in Building work, EA300, OU, TMA01, sick Principessa.2 comments
Yay! The builders have started work outside. At the moment they are finishing cleaning up after knocking down the old coal shed. I tell you, the back garden is going to look very strange. But I’m so glad it’s being done, the extension is going to make life easier – although I will not be able to take Princi to bed once it’s done. That’s the biggest grr about the whole thing.
As for things getting done… The essay isn’t getting much further. Princi is off school as she has an ear infection and a kidney infection, so she is stuck at home with me. I’m going to have to dig out the Jolly Phonics workbooks so we’ve got something to do, as well as getting her to do some reading. Currently, she is watching Tom and Jerry on her computer. Oh, no she’s not. She’s just clicked onto Danger Mouse (dadum, dadum, dadum). At least this post on Dadwhowrites blog has helped me to crystalise my thoughts where LRRH is concerned. (Yes, I know it’s about Thomas the Tank Engine, but a comment I was going to make also made a pretty good argument for my essay!) All I need to do now is structure it around the essay plan and I’m more or less done with it – apart from a quick edit and putting in references. Ugh. References. I hate doing references!
Well, I suppose while I’ve got five minutes I could do a quick bit of the essay. Maybe.
(Oh no. The skip we hired still hasn’t been moved and the builders need to hire a new one. It’s skip gridlock!)
Trials and tribulations. (I so wish that was Tribble-ations!) October 12, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in Dreams, EA300, Fairy tales, OU, bedtime, sick Principessa.4 comments
Ooh, it’s been a tough last week. Princi was sent home from school on Thursday complaining of headaches. About half an hour after arriving home she started chucking up. She then went through the sleeping for an hour, waking up, taking a mouthful of water and chucking up again phase. Aw, she even came downstairs citing, ‘I am not crying. I am panicking because I am sick.’ Poor little Munchkin! She spent the whole evening like that, the vomiting carrying on until around 2.30am. She had a temperature through Friday and Saturday, but was back to her normal self yesterday. Apart from waking up last night with ‘two broken legs.’ It seems she had been suffering with cramp in her calves through the night. I gave her a leg massage this morning and then told her to walk it out until the ache subsided. Poor babe.
As for me, I spent yesterday in agony after waking up in the night to turn over only to discover that my hip seemed to have seized. I had been avoiding a sprung spring on the mattress (thanks to Princi using the bed as a trampoline) and had slept in a bad position. Ouch! It’s still slightly sore this morning, but much better than it was yesterday.
Still, with Princi’s ‘broken legs’ and my strange dreams, I am knackered today. Yeah, my subconscious was in overdrive again last night. Dreams of alien invasions and the strange insecty aliens (kind of like V meets Starship Troopers) using humans as symbiotic disguises plagued my dreams. A band of resistance fighters had set themselves up in a shanty town in the mountains – the thinner air being detrimental to the insecty things – but someone had still been ‘infected’. For some reason Apollo from the new BSG was one of the resistance leaders and it was Sam from Supernatural who had been ‘infected’. (Yeah, I don’t know what goes on in my mind when I’m not controlling it!) He had a tear in his calf where the thing had entered (maybe my subconscious was telling me about Princi’s cramp here!), but its tail was still visible (I can imagine what Freudian psychoanalysis would make of that!). Apollo was a medic of some sort and was thinking of a way to extract the alien. And that’s all I can remember.
Hopefully, the strangeness leaked now, I will be able to get moving on this LRRH essay. I’ve had a couple of false starts so far, suffering trouble with linking the points together, but I think I may have had a breakthrough this morning whilst listening to some music and blowing jewels up in Bejeweled. So, I shall have a cup of coffee and a cuddle from the cat and then I shall get cracking on the essay. With some luck and determination I might get a full first draft done today as tomorrow will be disturbed by sheds arriving and physio visits. Hmph.
Argh! Headless chicken time. October 2, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, OU, Panic stations, The new room.add a comment
Well. Nothing happens for months on end and then slap, bang! Wet kipper in the face! Everything is moving like a convoy of buses.
This morning, the building contractor and inspector paid a visit to talk start dates and plans. Taken aback, I was, when they suggested starting on Monday. If only! Nope, it can’t happen that quickly. First: we have to buy a new shed, sort out the garden for where said shed will be erected, transfer shed rubbish into new shed, then ditch 20 year old shed. Second: we have to hire a skip to get rid of some left-over garden rubbish (stone and the like) from the garden cleanup. Third: we need to fill in the lowered patio in my brother’s garden to make it work-safe. Fourth: we have to tidy out the back room (which is currently Dad’s room) because they need to take the window out to start work.
And breathe.
Holy heck, there’s hardly any time to breathe!
So things are on the move – like a bad case of diarrhoea – and excited as I am, there is the nagging worry about how the work will affect my ability to study. The course officially starts tomorrow and my first assignment is due in in three weeks time. And before anyone asks, no, I didn’t start it yesterday as I had planned. Instead I worked on the art of procrastination. I played on the computer all day, except for the few moments when I did pick up a book of extra-curricular reading material concerning Little Red Riding Hood. So I think I should mozy on and get planning. Hmph.
At least the shed is sorted out.
(Poop. With trawling about online looking for a cheap shed, I have let my lovely cup of coffee go cold.)
