HelenP

TMA due in on Thursday. Yes, it's the one that made me jack in the module last year to avoid having to do it

Yes, it's late in the day to be still working on it but I COULD FINISH THE BLOODY THING if the family would just leave me alone for a couple of hours

My frustration is FIZZING with spite.

As from Twitter to here; Spotify to Tidal.

It's that thing again. I don't know if I'm just really crap at the thing or I'm actually ok at the thing but they are really rude.

Three days annual leave used up doing all the hard stuff: rationalising and reorganising our storage unit and the storage space in the garage / gym.

Many trips to the tip. More coffee required.

It's dark out there so yes, I have festive lights in my window already. Because light, warmth and comfort are how I survive the winter.

Hurumph. Still not allocated a tutor for T868, which means I can't schedule the tutorials / lectures in for the course yet. It's not due to start till 1st November but I need to plan ahead damnit!

OK, thanks. Navigating Z's first year of adulthood has taken up most of my time TBH but we're almost there now with a passport and a bank account so that's my yearly achievements ticked off.

So I think it's safe to say that I have my mojo back!

I'm taking part in #fodderchallenge2025 so the arty side of my brain is all colour & new stuff. The penultimate MSc module (T868 Env Science) website is open early so I'm studying to get ahead with that, working in the new job, learning guitar & training for a Strong Woman comp next March.

The ending of the book delivered everything I wanted. Phew!

When you're getting to the end of a long book that has been good all the way through, but then you start to worry about the ending because there's a pattern you've spotted with the author's other work and you really don't want it to happen again.

Not again. Please. Not that. Anything but that!

Z is out three times a week and has a tutor on Thursdays at home, so life is quite radically different to this time last year 😁

Hopefully, some overnight respite is on the way too. Fingers crossed.

You know, having a good social worker makes a massive difference. Ours is wondrous and we are so lucky to have him.

Friday! End of a week of appointments and it's not over yet. Social care meeting this afternoon for Z. Going to try to palm it off on the Mr because he's so much better at this stuff than I am. I'm too close and too emotional.

Exactly what happened to me. GP has been able to swing it due to Z's vulnerability in previous years but no deal this time.

Dark. Time to rest, recover and plan for the brightest days.

We're here whenever you want us to be. How are you doing?

Really long day. Z up at 3am. Broken sleep for the third day running plus recovery and DOMS from yesterday's atlas stone shenanigans.
I am exhausted. Fingers crossed for a better night tonight.

Still playing guitar. Recently learned the C chord. In other news, I can play and sing Black by Pearl Jam quite passably for a noob. Also Bad Moon Rising, Hound Dog and a couple of others. The stuff I've chosen to learn is an eclectic mix.

Well, the kitchen and back room are clean and tidy. Now there's just the rest of the house to do 😬

I'm 51. My age does not need to be reversed or remedied. I do not need to appear younger. There is no magic pill or powder that will make me younger.

I don't want my younger self back.

Windy walk achieved!

Spent the morning reclaiming my house and cleaning the new kitchen.

My afternoon / evening plans are sadly postponed, so we are going to go for a family walk in the wind.

Tell Keir Starmer to scrap his ID card scheme With his government in turmoil and Nigel Farage breathing down his neck, Keir Starmer has reached for the panic button, announcing a scheme for ID cards that would be compulsory to prove your right to...

I've just used Good Law Project's tool to tell Keir Starmer that his ID scheme is a recipe for repression. Will you do the same? goodlaw.social/364f2b

Happy Birthday Mum. I miss you. I wish you had made it through COVID because I have so much to talk to you about. All the things I never had the chance to say back then and all the things that have happened since.

I'm so sorry Jules.

End of life care is so fucked. Similar with my Dad. He should have died in peace in a hospice but they were so late with the referral he beat them to it on the ward.

We are at the halfway point in the great floor installation of 2025. It's not been bad at all. Though we forgot to rescue cutlery and plates for us, thinking only of feeding Z 🙄

I only ever really knew one grandparent and we were not close so I've never known a normal grandparent relationship either. As for not being much use, just be there. That's all you have to do.

Floor fitters are coming tomorrow to fit a new vinyl floor in the conservatory and kitchen. I'm dreading it because I don't like upheaval in my space but it's the last thing on the list for a couple of years so I just have to get through the next few days and keep smiling.

Sorry to hear about your Grandfather. That sounds tough for everyone.