Hello, well its gone!  The guy came to pick up the tv this morning.  I had said that as it weighs so much, you will need to bring someone to help you lift it.  He did.  His 7 year old son. Plonker! I almost felt sorry for him as I watched him struggle to carry it to his car. Almost but not quite.  I am a horrible person!

So, tonight is my first night without a zombie box to suck my creativity and soul away.
I had a fun day at work, bought a shopful of cat food then came home to a gorgeous takeaway from my absolute favourite indian restraunt, Zaal.  Oh boy their food is fabulous.

Oh and you will never guess! I planned on going to WHSmiths after work to buy the Tempest for class, and it only flippin well got donated at the shop, woo hoo!  Considerably cheaper than new, and... no being tempted in the book shop!!!

Completely off subject a moment. Yes; I am that crazy cat lady that smug married people talk about not quite quietly!  Anyhoo..... my Suki Puss has started to bring moths and spiders into the living room and proceed to eat them on my new cream carpet.  As a buhddist, I have a moral problem with it, kinda...after all she is a cat and that is what they do, but as a neurotically tidy person, I have a big problem with the fact that she never seems to eat the legs and I am frequently coming into the living room in the mornings to find hairy spider legs scattered willy nilly on the floor! Euow!  As to the moths....chomp away champ, I cant abide the awful things.  I mean really?  What purpose do they serve?

3 more sleeps til classes start, I am sooo excited!

Good afternoon.  Well the TV sold on Ebay fo £190, which is rubbish but more than I was expecting, so I am happy with that.  The sweet guy that won it cannot collect and pay til saturday morning.  Luckily I have the best brother in law in the world and he lent me the enrollment fee's till saturday.  Having overslept this morning, I rushed into town, via macdonalds and 2 egg muffins.  (all the way there I am telling myself, only 1, only 1,only 1, but when I got to the counter my mouth betrayed me and asked for 2) (that will be why Im so fat!!!!)  I walked straight up to the enrollment point and was enrolled, paid and on my way in about 10 minutes.  Phew!  It's done.
I then rushed up to Marvelous Mandies'  house for extra chorus rehearsals where we practiced the songs we are singing for convention.  Love Me and My Baby Just Cares For Me.  If I forgot to mention it, I sing in a Ladies Barbershop Chorus.  I felt that we had a good rehearsal and I discovered that Im not as crap as I think I am, there are just a couple of low notes that I can't reach, so we worked on them.
Well, phew, something of a discombobulated afternoon now, the stressy rushy bits are over and now I just have to get the reading materiel I need tomorow after work.  I believe that we will be covering Mary Shelly's Frankenstien and Shakespears The Tempest.  Started reading the Tempest and its not as tough going as I thought, but my copy is in Shakespears complete works, and that book is way too heavy to trawl to college and back.  I bought a book on the life of Mary Shelly because I thought it would give me some insight to her works, but to be honest, its boring and really hard going.

close to the edge!!

Well, enrolment is tomorow and I still don't have the fees together!  My daughter was going to buy my TV, then changed her mind a couple of days later, so I put it on Ebay.  I just had to come to terms with the fact that I would get a terrible price for it.  I cannot think about how much I paid, just that the money will cover my fees and I am fully commited to not having a tv in the house.  The Provvy Lady text me today that I can't get an extension on my loan, which to be honest, I am glad of, I'd rather not have further debt.  Oh boy!  How stressed am I???
So much for being fully engaged and organised!!
Ok, no more beating myself up!
I have 2 hours left on the TV, £102 is the current bid, so whatever happens, I will be ok.

I went to my first Buddhist 'thing' last night and we spent an hour in meditation.  That was the first time I have ever meditated and I gotta tell you, it was incredible.  I have never been able to quiet my mind before and just relax, I was so chilled out I just can't believe it.  I am certainly going next week, and will attempt to try it at home as well.
I can see how being able to meditate will really hepl me with my studies, to be able to cut out all the white noise and just focus will be an incredible help. 

Ok, will let you know later how the enrolment goes.  Have a great day.

I decided today that selling the tv is definatley the way to go, so put it on my facebook.  The provvy lady text me back but it was a little ambiguous.  I think I can get the loan next week, but not totally sure.  Pray the TV sells or this college business could be over before it begins!
Off to babysit for my sisters kid so she can get a night out with her fella.

Weds 25th August

Today I went for a coffee with my friend and boss Mandy (Hi Mandy...she's my first follower.) Our coffee turned into lunch at Lakota, as it was incredibly cheap and really, really tasty.  We were talking about how tight money is, and I mentioned that I may well be selling my TV and going without one completely.  Initially, this will save me an average of £50 a month on my Sky and TV License, but thinking about it further, it should also help me to stay focussed on my studying.

Think about it. How many times do we stop what we are doing and stare vacantly at the television, only to find that the dinner has now burnt and you have completely forgotten what you were doing?  With no TV to distract me with salatious images of David Tennent (ooooohhh!!), I should be able to knuckle down and stay focussed.

Well, given that I am 45 next month, I can't afford to mess about with my education, or I will be retiring by time I qualify!

Then I got to thinking how good my teeny weeny sitting room would look without the huge 42 inch TV taking up a whole wall.  I could even have a coffee table to pile all the detritus upon, whilst balancing a cup of coffee on my lap.  I could dedicate a space to the sewing machine I have never used, I could make all those incredible outfits I dream about.  I could play games with my grandbabies.......... ok, that is going too far!

According to my son in law, or god, as he likes to be called! (joke shawn), I can buy a dongle (!!?) for £15 and then pay as I go, about £10-15 pm.  Still seems a lot cheaper than my current set up.

I found out that the library stays open till 7:30, so again, I can use their internet for the stuff the college system wont let me access.  No, not porn.  Im way too uptight for that.

So, I am going to continue to think this through and then make a decision at the weekend.  Im 70% sure I want to do it at the moment.

Only a week to go till I enroll.

As I had promised myself to give college 100% commitment and effort, I realised that I have not put aside the enrollment fee.  As I am on benefits, each 'pay day' I have a choice to pay either for food or bills. This week I bought food and now have no money till a fortnights' time.  Bloody clever aren't I?  So, how am I to conjour up £105 by next friday?  Being old fat and ugly, I dont have a sugar daddy, so I asked the local provvy lady to up my loan, she will let me know tomorow.  Fingers crossed.  If that goes tits up, im thinking there may be a street corner I can hang out on? 

Lesson learnt?  BE PREPARED!!!!!!!!!

See you tomorow.

A Mature Students' Journey: Tuesday August 24th 2010

A Mature Students' Journey: Tuesday August 24th 2010: "Having spent the last few weeks, relaxing and taking it easy, it came as a huge surprise to realise that I enroll for college next week! OM..."

Tuesday August 24th 2010

Having spent the last few weeks, relaxing and taking it easy, it came as a huge surprise to realise that I enroll for college next week!  OMG, the time has evaporated!  I am not nervous about the study aspect of going back to college, but I am worried about walking into a room full of people that I dont know and having to talk to them.  I tend to get a bit "arsey" when Im uncomfortable and this has a habit of putting people's backs up.  Never a good way to start.