Weeknote 38

It's been a minute. 

Working:

The start of term has hit me with the usual force of an oncoming train. This year I'm heading the Geography team while my (excellent and well-trained) colleague runs History. This is weird and not quite properly settled yet. I spent much of my school time this week scheduling field trips and completing risk assessments. 

Out of school, I managed to get a pause on the post-results exam board work because Mother Hand is not well and I asked for last weekend off, which they translated as the whole week. I'm not mad about it. I have enough else to do. A new round of papers has been commissioned; I'm finishing up work on chapters for two different books (one I'm not getting paid for, why do I keep doing this); and that scary job I was ignoring in the early spring is still hanging over me. 

In short: normally I get to half term with a strong feeling I want to quit basically everything and get a nice job in a library or something. I reached that point at the end of last week. Make it stoooooooppppp.

Exercising:

I saw the trainer as usual this week although my achilles is still bothering me after I hurt it on holiday by wearing a shoe...a trainer, at that. I didn't fall, or twist, or run. I simply wore the shoe for a day's walking and that was nearly 2 months ago. Problems of the old. Anyway - I am somewhat limited in what I can do (no shuttle runs, how sad). I bunked of yoga to go to a meeting I then bunked off. But I did go to the quarry for the nightlight swim on Thursday. It was chilly but this is rapidly becoming a bright spot of my week: what a shame that this coming week will probably be the last time I can make it this year. Picture from the swim a couple of weeks ago. It's even better now it's darker, but basically impossible to photograph, of course. 

Hobbying:

I don't know if I can count it but I have found this ridiculously addictive game on my phone that has taken up a disturbing amount of my time this week. It's like Tetris but not. You have to fill a grid with different-sized pieces to get them in lines or blocks. I'm obsessed. I may have to delete it from my phone. It's not even an actual game - it's a side game within a logic problems game. 

I FINALLY finished rewatching all of ER - an epic marathon that has taken over a year. I am not sure where to go next. There's so much to watch that has built up all this time I've been watching it. And now Strictly is back too. 

I couldn't face reading anything serious so I've been rereading the teen fiction Alanna series. It is probably five years since the last time I reread it, so that's about right. I also finished listening to Akala's Natives on audiobook. In spite of his liberal overuse of the work literally, there was a lot to meditate on and I really enjoyed it. I always think audiobooks are better when they're narrated by their authors.

I baked some new-to-me cakes this week: redcurrant friands, for a colleague's birthday. They were interesting because they used only whipped egg whites as a rising agent. The method involved whipping up the egg whites and then bunging in a load of melted butter. I was convinced this would not work, but they came out beautifully. I should trust Lily Vanilli recipes more: I also thought her brownie recipe would not work but they come out perfect every time. 

A small amount of knitting was done. I am still working on the same jumper I cast on in December. I feel like I'm letting myself down. 

Feeling:

Generally just quite overwhelmed. I'm putting it down to the new term and Mother Hand being back in hospital, which is pretty awful but has afforded me two visits to Portsmouth and the beach so far this month, so has a silver lining. I even saw a seal during my first visit: the first one ever in Portsmouth (I'm telling everyone at least twice, I was so astonished). I went for a brief ramble around Farlington Marshes last weekend, inspired by reading Phillipa Gregory's Tidelands which is set in a similar environment just along the coast. 

It's hard to stay all in your own feelings when the world is out there being so beautiful all the time.