The rule of work to be done versus time available

Having finally settled down from the office move and worked through the overflowing pile of stuff in my in-tray I thought I could spend the day leisurely working through all the little things that aren’t quite so urgent but need to be done at some point. It doesn’t seem to matter how small the pile of work in my in-tray is though, somehow it seems to magically multiply to take longer than the time I’d planned to spend at the office. Even when I plan to work late. Looks like the little things will have to wait a bit longer...

Salsa party

This year’s work Christmas party was at a salsa bar which seemed like a great idea – Mexican food (turkey and bacon fajitas made a nice change from the usual roast turkey) and a dance class thrown in. I’d done a little bit of salsa before so Michael and I opted for the improvers class which was a little bit too difficult but we just about managed. Overall, it was a fairly nice evening although I could have done without a couple of sweaty, over-sexed and quite frankly unattractive men trying to force their attentions on me on the dance floor.

One year on...

It was a year ago today that my lovely dad sadly passed away. A year has gone by, but I still miss him every day and wish that I could see him again, give him a big hug and tell him how much I love him. What would I give to be able to spend another Christmas with him, listening to his stories about his childhood and days in the Navy? I was so blessed to have had such a wonderful person to be my dad for 30 years – love and miss you this much twice around, Dad.

Start of the party season

The Christmas party season has now officially started – we were out for our church Christmas meal this evening (Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet which is my favourite – I can eat a lot of Chinese if I’m given the opportunity!) and have a couple more Christmas meals coming up over the next week or so. I love the round of parties and meals that happen at this time of year – it’s nice to have a fairly full social calendar (although not too full – also nice to have time out to prepare for the festive season) and spend time with lots of different people.

Getting a new car

It’s now been confirmed that my car will be written off as the damage is too extensive to be worth attempting to repair. Michael has been busy researching cars to help decide what car I should be getting next (not that there’s a great deal of choice when you’re after a small, five-door automatic, not too old and not too expensive) and fortunately we have already managed to find a suitable replacement – a little Renault Clio which we’ll hopefully be getting on Saturday. In the meantime, I’ve been driving a Toyota Prius hire car which feels enormous after my Corsa!

Junior Church Christmas play

I’ve been rehearsing a play with my Junior Church group over the past few weeks which will be shown at the carol service. Unfortunately, none of my group are sure if they can be at the carol service so we’ve videoed today’s performance and will show the video instead. It’s probably just as well as they were ad-libbing a lot (including one rather rude word which slipped out and will have to be edited out so as not to offend certain members of our congregation!) It’s been a fun experience directing the play – now just need to edit the video.

A little bit overwhelmed by it all...

With Christmas approaching (and Christmas shopping still not started) I’m beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by everything. The house is still full of boxes – Michael has to keep reminding me that it has improved since doing a charity shop/tip run – and I’m having moments of wondering whether we will be surrounded by them forever. Which of course, we won’t, but the frustration of not quite knowing where some things are is getting to me at times. As well as all of this, I need to start looking for a new car as mine is about to be written off.

Emerging from the chaos

Having moved house as well as office recently means that I’ve spent quite a lot of time and energy just trying to emerge from the chaos of it all. Fortunately things are beginning to settle down at both locations. The boxes are slowly being unpacked (still quite a lot left though!) and it’s now reached the stage where there is space to move around and I can generally find most things that I need and so start being a bit more productive again. I think it may be some time before things have completely returned to some kind of normality!

Snow pretty...

The snowfall here has not been particularly heavy – most people I know living elsewhere in the country have had quite a lot of snow whereas here there is just a thin layer covering the ground. It still makes me feel less inclined to go out – Saturday’s accident has made me quite nervous about the prospect of having to drive anywhere – sitting inside, snug and warm and looking at how pretty the snow is outside seems to be the best way to enjoy it at the moment! Fortunately I had a day off today so didn’t need to go anywhere anyway.

Countdown to Christmas

So here we are in December already and Christmas is rapidly approaching. Moving house and decorating and writing and everything else that has been happening in my life has meant that I’m feeling quite disorganised this year and haven’t even started the Christmas shopping yet. Still, there are a few shopping days left so I’m not going to panic yet. The approach to Christmas brings back a lot of sad memories for me as it has been almost a year since I lost my wonderful dad and even the snow can’t overcome that to get me in a festive mood.