Not in a good space

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

It's like a feeling just bubbling up to the surface. It's panicky and disgusting and I dont' know what to do with it. There's no thoughts associated with it. It's a feeling. A really gross one. I called the Suicide Call Back service. I didn't find them helpful. What do you do? What helps you?

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Good morning

Well all the fun and games have begun here - I officially started prepping for my Honours journey yesterday and I'm already surrounded by books and print outs. I need to have some idea of where I'm headed by first class next Friday. Prac starts the Monday after, so need to make the most of my time off. It's going to be full on, so lots of pep talks and self care required. Will add in the free meditations 🙂

Paws, thanks for the lovely hugs. I hope you're enjoying planning out your garden, and that your mood lifts soon. Do you like kangaroo paws? I have two out the front that I bought recently. One is tall with red paws, and the other is quite short with sort of pale purple paws. I adore them x

EM, thanks for the healing vibes. Hope today looks better for you and that it was indeed just an astrological hiccup we needed to move through x

Hi and kind thoughts to anyone else visiting x Katy 🙂

[Paw Prints]

Hello Katy,

Lass I think an important thing to schedule along with all the studies is regular "you time"... time to do things you enjoy or time for special treats for yourself... even small "time to smell the flowers/have a cuppa" breaks are important... definitely still take unscheduled breaks as well... but by scheduling "you time" it helps to break your day into manageable bites of whatever size suits you... it also means you can enjoy that break without the naggy voice inside telling you that you should be studying.

I do like kangaroo paws... I remember we had some yellow ones in the front garden growing up... I was actually thinking of them when I decided to buy the books... I think I would have to grow them in pots here as they are WA plants & probably wouldn't do well in my soils/rainfall. I have always assumed they only came in the red/orange/yellow colours... I love the sound of your purple one... I think that will be going on my wish list.

Here is another squishy hug lass & a belly rub for the lovely Stormy

Paws

[Hanna3]

Hi Katy (waves to all)

A mixture of excitement and feeling a bit daunted at the beginning of the year I would imagine? You'll be too busy to think about it soon, maybe that's good! Yep lots of positive self talk and rest breaks/treats required!

You might find you get treated rather well now... I remember when I started the graduate degree how much better we were regarded by the senior academic staff - lots of cuppas with them etc etc... it was like we were being welcomed into the club, it was nice!

You'll be fine, a few butterflies and anxious moments would be expected and perfectly normal - but mostly focus on the excitement of the year ahead, something to really look forward to!

Have an ice cream/swim/skate/cuppa whatever.. give yourself regular time out! hugs.

[ecomama]

CONGRATULATIONS Katy!

Wow, it's really here! That's awesome.

YOU CAN DO IT! That's a pep talk there lol.

And here's a flower you can look at 🌺 lol Hibiscus don't have a fragrance.
Here's a tropical tree to think about when you go on your wonderful holidays after you land your DREAM JOB paying STACKS!🌴

Here's a frog just because frogs are awesome 🐸 lol.
I love the sounds of frogs.

SO do we call you DOCTOR Katy after this is done?
LOL!

Well done you.

Yes I'm feeling alot better, thanks.

Love EM

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Hello all 🙂

Well, you're welcome to call me Dr Katy now if you like, but I won't be a Dr even after I graduate, no lol. I will have some have letters after my name though, and that's pretty exciting!

Yes, I think I'll have to be more disciplined than previous years, and scheduling in breaks is a good idea - especially if they involve icecream 🙂

Anyone watch the tennis last night? Bit of a weird one Djoker and Zverev. I'm not sure if it's the lack of atmosphere due to no crowds?

Cool day here today, so no beach. I might go for a skate, do some tidying, see if my friend wants to walk with Stormy and I, and then study a bit. What's everyone else up to?

Paws - I didn't realise kangaroo paws were native to WA. The purplish one I have is Kings Park Royale. I'm not sure how easy they will be to get on the east coast. But do google them, they're so unusual.

Hanna - Sorry to hear that you're in such pain, it sounds awful. I'm glad that you're able to continue with your music though. It sounds like you're very skilled at it. I'd love to watch you play the harp.

EM - So glad you're feeling better! And thanks for the encouragement - and the frog lol

Hugs all round xo

[Hanna3]

Hi Katy,

Sam is sick again today so I'm only here briefly as I'll be looking after him this evening - went to the vet and got another tablet down his throat this morning, poor guy is shivering and lying on my bed.

You'll have a BA(Hons) unless it's a specific social work degree they call something else ... I'm a BA, G.D.Phil. I don't ever bother to write it anywhere though! You need a Ph.D to be called Dr. There's a funny story about a young woman working in a store and a customer came in who had the title Dr and the girl asked about medicine and the woman replied No, she was a Doctor of Philosophy and the girl said oh, she had thought she was a PROPER doctor - ouch! A proper doctor is a Ph.D - medicine is just a Bachelor's Degree. Oops!

I watched a lot of the tennis last night but both were off their game a bit - some terrific rallies though - both had nasty injuries from the tennis playing.. so maybe the injuries plus no crowd affected them both. It was wierd not having a crowd there wasn't it.

Hope you are having a good day. Not a good one here with a sick dog, so i am off to take care of him. Harp looks lovely when you watch people playing it doesn't it - the hand movements are lovely - they're very carefully learned too - my teachers years ago took a lot of time making sure the position and movements were perfect - the hand movements are part of the beauty of it I think!

Cheers!

[Hanna3]

Hey Katy, you could always aim for a doctorate after your honours year... three years'work and a thesis, crikey - but you might decide you want to do that! Honours is enough to concentrate on for now though I think... one step at a time! I had too many commitments and decided against a Ph.D - I would have had to move cities for one... and I saw how much work my brother had had to put into his thesis... horrible... and no guarantee for me for a job at the end of it all... and I was studying later in life like you... so there's a lot to consider.

I'd just enjoy your Hons year for now - it sounds as if your prac might be really enjoyable if it's something that you say aligns with what you believe/want to do.

Cheers! from one mature age student to another.... cheering you on!

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Hi all

How's little Sam today? Sorry to hear he's still been unwell. I had a bit of an adventure this morning with a stray dog I found, a pretty american staffy girl. Eventually got her home. The wind overnight was intense, so I think the property gate must have blown open. I lost internet last night, and woke up to no power this morning. I always like to try and get stray dogs home, as I would hope someone would do the same for me if ever Stormy got lost somehow.

No intention at this stage of becoming a proper doctor (lol). I'm already wondering if I'm smart enough to do ok with my Honours. I've wondered that at the start of every semester of my degree though, so just need to take one day at a time. Interesting the mature age student thing. I don't know about you (well, you've mentioned your brother, of course), but no-one in my family went to university. I'm the first. It was something that "other people" did, and I never even contemplated it until the year I just decided to apply, and was surprised to get accepted. One of my lecturers early on in the degree talked about "first in family" and the associated challenges. The feeling of not belonging, no knowledge of the university system or support services etc. It helped me to make sense of my own experience. But I still feel like an imposter at times. Especially now I'm doing Honours lol. So, thankyou for the encouragement!

Anyone catch the tennis last night? Ripper match and a bit of an upset! Cool day here and plenty to do. I guess that will be the case from here on in! 🙂 🙂

Hugs, Katy xo

[Hanna3]

Hi Katy,

Just back after music.... Sam has improved a bit today thank goodness after a dreadful day yesterday he was so sick...

Interesting about being the first in your family to do Uni. I hadn't thought about that I confess, as both brothers (older than me) went to Uni. I was probably fortunate in that my brother in big city starting with M in another state was able to give me advice on essays etc. I will pass on a bit of his sage advice as it stood me in good stead. I didn't have much confidence so I spent forever working on assignments, which he noticed. He told me it was a waste of energy. His instructions (and he was an academic in charge of a department until he recently retired) was to only give the amount of energy that matched the worth of the assignment. 10% value means you put in 10% effort. 30% value for essay means you put in a heap of 30% effort. Greater the mark value, the more effort you put in. It helped me work out when to put in a huge amount of time and when I could afford to wing things a bit.

He also said be honest with the teaching staff if/when you had a problem or delay - they'd rather hear the problem before it affects you too much. And he said the number of students who said their essay was late because their friend's puppy had been sick/died was ridiculous! He said just admit you ran late!

Don't know if this helps with your Hons but it helped me!

I watched a couple of hours of the tennis last night and was too tired with a sick dog to make it to the end but yes, quite a match!

I have been brave this afternoon and actually sang with my music teacher... I've always been too shy to sing in front of someone, only in choirs (safety in numbers). He was polite enough to say what a nice voice I have (well he had to say that didn't he) - and that I sing very high (yep soprano which limits me on rock music...)

Anyway that was a first for me...

so glad to hear you rescued the lost dog.. I have done that in the past, thinking if it was Sam how much I would want someone to look after him! Good for you.

Horrible heat wave headed this way and guess when I am finally getting the air conditioning put in? Next week!!! Just too late for the heatwave! Gotta love Housing!

Cheers!

[ecomama]

Hey Dr Katy, Hanna and all 😉

Sorry don't watch the tennis lol but heard an AWESOME interview with an Australian guy who won his 7TH AUSTRALIAN OPEN! Omg what a guy! His name's Dylan Alcott. I'm so proud of him and his achievements.

I'm more into engaging in anything to do with ppl with disabilities doing ANYTHING lol.

Sorry to hear your darling pup is unwell Hanna, it's so distressing. Hugs!
Mine is exercising his ferocious bark right now! Protecting me from all those horrible birds taking mamas attention lol.

Hey Doc (has a nice ring to it lol) so have you begun your Honours already?
I haven't even asked my daughter where she's up to with it ugh... I'm seeing her tomorrow afternoon, so I'll ask her then.

Hey Hanna are you also studying?

That's GREAT advice your brother gave you! Esp when one's strapped for time.
I have my multiple birth children doing Year 12 this year and another in Year 11 and others.
THIS advice has helped them immensely as they're also working PT, doing other sports and arts etc.

They don't want to "waste time on school work" LOL!

Alexa's tried to teach ME how she slams essays, it's exactly the same way that my idol Stephen Fry did his. I still don't get it ugh but she's taught all the other kids, so yeah I'm missing something (in my brain lol).

THIS method saves heaps of time too.

Doubt it can all be utilised in a THESIS though.

It's funny, I never used the letters after my name UNTIL I was taken to Court by ex demon! LOL!
And with all the letters I had my friends write for every agency known to man, I MADE them write their letters! They were embarrassed to do so but I MADE them lol!
Bloody ridiculous in my view but it worked.

Who'd have thought the letters would be used for THAT garbage.

Ahhh done now, for now anyway.

It's been really hot this week, then quite cold and rainy.
Hope it holds off for my gardener and I on Saturday! 2 sleeps left, I can't wait lol.

Love EM