Thought for the Week

"A hug is a perfect gift - one size fits all and nobody minds if you give it back."
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Fast Forward

Who the heck put the clock into super fast forward mode?

I have been on holiday this week, all week, and since my entry for Memory Monday the week has just zipped by. I feel like I have been stood still whilst the clock has been speeding at a great rate of knots, in a hurry to get me back to work and back to life's routine.

I often think it's funny that the more 'time' we have on our hands the less 'time' we seem to have to accomplish the things we want to. Is this just me? Does anyone else have this problem?

Maybe it has to do with organising your time better. Whilst at work during the week there is much more necessity to be truly organised. My typical work day would be along these lines:

I get up early, shower, dress and have breakfast straightaway. Then I decide whether I need to greet the cold, icy inside of my freezer to retrieve an item for the days evening meal that needs defrosting before cooking. Once breakfast is cleared away, I will jump on here. Gosh, so much to do, so little time to do it!

Important things first. Sign into blogger.

Check out my fellow bloggers to see if they have a new entry up today. Cherrie will almost certainly have some scintillating tale of her sexual encounters with Hardin, but can I read it before work and still have my mind on the job? hmmmm, I'm not sure that I can. But heck, I can't just leave it there, alone, unread and unappreciated. Perhaps I'll just have a quick peek, yes that's what I'll do. Just read the first paragraph, then I will be able to give it my full attention at lunch time. So I shoot over to Cherrie's blog, and there it is, today's entry in all it's gloriousness. I begin to read...

... HAHAHA, (... Perhaps I'll just have a quick peek, yes that's what I'll do. Just read the first paragraph...) who am I trying to kid. I only get as far as the first sentence and already I have to know more; second sentence and I am hooked, I am just going to have to read the entire entry - right now.

Next I call in on Miss U's. Will she too have an entry up for today? Oh God, do I even have time to read it now? I'll make time, I know it will be worth it, it will be some brilliantly written piece, and whatever topic she has written about it will be funny, light-hearted, entertaining and memorable. What a fantastic start to the day, how could I not make the time. So I click my link to Miss U's blog, and oh my God, there it is, I scroll down with the wheel on my mouse in an attempt to ascertain whether I will have time to read it all. (my Christmas list is going to include a new wheel for my mouse, as a treat for it for working so damn hard!) Again, I think maybe just one or two lines, again I fail, miserably. Miss U's entries are always so damn captivating that after having read the first couple of lines, I have to keep reading, how can I leave something so entertaining to go to work?

Then, and only then, can I turn my attention to checking my emails and replying to any that need/warrant a response. At some point I sign into the bank to see how depressing those big red numbers are..lol.. and currently, I try to squeeze a short amount of time in to advance the research I have to do for a college project.

Shape's blog is calling... oh no.. really I don't have any time left, I have to do some work, I have to. So I decide to catch up with Shape at lunch, read about his travels yesterday and see some more truly amazing photographs of the places he has visited.

Oh hell, the clock has moved way too fast, I have to go tame this hair, put straighteners on to heat whilst I put my face on, just a little foundation and mascara. Straighten hair super flat. Throw on some shoes, grab a jacket and get my arse to work.. phew, just in time.

A typical day this week whilst I have been on holiday is:

Get up early (no sense in wasting time in bed)
Make a cup of tea and have breakfast.
Think about what I want to do today, the possibilities are endless.
Realise I have been sat procrastinating for an hour, go jump in shower.
What to wear? Partly depends where I am going today, haven't decided that yet.
Procrastinate some more. Get dressed.
Sign into blogger, and follow procedure above. Only have more time, so I can read slower, heck I can read Cherrie's twice, just to make sure I didn't miss anything you understand!
Wonder what to write about today? Procrastinate.
Check emails. Check Yahoo Answers as I put up a question to do with coursework and the answers deserve my attention. Wow, 15 answers already! God. Will have to check out each and everyone of these names they have given me.
Lunch time.
Shite! Lunch time! I haven't done anything yet. What shall I do this afternoon.
Procrastinate.

You get the picture. I guess I have clarified my earlier thought. When I am not at work, I do not organise my time so well. That's OK with me though. It's pretty nice not to be beholden to the clock for a week or two. Chill out a bit. No stress. Go with the flow.

In truth, I haven't wasted my entire week procrastinating.

Monday was spent mostly doing the dreaded food shop and house work, it has to be done and I didn't want it hanging over me like a black cloud of conscience for the rest of the week, interfering with my enjoyment of the lack of time constraints. This was interrupted by having to take my brother in law to the hospital to visit my sister who was admitted over the weekend.

Tuesday I had planned to spend with my daughter, shopping. The nice kind of shopping though. I have a wedding reception to attend on Saturday evening and I wanted to find something to wear. With my new 2 stone lighter figure, clothes shopping has become something I particularly enjoy again, and my daughter comes in the context of my style guru. She protects me from myself!!!! Late afternoon was spent in the kitchen preparing dinner and a raspberry mouse souffle for afters. I had invited my eldest daughter and one of her flat mates for dinner, but first I had to attend 'fat club'..that's what I call it, it reminds me of why I keep going.

Wednesday, yesterday, I decided to take myself off on a field trip. I have been lent an SLR 35mm film camera to use on my college course, and I wanted to practice with it and familiarise myself with the controls. Together with my own little point and shoot digital I drove back out to Langdon Cliff

This is the view from the vehicle entrance to the Cliffs.

Dover Castle, in all it's glory.

The Norman Castle in Dover has the longest recorded history of any British fortress. The story of Dover Castle stretches as far back as the Iron Age, and continues up to and beyond the Second World War.
King Henry II rebuilt the castle, realizing its strategic position just 20 miles from the shores of France. The castle was always strongly defended as Britain's front line fortress, guarding not just the town of Dover but the whole island.


Once on foot I followed the 2-mile pathway towards the lighthouse at Foreland Point. I won't bore you with the pictures I took of the cliffs as I have posted those here previously, but here are a few other things that I enjoyed whilst following the meandering chalk path high above the ocean.



Flora...


... and Fauna


... and these





I never got quite as far as the lighthouse, due to time restraints, (how the heck did they slip back into my week?) but I reckon I walked about 3 miles along the top of the cliffs, just me, myself and I, it was fantastic. I drove home and arrived just as my daughter finished her driving lesson. Then it was off to the cinema for the early part of the evening.

5 comments:

Cherrie said...

I loved this entry, Ali, and not just because you said you check out my blog first thing in the morning! I'm so flattered!

Really, Miss U. is one of my best blogfriends. She writes a wonderful entry just about every day, and I often check hers, yours or Suze's first in the morning, because all of you are several hours ahead of me.

Miss U. loves sex as much as anyone, but I think she's been keeping her blog PG-rated because she is, after all, out in the open. I can be more wild in preint because I am shielding my face and true identity from family and co-workers.

There's an old saying that work expends to fill the time available to do it, and it seems as though you have been proving that theory this week. Unfortunately . . .

I'd like to go photographing with you someday, Ali. I think we'd have a marvelous time. I don't think I've told you this, but Hardin has been a fairly serious amateur photographer for many years, and he'd probably like to tag along if you wouldn't mind . . .

Elaine Denning said...

First of all, thanks Cherrie for the mouth full of tea which just ended up in my lap! LoL. That comment: "She loves sex as much as anyone" came right out of the blue. Ok, ya got me!

I manage to achieve far more on a work day than I ever do on a day off. I tend to sit around because there's no rush, and like you said, before I know it, the day's almost over. I woke up an hour early thismorning to give me some time to check blogs, and I haven't even started my list of men yet. 10 minutes to go. Damn!

I felt a shiver up my spine when you mentioned using a camera which wasn't digital. Oh..the fear! I remember the days of walking into Boots with hopefully, 36 gorgeous pictures on film, and walking out an hour later with 35 fit for the bin. You're a brave woman! By the way...I am LOVING that feather. I hope the course is going well. x

Oh! I should thank you for the wonderful compliment! Grinning here!

Ali said...

Cherrie ~ It would be an honour to go on a photography trip with you, and if Hardin wanted to tag along maybe I could learn a thing or two from him.. and yes, I was still referring to the photography... although.. now I think about it... Ménage à trois... hmmmm what a great thought for the day!

Miss U ~ I think what Cherrie meant was that you don't have a drawer full of the sex aids you have if you're not all that bothered by sex!!! lol

Glad you liked the feather. It was just caught on a blade of grass, just fluttering in the wind, and the pureness of it made me want to photograph it, not sure why, but I had the urge, and an urge should never be ignored.

The course is going great, only 2 weeks in but this week we have to take a complete roll of black and white film and in next weeks class we are going to process and develop it into 10 x 8" photographs... I'm so excited!!

Ali said...

Shape ~ I love that you drop by so regularly and I love the use of the word "(s)experience" genius!

The places I have shown here are local to me. I will shortly blog about my afternoon out yesterday, if I can just find the time. Next week I am going on a day trip into the city (London) and will take my camera with me, so maybe I will be able to show you some of the historic and/or touristy parts on my blog later that week.

Hope you get off to a good start at Uni.

Hugs x

Cherrie said...

Miss U.--Sorry about the tea, but it's true, isn't it?

Shape--Thanks for the compliment and I look forward to your visits!

Ali--We're trying to figure out how to make that happen. I didn't want to say anything until we were further along in the process, but I'm afraid I've spilled the beans again.