Skip to main content

Blink and the week has gone... again!

I've survived my first week! Of course it's flown by and I've hardly scratched the surface yet but the important thing at this stage is that the people I'm working with appear to be very nice, my team are engaged and up for change, and the office environment is good. Those are some of the key attributes that are hard to deal with if they aren't working and so are key to it being a good place to work. The commute this week has also been a huge improvement on what I was doing previously, even if I'm going to have to find those extra steps I got to and from the station previously somewhere else. On that front I worked out this week that Hyde Park is less than a 10 minute walk away, and immediately from the office you can get straight onto the canal and walk through Little Venice up towards Camden Lock or Maida Vale - very pleasant walking that will change with the seasons and weather given the water.

Blink and somehow it's Friday! I know from the past that if I don't finish a post on Sunday evening the week gets away from me but this has been a particularly busy week as I have had almost back to back intro meetings, as well as presenting to our Group Exec on Tuesday - no pressure on day 7 in a new role! It all went well and I got some good commentary so I will chalk that one up as a success.

The week has been a bit more hit and miss on the trains. I had marked out in my diary a hard stop on Thursday evenings in order to catch the 5:08 train and get to yoga. This worked perfectly last week but failed miserably this week with the train being 13 mins late leaving the station - not great but tight to make it. Unfortunately by the time we got to Newbury it was 27 mins late and I'd lost all hope of making the class. Doubly annoying as after such a busy week I really needed it.
Rather than get frustrated I decided to put the yoga mentality into practice, took some deep breaths and instead counted my blessings for all the things that have gone right. I went home and made the most of being back earlier than normal. I also reflected on the fact that 2 weeks in and travelling in and out of London most days, despite the hiccups I'm really noticing the 30 mins extra in bed and the shorter / easier commute time. I read somewhere that for an already active person more sleep is more beneficial than more exercise so I'm trying to put this into practice and not get fixated on the fact that I used to do more steps - now I get more sleep!

Overall it's busy, it's taking up alot of energy - metal and physical - but it's good. For the moment I'll bank that.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...

More frustrations!

An old one to remind myself how cute they were! Sunday evening, back to school after half term and the normal shouting match ensues as we ask where all Abi's kit is and she shrugs and says "it's not my fault..." There are a number of aspects that drive us nuts here - first that her immediate response is denial and abdication of all responsibility, the second that she genuinely doesn't care and the third that it still doesn't help is with where her (mostly new) sports kit is! While this is going on we have Izzy sorting her kit out while weeping quietly because she has decided (18 months after we said goodbye to him) that she misses Scooby! We decided it was just easier to suggest everyone gets an early night and packed them off to their rooms - there really isn't an answer for some of this I think! This week has been a mix of school testing - the kids went of to St Gabriel's for their tests on Wednesday, Abi riding, Izzy doing her gym practice and...

Lockdown - month 3

Bertie hoping to be allowed to move into Abi's shed As we pass the mark of 2 months in lockdown it has become all very normal - in fact as I walked Bertie yesterday I was resentful of the cars whizzing past me when it's been so peaceful for so long. We have now moved from 'Stay at Home' to 'Stay Alert' (England anyway, the wee Krankie up North refuses to do anything remotely aligned to the rest of the UK on principal). Apparently the majority of the country finds the new message very confusing - " what does it mean?" they ask themselves. This is what the media would have us believe anyway, because what else is there to do in lockdown but shit stir and create confusion when there is no need. We have definitely now  moved past the point of being in this together and gone back to the normal blame game. So much for solidarity. Friday also marked the end of the first half of term, although half term has never felt so much like school, or more accurate...