Nov 182013
 

Well, it has only taken me about 4 days to recover from last week, but after a lot of sleeping the past few days I am now starting to feel ‘normal’ again. πŸ˜€

Either I did not know how much stress I felt from the Apple stuff or I may need to take a better look at my diet. Perhaps I am not eating enough protein and this is making me tired. I am not sure yet, but will take a closer look now that I know it is not about the sleep. πŸ˜‰

Overall, I am feeling much better. However, I need to get myself back on schedule and focused again or it will be easy to let myself slide into comfortable laziness. πŸ˜‰

Maybe I will even start to be able to get up and do writing as I had planned! One can always hope.

-T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 10:05
Nov 152013
 

I am thinking I am just tired more than anything else from the past week, but it also feels a bit as if I am kind of wound up, which is the anxious part. I am feeling this need to go somewhere or to just release some tension. Maybe something simple like a massage would do the trick, I’m not sure.

Anyway, the Apple training is now complete and in the ideal world I will hear the results in a week or so. If I move forward with it, then it could become a very busy and full-time kind of work, which would be rockin’ awesome.

However, there is also another side of me that is wondering if this is a distraction from my writing goals or am I just being blinded into thinking one cannot be in unison with the other? Perhaps I just need to rethink about how they can go well together and still meet the ultimate objective of getting the heck out of language teaching?!

There’s also a voice in my head saying to make a decision on the PhD so that I stop going back and forth. It is also not necessarily something I have to think about as all or nothing (ie I don’t have to solely work on it to get it done). Yet, I do need to work on it if I really want to finish it. I think I do. I’m pretty sure I do. Still…it’s only like 75%….

My head seems to be spinning and I wonder what I would really be like if it weren’t for the meds. I probably would be in a non-sleeping pattern and on a crazy high just to make myself feel more settled….. I always like to compare myself with and without meds to keep perspective.

So, that’s my crazy rambling for today. Next up, getting my new blog going or maybe a nap…. πŸ˜‰

-T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 13:54
Nov 132013
 

The last week has been completely consumed by Β a surprise invitation to continue the process to become a qualified Apple Professional Developer.

So, back in February I went to a two-day training session for this, but at the time it was not exactly clear what we were training for. I cannot even recall how I ended up at the session – maybe from being involved in training colleagues on how to use the iPad when we were first told they were going to be our main device for the classroom.

In February, no one in our group were chosen to go to the next step, so I had kind of written it off although I still was not even sure what the end result was meant to be.

Then, last week I received an email saying that I had been chosen to attend the second set of training. Of my group of colleagues, only one other person was chosen and he no longer even works in our department. Thus, it was quite a surprise.

We were given a list of ten apps or topics to prepare demonstrations for on the first day (today). I had no idea what to expect, but luckily was able to speak with someone at work who had attended the first round of this training. This totally paid off and I was able to prepare in time.

Today was day one and now I understand that we are being trained to be consultants on behalf of Apple to train others how and why use of the iPad is useful in education. We are not to be Apple employees, but will deliver Apple training content. It is our job to find clients and are free to make our own fees.

Thus, in a way, this is the first step to being a true consultant. πŸ˜€

So, I am pretty excited about this as today went quite well. Tomorrow is the next full day and we shall see how it goes, but I feel pretty good about it overall. After tomorrow, I shall be able to return to a more normal schedule again. πŸ™‚

-T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 20:50
Nov 112013
 

Man, I am so tired right now, but it is my own fault.

I decided that I need to follow the advice of many a great writer by trying to have a regular time in the day to write. Since the mornings are generally my best times, I decided to get up at 5am every day to do my writing. At the moment, I am just writing in my journal and trying to post on here. You can see, I have just started. πŸ˜‰

The only problem is that I have to go to bed at the same time each night in order to get myself up. Yesterday was fairly easy since I have to get up at six anyway to get ready for work. However, I stayed up ‘late’ last night and was totally unable to convince myself to leave the bed when the alarm went off. So, I slept another couple of hours. Baby steps.

At least I still got in some writing before I have to get ready for work.

So, I am trying some new habits and creating routines for myself to cover the entire day so that I can feel focused and also productive. It has only been a couple of days, but I can feel myself a bit more relaxed from it. Guess I just can’t get away from my need to organize, but rather than fight it, I am embracing it!

Finally, I am trying to start each day with a positive thought. There’s a lot of negativity in the world and around us all of the time that it is easy to just stay in that cycle. However, positive energy can completely change your perspective on the whole day and who doesn’t want to walk around with a true smile on your face?

-T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 07:30
Nov 082013
 

So, I’ve lived in the UAE for nearly 5 years now and have only had visitors in the first six months I moved here, who were my mom and aunt. Despite offering to pay for plane tickets to a few people, no one else has ever made the time or effort to come see me… until last week!

My friend from high school days was on his way to Afghanistan and so he made a stopover in Dubai. I went to meet him and we had a good time in the short visit.

After picking him up from the airport, we made a quick stop at the hotel. Then, were off to go to The Top of the Burj Khalifa.

Close
01-Nov-2013 23:22, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 320
 
Close
01-Nov-2013 23:15, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 800
 
Close
01-Nov-2013 23:15, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 800
 
Close
01-Nov-2013 23:26, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 800
 
Close
01-Nov-2013 23:26, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 800
 
Close
01-Nov-2013 23:17, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 800
 
Close
01-Nov-2013 23:30, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.063 sec, ISO 500
 
Close
02-Nov-2013 16:40, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 320
 
Close
01-Nov-2013 23:21, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 1.85mm, 0.042 sec, ISO 2000
 
Close
02-Nov-2013 16:40, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 100
 
Close
02-Nov-2013 16:40, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 125
 

From there, we went back to the hotel where someone had left a cake in his room. So, we unabashedly dug into that!

Close
01-Nov-2013 22:15, Apple iPhone 4S, 2.4, 4.28mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 100
 

Then, we proceeded to stay up until nearly 3am talking and sharing stories.

The morning was a bit chaotic, but we managed to sneak in for a free breakfast and then he was back to the airport. It was lovely to catch up and to have a visitor.Β I may be donating my miles to him since he’s probably the only person I know who would actually use them to see me! πŸ˜›

-T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 22:00
Nov 012013
 

Last night was another session with Karen. We did agree to try to make the coaching continue by doing once a week rather than twice a week; thus making the cost half what it is now. I should be able to make this work if I continue to be responsible with my money. πŸ˜‰

So, last night we worked on how to make writing my profession and what might be stopping me from doing it.

One of the things I dislike most in the world is being told what to do when it comes to how I express myself. Writing is a form in which I truly express who I am. Therefore, when I have to meet particular demands I tend to drift away from the person or task that sources a sense of ‘trapping’ me into a mold, pattern, or expectation.

We went back to the “Snow Incident” and how the incident began my tape recorder playing that I was no in control, not important enough, not worthy, not heard, etc. So, by not feeling in control of my circumstances, I have put myself into a position where they do, in fact, control me by my feelings overpowering the truth.

When I think of things in this way, I can see how it would not be hard for me to put in the effort and time to be a writer. With small steps and positive actions I can begin writing for pay very soon. So, that’s what I’m doing!

It makes me feel lighter and happier. I’m excited about this possibility because it’s a real, tangible and meaningful step towards doing what I love. So…we shall see how things go, but I feel good.

I’m contemplating starting a new blog for writing only – which focuses on my travels since that is the niche that I want to focus upon. Just trying to think of a good name…. πŸ˜‰

-T πŸ˜€

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)