Well it's been a long time since I've been on blogger, lots going on, becoming a grandmother in 2017 and again in 2020 and of course COVID has come into our lives and turned things on their heads.......... but my motto is control the Controllables........... stay positive and look to the future

Saturday September 8th 2018 oh my gosh such a long time since I blogged here such a lot has happened since July 2016 !!   I finished My MA  and graduated in December 2016 with  a First in Gender Studies,  planned to do a PHD (on Quaker Women as Feminist Role Models ) Met supervisor and she was happy to support my application  and research topic however I was then diagnosed with an aneurysm on my Aorta, decided to have elective surgery to remove it, that's when the s---T hit the fan, ended up in ICU for 6 weeks  subsequently discovered I have EDS Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a connective Tissue Disorder which caused me to bleed after surgery which almost cost me my  life, had a stroke and blood transfusion, spent a further 3 months in  hospital recovering, had intensive physiotherapy to learn to walk again, another month convalescing, and spent another year recovering at home and was doing well up to May 2018 when I was scheduled to have a  colonoscopy as I wanted to have a colostomy bag surgery reversed which had been carried out when in hospital after original surgery in January 2017.  Whilst preparing for this I had a seizure and ended up in hospital again for 3 weeks recovering.   Spent the last few months working to get back to the baseline I was  at in May 2018 and doing reasonably well I was even contemplating going back to study Psychology and went for routine GP visit as my BP was quite high she informed me that there was a query from the Blood Transfusion Service about my Transfusion in January 2017 as the Donor may have had Hepatitis(not sure if B or C)  as I was nocked back when GP told me My world has been knocked off it's axis (again).  So I wait for further blood test results to rule Hepatitis out.  What to do...........? I am going to focus on all the things I can do, keep  a positive and optimistic outlook, work on my inner self in conjunction with my outer self and appearance, meditate, write, read, stay in touch with friends, and  family ...did I mention I became a Granny in November  2017!!? little Louis is now 9 Months old, and will be a year old on 13th Nov 2018 so he is another focus in my life for good and staying positive, staying healthy and optimistic.

Midweek 6 July 2016

Heading towards the weekend again.............. enjoying that feeling.  Watching Portugal v Wales and it looks like Wales will be going home.  Ah well they had a good run, although its not over yet. Stranger things have happened in football in the last mins of a game and there's almost 30 mins left to go.  They might pull it out of the bag.

Had my feedback from my supervisor and all going according to plan, thank goodness although she did make a good few suggestions for improvements so lots more to be done to get it up to speed.  Relaxing tonight having a few pinot grigos.  Gonna watch Versailles in a moment, love my 17th century history (any history really).  Dropped OH to the pub to watch match and meet his buddies so I have control of the control........... remote control hehe.  Image courtesy of google - I hope they age Louis, so he isnt' like Henry VIII in The Tudors, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry and still looked the same at the end when he died ............ ridiculous!!!

Namaste

Marie.

Monday & Tuesday 4th and 5th July 2016

Busy 48 hours at UCD and out and about.  Met  with a college buddy last evening as well, she's a lovely lady and it was great to catch up with her.  She is volunteering at the National Gallery in Dublin and we met after she finished and headed to Buswells.  Shared a bottle of Pinot Grigio and a bite to eat and had a great chat about how we see ourselves evolving in the future.  She finished her MA last year and has been taking a 'year out' but has lots of plans to write and to do more courses, as I do, so onwards and upwards.

Have a catch up meeting with my supervisor tomorrow afternoon so somewhat nervous about that but hopefully it will go well as I've got this far on my own steam so I must be doing something right.  My GPA is currently 3.83 so all going well it will stay on that tangent with my MA result - dissertation wise.

Picture is my own pic of Edinburgh Castle - sun streaming in through stained glass window in one of the buildings when I was on trip in 2012 with lady I met last evening.


Namaste
Marie

Sunday July 3rd.

Fresh and alert this morning, up at 9 and after a cuppa straight to work on the Thesis.  Got a few hours done today, so very pleased with myself.  Ended up going out last night with DD1 for a bite to eat and a movie, Me Before You, very enjoyable albeit sad as well, great girl in the lead role Emilia Clarke I think her name is.  Apparently she is in Game of Thrones, which I have never watched, must be one of the few on the planet !! Sad story but enjoyable nonetheless.  It was nice to spend time with DD1 as well, we are always out doing our own thing so it was nice to come together for a few hours, and she paid for the dinner, I paid for the cinema. WinWin situation :)

So back to today, finished up with the thesis about 1.30 so took the dog out for a long walk as the sun was shining and it was a lovely afternoon.  Went to local area but to parts that I don't normally walk in which was a nice change of scene.  When we got back dog was pooped so he slept quietly for a few hours.  Prepped dinner and then relaxed for a hour, read sunday papers and chilled.

Next week will be a busy one with a few meet ups scheduled with some friends and of course the dreaded Thesis to keep me on my toes.  Ah well only a few weeks left to get it into top shape.  I'll be glad when its submitted but I wouldn't be happy if I didn't give it my all in the run up to submission date.

image courtesy of simplyluxuriouslife.com

Namaste
Marie.

Sunny Saturday morning :)

Le weekend again......... the weeks fly by.  Great win for Wales last night and they are in the semi's.
Today will be fairly laid back, nothing major planned.  Will do some thesis work this morning til about 1.00 then might be going out with OH to a local cemetery where they do tours and tell you about the famous people who are buried there.  Its an old cemetery that is no longer used and it will be nice to have the tour, I have done it once before but OH never has.  It depends on the weather though because if its lashing rain I ain't going.  We shall see at lunch time.

No plans for tonight either but I don't mind as was out for dinner last night, beautiful meal, lasagne, two types, veggie and beef, had the veggie it was gorgeous.  I'm not vegetarian but I have been leaning towards less meaty meals lately and I'm liking the flavours so may gradually wean off the meats, its hard with a meat and two veg man though.  DD1 makes her own food and DD2 is a vegetarian so perhaps it is possible.  We shall see.....

Picture is one I took the start of June in Kerry...... it was like being away somewhere foreign what with the weather and the umbrellas....... a rare moment in Ireland.

Namaste,
Marie.

Friday and the living is easy.................

With a lot happening yesterday I did not get a chance to post, so this post will be for yesterday and today.  I don't want to start missing days again, now that I'm back in the saddle, so to speak.
Was in college yesterday but it was not a fruitful day in terms of the thesis and it's progression.  I felt yesterday like I was going backwards with it, its' getting worse not better but I am feeling more positive today :)

Up early but not too early at 9am after a cuppa brought to me by OH.  Spent an hour on the thesis layout and reading over thesis hints and tips for layout.  Contacted the printers to find out about getting it bound for submission etc. Have a bit of time yet but no harm to get organised.

Today I am getting blow dry, meeting my best buddy as her daughter is my hairdresser and she does hair in my buddy's house so a win-win situation.  Then I will pop out to see Mum.

Later I am going out to a friend's house for dinner, she is having a dinner for some of us from the BA/MA group so looking forward to that.  Need to peruse the wardrobe for something suitable, you would think as it's 1/7/2016 that summer threads would be the order of the day but as I look outside it is lashing rain, where or where is the summer..............?  Well if the sun isnt' shining I shall bring the sun to me via photography............ courtesy of google images.

Namaste,
Marie.