Post exams...and gardening.

Well, where was I this afternoon? Oh yes, now I remember. We got home and for hours yet I feel this tremor of relief go through me. Time and time again I remember that we passed the exams and this very thought releases the tension culminating these past few weeks, one strenuous nerve at the time.
We don’t have to return to the lessons, ever again. Gawd, that deserves applause all by itself. Hah.

It wasn’t all bad, mind you, just time consuming, and I hate that, especially when it is kind of superfluous. I’m so glad it’s over, now maybe I’ll feel a little less like I’m stretched to thin, keeping track of everything.

Though I would have liked to possess the stamina to get to the edits immediately, I really can’t put myself to it by the time the sibs have arrived and we pulled a mean April’s fool prank on them that that we hadn’t made the exams. Luckily for them I’m horrid at such things, so they are forced to endure the disappointment for little more than a couple of seconds.

It is rather a funny tale to tell the sibs. The way the exams went and how our instructor drove to and from Málaga before and after “the event” like a madman. It’s what I like to call irony: Here he’s breaking pretty much every rule in the book, while explaining to us the few things we have to practice once we’ve got that piece of paper we need to be free to do what we want. Watching him drive I can finally understand why cab drivers are considered a hazard. He is definitely a cab driver by heart. Hah.

Relief is present most of the day, and once I’ve done a relaxing round online it is time to head on out into the yard and resume the project. For the next few hours we haul mud, reed and vines in the last patch under the house that hasn’t been seen to in the past few weeks.

It is strange, but considering we took out time with the lessons, it will be a peculiar sensation to be without further “obligation” to go to town for our instructions. It has been a part of our lives for almost six months and in a twisted sort of way there will be a certain sense of missing it…if that makes any sense at all?

But anyways, for several hours we work in the yard, clearing several paths through the twelve feet high reed, and removing several trees that didn’t survive the last summer. At the end of today’s task, we’re all exhausted, both physically and mentally. Together we all head back to the house to eat yesterday’s pizza leftovers, finding the meal as mouth watering as before…though the portions are a little on the small side, all things considered.

After dinner the energy levels rapidly drop all round, and even though I manage a patch job on another set of PJs that suffered through a long winter, by the end of it I’m barely able to settle in front of the TV and focus on the show playing.

I don’t get it. It almost seems as if my brain is still set in the mode of failure…like the preparation for it makes it almost impossible for me to shift it in the one of relief of success. My head continues to want to go over the few errors I made, like I have to make another attempt to do it right the next time. That’s an over achiever for ya, I guess. Hah.

But anyways, well before midnight I give up the battle against fatigue and head on up to my cabin, where promptly my stomach decides that the tension of the past few days was too much and rids itself of the remainder of food that’s still in there. Stupid stomach. Like my brain, it doesn’t appear to realize that it’s all over now.

So, that was today’s official Blog. The “And…that’s a cut!” ritual over and done with, leaving me to move on to the hopefully long night of relaxing sleep ahead.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed, and see what tomorrow brings.

PASSED!!!!!!!!

I’m at least twelve hours late with today’s Blog. I know, it’s dreadful of me, but I needed to get to bed really, really early in order to make it to the exams in time. The exams were the reason why I didn’t have time to write yesterday, so we’ll start with a short sum-up of what happened yesterday.

Very little happened, I’ll tell you that much. Hah.
It was all about the lesson (five friggin hours again, aargh) and the delicious pizza little brother prepared just for the occasion. It worked perfectly too. On my insistence he used real yeast, which certainly made all the difference.

Let’s just say I ate way too much–on purpose, of course–and was seriously stuffed, even when it was time to go to bed. Hah.
I read for a bit, just for relaxation, and then went to bed without my usual ritual of doing the day’s Blog first. That did feel a little weird. In the past 150 days or so, I’ve gotten used to writing it in the evening. Sort of like at the movies; “And…that’s a cut!” but then for my day. I kept having a feeling that I was forgetting something huge.

Ah well, it was worth it, I guess. Though I was only in half-sleep until dawn–the exam day already whirling through my head, constantly and without pause–I did drop off for three solid hours, leaving me feeling semi-revived when it was time to get up and get ready to depart.

First thing’s first, however: The moment my alarm shrieks, I sit up immediately, blinking owlishly at the dogs and trying hard to sort through my brain until recollection of the reason why the alarm is going off surfaces.

I groan, roll out of bed and hurry to the door to let the confused looking pack out the door. They hesitate for only a moment and then storm out into the early morning, dashing into the yard at their usual speed.

Shaking my head at their noisy antics, I head back inside to wash…with cold water, mind you, ugh…get dressed in house clothes and then go down to bring the dogs to the courtyard.

I meet up with big brother in the kitchen, constantly exchanging reminders of stuff we need to remember for the exams, chewing on a slice of bread and slurping down strong coffee.

Within record time we’re both heading up to the car and pulling out of the gate to head to town. Seeing as our instructor has a tendency to be late, we really don’t need to hurry. When we arrive at the school and see that he isn’t there, we have a moment to relax and wait in the car until he’s there.

Fifteen minutes later he comes tearing around the corner and soon we are on our way. The practice run goes smoothly and without error, and since I’m first, as soon as the exam guy arrives we’re on our way. Within fifteen minutes my turn is over and I get to pull into a stop, feeling more than a little relieved that I’m done, no matter the end-result.

Big brother and I exchange places and for the next fifteen minutes he tries his luck. By the time we’re done, we are send away while our instructor discusses the exam with the man “of power” giving us five minutes of worry.

When the two men get out, our instructor is smiling and declares that even though big brother would have failed with another instructor, we both got a “passed” and are finally utterly done with the chore of sacrificing and average of fifteen hours a week. Yay.

WE PASSED!

Our theory exam teacher is thrilled, bouncing about and cheering…what can I say, she’s enthusiastic…and then looking proudly at the form that says, “passed” before carefully filing it away. With a final payment of sixty bucks and a handshake we say goodbye and leave the school for the very last time. Yay!

I call home as soon as we’re done, of course, receiving an immediate “congratulations!” from grandpa…who shares a lot of the credit, since he is the one responsible for us learning to “drive” in the first place. Through that we managed to get our exams with only eight hours each with a professional instructor at our side, rather than the required fifteen.

I’m so friggin’ relieved I still find myself releasing a sigh of relief, every hour, or so. Which brings this Blog to a conclusion.
I’ll write about the rest of the day tonight…I hope.

I passed and survived! WOW

I get called awake this morning by the house phone, after waking at least three times during the night with the rather disconcerting thought “Drat, I could have had that exam question wrong too” and then the next and the next. Very frustrating, not to mention annoying.
So, with the phone ringing, I roll out of bed, snap a quick, “give me a sec” into the mouthpiece and hurry for the door to let the dogs out.

Sucking in a deep breath I address the caller again. As it turns out big brother is on the phone and he informs me that he went online, checked my scores and that I’ve passed the exams. YAY! My breath comes out with a noisy puff then, especially after the dream scares. Gawd…I always said that my mind is my worst enemy in such cases.

By the time I return to my bedroom, it becomes clear that I have missed another phone call, this on my mobile and return it with the knowledge that it’ll be the teach. She informs me that she has gotten the results too and congratulates me with only two errors when I could have had three. We talk for a bit; making plans to meet up soon so we can start on the next stage of our “education” and settle on a schedule where big brother and I will come to the school after the weekend so we can make plans.

With all that settled, and calling grandpa that I finally made it through a quick call to his cottage, I hurry through the morning rituals and do some reading in a book that I’ve read often but felt like revisiting again.
It is most peculiar, but ever since I became a member of the Julie Garwood discussion group at proboards, I’ve come across a strange “problem” with her book “Ransom”.

Now, I have read the book a dozen times in the past and enjoy it on every occasion, but at the discussion group site one of the other members has picked no other than Kevin Sorbo as the appearances of the male hero.
Now, I have nothing against Kevin Sorbo, honest, he’s cute, in a rather modern sort of way, but I’ve found that while reading “Ransom” for the thirteenth time, or so, I am now seeing the hero as friggin’ Hercules, and I don’t know if I’m happy about that, or not. Hah.

Be that as it may, I finish a chapter or two and head on down to the house.
No laundry today–I completely forgot–throughout the preparation of Yadzia’s breakfast, my own and then the computer when I quickly get online and then start editing.

Since I have been so focused on the exams these past weeks, the well of inspiration has been plugged solidly shut, so instead big brother and I decide to work on his project for a bit to see if there are any changes necessary, and perhaps some additions to the scenes he’s created.

It reads well and on the overall it needs only a few changes, since he doesn’t know how to create the necessary shortcuts in the way a sentence can be put down yet, and has sometimes put something down backwards. These are all minor mistakes, and I assure him of that on the multiple times he asks if it reads well and if it is a proper start of a story.
It is rather sweet to know that my opinion matters that much to him.

But anyway, after a few pages I manage to read a few pages of my own fantasy adventure “The Learning of Crysp” before it is time for me to head out to the car once more.

Mom’s doctor’s appointment is coming up and afterwards I need to take Yadzia to the vet again. The poor lab was crying again last night, his back hurting somewhat fierce, so I need to discuss our options once again.

The doctor’s appointment is dealt with rapidly, ending with a prescription as usual, before we drive over to the vet hospital where I take a remarkably happy, but slightly unbalanced Yadzia inside.

Our regular vet was there for a change, and I was happy that he joined in on the discussion as we discussed a change in medication for Yadzia to see if it might work better than the last one. It is a little more expensive, but I don’t mind that if he feels better for it.

That done, and a quick trip to the pharmacy, our little outing is over and we head back home where we’re welcomed by the noisy pack the way we always are. Luckily they settle down soon and I can start on making a quick dinner. Spaghetti with tomato sauce and veggies, it goes down well, but afterwards I start sagging in my sheet, catching my eyes upon dropping shut even as I watch “House”.

This definitely won’t do, so I decide to change in my workout clothes and get my routines done while watching the show, and “The Mentalist” that comes on after it. It goes well, doing an excellent job of waking me up. The evening afterwards goes by pleasantly, especially with the rental DVD of “Eagle Eye”.

The movie was a very pleasant surprise, offering great entertainment, a good story, interesting characters and good action scenes. Not at all what I’d expected, and definitely a form of relaxation I was up for.
It was long, however, so I’m dreadfully late by the time I finally get to my cabin and need to get ready for bed, and write today’s Blog.

Who cares, though? I made the exams!!!! Hahahaha.

Exams: Part II. Aaargh!

So, it was that time of the week. I go to bed early, so I can get a decent night’s sleep, and end up lying awake in bed, my mind spinning at top speed, for hours until I finally drop of to sleep a measly two or three hours before it’s time for me to get up and get ready to go to the dreaded exams.

The alarm shrills me from a peaceful sleep that was long in coming, and I stare at the offensive device owlishly as I try to remember why it is screeching already. The memory slams into me like a sledgehammer and with a groan I huddle deep under the finally warm blankets that did a lousy job of keeping my temperature up this night.

I really don’t want to get up yet, but the alarm keeps screeching, (I can’t reach it from the bed) and I know I’m going to have to face the pre-dawn cold soon anyway. Reluctantly I roll out of bed, letting the dogs out, washing up with cold water, and getting dressed in the clothes I’ve put aside the night before.

Pulling on an old skirt over the Jeans I picked–so the dogs won’t dirty the denim–I head on down to the house to pour some coffee down my gullet while eating a couple of slices of bread.
Big brother, who has gotten up as well since someone needs to be awake with the dogs, and I talk for a bit until it’s time for me to head on up to the car and depart to get to the city in time.

It’s a good thing my driver and I departed a little early since, when we approach the city on the motorway, traffic is rapidly congesting around us, giving us only twenty minutes to spare when I join the rest of the exam-takers in front of the closed fence of the traffic office.

I notice three of my fellow student huddling together against the chilly wind coming from the southwest, and tighten the wrap around me as I leaf through the lesson book for the duration of the wait.

Finally, the gate is opened by a security guard, and with the rest of my companions we stream onto the courtyard to wait for the woman standing in the doorway to call out every individual name on the pile of papers she’s holding.

Basically the same procedure as last week occurs, except that the identity check is more thorough, there are less people taking the exams, and the monitoring women are different than before. Also, I am basically seated in the back near to my fellow students, of which one is a little panicky ‘cause he forgot a pen.

Though the women are going to offer pens to those who forgot them later on, I take pity on him and give him one of mine, which is sticking out from my bag. He takes it gratefully, right until he sees that the pen is blue (our teacher pressed that they needed to be black). I point out that lots of others have blue pens as well but he continues to fret until one of the women assures him “vale, vale” which basically means that it’s fine.

So the test start and the thirty minutes are running. I’m starting to get a little excited when I go through question after question finding out that I actually know the answers without too much trouble. I have to keep reminding myself to keep calm and focus throughout, when a smile threatens to form on my face. (It is going to be soooo annoying if I don’t make it with these.) In the end I only doubt about four, which I consider excellent. It means that I only need to have semi-guessed 1 right to make this round.

I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed…and I still say that the creators of the tests are bastards for setting the questions up in such a way that you need to have a major in literature just to understand them.

Ah well, I’m feeling pretty positive when I head back for the car and immediately start writing them down so I can go over them with the teach back at school. Of course doubts start to surface by the time I’ve remembered 21 of them, continuing to fret about them all the way to town, through heavy traffic until I’m dropped off at school.

The teach really wants to go over the test, but since it’s a busy day we don’t manage to get all of them covered in the half hour that passes. Other students are constantly dropping in, needing her attention and soon she needs to start on a group lesson, so it’s time for me to head on home and just wait for the results tomorrow.

I drop off the rented DVDs at the video store and manage to get three movies for the next few days that should be interesting. “Max Payne”, ”Burn after reading” and “Eagle Eye”. I don’t know if they’re any good, but at least it’s some relaxation.

My energy levels are seriously dropping by the time I arrive home, and go over the questions with big brother to see if he can say for sure which one I have gotten wrong. We agree that at least 1 isn’t correct, as the teach was contemplating just before she got distracted. Bummer, but still not a disaster…I hope.

Deciding to put it aside for the time being, I feed Yadzia, get on the computer while big brother heads back to bed, and mess around online for a bit before starting to write down the full exam for later reference. I manage to remember all 30 questions in the end, though the wording is flawed at the very least, and that does give a slight sense of satisfaction. Maybe I suck at exams, but my memory works just fine. Hah.

I attempt to do a bit of writing but after a couple of paragraphs it become blatantly clear that I’m really too tired to get anything done so I shut the computer down and decide to hang and fold the day’s laundry before curling up on an armchair for some much-needed shut eye.

For two hours, with Touri on my propped up feet, Mosha and Dax on my lap I snooze with a multitude of exam questions that keep flashing through my mind, but I feel somewhat revitalized at least when I wake up and find that the evening has arrived.

Remaining in the chair for a bit–the doggies are sleeping so peacefully–I take my time slowly stretching the kinks from my back and then get up to see what to make for dinner. Though there are some leftovers from yesterday’s curry and sweet ‘n sour dishes, I know that the younger sibs will pretty much annihilate what is still there, requiring a meal for me, mom and big brother.

In the end I settle on noodles with a satay sauce made from crunchy peanut butter. It takes only a short time to prepare and it should do an adequate job of filling our stomachs now that a long day and cold temperatures are taking their toll.

Once dinner’s over and done with and the dishes seen to we decide to put on Mark Whalberg’s “Max Payne” movie.
After watching it I don’t consider it bad, necessarily, but it seriously lacked some depth. A pity really since the idea was nice and images very pretty. Now, if some time and effort had been put in dialog, plot explanations and characterization it would have been a wonderful movie. Alas this wasn’t the case.

What follows is a very exciting episode of “Criminal Minds” and then the night has come to an end.
Just twelve more hours at most and I’ll know how I did on the exams! Whatever the results, I’m going to have enough to keep me distracted tomorrow. Yadzia needs to go to the vet and mom has her monthly visit with the doctor.

We’ll see.

Post exam exhaustion?

I wake on my usual time this day, after a particularly troublesome struggle with Knight II earlier in the morning has left my knee pretty sore once more.
The idiot giant dog had his teeth in the bottom of my quilt and was gleefully dragging it off me and into the sitting area of the cabin.

I, of course, was stupid enough to try to keep the dratted thing in place, and ended up bracing myself with…you guessed it, the bad knee. Pop! Such a wonderful sound, and also so very much appreciated. Though it throbbed considerably, it didn’t stop me from falling back to sleep however, so all was not lost. Hah.

I’m up for about ten minutes when the phone rings, displaying the school number, suddenly reminding me that the results of yesterday’s debacle should be in. I pick up the phone and listen. I FAILED the test with four mistakes, rather than the three that are allowed. Drat! If only I had gotten that motorcycle question right, I would have made it, like big brother who had only two mistakes.

I am happy I didn’t mess up with the four-digit code I had to put in, though, cause that would have been so very embarrassing. Gawd! Can you imagine my mortification if that had happened? Here I’d gone through extra trouble to know exactly what to fill in on the form, and then a stupid mistake like that? Aaargh. Luckily this wasn’t the case. Of seven students, only two passed–big brother being one of them. Yay.

Teach is very sorry, and when I tell her that while going over the questions last night, we’d already figured that out, she assures me that I did well anyway, since some of those I related to her were indeed very strange. Compared to the older test big brother got, mine were pretty much disastrous. Ah well…

We agree that I’ll retake the test next week, and we’ll discuss any more preparations when I come in the next time to do some more studying. After hanging up I mutter a few “stupid, stupids” to myself and then sigh with resignation. No sense in worrying about it now.

With only a mild discomfort that makes me favor the knee a little more I make the bed, get dressed and then head down to the house with the still somewhat fuzzy dogs in tow.

No laundry today, so I feed Yadzia and myself after turning on the coffee machine.
I am rather concerned about Yadzia, he’s been having quite a bit of trouble with his back, and while talking with big brother we decide to go to the vet later today and see what can be done.

With that plan set, I get my coffee and OJ and settle at the table.
Though I had almost eight hours of sleep, the stress of the past week is definitely taking its toll for my eyes are at half mast again as I spend a couple of hours going over the messages and chat forums.

Two hours pass before it’s time to head out to take Yadzia to the vet. He’s wagging his tail, his back tense but his movements easy enough as I help him into the car with an enthusiastic Mosha leading the way, and depart.

Upon arrival the young vet asks how Yadzia has been doing and nods when I tell her that the last steroid injection appears to have done little good, and takes a moment to check out his back. He alternates between looking at me and then back at her, and so on, before we finally decide to try out Rymadyl which is a anti-inflammatory painkiller for animals that should at least take care of some of his discomfort. It’s not looking good, however, since there is little else that can be done for him.

Relieved that I haven’t been forced to make the dreaded decision yet, we head on back, drop Yadzia and Mosha off at the house and then continue on our way to town so I can have another lesson at school.

Big brother, having surmised that some extra tests won’t harm him either (though relieved that he had easy questions, he rather knows all of the answers for when the next stage starts) is with me, and heads for the computers while I spend some time with teach to go over the questions I typed out. A total of twenty-seven questions and answers stuck in the end and teach is pretty happy about them, since they’ll allow her to bring the other students up to date as well as to what they can expect.

We spend approximately two hours there, before heading back home where an exuberant pack and dinner awaits.
I’m exhausted, for some reason, and soon find myself dropping off in my chair while “The Mentalist” is on TV. I snooze for a couple of hours, the warmth from the heaters making me toasty warm in the seat, until I’m startled awake by Dax, who jumps on top of me.

I have a quick snack and do some chores and then head on up to my room for the remainder of the evening.

While feeding the dogs, I prepare Yadzia’s snack, and as soon as he’s emptied his bowl, I stuff one of the painkillers down his throat, turning just in time to catch Knight II by the collar, when the idiot comes bounding into the cabin at top speed. If I hadn’t he’d have bowled right over me, I’m sure. Hah.

And with today’s Blog over and done with, I can call it a night. Yay!

Exams...Ewww. Might have messed up.

After a rather aborted night of four hours at most, dreaming about having to do exams, the alarm goes off and I blink into the darkness of what is usually my bedtime.

Around me the dogs look at me with mystified expressions, their eyes huge and owlish as I lay there, staring at the dark ceiling while I’m trying to think why the heck the alarm is going off now. Due to the dreams I would have sworn that I was already working on the exam, but now I slowly begin to realize that the actual chore won’t be until another two and a half hours.

Groaning, I get out of bed, the dogs scrambling to get ahead of me, I hurry towards the door and throw it open before they are able to press close. I’ve got exactly forty-five minutes to get ready, and though this is really ample time, I feel a little tense as I get dressed, gather my things and then head down the mountain in the dark to let the dogs into the courtyard.

Big mistake…at least the dressing part…since the dogs jump up against me the moment I pass through the door and end up with several paw prints on the jeans and sweater that tops it. Drat, I’ll have to change clothes before departure.

The younger sibs are there, having already prepared the coffee, which I pour liberally down my throat as I chew on a peanut butter and honey sandwich and keep myself distracted with the siblings’ talk and jokes.

Forty-four minutes after waking, I’m redressed in clean clothes, have taken my painkillers and am sitting in the truck as we head towards the city. Talk between big brother and our driver of the morning is about a variety of subjects, including the upcoming exam, and seeing as traffic is light we arrive at our destination half an hour early.

We go over our books one last time and then climb from the car to join the gathering crowd in the back of the large building that is still locked against anyone who isn’t an employee. Around us about eighty people are clustered in small groups and as almost an hour passes, the knee is definitely demonstrating some disagreement.

At last someone appears in the doorway of the building and the gate is opened to let us and the crowds enter onto a fenced in courtyard. A woman starts calling out names from a stack of papers she’s holding. Name after name is called, after the fifteenth or so bringing brother forth so he can head inside to follow the steady stream of today’s exam takers.

I’m somewhere around number fifty, and when the woman finally calls my name, I wince at the deformed pronunciation. I take my form, give her a friendly smile and then head to two flights of concrete stairs up to the aula on the second floor. A line has formed there, human traffic slowing down due to the check of identity before we are led inside where we’re to take one of approximately a hundred and twenty table and chair combos.

I see big brother way ahead of me in front, and settle in my seat in the middle while arranging my vest on the chair and placing my bag at my feet.
The rest of the exam takers file in around me, slowly filling each and every seat until we’re piled inside the large space like sardines in a can.

Finally the last one arrives and settles, bringing the two supervisors to the front to mess with the microphones for a bit. Neither appears to work, so with a suffering sigh one of the women clears her throat and starts to address us in rapid Spanish, explaining the rules, or so I manage to decipher by picking up the few words I recognize.

Next they start to disperse our tests, placing them on the table before us with the instruction of covering the three cellophane covered lists under our answer form while they move down the isles, repeating it over and over again.

There are quite a few English folks today, and time after time the women pass me without handing me my question lists. It isn’t until one of the supervisors stands in the front of the tables once more and calls out if everyone has what they need when she finally notices my raised hand and comes hurrying over to hand it to me. I’d swear I was invisible. Hah.

So, another long list of instructions follow, most of it repeats of what our teacher already explained until at last we are instructed to sign our test and check the personal information on it. Then we need to fill in the codes of our individual tests and then wait for the “start” sign that is given on ten thirty, exactly.

I take a deep breath, relax all the tense muscles in my body and start reading. First one’s easy, followed by several doubtful cases, which I skip in favor of answering those I’m certain of so I can take my time with the others.

I’m horrified at finding more than a few questions that A. have nothing to do with the lesson material. B. have never before been mentioned. C. that are put down in such a confusing fashion that I have to read them three times to unravel the meaning behind them. And D. (which is the cincher) six questions about motorcycles. Huh?

As luck will have it, I also get exactly those questions which we’d discussed at school, and which the teacher wasn’t at all sure about. Drat.
I do the best I can going over everything twice more to see if I’ve marked every box and three minutes before my half hour is up I shrug and get up to hand in my test. I can’t think of what to do differently, so lingering is useless.

Heading on out to wait for big brother, I light a cigarette and shake my head as the questions + answers keep whirling through my mind, already starting to doubt pretty much all the answers I gave. What are the chances of getting nervous after a test, huh? Aaargh.

Big brother appears, his usual poker face in place as we head to the car where our driver is patiently reading a book, and we start writing down the questions and answers that we remember so we can discuss them with our teacher later on.

It takes well up to an hour, leaving with a complete blank of five of thirty questions that I can’t think of for the life of me. While going over the questions we have already found out at least one error and three maybes, which is a rather depressing thought. By this time our driver turns the key in the ignition and…nothing. Gawd. While we were busy working out all the material, none of us considered that the CD playing was rapidly draining the battery, leaving us stranded on the outskirts of the city.

We end up calling for road services, which doesn’t arrive until after noon and has us on our way in three minutes. Very frustrating! There is some confusion on our way out of the mazes of the city, but in the end we manage to find our way back to the motorway and the town where our school is located.

We spent about half an hour with our teacher, telling her of the questions, answers and the way they were formulated, which has her roll her eyes every so often before she informs us that the results should be available around noon tomorrow. With that, and the afternoon siesta, which is a usual practice around here that closes all stores and offices between one and five in the afternoon, we start on our way home.

It is during that drive that I get the disturbing thought that I might have done something wrong on my answer sheet after all. I can’t, for the life of me, remember if I wrote down individual four digit codes for every ten questions, which was something that big brother had to do. So I start to worry, did I read every individual number or did I presume them to match the way they do at school? I can’t remember, and this thought continues to swirl through my head for the remainder of the day.

Once at home, after greeting the dogs and quickly taking care of the laundry chore, I settle down with my computer to write out all the notes I made in the car so I can check them for details once more. In the end there are two definite mistakes and two maybes, so if one of the maybes turns out to be correct I will have passed…presuming that I didn’t make that dreaded four digit code mistake, which would make at least fifteen questions faulty. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The way I figure I might as well get the mental berating over and done with, just in case, hah.

Afterwards, with everyone sleeping the day I away, I spend a few hours online, just surfing to relax, and around dusk, when the younger sibs have reappeared, I shut down the computer–before I nod off to sleep right in my chair. Some exercise is called for, I decide, and change clothes to carefully start on the familiar routines in the company of mom.

I manage more than the other day, though kicking is still out of the question–or so I realize after a couple of tryouts. As a matter of fact the three kicks I did were downright excruciating, leaving me feeling sore and tense by the time I’m done (still, I feel much better than before, now that thoughts of the exams have been pushed to the back of my mind) and wash up before hobbling to the kitchen to start on dinner.

What with the sibs only having had four hours of sleep too, no one feels up to cooking, and since I have a serious hankering for actual nourishment, rather than some sort of snack, I decide to do it myself.

Fried rice and veggies with satay will do for the day, especially since the rice and veggie mix is already done in a sack that’s stored in the freezer, needing only the satay to be made in which the dish can be prepared.

By the time I’m done, my knee is throbbing like mad, and with my regular bag of frozen peas in one hand and my meal in the other, I settle at the table to let the cold do its thing on the painful joint.

Middle sister thankfully offers to get my a couple of painkillers from my room, along with the supportive bandage which I wrap around the swollen mess after the cold treatment has done its work, leaving me at least remotely comfortable.

Yadzia is distinctly uncomfortable, however, his back obviously paining him, setting off an entirely different kind of depression since I know that I can’t be selfish in letting him suffer when the quality of his life is so obviously going down. Though he still wags his tail when I sit down beside him for a proper petting, his entire body is tense, and occasional crying makes him squirm. I don’t think I can postpone the inevitable much longer for the poor Labrador, and that thought almost makes me cry.

The rest of the evening is spent watching a couple of movies that seem to pass in slow motion for me, now that energy levels are waning. Bedtime is starting to look more tempting by the hour, and around midnight I’ve passed the eighteen-hour mark of waking time.

With much relief I take the dogs up the mountain and feed them–giving Yadzia his tuna and kibble mix, which he eats enthusiastically-before I drag my way through the evening rituals and set up the computer to write down today’s events.

Tomorrow will show if today’s hassles were worth it, I guess. But in all honesty, I’m not looking forward to it.