It's been a bit of week one way and another. Last Thursday I came down with a cold. On Friday morning I had appointment for my three-yearly breast screening x-ray and rather than waste the day (I wouldn't get back in time for my sport class) hubby and I went along to the Holiday Destinations at Earls Court. We didn't stay all that long but came home with a load of brochures which we are sifting through - I really need some sunshine!
I didn't feel well enough to attend the last workshop on reading music on Sunday but at least I have a book which covers everything we learnt and more so I can work on it at my own pace. I was more worried about my voice going so that I couldn't sing but I felt well enough to attend rehearsals on Wednesday and thankfully I didn't cough my way through the whole session and I was still able to hit the high notes. That meant that barring anything else happening I was on target for our concert. Even the bad weather wasn't going to keep me away and today was the day. At 1pm after an hours rehearsal we sang as part of the Love Kingston concert. This was our first concert with Ben and it went great. I have to say he likes to get things right and I believe we sounded better than ever. I was almost hoarse at the end but I have a week to get my voice back!
I'm pleased Half Term is here as I can take a rest. The online course on Forensic Science has finished - must admit I didn't do much this week. I believe they quoted three hours work a week - it's well over that if you really take it seriously and follow up all the resources. They also offer an Attainment Certificate but it's taken at Strathclyde University - 50 questions, multiple choice. No, I'm not even tempted because there is no way I could memorise everything and even though I have loads of notes I couldn't always get the multiple choice quiz questions right some weeks! Still, I've survived the six weeks and if you were the sort of person who was considering this area as a career it's a bloody good starting point, I have to admit that.
Having seen the depth these courses run to and the amount of time needed I'm wondering whether I should have signed up for that other course..........but at least that is more in my area of learning and it's only for four weeks. Tell you about that one another time if I don't chicken out!
Time for a quick book review - just finished reading We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. This one has been around for a long time and it's taken me this long to get to it. When I started it I couldn't get into it but I kept going and somewhere around the 60th to 70th page I finally found my way in.Each of the characters had faults. I felt the choice to have a child was not the right one, but many aren't. I should say the the story is told through letters from Eva, the mother to her husband, Franklin.. As parents I felt that
Franklin wore rose-tinted glasses about his son, while Eva lays all the blame on Kevin and only sees the worse in him as he grows up. Having said that Kevin was definitely odd. There is a daughter (hope I'm not giving much away here as I didn't know there was one before I read it) who is completely different to Kevin - both kids are real extremes. I know each kid is different but the contrast was so strong. The parents took sides, didn't back each other up, even the sitters left! Eva suffers with post natal depression and I certainly recognised those feelings. Reading that part brought it home to me how strong these feelings were and how I longed to escape from a baby who never slept and cried a lot. At the time I blamed him but I know this was normal and the problem was mine. Luckily, those feelings didn't last too long but at the time there seems no end. Like Eva I felt guilt and worried whether my feelings would affect the mother/child relationship.
In some ways I'm not sure what to make of the book, especially Kevin. I guess Shriver did a lot of research into school killings in the USA and those who did them and maybe no one really knows why kids do these things. The book is quite a depressing read but there is a good twist at the end, if you can call it good. There not much about this book that is good in it's content other than it's an experience to read and it leaves you rather hung-over. There are lots of questions there but I'm not sure any answers.
Finally, who is watching the Winter Olympics? I've really got into that and find myself watching all sorts of things. My favourites so far have been snowboarding slopestyle, ice skating, curling and the skeleton where we have a chance of a medal later tonight. I'm happy to watch from my comfy chair. All that cold would do me in! It really is great that we have some Brits to shout for. What a year for sport. We have the World Cup coming up in June. Let's hope we can get a good team together!
I didn't feel well enough to attend the last workshop on reading music on Sunday but at least I have a book which covers everything we learnt and more so I can work on it at my own pace. I was more worried about my voice going so that I couldn't sing but I felt well enough to attend rehearsals on Wednesday and thankfully I didn't cough my way through the whole session and I was still able to hit the high notes. That meant that barring anything else happening I was on target for our concert. Even the bad weather wasn't going to keep me away and today was the day. At 1pm after an hours rehearsal we sang as part of the Love Kingston concert. This was our first concert with Ben and it went great. I have to say he likes to get things right and I believe we sounded better than ever. I was almost hoarse at the end but I have a week to get my voice back!
I'm pleased Half Term is here as I can take a rest. The online course on Forensic Science has finished - must admit I didn't do much this week. I believe they quoted three hours work a week - it's well over that if you really take it seriously and follow up all the resources. They also offer an Attainment Certificate but it's taken at Strathclyde University - 50 questions, multiple choice. No, I'm not even tempted because there is no way I could memorise everything and even though I have loads of notes I couldn't always get the multiple choice quiz questions right some weeks! Still, I've survived the six weeks and if you were the sort of person who was considering this area as a career it's a bloody good starting point, I have to admit that.
Having seen the depth these courses run to and the amount of time needed I'm wondering whether I should have signed up for that other course..........but at least that is more in my area of learning and it's only for four weeks. Tell you about that one another time if I don't chicken out!
Time for a quick book review - just finished reading We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. This one has been around for a long time and it's taken me this long to get to it. When I started it I couldn't get into it but I kept going and somewhere around the 60th to 70th page I finally found my way in.Each of the characters had faults. I felt the choice to have a child was not the right one, but many aren't. I should say the the story is told through letters from Eva, the mother to her husband, Franklin.. As parents I felt that
Franklin wore rose-tinted glasses about his son, while Eva lays all the blame on Kevin and only sees the worse in him as he grows up. Having said that Kevin was definitely odd. There is a daughter (hope I'm not giving much away here as I didn't know there was one before I read it) who is completely different to Kevin - both kids are real extremes. I know each kid is different but the contrast was so strong. The parents took sides, didn't back each other up, even the sitters left! Eva suffers with post natal depression and I certainly recognised those feelings. Reading that part brought it home to me how strong these feelings were and how I longed to escape from a baby who never slept and cried a lot. At the time I blamed him but I know this was normal and the problem was mine. Luckily, those feelings didn't last too long but at the time there seems no end. Like Eva I felt guilt and worried whether my feelings would affect the mother/child relationship.
In some ways I'm not sure what to make of the book, especially Kevin. I guess Shriver did a lot of research into school killings in the USA and those who did them and maybe no one really knows why kids do these things. The book is quite a depressing read but there is a good twist at the end, if you can call it good. There not much about this book that is good in it's content other than it's an experience to read and it leaves you rather hung-over. There are lots of questions there but I'm not sure any answers.
Finally, who is watching the Winter Olympics? I've really got into that and find myself watching all sorts of things. My favourites so far have been snowboarding slopestyle, ice skating, curling and the skeleton where we have a chance of a medal later tonight. I'm happy to watch from my comfy chair. All that cold would do me in! It really is great that we have some Brits to shout for. What a year for sport. We have the World Cup coming up in June. Let's hope we can get a good team together!
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