It's been a little while since I last updated ... and quite a bit has happened so I'll try and make some sense of it.
The last time I wrote I commented that I was starting to get ready to study and had started the enrolment process. I did what I had to do with the online form to register for Self Service so I could enrol. And at the end it popped up saying there was a problem and that they would call me. Well they never did. They just emailed me my Student Number and a temporary password.
Anyway, the enrolment itself wasn't too bad - although I'm going to have to repeat the process quite regularly. The course is the Diploma of Information Technology which I'm completing online through the TAFE (stands for Technical and Further Education if anyone is interested) in Brisbane North. The Diploma is split into x number of Stages and you basically enrol in 1 or 2 Stages at a time. Each stage has 2 or more subjects within it and so forth. The cost is by subject and different for each subject. Naturally this means that some Stages cost more than others. In the Diploma, the first 6 Stages are basically teaching you skills you need for the rest - and I've probably covered way more than I need in my uni studies.
I could have applied for RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) but decided that it wasn't worth the lengthy process. The process that I could find to complete it was quite in depth and had interviews and so forth. But the other factor is that it takes time. In the time it takes to do that - which would mean that I couldn't be doing study - I can already have quite a few of those Stages done.
So my enrolment was done on Tuesday (01/06) and I was able to start studying on the Wednesday afternoon. I only enroled in 1 Stage, due to not having enough money to enrol in 2, which meant only 2 subjects. So my study actually started on the 2nd of June and my assessments were both submitted by the 5th of June. Now I have to wait a week or so to get my assessments back and find out whether I have passed. I'm confident they'll both be fine.
Because of the study I've had to put aside my other reading. I still want to get back to it - and the other books I'm interested in, but right now I'm going to have to just allow myself to have some time.
My physio is concerned about the pain medication that I am taking and was able to put my pain down to 4 different areas: the shoulder, the neck, the lower back and the ulnar nerve pain. She spent some time looking at my neck and thinks it is contributing to my shoulder pain, which kind of makes sense. For the ulnar nerve she has given me some Nerve Glides. They look weird - going from a duck to a waiter - but they ease the pain a bit. The lower back we both thought was probably postural, but accentuated by the cold (damn winter). My movements with my shoulder are still fairly good although I have lost some range; however, with the pain level this was only to be expected.
We've had a couple of issues around the house lately ranging from massive amounts of ants for no obvious reason (we call them suicide ants because they insist, in large numbers, of doing things that appear suicidal, such as rushing into a boiling kettle), to losing 2 of our washing lines whilst they were in use. The washing line issue was a real pain as I then had to rewash my clothes as they had been dragged through the dirt - one side of the line had left the wall so the clothes had been dragged across the floor until the tension eased on the line - and then rehang them on our remaining 2 lines. It's a pain to hang washing anyway because I struggle with opening the garage door and am always lucky to come away without exacerbating my shoulder pain.
I've now had 2 nights with not a lot of sleep. Wednesday (02/06) I didn't fall asleep until about 2am and then was up and about at 7am. Last night I didn't have problems falling asleep, but I couldn't stay asleep. I kept waking up and it always took me some time to get back to sleep, and then the process would start again. *sigh* It's always easier to deal with not sleeping that disturbed sleep.
Today I scared the living daylights out of myself in a way that I could barely explain. I walked out of my room to get a drink of water and when I turned around I thought I saw the guy who was responsible for my childhood SA sitting on a chair on our balcony. Logically I knew that it was impossible - but logic must have been on holiday or something. I took a breath and looked again and saw there was noone there, but my fear reaction had already started with all the "he's come to get me" type stuff. The fear had me sitting on the bed covered in goosebumps and tears and madly trying to calm myself down. It took quite a while before I could leave the room - even just to get myself a tissue. Getting out onto the balcony to have a smoke took quite a bit longer.
It probably sounds silly to someone else that something like that - a tired mind placing something where it wasn't -caused such a reaction, but in that moment it was like reliving every single episode of the SA again.
Sorry, I shouldn't go on about it .... I just couldn't believe that it hit me so hard. Or that I didn't know what to do . . .
*_*_*_*
Before I go I just want to say:
Nicole (MID): *huggles you right back* Thanks so much hun.
Slasher: Thank you so much, both for the hug and for your kind words. *offers hugs*
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