Rain, Rain and Rain.....

Even on a 'bonus' bank holiday it rains....I love this country. I was hoping to get out and go for a walk today but sadly my waterproof coat doesn't fit me yet and I'd end up with a wet front, so I decided not to go. Instead I sorted through my bookcases. Those of you who know me, will recognise that this is a mammoth task....but I enjoyed it - I've re-discovered several books which I'm now going to re-read....and I also got plenty of exercise what with all the lifting and climbing the step ladder...

I'm really hoping that the weather is nice for tomorrow as A and I are going to have a long overdue catch up with a friend of mine from Uni. We were undergrads together and she's just finished a teaching course, and will be moving back to her home town soon, so it's going to be great to catch up and see her before she goes. If the weather is manky then I guess we'll just have to sit in the cafe but it would be nice to be able to sit outside..ah well, we'll see.

I think I mentioned that Molly cat has a lump on her face, and I'm pretty sure now that it's an abscess. Fortunately she is still eating and drinking and having consulted with the vets yesterday I'll be taking her in tomorrow. Am furious that a consultation on the bank holiday would have cost me £135 before 11pm and £165 after. I do understand that having pets is a responsibility and can be expensive but that just seems to be excessive to me. I know it's a bank holiday, I know they are well qualified and I know that they're entitled to be paid for their time - but I don't see how it can possibly be reasonable to charge that much. Given that they're in a caring industry as well, it seems a bit off to charge so much money - they have people over a barrel, either they pay or their pets suffer. Those of you who have pets will know how much this dilemma hurts and worries me. I guess I'm naive because I would have thought that vets chose to be vets because they care about animals and want to help, yet by charging so much for out of hours services they're potentially leading to some animals not receiving help. Maybe I'm being too harsh but the worry that something will happen before 8 am tomorrow is nagging away at me.

Today I've been trying to keep busy, distracting myself from worrying about Molly. Am pleased that I managed to read several articles for my PhD proposal - I have a meeting with Karl (who would be the lead supervisor) on Friday at 10, so I'm aiming to have completed a significant amount of reading by then. Hopefully after then I'll have a better idea as to the precise focus of my proposal. I'm very fortunate because I've had so much help, and another PhD student, D, is kindly sending me his proposal, and will be reading mine and giving advice. I cant' really put into words how much I want to do this PhD - yes I would love to get a job in a Uni as a result but I'm doing it for myself as well. Me, having a PhD, how awesome an achievement would that be. I've loved doing the MA and I don't want to stop learning now. Fingers crossed I'll nail the proposal and be on my way.

Apart from knackering myself out sorting the bookshelves, I also found lots of photo albums and had a pleasant hour looking through them - I found pics from when I was in Australia in 1999 - can't believe how young my friends look. Then there's the pics of A as he's grown up - it's so lovely to look back and see how he was as a baby and follow him getting older. I'm looking forward to him coming over tomorrow so that I can look at them with him. I love looking at photo's, they're an amazing record of life. My maternal grandparents had a couple of large photo albums which had pics going back to before they were married, then following their 4 children and 9 grandchildren, and eventually several great-grandchildren. I loved looking at those pictures, and even now when we have our annual get together I get excited and emotional if the albums are there. To me they are a priceless record of my family, I love seeing the likenesses and remembering the circumstances of when a picture was taken.

I'm really pleased that my energy levels are improving, as demo'd by today's exploits with the tidying. Yes I'm tired but a) I didn't sleep during the day and b) I worked hard. Every time I achieve something, even something this small, I feel encouraged. It's keeping me going. As is the support from friends and family. You're all amazing and I couldn't do this without you.

I'm focusing even more now, on the Race for Life, which is on 22nd July....thank you to everyone who has sponsored me....If anyone can get to Southsea for 11:30 on the 22nd and would like to come and support me then please do, I'm hoping that we'll be able to go for a celebration drink afterwards...

Right, time to put my feet up..... :)