*streaks across the room* ;) Boo!

[cirianz]

Didja miss me?

Sorry I've been gone so long things have been so chaotic I can't tell me ars* from me titts these days.
Monday I enrolled at University First year law. I've got my prelims tomorrow. Very nervous & excited
I'm still waiting to hear from studylink to find out if my student loan to cover my fees has been aproved so still feeling like it might all be snatched away from me.

Thank you TC for the lovely Christmas card I still play it everyso often when I come accross it. It always makes me smile I hope you got my reply, It will have come from my junk email address because I didn't know the company.

Lots of things have happened the last few months, some good & some bad Some of it I've wanted so much to talk to you guys about But it was told to me in confidence. So I'm waiting & hoping that I will have nothing to need to talk to you about after all.

Change subject.

Part of what has taken up such a lot of my time has been arranging a trip for John & his daughter to Rome & Venice & France & Leeds (to visit his son & new wife). I can't remember if I told you that John had a mild heart attack last year (I think I did) and afterwards he decided that he was finally going to do the dream trip that he'd always wanted to do 'someday'. I can't come unfortunately, asides from no money I'll be at uni then

Bugga, gotta go.
Will be back soon hopefully with the next installments of my little soap opera

 

[Ian]

Hello Ciri! Good to hear from you again This new uni course sounds pretty good fun

Sorry to hear about Johns heart attack, but it sounds like he is recovering well - especially with this trip planned

 

[Taffycat]

Hi there Ciri it's great to see you here again and yes, we have all missed you a lot ... there were rumours about alien abduction

Glad you liked the card, (that particular website is very 'safe' with no ads or spamming) Thank you for yours, it was a lovely one and very kind of you

Sorry to hear you've been having a few 'downs' as well as 'ups' since we last saw you, hope the bad bits can be satisfactorily resolved for you very soon. Meanwhile, it is wonderful news about your First Year Law uni course hope the prelims will go well, shall be thinking of you and sending lots of good vibes your way also crossing fingers, toes (and anything else that can be crossed) that your student loan will be approved, so very best of luck with that

Hope John is now feeling much better, his planned dream-trip sounds amazing, shame you'll not be able to go too, but hopefully you will be well into your uni studies - and other opportunities will come your way once you have qualified. Lots and lots of luck

Looking forward to the next installment, take care

 

[muckshifter]

oh, 'ello, we can call off the dogs and search & rescue.


A lawyer? hmmm. We have one in the family, don't ask him any questions, he'll send you a bill.

Good to 'see' you again ... I'll watch this 'soap' or, maybe turn over if something catch me eye on another channel.

 

[crazylegs]

Hi Ciri

Great to see you back on the site again...Have missed your 27,000 word posts..

 

[floppybootstomp]

Hello Madam, good to see you posting again

 

[itsme]

*streaks across the room* Boo!

And boo too yoo too

 

[cirianz]

G'dday guys

The heart attack was pretty mild, but scary & enough to make it really hit home to John that if he doesn't do those things now, he may never get the chance & he's always dreamed of seeing an Opera in Rome & of course all those artsy places. I am still worried of course, he still occasionally gets chest pains when stressed, but nothing to call the Dr over & they are getting rarer & rarer. And there are some dreams you have to follow, or you never forgive yourself. He even went into debt for this & the only thing I've ever known John to go into debt for before was his house. I would love to be able to go with him, but I wasn't going to ask him to wait 4 years 'till I finish my degree first, & then I'd have my student debt to keep me warm anyway lol.

Thanks TC, I can use all the crossed fingers etc I can get at the moment, although we're trying to focus on the positives at the moment as there is some time yet before full tests can be made, & then there's waiting for the results. No one else knows except me & John & it's very strange sometimes acting as if nothing's wrong.

Is that what all those dogs were Mucks I barely got to see them before Pringle chased them all away lol. You'll have to blame Flops for the Lawyer thing. I t was him saying that he didn't ever want to face me in a court of law a few months ago over at BBT that really made me think seriously about it. But I have to get into second year first. Second year is restricted entry & since I'm only doing the one paper this year (I'm cross crediting from my psych degree for the rest, & way back then I was definitely spending far too much time 'studenting' & not nearly enough studying) so I have to apply to be evaluated for entrance based on just the one paper (rather than an average mark) so that means I have to get A+'s all the way to get in. So this year will be a pretty heavy study year, & laws101 isn't a cruisey paper to start with. But I really want to get in. There is three Óptional' exams, as well as the two compulsory ones, which is good. Gives me a chance to prove just how spiff I am

Hiya CL As you can see I'm in fine form today

Revving up my typing fingers & foot flat to the floor
Hang on... No one told me there weren't any brakes!!!
At least I should make a good lawyer... lots of talk to say nothing much

And G'dday to you too Flops Always miss you

& Viv *hugs* (No, don't worry... It's persisting down now so I ran off & grabbed my trench coat )

 

[itsme]

XXXXXXXXXX

 

[cirianz]

And now... The next installment

I told you guys about Jellybean & that knocked me back a few weeks. I still sometimes almost see him sitting in his favourite spot on the path down to the creek. Or trotting up the front path to say hello when we'd come home.
All sorts of stuff happened in the time after that but I have to confess that it's all pretty chaotic in my head & I can't remember what happened when but most of it is family stuff & not really of interest to anyone else.

But then we moved on to the Christmas period & chaos really cranked up a notch or two.
Firstly there was Richard's wedding. Rich & Tanya live in Leeds & John hadn't seen them for 4 years so it was all pretty... exciting
Primarily because they decided to have a full, formal wedding. And to have it over here. Tanya's Mother got assigned the Task of organising the whole thing & had the wonderful experience of running around trying to meet Rich & Tanya's ever changing demands. And also to organise this side of the family, who she had managed to totally alienate by her rather stressed manner. Everyone hated her. She would make appointments for fittings for the best men's suits... Then suddenly someone would decide they weren't going. She'd get a marriage celebrant lined up... then suddenly Rich & Tanya decided they wanted a woman. It was a nightmare. For some reason her & I have always gotten on & sometimes she would nearly be in tears on the phone. Somehow she managed to get everything & everyone in the right outfits, at the right place at the right time. Rich & Tanya arrived here from England a couple of days before the wedding, just in time for their final fittings etc... & Richard promptly came down with a very nasty 24hr Tummy bug. Their wedding was a couple of days after Christmas (don't ask why... it makes no sense to me either).

Now, In a total brain fart, I had arranged for Myself & my offspring to go & spend a few days with My Mum & Sister & her assorted offspring, who had all come down from Westport, and My Aunty Lola & A 'cousin' who had come over from Australia. They would be here for a week & we were to spend this time staying with them out in Warrington. All this was to be happening at approximately simultaeneous time that we would be attending the wedding (at which my boy was to be the ring-bearer).
Fortunately I noticed this before the actuall event... by a few days. And so I had to tell my Mum I'd be a couple of days late, luckily (?) they weren't too upset, since the same tummy bug was busy working it's way through all of them & socialising was not high on their schedule of things to do.

So, we attended the wedding, which was beautiful The look in Richards eyes when Tanya came through that door made everything worth it. Tanya & Richard were both lovely, & despite the earlier clash of egos, everyone did turn up at their places & carry out their assorted roles without any fussing & fighting. And they had Chocolate Mud cake for their wedding cake & that can solve any dispute So after a celebratory 'snacks & chat' the next day, Rich & Tanya were off on their Honeymoon & Tanya's Mother promptly & litterally had a nervous breakdown.
Nowadays, for some reason, people are starting to suspect that she might not be the bossy biatch everyone had thought, but simply a very stressed woman trying to organise a very complex do, despite a lot of opposition & conflict from a lot of unco-operative people on both sides. You couldn't pay me enough to do what she did!

Then it was off to Warrington for me & my offspring, where I was very promptly reminded why it is that I would never want to live with my sister & mother EVER.
I do seem to recall a time when they were quite normal & even nice people, & it is very hard, litterally, for me to reconcile the people I knew, with the people they have become. I pitied my children, who went up to Westport with them for the 2 weeks following the visit. I barely survived the four days I spent out there with them. I don't think I could've kept my mouth shut any longer than that. Enough said.

While the Kids were away John & I set to work on his house. There was quite a long time after the last tenants moved out (on the 6th Jan) until the new tenants move in (1st March) & for much of that time John was getting more & more worried that he wouldn't find tenants & begining to panic about how he would cover the mortgage once his savings (supposed to be for his holiday) ran out. But in the meantime we decided to get some much needed Maintenance done on the place. Since then we have been working every weekend & most nights after John gets home from work, down at that house. At the moment I never want to see another house again & it is starting to look like I will be spending our first wedding anniversary (this sunday) sanding & painting skirting boards. This being the last weekend before the tenants move in. We had hoped to go away for the weekend, but both funds & timewise that is now an impossibility. But we have promised ourselves dinner at a restaurant (the one where John almost proposed to me then didn't ) and a night out

And during the days I have been working on copying out a copy of the Tao te ching in my finest Calligraphy (which was definitely a little rusty to start with ) as an anniversary present for John
He's often said that he wished that he had a copy, but never gotten around to buying himself one. There's no way that I'll be finished it in time now. I've just been too busy. But I'm sure he won't mind if I finish it after the aniversay itself

And I think that brings you pretty much up to date. There's been a few more bits & pieces. A couple of birthdays, some breakups - get togethers - & re breakups, and an Engagement. John's next son Luke is marrying his partner Holly, since that is the name of John's youngest daughter then that is likely to become very confusing, but that is still at the happy, bouncy, congratulatory stage so I will willfully suspend any suspicion that there will be pre wedding stresses ahead. After Richard's wedding they are planning on keeping theirs pretty informal & easy going (roflmao) and I shall believe in that absolutely (who knows, they just might manage it ) & enjoy everyone's happiness to the full

 

[muckshifter]

The BBC, I believe, are looking for talented writers for their next soap ... I put your name down ... I'll be your agent, only asking 80%, so you should make shed loads of monies.


I gotta make this a stickie ... just in case I loose the plot, err, thread.

 

[cirianz]

80% in your dreams You'll be taking 83% & not a penny less!!!
Trying to undercut my friend you were weren't you
I won't have it!!!

 

[cirianz]

So, had my prelims today & am now starting to feel all studenty
surrounded by so many young things though
Next year Tomo wants to go to the Uni to do the foundation year studies so she can qualify to go to University. It's designed mostly for international students & those that don't have enough ncea credits to get entry but the guy at the dept said he's going to make enquiries about allowing homeschooled students in since, since they started the ncea system there really isn't any way for homeschooled students to qualify. I looked into enrolling her for the Cambridge internation exams, but, as an individual rather than an institution It is very expensive.

Hopefully she can get into the foundation year programe, it's taught in a university format of lectures & tutorials & would prepare her well for learning in the university environment. Will also give her experience with exams, something I really can't provide at home and it's not good if her first year uni exams are her very first exams. She wants to do an Arts degree, but can't decide if she wants to major in Comp sci, English or go teaching. She wants to write & already has a fan base for her fiction writing online & she really is very good, but she also loves computing. I suspect, however, that homeschooling might have given her a false idea of what teaching is like. In particular the limits 'curriculum' imposes. I think she wants to be the type of teacher she wishes she had had and I suspect that the reality of having to work within the system would be a bit of a shock. But she is 15 now, & smart. I suspect she will figure things out well enough herself & make her own decision in time.
In the meantime we will cross our fingers & hope for foundation year

 

[nivrip]

Monday I enrolled at University First year law.

Stick in there,Ciri.

Getting an education is THE most important thing you can ever do in your life.

All the very best to you on your new course.

 

[Taffycat]

Phew! It sounds like you have had a thoroughly exhausting/stressful/fun/sad/memorable/with-some-wonderful-moments-thrown-in-for-good-measure time of things since we last enjoyed your company here. You certainly live life to the full Ciri Your life story is going to make a really good book/film one day Take good care of yourself

Gosh, think I need another coffee now...

 

[cirianz]

lol, what's that old chinese curse... "may you live in interesting times"
Well things certainly haven't been boring
but then... I'd get bored if they were