Personal Blogs

I can't believe it's been so long!!

I have finished level one now and am today officially starting level two. Exciting!!

So what have I been up to in almost a year? Well moving out for a start, me and Sgt needed a fresh start, and i've recently increased my 'crazy cat lady' status with another kitten. So now I have two lunatic cats screaming at me when I get home from work because they're hungry.

I signed up for the marathon next month, but then I kind of gave up on that. I haven't pushed myself hard enough and while I do enjoy going out for runs i'm not even at 10 miles!

Speaking of exercising- i've lost a grand total of 8 kilograms and am feeling fabulous for it!!

My last two courses by the way- Passed! However, it was hard this time as I didn't focus as much time on them as I should have.

More exciting I suppose is i've been in the dating pool. My goodness it's hard work isn't it?!? I've met some weird and wonderful people along the way, but have finally found someone worth dating exclusively. At least for now!

Well after a few days of catching up, doing washing etc i'm back to reality. I should be getting my module results for B120 and MU123 in a few days time- pretty exciting!!

Friday evening I cooked my boyfriend a lovely 3 course meal consisting of baked camembert, dauphinoise potatoes, and apple turnovers. It was delicious!! It would have been even nicer if i didn't have to do all the washing up before and after that had apparently been left since my departure, but hat's another (rather angry) story!

If it weren't for the fact that I have a feeling the boyfriend myght be planning a nice surprise for my birthday tomorrow I would have majorly gone ape****. However, we will have to wait and see, and hopefully he will restore my faith in him! We're also off to my favourite vegan restaurant tomorrow night- El Piano. I love this place and can't wait to get down there and eat my weight on yummy food!

However, first I plan to spend tonight baking. We have that odd tradition in the office of bringing in cakes on your birthday- I personally think everyone else should be bringing cakes in for me but that's the way it is. So this evening i'll be doing chocolate brownies, a white choc and raspberry bake and maybe a white chocolate and orange cake- although I might find something a bit quicker to do since i really hate baking- I've just never been very good at it and generally make a bit of a mess! Still, it might be interesting.

Right, well have to get back to the grindstone as such, got a lot to do this week and next.... lots of HMRC deadlines coming up so i'm trying to ease my woprkload by preparing as much in advance as possible.

Speak later, Laura

Well, after a week of being busy at work, meeting up with friends and drinking copious amounts of wine it's finally Sunday. Housework day. I've done the kitchen and am taking a quick lunch break before I spend the afternoon doing the rest of the house and trying to pack my clothes. With only one week tomorrow before I head down to the airport I can't work out if i'm being organised or disorganised. Nor can I tell what i'm going to take with me, despite my usual list writing plan.

On the plus side it's one of my favourite activities, and although it means that's it until I go I still have the working days countdown each day, as well as the working hours, minutes and even seconds that I tend to count down as it gets closer. I've already started my studies despite the course not being officially open yet- but it means i'll not have to stress about catching up when i'm back.

In other news I haven't managed to get to the gym as much as I wanted this week due to pain in both my legs, but hopefully next week I can hit it harder than normal, and maybe do longer runs. Still, maybe in my last attempt to shed a bit of the belly fat by detoxing alcohol and having a diet mostly consisting of salads (I do love a good salad!) I might get a bit leaner.

Well, as much as i'd love to catch up on my week i really do need to get the flat clean before I go away- we all know Mike's not going to do it (well you don't know that yet but I do)…. on the plus side he finally did the washing up this morning without me asking. We have progress!!

I just had to post again.

Firstly, I managed 13 minutes on my run- well done me!!

Secondly, and the main reason for my second post. I've been jumping between the forums of my new and old courses just to see what's going on etc etc. It's all very exciting. The newcomers, the veterans and those in-between all coming together to share their excitement, nerves and experience of OU courses.

I've never been as actively involved as I am- maybe it's because i'm officially in-between courses right now, but it does make you see how complete strangers can come together to form a community of mutual interest- learning.

Now, this is something I want part of- and will be keeping my forum posting and blog writing going. Although knowing me this could take over my life and distract me from my learning. If I start posting too much- someone needs to tell me off and tell me to get back to the books!

I've never really even bothered to visit this page, and as you can see to write anything. But then, for some reason this morning I have decided to put fingers to keys and start typing.

First of all, I guess I should start by telling anyone who comes across this a little bit about me. Well, i'm 26 (for the next month anyway), have studied with the OU on and off and am now looking towards a degree in business studies- on the accounting pathway.

Before I decided this is my aim in life I wanted to work abroad, and so I did a module in Beginners Spanish. I barely scraped through the EMA's and failed my EMA. I was devastated, and as such did not even try with the intermediate spanish i'd already signed up for.

However, 3-4 years later and here I am again giving the OU another try. I've just finished my EMA's for B120 (an introduction to business studies) and MU123 (An introduction to mathematics). Both of which I managed to submit every single TMA and EMA. I'm really proud of myself for doing so, keeping focus and getting through. One thing I have found is that for me, studying things in English is easier than trying a new language.

Next month i'll start on my next two courses, DB123 'You and your money: Personal finances in context' and T122 'Career development and employability' (Or something similar- I always forget that one!!!)

These will keep me going until June next year, when i'll finish with level one study.

I'm still really motivated and have been looking through some of my new course material this morning- well I need something to keep my mind busy in the next 6-8 weeks while waiting for my results!

I have a few passions in life, the usual reading, socialising but the most interesting, or so I think are volunteering and Travel. I'm off on holiday in 2 weeks for 2 weeks and I cannot wait. Another mark I can put on my world map that i've been (Yes, I actually cross places off on a world map).

I plan to use this blog as a sort of diary. Not just for the academic stuff but to share my stories, life events and general chat. I do like to ramble so this could get interesting!!

Thanks for reading if you got this far and good luck in your studies, whatever it is you do