Still down a bit

7.36pm. Watching Masterchef with family. Full of Pizza Capers - got to be happy with that. New chorizo/scallop pizza was yum-my. Declan finished Moggill Uniting daycamp today - had a great time, particularly after his team won everything, mainly thanks to an ex-army adult helper who proved a wiz at constructing the gunya out of palm leaves etc. Some people are pretty competitive, aren't they?
Felt a bit sad this afternoon. Cue: sad music and pathetic comments to follow.
Reasons: a)Knee was hurting a bit.
b) concerned about knee operation on Tuesday.
c) concerned about work still needing to be done before school restarts.
d) generally sad about my lack of application and work ethic in recent days.
e) angry that I had to spend hours doing household tasks like trip to the dump and day camp closing today (I realise how selfish this one is.)
f) annoyed we had to take 3 friends home from day camp today (see above re: selfishness)
g) generally hungry and thirsty. (pause now for drink - that's salty pizza for you)
h) some strange lower back pain - annoyed at posture and home seats which probably contribute. Annoyed in light of chiropractor visit on Wednesday night. Annoyed further at having to spend money on chiropractors.
i) annoyed that friends we ferried home from daycamp are much wealthier than us. They have come back from a family holiday skiing down south, and are off tonight to the Gold Coast prior to running in the Gold Coast marathon tomorrow. Further annoyed that this guy can spend so much time away from family training for marathon, apparently without resentment from said family. Annoyed about our lack of money. (Am really getting pathetic now.)
j) after visit to financial planner today, annoyed that I didn't have all the documents to hand which I should have had - further annoyed at my lack of good filing downstairs to make this easier to follow. Annoyed that we are not in a better financial position after so many years, but admittedly we have been on basically one income for many years, have two children, etc. At least this guy (yet another new face) sounds solid - even suggesting it was possible to run our investments ourselves! Points for honesty!
k) annoyed at not making more money from OzLotto and then blowing it all on a ticket for the Powerball jackpot last night, which nobody won. Why am I wasting money chasing the big one? Must not go down the path of a gambling problem on top of everything else.
l) concerned about Phil and Jo's mediation session this afternoon. Fingers crossed that things went OK and nobody stormed out etc. Will call Phil tomorrow sometime to see how it went. What a saga - I realise I am now of the age when some friends will start separating / divorcing but this one is looking particularly harsh.

There may have been other things as well, but that's a pretty good start. Will have an iceblock and start doing more schoolwork. Mad Men's final two episodes last night were excellent viewing, so that cheered me up a bit. Weird Al Yankovic clips on Youtube are also a good source - hope to use some in my Year 10 English satire unit this semester. Pray for a good sleep tonight - need to go to bed at 10 if possible, I reckon. My bedtime novel, Breath by Tim Winton, is going very well - memories of my amateur efforts at surfing brought to mind and he really is impressive in his descriptive skills. Ciao now.

Down a bit

Made a poor decision just now to finish the day with a game of chess at freechess.org - what a mistake. I lost narrowly on time after being in a good position - very disappointed. It tells me that I must try hard to go cold turkey from online chess for as long as possible. What surprises me is that I can win pretty regularly on other sites, but freechess just has too many good players. Particularly when I'm playing under time pressure, I'm just not up to it. I know I should just harden up, but it was a mistake to play it - it just makes me blue!

The day otherwise was quite productive. More Dance clips transferred to DVD, other DVDs copied for school. Lots done on a Powerpoint on Church history for 10 RAVE - wondering why I never did it before! Saw lots of Youtube today too - some great pieces on Luther including raps and polkas which I hope to use; more theist/atheist issues elsewhere - how people have the time to go wandering through Youtube doing nothing but making negative or abusive comments on people's sites disturbs me. Added lots to my favourites for use soon.

Went to chiropractor again tonight with family. As usual, torn between hoping the treatment helps me feel good, and wondering if it really does anything at all - increasingly concerned about the cost as well. Can we afford it? Al will quote my dad and say, 'You can't argue with results.'

Speaking of money, we go to see our new financial planner on Friday and I'll be pretty interested to hear what he suggests, given the GFC etc. Must admit I entered the massive OzLotto record jackpot yesterday, and no, I didn't win $53 million like some other people, but I did get a $13.20 Division 7 prize. Unfortunately my ticket cost $25, so what does this teach you?

Good Chaser and good M. Jackson expose doco on tonight. Good to see a critical Jackson story just keeping the balance there this week, too. What a life.

With good wishes for another solid workday tomorrow,
Goodnight from me.