Category Archives: Humor

Geography – boring with a capital B!

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Last week, whilst watching University Challenge – a regular event in our house – I was once again frustrated by the geography questions.  I have never heard of most of the obscure places that crop up in this quiz and it made me think about how on earth anyone would know the answers to these questions…..

When I did geography at school, it was incredibly boring.  Nothing to do with different countries, just boring, boring lessons on crop rotation.  Admittedly I stopped doing geography in the third year, when we got to choose our options, so I didn’t do it for that long. Actually, thinking back, I didn’t get an option, I was thrown out of the class for being disruptive (difficult to believe, I know).  Maybe if I had seen it through to the end I would have learned more about different places instead of how to irrigate a field (a piece of information I have never found I needed).

Anyway, I still don’t know how people come to know all this.   Those students on Uni Challenge can’t all have taken geography at A level – I mean, who would want to take geography at any level anyway, it’s so boring? – but, somehow, they know these random things about random places.   KD didn’t do geography A level and HE knows.  So why don’t I?

I am considering investing in a globe of the world that I can have by me at all times so that, in a moment of boredom, I can discover some new place I have never heard of.

Then again I could just accept that geography is not my strong point and take up something far more useful, like knitting.

2012 so far….

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Buona Sera (practising my Italian)

Well, it’s the end of a very interesting and pleasant week.  I have taken up a new challenge , the Italian class, which has given me something to focus on and it reminded me how much I love languages and learning new things, which made me feel good.

I have had a very rewarding week at work with some lovely, positive outcomes for the young people I work with.  Which makes me very happy.

This morning, I saw the most wonderful sight on my way to an appointment.  I drove past a field of horses, probably about a dozen and possibly a mixture of ponies and horses (I’m not really a horsey person so I can’t tell the difference – ponies seem a bit fluffier to me and smaller but that’s all I know).  Anyway, I had to pull over and watch them as they were so entertaining.  They were chasing each other, frolicking, playing and just generally having fun.  I wished I had my camera with me and I will definitely go back there to take some photos or film them at play.  That made me happy too.

I have also decided to give up on going grey.  I have been growing out HALF my hair for a while now, to see what it looks like ‘au naturale’ (blimey, she speaks French too!).  When I say half, I don’t actually mean left vs right.  I have a (dyed) pink/purple fringe and I used to have dark brown for the rest of it.  This bit, I have left to grow naturally.  After several trims, it is pretty much its natural colour now.  Which is a rather unattractive mish mash of brown, grey and silver, in no particular pattern.  There are just ‘clumps’ of different colours.  It isn’t a good look.  The grey isn’t healthily glowing either.  It’s matte.  So, today I have decided to end the experiment and revert to dying the lot again.  It may not look natural but it certainly looks better than the current faded effort…..

Tomorrow I start back at the gym and get myself back on track there.  I’ve just made enquiries about a Burlesque dance class too so that may well be another on my list of projects this year.

And I get my new car radio fitted.  It has been awful with nothing to listen to other than the sound of the engine this week.

So far, I’m liking 2012 🙂

I expect I shall look something like this when I am doing the burlesque dancing…..

Mi Chiamo Flossie…

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Tonight, KD and I attended our first ‘Italian for Holidays’ evening class – the first of twelve (dodici) lessons.

I have been in and out of study for years as an adult, always to do with my career, but this was my first time back in a classroom learning something totally new to me since, well, I can’t remember when….I used to like languages at school but I haven’t done anything like this for years and years.

It was fun actually and we now know how to say our names, ask someone else what theirs is (formally and informally!) as well as a range of greetings – oh, and how to count to twenty (venti)!

I was reminded of the ‘language lab’ we had when I was at school in the early seventies – very high tech at the time – where we sat ourselves down with headphones in our little individual booths and learned French or German.  It was so boring, and I used to use the time to have a nap usually, but I can still remember French so it must have sunk in!  (I’ve forgotten all my German though but I don’t remember learning that in the language booths, I just remember a formidable woman with wonky eyes teaching us the old fashioned way).

Anyway, being back in the classroom learning something other than the academic stuff I’ve had to concentrate on the past few years was fun, not least because there isn’t an exam at the end of it, we are doing it purely for pleasure.

Next week we will be learning how to book a hotel room in Italian.  Which is a bit silly because we’ve already booked ours….

Ciao!!

Cheese-aholics Anonymous

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Having said I would NEVER go to the gym again once my personal training sessions were finished, I have just booked myself in for 14 more, starting on Saturday.

Now, how’s THAT for motivation?!?!

The fact that I look like a big fat cheese due to the ridiculous amount of the stuff I have eaten over Christmas and New Year, is neither here nor there…..

I hate my car

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WARNING!  This is not going to be an inspirational, motivational post – it is a RANT so, if you want to look away, now is your chance!!

I’m just waiting while the AA man tries to find out what is wrong with my stupid car.  Again.  It seems to be one thing after another with it, always battery related but never specific….

I won’t bore you with the details, I just wanted to say that it is not the best way to start your Monday morning.  I have to admit, I kicked the car this time.  My foot seems to have come off worse than the car though…..

I have a HUGE temper when it comes to inanimate objects (and my car can be considered inanimate because it won’t go at the moment).  Computers, phones, fiddly things that break all incur my wrath if they don’t behave as they should.  I think it is because I just can’t reason with them. Or even argue.  There is nothing to be done when something stops working except try to fix it.

Or throw it.

But the car is too big to throw.  Even the kick didn’t hurt it.

So, I’m waiting while the nice AA man tries to diagnose the fault…..

On a positive note (see, I always manage to find one!), I’m sitting here on the PC in my nice, warm house with a nice, hot cup of tea, instead of my horrid cold office….

I probably need to get a new car.

I found the solution!

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Last year, around the beginning of November I think it was, I had some sort of ‘awakening’.  I have always struggled with exercise and I had reached the point where I just didn’t know how I was going to stick at anything.  I was a member of the gym, I had a personal trainer and I still hated it and I still made excuses not to go.

Being in the business of motivating others I felt a complete failure, not being able to motivate myself to do something I knew would be good for me.

About this time I went on some training.  Solution-focussed brief therapy training. I blogged about it at the time –  solution-focussed fitness plan 

I volunteered to be the ‘dummy client’ and I had to bring something for the trainer to work on, to demonstrate the technique.   I blogged about my first day in this previous post but there was a second….and a third.

Something clicked after that second day.  I realised that I had been approaching it all wrong.  I didn’t like the gym and it wasn’t working as I kept cancelling my training sessions.  So I knew what I didn’t like but I had no idea on what to do about it.   It was decided in this training/therapy session that I would try out some other types of exercise until I found one I liked.  I agreed to go for a bike ride and to walk after work at least twice a week between this session and the final one.  I had to come back to the third day, two weeks later,  with a report of my progress. 

The training focussed on when I had enjoyed exercise.  I realised I liked exercise more if I had company. So, with the help of KD, I started my plan that weekend.  We went on an exhilarating bike ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Every night that week, even though it was dark, we (and the dog) went for a walk.  A brisk walk. In fact it was a little TOO brisk for my liking at first but I had promised to try things out so I stuck at it.  After only three nights, I had started to enjoy it and my pace quickened.

I kept up the walking with KD almost every evening after that, until just before Christmas, mainly because of social commitments.

The most surprising thing (to me) was that I started to enjoy going to the gym.  I had 5 sessions left with the personal trainer.  We agreed I would only go once a week, rather than book two sessions in which I dreaded and that I would go on Saturday mornings, rather than after work.  This really worked.  I am most definitely a morning exerciser!  By the time I got to my last session, just before Christmas, I was almost sad that they had finished.   In fact, I will probably book some more in soon….

After three weeks, I had lost weight but, much more importantly, I felt so much fitter.  My blood pressure came right down and I felt energised.

Christmas and New Year have caused me to slip back slightly.  I haven’t done any exercise, apart from one walk and I’ve been eating all the wrong stuff.  But I still feel motivated and I know I will get back to where I was.  I have decided to start again properly on Monday, since we are having another Christmas Day on Saturday with plenty of food and drink….

I am now, obviously, a HUGE advocate of solution-focussed therapy!  If you focus on what works, rather than what doesn’t, you are going to succeed.  Trust me – it works!!

365 Project – a new plan!

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Yes, I know the idea is to blog about the same thing for a year but, seriously, a year of motivation posts?  If I haven’t bored everyone to death by March I think I will have lost the will to live anyway….there is only so much you can write about motivation.

So, true to form, I’m giving up!  Well, I’m not actually giving up, I’m just adapting the challenge to suit me. I have decided to stick to one theme per month, January being the month of motivation and February being the month of whatever it is I decide it will be about and so on….

I think I can cope with that, there will still be some structure to it and it should hopefully be a little bit more interesting than a whole year of me trying to find something interesting to say about motivation.

Does this sound like the ramblings of a de-motivated person?

Not at all.  In fact, I am INSPIRED!!!

Now, the question is, can I still be in the 365 project???

This is me, pondering…….

Zero out of Ten

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Woops

The challenge isn’t going too well so far is it?

Day two and I nearly didn’t manage to post.  I have a nice little blog post half typed out on my Macbook but it needs tidying up.  It looks like an essay or some lecture notes at the moment….

Anyway, I suppose this counts as it shows I am struggling with my motivation today.  First day back at work tomorrow since Friday 23rd December 2011.  It’s going to be tough. I have enjoyed my break and being able to do very little as and when I want.   My motivation to do anything much apart from drink Cointreau is ZERO right now…..

However, I DO know that I work better under pressure so I am fully expecting to have a SURGE of inspiration as soon as I get back to work and I don’t have the time to write

WATCH THIS SPACE!

I wonder how many times this year I will be saying “Watch this space”?

Anyway, here’s a photo I took of a squirrel on Boxing Day in the cemetery where my dad and nan have memorials.  He looks like he is thinking very hard about his New Year Resolutions, don’t you agree?   I wonder what they are.  Probably won’t be to give up smoking.  Which is what my next post will be about (if I can be arsed)

Project 365 – The Conception

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Well, after spending most of the night awake, pondering on a topic to write about for a whole year (yes, I really did spend half the night thinking about this!) I have decided that the topic I am going to write about for a whole year is

MOTIVATION!

I have chosen this theme for several reasons

1. I find the whole topic of motivation fascinating.  My job means I teach motivational techniques to help my clients think about change and it never ceases to amaze me how powerful these motivational tools can be or how much can be achieved when the motivation is there

2. Despite the above, I sometimes find it very hard to motivate myself.  This blog is an example of where I have flagged and lost some of my drive to write.  The 365 project inspired me to try and stick at something for a whole year so, what better topic to write about than motivation?  I’m hoping it will inspire me to keep up with my blog!

3. I am trying very hard to become fitter and healthier this year.  I am hoping a daily reminder to stay motivated will encourage me to keep at it!

4. I can incorporate sketches and photos if I am inspired, something I really want to do more of this year as part of my resolution to start being more creative again

And finally

5. I can get away with writing a post saying very little if I can’t be arsed and say I just didn’t have the motivation that day!  The perfect get out!!

If you are intrigued by what I might write about over the coming months, well so am I!  

I have no idea where this will take me but I hope it will be a bit of a voyage of discovery for me and possibly for my readers!!

Solution focused fitness plan

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Today I was on day one of a training course.  It was a therapy course so we naturally had to do some role plays.  The trainer asked for a volunteer with a real life problem that he could interview and demonstrate the model we were being taught (Solution Focused Brief therapy, if you are interested!)

Anyway, I didn’t volunteer but, as always seems to happen, I did end up being volunteered by the others.  I don’t really mind.  I am not naturally shy (believe it or not!) and I did have a problem I needed to work through.  So it was fine

My chosen issue was my difficulty in maintaining my fitness and health.  I go to the gym for a couple of weeks and my motivation drains away and I cancel my personal trainer and slip back into my sedentary ways again.  It’s an ongoing problem, and I wanted to discuss it with someone to find a solution

So this was the ideal opportunity

The conclusion was that I actually HATE the gym.   This is true.   Even with a personal trainer I can’t stick at it for any length of time

Having thought it all through with the trainer AND the group, who all became very personally involved with my issue (I have a way of doing that), the class was divided

Half thought I should stick it out for a bit longer and the other half said why do something you really detest so much?

When I go to the course tomorrow, they’ll be eagerly waiting to hear if I went ahead and did the training or not

I didn’t go

I feel so much better now

In a totally unhealthy way