Hello, my lovelies!

I’m glad to see you for our Weekend Coffee Share, as initiated by the lovely Part Time Monster.

If we were having coffee today we’d meet at the ice cream parlour in town, despite the rain. We’ve had nice weather for the past week but it’s been raining all morning so far. Still, I need to get out a little and I fancy an ice cream with my coffee. Would you join me?

If we were having coffee today, I’d tell you that my A to Z Challenge is going well. This week’s posts were about Quorn (Australia), Rotorua (New Zealand), my hometown Solingen (Germany), Tafi-Atome (Ghana), Uluru (Australia) and Victoria Falls (Zambia/Zimbabwe).

If we were having coffee today, I’d also tell you that while my studies are going well, I didn’t get as much done this week as I had hoped. A lot of things came up and I barely had a chance to sit down and concentrate on study material. I did, however, pass that assignment I was talking about last week with a B and got an overall A- for the course MA501 Psychology of Communication. So that’s done and dusted now.

As I already said in my ROW80 update on Wednesday, I passed my Global Health & Humanitarianism supplement course from the University of Manchester with 96.7 % and gained a Verified Certificate for it, and I passed the Australian Literature course from The University of Western Australia with Distinction (100%).

But the family saga continues, and it’s really affecting me. I’ve told everyone I need to study. That should be known by now. Today, I am having the audacity to meet my best friend for a cuppa – I haven’t seen him since Christmas. And later on tonight, I’m going to a Rock ‘n’ Roll Reading benefiting the Cow Club here in my hometown. A friend of mine is reading from her book and (punk)rock unplugged plus literature is one of my favourite combinations. I’ve had the ticket for a while. Now I’m being given the silent treatment for not having time to help move my grandparents back to their house from short-term care. My mum  rang the door-bell, I told her I didn’t have time (because it won’t just be settling them in, it would take hours) and she actually slammed my door shut. And a minute later she rang again, asking for the spare bed cover I had laying around, so she could cut it up and spread it over my grandparent’s bed…

I don’t go out much. My social life is nearly non-existent these days, it’s all work and study and my friends are often busy as well. Today is the one day I have made plans (plus, you know, I really need to study this weekend), and I’m made to feel guilty for wanting to finish my studies and have a little bit of a life. The last time I was “out out” was for a friend#s birthday – one and a half months ago.

That constant nagging and guilt-tripping is really getting me down, though. I soaked up the sun last week and found an hour per day to read outside in the sunshine, but I’ve needed those little breathers for my sanity’s sake. It just seems all that good the sun did me is being undermined yet again.

If we were having coffee I’d ask you whether you did anything for World Book Day on Thursday. I geeked out a little and spent weeks compiling a list of 40 literary / reading references on BBC’s Doctor Who. Check out my post “The Doctor Who makes reading cool.” I also wrote a little about My Bookshelf Tag.

If we were having coffee today, then I’d have to excuse myself in a minute to get ready to meet my friend. Check out the other Weekend Coffee Sharers for another cuppa – just don’t forget to take your umbrella. It’s still raining outside!

Same time, next week?