August 2014 – Page 2 – Creative Meanderings

**I am going to try on the weekends to update on my summer travels – until the last chapter is submitted. So, here we go!**

The beginning of my summer holidays started with some drama from work as I had to miss the last two official days due to my second-to-last coaching course and then I flew early to meet my mom in the UK for our mother-daughter trip. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but as fate would have it, the students had to cause some trouble at the last minute…. Anyway, with that, I flew away to leave all thoughts of the desert behind me!

Throughout all of my travels I have always avoided having to go through Heathrow as people have always said it is a terrible airport. Although I couldn’t imagine it was all that bad, this was my first time there; and, well, now I fully understand.

Upon arrival, I was completely amazed at the disorder at the luggage belt. People stood right up along the belt and would not get out of the way when my suitcase came by.

Initial impression was not good...Everybody was hoarding around the baggage belt - couldn't grab my suitcase because nobody would move!!!!22-Jun-2014 16:54, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.042 sec, ISO 320

View at Picasa

So, my first impression of Londoners was not great.

Luckily, I was able to find my mom quite easily and we got ourselves on the train and to our hotel without too much trouble. It was not great to lug our suitcases in the Tube, but I suppose it could have been worse and some people did help, which lightened my initial impression of people. 😉

In the evening, upon recommendation from M, we ventured out to the West End for dinner. We found a really nice Naplese restaurant and had a delicious dinner.

First night's dinner in West End - Napolese restaurant = delish!22-Jun-2014 21:35, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 40

View at Picasa

We explored the area a bit and did a fairly epic walk around for our first afternoon/night. We were off to a good start!!!

First ride on the Tube!22-Jun-2014 21:04, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 320

View at Picasa

Piccadilly Circus22-Jun-2014 22:50, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.4, 2.15mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 50

View at Picasa

22-Jun-2014 22:53, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 32

View at Picasa

22-Jun-2014 22:57, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 32

View at Picasa

22-Jun-2014 22:57, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 40

View at Picasa

23-Jun-2014 10:04, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 32

View at Picasa

Phew, am so glad that today is nearly over. I had a very big day of analyzing and reading, which was very much what I needed to end the week on. So, I am feeling pretty goooood.

I came home and did about an hour of exercise – treadmill and weights/stretching. Then, I had breakkie and sorted out my printer woes from yesterday. That made a huge difference in me getting stuff done today – needed to print two chapters so that I can easily sort through the info for my analysis chapter. Once I got myself sorted out, I headed down to the cafe and put in a solid, 4.5 hours over lunch, coffee and tea!

It’s definitely easier for me to work outside of my home…especially when I am not needing to ‘write’ per se, but read and take notes. So, I’m in a good place to do some proper writing this weekend or the start of next week. Need to read loads more, but it’s progress that I will take!!! Yippeeeeee!

So, that ends the week and Thursday. Happy weekend!!! 😀

More to come,

Well, today has been a bit of an up and down kind of day.

The positives are that I read two chapters of a book, checked out five more books from the library, started to read the chapter to be revised, had a good swim this morning, enjoyed a much-needed massage, and will be going out to dinner.

The negative is that I really didn’t make much progress when I desperately needed to.

I know… looking at the positives I shouldn’t complain or let the ONE negative get me down. I’m trying not to and I’m trying not think of this as wasted, but rather a slower pace forward yet still FORWARD! 😉

So…at least there is some progress. Now, to figure out how to print what I need; that will help me to go go go tomorrow! 😛

More to come,

It’s been a bit slow-going in this next part of my PhD work, but today I submitted a second revised chapter. So, that’s progress. Now I’m at a bit of a conundrum…. Revise Chapter 3: Methods or Chapter 5: Analysis & Discussion and/or focus on Chapter 2: Literature Review….. There’s still so much to do, but it’s coming together….

Anyway, everything is going well in life. I just need to focus a bit more or something as I need to progress faster. I am not sure what the solution is as I need to be at home to have the best set up of my computers and files, but at the same time I get a bit of cabin fever sitting in my apartment all day….

Thankfully, I change scenery in the evenings by going to M’s and ‘relaxing’ there, which means I work on my friend’s twin-baby blankets in hopes of finishing that up before her shower next month. I’m nearly finished with the squares for one of the blankets and can possibly finish it up this weekend. That will give me just about a month more to do the second one. Possible? For me, OF COURSE! 😀

So, that’s my life for the moment. 😉

More to come,

I had planned to do some work this weekend, but after having a big night out on Thursday, which caused Friday to be a day of recovery and rest, I ended up not doing much. I suppose I could have done something yesterday, but aside from making sure my software is ready to go when I do want to do some work, I wasn’t that focused.

It was worth it, though, to relax. We went to see the new “Planet of the Apes” film, which I really enjoyed. It was also nice just to get out of the house and enjoy the city a bit. M said that he actually doesn’t dislike it as much as he thought that he did while he was gone, so that is actually good. At least he’s not miserable, which means I’m not miserable either! 😛

So, it’s time to get back to it. Today is a day of analysis…. So, here we go!

More to come,

If we know anything about Tara, we know that she likes her routines. It’s taking a bit of time to adjust back into one, BUT, it seems that we are getting there. 😀

Some changes were needed to be made, though…
*Deleted Candy Crush from all mobile devices
*Setting boundaries on checking FB and emails

At the moment, the routine that is working for me is:
*Get up and ready for the day
*Work out (alternate between swimming and treadmill run with weights) + yoga stretching
*Shower and have breakfast
*Computer time [includes dissertation work usually started off with FB, emails and other Internet activites]
*Break for lunch/snack
*Focus again
*Rest/relax or go out of the house
*Dinner and TV or something
*Bed

Now, Candy Crush was starting to take over my productivity as well as focus on relaxation in more ‘useful’ areas. Not to say that playing a bit of CC now and then is a big deal, but it was actually stressing me out! So, it seemed okay to let it go. Instead, I hope to use the time for reading or actually talking to the people around me. 😛

My checking of FB and emails has always been something I fluctuate with in terms of frequency, but I read yesterday about using our time well and realized that I really do NOT need to be constantly checking either one of these things. So, I will return to my previous assignation of morning and evening times for checking these, leaving the rest of the day free from their brain-sucking claws! 😉

Of course, I still have Messenger for FB as an app that alerts me if someone wants to chat and can be connected regularly if need be. However, as I try to focus on truly finishing up the dissertation and just having better balance, I will try to maintain these ways for now. 😀

More to come,

Ok, so I know I promised posts on my summer travels, but I am trying to juggle focusing on my PhD and enjoying summer still. At the moment, it is going well, but the posts may not come for a while yet.

In any case, after three days (one day longer than hoped), I managed to greatly revise my introduction chapter and have just sent it off – thus I can reward myself with a posting here. 😉 I went from 25 pages to 14…not sure that is the correct direction I should be going with my page count, but it’s quality not quantity that matters, right?! 😀

So, next up is to bust my butt and get the dreaded and much-hated literature review completed. The first step is to change my perspective – I don’t mind the literature review; it’s interesting reading; it gives me deeper knowledge of the relevant topics related to my topic. Is it working yet???? 😛

That’s my update for today. It’s nice to be back on the blog again. I need to also get back with TUA, but priority #1 is PhD. 🙂

More to come,

Wow, it’s been a while! Oops – been busy enjoying my summer holidays and now settling back in to a routine of sorts. It has taken me a few days to get over jet lag and to reset my apartment after having someone stay while I was gone. 🙂

Anyway, will try to start updating on the summer whirlwind travels as I go each day, but for now, this is just a start. The main thing is that I need to get a complete dissertation draft done this month – so back to it!

More to come,

-T

Creative Meanderings

London – Day 1

TGIT After a Marathon Day!

A Little Stalled…

Revising & Analyzing

Nice Weekend = Time to Get Back to It!

Routines

Progress!!!!

Normalcy Returning….

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)