Just to prove I'm still alive

Awakenings - Art by Tracy Kobus Fine Arts

Buzz, buzz, buzz...busyness abounds! Work is hell on toast (still) and among other things occupying my time are;

• two kitties full of hormones, hell bent on destroying my home (Max chewed through the hallmark doggie tag off my Radley bag today)
  
• a never ending list of chores
• a new aquarium
  
• putting shoe boxes together for Operation Christmas Child
• setting up a trading post for CDs, DVDs and games at work to raise funds for charity
• an interview with a national newspaper about my MBA
• organising a trip to see a museum collection for our historical fencing club

Never a dull moment eh? This week I also have to go for another blood test to check my thyroid function. Since having half of it removed I have suffered from hypothyroidism. I have been on hormone therapy now for a couple of months and I feel so much better. It's such a big plus being able to stay awake. I am not exaggerating when I say it has felt like a similar experience to the patients in the film 'Awakenings'. For so long I have felt like a walking zombie, unable to concentrate, with no memory and who spent any energy she could muster, Just. Staying. Awake. Dammit.

Before I go I thought I would leave you with two tips for top TV: 'Lie to Me' and 'True Blood'. The first is a psychology based drama and it's intelligent, smart and well written. Tim Roth plays Dr Lightman who is an expert in unearthing the truth using the facial Action Coding System which uses micro expressions to read people. The second follows Sookie, a barmaid living in Louisiana who can hear people's minds, and how her life is turned upside down when a Vampire called Bill, walks into her place of employment two years after vampires 'came out of the coffin' on national television. It's early days with this one but there is something about it that intrigues. Take a look and see what you think.

What time is it?

I was looking in my work diary and not for the first time it struck me how planned my life is as an adult and how important knowing the time is. My schedule is full of meetings and appointments which break my working days and weeks into chunks of time where I have to be in certain places at certain times. I feel naked without my watch. I pride myself on being punctual and professional for the meetings I have scheduled.

That is why I love it when I have a few days off as I often don't wear a watch. Time doesn't matter so much, my days are my own to do with as I please without any demands being made on my time. The stress of having to be somewhere on time is replaced with the relaxing feeling of not having to be anywhere at anytime unless I choose to do it. Am I unique in this feeling? Absolutely not. It is a symptom of modern living, but sometimes I long for those carefree days as a child when I measured time with a dandelion clock, where the number of blows it took to scatter the seeds would tell what time it was. I took the above photo on a recent day out - one of four days in a row I had over a bank holiday weekend where time wasn't so important and enjoying myself was the priority.

After I snapped the picture I picked one of the dandelion clocks and blew once, blew twice and then three times, which told me it was three o'clock when I took this photo. Near enough for me on that sunny day.

Ticking...

Just like the clock in the crocodile from Peter Pan I can hear ticking as the deadline for my essay approaches. Once this is out of the way it's a quick breather and then down to studying for an exam towards the end of April. Deadlines are like buses it seems, there is always another coming along!

Another event is approaching also. This is my 99th post so I will try and post something special for my next one. Not sure what yet! Still, it won't be until after the essay deadline at the end of this week. I am hoping for good weather this weekend so that I can get out and about with my camera. It would be so nice to get out in the fresh air and just go somewhere. Kinda like a reward for my hard work.

Until this weekend then I am lying low. I may stop by and say hello to break the work up, but you know where I'll be...sat in front of my computer, listening to the ticking getting louder!

Update: Bob is asleep on the windowsill next to my desk and snoring, so I guess I'll be listening to that too!

Further Update: It's now Friday and deadline day. I still have quite a bit to do but am confident that I will deliver the goods. I will be so glad once this one is finished it has been a tough one for a number of reasons. Wish me luck and have a great Friday!