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Monday 29 December 2014

Christmas Hols

Without really realising it, over two weeks have gone by since I last posted. This is partly due to me being pretty busy and visiting family, and partly I haven't felt like posting. That isn't to say I haven't had anything to write about though.

Feelings have been up and down and all over the place. Some days I've almost thought that going back to work will be okay (maybe not quite at the point of looking forward to it, but getting close!), whereas others I've been mad at it and really not wanted to spend any more time there. Mostly I'm just trying to ignore it and deal with it when the time comes. I have to spend a little time there tomorrow, but other than that I'm not back until next Monday (unless I get called in) so we have a bit more time to relax. My wonderful other half has also had his moments where he has been quite down about work as well, so between us we are a mess at times!

I also realised the other day that our wedding is looming, and there is still a lot to do. Unfortunately I realised this when trying to go to sleep (the WORST time to start worrying about things, as they always seem ten times worse!). My lovely other half came up to bed and gave me a hug, reassured me, then offered to do the seating plan, which I promptly vetoed (at least I vetoed him doing it all by himself) as goodness knows who would be sat where. Joking aside, he did do a very good job of calming me down, as always, and I did drift off to sleep. The next morning I started a 'to do' list in a fabulous notebook my best friend had given me for Christmas:


That made me feel much better, and we think we can probably get quite a lot done this week. We have started to decide on stuff for the actual ceremony, so I feel like progress is being made.

In other news, I think gluten or wheat might be the main cause of my stomach aches. I was doing terribly with low FODMAP as there are so many changes to make, so I'd pretty much given up. Both my doctor and another doctor I know had suggested that gluten can be a big factor in IBS, and after a friend also said that cutting out wheat and gluten had made a huge difference to her son, I decided to give that a go and to not worry about anything else. I will admit that I haven't fully cut out gluten - with it being Christmas, I have been eating a little over the last week or so. The gluten free pastry I made was hard and icky, so I have been munching the odd mince pie and bit of Christmas cake. However, before that I did really well for the first few weeks of December, and I noticed a massive difference. I can't say for sure that it's due to that change - I don't know whether I've just stressed less - but since cutting gluten (and wheat, as it turns out) out, I've definitely had less stomach ache. Finding out whether it is gluten or wheat will probably be difficult, but since I've not come across things that are gluten free but still contain wheat, it's probably not going to be an issue. My lovely parents were so prepared when we went to visit them - GF cereal, GF bread, GF Christmas pudding, and my dad even made GF bread sauce (one of my favourite parts of Christmas dinner!).

Admittedly, I am currently on holiday from work so I am less prone to worrying about it, which in turn probably makes me worry and stress less. However, I will take any little gain I can!

Friday 12 December 2014

Tough Times

It has been a very up and down week. Not much change there then! I felt so much better when I last posted, but somehow it went downhill again. I visited a friend at the weekend, which was absolutely lovely, but when I woke up on Sunday morning without my wonderful other half in bed with me, I just felt sad. I visited my other half's parents on the way home and went out for a good walk with them and the gorgeous labrador they were looking after, which definitely improved my mood.

On Monday, things actually got better. In some ways, this week has improved things a lot - in other ways many things at work have annoyed me. I've worked some long days with early starts, and I am exhausted. Last night I was extremely down, worrying about certain things at work. Somehow though, I feel like I am more on top of things now though and like I can relax a bit more.

I was convinced at the weekend that I needed a new job, but really I'm not sure. I keep wavering. At the moment I'm okay where I am. I'm concentrating on getting through to our Christmas break then enjoying my time off, and hoping that I can switch off properly.

Thursday 4 December 2014

Stress less

My current aim (and I'm sure that of many people) - stress less. Easier said than done. Somehow, I seem to be doing it. After spending last weekend with two friends and talking to them, I started to feel better. Work isn't everything. Spending meaningful time with friends and family is worth a lot more. Aside from transport, I didn't even spend much money - it's not like we did loads of expensive activities, we mostly just walked, talked, ate and enjoyed each other's company. Once I got back home I still had two work free days (hooray) and I really felt that my other half and I made the most of them - tidied/cleaned the house, food shopped, did some Christmas shopping, went to choir, went to the cinema twice, and sorted wedding rings. Oh, and did some sewing and finished my wreath! I really enjoyed myself, and being busy meant I didn't spend my time off moping about going back to work.

Even the return to work wasn't so bad. Actually, I take that back. It was awful. But somehow I don't especially care. I returned to the news that four people in my team have left/are leaving. It's not good news. However, it seems to have freed me a bit. As my other half described it, it's almost like it's okay to move on. Writing that seems stupid - of course it's okay to move on - but in a weird way, I have always felt loyal to the company I work for. Now that more people have left, it's like it would be okay for me to go too. I'm not actually planning to do so, but knowing that I just could, and that there are other jobs out there that I'd probably enjoy and be able to do, makes me feel better. So yes, I will continue to go to work, and I'll continue to work hard and do my best, but I will also be doing my best to not care so much that I stress about it. It's only a job, and I can leave if I want to - there are other jobs out there.