Well, the forms for my A215: Creative Writing course, that starts in September, came and I managed to fill them in ,and get them on their way, all on the same day - I'm not really eager for the start of the course - much! I've now got to the stage where I'm still not quite well enough to take on a course, but am starting to go stir-crazy! It doesn't help that I missed out on doing a Script-Frenzy, by the Nanowrimo people - I only became aware that it was going on when I lurked in the A215 and A363 course forums recently at the O.U., and read that half the students there were doing it. I had known it was coming up but, with being ill, I hadn't realised that it was so soon, and so missed out! Ah well, there's always next year! Talking of next year, I've already decided that I'm either going to do the A363: Advanced Creative Writing course, or I might go mad and risk doing the very first U300: Children's Literature course, which starts October 2009 - I guess it'll depend how I get on with A215 as, if I do well, it'll probably be better for me to continue on with the same thing, rather than take a break from my writing. There's also the fact that the very first year of any course normally is the one to iron out any problems that may arise - it'll probably be better to wait for the second intake, so there will, hopefully, be a smoother ride for the U300 course! I'm also looking forward to doing A215 as my daughter will be joining me, along with a fellow student who's already my study-buddy, so we'll already have a mini-support group started - it should be fun, and we'll all hopefully be able to bounce ideas off each other. It will also be a balm, as my daughter is due to be moving from here in Wales over to Bristol, where most of her friends now live, at around about august time, so our contact via the O.U., and the course, will be all the more precious to me. I guess that's the problem when you only have one chick - it makes it harder to see her move so far away, especially as I've been spoilt with being able to meet up a couple of times a week with her living nearby - but she's going to be having a lot more fun in Bristol, with many more opportunities for work and play than hereabouts, so I'm all for her making the move for her own sake! Note to self: Listen to your own words of advice to said daughter, and realise that the phone, internet, and rail travel means distance is no object nowadays!
It's not much but, despite my depression at how things have turned out, when I got an email from the O.U. telling me that the forms will be coming soon for me to confirm my place in the A215 course, a feeling of hope sprang forth in me. A conversation with my daughter the other day, where she was talking about joining me on the course, made me feel that, at last, there was light at the end of the tunnel - and then I had a couple of lovely comments from a fellow writer, and it made me feel that - yes - I will be able to do the course in October! So this set-back I've had is just that - a minor set-back, that can be pushed aside, and left to a part of the experience of being disabled, but with a determination to reach that goal of a BA! I've just got to get myself a bit better health-wise before I start - and do what I've been advised to do - get writing!
Well, for the first time since starting the OU, I've had to phone up and cancel a course once I've started it!It took me a lot of heart-searching before I came to the conclusion that I wasn't giving the course the attention it needed, and deserved, and so I had to do the only thing that was right - both for my own health and peace of mind, and for the sake of the other OU students who were not getting the cooperation necessary from me, as part of a tutor group.I have to confess that it's made me very depressed that I couldn't cope with this one, as I had been so looking forward to working on a couple of Shakespeare plays but, by the time the course had started, my health had taken a turn for the bad, and I couldn't make head 'nor tails of the work I needed to do - which is one of the problems with having Fibromyalgia, as it causes memory problems, let alone the constant pain, and lack of mobility. GrrrrrrrrI'm really hoping that the weather improves soon, as it will then give me some relief from the pain - and I'm praying that I'll be improved enough by October to start the Creative Writing course I've been hoping to do - ah well, it looks like I've got to learn a lot more patience!
It's been a week since I started my new course, and it has been nothing but a disaster, quite frankly!I was so looking forward to doing this course, but haven't had a pain-free day since it started - which, of course, means taking my full spectrum of pain relief, which then makes me so muzzy-headed, I can't absorb anything I read! GrrrrrrrI've been soldiering on all week, desperately trying to absorb anything, but I sat here in tears this morning, having wasted a couple of hours reading what may as well have been pure gibberish!I finally gave in this afternoon, and sent an email to my new tutor, explaining the situation to him - I'm just hoping he has some suggestions for helping me to continue on in the course. :~((I know this course was an indulgence, rather than something necessary for my degree, but I feel so stupid that I can't absorb anything, when Shakespeare has always been one of my favourite authors - I guess it's a case of wait and see, as to how I proceed from here?
