July 30, 2005
WEll my computer is now up and running again. Thankfully!
It’s funny how much faster it is as well, now I’ve got rid of all those nasty trojans!
I’m having a strange Saturday morning. It doesn’t feel like Saturday at all but I don’t know why. I’m feeling very tired too. Maybe I’m just not cut out for this full-time working thing 
Seriously- I’ve had a tiring week. I went camping in the lake district last weekend and met up with some friends who were on holiday there. It was really good and I enjoyed it. The weather was good too! It’s amazing though how long it can take for a family with 2 teenagers and a 10 year old to work out what they are doing, who’s going to do it, when they are going to do it, who’s ready and who isn’t etc. sometimes there are actually advantages to being single!
I’ve managed to avoid doing much in the way of jobs and housework during the week, a lot because I’ve been so tired. That is the real reason – honest!! I went to bed at 6.30pm on Wednesday – and then slept through to midnight, got up and ate a bowl of cereal and then slept again until 6.30am! So today the flat is really untidy and with loads of jobs to do – none of which will be accomplished by me sitting here at a keyboard! Oh well, never mind, updating my internet friends is a really important task too isn’t it.
I’m wondering also if some of my tiredness is to do with the counselling work I’m doing at the moment. We’ve been looking at some anger issues; stuff that’s really deep-seated and painful for me. We’re taking it slowly but even so it can be hard going!
July 25, 2005
Having problems with computer. Sorry for absence of blogs! Normals service to be resumed shortly (I hope!)
July 16, 2005
Well I’m just taking a breather in between my morning chores to drink a cup of tea, eat a banana and blog!
You know – I think this full time working lark is not all it’s cracked up to be! I’m really tired. I came in from work last night, ate some cereal and went straight to bed at about 6.30pm. I woke at about midnight to eat another bowl of cereal, wnt straight back to sleep and surfaced at about 9.00am this morning! Work is gactually going fine so far – I think it’s just being in new environment where nothing is on autopilot that makes it extra tiring. things are slowly feeling more familiar though. The commute is a bit of a shock though. It seems to take me about 35 to 45 minutes depending on the traffic. Then I have a choice between paying £3.00 for a day’s parking very close to work or parking for free about 10 mins walk away. I’m going to have to go for the free option mostly I think as money is going to be a bit tight. and – £3.00 a day works out at over £700 a year! The extra 10 mins means that my commute can be nearly an hour though – which is a bit tough. I keep telling myself the walk will help me keep fit and I’ll get faster at it as time goes on, but somehow my argument isn’t too convincing.
They did actually pay me though this week which is nice! I had a shock though as my tax was loads more than I anticipated and makes me about £120 over on my carefully planned budget each month. I’m hoping (desperately) that this is bacause I’m on an emergency tax code and that it’ll be loads less once that’s sorted out. Otherwise I’m living on baked beans for a year and not getting my hair cut or buying any new clothes at all!
My WISE gift is made and just needs a note to be written before it goes in the post. I will do that today I promise. As no-one seems to have managed to get my extremely cryptic clues as to my WISE recipient yet, I thought I’d summarise them here and add a bit more help.
So – someone who’s blog name sounds as if they should particularly enjoy August but in fact this isn’t the case.
(Clue – Q: What’s the very best thing about being a teacher? A: August)
Someone who lives in a different country to me but I can mail their wise gift on an ordinary UK first class stamp
Someone who’s country features in the following joke:
Q: How do you get to (country X) in a mini
A1: Over the Severn Bridge
A2: On the M56
OK, OK enough already!
Right – banana eaten and tea nearly drunk – guess I’d better get on!
July 10, 2005
that I should have been posting about such trivial things as cleaning when there is so much serious stuff going on at the moment and about which other bloggers have posted so well! I’m sorry! I think partly I seem to be finding it hard to blog about anything deep and meaningful or feelings oriented at the moment. I’m not sure why but it may just be me in survival mode as I get used to starting a new job. (So far it’s going fine by the way.)
I was shaken by Thursday’s events. I found out whilst walking past a T.V. shop in the town where I’m now working and then seeing Sky News headline banners scrolling across the screen. It was quite a shock and I was particularly concerned for my sister and her partner who both live and work in London; particularly as my sister is a freelance casting director and so could be working at loads of different venues in London and I didn’t know which one. I couldn’t get though to my sister on her mobile. Later I obviously realised why as they had shut down a lot of the phone communications to avoid the possibility of more bombs being triggered by phone and to give more communications channels to emergency services.
Fortunately just as I was begining to get really worried, my Mum texted me to say they were OK. I’m not sure how my Mum managed to phone through to my sister’s assistant at her office as Mum and Dad were on holiday and so would only have had the mobile handy – but somehow she managed it. As one of my friends said, she wouldn’t have said no to my Mum if she was trying to get through on the phone. ( think – the most scary primary school teacher you ever knew – and you’ll get the picture!!) Shortly after that my Mum also found out that my 3 cousins who work in London were also all OK.
So I am grateful. And realising how fragile life can be.
July 9, 2005
Well mostly, I get fed up when my Mum starts telling me how to do things but just this once….
The other weekend she and my Dad came to stay and she startled me a bit by saying ” Oh well I never clean my shower”. Given that my Mum is usually a relatively clean sort of person, I was a bit surprised but then she said ” I just wipe it down every day with a microfibre cloth , just after I’ve had a shower” Technically speaking of course it could be said that wiping down with a microfibre cloth is a form of cleaning and I’ll spare you the details of her waxing lyrical about how nicely it brings up the tiles! However, I have to say, I am a convert! It works! I have a nice sparkly bathroom with relatively little effort. It works on sinks too if you wipe them round once a day and, as again pointed out by my Mother, although the results on day one may not seem to be particularly impressive, it just goes on getting better and better! It’s amazing on my kitchen stainless steel sink and “green” too as you don’t need to use any cleaning products. At the risk of painting myself as a microfibre cloth nerd (perish the thought!), I have to point out though that the cheap microfibre cloths I bought from Wilkinsons don’t seem to do quite such a good job as the more expensive ones that my Mum sent me or those you can buy from places like Lakeland Ltd! Fly Lady would be proud of me!
Anyway – in other and more interesting news:
I have made about 3/4 of the gift that will be sent to my WISE victime and the remaining creative activity is planned for tomorrow! If you still haven’t worked out who it is: my WISE victim lives in a different country to me but I think I will be able to send the whole gift using onlya 30p stamp!
July 3, 2005
Once again, I’m sorry for the lack of blogging. It’s just that I feel so yuckky at the moment. I’m not sure why that is. I just feel tired and listless and a bit strange and isolated too! I guess it’s all wrapped up with starting a new job. Friday went fine by the way. I think I’m going to get on OK with my new boss (always a good sign!). We spent the day moving furniture around and unpacking boxes from the office move so I’m still not much clearer about what my day-to-day activities will entail but I guess this week will make me a lot clearer.
Anyway – on other matters. My gift for my W.I.S.E buddy is part made but not completed. I WILL get it finished and in the post before the deadline!
I suppose you want a clue do you?
Well my W.I.S.E. buddy sounds as if s/he should belong to that group of bloggers who particularly enjoy August – but s/he doesn’t. Well s/he may actually really enjoy August but that would be for different reasons.
OK – is that cryptic enough for you?
