*cue song*... "It's been a while..."

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post and I can truthfully say for once, much has happened!

Solo travel has come to a halt for now, to make way for future adventures with the family, who've had no interest in sharing my adventures before.

So what else?

Well, I've gone back to school...again. But this time I'm on campus, it's a bit easier to focus rather than online, too many distractions. My kids are older now too, that makes it a little easier as well.

I'm doing adult tertiary preparation, a gateway course to further study at university or tafe. It's sort of the equivalent of Years 11 & 12, except I'll be completing it within one year.

So far, so good, then I'm only 7 weeks in. Studying English, Psychology, Legal studies, Australian Society and computing for academic purposes.

Two weeks into my first semester, my turn on the Qld Health Wheel of Fortune came up and I was scheduled, finally, for my surgery after several cancellations. I'd been on the waiting list for around 4 years I think. 

I had a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, weight loss surgery developed fairly recently, where a large portion of your stomach is stapled off vertically and the excess removed, leaving a tube-like structured stomach rather than a pouch. It's permanent, irreversible, you have to think long and hard if its what you want. But I can expect to lose up to 80% of my excess weight in the first 12 months. As I write, I'm 4 weeks post op and still on the diet upgrade giving the stomach a chance to heal. When you're feeling better its easy to forget that you've had major surgery, like today, I overdid it yesterday so a little sore in the tummy muscles today but it will get better.

While it was hard being off school for 2 weeks and all the catching up that goes with it, I found recovery at home boring, so it was good to get back.

I don't really mix with anyone at school, just get in, get 'er done, get out basically, so my anxiety isn't proving too much of a problem, except maybe in exam conditions, I found yesterday my focus pinpointed and I could literally hear and feel every damn irritating noise other people made while I was trying to concentrate Lol. Guess my tolerance skills haven't changed much then.

So now the experience of being a mature student has been pretty eye-opening. You tend to think you're fitting in with the rest of the student community, then the Mum senses kick in...my new pet hate is young men sniffling in class. It takes all my strength sometimes not to scream out "will you blow your bloody nose!" or throw a box of tissues at them...

Well I'm awaiting the psych tutor now, killing time pre-class, drinking coffee and blasting music.

Maybe I don't wanna grow up?