The novelty of having a full time, permanent, local job
still hasn’t worn off. My average commute time has dropped to twenty minutes, I
am walking more, I feel a lot less restrained and a lot more able to live life,
and I don’t think I really truly realised how bad it was until I stopped.
Commuting a long way is fine in the short term, but it was really affecting my
mental health. My energy levels are higher, my mental clarity is better, I feel
I have more focus, and I still have no idea what to do with all of this spare
time in the evenings. I put £20 of fuel in the car two weeks ago and I still
have just under a half a tank (before, I was filling up every three days; £250
of petrol each month). The time had definitely come for me to reassess life,
time spent on & commitment to the M42, and to think about my life/work
balance.
So this week was my second week in the new job. It was busy;
lots of meetings, lots of meeting new people, going to new places, and lots of
getting VERY excited about things to come. I have been given two weekly
volunteer sessions to takeover, basically set up from scratch, and develop. The
two sites are both blank canvases, waiting for me to come and plan. I am very
excited to start planning. Between the two sites I have about 15 raised beds to
plant up. One site has a theme/requirement, and the other doesn’t. One site has
a meadow that needs restoration, the other doesn’t. Lots of things to do, think
about, work on, and accomplish. It’s nice to have a good challenge!
This week in the evenings I have:
-
Eaten a lot of pizza (no real change from
before)
-
Helped a friend move house (technically not an
evening job but I actually had time to do it, so I did it)
-
Not so much an evening thing but – have VERY
much enjoyed not having to wake up ‘til 7:30 to be at work for 9! The JOY! At
Rushcliffe to be at work for 9, I would’ve been up at six to be on the motorway
for seven, to maybe be there for nine.
-
Done crochet. My temperature blanket is very
stripy due to the changes this time of the year.
-
Had baths at like 6pm, just because I CAN
because I’m not sat on the motorway
-
Enjoyed a bottle of beer or two
-
Generally not been utterly exhausted and brain
foggy
 |
| Very nice. Went down very well. Vegan too! |
I am very excited (really?) to see what this year will
bring. The first step is to get a new phone sorted as my contract has now
expired. For the first time in maybe 8 years (!!!) I am not having a Sony
Xperia. My first Xperia was the Ray, and my current one in the Xperia XZ. I
love them, but they just don’t match up to other phones anymore.
I also am going to start a new large blanket project this
year. I am going to make Sophies Universe – a pattern I’ve wanted to do for
YEARS but never thought I was good enough to do. I have told myself I need to
finish Cosmic first before I can start a new blanket – I only have two parts
left of Cosmic, so this week I am going to start planning colours for Sophie…
