Life Update

I'm sure I could quite quickly find out, but I can't remember the last time I went more than a month without blogging. But, there it is - March is always busy and this one was even more so.

However, I don't like it when I miss out on blogging for a goodly amount of time because it's like there's a gap in my memory when I look back over the year (and obviously, this blog is mainly for me to remember what I've been doing), so here's what's been occurring -

1. Half term
I went to London. I had a meeting with the publisher about new projects, I went to see the wedding dress exhibition at the V&A (amazing), I booked a facial at Bliss which they had to cancel, I stayed at the Russell and ate at Yo Sushi three times in as many days, and I did the final two days of my exam board course. They were even more interesting than the first two, incredibly, and I ended up sitting opposite someone who works in the same town as me. Small world.
Upon returning to the west country I went for Chinese at Tutt's. At the end of half term I went and had lots of gin in Bath with both Louises. Good times. I wore heels and curled my hair and everything.

2. Early March
It felt quite breezy, early March. I didn't have much on. I had to go back to London for another publisher's meeting and from there, ventured into Essex to see Tutt. I said I would never do it but the lure of the beach was too strong, and anyway, the train ticket was expensed so it wasn't too much of a financial commitment. We planned our holiday to NZ next summer.
People offered me various additional jobs, writing and the like. Some difficult decisions have had to be made. The exam board recruited me for yet another training program. More trips to London are in my future.

3. Mid March
The ski company told me they were shortening our trip by a day. Much back-and-forthing ensued. It was exhausting, and felt impossible to deal with. I sort of buried my head in the sand. Tutt came to visit. Honestly, it's almost like she's not moved sometimes.

4. Late March
They rolled out the red carpet for me. First time for everything!

The crazy really ramped up. I travelled from Wiltshire to Manchester to Herts to London to Bristol in 5 days, which REALLY messed with my sense of time (like I'd missed a weekend) and then at the end of that week, I got on the bus to go skiing. Mental. I was presenting at student conferences in Manchester and London (as pictured above), which was fun as always, and attended a really excellent teaching conference in Herts, and on the Sunday I met Tutt and we went to Trailfinders to get hypothetical pricing for the big NZ trip. I went to dinner with my fellow presenters in our usual Cartwright Gardens tapas spot and found, to my horror, that my old halls of residence were now merely a dusty hole in the ground.
I also squeezed in a return visit to Bliss for that facial I'd tried to have in February, which they generously gave me at a 25% discount to make up for the inconvenience of previously cancelling. WINNER.

Then there's been skiing, but I've got some pictures so I'll share that another time.

And other than that, the only thing that has been taking up my time is Bikram Yoga. Long-time readers may be astonished to hear this, given my previous unequivocal stance on the matter, but, having learned to love yoga in a room of a regular temperature, I decided to power through and have found myself becoming just a little bit addicted to it. It makes me feel amazing (afterwards) and I notice improvements every time I go. I still can't do all the postures but I don't care too much. It's a huge time suck as the class is 90 minutes and takes place in central Bristol, so the entire endeavour requires three hours, including showering. My sleep quality is improved, though, and my skin feels much softer, and it has made me feel a bit calmer, especially during Mental March.

Phew. I'm glad that's over. I knew when I got the student conference dates last summer that it would be a total mission, so close to skiing, but I didn't expect it to be quite so relentless. I dread to think of the marking pile I've got waiting for me at school, which has been strenuously ignored for a good number of weeks now.

Spring is definitely here now, at least, and I feel re-energised. The tortoise is out of the loft, sun spotting in the garden. I've has several days of sitting around and Zoe came to visit yesterday for a catch up. I almost feel ready to go back to work (but don't tell anybody).