Still annoyed!

Yes, I am still annoyed that my body doesn't seem to be working in my best interests these days. Emma says that at least I don't have cancer again but sometimes that isn't enough. Today I went for my visit to the nurse to learn about my diet changes and how to test my blood sugar. It's easy enough to do and the prick doesn't really hurt but it's that moment just before the prick that I find almost unbearable. You can't help but wonder, 'will this be the time that it does hurt?' I wonder if my blood pressure goes up in that instant? (Ah, blood pressure. Just another of my problems!) It would be difficult for me to check both at the same time so I probably won't find out, and the nurse would think it a bit odd for me to ask such a thing.

So besides having to pee into a bottle tomorrow, take pills morning and night, keep track of my blood sugar level and everything I eat, I'm just fine and dandy. Well, actually, yes I am and I am grateful.

Evie returns

Two years ago when my cancer treatment began, I started to write a murder mystery blog novel. The heroine name was Evie MacIntyre. I wrote about 15,000 words and then stopped. I've always wanted to get back to Evie but in a different format. I think that I may have found a way back into the story. The first person narrative didn't work or I couldn't make it work. I've now come up with a new beginning and I will try and rework what I have. Of course this doesn't mean that I've abandoned the other stories I'm working on. This weekend I'm going to continue on with my garden story (for those who know what I'm talking about). I am on chapter 7 and determined to finish by Christmas.

On another note, I was diagnosed with diabetes this week. I had my cancer check up two weeks ago and the blood tests indicated that I had a very high blood sugar level. I'm on pills now and visit the dietitian next week to discuss diet and to learn how to take my blood sugar level. I'm not looking forward to this but at least I don't have cancer back.

My Body is falling apart and I'm very annoyed!

My body is falling apart and I'm really annoyed. (I had to repeat that since you need to know just how annoyed I am!) Last Tuesday I went for my six monthly cancer check up. This Tuesday, I know that I don't have any new signs of cancer but I am diabetic. I am very annoyed! I exercise, I eat well, I don't smoke or drink. I have none of the symptoms of diabetes but that doesn't matter. I have extremely high blood sugar level. Tomorrow I'm off to the doctor to find out exactly where we go from here. I suppose that until I hear what he has to say, I should put this out of my mind. I am upset though, and it's not because I might be diabetic. I just feel that my body is letting me down. Actually, it's not that. I feel that it has betrayed me. Silly, of course but there you go!

In the next two weeks, I have to discuss my goals for the year with our new principal. I don't have any problem with this. I have goals. One relates to surviving the new principal's regime intact. Perhaps, I shouldn't share that one with her. Another is to finally finish my novel - well at least one of them! I'm not sure whether that one is for her either. Last year, one of my goals was to try and get the greatest amount of performance related pay for the least amount of work. A few of us shared that goal. In fact, we turned it into a competition. I shouldn't share that with her either. So, what should I have as my public goals?

Good weather at last!

Good weather has returned to the United Kingdom (well most of it!) for the time being. For a second day I have awoken to the sun streaming through the window. As you probably realized, this is the weekend, since on weekdays I awaken before the sun is up . It was such a surprise yesterday that I almost squandered the day. I found myself so used to doing in door activities that initially I fell into my usual routines. However, good weather is no time to sort out your cupboards or clean the house! I will admit to doing the laundry because no self respecting 'house wife' (and I use that term very loosely!) would pass up a day to dry clothes outside! I went for some short forays into the outside world and then retired to the garden in the afternoon to dig and cut and rake!

Today is equally as beautiful! Michael (Emma's partner) is playing cricket on the green nearby this afternoon and so Cliff and I shall gather up our living room furniture (more about that later!) and spend our afternoon drinking tea, nibbling on sandwiches and drawing on our meagre understanding of the 'laws' of cricket. But who cares whether or not one understands when the weather is beautiful and you are participating in a centuries' old game.

This morning we may go over to Wisley, the RHS garden about 15 miles from here. It is wonderful, and much more than just a garden. I have a membership with the RHS which allows us to go in free and also gives me a subscription to their equally wonderful magazine. When I was having radiotherapy, G.B. and I used to stop there regularly on the way home. It holds a special place in my heart!

Someone asked how I found out about Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. As is often the case with the new writers I discover, I usually read about them in the Guardian or Observer, or hear about them on a Radio 4 programme. Since she is a woman writer, it might have been on Women's Hour. Then again, it could have been on either Front Row, or Open Book. However it was, I highly recommend her. I've just started another of her books, The Priory.

Now to explain the meaning of 'I shall gather up our living room furniture'. Back in July the owners of our house shipped some of their furniture back to the United States. That shipment included everything in our living room. We ordered our new sofa in mid-July and it should arrive within the next two weeks (fingers crossed!). In the meanwhile, we are using two deck chairs and an adirondack chair. It works but I find myself longing for a sofa to lie out on!

Sorry that it's been so long!

Finally I am back after far too long a time. School is well underway and I'm already thoroughly exhausted. To be expected, I suppose. I have a good group of students and I think that we shall have an interesting journey this year. Some are struggling against the journey and others are obviously looking forward to it. Not much changes from year to year.

If I only had teaching to contend with, school would be wonderful. Unfortunately, our administration has its own little journey planned for us and I'm not sure that it will be as fulfilling an experience as our students may have. More on this as the road map unfurls. (Goodness, am I sounding like the American administration?) I've never been one for maps anyway. I believe in heading in the general direction and enjoying whatever comes my way.

My writing is at a stand still at the moment. I have lost heart, that seems my only explanation. I have the time but not the inclination. It could be that school starting has sapped all my creativity. This weekend, we will finally be on our own with nowhere to go and no one coming to see us. I will sort our my work area and see if I can kick start myself. I think that writing in this blog each day would also help. So, here I go again.

I have discovered a new writer, Winifred Watson. At the moment I'm reading Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, a charming, funny, 1938 novel that has recently been turned into a film. So many books are published each year that many are simply forgotten as the years go by. And who can read all the books that come out. I almost think that publishers should stop publishing for a year so we could spend time rediscovering lost novels, like those of Winifred Watson.