Our five minutes of fame…
First of all yay for Seaneen and Mandy who set the whole Madosphere buzzing with their wonderful appearance on All in the Mind. I thoroughly enjoyed basking in your reflected glory, while it lasted!
Secondly apologies for my absence from this blog for the last coupla weeks. Last week I had to stay in and cry off all commitments as I had a bout of exhaustion/fatigue. This is something I do tend to get now and again. The rest of the time I tend to be a little ‘driven’ and I can end up running myself into the ground. Also the time of year, with the lack of daylight, the cold and the wet can take its toll.
Anyway, rest assured that even if my blog is silent I regularly catch up on various others around the Madosphere and either lurk or comment. Doing my voluntary work twice a week helps as it’s the kind of job that varies in how much there is to do…so if you notice I blog most on Tuesdays and Fridays that would be why.
Back to the Madosphere, I have to say that I feel honoured to be a part of a community of such talented, well-rounded, interesting and funny participants. Thank you to everyone for making your own contribution to this great and growing phenomenon. Who knows where we could end up? This is just the beginning.
Christmas is on its way but it holds little fear for me as I will be on a ten-day Buddhist retreat for the entire duration, right up to New Year’s Eve. I did a five-day one at the same place last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am taking the cats down to Kent to board with my Mum for the duration. That way I will have peace of mind, as I will know they are safe, well-cared-for and warm. Worth the hassle I reckon.
Talking of cats I have some new pics of Merlin the no-longer-so-kittenish kitten. Still as adorable as ever though. His coat is shiny like a seal’s, his eyes are bright and starey and he has a wonderful long, prehensile tail. What’s not to love. Will upload them next time.
Monday was my son’s thirteenth birthday and R and I are driving down to see him tomorrow. Spoke to him on the phone on the day and he had been to Pizza Express for a celebration meal and had Happy Birthday sung to him at school. He sounded on good form. Weather may be a bit crap tomorrow so we may go bowling, alternatively I had the idea of driving to St Albans and having a look round the museum and/or the town.
I completed my British Computer Society Level 2 yesterday, scoring 89% in Spreadsheets. Thank God that’s over! Now I just need to do the ECDL module which is just ‘a bit of everything that I’ve already studied’ and then I’m done.
In terms of what I laughingly call ‘my career’ I am thinking more in terms of joining some kind of social enterprise or organisation and perhaps less in terms of trying to slot this stubbornly square peg into the round hole of conventional employment. What it comes down to is this. I have a lot to offer any employer in terms of talent, skills, ability and commitment, but what I can’t undertake is to work day in day out for years only needing the odd day off sick. Realistically I will need at least three months off every two years, though obviously that will vary and it won’t be all at once.
I also need to be able to be completely upfront with my employer about my needs at the outset. I cannot and will not lie about my history as this would impose extra stress on me in the workplace which I don’t need.
More about social firms and what they involve later. Lots of love dear readers. Zoe.
Am I Still Ill? 