February: A Month In Rearview


February passed by ridiculously quickly, as it always does. The month's headline event has been a successful return to work after six weeks signed off sick! It was a cause of major anxiety for a while: I hadn't completed my probationary period before requiring sick leave; my department had been taken over by a new manager while I was absent; and I'd convinced myself he was just going to ask me to leave. As it is, my worries were unfounded and my manager has been brilliant! He offered me the chance to move to a "less stressful" department if I wanted to (I didn't); organised a staggered return, slotting in my left-over holiday allowance so I could ease myself back in without losing any more pay; took me off of 7am starts to accommodate my medication; gave me permission to leave the department "for a breather" if ever I need to; and is making changes to my contract so I do shorter, more manageable shifts. I could not have hoped for anything more. It's still a bit of a struggle, but I've successfully completed my full number of hours for the last couple of weeks!


Work has taken most of my energy this month, but I've had a lot of free time on my hands too. I've been filling it with gentle, introverted activities - learning to crochet thanks to tutorials on Youtube and cooking lots of tasty, sugar-free food. There were wholewheat pancakes stacked high with blueberries; baked rhubarb oatmeal; buckwheat "meatloaf"; homemade granola; sweet potato, kale & coconut curry; quinoa-stuffed peppers; avocado and cacao "chocolate mousse"; and improvised parsnip and walnut muffins which tasted surprisingly good. Yum!

When I wasn't busy filling my face, I enjoyed a girly evening or two with the flatmates; spent some time back at my parents'; ventured into Union Terrace Gardens in the dark to see the Spectra display; discovered a lovely new coffee shop with my mum; and managed to read two short books -- the first I've completed since June!

A boring month to most people, I'm sure, but one full of little victories for me. 

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  1. Wow that is fantastic, Laura! I can definitely see many victories in there. Hooray for an understanding boss. And hooray for crochet. I hope you find it as soothing as I do. Spectra looks like a fun addition to Aberdeen's cultural offerings too! Really pleased at your February achievements.

    My daughter is most displeased when I say "well done" after she's managed to do something - her reasoning is, the only reason she isn't able to do things on other days is that she wasn't well, so if she has a better day, there's no cause for congratuation because it's out of her control. However, I feel that when she does manage to overcome hurdles (and there are SO many in a given day for her), it's worthy of praise, whether the hurdle is keeping her sense of humour on a horrible day, or managing several hours of school. I don't know what your stance is on this question but if you don't mind I will say Well Done!

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    1. Thank you for your kind comment, Christine. I'll gladly take your "well done" - even though I feel incredibly pathetic for finding 'normal' things so difficult to conquer it's nice when someone else acknowledges the effort. :)

      I hope you're well yourself and that your daughter is having more days when the hurdles are a little easier to overcome xo

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