The Whirlwind of Returning to Work

The last month has been absolutely manic. Firstly, it took me around five weeks to shift a cough and then cold. This year has been absolutely awful for my health and really is making me question a lot of choices I make with what I eat because I think my weight is a really big contributor to my low immunity. I never used to get ill very often, I don’t get a lot of bugs but colds and coughs are taking longer and longer to shift. I remember the first three months of the year I was suffering really badly with a cough that made me feel so run down. Adam ended up sleeping in the living room, it made my last birthday a bit of a sad affair and no doctor would help with it. It was rubbish. I was really worried that would happen again but I’m glad it’s gone and I’m going to try a lot harder to make myself healthier.

Starting a new job whilst not being 100% well was really tough too because there has been so much information to take in, as there always is. I’ve now done a couple of weeks part-time training and one-week full time which, thankfully, wasn’t as much as a shock to the system as it would have been if I’d left it to start and not done any training. It’s felt like an absolute whirlwind and I haven’t quite got a routine in place with everything just now. So far I’m just working 9-5 but there are shifts involved and new things to learn so it will be a continuous place of learning and adjusting for us all. Adam has also reduced his hours at work but he’s dashing all over the place from doing the school run, college, work and other household duties too. He has two weeks off work over Christmas which tie into his time off at college too so he’s really looking forward to that time. I haven’t got any time booked off over Christmas but I’m not really worried. If all goes well and I get taken on permanently at the end of my 12-week temporary probation I’m estimating a gap in pay which will be another challenge.

I genuinely thought I’d feel more guilty about going back to work. It’s putting pressure on Adam to add in the school run alongside everything else and he’s really tired so it’s a given that the weekend lie ins belong to him (not that I’ve ever had one anyway) and I’m glad he’s got some time off coming up soon. Hopefully, he will make good use of his holiday next year so he can get a bit of rest. I don’t really feel guilty about going back to work though because I feel like I’m doing my part. I’ve always been doing my part and I’ve always earned money but this is a little more contributing and it helps more than it hinders. I took the job because it came at the right time, with the right description and the right money.

Work is going really well and it’s a really busy period. I’m learning a lot and I’m really enjoying getting to know the team. I’m absolutely shattered in the evenings though which is why the blog has kind of suffered. I haven’t had the energy to write and I’ve been procrastinating a lot in the mornings by catching up on TV shows and playing Assassins Creed (which I’ve now completed) so my priorities have been a little all over the place. We have, however, had a nice few weekends too. Evie’s had a sleepover at my dads, we’ve been to see Thor Ragnarok and Justice League at the cinema, we’ve done a lot of Christmas shopping and post presents are bought, paid for and wrapped. Some are waiting to be wrapped and stuffed in various places around the flat. It’s been nice to treat the family for once as it’s not something I can do very often or have been able to do the last few months.

Life really has been a whirlwind this last month and I imagine it will continue to be. I’m having my implant removed on Friday and have the day off work so I expect this weekend i’ll be feeling a bit sore. We are going to use the weekend to move a few things around and have a bit of a declutter because my desk, the dining table and basically everywhere else to be honest. We need to get rid of stuff, we need to move furniture around and make room for our Christmas tree. We’ve got a few Christmas events booked throughout December too which I’m really excited about including a show, a trip to visit Father Christmas and the local Hawk Conservancy Trust which is a really lovely day out. We’ve even organised Christmas dinner which is being delivered to us, hot and ready to eat on Christmas Day. We were going to go out for it but this feels so much better instead. I’m really excited about it, the menu is lovely and includes four courses for us all. We’ve enjoyed many a festive drink in various coffee shops too. It seems to be our thing!