Blissed out

I'm back

Wow I can't believe how long it's been since my last post - I've been a pretty rubbish blogger of late.  I've no excuses that don't sound a bit 'the dog ate my homework!' I'm afraid - I've just been really, really busy.  And the slightly manic busy-ness has meant that I've not been doing much crafting at all.

Work went pretty stupid about a month ago.  I'm not going to go into what happened because this is a public blog and I know that some of my colleagues occasionally read it. But I will say that what happened was unfair, extremely stressful and has left me with serious questions about the values of some of the people I work for and whether the organisation is one I can see myself sticking with long term.  For a few weeks there all I could focus on was work and trying to sort the mess out as best I could (whilst retaining some sanity and dignity.)  It's taken a lot of energy and I'm still not 100% there yet, but the situation is a lot better than it was.

I've been doing lots of new challenging things there too which ironically have been really enjoyable and helped as a reminder that I'm actually quite good at what I do given the right opportunities.  But you know how it is when you're working flat out and having to do lots of mental preparation for things - it just eats time and energy.

Coupled with that we've had the loft converted in our house.  It looks fantastic but I naively didn't realise just how chaotic and messy the rest of the place would be during and after the building work.  The pictures don't really do justice the finished room unfortunately but we're so pleased with it and Cole has moved up there officially.  It just meant that our bedroom, his old bedroom, the hall stairs and landing all have been covered in dust, dirt and need completely re-decorating.  Which in itself is exciting but also means there hasn't really been a usable room in our house for about 2 months now (yes, seriously!)

Even the downstairs rooms have been affected because they're stuffed full of the things that have had to have been removed from the upstairs.  For weeks now my dining room has been full of rolls of carpet and boxes of flat packed IKEA furniture (don't even get me started on them!)

I didn't fully appreciate just how much my home is a sanctuary for me and to have it messy, covered in brick dust, choatic and cluttered has really affected me.  John is so fantastic at DIY that I know it's all going to come back together brilliantly - but I WANT IT DONE NOW!

Hee, hee - I am sort of laughing about it because I didn't really discover my inner Monica until going through this whole process!  How people live in a caravan at the end of the garden while they build their own homes is completely beyond me.  I love watching those TV shows but honestly, the people in them must be nuts (or complete saints, I'm not sure which!) because this has definitely tested my limits!

So most evenings and pretty much every weekend has been spent painting, sanding, putting flatpacked furniture together or taking additional trips back to IKEA or B&Q to find replacement widgets or parts of furniture that weren't in the pack to begin with!

I've learned at lot about myself too, as I think has my darling husband, namely that  I'm a nightmare with the patience of a 5 year old!  I want it done now.  I want it done immediately.  I don' want to wait any longer - I want my house back!

No, seriously, I think I've been coping pretty well (!) and I have been putting in lots of hours on it too.  Whilst John is great at fixing, building, staining, carpeting, lifting etc - I'm good at one thing - slapping some paint up.  So I've painted the loft with Cole and a few evenings this week (after work) have been spent painting Cole's old bedroom which is going to be my new office/guest room/workroom.  This was a fun room to do because for some reason (ok, because I was trying to be a good Mum) I let Cole choose the colour of his (old) bedroom a few years ago and he went for a space theme with royal blue walls.  So it took 2 coats of white emulsion over the blue just so that we could put another colour on top.  Now it's 2 shades of green and looks fab but I was ssooooooooo cursing that blue colour choice all those years ago!

So enough babbly ranting - I'll post some proper pictures up very soon and will endeavor to post much more often from now on.  Please bear with me, normal service is about to be resumed!
Jo x

Still Tired - and why's it so dark?

I can't believe how dark it seems being back in England - it just doesn't seem to be getting light.  I'm working on a lovely cardigan in some Louisa Harding Impression and I was going to post some pictures but it's too dark to show it off properly (my camera seems to bleach out all color if I use the flash!) 
I'm reminded of what Billy Connelly said his kids (who lived with him primarily in California) would say when they visited the UK - "Daddy, why's the sky so low here?"  I know exactly what they mean.  I don't suppose leaving early for work and coming back when it's dark is helping either. 

So to cheer myself a bit I thought I'd post a few more pictures of my lovely holiday!

this was the view from our bedroom!

How beautiful is that?

I must be crazy!

I must be completely stark raving bonkers!  Not only do I work full time, have a 7 year old, am doing an MA (assignment handed in on Monday - at last!) but I'm doing some freelance work for the University.  I've been tutoring a group of undergraduates during a work placement module - and now I've got to mark their 4000 word assignments - 23 of them! 

This parcel arrived this morning (note tin of tomatoes to show scale - in case this isn't quite clear - it's bloody big!)  Part of me wanted to rip it open straight away and get stuck in, and the other part of me wanted to hide under the covers until it had gone away!

I'm going to spend the weekend getting the bulk of them done as I've got to have sent a selection off by Tuesday for double marking.  If I don't do it today and tomorrow, I'm going to be up until midnight and beyond next week - hey, I might be anyway, but I'm doing my best to avoid that.

I keep chanting my mantra: "Remember disneyland...remember disneyland.." as the money from the work is paying for our trip to disneyland in October, and as I've never taken Cole away anywhere other than this country before, it's going to be such a special holiday that it'll make the ridiculous workload worth it!

The cardigan I'm making is coming along well.  I'm frustrated by the colors on my camera  - the yarn is a lovely apricot/peach color but it really doesn't come across well on here.  I suppose I should read the camera manual and see if I can do something (yeah, like that's going to happen!)

To add to my busy weekend, it's my friend Diane's 40th Birthday- so we're off out on a girly night out.  We're going to a place that has a bit of a reputation as a pick up joint - Diane lives in hope anyway!  I'm a bit grumbly about going because; a) I don't really know most of her friends, b) I'm not that keen on a pick up joint, c) I could really do with having the evening to get stuck into this work, d) I don't want to drink because I've got to have my wits about me tomorrow to continue with said marking, e) they don't allow tattoos and will apparently refuse entry to anyone who has one and throw anyone out who's managed to get in with one - I have a small daisy tattoo in the middle of my back so will either have to wear a shirt or keep my cardigan on all night - plus I don't like the idea of somewhere so prejudicial and right wing.

OK Moan over!  It's Diane's 40th, she deserves a great night out and I'll happily join in festivities to help make this happen - maybe I should reveal my tatoo mid way through the evening, get asked to leave and then I can get my early night without offending anyone!  Nah...well maybe...