As much as I'd like to write about the many things that have happened since my last proper update post, I can't. Nothing much really has happened. I've had a few NaNo meets and the washing machine broke. Plus there was a flat inspection and then the hoover broke too. Other than that very little has gone on.
College is still going fine, I'm still in my third year, still doing photography, still loving it. The only thing that's changed there is that I'm now fairly determined to do the top-up year in order to make my FdA a full BA in Photography once I've finished this summer. After my Gran died, I did a lot of thinking about it and, especially since Matt's going to be at college an extra year now, I think it's for the best. I'll get a more credible, more widely recognised and understood qualification plus more funding in that year. It may mean adjusting my work hours but hopefully that won't be too much of a problem. It'll also give me the means to set up my own business which is what I want to do in the long term after all!
Other news - exciting news, that is - concerns me going back to karate as a favourite thing and maybe, possibly opening my own club up in the spring this year. Hopefully between myself and the three/four others I'll be working with, we'll have our own permanent, 24 hour venue in which to run fitness classes, flexibility training, karate classes, kick-boxing, tae kwon do and sports massage sessions. I also want to start teaching yoga but at the moment I'm no where near good enough for that! We're going down to Birmingham in January to start our formal instructor training with a gentleman from Verve. I'm pretty excited (and simultaneously terrified).
In the same vein, I finally got approved for joining a gym by the doctor when I visited this morning. What one guy was going to charge me £20 for (and not actually give me a medical exam) I got for free from the doctor that sorts my medication. He's not my GP but at the moment he's as good as - he sorts my anti-depressants and anti-anxiety tablets as my GP was on maternity leave at the time and I'd rather not have too many people adjusting my medication here and there as they see fit! As soon as I got the note saying that I was deemed well enough to join the gym, I dropped it off at the gym in question and booked by induction for Friday afternoon. I'm super excited for it, if I'm honest, and a little bit nervous but to be honest, that's usually the best combination.
Now that I've got that sorted, I'm going to start eating paleo (again) and stick to it through doing 80:20. In short, I'll eat paleo 80% of the time but allow myself one day (or just a few meals) that aren't paleo compliant in order to not restrict myself so much that I can't stick to the way of eating. I really want to cut back on my gluten consumption too - after reading into what gluten can actually do to your digestive system and about how people who are sensitive don't often know it, I think it'd just be safer not to eat it. After all, it could be a contributor to my psoriasis and god knows I'll do anything to get rid of that!
I'm still doing fairly well after the light treatment ended. I've got a few patches on my face that have come back but I know that if I moisturise they'll calm down and, failing that, I've still got some Eumovate and Tacrolimus ointments. It's my scalp that's doing the worst at the moment but that's due to me not using the Sebco ointment and wearing my hair up or in hats because of work and the cold... Some days I feel like I shouldn't even bother keeping on top of all my creams and things because I feel so awful about myself anyway. Then I remember that I always feel better when my skin and hair look better - I worry less about my appearance and am generally happier. Plus I'm more willing to do other things to look after myself such as my CBT activities, exercise and healthy eating.
Another reason that I was at the doctors today is that I found a lump in my breast and Matt insisted that I got it checked out. My mum had a breast cancer scare earlier this year so it'd be a lie to say that I wasn't worried about it but, fortunately, the doctor thinks that it's unlikely to be anything serious and is likely just a cyst that may need drained (which is pretty disgusting but certainly not cancer so yay!) Even so, he's sending me off to the special under-30s breast clinic in the next couple of weeks to get an ultrasound just in case and for them to treat it in whatever way they see fit.
That's everything that I can think of for now but I shall be sure to update if anything else comes up!
Tuesday 29 October 2013
NaNoWriMo and Being An ML
As many of you will know, it's NaNoWriMo in a few days time. For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month - a phenomenon that started in America in the late 90s, by a guy called Chris Baty and a few of his friends, and has spread across the world like wildfire since then.
I discovered NaNoWriMo in early 2010 because of a girl in my english language class. I didn't end up keeping in touch with Charlotte and I regret that deeply but at the same time, she's led me to meet so many other people that I'm almost glad I didn't know anyone else doing it when I started. Because I didn't know anyone, I got to know people on the forums and started going to the in-person meet-ups in cafes and things last year.
It was also the year I found out that we didn't have a Municipal Liaison.
Now MLs aren't essential. They're handy for organising things and getting people together as well as creating goodies and incentives for the Wrimos to reward their hard work but largely their job can be done by the Wrimos themselves. They don't get paid and the only real reward is a tonne of extra work, occasional angry rants from writers and a load of fretting over whether everything is going to turn out fine with their Wrimos and the 50,000 words they're churning out on top of their real lives.
Now up until last year, I'd never 'won' NaNo. And by won I mean I'd never hit the 50k word count in the 30 days of November. Last year, however, I decided it was time. Come hell or high water I was going to hit that ambitious target and thus earn a purple banner under my avatar and the ability to legitimately buy a winner's t-shirt in the beginning of December.
And I did it. Just.
I succeeded and over shot the 50k by 506 words. Happy just isn't what I would use to describe that feeling. When I hit 50,506 on the evening of November 30th, it felt curiously like the world had ended and started all at the same time. I'd finished that one thing that I'd been striving to do. It was all over. I had achieved my goal and had no where to go and nothing to do afterwards. But at the same time there were so many new opportunities. I still needed to write the actual ending - I may have hit my targets and deadlines but I was still a few chapters short of the final scenes. I needed to edit - oh boy did I need to edit that baby. With plot holes that could engulf small nations, there was some serious explaining and patching up to do. I finished my baby and started editing in May - I was just too devastated by the fact that NaNo was over that I couldn't pick it back up. That and the time flew by so quickly that I barely even realised that we were in 2013! I finished writing and editing in June - I didn't edit much, it's still my raw, raw NaNo baby, but I put away the document and haven't opened it again since. I will, for sure, finish editing and get a copy printed - for myself if nothing else - but for now, it's resting. We're getting some separation so that I can look over it objectively.
In the summer the ML applications opened.
One of my major driving forces for finishing NaNo last year was so that I could apply to be an ML. Even if my application was rejected, I still wanted to try. I knew that I could bring a better, more communal, more involving NaNo to Newcastle and Durham and I wanted to give it a shot. I filled in the application, sent it off and waited. And waited. And waited.
It went on and on until finally, when I was out shopping, I got an email saying that my application had been successful and to look out for other important emails in the weeks to follow.
So far I've had a massive number of really, really helpful emails as well as buckets of encouragement. Over the last few days, I've been writing packs and booklets for my region of Wrimos by hand and on the PC to put together little (hopefully) helpful writing kits to kickstart word counts and battle the dreaded writers block. I tied up the first half of the NaNo packs with string and a sticker and handed them out today - I think they were gratefully received by most. I think they're pretty cool to be honest and there's the promise of foamy dinosaur stickers when people hit word count targets and slay the procrastination dragon and banish the writer's block bats.
Our haunts are mostly going to be the Settle Down Cafe and Bar Loco this year, with the possibility of Clayton Street Caffe Nero on Saturday afternoons. The food at both the Settle Down and Bar Loco is amazing and who can fault a good hot caffeinated beverage to get the creative juices flowing?
I discovered NaNoWriMo in early 2010 because of a girl in my english language class. I didn't end up keeping in touch with Charlotte and I regret that deeply but at the same time, she's led me to meet so many other people that I'm almost glad I didn't know anyone else doing it when I started. Because I didn't know anyone, I got to know people on the forums and started going to the in-person meet-ups in cafes and things last year.
It was also the year I found out that we didn't have a Municipal Liaison.
Now MLs aren't essential. They're handy for organising things and getting people together as well as creating goodies and incentives for the Wrimos to reward their hard work but largely their job can be done by the Wrimos themselves. They don't get paid and the only real reward is a tonne of extra work, occasional angry rants from writers and a load of fretting over whether everything is going to turn out fine with their Wrimos and the 50,000 words they're churning out on top of their real lives.
Now up until last year, I'd never 'won' NaNo. And by won I mean I'd never hit the 50k word count in the 30 days of November. Last year, however, I decided it was time. Come hell or high water I was going to hit that ambitious target and thus earn a purple banner under my avatar and the ability to legitimately buy a winner's t-shirt in the beginning of December.
And I did it. Just.
I succeeded and over shot the 50k by 506 words. Happy just isn't what I would use to describe that feeling. When I hit 50,506 on the evening of November 30th, it felt curiously like the world had ended and started all at the same time. I'd finished that one thing that I'd been striving to do. It was all over. I had achieved my goal and had no where to go and nothing to do afterwards. But at the same time there were so many new opportunities. I still needed to write the actual ending - I may have hit my targets and deadlines but I was still a few chapters short of the final scenes. I needed to edit - oh boy did I need to edit that baby. With plot holes that could engulf small nations, there was some serious explaining and patching up to do. I finished my baby and started editing in May - I was just too devastated by the fact that NaNo was over that I couldn't pick it back up. That and the time flew by so quickly that I barely even realised that we were in 2013! I finished writing and editing in June - I didn't edit much, it's still my raw, raw NaNo baby, but I put away the document and haven't opened it again since. I will, for sure, finish editing and get a copy printed - for myself if nothing else - but for now, it's resting. We're getting some separation so that I can look over it objectively.
In the summer the ML applications opened.
One of my major driving forces for finishing NaNo last year was so that I could apply to be an ML. Even if my application was rejected, I still wanted to try. I knew that I could bring a better, more communal, more involving NaNo to Newcastle and Durham and I wanted to give it a shot. I filled in the application, sent it off and waited. And waited. And waited.
It went on and on until finally, when I was out shopping, I got an email saying that my application had been successful and to look out for other important emails in the weeks to follow.
So far I've had a massive number of really, really helpful emails as well as buckets of encouragement. Over the last few days, I've been writing packs and booklets for my region of Wrimos by hand and on the PC to put together little (hopefully) helpful writing kits to kickstart word counts and battle the dreaded writers block. I tied up the first half of the NaNo packs with string and a sticker and handed them out today - I think they were gratefully received by most. I think they're pretty cool to be honest and there's the promise of foamy dinosaur stickers when people hit word count targets and slay the procrastination dragon and banish the writer's block bats.
Our haunts are mostly going to be the Settle Down Cafe and Bar Loco this year, with the possibility of Clayton Street Caffe Nero on Saturday afternoons. The food at both the Settle Down and Bar Loco is amazing and who can fault a good hot caffeinated beverage to get the creative juices flowing?
Friday 18 October 2013
Checking In
So the last few weeks/months seem to have come straight from hell - special delivery too, might I add. After my last post, my gran deteriorated with alarming speed. An infection of some sort, and the whole heart rate thing were the cause of that. I visited her on Saturday evening and she was, obviously, very ill but she was also fairly stable. By Monday she could barely breathe on her own and, when I saw her in the early afternoon, had been moved to ICU.
At 5am on Tuesday morning, I got a call saying that we had to go in. The nurses at the hospital didn't think my gran would live long enough for us to get there. She held on for another hour and died just after 6am. It came out of nowhere and left us all in a shambles.
The three of us, my mum, auntie and I, organised the majority of the funeral details together. The day itself went without a hitch - for the most part - and there was a huge turnout at both the church and the crematorium. It just went to show how well-loved my gran was.
After that, I had a disciplinary at work for my absence at the end of August. After I explained to them how close I came to taking my own life they decided it would be against the company values to discipline me. They didn't do anything particularly helpful and I was allowed one day's worth of compassionate leave - my gran practically raised me so, even though I wasn't really entitled to any leave since she 'wasn't a direct relative', my special circumstances warranted a day off to organise the funeral.
Work's not gotten any better, I still pretty much hate it. The customers are awful and the staff aren't much better and, in all honesty, I can't wait for something else to come up so that I can leave.
In other news, college is going pretty well and I'm midway through my first two proper, graded projects (see my latest project here). On an even more fun (and nerve-wracking) note, NaNoWriMo is almost upon us! 50k words in 30 days whilst also working, studying and trying to corral a region for the first time? Total cake-walk...
At 5am on Tuesday morning, I got a call saying that we had to go in. The nurses at the hospital didn't think my gran would live long enough for us to get there. She held on for another hour and died just after 6am. It came out of nowhere and left us all in a shambles.
The three of us, my mum, auntie and I, organised the majority of the funeral details together. The day itself went without a hitch - for the most part - and there was a huge turnout at both the church and the crematorium. It just went to show how well-loved my gran was.
After that, I had a disciplinary at work for my absence at the end of August. After I explained to them how close I came to taking my own life they decided it would be against the company values to discipline me. They didn't do anything particularly helpful and I was allowed one day's worth of compassionate leave - my gran practically raised me so, even though I wasn't really entitled to any leave since she 'wasn't a direct relative', my special circumstances warranted a day off to organise the funeral.
Work's not gotten any better, I still pretty much hate it. The customers are awful and the staff aren't much better and, in all honesty, I can't wait for something else to come up so that I can leave.
In other news, college is going pretty well and I'm midway through my first two proper, graded projects (see my latest project here). On an even more fun (and nerve-wracking) note, NaNoWriMo is almost upon us! 50k words in 30 days whilst also working, studying and trying to corral a region for the first time? Total cake-walk...
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