About Me

My photo
He's just this dude, y'know.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

 Well its over a week now that we decided to slew the one eyed monster that is the t.v.

 How hard has it been?
Just as with any addiction there have been withdrawals and shortness of temper, cravings and distractions but we have found it to be a liberating experience. We have had more time together and spent quality time doing "old fashioned" things like talking and playing board games( or should that be bored games). We have helped the children to produce meaningful homework to such a degree that both girls have had achievement cards sent home praising their work. All the little jobs that had been put off are getting done, the mirror we got from Ikea almost a year ago has been put up and the shelves that were propped in a corner are now firmly attached to the walls.
 It hasn't always been easy though but I've managed to remain focused and when I have begun to weaken have managed to find something to do. After all we all moan about there being not enough time to do the things we want to do, now we have effectively added 4hrs a day to our lives.
 Don't get me wrong T.V is not the root of all evil but the fact that we let it go uncontrolled is what, looking back, shocks us as to just how much time we did waste.
 We did watch How to train your Dragon on Dvd with the kids and it was great, lights out, popcorn, surround sound up just enough to deafen the neighbours. We really enjoyed it, both the film and the event so weve set aside Saturday evenings as film night, we each get to put forwards two films that we think the family will enjoy and then we choose which one we watch. Unfortunately with two girls 11 and 8 most films have either "Barbie", "princess" or "pony" in the title, they even threatened "The Ballet Shoes" earlier this week. As good fortune would have it I picked up Toy Story 3 so the overwhelming pink tide has been held off for at least another week.

On another subject all together, I am 6 weeks into a Horticulture course held at Capel Manor college in Enfield. The college is world renown for its Horticulture and Garden Design courses and has tutored a number of "celebrity" gardeners. The course I am on is the RHS Advanced, this is the second stage of three leading to a diploma in Horticulture. Today we were looking at plant bio-chemistry, photosynthesis  and respiration (hence the very large and very stiff drink that I am consuming). All in all we will have covered plant taxonomy, morphology and plant pests from September through till December and will be tested by exam in Feb, with a further exam in July to cover the more practical aspects of Horticulture. Having done Rhs lvel2 last year there is a massive jump this year and it was a little over whelming to be honest, but with a bit of perseverance and self discipline I am beginning to get to grips with it.  I can honestly say that this is something that I wish I had done years ago and even now it still excites me to think that I am achieving an ambition that I thought I would never have the opportunity to reach.
 Well back to the calvin cycle and figuring out why glycolosis takes place in the cytoplasm not the mitochondria matrix....wish me luck!

2 comments:

Suzanne said...

Good Luck!
It beats folding t-shirts at you know where!!!
I love gardening, but am not terribly green fingered.
Enjoy.

joebloggs said...

Ha yes it does, especially at this time of the year......."snow snow snow snow" still cant get that song out of my head after all those years!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,.. it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,we had everything before us.... Dickens knew what he was on about eh.