It's March! And it's 2008! Oh my where oh where does time go these days?

My Masters course is in full swing, one semester down, one to go and about 4 essays and 1 huge dissertation to do... Being a bit of a girlie swot I've started my dissertation, ok, I've only done 1000 words, which means 15000 to go, but it's a start.... The topic is Anti-Social Behaviour and Decision Making Practices.. haven't yet thought of a true title, I'll probably decide on that after I've written most of it.. nonetheless if you want to suggest a title feel free!

In all honesty I can't wait to finish this year of study, I'm just hoping with my fingers tightly crossed that it will be a success. So far I've only had 1 of my 3 assignments back, it was a pass but not a high one... ho hum... though it has been intimated my next one has been viewed as a pass and at a higher standard. Thank goodness.

I've got a wonderful thing to look forward to, check out www.anfi.com I'm staying there in October! Yeah! I can't wait... only around 8 months to wait.... It is lovely... And for me there is nothing like a bit of sunshine around that time of the year... just peps you up in time for the festive season!

Well I really should be doing some reading on the old death penalty subject as that our topic this week in our module, violence, culture and society and being a good student I better get on and read.

Though if I get near to scramble game via www.facebook.com I'll get way too easily distracted... so better sign off the web soon.

October has flown past and we are now into the throws of November. Finally the weather is starting to feel a bit winter like and it seems the UK, (well here in the south) has bypassed autumn for now, only last week I was wondering round in tee shirts, feeling all hot due to sunshine. This week has seen a change however, call me mad but I love scraping off ice from my car, the fresh air is invigorating and I see it as a way of cleansing my lungs.

This time of year always makes me feel good inside, I'm not sure if it's due to the copious amounts of fireworks going off (which are starting to annoy me for sure now, as my cat is freaking each time a bang is made), or because it is the lead up to Christmas. Please note I am feeling quite smug as I have purchased some of my presents. Yes I know its early but there is a reason and a major one at that.

You see we've offered to host christmas this year for my partner's family, which means I have a definate 11 arriving for christmas dinner which could increase to 14, and they'll be staying until after boxing day. Though I haven't got definate leaving times as yet... (Note to self don't make them feel too at home as they might choose to stay right up until New Year!)

So over the next month we're going to be moving loads of stuff around the house to make sure there is somewhere for people to sleep comfortably. The drums have to be dismantled and placed in the loft. My suggestion, though my partner thinks they'll be fine under a bed somewhere, that is until I pointed out that drums do increase echo, and some of the people staying do snore... Can you imagine snoring intensified... yep that's why they are going into the loft, safely out of snoring distance.

The holiday in Gran Canaria went well, I actually felt like I relaxed and kicked back. We visited a placed called Anfi, see www.anfi.com it's a 5 star resort and it is gorgeous. On return to the UK we looked into joining it, it is a timeshare thingy and have instigated the process of buying a week from a private seller on a 2 bed apartment there. Buying privately was considerably cheaper than buying direct from the Anfi organisation.

I'm meant to be writing an essay for my course at the moment, so I'm leaving for now. Hopefully I'll be back soon after I've made my list re the preparations for christmas etc..

I'm packed and counting down the hours until we make the trek to the airport and then hopefully I'll be in holiday mood.

Today was my second lecture for my course and to say I came out of it even more confused than when I went in is a bit of an understatement. I can only hope that a further read of my notes and handouts will finally clarify things for me. It’s at these moments that I wonder what on earth I’m doing studying for an MA especially as I’m suffering from that horrible fear of just not getting it when it comes to the information being offered to us. Oh well perseverance is the key to it, I presume and so I’ll plod on.

I have no idea what on earth to do my main dissertation on, yes I know it’s not due in until after the summer of 2008 but it is apparently never too early to start the plan. Part of me wants to do something around Women and Crime, whether it be offenders or victims who knows, whilst another part finds the whole concept of anti-social behaviour and the government’s response to the same as intriguing. Oh well. I’ll have to think some more on that too.

Next week I’m going to miss the lecture on framing some criminological theories, as I’ll be hopefully (weather permitting) sunning myself in Maspalomas in Gran Canaria. Right now I’m feeling a bit ambivalent to the holiday, and maybe because I feel quite shattered inside and plus my leg is still very sore, which means my lilo antics will be limited. Damn!

Fingers crossed the sun, sea and no doubt sangria will aid toward a fun time.

Life at home has been quite hectic these past few months, unfortunately for us the young man in the home has been pushing the boundaries no end, and has completely wiped us out as it were. I keep praying that around the next corner there will come the stage of development where constant argumentative and challenging behaviour will have been left behind. Right now he seems to be thriving on pushing against authority and to be honest no real reason can be ascertained.

We’ve tried so many methods in the last year to address the behaviour etc, and yet none of them seem to have made any impact. We even tried asking him what makes him tick in this way and is there any way it can be prevented that he sees, in case something in us was triggering it. He commented it wasn’t us, but him and he’d change and then in the next breath tell us he hasn’t got any issues and there’s nothing wrong with him, and that he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong. It’s just one big cycle, which has ended with us telling him we’re not bailing him out of any difficulties he gets himself into at school, he knows the score, he knows the rules and if he chooses to break them he has to accept the responsibility for doing so.

Initially I thought it was due to him not wanting to remain at school past 16 and as such told him if he didn’t want to, he could leave. Oh my, that instigated something from him as he clearly stated he wanted to stay, and yet he appears to be doing his best to get excluded from it, due to being rude to staff etc. Goodness knows what’s going on in his head right now.

I have to admit part of my reservations and feeling toward this upcoming holiday is due to the fact he’s coming and this time bringing his girlfriend. They’ve been falling in and out of their relationship over the last few weeks, and he’s got in trouble at school as he failed to attend sports commitments and was rude to staff as he needed to sort out issues with her. What those issues are, we have no idea but apparently they’re ‘cool’ now. The only upside is, is that they have their own accommodation on site and we have ours, so some peace will hopefully be secured.

OMG I'm in Agony!

I need sympathy and I need it now! On Wednesday evening I thought I'd do something to help get my body into a bit of shape. I admit I'm never going to achieve a slimtastic body nonetheless I felt ready to try something energetic, so I had a bit of a run around. (Yes I did warm up, yes I did stretch!)

Things were going okay, I hadn't collapsed with an asthma attack, my boobs hadn't given me black eyes (thank you sports bra) and then ping, wrench, the back of my right thigh just sort of went. I assume it's my hamstring and that I've torn it, strained it, whatever, I'm no medical person. I just know it hurts and sitting down is a tear to the eye experience. As is walking, driving just about anything which involves movement.

So logic tells me that excercise and I dont equate....

I'm quite peeved about it as I was meant to be attending my second lecture for my MA this morning and have had to pull out due to it! Today was an introduction on qualitative research, mind you I may swap this module for quantative which doesn't start until later in the semester.

Had my first lecture on Wednesday morning, it was an analysis of the criminal policy imposed by the Government over the past 10 years. Bet you think that's riveting eh?

In mid november I'm leading the seminar on Marxist criminology so if anyone reads my blog and has any information which would help feel free to comment, any help is much appreciated.

At least whilst lounging around nursing my injury I've got more time to read, I can't believe how much more reading there is on an MA to a BA course. Wondering now if I've done the right thing, but hey ho, it's early days yet. Hopefully I'll get into the swing of things and things will seem easier.

You Are 68% Pure

Well, you're not exactly an angel - but you're pretty darn close. But chances are, you have a couple juicy secrets deep in your closet.

How Pure Are You?

Okay it has been some time since I last put an entry on this here blog, however that doesn't mean I have been writing elsewhere. So what does that mean? Was my life so full that I didn't have time to blog?? Nope.... unfortunately not.

I'm not sure why I left the sphere of blogging in the same way I'm not sure why I ever started or have returned to it once more. But here I am once again entering this realm and wondering if comments will be made or not. Whatever I'm happy to write for now.

So what have I been doing... against the advice of many I went skiing! Okay so it was back around Easter of this year (2007) and I could really have shared the news sooner but hey I didn't so deal with it. I'm quite sure the medication my Dr gave me before I left helped with the feeling that I was gliding across the snow more so than any ski could. I only fell twice, which as a complete novice I'm quite proud of.

I managed to do 2 blue runs, okay 1 1/2 (the half being our groups first major attempt at coming down a hill!) and it was on these I fell. My last fall was quite specatacular if I do say so myself. I discovered that I travelled much faster than the rest of the group and managed to overtake them all as we were traversing across a long downward run. With speed came panic, so I embarked upon the big pizza our instructor had drummed into us (for those who ski, that's a snow plough!) however it wasn't working and I didn't seem to be slowing down... So more panic, and having flashed looks around I noted deep snow to my right.

A turn to the right and I was ploughing through it, such straight plough lines any farmer would be proud. Then the inevitable happened, snow piled up in front of my ski's bringing me to a dead stop, my knees hyper extended and I went flying out of my ski bindings into a superman esk dive! Fantastic, if only I could have truly appreciated the sense of flying but alas know I landed face first into the snow.

I did get back up and continue the run, what a trooper I am, albeit a bit tentatively. When we went sightseeing in the afternoon, I had great pleasure in pointing out my plough lines and dive impression as we sailed over them in the cable car.

Having returned from skiing, life returned to its normal humdrum existence. Not much has changed really at home other than friction between the growing teenager and us the guardians trying to protect. Okay so its really a war zone. I'm at my wits end and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Work became unbearable so having been pushed to the limit I quit and spent a few months wandering around doing nothing much. No I didn't have the incentive to write here and instead have whiled away time on my Xbox, attempted to get fitter (failed! again!).

Stoolball was played and umpired again, and this year's season seemed never to end due to the constant bad weather we got.

I applied for a job, didn't get it, but at least I got practice at an interview, my first in say 14 years, so at least it was an experience.

So what am I going to do now... Well having decided I needed a challenge I've just enrolled on a course at University and I'm about to embark upon an MA in Criminology. It's been at least 5 years since I've written any form of essay, and so I'm going to have to get back into the swing of things quickly.

The course is a year long, and appears quite intensive in some areas, but I'm sure I'll cope, I better as I'm paying for it. My first lecture/seminar is next Wednesday and I'm looking forward to it.

And that's my update for now. Not sure when I'll next post, it may be more often then again maybe not. I'll try my best.

Hope you are all having fun and enjoying life and if not do so, it is for living!